LIBRARY
OF THE
Theological Seminary,
PRINCETON, N. J.
BX 8712 .K1170 ^ Swedenborg, Emanuel, 1688- 1772.
A treatise concerning the Last Judgment
J
A
TREATISE
CONCERNING THE
liAST JUDGMENT,
AND THE
DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON;
SHEWING THAT ALL THE
PREDICTIONS CONTAINED IN THE APOCALYPSE ARE AT THIS DAY FULFILLED. BEING A
Originally published at London in Latin, in 1758. ALSO,
A COIVTINUATION
CONCERJfING THE
£AST JUDGMENT,
AND THE
SPIRITUAL WORLD.
Originally published at Amsterdam in Latin, in 1763.
BY EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.
BOSTON: HILLIARD, GRAY, LITTLE & WILKINS,
AND ADONIS HOWARD.
1828.
Press of the New Jerusalem Magazine.
FREEMAN & BOLLES, PRINT.
CONTENTS.
4
Concerning the Last Judgment and the Destruc- tion of Babylon.
That by the Day of the Last Judgment is not meant
the Destruction of the World . . Page 1
That the Procreations of the Human Race on the
Earths will never cease ... . . 7 That Heaven and Hell are from Mankind . . 20 That all who have been born Men from the Begin- ning of Creation, and are deceased, are either in
Heaven or in Hell 35
That the Last Judgment is to take place where all are gathered together, consequently in the Spirit- ual World, and not on the Earths ... 47 That the Last Judgment takes place when the Church is at an End ; and that the Church is at an End, when there is no Faith in consequence of
there being no Charity 52
Extracts from the Arcana Coelestia concerning Faith 61
. concerning Charity .... 65
concerning the Will and the Understanding 69
That all Things predicted in the Apocalypse are at
this Day fulfilled 74
That the Last Judgment is accomplished . . 79 Of Babylon, and its Destruction ... 91 Of the former Heaven, and its Abolition . . 129 Of the State of the AVorld and Church hereafter 140
Continuation concerning the Last Judgment.
That the Last Judgment is accomplished . . 3 Of the State of the World and Church before the
Last Judgment, and after it ... . S
Concerning the Last Judgment on the Reformed 15
CONTENTS.
Continuation concerning the Spiritual World.
Of the Spiritual World .... Page 28
Of the English in the Spiritual World . . 32
Of the Hollanders, or Dutch, in the Spiritual World 39
Of the Papists in the Spiritual AVorld . . 46
Of the Popish Saints in the Spiritual World . 50 Of the Mahometans in the Spiritual World, and of
Mahomet . 55
Of the Africans and the Gentiles in the Spiritual
World 60
Of the Jews in the Spiritual World ... 65
Of the Quakers in the Spiritual World . . 69
Of the Moravians in the Spiritual World . . 71
COXCERNING
THE LAST JUDGMENT,
AND THE
DESTRUCTION OF BABYLON.
That by the Day of the Last Judgment is not meant the Destruction of the World.
1. They who have been unacquainted with the spiritual sense of the Word, have never un- derstood otherwise, than that in the day of the last judgment all things which visibly appear in the world will perish, for it is said, that heaven together with the earth will then perish, and that God will create a new heaven and a new earth. In this opinion they have also con- firmed themselves by what is further said in re- lation to this subject, namely, that all men are then to rise up out of their graves, and that the good are to be separated from the evil, with more to the same purport: but it is thus ex- pressed in the literal sense of the Word, be- cause this sense of the Word is natural, being in the ultimate of divine order, in which all things, both generally and particularly, contain
A
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within them a spiritual sense : for which rea- son, he who understands the Word only ac- cording to the sense of the letter, may be led into a variety of opinions relating thereto, as is also the case in the Christian world, where so many heresies exist, and every one of them confirmed from the Word. But inasmuch as no one has heretofore known, that in all and every part of the Word there is a spiritual sense, nor even what the spiritual sense is, therefore it is excusable with those who have embraced this opinion concerning the last judgment. But it may now be known, that neither the vi- sible heavens nor the habitable earth will per- ish, but that both will remain ; and that by a new heaven and a new earth is understood a new church, as well in the heavens as on the earths : I say a new church in the heavens, be- cause there is a church there, equally as well as on the earths ; for there in hke manner is the Word, and in like manner there are preachings, and divine worship similar to that on the earths ; yet with a difference, that all things there are in a more perfect state, because they are not in the natural world, but in the spiritual ; hence all who dwell there are spiritual men, and not natural as they were before in the world. That such is really the case, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven, and particularly where it treats of the conjunction of heaven with man by
means of the Word, n. 303 to 310 ; and con- cerning divine worship in heaven, n. 221 to 227.
2. The passages in the Word, wherein men- tion is made of the destruction of heaven and earth, are as follow, " Lift up your eyes to hea- ven, and look downward upon the earth ; the heavens are about to perish hke smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment," Isaiah li. 6. " Behold, I am about to create new hea- vens, and a new earth ; neither shall former things be remembered," Isai.lxv. 17. "I will make new heavens and anew earth," Isai. Ixvi. 22. "The stars of heaven have fallen to the earth, and heaven has departed like a scroll rolled together," Rev. vi. 13, 14. "I saw a great throne, and one sitting thereon, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and their place was not found," Rev. xx. 11. "I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away," Rev. xxi. 1. In these passages, by a new heaven is not meant the heaven visible to our bodily eyes, but that heaven where mankind were collected together ; for a heaven was formed from the whole of the human race, even from the commencement of the Christian church ; but they who were in that heaven were not angels, but spirits of various rehgions; this heaven is understood by the first heaven which a2
4
was to perish : but in what manner this was ef- fected, shall be spoken to particularly in what follows ; what is here related is only premised, that it may be known what is meant by the first heaven which should perish. Every one, who thinks from reason in some degree enlightened, may also perceive, that it is not the starry heaven, or the immense firmament of creation, which is here meant, but that it is heaven in a spiritual sense, where angels and spirits dwell.
3. That by a new earth is meant a new church on the earths, has heretofore been un- known, inasmuch as every one by earth in the Word has understood the earth, when yet by earth is meant the church ; in a natural sense, earth is the earth, but in a spiritual sense it is the church ; the reason whereof is, because they who are in the spiritual sense, or who like the angels are spiritual, when earth is named in the Word, do not understand the earth itself, but the nation which dwells there, and its divine wor- ship ; hence it is that by earth is signified the church ; that such is the case, may be seen in the Arcana Ccelestia, as quoted below, (a)
(a) From the Areata Ccelestia. That by earth in the Word is signified the kingdom of the Lord and the church, n. 662, 1066, 1067, 1262, 1413, 1607, 2928, 3355, 4447, 4535, 5577, 8011, 9325, 9643. Chiefly for this reason, because by earth or land is understood the land of Canaan, where the church was from the most ancient times;
5
I shall here adduce a few passages from the Word, whereby in some measure it may be
hence also it is, that heaven is called the heavenly Canaan, n. 567, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6516, 9325, 9327. And because in a spir- itual sense by earth is understood the nation which dwells there, and its worship, n. 1262. That hence the earth signifies various things ap- pertaining to the church, n. 620, 636, 1067, 2571, 3368, 3379, 3404, 8732. That the people of the earth are they who belong to the spiritual church, n. 2928. That an earthquake is a change of the state of the church, n. 3355. That a new heaven and a new earth signifies the church, n. 1733, 1850, 2117, 2118, 3355, 4535, 10373.
That the most ancient church, which existed be- fore the flood, and the ancient church which ex- isted after the flood, were in the land of Canaan, n. 567, 3686, 4447, 4454, 4516, 4517, 5136, 6516, 9327. That then all the places in that land were made representative of such things as are in the Lord's kingdom and in the church, n. 1505, 3686, 4447, 5136. That therefore Abra- ham was commanded to go thither, inasmuch as among his posterity descended from Jacob, a representative church was to be instituted, and the Word written, whose ultimate sense should consist of the representatives and significatives which were there, n. 3686, 4447, 5136, 6516, Hence it is that by earth and by the land of Canaan is signified the church, n. 3038, 3481, 3705, 4447, 4517, 5757, 10658. a3
6
comprehended, that by earth is signified the church. " The cataracts from on high were opened, and the foundations of the earth were shaken; in breaking the earth is broken; in agitating the earth is agitated; in reeHng the earth reels hke a drunkard ; it moves to and fro like a cottage; and heavy upon it is the trans- gression thereof," Isai. xxiv. 18, 19, 20. "I will cause a man to be more rare than pure gold ; therefore I will remove the heaven, and the earth shall be removed out of her place, in the day of the fierce anger of Jehovah," Isai. xiii. 12, 13. " The earth was agitated before him, the heavenshave trembled, the sun and the moon are become black, and the stars have with- drawn their splendour," Joel ii. 10. "The earth was shaken and agitated, and the foun- dations of the mountains trembled and were shaken, " Psalm xviii. 7, 8 ; and in many other places.
4. By creating is also signified in the spir- itual sense of the Word to form, to estabhsh, and to regenerate; consequently by creating a new heaven and a new earth is signified to es- tabhsh a New Church in heaven and earth; as may appear evident from the following passa- ges : " The people who shall be created, shall praise Jab," Psalm cii. 18. "Thou sendest forth the spirit, they are created ; and thou re- newest the faces of the earth," Psalm civ. 30.
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" Thus said Jehovah, thy creator O Jacob, thy former O Israel, for I have redeemed thee, and I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine ; every one called by my name, and for my glory 1 have created, I have formed him, yea I have made him," Isaiah xliii. I, 7; and in other places : hence it is, that by a new creation of man is meant his reformation, inasmuch as he is made anew, that is, from natural he becomes spiritual; and hence it is, that a new crea- ture signifies a reformed man. (6)
5. Concerning the spiritual sense of the Word, see the small treatise on the White Horse, mentioned in the Apocalypse.
That the Procreations of the Human Race on the Earths will never cease.
6. They who have adopted that belief con- cerning the last judgment, that all things which
(h) That to create is to create anew, or to re- form and regenerate, n. 16, 88, 10373, 10634. That to create a new heaven and a new earth, is to establish a new church, n. 10373. That by the creation of heaven and earth in the first chap- ters of Genesis, in the internal sense, is described the establishment of the celestial church, which was the most ancient church, n. 8891, 9942, 10545.
a4
b
are in the heavens and in the earths will then perish, and in the room thereof that a new heaven and a new earth will take place, are led to imagine, because it follows of consequence, that the generations and procreations of the human race will afterwards cease; for they sup- pose that all things will then be accomplished, and that mankind will be in a different state from what they were in before. But since the destruction of the wwld is not meant by the day of the last judgment, as was shewn in the preceding article, it follows that mankind will continue, and that procreations will not cease.
7. That the procreations of the human race will continue to eternity, is plain from many things that might be adduced, some of which may be seen in the treatise on Heaven and Hell, particularly under the following heads: I. That mankind is the basis on which heaven is founded. II. That mankind is the seminary ofheaven. III. That the extension of heaven, which is for angels, is so immense, that it can- not be filled to eternity. IV. That they are but few respectively, of whom heaven at pre- sent is formed. V. That the perfection of heaven increases according to plurality, [or the number of its inhabitants.] VI. And that every divine work has respect to infinity and eternity.
9. That mankind is the basis, on which hea- ven is founded, appears from this consideration,
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that man was last created, and what is last creat- ed, serves as a basis for all that precedes it. Creation commenced from what is supreme or inmost, because it originated from the divinity, and proceeded to the ultimates or extremes, and then first subsisted. The ultimate of cre- ation is the natural world, in which is the ter- raqueous globe with all things upon it. When these were finished, then man was created, and in him were collected all things of divine order from first to last; in his inmost parts were col- lected those things which were primary in that order, and in his ultimates those things which were last; so that man became a form of divine order : hence it is that all things in man and with man, are derived from heaven and from the world, the things which belong to his mind being from heaven, and the things which be- long to his body being from the world ; for the things of heaven flow into his thoughts and af- fections, and thereby are manifested according to the reception of his spirit, but the things of the world flow into his sensations and bodily delights, and present them according to recep- tion in his body, so far as they are in agree- ment with the thoughts and affections of his spirit. That this is the case, may be seen in several articles of the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, particularly in the following: that the universal heaven, collectively taken, resembles a5
10
one man, n. 59 to G7. That every society in heaven in hke manner resembles one man, n. 68 to 72. That hence every angel is in a per- fect human form, n. 73 to 77. And that this is from the divine humanity of the Lord, n. 78 to 86. And moreover under the article of the correspondence of all things in heaven with all things in man, n. 87 to 112. Of the corres- pondence between heaven and all things on earth, n. 103 to 115. And of the form of heaven, n. 200 to 212. From the above or- der of creation it may appear, that such is the chain of connexion from first to last, that all together form one, wherein what is prior can- not be separated from what is posterior, just as the cause cannot be separated from the effect, nor consequently the spiritual world from the natural world, nor the natural world from the spiritual world; nor as the angelic heaven can- not be separated from mankind, nor mankind from the angelic heaven : wherefore it is so provided by the Lord, that both the angelic heaven and mankind mutually assist and sup- port each other. Hence it is, that although the angelic mansions are indeed in heaven, and to appearance separate from the mansions of men, yet nevertheless they are with man in his affec- tions of good and truth ; for it is only an ap- pearance that they are separate and distinct, as may be seen in the treatise on Heaven and
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Hell, where it treats of space in heaven, n. 191 to 199. That the mansions of angels are with man in his affections of good and truth, is un- derstood by these words of the Lord, " He who loveth me, keepeth my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our mansion with him," John xiv. 23; by the Father and the Lord in the above passage is also signified heaven, for where the Lord is there is heaven, it being the Divine Proceeding from the Lord which con- stitutes heaven, as may be seen in the treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 7 to 12; and n. 116 to 125. And likewise by these words of the Lord, "The Comforter the Spirit of Truth abideth with you, and is in you," John xiv. 17; the Comforter is Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord, for which reason he is also called the Spirit of Truth, and divine truth constitutes heaven, and also angels, they being the recipi- ents thereof ; that the Divine Proceeding from the Lord is divine truth, and that hence the angelic heaven exists, may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, n. 126 to 140. The same is also implied in the following words of the Lord, " The kingdom of God is within you," Luke xvii. 21 ; the kingdom of God is divine good and truth, in which the angels are. That angels and spirits are with man, and in his affections, has been given me to see a thou-
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sand times, from their presence and abode with me; but angels and spirits do not know what men they are with, any more than men know what angels and spirits they cohabit with, for this the Lord alone knows and regulates. In a word, there is an extension of every af- fection of good and truth into heaven, and com- munication and conjunction with those therein, who are in similar affections ; and there is an extension of every affection of evil and false into hell, and a communication and conjunc- tion with those therein who are in like affec- tions. The extension of the affections into the spiritual world, is not unlike that of sight into the natural world ; communications in both worlds are nearly alike, yet with this difference, that in the natural world there are objects, but in the spiritual world angelic societies. Hence it appears, that such is the connexion between the angelic heaven and mankind, that the one subsists from the other, and that the angehc heaven without mankind would be hke a house without a foundation, for heaven terminates in mankind and rests upon them. The case in this respect is the same as with an individual man in particular ; his spiritual things, which have relation to his thought and will, flow into his natural things, which have relation to his sensations and actions, and therein they termi- nate and subsist ; if man did not possess these
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natural things, or these terminations and ulti- mates, his spiritual things, which have relation to the thoughts and affections of his spirit, would be dispersed, like things unbounded or without foundation. This is the case when man passes from the natural into the spiritual world, that is, when he dies ; then, inasmuch as he is a spirit, he no longer subsists on his own proper basis, but upon the common basis, which is mankind. They who are unacquainted with the mysteries of heaven, may suppose, that angels subsist without men, and men without angels; but I can positively assert from all my experience relative to heaven, and from all my discourse with the angels, that no angel or spirit whatever subsists independent of man, nor any man in- dependent of spirits and angels, but that they are mutually and reciprocally conjoined. From what has been observed, it may now plainly appear, that mankind and the angelic heaven form one, and subsist mutually and reciprocally from each other, and consequently that the one cannot be removed from the other.
10. That manJiind is the seminary of heaven, will appear plain from the following article, where h will be shewn, that heaven and hell are from mankind, consequently that mankind is the seminary of heaven. It has been observed in what precedes, that as from the first creation till now, heaven has been formed from the human
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race, so in like manner hereafter it will be form- ed and augmented. It is indeed possible that the human race on one earth may perish, which comes to pass when they ahogether separate themselves from the Divine, for then man no longer possesses spiritual hfe, but only natur- al, similar to that of beasts ; and when man becomes of such a nature, no society can be formed, and governed by laws, inasmuch as man without influx from heaven, or without di- vine government, would become insane, and rush openly into the commission of every evil one against another. But although mankind, by separation from the Divine principle, were to perish on one earth, which however is pro- vided against by the Lord, yet still they would continue to remain on other earths; for there are earths in the universe to the amount of some hundreds of thousands, as may be seen in a work Concerning the Earths in our Solar Sys- tem called Planets, and concerning the Earths in the Starry Heaven. I was informed from heaven, that the human race on this earth would have perished, so that there would not have re- mained at this day a single individual upon it, unless the Lord had come into the world, and in this earth put on the humanity, and made it Divine ; and also, unless the Lord had given to this earth such a Word as might serve for a basis to the angehc heaven, and for its con-
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junction with mankind ; that the conjunction of heaven with man is effected by means of the Word, maybe seen in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 303, to 310. But that such is the case can be comprehended only by those who think spiritually, that is, by those who through the acknowledgment of the Lord's Divinity are conjoined with heaven, for they only are capa- ble of thinking spiritually.
11. That the extension of heaven, which is for angels, is so immense, that it cannot be fill- ed to eternity, may appear from what has been said in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, concerning the immensity of heaven, n. 415, to 420 : and that they are but few respectively, of whom heaven is at present formed, may be seen in the Treatise on the Earths in the Uni- verse, n. 126.
12. That the perfection of heaven increases according to plurality, [or the number of its inhabitants,^ is evident from its form, according to which the consociations there are regulated, and communications take place, in that it is the most perfect of all forms; and as the numbers increase in the most perfect form, in the same proportion the direction and consent of many tends to unity, and in the same proportion also conjunction becomes more close and unani- mous ; consent and conjunction thence derived increase by pluraUty, for in such case every
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thing is inserted as an intermediate relation be- tween two or more, and what is so inserted confirms and conjoins. The form of heaven is hke the form of the human mind, the perfect- ion whereof advances according to the increases of truth and good, whence intelhgence and wis- dom are derived. The reason why the form of the human mind, which is in heavenly wis- dom and intelhgence, is similar to the form of heaven, is, because the mind is the smallest image of that form ; hence it is, that in every possible w^ay there is a communication of the thoughts and affections of good and truth in such men, and in angels, with the neighbouring societies of heaven, and the extension is ac- cording to the increases of wisdom, consequent- ly according to the plurality of the knowledges of truth implanted in the understanding, and according to the abundance of the affections of good implanted in the will, or in other words, according to the truths and goods implanted in the mind, for the mind consists of understand- ing and will. The human and angelic mind is of such a nature, that it may be enlarged to eternity, and as it becomes enlarged, so it is perfected ; this is especially the case, when man is led by the Lord, for he is then introduced into genuine truths, which are implanted in his understanding, and into genuine goods, which are implanted in his will ; for the Lord then
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disposes all things belonging to such a mind into the form of heaven, until at length it becomes heaven in the least form. From the above comparison, which is a just one, it is evident, that the plurality or increasing number of the angels tends to the perfection of heaven. Every form also consists of various parts [or things;] a form which does not consist of various parts [or things,] is not a form, inasmuch as it has no quality, nor any changes of state ; the qual- ity of every form arises from the relative dis- position of various things within it, from their mutual respect to each other, and from their consent to unity, by virtue of which every form is considered as one thing; such a form, in pro- portion to the number of things so arranged and disposed, becomes more and more perfect, for then every thing, as before observed, confirms, corroborates, conjoins, and so perfects the whole. But this may appear more plain from what has been observed in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, particularly where it treats on the following subject. That every society of heaven is a heaven in a lesser form, and every angel a heaven in its least form, n. 51 to 58 ; and likewise where it treats of the form of heav- en, according to which consociations and com- munications are there regulated, n. 200 to 212 ; and concerning the wisdom of the angels of heaven, n. 265 to 275.
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13. That every divine work has respect to infinity and eternity, may appear evident from many things which exist both in heaven and in the world ; no one thing is to be found, either in the spiritual or the natural world, exactly like, or the same as the other; there is not one face exactly like, or the same as another, nor ever will be to eternity ; in like manner the mind of no one man or angel is exactly like that of another ; wherefore there are as many faces and as many minds, as there are men and an- gels ; there is never to be found in any one man, in whom notwithstanding there are innu- merable parts which constitute his body, and innumerable affections which constitute his mind, a single thing exactly like, or the same as in another man ; hence it is, that every man lives a life distinct from the life of another : The same holds good in all and every thing be- longing to nature. The reason why such an infinite variety prevails in all and every thing of creation, is because they all derive their origin from the Divine, which is infinite; hence it is, that a kind of image of infinity is every where manifested, to the end that all things may be viewed by the Divine as his own work, and at the same time that all things may have respect to him, as the supreme cause. How every thing in nature has respect to infinity and eter- nity, may easily be illustrated by a single in-
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stance ; every seed, whether it be the fruit of a tree, or of corn, or of a flower, is so created, that it is capable of being muhiplied to infinity, and enduring to eternity; for from one seed are produced many, even to 5, 10, 20, 100, and from each of these again as many more ; such fructification from each seed continually repro- duced, within the space only of one hundred years, would cover the surface not only of one earth, but even of myriads of earths : the same seeds are also so created, that their durations may be to eternity : Hence it appears, how in this instance is contained an idea of infinity and eternity ; the case is the same in others. The angeUc heaven is the end for which all things in the universe were created, being the end for w^hich mankind was created, and mankind is the end for which the visible heaven, and all the earths therein were created : Wherefore that divine work, namely, the angelic heaven, prima- rily and chiefly has respect to infinity and eter- nity, consequently to its multiplication without end, for the essential Divine dwells in the angelic heaven. Hence also it may appear, that the human race will never have an end, for were it to cease, the divine work would be limited by a certain number, and thus hs respect to infi- nity would perish.
B
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That Heaven and Hell are from Mankind.
14. It is altogether unknown in the christ- ian world, that heaven and hell are from man- kind, for it is supposed that angels were creat- ed such at the beginning, and t}>at heaven was formed of them; it is also the common opinion, that the devil or satan was an angel of light, but in consequence of his rebelling, he was cast down with his crew, and that hence came helL The angels are greatly astonished that such a faith obtains at this day amongst christians, and still more, that they know nothing at all con- cerning heaven, when yet it is a primary ob- ject of doctrine in the church ; and whereas such ignorance prevails, they are rejoiced in heart, that it has pleased the Lord at this time to reveal to men many things concerning hea- ven and also concerning hell, and thereby as much as possible to dissipate the thick dark- ness which daily increases, in consequence of the church having come to its end : wherefore it is their desire that I would declare from them that there is not in the universal heaven a sin- gle angel that was created such at first, nor a single devil in all hell that had been created an angel of light, and was afterwards cast out of heaven, but that all both in heaven and hell are from the human race ; in heaven such as
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had lived in the world in heavenly love and faith, and in hell such as had lived in hellish love and faith ; and that hell in its whole com- plex, or collectively, is called the devil and satan, that hell which is behind, in which are evil genii, being called the Devil, and that hell which appears in front, in which are evil spirits, being called Satan, (c) The nature of each of these hells may be seen in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell towards the end. That the christian world have embraced such a faith relative to those in heaven and hell, the angels further said, proceeds from certain passages in the Word taken according to their literal sense only, and not illustrated and explained by genu- ine doctrine from the Word ; when nevertheless the letter of the Word, if not enlightened by the genuine doctrine of the church, misleads the mind into various conceits, and gives rise to ignorance, heresies, and errors, [d)
(c) That the hells, or infernal spirits, taken collectively, are called the devil and satan, n. 694. That they who have been devils in the world, be- come devils after death, n. 968.
{d) That the doctrine of the church must be derived from the Word, n. 3464, 5402, 6832, 10763, 10765. That the Word is unintelligible without doctrine, n. 9021, 9409, 9424, 9430, 10324, 10431, 10582. That true doctrine is as a candle to those who read the Word, n. b2
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15. Another reason why the man of the church entertams such a behef, is, because he imagines that no one goes to heaven or hell before the time of the last judgment, concern- ing which he is of opinion that all things which visibly appear will then perish, and be suc- ceeded by a new creation, and that the soul will then be reunited to its body, and in that state live again as a man : this belief involves another concerning the angels, namely, that they were created such from the beginning ; for it cannot be beheved that heaven and hell are from mankind, when it is supposed that none go to either till the end of the world. But in order that man may be convinced of the contrary, it has been granted me to have fel- lowship with angels, and also to converse with those who are in hell, and that now for several years together, sometimes from morning till
10401. That genuine doctrine must be formed by those who are in illumination from the Lord, n. 2510, 2516, 2519, 9424, 10105. That they who abide in the literal sense of the Word with- out doctrine, can attain to no understanding of divine truths, n. 9409, 9410, 10582. And that they fall into many errors, n. 10431. The differ- ence between those who teach and learn from the doctrine of the church derived from the Word, and those who teach and learn only from the literal sense of the W^ord, described, n. 9025.
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I evening without interruption, and so to receive I information concerning iieaven and hell ; and ' all this to the end, that the man of the church may no longer remain in his erroneous faith concerning the resurrection at the time of the judgment, and concerning the state of souls in the mean time, and also concerning angels and concerning the devil ; which faith, inasmuch as it is a faith in what is false, involves the mind I in darkness ; and with those who think con- cerning such things from self-derived intelh- gence, leads to doubt, and at length to a de- nial of them ; for they say in their hearts, how can so great a heaven, and so many stars, to- gether with the sun and moon, be destroyed and dissipated ? and how can the stars fall from heaven upon the earth, which yet are so much bigger than the earth ? or how can bodies, which have been devoured by worms, destroy- ed by corruption, and dispersed by all the winds, be collected together again for the use of their respective souls ? what in the mean time becomes of the soul, and what sort of a being is it without the sensations which it en- joyed in the body ? with many suggestions of a like kind, which being incomprehensible, fall not within the province of faith, but destroy in many the behef of man's eternal life, and of the existence of heaven and hell, and therewith all other articles of faith belonging to the church. b3
^4
That this is actually the consequence, we have sufficient proof in those who say, who ever came from heaven to tell us that there is such a place ? what is hell ? surely it is only a crea- ture of the brain ? what is the meaning of man's being tormented forever with fire ? and what is the day of judgment? have not men been looking for it many ages in vain ? not to men- tion a variety of other suggestions, which imply a denial of the whole. Lest therefore they who think thus (as is the case with many who from their knowledge in worldly matters are reputed wise and learned) should any longer disturb and seduce the simple in faith and heart, and bring on infernal darkness in relation to a behef of God, of heaven, of eternal hfe, and of other things dependent thereon, the interiors of my spirit have been opened by the Lord, and thus I have been permitted to converse with all whom I knew in the hfe of the body, after their de- cease, with some for days, with some for months, and with some for a year together, and also with so many others, that I should come short if I reckoned them at an hundred thousand, many of whom were in the heavens, and many in the hells. I have also spoken with some two days after their decease, and told them that their friends were at that time preparing for their funeral ; to which they rephed, that they did well to remove out of the way that
25
which had served them for a body and its func- tions in the world ; and they desired me to tell them, that they were not dead, but Hving men equally as before, that they had only passed out of one world into another, and did not know that they had lost any thing by the change, having a body and senses as before, with un- derstanding and will as before, and also hke thoughts and affections, like sensations, like pleasures, and hke desires, as when they hv^ed in this world. Most of those who were newly departed, on finding themselves living men as before, and in a similar state, (for after death the state of every one's life is at first the same as it had been in the world, but is successively changed either for heaven or hell,) were af- fected with a new joy at their being alive, and said that they did not before beheve it would be so; but greatly wondered at their former ignorance and blindness with respect to the state and condition of their life after death ; and more particularly, that the men of the church should be in such darkness as to these points, when nevertheless above all persons in the whole world they might be acquainted with them, (e) They then for the first time saw
(e) That at this day few in Christendom be- lieve, that man rises again immediately after death, see the preface to chap. xvi. of Gen. and
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the cause of such blindness and ignorance, which is, that external things, such as relate to the world and the body, had so engaged and filled their minds, that they could not elevate them into the hght of heaven, and penetrate into the things of the church any farther than as to some points of doctrine; for corporeal and worldly things, when they are so much loved at this day, occasion mere darkness in the mind, when man is desirous of thinking concerning the things of heaven beyond the
D. 4622, 10758; but at the time of the last judg- ment when the visible world is to perish, n. 10595. The cause of such belief, n. 10594, 10758. That nevertheless man rises again im- mediately after death, and that then he is a man as to all and everv particular, n. 4527, 5006, 7078, 8939, 8991, 10594, 10758. That the soul, which lives after death, is man's spirit, which is the real man within him, and which also in the other life is in a perfect human form, n. 322, 1880, 1881, 3633, 4622, 4735, 5883, 6054, 6605, 6626, 7021, 10594. Proved from experience, n. 4527, 5006, 8939; and from the Word, n. 10597. An explanation of whatis signified by the dead being seen in the holy city. Matt, xxvii. 53, n. 9229. How man is raised from the dead, by experience, n. 168 to 189. Of man's state after resuscitation, n. 317,318,319, 2119,5070, 10596. False opin- ions respecting the soul and the resurrection, n. 444, 445, 4527, 4622, 4658.
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limits prescribed in the doctrine of faith belong- ing to his church.
16. Many of the learned from the christian world, when they find themselves after death in a body, in garments, and in houses as they had been in the world, are all amazement; and when they recall to mind, what they had thought concerning a hfe after death, the soul, spirits, and concerning heaven and hell, they are af- fected with shame, acknowledge their past in- fatuation, and that the simple in faith were much wiser than they. On examining those learned men who had confirmed themselves in such errors, and who had attributed all things to nature, it was found, that the interiors of their mind were shut, and the exteriors open, a proof that they had not looked towards heaven, but towards the world, and consequently also to- wards hell ; for in proportion as the interiors of the mind are open, in the same proportion man looks towards heaven, but in proportion as the interiors are shut and the exteriors open, in the same proportion he looks towards hell ; for the interiors of man are formed for the recep- tion of heavenly things, and his exteriors for the reception of worldly things, and they who re- ceive the world and not at the same time heav- en, receive hell. (/)
(f) That in man the spiritual and the natural worlds are conjoined, n. 6057. That the inter- no
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17. That the spirit of a man, after its sepa- ration from the body, is a man, and in a hke form, has been made manifest to me by daily experience for many years, having seen and heard them a thousand times, and also convers- ed with them; particularly on this subject, that men in the world do not believe it, and that they who do beheve it, are reputed by the learn- ed as simple. The spirits were grieved at heart, that such ignorance should still prevail in the world, and especially within the church; this, they said, proceeded principally from the learned, who judge of the soul from the bodily senses, in consequence of which they form no other idea of it, than as of simple thought, which, when considered without any subject in which and by which it may subsist, is like some- thing floating in mere ether, which cannot but be dissipated on the death of the body : but inasmuch as the church holds the immortality of the soul, because it is taught in the Word, they cannot but assign to it something vital, of the quahty of thought, though nothing of sense such as appertains to man, before it is reunited to its body again. On this opinion is founded the doctrine of the resurrection, and a belief in
nal of man is formed after the image of heaven, but his external after the image of the world, n. 3628, 4523, 4524, 6057, 6314, 9708, 10156, 10472.
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the soul's future conjunction with the body at the time of the last judgment ; for from the aforesaid hypothesis concerning the soul, no other conclusion can be drawn, consistent with the faith of the church respecting man's eternal life. Hence it is, when any one thinks of the soul, according to the doctrine of the church, and at the same time according to the above hypothesis, that he has not the smallest idea of its being a spirit, and that this spirit is in a hu- man form. Add to this, that scarce any one at this day knows what is spiritual, and still less that they who are spiritual, as all spirits and angels are, have any thing of the human form. This is the reason why almost all who come from the world are greatly astonished at their being still alive, and equally men as before, without any difference whatever ; but when they cease to be amazed at themselves, they then wonder that the church should be ignorant of this state of men after death, when notwith- standing all that have ever lived in the world, are in the other life, and living men : and be- cause they were also surprised, that this was not discovered to man by visions, it was told them from heaven, that this could be done, for nothing is easier, when it is the Lord's good pleasure, but that still they who had confirmed themselves in falses against it, would not be- lieve, even though they were to have ocular
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demonstration thereof; and moreover, that it would be dangerous to manifest any thing from heaven to those who are immersed in worldly and corporeal pleasures, for in this case they would first believe and afterwards deny, and thus they would profane that essential truth ; for to believe and afterwards deny, is to profane ; and they who profane, are thrust down into the lowest and most grievous of all the hells. This danger is understood by the Lord's words, "He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts, lest they should see with the eyes and understand with the heart, and convert them- selves, and I should heal them," John xii. 40; and that they who are in worldly and corporeal loves, still would not believe, is understood by these words, "Abraham said to the rich man in hell. They have Moses and the prophets, let them hear them ; but he said, Nay, father Abraham, but if one from the dead come to them, they will be converted ; but Abraham said to him. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe even if one rose from the dead," Luke xvi. 29, 30, 31.
18. That heaven is from mankind, may ap- pear from this consideration, that the minds of angels and men are alike, both possessing the same faculty of understanding, perceiving, and wiUing ; and both are formed to receive heaven ; for the human mind is capable of Uke wisdom
with the angelical, and the only reason why men are not as wise in this world as the angels, is because they are here confined to earthly bo- dies, and therein the spiritual mind thinks na- turally, for man's spiritual thought, which he is endued with as well as an angel, during his life in the body flows into natural ideas correspond- ing with spiritual, and so are perceived therein ; but it is otherwise when the mind of man is loosed from the fetters of the body, then it no longer thinks naturally but spiritually; and when it thinks spiritually, it conceives things incomprehensible and unutterable to the natur- al man, consequently in like manner as an an- gel. Hence it may appear evident, that the internal of man, which is called his spirit, is in its essence an angel, (g) That an angel is in a perfect human form, maybe seen in the Trea- tise on Heaven and Hell, n. 73 to 77. But when the internal of man is not opened above,
(g) That there are as many degrees of life in man, as there are heavens, and that they are open- ed after death according to his life, n. 3747, 9594. That heaven is in man, n. 3884. That men, who live a life of love and charity, possess in themselves angelic wisdom, but unperceived while in the body, and that they enter into it after death, n. 2494. That man, who receives the good of love and faith from the Lord, is call- ed an angel in the Word, n. 10528.
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but only beneath, even then after its separation from the body, it appears in a human form, but monstrous and diahoHcal, for it cannot look upward to heaven, but only downward to hell.
19. That heaven and hell are from mankind, the church might also have known from the Word, and received as a part of its doctrine, if it had admitted of illumination from heaven, and attended to what the Lord said to the thief, " That this day he should be with him in para- dise," Luke xxiii. 43; and to what he said con- cerning Dives and Lazarus, ''That Dives went to hell, and thence conversed with Abraham, and that Lazarus went to heaven," Luke xvi. 19 to 31 ; or to what the Lord said to the Sad- ducees concerning the resurrection, " That God is not the God of the dead, but of the hving," JMatt. xxii. 32. And moreover it might have been known from the common belief of all who hve a good life, particularly from their belief at the hour of death, when they are no longer influenced by worldly and corporeal things, that they shall go to heaven immediately on their departure from the body. This belief prevails with all, when they do not think, from the doctrine of the church, concerning the res- urrection at the time of the last judgment ; in the truth of which any person may be confirm- ed, if he will make inquiry.
20. He who is instructed in the nature of di-
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vine order, may also know, that man was cre- ated for this end, namely, that he may become an angel, for in him is the ultimate of order, (see above, n. 9,) wherein all that appertains to heavenly and angelic wisdom may be formed, renewed, and multiplied. Divine order never subsists in what is intermediate, nor forms any thing there without what is ultimate ; but in order to its being in its fulness and perfection, it must proceed to its ultimate or hmit : then, when it has attained thereto, it has the power of forming, and also, by virtue of things medi- ate therein reposited, of renewing and produc- ing itself afresh, which is effected by means of procreation : wherefore in the ultimates is the seminary of heaven. This also is understood by what is said of man and of his creation in the first chapter of Genesis, verses 26, 27, 28 : " God said. Let us make man into our image, according to our hkeness. And God created man into his image, into the image of God cre- ated he him ; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply yourselves ;" to create into the image and likeness of God, is to reposite in man all things of divine order from first to last, and thus as to the interiors of his mind to make him an angel.
21. The reason why the Lord rose again, not only as to his spirit, but also as to his body,
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is, because, when in the world, he glorified his whole humanity, that is, made it divine: for his soul, being derived from the Father, was of itself the essential divinity, and his body became a hkeness of the soul, that is, of the Father, and thus it was also made divine. Hence it was, that, differently from all other men, he rose again both as to soul and body, (h) This he also manifested to his disciples, when they took him to be a spirit, by saying, "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have," Luke xxiv. 36, 37, 38; by which he gave them to understand, that he was man not only as to spirit, but also as to body.
22. Moreover, that heaven and hell are from mankind, has been shewn in many articles in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, as in the fol- lowing : Concerning the Gentiles or people with- out the church in heaven, n. 318 to 328. Of infants or little children in heaven, n. 329 to 345. Of the wise and simple in heaven, n. 346 to 356. Of the rich and poor in heaven, n. 357 to 365. That every man is a spirit as to his interiors, n. 432 to 444. That man after death is in a perfect human form, n. 453 to 460. That man after death retains every
{h ) That man rises again only as to his spirit, n. 10593, 10594. That the Lord alone rose again as to his body, n. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825.
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sense, as also the same memory, thought, and affection, which he had in the world, and that he leaves nothing behind him but his terrestrial body, n. 461 to 469. Of the first state of man after death, n. 491 to 498. Of his second state after death, n. 499 to 511. Of his third state, n. 512 to 517. See also what is related concerning the hells, n. 536 to 588. From all which particulars it may plainly appear, that heaven does not consist of any angels cre- ated such at the beginning, nor hell of any devil and his crew, but only of those who were born men.
That all who have been horn Men from the Begin- ning of Creation^ and are deceased^ are either in Heaven or in Hell.
23. This follows. First, from what has been said and shewn in the preceding chapter, name- ly, that heaven and hell are from mankind. Secondly, from this consideration, that every man, after his departure from this world, con- tinues tohve to eternity. Thirdly, that thus all who were ever born men since the creation of the world, and are deceased, are either in heaven or in hell. Fourthly, that whereas all who shall hereafter be born, will also go into the spiritual world, that world is of such an ex-
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tent and quality, that the natural world, where- in men dwell on the earths, cannot be com- pared therewith. But in order that these po- sitions may be more distinctly perceived, and made evident, 1 shall here unfold and describe them one by one.
24. That all who have been born men since the beginning of creation, and are deceased, are either in heaven or in heW, follows frora what has been said and shewn in the preceding chap- ter, namely, that heaven and hell are from man- kind, appears without explication. It has been the prevailing belief heretofore, that men will not go to heaven or hell before the day of the last judgment, when souls will return into their bodies, and so enter into the enjoyment of such things as are supposed to be proper to the body. Into this belief the simple have been led, by those who professed wisdom, and have made inquiry concerning the interior state of man ; such persons having never thought about the spiritual world, but only about the natural, and consequently having never thought about the spiritual man, have therefore been ignorant that the spiritual man, which is within every one's natural body, is equally in a human form as the natural man ; hence it never entered into their mind, that the natural man derives its human form from the spiritual man within it ; although they might see that the spiritual man acts at
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pleasure in all and every part of the natural man, and that the natural man is altogether in- capable of acting of itself. It is the spiritual man that thinks and wills, for this the natural man cannot do of itself, and thought and will are the all in all of the natural man, for the lat- ter is acted upon at the pleasure of the former, and Hkewise speaks as the former thinks, inso- much that action is nothing but will, and speech is nothing but thought, for on the removal of will and thought, speech and action instantly cease. Hence it appears, that the spiritual man is the real man, and resides in all and singular parts of the natural man, consequently that it has the same likeness and appearance, for every part or particle of the natural man, which is not acted upon by the spiritual, is hfeless. But the spiritual man cannot appear to the eyes of the natural man, for what is natural cannot see what is spiritual, but what is spiritual can see what is natural ; this being according to order, whereas the former is contrary to order, for all influx is from the spiritual into the natural world ; so also is sight, for sight is influx ; but influx from the natural into the spiritual world is a thing impossible. The spiritual man is what is called the spirit of man, which appears in the spiritual world in a perfect human form, and which lives after death. As the learned have known nothing concerning the spiritual world, c
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and consequently nothing respecting the spirit of man, as was observed above, therefore they have imagined, that man cannot hve as a man, until the soul return to the body, and again be endued with its senses; hence have arisen such vain and silly ideas concerning the resurrection of man, as that the body, although devoured by wwms and fish, and totally fallen to dust, is to be collected together again by an act of divine omnipotence, and reunited to the soul ; and that this will not take place before the end of the world, when the visible universe is to perish ; besides many more things of a hke nature, wdiich exceed all comprehension, and strike the mind at first sight as impossibilities, and contrary to divine order; hence also the faith of many be- comes weak; for they who think wisely, cannot believe what they do not in some measure com- prehend, and there is no such thing as a faith in impossibihties, or in what a man beheves to be impossible. From this ground it is, that they, who do not beheve in a life after death, draw" arguments against it. But that man rises again immediately after death, and that he is then in a perfect human form, may be seen in many ar- ticles in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell. These observations are made, that it may be still farther confirmed, that heaven and hell are from mankind : whence it follows, that all who were ever born men since the beginning of creation, and ape deceased, are either in heaven or in bell.
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25. That every man after his departure from this world continues to live to eternity, is evident from this consideration, that man is then spiritual, and no longer natural, and that the spiritual man, when separated from the natural man, retains its quality to eternity, for the state of man cannot be changed after death. More- over the spiritual principle of every man is in conjunction with the Divine, for it has a capa- city of thinking about it, and also of loving it, and it can be affected with whatever proceeds from it, viz. with such things as are taught by the church; consequently it is capable of being conjoined with the Divine by thought and will, which two faculties belong to the spiritual man, and constitute its hfe. Now whatever can be thus conjoined with the Divine, cannot die to eternity, for the Divine is with it, and conjoins it to himself. Man is also created after the form of heaven as to his mind, and the form of heaven is from the essential divinity, as may appear evident in the Treatise concern- ing Heaven and Hell, where it is shewn, that the divinity of the Lord constitutes and forms heaven, n. 7 to 12, and n. 78 to 86. That man is created that he may become heaven in its least form, n. 57. That heaven in its uni- versal complex resembles one man,n. 59 to 66. That hence every angel is in a perfect human form, n. 73 to 77. Man is an angel with re- c2
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spect to his spiritual part. On this subject I have frequently conversed with the angels,who greatly- wondered, that among those, who in the christ- ian world are called intelligent, and who are also supposed to be so by others, there are very ma- ny, who totally reject the doctrine of their own immortality, imagining that the soul of man will be dissipated after death just like the soul of a beast ; not perceiving the difference between the life of man and that of a beast, in that man can elevate his thoughts above himself, and think about God, heaven, love, faith, spiritual and moral good, truths, he. and thus that he can be elevated to the Divine himself, and be conjoin- ed to him by means of all those things ; but that beasts cannot be elevated above their natural principle to think about such things, consequent- ly that their spiritual principle cannot be sepa- rated from their natural after death, {i) and
(i ) That there is also an influx from the spir- itual world, into the life of beasts, but general, not special as with man, n. 1633, 3646. That the difl'erenee between men and beasts consists in this, that men are capable of being elevated above themselves to the Lord, of thinking concerning the divine principle, of loving it, and thus of being conjoined to the Lord, by virtue of which they possess eternal life; whereas beasts have no such capacity, and can never be elevated to such things, n. 4525, 6323, 923 L
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live by itself, like the spiritual principle of man ; which also is the reason why the life of a beast is dissipated with its natural life. The reason why many of the intehigent, or learned, so called, in the christian world, do not believe the immortality of their own hfe, is declared by the angels to be as follows, because in heart they deny the Divine Being, acknowledging nature instead of him ; and they who think from such principles, have no conception of any eter- nity by means of conjunction with the Divine, consequently they have no idea that the state of man is different from that of beasts, for when they reject the Divine from their thoughts, they also reject the idea of eternity. The angels further said, that in every man there is an in- most or supreme degree of hfe, or a certain inmost or supreme part, into which the Divine of the Lord first or proximately flows, and from whence the Lord regulates and governs the other interiors belonging to the spiritual and natural man, which succeed each other accord- ing to their degrees of order. This inmost or supreme part they called the Lord's entrance into man, and his most pecuhar dwelling-place within him; they said also, that by virtue of this inmost or supreme part man is man, and dis- tinguished from the brute animals, which have it not ; and that hence it is, that men, dilFerently from animals, with respect to the interiors which c3
42
belong to their minds and spirits, can be ele- vated by the Lord to himself, can beheve in him, be affected with love to him,. and can also receive intelligence and wisdom, and converse rationally. When I interrogated them concern- ing those who deny the Divine Being and divine truths, whereby the life of man is conjoined with the Divine himself, saying that even such per- sons hve to eternity, the angels replied, that they possessed the faculty of thinking and will- ing, and consequently of beheving and loving what proceeded from the Divine, equally with those who acknowledge him, and that it is this faculty which capacitates them ahke to live for- ever ; they added, that this faculty is derived to them from that inmost or supreme part, which is in every man, as observed above. That even they who are in hell possess this faculty, by virtue of which they have the power of reason- ing and speaking against divine truths, has been shewn in many places : hence it is, that every man, of whatever description he be, hves to eternity. Inasmuch as every man after death hves to eternity, therefore no angel or spirit ever thinks of death, nay, they are altogether ignorant what it is to die : wherefore when death is mentioned in the Word, by the angels is either understood damnation, which is death in the spiritual sense, or a continuation of life
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and resurrection, (k) These observations are made, in confirmation that all men whatever, who have been born from the first of creation, and are deceased, are living, some in heaven, and some in hell.
26. In order that I might know, that all who were ever horn men since the beginning of cre- ation, and are deceased, are either in heaven or in hell, it was given me to converse with some who hved before the flood, with others who lived after the flood, and also with certain of the Jewish nation, whose names are mentioned in the Word of the Old Testament; 1 have hke- wise been permitted to converse with some who hved in the time of the Lord, with many who lived in the following ages even to the present day, and moreover with all those now departed, whom I knew during their Hfe in the body, and
(k) That when death is mentioned in the Word, and predicated of the wicked, in heaven is understood damnation, which is spiritual death, and also hell, n. 5407, 6119, 9008. That they who are in goods and truths are said to be alive, but they who are in evils and falses, dead, n. 81, 290, 7494. That by death, when it relates to the good who die, in heaven is understood res- urrection and continuation of life, inasmuch as man then rises again, continues his life, and pro- ceeds therein to eternity, n. 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621, 6036, 6222.
c4
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likewise with infants, and with many from the heathen nations. From which experience I am fully conv inced, that there is not one, who w^as ever born a man from the first creation of this earth, but what is either in heaven or in hell.
27. Whereas all, who shall hereafter be born, will also enter into the spiritual world, that therefore that world is of such an extent and quality, that the natural ivorld, wherein men dwell on the earths, cannot be compared there- with, is evident from the immense nmltitude of men, who from the first of creation have pass- ed into the spiritual world, and are there as- sembled together ; and hkewise from the con- tinual increase hereafter from the human race, which will be added thereto, and this without end, agreeable to what was shewn above under its proper article, n. 6 to 13, namely, that the procreations of mankind on the earths will never cease. It has been given me at times to see, when my eyes were open, how immense a multitude of men is already collected there, which was so great, that they could scarcely be numbered ; they amounted to some myriads, and this only in one place towards one quarter ; how immense then must be the number in other parts ! For in the spiritual world they are all collected into societies, which are innumerable, and each society in its place forms three hea-
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vens, and under them are three hells ; where- fore there are some above, some in the middle, and some beneath, and under them again there are some in the lowest places, or in the hells ; those who are superior, or above, dwell among themselves in hke manner as men in cities, to the amount of some hundreds of thousands. Hence it appears, that the natural world, w^herein men dwell on the earths, cannot be compared to that world with respect to the multitude of the human race; wherefore when a man passes from the natural world into the spiritual, it is comparatively like going from a small village into a great city. That the na- tural world cannot be compared with the spir- itual world as to nature or quality, may also appear evident from this consideration, that not only all things exist therein, which are to be found in the natural world, but innumerable other things besides, which were never seen in this world, neither can they be made manifest to the bodily sight ; for in that world spiritual things are represented under all their forms, as it were, in a natural appearance, and each with an infinite variety; for the spiritual so far ex- ceeds the natural in excellence, that there are but few things which can be brought down to the natural sense, this sense not being capable of apprehending one thing out of a thousand which the spiritual mind perceives; and all c5
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things which appertain to the spiritual mind are also represented in forms before the sight of spirits : hence it is, that the spiritual world can- not be described as to its magnificent and stu- pendous objects : these also increase according to the multiplication of the human race in the heavens, for all things are there represented in forms corresponding to every one's state with respect to love and faith, and consequently with respect to intelligence and wisdom ; thus wuth a variety continually increasing according to the increase in number : hence it is said by those who have been elevated into heaven, that they have seen and heard therein such things as the eye never saw, nor the ear ever heard. From what has been observed, it may appear evident, that the spiritual world is of such a quality, that the natural world can by no means be compared therewith. Further particulars respecting that world may be seen in the Trea- tise on Heaven and Hell, where it treats of the two kingdoms of heaven, n. 20 to 28. Of the societies of heaven, n. 41 to 50. Of re- presentatives and appearances in heaven, n. 170 to 176. And of the wisdom of the hea- venly angels, n. 265 to 275. The particulars there described, however, are very few.
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That the Last Judgment is to take place where all are gathered together^ consequently in the Spirit' ual Worldy and not on the Earths.
28. The common opinion concerning the last judgment is, that the Lord will then appear in the clouds of heaven with angels in glory, and that all who have ever lived from the beginning of the creation will be raised up out of their graves, and their souls again clothed with their bodies; and when thus assembled in one place, that they who have lived vrell will be judged to eternal life or heaven, and they who have done evil, to eternal death or hell. This behef is derived to the churches from the literal sense of the Word, nor could it be removed, so long as they w^ere ignorant that there is a spiritual sense in every part of the Word, and that that sense is the real and essential Word, to which the hteral sense serves as a foundation or basis, and that without such a literal sense the Word could not possibly be divine, nor serve as the doctrine of life and faith to heaven as well as the world, and for their conjunction. Whoever therefore is acquainted with the spiritual things corres- ponding to the natural things in the Word, may know, that by the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven, is not understood his appear- ance in the clouds, but his appearance in the Word ; for the Lord is the Word, inasmuch as
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he is divine truth ; the clouds of heaven, in which he is to come, are the hteral sense of the Word, and glory is its spiritual sense ; the angels are heaven, from whence the Lord makes his appearance, and they likewise are the Lord with respect to divine truths : (/) hence appears what is meant by those words, viz. that the Lord, when the church is at an end, will reveal
(I) That the Lord is the Word, because he is divine truth in heaven, n. 2533,2818, 2859, 2894, 3393, 3712. That the Lord is the Word also for this reason, because it is from him, and treats of him, n. 2859; and because it treats of the Lord alone, and chiefly of the glorification of his hu- manity in its inmost sense, thus the Lord himself is therein, n. 1873, 9357. That the coming of the Lord is his presence in the Word, and rev- elation, n. 3900, 4060. That clouds in the Word signifv the Word in the letter, or its literal sense, n. 1060, 4391, 5922, 6343, 6752, 8106, 8781, 9430, 10551, 10574. That glory in the Word signifies Divine Truth, such as it is in heaven, and in the spiritual sense of the Word, n. 4809, 5292, 8267, 8427, 9429, 10574. That by angels in the Word are signified Divine Truths proceed- ing from the Lord, inasmuch as angels are reci- pients thereof, and do not speak truths from them- selves, but from the Lord, n. 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 4295, 4402, 6280, 8192, 8301. That trumpets or cornets, which the angels will then have, signify divine truths in heaven, and reveal- ed from heaven, n. 8815, 8823, 8915.
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the spiritual sense of the Word, and thus man- ifest divine truth such as it is in itself ; conse- quently that this is the sign of the last judgment taking place. That there is a spiritual sense in every particular of the Word, yea in every single expression, and what the nature and qual- ity of that sense is, may be seen in the Arcana CffiLESTiA, wherein are explained, according to that sense, all and singular the things con- tained in the Books of Genesis and Exodus, from which work some particulars are collected relative to the Word and its spiritual sense in a small tract concerning the White Horse mentioned in the Apocalypse.
29. That the last judgment is to take place in the spiritual world, and not in the natural world or on the earths, is evident from the two preceding articles, and also from what follows : in the two preceding articles it was shewn, that heaven and hell are from mankind, and that all who were ever born men from the beginning of creation, and are deceased, are either in heaven or in hell, consequently that all are there col- lected together ; but in the articles w^iich fol- low, it shall be shewn, that the last judgment is already accomplished.
30. Besides, no one is judged from the natur- al man, consequently not whilst he is living in the natural world, inasmuch as man is then in a natural body ; but all are judged in the spiritual
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man, consequently when they come mto the spiritual world, for man is then in a spiritual body. It is the spiritual part of man that is judged, but not the natural, for this latter is in no respect faulty or criminal, inasmuch as it does not Hve of itself, but is merely a servant or in- strument, whereby the spiritual man acts, as may be seen above, n. 24 : hence also it is, that judgment passes on men, when they have put off their natural, and put on their spiritual body : in this body a man also appears according to his true quality with respect to love and faith, for every one in the spiritual world is an image or likeness of his own love, not only with re- spect to his face and body, but with respect to his speech and actions; see the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 481. Hence it is, that all are known and distinguished as to their real quality, and immediately separated, when it is the good pleasure of the Lord. From what has been said it also appears evident, that the judgment takes place in the spiritual world, and not in the natural world or on the earths.
31. That the natural life of man is of no consideration, but his spiritual life in the natural, the natural of itself being void of hfe ; and that the apparent life therein is from the life of the spiritual man, consequently that it is this latter which is judged ; and that it is also the spirit- ual part of man w^hich is to be judged accord-
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ing to its deeds, may be seen in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, under the following article, That man is after death such as his Ufe was in the world, n. 470 to 484.
32. 1 shall here add a certain heavenly ar- canum, w^hich indeed is mentioned in the Trea- tise on Heaven and Hell, but not yet de- scribed : every one after death is bound to, or in fellowship with, a certain society, and this immediately on his entering into the spiritual world, as may be seen in that work, n. 427 and 497 ; but a spirit in his first state knows nothing thereof, being then in his externals, and not as yet in internals. During his exter- nal state, he wanders hither and thither, where- soever he pleases ; but still he is actually w-here his love is, that is, in society with those who are in a similar love. While a spirit is in this state, he appears in many other places, and also every where as if present in body, but this is only an appearance ; wherefore as soon as ever he is brought by the Lord into his go- verning love, he immediately disappears from the sight of others, and is among his like in the society to which he is bound. This is pecu- liar to the spiritual world, and a matter of as- tonishment to those who are ignorant of the cause. Hence now it is, that as soon as ever spirits are gathered together, and separated, they are also judged, and every one is instantly fixed in his own place, the good in heaven, and
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in society there with their like, and the evil in hell, and in society there with their hke. From what has been observed it may also appear manifest, that the last judgment c^n only take place in the spiritual world, as well because every one there is an image of his own life, as because all are associated together who are in a similar life, consequently every one is in fel- lowship with his like. It is otherwise in the natural world, where the good and the bad are intermixed ; there no one knows the real qual- ity of another, nor are they separated from each other according to the affection of their life : besides, it is impossible for any man with his natural body to be either in heaven or in hell; wherefore, in order that man may enter into one or the other, it is necessary that he put off his natural body, and afterwards be judged in his spiritual body. Hence it is, as observed above, that the spiritual man is judg- ed, and not the natural.
That the Last Judgment takes place when the Church is at an End ; and that the Church is at an Endy when there is no Faith in consequence of there being no Charity.
33. There are many reasons why the last judgment takes place, when the church is at an end ; the principal whereof is, because then the
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equilibrium betwixt heaven and hell begins to be destroyed, and with the equilibrium the very liberty or freewill of man ; and when this is the case, it is no longer possible for him to be saved ; but he is then from freedom inclined to hell, and cannot be led in freedom to heaven; for without freewill no one can be reformed, and all man's freewill proceeds from the equilibrium which subsists between heaven and hell. That this is the case, may appear evident from the two articles in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, which treat of the equilibrium between heaven and hell, n 589 to 596 : and that man's freewill is from the equilibrium that subsists between heaven and hell, n. 597 to 603 ; and further, that no one is capable of being reformed unless in a state of liberty and of freedom.
34. That the equilibrium betwixt heaven and hell begins to perish at the end of the church, may appear from this consideration, that heaven and hell are from mankind, as may be seen above in its proper article ; and that when few go to heaven, but many to hell, evil on the one side increases beyond good on the other ; for in proportion as hell increases, so also does evil ; and man receives all his evil from hell, and all his good from heaven. As then evil increases above good at the end of the church, therefore all are then judged by the Lord, the wicked separated from the good, all things reduced to
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order, and a new heaven established, together with a new church on the earths, and thus the equilibrium is restored. This now is what is called the last judgment, which will be further described in the following pages.
35. That the church is at an end, when there is no longer any faith within the church, is known from the Word; but it is not as yet known, that there is no faith where there is no charity; wherefore something shall now be said relative to this subject. That there would be no faith at the end of the church, is foretold by the Lord in these words, "When the Son of Man shall come, will he find faith on the earth?" Luke xviii. 8 : and also that then there would be no charity, " In the consummation of the age iniquity shall be multiplied, the charity of many shall grow cold ; and that gospel shall be preached to all the world ; and then shall the end come," Matt. xxiv. 12, 14. The consum- mation of the age is the last time of the church : the successive states of the declension of the church with respect to love and faith, are described by the Lord in that chapter, but they are described by mere correspondences ; and therefore the things which are there predicted by the Lord cannot be understood, unless the spiritual sense corresponding with every par- ticular be known ; for which reason it has been given me from the Lord to explain the whole
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contents of that chapter, and part of the next, which treat of the consammalion of the age, the coming of the Lord, and the successive vastation of the church, and of the last judg- ment, as may be seen in the Arcana C(Eles- TiA, n. 3353 to 335G, 3486 to 3489, 3650 to 3655, 3751 to 3759, 3897 to 3901, 4056 to 4060, 4229 to 4231, 4332 to 4335, 4422 to 4424, 4635 to 4638, 4661, to 4664, 4807 to 4810, 4954 to 4959, 5063 to 5071.
36. Something shall now be said in relation to this point, that there is no faith where there is no charity : it is imagined that there is faith so long as the doctrinals of the church are be- lieved in, consequently that they have faith who so believe ; but faith does not consist in merely believing, but in willing and doing what is be- heved. When the doctrinals of the church are only believed, they are not in the hfe of man, but merely in his memory, and thence in the thought of his external man ; neither do they enter into his life, until they enter into his will, and thence into his actions ; then for the first time is faith in man's spirit, for the spirit of man, the hfe of which is his real and true life, is formed from his will, and so far from the thought, as this proceeds from the will : the memory of man, and thought thence derived, is only the outer court that leads to the real man. Whether we say will or love, it amounts
D
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to the same thing, for whatever any one wills, that he loves, and what he loves, that he wills ; and the will is the receptacle of love, and the understanding, whose province it is to think, is the receptacle of faith. A man may know, think, and understand many things, but such things as do not accord with his will or love, he rejects, when left to himself to meditate from his own will or from his own love ; and there- fore he also rejects them after the life of the body, when he becomes a spirit ; for that only remains in a man's spirit, which has entered into his will or love, as observed above ; other things after death are regarded as foreign, which having no place in his affections, are en- tirely rejected, and even abhorred. But the case is otherwise, when a man not only believes the doctrinals of the church derived from the Word, but also wills them, and lives according to them ; then faith takes place ; for faith is the affection of truth derived from the love of truth for its own sake, and to love or will truth for its own sake, is the real spiritual principle in man, being distinct from his natural, which consists in willing truth, not for the sake of truth, but for the sake of self-glory, reputation, and gain ; but truth, considered abstractedly from such things, is spiritual, being in its essence divine ; wherefore to will or desire truth for the sake of truth, is likewise to acknowledge
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and love what is divine. These two are per- fectly conjoined, and are also considered as one in heaven, for the divine proceeding from the Lord in heaven is divine truth, as may be seen in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 128 to 132; and they are angels in the heavens, who are recipient thereof, and bring it forth in their hves. These observations are made, in order to shew, that faith does not consist in barely believing, but in willing and doing, and consequently that there is no faith where there is no charity ; charity or love consists in will- ing and doing-
37. That at the present day faith is so very rare, that it can scarcely be said there is any, appeared evident from many, as well among the learned as the simple, who after death were ex- amined as to what faith they possessed in the world, and it was found that every one suppos- ed faith to consist merely in believing, and per- suading themselves that such or such a thing was true ; and the more learned among them thought it was only a belief from trust and con- fidence, that they are saved by the passion of the Lord, and his intercession- It was also found, that scarce any person knew, that there is no faith where there is no charity or love ; nor did they even know what charity towards their neighbour is, nor the difference between d2
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thinking and willing ; the greater part of them entirely rejected charity, declaring that it avails nothing, but faith alone. When they were told that charity and faith are one, Hke will and un- derstanding, that charity resides in the will, and faith in the understanding, and that to sepa- rate the one from the other, is hke separating the will and the understanding, they had no comprehension of the matter : hence it was evi- dent, that there is scarce any faith at the pre- sent day. This was also proved to them by lively experience ; they who were in the per- suasion that they had faith, were led to an an- gelic society, which was in genuine faith, and then, on a communication taking place, they clearly perceived, that they possessed no faith ; as they hkewise confessed in the presence of many. The same was also made manifest by other means to those who professed faith, and supposed they beheved, and yet had not lived the life of faith, which is charity; every one of whom confessed they had no faith, because there was nothing thereof in the Hfe of their spirit, but only in their external thought while they lived in the natural world.
38. Such is the state of the church at this day, namely, that there is no faith therein be- cause there is no charity, and where there is no charity, there is nothing of spiritual good, for that good is solely derived from charity.
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It was said from heaven, that there is still good in some individuals, but that it cannot be called spiritual good, but natural good, by reason that essential divine truths are in obscurity, and di- vine truths introduce to charity, for they teach it, and regard it as their end; hence the quality of charity is always determined by the truths which give it form and existence. The divine truths, from which the doctrines of the [pre- sent] churches are derived, respect fahh alone, wherefore they are called the doctrines of faith, and have no regard to life; yet truths that only regard faith and not life, cannot make man spiritual; for so long as they are without life, they are merely natural, being known and thought of only as other common matters: hence it is, that at this day there is no spiritual good, but only natural good in certain individu- als. Moreover, every church at its commence- ment is spiritual, for it takes its rise from cha- rity ; but in process of time it declines from charity to faith, and then from an internal church becomes external ; and when this is the case, it is at an end, or no longer a church, in- asmuch as the whole of religion is then made to consist in science or knowledge, and little if any thing in life ; and in proportion as man from internal becomes external, so is spiritual light darkened within him, to such a degree, that he does not see divine truth from real d3
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genuine truth, or from the light of heaven, which is the same thing, but only from natural light, which is of such a nature, that when alone, and not enlightened by spiritual light, it sees divine truth as in the dark, believing it to be truth for no other reason than merely because it is so called by the leaders of the church, and received as such by the commonalty : hence it is, that the intellectual faculty of such persons cannot be illuminated by the Lord ; for in pro- portion as natural light shines in the intellectual part, in the same proportion spiritual light is obscured : natural light shines in the intellect- ual part, when worldly, corporeal, and earthly things are loved in preference to things spirit- ual, celestial, and divine; in the same degree also is man external.
39. But whereas it is not known in the christian world, that there is no faith where there is no charily, nor in what charity towards our neighbour consists, nor even that the will constitutes the real man, with only so much of thought as is derived from the will; therefore, in order to bring these matters into the light of the understanding, I shall here add some ex- tracts from the Arcana Ccelestia, which may serve for illustration.
EXTRACTS
FROM
THE ARCANA CCELESTIA.
CONCERNING FAITH. That they who do Dot know that all things in the universe have relation to Truth and Good, and to the conjunc- tion of both, in order to the production of any- thing, are also ignorant that all things appertain- ing to the church have relation to Faith and Love, and to the conjunction of both,n. 7752 to 7762, 9186, 9224. That all things in the uni- verse have relation to truth and good, and to their conjunction, n. 2451, 3166, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122, 10555. That truths have respect to faith, and goods to love, n. 4353, 4997, 7178, 10367.
That they who do not know that every thing in man, both in general and in particular, has re- lation to the Understanding and the Will, and to the conjunction of both, in order that man may be man, are ignorant that all things apper- taining to the church have relation to Faith and Love, and to their conjunction, in order that the church may exist in man, n. 2231, 7752, 7753, 7754,9224,9995, 10122. That man has two fa- culties, one of which is called the understanding, and the other the will, n. 641, 803, 3623, 3939. d4
G2
That the understanding is the recipient of truths, consequently of those things which appertain to faith ; and the will the recipient of goods, conse- quently of what appertains to love, n. 9300, 9930, 10064. That hence it follows, that love or charity constitutes the church, and not faith alone, or faith separate from charity, n. 809, 916, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 4766,5826.
That faith separate from charity is no faith, n. 654, 724, 1162, 1176, 2049, 2116, 2340, 2349, 2419, 3849, 3868, 6348, 7039, 7842, 9782. That such a faith perishes in another life, n. 2228, 5820. That the doctrinal notions concerning faith alone destroy charity, n. 6353, 8094. That they who separate faith from charity are represented in the Word by Cain, by Ham, by Reuben, by the first- born of the Egyptians, and by the Philistines n, 3325, 7097, 7317, 8093. That in proportion as charity departs, in the same proportion prevails the religion respecting faith alone, n. 2231. That the church in process of time declines from char- ity to faith, and at last to faith alone, n. 4683, 8094. That in the last time of the church there is no faith, because there is no charity, n. 1843, 3489, 4649. That they who make faith alone to be of a saving efficacy, excuse an evil life; and that they w^ho are in a life of evil, have no faith, because they have no charity, n. 3865, 7766, 7778, 7790, 7950, 8094, That they are inwardly in the falses of their evil, although ignorant of it, n. 7790, 7950. That therefore good cannot be conjoined to them, n. 8981, 8983. That in another life they are also in opposition to good,
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and to those who are in good, n. 7097, 7127, 7317, 7502, 7945, 8096, 8313. That the simple in heart know what the good of life is, and also what charity is, better than those who are reputed wise, but not what faith separate from charity is n. 4741, 4754.
That good is the me, and truth the eodstere thence derived, and thus that the truth of faith has its esse of life from the good of charity, n. 3049, 3180, 4574, 5002, 9144. Hence that the truth of faith lives from the good of charity, consequently that the life of faith is charity, n. 1589, 1947, 1997, 2579, 4070, 4096, 4097, 4736, 4757, 4884, 5147, 5928, 9154, 9667, 9841, 10729. That faith has no life in man, when he only knows and thinks of the things belonging to faith, but when he wills them, and in consequence thereof does them, n. 9224. That the conjunction of the Lord with man is not wrought by faith, but by the life of faith which is charity, n. 9380, 10143, 10153, 10578, 10645, 10648". That worship from the good of charity is true worship, but when pro- ceeding from the truth of faith without the good of charity, it is merely an external act, n. 7724.
That faith alone, or faith separate from charity, is comparatively as the light of winter, in which all the subjects of the vegetable creation are tor- pid and lifeless, and nothing is produced; but that faith united with charity is comparatively as the light of spring and summer, in which all things blossom and are produced, n. 2231, 3146, 3412, 3413. That the wintery light, which is that of faith alone, is changed in another life into thick
d5
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darkness, on the approach of light from heaven; and that they who are in that faith, become at such times blind and stupid, n. 3412,3413. That they who separate faith from charity, are in dark- ness, consequently in ignorance of truth, and thereby in falses, for falses are darkness, n. 9186. That they cast themselves into falses, and thence into evils, n. 3325, 8094. The errors and falses into which they cast themselves, n. 4721, 4730, 4776, 4783, 4925, 7779, 8313, 8765, 9224. That the Word is closed to such, n. 3773,4783,8780. That they do not see or attend unto all the things which the Lord so often spake concerning love and charity, concerning which see n. 1017, 3416. That they do not know the nature either of good, or of heavenly love, or of charity, n. 2507, 3603, 4136, 9995.
That charity constitutes the church, and not faith separate from charity, n. 809, 916 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844. What degree of good would exist in the church, if charity were regarded as the principal constituent thereof, n. 6269, 6272. That the church would be but one, and not di- vided into many, if charity weie regarded as the essential of the church; and that in such case the ditferences which might exist as to doctrinal opinions, and matters relating to external wor- ship, would be of no account, n. 1285, 1316, 2385,2853,2982,3267,3445,3451,3452. That all in heaven are regarded from charity, and none from faith alone, n. 1258, 1394, 2364, 4802.
That the twelve disciples of the Lord represent- ed the church at large, as to all things belonging
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to faith and charity, in like manner as the twelve tribes of Israel, n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397. That Peter, James, and John, represented faith, charity, and the goods of charity, in their order, n. 3750. That Peter represented faith, n. 4738, 6000, 6073, 6344, 10087, 10580. And John the good things of charity. Preface to the 18th and 22d chapters of Genesis. That in the last times, or last state of the church, there would be no faith in the Lord, because no charity, is represented by Peter's three times denying the Lord before the cock crew thrice ; for Peter there in a repre- sentative sense is faith, n. 6000, 6073. That cock-crowing, as well as twilight, signifies in the Word the last time of the church, n. 10134. And that three, or thrice, signify a thing complete to its end, n. 2788, 4495, 5159, 5198, 10127. The like is signified by what the Lord said to Peter, when he saw John follow the Lord : "What is it to thee, Peter? follow thou me, John;" for Peter said of John, "What is he?" John xxi. 21, 22, n. 10087. That John rested on the breast of the Lord, because he represented the goods of cha- rity, n. 3934, 10081. That all the names of per- sons and places contained in the Word signify things abstracted from them, n. 768, 1888, 4310, 4442, 10329.
Concerning Charity. That heaven is distin- guished into two kingdoms, one of which is call- ed the celestial kingdom, and the other the spirit- ual; love in the celestial kingdom is love to the Lord, and is called celestial love; love in the spiritual kingdom is charity towards the neigh-
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bourj and is called spiritual love, n. 3325, 3653, 7257, 9002, 9833, 9961. That heaven is distin- guished into those two kingdoms, see the Trea- tise on Heaven and Hell, n. 20 to 28. And that the Divine of the Lord in the heavens is love to hira, and charity towards the neighbour, n. 13 to 19, in the same work.
That none can know what good and truth are, unless it be known what love to the Lord and charity to our neighbour are, because all good is the offspring of love and charity, and all truth is the offspring of good, n. 7255, 7366. That cha- rity consists in knowing truths, in willing them, and in being affected with them for their own sake, that is, because they are truths, n. 3876,3877. That charity is an internal affection of acting ac- cording to tni-th, and not an external affection destitute of that which is internal, n. 2430, 2442, 3776, 4899, 4956, 8033. Consequently that cha- rity consists in performing uses for the sake of uses, and that its quality is according to the use, n. 7038, 8253. That charity constitutes the spiritual life of man, n. 7081. That the whole Word is the doctrine of love and charity, n. 6632, 7262. That men at this day do not know what charity is, n. 2417, 3393, 4776, 6632. That nevertheless it may be discovered from the light of reason, that love and charity constitute man, n. 3957, 6273. Likewise that good and truth accord together, and mutually respect each other, conse- quently that charity and faith do in like manner, n. 7627.
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That the Lord is our neighbour in the supreme sense, because he is to be loved above all things; and hence that every thing derived from him in which he is present, is our neighbour, consequent- ly that good and truth are our neighbour, n. 2425, 3419, 6706, 6819, 6823, 8124. That the distinct- ion of neighbour is according to the quality of good, and thus according to the presence of the Lord, n. 6707, 6708, 6709, 6710. That every man, and every society, also our country, and the church, and in an universal sense the king- dom of the Lord, are our neighbour; and that to do kind and serviceable offices to them, accord- ing to their several states, from the love of good, is to love our neighbour; consequently that the term neighbour signifies their good, which we ought to have at heart, n. 6818 to 6824, 8123. That civil good which consists in justice, and moral good which is the good of life in society, are also our neighbour, n. 2915, 4730, 8120, 8121, 8122. That love to our neighbour does not consist in the love of his person, but in loving that in him which makes him our neighbour, consequently good and and truth, n.5025, 10336. That they who love the person, and not the quality within him which constitutes a neighbour, love what is evil as well as what is good, n. 3820. And that they confer benefits on the wicked as well as on the good, when nevertheless to confer benefits on the wick- ed is really to injure the good, and consequently cannot be said to be loving one's neighbour, n. 3820, 6703, 8120. The judge who punishes the wicked in order to their amendment, and that the
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good may not be corrupted by them, loves his neighbour, n. 8820, 8120, 8121.
That to love our neighbour is to do what is good, just, and upright in all our dealings and coDcerns, n. 8120, 8121, 8122. Hence that cha- rity towards our neighbour extends itself, both in general and in particular, to whatsoever a man thinks, wills, and does, n. 8124. That to do what is good and true for the sake of good and truth, is to love our neighbour, n. 10310, 10336. That they who do this, love the Lord, who is our neigh- bour in a supreme sense, n. 9212. That a life of charity is a life in conformity to the command- ments of the Lord; consequently to live accord- ing to divine truths, is to love the Lord, n. 10143, 10153, 10310, 10578, 10648.
That genuine charity does not claim merit, n. 2340, 2373, 2400, 3887, 6388 to 6393. Because it proceeds from an internal affection, consequent- ly from the delight of doing good, n. 2373, 2400, 3887, 6388, 6393. That they who separate faith from charity, in another life hold faith, and the good works which they did merely in an exter- nal form, as meritorious, n. 2373.
That the doctrine of the ancient church was the doctrine of life, which is the doctrine of charity, n. 2385, 2417, 3419, 3420, 4844, 6628. That the ancients, who belonged to the church, reduc- ed the goods of charity into order, and distin- guished them into classes, giving to each its pro- per name, and that herein consisted their wisdom, n. 2417, 6629, 7259 to 7262. That they who in the world have lived a life of charity, are gifted
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with an immense increase of wisdom and intel- ligence in another life, n. 1941, 5859. That the Lord flows with divine truth into charity, because into the very essential life of man, n. 2363. That man is comparatively as a garden, when charity and faith are conjoined in him, but as a desert when not conjoined, n. 7626. That man recedes from wisdom, in proportion as he recedes from charity, n. 6630. That they who are not in charity, are in ignorance respecting divine truths, howsoever wise they may think themselves, n. 2416, 2435. That the angelic life consists in performing works of charity, which are uses, n. 454. That the spiritual angels are forms of cha- rity, n. 553, 3804, 4735.
Concerning the Will and the Understand- ing. That there are two faculties belonging to man, one of which is called the understanding, and the other the will, n. 35, 641, 3939, 10122. That those two faculties constitute the real man, n. 10076, 10109, 10110, 10264, 10284. That the quality of man is determined by the quality of those two faculties in him, n. 7342, 8885, 9282, 10264, 10284. That by them also man is dis- tinguished from the beasts, by reason that the understanding of man may be elevated by the Lord, so as to see divine truths, and in like man- ner his will may be elevated so as to perceive divine goods ; and thus man may be conjoined to the Lord by those two faculties, which are his constituent principles; but that the case is other- wise with beasts, n. 4525,5302,5114,6323,9232. And since man, by virtue of that capacity, is su-
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perior to beasts, that he cannot die as to his in- teriors, which belong to his spirit, but that he lives forever, n. 5302.
That all things in the universe have relation to good and truth, consequently that all things in man have relation to the will and the understand- ing, n. 803, 10122. For the understanding is the recipient of truth, and the will the recipient of good, n. 3332, 3623, 5332, 6065, 6125, 7503, 9300, 9930. It amounts to the same whether you say truth or faith, for faith is of truth, and truth is of faith ; and it is also the same thing whether you say good or love, for love is of good, and good is of love ; for what a man believes, that he calls true ; and what he loves, that he calls good, n. 4353, 4997, 7178, 10122, 10367. Hence it follows, that the understanding is the recipient of faith, and the will the recipient of love, n. 7178, 10122, 10367. And since the un- derstanding of man is capable of receiving faith towards God, and his will of receiving love to- wards God, that by faith and love he may be con- joined to God, and whoever is capable of conjunc- tion with God by faith and love, cannot die to eternity, n. 4525,^6323, 2931.
That the will of man is the very esse of his life, inasmuch as it is the receptacle of love or good, and that the understanding is the existere of his life proceeding therefrom, inasmuch as it is the receptacle of faith or truth, n. 3619, 5002, 9282. Consequently that the life of the will is the principal life of man, and that the life of the understanding proceeds therefrom, n. 585, 590,
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S619, 7S42, 8885, 9282, 10076, 10109, 10110. Comparatively as light proceeds from fire or flame, n. 6032, 6314. That whatever things en- ter into the understanding, and at the same time into the will, are appropriated to man, but not those which are received in the understanding alone, n. 9009, 9069, 9071, 9129, 9182, 9386, 9393,10076,10109, 10110. That those things become appropriated to the life of man, which are received by the will, n. 3161, 9386, 9393. Hence it follows, that man is man by virtue of the will, and the understanding proceeding there- from, n. 8911, 9069, 9071, 10076, 10109, 10110. Every man also is loved by others, and estimated according to the good of his will and his under- standing thence derived ; for he who intends well, and understands well, is loved and esteemed, but he who understands well, and does not intend well, is rejected and despised, n. 8911, 10076. That man after death abides as his will is, and its derivative understanding, n. 9069, 9071, 9386, 10153. And that whatever things engage the understanding, and have not at the same time root in the will, then vanish away, because they are not in man, n. 9282. Or, what amounts to the same, that man after death remains as his love is, and its derivative faith, or as his good and its derivative truth; and that the things pertaining to faith, and not at the same time to love, or the things pertaining to truth, and not at the same time to good, then vanish away, inasmuch as they are not in man, consequently not belonging to him, n. 553, 2364, 10153. That man is capable of com-
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prehending with the understanding what he does not practise from the will, or that he may under- stand what he cannot will, because it is against his love, n. S539. That man hardly knows the distinction between thinking and willing, with the reason thereof, n. 9991.
How perverted a state they are in, whose un- derstanding and will do not act in unity, n. 9075. That such is the state of hypocrites, of the de- ceitful, of flatterers, and of dissemblers, n. 4326, 3573, 4799, 8250.
That all will of good, and understanding of truth thence derived, is from the Lord, but not so the understanding of truth separate from the will of what is good, n. 1831, 3514, 5483, 5649, 6027, 86S5, 8701, 10153. That it is the understand- ing which is enlightened by the Lord, n. 6222, 8660, 10659. That the understanding is enlight- ened in proportion as man receives truth with his will, that is, in proportion as he wills to act ac- cording thereto, n. 3619. That the understand- ing receives light from heaven, just as the eye receives light from the world, n. 1524, 5114, 6608, 9128, That the understanding takes its quality from those truths derived from good, of which it is formed, n. 10064. That the under- standing is what is formed by truths derived from good, but not what is formed by falses derived from evil, n. 10675. That the understanding consists in seeing, from matters of experience and science, truths, the causes of things, their connex- ions, and consequences, in regular order, n. 6125. That the understanding consists in seeing and
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perceiving whether a thing be true or not, before it is confirmed, but not in being able to confirm every thing, n. 4741, 7012, 7680, 7950, 8521, 8780. That to see and perceive whether a thing be true or not before confirmation, is only given to those who are affected with truth for its own sake, consequently to those who are in spiritual light, n. 8521. That the light of confirmation is natural light, and may be possessed even by the wicked, n. 8780. That every tenet, however false, may be confirmed, even so as to appear true, n. 2482, 2490, 5033, 6865, 7950.
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That all Things predicated in the Apocalypse are at this day Fulfilled.
40. No one can know what all the things con- tained in the Apocalypse signify and involve, un- less he is acquainted with the internal or spirit- ual sense of the Word ; for whatsoever is there mentioned, is written in a style similar to the prophetic parts of the Old Testament, wherein every word signifies something spiritual, which does not appear in the sense of the letter. Be- sides, the contents of the Apocalypse cannot be explained as to their spiritual sense, except by one who is acquainted with what has passed re- lative to the church, even to its final period, which knowledge can only be obtained in hea- ven ; and this is the subject treated of in the Apocalypse : for the Word in the spiritual sense every where treats of the spiritual world, that is, of the state of the church both in the heavens and on the earths; hence the Word is spiritual and divine ; it is this state which is there de- scribed in its order : whence it may plainly ap- pear, that the things contained in the Apoca- lypse could never be explained by any person, except by one, to whom a revelation has been made concerning the successive states of the church in the heavens; for there is a church in the heavens as well as on the earths, concern-
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ing which some particulars shall be related in what follows.
41. The nature and quality of the Lord's church on the earths cannot be seen by any man, so long as he lives in the world, and still less, how in process of time it has declined from good to evil ; the reason whereof is, because man dur- ing his life in the world is in externals, and only sees what is before his natural eyes; but the quahty of the church as to spiritual things, which constitute its internals, is not apparent in the world, although in heaven it appears as in clear day-light ; for the angels are in spiritual thought, and also in spiritual sight, consequently they see only spiritual things. Moreover, in the spiritual world all men are gathered together who have existed since the beginning of creation, as was shewn above, and they are also distinguished there into societies according to the goods of love and faith, see the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 41 to 50; hence it is, that the state of the church, and also its progressions, appear manifest in heaven before the angels. Now in- asmuch as the state of the church with respect to love and faith is described in the spiritual sense of the Apocalypse, therefore no one can know what is signified and implied by the contents thereof in regular series, except him who has received a revelation from heaven, and to whom it has been given at the same time to e2
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know the internal or spiritual sense of the Word. This 1 can positively assert, that every particu- lar therein, even to a single word, contains with- in it a spiritual sense; and that in this sense, all things appertaining to the church, in regard to its spiritual state from beginning to end, are fully described : and whereas every expression there- in signifies something spiritual, therefore not a single word can be omitted, without the series of things in the internal sense suffering a change thereby ; for this reason the following words are added at the conclusion of that book, " If any one shall take aw ay from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the book of hfe, and from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book," chap. xxii. 19. The case is similar in regard to the books of the Old Testament, wherein every circumstance recorded, and every word, contains an internal or spiritual sense ; wherefore neither can any word be taken away from them : hence it is, that by the divine providence of the Lord those books have been preserved entire even to a tittle, ever since the time they were first written, which was effected by the care of several, who have numbered every minute particular therein ; this was provided by the Lord on account of the sanctity in every tittle, letter, word, and thing therein con- tained.
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42. As there is in like manner an internal or spiritual sense in every word of the Apocalypse, and as that sense contains arcana relative to the state of the church in the heavens and on the earths, and since they cannot be revealed to any one, except to him who is acquainted with that sense, and who at the same time is permitted to be in consort with angels, and to hold spirit- ual conversation with them, therefore, lest the things which are written in that book should be hidden from mankind, and be rejected by pos- terity by reason of their not being understood, its contents have been revealed to me; but on account of their multiplicity, they cannot be de- scribed in this small Treatise : for which rea- son I intend to explain the whole of that book from beginning to end, and make known the mysteries therein contained ; which explication will be published within the course of two years, together with some passages in Daniel, which, through ignorance as to the spiritual sense, have hitherto lain concealed.
43. Without a knowledge of the internal or spiritual sense, it is impossible to guess what is meant in the Apocalypse by the dragon, and by Michael and his angels fighting with him ; what by the tail whereby the dragon drew down from heaven a third part of the stars ; what by the wo- man who brought forth the man child, which was caught up to God, and who was persecuted by
e3
7S
the dragon; what by the beast ascending from the sea, and by the beast ascending from the earth, which had so many horns ; what by the whore, with whom the kings of the earth com- mitted whoredom ; what by the first and second resurrection, and by the thousand years; what by the lake of brimstone and fire, into which the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet were cast ; what by the white horse ; and what by the former heaven and the former earth, which pass- ed away; or what by the new heaven and the new earth in room of the former ; and by the sea which was no more ; or what by the city the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven, and by its measures, wall, gates, and foundation of precious stones; or what by the various num- bers [mentioned in the same book,] with other things, most mysterious to such as are ignorant of the spiritual sense of the Word. But ah these particulars will be elucidated in the promised explication of that book.
44. It has been before remarked, that all things therein contained in the heavenly sense, are now fulfilled : in the present Treatise I shall make some general observations concerning the last judgment, the destruction of Babylon, the first heaven and the first earth which pass- ed away, the new heaven and the new earth, and concerning the New Jerusalem, in order that it may be known that all things are now
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accomplished. But it is impossible to enter into a minute detail, until [ come to explain each particular, according to the descriptions given in the book of revelation.
That the Last Judgment is accomplished.
45. It was shewn in a preceding chapter, that the last judgment does not take place in the earths, but in the spiritual world, where all are collected together from the beginning of crea- tion ; and such being the case, it is impossible for man to know when the last judgment is ac- complished, for every one expects it to take place on the earths, and at the same time, that all things which appear in the visible heavens and in the earths will undergo a change, to- gether with mankind who dwell thereon. Lest therefore the man of the church should from ignorance continue in such faith, and lest they who think concerning the last judgment should expect it forever, and thereby the belief of what is said about it in the literal sense of the Word should perish, and in consequence thereof many depart from their belief in the Word, it was granted me to see with my eyes, that the last judgment is now accomplished, and that the evil are cast into the hells, and the good elevated into heaven, and thus that all things are re- e4
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duced to order, and thereby the spiritual equi- hbrium restored, which subsists between good and evil, or between heaven and hell. In what manner the last judgment was accomplished, it was given me to be an eye-witness from begin- ning to end, and likewise how Babylon was de- stoyed, and they who are meant by the dragon cast into the abyss; I w^as further permitted to see in what manner the new heaven was form- ed, and a new church established in the heavens, which is understood by the New Jerusalem. All these things it was given me to see with my eyes, in order that I might be able to testify of the same. This last judgment commenced in the beginning of the preceding year 1757, and was fully accomplished at the end of the same year.
46. But it is to be observed, that the last judgment was performed on those who have lived from the time of the Lord to the present day, but not on those who lived before that period : for in this earth a last judgment had taken place twice before ; one, which is describ- ed in the Word by the flood ; the other was accomplished by the Lord himself when he was in the world, which is also understood by these words of the Lord, " Now is the judg- ment of this world, now is the prince of this world cast out," John xii. 31 ; and in another place, "These things I have spoken unto you,
that in me ye might have peace ; be of good cheer, I have overcome the world," John xvi. 33; also by these words in Isaiah, "Who is this that Cometh from Edom, walking in the multitude of his strength, great to save? I have trodden the wine-press alone, therefore I have trodden them in my anger, whence their victory is sprinkled upon my garments, for the day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my redeemed is come ; therefore he became a Saviour," chap. Ixiii. 1 to 8 ; and in many other places. The reason why there has been a last judgment in this earth twice before, is be- cause every judgment takes place at the end of the church, as was shewn above in its proper article; and on this earth there have been two churches, the first before the flood, and the second after the flood ; the church before the flood is described in the first chapters of Ge- nesis by the new creation of heaven and earth, and by paradise ; and its end by eating of the tree of knowledge, with the particulars which follow ; but its last judgment is described by the flood, and all according to the style of the Word by mere correspondences ; in the inter- nal or spiritual sense whereof, by the creation of heaven and earth is meant the establishment of a new church, as may be seen above in the first article ; by paradise in Eden, the celestial wisdom of that church ; by the tree of know- e5
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ledge, scientifics which destroyed that church, the same being signified by the serpent ; and by the flood is meant the last judgmen a those who were of that church. The second church, which was after the flood, is also de- scribed in several places in the Word, as Deut. xxxii. 7 to 14 ; and elsewhere. This church extended itself through a great part of Asia, and was continued among the posterity of Ja- cob ; its end was when the Lord came into the w^orld ; then the last judgment was accomphsh- ed by him on all who had lived from the first establishment of that church, and at the same time on those who remained of the first church. The Lord came into the w^orld for this end, that he might reduce to order all things in the heavens and by the heavens all things on the earths, and at the same time to make his hu- manity divine, which unless he had done, no one could have been saved. That there were two churches on this earth before the coming of the Lord, is shewn in many places in the Arcana Ccelestia, as may be seen in the extracts underneath ; (m) and that the Lord
(m) That the first and most ancient church on this earth was that which is described in the first chapters of Genesis, and that it was a ce- lestial church, and the chief of all the rest, n. 607,895, 920, 1121, 1122,1123, 1124, 2896, 4493, 8891, 9942, 10545. Of the states of
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came into the world that he might reduce to L. ?r all things in the heavens, and thereby in
those in heaven, who were of that church, n. 1114 to 1125. That they are in the highest degree of light there, n. 1117. That there were various churches after the flood, which are term- ed, in one word, the ancient church, n. 1125, 1126, 1127, 1327, 10355. Through what king- doms of Asia the ancient church was extended, n. 1238, 2385. The nature of the members of the ancient church, n. 609, 895. That the an- cient church was a representative church, n. 519, 521, 2896. The nature of the ancient church, when it began to decline, n. 1128. The difference between the most ancient and ancient churches, n. 597, 607, 640, 641, 765, 784, 895, 4493. Of the church that took its rise from Eber, which was called the Hebrew church, n. 1238, 1241, 1343, 4516, 4517. The difference between the ancient and the Hebrew churches, n. 1343, 4874. Of the church instituted among the posterity of Jacob, or the children of Israel, n. 4281, 4288, 4310, 4500, 4899, 4912, 6304, 7048, 9320, 10396, 10526, 10531, 10698. That the statutes, judgments, and laws, which were commanded among the children of Israel, were in part like those that existed in the ancient church, n. 4449. In what respect the repre- sentative rites of the Jewish church, which was established among the children of Israel, differ- ed from those of the ancient church, n. 4288, 10149. That in the most ancient church there
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the earths, and make his humanity divine, [n) The third church on this earth is the christian ;
was immediate revelation from heaven ; in the ancient church revelation by correspondences ; in the church among the children of Israel by an audible voice ; and in the christian church by the Word, n. 10355. That the Lord was the God of the most ancient church, and also of the ancient, and was called Jehovah, n. 1343, 6848.
( n) That the Lord, during his abode in the world, reduced all things to order both in the heavens and in the hells, n. 4075, 4286, 9937. That the Lord at that time delivered the spirit- ual world from the evil influences of the Antedi- luvians, n. 1266. The quality and character of those people described, n. 310, 311, 560, 562, 563, 570, 581, 586, 607, 660, 805, 808, 1034, 1120, 1265 to 1272. That the Lord by tempta- tions and victories subdued the hells, and re- duced all things to order, and at the same time glorified his humanity, n. 4287, 9397. That the Lord effected this by himself, or by his own power, n. 1692, 9937. That the Lord alone fought, n. 8273. That hence the Lord became alone righteousness and merit, n. 1813, 2025, 2026, 2027, 9715, 9809, 10019. That thus the Lord united his humanity with the divinity, n. 1725, 1729, 1733, 1737, 3318, 3381, 3382, 4286. That the passion of the cross was the last temptation, and complete victory, whereby he glorified himself, that is, made his humanity
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upon this church, and upon all who since the time of the Lord were in the first heaven, the last judgment, of which we are now treating, was accompHshed.
47. In what manner this last judgment was executed, cannot be described in this small work as to all particulars, because they are many, but they shall be described in the Explication of the Apocalypse ; for the judgment was not only ac- complished on all who were from the christian church, but also on all who are called Maho- metans, and likewise on all the Gentiles on this globe : the order in which it took place, was as follows : first on those who were of the Romish religion, then on the Mahometans, after that on the Gentiles, and lastly on the Reformed or
divine, and subdued the hells, n. 2776, 10655, 10659, 10829. That the Lord could not be tempted as to his essential divinity, n. 2795, 2803, 2813, 2814. On which account he as- sumed a human nature from the mother, into which he admitted temptations, n. 1414, 1444, 1573, 5041, 5157, 7193, 9315. That he ex- pelled whatever was hereditary in him from the mother, and put off the humanity which he re- ceived from her, even so far as to be no longer her son, and that he put on the divine humanity, n. 2159, 2574, 2649, 3036, 10829. That the Lord saved mankind by the subjugation of the hells, and the glorification of his humanity, n. 4180, 10019, 10152, 10655, 10659, 10828.
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Protestants. An account of the judgment on those who were of the Romish religion, will be given in the following chapter on the destruc- tion of Babylon : concerning the judgment on the Reformed, see the chapter on the former heaven which passed away : but concerning the judgment on the Mahometans and Gentiles, something shall be said in this chapter.
48. The arrangement of all the Gentiles and people in the spiritual world, on whom judg- ment was executed, was seen in the following order. In the middle appeared collected to- gether they who are called Reformed, or Pro- testants, and there they were also distinguish- ed according to their respective countries; the Germans towards the north, the Swedes to- wards the west, the Danes in the west, the Hollanders towards the east and south, and the English in the middle. Surrounding this mid- dle part, where all the Reformed were, there appeared collected together they who were of the Popish religion, the greater part in the western, and some in the southern quarter. Beyond them were the Mahometans, distin- guished also according to their countries, all of whom at that time appeared in the west near the south. Beyond the Mahometans were as- sembled the Gentiles in immense numbers, who thus formed the outermost circuit; and beyond them again appeared as it were a sea, which
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bounded the whole. The reason why this ar- rangement of the nations was made according to the quarters, was, because of its agreement with the common facuky in each of receiving divine truihs; wherefore in the spiritual world every one is known from the quarter and place where he dwells, and also, when in society with several others, from his tarrying in such or such a quarter; concerning which circumstance see the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 148, 149. The case is the same when they go from place to place, for all progression is di- rected towards the quarters according to the successive states of their thoughts derived from the affections which constitute their proper hfe : in this manner they, of whom we are going to treat, were led to their own places. In a word, the ways in the spiritual world, wherein every one walks, are actual determinations of the thoughts of the mind ; hence it is, that ways, walkings, and the hke, in the spiritual sense of the Word, signify determinations and progress- ions of spiritual Hfe.
49. The four quarters in the Word are call- ed the four winds, and the gathering together of the elect is called a gathering together from the four winds, as in Matthew, where the last judgment is treated of, " He shall send his an- gels, and they shall gather together the elect from the four winds, from one end of the hea-
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vens to the other," xxiv. 31 . And again, " All nations shall be gathered together before the Son of Man, and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on the right, but the goats on the left," xxv. 31, 32; by which is signified, that the Lord will separate those who are in truths and at the same time in good, from those who are in truths and not in good, for in the spiritual sense of the Word, by the right is signified good, and by the left truth; the same also is signified by sheep and goats. Nor w^as the judgment exe- cuted upon any others, the wicked, who were destitute of truths, being in the hells long be- fore ; for all such as in heart deny the Divine Being, and reject the truths of the church, are cast down thither after death, consequently before the judgment. The former heaven, that passed away, consisted of those who were in truths and not in good ; and the new heaven was formed of those who are in truths and at the same time in good.
50. With respect to the judgment on the Mahometans and Gentiles, alluded to above, it was executed in the following manner. The Mahometans were led from the places where they were assembled, which were near the south in the west, by a way round the Chris- tians, from the west by the north to the east,
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till they came to the confines of the south ; and in the way the evil were separated from the good, many of the former being cast into fens and stagnated lakes, and many dispersed into a certain desert beyond the lakes ; but the good were led by the east to a land of great extent near the south, where habitations were allotted them : they who were led thither were such as in the world had acknowledged the Lord to be the greatest prophet, and the Son of God, and believed that he was sent by the Father to in- struct mankind, and who at the same time had lived a spiritual moral life according to their religion. The greater part of them, when in- structed, receive faith in the Lord, and ac- knowledge him to be one with the Father; communication is also granted them with the christian heaven by means of influx from the Lord, but they are not commixed, by reason of the different quality of their religion. All of that religion, immediately on their coming into another life among those of their own per- suasion, first make inquiry for Mahomet ; nev- ertheless he does not appear, but in his stead two others, who call themselves Mahomets; these two have seats allotted them in the mid- dle part under the christian heaven, to the left. The reason why these two appear instead of Mahomet, is because all, of whatever religion they be, after death are first conducted to those
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whom they worshipped in the world, for every
one's religions principles adhere to him ; but when they find that they have no power to help, they retire from them ; for no person can be withdrawn from his rehgious persua- sions by any other means, than by being first suffered to enjoy them. Where the real Ma- homet is. and what his state and condition, and also whence the two are who represent him, wi]l be shewn in the work which is to explain the Apocalypse.
51. The judgment on the Gentiles was exe- cuted nearly in the same manner as on the Mahometans, but they were not like them led round in a circuit, only a little w^ay in the west, where the evil were separated from the good, and cast into two great gulfs, which tended obliquely into the deep; but the good were led above the middle part where the Christians resided, towards a land in the east- ern quarter, where the Mahometans were, and habitations were allotted them behind the Ma- hometans, and beyond them to a great extent in the southern quarter. But such among the Gentiles as in the world have worshipped God under a human form, and have lived a hfe of charity according to their religion, are con- joined to christians in heaven, for they ac- knowledge and worship the Lord more than the rest ; the most intelligent of them are from
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Africa. The multitude of Gentiles and Ma- hometans that appeared was so great, that they could only be numbered by myriads. The judgment on so great a multitude was executed in the course of a few days ; for every one, on being let into his own love and faith, immediately receives his destination, and is conveyed to those hke himself.
52. From what has been related, the truth of the Lord's prediction concerning the last judgment manifestly appears, that " then they shall come from the east and from the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God," Luke xiii. 29.
0/ Babylon, and its Destruction.
53. That all things, which are predicted in the Apocalypse, are at this day, fulfilled, may be seen above, n. 40 to 44 ; and that the last judgment is already accomplished, see the chapter preceding, where it is also shewn in what manner the judgment was executed on the Mahometans and Gentiles : it follows now to declare, how it was accomplished on the Papists, who are understood by Babylon, which is much treated of in the Revelation,
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particularly its destruction in chap, xviii, which is thus described, " An angel cried vehemently with a great voice, Babylon hath fallen, hath fallen, and is become the habita- tion of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and the cage of every unclean and hateful bird," verse 2. But before we relate in what manner that destruction was accomplished, we shall premise, I. What is understood by Baby- lon, and the nature and quality thereof. II. The quality of those in another life who are from Babylon. III. Where their dwellings have hitherto been. IV. The reason why they were there tolerated till the day of the last judgment. V. In what manner they were de- stroyed, and their habitations made a desert.
VI. That such among them as were in the affection of truth from good, were preserved.
VII. Concerning the state of those hereafter, who come thence from the earths [into the spiritual w^orld.]
54. What is understood by Babylon, and the nature and quality thereof. By Babylon are understood all they, who by means of reli- gion desire to bear rule; to rule by religion, is to rule over the very souls of men, consequently over their spiritual life, and to use the divine things which appertain to religion as means to promote that end. All they who make do- minion their end, and religion as a means con-
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ducive thereto, constitute Babylon in general. The reason why they are called Babylon is, because in ancient times such dominion began to take place, but was destroyed at its com- mencement: its first rise is described by a city and a tower, whose head might reach to heaven ; and its destruction is described by the confusion of tongues, whence it obtained the name of Babel, Gen. xi. 1 to 9 ; what is understood by every particular there, in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word, may be seen explained in the Arcana C(elestia, n. 12S3 to 1328. That such dominion was also begun and established in Babel, is evident in Daniel, where it is said of Nebuchadnezzar, that he set up an image, which all should wor- ship, chap. iii. 1 to the end : it is also under- stood by Belshazzar and his lords drinking out of the vessels of gold and silver, which Nebu- chadnezzar carried from the temple of Jerusa- lem, and at the same time worshipping gods of gold, silver, copper, and iron ; wherefore it was written on the wall, " He hath number- ed, he hath weighed, he hath divided and the king himself was slain the same night, chap. V. I to the end : by the vessels of gold and silver from the temple of Jerusalem, are signified the goods and truths of the church ; by drinking out of them, and at the same time worshipping gods of gold, silver, copper, f2
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and iron, is signified profanation ; and by the writing on the wall, and by the death of the king, is signified visitation and destruction, de- nounced against those who used divine goods and truths as means. The nature and quahty of those who are called Babylon, is also de- scribed in the prophets throughout ; as in Isaiah, " Thou mayest take up this parable concern- ing the king of Babylon ; Jehovah hath broken the staff of the wicked, the sceptre of the rul- ers : thou hast fallen from heaven, O Lucifer; thou art cut down even to the earth ; thou hast said in thy mind, I will ascend into the hea- vens, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mountain of the con- gregation, in the sides of the north, I will be- come like the Most High. Yet thou shalt be cast down into hell, to the sides of the pit ; I will cut off from Babylon the name and the residue, and I will appoint her that she may be an hereditary possession for the bittern," xiv. 4, 12, 13, 14, 15,22. Again, in the same prophet. The lion said, Babylon hath fallen, hath fallen, and all the graven images of her gods are cast down," xxi. 9. Again, in chap, xlvii. 1 to the end. Chap, xlviii. 14 to 20. And in Jeremiah, Chap. 1. 1,2, 3. Hence now it appears, what is the nature and quality of Ba- bylon. It is to be observed, that the church becomes Babylon, when charity and faith
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cease, and the love of self begins to reign in their place ; for in proportion as this love is left unrestrained, it bursts forth, so as to aspire at dominion not only over all on earth, whom it can subject to itself, but also over heaven ; neither does it rest there, but climbs up even to the throne of God, and transfers to itself his divine power. That this was also the case before the coming of the Lord, appears from the passages above cited. But that Babylon was destroyed by the Lord, when he was in the world, as well by his suffering them to be- come mere idolaters, as by the last judgment at that time executed upon them in the spirit- ual world : this is understood by the above prophecy, that Lucifer, who there signifies Babylon, was cast into hell, and that Babylon has fallen ; and also by the writing on the wall, and by the death of Belshazzar ; moreover by the stone cut out of the rock, which destroyed the statue, concerning which Nebuchadnezzar dreamed.
55. But the Babylon, which is treated of in the Apocalypse, is the Babylon at this day, which took its rise after the Lord's coming, and which is well known to be among the Papists. This Babylon is of a more pernicious and criminal nature, than that which was before the coming of the Lord, inasmuch as it profanes the interior goods and truths of the church, which the Lord f3
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in person revealed to the world. How perni- cious and inwardly abominable it is, may appear from the following brief description. They ac- knowledge and worship the Lord, without attri- buting to him any power of saving; they alto- gether separate his divinity from his humanity, and transfer unto themselves his Divine power, which belonged to his humanity ; (o) for they re- mit sins, they send to heaven, they cast into hell, they save whomsoever they please, they sell salvation, and thus arrogate to themselves what belongs to Divine power alone ; and whereas they practise such things, it follows, that they make themselves gods, every one according to his rank, by translation from theii- head or su- preme, whom they call the vicar of Christ, even unto the lowest of their order ; thus they regard themselves as the Lord, and worship him, not for his own sake, but for the sake of themselves. They not only adulterate and falsify the Word, but they also take it away from the people, to prevent their receiving any light of truth; neither are they satisfied with this, they even annihilate it, acknowledging the edicts from
(o ) That the church's attributing two natures to the Lord, and thus separating his divinity firom his humanitv, was brought to pass in a coun- cil, on the Pope's account, that he might be ac- knowledged as his vicar, discovered from heaven in the Arcana Ccelestia, n. 4738.
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Rome to be more divine, and of superior au- thority to the Word ; thus they shut up from every one the way that leads to heaven ; for the way to heaven is by the acknowledgment of the Lord, and by faith and love to him, and the Word is what teaches the way ; whence it fol- lows, that without the Lord, by the medium of the Word, there is no salvation. Their whole study is directed to extinguish the light of hea- ven, which is from divine truth, and to keep the people in ignorance ; for the more dense and gross their ignorance is, so much the more ac- ceptable it is to them. They extinguish the hght of heaven by forbidding the reading of the Word, and such books as contain doctrines from the Word ; instituting a worship by masses in a language not understood by the simple, and wherein there is no Divine truth ; and besides they fill the world with their falses, which, being no better than mere darkness, remove and dis- sipate the hght. They also persuade the vul- gar to believe, that they may have hfe in their faith, consequently that it is sufficient for salva- tion to depend on the faith of others, and not on their own. They moreover place all worship in a holy external, without any regard to the internal, thus making the internal as a something void of contents, being without the knowledges of good and truth; when nevertheless divine worship is only so far external, as it is internal, f4
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for the former is derived from the latter. Be- sides the things above-mentioned, they also in- troduce idolatries of various kinds ; they make and multiply saints, whom they suffer to be worshipped and prayed unto, almost as if they were so many gods ; they every where expose their idols to view, boast of the miracles per- formed by them, set them up as tutelar deities over their cities, churches, and monasteries and account their very bones taken from the graves as holy, which yet are most vile and filthy ; thus they turn the minds of all from the worship of God, to the worship of men. Further, lest any one should emerge from this darkness into light, and from idolatrous to divine worship, they pro- vide against it by many arts ; for they multiply monasteries, from which they send out spies into all quarters, and place sentinels ; they also extort confessions from the heart, which betray the very thoughts and intentions, and if they do not confess, they terrify their minds with threats of infernal fire, and torments of purgatory ; and such as dare to speak against the papal throne and their dominion, they shut up in a dreadful prison, called the inquisition. All this is done for no other end, but that they may possess the world and its treasures, and indulge themselves in their natural lusts, and become the greatest, while the rest of the world are their servants. But such is not the dominion of heaven over
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hell, but of hell over heaven ; for in proportion as the love of dominion increases with man, particularly with the man of the church, in the same proportion hell prevails : that this love prevails in hell, and constitutes hell, may be seen in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 551 to 565. Hence it may appear evident, that there is no church amongst the Papists, but Babylon ; for there is the church, where the Lord himself is worshipped, and the Word is read.
56. The nature and quality of them in the other life, who are from Babylon, cannot ap- pear to any one, unless it is given him of the Lord to be in consort with them, who are in the spiritual world ; and as this has been granted to me, I am enabled to speak from experience, having seen, heard, and also conversed with them. Every man after death is in a similar life to that which he enjoyed in the body ; this can- not be changed, only as to the delights which proceed from his love, which are converted into correspondences, as may be seen in two chapters in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 470 to 484, and n. 485 to 490. The Hfe of the persons now treated of is, in like manner, alto- gether of a nature similar to what it was in the world, attended only with this difference, that then the hidden things of their heart are openly manifested, for they are in the spirit, w herein f5
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the interior things appertaining to thoughts and intentions reside, which in the world they had concealed, and covered over with an holy ex- ternal. On the discovery and manifestation of these things, it is plainly perceived, that more than the half of them, who have usurped the power of opening and shutting heaven, are down- right Atheists ; but inasmuch as the lust of do- minion possesses their mind, as in the world, founded on this principle, that all power was given unto the Lord by the Father, which was transferred to Peter, and by a succession of order descended to the heads of the church, therefore an oral confession of the Lord remains adjoined to their Atheism ; but even this con- fession is made by them no longer than while they can obtain some dominion thereby : but as for the rest who are not Atheists, they are so devoid of knowledge, that they are altogether ignorant of the spiritual life of man, of the means of salvation, of divine truths that lead to heaven, and of every thing relating to celestial faith and love, imagining that heaven may be bestowed on any one, of whatever quality he be, merely by the Pope's favour. Since every one is in a similar life in the spiritual world, to what he was in the natural world, with no difference at all so long as they are neither in heaven nor in hell, as may be seen in the Treatise on Heav- en and Hell, n. 453 to 480; and as the
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spiritual world with respect to its outward ap- pearance is altogether like the natural world, n. 170 to 176 ; therefore they live the same moral and civil life as before, and particularly exercise a similar worship, inasmuch as this takes root and adheres to a man's inmost parts ; nor is it possible for any one after death to be withdrawn therefrom, unless he be in good derived from truths, and in truths derived from good : but this nation, whereof we are now treating, is with greater difficulty drawn from their particular w^orship than other nations, because they are not in good derived from truths, and still less in truths derived from good ; for their truths are not taken from the Word, except a few, which they have falsified by applying them to dominion ; in consequence whereof they are in possession of no good, but what is spurious ; for the quality of good is always according to the quahty of the truths of which it is formed. These observations are made, in order that it may be known, that the worship of this nation is altogether similar in the spiritual world, to what it was in the natural world. Thus much being premised, I shall now relate some parti- culars respecting their worship and hfe in the spiritual world: they have a certain sanhedrim, instead of the sanhedrim or consistory at Rome, where the heads of their church assemble, and consult about various things relating to their re-
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ligion, especially how the vulgar are to he kept in blind obedience, and their dominion extend- ed; the place where this sanhedrim meets is in the southern quarter near the east : but no one, who in the world had been either a pope or a cardinal, dares to enter, by reason that their minds are filled with an idea of divine authority, by having arrogated to themselves, while in the world, the Lord's power; wherefore as soon as ever they present themselves there, they are con- veyed away, and cast out into a desert among their hke : but those among them, who had been of a sincere mind, and had not usurped such power from a confirmed faith, are in a cer- tain obscure chamber behind that sanhedrim. There is another convention in the western quarter near the south, whose employment there is to admit the credulous vulgar into heaven ; they there dispose round about them- selves several societies, that are in various ex- ternal delights, in some of which they play, in some they dance, in some they modify their features in various ways expressive of merri- ment and gladness, and in some they converse in a friendly manner, in this place on civil concerns, in that on religious matters, and in other places lasciviously, and so on ; into one or other of these societies, according to the desire of each respectively, they admit their clients, and give it the name of heaven : but
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all of them, after being there a few hours, grow weary and depart, for those pleasures are external, and not internal ; thus many are with- drawn from the faith of their doctrine, con- cerning admission into heaven. With respect to their worship in particular, it is nearly simi- lar to their worship in the world; consisting in masses as before, which they utter in a lan- guage not common to spirits, but composed of high-sounding words, which affect with an ex- ternal sanctity and fear, but w^hich are totally unintelligible. In like manner they worship saints, and expose idols to view; yet their saints are no where to be seen ; for all of them, who sought to be worshipped as deities, are in hell; as to the rest, who had not sought to be wor- shipped, they are among common spirits. This is known to their leaders, for they inquire for them, and on finding them, reject and de- spise them ; but this they conceal from the people, that their saints may be still worship- ped as tutelar gods, but the primates them- selves, who govern the people, as lords of heaven. They also multiply temples and mo- nasteries in like manner as they had done in the world, hoarding up wealth, and accumulat- ing precious things, which they hide in vaults ; for in the spiritual world, as well as in the na- tural w^orld, there are precious things, and in much greater abundance. They there in like
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manner send out monks to entice the Gen- tiles to their rehgion, and thereby subject them to their dominion. It is customary ^vith them to erect watch-towers in the midst of their as- sembUes, whereby they may extend their sight to all who dwell in the neighbouring parts ; they also form to themselves communications by various ways and arts, both with those who are near and afar off, binding them by cove- nants, and drawing them over to their own party. Such is their state in general : but as to particulars, there are many of the prelates of that religion, who take away all power from the Lord, and attribute it to themselves ; in consequence of which they acknowledge no Divine Being whatever ; still however in their externals they put on the appearance of sanc- tity, which nevertheless in itself is profane, be- cause in their internals there is no acknowledg- ment of a Divine Being. Hence it is, that by means of an holy external they have commu- nication with some of the societies of the low- est heaven, and by means of a profane internal with the hells, so that they may be said to be in both ; for which reason also they entice sim- ple good spirits, allotting them habitations near themselves, and they collect together evil spir- its, placing them round about their assembhes; thus also by means of the simple good spirits they conjoin themselves with heaven, and by
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means of the evil spirits with hell ; hence it is, that they can attempt the most wicked designs, which they effect from hell ; for the simple good spirits, who are in the ultimates of hea- ven, look no farther than to their holy exter- nal, and to their most holy adoration of the Lord in externals, not discerning their abomi- nable practices ; wherefore they favour them ; hence they derive their greatest security : but nevertheless they all in process of time recede from their holy external, and then, on being separated from heaven, they are cast into hell. From what has been related, it may in some measure appear, what is the nature and quality of those, in another life, who are from Baby- lon. But 1 am well aware, it will be a matter of wonder to men on earth, that such things exist in the spiritual world, particularly to those who have no other idea of heaven and hell, and of the state of man after death, than what is vain and empty ; but that man is equally a man after death as before, that he lives in society as in the world, dwells in houses, attends to discourses from the pulpit, performs offices, and sees the like things in that world, as he did in the former world which he left behind him, may evidently appear from what has been said and shewn in the Treatise concerning Heaven and Hell.
57. I have conversed with some of that na-
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tion concerning the keys given to Peter, and asked them, whether they believed, that the Lord's power over heaven and earth was trans- ferred to him ; which being a fundamental doctrine of their religion, they vehemently in- sisted upon, saying, that they had no doubt of it, because it is plainly and positively asserted : but on being questioned further, if they did not know, that in every expression of the Word there is a spiritual sense, which is the sense of the Word in heaven, at first they said, they did not know, but afterwards they said they would inquire; and on inquiry they were instructed, that there is a spiritual sense in every part of the Word, which is as distinct from the literal sense, as spiritual things are from natural things; and moreover they are told, that none of the persons mentioned in the Word are named in heaven, but instead of them some- thing spiritual is there understood ; lastly, they were informed, that by Peter in the Word is meant the truth of faith appertaining to the church derived from the good of charity, and that the same is understood by a rock, men- tioned in the same passage with Peter, for it is said, "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church," Matt. xvi. 18, and in the following verses ; by which is not under- stood, that any power was given to Peter, but that it belongs to truth derived from good,
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for all power in the heavens belongs to truth from good, or to good by means of truth ; and as all good and truth are from the Lord, and not the least portion thereof from man, by the words above quoted is signified, that all power belongs to the Lord. On hearing this they became angry, and said, they wished to be certified whether that spiritual sense is contained in those words; wherefore the Word which is used in heaven was given unto them, in which Word there is not the natural but the spiritual sense, being adapted to the use of angels, who are spirhual; (that such is the nature of the Word in heaven, may be seen in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 259, 261 ;) and when they read it, they plainly saw that Peter was not mentioned therein, but instead of him truth derived from good, which proceeds from the Lord, (j)) On seeing this, they rejected it
(p ) That the twelve disciples of the Lord re- presented the church as to all things belonging to truth and good, or faith and love, as in like manner did the twelve tribes of Israel, n. 2179, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397. That Peter, James, and John, represented faith, charity, and the goods of charity, n. 3750. That Peter repre- sented faith, n. 4738, 6000, 6073, 6344, 10087, 10580. That by the keys of the kingdom of heaven being given to Peter, is signified that all power belongs to truth from good, or to faith
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with rage, and were ready to tear it to pieces with their teeth, if it had not been instantly taken away from them. Thus they were con- vinced, although against their will, that the Lord alone is possessed of that power, which being divine, cannot possibly be ascribed to any man.
68. Where there dwellings have hitherto been in the spiritual world. It was said above, at n. 48, that the arrangement of all the na- tions and people in the spiritual world was seen as follows: in the middle part, or centre,
from charity, which proceed from the Lord, and thus that all power belongs to the Lord, n. 6344. That a key signifies the power of opening and shutting, n. 9410. That all power belongs to good by means of truths, or to truths derived from good, which proceed from the Lord, n. 3091, 3563, 6344, 6413, 6948, 8200, 8304, 9327, 9410, 9639, 9643, 10019, 10182. That a rock in the Word signifies the Lord as to divine truth, n. 8581, 10580. That all names of persons and places in the Word signify things and states, n. 768, 1888, 4310, 4442, 10239. That those names do not enter heaven, but are changed into the things signified thereby, and that they can- not be pronounced in heaven, n. 1878, 5225, 6516, 10216, 10282. How elegant the internal sense of the Word is, where it consists of mere names in the letter, illustrated by examples, n. 1224, 1264, 1888.
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appeared collected together they who are call- ed Reformed ; surrounding them were those of the Popish religion ; beyond these were the Mahometans, and in the outer circumference the various Gentile nations: hence it may ap- pear, that the Papists were in the circuit next round the Reformed, who constituted the centre. The reason why the Papists were next the Reformed is, because they who are in the light of truth from the Word, occupy the centre; and such as are in the light of truth from the Word, are also in the light of heaven, for the light of heaven is derived from divine truth, and the Word is that in which divine truth is contained ; that the light of heaven is from divine trutli, see the Treatise on Heaven and HelLjU. 126 to 140; and that the Word is divine truth, n. 303 to 310. From the centre also light proceeds to the circumference, and illu- minates it ; hence it is, that they who are of the Popish rehgion, fill the space immediately sur- rounding the middle part, for they have the Word, which is also read by those who govern in ecclesiastical matters, though not by the people ; this is the reason why Papists in the spiritual world have obtained habitations for themselves round about those who are in the light of truth from the Word. Something shall now be said with respect to their situation, before their dwell- ings were entirely destroyed, and converted into
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a desert. The greater part dwelt in the south and in the west, some few excepted, who dwelt in the north and east. In the south dwelt those, who in the world had excelled others in mental abilities, and had confirmed themselves in the tenets of their religion; in the same place also dwelt many who had been rich and of noble ex- traction ; they did not there dwell above the earth, but under it, for fear of robbers, at the entrances thereto placing guards. There was also a great city in that quarter, reaching almost from the east to the w^est, and also a little into the west, situate near the central part where the Reformed were; in this city abode myriads of men or spirits; it was full of churches and mo- nasteries; all the precious things which the ec- clesiastics had been able to scrape together by various arts, were brought into it, and conceal- ed in their cells and subterraneous vaults ; which vaults were so artfully contrived, that none be- sides themselves could enter them, being con- structed in winding labyrinthal forms. Their hearts were placed on the treasures there ac- cumulated, and they possessed a confidence that they would never be destroyed to eternity. I saw their vaults, and wondered at the art they displayed in constructing and increasing them without end. Many of those who call themselves of the society of Jesus (Jesuits) dwelt there, and cultivated a friendly intercourse with the rich, who were in the surrounding parts. Towards
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the east in that quarter, there was a Sanhedrim, [or place of assembly,] where they consulted about the enlargement of their dominion, and of the means of keeping the people in blind obedience, of which mention is made above at n. 56. Thus much concerning their dwellings in the southern quarter. In the north dwelt those who had been less famous for their wit and learning, and who had not so much confirmed themselves in their rehgious tenets, by reason of their possessing an obscure faculty of discern- ment, and consequently being in a blind faith : there was not so great a multitude in this quar- ter, as in the south ; the greater part of them resided in a large city, extending in length from a corner of the east to the west, and also a little into the west. This city was likewise full of churches and monasteries ; on the furthest side, near the east, there were many of various rehgions, and also some of the Reformed : a few places also in that quarter beyond the city, w^ere occupied by some from the Pope's dominions. In the east dwelt those of them, who, while in the world, had been in the greatest dehght of ruling, and who had also been in some natural light ; they appeared there upon mountains, but only in that quarter fronting the north, for there were none on the other side fronting the south. In a corner towards the north there was a mountain, on the summit whereof they had placed a certain in- g2
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sane person, whom they could inspire, by com- munications of the thoughts, (a circumstance well known in the spiritual world, but not in the natural world,) to order whatsoever they pleas- ed ; him they openly proclaimed to be the very God of heaven, appearing under a human form, and thus they paid him divine worship ; this they did, because the people began to be desirous of receding from their idolatrous worship, where- fore they devised this conceit as a m.eans of keeping them in obedience: that mountain is what is understood in Isaiah, chap. xiv. 13, by " the mountain of the congregation in the sides of the north and they who dwelt there on moun- tains, are understood by Lucifer, verse 12; for they who were of the Babylonic crew in the east enjoyed greater light than others, but then it was a light which they had artfully procured to themselves. There also appeared some, who were building a tower to reach even to the heaven of angels; but this was only a re- presentative of their machinations ; for in the spiritual world all plots and cunning devices are visibly manifested before those who stand at a distance, by various things, which yet have no actual existence with those who occasion such an appearance; this circumstance is common in that world : it was, however, thereby given me to know what is signified by " the tower whose head might be in heaven, whence the place
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was called Babel," Gen. xi. 1 to 10. Thus
much may suffice fop their dwellings in the east. In the west, to the front, dwelt those of the Romish religion, who had lived m the dark ages, many of whom resided under the earths of the spiritual world, one race or off- spring below another: the whole interior tract, which fronts the north, was as it were excavat- ed, and full of monasteries, the entrances where- to were through caves covered at top, by which they went in and out; but they seldom held any intercourse with those who hved in the follow- ing ages, being of a different genius, and not so wickedly disposed ; for in their time there was no contention with the Reformed, and conse- quently they were not so much given to craft and subtlety originating in a spirit of hatred and revenge. In the western quarter beyond that region were many mountains, upon which the worst and most subtle of that nation dwelt, who in heart denied the Divine, and yet with their lips made a more holy profession, and in ges- tures appeared to worship him with more de- votion than others; they, who resided there, devised wicked arts, in order to keep the vul- gar under the yoke of their government, and also to compel others to submit thereto ; I am not at liberty to describe those arts, because they are so abominably wicked; in general, they were of a nature similar to those men- g3
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tioned in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 580 : the mountains, on which they dwelt, are signified by the seven mountains in the Apocalypse, and they themselves are describ- ed by the woman sitting on the scarlet-colour- ed beast, in the following words, " 1 saw a wo- man sitting on a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns ; she had on the forehead a name written, IMystery, Babylon the Great, the iMo- ther of Whoredoms and Abominations of the Earth; the seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth," chap. xvii. 3, 5, 9 : by a woman in the internal sense is signifi- ed the church, but here in the opposite sense a profane rehgion ; by the scarlet-coloured beast is signified the profanation of celestial love ; and by seven mountains, the profane love of dominion. Thus much concerning their habitations in the w est. The reason why they dwell distinctly according to the quarters is, because all in the spiritual world are conveyed to the quarter, and to the spot in that quarter, corresponding with their affections and loves, and none to any other; concerning which cir- cumstance see the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, where it treats of the four quarters in heaven, n. 141 to 153. In general, all the consultations of this Babylonish nation tend to this point, that they may bear rule, not only
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over heaven, but also over the whole earth, that so they may possess both heaven and earth, making either subservient to the other, as suits their purpose : to this end they continually de- vise and publish new laws and new articles of doctrine ; for the same schemes are pursued in another Hfe, as had been set on foot in this, in- asmuch as every one after death retains the same nature and quality he possessed in the world, particularly as to matters of religion. It was granted me to hear certain of their heads consulting together about a doctrine, w^hich was proposed to be issued as a law to the peo- ple ; it consisted of several articles, every one of which had for its end the dominion over heaven and earth, and arrogantly attributed all power to them, and none to the Lord. Those ariicles of the doctrine were afterwards read before some that were present, and immedi- ately a voice was heard from heaven, saying, that they were dictated from the lowest hell, although it was unknown to them ; which was moreover confirmed by the following circum- stance ; a crowd of devils from that hell, of a most black and direful appearance, ascended, and tore away those articles of doctrine from them, not with their hands, but with their teeth, and carried them down into their own hell : the people, who beheld it, were struck with asto- nishment.
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59. The reason why they were tolerated there until the day of the last judgment^ was, because it is agreeable to Divine order, that all should be saved, who can be saved, and that they should be preserved even until they can no longer remain among the good; wherefore all are preserved, who can put on the appearance of spiritual life in externals, manifesting it in a moral life, as if it were actually therein, what- ever their nature and quality may be as to faith and love internally ; thus also they are preserv- ed, who are in a holy external principle, al- though in none that is internal : such were many of that nation, for they could discourse piously with the common people, they could pay holy adoration to the Lord, they could implant re- ligion in the soul, lead the people to think con- cerning heaven and hell, and keep them in the practice of doing good, by preaching the ne- cessity of works ; hence they were enabled to lead many to a good life, and consequently in the way to heaven ; wherefore also many of that religion were saved, though but few of their leaders ; for these are such as the Lord means by " false prophets who come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves," Matt. vii. 15 ; by prophets, in the internal sense of the Word, are understood they who teach truth, and thereby lead to good ; but by false prophets, they who teach falses, and thereby
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seduce. They are also like the Scribes and Pharisees, described by the Lord in the fol- lowing words, " They sit in Moses' seat ; all things that they bid you observe, observe and do, but do not according to their works ; for they say, and do not ; all their works they do, that they may be seen of men; they shut up the kingdom of heaven against men, but they go not in themselves ; they devour widows' houses, for a pretence uttering long prayers. Wo unto you hypocrites, ye make clean the outside of the cup and platter, but within they are full of rapine and iniquity ; cleanse first the inside of the cup and platter, that the outside may be clean also ; ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of the bones of the dead : thus ye outwardly appear just to men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity," Matt, xxiii. 1 to 34. Another reason why they were tolerated is, because every one after death retains the same religious principles which he had imbibed in the world; wherefore on his first entrance into another Hfe, he is also per- mitted the exercise thereof : now the religious principles with the nation here treated of, were implanted by such as had made^reat pretences to holiness both with their lips and gestures, and had also impressed [in the people] a be- lief, that they were able to save them ; for this g5
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reason, likewise, they were not separated, but preserved among those of their own persuasion. The chief cause of their being kept together is, because from one judgment to another all are preserved who outwardly live like spiritual men, and who put on the appearance of piety and sanctity, as if it proceeded from an internal principle ; for such as these may instruct and guide the simple in faith and heart, who look no further than to what is external and appa- rent to the eye : hence it is, that all of the above description were tolerated from the time of the first commencement of the christian church, until the day of judgment; (that a last judgment had taken place twice before, and now again for the third time, was shewn above ;) the former heaven consisted of all such, and they are the persons meant in the Apocalypse, chap. XX. 5, G, by those who were not of the first resurrection ; but as they w^ere of the na- ture above described, therefore that heaven was destroyed, and they of the second resur- rection were cast out. It is however to be noted, that they only were preserved, who suf- fered themselves to be governed by civil as well as spiritual laws, such being capable of living together fn society ; but they, who could not be kept within bounds by those law^s, were not preserved, but cast into hell long before the day of the last judgment, for societies
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are continually purified and cleared of such. Hence it is, that they who have led an ungodly life, encouraging the common people to do evil, and pursuing such wicked arts as are practis- ed in the hells, (concerning which see the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 580,) are cast out of societies, and this by turns : in like manner they who are interiorly good, are re- moved from societies, lest they should be con- taminated by those who are interiorly evil; for the good have a perception of the interiors, and pay no regard to exteriors, only so far as they are in agreement with the interiors ; these are sent by turns, before the judgment, to pla- ces of instruction, (concerning w4iich see the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 512 to 520,) and are conveyed thence to heaven ; of such the new heaven is formed, and they are understood by those who have part in the first resurrection. These observations are made, in order to explain why so many of the Popish religion were tolerated and preserved till the day of the last judgment : but more will be said relative to this circumstance in the next chap- ter, when we come to treat of the former hea- ven which passed away.
60. In what manner they ivere destroyed, and their habitations made a desert, I shall here describe in a few words, but more at large in the ExpHcation of the Apocalypse. That
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the Babylon there treated of is destroyed, no other man can know than he who who saw it, and to me it was given to see in what manner the last judgment was executed and accom- plished on all, particularly on those who were from Babylon ; wherefore I shall give a de- scription tliereof; this was granted me, princi- pally for this reason, that it might be made known to the world, that all things predicted in the Apocalypse are divinely inspired, and that it is a prophetic book of the Word; for unless this were revealed to the world, and at the same time the internal sense discovered, which is contained in every expression therein, in like manner as in every expression of the prophetic books of the Old Testament, that book might be rejected, by reason of its not being understood; the consequence of which would be, a disbelief and denial, that the con- tents thereof deserve any credit, or even that any such thing as a last judgment will ever take place ; in which disbehef they who are of Babylon would confirm themselves more than others: to prevent, therefore, this from being the case, it has pleased the Lord to make me an eye-witness. But all the particulars that were seen relative to the last judgment upon those who are from Babylon, or relative to the destruction of Babylon, cannot be here adduc- ed, being so numerous that they would fill a
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volume; wherefore I shall here only relate some general transactions, reserving the particu- lars for a work explanatory of the Apocalypse. Whereas the Babylonic nation was estabhshed and extended over many tracts in the spiritual world, and had formed itself into societies in every quarter in that world, as was shewn above, at n. 58, I shall regularly describe the manner in which they were destroyed in each quarter.
61. After visitation, destruction took place; for visitation always precedes destruction ; visi- tation is an examination as to their quahty, and also a separation of the good from the bad, when the former are taken away, and the lat- ter left behind. This was followed by great earthquakes ; from which perceiving the last judgment to be at hand, a sudden trembling seized them all; then they who dwelt in the SOUTHERN (QUARTER, particularly in that great city, of which mention is made above atn. 58, were seen to run up and down, some endea- vouring to escape by flight, some hiding them- selves in caves, some in the cells and vaults where their treasures were deposited, and some carrying away thence whatever they could lay their hands upon: but after the earthquakes there burst forth an ebullition from below, which overturned every thing in the city, and in the parts adjacent; after the ebuUition there
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came a strong wind from the east, which laid bare, shook, and' overthrew every thing from the very foundations ; then all who were in that quarter were brought forth from every part and hiding place, and cast into a sea of black water, to the amount of several myriads. Af- terwards there arose a smoke from that whole region, as from a great fire, and at last a thick dust, which was conveyed by the eastern wind to the sea, and covered it all over ; for their treasures were turned into dust, together with all those things which they had called holy, because in their possession : the reason why that dust covered the sea, was, because such dust signifies damnation. At length there was seen as it were something black flying over the whole tract, which had the appearance of a dragon ; a sign that the whole of that great city, and the whole of that tract was made a desert : the reason of such appearance was, because by dragons are signified the falses of that religion, and by the place of their abode is signified a desert, after its overthrow, as in Jer. ix. 11 ; chap. X. 22 ; chap. xhx. 33; Mai. i. 3. Some were also seen to have as it were a mill-stone round their left arm, which was representative of their having confirmed their abominable te- nets from the Word, for such is the significa- tion of a mill-stone : hence it appeared what is signified in the Apocalypse by these words,
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" An angel took up a stone like a great mill- stone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall Babylon that great city be thrown down, and shall no more be found," xviii. 21. But they who were in the Sanhe- drim held in the same quarter, but nearer the east, wherein they consulted about the means of enlarging their dominion, and of keeping the people in ignorance, and thence in blind obedience, (concerning which Sanhedrim see above, n. 58,) were not cast into the black sea, but into a gulf, which opened itself to a wide extent around them, and a great depth under them. In this manner was the last judgment accomplished on the Babylonians in the south- ern quarter. But on those who were in front in the western q,uarter, and upon those who were in the northern quarter, where was also a great city, the last judgment was accom- plished as follows. After great earthquakes, which rent asunder every thing in those quar- ters, even to their foundations, (these are the earthquakes understood in the Word, in Matt, xxiv. 7; Luke xxi. 11.; likewise in Rev. vi. 12 ; chap. viii. 5 ; chap. xi. 13 ; chap. xvi. 1 8 ; and also in the prophetic books of the Old Testament, and not any earthquakes in this earth,) there came an east wind from the south, through the west, into the north, and laid waste all that region, first of all that part which was
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in front in the western quarter, where they who had lived in the dark ages dwelt under the earths, and afterwards the large city which ex- tended from that quarter all along the north to the east, whereby every thing was exposed to view : but whereas there were not such riches there, no ebullition or sulphurous fire consum- ing their treasures was seen, but only an over- throw and destruction, and lastly an exhalation of the whole into smoke; for the east wind con- tinued blowing to and fro, overturning, destroy- ing, and scattering all things. The monks and the common people were led out, to the num- ber of many myriads, when some were cast into the black sea on the side which fronts the west, some into the great southern gulf mentioned above, some into a gulf in the west, and some into the hells of the Gentiles, for they who lived in the dark ages were partly idolaters like the Gentiles : a smoke was also seen to arise thence, in a direction towards the sea, over which it spread, and covered it with a black crust; for that part of the sea, into which they were cast, was incrusted over with the dust and smoke, to which their dwellings and riches were reduced ; wherefore that sea is no longer seen to exist, but instead thereof as it were a black soil, under which is their hell. The last judgment upon those who dwelt on mountains in the eastern QUARTER, of whom mention is also made at n.
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58, was accomplished in the following manner : those mountains were seen to sink down into the deep, and all who were upon them were swallowed up : at the same time he, whom they had placed on one of the mountains, and given out to be God, was seen first to turn black, then of a fiery complexion, and afterwards was cast headlong with them into hell : for the monks of various orders, who dwelt on those mountains, asserted that he was God, and themselves Christ, and wherever they went they carried this abo- minable persuasion, that they themselves were Christ. Last of all, the judgment was accom- plished on those who dwelt more remote, and upon mountains in ihe western quarter ; these are understood by the woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, who had seven heads, which were seven mountains, of whom mention is also made above at n. 58 : their mountains were likewise seen, some of which opened in the middle with a great cleft winding about in a spiral form, into which they who were upon them were cast; other mountains were plucked up by their roots, and turned upside down, so that their summits and foundations were invert- ed : those belonging to this quarter, who were in plains, were overwhelmed and covered as with a deluge ; but those who were among them from other quarters were cast into gulfs. The particulars here related, however, are but
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few respectively to what I saw, a more circum- stantial account of which shall be given in the Explication of the Apocalypse. These things were done and accomplished in the be- ginning of the year 1757. With respect to the GULFS, into which all were cast, except those who were thrown into the black sea, there are many in number; I saw four, one large one in the southern quarter reaching to the east; an- other in the western quarter reaching to the south; a third in the western quarter reaching to the north ; and a fourth beyond, in a corner between the west and the north. Their hells consist of such gulfs and the sea. These were seen, but there are many others, which were not discovered to me ; for the hells of the Ba- bylonic nation are distinct, according to the various profanations of spiritual things, which have respect to the good and truth of the church.
62. Thus is the spiritual world now freed from such spirits, and the angels are rejoiced thereat, because they who were from Babylon infested and seduced whomsoever they could, and in that world more than in this; for their craftiness and cunning there is more malig- nant, inasmuch as they are then spirits, and in every one's spirit all his subtlety and evil dis- positions lie concealed; for it is the spirit of man which thinks, wills, intends, and devises.
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On examination it was found, that many of them beUeved nothing at all, and that their minds were filled with the abominable lust of seduc- ing, the rich for the sake of their riches, and the poor for the sake of dominion ; and that, in order to obtain this end, they keep all in the grossest ignorance, and thus shut up the way to light, and consequently to heaven; for the way to light and to heaven is shut up, when the knowledges of spiritual things are dispers- ed by idolatries, and when the Word is adul- terated, lightly esteemed, and taken away.
63. That such among them as were in the affection of truth from good, were preserved. Those of the Popish nation who had hved pi- ously, and been in good, though not in truths, and yet from affection have desired to know truths, were taken from the rest, and conveyed to a certain tract of the western quarter in front, near the north, where habitations were al- lotted them, and societies formed ; and more- over priests were sent to them from the Re- formed, to instruct them from the Word, and as they are instructed they are received into heaven.
64. Concerning the state of those hereafter, who come thence from the earths [into the spirit- ual world. ~\ Forasmuch as the last judgment is now accompHshed, and thereby all things are reduced to order by the Lord, and such as
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were inwardly good are taken up into heaven, and such as were inwardly evil cast into hell, it is now no longer allowed them, as hereto- fore, to form consociations below heaven and above hell, nor to hold intercourse with other spirits, but immediately on their entrance into the spiritual world, which is the case with every one after death, they are entirely separated, and after staying a certain time in the world of spirits, are conveyed to their own places; wherefore they who profane holy things, by attributing to themselves the power of opening and shutting heaven, and of forgiving sins, which yet belongs solely to the Lord, and who make the papal bulls of equal authority with the Word, seeking dominion as their end, are hereafter instantly conveyed into the black sea, or into the gulfs, where the hells of profaners are. But I was informed from heaven, that they of the Romish rehgion, who are of such a nature, pay no regard to a hfe after death, be- cause in their hearts they deny it, confining their whole attention to the present life ; and that hence they make no account of such their lot after death, notwithstanding it will endure to eternity, but ridicule it as a matter of no importance.
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Of the former Heaven^ and its Abolition.
65. It is said in the Apocalypse, "I saw a great throne, and One sitting thereon, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and their place was not found," xx. 1 1 . And after- wards. "I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; the first heaven and the first earth had passed away," xx. 1. That by a new heaven and a new earth, and by the passing away of the form- er heaven and the former earth, are not under- stood the visible heaven and the earth which we inhabit, but the angelic heaven and the church, was shewn in the first article of this Treatise, and will also appear in what follows : for the Word in itself is spiritual, and therefore treats of spiritual things, which have relation to hea- ven and the church ; these in the literal sense are expressed by natural things, for natural things serve as a basis to those which are spirit- ual, and the Word without such a basis would not be a divine work, because it would not be complete; the natural principle, which is the last in divine order, completes interior things, which are things spiritual and celestial, and causes them to subsist thereon, as a house upon its foundation. Now whereas men have thought from a natural, and not from a spiritual ground, concerning those things which are contained in h2
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the Word, therefore by heaven and earth, men- tioned above, and also in other places in the Word, they have understood no other heaven and earth than those Avhich exist in the world of nature : hence it is, that every one expects them to pass away and be destroyed, and af- terwards a new^ heaven and a new earth to be created. But lest mankind should expect this forever, and every age look for it in vain, the spiritual sense of the Word is opened, that all may know what is signified by the heaven and earth which w^ere to pass away, and what by many other things contained in the Word, which cannot be understood so long as the mind is confined to natural ideas.
66. But before we explain what is meant by the first heaven and the first earth, it must be noted that by the first heaven is not understood the heaven consisting of . those who have be- come angels from the first creation of this world to the present day, for that heaven is perma- nent, and endures to eternity ; for all who come into heaven are under the Lord's protection, and whosoever is once received by the Lord, can never be plucked out of his hands : but by the first heaven is meant that which was com- posed of such as were not angels, and for the greater part of such as could not become angels, the nature and quality of whom shall be describ- ed in what follows : this is the heaven, which is
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said to pass away. It is called heaven, because they who were in it dwelt in fellowship together on high places, such as rocks and moun- tains, where they indulged themselves in de- lights similar to natural delights, without any , thing of spirituality within them ; for the great- est part of those who come from the natural into the spiritual world, imagine that heaven consists in being elevated on high, and that they taste - of heavenly joy, when they are in such delights, as they enjoyed in the body : this is the reason why it was called heaven, but the first heaven which should pass away.
67. It is further to be observed, that this heaven, w^hich is called the first heaven, was not composed of any that hved before the Lord's coming into the world, but only of those who have hved since that time; (for, as was shewn above, n. 33 to 39, at the end of every church a last judgment takesplace, and then the former heaven is abohshed, and a new one created or formed ;) for from the beginning to the end of the church all were tolerated who had hved an external moral hfe, and who had put on the outward appearance of piety and holiness, though not influenced by any internal principle, provided their internals, which are of the thoughts and intentions, could be kept within bounds by the civil and moral laws of society; but at the end of the church their internals are h3
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made manifest, and then judgment is executed upon them. Hence it is, that a last judgment has taken place upon the inhabitants of this earth twice before, and is now accomplished for the third time, see above, n. 46 ; so also a former heaven and a former earth have twice before passed away, and a new heaven and a new earth been created ; for heaven and earth signify the church both in heaven and on the earth, as w^as shewn above n. 1 to 5. Hence it appears, that the new heaven and new earth mentioned in the Prophets of the Old Tes- tament, are not the new heaven and new earth described in the Apocalypse, but that the for- mer were established by the Lord during his abode in the world, and that the latter are now forming by him. Concerning the new heaven and new earth mentioned in the Prophets of the Old Testament, it is thus written, "Behold I am about to create a new^ heaven and a new earth, neither shall the former be remembered," Isai. Ixv. 17; and again, "A new heaven and a new earth I am about to make," Isai. Ixvi. 22 ; also in Daniel.
68. As we are now treating of the first hea- ven which passed away, and no other person has any knowledge about it, I shall give a de- scription thereof in the following order : I. Of whom the first heaven consisted. IT. The nature and quality of that heaven. III. In what manner it passed away.
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69. Of whom the first heaven consisted. The first heaven was composed of all those on whom the last judgment was accomphshed, for it was not executed on those who were in hell, nor on those who were in heaven, nor on those who were in the world of spirits, (concerning which world see the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 421 to 520,) nor on any man while hving in the body, but only upon those who had formed to themselves a resemblance of heaven, the greater part of whom dwelt on mountains and rocks ; these also are the persons whom the Lord meant by the goats, which he placed at his left hand, in Matt. xxv. 32, 33, and the following verses : hence it may appear, that the first heaven consisted not only of Christ- ians, but also of Mahometans and Gentiles, all of whom had formed to themselves imaginary heavens, in their respective places. What was their nature and quality, shall now be declared in a few words : during their life in the world, they had lived in external holiness, destitute of that which is internal ; and had been just and sincere in obedience to civil and moral laws, but not in obedience to those which are divine ; consequently they had been external or natural men, and not internal or spiritual men : they had also been acquainted with the doctrinals of the church, and were capable of teaching them, although their lives were not in conformity h4
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thereto : moreover they had been employed in various functions, and performed uses, but not for the sake of uses. Of these and such Hke spirits, out of every nation and people through- out the earth, who have hved since the coming of the Lord, was the first heaven formed : this heaven therefore was similar to the world and church on the earths among those who do good, not for the sake of good, but through fear of the law, the loss of character, honour, or gain ; they who do good from such motives, do not fear God, but men, neither do they possess any conscience. In the first heaven, which con- sisted of the Reformed, the greater part believ- ed that man is saved by faith alone, without living the hfe of faith, which is charity ; they also loved much to be seen of men. All these, while they were associated together, had their interiors shut, so that they could not be seen ; but when the last judgment took place, they were laid open, and then it plainly appeared, that inwardly they were filled with all kinds of evils and falses, that they w^ere in opposi- tion to the Divine, and that they were actually in hell : for every one after death is immedi- ately bound to such as are like himself, the good to their like in heaven, and the evil to their like in hell ; but they do not come among them, until their interiors are laid open, for in the mean time they may be associated with
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those, who in externals are like themselves. But it is to be observed, that all who were in- teriorly good, or spiritual men, were separated from them, and elevated into heaven; and that all who were not only inwardly but also out- wardly evil, were hkewise separated from them, and cast into hell ; and this from the first period after the Lord's advent, to the last time, when the judgment took place ; such only, as were of the quality above described, being left to form themselves into societies, of which the first heaven was composed.
70. There are many reasons why such so- cieties or such heavens were tolerated, the prin- cipal whereof is, because by means of external holiness, and an outward shew of sincerity and justice, they were conjoined with the simple good spirits in the lowest heaven, and with those who were still in the world of spirits, and not yet introduced into heaven ; for in the spiritual world all have communication with each other, in consequence whereof conjunction takes place with those who are in similar affections; and the simple good spirits, who are in the ultimate of heaven, and in the world of spirits, princi- pally regard externals, but still they are not inwardly evil ; wherefore if they had been vi- olently separated from the others before the time appointed, heaven would have suffered in its ultimates, and yet the ultimate heaven is that h5
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whereon the superior heaven subsists as on its proper basis. That this was the reason why they were tolerated until the last time, the Lord teaches in the following words, "The servants of the householder came and said unto him, Didst thou not sow good seed in thy field, whence then are the tares ? and they said. Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up ? but he said. Nay, lest, while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them ; let both therefore grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn ; but gather the wheat into barns. He that hath sowed the good seed, is the Son of Man ; the field is the world ; the good seed are the sons of the kingdom, the tares are the sons of the evil one ; the harvest is the consummation of the age : as therefore the tares are gathered together, and burnt with fire, so shall it be in the consummation of this age," Matt. xiii. 27 to 30, 37 to 42 : the consumma- tion of this age is the last time of the church ; the tares are those that are inwardly evil ; the wheat, those that are inwardly good; the gath- ering them together, and the binding them in bundles to burn, is the last judgment, (q) The
( q) That bundles in the Word signify the or- derly arrangement of truths and falses in man,
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like is understood in the same chapter by the Lord's parable concerning the fisbes of every kind which were gathered together, and the good put into vessels, but the bad thrown away, concerning which it is also said, " So shall it be in the consummation of the age ; the angels shall go forth, and separate the evil from the midst of the just," verse 47, 48, 49 : they are
consequently also the arrangement of men in whom truths and falses are, n. 4686, 4687, 5339, 6530, 7408, 10303. That the Son of Man is the Lord as to divine truth, n. 1729, 1733, 2159,2628, 2803, 2813, 3255, 3704, 7499, 8897, 9087. That sons are the affections of truth derived from good, n. 489, 491, 533, 2623, 3373, 4257, 8649, 9807; consequently the sons of the kingdom are those who are in the affections of truth derived from good; and the sons of the evil one, those who are in the affections of the false derived from evil ; whence the latter are called tares, and the form- er the good seed; for by tares is signified the false derived from evil, and by good seed, truth deriv- ed from good: that the seed of the field is truth derived from 2:ood in man from the Lord, n. 1940, 3038, 3310, 3^373, 10248, 10249. That seed in the opposite sense is the false derived from evil, n. 10248. That the seed of the field is also the nourishing of the mind by divine truth from the Word, and that to sow signifies to instruct, n. 6158, 9272. That the consummation of the age is the last time of the church, n. 4535, 10622.
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compared to fishes, because by fishes, in the spiritual sense of the Word, are signified natural and external men, both good and evil ; what is signified by ihe just, may be seen in the refer- ence below, (r)
71. What the nature and quality of the first heaven was, may be concluded from what has been observed above ; and may also further appear from this consideration, that they who are not spiritual by an acknowledgment of the Divine, a good hfe, and the affection of truth, and yet appear as if they were spiritual, by an holy external, by discourses on divine subjects, and by uprightness of behaviour for the sake of themselves and the world, when left to their internals, rush into every enormity according to their lusts : for then nothing restrains them, neither the fear of God, nor faith, nor con- science : hence it was, that they who were in
(r) That by fishes in the spiritual sense of the Word are signified scientifics, which appertain to the natural or external man, and hence also natural or external men, whether evil or good, n. 40, 991. That animals of all kinds correspond with such things as are in man, n. 45, 46, 246, 714, 716, 719, 2179, 2180, 3519, 9280, 10609. That they are called just in the Word, to whom the Lord's justice and merit is attributed; but unjust, to whom self-justice and merit is attribu- ted, n. 3648, 5069, 9263.
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the first heaven, immediately on being let into their interiors, appeared to be conjoined with the hells.
72. In what manner the first heaven passed away, has been already described in the chap- ters treating of the last judgment on the Ma- hometans and Gentiles, n. 50, 51, and on the Papists, n. 61, 62, 63, inasmuch as they also in their respective places constituted the first heaven : it remains now to say something con- cerning the last judgment on the Reformed, who are also called Protestants and Gospellers, or in what manner the first heaven, which con- sisted of them, passed away ; for, as observed above, the judgment was accomphshed only on those who composed the first heaven. These, [namely the Protestants,] after being visited, and let into their interiors, were separated and divided into classes according to their evils and the falses thence derived, and according to their falses and the evils thence derived, and then cast into hells corresponding with their loves ; their hells were on every side surrounding the middle part, for the Reformed were in the centre, round about them were the Papists, be- yond them again were the Mahometans, and in the outermost circuit were the Gentiles, see above, n. 48 ; they who were not thrust into hells, were cast out into deserts : but certain of them were sent into plains in the southern
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and northern quarters, in order that they might form themselves into societies, and by instruc- tion be prepared for heaven : these are they who were preserved. But in what manner all these things were accomplished, cannot be par- ticularly described in this Treatise ; for the judgment continued longer on the Reformed, than on others, and was effected successively from time to time ; and whereas many things were then seen and heard, which deserve to be recorded, I shall give an orderly description thereof in the ExpUcation of the Apocalypse.
Oj the State of the World and Church hereafter.
73. The state of the world hereafter will be altogether similar to what it has been hereto- fore ; for that great change, which took place in the spiritual world, will not produce any change in the natural world as to its external form ; and therefore there will be the same order in civil concerns as before, there will be treaties of peace, and also wars as before, and other things which relate to the general and particular government of societies. By the Lord's saying, that in the last times there would be wars, and then nation would rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and that
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there would be famines, pestilences, and earth- quakes in divers places. Matt. xxiv. 6, 7, is not signified that such things would take place in the natural world, but events corresponding thereto in the spiritual world ; for the prophet- ical parts of the Word do not treat of kingdoms and nations on earth, nor consequently of their wars, neither do they treat of famine, pestilence, and earthquakes in this world, but of such things as correspond thereto in the spiritual world, the nature of which may be seen explained in the Arcana C(elestia, as quoted below, (s)
(s) That wars in the Word signify spiritual combats, n. 1659, 1664, 8295, 10455. That hence all arras used in war signify something re- lative to spiritual combat, as a bow, a sword, a shield, n. 1788, 2686. That kingdoms signify churches both with respect to truths and falses, n. 1672, 2547. That nations signify those in the church, who are in goods and who are in evils, n. 1059, 1159, 1205, 1258, 1260, 1416, 1849, 4574, 6005, 6306, 7830, 8054, 8317, 9320, 9327. That famine signifies a defect of the knowledges of good and truth, n. 1460, 3364, 5277, 5279, 5281, 5300, 5360, 5376, 5893. That it also sig- nifies the desolation of the church, n. 5279, 5415, 5576, 6110, 6144, 7102. That pestilence signi- fies the vastation and consummation of good and truth, n. 7102, 7505, 7507, 7511. That earth- quakes signify changes in the state of the church, n. 3355.
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But with regard to the state of the church, that will not be similar hereafter : it will be similar indeed as to external appearance, but dissimilar as to internal; in regard to the external appear- ance, there will be distinct churches as before, their doctrines will be taught as before, and there will be the hke religious worship among the Gentiles ; but the man of the church will here- after be in a freer state of thinking about mat- ters of faith, consequently about spiritual things which appertain to heaven, inasmuch as spirit- ual freedom is restored : for all things are now reduced to order, both in the heavens and in the hells, and all thought whether concerning or against Divine things comes by influx there- from ; that which is in favour of Divine things flowing from the heavens, while that which is against Divine things flows from the hells : but this change of state man does not notice in himself, for want of reflecting thereon, being totally ignorant of spiritual freedom, and also of the nature of influx: nevertheless it is per- ceived in heaven, and also by man himself after death. As spiritual freedom is restored to man, therefore the spiritual sense of the Word is now discovered, and thereby interior divine truths revealed ; for man in his former state before the last judgment would not have understood them, or had they been understood, he would have profaned them. That man's hberty is derived
143
from the equilibrium which subsists between heaven and hell, and that none can be reformed except in a slate of freedom, may be seen in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 597 to the end.
74. 1 have had variety of conversation with angels concerning the state of the church here- after, who declared, they knew not future events, for these were known only to the Lord ; but this they knew, that that servitude and captivity, in which the man of the church has heretofore been, is removed, and that now, by virtue of the freedom which is restored, he is better en- abled to perceive interior truths, if desirous thereof, and thus to become more internal if he is so disposed : but the angels said, that never- theless they had but slender hopes of the men of the Christian church, but greater hopes of a certain nation far distant from the Christian world, and thus removed from infestators, which nation is such that they can receive spiritual hght, and become celestial spiritual men : they further added, that at this day interior divine truths are revealed to that nation, who also receive them in spiritual faith, that is, in heart and life, and that they worship the Lord.
A CONTINUATION
CONCERNING
THE LAST JUDGMENT,
AND THE
SPIRITUAL WORLD.
i
A
CONTINUATIOIV
CONCERNING
THE LAST JUDGMENT.
That the Last Judgment is accomplished.
1. In a former Treatise concerning the Last Judgment, the following subjects were discuss- ed : That by the day of the last judgment is not meant the destruction of the w^orld, n. 1 to 5, That the procreations of the human race will never cease, n. 6 to 13. That heaven and hell are from mankind, n. 14 to 22. That all who have been born men from the beginning of cre- ation, and are deceased, are either in heaven or in hell, n. 23 to 27. That the last judgment is to take place where all are gathered together, consequently in the spiritual world, and not on the earths, n. 28 to 32. That the last judgment takes place when the church is at an end ; and that the church is at an end, when there is no faith in consequence of there being no charity, n. 33 to 39. That all things predicted in the Apocalypse are at this day fulfilled, n. 40 to 44. i2
4
That the last judgment is accomplished, n. 45 to 52. Of Babylon, and its destruction, n. 53 to 64. Of the former heaven, and its abolition, n. 65 to 72. Of the state of the world and church hereafter, n. 73, 74.
2. The chief design of this Continuation of the Last Judgment is, to shew what the state of the world and the church was before the last judgment, and what the state of the world and the church is become after it; and moreover, in what manner the last judgment was accomplish- ed on the Reformed.
3. It is generally supposed in the christian world, that the whole visible heaven, and the whole habitable earth, will perish at the day of the last judgment, and that a new heaven and a new earth will supply the place of the former ; that then the souls of men will re-assume their bodies, and thus man will be a man as before. This opinion has become a matter of faith, in con- sequence of understanding the Word merely- according to its literal sense, nor could it be otherw^ise understood before its spiritual sense was discovered ; also from a belief which pre- vails with many, that the soul is no more than vapour or breath which a man expires, and that spirits as w^ell as angels are aerial substances. So long as men had no better understanding of the nature of souls, spirits, and angels, it was not possible for them to think otherwise of the
5
last judgment. But when it comes to be un- derstood, that man is equally man after death, as he was in the world, with this difference alone, that he is then clothed with a spiritual body, and not with a natural one as before, and that the spiritual body has in all respects the same appearance before those who are spiritual, as the natural body has before those who are natural; then it may also be understood, that the last judgment is not to take place in the natural world, but in the spiritual world ; for in that world are assembled together all men who have ever been born, and are deceased.
4. When this is understood, then those para- doxes may be dissipated which man must other- wise entertain concerning the state of souls after death, concerning their re-union with putri6ed bodies, concerning the destruction of the created universe, and consequently concerning the last judgment. In regard to the state of souls after death, he must conceive the following paradox- es, namely : That man will then be like a va- pour, or like wind, or like aether, or like some- thing floating in the air, or not settled in any- particular place, but in a vague undecided some- where, which they call Pu; and that he will see nothing, as having no eyes; hear nothing, as having no ears; speak nothing, as having no mouth ; and thus that he will be blind, deaf, and dumb, and continually in sad and painful expect- i3
6
ation of recovering those functions of his soul,
from which all the pleasures of life are derived, at the day of the last judgment. And he must further conceive, that the souls of all deceased men, from the creation to the present time, are in the like miserable state ; and that they who had lived fifty or sixty ages ago, in like manner are still floating in the air, or remain in some undetermined place called Pu, waiting for the judgment : not to mention other strange and dismal notions.
5. I pass over many other paradoxes of a similar nature, which he, who knows not that after death he will be a man equally as before, must entertain concerning the destruction of the universe. But when a man knows, that after death he is not a mere breath, or wind, but a spirit, and if he has lived well, an angel in hea- ven, and that spirits and angels are in perfect human forms, then he can think from some de- gree of understanding concerning the state of man after death, and concerning the last judg- ment, and no longer from a blind faith, which gives birth to the most ridiculous and fantastical traditions. He may then also, from a rational consideration of the subject, with certainty con- clude, that the last judgment, which is foretold in the Word, is not to take place in the natural world, but in the spiritual world, where all are gathered together ; and further, that when the
7
time comes for this last judgment to take place, it will be revealed to mankind, in order to pre- serve and confirm their belief in the Word.
6. Lay aside the idea concerning the soul as being a vapour or breath, and then think of your own state, or the state of your friends, or the state of your children after death; will you not then think that you will live as a man, and they in like manner? And as it is impossible there should be any life, properly speaking, without senses, you cannot otherwise conceive than that they also see, hear, and speak. Thus also they who celebrate funeral rites, in their discourses about the dead, suppose them to be in heaven among the angels, clothed in white garments, and in paradises. Now after this to relapse into the idea, that the soul is a mere vapour or breath, and that it does not live in the enjoyment of any sense till after the last judgment, is this any thing short of insanity ? Why then do men reason in themselves, saying, "What and where shall I be in the mean time? Shall 1 be flying about in the air, or shall I remain in some un- known place ? And yet the preacher has taught, that after death I shall go among the blessed, if I have believed aright, and lived well." Believe therefore, as is really the case, that you will be a man after death equally as before, expecting only the difference between what is natural and what is spiritual. In this manner all think, i4
8
who believe an external life, and know nothing of the hypothetical tradition respecting the soul.
7. From what has been already advanced, it may appear plain, that the last judgment cannot take place in the natural world, but in the spirit- ual world. That it has also taken place in that world, maybe seen in a former treatise concern- ing the Last Judgment, n. 45 to 72. which was written from ocular testimony; and it will still further appear from what remains to be said in the following pages concerning the judgment passed on the Reformed. He who attends, may also see this from the new discoveries and revelations which are now made concerning heaven, the Word, and the church. What man could invent such things of himself?
Oj the State of the World and CJiurch before the Last Judgment^ and after it.
8. That the last judgment has taken place in the spiritual world, may appear evident from what has been just said above ; but in order that some idea may be formed of the state of the world and church before and after that period, it is necessary to be well acquainted with the following particulars: I. What is meant by the former heaven and the former earth which pass-
9
ed away, Apoc. xxi. 1. II. Who and of what quality they were, of whom tlie former heaven and the former earth consisted. III. That be- fore the last judgment was performed upon them, the communication between heaven and the world, consequently between the Lord and the church, was in a great measure intercepted. IV. That after the last judgment the commu- nication was restored. V. That hence it is, that after the last judgment, and not before, revelations were made for the new church. VI. That the state of the world and church, prior to the last judgment, was like evening and night, but after it like morning and day.
9. I. fVhat is meant by the former heaven and the former earth ivhich passed away, mentioned in the Apocalypse, chap. xxi. 1. By the form- er heaven and the former earth there mention- ed, is not meant the heaven which appears be- fore the eyes of men in the world, nor the earth which they inhabit j neither does the former heaven signify that into which all who have hved well, ever since the creation of the world, are admitted : but by the former heaven and the former earth are meant congregations of spirits, who had formed to themselves imaginary hea- vens between heaven and hell : and as all spirits and angels dwell upon earths, equally as well as men, hence by the former heaven and the former earth are meant those imaginary hea- i5
10
vens. That that heaven and that earth have
actually passed away, I know for a certainty, having been an eye-witness thereto, a descrip- tion whereof is given in a small work on the Last Judgment, n. 45 to 72.
10. II. Who and of what quality they were, of whom the former heaven and the former earth consisted, has been described in the little work on the Last Judgment; but as on a proper knowledge of this matter depends the compre- hension of what follows, we shall therefore be a htile more particular on this head. All they w^ho had collected themselves together under heaven, and had in various places formed to themselves the delusive appearance of heavens, which they also called heavens, were conjoined with the angels of the lowest heaven as to exter- nals, but not as to internals : the greater part of them were goats, of the class of those spoken of in Matthew, chap. xxv. 41 to 46; who indeed, when in the world, did not commit evil actions, for they hved good moral lives ; but they did not do good works from a principle of good, for they separated faith from charity, and hence did not regard evils as sins : these, in consequence of their external deportment like christians, were conjoined with the angels of the lowest heaven, who are similar to them in externals, but not in internals, for they are the sheep, and are in faith, but in that faith wliich is of charity.
11
On account of this conjunction, they could not but be tolerated ; for had they been separated before the last judgment, the consequences would have been fatal to those in the lowest heaven, who in that case would also have been involved with them in one common destruction. This is what the Lord foretold in Matthew; "Jesus spake a parable; the kingdom of the heavens is like unto a man who sowed good seed in his field : but while men slept, his enemy came, and sowed tares, and went away : when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also : so the servants of the householder came, and said unto him. Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up ? But he said. Nay, lest, while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them : let both grow together until the harvest ; and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bun- dles to burn them ; but gather the wheat into my barn. He who hath sow^n the good seed, is the Son of Man ; the field is the world ; the seed are the children of the kingdom; the tares are the children of the evil one; the harvest is the consummation of the age: as therefore the tares are gathered together, and burned, so shall it be in the consummation of the age," xiii 24 to 30, 37 to 40 ; the consummation of the age
12
is the last time of the church; the tares are they wlio are inwardly evil ; the wheat are they who are inwardly good ; the gathering them together in bundles to burn, is the last judgment upon them; the fatal consequence that would attend the good, in case a separation were to take place before the last judgment, is under- stood by these words, lest in gathering up the tares ye root up also the wheat with them, let them both grow together until the harvest.
11. III. That before the last judgment was performed upon them, the communication between heaven and the world, consequently between the Lord and the church, was in a great measure in- tercepted. Man receives all his illumination from the Lord through heaven, and this enters by an internal way ; but so long as there were congregations of such spirits between heaven and the world, or between the Lord and the church, man could not be illuminated ; it was as when a sun-beam is intercepted by a black intervening cloud, or as when the sun suffers an eclipse by the interposition of the moon, and its light is intercepted : wherefore in case any thing had been revealed by the Lord, at that time, it would either not have been understood, or being understood it would not have been re- ceived, or if it had been received it would nev- theless have been afterwards extinguished and destroyed. Now as all those intervening con-
13
gregalions were dissipated by the last judgment, it is evident, IV. That the communication he- tween heaven and the world, orbetweenthe Lord and the church, is restored.
12. V. That hence it is, that after the last judgment is accomplished, and not before, reve- lations were made for the new church; for as by the last judgment the communication has been restored, man can be illuminated and re- formed, that is, he can understand the divine truth of the Word, receive it when understood, and retain it when received, seeing that the obstacles which interposed are removed. Hence it is that John, after the former heaven and the former earth were passed away, said that he " saw a new heaven and a new earth, and then the holy city Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride before her husband ; and he heard him that sat upon the throne say, Behold, I make all things new," Apoc. xxi. 1, 2, 5. That by Jerusalem is meant the church, may be seen in the Doctrine concerning the Lord, n. 62 to 64 : see also n. 65 of the same Treatise, for a general view of the new things now re- vealed.
13. VI. That the state of the world and church prior to the last juds^ment was like eve- ning and night, but after it like morning and day. When the light of truth does not appear,
14
and truth is not received, the state of the church in the world is Hke evening and niglit ; that such was its state before the last judg- ment, may appear from what has been said above, n. 11 : but when the light of truth ap- pears, and truth is received, the state of the church in the world is like morning and day. Hence it is that these two states of the church are called in the Word evening and morning, also night and day; as in the following pas- sages, " The holy one said unto me. Until the evening the morning two thousand three hun- dred ; then the holy thing shall be justified," Dan. viii. 14. "The vision of the evening and the morning is truth," Dan. viii. 26. " There shall be one day, which is known to Jehovah, neither day nor night, for about the time of evening there shall be light," Zech. xiv. 7. " One crying unto me out of Seir, Watchman, what of the night ? the watchman said. The morning cometh, and also the night," Isaiah xxi. 11, 12. Jesus speaking concern- ing the last time of the church, saith, "Watch, for ye know not when the Lord of the house will come, whether at evening, at midnight, at cock-crowing, or in the morning," Mark xiii, 35. Jesus said, 1 must work while it is day, the night cometh when no man can work," John ix. 1 ; and elsewhere, as in Isaiah xvii. 14. Jer. vi. 4, 5. Psalm xxx. 6. Psalm Ixv.
15
9. Psalm xc. 6. Inasmuch as by evening and night such things are signified, therefore the Lord, in order that he might fulfil the Word, was also buried in the evening, and afterwards rose in the morning.
Concerning the Last Judgment on the Reformed.
14. In a former Treatise concerning the Last Judgment, the judgment on those who are meant by Babylon was treated of; some- thing was also said concerning the judgment on the Mahometans, and on the Gentiles; but nothing concerning the judgment on the Re- formed ; it was only observed, that the Re- formed are in the middle, disposed according to their countries, and that round about them are the Papists, next to them the Mahome- tans, and in the outer circumference the Gen- tiles, and people of various religions. The reason why the Reformed constituted the midst or the centre, was, because the Word is read by them, and the Lord worshipped ; hence they enjoy the greatest hght : and spiritual light, which proceeds from the Lord as a sun, whose essence is divine love, ex- tends itself on every side, and illuminates even those who are in the extreme circumfe-
16
rence, enabling them to understand truths ac- cording to their capacities of reception, as determined by their respective religions. For spiritual light in its essence is divine wisdom, and enters into man's understanding, in pro- portion as from the knowledges previously imbibed, he is in the faculty of perceiving it ; nor does this light pass through space like the light of the world, but through the affections and perceptions of truth, consequently in an instant to the uhimate limits of the heavens. From these affections and perceptions of truth arise the appearances of spaces in the spiritual world. On which subject more may be seen in the Doctrine concerning the Sacred Scripture, n. 104 to 113.
15. But in treating of the last judgment on the Reformed, we shall observe the following order : I. On what description of persons among the Reformed the last judgment was executed. II. Of the signs and visitations preceding the last judgment. III. In what manner the universal judgment was accom- phshed. IV. Of the salvation of the sheep.
16. I. On what description of persons among the Reformed the last judgment ivas executed. The last judgment was executed upon none others of the Reformed, than upon those, who in the world had professed to be- lieve in God, had read the Word, heard ser-
17
mons, went to the holy supper, and had not neglected the ordinances of the church ; and yet at the same time had thought lightly of adulteries, various kinds of theft, lying, re- venge, hatred, and the like ; these, although they professed God, yet made no account of sinning against him ; they read the Word, yet obeyed not the precepts of life therein ; they heard sermons, yet paid no attention to them ; they went to the sacrament of the supper, yet did not abstain from the evils of their past hfe ; and they neglected not the outward so- lemnities of worship, yet never amended their life ; thus in their externals they put on the appearance of religion, but in their internals they were totally destitute of it. These are the persons who are meant by the Dragon in the Apocalypse, chap. xii. of whom it is there said, that he was seen in heaven, that he fought with Michael in heaven, and that he drew down the third part of the stars from heaven ; which things are said, because such persons by a profession of God, by reading the Word, and by external worship, had com- munication with heaven. The same are also meant by the he-goats in Matthew, chap. xxiv. to whom it is not said that they had done evils, but that they had omitted to do good ; and all such omit doing good, which is really good, because they do not abstain from evils
18
as sins ; and although they do not commit evils, still they repute them lawful, and thus commit them in spirit, and also in body when opportunity offers.
17. Upon all such of the Reformed was the last judgment executed, but not upon such as did not believe in God, despised the Word, and in heart rejected the holy things of the church ; for all these, when they passed out of the natural world into the spiritual world, were cast into hell.
18. All who had lived as christians in their externals, and made no account of a christian life, were externally united with the heavens, but internally with the hells ; and as they could not be suddenly torn from their con- junction with heaven, they were detained in the world of spirits, which is in the middle between heaven and hell, and it was permit- ted them to form societies, and live together as in the world, and there by arts unknown in the wor\d to make splendid representations, and thereby to persuade themselves and others that they were in heaven ; wherefore from that external appearance they called their societies heavens. Those heavens and those earths, which they inhabited, are meant by the former heaven and former earth which passed away, Apoc. xxi. 1.
19. During the time they remained there,
19
the interiors of their minds were closed, and the exteriors opened ; so that their evils, by which they were united with the hells, did not appear ; but when the last judgment began to take place, their interiors were opened, and then they appeared to every one according to their real quahty ; and inasmuch as they then acted in unity with the hells, they could no longer counterfeit the christian life, but rushed with delight into evils and enormities of every kind, and were turned into devils, and also appeared as such, some black, some fiery, and some livid like dead bodies ; they who had been in the pride of self-intelligence, appeared black ; they who had been in the furious love of ruling over all, appeared fiery ; and they who had lived in the neglect and contempt of truth, appeared livid like dead bodies. Thus were the scenes of those theatres changed.
20. The Reformed in the world of spirits, which is in the middle between heaven and hell, constitute the inmost part thereof, or centre, and are there arranged according to their respective countries : in that central part the English occupy the middle ; towards the south and east are the Hollanders ; the Ger- mans towards the north ; the Swedes towards the west and north ; and the Danes towards the west : but in that central part are no others than such as have lived a hfe of charity
K
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and its faith. There are many societies of them there. Surrounding them are those of the Reformed, who have not led a hfe of faith and charity : these are they who formed to themseh'es the resemblance of heavens. But the arrangement of all in heaven, and also in hell, is different. The reason why the Re- formed occupy the centre in the world of spirits, is because they read the Word, and worship the Lord ; hence the light is greatest where they are, and is propagated thence, as from the centre, to every part of the circum- ference, and enlightens : for the light in which spirits and angels are, proceeds from the Lord as a sun, which sun in its essence is Divine love, and the light thence proceeding is in its essence Divine wisdom: from this origin is derived every thing spiritual in that world. Concerning the Lord as a sun in the spiritual world, and concerning the light and heat therefrom, see the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 116 to 140.
21. The arrangement of every society in that world is according to the diversities of love ; the reason of which is, because love is the life of man, and the Lord, who is essential Divine love, disposes them according to their receptions thereof; and the diversities of loves are innumerable, which no one knows but the Lord alone. He so conjoins the societies,
21
that they all together seem to be actuated but by one single life of one single man ; the heavenly societies by one life of celestial and spiritual love, and the hellish societies by one life of diabolical and infernal love ; the heav- ens and the hells he conjoins by oppositions. Such beiilg the disposition and arrangement of all things in the spiritual world, therefore every man after death goes to the society of his own love, nor can he go to any other, for his love opposes it. Hence it is, that they who are in spiritual love, are in heaven, but they who are only in natural love, are in hell : spiritual love is implanted solely by a life of charhy, and natural love remains natural, if a life of charity be omitted ; and natural love, if it be not sub- ject to spiritual love, is in opposition thereto.
22. From what has been said it may plainly appear, on what description of persons among the reformed the judgment was performed, viz. that it was not upon those who were in the centre, but upon those who were in the circumference ; who, as before observed, by reason of their external morality appeared outwardly as christians, but being inwardly destitute of all spiritual hfe, were not such in reality.
23. II. Of the signs and visitations pre- ceding the last judgment. There was seen over them, who had formed to themselves im-
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aginary heavens, the likeness of a storm or tempest, which appearance was occasioned by the presence of the Lord in the angelic heavens above them, chiefly by his presence in the lowest heaven, lest any of the spirits in that heaven should, by reason of their con- junction with them, be removed, and perish at the same time. The superior heavens were also brought down nearer to them, whereby the interiors of those, upon whom the judgment was about to be performed, were laid open : hereupon they no longer ap- peared like moral christians, as before, but Hke demons, raging and disputing among themselves about God, about the Lord, the Word, faith, and about the church ; and in- asmuch as their concupiscences towards evils were then also let loose, they rejected all those subjects with contempt and ridicule, and rushed into every kind of enormity. Thus the state of those heavenly inhabitants was changed. Then also all their splendid appear- ances, which they had formed to themselves by arts unknown in the world, vanished away, their places were turned into vile huts, their gardens into pools, their temples into rub- bish, and the very hills on which they dwelt, into craggy rocks, and other things of a like nature, corresponding with their abandoned dispositions and lusts. For all the visible
23
things of the spiritual world are corresponden- ces of the affections in spirits and angels. These were the signs of the approaching judg- ment.
24. In proportion as the disclosure of their interiors increased, so the order among the in- habitants was changed and inverted ; they who were most powerful in reasonings against the holy things of the church, rushed into the mid- dle, and usurped dominion over others; but the rest, who were less powerful in reasonings, with- drew to the sides round about, and acknow- ledged those who were in the centre as their tutor-angels : thus they formed themselves into an image of hell.
25. About the time of these changes of their state, various concussions of their dwellings, and of the ground round about them, took place, which were succeeded by earthquakes, terrible according to the depravity of their minds: here and there also apertures were made towards the hells which were under them, and thus a communication was opened with them ; then were seen exhalations ascending hke smoke mingled with sparks of fire. These also were the signs which preceded, and are signified by the Lord's words in the gospel, when speaking of the consummation of the age, and at the same time of the last judgment: "Nation shall be stirred up against nation; there shall be great
k3
24
earthquakes in divers places; also great and terrible signs from heaven; and there shall be distress of nations, the sea and the salt water roaring."
26. Visitations were also made by the angels; for before any ill-formed society per- ishes, visitation always precedes. The angels exhorted them to desist, and in case they re- fused, denounced their destruction. At the same time also they explored whether there were any good spirits intermixed with them, and if they found any such, they separated them. But the multitude, instigated by their leaders, insulted the angels, and rushed forth with intent to drag them to their public place of meeting, and there to treat them in a wick- ed manner; just as was the case in Sodom. The greater part of them were such as had sep- arated faith from charity ; there were also some, who professed charity, and nevertheless hved scandalous lives.
27. III. In what manner the universal judg- ment was accomplished . When it was found, that the visitations and signs, forewarning them of an approaching judgment, had no effect in restraining them from their wicked practices, and also from their seditious plots against those who acknowledged the Lord as the God of heaven and earth, held the sanctity of the Word, and led a life of charity, then the last judgment
25
came suddenly upon them, and was performed as follows.
28. The Lord was seen in a white cloud widi angels, and there was heard a sound from thence as of trumpets ; which was a sign repre- sentative of the protection of the angels of hea- ven by the Lord, and of the gathering together of the good from every quarter; for the Lord does not bring destruction on any one, but only defends his own, and withdraws them from communication with the wicked ; whereupon the wicked enter into their concupiscences, and in consequence thereof rush into enormi- ties of every kind. Then all they who were about to perish, were seen together in the form of a great dragon with its tail extended in a curve, and elevated towards heaven, and in its elevation turning itself different ways, as though it would destroy heaven, and draw it down; but the attempt was fruidess and vain, for its tail was cast down, and the dragon itself, which then also appeared elevated, sunk be- neath. It was given me to see this represent- ation, that I might know and make known who are meant by the dragon in the Apocalypse; namely, that by the dragon are meant all those who read the Word, hear sermons, and fre- quent the ordinances of the church, but make no account of the concupiscences of evil, in which they take delight, and inwardly medi- k4
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tate on thefts and frauds, adulteries and obsce- nities, hatred and revenge, lying and blasphemy j thus hving in spirit the life of devils, though outwardly in the body they have the appearance of angels : such were the persons who composed the dragon itself: but they who formed the tail, were such as in the world had Uved in faith se- parate from charity, and who were hke the for- mer as to their thoughts and intentions.
29. I then saw the rocks on which they were, some sinking down below; some removed to a great distance ; some opening in the middle, and letting down through the apertures those who were upon them; and others overwhelmed as with a deluge ; I also saw many people, accord^ ing to the genera and species of evil, collected together into companies, like bundles, and cast here and there into whirlpools, bogs, lakes, and deserts, which were so many hells. The resty who were not upon rocks, but dispersed here and there, and yet in similar evils, fled with terror and astonishment to the Papists, Mahom- etans, and Gentiles, and made profession of their religion ; this they could do without any unea- siness of mind, because they had no rehgion at all ; but lest they should likewise seduce them, they were driven away, and thrust down to their companions in the hells. This is a genera] de- scription of their destruction ; the particulars, which I saw, are too numerous to admit of be- ing described here.
21
30. rV". Of the salvation of the sheep. After the last judgment was accomplished, then there was joy in heaven, and there was also hght in the world of spirits, such as was not before. The joy that took place in heaven, after the dra- gon was cast down, is described in the Apoca- lypse, chap. xii. 10, 11, 12 : and there was hght in the world of spirits, because those infernal societies were removed, which were hke inter- posing clouds that darken the earth : a similar Hght then also arose upon men in the world, from which they enjoy new illumination.
31. Then I saw angehc spirits ascending in great numbers from beneath, and taken up into heaven; these were the sheep, who had been there reserved and guarded by the Lord for ages back, lest they should come into the ma- lignant sphere, which exhaled from the spirits of the dragon, and which would have suffocated their charity. These are they who are meant in the Word by those who came forth from their sepulchres, and by the souls of them that were slain for the testimony of Jesus, who had watch- ed ; and by those who were of the first resur- rection.
k5
A
COIVTIIVUATIOIV
CONCERNING
THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.
Of the Spiritual World.
32. The spiritual world has been treated of in a particular work on Heaven and Hell, wherein many things appertaining to that world are described; and as every man after death comes into that world, a description of his state there is also given in the same work. Who does not know, that man continues to live after death, seeing that he is born a man, and cre- ated after the image of God, and that the Lord has so taught in his Word? But the true na- ture of his future life has hitherto been un- known; it has been supposed that he will then be a soul, of which no other idea is entertained, than that of air or ether, in which will reside something of a thinking principle, without sight hke that of the eye, without hearing like that of the ear, and without speech hke that of the
29
mouth; when nevertheless after death man is equally a man as before, so much so, that he does not know but what he is still in the former world ; for he sees, hears, and speaks, as in the former world ; he walks, runs, and sits, as in the former world ; he eats and drinks as in the former world; he sleeps and wakes as in the former world ; he enjoys the conjugal dehght as in the former world ; in a word, he is a man in every respect, both as to generals and par- ticulars : from all which it plainly appears, that death is only a continuation of life, and that it is merely a passage from one wwld to another.
33. There are many causes why man has been ignorant of this his state after death, among which this also is one, viz. that he could not be enlightened, so little faith had he in the immortality of the soul; as may appear evident from the case of many, even of the learned, who believe themselves to be like the beasts, with only this degree of perfection above them, that they are endued with the faculty of speech ; and therefore in their hearts they deny that there is any hfe after death, although with their mouths they confess it. In consequence of thus thinking, they are become so sensual, that they cannot beheve that man is a man after death, because they do not see him with their eyes ; for, say they, how can the soul exist in such a manner? But the case is otherwise
30
with those who believe they shall live after (leaih; such think inwardly within themselves, that they shall go to heaven, enjoy delights with the angels, see heavenly paradises, and stand before the Lord in white garments, and the like: this is their interior thought ; their ex- terior thought maybe different, when they think about the soul from the hypothesis of the learned.
34. That man after death is equally a man as before, although not visible to the bodily eye, may appear evident from the angels seen by Abraham, Gideon, Daniel, and others of the prophets; from the angels seen in the Lord's sepulchre, and many times after that by John in the Apocalypse ; but principally from the Lord himself, who shewed to his disciples that he was a man, by permitting them to touch him, and by eating with them; and neverthe- less he became invisible to their sight. They saw him in consequence of their spiritual eyes being open; for when these are opened, the things which are in the spiritual world appear as clearly and distinctly, as the things which are in the natural world.
35. As it has pleased the Lord to open the eyes of my spirit, and to keep them open now for the space of nineteen years, it has been given me to see things which are in the spirit- ual world, and also to describe them. I can
31
with the utmost confidence afiirm, that they are not visions, but things seen in the most perfect state of wakefulness.
36. The difference between a man in the natural world, and a man in the spiritual world, is this, viz. that the latter is clothed with a spiritual body, but the former with a natural body ; and a spiritual man sees a spiritual man as clearly as a natural man sees a natural man; but a natural man cannot see a spiritual man, nor can a spiritual man see a natural man, by reason of the difference between what is na- tural, and what is spiritual; the nature whereof may be described, but not in a few words.
37. From what I have seen for so many years, I am enabled to relate what follows; namely, that in the spiritual world there are earths, as well as in the natural world ; that there are hills and mountains, plains and val- lies; likewise fountains and rivers, lakes and seas; that there are paradises and gardens, groves and woods ; that there are palaces and houses; likewise writings and books; that there are professions and trades ; and that there are precious stones, gold, and silver : In a word, that every thing which exists in the natural w^orld, both in general and particular, is also to be found in the spiritual world ; but in an infinitely more perfect state in the heavens.
38. The difference however in general con-
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sists in this, that all things in the spiritual world are from a spiritual origin, and hence as to their essence are spiritual, being from the sun of that world, which is pure love ; and that all things in the natural world are from a natural origin, and hence as to their essence are natural, being from the sun of the natural world, which is pure fire. Hence it is, that the spiritual man must be nourished with food from a spiritual origin, just as the natural man is nourished with food from a natural origin. More on this subject may be seen in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell.
Oj the English in the Spiritual World.
39. There are two states of thought in man, external and internal ; man in the exter- nal state is in the natural world, and in the internal state is in the spiritual world : these two states of thought are united, and make one with the good, but not with the wicked. Man's true nature and quality, as to his inter- nal state, is seldom discoverable in the natural world, because from his infancy he has been desirous of being moral, and learnt to put on the appearance thereof; but in the spiritual world his nature and quality plainly appears ; the spiritual light discovers this, for man is
33
then a spirit, and the spirit is the internal man. Now whereas I have been permitted to be in ■that hght, and thereby to discern the nature and quahty of the internal man in people of different countries and kingdoms, and this from an intercourse of many years with angels and spirits, it behoves me, by reason of the importance of the subject, to make know^n what 1 have seen. I shall here relate only a few particulars concerning the noble English nation.
40. The better sort amongst the English are in the centre of all christians, see above, n. 20 ; the reason of which is, because they possess interior intellectual light. This is not apparent to any one in the natural world, but in the spiritual world it is very observable. They derive this light from the hberty which they enjoy of thinking, and thence of speak- ing and writing ; whereas with others, who do not enjoy so great a degree of liberty, intel- lectual light is obscured, for want of the op- portunity of manifesting hself. That hght, however, is not active of itself, but is render- ed active by others, particularly by men of note and authority among them. As soon as these deliver their sentiments, or when any thing is read which is approved of by them, then the light shines, and seldom before. For this reason the English in the spiritual world
34
have moderators set over them, and priests allotted them, of distinguished character for learning and great talents, whose injunctions and admonitions, in consequence of such their disposition, they readily obey.
41. They seldom go out of their own so- ciety, because they love it, in like manner as in the world they love their country. There
is also a similitude of minds among them, in j consequence whereof they contract an intima- ^ cy with their friends of their own country, but seldom with others. They are also kind in relieving each other's necessities, and are lovers of sincerity.
42. There are two large cities like London, into which most of the English enter after death. I was permitted to see them, and also to walk through them. The middle of the first city answers to that part of London, in England, w^here the merchants meet, called the Exchange ; and in this quarter dwell the moderators : above that middle part is the east, below it is the west, on the right side is the south, and on the left is the north. The eastern quarter is inhabited by such as have been distinguished above the rest for a life of charity, and the buildings there consist of magnificent palaces ; the southern quarter is inhabited by such as excel in wisdom, and the objects that surround them are full of splen-
35
dour ; the northern quarter is inhabited by those who have taken particular delight in the liberty of speaking and writing ; and in the western quarter dwell they who make profes- sion of faith, on the right hand of which is the entrance into this city, and also the way by which they who lead wicked hves are sent out of h. The ministers who hve in the western quarter, and who, as was above ob- served, make profession of faith, dare not en- ter the ciiy through the great streets, but only through the narrow lanes ; for no other in- habitants are tolerated in the city, but such as are in the faith of charity. I have heard some complain of the preachers in the west, that they compose their discourses with such art and eloquence, and so interweave the strange doctrine of justification by faith, that their hearers do not know whether good ought to be done or not ; they preach intrinsic good, and separate this from extrinsic good, which they sometimes call meritorious good, and consequently not acceptable to God ; still, however, they call it good, because it is useful to society. But when they who inhabit the eastern and southern quarters of the city, hear such mystical discourses, they walk out of the temples ; and the preachers are after- wards deprived of their priestly office.
43. The otlier great city like London, is
36
not in the middle part of the christian region, spoken of n. 20, but lies at some distance from it in the north ; and is the receptacle of those after death, who are inwardly wicked. In the midst of it there is an open communication with hell, into which the inhabitants sink down, and are swallowed up in their turns.
44. I once heard some ministers from Eng- land conversing together about faith alone, and I saw a certain image formed by them, which represented that faith. It appeared in an ob- scure light like a great giant, and in their eyes like a handsome man ; but when light from heaven w^as let in upon it, it appeared as to its upper parts like a monster, and as to its lower parts like a serpent, not unhke the description given of Dagon, the idol of the Philistines ; at the sight whereof they departed, and the by- standers cast it into a lake.
45. It was perceived from those who in the spiritual world are from England, that they have as it were a twofold theology, one from the doctrine of faith, and the other from the doctrine of life; that from the doctrine of faith being held by those who are initiated into the priesthood, and that from the doctrine of life, by those who are not initiated into the priest- hood, and are commonly called the laity. This doctrine of life is found in the exhortation read every Sabbath-day in the churches to those
37
who frequent the holy supper, wherein it is ex- pressly said, that if they do not shun evils as sins, they cast themselves into eternal damna- tion ; and that if in this case they should come to the holy communion, the devil would enter into them, as he entered into Judas. Concern- ing the disagreement of this doctrine of hfe with their doctrine of faith, I have sometimes spoken with the priests, who made no answer, but en- tertained thoughts which they did not dare to express. You may see that exhortation in the Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, n. 5, 6, 7.
46. I have frequently seen a certain English- man, who became celebrated by a book which he published some years ago, wherein he en- deavoured to establish the conjunction of faith and charity, by the influx and interior operation of the Holy Spirit; maintaining that this influx affected man in an inexpressible manner, with- out his being conscious of it, but that it did not touch, much less manifestly move his will, or excite his thought to do any thing as of himself, unless permissively, for this reason, lest any thing appertaining to man should enter at the same time into the Divine Providence; more- over that thus evils did not appear in the sight of God. Thus he excluded external exercises of charity from having any thing to do with sal- vation, but approved of them as conducive to
L
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the public good. Inasmuch as his arguments were ingenious, and the snake in the grass was not seen, his book was received as orthodox in the highest degree. The same author, after his departure out of the world, retained the hke doctrine, neither could he recede from it, be- cause of his having confirmed himself therein. The angels conversed with him, and told him there was no truth in his opinion, but that it was mere ingenuity assisted by eloquence ; and that the truth is, that man ought to shun evil and do good as of himself, yet with this acknowledg- ment that it is from the Lord ; and that before such acknowledgment there is no faith, still less is that thought, which he calls faith, real faith. But whereas this opposed his doctrine, it was permitted him from his own sagacity to inquire further, whether there be any such unknown influx, and internal operation, without the ex- ternal operation of man. He was then seen to apply his mind, and wander about in deep thought, constantly in the persuasion that man cannot otherwise be renewed and saved : but as often as he arrived at the end of the course he had taken, his eyes were opened, and he saw himself straying, which he also confessed before those who were present. I saw him wandering in this manner for the space of two years, and at the end of his journies confessing that no such influx takes place, unless evil be
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removed in the external man, which is effected by shunning evils as sins as of himself. At length I heard him say, that all who confirm themselves in that heresy, would become insane from the pride of self-intelligence.
47. I have conversed with Melanchton, and at the same time requested him to inform me what was his state, to which he would make no reply ; wherefore 1 was instructed by others concerning his lot, viz. that he is sometimes in an excavated stone chamber, and at other times alternately in hell; and that when in the chamber, he appears to be clothed with a bear's skin by reason of the cold ; and that on account of the filth in his chamber, he does not admit strangers from the world, who are desirous of visiting him from the reputation of his name. He still speaks about faith alone, which he had laboured above others to establish when in the world.
OJ the Hollanders, or Dutch, in the Spiritual World.
48. It was said above, n. 20, that Christians, among whom the Word is read, and the Lord worshipped, are in the middle of the nations and people of the whole spiritual world, by reason that they possess the greatest spiritual light, l2
40
which light is propagated from them, as from a centre, to the remotest circumferences, and il- luminates, agreeable to what was said in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concern- ing THE Sacred Scripture, n. 104 to 1J3. In this middle region the Reformed Christians have places allotted them according to their reception of spiritual hght from the Lord; and whereas the English have that light treasured up in their intellectual part, therefore they oc- cupy the very centre of that middle region : and as with the Hollanders spiritual Hght is more nearly conjoined to natural light, in con- sequence of which it is not so pure and bright, but rather clouded and obscure, and yet they are receptive of rationahty from spiritual light, and at the same time from spiritual heat; there- fore in that middle region of Christians they have obtained habitations in the east, and in the south; in the east from their faculty of receiv- ing spiritual heat, which with them is charity, and in the south from their faculty of receiv- ing spiritual light, which with them is faith. That the quarters in the spiritual world are not like the quarters in the natural world, and that an allotment of habitations according to such quarters is an allotment according to the re- ception of faith and love, and that they who excel in love and charity are in the east, and they who excel in intelligence and faith in the
41
south, may be seen in the Treatise on Heaven and Hell, n. 141 to 153. A further reason why the Hollanders are in those quarters of tlie middle region possessed by Christians, is, be- cause traffic or commerce is the end they have in view, and money is the means subservient to that end; which love of commerce, as an end, is of a spiritual nature : but where money is the end in view, and commerce the means subservient thereto, that love is natural, and grounded in avarice. In the above-mentioned spiritual love, which, regarded hi itself, con- stitutes the general good, and in which and from which is derived the good of one's coun- try, the Hollanders are principled above other nations.
49. The Hollanders adhere more rigidly than others to the principles of their religion, not being easily tempted to forsake them ; and in case they are convinced that in particular points they are wrong, yet still they will not confess themselves. so, but return to their old tenets, and remain unmoved ; thus they dis- qualify themselves for the interior intuition of truth, not suffering the rational principle to exert itself in the freedom of inquiry relative to spirit- ual things. In consequence of this peculiarity of temper, when they come after death into the spiritual world, they are prepared for the reception of the spiritual principle of heaven, l3
42
which is divine truth, in a manner widely dif- ferent from other people. They are not taught, because they are in no disposition to receive instruction ; but the nature of heaven is de- scribed to them, and afterwards they are per- mitted to ascend thither, and behold it, and then whatsoever is agreeable to their genius and temper is infused into them, and in this state they return down again to their countrymen, possessed with a strong desire after heaven. If after such a process they do not receive this truth, that God is one both in person and es- sence, and that God is the Lord, and that the trinity is in him ; and also this truth, that faith and charity are ofno avail, if they are only known and talked about, without influencing the life ; and that they are communicated by the Lord to those who shun evils as sins ; in case, I say, they are averse to these truths when they are taught them, and still persist in conceiving of God as of three persons, and of religion merely that there is such a thing, th^y are then reduced to a state of much misery, and their traffic is taken away from them, until such times as they see and acknowledge the extremity of their situation. Then they are conducted to those who live in the greatest abundance, and enjoy a flourishing trade ; and here this thought is insinuated into them from heaven. Whence is it, that they are so happy ? Thus they are led
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to reflect on their faith concerning the Lord, and on their hfe, how they shun evils as sins : they also inquire a little, and perceive an agree- ment witli their own thought and reflection. This is frequently repeated, until at length they come to think of themselves, that in order to be released from their miseries, they must believe and live in like manner : then, as they receive that faith, and live that life of charity, they are put in possession of wealth, and enjoy the delights of life. In this manner, they who have in any degree led a life of charity in the world, are amended by themselves, and not by others, and prepared for heaven. These after- wards become more stable and constant than others, so that they may be called Constan- cies ; nor do they suffer themselves to be led away by any reasoning, fallacy, or obscurity induced by sophistry, or by a preposterous view of things from the mere light of confirmation.
50. The Hollanders are easily distinguished from others in the spiritual world, by their ap- pearing in the same kind of dress as they wore in the natural world, only with this difference, that it is neater and cleaner with such as have received faith and spiritual life. The reason why they appear in like garments is, because they abide steadfastly in the principles of their religion ; and all in the spiritual world are clothed according to such principles ; where- l4
44
fore white garments, and of fine linen, are worn by those who are under the influence of divine truths.
51. The cities, in which the Hollanders live in the spiritual world, are guarded in a parti- cular manner; all the streets therein are roofed over, and provided with gates, in order to pre- vent their being seen from the neighbouring rocks and hills: this is a circumstance peculiar to the Hollanders, in consequence of their na- tural prudence in concealing their designs, and not divulging their intentions; for in the spirit- ual world the designs and intentions are brought forth to view by inspection. When any one enters a city with a desire to examine their state, at his departure he is led to the gates of the streets, which are shut up, and thus he is conducted backwards and forwards from one gate to another, in a most tiresome manner, and then is let out ; this is done to prevent his returning back again. Wives, who affect authority over their husbands, dwell on one side of the city, and never meet with their hus- bands unless by particular invitation, in the way of respect and civihty, and on such occa- sions the husbands lead them to houses, where the married pairs live without affecting any au- thority over each other, and shew how neat and elegant their houses are, and how happily they live together, informing them at the same
45
time that this is the consequence of mutual and conjugal love: such wives as are attentive to, and affected with these things, cease to claim any dominion over their husbands in future, and are admitted to live with them ; and in this case they have an habitation allotted them nearer the middle of the city, and are called angels: the reason whereof is, because conju- gal love is a celestial love, which affects no do- minion.
53. During the time of the last judgment, I saw many thousands of that nation cast out from the cities in the spiritual world, and from the villages and country round about, who, while they lived in the world, had done no good from any principle of religion or con- science, but merely to preserve a fair charac- ter, and to appear sincere for the sake of gain; for such persons, when deprived of the hope of reputation and gain, as is the case in the spiritual world, rush into every kind of wick- edness, robbing and plundering whomsoever they meet, when they are in ihe fields and without the cities. I saw them cast into a fiery gulf extending under the eastern tract, and into a dark cavern extending under the southern tract. This happened on the 9th day of January, in the year 1757; such only remaining as possessed rehgion, and a con- science derived therefrom. l5
46
54. I have conversed, but only once, with Calvin; he was in a society of heaven, which appears in front above the head ; he said that he did not agree with Luther and Melanchton concerning faith alone, because works are so fre- quently mentioned in the Word, and command- ed to be done; and that therefore faith and works ought to be conjoined. I was told by a moderator of that society, that Calvin is ac- cepted among them, because he is well dis- posed, and makes no disturbance.
55. The fate of Lqther shall be described elsewhere, as I have many times heard and seen him; I shall here only observe, that he has often been desirous of receding from his doctrine of faith alone, but could not ; and that therefore he is still in the world of spirits, w^iich is in the midst between heaven and hell, where he sometimes undergoes great suffer- ings.
0} the Papists in the Spiritual World.
56. I HAVE already given some account of the Papists, and the last judgment upon them, in the Treatise concerning the Last Judg- ment, n. 53 to 64. The Papists in the spir- itual world appear round about the Reformed, and are separated from them by an intervening
47
space, which they are not permitted to pass : nevertheless, they who belong to the order of Jesuits, by clandestine arts procure for them- selves a communication, and also send out emissaries, through secret paths, in order to make converts ; but they are quickly discov- ered, and after being punished, are either sent back to their companions, or cast into hell.
57. After the last judgment, their state was so changed, that it is no longer allowable for them to collect themselves into companies as before, but ways or paths are appointed for every kind of love, whether good or evil, which are immediately entered by all on their leav- ing the natural world, and which lead to a so- ciety corresponding with their love; thus the wicked are conveyed to a society which is in conjunction with the hells, and the good to a society which is in conjunction with the hea- vens; by which means it is carefully provided, that they form not to themselves artificial hea- vens as before. Such societies in the world of spirits, which is in the midst between hea- ven and hell, are innumerable, being as many as there are genera and species of good and evil affections: and in the mean time, before they are either elevated into heaven, or cast down into hell, they are in spiritual conjunc- tion with men in the natural world, by reason that men also in the natural world are in the midst between heaven and hell.
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68. All those among the Papists, who had not been mere idolaters, but had performed good works from a sincere heart, according to their religious principles, and who had also looked to the Lord, are led to societies esta- blished on the confines of the Reformed, where they are instructed, the Word read, and the Lord preached to them ; and such as receive truths and apply them to life, are elevated into heaven, and become angels. There are a great many of these societies in every quarter, and they are on all sides protected from the deceit- ful and crafty machinations of the monks, as well as from the Babylonish leaven. More- over all their infants are in heaven, who, being educated by angels under the Lord's auspices, are ignorant of the falses of their parents' re- ligion.
59. All who come from the earths into the spiritual world, are at first kept in the con- fession of faith, and in the religion of their particular country ; this is the case also with the Papists, in consequence whereof they have always some representative Pope set over them, whom they adore with the same cere- mony that they used to do in the world. It rarely happens that any one, who had been Pope here, acts the Pontiff there ; nevertheless, he, who was Pope of Rome twenty years ago, was appointed to this office, by reason of the
49
belief he had entertained in his heart, that the Word was more holy than is generally imagin- ed, and that the Lord ought to be worshipped : but after having exercised the papal function for some years, he resigned it of his own ac- cord, and betook himself to the Reformed Christians, among whom he still abides, and enjoys a blessed life. It was given me to con- verse with him, and he informed me, that he worships the Lord alone, as being very God, who has power over heaven and earth; and that the invocations of saints, together with their masses, are trifling and of no avail. He fur- ther said, that, when he Hved in the world, it was his intention to restore that church, but that he found it impracticable for several rea- sons, which he also mentioned. On the day of the last judgment, when the great northern city was destroyed, which contained the Papists, I saw this Pope carried forth in a chair, and conveyed to a secure place. But widely dif- ferent was the fate of his successor.
60. Here I am at liberty to add a certain memorable circumstance. It was given me to converse with Louis XIV. grandfather to the present King of France, who, during his abode in the world, worshipped the Lord, read the Word, and acknowledged the Pope merely as the head of the church; wherefore he enjoys great dignity in the spiritual w^orld, and governs
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lije best society of the French nation. On a certain time I saw him descend as it were by a ladder, and after his descent I heard him say, thathe seemed to himself to be at Versailles, and then there was silence for about the space of two hours; after which he said he had spoken with the King of France his grandson, concern- ing the Bull Unigenitus, advising him to change his first intention, and not receive that Bull, as it would be detrimental to the French nation : he told me, that he had insinuated this pro- foundly into his thought. This happened on the 13th day of December, in the year 1759, about eight o'clock in the evening.
Of the Popish Saints in the Spiritual World.
61. It is well known, that man receives in- nate or hereditary evil from his parents; but few know wherein that evil consists: it consists in the love of dominion, which love is of such a nature, that in proportion as it is indulged, it breaks forth openly, so as to burn with the lust of bearing rule over all, and at length to wish to be invoked and woi'shipped as God. This love is the serpent which deceived Eve and Adam, for it is said to the w^oman, " God know- eth that in the day ye eat of the fruit of the tree, your eyes will be opened, and then ye
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WILL BE AS God," Gen. iii. 4, 5. In propor- tion therefore as man indulges himself in this love without restraint, in the same proportion he averts himself from God, and turns towards himself, and becomes an Atheist; in which case, the divine truths of the Word may be regarded by him as means subservient to his end ; but this end being dominion, the means are no fur- ther the objects of his affection, than as he can make them subservient thereto. This is the reason why they who are in the middle, and they who are in the ultimate degree of the love of dominion, are all in hell ; for there that love is the devil ; and there are some there of such a nature, that they cannot even bear to hear any one make mention of God
62. This love resides with those of the Po- pish persuasion, who have been instigated, by the delight thereof, to exercise dominion, and who have despised the Word, preferring before it the dictates of the Pope. Such are entirely devastated as to externals, until they no longer retain any knowledge concerning the church, and then they are cast down into hell, and be- come devils. There is a certain separate hell for those who wish to be invoked as gods, where they are in such a state of phantasy, that they do not see what is, but what is not ; the nature of their dehrium is like that of some persons in a malignant fever, who fancy they
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see objects floating in the air, in their chamber, and on the covering of their bed, which yet have no real existence. This worst of evils (viz. the love of dominion,) is signified by *' the head of the serpent, which is trodden under foot by the seed of the w^oman, and which bruiseth his heel," Gen. iii. 15; the heel of the Lord, who is the seed of the woman, is the Divine proceeding in the ultimates, or the Word in its literal sense.
63. As man, in consequence of hereditary evil, is such, that he is desirous of bearing rule, first over a few, and afterwards, as this lust is indulged, over many, and at length over all ; and as in the inmost of this love there lurks a desire to be invoked and worshipped as a god; therefore all who have been canonized as saints by Papal bulls, are removed from the sight of others, and concealed, and thus deprived of all intercourse with their worshippers ; the reason of which is, lest that w^orst root of evil should be excited within them, and they led into such phantastic deliriums as prevail in the hell above mentioned. In such deliriums are they, who during their life in the world had studiously affected an extraordinary character, with a view to become saints after death, and that they might then be invoked.
64. Many of the Popish persuasion, par- ticularly the monks, when they come into the
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spiritual world, inquire for the saints, each for the saint of his own order, and not being able to find them, are greatly surprised ; but after- wards they are instructed by others, that they are intermixed either with those that are in the heavens, or with those that are in the hells, each according to the life he had led in the world ; and that in which place soever they niay be, they know nothing of the worship and invocation directed to them ; but tliat such as do know, and wish to be invoked, are in that separate and dehrious hell above mentioned. The worship of saints is such an abomination in heaven, that the bare mention of it excites horror, since in proportion as worship is paid to any man, in the same proportion it is with- held from the Lord, in which case, he cannot be alone worshipped ; and where the Lord is not alone worshipped, there a division or dis- crimination takes place, which destroys com- munion, and the happiness of life thence re- sulting.
65. In order that I might know, and there- by be enabled to make known to others, the true nature and character of the Popish saints, there were an hundred of them brought up from the lower earth, who were acquainted with their canonization ; they ascended from behind, and only a few in front : I conversed with one of these^ who, they said, had been
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Xavier. During our conversation he behav ed like a downright fool ; nevertheless 1 could learn from what he said, that in his own place, where he remains shut up, he is not infatuated, but that he becomes so whenever he thinks lie is a saint. I heard a murmur to the same purpose from those who were behind.
66. The case is otherwise with those saints so called, who are in heaven ; these know no- thing at all of what is doing on earth as to this matter ; neither have 1 conversed with them, least any idea on that subject should get ad- mission into their mind. Once only, Mary the mother of the Lord passed by, and appeared over head in white raiment ; and then stopping awhile, said, that she was the mother of the Lord, and that he was indeed born of her, but that when he became God, he put off all the hu- manity derived from her, and that therefore she now worships him as her God, and is un- willing that any one should acknowledge him as her son, seeing that in him all is divine.
67. To the above I shall annex the follow- ing memorable relation. There sometimes ap- pears to the people of Paris, who are in society in the spiritual world, a certain woman in a middle altitude, clad in shining raiment, and in countenance like a saint, who calls herself Genevieve : but as soon as ever any of them begin to worship her, instantly her counten-
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ance is changed, and also her raiment, and then she becomes like an ordinary woman, and reproves them for desiring to adore a person, who is held in no more estimation among her associates than as a servant-maid, wondering how men in the world can be taken with such trifling conceits. The angels said, that she appears there in order that the worshippers of man may be separated from those who wor- ship the Lord.
Of the Mahometans in the Spiritual Worlds and of Mahomet.
68. The Mahometans in the spiritual world appear behind the Papists in the west, and form a kind of circle round them. The rea- son why they apfTear there, is principally be- cause they acknowledge the Lord as the grand prophet, the Son of God, and the wisest of all, who was sent into the world to instruct man- kind. Every one in that world dwells at a distance from the Christian centre, where the Reformed are, according to his confession of the Lord, and of one God; for that confession joins minds with heaven, and causes [either their nearness to, or] distance from the east, over which point the Lord is. They who, in consequence of an evil hfe, are not in that con-
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fession from their hearts, are in the hells be- neath them.
69. Inasmuch as religion constitutes the in- most of man, and as from the inmost is derived all the rest that appertains to him ; and as with Mahometans the idea of Mahomet is connect- ed with that of religion, therefore some Maho- met or other is always placed in their view ; and in order that they may turn their faces to- wards the east, over which point the Lord is, he is placed in the Christian centre beneath. It is not the identical ^Mahomet who wrote the Alcoran, but some other who executes his of- fice; neither is it always the same person, but he is chan,2;ed according to circumstances. A native of Saxony, who, after being taken a prisoner by the Algerines, became a Mahome- tan, once acted in this representative capacity ; and as he had also been a Christian, he was instigated to speak to them concerning the Lord, that he was not the son of Joseph, as they had believed in the world, but the Son of God himself; by which means he insinuated into them an idea of the unity of the Lord's person and essence with the Father. This Mahomet was afterwards succeeded by others, who were instigated to speak in like manner: hence many of them are drawn to the true Christian faith concerning the Lord, and such as accede, are conveyed to a society nearer
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the east, where a communication is opened with heaven, into which they are also afterwards elevated. In the place where that represen- tative Mahomet is seated, there appears a fire as of a small torch, in order to distinguish him ; but that fire is visible only to Mahometans.
70. The real Mahomet, who wrote the Al- coran, does not make his appearance at this day : 1 was informed, that on his first entrance into the spiritual world, he was appointed to preside over them; but because he desired to have dominion over all things relating to their religion, as a God, he was cast out from the situation he had beneath the Roman Catholics, and was let down on the right side towards the south. It once happened, that certain socie- ties of Mahometans were instigated by some evil spirits to acknowledge Mahomet as God; and in order to appease the disturbance on that occasion, Mahomet was raised up from be- neath, and produced to their view : at the same time also he was seen by me : he appeared like to corporeal spirits, who have no interior per- ception; his face was of a dusky complexion, and I heard him utter these words only, " I am your Mahomet." Presently after, he as it were sunk down, and so returned to his own place.
71. As to what concerns their religion, it was permitted to take place, because it suited
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the genius and temper of the eastern nations, for which reason also it was estabhshed in so many kingdoms ; and because in the Alcoran the precepts of the decalogue were at the same time made articles of religion; and some things were also inserted therein from the Word ; but principally because the Lord is acknowledged as the Son of God, and the wisest of all. By that religion also the idolatries of many nations were destroyed. The reason why a more in- ternal religion was not propagated among them by Mahomet, was on account of polygamy, which exhales an unclean sphere towards hea- ven ; for the marriage of an husband with one wife corresponds to the marriage of the Lord and the church.
72. There are many of them capable of re- ceiving truth, and of seeing justice in rational arguments, which I could observe from conver- sations with them in the spiritual world. I have conversed with them concerning one God, concerning the resurrection, and concerning marriage. On the subject of One God, they said, that they could not comprehend the Christians, who talk about a trinity, asserting that there are three persons, each whereof is God, and yet that God is one : to which I re- pHed, that the angels in the Christian heaven do not speak after this manner, but that God is one both in person and essence, in whom is
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a trine or threefold principle, and that men on earth call this trine three persons; and that that trine or threefold principle is in the Lord. In order that they might be confirmed herein, I read in their presence both from Matthew and Luke, wliat is there said concerning the conception of the Lord from God the Father; likewise those passages where the Lord him- self teaches, that he and the Father are one ; on hearing which, they perceived the truth, and said, that hence it must follow, that the divine essence belongs to him. In regard to the Resurrection, they said, that they could not comprehend the Christians, when, speak- ing of the state of man after death, they liken the soul to wind or air, and hence say it can enjoy no delight until its reunion with the body at the day of the last judgment : to which 1 re- plied, that it is only some who speak in this manner, but that they who are not of that sect, believe that after death they shall go to heaven, converse with angels, and enter into the frui- tion of heavenly joy, which they conceive to be similar to the happiness they enjoy in the world, although they do not describe it. I further told them, that many things are reveal- ed to Christians at this day, respecting the state of man after death, which they did not know before. I had much conversation with them on the subject of Marriage, and among
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other things said, that conjugal love is a celes- tial love, which can only exist between two persons, and that conjunction w-ilh more than one wife is not admissive of the celestial prin- ciple of that love. They heard my reasons, and perceived the justice of them ; also that polygamy was permitted them, because they were Orientals, w^ho without such permission would have burned with the lust of fihhy adul- teries more than Europeans, and so would have perished.
0/ the Africans and the Gentiles in the Spiritual World.
73. The Gentiles, who have no knowledge of the Lord, appear round about those who do know him ; so that the outermost circumfer- ences are made up of those only, who have been mere idolaters, and who have worship- ped the sun and moon. But such as acknow- ledge one God, and practise his command- ments, as laid down in the decalogue, from motives of religion, and thereby inscribe them on their lives, are seen in a superior region, and thus have more immediate communication with Christians in the centre ; for thus the communication is not intercepted by the Ma- hometans and Papists. The Gentiles are also
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distinguished according to their genius, tem- per, and different capacities of receiving hght through the heavens from the Lord ; for there are amongst them both interior and exterior men, who are such not merely from birth, but from rehgion. The Africans are a more inte- rior people than the rest.
74. All of them, who acknowledge and wor- ship one God the Creator of the universe, en- tertain an idea of that God as a Man, and say, that it is impossible for any one to form any other idea of God. When they are informed, that several entertain an idea of God as of a cloud, they inquire where such are to be found ; and when they are told that they are amongst the Christians, they deny the possibility of such an idea taking place : but they receive for an- swer, that such Christians ground tlieir idea on this circumstance, that God in the Word is call- ed a spirit, and they form no other conception of a spirit, than as of a cloud or subtle vapour, not knowing that every spirit and every angel is a man : nevertheless, on examining whether their spiritual idea be similar to their natural idea, it was found, that it is not similar with those who interiorly acknowledge the Lord as the God of heaven and earth. I heard a cer- tain presbyter from among the Christians as- sert, that no one can have an idea of the divine humanity ; I saw him translated to various Gen- m4
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tiles, sucessively to those who are more and more interior, and from them to their heavens, and at last to the Christian heaven ; and in every- place was given a communication of their inte- rior perception concerning God ; and he observ- ed, that they had no other idea of God than as of a Man, which is the same with the idea of the divine humanity.
75. There are many societies of Gentiles, especially from the Africans, who, when they are instructed by angels concerning the Lord, assert that it cannot be otherwise, than that God the Creator of the universe should have appear- ed in the world, because he created them and loves them; and that his appearance could not but be (gfFected in a human form visible to the eye. When they are told, that he did not ap- pear as angels are wont to appear, but that he was born a man, and in this nianner became visible, they pause awhile, and then inquire whether he had a man for his father; and when they are informed, that he was conceived of the God of the universe, and born of a virgin, they reply, that the divine essence must of con- sequence belong to him, which being infinite and essential life, he was not such a man as others are. They are afterwards instructed by angels, that to appearance he was like another man, but tliat during his abode in the world, his divine essence, which in itself is infinite and
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essential life, rejected the finite nature, and the life thereof deriv^ed from the mother, and thus made his humanity, which was conceived and born in the world, divine. These truths were comprehended and received by the Africans, inasmuch as they think more interiorly and spir- itually than others.
76. Such being the character of the Africans even in the world, there is therefore at this day a revelation begun among them, which is communicated from the centre round about, but does not extend to the sea coasts ; they acknow- ledge our Lord as the Lord of lieaven and earth ; and laugh at the monks who visit them, and at Christians who talk of a threefold divinity, and of salvation by mere thought; asserting, that there is no man, who worships at all, that does not live according to his religion, and that un- less a man so hves,he must needs become stupid and wicked, because in such case he receives nothing from heaven : they hkewise give to in- genious wickedness the name of stupidity, be- cause there is no hfe but death in it. 1 have heard the angels rejoice at this revelation, be- cause thereby a communication is opened with the rational principle in man, which has hereto- fore been closed up by a general blindness with respect to matters of faith. I was informed from heaven, that the things contained in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the m5
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Lord, concerning the Word, and in the Doc- trine of Life for the New Jerusalem, lately pub- lished, are now revealed by word of mouth by angelic spirits to the inhabitants of that country.
77. VVhen I conversed with the Africans in the spiritual world, they appeared in garments of striped linen ; they said, that such garments correspond to their state, and that their women wear garments of striped silk. They related concerning their children, that they frequently ask their nurses for food, saying they are hungry, and when food is set before them, they examine and taste whether it be proper for them, and eat but little; whence it is evident, that spiritual hunger, which is the desire of knowing genuine truths, produces this effect; for it is a correspondence. When they wish to know in what state they are, with respect to their affection and perception of truth, they draw their sw^ords, and if they shine bright, they know they are in genuine truths, and this ac- cording to the degree of their brightness; this also is from correspondence. As to marriage, they said, that it is indeed permitted them by their law to have several wives; but that never- theless they take but one, because true conju- gal love cannot be divided, for if it be divided, its essence, which is celestial, is destroyed; then it becomes external, and thereby lascivious, and in a short time grows vile as the power of
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enjoyment dinninishes, and at last loathsonie on the entire loss of that power : but true conjugal love, which is internal, and partakes nothing of the nature of lasciviousness, abides to eternity, ever increasing in power, and in proportion thereto in delight.
78. In regard to strangers from Europe, they said, that they are not admitted amongst them ; and when any, especially if they are monks, penetrate into their country, they in- quire of them what they know 5 and when they relate any particulars concerning their religion, they call them mere trifles, which are even of- fensive to their ears; and then they send them away to some useful employment ; but in case they refuse to work, they sell them for slaves, whom they are allowed by law to punish at pleasure; and if they cannot be compelled to do any thing useful, they are at last sold for a trifle, to some of the lowest class of people.
Of the Jews in the Spiritual World.
79. Before the last judgment the Jews ap- peared in a valley in the spiritual world on the left side of the Christian centre; but after that time they were translated to the north, and were forbidden all commerce with the Christ- ians, except with such as were found v/andering
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without the cities. There are in that quarter two large cities, into which the Jews were con- veyed after death, which before the last judg- ment they called Jerusalems, but since that time by another name, because since the judg- ment by Jerusalem is meant the church, in which the Lord alone is worshipped. In their cities converted Jews are set up over them, who admonish them not to speak reproachfully of Christ, and who punish such as persist in doing so. The streets of their cities are full of dirt up to the ankles; and their houses are so offensive by reason of their fihhiness, that none but themselves can bear to enter them.
80. There sometimes appears to the Jews an angel in a middle altitude above them, with a rod in his hand, who causes them to believe that he is Moses, and exhorts them to desist from the absurd folly of expecting the Messiah even there, because the ]Messiah is Christ, who governs them and all others; and that he (viz. Moses) knows this to be true, and also had some knowledge of Christ, when he lived in the world. On hearing this, they retire, and the greater part forget what they have heard, but a few retain it. Such as retain it are sent to synagogues, which consists of converted Jews, where they are further instructed ; and to those who receive instruction, are given new garments instead of their old tattered ones, in
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which they were clothed before ; they are also presented with a copy of the Word neatly written, and have an abode allotted them in a city not unhandsome. But such as do not re- ceive the above admonition are cast down into the hells beneath the great tract of country which is appropriated to their nation, and many of them are banished into woods and deserts, where they exercise all kinds of theft and rob- bery one amongst another.
81. The Jews traffick in the spiritual world as in the natural world, with various commo- dities, particularly with precious stones, which by unknown ways they procure for themselves from heaven, where precious stones are in great abundance. The reason of their traffick- ing in precious stones is, because they read the Word in its original tongue, and account the literal sense thereof to be holy, and precious stones correspond to the literal sense of the Word, as may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture, n. 42 to 45. They sell those pre- cious stones to the Gentiles who surround them in the northern quarter. They can also make artificial precious stones, and induce others to believe them genuine ; but for this they are severely fined by their governors.
82. The Jews are less aware of their being in the spiritual world than any other people,
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imagraing ihey are still living in the natural world ; the reason is, because they are alto- gether external men, and have no interior knowledge or thought about religion ; where- fore they talk about the Messiah as they used to do before, as, that he will come with David, and go before them, crowned with bright dia- dems, and introduce them into the land of Ca- naan ; and in the way thither, will with his rod dry up the rivers which they are to pass over; and that the Christians, whom they call Gen- tiles, will then lay hold of the skirts of their garments, and earnestly pray to be permuted to accompany them ; and that they will receive the rich according to their weahh, and even be served by them ; not being willing to know that in the Word by the land of Canaan is meant the church, by Jerusalem the church with respect to doctrine, and hence by Jews all those who shall belong to the Lord's church. That such are meant by the Jews in the Word, may be seen in the Doctrine concerning the Sa- cred Scripture, n. 51. When they are asked whether they believe that they also shall come into the land of Canaan, they reply, that they will then descend into it. When they are told that the land of Canaan is not large enough to contain them all, they say, that it will then be enlarged. When it is said, that they know not where Bethlehem is situated, or who is
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the root of David, they return for answer, that it is known to the Messiah who is to come. When it is objected, How can the Messiah the Son of Jehovah dwell with such a wicked peo- ple ? they reply, that they are not wicked. When it is urged, that Moses has given a de- scription of them in his song, Deut. xxxii. and calls them the very worst of nations, they answer, that Moses was angry because of his departure. But when it is said that Moses wrote it by the command of Jehovah, they are then silent, and go away to consult about the matter. When it is remarked, that they had their rise from a Canaanite, and from the whoredom of Judah w^ith his daughter in law. Gen. xxxviii. they are angry, saying, it is enough for them that they are the offspring of Abraham. When they are told, that there is within the Word a spiritual sense, which treats solely of Christ, they answer, that it is not so, but that within the Word there is nothing but gold ; with many more things to the same purpose.
Of the Quakers in the Spiritual World.
83. There are enthusiastic spirits separate from all others, so besotted and devoid of un- derstanding, as to imagine themselves to be the Holy Spirit. These spirits, when Quakerism
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first commenced, were drawn as it were out of the woods on every side wiiere they had wan- dered, and obsessed many, infusing a persua- sion that they were moved by the Holy Spirit; and as they sensibly perceived the influx, their religion so entirely occupied them, that they conceited themselves more enlightened and holy than the rest of mankind ; for which rea- son they could not be brought to give up their religious notions. They who have confirmed themselves therein, come into a like state of enthusiasm after death, are separated from the rest, and conveyed into w^oods to their like, where at a distance they appear like wild swine. But such as have not confirmed them- selves therein, are sent away into a place like a desert, which is in the furthest parts of the southern quarter, where they have caves for their places of worship.
84. When the above enthusiastic spirits were removed from them, the trembling of their body, which was occasioned by those spirits, ceased ; and they now feel a motion on the left side. It was discovered, that from their first rise they have successively gone on from bad to worse, and at length into enormities, by command of their Holy Spirit, which they di- vulge to no one. I have spoken with the found- er,* of their religion, and also with Penn, who both disclaimed having any concern in such
* The founder of the Quakers was George Fox.
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things. But they who have acted in the man- ner alluded to, are let down after death into a dark place, where they sit in corners, appear- ing like the dregs of oil.
85. Inasmuch as they have rejected the two sacraments of bapiism and the holy supper, and yet read the Word, and preach the Lord, and speak from the obsession of enthusiastic spirits, and thus commix the holy things of the Word with profaned truths; therefore no society is formed of them in the spiritual world, but after being dissociated from each other, and wan- dering here and there, they are dispersed, and at last collected in the above-mentioned desert.
Of the Moravians in the Spiritual World.
86. I HAVE had much conversation with the Moravians, w^ho are also called Heerenhuters. They appeared at first in a valley not far from the Jews; but after they were explored and detected, they were conveyed to uninhabited places. On searching into their character, it was found, that they were very crafty in con- ciHating favour, saying that they were the re- mains of the Apostolic church, and that there- fore they salute each other as brethren, and call by the title of mothers those who receive their interior mysteries. It was also discover- ed, that above all others, they teach faith; and
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they say, that they love the Lord because he suffered the death of the cross, calHng him the Lamb, and the throne of grace; with other things of a like nature, whereby they induce a persuasion, that the true Christian church is among them. They who are seduced by their flattering speeches, and prevailed upon to join them, are examined by them whether they be such, that they may venture to disclose their mysteries to them ; if they are not, they con- ceal them; but if they can, they reveal them; and then they admonish, and even threaten those who divulge their secret doctrine con- cerning the Lord.
87. Inasmuch as they have done the like in the spiritual world, when nevertheless it was perceived, that inwardly they thought differ- ently; therefore in order that this might be made manifest, they were admitted into the lowest heaven ; but not being able to sustain the sphere of charity, and thence of faith, which prevails amongst the angels there, they fled away. Afterwards, in consequence of their having believed, while in the world, that they alone were living men, and should come into the third heaven, they were also taken up into tliat heaven ; but when they perceived the sphere of love to the Lord which prevails there, they were seized with anguish of heart, and began to be inwardly tormented, and thrown into convulsive motions, like persons in the
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agonies of death ; wherefore they cast them- selves down headlong from thence. Hereby it was first made manifest, that inwardly they had cherished nothing of charity towards their neigh- bour, and nothing of love to the Lord. They were then sent to those, whose office it is to explore the interiors of the thoughts; and by them it was declared, that they revile the Lord, that they reject a life of charity, so as even to hold it in abhorrence, that they regard the Word of the Old Testament as useless, and despise the Word of the Evangelists, selecting only, as suited their purpose, certain passages from Paul, w^here mention is made of faith alone ; and that these are their mysteries which they conceal from the world.
88. After it was shewn, that their acknow- ledgment of the Lord is like that of the Arians, that they despise the Word both of the Prophets and Evangelists, and that they hold in abhor- rence a life of charity, when nevertheless these are as it were the three pillars on which the universal heaven is supported ; then they who were in the knowledge, and at the same time in the faith of their mysteries, were judged as anti-christs, who reject the three essentials of the Christian church, namely, the Divinity of the Lord, the Word, and charity; and they were cast without the Christian world into a desert, situated at the extremity of the south- ern quarter near the Quakers.
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89. When Zinzendorf first came into the spiritual world after his decease, and was per- mitted to speak as he had been accustomed to do in the world, I heard him solemnly declare that he knew the mysteries of heaven, and that none can enter therein but such as are of his doctrine ; and further, that all who do good works for the sake of salvation, are in a state of damnation, and that he would rather admit Atheists into his congregation than such. He added, that the Lord was adopted by God the Father as his Son, because he had suffered the death of the cross, but that nevertheless he was a mere man. When it was observed to him, that the Lord was conceived of God the Father, he replied, that he thought of that matter as he pleased; he did not dare to speak out as the Jews do. Moreover I have per- ceived many scandals from his followers, when I have been reading the Evangehsts.
90. They say they have a sensation or feel- ing, and thereby an interior confirmation of their tenets : but it was shewn them, that that sensation of their's proceeded from visionary spirits, w^ho confirm in a man all his rehgious notions; and that they enter more fully into those, who hke them are fond of their religion, and think much about it. Those spirits also conversed with them, and they mutually ac- knowledged each other.
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