Angelic Wisdom about DIVINE PROVIDENCE

by

Emanuel Swedenborg

Translation By

WILLIAM FREDERIC WUNSCH

_Standard Edition_

SWEDENBORG FOUNDATIONINCORPORATEDNEW YORKESTABLISHED IN 1850

Originally published in Latin at Amsterdam 1764First English translation published in U. S. A. 185151st Printing, 1975(5th Printing Wunsch Translation). 

ISBN 0-87785-059-3 (Student)0-87785-060-7 (Trade)

_Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 74-30441_

Manufactured in the United States of America

CONTENTS[1]

Translator's Preface

I. What Divine Providence Is

II. The Goal of Divine Providence

III. The Outlook of Divine Providence

IV. Providence has its Laws

V. Its Regard for Human Freedom and Reason

VI. Even in the Struggle against Evil

VII. The Law of Noncompulsion

VIII. The Law of Overt Guidance

IX. The Law of Hidden Operation

X. Divine Providence and Human Prudence

XI. Binding Time and Eternity

XII. The Law Guarding against Profanation

XIII. Laws of Tolerance in the Laws of Providence

XIV. Why Evil is Permitted

XV. Providence Attends the Evil and the Good

XVI. Providence and Prudence in the Appropriation of Good and Evil to Man

XVII. The Salvation of All the Design of Providence

XVIII. The Steadfast Observance of its Laws by Providence

Index of Scripture Passages

Subject Index

[1]Swedenborg gave neither numbers nor brief captions to the chapters ofthe book. Nor did he prefix a recital of all the propositions andsubsidiary propositions to come in the book; this was the work of theLatin editor. For this the above, giving the reader a succinct idea ofthe book's contents, is substituted. _Tr. _

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

THE Book

The reader will find in this book a firm assurance of God's care ofmankind as a whole and of each human being. The assurance is rested inGod's infinite love and wisdom, the love pure mercy, the wisdom givinglove its ways and means. It is further grounded in an interpretation ofthe universe as a spiritual-natural world, an interpretation fully setforth in the earlier book, _Divine Love and Wisdom_, on which the presentwork draws heavily. As there is a world of the spirit, no view ofprovidence can be adequate which does not take that world into account. For in that world must be channels for the outreach of God's care to thehuman spirit. There also any eternal goal--such as a heaven from the humanrace--must exist. A view of providence limited to the horizons of thepassing existence can hardly resemble the care which the eternal Godtakes of men and women who, besides possessing perishable bodies, arethemselves creatures of the spirit and immortal. The full title of thebook, _Angelic Wisdom about Divine Providence_, implies that its author, in an other-world experience, had at hand the knowledge which men andwomen in heaven have of God's care. Who should know the divine guidanceif not the men and women in heaven who have obviously enjoyed it? "Thelaws of divine providence, hitherto hidden with angels in their wisdom, are to be revealed now" (n. 70). 

As it is presented in this book, providence seeks to engage man in itspurposes, and to enlist all his faculties, his freedom and reason, hiswill and understanding, his prudence and enterprise. It acts first of allon his volitions and thinking, to align them with itself. That it fallsdirectly on history, its events and our circumstances, is a superficialview. It is man's inner life which first feels the omnipresent divineinfluence and must do so. If we cannot be lifted to our best selves andif our aims and outlook cannot be modified for the better, how shall theworld be bettered which we affect to handle? Paramount in God's presencewith all men, if only in their possibilities, is His providential care. 

This care, to which man's inner life is open, is alert every moment, notoccasional. It is gentle and not tyrannical, constantly respecting man'sfreedom and reason, otherwise losing him as a human being. It has setthis and other laws for itself which it pursues undeviatingly. The largerpart of the book is an exposition of these laws in the conviction that bythem the nature of providence is best seen. Is it not to be expected in auniverse which has its laws, and in which impersonal forces are governedby laws, that the Creator of all should pursue laws in His concern withthe lives of conscious beings? To fit a world of laws must not the divinecare have its laws, too? Adjustment of thought about divine providence toscientific thought is not the overriding necessity, for scientificthought must keep adjusting to laws which it discerns in the physicalworld. In consonance, religious thought seeks to learn the lawful orderin the guidance of the human spirit. 

Do not each and all things in tree or shrub proceed constantly andwonderfully from purpose to purpose according to the laws of their orderof things? Why should not the supreme purpose, a heaven from the humanrace, proceed in similar fashion? Can there be anything in its progresswhich does not proceed with all constancy according to the laws of divineprovidence? (n 332)

Respecting the laws of providence, it is to be noted that there are morelaws than those, five in number, which are stated at the heads of as manychapters in the book. Further laws are embodied in other chapters. Atn. 249(2) we are told that further laws were presented in nn. 191-213, 214-220, and 221-233. In fact, at n. 243. There is a reference to lawswhich follow in even later chapters. In nn. 191-213 the law, partlystated in the heading over the chapter, comes to full sight particularlyat n. 210(2), namely, that providence, in engaging human response, shallalign human prudence with itself, so that providence becomes one'sprudence (n. 311e). In nn. 214-220 the law is that providence employ thetemporal goals of distinction and wealth towards its eternal goals, andperpetuate standing and wealth in a higher form, for a man will then havesought them not for themselves and handled them for the use they can be. To keep a person from premature spiritual experience, nn. 221-233, isobviously a law of providence, guarding against relapse and consequentprofanation of what had become sacred to him. 

The paradox of divine foreknowledge and human freedom, regularlydiscussed in studies of providence, receives an explanation which becomesmore and more enlightening in the course of the book. The paradox, probably nowhere else discussed, of man's thinking and willing to allappearance all by himself, and of the fact that volition and thought cometo him from beyond him, receives a similar, cumulative answer. Thetension between the divine will and human self-will is a subject thatpervades the book; to that subject the profoundest insights into thehidden activity of providence and into human nature are brought. On thequestion, "Is providence only general or also detailed?" the emphaticanswer is that it cannot be general unless it takes note of the leastthings. On miracle and on chance conclusions unusual in religious thoughtmeet the reader. The inequalities, injustices and tragedies in life whichraise doubts of the divine care are faced in a long chapter after theconcept of providence has been spread before the reader. What would bethe point in considering them before what providence is has beenconsidered? Against what manner of providence are the arguments valid? Achapter such as this, on doubts of providence and on the mentality whichcherishes them, becomes a monograph on the subject, as the chapter onpremature spiritual experience, with the risk of relapse and profanation, becomes a monograph on kinds of profanation. 

Coming by revelation and by a lengthy other-world experience onSwedenborg's part (in which he learned of the incorrectness of some ofhis own beliefs, nn. 279(2), 290) the book, like others of his, nevertheless has for an outstanding feature a steady address to thereason. The profoundest truths of the spiritual life, among them thenature of God and the laws and ways of providence, are not beyond graspby the reason. Sound reason Swedenborg credits with lofty insights. 

_Divine Providence_ is a book to be studied, and not merely read, andstudied slowly. By its own way of proceeding, it extends an invitation toread, not straight through, but something like a chapter at a time. In anew chapter Swedenborg will recall for the reader what was said in thepreceding chapter, as though the reader had mean-while laid the bookdown. The revelator proceeds at a measured pace, carries along the wholebody of his thought, and places each new point in this larger context, where it receives its precise significance and its full force. It is anaccumulation of thought and not a repetition of statements merely thatone meets. "What has been written earlier cannot be as closely connectedwith what is written later as it will be if the same things are recalledand placed with both in view" (n. 193 (1)). 

THE TRANSLATION

This volume has been translated afresh from the Latin; it is not arevision of any earlier edition. Greater readableness has been strivenfor. In the past, it is generally recognized, Latin sentence structureand word order were clung to unnecessarily. "The defects in previoustranslations of Swedenborg have arisen mainly from too close an adherenceto cognate words and to the Latin order of words and phrases. " So wrotethe Rev. John C. Ager in 1899 in his translator's note in the LibraryEdition of _Divine Providence_. Why, indeed, should English not beallowed its own sentence structure and word order? In addition, in thistranslation, long sentences, readily followed in an inflected languagelike Latin, have been broken up into short ones. English also uses fewerparticles of logical relation than are at home in Latin. There is moreparagraphing, aiding the eye, which both British and American translatorshave been doing for some years. Latin has neither a definite article noran indefinite article, and a translator into English must decide when touse either or neither. The definite article, the present translatorthinks, has been overused, perhaps in a dogmatic tendency to be asprecise as can be. When, for instance, one is admitted into "truths offaith" he is certainly not admitted into "the truths of faith, " as thoughhe could comprehend them all. The very title of the book changes theimpression which it makes as the definite article is inserted or omittedin it. "The divine providence" seems to single out a theological concept;"divine providence" seems more likely to lead the thought to God's actualcare. 

Swedenborg has his carefully chosen terms, of course, like "proprium, "which are best kept, although in the present translation that term issometimes rendered by an explanatory word and one which, in theparticular context, is an equivalent. The verb "appropriate" presents adifficulty, but has been kept, partly because of the noun "proprium. " Onecould translate rather wordily "make"--something good or evil--"one's own. "The English word now means "take exclusive possession of, " which one canhardly do of good or evil. Assimilation is the thought and the act, andwith that in mind the verb "appropriate" and the noun "appropriation" canbe retained. The unusual locution "affection of truth" or "of good, "which Mr. Ager abandoned, translating "for truth" and "for good, " hasbeen returned to. Much is implied in that phrase which is not to be foundin the other wording, namely, that we are affected by truth and by good, and that there is an influx of these into the human spirit. Similarlymeaningful is another unusual way of speaking in English, of a person'sbeing "in" faith or "in" charity, where we say that he has faith orexercises charity. The thought is that faith and charity, truth andgoodness beckon to us, to be welcomed and entered into. 

Latin sometimes has a number of words for an idea or an entity, and theEnglish has not, but when English has the richer vocabulary, why notavail oneself of the variety possible? The Latin word "finis, " forexample, used in so many connections, can be rendered by one word in oneconnection and by another in another connection. The "goal" or the"object" of providence is plainer than the "end" of providence. The"close" of life is common speech. "Meritorious" has been kept in ourtranslations, for in a restricted field of traditional theology it doesmean that virtue, for example, _earns_ a reward. To most readers the wordwill be misleading, for they will understand it in its usual meaning, that some act is well-deserving. The former is Swedenborg's meaning, which is that an act is done to earn merit, or is considered to haveearned merit. We translate variously according to context to make thatmeaning clear (nn. 321(11), 326(8), 90). 

As it is what Swedenborg has written that is to be translated, theScripture passages which he quotes are translated without an effort tofollow the Authorized Version, which he did not know. This is also donewhen he refers to the book which stands last in our Bibles; the name heknew it by, the Apocalypse, is retained. 

THE SUBJECT INDEX

The rewording in this translation would have necessitated revision of theindex long used in editions of _Divine Providence_, which goes back to anindex in French done by M. Le Boys des Guays. The opportunity was seizedto compile a subject instead of a word index. It is based on an analysisof the contents of the book, and can serve as a reading guide. It doesnot usually quote the text, but sends the reader to it. Definitions of anumber of terms are embodied in it. 

The appearance that man thinks, wills, speaks and acts all of his owndoing is the subject of much of the book, and this the index shows. The"life's love" deserves to be a separate entry, for little of apsychological nature in the book becomes more prominent than the lovewhich forms in the way one actually lives, and which embodies one'sactual belief and thought. Single words which have been scattered entriesin the index long used--usually Scripture words of which thecorrespondential meaning is given--are assembled alphabetically under theentry "Correspondences. "

A signal feature of Swedenborg's thought is the unities he perceives. Oflove and wisdom he says that they can only be perceived as one (4(5)). Sogood and truth do not exist apart, nor charity and faith, nor affectionand thought. These and other pairs of terms are therefore entered in theindex; after references on the two together, references follow on eachterm alone. 

The index, it is hoped, will do more than introduce the reader tostatements made in the book, but will carry him into its stream ofthought. 

WM. F. WUNSCH

Angelic Wisdom about DIVINE PROVIDENCE

DIVINE PROVIDENCE

I. DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS GOVERNMENT BY THE LORD'S DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM

1. To understand what divine providence is--namely, government by theLord's divine love and wisdom--one needs to know what was said and shownearlier about divine love and wisdom in the treatise about them: "In theLord divine love is of divine wisdom, and divine wisdom of divine love"(nn. 34-39); "Divine love and wisdom cannot but be in, and be manifestedin, all else, created by them" (nn. 47-51); "All things in the universewere created by them" (nn. 52, 53, 151-156); "All are recipients of thatlove and wisdom" (nn. 55-60); "The Lord appears before the angels as asun, the heat proceeding from it being love, and the light wisdom" (nn. 83-88, 89-92, 93-98, 296-301); "Divine love and wisdom, proceeding fromthe Lord, make one" (nn. 99-102); "The Lord from eternity, who isJehovah, created the universe and everything in it from Himself, and notfrom nothing" (nn. 282-284, 290-295). This is to be found in the treatiseentitled _Angelic Wisdom about Divine Love and Wisdom. _

2. Putting with these propositions the description of creation in thattreatise, one may indeed see that what is called divine providence isgovernment by the Lord's divine love and wisdom. In that treatise, however, creation was the subject, and not the preservation of the stateof things after creation--yet this is the Lord's government. We now treatof this, therefore, and in the present chapter, of the preservation ofthe union of divine love and wisdom or of divine good and truth in whatwas created, which will be done in the following order:

i. The universe, with each and all things in it, was created from divinelove by divine wisdom. Ii Divine love and wisdom proceed as one from the Lord. Iii. This one is in some image in every created thing. Iv. It is of the divine providence that every created thing, as a wholeand in part, should be such a one, and if it is not, should become such aone. V. Good of love is good only so far as it is united to truth of wisdom, and truth of wisdom truth only so far as it is united to good of love. Vi. Good of love not united to truth of wisdom is not good in itself butseeming good, and truth of wisdom not united to good of love is not truthin itself but seeming truth. Vii. The Lord does not suffer anything to be divided; therefore it mustbe either in good and at the same time in truth, or in evil and at thesame time in falsity. Viii. That which is in good and at the same time in truth is something;that which is in evil and at the same time in falsity is not anything. Ix. The Lord's divine providence causes evil and the attendant falsity toserve for equilibrium, contrast, and purification, and so for theconjunction of good and truth in others. 

3. (i) _The universe, with each and all things in it, was created fromdivine love by divine wisdom. _ In the work _Divine Love and Wisdom_ weshowed that the Lord from eternity, who is Jehovah, is in essence divinelove and wisdom, and that He created the universe and all things in itfrom Himself. It follows that the universe, with each and all things init, was created from divine love by means of divine wisdom. We alsoshowed in that treatise that love can do nothing without wisdom, andwisdom nothing without love. For love apart from wisdom, or the willapart from understanding, cannot think anything, indeed cannot see, feelor say anything, so cannot do anything. Likewise, wisdom apart from love, or understanding apart from will, cannot think, see, feel, or speak, therefore cannot do, anything. For if love is removed from wisdom orunderstanding, there is no willing and thus no doing. If this is true ofman, for him to do anything, it was much more true of God--who is loveitself and wisdom itself--when He created and made the world and all thatit contains. 

[2] That the universe, with each and all things in it, was created fromdivine love by divine wisdom may also be established from objects to beseen in the world. Take a particular object, examine it with some wisdom, and you will be convinced. Take the seed, fruit, flower or leaf of atree, muster your wisdom, examine the object with a strong microscope, and you will see marvels. Even more wonderful are the more interiorthings which you do not see. Note the unfolding order in the growth of atree from seed to new seed; reflect on the continuous effort in allstages after self-propagation--the end to which it moves is seed in whichits reproductive power arises anew. If then you will think spiritually, as you can if you will, will you not see wisdom in all this? Furthermore, if you can think spiritually enough, you will see that this energy doesnot come from the seed, nor from the sun of the world, which is onlyfire, but is in the seed from God the Creator whose wisdom is infinite, and is from Him not only at the moment of creation but ever after, too. For maintenance is perpetual creation, as continuance is perpetual comingto be. Else it is quite as work ceases when you withdraw will fromaction, or as utterance fails when you remove thought from speech, or asmotion ceases when you remove impetus; in a word, as an effect perisheswhen you remove the cause. 

[3] Every created thing is endowed with energy, indeed, but this doesnothing of itself but from Him who implanted it. Examine any otherearthly object, like a silkworm, bee or other small creature. View itfirst naturally, then rationally, and at length spiritually, and if youcan think deeply, you will be astounded at all you see. Let wisdom speakin you, and you will exclaim in astonishment, "Who does not see thedivine in such things? They are all of divine wisdom. " Still more willyou exclaim, if you note the uses of all created things, how they mountin regular order even to the human being, and from man to the Creatorwhence they are, and that the connection, and if you will acknowledge it, the preservation also of them all, depend on the conjunction of theCreator with man. That divine love created all things, but nothing apartfrom the divine wisdom, will be seen in what follows. 

4. (ii) _Divine love and wisdom proceed as one from the Lord. _ This, too, is plain from what was shown in the work _Divine Love and Wisdom, _especially in the propositions: "Esse and existere are distinguishablyone in the Lord" (nn. 14-17); "Infinite things are distinguishably one inHim" (nn. 17-22); "Divine love is of divine wisdom, and divine wisdom ofdivine love" (nn. 34-39); "Love not married to wisdom cannot effectanything" (nn. 401-403); "Love does nothing except in union with wisdom"(nn. 409, 410); "Spiritual heat and light, proceeding from the Lord as asun, make one as divine love and wisdom make one in Him" (nn. 99-102). The truth of the present proposition is plain from these propositions, demonstrated in that treatise. But as it is not known how two distinctthings can act as one, I wish now to show that there is no "one" apartfrom form, and that the form itself makes it a unit; then, that a formmakes a "one" the more perfectly as the elements entering into it aredistinctly different and yet united. 

[2] _There is no "one" apart from form, and the form itself makes it aunit. _ Everyone who brings his mind to bear on the matter can see clearlythat there is no "one" apart from form, and if a thing exists at all, itis a form. For what exists at all derives from form what is known as itscharacter and its predicates, its changes of state, also its relevance, and so on. A thing without form has no way of affecting us, and what hasno power of affecting, has no reality. It is form which enables to allthis. And as all things have a form, then if the form is perfect, allthings in it regard each other mutually, as link does link in a chain. Itfollows that it is form which makes a thing a unit and thus an entity ofwhich character, state, affection or anything else can be predicated;each is predicated of it according to the perfection of the form. 

[3] Such a unit is every object which meets the eye in the world. Such, too, is everything not seen with the eye, whether in interior nature orin the spiritual world. The human being is such a unit, human society is, likewise the church, and in the Lord's view the whole angelic heaven, too; in short, all creation in general and in every particular. For eachand all things to be forms, He who created all things must be formitself, and all things made must be from that form. This, therefore, wasalso demonstrated in the work _Divine Love and Wisdom, _ as that "Divinelove and wisdom are substance and form" (nn. 40-43); "Divine love andwisdom are form itself, thus the one Self and the single independentexistence" (nn. 44-46); "Divine love and wisdom are one in the Lord" (nn. 14-17, 18-22), "and proceed as one from Him" (nn. 99-102, and elsewhere). 

[4] _A form makes a one the more perfectly as the elements entering intoit are distinctly different and yet united. _ This hardly falls into acomprehension not elevated, for the appearance is that a form cannot makea one except as its elements are quite alike. I have spoken with angelsoften on the subject. They said that this is a secret perceived clearlyby their wiser men, obscurely by the less wise. They said it is the truththat a form is the more perfect as its constituents are distinctlydifferent and yet severally united. They established the fact from thesocieties which in the aggregate constitute the form of heaven, and fromthe angels of a society, for as these are different and free and lovetheir associates from themselves and from their own affection, the formof the society is more perfect. They also illustrated the fact from themarriage of good and truth, in that the more distinguishably two theseare, the more perfectly do they make a one; similarly, of love andwisdom. The indistinguishable is confusion, they said, whence comesimperfection of form. 

[5] In various ways they went on to establish the manner in whichperfectly distinct things are united and thus make a one, especially bywhat is in the human body, in which are innumerable things quite distinctand yet united, held distinct by coverings and united by ligaments. It isso with love, they said, and all its things, and wisdom and all itsthings, for love and wisdom are not perceived except as one. See furtheron the subject in _Divine Love and Wisdom_ (nn. 14-22) and in the work_Heaven and Hell_ (nn. 56 and 489). This has been adduced as part ofangelic wisdom. 

5. (iii) _This "one" is in some image in every created thing. _ It can beseen from what was demonstrated throughout the treatise _Divine Love andWisdom_ and especially at nn. 47-51, 55-60, 282-284, 290-295, 313-318, 319-326, 349-357, that divine love and wisdom which are one in the Lordand proceed as one from Him, are in some image in each created thing. Itwas shown that the divine is in every created thing because God theCreator, who is the Lord from eternity, produced the sun of the spiritualworld from Himself, and all things of the universe through that sun. Thatsun, which is from Him and in which He is, is therefore not only thefirst but the sole substance from which are all things. As this is theone substance, it is in everything made, but with endless variety inaccord with uses. 

[2] In the Lord, then, are divine love and wisdom, and in the sun fromHim divine fire and radiance, and from the sun spiritual heat and light;and in each instance the two make one. It follows that this oneness is inevery created thing. All things in the world are referable, therefore, togood and truth, in fact to the conjunction of them. Or, what is the same, they are referable to love and wisdom and to the union of these; for goodis of love and truth of wisdom, love calling all its own, "good, " andwisdom calling all its own, "truth. " It will be seen in what follows thatthere is a conjunction of these in each created thing. 

6. Many avow that there is a single substance which is also the first, from which are all things, but what that substance is, is not known. Thebelief is that it is so simple nothing is more so, and that it can belikened to a point without dimensions, and that dimensional forms aroseout of an infinite number of such points. But this is a fallacy, springing from an idea of space. To such an idea there seems to be such aleast thing. The truth is that the simpler and purer a thing is, the morereplete it is and the more complete. This is why the more interiorly athing is examined, the more wonderful, perfect, and well formed are thethings seen in it, and in the first substance the most wonderful, perfectand fully formed of all. For the first substance is from the spiritualsun, which, as we said, is from the Lord and in which He is. That sun istherefore the sole substance and, not being in space, is all in all, andis in the greatest and least things of the created universe. 

[2] As that sun is the first and sole substance from which all thingsare, it follows that in it are infinitely more things than can possiblyappear in substances arising from it, called substantial and lastlymaterial. This infinity cannot appear in derivative substances becausethese descend from that sun by degrees of two kinds in accord with whichperfections decline. For that reason, as we said above, the moreinteriorly a thing is regarded, the more wonderful, perfect and wellformed are the things seen. This has been said to establish the fact thatthe divine is in some image in every created thing, but is less and lessmanifest with the descent over degrees, and still less when a lowerdegree, parted from the higher by being closed, is also choked withearthy matter. These concepts cannot but seem obscure unless one has readand understood what was shown in the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom_about the spiritual sun (nn. 83-172), about degrees (nn. 173-281) andabout the creation of the world (nn. 282-357). 

7. (iv) _It is of the divine providence that every created thing as awhole and in part should be such a one or should become such a one, _ orthat there be in it something of the divine love and wisdom, or what isthe same, that there be good and truth in it, or a union of them. (Inasmuch as good is of love and truth is of wisdom, as was said above(n. 5), in what follows we shall at times say good and truth instead oflove and wisdom, and marriage of good and truth instead of union of loveand wisdom. )

8. It is evident from the preceding proposition that divine love andwisdom, which are one in the Lord and proceed as one from Him, are insome image in everything created by Him. Something shall be said nowspecifically of the "one" or the union called the marriage of good andtruth. 1. This marriage is in the Lord Himself--for, as we said, divinelove and wisdom in Him are one. 2. This marriage is from Him, for in allthat proceeds from Him love and wisdom are fully united. The two proceedfrom Him as a sun, divine love as heat, and divine wisdom as light. 3. These are received as two, indeed, by angels, likewise by men of thechurch, but are made one in them by the Lord. 4. In view of this influxof love and wisdom as one from the Lord with angels of heaven and men ofthe church, and in view of their reception of it, the Lord is spoken ofin the Word as bridegroom and husband, and heaven and the church arecalled bride and wife. 5. An image and a likeness of the Lord aretherefore to be found in heaven and in the church in general, and in anangel of heaven and a man of the church in particular, so far as they arein that union or in the marriage of good and truth. For good and truth inthe Lord are one, indeed are the Lord. 6. Love and wisdom in heaven andin the church as a whole, and in an angel of heaven and a man of thechurch, are one when will and understanding, thus when good and truth, make one; or what is still the same, when doctrine from the Word and lifeaccording to doctrine make one. 7. How the two make one in man and in allthat pertains to him was shown, moreover, in Part V of the treatise_Divine Love and Wisdom, _ where the creation of man, and especially thecorrespondence of will and understanding with heart and lungs, weretreated of (nn. 358-432). 

9. How good and truth, however, make one in what is below or outside man, in both the animal and the vegetable kingdom, shall be told from time totime in what follows. Three points are premised. _First, _ in the universeand in each and all things of it as created by the Lord, there was amarriage of good and truth. _Second, _ after creation this marriage wassevered in man. _Third, _ it is the work of divine providence to unitewhat was severed, and so to restore the marriage of good and truth. Asall three points were established by many things in the work _Divine Loveand Wisdom, _ there is no need to substantiate them further. Anyone cansee from reason, moreover, that if there was a marriage of good and truthin each created thing and later it was severed, the Lord must be workingconstantly to restore it, and that the restoration of it, and hence theconjunction of the created world with the Lord through man, are of divineprovidence. 

10. (v) _Good of love is good only so far as it is united to truth ofwisdom, and truth of wisdom is truth only so far as it is united to goodof love. _ Good and truth have this from their origin, the one and theother originating in the Lord, who is good itself and truth itself and inwhom the two are one. Hence in angels in heaven and men on earth, good isnot good basically except so far as it is joined to truth, and truth isnot truth basically except so far as it is joined to good. Granted thatall good and truth are from the Lord, then inasmuch as good makes onewith truth and truth with good in Him, good to be good in itself andtruth to be truth in itself must make one in the recipient, that is, theangel in heaven or the man on earth. 

11. It is indeed known that all things in the world are referable to goodand truth. For by good is meant what universally embraces and involvesall things of love; and by truth what universally embraces and involvesall things of wisdom. Still it is not known that good is nothing exceptwhen it is joined to truth, and truth nothing unless it is joined togood. Good apart from truth and truth apart from good still seem to besomething; yet they are not. For love (to which all that is called goodpertains) is the _esse_ of a thing, and wisdom (to which all thingscalled truths pertain) is a thing's _existere_ from that _esse_ (as wasshown in the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom, _ nn. 14-16). Therefore, as_esse_ is nothing apart from _existere, _ or _existere_ apart from _esse, _good is nothing apart from truth or truth from good. What, again, is goodwhich has no relation to anything? Can it be called good if it is withoutaffection and perception?

[2] That which is associated with good, permitting it to affect and to beperceived and felt, is referable to truth, since it has relation to whatis in the understanding. Tell someone, not that a given thing is good, but simply say "good"--is good anything? It becomes something from what isperceived along with it. This is united with good only in theunderstanding, and all understanding has relation to truth. It is thesame with willing. Apart from knowing, perceiving and thinking what onewills, to will is nothing actual; together with them it becomessomething. All volition is of love and is referable to good; and allknowing, perceiving and thinking is of the understanding, and isreferable to truth. It is clear, then, that to will is nothing actual, but to will this or that means something. 

[3] So also with a use, inasmuch as a use is a good. Unless a use isaddressed to something which makes one with it, it is not a use, and thusnot anything. A use derives its something from the understanding, andwhat is thence conjoined or adjoined to it, has relation to truth. So ause gets its character. 

[4] From these few things it is plain that good is nothing apart fromtruth, nor truth anything apart from good. But if good together withtruth and truth together with good are something, evil with falsity andfalsity with evil are not, for the latter are opposite to the former andthe opposition destroys--that is, destroys the something. But of this inwhat follows. 

12. Marriage of good and truth may, however, be found either in a causeor from the cause in an effect. In a cause the marriage of good and truthis one of will and understanding, or of love and wisdom. Such a marriageis in all that a man wills and thinks and in all his ensuingdeterminations and purposes. This marriage enters into and in factproduces the effect. But in producing the effect, good and truth seemdistinct, for then the simultaneous turns successive. When, for example, a man wills and thinks about food, clothing, shelter, business oremployment, or about his relationship to others, first he wills andthinks or comes to his conclusions and intentions all at the same time;but when these are determined to effects, truth follows on good, thoughin will and thought they continue to make one. In the effects the usespertain to love or good, and the ways of performing the uses pertain tounderstanding or truth. Anyone can confirm these general truths byparticular instances provided he perceives what is referable respectivelyto good of love and to truth of wisdom, and also how differently it isreferable in cause and in effect. 

13. We have said often that love constitutes man's life. This does notmean, however, love separate from wisdom or good from truth in the cause, for love separate or good separate is not an actuality. The love whichmakes man's inmost life--the life he has from the Lord--is therefore loveand wisdom together; neither is the love which makes his life as arecipient being separate in the cause, but only in the effect. For lovecannot be understood except from its quality, which is wisdom; and thequality or wisdom can exist only from its own _esse, _ which is love;thence it is that they are one; it is the same with good and truth. Sincetruth is from good as wisdom is from love, it is the two taken togetherthat are called good or love. For love has wisdom for its form, and goodfor its form truth, and form is the source, and the one source, ofquality. It is plain from all this that good is good only so far as ithas become one with its truth, and truth truth only so far as it hasbecome one with its good. 

14. (vi) _Good of love not united to truth of wisdom is not good initself but seeming good; and truth of wisdom not conjoined with good oflove is not truth in itself but seeming truth. _ The fact is that no good, in itself good, can exist unless joined with its truth, and no truth, initself truth, can exist unless it has become joined with its good. Andyet good separate from truth is possible, and truth separate from good. They are found in hypocrites and flatterers, in evil persons of everysort, and in such as are in natural but not spiritual good. These can alldo well by church, country, society, fellow-citizens, the needy, thepoor, and widows and orphans. They can also comprehend truths, fromunderstanding think them, and from thought speak and teach them. But thegoods and truths are not interiorly such, that is, basically goods andtruths, but only outwardly and seemingly such. For such good and truthlook to self and the world, not to good itself and truth itself; they arenot from good and truth; they are of the mouth and body only, therefore, and not of the heart. 

[2] They may be likened to gold or silver which is spread on dross, rotten wood or mire. When uttered the truths may be likened to a breathexhaled and gone, or to a delusive light which dies away, though theyappear outwardly like genuine truths. They are seeming truths in thosewho utter them; to those hearing and assenting, and unaware of this, theymay be altogether different. For everyone is affected by what is externalaccording to his internal. A truth, by whomsoever uttered, entersanother's hearing and is taken up by his mind in keeping with the stateor character of his mind. 

Of those in natural good by inheritance, but in no spiritual good, nearlythe same is true as of those described above. The internal of every goodor truth is spiritual. The spiritual dispels falsities and evils, but thenatural left to itself favors them. To favor evil and falsity does notaccord with doing good. 

15. Good can be separated from truth, and truth from good, and then stillappear as good or truth, for the reason that the human being has acapacity to act which is called liberty, and a capacity of understandingcalled rationality. By abuse of these powers a man can appear inexternals other than he is in internals; an evil man can do good andspeak truth, and a devil feign himself an angel of light. But on this seethe following propositions in the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom:_ "Theorigin of evil is in the abuse of faculties proper to man, called libertyand rationality" (nn. 246-270); "These two faculties are to be found withthe evil as well as with the good" (n. 425); "Love not married to wisdom, and good not married to truth, can effect nothing" (n. 401); "Love doesnothing except in conjunction with wisdom or understanding, and it bringswisdom or the understanding reciprocally into conjunction with itself"(nn. 410-412); "From power given it by love, wisdom or understanding canbe elevated and can perceive and receive the things of light from heaven"(n. 413); "Love can be raised similarly to receive the things of heatfrom heaven if it loves its mate, wisdom, in that degree" (nn. 414, 415);"Else love pulls wisdom or the understanding down from its elevation toact at one with itself" (nn. 416-418); "If the two are elevated, love ispurified in the understanding" (nn. 419-421); "Purified by wisdom in theunderstanding, love becomes spiritual and celestial, but defiled in theunderstanding it become sensuous and corporeal" (nn. 422-424); "What istrue of love and wisdom and their union is true of charity and faith andtheir conjunction" (nn. 427-430). What charity in heaven is, see n. 431. 

16. (vii) _The Lord does not suffer anything to be divided; it must beeither in good and at the same time in truth, or in evil and at the sametime in falsity. _ The Lord's divine providence has for its goal, and tothis end it labors, that man shall be in good and at the same time intruth. For then he is his own good and love and his own truth and wisdom;thereby the human being is human, for he is then an image of the Lord. But while he lives in the world he can be in good and at the same time infalsity, likewise in evil and at the same time in truth, indeed in eviland at the same time in good, and thus be double. As the cleavagedestroys the Lord's image in him and thus the man, the Lord's divineprovidence takes care in every least act that this division shall not be. And as it is better for man to be in evil and at the same time in falsitythan to be in good and at the same time in evil, the Lord permits it, notas one willing it, but as one unable to resist because of the end sought, which is salvation. 

[2] A man can be simultaneously in evil and in truth and the Lord beunable to prevent it in view of the end, which is salvation, for thereason that man's understanding can be raised into the light of wisdomand see truths, or acknowledge them when he hears them, while his loveremains below. Thus a man can be in heaven as to understanding, while asto his love he is in hell. This is not denied him, because the twofaculties of liberty and rationality, by virtue of which he is a humanbeing and distinguished from beasts and by which alone he can beregenerated and thus saved, cannot be taken away. By means of them, hecan act according to wisdom and at the same time according to an unwiselove. From wisdom above he can view the love below and also the thoughts, intentions and affections, therefore the evils and falsities as well asthe goods and truths of his life and doctrine, without a knowledge andrecognition of which he cannot be reformed. We spoke of the two facultiesbefore and shall say more in what follows. What has been said explainshow man can be simultaneously in good and truth, or in evil and falsity, or in mixtures of them. 

17. In this world a man can hardly come into one or the other conjunctionor union, that is, of good and truth or of evil and falsity, for duringhis life in the world he is kept in a state of reformation orregeneration. After death, however, every man comes into the one union orthe other, because he can then no longer be reformed or regenerated. Heremains such as his life was in the world, that is, such as his reigninglove was. If therefore his was a life of an evil love, all the truthacquired by him in the world from teacher, pulpit or Word is taken away. On the removal of it, he absorbs the falsity agreeing with his evil as asponge does water. On the other hand, if his was the life of a good love, all the falsity is removed which he may have picked up in the world byhearing or from reading but did not confirm in himself, and in its placetruth congruous with his good is given him. This is meant by the Lord'swords:

Take . . . The talent from him, and give it to him that has ten talents. For to everyone who has, shall be given until he abounds but from himwho has not, even what he has shall be taken away (Mt 25:28, 29; 13:12;Mk 4:25; Lu 8:18; 19:24-26). 

18. After death everyone must be either in good and at the same time intruth or in evil and at the same time in falsity, for the reason thatgood and evil cannot be united, nor can good and the falsity of evil, norevil and the truth of good. For these are opposites, and oppositescontend until one destroys the other. Those who are at the same time inevil and in good are meant in the Apocalypse in these words of the Lordto the church of the Laodiceans:

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; would that you werecold or hot; but because you are lukewarm, I will spue you out of mymouth (3:15, 16):

also in these words of the Lord:

No man can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and lovethe other, or cleave to the one and not heed the other (Mt 6:24). 

19. ( viii) _That which is in good and at the same time in truth issomething; that which is in evil and at the same time in falsity is notanything. _ See above (n. 11) that what is in good and at the same time intruth is something. It follows that what is at once evil and false is notanything. By not being anything is meant that it is without power andwithout spiritual life. Those at once in evil and in falsity (all of whomare in hell) have power indeed among themselves, for an evil man can doevil and does so in a thousand ways. Yet he can do evil to the evil onlyby reason of their evil; he cannot harm the good at all; if, as sometimeshappens, he does, it is by conjunction with their evil. 

[2] In this way temptations arise; they are infestations by evil spiritswho are with a man; so combats ensue by which the good are freed fromtheir evils. Since the wicked have no power, all hell in the Lord's sightis not only nothing, but nothing at all in point of power, as I have seenproved by much experience. But it is remarkable that the evil all deemthemselves powerful, and the good all think themselves powerless. This isbecause the evil ascribe everything to their own power or shrewdness andmalice, and nothing to the Lord; whereas the good ascribe nothing totheir own prudence, but all to the Lord who is almighty. Evil and falsitytogether are not anything for the further reason that they have nospiritual life. The life of the infernals is therefore called death, notlife. Since life holds everything, death has nothing. 

20. Men in evil and at the same time in truths may be likened to eaglesflying aloft which, deprived of their wings, fall. For after death, onbecoming spirits, men do the like who have understood and spoken andtaught truths and yet have not looked to God in their lives. By means ofthings of the understanding they raise themselves aloft and even enterheaven at times and feign themselves angels of light. But when they aredeprived of truths and are cast out, they fall down to hell. Eagles alsosignify rapacious men with intellectual acumen, and wings signifyspiritual truths. Such, we said, are those who have not looked to God intheir lives. To look to God in life means simply to think that a givenevil is a sin against God, and for that reason not to commit it. 

21. (ix) _The Lord's divine providence causes evil and its falsity toserve for equilibrium, contrast, and purification, and so for theconjunction of good and truth in others. _ It is obvious from thepreceding that the Lord's divine providence continually operates in orderthat truth may be united in man with good and good with truth, becausethat union is the church and heaven. For that union is in the Lord and inall that proceeds from Him. From that union, heaven and the church arecalled a marriage, and the kingdom of God is likened in the Word to amarriage. Again, the Sabbath signified that union and was the holiestobservance in the worship of the Israelitish Church. From that union alsothere is a marriage of good and truth in the Word and in each and allthings of it (on this see _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about SacredScripture, _ nn. 80-90). The marriage of good and truth is from themarriage of the Lord with the church, and this in turn from the marriageof love and wisdom in Him, for good is of love, and truth of wisdom. Itis plain, then, that it is the constant aim of divine providence to unitegood to truth and truth to good in a man, for so he is united to theLord. 

22. But many have severed and do sever this marriage, especially byseparating faith from charity (for faith is of truth and truth is offaith, and charity is of good and good is of charity), and in so doingthey conjoin evil and falsity in themselves and thus come into andcontinue in the opposite to good and truth. The Lord therefore providesthat they shall nevertheless serve for uniting good and truth in others, through equilibrium, contrast and purification. 

23. Conjunction of good and truth in others is provided by the Lordthrough _equilibrium_ between heaven and hell. From hell evil and at thesame time falsity constantly exhale, and from heaven good and at the sametime truth. In equilibrium between them, and so in freedom to think, will, speak and act in which he can be reformed, every man is kept whilehe lives in the world. On the spiritual equilibrium from which the humanbeing has freedom, see the work _Heaven and Hell, _ nn. 589-596, 597-603. 

24. Conjunction of good and truth is provided by the Lord through_contrast. _ For the nature of good is not known except by contrast withwhat is less good and by its contrariety to evil. All perceptiveness andsensitivity arise so; their quality is thence. All pleasantness isperceived and felt over against the less pleasant and the unpleasant; allthe beautiful by reference to the less beautiful and the unbeautiful;similarly all good of love by reference to lesser good and to evil; alltruth of wisdom by a sense of lesser truth and of falsity. Everythinginevitably varies from greatest to least, and with the same variation inits opposite and with equilibrium between them, there is contrast degreeby degree, and the perception and sensation of a thing increase ordiminish. But be it known that an opposite may either lower or exaltperceptions and sensitivities. It lowers them when it mingles in andexalts them when it does not mingle in, for which reason the Lordseparates good and evil with man that they shall not mingle, asexquisitely as He does heaven and hell. 

25. Conjunction of good and truth in others is provided by the Lordthrough _purification_ in two ways; one through temptations, and theother through fermentations. _Spiritual temptations_ are nothing elsethan combats against the evils and falsities exhaled from hell andaffecting man. By these combats a man is purified from evils andfalsities, and good and truth are united in him. _Spiritualfermentations_ take place in many ways, and in heaven as well as onearth; but in the world it is not known what they are or how they comeabout. For evils and their falsities, let into societies, act as fermentsdo in meal or in must, separating the heterogeneous and conjoining thehomogeneous until there is clarity and purity. Such fermentations aremeant in the Lord's words:

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven which a woman took and hid in threemeasures of meal until the whole was leavened (Mt 13:33; Lu 12:21). 

26. The Lord provides these uses through the united evil and falsity ofthose in hell. The Lord's kingdom, which extends over hell as well asover heaven, is a kingdom of uses. It is the Lord's providence that thereshall be no creature and no thing whereby a use is not performed. 

II. THE LORD'S DIVINE PROVIDENCE HAS FOR ITS OBJECT A HEAVEN FROM THEHUMAN RACE

27. Heaven does not consist of angels created such to begin with, nordoes hell come from any devil created an angel of light and cast downfrom heaven. Both heaven and hell are from mankind, heaven consisting ofthose in the love of good and consequent understanding of truth, and hellof those in the love of evil and consequent understanding of falsity. This has been made known and sure to me by long-continued intercoursewith angels and spirits. See what was said on the subject in the work_Heaven and Hell_ (nn. 311-316); also in the little work _The LastJudgment_ (nn. 14-27), and in _Continuation about the Last Judgment andthe Spiritual World_ (throughout). 

[2] As heaven is from mankind and is an abiding with the Lord toeternity, it must have been the Lord's purpose in creation; being thepurpose in creation, it is the purpose of His providence. The Lordcreated the world not for His own sake but for the sake of those withwhom He would be in heaven. Spiritual love by nature desires to give itsown to another, and so far as it can do so is in its _esse, _ peace, andblessedness. Spiritual love derives this from the Lord's divine lovewhich is such infinitely. It follows that the divine love and hencedivine providence has for its object a heaven consisting of human beingswho have become or are becoming angels, on whom the Lord can bestow allthe blessings and felicities of love and wisdom and do so from Himself inmen. It must be in this way, for the Lord's image and likeness are in menfrom creation, the image in them wisdom and the likeness love. Furthermore, the Lord in them is love united to wisdom and wisdom unitedto love or (what is the same) is good united to truth and truth united togood (this union was treated of in the preceding chapter). 

[3] What heaven is in general or with a number, and in particular or withan individual, is not known. Nor is it known what heaven is in thespiritual world and what it is in the natural world. Yet this knowledgeis important, for heaven is the purpose of providence. I therefore desireto set the subject in some light in this order:

i. Heaven is conjunction with the Lord. Ii. By creation the human being is such that he can be conjoined more andmore closely to the Lord. Iii. The more closely one is conjoined to the Lord the wiser one becomes. Iv. The more closely one is conjoined to the Lord the happier onebecomes. V. The more closely one is conjoined to the Lord the more distinctly doeshe seem to himself to be his own, and the more plainly does he recognizethat he is the Lord's. 

28. (i) _Heaven is conjunction with the Lord. _ Heaven is heaven, not fromthe angels but from the Lord. For the love and wisdom in which angels areand which make heaven are not theirs, but the Lord's, indeed are the Lordin them. And as love and wisdom are the Lord's, and are the Lord inheaven, and make the life of angels, it is plain that their life is theLord's, indeed is the Lord. The angels themselves avow that they livefrom the Lord. Hence it is evident that heaven is conjunction with theLord. But conjunction with Him is various and one man's heaven is notanother's; therefore heaven is also according to the conjunction with theLord. In the following proposition it will be seen that conjunction ismore and more close or more and more remote. 

[2] Here let something be said about how the conjunction takes place andwhat the nature of it is. It is a conjunction of the Lord with the angelsand of the angels with Him, therefore is reciprocal. The Lord flows intothe life's love of the angels, and they receive Him in wisdom, thus inturn conjoining themselves with Him. It must be said, however, that itseems to the angels that they conjoin themselves to the Lord by wisdom;actually the Lord conjoins them to Himself by their wisdom, for thewisdom is also from the Lord. It is the same thing if we say that theLord conjoins Himself to the angels by good and they in turn conjointhemselves to the Lord by truth, for all good is of love, and truth, ofwisdom. 

[3] This reciprocal conjunction is an arcanum, however, which few canunderstand unless it is explained. I want therefore to unfold it so faras it can be done by things within one's grasp. We showed in the treatise_Divine Love and Wisdom_ (nn. 404, 405) how love unites itself withwisdom, namely, through affection for knowing from which comes anaffection for truth, through affection for understanding from which comesperception of truth, and through affection for seeing what is known andunderstood, from which comes thought. Into all these affections the Lordflows, for they are all derivatives of one's life's love, and the angelsreceive the influx in perception of truth and in thought, for in thesethe influx becomes apparent to them, but not in the affections. 

[4] As the perceptions and thoughts appear to the angels to be their own, although they arise from affections which are from the Lord, theappearance is that the angels reciprocally conjoin themselves to theLord, when nevertheless the Lord conjoins them to Himself. The affectionitself produces the perceptions and thoughts, for the affection, which isof love, is their soul. Apart from affection no one can perceive or thinkanything, and every one perceives and thinks according to his affection. It is evident that the reciprocal conjunction of the angels with the Lordis not from them, but as it were from them. Such, too, is the conjunctionof the Lord with the church and of the church with Him, a union calledcelestial and spiritual marriage. 

29. All conjunction in the spiritual world is effected by intent regard. When anyone there thinks of another with a desire to speak with him, theother is at once present, and the two come face to face. Likewise, whenone thinks of another from an affection of love; by this affection, however, there is conjunction, but by the other only presence. This ispeculiar to the spiritual world; for there all are spiritual beings. Itis otherwise in the natural world where all are physical beings. In thenatural world something similar takes place in the affections andthoughts of the spirit; but as there is space here, while in thespiritual world space is appearance only, what takes place here in one'sspirit occurs outwardly there. 

[2] We have said so much to make known how conjunction of the Lord withangels and their seemingly reciprocal conjunction with Him is effected. All angels turn the face to the Lord; He regards them in the forehead, and they regard Him with the eyes. The reason is that the foreheadcorresponds to love and its affections, and the eyes correspond to wisdomand its perceptions. Still the angels do not of themselves turn the faceto the Lord, but He faces them toward Himself, doing so by influx intotheir life's love, by this entering the perceptions and thoughts, and soturning the angels to Him. 

[3] There is such a circuit from love to thoughts and under love'simpulse from thoughts to love in all the mind's activity. It may becalled the circling of life. On these subjects see some things also inthe treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom:_ as that "Angels constantly turnthe face to the Lord as a sun" (nn. 129-134); "All the interiors of boththe mind and the bodies of the angels are likewise turned to the Lord asa sun" (nn. 135-139); "Every spirit, whatever his character, turnshimself likewise to his ruling love" (nn. 140-145); "Love conjoins itselfto wisdom and causes wisdom to be conjoined reciprocally with it" (nn. 410-412); "Angels are in the Lord and He in them; and as the angels areonly recipients, the Lord alone is heaven" (nn. 113-118). 

30. The Lord's heaven in the natural world is called the church; an angelof this heaven is a man of the church who is conjoined to the Lord; ondeparture from this world he also becomes an angel of the spiritualheaven. What was said of the angelic heaven is evidently to beunderstood, then, of the human heaven also which is called the church. The reciprocal conjunction with the Lord which makes heaven in the humanbeing is revealed by the Lord in these words in John:

Abide in Me, and I in you; . .. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bearsmuch fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing (15:4, 5, 7). 

31. It is plain from this that the Lord is heaven not only in generalwith all in heaven, but in particular with each one there. For each angelis a heaven in least form; of as many heavens as there are angels, doesheaven in general consist. In substantiation see _Heaven and Hell_ (nn. 51-58). Since this is so, let no one cherish the mistaken idea, whichfirst visits the thought of so many, that the Lord dwells in heaven amongthe angels or is among them like a king in his kingdom. To the sight Heis above them in the sun there; He is in them in their life of love andwisdom. 

32. (ii) _By creation the human being is such that he can be conjoinedmore and more closely to the Lord. _ This becomes evident from what wasshown about degrees in the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom, _ Part III, especially in the propositions: "By creation there are three discretedegrees or degrees of height in the human being" (nn. 230-235); "Thesethree degrees are in man from birth, and as they are opened, the man isin the Lord, and the Lord in him" (nn. 236-241); "All perfectionincreases and mounts with and according to the degrees" (nn. 199-204). Evidently, then, man is such by creation that he can be conjoined withthe Lord more and more closely according to these degrees. 

[2] But one must know well what degrees are and that there are two kinds--discrete degrees or degrees of height, and continuous degrees or degreesof breadth; also how they differ. It must be known, too, that every humanbeing has by creation and hence from birth three discrete degrees ordegrees of height, and that he comes at birth into the first degree, called natural, and can grow in this degree continuously until he becomesrational. He comes into the second degree, called spiritual, if he livesaccording to spiritual laws of order, which are divine truths. He canalso come into the third degree, called celestial, if he lives accordingto the celestial laws of order, which are divine goods. 

[3] These degrees are opened in a person by the Lord according to hislife and actually opened in the world, but not perceptibly and sensiblyuntil after his departure from the world. As they are opened and laterperfected a man is conjoined to the Lord more and more closely. Thisconjunction can grow to eternity in nearness to God and does so with theangels. And yet no angel can attain or touch the first degree of theLord's love and wisdom, for the Lord is infinite and an angel is finite, and between infinite and finite no ratio obtains. Man's state and thestate of his elevation and nearness to the Lord cannot be understoodwithout a knowledge of these degrees; they have been specifically treatedof, therefore, in the treatise Divine _Love and Wisdom, _ nn. 173-281, which see. 

33. We shall say briefly how man can be more and more closely conjoinedto the Lord, and then how the conjunction seems closer and closer. _Howman is more and more closely conjoined to the Lord:_ this is effected notby knowledge alone, nor by intelligence alone, nor even by wisdom alone, but by a life conjoined to them. A man's life is his love, and love ismanifold. In general there are love of good and love of evil. Love ofevil is love of committing adultery, taking revenge, defrauding, blaspheming, depriving others of their possessions. In thinking and doingsuch things the love of evil finds its pleasure and joy. Of this lovethere are as many derivatives, which are affections, as there are evilsin which it can find expression. And there are as many perceptions andthoughts of this love as there are falsities favoring and confirming suchevils. The falsities make one with the evils as understanding makes onewith will; they are mutually inseparable; the one is of the other. 

[2] Inasmuch as the Lord flows into one's life's love and by itsaffections into the perceptions and thoughts, and not the other wayabout, as we said above, it follows that the Lord can conjoin Himselfmore closely to a man only as the love of evil is removed along with itsaffections, which are lusts. These lusts reside in the natural man. Whata man does from the natural man he feels that he does of himself. For hispart, therefore, a man should remove the evils of that love; so far as hedoes, the Lord comes nearer and conjoins Himself to him. Anyone can seefrom reason that lusts with their pleasures block and close the door tothe Lord and cannot be cast out by the Lord as long as the man himselfkeeps the door shut and presses and pushes from outside to keep it frombeing opened. It is plain from the Lord's words in the Apocalypse that aman must himself open the door:

Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opensthe door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me (3:20). 

[3] Plainly, then, so far as one shuns evils as diabolical and asobstacles to the Lord's entrance, he is more and more closely conjoinedto the Lord, and he the most closely who abhors them as so many dusky andfiery devils. For evil and the devil are one and the same, and thefalsity of evil and satan are one and the same. As the Lord's influx isinto the love of good and into its affections and by these into theperceptions and thoughts, which have it from the good in which a man isthat they are truths, so the influx of the devil, that is of hell, isinto the love of evil and its affections, which are lusts, and by theseinto the perceptions and thoughts, which have it from the evil in whichthe man is that they are falsities. 

[4] _How the conjunction seems closer and closer. _ The more the evils inthe natural man are removed by shunning and turning away from them, themore closely a man is conjoined to the Lord. Love and wisdom, which arethe Lord Himself, are not in space, as affection which is of love, andthought which is of wisdom, have nothing in common with space. In themeasure of the conjunction by love and wisdom, therefore, the Lord seemsnearer; and, contrariwise, in the measure of the rejection of love andwisdom, more distant. There is no space in the spiritual world; distanceand presence there are appearances according to similarity ordissimilarity of the affections. For, as we said, affections which are oflove, and thoughts which are of wisdom, in themselves spiritual, are notin space (on this see what was shown in the treatise _Divine Love andWisdom, _ nn. 7-10, 69-72, and elsewhere). 

[5] The Lord's conjunction with a man in whom evils have been put away ismeant by the Lord's words:

The pure in heart shall see God (Mt 5:8);

and by the words:

He who has my commandments and does them . . . With him will I make anabode (Jn 14:21, 23). 

"To have the commandments" is to know and "to do them" is to love, for itis also said: "he who does my commandments, he it is that loves Me. "

34. (iii) _The more closely one is conjoined to the Lord the wiser onebecomes. _ As there are three degrees of life in man by creation and sofrom birth (see just above, n. 32), there are specifically three degreesof wisdom in him. These degrees it is that are opened in man according toconjunction, that is, according to love, for love is conjunction itself. Love's ascent by degrees, however, is only obscurely perceived by man;but wisdom's ascent is clearly perceived by those who know and see whatwisdom is. The degrees of wisdom are perceived because love by itsaffections enters the perceptions and thoughts, and these presentthemselves to the internal mental sight, which corresponds to theexternal bodily sight. Thus wisdom appears, but not the affection of lovewhich produces it. It is the same with all a man's deeds; he is aware howthe body does them, but not how the soul does them. So he perceives howhe meditates, perceives and thinks, but not how the soul of these mentalactivities, which is an affection of good and truth, produces them. 

[2] There are three degrees of wisdom: natural, spiritual, and celestial. Man is in the natural degree of wisdom during his life in the world. Thisdegree can be perfected in him to its height, but even so cannot passinto the spiritual degree, for the latter is not continuous with it, butconjoined to it by correspondences. After death man is in the spiritualdegree of wisdom. This degree also is such that it can be perfected toits height, and yet cannot pass into the celestial degree of wisdom, because neither is this continuous with the spiritual but conjoined to itby correspondences. Plainly, then, wisdom can be raised threefold, and ineach degree can be perfected but only to its peak. 

[3] One who understands the elevation and perfecting of these degrees cansee to an extent why angelic wisdom is said to be ineffable. Soineffable, indeed, is it, that a thousand ideas in the thought of angelsin their wisdom can present only a single idea in the thought of men intheir wisdom, the other nine hundred and ninety-nine ideas beingunutterable, because they are supernatural. Many a time have I been givento know this by living experience. But, as was said, no one can enterinto the ineffable wisdom of the angels except by and according toconjunction with the Lord, for He alone opens spiritual and celestialdegrees, and only in those who are wise from Him. Those are wise from theLord who cast the devil, that is, evil, out of themselves. 

35. But let no one believe that he has wisdom because he knows manythings, perceives them in some light, and is able to talk intelligentlyabout them, unless his wisdom is conjoined to love. For it is love thatthrough its affections produces wisdom. Not conjoined to love, wisdom islike a meteor vanishing in the air and like a falling star. Wisdom unitedto love is like the abiding light of the sun and like a fixed star. A manhas the love of wisdom when he is averse to the diabolical crew, that is, to the lusts of evil and falsity. 

36. Wisdom that comes to perception is perception of truth from beingaffected by it, especially perception of spiritual truth. For there iscivil, moral, and spiritual truth. Those who have some perception ofspiritual truth from affection by it also have perceptions of moral andcivil truth, for the affection of spiritual truth is the soul of thoseperceptions. I have spoken with angels at times about wisdom who saidthat wisdom is conjunction with the Lord because He is wisdom itself, andthat the man who rejects hell comes into this conjunction and comes intoit so far as he rejects hell. They said that they picture wisdom tothemselves as a magnificent and highly ornate palace into which onemounts by twelve steps. No one arrives at even the first step, they said, except from the Lord by conjunction with Him; and according to themeasure of conjunction one ascends; also as one ascends, one perceivesthat no man is wise from himself but from the Lord. Furthermore, theysaid that the things in which one is wise are to those in which one isnot wise like a few drops of water to a large lake. By the twelve stepsinto the palace of wisdom are meant goods united to truths and truthsunited to goods. 

37. (iv) _The more closely one is conjoined to the Lord the happier onebecomes. _ The like can be said of degrees of happiness as was said (nn. 32 and 34) of degrees of life and of wisdom according to conjunction withthe Lord. Happiness, that is, blessedness and joy, also are heightened asthe higher degrees of the mind, called spiritual and celestial, areopened with man. After his life in the world these degrees grow toeternity. 

38. No one who is in the pleasures of the lusts of evil can know anythingof the joys of the affections of good in which the angelic heaven is. These pleasures and joys are opposites in internals and hence inwardly inexternals, though superficially they may differ little. Every love hasits enjoyments; the love of evil with those in lusts also has, such asthe love of committing adultery, of taking revenge, of defrauding, ofstealing, of acting cruelly, indeed, in the worst men, of blaspheming theholy things of the church and of inveighing against God. The fountainheadof those enjoyments is the love of ruling from self-love. They come oflusts which obsess the interiors of the mind, from these flow into thebody, and excite uncleannesses there which titillate the fibers. Thephysical pleasure springs from the pleasure which the mind takes inlusts. 

[2] After death everyone comes to know in the spiritual world what theuncleannesses are which titillate the body's fibers in such persons andcomes to know the nature of them. In general they are things cadaverous, excrementitious, filthy, malodorous, and urinous; for their hells teemwith such uncleannesses. These are correspondences, as may be seen in thetreatise _Divine Love and Wisdom_ (nn. 422-424). After one has enteredhell, however, these filthy delights are turned into wretchedness. Thishas been told in order that it may be understood what heaven's felicityis and its nature, of which we are now to speak; for a thing is knownfrom its opposite. 

39. It is impossible to describe in words the blessedness, satisfaction, joy and pleasure, in short, the felicity of heaven, so sensibly perceivedthere. What is perceived solely by feeling, cannot be described, for itdoes not fall into ideas of thought nor, therefore, into words. For theunderstanding sees only and sees what is of wisdom or truth, but not whatis of love or good. Those felicities are therefore inexpressible, butstill they ascend in like degree with wisdom. They are infinitelyvarious, and each is ineffable. I have heard this, also perceived it. 

[2] These felicities enter when a man, of himself and yet from the Lord, casts out the lusts of the love of evil and falsity. For these felicitiesare the happinesses of the affections of good and truth, the opposites ofthe lusts of the love of evil and falsity. Those happinesses begin fromthe Lord, thus from the inmost, diffuse themselves thence into thingslower even to lowermost things, and thus fill the angel, making him abody of delight. Such happinesses are to be found in infinite variety inevery affection of good and truth, and eminently in the affection ofwisdom. 

40. There is no comparing the joys of the lusts of evil and the joys ofthe affections of good. Inwardly in the former is the devil, in thelatter the Lord. If comparisons are to be ventured, the pleasures of thelusts of evil can only be compared to the lewd pleasures of frogs instagnant ponds or to those of snakes in filth, while the pleasures of theaffections of good must be likened to the delights which the mind takesin gardens and flower beds. For things like those which affect frogs andsnakes affect those in the hells who are in lusts of evil; and thingslike those which affect the mind in gardens and flower beds affect thosein the heavens who are in affections of good. For, as was said above, corresponding uncleannesses affect the evil, and correspondingcleannesses the good. 

41. Plainly, then, the more closely one is conjoined with the Lord thehappier one is. This happiness rarely shows itself in the world, however;for man is then in a natural state, and the natural does not communicatewith the spiritual by continuity, but by correspondence. Thecommunication is felt only in a certain repose and peace of mind, especially after struggles against evil. But when a person puts off thenatural state and enters the spiritual state, as he does on leaving theworld, the happiness described above gradually manifests itself. 

42. (v) _The more closely one is conjoined to the Lord the moredistinctly does he seem to himself to be his own, and the more plainlydoes he recognize that he is the Lord's. _ The appearance is that the moreclosely one is conjoined to the Lord the less one is one's own. Thisappearance prevails with all the evil. It also prevails with those whofrom religion believe that they are not under the yoke of the law andthat no one can of himself do good. All these inevitably think that to befree only to do good and not to think and will evil is not to be one'sown. Inasmuch as a man who is conjoined to the Lord does not will andcannot think or will evil, they conclude from the look that this is notto be one's own. Yet that is the opposite of the truth. 

43. There is infernal freedom, and there is heavenly freedom. Thinkingand willing evil and also speaking and doing it so far as civil and morallaws do not prevent, is from infernal freedom. But thinking and willinggood and speaking and doing it so far as opportunity offers, is fromheavenly freedom. A man perceives as his own what he thinks, wills, speaks and does in freedom. The freedom anyone has always comes from hislove. The man in an evil love cannot but deem infernal freedom to be realfreedom, and a man in love of the good perceives that heavenly freedom isreal freedom; consequently each regards the opposite of his freedom asbondage. No one can deny that one or the other must be freedom, for twokinds of freedom opposed to each other cannot both be freedom. Furthermore it cannot be denied that to be led by good is freedom and tobe led by evil is bondage. For to be led by good is to be led by theLord, but to be led by evil is to be led by the devil. 

[2] Inasmuch as all he does in freedom appears to a man to be his own, coming as it does from what he loves, and to act from one's love, as wassaid, is to act freely, it follows that conjunction with the Lord causesa man to seem free and also his own, and the more closely he is conjoinedto the Lord, to seem so much freer and so much more his own. He seems themore distinctly his own because it is the nature of the divine love towant its own to be another's, that is, to be the angel's or the man's. All spiritual love is such, preeminently the Lord's. The Lord, moreover, never coerces anyone. For nothing to which one is coerced seems one'sown, and what seems not one's own cannot be done from one's love or beappropriated to one as one's own. Man is always led in freedom by theLord, therefore, and reformed and regenerated in freedom. On this muchmore will be said in what follows; also see some things above, n. 4. 

44. The reason why the more distinctly a man seems to be his own the moreplainly he sees that he is the Lord's, is that the more closely he isconjoined to the Lord the wiser he becomes (as was shown, nn. 34-36), andwisdom teaches and recognizes this. The angels of the third heaven, asthe wisest angels, perceive this and call it freedom itself; but to beled by themselves they call bondage. They give as the reason for thisthat the Lord does not flow immediately into the perceptions and thoughtsof wisdom, but into the affections of the love of good and by these intothe former, and this influx they perceive in the affection by which theyhave wisdom. Hence, they say, all that they think from wisdom seems to befrom themselves, thus seemingly their own, and this gives reciprocalconjunction. 

45. As the Lord's divine providence has for its object a heaven frommankind, it has for its object the conjunction of the human race with Him(see nn. 28-31). It also has for its object that man should be more andmore closely conjoined to Him (nn. 32, 33); for thus man possesses a moreinterior heaven. Further, it has for its object that by the conjunctionman should become wiser (nn. 34-36) and happier (nn. 37-41), for he hasheaven by and according to wisdom, and happiness by wisdom, too. Finally, providence has for its object that man shall seem more distinctly hisown, yet recognize the more clearly that he is the Lord's (nn. 42-44). All these are of the Lord's divine providence, for all are heaven andheaven is its object. 

III. IN ALL THAT IT DOES THE LORD'S DIVINE PROVIDENCE LOOKS TO WHAT ISINFINITE AND ETERNAL

46. Christendom knows that God is infinite and eternal. The doctrine ofthe Trinity which is named for Athanasius says that God the Father isinfinite, eternal and omnipotent, so also God the Son, and God the HolySpirit, and that nevertheless there are not three who are infinite, eternal and omnipotent, but One. As God is infinite and eternal, onlywhat is infinite and eternal can be predicated of Him. What infinite andeternal are, finite man cannot comprehend and yet can comprehend. Hecannot comprehend them because the finite is incapable of what isinfinite; he can comprehend them because there are abstract ideas bywhich one can see _that_ things are, though not _what_ they are. Of theinfinite such ideas are possible as that God or the Divine, beinginfinite, is _esse_ itself, is essence and substance itself, wisdom andlove themselves or good and truth themselves, thus is the one Self, indeed is veritable Man; there is such an idea, too, in speaking of theinfinite as "all, " as that infinite wisdom is _omniscience_ and infinitepower _omnipotence. _

[2] Still these ideas turn obscure to thought and may meet denial for notbeing comprehended, unless what one's thought gets from nature is removedfrom the idea, especially what it gets from the two properties of nature, space and time. For these are bound to restrict the ideas and to makeabstract ideas seem to be nothing. But if such things can be removed in aman, as they are in an angel, what is infinite can be comprehended by themeans just mentioned. Then also it will be grasped that the human beingis something because he was created by infinite God who is all; also thathe is a finite substance, having been created by infinite God who issubstance itself; further that man is wisdom inasmuch as he was createdby infinite God who is wisdom itself; and so on. For were infinite Godnot all, and were He not substance and wisdom themselves, man would notbe anything actual, thus would either be nothing or exist only in idea, as those visionaries think who are called idealists. 

[3] It is plain from what was shown in the treatise _Divine Love andWisdom_ that the divine essence is love and wisdom (nn. 28-39); thatdivine love and wisdom are substance itself and form itself, the one Selfand the sole underived being (nn. 40-46); and that God created theuniverse and its contents from Himself, and not from nothing (nn. 282-284). It follows that every creature and above all the human being and thelove and wisdom in him, are real, and do not exist only in idea. For wereGod not infinite, the finite would not be; were the infinite not all, noparticular thing would be; and had not God created all things fromHimself, nothing whatever would be. In a word, we are because God is. 

47. We are considering divine providence and at this point how it regardswhat is infinite and eternal in all that it does. This can be clearlytold only in some order. Let this be the order:

i. The infinite and eternal in itself is the same as the Divine. Ii. What is infinite and eternal in itself cannot but look to what isinfinite and eternal from itself in finite things. Iii. Divine providence looks to the infinite and eternal from itself inall that it does, especially in saving mankind. Iv. An image of the infinite and eternal offers in an angelic heavenformed from a redeemed mankind. V. The heart of divine providence is to look to what is infinite andeternal by fashioning an angelic heaven, for it to be like one humanbeing before the Lord, an image of Him. 

48. (i) _The infinite and eternal in itself is the same as the Divine. _This is plain from what was shown in many places in the work _Divine Loveand Wisdom. _ The concept comes from the angelic idea. By the infinite, angels understand nothing else than the divine _esse_ and by the eternalthe divine _existere. _ But men can see and cannot see that what isinfinite and eternal in itself is the Divine. Those can see this who donot think of the infinite from space and of the eternal from time; thosecannot see it who think of infinite and eternal in terms of space andtime. Those, therefore, can see it who think at some elevation, that is, inwardly in the rational mind; those cannot who think in a lower, that is, more external way. 

[2] Those by whom it can be seen reflect that a spatial infinite is animpossibility, so likewise a temporal eternity or an eternity from whichthe world has been. The infinite has no first or final limit orboundaries. They also reflect that there cannot be another infinite fromit, for "from it" implies a boundary or beginning, or a prior source. They therefore think that it is meaningless to speak of an infinite andeternal from itself, for that is like talking of an _esse_ from itself, which is a contradiction. An infinite from itself could only be aninfinite from an infinite, and _esse_ from itself only _esse_ from_esse. _ Such an infinite or _esse_ would either be the same with theinfinite or be finite. From these and like considerations, inwardly seenin the rational mind, it is plain that there is what is infinite initself and eternal in itself, and that they are the Divine whence are allthings. 

49. I know that many will say to themselves, "How can anybody graspanything inwardly and rationally apart from space and time, and thinkthat it not only exists, but is also the all and the self from which areall things?" But think deeply whether love or any affection of love, orwisdom or any perception of wisdom, yes, whether thought is in space andtime, and you will grasp the fact that they are not. The Divine, therefore, being love itself and wisdom itself, cannot be conceived of inspace and time; neither, then, can the infinite. To see this more clearlyponder whether thought is in time and space. Suppose thought is sustainedfor ten or twelve hours; may not the length of time seem like one or twohours? May it not seem like one or two days? The seeming duration isaccording to the state of affection from which the thought springs. Ifthe affection is a joyous one, in which time is not noticed, thought overten or twelve hours seems as though it were one or two hours. Thecontrary is true if the affection is a sorrowful one, in which onewatches the passage of time. It is evident from this that time is only anappearance according to the state of affection from which the thoughtsprings. The same is true of one's thought of the distance on a walk or ajourney. 

50. Since angels and spirits are affections of love and thoughts thencethey are not in space or time, either, but only in an appearance of them. Space and time appear to them in keeping with the states of theiraffections and their thoughts thence. When one of them, therefore, thinkswith affection of another, intently desiring to see or speak with him, the other is at once present. 

[2] Hence, too, present with every man are spirits who are in anaffection like his--evil spirits with a man in an affection of similarevil, and good spirits with the man in an affection of similar good. Theyare as fully present as though he was one of their society. Space andtime have nothing to do with their presence, for affection and thoughttherefrom are not in space and time, and spirits and angels areaffections and thoughts therefrom. 

[3] I have been given to know this by living experience over many years. For I have spoken with many on their death, some in different kingdoms ofEurope, and some in different kingdoms of Asia and Africa, and all werenear me. If space and time existed for them, a journey and time to makeit would have intervened. 

[4] Indeed, every man knows this by some instinct in him or in his mind, as has been verified to me by the fact that nobody has thought ofdistances when I have reported that I had spoken with some person whodied in Asia, Africa or Europe, for example with Calvin, Luther, orMelancthon, or with some king, governor or priest in a far region. Thethought occurred to no one, "How could he speak with those who had livedthere, and how could they come and be present with him, when lands andseas lay between?" So it was plain to me that in thinking of those in thespiritual world a man does not think of space and time. For those there, however, there is an appearance of time and space; see the work _Heavenand Hell, _ nn. 162-169, 191-199. 

51. From these considerations it may now be plain that the infinite andeternal, thus the Lord, are to be thought of apart from space and timeand can be so thought of; plain, likewise, that they are so thought of bythose who think interiorly and rationally; and plain that the infiniteand eternal are identical with the Divine. So think angels and spirits. In thought withdrawn from space and time, divine omnipresence iscomprehended, and divine omnipotence, also the Divine from eternity, butthese are not at all grasped by thought to which an idea of space andtime adheres. Plain it is, then, that one can conceive of God frometernity, but never of nature from eternity. So one can think of thecreation of the world by God, but never of its creation from nature, forspace and time are proper to nature, but the Divine is apart from them. That the Divine is apart from space and time may be seen in the treatise_Divine Love and Wisdom_ (nn. 7-10, 69-72, 73-76, and other places). 

52. (ii) _What is infinite and eternal in itself cannot but look to whatis infinite and eternal from itself in finite things. _ By what isinfinite and eternal in itself the Divine itself is meant, as was shownin the preceding section. By finite things are meant all things createdby the Lord, especially men, spirits, and angels. By looking to theinfinite and eternal from itself is meant to look to the Divine, that isto Himself, in these, as a person beholds his image in a mirror. This wasshown in several places in the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom, _particularly where it was demonstrated that in the created universe thereis an image of the human being and that this is an image of the infiniteand eternal (nn. 317, 318), that is, of God the Creator, namely, the Lordfrom eternity. But be it known that the Divine-in-itself is in the Lord;whereas the divine-from-itself is the divine from the Lord in thingscreated. 

53. But for better comprehension let this be illustrated. The Divine canlook only to the divine, and can do so only in what has been created byit. This is evident from the fact that no one can regard another exceptfrom what is his own in himself. One who loves another regards him fromhis own love; a wise man regards another from his own wisdom. He can notewhether the other loves him or not, is wise or not; but this he does fromthe love and wisdom in himself. Therefore he unites himself with theother so far as the other loves him as he loves the other, or so far asthe other is wise as he is wise; for thus they make one. 

[2] It is the same with the Divine-in-itself. For the Divine cannot lookto itself from another, that is, from man, spirit, or angel. For there isnothing in them of the Divine-in-itself from which are all things, and tolook to the Divine from another in whom there is nothing of the Divinewould be to look to the Divine from what is not divine, which is animpossibility. Hence the Lord is so conjoined to man, spirit, or angelthat all which is referable to the Divine is not from them but from theLord. For it is known that all good and truth which anyone has are notfrom him but from the Lord; indeed that no one can name the Lord or speakHis names Jesus and Christ except from Him. 

[3] Consequently the infinite and eternal, which is the same as theDivine, looks to all things in finite beings infinitely and conjoinsitself with them in the degree in which they receive love and wisdom. Ina word, the Lord can have His abode and dwell with man and angel only inHis own, and not in what is solely theirs, for this is evil; if it isgood, it is still finite, which in and of itself is incapable of theinfinite. Plainly, the finite cannot possibly look to what is infinite, but the infinite can look to the infinite-from-itself in finite beings. 

54. It seems as if the infinite could not be conjoined to the finitebecause no ratio is possible between them and because the finite cannotcompass the infinite. Conjunction is possible, nevertheless, both becausethe Infinite created all things from Himself (as was shown in the work_Divine Love and Wisdom, _ nn. 282-284), and because the Infinite cannotbut look in things finite to what is infinite from Him, and thisinfinite-from-Him in finite beings can appear as if it were in them. Thereby a ratio is possible between finite and infinite, not from thefinite, indeed, but from the infinite in the finite. Thereby, too, thefinite is capable of the infinite, not the finite being in himself, butas if in himself from the infinite-from-itself in him. But of this morein what follows. 

55. (iii) _Divine providence looks to the infinite and eternal fromitself in all that it does, especially in saving mankind. _ The infiniteand eternal in itself is the Divine itself, or the Lord in Himself; theinfinite and eternal _from_ itself is the proceeding Divine or the Lordin others created by Him, thus in men and angels. This Divine isidentical with divine providence, for by the divine from Himself the Lordprovides that all things shall be held together in the order in which andinto which they were created. This the Divine in the act of proceedingaccomplishes and consequently all this is divine providence. 

56. That divine providence in all that it does looks to what is infiniteand eternal from itself is evident from the fact that every created thingproceeds from a first, which is the infinite and eternal, to things last, and from things last to the first whence it is (as was shown in the work_Divine Love and Wisdom, _ in the part in which the creation of the worldis treated of). But the first whence anything is, is inmostly in all theprogression, and therefore the proceeding Divine or divine providence inall that it does has in view some image of the infinite and eternal. Itdoes so in all things, in some obviously so that it is perceptible, inothers not. It makes that image evident to perception in the variety, andin the fructification and multiplication, of all things. 

[2] _An image of the infinite and eternal is apparent in the variety ofall things, _ in that no one thing is the same as another nor can be toeternity. The eye beholds this in the variety of human faces ever sincecreation; in the variety of minds, of which faces are types; and in thevariety of affections, perceptions and thoughts, for of these the mindconsists. In all heaven, therefore, no two angels or spirits are thesame, nor can be to eternity. The same is true of every object to be seenin either the natural or the spiritual world. Plainly, the variety isinfinite and eternal. 

[3] _An image of the infinite and eternal is manifest in thefructification and multiplication of all things, _ in the vegetablekingdom in the capacity implanted in seeds, and in the animal kingdom inreproduction, especially in the family of fishes. Were the seeds to bearfruit and the animals to multiply in the measure of ability, they wouldfill all the world, even the universe, in a generation. Obviously thereis latent in that ability an endeavor after self-propagation to infinity. And as fructification and multiplication have not failed from thebeginning of creation and never will, plainly there is in that ability anendeavor after self-propagation to eternity also. 

57. The like is true of human beings as to their affections, which are oflove, and their perceptions, which are of wisdom. The variety of eitheris infinite and eternal; so, too, is their fructification andmultiplication, which is spiritual. No person enjoys an affection andperception so like another's as to be identical with it, nor ever will. Affections, moreover, may be fructified and perceptions multipliedwithout end. Knowledge, it is well known, is inexhaustible. This capacityof fructification and multiplication without end or to infinity andeternity exists in natural things with men, in spiritual with thespiritual angels, and in celestial with the celestial angels. Affections, perceptions and knowledges have this endless capacity not only ingeneral, but in every least particular. They have it because they existfrom the infinite and eternal in itself through what is infinite andeternal from itself. But as the finite has in it nothing of the Divine, nothing of the kind, not the least, is in the human being as his own. Manor angel is finite and only a receptacle, by itself dead. Whatever isliving in him is from the proceeding Divine, joined to him by contact, and appearing in him as if it were his. The truth of this will be seen inwhat follows. 

58. Divine providence regards what is infinite and eternal from itselfespecially in saving mankind because its object is a heaven from mankind(as was shown, nn. 27-45), and therefore it is man's reformation andregeneration or salvation to which it especially looks, since heavenconsists of the saved or regenerate. To regenerate man, moreover, is tounite good and truth or love and wisdom in him, as they are united in theLord's proceeding Divine; to this especially, therefore, providence looksin saving the race. The image of the infinite and eternal is not to befound elsewhere in man than in the marriage of good and truth. Thismarriage the proceeding Divine effects. Men filled by the proceedingDivine, which is called the Holy Spirit, have prophesied, as we know fromthe Word; men enlightened by it see divine truths in heaven's light;above all, angels sensibly perceive the presence, influx and conjunction, though they are aware that the conjunction is no more than can be termedadjunction. 

59. It has not been known that divine providence in all its procedurewith man looks to his eternal state. It can look to nothing else becausethe Divine is infinite and eternal, and the infinite and eternal or theDivine is not in time; therefore all future things are present to it. Itfollows that there is eternity in all that the Divine does. But those whothink from time and space perceive this with difficulty, not only becausethey love temporal things, but also because they think from what is onhand in the world and not from what is at hand in heaven; this is asremote to them as the ends of the earth. Those, however, who are in theDivine, inasmuch as they think from the Lord, think from what is eternalas well as from what is at present, asking themselves, "What is thatwhich is not eternal? Is not the temporal relatively nothing and does itnot become nothing when it is past?" The eternal is not so; it alone_is;_ its _esse_ has no end. To think thus is to think both from thepresent and the eternal, and when a man not only thinks so but lives so, the proceeding Divine with him or divine providence looks in all itsprocedure to the state of his eternal life in heaven and guides to it. Inwhat follows it will be seen that the Divine looks to the eternal ineverybody, in an evil as well as in a good person. 

60. (iv) _An image of the infinite and eternal offers in an angelicheaven. _ Among things we need to know about is the angelic heaven. Everyone who has any religion thinks about heaven and wishes to go there. Yet heaven is granted only to those who know the way to it and walk inthat way. We can know the way to an extent by knowing the character ofthose who constitute heaven and by knowing that no one becomes an angelor comes into heaven unless he brings with him from the world what isangelic. In what is angelic there is a knowledge of the way from walkingin it, and a walking in the way through a knowledge of it. In thespiritual world, moreover, there are actually ways leading to everysociety of heaven or of hell. Each sees his own way as if for himself. Hedoes so because a way is there for every love; the love discloses the wayand takes a man to his fellows. No one sees other ways than the way ofhis love. Plain it is from this that angels are nothing but heavenlyloves; otherwise they would not have seen the ways tending to heaven. This will be plainer still when heaven is described. 

61. Every man's spirit is affection and thought therefrom. And as allaffection is of love, and thought is of the understanding, every spiritis his own love and his own understanding therefrom. When a man isthinking solely from his own spirit, therefore, as he does in privatemeditation at home, he thinks from the affection belonging to his love. It is clear, then, that when a man becomes a spirit, as he does afterdeath, he is the affection of his own love and has no other thought thanthat of his affection. If his love has been one of evil, he is an evilaffection, which is a lust; if his love has been one of good, he is agood affection. Everyone has a good affection so far as he has shunnedevils as sins, and an evil affection so far as he has not shunned evilsas sins. As all spirits and angels, then, are affections, the wholeangelic heaven is nothing but the love of all the affections of good andthe attendant wisdom of all the perceptions of truth. Since all good andtruth are from the Lord and He is love itself, the angelic heaven is animage of Him. Furthermore, as divine love and wisdom are human in form, it also follows that the angelic heaven must be in that form. Of this weshall say more in the following section. 

62. The angelic heaven is an image of the infinite and eternal, then, because it is an image of the Lord, who is infinite and eternal. Theimage of His infinity and eternity is manifest in heaven's beingconstituted of myriads and myriads of angels, and in its consisting of asmany societies as there are general affections of heavenly love;manifest, again, in every angel's being distinctly his own affection;manifest further in that the form of heaven--a unit in the divine sightjust as man is a unit--is assembled from so many affections, general andparticular; also manifest in that this form is perfected to eternity withthe increase in numbers, the greater the number of those entering intothe form of the divine love which is the form of forms, the more perfectthe resulting unity. It is plain from all this that the angelic heavenpresents an image of the infinite and eternal. 

63. From the knowledge of heaven to be had from this brief description itis evident that it is an affection of the love of good that makes heavenin a man. But who knows this today? Who knows even what an affection ofthe love of good is, or that these affections are innumerable, in fact, infinite? For, as was said, each angel is his own particular affection;and the form of heaven is the form of all the affections of the divinelove there. Only one Being can combine all affections into this form--onlyHe who is love and wisdom itself and who is at once infinite and eternal. For throughout that form is what is infinite and eternal; the infinite isin its unity and the eternal in its perpetuity; were they removed theform would instantly collapse. Who else can combine affections into aform? Who else can bring about this unity? The unity can be accomplishedonly in an idea of the total, and the total realized only in thought foreach single part. Myriads on myriads compose that form; annually myriadsenter it and will do so to eternity. All infants enter it and all adultswho are affections of the love of good. Again from all this the image ofthe infinite and eternal in the angelic heaven is to be seen. 

64. (v) _The heart of divine providence is to look to what is infiniteand eternal by fashioning an angelic heaven for it to be like one humanbeing before the Lord, an image of Him. _ See in the work _Heaven andHell_ (nn. 59-86) that heaven as a whole is like one man in the Lord'ssight; that each society of heaven also is; that as a result each angelis a human being in perfect form; and that this is because God theCreator, who is the Lord from eternity, is Man; also (nn. 87-102) that asa result there is a correspondence of all things of heaven with allthings in the human being. The entire heaven as one man has not been seenby me, for only the Lord can so behold it; but that an entire society, whether large or small, can appear as one man, I have seen. I was thentold that the largest society of all, which is heaven in its entirety, soappears, but to the Lord alone; and that this causes every angel to be infull form a human being. 

65. As all heaven is like one man in the Lord's view, it is divided intoas many general societies as there are organs, viscera and members inman, and each general society into as many less general or particularsocieties as there are larger divisions in each of the viscera andorgans. This makes evident what heaven is. Because the Lord is very Manand heaven is His image, to be in heaven is called "being in the Lord. "See in the work _Divine Love and Wisdom_ that the Lord is very Man(nn. 11-13, 285-289). 

66. From all this the arcanum, well called angelic, can in a measure beseen, that each affection of good and at the same time of truth is humanin form. For whatever proceeds from the Lord gets from His divine lovethat it is an affection of good and from His divine wisdom that it is anaffection of truth. An affection of truth proceeding from the Lordappears in angel and man as perception and consequent thought of truth. For we are aware of perception and thought, but little aware of theaffection whence they are, although all come as one from the Lord. 

67. Man, then, is by creation a heaven in least form and hence an imageof the Lord; heaven consists of as many affections as there are angels;and each affection in its form is man. It must then be the constantstriving of divine providence that a man may become a heaven in form andan image of the Lord, and as this is effected by means of an affection ofthe good and true, that he may become such an affection. This istherefore the unceasing effort of divine providence. But its inmost aimis that a man may be here or there in heaven or in the divine heavenlyman, for so he is in the Lord. But this is accomplished with those whomthe Lord can lead to heaven. As He foresees who can be led He alsoprovides continually that a man may become amenable; for thus everyonewho suffers himself to be led to heaven is prepared for his own placethere. 

68. We have said that heaven is divided into as many societies as thereare organs, viscera and members in man; and in these no part can be inany place but its own. As angels are the parts in the divine heavenlyman, and none become angels who were not men in the world, the man whosuffers himself to be led to heaven is continually prepared by the Lordfor his own place there. This is done by the affection of good and truthwhich corresponds with that place. To this place every angel-man is alsoassigned on his departure from the world. This is the inmost of divineprovidence touching heaven. 

69. On the other hand, a man who does not permit himself to be led toheaven and allotted a place there is prepared for his own place in hell. Of himself a man tends constantly to the depths of hell but iscontinually withheld by the Lord. He who cannot be withheld is preparedfor a given place in hell, to which he is assigned on departure from theworld. This place is opposite one in heaven; for hell is the opposite ofheaven. So, as the angel-man according to his affection of good and truthis allotted his place in heaven, the devil-man according to his affectionof evil and falsity is allotted his in hell. The two opposites, setexactly over against each other, are kept in connection. This is theinmost of divine providence touching hell. 

IV. THERE ARE LAWS OF PROVIDENCE THAT ARE UNKNOWN TO MEN

70. Men know there is divine providence, but not what its nature is. Thisis not known because its laws are arcana, hitherto hidden in the wisdomof angels. These laws are to be revealed now in order that what belongsto the Lord may be ascribed to Him, and nothing ascribed to man that isnot man's. For very many in the world attribute everything to themselvesand their prudence, and what they cannot so attribute they callfortuitous and accidental, not knowing that human prudence is nothing andthat "fortuitous" and "accidental" are idle words. 

[2] We say that the laws of divine providence are arcana "hidden untilnow in the wisdom of the angels. " They have been hidden because theunderstanding has been closed in Christendom in religion's name on divinethings, and has been rendered so dull and averse in these matters thatman has not been able because he has not been willing, or has not beenwilling because he has not been able, to understand anything aboutprovidence beyond the mere fact that it exists, or to do more than arguewhether it exists or not, also whether it is only general or alsodetailed. Closed up on divine things in the name of religion, understanding could advance no further. 

[3] But it is acknowledged in the church that man cannot of himself dogood which is in itself good or of himself think truth which is in itselftruth. This acknowledgment is at one with divine providence; these areinterdependent beliefs. Lest therefore one be affirmed and the otherdenied and both fail, what divine providence is must by all means berevealed. It cannot be revealed unless the laws by which the Lordoversees and governs the volitions and thoughts of the human being aredisclosed. The laws enable one to know the nature of providence, and onlyone who knows its nature can acknowledge providence, for then he beholdsit. The laws of divine providence, hitherto hidden with angels in theirwisdom, are therefore to be revealed now. 

V. IT IS A LAW OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHALL ACT FROM FREEDOMACCORDING TO REASON

71. As is known, man is free to think and will as he wishes, but not tospeak whatever he thinks or to do whatever he wills. The freedom meanthere, therefore, is spiritual freedom and natural freedom only as theymake one; for thinking and willing are spiritual, and speaking and actingare natural. The two are readily distinguishable in man, for he can thinkwhat he does not utter and will what he does not do; plainly, spiritualand natural are discriminated in him. He can pass from the former to thelatter therefore only on a decision to do so--a decision which can belikened to a door that must first be unfastened and opened. This door, itis true, stands open, as it were, in those who think and will from reasonin accord with the civil laws of the land and the moral laws of society, for they speak what they think and do what they will to do. But in thosewho think and will contrary to those laws, the door stands shut, as itwere. One who watches his volitions and subsequent deeds knows that sucha decision intervenes, sometimes more than once in a single utterance oraction. This we have premised for it to be understood that by acting fromfreedom according to reason is meant to think and will freely _and_thence to speak and do freely what is according to reason. 

72. Since few know, however, that the law above can be a law of divineprovidence, principally because a man is also free then to think evil andfalsity (still divine providence is continually leading him to think andwill what is good and true), for clearer perception we must proceed stepby step and shall do so in this order:

i. The human being has reason and freedom or rationality and liberty, andhas these two faculties from the Lord. Ii. Whatever a man does in freedom, whether with reason or not, providedit is according to his reason, seems to him to be his. Iii. Whatever a man does in freedom according to his thought, isappropriated to him as his and remains. Iv. A man is reformed and regenerated by the Lord by means of the twofaculties and cannot be reformed and regenerated without them. V. A man can be reformed and regenerated by means of the two faculties sofar as he can be led by them to acknowledge that all truth and good whichhe thinks and does are from the Lord and not from himself. Vi. The conjunction of the Lord with man, and man's reciprocalconjunction with the Lord, is effected by means of these two faculties. Vii. In all the procedure of His divine providence the Lord safeguardsthe two faculties in man unimpaired and as sacred. Viii. It is therefore of the divine providence that man shall act infreedom according to reason. 

73. (i) _The human being has reason and freedom or rationality andliberty, and has these two faculties from the Lord. _ Man has a faculty ofunderstanding, which is rationality, and a faculty of thinking, willing, speaking and doing what he understands, which is liberty; and he hasthese two faculties from the Lord (see the work _Divine Love and Wisdom, _nn. 264-270, 425, and above, nn. 43, 44). But many doubts may arise abouteither of the two faculties when thought is given to them; therefore Iwant to say something at this point just about man's freedom to actaccording to reason. 

[2] First, it should be known that all freedom is of love, so much sothat love and freedom are one. As love is man's life, freedom is of hislife, too. For man's every enjoyment is from some love of his and has noother source, and to act from the enjoyment of one's love is to act infreedom. Enjoyment leads a man as the current bears an object along on astream. But loves are many, some harmonious, others not; thereforefreedoms are many. In general there are three: natural, rational, andspiritual freedom. 

[3] _Natural freedom_ is man's by heredity. In it he loves only himselfand the world: his first life is nothing else. From these two loves, moreover, all evils arise and thus attach to love. Hence to think andwill evil is man's natural freedom, and when he has also confirmed evilsin himself by reasonings, he does them in freedom according to hisreason. Doing them is from his faculty called liberty, and confirmingthem from his faculty called rationality. 

[4] For example, it is from the love into which he is born that hedesires to commit adultery, to defraud, to blaspheme, to take revenge. Confirming these evils in himself and by this making them allowable, hethen, from his love's enjoyment in them, thinks and wills them freely andas if according to reason, and so far as civil laws do not hinder, speaksand does them. It is of the Lord's divine providence that man is allowedto do so, for freedom or liberty is his. This natural freedom is man's bynature because by heredity, and those are in this freedom who haveconfirmed it in themselves by reasonings from enjoyment in self-love andlove of the world. 

[5] _Rational freedom_ is from the love of good repute for the sake ofstanding or gain. The delight of this love is to seem outwardly a moralperson. Loving this reputation, the man does not defraud, commitadultery, take revenge, or blaspheme; and making this his reasonedcourse, he also does in freedom according to reason what is sincere, just, chaste, and friendly; indeed from reason can advocate such conduct. But if his rational is only natural and not spiritual, his freedom isonly external and not internal. He does not love these goods inwardly atall, but only outwardly for reputation's sake, as we said. The good deedshe does are therefore not in themselves good. He can also say that theyshould be done for the sake of the general welfare, but he speaks out ofno love for that welfare, but from love of his own standing or gain. Hisfreedom therefore derives nothing from love of the public good, nor doeshis reason, which complies with his love. This rational freedom, therefore, is inwardly natural freedom. The Lord's divine providenceleaves everyone this freedom too. 

[6] _Spiritual freedom_ is from love of eternal life. Into this love andits enjoyment only he comes who regards evils as sins and therefore doesnot will them, and who also looks to the Lord. Once a man does this he isin this freedom. One can refuse to will and do evils for the reason thatthey are sins, only from an interior or higher freedom, belonging to hisinterior or higher love. This freedom does not seem at first to befreedom, yet it is. Later it does seem freedom, and the man acts in realfreedom according to true reason, thinking, willing, speaking and doingthe good and the true. This freedom grows as natural freedom decreasesand serves it; and it unites with rational freedom and purifies it. 

[7] Anyone can come into this freedom if he is willing to think thatthere is a life eternal, and that the joy and bliss of life in time andfor a time is like a passing shadow to the joy and bliss of life ineternity and for eternity. A man can think so if he will, for he hasrationality and liberty, and the Lord, from whom he has the twofaculties, constantly enables him to do so. 

74. (ii) _Whatever a man does in freedom, whether with reason or not, provided it is according to his reason, seems to him to be his. _ Nothingmakes so clear what rationality and liberty are, which are proper to thehuman being, as to compare man and beast. Beasts do not have anyrationality or faculty of understanding, or any liberty or faculty ofwilling freely. They do not have understanding or will, therefore, butinstead of understanding they have knowledge and instead of willaffection, both of these natural. Not having the two faculties, animalsdo not have thought, but instead an internal sight which makes one withtheir external sight by correspondence. 

[2] Every affection has its mate, its consort, so to speak. An affectionof natural love has knowledge, one of spiritual love has intelligence, and one of celestial love, wisdom. Without its mate or consort anaffection is nothing, but is like esse apart from existere or substancewithout form, of which nothing can be predicated. Hence there is in everycreated thing something referable to the marriage of good and truth, aswe have shown several times. In beasts it is a marriage of affection andknowledge; the affection is one of natural good, and the knowledge isknowledge of natural truth. 

[3] Affection and knowledge in beasts act altogether as one. Theiraffection cannot be raised above their knowledge, nor the knowledge abovethe affection; if they are raised, they are raised together. Nor haveanimals a spiritual mind into which, or into the heat and light of which, they can be raised. Thus they have no faculty of understanding orrationality, or faculty of freely willing or liberty, and nothing morethan natural affection with its knowledge. Their natural affection isthat of finding food and shelter, of propagating, of avoiding andguarding against injury, together with the knowledge needed for this. Asthis is their kind of existence, they cannot think, "I will this but notthat, " or "I know this but not that, " still less, "I understand this" or"I love that. " They are borne along by affection and its knowledgewithout rationality and liberty. It is not from the natural world thatthey are borne along so, but from the spiritual world. Nothing can existin the natural world that does not have its connection with the spiritualworld: thence is every cause that accomplishes an effect. On this seealso some things below (n. 96). 

75. It is otherwise with man, who has affections not only of naturallove, but also of spiritual and celestial loves. For man's mind is ofthree degrees, as was shown in Part III of the treatise _Divine Love andWisdom. _ Man can be raised therefore from natural knowledge intospiritual intelligence and on into celestial wisdom. From the two, intelligence and wisdom, he can look to the Lord, be conjoined with Him, and thereby live to eternity. This elevation as to affection would not bepossible did he not from rationality have the power to raise theunderstanding, and from liberty the power to will this. 

[2] By means of the two faculties man can think in himself about what heperceives outside him through the senses, and can also think on highabout what he thinks below. Anyone can say, "I have thought and I thinkso and so, " "I have willed and I will so and so, " "I understand that thisis a fact, " "I love this for what it is, " and so on. Obviously, manthinks above his thought, and sees it, as it were, below him. This comesto him from rationality and liberty; from rationality he can think onhigh, and from liberty he can will so to think. Unless he had liberty tothink so, he would not have the will, nor the thought from it. 

[3] Those, therefore, who will to understand only what is of the worldand nature and not what moral and spiritual good and truth are, cannot beraised from knowledge into intelligence, still less into wisdom, for theyhave stifled those faculties. They render themselves no longer men exceptthat they can understand if they wish, and can also will, by virtue ofthe implanted rationality and liberty; from the two capacities it is thatone can think and from thought speak. In other respects, they are not menbut beasts, and some, in their abuse of those faculties, are worse thanbeasts. 

76. From an unclouded rationality anyone can see or grasp that withoutthe appearance that it is his own a man cannot be in any affection toknow or to understand. Every joy and pleasure, thus everything of thewill, is from an affection of some love. Who can wish to know or tounderstand anything except that an affection of his takes pleasure in it?Who can feel this pleasure unless what he is affected by seems to be his?Were it not his, but another's altogether, that is, if another from hisaffection should infuse something into his mind when he himself felt noaffection for knowing or grasping it, would he receive it? Indeed, couldhe receive it? Would he not be like one called a dullard or a clod?

[2] It should be manifest then that although everything that a manperceives, thinks, knows and, according to perception, wills and does, flows into him, nevertheless it is of the Lord's divine providence thatit seems to be the man's. Otherwise, as we said, a man would not receiveanything and so could be given no intelligence or wisdom. It is knownthat all good and truth are the Lord's and not man's, and yet appear tobe man's. As good and truth so appear, so do all things of the church andof heaven, and all things of love and wisdom, and all things of charityand faith; yet none of them is man's. No one can receive them from theLord unless it seems to him that he perceives them for himself. Plainly, the truth of the matter is that whatever a man does in freedom, whetherwith reason or not, provided only that it accords with his reason, seemsto him to be his. 

77. Who cannot from his faculty called rationality understand that agiven good is serviceable to society, and a given evil harmful tosociety? That, for example, justice, sincerity, the chastity of marriageare serviceable to it, and injustice, insincerity, and misconduct withthe wives of others, harmful? Consequently that these evils are inthemselves injuries, and those goods in themselves benefits? Who thencannot make this a matter of his reason if only he will? He hasrationality and he has liberty; the two faculties are bared, show, takecharge and enable him to perceive and do in the measure that he avoidsthose evils because they are evils. So far as a man does this he looks onthose goods as a friend looks on friends. 

[2] By his faculty called rationality a man can conclude from this whatgoods are useful to society in the spiritual world and what evils arehurtful there, if instead of evils he sees sins and instead of goodsworks of charity. This he can also make a matter of his reason if hewill, since he has liberty and rationality. His rationality and libertyemerge, become manifest, take charge and give him perception and power sofar as he shuns evils as sins. So far as he does this he regards thegoods of charity as neighbor regards neighbor in mutual love. 

[3] For the sake of reception and union the Lord wills that whatever aman does freely according to reason shall seem to him to be his; thisagrees with reason itself. It follows that a man can from his reason willsomething on the ground that it means his eternal happiness and canperform it by the Lord's divine power, implored by him. 

78. (iii) _Whatever a man does in freedom according to his thought isappropriated to him as his and remains. _ The reason is that a man's ownand his freedom make one. His proprium is of his life, and what he doesfrom his life he does in freedom. His proprium is also of his love, forlove is one's life, and what he does from his life's love he does infreedom. We speak of his acting in freedom "according to his thought"because what is of his life or love he also thinks and confirms bythought, and what is so confirmed he does in freedom then according tothought. What a man does, he does from the will by the understanding;freedom is of the will and thought is of the understanding. 

[2] A man can also act freely contrary to reason, likewise not freely inaccord with reason: then nothing is appropriated to him--what he does isonly of the mouth and body, not of the spirit or heart; only what is ofthe spirit and heart, when it is also of the mouth and body, isappropriated. The truth of this can be illustrated by many things, butthis is not the place. 

[3] By being appropriated to man is meant entering his life and becomingpart of it, consequently becoming his own. It will be seen in whatfollows that there is nothing, however, which is man's very own; it onlyseems to him as if it were. Only this now: all the good a man does infreedom according to reason is appropriated to him as if it were hisbecause it seems to be his in that he thinks, wills, speaks and does it. Good is not man's, however, but the Lord's with man (above, n. 76). Howevil is appropriated to man will appear in a section of its own. 

79. We said that what a man does in freedom in accord with his thoughtalso remains. For nothing that a man has appropriated to himself can beeradicated; it has been made part of his love and at the same time of hisreason, or of his will and at the same time of his understanding, and soof his life. It can be put aside indeed, but not cast out; put aside, itis borne from center to periphery, where it stays; this is what we meanby its remaining. 

[2] If, for example, in boyhood or youth, a man appropriated an evil tohimself by doing it with enjoyment from love of it--a fraud, blasphemy, revenge, or fornication--having done it freely with the assent of thought, he made it his; but if later he repents, shuns it and considers it a sinto be averse from, and so desists from it freely according to reason, then the opposite good is appropriated to him. Good then takes the centerand removes evil to the periphery, farther according to his aversion andabhorrence for it. Still the evil cannot be so thrust out that one cansay it is extirpated; it may indeed in that removal seem extirpated. Whatoccurs is that the man is withheld from the evil by the Lord and held ingood. This can happen with all inherited evil and all a man's actualevil. 

[3] I have seen this verified by the experience of some in heaven whothought they were without evil, being held in good as they were by theLord. Lest they should believe that the good in which they were was theirown, they were let down from heaven and let into their evils until theyacknowledged that of themselves they were in evil, and in good only fromthe Lord. Upon this acknowledgment they were returned to heaven. 

[4] Be it known, therefore, that goods are appropriated to man only inthat they are constantly with him from the Lord, and that as a manacknowledges this the Lord grants that good shall seem to be the man's, that is, that it shall seem to him that he loves the neighbor or hascharity, believes or has faith, does good and understands truth, thus iswise, of himself. From this an enlightened person may see the nature andthe strength of the appearance in which the Lord wills man to be. TheLord wills it for salvation's sake, for without that appearance no onecan be saved. Also see what was shown above on the subject (nn. 42-45). 

80. Nothing that a person only thinks, not even what he thinks to will, is appropriated to him unless he also wills it so that he does it whenopportunity offers. For when a man then does it, he does it from the willby the understanding or from affection of the will by thought of theunderstanding. If it is something thought only, it cannot beappropriated, for the understanding does not conjoin itself to the will, or the thought of the understanding to the affection of the will, but thelatter with the former, as we have shown many times in the treatise_Divine Love and Wisdom, _ Part V. This is meant by the Lord's words, Not that which enters the mouth renders a man unclean, but that whichgoes forth from the heart by the mouth renders a man unclean ( Mt 15:11, 17, 18, 19). 

In the spiritual sense thought is meant by "mouth, " for thought is spokenby it; affection which is of love is meant by "heart"; if the man thinksand speaks from this he makes himself unclean. In Luke 6:45 also by"heart" an affection of love or of the will is meant, and by "mouth" thethought of the understanding. 

81. Evils which a man believes are allowable, though he does not do them, are also appropriated to him, for the licitness in thought is from thewill, as there is assent. When a man deems an evil allowable he loosensthe internal bond on it and is kept from doing it only by external bonds, which are fears. As his spirit favors the evil, he commits it whenexternal bonds are removed as allowable, and meanwhile is committing itin spirit. But on this see _Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, _ nn. 108-113. 

82. (iv) _A man is reformed and regenerated by the Lord by means of thetwo faculties and cannot be reformed or regenerated without them. _ TheLord teaches that, Unless one is born anew, he cannot see the kingdom of God (Jn 3:3, 5, 7). 

Few know what it is to be born anew or regenerated. For most do not knowwhat love and charity are, therefore what faith is, either. One who doesnot know what love and charity are cannot know what faith is becausecharity and faith make one as good and truth do, and as affection whichis of the will, and thought which is of the understanding, do. On thisunion see the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom, _ nn. 427-431; also_Doctrine for the New Jerusalem, _ nn. 13-24; and above, nn. 3-20. 

83. No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he has been born anew forthe reason that by heredity from his parents he is born into evils ofevery kind, with the capacity of becoming spiritual through removal ofthe evils; unless he becomes spiritual, then, he cannot enter heaven. Tobecome spiritual from being natural is to be born again or regenerated. Three things need to be considered if one is to know how man isregenerated: the nature of his first state, which is one of damnation;the nature of his second state, which is one of reformation; and thenature of his third state, which is one of regeneration. 

[2] Man's first state, which is one of damnation, is every one's state byheredity from his parents. For man is born thereby into self-love andlove of the world, and from these as fountains into evils of every kind. By the enjoyments of those loves he is led, and they keep him fromknowing that he is in evil, for the enjoyment of any love is felt to begood. Unless he is regenerated, therefore, a man knows no otherwise thanthat to love himself and the world above all things is good itself, andto rule over others and possess their riches is the supreme good. Socomes all evil. For only oneself is regarded with love. If another isregarded with love it is as devil loves devil or thief thief when theyare in league. 

[3] Those who confirm these loves with themselves and the evils flowingfrom them, from enjoyment in them, remain natural and becomesensuous-corporeal, and in their own thinking, which is that of theirspirit, are insane. And yet, as long as they are in the world they canspeak and act rationally and wisely, for they are human beings and sohave rationality and liberty, though they still do this from self-loveand love of the world. After death and on becoming spirits, they canenjoy nothing that they did not enjoy in the world. Their enjoyment isthat of an infernal love and is turned into the unpleasant, sorrowfuland dreadful, meant in the Word by torment and hell-fire. Plain it is, then, that man's first state is one of damnation and that they are in itwho do not suffer themselves to be regenerated. 

[4] Man's second state--of reformation--is his state when he begins tothink of heaven for the joy there, thus of God from whom he has heaven'sjoy. But at first the thought comes from the enjoyment of self-love; tohim heaven's joy is that enjoyment. While the enjoyments of that love andof the evils flowing from it rule, moreover, he cannot but think that togain heaven is to pour out prayers, hear sermons, observe the Supper, give to the poor, help the needy, make offerings to churches, contributeto hospitals, and the like. In this state a man is persuaded that merelyto think about what religion teaches, whether this is called faith orcalled faith and charity, is to be saved. He is so minded because hegives no thought to the evils in the enjoyments of which he is. Whilethose enjoyments remain, the evils do. The enjoyments of the evils arefrom the lust for them which continually inspires them and, when no fearrestrains, brings them to pass. 

[5] While evils remain in the lusts of love for them and so in one'senjoyments, there is no faith, piety, charity or worship except inexternals, which seem real in the world's sight, but are not. They may belikened to waters flowing from an impure fountain, which one cannotdrink. While a man is such that he thinks about heaven and God fromreligion but gives no thought to evils as sins, he is still in the firststate. He comes into the second state, which is one of reformation, whenhe begins to think that there is such a thing as sin and still more whenhe thinks that a given evil is a sin, explores it somewhat in himself, and does not will it. 

[6] Man's third state, which is one of regeneration, sets in andcontinues from the former. It begins when a man desists from evils assins, progresses as he shuns them, and is perfected as he battles againstthem. Then as he conquers from the Lord he is regenerated. The order ofhis life is changed; from natural he becomes spiritual; the naturalseparated from the spiritual is in disorder and the spiritual is inorder. The regenerated man acts from charity and makes what is of hisfaith a part of his charity. But he becomes spiritual only in the measurein which he is in truths. Everyone is regenerated by means of truths andof a life in accord with them; by truths he knows life and by his life hedoes the truths. So he unites good and truth, which is the spiritualmarriage in which heaven is. 

85. * Man is reformed and regenerated by means of the two faculties calledrationality and liberty, and cannot be reformed or regenerated withoutthem, because it is by means of rationality that he can understand andknow what is evil and what is good, and hence what is false and true, andby means of liberty that he can will what he understands and knows. Butwhile the enjoyment of an evil love rules him he cannot will good andtruth freely or make them a matter of his reason, and therefore cannotappropriate them to him. For, as was shown above, what a man does infreedom from reason is appropriated to him as his, and unless it is soappropriated, he is not reformed and regenerated. He acts from theenjoyment of a love of good and truth for the first time when theenjoyment of love for the evil and false has been removed. Two oppositekinds of enjoyments of love at one and the same time are impossible. Toact from the enjoyment of love is to act freely and is also to actaccording to reason, inasmuch as the reason favors the love. 

* This number must be kept though there is no number 84; long establishedreferences to Swedenborg's books make it necessary to keep the numberingin the Latin original. 

86. Because an evil man as well as a good man has rationality andliberty, the evil man as well as the good can understand truth and dogood. The evil man cannot do this in freedom according to reason, while agood man can; for the evil man is in the enjoyment of a love of evil, thegood man in the enjoyment of a love of good. The truth which an evil manunderstands and the good he does are therefore not appropriated to him, as they are to the good man, and aside from appropriation there is noreformation or regeneration. With the evil man evils with their falsitiesoccupy the center, as it were, and goods with their truths thecircumference, but goods with their truths the center with the good manand evils with their falsities the periphery. In each case what is at thecenter is diffused to the circumference, as heat is from a fiery centerand cold from an icy one. Thus with the wicked the good at thecircumference is defiled by evils at the center, and with the good evilsat the circumference grow mild from the good at the center. For thisreason evils do not condemn a regenerating man, nor do goods save theunregenerate. 

87. (v) _A man can be reformed and regenerated by means of the twofaculties so far as he can be led by them to acknowledge that all truthand good which he thinks and does are from the Lord and not fromhimself. _ What reformation and regeneration are has been told just above, likewise that man is reformed and regenerated by means of the twofaculties of rationality and liberty. Because it is done by thosefaculties, something more is to be said of them. From rationality a mancan understand and from liberty he can will, doing each as of himself. Yet he does not have the ability to will good in freedom and to do it inaccord with reason unless he is regenerated. An evil man can will onlyevil in freedom and do it according to his thinking, which byconfirmations he has made to be his reasoning. For evil can be confirmedas well as good, but is confirmed by fallacies and appearances which thenbecome falsities; evil so confirmed seems to accord with reason. 

88. Anyone thinking from interior understanding can see that the power towill and the power to understand are not from man, but from Him who haspower itself, that is, power in its essence. Only think whence power is. Is it not from Him who has it in its full might, that is, who possessesit in and from Himself? Power in itself, therefore, is divine. All powermust have a supply on which to draw and direction from an interior orhigher self. Of itself the eye cannot see, nor the ear hear, nor themouth speak, nor the hand do; there must be supply and direction from themind. Nor can the mind of itself think or will this or that unlesssomething more interior or higher determines the mind to it. The same istrue of the power to understand and the power to will. These are possibleonly from Him who has in Himself the power of willing and understanding. 

[2] It is plain, then, that the two faculties called rationality andliberty are from the Lord and not from man. Man can therefore will orunderstand something only as if of himself, and not of himself. Anyonecan confirm the truth of this for himself who knows and believes that thewill to good and the understanding of truth are wholly from the Lord, andnot from man. The Word teaches that man can take nothing of himself anddo nothing of himself (Jn 3:27; 15:5). 

89. As all willing is from love and all understanding is from wisdom, theability to will is from divine love, and the ability to understand isfrom divine wisdom; thus both are from the Lord who is divine love itselfand divine wisdom itself. Hence to act in freedom according to reason hasno other source. Everyone acts in freedom because, like love, freedomcannot be separated from willing. But there is interior and exteriorwilling, and a man can act upon the exterior without acting at the sametime on the interior willing; so hypocrite and flatterer act. Exteriorwilling, however, is still from freedom, being from a love of appearingother than one is, or from love of an evil which the person intends inthe love of his inner will. An evil man, however, as has been said, cannot in freedom according to reason do anything but evil; he cannot dogood in freedom according to reason; he can do good, to be sure, but notin the inner freedom which is his own, from which the outer freedom hasits character of not being good. 

90. A person can be reformed and regenerated, we have said, in themeasure in which he is led by the two faculties to acknowledge that allgood and truth which he thinks and does are from the Lord and not fromhimself. A man can make this acknowledgment only by means of the twofaculties, because they are from the Lord and are the Lord's in him, asis plain from what has been said. Man can make this acknowledgment, therefore, only from the Lord and not from himself; he can make it as ifof himself; this the Lord gives everyone to do. He may believe that it isof himself, but when wiser acknowledge that it is not of himself. Otherwise the truth he thinks and the good he does are not in themselvestruth and good, for the man and not the Lord is in them. Good in whichthe man is and which is done by him for salvation's sake isself-righteous, but not that in which the Lord is. 

91. Few can grasp with understanding that acknowledgment of the Lord, andacknowledgment that all good and truth are from Him, cause one to bereformed and regenerated. For a person may think, "What does theacknowledgment effect when the Lord is omnipotent and wills the salvationof all? This He wills and can accomplish if only He is moved to mercy. "One is not thinking then from the Lord, nor from the interior sight ofthe understanding, that is, from enlightenment. Let me say briefly whatthe acknowledgment accomplishes. 

[2] In the spiritual world where space is appearance only, wisdom bringsabout presence and love union, or the contrary happens. One canacknowledge the Lord from wisdom, and one can acknowledge Him from love. The acknowledgment of Him from wisdom (viewed in itself this is onlyknowledge) is made by doctrine; acknowledgment from love is made in alife according to doctrine. This effects union, the other, presence. Those, therefore, who reject instruction about the Lord remove themselvesfrom Him, and as they also refuse life they part from Him. Those who donot reject instruction, but do refuse life, are present but stillseparated--like friends who converse but do not love each other, or liketwo one of whom speaks as a friend with the other, although as his enemyhe hates him. 

[3] The truth of this is commonly recognized in the idea that one whoteaches and lives well is saved but not one who teaches well but liveswickedly, and in the idea that one who does not acknowledge God cannot besaved. This makes plain what kind of religion it is only to think aboutthe Lord from faith, so called, and not to do something from charity. Therefore the Lord says, Why do you call Me Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say? Everyone whocomes to Me and hears my words and does them . . . Is like a house-builderwho has placed the foundation on a rock, but the man who hears and doesnot do, is like a man building a house on the ground without a foundation(Lu 6:46-49). 

92. (vi) _The conjunction of the Lord with man and man's reciprocalconjunction with the Lord is effected by these two faculties. _Conjunction with the Lord and regeneration are one and the same thing, for a man is regenerated in the measure that he is conjoined with theLord. All that we have said above about regeneration can be saidtherefore of the conjunction, and all we said about conjunction can besaid about regeneration. The Lord Himself teaches in John that there is aconjunction of the Lord with man and a reciprocal conjunction of man withthe Lord. 

Abide in Me, and I in you. . . . He that abides in Me and I in him, brings forth much fruit (15:4, 5). 

In that day you will know that you are in Me and I in you (14:20). 

[2] From reason alone anyone can see that there is no conjunction ofminds unless it is reciprocal, and that what is reciprocal conjoins. Ifone loves another without being loved in return, then as he approaches, the other withdraws; but if he is loved in return, as he approaches, theother does also, and there is conjunction. Love also wills to be loved;this is implanted in it; and so far as it is loved in return it is initself and in its delight. Thence it is plain that if the Lord loves manand is not in turn loved by man, the Lord advances but man withdraws;thus the Lord would be constantly willing to meet with man and enter him, but man would be turning back and departing. So it is with those in hell, but with those in heaven there is mutual conjunction. 

[3] Since the Lord wills conjunction with man for salvation's sake, Healso provides something reciprocal with man. This consists in the factthat the good a man wills and does in freedom and the truth he thinks andspeaks from the will according to reason seem to be from himself, andthat the good in his will and the truth in his understanding seem to behis--indeed they seem to the man to be from himself and to be ascompletely his as though they really were; there is no difference; doesanyone perceive otherwise by any sense? See above (nn. 74-77) on theappearance as of self, and (nn. 78-81) on appropriation as of oneself. The only difference is the acknowledgment which a man ought to make, thathe does good and thinks truth not of himself but from the Lord, and hencethat the good he does and the truth he thinks are not his. So to thinkfrom some love of the will because it is the truth makes conjunction; forthen a man looks to the Lord and the Lord looks on the man. 

93. I have been granted both to hear and see in the spiritual world whatthe difference is between those who believe that all good is from theLord and those who believe that good is from themselves. Those whobelieve that good is from the Lord turn their faces to Him and receivethe enjoyment and blessedness of good. Those who think that good is fromthemselves look to themselves and think they have merit. Looking tothemselves, they perceive only the enjoyment of their own good which isthe enjoyment not of good but of evil, for man's own is evil, andenjoyment of evil perceived as good is hell. Those who have done good butbelieved it was of themselves, and who after death do not receive thetruth that all good is from the Lord, mingle with infernal spirits andfinally join them. Those who receive that truth, however, are reformed, though no others receive it than those who have looked to God in theirlife. To look to God in one's life is nothing else than to shun evils assins. 

94. The Lord's conjunction with man and man's reciprocal conjunction withthe Lord is effected by loving the neighbor as one's self and the Lordabove all. To love the neighbor as one's self consists simply in notacting insincerely or unjustly with him, not hating him or avenging one'sself on him, not cursing and defaming him, not committing adultery withhis wife, and not doing other like things to him. Who cannot see thatthose who do such things do not love the neighbor as themselves? Those, however, who do not do such things because they are evils to the neighborand at the same time sins against the Lord, deal sincerely, justly, amicably and faithfully by the neighbor; as the Lord does likewise, reciprocal conjunction takes place. And when conjunction is reciprocal, whatever a man does to the neighbor he does from the Lord, and what hedoes from the Lord is good. The neighbor to him then is not the person, but the good in the person. To love the Lord above all is to do no evilto the Word, for the Lord is in the Word, or to the holy things of thechurch, for He is in these, too, and to do no evil to the soul ofanother, for everyone's soul is in the Lord's hand. Those who shun theseevils as monstrous sins against the Lord love Him above all else. Nonecan do this except those who love the neighbor as themselves, for the twoloves are conjoined. 

95. In view of the fact that there is a conjunction of the Lord with manand of man with the Lord, there are two tables of the Law, one for theLord and the other for man. So far as man as of himself keeps the laws ofhis table, the Lord enables him to observe the laws of the Lord's table. A man, however, who does not keep the laws of his table, which are allreferable to love for the neighbor, cannot do the laws of the Lord'stable, which are all referable to love for the Lord. How can a murderer, thief, adulterer, or false witness love God? Does reason not insist thatto be any of these and to love God is a contradiction? Is not the devilsuch? Must he not hate God? But a man can love God when he abhors murder, adultery, theft and false witness, for then he turns his face away fromthe devil to the Lord; turning his face to the Lord he is given love andwisdom--these enter him by the face, and not by the back of the neck. Asconjunction is accomplished only so, the two tables are called acovenant, and a covenant exists between two. 

96. (vii) _In all the procedure of His divine providence the Lordsafeguards the two faculties in man unimpaired and as sacred. _ Thereasons are that without those two faculties man would not haveunderstanding and will and thus would not be human; likewise that withoutthem he could not be conjoined to the Lord and so be reformed andregenerated; and because without them he would not have immortality andeternal life. The truth of this can be seen from what has been said aboutthe two faculties, liberty and rationality, but not clearly seen unlessthe reasons just given are brought forward as conclusions. They are, therefore to be clarified. 

[2] _Without those two faculties man would not have understanding andwill and thus would not be human. _ Man has will only in that he can willfreely as of himself, and to will freely as of oneself is from thefaculty called liberty, steadily imparted by the Lord. Man hasunderstanding only in that he can understand as of himself whether athing is of reason or not, and so to understand is from the otherfaculty, called rationality, steadily imparted to him by the Lord. Thesefaculties unite in man as will and understanding do, for because a mancan will, he can also understand; willing is impossible withoutunderstanding; understanding is its partner and mate apart from which itcannot exist. With the faculty called liberty there is therefore giventhe faculty called rationality. If, too, you take willing away fromunderstanding, you understand nothing. 

[3] In the measure that you will, you can understand provided the helps, called knowledges, are present or available, for these are like tools toa workman. We say, in the measure you will you can understand, meaning, so far as you love to understand, for will and love act as one. Thisseems like a paradox, but it appears so to those who do not love or hencewill to understand. They say they cannot understand, but in the followingsection we shall tell who cannot understand, and who can hardlyunderstand. 

[4] It is plain without confirmation that unless man had will from thefaculty called liberty, and understanding from the faculty calledrationality, he would not be human. Beasts do not have these faculties. Beasts seem to be able to will and to understand, but cannot do so. Theyare led and moved to do what they do solely by a natural affection, initself desire, which has knowledge for its mate. Something civil andmoral there is in their knowledge, but it does not transcend theknowledge, for they have nothing spiritual enabling them to perceive orto think analytically of what is moral. They can indeed be taught to dosomething, but this is natural only, is assimilated to their knowledgeand at the same time to their affection, and reproduced through sight orhearing, but never becomes with them anything of thought, still less ofreason. On this see some things above, n. 74. 

[5] _Without those two faculties man could not be con-joined to the Lordor reformed and regenerated. _ This has been shown above. The Lord resideswith men, whether evil or good, in these two faculties and conjoinsHimself by them to every man. Hence an evil man as well as a good man canunderstand and has the will of good and the understanding of truthpotentially--that he does not possess them actually is owing to abuse ofthose faculties. The Lord resides in those faculties in everyone by theinflux of His will, namely, to be received by man and to have an abodewith him, and to give him the felicities of eternal life; all this is ofthe Lord's will, being of His divine love. It is this will of the Lordwhich causes what a man thinks, speaks, wills and does, to seem to be hisown. 

[6] That the influx of the Lord's will effects this can be confirmed bymuch in the spiritual world. Sometimes the Lord fills an angel with Hisdivine so that the angel does not know but that he is the Lord. Thusinspired were the angels who appeared to Abraham, Hagar, and Gideon, andwho therefore spoke of themselves as Jehovah; of whom the Word tells. Soalso one spirit may be filled by another so that he does not know butthat he is the other; I have seen this often. In heaven it is generalknowledge that the Lord operates all things by willing, and that what Hewills takes place. 

From all this it is plain that it is by those two faculties that the Lordconjoins Himself to man and causes the man to be reciprocally conjoined. We told above and shall say more below about how man is reciprocallyconjoined by the two faculties and how, consequently, he is reformed andregenerated by means of them. 

[7] _Without those two faculties man would not have immortality oreternal life. _ This follows from what has been said: that by the twofaculties there is conjunction with the Lord and also reformation andregeneration. By conjunction man has immortality, and through reformationand regeneration he has eternal life. As every man, evil as well as good, is conjoined to the Lord by the two faculties every man has immortality. Eternal life, or the life of heaven, however, only that man has with whomthere is reciprocal conjunction from inmosts to outmosts. 

The reasons may now be clear why the Lord, in all the procedure of Hisdivine providence, safeguards the two faculties in man unimpaired and assacred. 

97. ( viii) _It is therefore [a law] of divine providence that man shallact in freedom from reason. _ To act in freedom according to reason, toact from liberty and rationality, and to act from will and understanding, are the same. But it is one thing to act in freedom according to reason, or from liberty and rationality, and another thing to act from freedomitself according to reason itself or from liberty and rationalitythemselves. The man who does evil from love of evil and confirms it inhimself acts indeed from freedom according to reason, but his freedom isnot in itself freedom or very freedom, but an infernal freedom which initself is bondage, and his reason is not in itself reason, but is eitherspurious or false or plausible through confirmations. Still, either is ofdivine providence. For if freedom to will evil and do it as of the reasonthrough confirmation of it were taken from the natural man, liberty andrationality and at the same time will and understanding would perish, andhe could not be withdrawn any longer from evils, be reformed or unitedwith the Lord, and live to eternity. The Lord therefore guards man'sfreedom as a man does the apple of his eye. Through that freedom the Lordsteadily withdraws man from evils and so far as He can do this implantsgoods, thus gradually putting heavenly freedom in place of infernalfreedom. 

98. We said above that every man has the faculty of volition calledliberty and the faculty of understanding called rationality. Thosefaculties, moreover, it should be known, are as it were inherent in man, for humanness itself is in them. But as was just said, it is one thing toact from freedom in accord with reason, and another thing to act fromfreedom itself and according to reason itself. Only those do the latterwho have suffered themselves to be regenerated by the Lord; others act infreedom according to thought which they make seem like reason. Unless hewas born foolish or supremely stupid, every person can attain to reasonitself and by it to liberty itself. Many reasons why all do not do sowill be disclosed in what follows. Here we shall only tell to whomfreedom itself or liberty itself, and at the same time reason itself orrationality itself cannot be given and to whom they can hardly be given. 

[2] True liberty and rationality cannot be given to those foolish frombirth or to those who become foolish later, while they remain so. Nor canthey be given to those born stupid and dull or to any made so by thetorpor of idleness, or by a disease which perverts or entirely closes theinteriors of the mind, or by love of a bestial life. 

[3] Genuine liberty and rationality cannot be given to those inChristendom who utterly deny the Divine of the Lord and the holiness ofthe Word, and have kept that denial confirmed to life's close. For thisis meant by the sin against the Holy Spirit which is not forgiven in thisworld or in the world to come (Mt 12:31, 32). 

[4] Liberty itself and rationality itself cannot be given to those whoascribe all things to nature and nothing to the Divine, and have madethis a conviction by reasonings from visible things; for these areatheists. 

[5] True liberty and rationality can hardly be given to those who haveconfirmed themselves much in falsities of religion; for a confirmer offalsity is a denier of truth. But they can be given to those, in whateverreligion, who have not so confirmed themselves. On this see what isadduced in _Doctrine for the New Jerusalem about Sacred Scripture, _nn. 91-97. 

[6] Infants and children cannot attain to essential liberty andrationality before they grow up. For the interiors of the mind of man areopened gradually, and meanwhile are like seeds in unripe fruit, withoutground in which to sprout. 

99. We have said that true liberty and rationality cannot be given tothose who have denied the Divine of the Lord and the holiness of theWord; to those who have confirmed themselves in favor of nature andagainst the Divine; and hardly to those who have strongly confirmedthemselves in falsities of religion; still none of these have destroyedthe faculties themselves. I have heard atheists, who had become devilsand satans, understand arcana of wisdom quite as well as angels, but onlywhile they heard them from others; on returning into their own thought, they did not understand them, for the reason that they did not will to doso. They were shown that they could also will this, did not the love andenjoyment of evil turn them away. This they understood, too, when theyheard it. Indeed they asserted that they could but did not will to beable to do so, for then they could not will what they did will, namely, evil from enjoyment in the lust of it. I have often heard suchastonishing things in the spiritual world. I am fully persuaded thereforethat every man has liberty and rationality, and that every man can attaintrue liberty and rationality if he shuns evils as sins. But the adult whohas not come into true liberty and rationality in the world can never doso after death, for the state of his life remains to eternity what it wasin the world. 

VI. IT IS A LAW OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHALL REMOVE EVILS AS SINSIN THE EXTERNAL MAN OF HIMSELF, AND ONLY SO CAN THE LORD REMOVE THE EVILSIN THE INTERNAL MAN AND AT THE SAME TIME IN THE EXTERNAL

100. Anyone can see from reason alone that the Lord who is good itselfand truth itself cannot enter man unless the evils and falsities in himare removed. For evil is opposed to good, and falsity to truth, and twoopposites cannot mingle, but as one approaches the other, combat ariseswhich lasts until one gives way to the other; what gives way departs andthe other takes its place. Heaven and hell, or the Lord and the devil, are in such opposition. Can anyone reasonably think that the Lord canenter where the devil reigns, or heaven be where hell is? By therationality with which every sane person is endowed, who cannot see thatfor the Lord to enter, the devil must be cast out, or for heaven toenter, hell must be removed?

[2] This opposition is meant by Abraham's words from heaven to the richman in hell:

Between us and you a great gulf is fixed, so that those who would crossfrom us to you cannot, nor those over there cross to us (Lu 16:26). 

Evil is itself hell, and good is itself heaven, or what is the same, evilis itself the devil, and good itself the Lord. A person in whom evilreigns is a hell in least form, and one in whom good reigns is a heavenin least form. How, then, can heaven enter hell when a gulf is fixedbetween them so great that there is no crossing from one to the other? Itfollows that hell must by all means be removed for the Lord to enter withheaven. 

101. But many, especially those who have confirmed themselves in faithsevered from charity, do not know that they are in hell when they are inevils. In fact, they do not know what evils are, giving them no thought. They say that they are not under the yoke of the law and so the law doesnot condemn them; likewise, that as they cannot contribute to theirsalvation, they cannot remove any evil of themselves and furthermorecannot do any good of themselves. It is these who neglect to give somethought to evil and therefore keep on in evil. They are meant by the Lordunder "goats" in Matthew 25:32, 33; 41-46, as may be seen in _Doctrine ofthe New Jerusalem on Faith, _ nn. 61-68; to them it is said in verse 41, "Depart from Me, you accursed, into everlasting fire prepared for thedevil and his angels. "

[2] Persons who give no thought to the evils in them, and who do notexamine themselves and then desist from the evils, cannot but be ignorantwhat evil is, and cannot but love it then from delighting in it. For onewho is ignorant of it loves it, and one who fails to give it thought, goes on in it, blind to it. Thought sees good and evil as the eye seesbeauty and ugliness. One who thinks and wills evil is in evil, and so isa person who thinks that it does not come to God's sight, or if it doesis forgiven by Him; he supposes then that he is without evil. If suchpersons refrain from doing evil, they do so not because it is a sinagainst God, but for fear of the law and for their reputation's sake. Inspirit they still do evil, for it is man's spirit that thinks and wills. As a result, what a man thinks in his spirit in the world, he commitswhen he becomes a spirit on his departure from the world. 

[3] In the spiritual world, into which everyone comes after death, thequestion is not asked what your belief has been or your doctrine, butwhat your life has been. Was it such or such? For, as is known, such asone's life is, such is one's belief, yes, one's doctrine. For lifefashions a doctrine and a belief for itself. 

102. From all this it is plain that it is a law of divine providence thatevils be removed by man, for without the removal of them the Lord cannotbe conjoined to man and from Himself lead man to heaven. But it is notknown that man ought to remove evils in the external man as of himselfand that unless he does so the Lord cannot remove the evils in hisinternal man. This is to be presented, therefore, to the reason in lightof its own in this order:

i. Every man has an external and an internal of thought. Ii. His external of thought is in itself such as his internal is. Iii. The internal cannot be purified from the lusts of evil as long asthe evils in the external man have not been removed, for these impede. Iv. Only with the man's participation can evils in the external man beremoved by the Lord. V. Therefore a man ought to remove evils from the external man as ofhimself. Vi. The Lord then purifies him from the lusts of evil in the internal manand from the evils themselves in the external. Vii. The continuous effort of the Lord in His divine providence is tounite man to Himself and Himself to man, in order to be able to bestowthe felicities of eternal life on him, which can be done only so far asevils, along with their lusts, are removed. 

103. (i) _Every man has an external and an internal of thought. _ Byexternal and internal of thought the same is meant here as by externaland internal man, and by this nothing else is meant than external andinternal of will and understanding, for will and understanding constituteman, and as they both manifest themselves in thoughts, we speak ofexternal and internal of thought. And as it is man's spirit and not hisbody which wills and understands and consequently thinks, external andinternal are external and internal of his spirit. The body's activity inspeech or deed is only an effect from the external and internal of man'sspirit, for the body is so much obedience. 

104. As he grows older, every person has an external and an internal ofthought, or an external and an internal of will and understanding or ofhis spirit, identical with external and internal man. This is evident toanyone who observes another's thoughts and intentions as they arerevealed in speech or deed, or who observes his own when he is in companyand when he is by himself. For from the external thought one can talkamicably with another and yet in internal thought be hostile. Fromexternal thought and from its affection, too, a man can talk about lovefor the neighbor and for God when in his internal thought he caresnothing for the neighbor and does not fear God. From external thoughttogether with its affection he can talk about the justice of civil laws, the virtues of the moral life, and matters of doctrine and the spirituallife, and yet in private and from his internal thought and its affectionspeak against the civil laws, the moral virtues, and matters of doctrineand spiritual life. So those do who are in lusts of evil but want toappear to the world not to be in them. 

[2] Many also, as they listen to others, think to themselves, "Do thosespeaking think inwardly in themselves as they think in utterance? Arethey to be believed or not? What do they intend?" Flatterers andhypocrites notoriously possess a twofold thought. They can beself-restrained and guard against the interior thought's being disclosed, and some can hide it more and more deeply and bar the door against itsappearing. That a man possesses external and internal thought is alsoplain in that from his interior thought he can behold the exteriorthought, can reflect on it, too, and judge whether or not it is evil. Thehuman mind is such because of the two faculties, called liberty andrationality, which one has from the Lord. Unless he possessed internaland external of thought from these faculties, a man could not perceiveand see an evil in himself and be reformed. In fact, he could not speakbut only make sounds like a beast. 

105. The internal of thought comes out of the life's love, its affectionsand the perceptions from them. The external of thought is from what is inthe memory, serving the life's love for confirmation and as means to itsend. From childhood to early manhood a person is in the external ofthought from an affection for knowledge, which is then his internal; fromthe life's love born in one from parents something of lust and hence ofdisposition issues, too. Later, however, his life's love is as he lives, and its affections and the perceptions from them make the internal of histhought. From his life's love comes a love of means; the enjoyments ofthese means and the information drawn thereby from the memory make hisexternal of thought. 

106. (ii) _Man's external of thought is in itself such as his internalis. _ We showed earlier that from head to foot a man is what his life'slove is. Something must be said about his life's love, for until this isdone nothing can be said about the affections which together withperceptions make the internal of man, or about the enjoyments of theaffections together with thoughts which make his external. Loves aremany, but two--heavenly love and infernal love--are like lords or kings. Heavenly love is love to the Lord and the neighbor; infernal love is loveof self and the world. These are opposite to each other as heaven andhell are. For a man in love of self and the world wishes well only tohimself; a man in love to the Lord and the neighbor wishes well to all. These two are the loves of man's life, though with much variety. Heavenlylove is the life's love of those whom the Lord leads, and infernal lovethe life's love of those whom the devil leads. 

[2] No one's life's love can be without derivatives, called affections. The derivatives of infernal love are affections of evil and falsity--lusts, properly speaking; and those of heavenly love are affections ofgood and truth--loves, strictly. Affections, or strictly lusts, ofinfernal love are as numerous as evils are, and affections, or properlyloves, of heavenly love are as many as there are goods. Love dwells inits affections like a lord in his domain and a king in his realm; itsdomain or realm is over the things of the mind, that is, of the will andunderstanding and thence of the body. By its affections and theperceptions from them and by its enjoyments and the thoughts therefrom, the life's love of man rules him completely, the internal of the mind bythe affections and perceptions from them, and the external by theenjoyments of the affections and of the thoughts from them. 

107. The manner of this rule may be seen to some extent from comparisons. Heavenly love with its affections of good and truth and the perceptionsfrom them, together with the enjoyments of such affections and thethoughts from these, may be compared to a tree, notable for its branches, leaves and fruit. The life's love is the tree; the branches with theirleaves are the affections of good and truth with their perceptions; andthe fruits are the enjoyments of the affections with their thoughts. Infernal love, however, with its affections or lusts of evil and falsity, together with the enjoyments of the lusts and the thinking from thoseenjoyments, may be compared to a spider and the web spun about it. Thelove itself is the spider; the lusts of evil and falsity together withtheir subtle cunning are the net of threads nearest the spider's post;and the enjoyments of the lusts together with their crafty schemes arethe more remote threads where flies are snared on the wing, envelopedand eaten. 

108. These comparisons may help one to see the connection of all thingsof the will and understanding or of man's mind with his life's love, andyet not to see it rationally. Rationally it may be seen in this way. Everywhere there are three which make one, called end, cause and effect. Here the life's love is end; the affections with their perceptions arecause; and the enjoyments of the affections and consequent thoughts areeffect. For as an end passes into effect through a cause, love passes byits affections to its enjoyments and by its perceptions to its thoughts. The effects are in the enjoyments of the mind and the thoughts thencewhen the enjoyments are from the will and the thoughts from the attendantunderstanding, that is, when all fully agree. The effects are then partof man's spirit and although they do not come into bodily act are still adeed there when there is this agreement. At the same time they are in thebody, dwelling there with man's life's love and longing for the deed, which occurs when nothing hinders. The same is true of lusts of evil andevil deeds with those who make evils allowable in spirit. 

[2] As an end unites itself with a cause and by the cause with an effect, the life's love unites itself with the internal of thought and by thiswith its external. It is plain then that man's external of thought is initself what his internal is, for an end imparts all of itself to thecause and through the cause to the effect. Nothing essential is presentin an effect which is not in the cause and through the cause in the end, and as the end is what essentially enters cause and effect, these arecalled "mediate end" and "final end" respectively. 

109. Sometimes the external of thought seems to be different in itselffrom the internal. This is because the life's love with its internalsabout it sets a vicar under it called the love of means, and directs itto watch and guard against anything of its lusts appearing. This vicar, with the cunning of its chief, the life's love, therefore speaks and actsin accordance with the laws of a kingdom, the ethical demands of reason, and the spiritual requirements of the church, so cunningly, too, andcleverly that no one sees that persons are other than they say and act, and finally the persons themselves, so disguised, scarcely knowotherwise. Such are all hypocrites. Such are priests, also, who at heartcare nothing for the neighbor and do not fear God, yet preach about loveof the neighbor and of God. Such are judges who judge by gifts andfriendships while affecting zeal for justice and speaking with reasonabout judgment. Such are traders who at heart are insincere andfraudulent while dealing honestly for the sake of profit. Such areadulterers when, from the rationality every man possesses, they talkabout the chastity of marriage; and so on. 

[2] The same persons, when they strip the love of means, the vicar oftheir life's love, of the purple and linen which they have thrown aroundit and put its house dress on it, then think exactly the contrary, andexchanging thought with their best friends who are in a similar life'slove, they speak so. It may be believed that when they have spoken sojustly, honestly and piously from the love of means, the character of theinternal of thought was not in the external of their thought; yet it was;hypocrisy is in them, and love of self and the world is in them, thecunning of which aims to capture a reputation for the sake of standing orgain through just the outward appearance. This, the nature of theinternal, is in the external of their thought when they speak and act so. 

110. With those in a heavenly love, however, internal and external ofthought or internal and external man make one when they speak, and theyare aware of no difference. Their life's love, with its affections ofgood and the perceptions of truth from these, is like a soul in what theythink and then say and do. If they are priests, they preach out of loveto the neighbor and to the Lord; if judges, they judge from justiceitself; if tradesmen, they deal with honesty; if they are husbands, theylove the partner with true chastity; and so on. Their life's love alsohas a love of the means for vicar, which it teaches and leads to act withprudence and clothes with garments of a zeal for both truths of doctrineand goods of life. 

111. ( iii) _The internal cannot be purified from the lusts of evil aslong as evils in the external man are not removed, for these impede. _This follows from what has been said above, that the external of man'sthought is in itself what the internal of his thought is and that theycohere as what is not only in the other but also from the other; onecannot be removed, therefore, unless the other is at the same time. Thisis true of any external which is from an internal, and of anythingsubsequent from what is prior, and of every effect from a cause. 

[2] As lusts together with slynesses make the internal of thought withevil persons, and the enjoyments of the lusts together with scheming makethe external of thought in them, and the two are joined into one, itfollows that the internal cannot be purified from the lusts as long asthe evils in the external man are not removed. It should be known thatman's internal will is in the lusts; his internal understanding in theslynesses; his external will in the enjoyments of the lusts; and hisexternal understanding in the sly scheming. Anyone can see that lusts andtheir enjoyments make one, that slynesses and scheming also do, and thatthe four are one series and as it were make a single bundle. From thisagain it is evident that the internal, consisting of lusts, cannot becast out except on the removal of the external, consisting of evils. Lusts produce evils by their enjoyments, and when evils are deemedallowable, as they are when will and understanding agree on it, theenjoyments and the evils make one. It is well known that assent is deed;this is also what the Lord said:

If anyone looks on the woman of another to lust after her, he has alreadycommitted adultery with her in his heart (Mt 5:28). *

The same is true of all other evils. 

* The Greek is simply "on a woman" and does not have the word hererendered "of another. " Though Swedenborg quotes the verse several timesin his works he seems not to have checked as he usually did beyond therendering of the Schmidius Latin Bible which he used. 

112. From this it may now be evident that for a person to be purifiedfrom the lusts of evil, evils must by all means be removed from theexternal man, for the lusts have no way out before. If no outlet exists, they remain within and breathe out enjoyments and so incite man toconsent, thus to deed. Lusts enter the body by the external of thought;when there is consent, therefore, in the external of thought they areinstantly in the body; the enjoyment felt is bodily. See in the treatise_Divine Love and Wisdom_ (nn. 362-370) that the body, thus the whole man, is what the mind is. This can be illustrated by comparisons, and byexamples. 

[2] By _comparisons:_ lusts with their enjoyments can be compared to afire which blazes the more, the more it is nursed; the freer its way themore widely it spreads until in a city it consumes houses and in a woodsthe trees. In the Word, moreover, lusts are compared to fire, and theevils from them to a conflagration. The lusts of evil with theirenjoyments also appear as fires in the spiritual world; hellfire isnothing else. Lusts may also be compared to floods and inundations asdikes or dams give way. They may also be likened to gangrene andabscesses which bring death to the body as they run their course or arenot healed. 

[3] By _examples:_ it is obvious that when evils are not removed in theexternal man, the lusts with their enjoyments grow and flourish. The morehe steals the more a thief lusts to steal until he cannot stop; so with adefrauder, the more he defrauds; it is the same with hatred andvengeance, luxury and intemperance, whoredom and blasphemy. It isnotorious that the love of ruling from the love of self increases whenleft unbridled; so also the love of possessing things from love of theworld; they seem to have no limit or end. Plain it is then that so far asevils are not removed in the external man, lusts for them intensify; alsothat in the degree that evils are given free rein, the lusts increase. 

113. A person does not see the lusts of his evil; he sees theirenjoyments, to be sure, but still he reflects little on them, for theydivert thought and drive off reflection. Unless he learned from elsewherethat they are evils he would call them goods and give them expressionfreely according to his thought's reasoning; doing so, he appropriatesthem to himself. So far as he confirms them as allowable he enlarges thecourt of his ruling love, which is his life's love. Lusts constitute itscourt, being its ministers and retinue, as it were, by which it governsthe exteriors of its realm. But such as is the king, such are theministers and retinue, and such is the kingdom. If the king is diabolic, his ministers and the retinue are insanities, and the people of his realmare falsities of every kind. The ministers (who are called wise althoughthey are insane) cause these falsities to appear as truths by reasoningsfrom fallacies and by fantasies and cause them to be acknowledged astruths. Can such a state in a man be changed except by the evils beingremoved in the external man? Then the lusts which cling to the evils arealso removed. Otherwise no outlet offers for the lusts; they are shut inlike a besieged city or like an indurated ulcer. 

114. (iv) _Only with man's participation can evils in the external man beremoved by the Lord. _ In all Christian churches it is an accepted pointof doctrine that before coming to the Holy Communion a person shouldexamine himself, see and confess his sins, and do penitence, desistingfrom his sins and rejecting them because they are from the devil; andthat otherwise the sins are not forgiven him and he is damned. TheEnglish, despite the fact that they are in the doctrine of faith alone, nevertheless in the exhortation to the Holy Communion openly teachself-examination, acknowledgment, confession of sins, penitence andrenewal of life, and warn those who do not do these things with the wordsthat otherwise the devil will enter into them as he did into Judas, fillthem with all iniquity, and destroy both body and soul. Germans, Swedesand Danes, who are also in the doctrine of faith alone, teach the same inthe exhortation to the Holy Communion, also warning that otherwise thecommunicants will make themselves liable to infernal punishments andeternal damnation for mixing sacred and profane together. These words areread out by the priest in a deep voice to all who are about to observethe Holy Supper, and are listened to by them in full acknowledgment thatthey are true. 

[2] Nevertheless, after hearing a sermon on the same day about faithalone and to the effect that the law does not condemn them because theLord has fulfilled it for them, and that of themselves they cannot do anygood which is not self-righteous and thus that one's works have nothingsaving in them, only faith alone has, these same persons return homecompletely forgetting their earlier confession and rejecting it so far asthey think along the lines of the sermon. But which is true, the latteror the former? Contrary to each other, both cannot be true. Which is?That there can be no forgiveness of sins, thus no salvation but onlyeternal damnation, apart from self-examination, the knowledge andacknowledgment, confession and breaking off of sins, that is, apart fromrepentance? Or that such things effect nothing towards salvation inasmuchas full satisfaction for all the sins of men has been made by the Lordthrough the passion of the cross for those who have faith, and that thosein faith alone with trust that it is so and with confidence in theimputation of the Lord's merit, are sinless and appear before God likemen with shining faces for having washed?

[3] It is plain from this that the religion common to all churches inChristendom is that one shall examine himself, see and acknowledge hissins and then desist from them, and that otherwise there is no salvation, but damnation. This, moreover, is divine truth itself, as is plain frompassages in the Word in which man is bidden to do penitence, as from thefollowing:

John said, Do . . . Fruits worthy of repentance . . . This moment the axeis at the root of the tree; every tree not giving good fruit will be cutdown and cast into the fire (Lu 3:8, 9). 

Jesus said, Unless you do repentance, you shall all . . . Perish(Lu 13:3, 5). 

Jesus preached the gospel of the kingdom of God; . . . Do repentance, andbelieve the gospel (Mk 1:14, 15). 

Jesus sent out the disciples who on going out were to preach that menshould repent (Mk 6:12). 

Jesus told the apostles that they were to preach repentance and theremission of sins to all peoples (Lu 24:27). 

John preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Mk1:4; Lu 3:3). 

Think about this also with some degree of understanding; if you havereligion, you will see that repentance of one's sins is the way toheaven, that faith apart from repentance is not faith, and that those inno faith for lack of repenting are in the way to hell. 

115. Those in faith severed from charity who have confirmed themselves init by Paul's saying to the Romans that a man is justified by faithwithout the works of the law (3:28) worship that saying quite like menwho worship the sun. They become like those who fix their gaze steadilyon the sun with the result that the blurred vision sees nothing in normallight. For they fail to see what is meant in the passage by "works of thelaw, " namely, the rituals described by Moses in his books, called "law"in them everywhere, and not the precepts of the Decalog. Lest it bethought these are meant, Paul explains, saying at that point, Do we not then make the law void through faith? Far from it, rather weestablish the law (verse 31 of the same chapter). 

Those who have confirmed themselves by that saying in faith severed fromcharity, looking on it as on the sun, do not see the passages in whichPaul lists the laws of faith and that these are the very works ofcharity. What indeed is faith without its laws? Nor do they see thepassages in which he lists evil works, declaring that those who do themcannot enter heaven. What blindness has been brought about by this onepassage badly understood!

116. Evils in the external man cannot be removed without man'scooperation for the reason that it is by divine providence that whatevera man hears, sees, thinks, wills, speaks and does shall seem to him to behis own doing. Apart from that appearance (as was shown above, nn. 71-95ff. ) there would be no reception of divine truth on man's part, nordetermination to do what is good, nor any appropriation of love andwisdom or of charity and faith, hence no conjunction with the Lord, noreformation therefore or regeneration, and thus no salvation. Withoutthat appearance, repentance for sins would clearly be impossible and infact faith would; without that appearance, likewise, man is not man butis devoid of rational life like the beasts. Let him who will, consult hisreason whether it appears otherwise than that man thinks from himselfabout good and truth, spiritual as well as moral and civil; then acceptthe doctrine that all good and truth are from the Lord and none from man. Must he not then acknowledge as a consequence that man is to do good andthink truth of himself, yet always acknowledge that these are from theLord? And acknowledge further that man is to remove evils of himself, butstill acknowledge that he does so from the Lord?

117. Many are unaware that they are in evils since they do not do themoutwardly, fearing the civil law and the loss of reputation. Thus bycustom and habit they practice to avoid evils as detrimental to theirstanding and interests. But if they do not shun evils on religiousprinciple, because they are sins and against God, the lusts of evil withtheir enjoyments remain in them like impure waters stopped up orstagnant. Let them probe their thoughts and intentions and they will comeon the lusts provided they know what sins are. 

[2] Many such, who have confirmed themselves in faith separated fromcharity and who believe that the law does not condemn, pay no attentionto sins. Some doubt there are sins, or if so, that they exist in God'ssight, having been pardoned. Such also are natural moralists, who believethat civil and moral life with its prudence accomplishes all things anddivine providence nothing. Such are those, also, who strive with greatcare after a reputation and a name for honesty and sincerity for the sakeof standing and preferment. But those who are such and who at the sametime have spurned religion become lustful spirits after death, appearingto themselves like men indeed, but to others at a distance like _priapi;_and they see in the dark and not at all in the light, like night-owls. 

118. Proposition v, that _a man ought to remove evils from the externalman of himself, _ is substantiated then. Further explanation may be seenin _Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem_ under three propositions: 1. No one can flee evils as sins so as to be averse to them inwardly exceptby combats against them (nn. 92-100); 2. A man ought to shun evils assins and fight against them as of himself (nn. 101-107); and 3. If heshuns evils for any other reason than that they are sins, he does notshun them, but only keeps them from appearing to the world. 

119. (vi) _The Lord then purifies man from the lusts of evil in theinternal man and from the evils themselves in the external. _ The Lordpurifies man from the lusts of evil only when man as of himself removesthe evils because He cannot do so before. For the evils are in theexternal man and the lusts in the internal man, and they cling togetherlike roots and a trunk. Unless the evils are removed, therefore, nooutlet offers; they block the way and shut the door, which the Lord canopen only with a man's participation, as was shown just above. When theman as of himself opens the door, the Lord then roots out the lusts. 

[2] A second reason why the Lord cannot do so sooner is that He acts uponman's inmost and by that on all that follows even to outmosts where manhimself is. While outmosts, therefore, are kept closed by man, nopurification can take place, but only that activity of the Lord ininteriors which is His activity in hell, of which the man who is in lustsand at the same time in evils is a form--an activity which is solelyprovision lest one thing destroy another and lest good and truth beviolated. It is plain from words of the Lord in the Apocalypse that Heconstantly urges and prompts man to open the door to Him:

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if anyone hears my voice andopens the door, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me(3:20). 

120. Man knows nothing at all of the interior state of his mind orinternal man, yet infinite things are there, not one of which comes tohis knowledge. His internal of thought or internal man is his veryspirit, and in it are things as infinite and innumerable as there are inhis body, in fact, more numerous. For his spirit is man in its form, andall things in it correspond to all things of his body. Now, just as manknows nothing by any sensation about how his mind or soul operates on allthings of the body as a whole or severally, so he does not know, either, how the Lord works on all things of his mind or soul, that is, of hisspirit. The divine activity is unceasing; man has no part in it; stillthe Lord cannot purify a man from any lust of evil in his spirit orinternal man as long as the man keeps the external closed. Man keeps hisexternal closed by evils, each of which seems to him to be a singleentity, although in each are infinite things. When a man removes whatseems a single thing, the Lord removes infinite things in it. So much isimplied in the Lord's purifying man from the lusts of evil in theinternal man and from the evils themselves in the external. 

121. Many believe that a person is purified from evils merely bybelieving what the church teaches; some, by doing good; others byknowing, speaking and teaching what is of the church; others by readingthe Word and books of devotion; others by going to church, hearingsermons and especially by observing the Holy Supper; still others, byrenouncing the world and devoting oneself to piety; others still byconfessing oneself guilty of all sins; and so on. And yet none of thesethings purifies man at all unless he examines himself, sees his sins, acknowledges them, condemns himself on account of them, and repents bydesisting from them, and does all this as of himself, yet with theacknowledgment in heart that he does so from the Lord. 

[2] Until this is done, the things mentioned above do not avail, beingeither self-righteous or hypocritical. Such persons appear to the angelsin heaven either like pretty courtesans smelling badly of theircorruption, or like unsightly women painted to appear handsome, or likemasked clowns and mimics in the theater, or like apes in men's clothes. But when evils have been removed, then all that has just been mentionedbecomes the expression of love in such persons, and they appear asbeautiful human beings to the sight of the angels in heaven and aspartners and companions of theirs. 

122. But it should be rightly known that in repenting a man ought to lookto the Lord alone. He cannot be purified if he looks to God the Fatheralone, or to the Father for the sake of the Son, or to the Son as a manonly. For there is one God and the Lord is He, for His Divine and Humanis one Person, as we have shown in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem aboutthe Lord. _ In order that the intending penitent may look to Him alone, the Lord instituted the Holy Supper, which confirms the remission of sinsin those who repent, and does so because everyone is kept looking to theLord alone in it. 

123. (vii) _The perpetual effort of the Lord in His divine providence isto conjoin man with Himself and Himself with man, in order to be able tobestow the felicities of eternal life on him, which can be done only sofar as evils with their lusts have been removed. _ It was shown above(nn. 27-45) that it is the unceasing effort of the Lord in His divineprovidence to conjoin man to Himself and Himself to man; that thisconjunction is what is called reformation and regeneration; and that byit man has salvation. Who does not see that conjunction with God is lifeeternal and salvation? Everyone sees this who believes that men bycreation are images and likenesses of God (Ge 1:26, 27) andwho knows what an image and likeness of God is. [2] What man of soundreason, thinking from his rationality and wanting to think in freedom, can believe that there are three Gods equal in essence and that divinebeing or essence can be divided? One can conceive and comprehend a Trinein the one God, however, just as soul, body and outgoing life in angeland man are comprehensible. As this Trine in One exists only in the Lord, conjunction must be with Him. Use your power of reason together with yourliberty of thought, and you will see this truth in its own light; butadmit first that God is, and heaven, and eternal life. 

[3] As, then, God is one, and the human being was made by creation animage and likeness of Him, and inasmuch as by infernal love and its lustsand enjoyments man has come into a love of all evils and thus destroyedthe image and likeness of God in him, it follows that it is thecontinuous effort of the Lord's divine providence to conjoin man toHimself and Himself to man and thus make him an image of Himself. It alsofollows that this is to the end that the Lord may be able to bestow onhim the felicities of eternal life, for such is divine love. 

[4] He cannot bestow them, however, nor make man an image of Himself, unless man removes sins in the external man as of himself, because theLord is not only divine love but also divine wisdom, and divine love doesnothing except by its divine wisdom and in consonance with it. It isaccording to divine wisdom that man cannot be conjoined to the Lord andthus reformed, regenerated and saved unless he is allowed to act infreedom according to reason, for so man is man. Whatever is according tothe Lord's divine wisdom is also of His divine providence. 

124. To this let me append two arcana of angelic wisdom showing furtherwhat divine providence is like. One is that the Lord never acts on onething by itself in man, but on all things at the same time, and theother is that He acts at once from inmosts and outmosts. He never actson some one thing by itself but on all things together because allthings in man are in such connection and from this in such form thatthey act not as a number but as one. We know that there is suchconnectedness and by it such organization in man's body. The human mindis in similar form as a result of the connection of all things, for themind is the spiritual man and truly the man. Hence man's spirit or themind in the body in its entire form is man. Consequently man is manafter death equally as he was in the world with the sole difference thathe has thrown off the clothing which made up his body in the world. 

[2] As the human form, then, is such that all its parts form a communitywhich acts as a whole, some one thing cannot be moved out of place oraltered in state except with adaptation of the rest, for if it were, theform which acts as a whole would suffer. Hence it is plain that the Lordnever acts on any one thing without acting on all. So He acts on thetotal angelic heaven since in His view it is like one man; so He acts oneach angel, for each angel is heaven in least form; so He acts also oneach man, most nearly on all things of man's mind and by these on allthings of his body; for man's mind is his spirit and in the measure ofconjunction with the Lord is an angel, and the body is obedience. 

[3] It is to be well noted, however, that the Lord does act on eachparticular thing in man singly, singularly so, when acting on all thingsin man's organization; even so He does not alter the state of any part orof any one thing except suitably to the whole form. But more will be saidof this in following numbers where we shall show that divine providenceis general because it extends to particulars, and particular because itis general. 

[4] The Lord acts from inmosts and outmosts at the same time because onlyin this way are all things held in connection, for the intermediatethings depend one upon another from inmosts to outmosts and are assembledin outmosts (it was shown in Part III of the treatise _Divine Love andWisdom_ that all things from the inmost onward are present simultaneouslyin what is outmost ). For this reason the Lord from eternity or Jehovahcame into the world and assumed and bore human nature in outmosts. Hecould thus be at once from firsts in lasts, and from firsts by lastsgovern the whole world and so save whom He could save according to thelaws of His divine providence, which are also the laws of His divinewisdom. For it is true, as Christendom knows, that no mortal could havebeen saved had the Lord not come into the world (see _Doctrine for theNew Jerusalem on Faith, _ n. 35). For the same reason the Lord is called"The First and the Last. "

125. These angelic arcana have been premised in order that it may becomprehended how the Lord's divine providence operates to unite man toHim and Himself to man. It does not act upon a particular thing by itselfin man, but on all things together and from man's inmost and outmostssimultaneously. Man's inmost is his life's love; the outmosts are in theexternal of thought; what is intermediate is in the internal of thought(what external and internal are like with the wicked was shown earlier);from which it is plain again that the Lord cannot act by inmosts andoutmosts simultaneously except together with man, for in the outmosts manand the Lord are together. Wherefore, as the man acts in outmosts, whichare in his determination, being within the range of his freedom, so theLord acts from man's inmosts and in what follows from them to theoutmosts. Man does not know at all what is in the inmosts and in whatfollows to the outmosts, therefore is unaware of how the Lord acts thereor what He effects there. But as all these things cohere as one with theoutmosts, man does not need to know more than that he should shun evilsas sins and look to the Lord. Only so can his life's love, which by birthis infernal, be removed by the Lord and a heavenly life's love beimplanted in its place. 

126. When a heavenly life's love has been implanted by the Lord in placeof an infernal life's love, affections of good and truth are implanted inplace of lusts of evil and falsity; enjoyments of affections of good areimplanted instead of enjoyments of lusts of evil and falsity, and goodsof heavenly love in place of evils of infernal love; prudence isimplanted in place of cunning, wise thinking in place of malevolent. So aman is born again and becomes a new man. What goods replace evils you maysee in _Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, _ nn. 67-73, 74-79, 80-86, 87-91; likewise that so far as man shuns and is averse to evils as sinsso far he loves truths of wisdom, nn. 32-41, and has faith and isspiritual, nn. 42-52. 

127. From the exhortations read aloud in all Christian churches beforeHoly Communion we showed that it is the common religion of allChristendom that a man should examine himself, see his sins, avow them, confess them before God, and desist from them; and that this isrepentance, remission of sins and hence salvation. This is also evidentfrom the Creed named after Athanasius and received throughout Christendomwhich concludes with the words:

The Lord will come to judge the living and the dead; at whose comingthose who have done good will enter into life eternal, and those who havedone evil, into everlasting fire. 

128. Who does not know from the Word that everyone is allotted a lifeafter death according to his deeds? Open the Word, read it, and you willsee this clearly, but the while remove the thoughts from faith andjustification by faith alone. The few passages following are testimonythat the Lord teaches so everywhere in His Word:

Every tree which does not yield good fruit shall be cut down and castinto the fire. By their fruits therefore shall you know them (Mt 7:19, 20). 

Many will say to Me in that day, Lord . . . Have we not prophesied inyour name, . . . And in your name done many mighty things? But I shallconfess to them then, I know you not, depart from Me, you who workiniquity (Mt 7:22, 23). 

Everyone who hears my words and does them I shall liken to a prudent manwho built a house on a rock: . . . But everyone who hears my words butdoes not do them shall be likened to a foolish man who built his house onthe ground without a foundation (Mt 7:24, 26; Lu 6:46-49). 

[2] The Son of man will come in the glory of His Father . . . And renderthen to everyone according to his deeds (Mt 16:27). 

The kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and given to a peoplebringing forth its fruits (Mt 21:43). 

Jesus said, These are My mother and brothers who hear the Word of God anddo it (Lu 8:21). 

Then shall you begin to stand . . . And knock at the door, saying, Lord, . . . Open to us, but replying He will say to them, I know not whence youare; depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity (Lu 13:25-27). 

Those who have done good shall go out into the resurrection of life, butthose who have done evil into the resurrection of judgment (Jn 5:29). 

[3] We know . . . That God does not hear sinners, but if a man worshipsGod and does His will, him He hears (Jn 9:31). 

If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them (13:17). 

He who has My commandments and does them, he it is who loves Me, . .. AndI will love him, . . . And I will come to him, and make an abode with him(14:15, 21-24). 

You are My friends, if you do whatsoever I command you. .. . I have chosenyou . . . That you may bear fruit and that your fruit may remain (15:14, 16). 

[4] The Lord said to John, Write to the angel of the Ephesian church, Iknow your works: . . . I have against you that you have left an earliercharity; . . . Repent, and do the former works; else . . . I shall removeyour candlestick from its place (Apoc 2:1, 2, 4, 5). 

To the angel of the church of the Smyrneans write, I know your works(2:8, 9). 

To the angel of the church in Pergamos write, . . . I know your works, repent (2:12, 13, 16). 

To the angel of the church in Thyatira write, . . . I know your works andcharity, . . . And your later works are more than the first (2:18, 19). 

To the angel of the church in Sardis write, . . . I know your works, thatyou have a name that you are alive, but you are dead; . . . I have notfound your works perfect before God; . . . Repent (3:1-3). 

To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write, I know your works (3:7, 8). 

To the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, I know your works;. . . Repent (3:14, 15, 19). 

I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, blessed are the dead who diein the Lord from now on; . .. Their works follow them (14:13). 

A book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged, . .. All according to their works (20:12, 13). 

Lo, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyoneaccording to his work (22:12). 

These are passages in the New Testament;

[5] there are still more in the Old, from which I shall quote only thisone:

Stand in the gate . . . Of Jehovah, and proclaim this word there: Thussays Jehovah Zebaoth the God of Israel, Make your ways good, and yourworks; . . . Put not your trust in lying words, saying, The temple, thetemple, the temple of Jehovah is this. . . . Thieving and killing andcommitting adultery and swearing falsely . . . Will you then come tostand before Me in this house which is called by My name and say, We aredelivered? When you do those abominable things? Has not this house beenmade a den of robbers? Even I, lo, I have seen it, is the word of Jehovah(Je 7:2-4, 9-11). 

VII. IT IS A LAW OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHALL NOT BE COMPELLED BYEXTERNAL MEANS TO THINK AND WILL, THUS TO BELIEVE AND LOVE WHAT PERTAINSTO RELIGION, BUT BRING HIMSELF AND AT TIMES COMPEL HIMSELF TO DO SO

129. This law of divine providence follows from the preceding two, namely: man is to act in freedom according to reason (nn. 71-99); and isto do this of himself and yet from the Lord, thus as of himself (nn. 100-128). Inasmuch as being compelled is not to act in freedom accordingto reason and also not to act of oneself, but to act from what is notfreedom and from someone else, this law of divine providence follows indue order on the first two. Everyone knows that no one can be forced tothink what he is unwilling to think or to will what he decides not towill, thus to believe what he does not believe, least of all what hewills not to believe, or to love what he does not love and still lesswhat he wills not to love. For the spirit or mind of man enjoys completefreedom in thinking, willing, believing and loving. It does so by influxwhich is not coercive from the spiritual world (for the human spirit ormind is in that world); and not by influx from the natural world, received only when the two agree. 

[2] A man can be driven to say that he thinks and wills, believes andloves what is religious, but if this is not a matter of his affection andreasoning or does not become so, he does not think, will, believe or loveit. A man may also be compelled to speak in favor of religion and to actaccording to it, but he cannot be compelled to think in its favor fromany faith or to will in its favor out of love for it. In countries inwhich justice and judgment are guarded, one is indeed compelled not tospeak or act against religion, but still no one can be compelled to thinkand will in its favor. For everyone has freedom to think and to willalong with, and in favor of, hell or along with, and in favor of, heaven. Reason, however, teaches what either course is like and what lot awaitsit, and by reason the will has the choice and decision. 

[3] Plainly, then, what is external cannot coerce what is internal;nevertheless it happens sometimes, but that it works harm will be shownin this order:

i. No one is reformed by miracles and signs, for they coerce. Ii. No one is reformed by visions and communication with the dead, forthey coerce. Iii. No one is reformed by threats and penalties, as these coerce. Iv. No one is reformed in states of no rationality or no freedom. V. Self-compulsion is not contrary to rationality and freedom. Vi. The external man is to be reformed through the internal, and not theother way about. 

130. (i) _No one is reformed by miracles and signs, for they coerce. _ Wehave shown above that man has an internal and an external of thought, andthat the Lord acts into the external by the internal in man and soteaches and leads him; also that it is of the Lord's divine providencethat man is to act in freedom according to reason. Either action wouldperish in man if miracles were done and he were driven by them tobelieve. That this is so can be seen rationally in this way: undeniablymiracles induce belief and powerfully persuade a person that what themiracle-doer says and teaches is true, and at first this engages man'sexternal of thought, virtually holding it spellbound. But one is deprivedby this of the two faculties called rationality and liberty, thus cannotact in freedom according to reason, nor can the Lord then inflow into theexternal of man's thought through the internal save only to leave man toconfirm from his rationality what has been made a matter of his belief bythe miracle. 

[2] The state of man's thought is such that from the internal of thoughthe can see a piece in the external of his thought as in a mirror--for aswas said above, one can behold one's own thought, which is possible onlyfrom more interior thought. Beholding the item as in a mirror he can turnit this way and that and shape it to look attractive to him. If there istruth in it, it may be likened to an attractive and animated maiden oryouth. But if a man cannot turn it this way and that and shape it, butonly believe it persuaded of it by a miracle, then if there is truth init, it may be likened to a maiden or youth carved in stone or wood, inwhich is nothing alive. It may also be compared to an object which isconstantly in view and looked at alone, keeps one from seeing what is toeither side and behind it. It can also be compared to a continual soundin the ear, which does away with perceiving the harmony of many sounds. Such are the blindness and deafness induced on the mind by miracles. Itis the same with anything confirmed but not regarded from rationalitybefore it is confirmed. 

131. Plain it is from this that a faith induced by miracles is not faith, but persuasion. For it has nothing rational in it, still less anythingspiritual, as it is only external without an internal. This is true ofeverything a man does from such persuasive faith, whether he isacknowledging God, worshiping Him at home or in church, or doing gooddeeds. When only a miracle leads a person to acknowledgment of God and toadoration and piety, he acts from the natural and not the spiritual man. For a miracle infuses belief by an external and not an internal way, thusfrom the world and not from heaven. The Lord enters man by an internalway, by the Word and by doctrine and preaching from it. As miracles closethis way, no miracles are done today. 

132. That miracles are of this nature can be clearly established fromthose performed in the presence of the people of Judah and Israel. Although they beheld many miracles in the land of Egypt and later at theRed Sea and others in the Wilderness and particularly on Mt. Sinai whenthe Law was promulgated, nevertheless, in a month's time while Mosestarried on that mountain, they made themselves a golden calf and hailedit as Jehovah who had led them out of the land of Egypt (Ex 32:4-6). Again, it is plain from the miracles done later in the land of Canaan;nevertheless the people fell away time and again from the prescribedworship. It is equally plain from the miracles which the Lord did beforetheir eyes when He was in the world; yet they crucified Him. 

[2] Miracles were done among the Jews and Israelites because they werealtogether external men and had been brought into the land of Canaanmerely to represent a church and its eternal verities by theexternalities of worship--something a bad man as well as a good man cando. For the externals are rituals which with that people signifiedspiritual and celestial things. Indeed Aaron, although he made the goldencalf and ordered worship of it (Ex 32:2-5, 35 ), could still representthe Lord and His work of salvation. As the people could not be brought bythe internal things of worship to represent them, they were brought to doso by miracles--in fact, were driven and forced to it. 

[3] They could not be led by internals of worship because they did notacknowledge the Lord although the entire Word which they had treats ofHim alone. One who does not acknowledge the Lord cannot receive anythinginternal in worship. But miracles ceased after the Lord had manifestedHimself and was received and acknowledged as eternal God in the churches. 

133. The effect of miracles on the good and on the evil differs, however. The good do not desire miracles, but believe those in the Word. If theyhear of some miracle, they regard it only as a slight indicationconfirming their faith; for they draw their thought from the Word andthus from the Lord, and not from a miracle. It is different with theevil. They can be driven and compelled, of course, to belief, to worship, too, and to piety, but only for a little while. For their evils areenclosed, and the lusts of those evils and the enjoyments of the lustscontinually press against the outward worship and piety; and in orderthat the evils may come out of their confinement and burst forth, thewicked ponder the miracle, finally call it ridiculous and a ruse or anatural phenomenon, and so return to their evils. One who returns to hisevils after having worshiped profanes the truths and goods of worship, and the lot of profaners after death is the worst of all fates. They aremeant by the Lord's words in Matthew (12:43-45) about those whose laststate is worse than the first. Besides, if miracles were to be done forthose who have no faith from the miracles in the Word, they would have tobe done constantly and before their eyes. It may be plain from all thiswhy miracles are not done at this day. 

134. (ii) No one is reformed by visions or by communication with thedead, for they coerce. Visions are of two kinds, divine and diabolic. Divine visions are effected by representations in heaven; diabolic bymagic in hell. There are also phantasmal visions, which are illusions ofan estranged mind. Divine visions, produced as we said by representativethings in heaven, are such as the prophets had who at the time were notin the body but in the spirit, for visions cannot appear to anyone inbodily wakefulness. When these came to the prophets, therefore, it isremarked that they were "in the spirit, " as is plain from the following:

Ezekiel said, The Spirit picked me up and carried me to Chaldea to thecaptivity in a vision of God, in the spirit of God; so the vision roseover me which I saw (11:1, 24). 

Again that the Spirit bore him between earth and heaven and brought himto Jerusalem in visions of God (8:3, 4). 

He was likewise in visions of God or in the spirit when he saw fourbeasts which were cherubim (1 and 10). 

So, too, when he saw a new temple and a new earth, and an angel measuringthem (40-48 ). 

That he was in "visions of God" then, he says at 40:2, 26, and that hewas "in the spirit" at 43:5. 

[2] Zechariah was in a similar state when he saw

a horseman among myrtle trees (1:8 ff)

four horns (1:18) and a man with a measuring line in his hand (2:1-3 ff )

a candlestick and two olive trees (4:1 ff)

a flying roll and an ephah (5:1, 6)

four chariots coming out between two mountains, and horses (8:1 ff). 

In a like state was Daniel when he saw

four beasts coming up from the sea (7:1 ff )

a combat between a ram and a he-goat (8:1 ff). 

That he saw these things "in the vision of his spirit" is stated at 7:1, 2, 7, 13; 8:2; 10:1, 7, 8, and that the angel Gabriel was seen by him ina "vision" at 9:21. 

[3] John was also in the vision of the spirit when he beheld what he hasdescribed in the Apocalypse, as when he saw

seven candlesticks and the Son of man in the midst of them (1:12-16)

a throne in heaven, and One sitting on the throne, and around it fourbeasts, which were cherubim (4)

the book of life taken by the Lamb (5)

horses coming out from the book (6)

seven angels with trumpets (8)

the pit of the abyss opened, and locusts coming out a dragon, and itsbattle with Michael (12)

two beasts, rising, one from the sea and the other from the land (13)

a woman seated on a scarlet beast (17)

Babylon destroyed (18)

a white horse, and One seated on it (19)

a new heaven and a new earth, and the holy Jerusalem descending fromheaven (21)

the river of the water of life (22). 

That he saw these "in the vision of the spirit" is said 1:10; 4:2; 5:1;6:1; 21:1, 2. 

[4] Such were the visions which appeared from heaven to the sight of thespirit of these men, but not to their bodily sight. Such visions do notoccur at this day because if they did, they would not be understoodinasmuch as they are produced by representations the details of whichsignify internal things of the church and arcana of heaven. Daniel alsoforetold (9:24) that they would cease when the Lord came into the world. 

Diabolic visions, however, have occurred at times, incited by fanaticaland visionary spirits who in their delirium called themselves the HolySpirit. But those spirits have now been gathered together by the Lord andcast into a hell separate from the hells of others. There are alsophantasmal visions which are merely the illusions of an estranged mind. 

All this makes clear that no one can be reformed by any visions otherthan those in the Word. 

134 r. The fact that no one is reformed by communication with the dead isplain from the Lord's words about the rich man in hell and Lazarus inAbraham's bosom. 

For the rich man said, I ask you, father Abraham, to send Lazarus to myfather's house, for I have five brothers, to testify to them lest theyalso come into this place of torment. Abraham said to him, They haveMoses and the prophets; let them hear them. But he said, No, fatherAbraham, but if some one will go to them from the dead, they will repent. He replied, If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, they will not bepersuaded either if one should arise from the dead (Lu 16:27-31). 

Communication with the dead would have the same result as miracles (ofwhich just above), namely, that a man would be influenced and driven intoworship for a short time. But as this deprives a man of rationality andat the same time shuts his evils in, as was said above, the captivationor the inward bond is undone, and the imprisoned evils break out, withblasphemy and profanation; this last occurs, however, only when spiritsintroduce something dogmatic from religion, which is never done by a goodspirit, still less by an angel of heaven. 

135. Nevertheless, speech with spirits--rarely with angels of heaven--ispossible and has been granted to many for ages. When it is granted, spirits speak with a man in his native tongue and briefly. And those whospeak with the Lord's permission never say anything that takes away thefreedom of the reason, nor do they instruct, for the Lord alone teachesman, doing so by means of the Word to the man's enlightenment (of this innumbers to come). I have been given to know this in my own experience. Ihave spoken with spirits and angels for many years now. No spirit hasdared and no angel has wished to tell me, still less to instruct me, about things in the Word or about any of its doctrine. The Lord alone hastaught me, who revealed Himself to me and afterwards continued to appearto me as He does now, as the Sun in which He is, as He appears to theangels, and He has enlightened me. 

136. (iii) _No one is reformed by threats or penalties, as these coerce. _It is known that the external cannot compel the internal, but theinternal can compel the external; also that the internal refuses to becoerced by the external and turns away. It is likewise known thatexternal enjoyments entice the assent and love of the internal; and itmay also be known that there is a forced internal and a free internal. But all this, though known, needs to be lighted up, for much on beingheard is perceived at once to be so, because it is truth and hence isaffirmed, but if it is not confirmed by reasons, it can be weakened byarguments from fallacies and finally denied. What we have said is known, is therefore to be taken up afresh and established rationally. 

[2] First: _The external cannot compel the internal, but the internal cancompel the external. _ Who can be forced to believe or love? One can nomore be compelled to believe than he can be compelled to think thatsomething is so when he thinks it is not so, or to love than to willsomething that he does not will; belief attaches to thought, and love tothe will. The internal can be compelled, however, by what is external notto speak improperly against the laws of a kingdom, the morals of life orthe sanctities of the church. The internal can be compelled to this bythreats and penalties and is compelled and should be. But this is not thespecifically human internal, but one which the human being shares withbeasts; they can also be compelled. The human internal resides above thisanimal internal. Here the human internal which cannot be coerced ismeant. 

[3] Second: _The internal refuses to be coerced by the external and turnsaway. _ The reason is that the internal wills to be in freedom and lovesfreedom. For, as was shown, freedom attaches to man's love and life. Whenthe internal feels it is being subjected to compulsion, therefore, itwithdraws as it were into itself, averts itself, and regards thecompulsion as its enemy. For the love which makes man's life is irritatedand causes him to think that he is then not himself and has no life ofhis own. The internal of the human being is of this nature by the law ofthe Lord's divine providence that he shall act from freedom in accordwith reason. 

[4] Plainly, then, it does harm to compel men to divine worship bythreats and penalties. Some permit themselves to be forced to religion, some do not. Many who do are adherents of Catholicism; but this is thecase with those in whom there is nothing internal in worship, but all isexternal. Among those who do not allow themselves to be coerced are manyof the English nation, and as a result there is what is internal in theirworship and what is external is from the internal. Their interiors inrespect to religion appear in the light of the spiritual world likebright clouds, but those of the former like dark clouds. The one and theother appearance is to be seen in that world, and one who wishes may seeit when he enters that world on death. Furthermore, enforced worshipshuts one's evils in, which are hidden then like fire in wood under asheswhich keeps stirring and spreading until it bursts into flame. Butworship, not enforced but spontaneous, does not shut evils in; these aretherefore like a fire that flares up and goes out. Thence it is plainthat the internal refuses to be forced by the external and turns away. The internal can compel the external because it is like a master and theexternal like a servant. 

[5] Third: _External enjoyments entice assent and love from theinternal. _ Enjoyments are of two kinds, of the understanding or of thewill. Enjoyments of the understanding are also enjoyments of wisdom, andthose of the will also enjoyments of love; for wisdom belongs to theunderstanding and love to the will. Enjoyments of the body or of thesenses, which are external pleasures, act as one with the internalenjoyments, which are enjoyments of the understanding and the will. Therefore, just as the internal is so averse to compulsion by theexternal as to turn away, it looks so kindly on enjoyment in the externalthat it turns to it. Assent follows on the part of the understanding, andlove on the part of the will. 

[6] In the spiritual world all children are introduced by the Lord intoangelic wisdom and through this into heavenly love by delightful andcharming means, first by pretty things in the home and the charms of agarden; then by representations of spiritual things affecting theinteriors of their minds with pleasure; and finally by truths of wisdomand goods of love. Thus they are steadily led by enjoyments in due order, first by the enjoyments of a love of the understanding and of its wisdom, and then by the enjoyments of the love of the will which is their life'slove, to which all else that has entered through enjoyment is keptsubordinate. 

[7] This is done because the will and understanding must all be formed bywhat is external before they are formed by what is internal, for they areformed first by what enters by the physical senses, chiefly the sight andthe hearing; then when a first will and understanding have been formed, the internal of thought regards them as the externals of its thinking, and either joins itself to them or separates itself from them, as theyare or are not enjoyable to it. 

[8] It should be well understood, however, that the internal of theunderstanding does not unite itself to the internal of the will, but itis the latter that unites itself to the former and causes reciprocalunion. This is done by the internal of the will, not at all by theinternal of the understanding. Hence it is that man cannot be reformed byfaith alone, but by the love of the will which makes a faith for itself. 

[9] Fourth: _There is a forced internal and a free one. _ A forcedinternal is found in those who are in external worship only and in nonethat is internal. Their internal consists of thinking and willing whatthe external is coerced to. Such are persons who worship living or deadmen or idols, or who rest their faith on miracles. No internal ispossible with them which is not at the same time external. And yet aforced internal is possible with persons in internal worship; it may beforced by fear or compelled by love. That forced by fear is found inthose who worship for fear of the torment and fire of hell. This internalis not the internal of thought of which we have treated, however, but anexternal of thought called internal here because it partakes of thought. The internal of thought of which we have treated cannot be forced by anyfear; it can be compelled by love and by fear of failing to love. In thetrue sense fear of God is nothing else. To be compelled by love and bythe fear of failing in it is self-compulsion, and self-compulsion, itwill be seen in what follows, is not contrary to freedom and rationality. 

137. It is plain then what forced worship and unforced worship are like. Forced worship is corporeal, inanimate, obscure and sad--corporeal becauseit is of the body and not of the mind; inanimate because it has no lifein it; obscure for lack of understanding in it; and sad because it doesnot have the joy of heaven in it. But worship not forced and real isspiritual, living, seeing and joyful--spiritual, because spirit from theLord is in it; living, because life from Him is in it; seeing becausewisdom from Him is in it; and joyful because heaven from Him is in it. 

138. (iv) _No one is reformed in states of no liberty or rationality. _ Weshowed above that only what a man does in freedom according to reason ismade his. This is because freedom belongs to the will and reason to theunderstanding; acting in freedom in accord with reason a man acts fromthe will by the understanding and what is done in the union of the two isappropriated. Now, since the Lord wills that a man be reformed andregenerated in order that eternal life or the life of heaven may be his, and none can be reformed or regenerated unless good is appropriated tohis will and truth to his understanding as if they were his, and onlythat can be appropriated which is done in freedom of the will and inaccord with the reason of the understanding, no one is reformed in statesof no freedom or rationality. There are many such states, but they may besummarized as states of fear, misfortune, mental illness, physicaldisease, ignorance, and intellectual blindness. Something will be said ofeach. 

139. No one is reformed in a _state of fear_ because fear takes awayfreedom and reason or liberty and rationality. Love opens the mind'sinteriors but fear closes them, and when they are closed man thinkslittle and only what comes to the lower mind or to the senses. All fearsthat assail the lower mind have this effect. 

[2] We showed above that man has an internal and an external of thought. Fear can never invade the internal of thought; this is always in freedom, being in a man's life-love. But it can invade the external of thought. When it does, the internal of thought is closed and thereupon man can nolonger act in freedom in accord with his reason, nor be reformed. 

[3] The fear which invades the external of thought and closes theinternal is chiefly fear of losing standing or profit. Fear of civilpenalties or of outward ecclesiastical penalties does not close theinternal, for the laws respecting them pronounce penalties only on thosewho speak and act contrary to the civil requirements of the kingdom andthe spiritual of the church, but not on those who think contrary to them. 

[4] Fear of infernal punishment invades the external of thought, to besure, but only for some moments, hours or days; it is soon restored toits freedom by the internal of thought, which is man's spirit andlife-love and is called thought of the heart. 

[5] Fear of losing one's standing or wealth, however, does invade man'sexternal of thought, and when it does, closes the internal of thoughtabove to influx from heaven and makes it impossible for man to bereformed. This is because everyone's life-love from birth is love of selfand the world, and self-love is at one with the love of position, andlove of the world with the love of wealth. When a man has position orwealth, therefore, for fear of losing them he strengthens the means athand--whether civil or churchly and in either case means to power--whichserve him for position and wealth. The man who does not yet have standingor wealth but aspires to them, does the same, but for fear he will losethe reputation they give. 

[6] It was said that this fear seizes on the external of thought andcloses the internal above to heaven's inflowing. The internal is said tobe closed when it makes one completely with the external, as it is thennot in itself but in the external. 

[7] But as the loves of self and the world are infernal loves and thefountain-heads of all evils, it is plain what the internal of thought initself is like with men in whom those loves reign and are their life'sloves, namely, that it is full of lusts of evils of every kind. 

[8] This men do not know who fear loss of place and opulence and arestrongly persuaded of their special religion, most particularly if thispromises that they may be worshiped as holy and also as governors ofhell; they can blaze, as it were, with zeal for the salvation of soulsand yet this is from infernal fire. As this fear especially takes awayrationality itself and liberty itself, which have a heavenly origin, plainly it makes against the possibility that a man may be reformed. 

140. No one is reformed in a _state of misfortune_ if he thinks about Godand implores help only then, for it is a coerced state; wherefore, oncoming into a free state he returns to his former state when he thoughtlittle if at all about God. It is different with those who feared God ina state of freedom previously. For by "fearing God" is meant fearing tooffend Him, and by "offending Him" to sin, and this comes not from fearbut from love. Does not one who loves another fear to hurt him? And themore he loves him, the more he fears hurting him? Lacking this fear, loveis insipid and superficial, of the mind only and not of the will. Bystates of misfortune states of despair in danger are meant, in battles, for example, duels, shipwreck, falls, fires, threatening or unexpectedloss of property, also of office or standing, and similar mishaps. Tothink about God only then is not to think from God but from self. Forthen the mind is as it were imprisoned in the body, so is not in freedomnor possessed then of rationality, and without these reformation isimpossible. 

141. No one is reformed in _a state of mental illness_ because suchillness takes away rationality and thus the liberty of acting in accordwith reason. The whole mind is sick and not sane; the sane mind isrational, but not a sick one. Such disorders are melancholy, a spuriousor a false conscience, fantasies of different kinds, mental grief overmisfortune, anxiety and anguish of the mind over a bodily defect. Sometimes these are regarded as temptations, but they are not. Genuinetemptations have spiritual objects in view and in them the mind is wise, but these states are concerned with natural objects and in them the mindis disordered. 

142. No one is reformed in _a state of bodily sickness_ because hisreason is not then in a state of freedom; the state of the mind dependson that of the body. When the body is sick, the mind is also, if for noother reason because it is withdrawn from the world. Withdrawn from theworld it thinks indeed about God but not from Him, for it is notpossessed of freedom of the reason. Man has this freedom in being midwaybetween heaven and the world, thus can think from heaven and from theworld, likewise from heaven about the world and from the world aboutheaven. So when he is ill and thinks about death and the state of hissoul after death, he is not in the world but is withdrawn in spirit. Inthis state by itself no one can be reformed, but he can be strengthenedin it if he was reforming before he fell ill. 

[2] It is similar with those who renounce the world and all occupation init and give themselves only to thoughts about God, heaven and salvation;on this further elsewhere. If those of whom we were speaking have notbeen reformed before their illness, then if they die they become such asthey were before their illness. It is vain, therefore, to suppose thatone can repent or receive some faith in illness; for no deed accompaniesthe repentance, and there is no charity in the faith; each is oral onlyand not at all from the heart. 

143. No one is reformed in _a state of ignorance, _ for all reformation isby truths and a life according to them. Therefore those who do not knowtruths cannot be reformed, but if they long for them with affection forthem, after they die they undergo reformation in the spiritual world. 

144. Nor can one be reformed in _a state of blindness of theunderstanding. _ These also have no knowledge of truths or consequently oflife, for the understanding must teach truths and the will must do them;when the will does what the understanding teaches, a man has life inaccord with truths. When the understanding is blind, however, the willalso is indifferent and acts in freedom according to one's reason only todo the evil confirmed in the understanding, and the confirmation isfalsity. Besides ignorance, a religion which teaches a blind faith alsoblinds the understanding; so does a false doctrine. For just as truthsopen the understanding, falsities close it. They close it above and openit below, and opened only below, the understanding cannot see truths butonly confirm what a man wills, falsity especially. The understanding isalso blinded by lusts of evil. As long as the will is in these, it movesthe understanding to confirm them, and so far as they are confirmed, thewill cannot be in affections of good, from these see truths, and so bereformed. 

[2] Take, for instance, one who is in the lust of adultery: his will, which is in the enjoyment of his love, moves his understanding to confirmit, saying, "What is adultery? Is there any evil in it? Does not the likeoccur between husband and wife? Cannot offspring be born of it, too?Cannot a woman receive more than one without harm? How does anythingspiritual enter into this?" So thinks the understanding which is then thecourtesan of the will. So stupid is it made by debauchery with the willthat it is unable to see that marital love is spiritual and heavenly loveitself, a reflection of the love between the Lord and the church fromwhich it is derived; is in itself sacred and chastity itself, purity andinnocence; causes men to be forms of love, since partners can love eachother from inmosts and so form themselves into loves; nor can it see thatadultery destroys this form and with it the Lord's image; and what isabhorrent, that the adulterer mingles his life with that of the husbandin the wife, for a man's life is in the seed. 

[3] Because this is profane, hell is called adultery, and heaven on theother hand is called marriage. Furthermore, the love of adulterycommunicates with the lowest hell, but true marital love with the inmostheaven; the reproductive organs of both sexes also correspond tosocieties of the inmost heaven. These things are adduced so that it maybe known how blinded the understanding is when the will is in the lust ofevil, and that no one can be reformed in a state of blindness of theunderstanding. 

145. (v) _Self-compulsion is not contrary to rationality and liberty. _ Wehave shown that man has an internal and an external of thought; that theyare distinguishable as prior and subsequent or higher and lower; and thatbeing so distinct they can act separately and also jointly. They actseparately when a man speaks and acts from the external of his thoughtotherwise than he thinks and wills inwardly; they act jointly when hespeaks and acts as he thinks and wills. The latter is common with thesincere, the former with the insincere. 

[2] Inasmuch as the internal and the external of the mind are sodistinct, the internal can even fight with the external and by combatdrive it to compliance. Conflict arises when the man deems evils to besins and resolves to desist from them. When he desists, a door is openedand the lusts of evil which have occupied the internal of thought arecast out by the Lord and affections of good are implanted in their place. This occurs in the internal of thought. But the enjoyments of evil lustwhich occupy the external of thought cannot be cast out at the same time;conflict arises therefore between the internal and the external ofthought. The internal wants to cast out those enjoyments because they areenjoyments of evil and do not agree with the affections of good in whichthe internal now is, and wants to introduce in their place enjoyments ofgood which do agree. These are what are called goods of charity. From thedisagreement comes the conflict which, if it grows severe, is calledtemptation. 

[3] Now as man is man by virtue of the internal of his thought, for thisis his very spirit, obviously he compels himself when he compels theexternal of his thought to comply or to receive the enjoyments of hisaffections or the goods of charity. Plainly this is not contrary torationality and liberty but in accord with them; rationality starts thecombat and liberty follows it up; liberty itself resides with rationalityin the internal man and from that in the external. 

[4] Accordingly, when the internal conquers, which it does when it hasreduced the external to compliance and obedience, man is given libertyitself and rationality itself by the Lord, for he is delivered by theLord then from infernal freedom which in itself is enslavement, isbrought into heavenly freedom which is freedom in itself, and is givenassociation with angels. The Lord Himself teaches ( John 8:31-36) thatthose who are in sins are enslaved and that He delivers those who receivetruth from Him through the Word. 

146. Let an example serve for illustration. A man who has taken pleasurein defrauding and deceiving sees and inwardly acknowledges it to be sinand resolves to desist from it; with this a battle begins of his internalwith the external. The internal man is in an affection for honesty, butthe external still in the enjoyment of defrauding. This enjoyment, utterly opposed to enjoyment in honesty, does not give way unless forcedto do so and can be forced to do so only by combat with it. When thefight is won, the external man comes into the enjoyment of a love ofhonesty, which is charity. Then the pleasure of defrauding graduallyturns unpleasant to him. It is the same with all other sins, withadultery and whoredom, revenge and hatred, blasphemy and lying. The mostdifficult battle of all is with the love of ruling from self-love. Aperson who subdues this love, easily subdues all other evil loves, forthis is their summit. 

147. Let it be told briefly how the Lord casts out lusts of eviloccupying the internal man from birth and in their place bestowsaffections of good when a man on his part removes the evils as sins. Itwas shown earlier that man possesses a natural, a spiritual and acelestial mind, that he is only in the natural mind as long as he is inlusts of evil and their enjoyments, and that during this time thespiritual mind is closed. But as soon as a man on self-examinationconfesses evils to be sins against God because they are contrary todivine laws and accordingly resolves to desist from them, the Lord opensthe spiritual mind, enters the natural by affections of truth and good, enters the reason, and by the reason puts into order what is disorderedbelow in the natural. It is this that strikes the man as a battle, andstrikes those who have indulged much in enjoyments of evil as temptation, for when the order of its thinking is inverted the lower mind sufferspain. 

Inasmuch as the battle is against what is in the man himself and what hefeels to be his, and no one can fight against himself except from a moreinterior self and from freedom in it, it follows that the internal manfights against the external and does so from freedom, and compels theexternal to obey. This, then, is compelling oneself, and, clearly, it isnot contrary to liberty and rationality, but in accord with them. 

148. Everyone desires to be free, moreover, and to be rid of the unfreeor servitude. The boy under a master wishes to be his own master and thusfree; so every man-servant under his master or maid under her mistress. Every girl wishes to leave the paternal home and marry, to do freely in ahome of her own; and every boy who desires to work, enter business, orhold some position wishes to be released from his subordination to othersand to be at his own disposal. All of these who serve willingly in orderto be free compel themselves, and in doing so act from freedom accordingto reason but from an inner freedom, by which outward freedom is regardedas servant. We add this to confirm the fact that self-compulsion is notcontrary to rationality and liberty. 

149. One reason why man does not wish in like manner to come out ofspiritual servitude into spiritual freedom is that he does not know whateither is; he does not have the truths to teach this, and without themspiritual servitude is believed to be freedom and spiritual freedom to beservitude. A second reason is that the religion of Christendom has closedthe understanding, and "faith alone" has sealed it shut. Each has builtan iron wall around itself in the dogma that theological matterstranscend and cannot be approached by the reason, but are for the blindand not the seeing. So truths that would teach what spiritual liberty ishave been hidden. A third reason is that few examine themselves and seetheir sins, and one who does not see and quit them is in the freedom thatsins have, which is infernal freedom, in itself enslavement. To viewheavenly freedom, which is genuine freedom, from that freedom is liketrying to see daylight in pitch darkness or sunshine from under a blackcloud. So it happens that it is not known what heavenly freedom is, orthat the difference between it and infernal freedom is like thedifference between what is living and what is dead. 

150. (vi) The external man is to be reformed by the internal, and not theother way about. By internal and external man the same is meant as byexternal and internal of thought, of which frequently before. Theexternal must be reformed by the internal because the internal flows intothe external and not the reverse. The learned world knows that what isspiritual flows into what is natural and not the reverse, for reasondictates it; the church knows that the internal man must first becleansed and made new and the external by it then, because the Lordteaches it. He does so in the words:

Woe to you . . . Hypocrites, for you make the outside of the cup andplatter clean, but the inside is full of extortion and excess. BlindPharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and platter that theoutside may also be made clean (Mt 23:25, 26). 

We have shown in a number of places in the treatise _Divine Love andWisdom_ that reason dictates this. For what the Lord teaches He grantsman to see rationally. This a man does in two ways: in one, he sees inhimself that something is so upon hearing it; in the other, he grasps itby reasons for it. Seeing in oneself takes place in the internal man, andunderstanding through reasoning in the external man. Who does notperceive it within himself when he hears that the internal man is to bepurified first and the external by it? But one who does not receive thegeneral idea of this by influx from heaven may go astray when he consultsthe external of this thought; from it alone no one sees but that outwardworks of charity and piety are saving apart from the internal. It is soin other things, as that sight and hearing flow into thought, and smelland taste into perception, that is, that the external flows into theinternal, when the contrary is true. The appearance that what is seen andheard flows into the thought is a fallacy, for the understanding does theseeing in the eye and the hearing in the ear, and not the other wayabout. So it is in all else. 

151. But something should be said here on how the internal man isreformed and by it the external. The internal man is not reformed solelyby knowing, understanding and being wise, consequently not by thinkingonly; but by willing what these teach. When a person knows, understandsand has the wisdom to see that heaven and hell exist and that all evil isfrom hell and all good from heaven, and if he then does not will evilbecause it is from hell but good because it is from heaven, he has takenthe first step in reformation and is on the threshold from hell toheaven. When he advances farther and resolves to desist from evils, he isat the second step in reformation and is out of hell but not yet inheaven; this he beholds above him. There must be this internal for man tobe reformed, but he is not reformed unless the external is reformed aswell as the internal. The external is reformed by the internal when theexternal desists from the evils which the internal sets its will againstbecause they are infernal, and still further reformed when the externalshuns and fights against the evils. Thus the internal provides the will, the external the deed. For unless a man does the deed he wills, inwardlyhe does not will it, and finally he wills not to do it. 

[2] One can see from these few considerations how the external man isreformed by the internal. This is also meant by the Lord's words toPeter:

Jesus said, If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me. Peter said toHim, not my feet only but my hands and head. Jesus said to him, he whohas been washed has no need except to have his feet washed, and isentirely clean (Jn 13:8-10). 

By "washing" spiritual washing is meant, which is purification fromevils; by "washing head and hands" purifying the internal man is meant, and by "washing the feet" purifying the external. That when the internalman has been purified, the external must be, is meant by this: "He whohas been washed has no need except to have his feet washed. " That allpurification from evils is the Lord's doing, is meant by this, "If I donot wash you, you have no part with Me. " We have shown in many places in_Arcana Caelestia_ that with the Jews washing represented purificationfrom evils, that this is signified by "washing" in the Word, and thatpurification of the natural or external man is signified by the "washingof feet. "

152. Since man has an internal and an external and each must be reformedfor the man to be reformed, and since no one can be reformed unless heexamines himself, sees and admits his evils, and then quits them, notonly the external is to be examined, but the internal as well. If a manexamines only the external he sees only what he has committed to deed, and that he has not murdered or committed adultery or stolen or bornefalse witness, and so on. He examines bodily evils and not those in hisspirit; yet evils of the spirit are to be examined if one is to becapable of reformation. Man lives as a spirit after death and all theevils in his spirit persist. The spirit is examined only when a manattends to his thoughts, above all to his intentions, for these arethoughts from the will. There the evils exist at their source and roots, that is, in their lusts and enjoyments. Unless they are seen andacknowledged, a man is still in evils though he may not have committedthem outwardly. That to think with intention is to will and do, is plainfrom the Lord's words:

If any one has looked on another's woman to lust after her, he hasalready committed adultery with her in his heart (Mt 5:28). *

* See footnote at n. 111. 

Such self-examination is of the internal man, and from it the externalman is truly examined. 

153. I have often marveled that although all Christendom knows that evilsmust be shunned as sins and otherwise are not forgiven, and that if theyare not forgiven there is no salvation, yet scarcely one person amongthousands understands this. Inquiry was made about this in the spiritualworld, and it was found to be so. Anyone in Christendom knows it from theexhortations, read out to those who attend the Holy Supper, in which itis publicly stated; and yet when asked whether they know it, they replythat they do not know it and have not known it. The reason is that theyhave paid no attention to it, and most say they have thought only aboutfaith and salvation by faith alone. I have also marveled that "faithalone" has closed their eyes so that those who have confirmed themselvesin it do not see anything in the Word when they read it about love, charity and works. It is as though they spread "faith" all over the Word, as red lead is spread over writing so that nothing underneath shows; ifanything does show, it is absorbed by faith and declared to be faith. 

VIII. IT IS A LAW OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHALL BE LED AND TAUGHTBY THE LORD OUT OF HEAVEN BY MEANS OF THE WORD AND DOCTRINE AND PREACHINGFROM IT, AND THIS TO ALL APPEARANCE AS OF HIMSELF

154. The appearance is that man is led and taught by himself; in realityhe is led and taught by the Lord alone. Those who confirm the appearancein themselves and not the reality at the same time are unable to removeevils from themselves as sins, but those who confirm the appearance andat the same time the reality can do so; for evils are removed as sinsapparently by the man, but really by the Lord. The latter can bereformed, but the former cannot. 

[2] All who confirm the appearance in themselves and not the realityalso, are idolaters inwardly, for they are worshipers of self and theworld. If they have no religion they become worshipers of nature and thusatheists; if they have some religion they become worshipers of men and ofimages. Such are meant now in the first commandment of the Decalog underthose who worship other gods. Those, however, who confirm in themselvesthe appearance and also the reality become worshipers of the Lord, for Heraises them out of what is their own, in which the appearance is, conducts them into the light in which the reality is and which is thereality, and gives them to perceive inwardly that they are not led andtaught by themselves but by Him. 

[3] The rational capacity of the two may seem much the same to many, butit differs. In those who are at once in the appearance and the reality, it is a spiritual reasoning ability, but in those in the appearance butnot at the same time in the reality it is a natural reasoning ability;this can be likened to a garden in winter light, and the spiritualreasoning capacity to a garden in springtime light. But If these thingsmore in what follows, in this order:

i. Man is led and taught by the Lord alone. Ii. He is led and taught by the Lord alone through and from the angelicheaven. Iii. He is led by the Lord through influx and taught throughenlightenment. Iv. Man is taught by the Lord through the Word and doctrine and preachingfrom it, thus immediately by Him alone. V. Man is led and taught in externals by the Lord to all appearance as ofhimself. 

155. (i) _Man is led and taught by the Lord alone. _ This flows as ageneral consequence from all that was demonstrated in the treatise_Divine Love and Wisdom;_ from what was said in Part I about the Lord'sdivine love and wisdom; in Part II about the sun of the spiritual worldand the sun of the natural world; in Part III about degrees; in Part IVabout the creation of the universe; and in Part V about the creation ofthe human being. 

156. Man is led and taught by the Lord alone in that he lives from theLord alone; for his life's will is led, and his life's understanding istaught. But this is contrary to the appearance, for it seems to man thathe lives of himself, and yet the truth is that he lives from the Lord andnot from himself. Man cannot, however, be given a sense-perception ofthis while he is in the world (the appearance that he lives of himself isnot taken away, for without it man is not man). This must be establishedby reasons, therefore, which are then to be confirmed from experience andfinally from the Word. 

157. That the human being has life from the Lord alone and not of himselfis established by these considerations: 1. There is an only essence, substance and form from which all the essences, substances, and formsexist that have been created. 2. The one essence, substance and form isdivine love and wisdom from which is all that is referable to love andwisdom in man. 3. It is also good itself and truth itself to which allthings are referable. 4. Likewise it is life, from which is the life ofall and all things of life. 5. Again the only One and very Self isomnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. 6. This only One and very Self isthe Lord-from-eternity or Jehovah. 

[2] 1. _There is an only essence, substance and form from which all theessences, substances, and forms exist that have been created. _ This wasdemonstrated in the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom_ (nn. 44-46). In PartII it was shown that the sun of the angelic heaven, which is from theLord and in which He is, is the one sole substance and form from whichall that has been created exists, also that nothing can exist or comeinto existence except from it. In Part III it was shown that all thingsarise from that sun by derivations according to degrees. 

[3] Who does not perceive by the reason and acknowledge that there issome one essence from which is all essence, or one being from which isall being? What can exist apart from being, and what can being be fromwhich is all other being except being itself? Being itself is also uniqueand is being in itself. Since this is so (and anyone perceives andacknowledges it by reason, or if not, can do so), what else follows thanthat this Being, the Divine itself, Jehovah, is all in all in what is orcomes to be?

[4] It is the same if we say there is an only substance from which allthings are, and as there is no substance without form there is a singleform from which all things are. We have shown in the treatise mentionedabove that the sun of the angelic heaven is that substance and form, alsoshown how that essence, substance and form is varied in things created. 

[5] 2. _The one essence, substance and form is divine love and wisdomfrom which is all that is referable to love and wisdom in man. _ This alsowas fully demonstrated in the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom. _ Whateverappears to live in man is referable to will and understanding in him;any-one can perceive by the reason and acknowledge that these twoconstitute his life. What else is "This I will, " or "This I understand, "or "I love this, " or "I think this"? And as man wills what he loves, andthinks what he understands, all things of the will relate to love andthose of the understanding to wisdom. As no one has love or wisdom fromhimself but only from Him who is love itself and wisdom itself, they arefrom the Lord-from-eternity or Jehovah. If they were not, man would belove itself and wisdom itself, thus God-from-eternity, at which the humanreason itself is horrified. Can anything exist except from a prior self?Or the prior self exist except from one prior to it? And finally from afirst or from underived being?

[6] 3. _It is also good itself and truth itself, to which all things arereferable. _ Everyone possessed of reason agrees and acknowledges that Godis good itself and truth itself, likewise that all good and truth arefrom Him, therefore that any good and truth can come only from gooditself and truth itself. All this is acknowledged by every rationalperson when he first hears it. When it is said, then, that everything ofthe will and understanding, of love and wisdom, or of affection andthought in a man who is led by the Lord relates to good and truth, itfollows that all that such a man wills and understands or loves and hasfor his wisdom, or is affected by and thinks, is from the Lord. Henceanyone in the church knows that whatever good and truth a man has inhimself is not good and truth except as it is from the Lord. Since thisis true, all that such a man wills and thinks is from the Lord. It willbe seen in following numbers that an evil man can will and think from noother source. 

[7] 4. _The one essence, substance and form is likewise life, from whichis the life of all and all things of life. _ This we have shown in manyplaces in the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom. _ At the first hearing thehuman reason also agrees and acknowledges that all man's life is that ofthe will and understanding, for if these are taken away he ceases tolive, or what is the same, that all his life is one of love and thought, for if these are taken away he does not live. Inasmuch as all of the willand understanding or all of love and thought in man is from the Lord, allof his life, as we said above, is from Him. 

[8] 5. _This only One and very Self is omnipresent, omniscient andomnipotent. _ This also every Christian acknowledges from his doctrine andevery gentile from his religion. In consequence, wherever he is, a manthinks that God is there and that he prays to God at hand; thinking andpraying so, men cannot but think that God is everywhere, that is, omnipresent; likewise omniscient and omnipotent. Everyone praying to God, therefore, implores Him from the heart to lead him because He can leadhim; thus he acknowledges the divine omnipresence, omniscience andomnipotence, doing so in turning his face to the Lord; thereupon thetruth flows in from the Lord. 

[9] 6. This only One and very Self is the Lord-from-eternity or Jehovah. In Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the Lord it was shown that God isone in essence and in person and that He is the Lord, and that the Divineitself, called Jehovah Father, is the Lord-from-eternity; that the DivineHuman is the Son conceived by His Divine from eternity and born in theworld; and that the proceeding Divine is the Holy Spirit. He is called"very Self" and "only One" because, as was said, the Lord-from-eternityor Jehovah is life itself, being love itself and wisdom itself or gooditself and truth itself, from which are all things. That the Lord createdall things from Himself and not from nothing may be seen in the treatise_Divine Love and Wisdom_ nn. 282-284, 349-357. So the truth that thehuman being is led and taught by the Lord alone is established byreasons. 

158. This same truth is established in angels not only by reasons butalso by living perceptions, especially with angels of the third heaven. They perceive the influx of divine love and wisdom from the Lord. Perceiving it and in their wisdom aware that love and wisdom are life, they declare that they live from the Lord and not of themselves, and notonly say so but love and will it so. Yet they are in the full appearancethat they live of themselves, yes, more strongly in the appearance thanother angels. For as was shown above (nn. 42-45) the more nearly one isunited with the Lord, the more distinctly does he seem to himself to behis own, and the more plainly is he aware that he is the Lord's. For manyyears now it has been granted me to be in a similar simultaneousperception and appearance, and I am fully convinced that I will and thinknothing from myself but that it only appears to be from myself; it hasalso been granted to love and will it so. The same truth may beestablished by much else from the spiritual world, but these tworeferences must suffice now. 

159. It is plain from the following passages in the Word that life is theLord's alone. 

I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, shall live (Jn 11:25). 

I am the way and the truth and the life (Jn 14:6). 

The Word was God . . . And in Him was life; and the life was the light ofmen (Jn 1:1, 4). 

"The Word" in this passage is the Lord. 

As the Father has life in Himself, so has he given the Son to have lifein Himself (Jn 5:26). 

From the following it is clear that man is led and taught by the Lordalone:

Without Me you can do nothing (Jn 15:5). 

A man cannot receive anything unless it is given him from heaven (Jn3:27). 

A man cannot make one hair white or black (Mt 5:36). 

By "hair" in the Word the least of all is signified. 

160. It will be shown in what follows in an article of its own that thelife of the wicked has the same source; now this will merely beillustrated by a comparison. Heat and light flow in from the sun of theworld alike to trees bearing bad fruit and to trees bearing good fruit, and they are alike quickened and grow. The forms into which the heatflows make the difference, not the heat in itself. It is the same withlight, which is turned into various colors according to the forms intowhich it flows. The colors are beautiful and gay or ugly and sombre, andyet it is the same light. It is so with the influx of spiritual heatwhich in itself is love, and with spiritual light which in itself iswisdom, from the sun of the spiritual world. The forms into which theyflow cause diversity, but not in itself that heat which is love or thatlight which is wisdom. The forms into which these flow are human minds. It is clear from these considerations that man is led and taught by theLord alone. 

161. What the life of animals is, however, was shown above (nn. 74, 96), namely that it is a life of merely natural affection with its attendantknowledge, and a mediated life corresponding to the life of human beingsin the spiritual world. 

162. (ii) _Man is led and taught by the Lord alone through the angelicheaven and from it. _ We say "through" the angelic heaven and from it, butthat He does so "through" the angelic heaven is the apparent fact, while"from it" is the reality. The Lord seems to lead and teach through theangelic heaven because He appears above that heaven as a sun, but thereality is that He does so from heaven because He is in heaven as thesoul is in man. For the Lord is omnipresent and not in space, as wasshown above. Therefore distance is an appearance according to conjunctionwith Him, and the conjunction is according to the reception of love andwisdom from Him. Since no one can be conjoined to the Lord as He existsin Himself He appears to angels at a distance as a sun; nevertheless Heis in the angelic heaven as the soul is in man. He is similarly in everysociety of heaven and in every angel, for man's soul is not only the soulof man as a whole but also of every part of him. 

[2] It is according to the appearance that the Lord governs all heavenand through it the world from the sun which is from Him and in which Heis (about the sun see Part II of the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom_), and everyone is allowed to speak according to the appearance, cannot, infact, do otherwise. Everyone who is not in wisdom itself is also allowedto think that the Lord rules each and all things from His sun and rulesthe world through the angelic heaven. Angels of the lower heavens thinkfrom the appearance, but those of the higher heavens speak indeed inkeeping with the appearance but think from the reality, namely, that theLord rules the universe from the angelic heaven, that is, from Himself. 

[3] One can illustrate by the sun of the world that simple and wise speakalike but do not think alike. All speak from the appearance that the sunrises and sets. Despite speaking so the wise think it stands still, whichis again the reality, as the other is the appearance. The same thing canbe illustrated from appearances in the spiritual world, for space anddistance appear there but are dissimilarities of affections and ofresulting thoughts. The same is true of the Lord's appearing in His sun. 

163. We shall say briefly how the Lord leads and teaches everyone fromthe angelic heaven. In the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom_ and above inthe present treatise, also in the work _Heaven and Hell, _ published inLondon in the year 1758, it has been made known from things seen andheard that the angelic heaven appears before the Lord as one man, andeach society of heaven likewise, and it is from this that each angel orspirit is a human being in complete form. It was also shown in thetreatises mentioned that heaven is not heaven from anything belonging tothe angels but from their reception of divine love and wisdom from theLord. Hence it may be evident that the Lord rules the whole angelicheaven as one man, and since heaven is itself man, it is the very imageand likeness of the Lord and the Lord rules it as the soul rules itsbody. Since all mankind is ruled by the Lord, it is ruled by the Lord notthrough heaven, but from heaven, consequently by Him, for He is heaven, as we have said. 

164. This is an arcanum of angelic wisdom, however, and therefore cannotbe comprehended by man unless his spiritual mind has been opened; forsuch a man, who is united with the Lord, is an angel. From what haspreceded he can comprehend the following:

1. Men as well as angels are in the Lord and the Lord in them accordingto their conjunction with Him, or, what is the same, according to theirreception of love and wisdom from Him. 2. Each of them has a place allotted to him in the Lord, thus in heaven, according to the nature of the conjunction or the reception of Him. 3. Each in his place has a state of his own distinct from that of othersand draws his portion from what is had in common according to hissituation, function and need, quite as each part does in the human body. 4. Everyone is brought into his place by the Lord according to his life. 5. Every human being is introduced from infancy into this divine manwhose soul and life is the Lord, and within it and not outside of it isled and taught from His divine love according to His divine wisdom; butas a man is not deprived of freedom, he can be led and taught only in themeasure of his receptiveness as of himself. 6. Those who are receptive are conducted to their places through aninfinite maze by winding paths, much as the chyle is carried through themesentery and the lacteal vessels there to its cistern, and from thisinto the blood by the thoracic duct, and so to its place. 7. Those who are not receptive are parted from those within the divineman, as excrement and urine are removed from man. 

These are arcana of angelic wisdom which man can comprehend to someextent; there are many more which he cannot. 

165. (iii) _Man is led by the Lord through influx and taught throughenlightenment. _ Man is led through influx by the Lord because "beingled" and "flowing in" are spoken of love and the will; and he istaught by the Lord through enlightenment because "being taught" and"enlightened" are spoken of wisdom and the understanding. It is knownthat every person is led by himself from his own love and according toit by others, and not by his understanding. He is led by hisunderstanding and according to it only as his love or his will promptsthe understanding, and then it can be said that his understanding isled also. Even then the understanding is not led, but the will whichprompts it. 

The term "influx" is used because it is commonly said that the soul flowsinto the body; influx is spiritual and not physical, as we showed above, and man's soul or life is his love or will. For another reason, influx iscomparatively like the flow of the blood into the heart and from theheart into the lungs. We showed in the treatise Divine Love and Wisdomthat the heart corresponds to the will and the lungs correspond to theunderstanding, and that the conjunction of the will with theunderstanding is like the flowing of the blood from the heart to thelungs. 

166. Man is taught, however, through enlightenment; being taught andbeing enlightened are said of the understanding. For the understanding orman's internal sight is enlightened by spiritual light quite as the eyeor man's external sight is by natural light. The two are also taughtsimilarly; the internal sight, however, which is that of theunderstanding, by spiritual objects, and the external sight or the sightof the eye by natural objects. There is spiritual light and naturallight, one like the other in outward appearance, but dissimilar ininternal appearance. For natural light comes from the sun of the naturalworld and so is in itself dead, but spiritual light, which is from thesun of the spiritual world, is in itself living. This light, notnature's, enlightens the human intellect. Natural and rational lightcomes from it and not from nature's light, and is here called natural andrational because it is spiritual-natural. 

[2] There are three degrees of light in the spiritual world: celestial, spiritual and spiritual-natural. Celestial light is a flaming, ruddylight and is the light of those who are in the third heaven; spirituallight is a gleaming white light and is the light of those in the middleheaven; and spiritual-natural light is like daylight in our world. Thisis the light of those who are in the lowest heaven and of those in theworld of spirits, which is intermediate between heaven and hell; with thegood in that world it is like the light of summer on earth and with theevil like winter's light. 

It should be known, however, that light in the spiritual world hasnothing in common with light in the natural world; they are as differentas what is living and what is lifeless. It is plain, then, from what hasbeen said that it is spiritual light and not the natural light before oureyes that enlightens the understanding. Man does not know this, nothaving known anything hitherto about spiritual light. In the work _Heavenand Hell_ we have shown (nn. 126-140) that spiritual light has its originin divine wisdom and truth. 

167. Having spoken about the light of heaven, we should say somethingabout the light of hell. This also is of three degrees. The light in thelowest hell is like that from fiery coals; in the middle hell like thatfrom the flame of a hearth; and in the highest hell like that fromcandles and to some like moonlight at night. All this is spiritual lightand not natural, for all natural light is dead and extinguishes theunderstanding. As has been shown, those in hell possess the faculty ofunderstanding called rationality; rationality itself comes from spirituallight and not from natural light. The spiritual light which they have inrationality is turned, however, into infernal light, as the light of dayis into the dark of night. 

[2] Nevertheless, all those in the spiritual world, whether in theheavens or the hells, see in their own light as clearly as man sees inhis by day. This is because everyone's eyesight is formed to receive thelight in which it finds itself. Thus the eyesight of the angels of heavenis formed to receive the light in which they see, and the sight of thespirits of hell is formed to receive their light; this is comparativelylike that of birds of night and bats, which see objects at night and inthe evening as clearly as other birds see them by day, for their eyes areformed to receive their light. 

[3] The difference between the one light and the other appears veryclearly, however, to those who look from one to the other. When, forinstance, an angel of heaven looks into hell he sees only thick darkness, and when a spirit of hell looks into heaven he sees only thick darknessthere. For heavenly wisdom is like thick darkness to those in hell; inturn, infernal insanity is like thick darkness to those in heaven. It isplain from all this that such as a man's understanding is, such is thelight he has, and that after death everyone comes into his own light, forhe sees in no other. In the spiritual world, moreover, where all arespiritual even to the body, the eyes of all are formed to see by theirown light. Everyone's life-love fashions an understanding for itself andthus a light, also, for love is like the fire of life and from this comesthe light of life. 

168. As few know anything about the enlightenment in which theunderstanding of a man is who is taught by the Lord, something will besaid of it. There is inner and outer enlightenment from the Lord, andinner and outer enlightenment from oneself. Inner enlightenment from theLord consists in man's perceiving on first hearing something whether itis true or not; outer enlightenment consists in thought from this. Innerenlightenment from oneself is simply from confirmation and outerenlightenment merely from information. We will say something of each. 

[2] By inner enlightenment from the Lord a rational person perceivesabout many things the moment he hears them whether they are true or not;for example, that love is the life of faith or that faith lives by love. By interior enlightenment a person also perceives that a man wills whathe loves and does what he wills, consequently that to love is to do;again, that a man wills and does whatever he believes from love, andtherefore to have faith is also to do; and that the impious man cannothave love for God or faith then in Him. By inner enlightenment a rationalman also perceives the following truths at once on hearing them: God isone; He is omnipresent; all good is from Him; all things have relation togood and truth; all good is from good itself and all truth from truthitself. A man perceives these and other similar truths inwardly inhimself on hearing them and does so because he possesses a rationalitywhich is in heaven's enlightening light. 

[3] Outer enlightenment is enlightenment of one's thought from this innerenlightenment. One's thought is in this enlightenment so far as itremains in the perception it has from inner enlightenment and so far asit possesses knowledge of good and truth, for it gets from thisknowledge reasons confirming it. Thought from outer enlightenment sees amatter on both sides; on the one, it sees reasons which confirm it, andon the other, the appearances that weaken it; it dispels these andassembles the reasons. 

[4] Inner enlightenment from oneself, however, is quite different. By itone regards a matter on one side only, and having confirmed it sees it inlight apparently like that just spoken of, but it is a wintry light. Forexample, a judge who judges unjustly in view of gifts or gain, once hehas confirmed the judgment by law and reason sees in it nothing butjustice. Some judges see the injustice but not wanting to see it, theykeep it out of sight and blind themselves and so do not see. The same istrue of a judge who renders judgments out of friendship, or to gainfavor, or on account of relationship. 

[5] Such persons act in the same way in anything they have from a man inauthority or from the mouth of a celebrity or have hatched fromself-intelligence; they are blind reasoners, for they see from thefalsities which they confirm; falsity closes the sight, just as truthopens it. They do not see any truth in the light of truth nor justicefrom a love for it but from the light of confirmation, which is anillusory light. They appear in the spiritual world like headless faces orlike faces resembling human faces on wooden heads, and are calledreasoning animals for rationality is potential in them. Those have outerenlightenment from themselves who think and speak solely from informationimpressed on the memory; of themselves they can hardly confirm anything. 

169. Such are the differences in enlightenment and consequently inperception and thought. There is actual enlightenment by spiritual light, but it is not manifest to one in the natural world because natural lighthas nothing in common with spiritual light. This enlightenment hassometimes been manifested to me in the spiritual world, however, visiblein those enlightened by the Lord as a luminosity around the head, aglowwith the color of the human face. With those in enlightenment fromthemselves the luminosity was not around the head but around the mouthand over the chin. 

170. Besides these kinds of enlightenment there is another in which it isrevealed to one in what faith, intelligence and wisdom he is; heperceives this in himself, such is the revelation. He is admitted into asociety where there is genuine faith and true intelligence and wisdom. There his interior rationality is opened, from which he sees the natureof his own faith, intelligence and wisdom, even to avowing it. I haveseen some as they returned and heard them confessing that they had nofaith although in the world they had believed they had much faith andmarkedly more than others; they said the same of their intelligence andwisdom. Some were in faith alone and in no charity, and some inself-intelligence. 

171. (iv) _Man is taught by the Lord through the Word and doctrine andpreaching from it, thus immediately by the Lord alone. _ We said andshowed above that man is led and taught by the Lord alone, and fromheaven but not through heaven or any angel there. As it is by the Lordalone, it is done immediately and not mediately. How this takes placewill be told now. 

172. It was shown in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the SacredScripture_ that the Lord is the Word and that all the doctrine of thechurch is to be drawn from the Word. Inasmuch as the Lord is the Word theman who is taught from the Word is taught by the Lord alone. This iscomprehended with difficulty and will be clarified in this order:

1. The Lord is the Word because the Word is from Him and about Him. 2. Also because the Word is divine truth together with divine good. 3. To be taught from the Word is to be taught from Him, therefore. 4. That this is done mediately through preaching does not take away itsimmediacy. 

[2] First: _The Lord is the Word because it is from Him and about Him. _No one in the church denies that the Word is from the Lord, but that itis about Him alone, while not denied, is not known. This was shown in_Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the Lord, _ nn. 1-7, 37-44, and in_Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the Sacred Scripture, _ nn. 62-69, 80-90, 98-100. Inasmuch as the Word is from the Lord alone and treats ofHim alone, a man is taught by the Lord when he is taught from the Word, for it is the divine Word. Who can communicate what is divine and implantit in the heart except the Divine Himself from whom it is and of whom ittreats? Therefore, in speaking of His union with His disciples He saysthat they are to abide in Him and His words in them (Jn 15:7 ), that Hiswords are spirit and life (Jn 6:63), and that He makes His abode withthose who keep His words (Jn 14:20-24). To think from the Lord thereforeis to think from the Word, and as it were, through the Word. It was shownin _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the Sacred Scripture_ frombeginning to end that all things of the Word have communication withheaven, and as the Lord is heaven, this means that all things of the Wordhave communication with the Lord Himself. The angels of heaven indeedhave communication; this, too, is from the Lord. 

[3] Second: _The Lord is the Word because it is divine truth togetherwith divine good. _ The Lord teaches that He is the Word by these words inJohn:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Wordwas God . . . And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (1:1, 14). 

This passage has been understood hitherto to mean only that God teachesmen through the Word and has been explained as an hyperbole, with theimplication that the Lord is not the Word itself. This is becauseexpositors did not know that the Word is divine truth together withdivine good or, what is the same, divine wisdom together with divinelove. That these are the Lord Himself was shown in the treatise _DivineLove and Wisdom, _ Part I, and that they are the Word in _Doctrine of theNew Jerusalem about the Sacred Scripture, _ nn. 1-86. 

[4] We will say briefly in what way the Lord is divine truth togetherwith divine good. Each human being is human not because of face and bodybut from the good of his love and the truths of his wisdom; and because aman is a man from these, he is also his own good and his own truth or hisown love and his own wisdom; without these he is not a human being. Butthe Lord is good itself and truth itself or, what is the same, loveitself and wisdom itself; and these are the Word which in the beginningwas with God and was God and which was made flesh. 

[5] Third: _To be taught from the Word, then, is to be taught by the LordHimself. _ For it means that one is taught from good itself and truthitself or from love itself and wisdom itself, and, as we have said, theseare the Word. But everyone is taught according to an understandingagreeing with his love; what goes beyond this does not remain. All whoare taught by the Lord in the Word are instructed in a few truths whilein the world but in many when they become angels. For the interiors ofthe Word, which are divine spiritual and divine celestial, are implantedat the time, but are not consciously possessed until a man on his deathis in heaven where he is in angelic wisdom which, compared with humanwisdom, thus his earlier wisdom, is ineffable. That divine spiritual anddivine celestial things which constitute angelic wisdom are present ineach and all things of the Word see _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem aboutthe Sacred Scripture, _ nn. 5-26. 

[6] Fourth: _That this teaching is done mediately through preaching doesnot take away the immediacy. _ Inevitably the Word is taught mediately byparents, teachers, preachers, books and particularly by reading. Still itis not taught by them but by the Lord through them. Preachers, aware ofthis, say that they speak not from themselves but from the spirit of Godand that all truth like all good is from God. They can speak it and bringit to the understanding of many, but not to anyone's heart; and what isnot in the heart passes away from the understanding; by "heart" a man'slove is meant. From this it is plain that man is led and taught by theLord alone and immediately by Him when he is taught from the Word. Thisis a supreme arcanum of angelic wisdom. 

173. We have shown in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the SacredScripture_ (nn. 104-113) that those outside the church who do not havethe Word still have light by means of it. Man has light by means of theWord and from the light has understanding, and both the wicked and thegood have understanding. It follows that from light in its origin thereis light in its derivatives which are perceptions and thoughts onwhatever subject. The Lord says that without Him men can do nothing (Jn15:5); that a man can receive nothing unless it is given him from heaven(Jn 3:27); and that the Father in the heavens makes His sun to rise onthe evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Mt5:45). In the Word in its spiritual sense by "sun" here, as elsewhere, ismeant the divine good of divine love and by "rain" the divine truth ofdivine wisdom. These are extended to the evil and the good, to the unjustand the just, for if they were not, no one would possess perception andthought. It was shown above that there is only one Life from which allhave life. But perception and thought are part of life; they aretherefore from the same fountain from which life springs. It has beenshown many times before that all the light which forms the understandingis from the sun of the spiritual world, which is the Lord. 

174. (v) _Man is led and taught in externals by the Lord to allappearance as of himself. _ This is so of man's externals, but notinwardly. No one knows how the Lord leads and teaches man inwardly, justas no one knows how the soul operates so that the eye sees, the earhears, the tongue and mouth speak, the heart circulates the blood, thelungs breathe, the stomach digests, the liver and the pancreasdistribute, the kidneys secrete, and much else. These processes do notcome to man's perception or sensation. The same is true of what the Lorddoes in the infinitely more numerous interior substances and forms of themind. The Lord's activity in these is not apparent to man, but many ofthe effects are, as well as some of the causes producing the effects. Itis in the externals that man and the Lord are together, and as theexternals make one with the internals, cohering as they do in one series, no disposition can be made by the Lord except in keeping with thedisposition made in the externals with man's participation. 

[2] Everyone knows that man thinks, wills, speaks and acts to allappearance as of himself, and everyone can see that without thisappearance man would have no will and understanding, thus no affectionand thought, also no reception of any good and truth from the Lord. Itfollows that without this appearance there would be no rationalconception of God, no charity and no faith, consequently no reformationand regeneration, and therefore no salvation. Plainly, this appearance isgranted to man by the Lord for the sake of all these uses andparticularly that he may have the power to receive and reciprocate sothat the Lord may be united to him and he to the Lord, and that throughthis conjunction the human being may live forever. This is "appearance"as it is meant here. 

IX. IT IS A LAW OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE THAT MAN SHALL NOT PERCEIVE OR FEELANY OF THE ACTIVITY OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE, AND YET SHOULD KNOW ANDACKNOWLEDGE PROVIDENCE

175. The natural man who does not believe in divine providence thinks tohimself, "What can divine providence be when the wicked are promoted tohonors and gain wealth more than the good, and many such things go betterwith those who do not believe in divine providence than with the good whobelieve in it? Indeed, infidels and the impious can inflict injuries, loss, misfortune and sometimes death on the believing and pious, doingso, too, by cunning and malice. " He thinks therefore, "Do I not see infull daylight, as it were, in actual experience that crafty schemesprevail over fidelity and justice if only a man can make them seemtrustworthy and just by a clever artfulness? What is left exceptnecessities, consequences and the fortuitous in which there is nosemblance of divine providence? Does not nature have its necessities, andare not consequences causes arising from natural or civil order, whilethe fortuitous comes, does it not, from unknown causes or from none?" Sothe natural man thinks to himself who attributes all things to nature andnothing to God, for one who ascribes nothing to God ascribes nothing todivine providence either; God and divine providence make one. 

[2] But the spiritual man speaks and thinks within himself quiteotherwise. Although he does not perceive the course of divine providenceby any thought or feel it from any sight of it, he still knows andacknowledges providence. Inasmuch as the appearances and resultingfallacies just mentioned have blinded the understanding, and this canreceive sight only when the fallacies which have induced the blindnessand the falsities which have induced the darkness are dispelled, andsince this can be done only by truths which have the power to dispelfalsities, these truths are to be disclosed, and for distinctness let itbe in this order:

i. If man perceived or felt the activity of divine providence he wouldnot act in freedom according to reason, nor would anything appear to behis own doing. It would be the same if he foreknew events. Ii. If man saw divine providence plainly, he would inject himself intothe order and tenor of its course, and pervert and destroy them. Iii. If man beheld divine providence plainly he would either deny God ormake himself god. Iv. Man can see divine providence on the back and not in the face; alsoin a spiritual, not a natural state. 

176. (i) _If man perceived or felt the activity of divine providence hewould not act in freedom according to reason, nor would anything appearto be his own doing. It would be the same if he foreknew events. _ Ingiven articles we made evident to the understanding that it is a law ofprovidence that man should act in freedom according to reason; also thatall which a man wills, thinks, speaks and does shall seem to be his owndoing; that without this appearance a man would have nothing of his ownnor be his own man. He would thus have no selfhood and nothing could beimputed to him, and in that case whether he did good or evil would notmatter, and whether he believed in God or was under the persuasion ofhell would be immaterial; in a word, he would not be a human being. 

[2] We have now to show that man would have no liberty to act accordingto reason and there would be no appearance of self-activity if heperceived or felt the activity of divine providence, for if he did hewould also be led by it. The Lord leads all men by His divine providenceand man only seemingly leads himself, as was shown above. If, therefore, man had a lively perception or sense of being led, he would not beconscious of living life and would be moved to make sounds and act muchlike a graven image. If he were still conscious of living he would be ledlike one bound in manacles and fetters or like a yoked animal. Who doesnot see that man would have no freedom then? And without freedom he wouldbe without reason, for one thinks from and in freedom; whatever he doesnot so think seems to him to be not from himself but from someone else. Indeed if you consider this interiorly you will perceive that he wouldnot possess thought, still less reason, and hence would not be a humanbeing. 

177. The Lord's divine providence is constantly seeking to withdraw manfrom evils. If a man perceived or felt this constant activity and yet wasnot led like one bound, would he not struggle against it continually andthen either quarrel with God or mingle himself in divine providence? Ifhe did the latter he would also make himself God; if he did the former hewould free himself from constraint and deny God. Manifestly two forceswould constantly be acting then against each other, the force of evilfrom man and the force of good from the Lord. When two opposites actagainst each other, one of them conquers or they both perish. In thisinstance if one conquers they both perish. For the evil, which is man's, does not let in good from the Lord in a moment, nor does good from theLord cast out evil from man in a moment; if either was done in a momentno life would be left to man. These and many other harmful results wouldfollow if man manifestly perceived or felt the operation of divineprovidence. This will be demonstrated clearly by examples in whatfollows. 

178. Man is not given a foreknowledge of events for the same reason, namely, that he may be able to act in freedom according to reason. It iswell known that man wants what he loves effected, and he guides himselfto this end by reasoning. It is also known that what a man meditates inhis reason comes from his love of giving it effect through thought. If, then, he knew the effect or the eventuality by divine prediction, hisreason would become inactive and with it his love; for love along withreasoning ends with the effect, to begin anew. It is reason's veryenjoyment to envision with love the effect in thought, not after it isattained but before it is, not in the present but as future. So man haswhat is called hope, which rises and declines in the reason as he beholdsor awaits the event. The enjoyment is fulfilled in the event and then isforgotten along with thought about the event. The same thing would occurwith an event that was foreknown. 

[2] The human mind dwells always in the trine called end, cause andeffect. If one of these is lacking, the mind is not possessed of itslife. An affection of the will is the initiating end; the thought of theunderstanding is the efficient cause; and bodily action, utterance orexternal sensation is the effect from the end by means of the thought. Anyone sees that the human mind is not possessed of its life when it isonly in an affection of the will and in naught besides, or when it isonly in an effect. The mind has no life from one of these separately, therefore, but from the three together. The life of the mind woulddiminish and depart if an event were foretold. 

179. As a foreknowledge of future events takes away humanness itself, which is action in freedom in accord with one's reason, no one is givento know the future; but everyone is allowed to form conclusions by thereason about the future; the reason is then fully in its own life. Accordingly man does not know his lot after death or know any event untilhe is on it. For if he knew, he would no longer think from his inner selfhow he should act or live so as to meet it, but would think only from hisexterior self that he was meeting it. This state closes the interiors ofhis mind where the two faculties of his life, liberty and reason, especially reside. A desire to know the future is born with most personsbut has its origin in a love of evil. It is taken away, therefore, fromthose who believe in divine providence; and trust that the Lord disposestheir lot is given them. Therefore they do not desire to know itbeforehand lest they inject themselves in some way into divineprovidence. The Lord teaches this in many sayings in Luke (12:14-48). 

[2] Much from the world of the spirit can confirm that this is a law ofdivine providence. On entering that world after death most persons desireto know their lot. The answer they receive is that if they have livedwell their lot is in heaven and if wickedly it is in hell. But as all, including the wicked, fear hell they ask what they should do and believeto get into heaven. They are answered that they are to do and believe asthey will, but know that one does not do good or believe truth in hell, only in heaven. "As you can, seek what is good and true, thinking truthand doing good. " Everyone is thus left to act in freedom according toreason in the spiritual world as he is in the natural world; but as onehas acted in this world he acts in that, for everyone's life remains tohim and so his lot awaits him, for this is his life's lot. 

180. (ii) _If man saw divine providence plainly he would inject himselfinto the order and tenor of its course and pervert and destroy them. _ Tobring this distinctly to the perception of the rational man and also ofthe natural man, it will be illustrated by examples in this order:

1. External things are so connected with internal things that they makeone in all that is done. 2. The human being joins the Lord only in some external things and if hedid in internal things also, he would pervert and destroy the whole orderand tenor of the course of divine providence. 

As we said, these points will be illustrated by examples. 

[2] First: _External things are so connected with internal things thatthey make one in all that is done. _ Let this be illustrated by examplesfrom several things in man's body. Everywhere in it are things externaland internal. The external are called skins, membranes and coverings; theinternal are forms variously composed and woven of nerve fibres and bloodvessels. The covering over these enters into them by extensions fromitself even to the inmost, so that the external or the covering uniteswith the internals or the organic forms of fibres and vessels. It followsthat the internals act and are acted on as the external acts or is actedon. For they are all constantly bound up together. 

[3] Take such a common covering in the body as the pleura, for example, which covers the chest cavity and the heart and lungs. Examine it in ananatomical view, or if you do not know anatomy consult anatomists, andyou will learn that this general covering by various circumvolutions andfiner and finer extensions from itself enters into the inmost parts ofthe lungs, even into the smallest bronchial branches and into the sacsthemselves which are the beginnings of the lungs, not to mention itssubsequent progress by the trachea into the larynx and toward the tongue. From this it is plain that there is a constant connection of the outmostwith inmosts; the interiors from the inmosts on therefore act and areacted upon as the external acts or is acted on. For this reason when thatoutmost covering, the pleura, is congested, inflamed or ulcerated, thelungs labor from their inmost parts; if the disease grows worse, allaction of the lungs ceases and the man dies. 

[4] The same is true everywhere else in the body. For instance it is trueof the peritoneum, the general covering of all the abdominal viscera, also of the coverings on such organs severally as the stomach, liver, pancreas, spleen, intestines, mesentery, kidneys, and the organs ofgeneration in both sexes. Choose any one of these viscera, examine ityourself or consult those skilled in the science, and you will see orhear. Take the liver, for example; you will find there is a connectionbetween the peritoneum and that organ and by its covering with its inmostparts. For the covering puts out constant extensions from itself andinsertions towards the interiors and thus continues to inmosts and as aresult the whole is bound together. The entire form acts or is acted uponin such manner as the covering acts or is acted upon. The same is true ofthe rest of the organs. For what is general and what is particular or theuniversal and the singular in a form act together by a marvelousconnection. 

[5] You will see below that what occurs in natural forms and theirprocesses, which relate to motion and actions, occurs similarly inspiritual forms and in the changes and variations of their state, whichrelate to activities of the will and the understanding. Inasmuch as manjoins the Lord in certain external activities and no one is deprived ofthe liberty of acting according to reason, the Lord can act in internalsonly as, together with man, He does in externals. If man does not shunand turn away from evils as sins, therefore, the external and at the sametime the internal of his thought and will are infected and destroyed, comparatively as the pleura is by the disease in it called pleurisy, ofwhich the body dies. 

[6] Second: _If man were in internals at the same time he would pervertand destroy the whole order and tenor of divine providence. _ Examplesfrom the human body will illustrate this also. If man knew all theworkings of the two brains into the fibres, of the fibres into themuscles and of the muscles into actions, and by this knowledge were tohave the disposition of them as he disposes his deeds, would he notpervert and destroy all?

[7] If man knew how the stomach digests, and how the surrounding organstake their portion, work the blood and distribute it where needed forlife, and if he had the disposing of these as he has of externalactivities, such as eating and drinking, would he not pervert and destroyall? When he cannot handle the external, seemingly a single thing, without destroying it by luxury and intemperance, what would he do if hehad the disposal of the internals, infinite in number? Lest man enterinto them by any volition and have control of them, things internal aretherefore taken entirely away from the will except for the muscles, whichare a covering; moreover, how these act is not known, only that they do. 

[8] The same can be said of other organs. To give examples: if man hadthe disposing of the interiors of the eye for seeing, those of the earfor hearing, or the tongue for tasting, those of the skin for feeling, those of the heart for systolic action, of the lungs for breathing, ofthe mesentery to distribute the chyle, or of the kidneys for secretion, the interiors of the organs of generation for propagation, or those ofthe womb for perfecting an embryo, and so on, would he not pervert anddestroy the ordered course of the divine providence in them ininnumerable ways? As we know, man is in externals, for example sees withthe eye, hears with the ear, tastes with the tongue, feels with the skin, breathes with the lungs, impregnates a wife, and so on. Is it not enoughfor him to know the externals and dispose them for health of body andmind? When he cannot do this, what would happen if he disposed internalsalso? It may be plain from this that if man saw divine providenceplainly, he would inject himself into the order and tenor of its courseand pervert and destroy them. 

181. The like occurs in the spiritual things of the mind to what occursin the natural things of the body for the reason that all things of themind correspond to all things of the body. For the same reason the mindactuates the body in externals and generally does so completely. It movesthe eyes to see, the ears to hear, the mouth and tongue to eat and drink, also to speak, the hands to do, the feet to walk, the generative organsto propagate. The mind not only moves the externals in these ways but theinternals, too, in their whole series, outmosts from inmosts and inmostsfrom outmosts. Thus while moving the mouth to speak, it moves lungs, larynx, glottis, tongue and lips at the same time, each separately to itsespecial function, and the face suitably also. 

[2] It is clear then that the same can be said of the spiritual forms ofthe mind as was said of the natural forms of the body, and the same canbe said of the spiritual activities of the mind as was said of thenatural activities of the body. Consequently the Lord orders theinternals as a man does the externals, in one way if the man orders theexternals of himself and in another if he orders them under the Lord andat the same time as of himself. The mind of man is also in its totalorganization a man, for it is his spirit which appears after deathaltogether as a human being as in the world; hence there are similarthings in mind and body. Thus what has been said about the conjunction ofexternals with internals in the body is to be understood of theconjunction of externals with internals in the mind, with the soledifference that the latter is spiritual and the former is natural. 

182. ( iii) _If man beheld divine providence plainly he would either denyGod or make himself god. _ The merely natural man says to himself, "Whatis divine providence? Is it anything else or more than an expressionwhich people get from a priest? Who sees anything of it? Is it not byprudence, wisdom, cunning and malice that all things are done in theworld? Is not all else necessity or consequence? And does not much happenby chance? Does divine providence lie concealed in this? How can it do soin deceptions and schemes? Yet it is said that divine providence effectsall things. Then let me see it and I will believe in it. Can one believein it until he sees it?"

[2] So speaks the merely natural man, but the spiritual man speaksdifferently. Acknowledging God he also acknowledges divine providence andsees it, too. He cannot make it manifest, however, to anyone whosethought is on nature only and from nature, for such a person cannot raisehis mind above nature, see anything of divine providence in itsphenomena, or come to conclusions about providence from nature's laws, which are also laws of divine wisdom. If, therefore, he beheld divineprovidence plainly, he would sink it in nature and thus not only enshroudit in fallacies but profane it. Instead of acknowledging it he would denyit, and one who denies divine providence in his heart denies God also. 

[3] Either one thinks that God governs all things or that nature does. Hewho thinks that God does thinks that they are ruled by love itself andwisdom itself, thus by life itself; but he who thinks that nature governsall, thinks that all things are ruled by nature's heat and light, although these in themselves are dead, coming as they do from a dead sun. Does not what is itself alive govern what is lifeless? Can what is deadgovern anything? If you think that what is lifeless can give life toitself, you are mad; life must come from life. 

183. It does not seem likely that if a man saw divine providence and itsactivity plainly he would deny God; it would seem that he could not butacknowledge it and thus acknowledge God. Yet the contrary is true. Divineprovidence never acts in keeping with the love of man's will, butconstantly against it. For the human being by force of his hereditaryevil is ever panting for the lowest hell, but the Lord in His providenceis constantly leading him away and withdrawing him from it, first to amilder hell, then away from hell, and finally to Himself in heaven. Thisactivity of divine providence is perpetual. If, then, man saw or feltthis withdrawing and leading away, he would be angered, consider God hisenemy, and deny Him on account of the evil of his selfhood. In order thatman may not know of it, therefore, he is held in freedom and thereby doesnot know but that he leads himself. 

[2] But let examples serve for illustration. By heredity man wants tobecome great and also rich. In the measure in which these loves are notchecked he wants to become still greater and richer and finally thegreatest and richest; even so he would not rest, but would want to becomegreater than God Himself and possess heaven itself. This lust is hiddendeep in hereditary evil and consequently in man's life and in the natureof his life. Divine providence does not remove this evil in a moment; ifit were removed in a moment man would cease to live; but divineprovidence removes it quietly and gradually without man's knowing of it. It does this by letting man act according to the thinking which he deemsrational; then by various means, rational and also civil and moral, itleads him away and withdraws him so far as he can be withdrawn infreedom. Nor can evil be removed from anyone unless it comes out and isseen and acknowledged; it is like a wound which heals only when opened. 

[3] If, therefore, man knew and saw that the Lord in His divineprovidence works in this way against his life's love, the source of hishighest enjoyment, he could not but go in the opposite direction, beenraged, rebel, say harsh things, and finally, on account of his evil, brush aside the activity of divine providence, denying it and so denyingGod. He would do this especially if he saw success thwarted or sawhimself lowered in standing or deprived of wealth. 

[4] But it is to be known that the Lord in no wise leads man away fromseeking position and acquiring wealth, but leads him away from the lustof seeking position solely for the sake of eminence or for his own sake, and also from acquiring wealth for its own sake or just to have it. Leading the man away, He introduces him into the love of uses so that hemay regard eminence not for his own sake but for the sake of uses, thusas attached to uses and only so to himself, and not as attached to himand then to the uses; the same applies to wealth. At many places in theWord the Lord Himself teaches that He continually humbles the proud andexalts the humble; what He teaches in it is also of His divineprovidence. 

184. Any other evil in which man is by heredity is dealt with in likemanner, such as adultery, fraud, vengeance, blasphemy and other similarevils, none of which can be removed except as freedom to think and willthem is left to man for him to remove them as if of himself. Neverthelesshe can do this only as he acknowledges divine providence and prays that itmay be done by it. Apart from this freedom and from divine providence atthe same time, the evils would be like poison shut in and not driven out, which would spread quickly and consign all parts to death, or would belike disease of the heart itself, from which the whole body soon dies. 

185. The truth of what has been said cannot be better known than fromhuman lives after death in the spiritual world. Very many who had becomegreat or wealthy in the natural world and in their eminence or riches hadregarded themselves alone, at first speak of God and divine providence asthough they had acknowledged them at heart, but seeing divine providenceclearly then and their final lot under it, namely, for them to enterhell, they unite with devils there and not only deny God then but alsoblaspheme Him. Finally they reach such madness that they acknowledge themore powerful among devils as their gods and desire nothing more ardentlythan to become gods themselves. 

186. Man would go contrary to God and also deny Him if he saw theactivities of God's divine providence plainly, for the reason that man isin the enjoyment of self-love and this enjoyment constitutes his verylife. Therefore when man is held in the enjoyment of his life he is inhis freedom, for freedom and the enjoyment make one. If, then, he shouldperceive that he is continually being led away from his enjoyment, hewould be enraged as against one who wanted to destroy his life and wouldhold him to be an enemy. Lest it happen, the Lord in His divineprovidence does not appear manifestly, but leads man by it as silently asa hidden stream or favorable current does a vessel. Consequently man doesnot know but that he is steadily in his own, for his freedom and hisproprium make one. Hence it is plain that freedom appropriates to himwhat divine providence introduces, which would not take place ifprovidence were manifest. To be appropriated means to become of one'slife. 

187. (iv) _Man can see divine providence on the back and not in the face;also in a spiritual state but not in a natural. _ To see divine providenceon the back but not in the face means after it acts and not before. Tosee it in a spiritual state and not in a natural is to see it from heavenand not from the world. All who receive influx from heaven andacknowledge divine providence, especially those who have become spiritualthrough reformation, on beholding events taking a wonderful course seeprovidence as it were from an interior acknowledgment and confess it. These do not wish to see it in the face, that is, before it eventuates, fearing that their volition may intrude on something of its order andtenor. 

[2] It is otherwise with those who do not admit any influx from heavenbut only from the world, especially with those who have become natural byconfirming appearances in themselves. They do not see anything of divineprovidence on the back, that is, after it eventuates, but wish to beholdit in the face or before it eventuates; and as divine providence works bymeans, and these are provided through man or the world, they attributeprovidence, whether they look it in the face or on the back, to man or tonature, and so confirm themselves in the denial of it. They make thisascription of it because their understanding is closed above, that is, toheaven, and open only below, that is, to the world; one cannot see divineprovidence in a worldly outlook, only in a heavenly. I have wonderedsometimes whether they would acknowledge divine providence if theirunderstanding was opened above and they were to see as in the light ofday that nature in itself is dead, and human intelligence in itselfnothing, and that it is by influx that either appears to have being. Iperceived that those who have confirmed themselves in favor of nature andof human prudence would not make the acknowledgment because the naturallight flowing in from below would immediately extinguish the spirituallight flowing in from above. 

189. * The man who has become spiritual by acknowledgment of God, and wiseby rejection of the proprium, sees divine providence in the world as awhole and in each and all things in it. Looking at natural things, hesees it; at civil things, he sees it; at spiritual things, he sees it;and in things simultaneous as well as successive. He sees it in ends, causes, effects, uses, forms, things great and small. Above all he seesit in the salvation of men, as that Jehovah gave the Word, taught men byit about God and about heaven and hell and eternal life, and Himself cameinto the world to redeem men and save them. Man sees these and many otherthings and divine providence in them from spiritual light in naturallight. 

* The Latin original has no number 188. 

[2] The merely natural man, however, sees none of these things. He islike a man who sees a magnificent temple and hears a preacher enlightenedin divine things, but once home asserts that he saw only a stone buildingand heard nothing but sounds made. Again, he is like a near-sighted manwho steps into a garden remarkable for fruits of every sort and whoreports on getting home that he saw only woods and trees. Moreover, whensuch persons, having become spirits after death, are taken up into theangelic heaven where all objects are in forms representative of love andwisdom, they see none of them, not even that they exist. I have seen thishappen with a number who denied the Lord's divine providence. 

190. Many constant things exist, created that inconstant things mayexist. Such constants are the ordained changes in the rising and settingof sun, moon and stars; their obscurations by interpositions calledeclipses; the heat and light from them; the seasons of the year, calledspring, summer, autumn and winter; the times of the day, morning, noon, evening and night; also atmospheres, waters and lands, viewed inthemselves; the vegetative force in the plant kingdom, that and thereproductive in the animal kingdom; likewise what is constantly producedwhen these forces are set in action in accord with the laws of order. These and many more things existing from the creation are provided sothat infinitely varying things may exist, for what varies can exist onlyin what is constant, fixed and certain. 

[2] Examples will illustrate this. The varieties of vegetation would notbe possible unless sunrise and sunset and the resulting heat and lightwere constant. Harmonies are infinitely varied, and would not existunless the atmospheres were constant in their laws and the ear in itsform. Varieties of vision, which are also infinite, would not existunless the ether in its laws and the eye in its organization wereconstant; equally so, colors, unless light was constant. The same is trueof thoughts, words and actions, which are of infinite variety too; theycould not exist, either, unless the organic forms of the body wereconstant. Must not a house be steady for a variety of things to be donein it by a person? So must a temple be for the various acts of worship, preaching, instruction and devout meditation to be possible in it. So inmuch else. 

[3] As for the varieties found in the constant, fixed and certain, theygo on to infinity and have no end; no one thing in the whole universe orin any part of it is ever precisely the same as another, nor can be inthe progress of things to eternity. Who disposes these varieties whichproceed to infinity and eternity so that they have order unless it is Hewho created what is constant to the end that they may exist in it? Andwho can dispose the infinite varieties of life among men but He who islife itself, that is, love itself and wisdom itself? Except by His divineprovidence, which is like a continual creation, can the infiniteaffections of men and their thoughts thence and thus the men themselvesbe disposed so as to make one? Evil affections and the thoughts from themto make one devil which is hell, and good affections and the thoughtsfrom them one Lord in heaven? We have said and shown several times beforethat the whole angelic heaven is like one man in the Lord's sight, animage and likeness of Him, and all hell over against it like onemonstrous man. This has been said because some natural men seize onarguments for their madness in favor of nature and of one's own prudencefrom even the constant and fixed which must exist for the variable toexist in it. 

X. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS ONE'S OWN PRUDENCE; THERE ONLY APPEARS TO BEAND IT SHOULD SO APPEAR; BUT DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS UNIVERSAL BY BEING INTHE LEAST THINGS

191. That there is no such thing as one's own prudence is contrary toappearances and therefore to the belief of many. Because it is, one whobelieves, on the strength of the appearance, that human prudence does allthings, cannot be convinced except by reasons to be had from a moreprofound investigation and to be gathered from causes. The appearance isan effect, and causes disclose how it arises. By way of introductionsomething will be said about the common faith on the subject. Contrary tothe appearance the church teaches that love and faith are not from manbut from God, so also wisdom and intelligence, therefore prudence also, and in general all good and truth. When this teaching is accepted, onemust also agree that there is no such thing as one's own prudence, butthere only appears to be. Prudence comes only from intelligence andwisdom and both of these only from the understanding and its grasp oftruth and good. All this is accepted and believed by those whoacknowledge divine providence, but not by those who only acknowledgehuman prudence. 

[2] Now, either what the church teaches is true, that all wisdom andprudence are from God, or what the world teaches, that they are from man. Can these views be reconciled in any other way than this, that what thechurch teaches is the truth, and what the world teaches is theappearance? For the church establishes its teaching from the Word, butthe world its teaching from the proprium; and the Word is God's, and theproprium is man's. Because prudence is from God and not from man aChristian in his devotions, prays God to lead his thoughts, purposes andactions, and also adds that by himself he cannot. Again, seeing someonedoing good, he says the person has been led to it by God; and so aboutmuch else. Can anyone speak so unless he inwardly believes it? To believeit inwardly comes from heaven. But when a man deliberates and gathersarguments in favor of human prudence he can believe the contrary, andthis is from the world. The internal faith prevails with those whoacknowledge God in their hearts; the external faith with those who do notacknowledge Him at heart, however much they may with the lips. 

192. We said that a person who believes, on the strength of theappearance, that human prudence does all things, can be convinced only byreasons to be had from a more profound investigation and gathered fromcauses. In order, then, that the reasons gathered from causes may beplain to the understanding, let them be put forward in due order asfollows:

i. All man's thoughts are from affections of his life's love; there areand can he no thoughts apart from them. Ii. The affections of the life's love are known to the Lord alone. Iii. Through His divine providence the Lord leads the affections of thelife's love of man and at the same time the thoughts, too, from whichhuman prudence comes. Iv. By His divine providence the Lord assembles the affections of allmankind into one form--the human form. V. Heaven and hell, which are from mankind, are therefore in such a form. Vi. Those who have acknowledged nature alone and human prudence alonemake up hell, and those who have acknowledged God and His divineprovidence make up heaven. Vii. All this can be effected only as it appears to man that he thinksfrom himself and disposes by himself. 

193. ( i ) _All man's thoughts are from affections of his life's love;there are and can be no thoughts apart from them. _ It has been shownabove in this treatise and also in the one entitled _Angelic Wisdom aboutDivine Love and Wisdom, _ Parts I and V particularly, what the life's loveand the affections and the thoughts from them are essentially, and whatthe sensations and actions arising from them in the body are. Inasmuch asthese are the causes from which human prudence issues as an effect, something needs to be said about them here also. For what has beenwritten earlier elsewhere cannot be as closely connected with what iswritten later as it will be if the same things are recalled and placedwith both in view. 

[2] Earlier in this treatise, and in that just mentioned about _DivineLove and Wisdom, _ it was shown that in the Lord are divine love andwisdom; that these two are life itself; that from the two man has willand understanding, will from the divine love and understanding from thedivine wisdom; that heart and lungs in the body correspond to these two;that this may make plain that as the pulsation of the heart along withthe respiration of the lungs rules the whole man as to the body, so thewill together with the understanding rules him as to his mind; that thusthere are two principles of life in everyone, one natural and the otherspiritual, and that the natural principle of life is the heartbeat, andthe spiritual is the will of the mind; that each adjoins a consort toitself with which it cohabits and performs the functions of life; andthat the heart joins the lungs to itself, and the will the understandingto itself. 

[3] Now, as the soul of the will is love, and the soul of theunderstanding is wisdom, both of them from the Lord, love is the life ofeveryone and is such life as it has in union with wisdom; or what is thesame, the will is the life of everyone and is such life as it has inconjunction with the understanding. More on the subject may be seen abovein this treatise and especially in _Angelic Wisdom about Divine Love andWisdom, _ Parts I and V. 

194. It was also demonstrated in the treatises mentioned that the life'slove produces subordinate loves from itself, called affections; thatthese are exterior and interior; and that taken together they make onedominion or kingdom as it were, in which the life's love is lord or king. It was also shown that these subordinate loves or affections adjoinconsorts to themselves, each its own, the interior affections consortscalled perceptions, and the exterior consorts called knowledges, and eachcohabits with its consort and performs the functions of its life. In eachinstance, it was shown, the union is like that of life's very being withlife's coming forth, which is such that the one is nothing without theother; for what is life's being unless it is active and what is life'sactivity if it is not from life's very being? The conjunction in life, itwas likewise shown, is like that of sound and harmony, of sound andutterance, too, in general like that of the heart's pulsation and therespiration of the lungs, a union, again, such that one without the otheris nothing and each becomes something in union with the other. Union musteither be in them or come about by them. 

[2] Consider, for example, sound. One who thinks that sound is somethingif there is nothing distinctive in it is much mistaken. It alsocorresponds to affection in man, and as something distinctive is alwaysin it the affection of a person's love is known from the sound of hisvoice in speaking, and his thought is known from the varied sounds whichspeech is. Hence the wiser angels perceive just from the sound of hisvoice a man's life's love together with some of the affections which areits derivatives. This has been remarked that it may be known that noaffection is possible without its thought, and no thought without itsaffection. More on the subject can be seen above in this treatise and in_Angelic Wisdom about Divine Love and Wisdom. _

195. Inasmuch as the life's love has its enjoyment, and its wisdom itspleasure, and likewise every affection, which is essentially a lesserlove derived from the life's love like a stream from its source or abranch from a tree or an artery from the heart, therefore every affectionhas its enjoyment and the perception or thought from it its pleasure. Consequently these enjoyments and pleasures make man's life. What is lifewithout joy and pleasure? It is not animated at all, but inanimate. Reduce enjoyment and pleasure and you grow cold and torpid; take themaway and you expire and die. Vital heat comes from the enjoyments of theaffections and the pleasures of the perceptions and thoughts. 

[2] As every affection has its enjoyment and the thought thence itspleasure, it may be plain whence good and truth are and what they areessentially. Whatever is the enjoyment of one's affection is one's good, and one's truth is what is pleasant to the thought from that affection. For everyone calls that good which he feels in the love of his will to beenjoyable, and calls that truth which he then perceives in the wisdom ofhis understanding to be pleasant. The enjoyable and the pleasant bothflow out from the life's love as water does from a spring or blood fromthe heart; together they are like an element or the atmosphere in whichman's whole mind is. 

[3] The two, enjoyment and pleasure, are spiritual in the mind andnatural in the body, and in each make man's life. From this it is plainwhat it is in man that is called good, and what it is that is calledtruth; likewise what it is in man that is called evil and false; whateverdestroys the enjoyment of his affection is evil to him, and what destroysthe pleasure of his thought thence is false to him. It is plain, moreover, that evil on account of the enjoyment in it and falsity onaccount of the pleasure in it may be called good and truth and believedto be good and truth. Goods and truths are indeed changes and variationsof state in the forms of the mind, but they are perceived and have lifeonly through the enjoyments and pleasures they have to give. This isnoted to make known what affection and thought are in their life. 

196. Inasmuch as it is not the body but man's mind that thinks and thatdoes so from the enjoyment of one's affection, and inasmuch as man's mindis his spirit which lives after death, man's spirit is nothing else thanaffection and thought therefrom. It is altogether plain from spirits andangels in the spiritual world that thought cannot exist apart fromaffection, for they all think from the affections of their life's love;the enjoyments of these affections attend each as his atmosphere, and allare united by these spheres exhaled from the affections by theirthoughts. The character of each one is known also by the sphere of hislife. It may be seen from this that all thought is from an affection andis the form of that affection. The same applies to the relationshipbetween will and understanding, good and truth, and charity and faith. 

197. (ii) _The affections of the life's love of man are known to the Lordalone. _ Man knows his thoughts and his intentions in them because he seesthem in himself, and as all prudence is from them, he sees this, too, within him. Then if his life's love is self-love, he comes to take pridein his own intelligence, ascribes prudence to himself, gathers argumentsin support of it, and thus recedes from acknowledging divine providence. Much the same happens if love of the world is his life's love, but hedoes not then recede to the same extent. It is plain from this that thesetwo loves ascribe all things to man and to his prudence and wheninteriorly examined ascribe nothing to God and to His providence. Whenpersons who do this happen to hear that the reality is that there is nosuch thing as human prudence, but that divine providence alone governsall things, they laugh at this if they are outright atheists; if theyhold something of religion in remembrance and are told that all wisdom isfrom God, they assent on first hearing it, but inwardly in their spiritdeny it. Such especially are priests who love themselves more than God, and the world more than heaven, or what is the same, worship God forposition's or riches' sake, and yet have been preaching that charity andfaith, all good and truth, all wisdom, too, and in fact prudence are fromGod and none of them from man. 

[2] In the spiritual world I once heard two priests debating with acertain royal ambassador about human prudence whether it is from God orfrom man, and the debate was heated. The three believed alike at heart, namely, that human prudence does all and divine providence nothing, butthe priests in their theological zeal at the moment asserted that therewas nothing of wisdom and prudence from man. When the ambassador retortedthat there was nothing of thought then, either, they said "yes, nothingof thought. " But as angels perceived that the three believed alike, theybade the ambassador, "Put on priestly robes, believe yourself to be apriest, and then speak. " He robed himself, believed he was a priest, andthereupon declared in a deep voice that never could there be wisdom orprudence in man save from God. He defended this with the customaryeloquence filled with rational arguments. Then the two priests were told, "Put off your robes, put on those of political ministers, and believethat that is what you are. " They did so, thought then from their interiorselves, and gave voice to the arguments they had entertained inwardlybefore in favor of human prudence and against divine providence. Uponthis the three, believing alike, became warm friends and set out togetheron the path of one's own prudence, which leads to hell. 

198. It was shown above that man can have no thought except from someaffection of his life's love and that the thought is nothing other thanthe form of the affection. Now, man sees his thought but cannot see hisaffection, which he feels; it is therefore from sight which dwells on theappearance, and not from affection which does not come into sight butinto feeling, that he concludes that one's own prudence does all things. For affection shows itself only in a certain enjoyment of thought and inpleasure ever reasoning about it. This pleasure and enjoyment make onewith the thought in those who, from self-love or love of the world, believe in one's own prudence. The thought glides along in its enjoymentlike a ship in a river current to which the skipper does not attend, attending only to the sails he spreads. 

199. Man can indeed reflect on what his external affection findsenjoyable when it is also an enjoyment of a bodily sense, but he stilldoes not reflect that that enjoyment comes from the enjoyment of hisaffection in thought. For example, when a lecher sees a lewd woman hiseyes light with a lascivious fire and from this he feels a physicalpleasure; he does not, however, feel his affection's enjoyment or that ofthe lust in his thought, only a strong desire more nearly physical. Thesame is true of the robber in a forest at sight of travelers and of thepirate at sea on sighting vessels, and so on. Obviously a man'senjoyments govern his thoughts, and the thoughts are nothing apart fromthem; but he thinks he has only the thoughts, when nevertheless these areaffections put into forms by his life's love so that they appear in thelight; for all affection has heat for its element and thought has light. 

[2] The external affections of thought manifest themselves in bodilysensation, and sometimes in the thought of the mind, but the internalaffections of the thought from which the external exist never makethemselves manifest to man. Of these he knows no more than a rider asleepin a carriage does of the road or than one feels the rotation of theearth. Now, when man knows nothing of the things beyond number that takeplace in the interiors of his mind, and the few external things whichcome to the sight of his thought are produced from the interiors, and theinteriors are governed by the Lord alone through His divine providenceand the few external by the Lord also together with man, how can anyoneassert that one's own prudence does all things? Were you to see just oneidea laid open, you would see astounding things, more than tongue cantell. 

[3] It is clear from the endless things in the body that there are somany things in the mind's interiors that the number cannot be given, andnothing of them comes to sight or sense except only a much simplifiedaction. Yet to the action thousands of motor or muscular fibrescontribute, and thousands of nerve fibres, thousands of blood-vessels, thousands of cells in the lungs which must cooperate in every action, thousands in the brains and in the spinal cord, and many more thingsstill in the spiritual man which is the human mind, in which all thingsare forms of affections and of perceptions and thoughts from theaffections. Does not the soul, which disposes the interiors, dispose theactions also which spring from them? Man's soul is nothing else than thelove of his will and the resulting love of his understanding; such asthis love is the whole man is, becoming so according to the dispositionhe makes of his externals in which he and the Lord are together. Therefore, if he attributes all things to himself and to nature, self-love becomes the soul; but if he attributes all things to the Lord, love to the Lord becomes the soul; this love is heavenly, the otherinfernal. 

200. Inasmuch as the enjoyments of his affections, from inmosts downthrough interiors to exteriors and finally to outermost things in thebody, bear man along as wave and wind bear a ship; and inasmuch asnothing of this is apparent to man except what takes place in theoutermost things of the mind and the body, how can he claim for himselfwhat is divine on the strength merely of the fact that those fewoutermost things seem to be his own? Even less should he claim what isdivine for himself, knowing from the Word that a man can receive nothingof himself unless it is given by heaven; and knowing from reason thatthis appearance has been granted him in order to live as a human being, see what is good and evil, choose between them, and appropriate hischoice to himself that he may be united reciprocally with the Lord, bereformed, regenerated and saved, and live forever. It has been stated andshown above that this appearance has been granted to man in order that hemay act in freedom according to reason, thus as of himself, and not drophis hands and await influx. From all this it follows that proposition iiito be demonstrated has been confirmed: _Through His divine providence theLord leads the affections of the life's love of man and at the same timethe thoughts, too, from which human prudence comes. _

201. (iv) _By His divine providence the Lord assembles the affections ofall mankind into one form--the human form. _ In a subsequent paragraph itwill be seen that this is the universal effort of divine providence. Those who ascribe everything to nature deny God at heart, and those whoascribe everything to human prudence, at heart deny divine providence;the one cannot be separated from the other. Yet both groups for theirreputation's sake and for fear of losing it profess in words that divineprovidence is universal, but say its details fall to man and in theiraggregate are grasped by human prudence. 

[2] But consider: what is universal providence when the details are takenfrom it? Is it anything but just an expression? For that is calleduniversal which consists of the total of details as what is general doesof particulars. If, then, you remove details, what is the universalexcept something empty, thus like a surface with nothing underneath or anaggregate without content? If it should be said that divine providence isa universal government but nothing is governed but only held inconnection and items of the government are handled by others, can this becalled a universal government? No king has such a government. For if aking gave his subjects the government of everything in his kingdom, hewould no longer be king, but would only be called king; he would have thestanding in name only and not in fact. In the case of such a king onecannot speak of government, still less of universal government. 

[3] God's providence is called man's prudence. As universal prudencecannot be said of a king who has only kept the name so that the kingdommay be called a kingdom and be held together, so one cannot speak ofuniversal providence if human beings provide everything by their ownprudence. The same is true of the terms "universal providence" and"universal government" in reference to nature when they mean that Godcreated the universe but endowed nature to produce everything fromherself. What is "universal providence" then but a metaphysical term, andnothing but a term? Many of those who attribute everything produced tonature and everything accomplished to human prudence and yet professorally that God created nature, regard divine providence as an emptyexpression. But the reality is that divine providence is in the leastthings of nature and of human prudence also and is thereby universal. 

202. The Lord's divine providence is universal by being in the leastthings in that He created the universe in order that an infinite andeternal creation might come about from Him, and it does as He forms aheaven from mankind which in His sight is like one humanity, His imageand likeness. We showed above (nn. 27-45) that heaven formed of humanbeings is such in His sight; that this was the purpose of creation; andthat the divine regards what is infinite and eternal in all that itdoes (nn. 46-69). The infinite and eternal to which the Lord looks informing His heaven from mankind is the growth of it to infinity andeternity and thus His dwelling constantly in the purpose of His creation. This infinite and eternal creation the Lord provided for in creating theuniverse and He pursues it steadily in His divine providence. 

[2] Can anyone who knows and believes from the church's doctrine * thatGod is infinite and eternal be so lacking in reason that he does notagree on hearing it that God can then regard only what is infinite andeternal in the great work of His creation? To what else can He look fromHis infinite being? To what else in mankind of which He forms His heaven?What else can divine providence then have for its end than thereformation and salvation of mankind? No one can be reformed by himselfthrough his prudence; he is reformed by the Lord through His divineprovidence. Consequently, unless the Lord leads man every least momentthe man lapses from the way of reformation and perishes. 

* It is the doctrine of all churches in Christendom that God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is infinite, eternal, uncreated andomnipotent, as may be seen in the Athanasian Creed. 

[3] Every change or variation in the state of the human mind means achange or variation in a series of things present and to come; what thenof progress to eternity? The situation is like that of an arrow shot froma bow, which if it deviated from the target in the least on being aimedwould deviate widely at a thousand feet or more. The like would happen ifthe Lord did not lead the states of the human mind every least moment. The Lord does so according to the laws of His divine providence; it isaccording to them that it seems to man he leads himself; but the Lordforesees how he leads himself and constantly acts in adaptation. In whatfollows it will be seen that laws of tolerance are also laws of divineprovidence, that every man can be reformed and regenerated, and that noother predestination is possible. 

203. Since every man lives forever after death and is allotted a placeeither in heaven or in hell according to his life, and heaven and hellmust each be in a form to act as a unit, as we said before, and since noone can be allotted a place in that form other than his own, humanity inall the world is under the Lord's guidance and everyone is led by theLord from infancy to the close of life in the least things, and his placeis foreseen and provided. 

[2] Clearly then, the Lord's divine providence is universal by being inthe least things, and it is an infinite and eternal creation that He hasprovided for Himself in creating the world. Man does not espy thisuniversal providence, and if he did, it would look to him like scatteredheaps and collections of material for building a house such as passersbysee, while the Lord beholds rather a magnificent palace, constantlybuilding and enlarging. 

204. (v) _Heaven and hell are in the form described. _ That heaven is inthe human form has been made known in the work _Heaven and Hell, _published in London in 1758 (nn. 59-102), also in the treatise _DivineLove and Wisdom, _ and here and there in the present treatise. I thereforeomit further confirmation. Hell is said to be in the human form also, butit is in a monstrous human form, like that of the devil, by whom hell inits entirety is meant. Hell is in the human form inasmuch as those whoare in it were born human beings too; they also possess the two humanfaculties of liberty and rationality, though they have misused liberty bywilling and doing evil, and rationality by thinking and confirming evil. 

205. (vi) _Those who have acknowledged nature alone and human prudencealone make up hell, and those who have acknowledged God and His divineprovidence make up heaven. _ All who lead an evil life, inwardlyacknowledge nature and human prudence alone. This acknowledgment lieshidden in all evil, however the evil may be veiled by good and truth, which are borrowed raiment, or like wreaths of perishable flowers, putaround the evil lest it appear in its nakedness. That all who lead anevil life, inwardly acknowledge nature and human prudence alone is notknown because of this general covering hiding it from view. The sourceand cause of their acknowledgment, however, may make clear that theyacknowledge nature and one's own prudence. We shall say, therefore, whence man's own prudence is and what it is; then whence divineprovidence is and what it is; next who they are respectively, and of whatcharacter, who acknowledge divine providence and who acknowledge man'sown prudence; and lastly show that those who acknowledge divineprovidence are in heaven and that those who acknowledge man's ownprudence are in hell. 

206. _Whence man's own prudence is and what it is. _ It is from man'sproprium, which is his nature and is called his soul from his parent. This proprium is self-love and the accompanying love of the world, or itis love of the world and the accompanying self-love. Self-love by natureregards self only and others as cheap or of no account. If it regards anyit does so as long as they honor and do it homage. Inmostly in that love, like the endeavor in seed to fructify and propagate, there lies hiddenthe desire to become great and if possible a king and then possibly agod. A devil is such, for he is self-love itself; he adores himself andfavors no one unless he also adores him; another devil like himself hehates, because he in turn wants alone to be adored. Since no love ispossible without its consort and the consort of love or of the will inman is called the understanding, when self-love breathes itself into itsconsort, the understanding, it becomes pride there, which is the pride ofself-intelligence, and from this comes man's own prudence. 

[2] Inasmuch as self-love wants to be the one lord of the world and thusa god, the lusts of evil which are derived from it have their life fromit, so have the perceptions of the lusts, which are schemes; likewisethe enjoyments of the lusts, which are evils, and the thoughts of thelusts, which are falsities. All these are like slaves and ministers oftheir lord, responding to his every nod, unaware that they do not actbut are acted upon; they are actuated by self-love through the pride ofself-intelligence. Hence man's own prudence because of its origin liesconcealed in every evil. 

[3] The acknowledgment of nature alone is also hidden in it, forself-love has closed the window overhead through which heaven is plainand the side windows, too, in order not to see or hear that the Lordalone governs all things, that nature in herself is lifeless, and thatman's proprium is infernal and consequently love of it is diabolical. With the windows shuttered, self-love is in darkness, builds itself ahearth fire at which it sits with its consort, and the two reasonamicably in favor of nature as against God and in favor of man's ownprudence as against divine providence. 

207. _Whence and what divine providence is. _ It is the divine activity inthe man who has removed self-love. For, as was said, self-love is thedevil, and lusts with their enjoyments are the evils of his kingdom, which is hell. On the removal of self-love the Lord enters with theaffections of neighborly love, opening the overhead window and then theside windows, thus enabling man to see that there is a heaven, a lifeafter death and eternal happiness. By the spiritual light and at the sametime the spiritual love which then flow in, the Lord causes him toacknowledge that God governs all things by His divine providence. 

208. _Who and of what nature those in each group are. _ Those whoacknowledge God and His divine providence are like the angels of heaven, who are averse to being led by themselves and love to be led by the Lord. It is a sign that they are led by the Lord that they love the neighbor. Those, however, who acknowledge nature and one's own prudence are likethe spirits of hell, who are averse to being led by the Lord and love tobe led by themselves. If they were powerful persons in a kingdom orprelates in the church they want to dominate all things. If they werejudges, they pervert judgment and exercise power over the laws. If theywere learned, they apply scientific information to confirm nature andman's proprium. If they were merchants they act like robbers, and ifhusbandmen like thieves. All are enemies of God and scoffers at divineprovidence. 

209. It is amazing that when heaven is opened to such men and they aretold that they are insane, and this is made plain to their veryperception by influx and enlightenment, still they angrily shut heavenaway from them and look to the earth beneath which is hell. This is donewith such men while they are still outside hell. It makes plain howmistaken those are who think, "If I see heaven and hear angels speakingwith me, I shall acknowledge. " Their understanding makes theacknowledgment, but if the will does not at the same time, they still donot acknowledge. For the love of the will inspires in the understandingwhat it wills (it is not the other way about); indeed, it destroyseverything in the understanding which is not from itself. 

210. _All this can be effected only as it appears to man that he thinksfrom himself and disposes by himself. _ In what precedes we have shownfully that unless it seemed to man that he lives of himself and thusthinks and wills, speaks and acts of himself, he would not be man. Consequently, unless he could in his own prudence make the disposition ofall pertaining to his function and life, he could not be led and guidedby divine providence. He would be like one with his hands hanging limp, his mouth open, his eyes shut, holding his breath in expectation ofinflux. He would divest himself of the human which he has from theperception and sensation that he thinks, wills, speaks and acts as itwere of himself. At the same time he would divest himself of the twofaculties, liberty and rationality, distinguishing him from the beasts. Above in this treatise and in the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom_ itwas shown that without this appearance a man would not have the power toreceive or reciprocate nor have immortality then. 

[2] If then you desire to be led by divine providence, use prudence as aservant and minister that faithfully dispenses his master's goods. Thisprudence is the talent given to the servants to trade with, of which theywere to give account (Lu 19:13-28; Mt 25:14-31). It seems to man to behis own, and he believes it is his own as long as he holds shut up withinhim the bitterest enemy God and divine providence have, the love of self. This dwells in the interiors of every man by birth; if you do notrecognize it (and it wishes not to be recognized), it dwells securely andguards the door lest man open the door and the Lord cast it out. The dooris opened by man through shunning evils as sins as if of himself with theacknowledgment that he does so from the Lord. With this prudence divineprovidence acts as one. 

211. Divine providence operates so secretly that scarcely anyone is awareit exists in order that man may not perish. For man's proprium, which ishis will, never acts at one with divine providence, against which it hasan inborn enmity. The proprium is the serpent which seduced the race'sparents of which it is said, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed andher Seed, and It shall bruise your head (Ge 3:15). 

The serpent is evil of every sort; its head is self-love. The seed of thewoman is the Lord, and the enmity set is between the love of man'sproprium and the Lord, thus between man's own prudence and the Lord'sdivine providence. For man's own prudence is constantly exalting thathead, and divine providence is constantly abasing it. 

[2] If man felt this, he would be enraged and wrought-up against God andwould perish. While he does not feel it, he may be enraged and wrought-upagainst others or himself or against fortune without perishing. Thereforethe Lord leads man by His divine providence in freedom always, and thefreedom seems to man to be utterly his own. To lead a man freely inopposition to himself is like raising a heavy and resisting weight fromthe ground by means of screws through the power of which weight andresistance are not felt. And it is as though someone is unknowingly withan enemy who means to kill him and a friend leads him away quietly andonly afterwards tells him the enemy's intention. 

212. Who does not talk of fortune? Who does not acknowledge it byspeaking of it and know something of it by experience? Yet who knows whatit is? One cannot deny that it is something, for it exists and occurs, and a thing cannot exist and occur without being caused; but the cause ofthis something, fortune, is not known. Lest fortune be denied merelybecause the cause is unknown, consider dice or playing cards and playyourself or ask the players; do any deny that fortune exists? For theyplay with it and it plays with them surprisingly. Who can repulse it ifit opposes him? Does it not laugh then at prudence and wisdom? When youshake the dice or shuffle the cards, does fortune not seem to know anddirect the turns and twists of the wrists in favor of one player ratherthan another for some cause? Can the cause have any other source thandivine providence in outermost things where it works along with humanprudence in a wonderful way, constant or changeful, concealing itself atthe same time?

[2] We know that pagans of old acknowledged Fortune and built a temple toher, as Italians did at Rome. It has been granted me to learn many thingswhich I am not permitted to make public about this fortune, which, as wassaid, is divine providence in outmosts. These made it plain to me thatfortune is not an illusion of the mind nor a sport of nature norsomething without a cause, for this has no reality, but is visibleevidence that divine providence is over the least things in human thoughtand action. As divine providence occurs in these least things which areinsignificant and trifling, why should it not in the significant andimportant matters of peace and war in the world and of salvation and lifein heaven?

213. I know, however, that human prudence bears the rational faculty itsway more than divine providence does its way, for the latter does notshow itself and the former does. It can be accepted more readily thatthere is only one life, namely God, and that all men are recipients oflife from Him, as we have shown many times, yet this amounts to sayingthat prudence is from Him, for prudence is part of life. What man, speaking in favor of nature and of human prudence in his reasoning, isnot speaking from the natural or external man? And what man, speaking infavor of divine providence and of God in his reasoning, is not speakingfrom the spiritual or internal man? But, "Pray, write two books, " I sayto the natural man, "and fill them with plausible, likely and lifelikereasons which in your judgment are solid ones, the one book in favor ofone's own prudence, and the other in favor of nature. Then hand them toany angel. I know he will write down on them these few words: `All thisis appearance and fallacy. '"

XI. DIVINE PROVIDENCE LOOKS TO WHAT IS ETERNAL, AND TO THE TEMPORAL ONLYAS THIS ACCORDS WITH THE ETERNAL

214. That divine providence looks to what is eternal and to the temporalonly so far as this makes one with the eternal, will be demonstrated inthis order:

i. The temporal has to do with distinction and wealth, thus with standingand gain, in the world. Ii. The eternal has to do with spiritual standing and abundance, of loveand wisdom, in heaven. Iii. The temporal and the eternal are separated by man, but are united bythe Lord. Iv. The uniting of temporal and eternal is the Lord's divine providence. 

215. (i) _The temporal has to do with distinction and wealth, thus withstanding and gain, in the world. _ Many things are temporal, but they areall related to distinction and wealth. By the temporal is meant all thateither perishes in time or at least comes to an end with man's life inthe world. By the eternal is meant all that does not perish or come to anend in time and thus not with life in the world. Since, as we said, allthat is temporal concerns distinction and wealth, it is important to knowthe following: what, and whence, distinction and wealth are; the natureof the love of them for themselves and the nature of the love of them forthe sake of use; that these two loves are distinct from each other, ashell and heaven are; and that man hardly knows the difference betweenthem. But of these points one by one. 

[2] _First: What, and whence, distinction and wealth are. _ Distinctionand wealth in the most ancient times were quite different from what theygradually became later. Distinction in those times existed only in therelation of parents and children and was one of love, a love full ofrespect and veneration, accorded the parents not because of birth fromthem, but because of the instruction and wisdom received from them, whichwas a second birth of the children, in itself spiritual, being of theirspirit. This was the sole distinction in most ancient days becausetribes, families, and households dwelt separately and not like todayunder governments. The distinction attached to the head of the family. Men of old called the times golden ages. 

[3] But after those times the love of ruling, just out of enjoyment ofthat love, crept in by stages, and as enmity and hostility did so at thesame time towards those who were unwilling to submit, tribes, families, and households congregated of necessity in communities and set overthemselves one whom they called judge at first, then prince, and finallyking and emperor. They also began to protect themselves by towers, earthworks and walls. The lust of ruling spread like a contagion to manyfrom the judge, prince, king or emperor as from the head into the body, and as a result degrees of distinction arose and prestige according tothem, and self-love also and pride in one's own prudence. 

[4] The same thing happened with the love of riches. In the most ancientdays when tribes and families lived by themselves, there was no otherlove of riches than to possess the necessaries of life which theyprovided for themselves from flocks and herds and from the lands, fieldsand gardens which supplied their food. Suitable houses, furnished withuseful articles of every kind, and clothing were also among theirnecessities of life. Parents, children and male and female servants, making up the household, engaged in the care and labor for all thesenecessities. 

[5] But after the love of dominion entered and destroyed this state ofsociety, the love of having means beyond what was needed crept in alsoand grew to the extreme of wanting to possess the wealth of all othermen. The two loves are like blood relatives, for one who wants to ruleover all things, also wants to possess all things; for then all othersbecome servants, and they alone masters. This is clearly evident fromthose in the papist world who have exalted their dominion even intoheaven, to the Lord's throne, on which they have placed themselves, andwho at the same time seek the wealth of the whole earth and want toenlarge their treasury endlessly. 

[6] Second: _The nature of the love of distinction and wealth for theirown sake and for usefulness' sake respectively. _ The love of distinctionand standing for their own sake is self-love--strictly, the love of rulingfrom self-love; and the love of riches and wealth for their own sake islove of the world--more precisely, the love of possessing the goods ofothers by whatever device. But the love of distinction and riches forusefulness' sake is love of the use, which is the same as love to theneighbor; for that for the sake of which a man acts is the purpose fromwhich he acts, and is first or primary, and all else is means andsecondary. 

[7] As for the love of distinction and standing, identical with self-loveand strictly with the love of ruling from self-love, it is the love ofthe proprium; and man's proprium is all evil. Hence it is said that manis born into all evil and that what he has by heredity is nothing butevil. What he has by heredity is his proprium in which he is and intowhich he comes through self-love and especially through the love ofruling from self-love; for one who is in that love regards only himselfand thus immerses his thoughts and affections in his proprium. Hence alove of evil-doing is present in self-love. The reason is that he doesnot love the neighbor but only himself; and one who loves himself only, sees others as outsiders or as mean or nothing worth, despises them, anddoes not hesitate to do them injury. 

[8] For this reason one who is in the love of ruling from the love ofself thinks nothing of defrauding his neighbor, committing adultery withhis wife, slandering him, breathing vengeance on him even to the death, treating him cruelly, and other such deeds. This a man gets from the factthat the devil himself, with whom he is conjoined and by whom he is led, is nothing else than the love of ruling from self-love. One who is led bythe devil, that is, by hell, is led into all these evils and isconstantly led by enjoyments of these evils. Hence all who are in hellwant to do evil to all, but those in heaven want to do well by all. Fromthis opposition there results the intermediate state in which man is andin it is in equilibrium, as it were, so that he can turn towards hell ortowards heaven. So far as he favors the evils of self-love he turnstowards hell, and so far as he removes them from him he turns towardsheaven. 

[9] It has been granted me to feel the nature and also the strength ofthe enjoyment of ruling from the love of self. I was let into it that Imight know. It was such as to exceed all worldly enjoyments. It was anenjoyment of the whole mind from its inmosts to its outmosts, but felt inthe body only as pleasure and gratification, making the chest swell. Itwas also granted me to perceive that there issued from this enjoyment asfrom their fountainhead the enjoyments of evils of all kinds, such asadultery, revenge, fraud, slander, and evil-doing in general. There is asimilar enjoyment in the love of possessing the wealth of others bywhatever ruse, and from this love in the lusts derived from it; yet notthe same degree of enjoyment unless this love is conjoined withself-love. As for distinction and riches sought not for themselves butfor usefulness' sake, this is not love of them but love of uses;distinction and wealth serve it as means. This love is heavenly. But ofit more in what follows. 

[10] Third: _These two loves are distinct from each other, as heaven andhell are. _ This is plain from what has just been said, to which I willadd the following. All who are in the love of ruling from self-love, whoever they are and whether they are great or small, are in hell inspirit. They are also in the love of all evils. If they do not committhem, still in their spirit they believe that they are allowable, andwhen honor, standing, or fear of the law do not deter, they commit themphysically. What is more, the love of ruling from self-love hides hatredof God deeply within itself, consequently of divine things which are ofthe church and especially of the Lord. If such men acknowledge God it iswith the lips only, and if they acknowledge the divine things of thechurch, it is for fear of losing standing. This love hides hatred of theLord deeply within it because deep in it is the desire to be God, for itworships and adores itself alone. Hence if anyone honors it, even tosaying that it possesses divine wisdom and is the god of the world, itloves him with all the heart. 

[11] It is otherwise with the love of distinction and wealth forusefulness' sake; this love is heavenly, for, as was said, it is the sameas love of the neighbor. By uses goods are meant, and by doing uses doinggood is meant, and by doing uses or good, serving and helping others ismeant. Although those doing so may possess distinction and wealth, theyregard these only as means for doing uses, thus for serving and helping. They are meant in these words of the Lord:

Whoever would be great among you, must be your minister; and whoeverwould . . . Be first, must be your servant (Mt 20:26, 27). 

It is these also whom the Lord entrusts with ruling in heaven. For rulingis to them the means of doing uses or good, thus of serving; and whenuses or good deeds are their purpose and their love, they do not rule;the Lord does, from whom is all that is good. 

[12] Fourth: _Man hardly knows the difference between the two loves. _ Formost men of distinction and wealth also perform uses, yet do not knowwhether they do so for their own sake or for the sake of usefulness. Theyknow this the less because love of self and the world has more fire andardor for doing uses than have those who are not in love of self and theworld. The former do uses, however, for the sake of fame or gain, thusfor their own benefit; but the latter, doing so for the sake ofusefulness and what is beneficial, act not from themselves but from theLord. 

[13] The difference between the two loves can scarcely be recognized byman, for he is ignorant whether he is being led by the devil or by theLord. Led by the devil he does uses for his own sake or the world's; ledby the Lord, he does them for the sake of the Lord and of heaven. All whoshun evils as sins do uses from the Lord; all who do not shun evils assins do uses from the devil, for evil is the devil, and use or good isthe Lord. Only so is the difference in question recognizable. Outwardlythe two loves look the same; inwardly they are wholly unlike. One is likegold with dross in it, the other like gold with pure gold in it. One islike artificial fruit, looking outwardly like the fruit of a tree, but iscolored wax with dust or pitch in it; the other is like noble fruit, flavorsome and fragrant, with seeds in it. 

216. (ii) _The eternal has to do with spiritual standing and wealth, oflove and wisdom, in heaven. _ As the natural man calls the enjoyments ofself-love, which are also the enjoyments of the lusts of evil, good, andconfirms that they are goods, he calls distinction and wealth divineblessings. But when the natural man sees the wicked as well as the goodraised to distinction and prospered, and still more when he beholds thegood despised and poorly off and the wicked honored and affluent, hethinks to himself, "Why is this? It cannot be by divine providence. Forif providence governed everything, it would lavish distinction and wealthon the good and inflict contempt and poverty on the wicked, and thusdrive the wicked to acknowledge there is a God and divine providence. "

[2] But unless he is enlightened by the spiritual man, that is, is at thesame time spiritual, the natural man does not see that distinction andwealth can be blessings but also curses, and that when they are from Godthey are blessings, and when they are from the devil they are curses. Itis well known, moreover, that the devil bestows distinction and wealth;it is on this account that he is called the prince of the world. As it isnot known when distinction and wealth are blessings and when they arecurses, let it be told in this order: 1. Distinction and wealth areblessings and are curses. 2. When they are blessings they are spiritualand eternal; when they are curses they are temporal and ephemeral. 3. Distinction and wealth which are curses, compared with those which areblessings, are as nothing compared with everything or as that which hasno existence in itself compared with that which has. 

217. The three points are now each to be clarified. 1. _Distinction andwealth are blessings and are curses. _ Common experience attests that boththe pious and the impious, or the just and the unjust, that is, thewicked and the good, gain distinction and wealth, and yet it isundeniable that the impious and unjust, that is, the wicked, enter hell, and the pious and just, that is, the good, enter heaven. As this is true, distinction and wealth or standing and means are either blessings orcurses, blessings with the good and curses with the evil. It was shown inthe work _Heaven and Hell, _ published in London in the year 1758, thatrich and poor and great and small are found in both heaven and hell (nn. 357-365). It is plain from this that distinction and wealth with thosenow in heaven were blessings in the world, and with those now in hellwere curses in the world. 

[2] If he will think about the matter with reason, anyone can know whendistinction and wealth are blessings or curses, namely, that they areblessings with those who do not set their heart on them, and curses withthose who do. One sets the heart on them in loving oneself in them, andone does not set the heart on them when he loves uses and not himself inthem. Above (n. 215) we told what the difference between the two loves, and the nature of it, is. It is to be added that distinction and wealthseduce some and not others. They do so when they excite the loves inman's proprium, that is, self-love, which is the love found in hell andis called the devil (as remarked above), and they do not seduce if theydo not excite that love. 

[3] Both the wicked and the good come to distinction and are prospered inmeans because the wicked as well as the good perform uses. The wickedperform uses for the sake of their personal standing and gain; the gooddo so for the sake of the standing and profit of the work which they do. The good regard the standing and profit of their work as principal causesof action, and personal standing and gain as instrumental causes; but thewicked regard their personal standing and gain as the main incentives andthe standing and gain of their work as the instrumental. Yet who does notsee that a person, whatever his function or standing, is to serve theaffairs which he administers, and not they him? Who does not see that ajudge is to serve justice, a magistrate the common welfare, a king hiskingdom, and that it is not to be the other way around? According to thelaws of a kingdom, a man is invested therefore with distinction andstanding in keeping with the eminence of the work he does. Moreover, whodoes not see that the difference between the two loves is like thatbetween what is principal and what is instrumental? One who ascribes tohimself personally the eminence of a position appears in the spiritualworld, when this inversion is pictured, as himself inverted, feet up andhead down. 

[4] Second: _When distinction and wealth are blessings they are spiritualand eternal, but when they are curses they are temporal and ephemeral. _There are distinction and wealth in heaven as there are in the world. Forgovernments and hence administrations and functions exist there, tradealso and hence wealth, for there are societies and communities. Allheaven is divided into two kingdoms, one called the celestial kingdom andthe other the spiritual kingdom. Each kingdom is divided into innumerablesocieties, larger and smaller, all of which with all in them are arrangedaccording to differences of love and of wisdom thence, the societies ofthe celestial kingdom according to differences of celestial love, whichis love to the Lord, and the societies of the spiritual kingdom accordingto differences of spiritual love, which is love to the neighbor. Inasmuchas there are such societies, and all who are in them were men in theworld and hence retain the loves they cherished in the world, with theone difference that they are spiritual beings now, and that distinctionand wealth are spiritual in the spiritual kingdom and celestial in thecelestial kingdom, therefore those have greater distinction and abundancethan others who have greater love and wisdom. And to them distinction andwealth in the world were blessings. 

[5] The nature of spiritual distinction and wealth may then be plain--theyattach to one's function and not to one's person. The distinguishedperson in the spiritual world indeed enjoys magnificence and glory likethose of kings on earth, yet does not regard the distinction itself asanything but rather the uses in the administration and discharge of whichhe is engaged. Each also receives the honors of his high post butascribes them not to himself but to the uses, and as all uses are fromthe Lord, he ascribes the honors to the Lord as their source. Such arethe spiritual distinction and wealth which are eternal. 

[6] It is quite otherwise with those to whom eminence and wealth werecurses in the world. Having attributed these to themselves and not touses, and not wanting the uses to control them but wanting to control theuses, which they regarded as uses only as they served their own standingand honor, they are in hell and are base slaves, despised and wretched. Their distinction and wealth are gone, therefore are called temporal andfleeting. The Lord teaches about both sorts in the words:

Do not lay up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and rustcorrupt and thieves break through and steal; but lay up treasures foryourselves in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupts and wherethieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is . . . Your heart also is (Mt 6:19-21). 

[7] Third: _The distinction and wealth which are curses, compared withthose which are blessings, are as nothing compared with everything or asthat which has no existence in itself compared with that which has. _Everything that perishes and comes to nothing is inwardly nothing initself. Outwardly, indeed, it is something and appears to be much and tosome everything while it lasts; but inwardly in itself it is not. It islike a surface with nothing beneath or like an actor in kingly robes whenthe play is over. But what remains to eternity is something in itselfperpetually, thus everything, and it truly is, for it does not cease tobe. 

218. (iii) _The temporal and the eternal are separated by man, but areunited by the Lord. _ For all that is man's is temporal, and he maytherefore be called temporal, but all things that are the Lord's areeternal, and so the Lord is called eternal. Temporal things are such ascome to an end and perish, eternal things are such as do not. Anyone cansee that the two can be united only by the infinite wisdom of the Lord, thus by Him and not by man. To make it known, however, that the two areseparated by man and united by the Lord, this is to be demonstrated inthe following order:

1. What temporal things are and what eternal are. 2. The human being is in himself temporal and the Lord in Himselfeternal, and only the temporal can proceed from man, and only the eternalfrom the Lord. 3. Temporal things separate eternal things from themselves, while eternalthings join temporal things to themselves. 4. The Lord joins man to Himself by means of appearances. 5. He does so by correspondences also. 

219. These points will be clarified and established one by one. First:_What temporal things are and what eternal are. _ The temporal are allthings that are proper to nature and from nature proper to man. Space andtime especially are proper to nature, both of them having a limit ortermination. Things thence derived and proper to man are all things ofhis own will and understanding, thus of his affection and thought andespecially of his prudence; it is well known that these are finite andlimited. Eternal things, however, are all that are proper to the Lord andfrom Him seemingly proper to man. What is proper to the Lord is all of itinfinite and eternal, thus timeless, endless and without limit; what isseemingly proper to man thence is also infinite and eternal; but nothingof this is actually proper to man, but the Lord's alone in him. 

[2] Second: _The human being is in himself temporal and the Lord inHimself eternal, and only the temporal can proceed from man, and from theLord only the eternal. _ Man, we said, is in himself temporal and the Lordin Himself eternal. Since only what is in a person can proceed from him, nothing can proceed from man except what is temporal, and nothing fromthe Lord except what is eternal. For the infinite cannot proceed from thefinite; that it can is a contradiction. The infinite, however, canproceed from the finite, still not from the finite but from the infiniteby the finite. In turn, what is finite cannot proceed from the infinite;this is also a contradiction; it can be produced from the infinite andthis is creation and not proceeding. On this subject see _Angelic Wisdomabout Divine Love and Wisdom, _ from beginning to end. If then the finiteproceeds from the Lord, as it does in many ways with man, it proceeds notfrom the Lord but from man, and can be said to do so from the Lord byman, because it so appears. 

[3] This may be clarified by these words of the Lord:

Let your communication be, Yea, yea, Nay, nay, what is more than thesecomes of evil (Mt 5:37). 

Such is the speech of all in the third heaven. For they never reasonabout divine things whether a thing is so or not, but see in themselvesfrom the Lord whether or not it is. To reason about divine things whetherthey are so or not comes from the reasoner's not seeing them from theLord, but wanting to see them from himself, and what one sees fromoneself is evil. But still the Lord desires man to think and speak aboutthings divine, also to reason about them, in order that he may seewhether or not they are so. Such thought, speech and reasoning may besaid to be from the Lord in man provided the end is to see the truth, although they are from the man until he sees and acknowledges the truth. Meanwhile it is from the Lord alone that he can think, speak and reason;for he does so from the two faculties, called liberty and rationality, which are his from the Lord alone. 

[4] Third: _Temporal things separate eternal things from themselves, while eternal things join temporal things to themselves. _ That temporalthings separate eternal things from themselves means that man, who istemporal, does so from the temporal in himself; and that eternal thingsjoin temporal things to themselves means that the Lord, who is eternal, does so from what is eternal in Himself, as was said above. In whatprecedes we showed that there is a conjunction of the Lord with man and aconjunction in turn of man with the Lord, but the reciprocal conjunctionof man with the Lord is not man's doing but the Lord's; also that man'swill goes counter to the Lord's will or, what is the same, man's ownprudence goes counter to divine providence. From these circumstances itfollows that man puts the eternal things of the Lord aside by force ofthe temporal things in him, but the Lord joins His eternal things toman's temporal, that is, Himself to man and man to Him. As these pointshave been treated many times in what precedes, there is no need toconfirm them further. 

[5] Fourth: _The Lord joins man to Himself by means of appearances. _ Forit is an appearance that of himself man loves the neighbor, does good, and speaks truth. Unless this appeared to man to be so, he would not lovethe neighbor, do good, or speak truth, and therefore would not beconjoined with the Lord. Since love, good and truth are from the Lord, plainly the Lord joins man to Himself by means of the appearance. Thisappearance, and the Lord's conjunction with man and man's with the Lord, have been treated above at length. 

[6] Fifth: _The Lord unites man to Himself by means of correspondences. _He does this by means of the Word, the sense of the letter of whichconsists wholly of correspondences. In _Doctrine of the New Jerusalemabout Sacred Scripture, _ from beginning to end, it was shown that bymeans of that sense there is a conjunction of the Lord with man and areciprocal conjunction of man with the Lord. 

220. (iv) _The conjunction of the temporal and the eternal in man is theLord's divine providence. _ As this cannot come at once to the perceptionof the understanding or before being reduced to order and then unfoldedand demonstrated according to that order, let this be the order inconsidering it:

1. It is by divine providence that man puts off the natural and temporalthrough death and puts on the spiritual and eternal. 2. Through His divine providence the Lord joins Himself with naturalthings by means of spiritual and to temporal by means of eternal inaccordance with uses. 3. The Lord joins Himself to uses by means of correspondences, and so bymeans of appearances according as man confirms these. 4. This conjunction of temporal and eternal is divine providence. 

All this will be placed in clearer light by explanation. 

[2] First: _It is of divine providence that man puts off the natural andtemporal through death and puts on the spiritual and eternal. _ Naturaland temporal things are the outermost and lowest things which man firstenters, as he does on being born, to the end that he may be introducedthen into interior and higher things; for the outmost and lowest thingsare containants, and these are in the natural world. For this reason noangel or spirit was created such at once, but all were born as men firstand then were introduced into interior and higher things. Thus they havean outmost and lowest which in itself is fixed and stable, within and bywhich the interiors can be held in connection. 

[3] Man first puts on the grosser substances of nature; his body consistsof them; but he puts these off by death, retaining the purer substancesof nature nearest to the spiritual, which then are his containants. Moreover, all interior or higher things are together in the outmost andlowermost, as was shown earlier in passages on the subject. Everyactivity of the Lord is therefore from topmost and outmost simultaneouslyand so is in fullness. But as the farthest and outmost things of nature asthey are in themselves cannot receive the spiritual and eternal thingsfor which the human mind was formed, and yet man was born to becomespiritual and live forever, man puts them off and retains only thoseinterior natural things which suit and harmonize with the spiritual andcelestial and serve to contain them. This is effected by the rejection ofthe temporal and natural outmosts, which is the death of the body. 

[4] Second: _Through His divine providence the Lord joins Himself withnatural things by means of spiritual things and to temporal by means ofeternal in accordance with uses. _ Natural and temporal things are notonly those proper to nature, but also those proper to men in the naturalworld. At death man puts off both of these and puts on the spiritual andeternal things corresponding to them. That he puts these on according touses has been shown in much that precedes. The natural things proper tonature relate in general to time and space and in particular to thingsvisible on earth. These man leaves behind at death and instead receivesspiritual things which are similar in outward aspect or appearance butnot in their inward aspect and actual essence. This also was consideredabove. 

[5] Temporal things proper to men in the natural world in general arerelated to distinction and wealth and in particular to human needs suchas food, clothing and habitation. These are also put off at death andleft behind; things are put on and received that are similar in outwardaspect or appearance but not in their internal aspect and essence. Allthese get their inward aspect and essence from the uses made of temporalthings in the world. Uses are the goods which are called goods ofcharity. It is evident, then, that the Lord through His divine providenceunites spiritual and eternal things to natural and temporal thingsaccording to uses. 

[6] Third: _The Lord joins Himself to uses by means of correspondences, and thus by means of appearances according as man confirms these. _ Asthis must seem obscure to those who have not yet acquired a clear idea ofcorrespondence and appearance, what these are must be illustrated byexamples and explained. All the sayings of the Word are outrightcorrespondences of spiritual and celestial things, and beingcorrespondences are also appearances, that is, are all divine goods ofdivine love and divine truths of divine wisdom which in themselves arenaked, but are clothed upon by the Word's literal meaning. They thereforeappear as a man would clothed, if his clothing corresponded to the stateof his love and wisdom. Obviously, then, if one confirms appearances inhimself, he mistakes the clothing for the man, whereupon appearancebecomes fallacy. It is otherwise if he seeks truths and sees them in theappearances. 

[7] Inasmuch as all uses or truths and goods of charity, which a manrenders to the neighbor may be rendered either according to theappearance or according to the verities of the Word, he is in fallaciesif he renders them according to the appearances he has confirmed, butrenders them as he should if he does so in accord with the verities. Thismay make plain what is meant when the Lord is said to join Himself touses through correspondences and thus through appearances according tothe confirmation of these by man. 

[8] Fourth: _This conjunction of temporal and eternal is divineprovidence. _ This is to be illustrated by two instances in order to bringit before the understanding in some light. The one instance is that ofeminence and standing, and the other that of riches and wealth. These areall natural and temporal in outward form but spiritual and eternal ininward form. Distinction with its standing is natural and temporal when aman has regard in them only to himself personally and not to the commonwelfare and to the uses. For he is bound then to think inwardly that thecommunity exists for his sake and not he for its sake. It is like aking's thinking that the kingdom and all its members exist for his sake, and not he for the sake of kingdom and people. 

[9] The identical distinction, however, along with the standing itbrings, is spiritual and eternal when man considers that he exists forthe sake of the common well-being and for uses, and not these for hissake. Doing this, he is in the truth and essence of the distinction andof the standing it brings. But doing as described above, he is in thecorrespondence and appearance; if then he confirms these, he is infallacies and has conjunction with the Lord only as those have who are infalsities and evils therefrom, for fallacies are falsities with whichevils unite themselves. Such men have indeed done uses and good but fromthemselves and not from the Lord, thus have put themselves in the Lord'splace. 

[10] The same is true of riches and wealth; for these also are naturaland temporal, and spiritual and eternal. They are natural and temporalwith those who have regard only to them and to themselves in them and whofind all their pleasure and enjoyment in them. But they are spiritual andeternal with those who regard good uses in them and take an interiorpleasure and enjoyment in uses. The outward pleasure and enjoyment insuch men also becomes spiritual, and the temporal becomes eternal. Theyare therefore in heaven after death and in palaces there, the usefuldesigns of which are resplendent with gold and precious stones. They lookon these things, however, as the shining and translucent external ofinward things, namely, of uses, in which they take a pleasure andenjoyment which are the happiness and joy of heaven. The opposite is thelot of those who have looked on riches and wealth just for the sake ofriches and wealth and for their own sake, thus on the externalities andon nothing inward; thus on appearance and not on the essential reality. When they put off the externalities, as they do on dying, they come intotheir internals, and as these are not spiritual, they cannot but beinfernal; they must be one or the other and cannot be spiritual andinfernal at the same time. The lot of these men then is poverty insteadof riches and wretchedness instead of wealth. 

[11] By uses not only the necessities of life are meant, such as food, raiment and habitation for oneself and one's own, but also the good ofone's country, community and fellow-citizens. Business is such a goodwhen it is the end-love and money is a mediate, subservient love, as itis only when the businessman shuns and is averse to fraud and badpractices as sin. It is otherwise when money is the end-love and businessthe mediate, subservient love. For this is avarice, which is a root ofevils (on this see Lu 12:15 and the parable on it, verses 16-21). 

XII. MAN IS NOT ADMITTED INWARDLY INTO TRUTHS OF FAITH AND GOODS OFCHARITY EXCEPT AS HE CAN BE KEPT IN THEM TO THE CLOSE OF LIFE

221. It is well known in Christendom that the Lord wills the salvation ofall, and also is almighty. From this many conclude that He can saveeveryone and saves those who implore His mercy, especially those whoimplore it by the formula of the received faith that God the Father maybe merciful for the sake of the Son, particularly if they pray at thesame time that they may receive this faith. That it is quite otherwise, however, will be seen in the last chapter of this treatise where it willbe explained that the Lord cannot act contrary to the laws of His divineprovidence because that would be acting against His divine love andwisdom, thus against Himself. There, too, it will be seen that suchimmediate mercy is impossible, for man's salvation is effected by means, and he can be led in accordance with these means only by Him who willsthe salvation of all and is at the same time almighty, thus by the Lord. These means are what are called laws of divine providence. Among them isthis, that man is not admitted inwardly into truths of wisdom and goodsof love except as he can be kept in them to the close of life. To makethis plain to the reason, it is to be explained in this order:

i. Man may be admitted into wisdom about spiritual things and alsointo love of them and still not be reformed. Ii. If he recedes from them afterwards and turns to what is the contrary, he profanes holy things. Iii. There are many kinds of profanation, but this kind is the worst ofall. Iv. The Lord therefore does not admit man interiorly into truths ofwisdom and at the same time into goods of love except as man can be keptin them to the very close of life. 

222. (i) _Man may be admitted into wisdom about spiritual things and alsointo love of them and still not be reformed. _ This is because hepossesses rationality and liberty; by rationality he can be raised intoan almost angelic wisdom, and by liberty into love not unlike angeliclove. But such as the love is, such is the wisdom; if the love iscelestial and spiritual, the wisdom becomes so, but if the love isdiabolical and infernal, the wisdom is likewise. Outwardly, and so toothers, it may seem to be celestial and spiritual, but in inward form, namely in its essence, it is diabolical and infernal; not as manifested, but as it is within one. That it is of this nature men do not see, forthey are natural, see and hear naturally, and the outward form isnatural; but angels do see it, for they are spiritual, see and hearspiritually, and the inward form is spiritual. 

[2] From this it is plain that man can be admitted into wisdom aboutspiritual things and also into love of them and still not be reformed; heis admitted only into a natural love of them, not into a spiritual. Thisis for the reason that man can admit himself into a natural love, but theLord alone can admit him into a spiritual love, and those admitted intothis are reformed, but those admitted only into the natural love are not. For the most part the latter are hypocrites, and many are of the Order ofJesuits who inwardly do not believe in the divine at all, but playoutwardly with divine things like actors. 

223. It has been granted me by much experience in the spiritual world toknow that man possesses in himself the faculty of apprehending arcana ofwisdom like the angels themselves. For I have seen fiery devils who notonly understood arcana of wisdom when they heard them, but who spokethem, too, out of their rationality. But the moment they returned totheir diabolical love they did not understand them, but in place of themthe contrary, which was insanity, and this they called wisdom. In fact, Iwas allowed to hear them laugh at their insanity when they were in astate of wisdom, and at wisdom when they were in an insane state. One whohas been of this character in the world, on becoming a spirit after deathis usually brought into states of wisdom and insanity by turns, for himto distinguish the one from the other. But although such men see from thewisdom that they are insane, when the choice is given them, as it is toeach, they betake themselves into the state of insanity, love it and feelhatred for the state of wisdom. The reason is that their inward naturehas been diabolical and their outward seemingly divine. They are meant bydevils who affect to be angels of light, and by the man in the house ofthe nuptials who was not dressed in a wedding garment and was cast intoouter darkness (Mt 22:11-13). 

224. Who cannot see that it is the internal from which the externalexists and that consequently the external has its essence from theinternal? And who does not know by experience that the external canappear out of accord with the essence it has from the internal? It doesso obviously with hypocrites, flatterers and dissemblers. That a personcan outwardly feign to be other than himself is manifest from actors andmimics. They know how to represent kings, emperors and even angels intone of voice, speech, face and gesture as though they were really such, when they are nevertheless only actors. We allude to this because man cansimilarly act the deceiver in spiritual things as well as civil andmoral, and that many do is well known. 

[2] When the internal in its essence is infernal, and the external in itsform appears to be spiritual and yet has its essence, as we said, fromthe internal, the question arises where in the external that essence ishidden. It does not show in gesture, voice, speech or face, yet isinteriorly hidden in all four. That it is, is plain from the same in thespiritual world. For when man passes from the natural world to thespiritual, as he does at death, he leaves his externals behind along withhis body and retains his internals, which he has stored up in his spirit. If his internal was infernal, he then appears as a devil, such as he wasas to his spirit during life in the world. Who does not acknowledge thateveryone leaves external things behind with the body and enters intointernal things on becoming a spirit?

[3] To this I will add that in the spiritual world there is acommunication of affections and of thoughts from them, which results inno one's being able to speak except as he thinks; likewise, everyonechanges facial expression and reflects his affection, and thus shows inhis face what he is. Hypocrites are allowed sometimes to speak otherwisethan they think, but the tone of the voice sounds utterly out of harmonywith their interior thoughts, and they are recognized by the discord. Itmay be evident from this that the internal lies hidden in the tone ofvoice, the speech, the face and gesture of the external, and that it isnot perceived by men in the world, but plainly by angels in the spiritualworld. 

225. It is plain from this that while he lives in the natural world manmay be admitted into wisdom about spiritual things and into love of themalso, and that this happens or can happen with the merely natural as wellas with those who are spiritual, with this difference, however, that thelatter are reformed by these means and the former are not. It may seem, also, that the former love wisdom, but they do so only as an adultererloves a noble woman, that is, as mistress, speaking caressingly to herand giving her beautiful garments, but saying of her privately tohimself, "She is only a vile harlot whom I will make believe that I lovebecause she gratifies my lust; if she should not, I would cast her away. "The internal man of the unreformed lover of wisdom is this adulterer; hisexternal man is the woman. 

226. (ii) _If man recedes from these later and turns to what is contrary, he profanes holy things. _ There are many kinds of profanation of what isholy, of which in the following section, but this is the gravest of all. Those who profane in this way become no longer human beings after death;they live indeed, but are continually in wild fantasies. They seem tothemselves to soar aloft and while they remain there they sport withfantasies which they see as realities. No longer human, they are referredto not as "he" or "she" but "it. " In fact, when they come to view inheaven's light they look like skeletons, some like skeletons of the colorof bone, others like fiery skeletons, and still others like charred ones. The world does not know that profaners of this kind become like thisafter death, and the reason is that the cause is unknown. The real causeis that when man first acknowledges and believes divine things and thenlapses and denies them, he mixes the holy with the profane. Once they aremixed, they cannot be separated without destroying the whole. That thesethings may be perceived more clearly, they are to be disclosed in dueorder as follows: 1. Whatever a man thinks, speaks and does from thewill, whether good or evil, is appropriated to him and remains. 2. TheLord in His divine providence constantly foresees and disposes that evilshall be by itself and good by itself, and thus may be separated. 3. Thiscannot be done, however, if man first acknowledges and lives according totruths of faith and afterwards recedes and denies them. 4. Then he mixesgood and evil to the point that they cannot be separated. 5. Since goodand evil in anyone must be separated, and in such a person cannot be, heis destroyed in all that is truly human. 

227. These are the causes that lead to such enormity, but as they areobscure as a result of ignorance of them, they are to be explained sothat they will be plain to the understanding. 1. _Whatever man thinks, speaks and does from the will, whether good or evil, is appropriated tohim and remains. _ This was explained above (nn. 78-81); for man has anexternal or natural memory and an internal or spiritual memory. On thelatter memory are written each and all things that he thought, spoke ordid from his will in the world, so fully that nothing is lacking. Thismemory is his book of life, which is opened after death and according towhich he is judged. Much more about this memory is reported fromexperience in the work _Heaven and Hell_ (nn. 461-465). 

[2] 2. _The Lord in His divine providence constantly foresees anddisposes that evil shall be by itself and good by itself, and thus may beseparated. _ Everyone is both in evil and in good, for he is in evil fromhimself and in good from the Lord; he cannot live without being in both. If he were in himself alone and thus in evil alone, he would not possessanything living; nor would he if he were in the Lord alone and thus ingood alone. In the latter case he would be like one suffocated andgasping for breath or like one dying in agony; in the former case hewould be devoid of life, for evil apart from good is dead. Thereforeeveryone is in both, with the difference that in the one instance he isinwardly in the Lord and outwardly as if in himself, and in the otherinwardly in himself and outwardly as if in the Lord. The latter man is inevil, the former in good, and yet each is in good and evil both. Thewicked man is in both because he is in the good of civil and moral lifeand outwardly, in some measure, in the good of spiritual life, too, besides being kept by the Lord in rationality and liberty, making itpossible for him to be in good. This is the good by means of whicheveryone, even a wicked man, is led by the Lord. It may then be seen thatthe Lord keeps evil and good apart, so that one is interior and the otherexterior, and thus provides against their being mingled. 

[3] 3. _This cannot be done, however, if man first acknowledges and livesaccording to truths of faith and then later recedes and denies them. _This is plain from what has just been said, that all which a man thinks, speaks and does from the will is appropriated to him and remains; andthat the Lord in His divine providence constantly foresees and disposesthat good shall be by itself and evil by itself, and so can be separated. They are also separated by the Lord after death. Those who are inwardlyevil and outwardly good are deprived of the good and left to their evil. The reverse occurs with the inwardly good who outwardly like other menhave acquired wealth, sought distinction, delighted in the mundane, andindulged some lusts. Good and evil have not been commingled by them, however, but are separate, like internal and external; they haveresembled the evil in many ways outwardly but not inwardly. Evil isseparate from good in the evil, too, who have appeared outwardly like thegood for piety, worship, speech and deeds, although wicked inwardly. Withthose, however, who have first acknowledged and lived by truths of faithand then lived contrary to them and rejected them and particularly ifthey have denied them, good and evil are no longer separate, but mixed. Such a person has appropriated both good and evil to himself, and thuscombined and mixed them. 

[4] 4. _He then mixes good and evil to a point where they cannot beseparated. _ This follows from what has just been said. And if evil cannotbe separated from good and good from evil, a person can be neither inheaven nor in hell. Everyone must be in one or the other; he cannot be inboth; for so he would be now in heaven and now in hell; and in heaven hewould act in hell's favor and in hell act in heaven's favor. He wouldthus destroy the life of all around him, heavenly life among the angelsand infernal life among the devils; as a result everyone's life wouldperish. For everyone must live his own life; no one lives a life foreignto his own, still less one opposed to it. Hence, in every man afterdeath, when he becomes a spirit or a spiritual being, the Lord separatesgood from evil and evil from good, good from evil in those who areinwardly in evil, and evil from good in those inwardly in good. Thisaccords with His own words:

To every one who has, shall be given, that he may abound, and from himwho has not, shall even what he has be taken away (Mt 13:12; 25:29; Mk4:25; Lu 8:18; 19:26). 

[5] Fifth: _Since good and evil in anyone must be separated and in such aperson cannot be, he is destroyed in all that is truly human. _ As wasshown earlier, everyone has what is truly human from rationality, in thathe can see and know what is true and good if he wishes, and from liberty, enabling him to will, think, speak and do it. But this liberty has beendestroyed along with their rationality in those who have commingled goodand evil in themselves, for they cannot from good see evil, nor from evilrecognize good; the two make one in them. Hence they no longer possessrationality in any efficacy or power, nor any liberty. For this reasonthey are like the sheerest wild fantasies, as we said above, and nolonger look like men but like bones covered with skin, and therefore whenmentioned are referred to not as "he" or "she" but "it. " Such is the lotof those who have commingled sacred and profane in the manner we havedescribed. There are several kinds of profanation which are not of thischaracter, however; of them in a later section. 

228. No one can profane holy things in the way described who is ignorantof them. For one who is ignorant of them cannot acknowledge them and thendeny them. Those, therefore, who are outside Christendom and know nothingof the Lord or of redemption and salvation at His hands do not profanethe holiness of this in not accepting it or even by speaking against it. The Jews do not profane its sanctity, for from infancy they have nodesire to receive and acknowledge it. It would be otherwise if theyreceived and acknowledged it and afterwards denied it. This seldomoccurs, however; for many among them acknowledge it outwardly but deny itinwardly and are like hypocrites. But those who first accept andacknowledge and later lapse and deny, are the ones who profane holythings by mingling them with profane. 

[2] It is beside the point here that holy things are accepted andacknowledged in infancy and childhood, as they are by every Christian. For what pertains to faith and charity is not accepted and acknowledgedat that age from any rationality and liberty, that is, in theunderstanding from the will, but only by the memory and from confidencein the teacher; and if the life is in accord it is so by blind obedience. If, however, on coming into the exercise of his rationality and freedom, which one does gradually in growing up to youth and manhood, a manacknowledges truths and lives by them only later to deny them, he doesmingle the holy with the profane and (as was said above) from being humanbecomes a monster. On the other hand, if a man is in evil after attainingrationality and freedom, that is, after becoming his own master, even inhis early manhood, but later acknowledges truths of faith and lives bythem and remains in them also to the close of life, he does not comminglethe holy and the profane. The Lord then severs the evils of his earlierlife from the good of his later life, as is done with all who repent. Ofthis more will be said in what follows. 

229. (iii) _There are many kinds of profanation of what is holy, but thiskind is the worst of all. _ In the widest sense by profanation all impietyis meant, and by profaners, therefore, all the impious who at heart denyGod, the holiness of the Word, and consequently the spiritual things ofthe church which are essentially holy, and who also speak of themimpiously. We are not now treating of such profaners but of those whoprofess God, uphold the holiness of the Word, and acknowledge thespiritual things of the church (yet most persons do so with the lipsonly). These commit profanation for the reason that holiness from theWord is in them and with them, and this which is in them, part of theirunderstanding and will, they profane. But in the impious who deny theDivine and divine things, there is nothing holy which they can profane;they are profaners, of course, but still not profane as the others are. 

230. The profanation of what is holy is meant in the second precept ofthe Decalog, "You shall not profane the name of your God, " and that itought not to be profaned is meant in the Lord's Prayer by "Hallowed beThy name. " Hardly anyone in Christendom understands what is meant byGod's name. The reason for this is that in the spiritual world names arenot what they are in this world; everyone has a name in accord with thecharacter of his love and wisdom. As soon as he enters a society or intofellowship with others he is named according to his character. This canbe done in spiritual language, which is such that it can give a name toeverything, for each letter in the alphabet signifies some one thing, andthe several letters combined in a word, making a person's name, involvethe whole state of the subject. This is among the wonders in thespiritual world. 

[2] From this it is plain that by "the name of God" in the Word, God withall the divine in Him and proceeding from Him is signified. And as theWord is the divine proceeding, it is God's name, and as all the divinethings which are called the spiritual things of the church are from theWord, they, too, are God's name. It may be seen then what is meant in thesecond commandment of the Decalog by

You shall not profane the name of God (Ex 20:7);

and in the Lord's Prayer by

Hallowed be Thy name (Mt 6:9). 

The name of God and of the Lord has a like signification in many passagesin the Word of either Testament, as in Mt 7:22; 10:22; 18:5, 20; 19:29;21:9; 24:9, 10; Jn 1:12; 2:23; 3:17, 18; 12:13, 28; 14:14-16; 16:23, 24, 26, 27; 17:6; 20:31; besides other passages, and in very many in the OldTestament. 

[3] One who knows this significance of "name" can know what is signifiedby these words of the Lord:

Whoever receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive aprophet's reward; whoever receives a righteous man in the name of arighteous man will receive a righteous man's reward . . . And whoeverwill give one of these little ones to drink a cup of cold water only inthe name of a disciple . . . Shall not lose a reward (Mt 10:41, 42). 

One who understands by the name of a prophet, of a righteous man and of adisciple only a prophet, a righteous man and a disciple knows only thesense of the letter in that passage. Nor does he know what is signifiedby a prophet's reward, a righteous man's reward, or by the reward given adisciple for a cup of cold water, when yet by the name and reward of aprophet the state and happiness of those who are in divine truths ismeant; by the name and reward of a righteous man is meant the state andhappiness of those in divine goods; by a disciple is meant the state ofthose who are in a measure of the spiritual things of the church, and bya cup of cold water is meant a measure of truth. 

[4] That the nature of a state of love and wisdom or of good and truth ismeant by "name" is also made evident by these words of the Lord:

He who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep; the porteropens to him, and the sheep hear his voice; he calls his own sheep byname, and leads them out (Jn 10:2, 3). 

To "call the sheep by name" is to teach and lead everyone who is in thegood of charity according to the state of his love and wisdom; by the"door" the Lord is meant, as verse 9 makes plain:

I am the door; if a man enters by Me, he will be saved (Jn 10:9). 

It is clear from this that for one to be saved the Lord Himself is to beapproached; one who does so is a "shepherd of the sheep" and one who doesnot is a "thief"' and a "robber" (so the first verse of the chapter). 

231. Profanation of what is holy is predicated of those who know truthsof faith and goods of charity from the Word and also acknowledge them insome measure, not of those who do not know them, nor of those whoimpiously reject them altogether. Therefore what now follows is said ofthe former, not of the latter; by the former many kinds of profanation, lighter and graver, are committed, but they may be summed up in the sevenfollowing. 

A first kind of profanation on their part is making jokes from the Wordor about the Word, or of and about the divine things of the church. Somedo this from a bad habit, picking names or expressions from the Word andmingling them with unseemly and sometimes filthy speech. This cannot bedone without some contempt being added for the Word. Yet the Word in eachand all things is divine and holy; every expression in it stores in itsbosom something divine and by means of it gives communication withheaven. This kind of profanation is lighter or more grave according toone's acknowledgment of the sacredness of the Word and to theunseemliness of the comment into which it is brought by those who jestabout it. 

[2] A second kind of profanation by those under discussion is that whilethey understand and acknowledge divine truths, they live contrary tothem. Those who only understand profane more lightly, and those who alsoacknowledge profane more seriously; for the understanding only teachesquite as a preacher does, but does not of itself unite with the will, butacknowledgment does, for one cannot acknowledge anything without theconsent of the will. Still this union with the will varies and theprofanation is according to the measure of it in living contrary toacknowledged truths. Thus if one acknowledges that revenge and hatred, adultery and fornication, fraud and deceit, blasphemy and lying are sinsagainst God and yet commits them, he is therefore in the more grievous ofthis kind of profanation. For the Lord says:

The servant who knows his lord's will and does not do it, shall be beatenwith many strokes (Lu 12:47). 

And again, If you were blind, you would not have sin, but you say, We see; thereforeyour sin remains (In 9:41). 

But it is one thing to acknowledge apparent truths and another toacknowledge genuine truths. Those who acknowledge genuine truths and yetdo not live by them appear in the spiritual world to be without the lightand warmth of life in voice and speech, as though they were so muchinertness. 

[3] A third kind of profanation is committed by those who apply the senseof the letter of the Word to confirm evil loves and false principles. This is because the confirmation of falsity is the denial of truth, andthe confirmation of evil is a rejection of good. In its bosom the Word isnothing but divine truth and good. But this does not appear in the lowestsense or sense of the letter in genuine truths, except where the Lord andthe very way of salvation are taught, but in clothed truths, calledappearances of truth. 

That sense can therefore be seized upon to confirm heresies of manykinds. But one who confirms evil loves does violence to divine goods, andone who confirms false principles does violence to divine truths. Thelatter violence is called falsification of truth and the formeradulteration of good; both are meant by "bloods"* in the Word. For aspiritual holiness, which is also the spirit of truth proceeding from theLord, is in every particular of the sense of the letter of the Word. Thisholiness is injured when the Word is falsified and adulterated. It isplain that this is profanation. 

* Plural in the Hebrew, especially of blood that has been shed. "Both" isemphatic here, and for the significance of the plural see ArcanaCaelestia, n. 374e and Apocalypse Explained, n. 329(27). 

[4] A fourth kind of profanation is committed by those who utter piousand holy things and also counterfeit affections of a love for them intone and manner, and yet at heart do not believe and love them. Most ofthese are hypocrites and Pharisees who are deprived after death of alltruth and good and thereupon are sent into outer darkness. Those who haveconfirmed themselves by this kind of profanation against the Divine andagainst the Word and thus against the spiritual things of the Word, sitin outer darkness dumb, unable to speak, wanting to babble pious and holythings as they did in the world, but unable to do so. For in thespiritual world everyone is compelled to speak as he thinks. A hypocrite, however, wants to speak otherwise than he thinks, but there is impedimentin the tongue as a result of which he can only mumble. Hypocrisies arelighter or more grave in the measure of the confirmation against God andof the outward rationalizing in favor of God. 

[5] A fifth kind of profanation is committed by those who ascribe tothemselves what is divine. These are meant by Lucifer in Isaiah 14; andby Lucifer Babylon is meant, as is plain from verses 4 and 24 of thatchapter, where the fate, too, of such profaners is described. The sameprofaners are also meant and described in the Apocalypse (chapter 17)under the harlot seated on the scarlet beast. Babylon and Chaldea arementioned at many places in the Word; by Babylon profanation of good ismeant and by Chaldea profanation of truth; the one and the othercommitted by those who ascribe to themselves what is divine. 

[6] A sixth kind of profanation is committed by those who acknowledge theWord but deny the divine of the Lord. In the world they are calledSocinians and some Arians. The lot of both is that they invoke the Fatherand not the Lord and keep praying the Father, some of them for the sakeof the Son, that they may be admitted to heaven, but in vain, until theylose hope of salvation. They are then sent down to hell among deniers ofGod. They are meant by those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit and who willnot be forgiven in this world or that to come (Mt 12:32). For God is onein person and essence, in Him is the Trinity, and this God is the Lord. Since the Lord is heaven also and thus those in heaven are in the Lord, those who deny the divine of the Lord cannot be admitted to heaven and bein the Lord. It was shown above that the Lord is heaven and that those inheaven are therefore in Him. 

[7] The seventh kind of profanation is committed by those who firstacknowledge and live by divine truths and then recede from them and denythem. This is the worst kind of profanation because holy things are mixedby them with profane to the point where they cannot be separated. Yetthey must be separated for one to be either in heaven or in hell, and asthis cannot be accomplished with them, all that is human, either of theunderstanding or of the will, is rooted out, and they become, as we said, no longer human beings. Almost the same occurs with those who acknowledgethe divine things of the Word and of the church at heart but immerse thementirely in their proprium, which is a love of ruling over all things, ofwhich much has been said before. After death, when they become spirits, they do not want to be led by the Lord but by themselves. When loose reinis given their love, they want to rule not only over heaven but over theLord, too; and as they cannot do this, they deny the Lord and becomedevils. It should be known that the life's love, which is one's reigninglove, remains with everyone after death and cannot be taken away. 

[8] Profaners of this class are meant by the lukewarm, of whom it iswritten in the Apocalypse:

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot; would that you werecold or hot; but because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, Iwill spue you out of my mouth (3:14, 15, 16). 

This manner of profanation is also described by the Lord in Matthew:

When the unclean spirit goes out from a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest but finds none. Then he says, I will return to the housewhence I came out. When he returns and finds it empty, swept andgarnished for him, he goes and gathers to him seven other spirits worsethan himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of theman is worse than the first (12:43-45). 

The conversion of the man is described by the unclean spirit's going outof him; his reverting to his former evils when things good and true havebeen cast out, is described by the return of the unclean spirit withseven worse than himself into the house garnished for him; and theprofanation of the holy by what is profane is described by the last stateof that man being worse than the first. The same is meant by this passagein John, Jesus said to the man healed in the pool of Bethesda: Sin no more, lestsomething worse befall you (5:14). 

[9] That the Lord provides that man shall not acknowledge truths inwardlyand afterwards leave them and become profane, is meant by these words:

He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they should notsee with their eyes and understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them (Jn 12:40). 

"Lest they should be converted, and I should heal them" signifies lestthey should acknowledge truths and then depart from them and thus becomeprofane. For the same reason the Lord spoke in parables, as He Himselfsays (Mt 13:13). The Jews were forbidden to eat fat and blood (Lev 3:17, 7:13, 25 ); this signifies that they were not to profane holy things, for"fat" signifies divine good and "blood" divine truth. In Matthew the Lordteaches that once converted a man must continue in good and truth to theclose of life:

Jesus said: Whosoever perseveres to the end, shall be saved (10:20;similarly Mk 13:13). 

232. (iv) _The Lord therefore does not admit man interiorly into truthsof wisdom and at the same time into goods of love except as man can bekept in them to the close of life. _ To demonstrate this we must proceedby steps for two reasons; one, because it concerns human salvation, andthe other, because a knowledge of the laws of permission (to beconsidered in the next chapter) depends on a knowledge of this law. Itconcerns human salvation, because, as has just been said, one who firstacknowledges what is divine in Word and church and subsequently departsfrom them profanes what is holy most grievously. In order, then, thatthis arcanum of divine providence may be revealed so that the rationalman can see it in his own light, it is to be unfolded as follows:

1. Evil and good cannot exist together in man's interior being, consequently neither can the falsity of evil and the truth of good. 2. Good and the truth of good can be introduced into man's interior beingonly so far as evil and the falsity of evil there have been removed. 3. If good with its truth were introduced there before or further thanevil with its falsity is removed, man would depart from the good and goback to his evil. 4. When man is in evil many truths may be introduced into hisunderstanding and kept in memory, and yet not be profaned. 5. But the Lord in His divine providence takes the greatest care thatthey are not received from the understanding by the will sooner or morelargely than man as of himself removes evil in the external man. 6. Should it welcome them sooner or in larger measure, the will wouldadulterate good and the understanding would falsify truth by minglingthem with evils and falsities. 7. The Lord therefore admits man inwardly into truths of wisdom and goodsof love only so far as man can be kept in them to the close of life. 

233. In order, then, that this arcanum of divine providence may bedisclosed so that the rational man will see it in his light, the pointsmade will be explained one by one. 1. _Evil and good cannot existtogether in man's interior being, consequently neither can the falsity ofevil and the truth of good. _ By man's interiors the internal of histhought is meant. Of this he knows nothing until he comes into thespiritual world and its light, which happens on death. In the naturalworld it can be known only by the enjoyment of his love in the externalof his thought, and from evils themselves as he examines them in himself. For the internal of thought in man is so closely connected with theexternal of thought that they cannot be separated (of this more may beseen above). We say "good and truth of good, " and "evil and falsity ofevil" because good cannot exist apart from its truth nor evil apart fromits falsity. They are bedfellows or partners, for the life of good isfrom its truth and the life of truth is from its good; the same is to besaid of evil and its falsity. 

[2] The rational man can see without explanation that evil with itsfalsity and good with its truth cannot exist in man's interiors at thesame time. For evil is the opposite of good and good the opposite ofevil; two opposites cannot coexist. Implanted in all evil, moreover, is ahatred for good, and implanted in all good the love of protecting itselfagainst evil and removing it from itself. Consequently one cannot bewhere the other is. If they were together conflict and combat would startand destruction ensue, as the Lord teaches also in these words:

Every kingdom divided against itself is desolated, and every city orhouse divided against itself does not stand . . . Whoever is not with meis against me, and whoever does not gather with me disperses (Mt 25:30);

and in another place, No one can serve two masters at the same time: for either he will hatethe one and love the other . . . (Mt 6:24). 

Two opposites are impossible in one substance or form without its beingtorn apart and destroyed. If one should advance and approach the other, they would keep apart like two enemies, one retiring to his camp or fort, and the other posting himself outside. This happens with evil and good ina hypocrite; he harbors both, but the evil is inside and the good outsideand so the two are separate and not mingled. It is plain then that evilwith its falsity and good with its truth cannot coexist. 

[3] 2. _Good and the truth of good can be introduced into man's interiorsonly so far as evil and the falsity of evil there have been removed. _This is a necessary consequence from what has preceded, for as evil andgood cannot exist together, good cannot be introduced before evil hasbeen removed. We say man's "interiors" and mean by these the internal ofthought; and in these, now being considered, either the Lord or the devilmust be present. The Lord is there after reformation and the devil beforereformation. So far as man suffers himself to be reformed, therefore, thedevil is cast out, but so far as he does not suffer himself to bereformed the devil remains. Anyone can see that the Lord cannot enter aslong as the devil is there, and he is there as long as man keeps the doorclosed where man acts together with the Lord. The Lord teaches in theApocalypse that He enters when that door is opened by man's mediation:

I stand at the door, and knock; if anyone hears my voice, and opens thedoor, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with Me (3:20). 

The door is opened by man's removing evil, fleeing and turning away fromit as infernal and diabolical. Whether one says "evil" or "the devil, " itis one and the same, in turn whether one says "good" or "the Lord, " forwithin all good is the Lord and within all evil is the devil. From theseconsiderations the truth of this proposition is plain. 

[4] 3. _If good with its truth were introduced before or further than evilwith its falsity is removed, man would depart from the good and go backto his evil. _ This is because evil would be the stronger, and what isstronger conquers, eventually if not then. As long as evil is stronger, good cannot be introduced into the inner chambers but only into the entryhall; for evil and good, as we said, cannot exist together, and what isin the entry hall is removed by its enemy in the chamber. Thus good isreceded from and evil is returned to, which is the worst kind ofprofanation. 

[5] Furthermore, it is the enjoyment of man's life to love himself andthe world above all else. This enjoyment cannot be removed in a moment, but only gradually. In the measure in which it remains in man, evil isstronger in him and can be removed only as self-love becomes a love ofuses, or as the love of ruling is not for its own sake but for the sakeof uses. Uses then make the head, and self-love or the love of ruling isat first the body under the head and finally the feet, on which to walk. Who does not see that good should be the head, and that when it is, theLord is there? Good and use are one. Who does not see that when evil isthe head, the devil is there? As civil and moral good and, in itsexternal form, spiritual good, too, are still to be received, who doesnot see that these then constitute the feet and the soles of the feet, and are trodden on?

[6] Inasmuch, then, as man's state of life is to be inverted so that whatis uppermost may be lowermost, and the inversion cannot be instantaneous, for the chief enjoyment of his life, coming of self-love and the love ofruling, can be diminished and turned into a love of uses only gradually, the Lord cannot introduce good sooner or further than this evil isremoved; done earlier or further, man would recede from good and returnto his evil. 

[7] 4. _When man is in evil many truths may be introduced into hisunderstanding and kept in memory, and still not be profaned. _ This isbecause the understanding does not flow into the will, but the will intothe understanding. As the understanding does not flow into the will, manytruths can be received by the understanding and held in memory and stillnot be mingled with the evil in the will, and the holy thus not profaned. Moreover, it is incumbent on everyone to learn truths from the Word orfrom preaching, to lay them up in the memory and to think about them. Forby truths held in the memory and entering into the thought, theunderstanding is to teach the will, that is, the man, what he should do. This is therefore the chief means of reformation. Truths that are only inthe understanding and thence in the memory are not in man but outsidehim. 

[8] Man's memory may be compared to the ruminatory stomach of certainanimals in which they put their food; as long as it is there, it is notin but outside their body; as they draw it thence and consume it, itbecomes part of their life, and their body is nourished. The food inman's memory is not material but spiritual, namely truths, rightlyknowledges; so far as he takes them thence by thinking, which is likeruminating, his spiritual mind is nourished. It is the will's love thathas the desire and the appetite, so to speak, and that causes them to betaken thence and to be nourishing. If that love is evil, it desires orhas an appetite for what is unclean, but if good, for what is clean, andsets aside, rejects and casts out what is unsuitable; this is done invarious ways. 

[9] 5. _But the Lord in His divine providence takes the greatest carethat truths are not received from the understanding by the will sooner ormore largely than man as of himself removes evil in his external man. _For what is from the will enters man, is appropriated to him, and becomespart of his life, and in that life, which is man's from the will, eviland good cannot exist together, for so he would perish. The two may, however, be in the understanding, where they are called falsities of eviland truths of good, and without being mingled; else man could not beholdevil from good or know good from evil; but there they are distinguishableand separated like the inner and outer sections of a house. When a wickedman thinks and speaks what is good, he is thinking and speakingexternally to himself, but inwardly when he thinks and speaks what isevil; his speech, therefore, when he speaks what is good, comes off awall, as it were. It can be likened to fruit fair outside but wormy anddecayed inside, or to the shell, especially, of a serpent's egg. 

[10] 6. _Should the will welcome truths sooner or in larger measure, itwould adulterate good and the understanding would falsify truth bymingling them with evils and falsities. _ When the will is in evil, itadulterates good in the understanding, and good adulterated in theunderstanding is evil in the will, for it confirms that evil is good andgood is evil. So evil deals with all good, which is its opposite. Evilalso falsifies truth, for truth of good is the opposite of the falsity ofevil; this is done in the understanding by the will, and not by theunderstanding alone. Adulterations of good are depicted in the Word byadulteries and falsifications of truth by whoredoms. These adulterationsand falsifications are effected by reasonings from the natural man whichis in evil, and also by confirmations of appearances in the sense of theletter of the Word. 

[11] The love of self, the head of all evils, surpasses other loves inthe ability to adulterate goods and falsify truths, and it does this bymisuse of the rationality which every man, wicked as well as good, enjoysfrom the Lord. By confirmations it can in fact make evil look exactlylike good and falsity like truth. What can it not do when it can prove bya thousand arguments that nature created itself and then created humanbeings, animals and plants of every kind, and also prove that by influxfrom within itself nature causes men to live, to think analytically andto understand wisely? Self-love excels in ability to prove whatever itdesires because a certain glamour of varicolored light overlays it. Thisglamour is the vainglory of that love in being wise and thus also ofbeing eminent and dominant. 

[12] And yet, when self-love has proved such things, it becomes so blindthat it sees man only as a beast, and that man and beast both think, andif a beast could also speak, conceives it would be man in another form. If it were induced by some manner of persuasion to believe that somethingof the human being survives death, it then is so blind as to believe thatthe beast also survives; and that the something which lives after deathis only a subtle exhalation of life, like a vapor, constantly fallingback to its corpse, or is something vital without sight, hearing orspeech, and so is blind, deaf and dumb, soaring about and cogitating. Self-love entertains many other insanities with which nature, in itselfdead, inspires its fantasy. Such is the effect of self-love, whichregarded in itself is love of the proprium. Man's proprium, in respect ofits affections which are all natural, is not unlike the life of a beast, and in respect of its perceptions, inasmuch as they spring from theseaffections, is not unlike a bird of night. One who constantly immerseshis thoughts in his proprium, therefore, cannot be raised out of naturallight into spiritual light and see anything of God, heaven or eternallife. Since the love of the proprium is of this nature and yet excels inthe ability to confirm whatever it pleases, it has a similar ability toadulterate the goods of the Word and falsify its truths, even while it isconstrained by some necessity to confess them. 

[13] 7. _The Lord therefore does not admit man inwardly into truths ofwisdom and goods of love except as man can be kept in them to the closeof life. _ The Lord does this lest man fall into that most serious kind ofprofanation of which we have treated in this chapter. In view of thatperil the Lord also tolerates evils of life and many heresies in worship, the tolerance of which will be the subject of the following chapter. 

XIII. LAWS ON PERMISSION ARE ALSO LAWS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE

234. There are no laws of permission per se or apart from the laws ofdivine providence; rather they are the same. Hence to say that Godpermits something does not mean that He wills it, but that He cannotavert it in view of the end, which is salvation. Whatever is done for thesake of that end is in accord with the laws of divine providence. Fordivine providence, as was said, constantly travels in a differentdirection from that of man's will and against his will, always intent onits objective. At each moment of its activity or at each step in itsprogress, as it perceives man straying from that end, it directs, turnsand disposes him according to its laws, leading him away from evil and togood. It will be seen in what follows that this cannot be done withoutthe tolerance of evil. Furthermore, nothing can be permitted for nocause, and the cause can only be in some law of divine providence, explaining why it is permitted. 

235. One who does not acknowledge divine providence at all does notacknowledge God at heart, but nature instead of God, and human prudenceinstead of divine providence. This does not appear to be so because mancan think and speak in two ways. He can think and speak in one way fromhis inner self and in another from his outer self. This capability islike a hinge that lets a door swing either way, in one direction as oneenters, in the other as one leaves; or like a sail which can take a shipone way or the other as the skipper spreads it. Those who have confirmedthemselves in favor of human prudence to the denial of divine providencesee nothing else as long as they are in this way of thinking, no matterwhat they see, hear or read, nor can they, for they accept nothing fromheaven but only from themselves. As they draw their conclusions fromappearances and fallacies alone and see nothing else, they can swear thatprudence is all. If they also recognize nature only, they become enragedat defenders of divine providence, except that they think when these arepriests they are simply pursuing their teaching and office. 

236. We will enumerate now some things that are tolerated and yet are inaccord with laws of divine providence, by which, however, the merelynatural man confirms himself in favor of nature and against God and infavor of human prudence and against divine providence. For instance hereads in the Word that:

1. Adam, wisest of men, and his wife allowed themselves to be led astrayby the serpent, and God did not avert this in His divine providence. 2. Their first son, Cain, killed his brother Abel, and God did not speakto him and dissuade him but only afterwards cursed him. 3. The Israelites worshiped a golden calf in the wilderness andacknowledged it as the god that had brought them out of Egypt, yetJehovah saw this from Mt. Sinai near by and did not warn against it. 4. David numbered the people and as a consequence a pestilence befellthem in which so many thousands of them perished; God sent the prophetGad to him not before but after the deed and denounced punishment. 5. Solomon was allowed to establish idolatrous worship. 6. After him many kings were allowed to profane the temple and the sacredthings of the church. 7. And finally that nation was permitted to crucify the Lord. 

One who hails nature and human prudence sees nothing but what contradictsdivine providence in these and many other passages of the Word. He canuse them as arguments in denial of providence, if not in his outwardthought nearest to speech, still in his inner thought, remote from it. 

237. Every worshiper of self and nature confirms himself against divineprovidence:

1. When he sees such numbers of wicked in the world and so many of theirimpieties and how some glory in them, and sees the men go unpunished byGod. 2. He confirms himself the more against divine providence when he seesplots, schemes and frauds succeed even against the devout, just andsincere, and injustice triumph over justice in the courts and inbusiness. 3. He confirms himself especially on seeing the impious advanced tohonors and becoming leaders in the state or in the church, abounding, too, in riches and living in luxury and magnificence, and on the otherhand sees worshipers of God despised and poor. 4. He also confirms himself against divine providence when he reflectsthat wars are permitted and the slaughter of so many in them and thelooting of so many cities, nations and families. 5. Furthermore, he reflects that victories are on the side of prudenceand not always on the side of justice, and that it is immaterial whethera commander is upright or not. 

Besides many other things of the kind, all of which are permissionsaccording to laws of divine providence. 

238. The same natural man confirms himself against divine providence whenhe observes how religion is circumstanced in various nations. 

1. Some are totally ignorant of God; some worship the sun and moon;others idols and monstrous graven images, dead men also. 2. He notes especially that the Mohammedan religion is accepted by somany empires and kingdoms. 3. He notes that the Christian religion is found only in a very smallpart of the habitable globe, called Europe, and is divided there. 4. Also that some in Christendom arrogate divine power to themselves, want to be worshiped as gods, and invoke the dead. 5. And there are those who place salvation in certain phrases which theyare to think and speak and not at all in good works which they are to do;likewise there are few who live their religion. 6. Besides there are heretical ideas; these have been many and some existtoday, like those of the Quakers, Moravians and Anabaptists, besidesothers. 7. Judaism also persists. 

As a result, one who denies divine providence concludes that religion initself is nothing, but still is needed to serve as a restraint. 

239. To these more arguments can be added today by which those who thinkinteriorly in favor of nature and of human prudence alone can stillfurther confirm themselves. For example:

1. All Christendom has acknowledged three Gods, not knowing that God isone in essence and in person and that He is the Lord. 2. It has not been known before this that there is a spiritual sense ineach particular of the Word from which it derives its holiness. 3. Again, Christians have not known that to avoid evils as sins is theChristian religion itself. 4. It has also been unknown that the human being lives as such afterdeath. 

For men may ask themselves and one another, "Why does divine providence, if it exists, reveal such things for the first time now?"

240. All the points listed in nn. 236-239 have been put forward in orderthat it may be seen that each and all things which take place in theworld are of divine providence; consequently divine providence is in theleast of man's thoughts and actions and thereby is universal. But thiscannot be seen unless the points are taken up one by one; therefore theywill be explained briefly in the order in which they were listed, beginning with n. 236. 

241. _The wisest of human beings, Adam and his wife, allowed themselvesto be led astray by the serpent, and God in His divine providence did notavert this. _ This is because by Adam and his wife the first human beingscreated in the world are not meant, but the people of the Most AncientChurch, whose new creation or regeneration is described thus: theircreation anew or regeneration in Genesis 1 by the creation of heaven andearth; their wisdom and intelligence by the Garden of Eden; and the endof that church by their eating of the tree of knowledge. For the Word inits bosom is spiritual, containing arcana of divine wisdom, and in orderto contain them has been composed throughout in correspondences andrepresentations. It is plain then that the men of that church, who atfirst were the wisest of men but finally became the worst through pridein their own intelligence, were led astray not by a serpent but byself-love, meant in Genesis by "the serpent's head, " which the Seed ofthe woman, namely, the Lord, was to trample. 

[2] Who cannot see from reason that other things are meant than thoserecorded literally like history? For who can understand that the worldcould be created as there described? The learned therefore labor over theexplanation of the things in the first chapter, finally confessing thatthey do not understand them. So of the two trees placed in the garden orparadise, one of life and the other of knowledge, the latter as astumbling-block. Again, that just by eating of this tree theytransgressed so greatly that not only they but their posterity--the wholehuman race--became subject to damnation; further, how any serpent couldlead them astray; besides other things, as that the woman was created outof a rib of her husband; that they recognized their nakedness after thefall and covered it with fig leaves; that coats of skin were given them tocover the body; and that cherubim with a flaming sword were stationed toguard the way to the tree of life. 

[3] All this is representative, describing the establishment, state, alteration and finally destruction of the Most Ancient Church. The arcanainvolved, contained in the spiritual sense which fills the details, maybe seen explained in _Arcana Caelestia, _ on Genesis and Exodus, publishedat London. There it may also be seen that by the tree of life the Lord ismeant as to His divine providence, and by the tree of knowledge man ismeant as to his own prudence. 

242. _Their first son, Cain, killed his brother Abel, and God did notspeak to him and dissuade him, but only afterwards cursed him. _ As theMost Ancient Church is meant by Adam and his wife, as we have just said, the two essentials of a church, love and wisdom or charity and faith aremeant by their first sons, Cain and Abel. Love and charity are meant byAbel, and wisdom and faith and in particular wisdom separate from love, and faith separate from charity, are meant by Cain. Wisdom as well asfaith when separate is of such a nature that it not only rejects love andcharity, but also destroys them and thus kills its brother. It is wellknown in Christendom that faith apart from charity does so; see _Doctrineof the New Jerusalem about Faith. _

[2] The curse on Cain portends the spiritual state into which those comeafter death who separate faith from charity or wisdom from love. But lestwisdom or faith should perish, a mark was put on Cain lest he be slain, for love cannot exist without wisdom, nor charity without faith. Asalmost the same thing is represented by this as by eating of the tree ofknowledge, it follows next after the account of Adam and his wife. Moreover, those in faith separate from charity are in intelligence oftheir own; those who are in charity and thence in faith are inintelligence from the Lord, thus in divine providence. 

243. _The Israelites worshiped a golden calf in the wilderness andacknowledged it as the god that had brought them out of Egypt, yetJehovah saw this from Mt. Sinai near by and did not warn against it. _This occurred in the desert of Sinai near the mountain. It is inaccordance with all the laws of divine providence recounted so far andwith those to follow that Jehovah did not restrain the Israelites fromthat atrocious worship. This evil was permitted them that they might notall perish. For the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt torepresent the Lord's church; they could not represent it unless theEgyptian idolatry was first rooted out of their hearts. This could not bedone unless it was left to them to act upon what was in their hearts andthen to remove it on being severely punished. What further is signifiedby that worship, by the threat that they would be entirely rejected, andby the possibility that a new nation might be raised from Moses, may beseen in _Arcana Caelestia_ on Exodus 32, where these things are spokenof. 

244. _David numbered the people and as a consequence a pestilence befellthem in which so many thousands of them perished; God sent the prophetGad to him not before but after the deed and denounced punishment. _ Onewho confirms himself against divine providence may have various thoughtsabout this also and ponder especially why David was not admonished firstand why the people were so severely punished for the king'stransgression. That he was not warned first is in accord with the laws ofdivine providence already adduced, especially with the two explained atnn. 129-153 and 154-174. The people were so severely punished for theking's transgression and seventy thousand smitten by the pestilence noton account of the king but on account of themselves, for we read

The anger of Jehovah kindled still more against Israel; therefore Heincited David against them saying, Go, number Israel and Judah (2 Sa24:1). 

245. _Solomon was allowed to establish idolatrous forms of worship. _ Forhe was to represent the Lord's kingdom or church in all varieties ofreligion in the world. For the church established with the Israelitishand Jewish nation was a representative church; all of its judgments andstatutes represented the spiritual things of a church, which are itsinternals. The people represented the church, the king the Lord, Davidthe Lord to come into the world, Solomon the Lord after His coming. Asthe Lord after the glorification of His humanity had all power overheaven and earth (as He said, Mt 28:18), Solomon as representative of Himappeared in glory and magnificence, was wise beyond all earthly kings, and also built the temple. Moreover, he permitted and set up the forms ofworship of many nations, by which the various religions of the world wererepresented. His wives, who numbered seven hundred and his concubines whonumbered three hundred (1 Kgs 11:13), had a similar signification, for"wife" in the Word signifies the church and "concubine" a form ofreligion. Hence it may be evident why it was granted Solomon to build thetemple, by which the Divine Humanity of the Lord (Jn 2:19, 21) issignified and the church, too; and why he was allowed to establishidolatrous forms of worship and to take so many wives. See _Doctrine ofthe New Jerusalem about the Lord_ (nn. 43, 44) that in many places in theWord the Lord who was to come into the world is meant by David. 

246. _After Solomon many kings were allowed to profane the temple and thesacred things of the church. _ This was because the people represented thechurch and the king was their head. The Israelitish and Jewish nation wasof such a nature that they could not represent the church for long, forat heart they were idolaters; they therefore relapsed gradually fromrepresentative worship, perverting all things of the church, even todevastating it finally. This was represented by the profanations of thetemple by the kings and by the people's idolatries; the full devastationof the church was represented by the destruction of the temple, thecarrying off of Israel, and the captivity of Judah in Babylon. Such wasthe cause of this toleration; and what is done for some cause is doneunder divine providence according to one of its laws. 

247. _That nation was permitted to crucify the Lord. _ This was becausethe church with that nation was entirely devastated and had become suchthat they not only did not know or acknowledge the Lord, but hated Him. Still, all that they did to Him was according to laws of His divineprovidence. See in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the Lord_ (nn. 12-14) and in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about Faith_ (nn. 34, 35)that the passion of the cross was the last temptation or battle by whichthe Lord fully conquered the hells and fully glorified His Humanity. 

248. So far the points listed at n. 236 have been explained, involvingpassages in the Word by which the naturally minded reasoner may confirmhimself against divine providence. For, as was said, whatever such a mansees, hears or reads he can make into an argument against providence. Fewpersons, however, confirm themselves against divine providence fromincidents in the Word, but many do so from things before their eyes, listed at n. 237. These are to be explained now in like manner. 

249. _Every worshiper of self and of nature confirms himself againstdivine providence when he sees so many impious in the world and so manyof their impieties and how some glory in them, yet sees the impious gounpunished by God. _ All impieties and all gloryings in them arepermissions, of which the causes are laws of divine providence. Eachhuman being can freely, indeed very freely, think what he wills, againstGod as well as in favor of God. One who thinks against God is rarelypunished in the natural world, for he is always in a state to be reformedthen, but is punished in the spiritual world, which is done after death, for then he can no longer be reformed. 

[2] That laws of divine providence are the causes of tolerance is clearfrom the laws set forth above, if you will recall and examine them. Theyare: that man shall act in freedom according to reason (of this lawabove, nn. 71-79); that he shall not be forced by external means to thinkand will, thus to believe and love what is of religion, but bring himselfand sometimes compel himself to do so (nn. 129-153); that there is nosuch thing as one's own prudence, but there only appears to be and itshould so appear, but divine providence is universal from being in theleast things (nn. 191-213); divine providence looks to what is eternal, and to the temporal only as this makes one with the eternal (nn. 214-220); man is not admitted inwardly into truths of faith and goods ofcharity except as he can be kept in them to the close of life (nn. 221-233). 

[3] That the laws of divine providence are the causes of tolerance willalso be evident from the following, for one thing from this: evils aretolerated because of the end, which is salvation. Again from this: thatdivine providence is continual with the wicked as well as with the good. And finally from this: the Lord cannot act contrary to the laws of Hisdivine providence because to do so would be to act contrary to His divinelove and wisdom, thus contrary to Himself. Brought together, these lawscan make the causes manifest why impieties are tolerated by the Lord andare not punished while they exist in the thought only and rarely, too, while they exist in intention, thus in the will but not in act. Yet itsown punishment follows every evil; it is as if its punishment wereinscribed on an evil, and the impious man suffers it after death. 

[4] These considerations also explain the next point, listed at n. 237:_The worshiper of self and of nature confirms himself still more againstdivine providence when he sees plots, schemes and frauds succeed evenagainst the devout, just and sincere, and injustice triumph over justicein the courts and in business. _ All the laws of divine providence haverequirements; and as they are the causes why such things are permitted, it is plain that for man to live as a human being and be reformed andsaved, these things can be removed from him by the Lord only throughmeans. The Word and, in particular, the precepts of the Decalog are themeans with those who acknowledge all kinds of murder, adultery, theft andfalse witness to be sins. With those who do not acknowledge such thingsas sins, they are removed by means of the civil laws and fear of theirpenalties and by means also of the moral laws and fear of disrepute andconsequent loss of standing and wealth. By the latter means the Lordleads the evil, but only away from doing such things, not from thinkingand willing them. But by the former means He leads the good, not onlyaway from doing them, but from thinking and willing them, too. 

250. _The worshiper of self and of nature confirms himself against divineprovidence on seeing the impious advanced to honors and becoming leadersin the state and in the church, abounding, too, in riches and living inluxury and magnificence, and on the other hand sees worshipers of Goddespised and poor. _ A worshiper of self and of nature believes thatstanding and riches are the greatest and the one felicity possible, thusfelicity itself. If he has some thought of God as a result of worshipbegun in childhood, he calls them divine blessings, and as long as he isnot elated by them he thinks that there is a God and worships Him. But inthe worship there lurks a desire, of which he is unaware then, to beadvanced by God to still higher standing and to still greater wealth. Ifhe attains them, his worship tends more and more to externalities untilit slips away and at last he makes little account of God and denies Him. The same thing occurs if he is cast down from the standing and loses theriches on which he has set his heart. What, then, are standing and richesto the wicked but stumbling blocks?

[2] To the good they are not, for these do not set their heart on them, but on the uses or goods for rendering which standing and wealth serve asmeans. Hence only a worshiper of self and of nature can confirm himselfagainst divine providence because the impious are advanced to honors andbecome leaders in the state and in the church. Moreover, what is greateror less standing, or greater or less wealth? Is this not in itselfimaginary? Is one person more blessed and happier than another for it? Isa great man's standing, or even a king's or an emperor's, not regarded ina year's time as a commonplace, no longer exalting his heart with joy butquite possibly becoming worthless to him? Have those with standing alarger measure of happiness than those with little standing or even theleast standing, like farmers and their hands? May not these enjoy morehappiness when it is well with them and they are content with their lot?What is more unquiet at heart, more often provoked, or more violentlyenraged than self-love? It happens as often as it is not honored to suitthe haughtiness of its heart or as something does not succeed at its beckand wish. What, then, is standing except an idea, unless it attaches tothe office or the use? Can the idea exist in any other thought thanthought about self and the world, and does it not really mean that theworld is all and eternity nothing?

[3] Something shall be said now why divine providence permits the impiousat heart to be promoted to standing and to acquire wealth. The impious orthe evil can render services as well as the pious or good, indeed withmore fire, for they regard themselves in the use and their standing asthe use. As self-love mounts, therefore, the lust of doing service forone's glory is fired. There is no such fire with the devout or goodunless it is kindled incidentally to their standing. Therefore the Lordgoverns the impious at heart who have standing by their desire for a nameand arouses them to perform uses to the community or their country, theirsociety or city, and their fellow citizen or neighbor. With such personsthis is the Lord's government which is called divine providence, for theLord's kingdom is one of uses, and where only a few perform uses foruses' sake providence brings it about that worshipers of self are raisedto higher offices, in which each is incited by his love to do good. 

[4] Suppose an infernal kingdom in the world (though there is none) whereself-love alone rules, which is itself the devil, would not everyoneperform uses with the zeal of self-love and for the enhancement of hisglory more than in another kingdom? The public good is borne on the lipsof them all, but their own benefit in the heart. And as each relies onwhat rules him in order to become greater, and aspires to be greatest, how can he see that God exists? A smoke like that of a conflagrationenvelops him through which no spiritual truth can pass with its light. Ihave seen that smoke around the hells of such men. Light a lamp andinquire how many in present-day kingdoms aspire to eminence who are notloves of self and the world. Will you find fifty in a thousand who areloves of God, among whom, moreover, only a few aspire to eminence? Sinceso few are loves of God and so many are loves of self and the world andsince the latter perform more uses by their ardor, how can one confirmhimself against divine providence because the evil surpass the good ineminence and opulence?

[5] This is borne out also by these words of the Lord:

The lord praised the unjust steward because he had acted prudently; forthe sons of this age are more prudent in their generation than the sonsof light in their generation. So I say to you, Make friends foryourselves of the unjust mammon that when you fail they may receive youinto eternal habitations (Lu 16:8, 9). 

The meaning in the sense of the letter is plain. But in the spiritualsense by the "mammon of injustice" are meant knowledges of good and truthwhich the evil possess and employ solely to acquire standing and wealthfor themselves. It is of these knowledges that the good or the childrenof light are to make friends for themselves and it is these knowledgesthat will conduct them into eternal homes. The Lord also teaches thatmany are loves of self and the world, and few are loves of God, in thesewords:

Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leads to destruction, andmany there be who enter it, but narrow and strait is the way which leadsto life, and there are few who find it (Mt 7:13, 14). 

It may be seen above (n. 217) that eminence and riches are either cursesor blessings, and with whom they are the one or the other. 

251. _The worshiper of self and of nature confirms himself against divineprovidence when he reflects that wars are permitted and the slaughter inthem of so many men and the plundering of their wealth. _ It is not bydivine providence that wars occur, for they entail murder, plunder, violence, cruelty, and other terrible evils which are diametricallyopposed to Christian charity. Yet they cannot but be permitted becausethe life's love of mankind, since the time of the most ancient people, meant by Adam and his wife (n. 241), has become such that it wants torule over others and finally over all, and also to possess the wealth ofthe world and finally all wealth. These two loves cannot be kept infetters, for it is according to divine providence that everyone isallowed to act in freedom in accordance with reason, as may be seen above(nn. 71-97); and apart from permissions man cannot be led from evil bythe Lord and consequently cannot be reformed and saved. For unless evilswere allowed to break out, man would not see them, therefore would notacknowledge them, and thus could not be induced to resist them. Evilscannot be repressed, therefore, by any act of providence; if they were, they would remain shut in, and like a disease such as cancer andgangrene, would spread and consume everything vital in man. 

[2] For from birth man is like a little hell between which and heaventhere is perpetual discord. No one can be withdrawn from his hell by theLord unless he sees he is in it and desires to be led out of it. Thiscannot be done apart from tolerations the causes of which are laws ofdivine providence. As a result, minor and major wars occur, the minorbetween owners of estates and their neighbors, and the major betweensovereigns of kingdoms and their neighbors. Except for size the onlydifference is that the minor conflicts are held within limits by acountry's laws and the major by the law of nations; each may wish totransgress its laws, but the minor cannot, and while the major can, stillthe possibility has limits. 

[3] Hidden in the stores of divine wisdom are several causes why themajor wars of kings and rulers, involving murder, looting, violence andcruelty as they do, are not prevented by the Lord, either at theirbeginning or during their course, only finally when the power of one orthe other has been so reduced that he is in danger of annihilation. Someof the causes have been revealed to me and among them is this: all wars, although they are civil in character, represent in heaven states of thechurch and are correspondences. The wars described in the Word were allof this character; so are all wars at this day. Those in the Word are thewars which the children of Israel waged with various nations, Amorites, Moabites, Philistines, Syrians, Egyptians, Chaldeans and Assyrians. Moreover, it was when the children of Israel, who represented the church, departed from their precepts and statutes and fell into evils representedby other peoples (for each nation with which the children of Israel wagedwar represented a particular evil), that they were punished by thatnation. For instance, when they profaned the sanctities of the church byfoul idolatries they were punished by the Assyrians and Chaldeans becauseAssyria and Chaldea signify the profanation of what is holy. What wassignified by the wars with the Philistines may be seen in _Doctrine ofthe New Jerusalem about Faith_ (nn. 50-54). 

[4] Wars at the present day, wherever they may occur, represent similarthings. For all things which occur in the natural world correspond tospiritual things in the spiritual world, and all spiritual things arerelated to the church. It is not known in the world which kingdoms inChristendom represent the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Syrians, thePhilistines, the Chaldeans and the Assyrians or others, with whom thechildren of Israel waged war; yet there are nations that do so. Moreover, the condition of the church on earth and what the evils are into which itfalls and for which it is punished by wars, cannot be seen at all in thenatural world, for only externals are manifest here and these do notconstitute the church. This is seen, however, in the spiritual worldwhere internal conditions appear and in these the church itself consists. There all are united according to their various states. Conflicts betweenthem correspond to wars, which on both sides are governed by the Lordcorrespondentially in accordance with His divine providence. 

[5] The spiritual man acknowledges that wars on earth are ruled by theLord's divine providence. The natural man does not, except that at acelebration of a victory he may thank God on his knees for having giventhe victory, and except for a few words on going into battle. But when hereturns into himself he ascribes the victory either to the prudence ofthe general or to some counsel or incident in the midst of the fightingwhich escaped notice and yet decided the victory. 

[6] It may be seen above (n. 212) that divine providence, which is calledfortune, is in the least things, even in trivial ones, and if youacknowledge divine providence in these you will certainly do so in theissues of war. Success and happy conduct of war, moreover, are in commonparlance called the fortune of war, and this is divine providence, to befound especially in a general's judgments and plans, although he may atthe time and also afterwards ascribe all to his own prudence. This he maydo if he will, for he has full freedom to think in favor of divineprovidence or against it, indeed in favor of God or against Him; but lethim know that no judgment or plan is from himself; it comes either fromheaven or from hell, from hell by permission, from heaven by providence. 

252. _A worshiper of self and of nature confirms himself against divineprovidence when he thinks, as he sees it, that victories are on the sideof prudence and not always on the side of justice, and that it isimmaterial whether a commander is upright or not. _ Victories seem to beon the side of prudence and not always on the side of justice, becauseman judges by the appearance and favors one side more than the other andcan by reasoning confirm what he favors. Nor does he know that thejustice of a cause is spiritual in heaven and natural in the world, aswas said just above, and that the two are united in a connection ofthings past and of things to come, known only to the Lord. 

[2] It is immaterial whether the commander is an upright man or notbecause, as was established above (n. 250), the evil as well as the goodperform uses, and by their zeal more ardently than the good. This is soespecially in war because the evil man is more crafty and cunning indevising schemes than a good man, and in his love of glory takes pleasurein killing and plundering those whom he knows and declares to be theenemy. The good man has prudence and zeal for defense and rarely forattacking. This is much the same as it is with spirits of hell and angelsof heaven; the spirits of hell attack and the angels of heaven defendthemselves. Hence comes this conclusion that it is allowable for one todefend his country and his fellow-citizens against invading enemies evenby iniquitous commanders, but not allowable to make oneself an enemywithout cause. To have the seeking of glory for cause is in itselfdiabolical, for it comes of self-love. 

253. The points made above (n. 237) by which the merely natural manconfirms himself against divine providence have now been explained. Thepoints which follow (n. 238) about the varieties of religion in manynations, which also serve the merely natural man for arguments againstdivine providence, are to be clarified next. For the merely natural mansays in his heart, How can so many discordant religions exist instead ofone world-wide and true religion when (as was shown above, nn. 27-45)divine providence has a heaven from mankind for its purpose? But pray, listen: all human beings who are born, however numerous and of whateverreligion, can be saved if only they acknowledge God and live according tothe precepts of the Decalog, which forbid committing murder, adultery, theft, and false witness because to do such things is contrary toreligion and therefore contrary to God. Such persons fear God and lovethe neighbor. They fear God inasmuch as they think that to do such thingsis to act against God, and they love the neighbor because to murder, commit adultery, steal, bear false witness and covet the neighbor's houseor wife is to act against one's neighbor. Heeding God in their lives anddoing no evil to the neighbor, they are led by the Lord, and those whomHe leads are also taught about God and the neighbor in accordance withtheir religion, for those who live in this way love to be taught, butthose living otherwise have no such desire. Loving to be taught, they arealso instructed by angels after death when they become spirits, andwillingly receive such truths as the Word contains. Something about themmay be seen in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about Sacred Scripture_(nn. 91-97 and 104-113). 

254. _The merely natural man confirms himself against divine providencewhen he observes the religious conditions in various nations and notesthat some people are totally ignorant of God, some worship the sun andmoon, and some worship idols and graven images. _ Those who argue fromthese facts against divine providence are ignorant of the arcana ofheaven; these arcana are innumerable and man is acquainted with hardlyany of them. Among them is this: man is not taught from heaven directlybut mediately (this may be seen treated above, nn. 154-174). Because heis taught mediately, and the Gospel could not through the medium ofmissionaries reach all who dwell in the world, but religion could bespread in various ways to inhabitants of the remote corners of the earth, this has been effected by divine providence. For a knowledge of religiondoes not come to a man from himself, but through another who has eitherlearned it from the Word or by tradition from others who have learned it, for instance that God is, heaven and hell exist, there is a life afterdeath, and God must be worshiped for man to be blessed. 

[2] See in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about Sacred Scripture_ (nn. 101-103) that religion spread throughout the world from the Ancient Wordand afterwards from the Israelitish Word, and (nn. 114-118) that unlessthere had been a Word no one could have known about God, heaven and hell, life after death, and still less about the Lord. Once a religion isestablished in a nation the Lord leads that nation according to theprecepts and tenets of its own religion, and He has provided that thereshould be precepts in every religion like those in the Decalog, that Godshould be worshiped, His name not be profaned, a holy day be observed, that parents be honored, murder, adultery and theft not be committed, andfalse witness not be spoken. A nation that regards these precepts asdivine and lives according to them in religion's name is saved, as wasjust said (n. 253). Most nations remote from Christendom regard theselaws not as civil but as divine, and hold them sacred. See in _Doctrineof the New Jerusalem [about Life] from the Precepts of the Decalog, _ frombeginning to end, that a man is saved by a life according to theseprecepts. 

[3] Also among the arcana of heaven is this: in the Lord's sight theangelic heaven is like one man whose soul and life is the Lord. In eachparticular of his form this divine man is man, not only as to theexternal members and organs but as to the more numerous internal membersand organs, also as to the skins, membranes, cartilages and bones; but inthat man all these, both external and internal, are not material butspiritual. Further, the Lord has provided that those who cannot bereached by the Gospel but only by some form of religion shall also have aplace in this divine man, that is, in heaven, by constituting the partscalled skins, membranes, cartilages and bones, and like others should bein heavenly joy. For it does not matter whether their joy is that of theangels of the highest heaven or of the lowest heaven, for everyoneentering heaven comes into the highest joy of his own heart; joy higherstill he does not endure; he would suffocate in it. 

[4] A peasant and a king may serve for comparison. A peasant may reachthe height of joy when he steps out in a new suit of homespun wool orseats himself at a table with pork, a piece of beef, cheese, beer andfiery wine on it. He would feel constricted at heart if he was clothedlike a king in purple, silk, gold and silver, or if a table was set forhim on which were delicacies and costly viands of many kinds with noblewine. It is plain from this that the last as well as the first findheavenly happiness, each in his measure, those outside Christendom also, therefore, provided they shun evils as sins against God because these arecontrary to religion. 

[5] Few are entirely ignorant of God. If they have lived a moral lifethey are instructed after death by angels and receive what is spiritualin their moral life (see _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about SacredScripture, _ n. 116). The same is true of those who worship sun and moon, believing that God is there. They know no better, therefore it is notimputed to them as a sin, for the Lord says, If you were blind (that is, if you did not know), you would have no sin(Jn 9:41). 

But there are many who worship idols and graven images even in theChristian world. This, to be sure, is idolatrous, yet not with all. Thereare those for whom graven images serve as a means of exciting thoughtabout God, for by an influx from heaven one who acknowledges God desiresto see Him, and these, unable to raise the mind above the sensuous asthose do who are inwardly spiritual, rouse it by means of statue orimage. Those who do so and do not worship the image itself as God aresaved if they also live by the precepts of the Decalog from religiousprinciple. 

[6] It is plain, then, that as the Lord desires the salvation of all, Hehas also provided that everyone who lives well may have a place inheaven. See in the work _Heaven and Hell, _ published at London, 1758 (nn. 59-102 ), in _Arcana Caelestia_ (nn. 5552-5569) and above (nn. 201-204)that heaven in the Lord's sight is like one man; that heaven accordinglycorresponds to each and all things in man; and that there are also thosewho represent skin, membranes, cartilages and bones. 

255. _The merely natural man confirms himself against divine providencewhen he sees the Mohammedan religion accepted by so many empires andkingdoms. _ The fact that this form of religion is accepted by morekingdoms than Christianity is may be a stumbling-block to those who givethought to divine providence and at the same time believe that no one canbe saved unless he has been born a Christian, thus where the Word is, bywhich the Lord is known. That form of religion is no stumbling-block, however, to those who believe that all things are of divine providence. These ask in what the providence consists and find it is in this, thatMohammedanism, acknowledges the Lord as Son of God, the wisest of men anda very great prophet who came into the world to teach men; mostMohammedans consider Him to be greater than Mohammed. 

[2] That form of religion was called forth in the divine providence todestroy the idolatries of many nations. To make this fully known we willpursue some order; first, something on the origin of idolatries. Previously to that form of religion the worship of idols was general inthe world. This was because the churches before the Lord's advent wereall representative churches. The Israelitish church was of thischaracter. In it the tabernacle, Aaron's garments, the sacrifices, allthings of the temple in Jerusalem, the statutes also, wererepresentative. Moreover, the ancients had a knowledge ofcorrespondences, which is the knowledge of representations--it was thechief knowledge of their wise men. This knowledge was cultivatedespecially in Egypt and was the origin of Egyptian hieroglyphics. By thatknowledge the ancients knew what animals of every kind signified and whattrees of every kind signified, as they did what mountains, hills, riversand fountains signified, as well as sun, moon and stars. As all theirworship was representative, consisting of sheer correspondences, theyworshiped on mountains and hills and in groves and gardens, regardedfountains as sacred, and in adoration of God faced the rising sun. Furthermore, they made graven images of horses, oxen, calves and lambs, and of birds, fish and serpents, and placed them in their houses andelsewhere, arranged according to the spiritual things of the church towhich they corresponded or which they represented. They placed similarobjects in their temples, too, to put them in mind of the holy thingsthey signified. 

[3] Later, when the knowledge of correspondences had been lost, theirposterity began to worship the graven images themselves, as holy inthemselves, not knowing that their forefathers had seen no holiness inthem, but only that they represented holy things by correspondences andthus signified them. So arose the idolatries which filled the wholeworld, Africa and Europe as well as Asia with its adjacent islands. Inorder that all these idolatries might be uprooted, of the Lord's divineprovidence it was brought about that a new religion, adapted to thegenius of Orientals, should start up, in which there would be somethingfrom each Testament of the Word, and which would teach that the Lord hadcome into the world and was a very great prophet, wisest of all, and Sonof God. This was done through Mohammed, from whom the religion is calledthe Mohammedan religion. 

[4] Of the Lord's divine providence this religion was raised up and, aswe said, adapted to the genius of Orientals, in order that it mightdestroy the idolatries of so many peoples and give them some knowledge ofthe Lord before they passed into the spiritual world. This religion wouldnot have been accepted by so many kingdoms or had the power to uprootidolatries, had it not suited and met the ideas and thinking of them all. It did not acknowledge the Lord as God of heaven and earth, for theOrientals acknowledged God the Creator of the universe, but could notcomprehend that He came into the world and assumed human nature, quite asChristians do not comprehend this, who therefore separate His divine fromHis humanity in their thinking and place His divine near the Father inheaven and His humanity they know not where. 

[5] Hence it may be seen that the Mohammedan religion arose under theLord's divine providence and that all adherents of it who acknowledge theLord as Son of God and live according to the precepts of the Decalog, which they also have, shunning evils as sins, come into a heaven calledthe Mohammedan heaven. This heaven, like others, is divided into three, the highest, middle and lowest. Those who acknowledge the Lord to be onewith the Father and thus the one God are in the highest heaven; in thenext heaven are those who renounce a plurality of wives and live withone; and in the lowest are those who are being initiated. More about thisreligion may be seen in _Continuation about the Last Judgment and theSpiritual World_ (nn. 68-72), where the Mohammedans and Mohammed aretreated of. 

256. _The merely natural man confirms himself against divine providencewhen he sees that the Christian religion exists only in a small part ofthe habitable world, called Europe, and there is divided. _ The Christianreligion exists only in the small part of the habitable world calledEurope because it was not adapted to the genius of Orientals as was amixed one like the Mohammedan religion, as was just shown; and anunadapted religion is not received. For example, a religion which ordainsthat it is unlawful to take more than one wife is not received butrejected by those who for ages have been polygamists. This is true ofother ordinances of the Christian religion. 

[2] Nor is it material whether a smaller or a larger part of the worldhas received this religion, as long as there are people with whom theWord is. For those who are outside the church and do not possess the Wordstill have light from it, as was shown in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalemabout Sacred Scripture, _ nn. 104-113. It is a marvel that where the Wordis reverently read and the Lord is worshiped from it, He is present withheaven. The reason is that He is the Word and the Word is divine truthwhich makes heaven. The Lord therefore says:

Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst ofthem (Mt 18:20). 

Europeans can bring this about with the Word in many parts of thehabitable globe, for they trade the world over and read or teach the Wordeverywhere. This seems like fiction and yet is true. 

[3] The Christian religion is divided because it is from the Word and theWord is written in sheer correspondences and these in large part areappearances of truth in which, nevertheless, genuine truths lieconcealed. As a church's doctrine is to be drawn from the sense of theletter of the Word which is of this character, disputes, controversiesand dissensions were bound to arise over the understanding of the Word, but not over the Word itself or the Divine itself of the Lord. For it isacknowledged everywhere that the Word is holy and that the Lord possessesthe divine, and these two are essentials of the church. Those, therefore, who deny the Divine of the Lord and are called Socinians have beenexcommunicated from the church, and those who deny the holiness of theWord are not regarded as Christians. 

[4] To this let me add a remarkable item about the Word from which onemay conclude that inwardly the Word is divine truth itself and inmostlythe Lord. When a spirit opens the Word and touches his face or dress withit, just from the contact his face or garment shines as brightly as themoon or a star, in the sight of all, too, whom he meets. It is evidencethat there is nothing holier in the world than the Word. 

That the Word is written throughout in correspondences may be seen in_Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about Sacred Scripture, _ nn. 5-26; thatthe church's doctrine is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of theWord and confirmed thereby, nn. 50-61; that heresies can be wrested fromthe sense of the letter of the Word, but that it is harmful to confirmthem, nn. 91-97; that the church is from the Word and is such as is itsunderstanding of the Word, nn. 76-79. 

257. _The merely natural man confirms himself against divine providencebecause in many kingdoms where the Christian religion is accepted thereare those who arrogate divine power to themselves, want to be worshipedas gods, and also invoke dead men. _ To be sure, they say that they havenot arrogated divine power to themselves and do not wish to be worshipedas gods. Yet they say that they can open and close heaven, remit andretain sins, and so save and condemn men, and this is what is divineitself. Divine providence has no other purpose than reformation and hencesalvation; this is its unceasing activity with everyone. And salvationcan be effected only by acknowledgment of the divine of the Lord and byconfidence that He brings salvation as man lives according to Hiscommandments. 

[2] Who cannot see that the usurpation of divine power is the Babylondescribed in the Apocalypse and the Babel spoken of here and there in theProphets? It is also Lucifer in Isaiah 14, as is plain from verses 4 and22 of that chapter, where are the words:

You shall speak this parable about the king of Babel (verse 4);

(Then), I will cut off the name and remnant of Babel (verse 22);

it is plain from this that this Babel is Lucifer, of whom it is said:

How you have fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morning! . .. Foryou have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt mythrone above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of thecongregation, at the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heightsof the clouds; I will be like the Most High (Isa 14:12-14). 

It is well known that the same persons invoke the dead and pray to themfor help. We make the assertion because such invocation was establishedby a papal bull, confirming the decree of the Council of Trent, in whichit is openly said that the dead are to be invoked. Yet who does not knowthat only God is to be invoked, and not any dead person?

[3] It shall be told now why the Lord has permitted such things. Can onedeny that He has done so for the sake of the end in view, namelysalvation? For men know that there is no salvation without the Lord. Therefore it was necessary that the Lord should be preached from the Wordand that the Christian Church should be established by this means. Thiscould be done, however, only by leaders who would act with zeal and noothers offered than those who burned with zeal out of self-love. At firstthis fire aroused them to preach the Lord and teach the Word. From thistheir first state Lucifer is called "the son of the morning" (14:12). But as they saw that they could dominate by means of the sanctities ofthe Word and the church, the self-love by which they were first arousedto preach the Lord broke out from within and finally exalted itself tosuch a height that they transferred all the Lord's divine power tothemselves, leaving Him none. 

[4] This could not be prevented by the Lord's divine providence, for ifit had been they would have declared that the Lord is not God and thatthe Word is not sacred and would have made themselves Socinians andArians, so would have destroyed the whole church. But, whatever itsrulers are, the church continues among the people submissive to them. Forall in this religion who approach the Lord and shun evils as sins aresaved; therefore many heavenly societies are formed from them in thespiritual world. It has also been provided that there should be a nationamong them that has not bowed to the yoke of such domination and thatregards the Word as holy; this noble nation is the French nation. 

[5] But what was done? When self-love exalted its dominion even to theLord's throne, removing Him and setting itself on it, that love, which isLucifer, could not but have profaned all things of the Word and thechurch. Lest this should happen, the Lord in His divine providence tookcare that they should recede from worship of Him, invoke the dead, prayto graven images of the dead, kiss their bones and kneel at their tombs, should ban the reading of the Word, appoint holy worship in masses notunderstood by the common people, and sell salvation for money. For ifthey had not done this, they would have profaned the sanctities of theWord and the church. For, as was shown in the preceding section, onlythose profane holy things who know them. 

[6] Lest, too, they should profane the most Holy Supper it is of theLord's divine providence that they divide it, giving the bread to thepeople and drinking the wine themselves. For the wine of the Suppersignifies holy truth and the bread holy good; but divided the winesignifies truth profaned and the bread good adulterated. It is also ofthe Lord's divine providence that they should render the Holy Suppercorporeal and material and give it the prime place in religion. Anyonewho gives these particulars his attention and reflects on them in someenlightenment of his mind can see the amazing action of divine providencefor the protection of the sanctities of the church and for the salvationof all who can be saved and are ready to be snatched from the fire, so tospeak, from which they must be snatched. 

258. _The merely natural man confirms himself against divine providencebecause some among those who profess the Christian religion placesalvation in certain phrases which they are to think and speak and not atall in good works which they are to do. _ We showed in _Doctrine of theNew Jerusalem about Faith_ that these are such as make faith alone savingand not the life of charity, thus such as separate faith from charity. Itwas also shown that these are meant in the Word by "Philistines, ""dragon" and "goats. "

[2] That such doctrine has been permitted is also of divine providencelest the divine of the Lord and the sanctity of the Word should beprofaned. The divine of the Lord is not profaned when salvation is placedin these words: That God the Father may have mercy for the sake of theSon, who suffered the Cross and made satisfaction for us. For men do notthen address the divine of the Lord but have in mind His human nature, which they do not acknowledge to be divine. Nor do they profane the Word, for they do not attend to the passages in which love, charity, deeds andworks are mentioned. All this, they say, is involved in the faithexpressed in the saying quoted. Those who confirm this tell themselves, "The law does not condemn me, neither then does evil, and good does notsave because good done by me is not good. " They are therefore like thosewho do not know any truth from the Word and consequently cannot profaneit. Only those confirm the faith expressed in that saying who fromself-love are in the pride of their own intelligence. Nor are theseChristians at heart; they only desire to be looked on as such. 

[3] It shall now be shown that the Lord's divine providence isnevertheless acting constantly to save those with whom faith separatedfrom charity has become an article of religion. Although this faith hasbecome an article of their religion, by the Lord's divine providence eachknows that it is not faith that saves, but a life of charity with whichfaith makes one. For all churches in which that religion is accepted alsoteach that there is no salvation unless man examines himself, sees andacknowledges his sins, repents, desists from them, and begins a new life. This is read out with much zeal in the presence of all who come to theHoly Supper. In addition they are told that unless they do so, theymingle the holy with the profane and cast themselves into eternalcondemnation. Indeed, in England they are told that unless they do so thedevil will enter them as he did Judas and destroy them soul and body. Itis plain, then, that everyone in the churches in which faith alone isaccepted is nevertheless taught that evils are to be shunned as sins. 

[4] Furthermore, everyone who is born a Christian is aware that evils areto be shunned as sins because the Decalog is put into the hands of everyboy and girl and is taught by parents and teachers. The citizens of akingdom and especially the common people are examined by the priest onthe Decalog alone, which is recited from memory, for what they know ofthe Christian religion, and are also admonished to do what is commandedin it. At such times they are not told by the priest that they are notunder the yoke of that law, or that they cannot do what is commandedbecause they cannot do anything good of themselves. Again, the AthanasianCreed has been accepted throughout the Christian world and what is saidat its close is also acknowledged, namely, that the Lord will come tojudge the living and the dead, and then those who have done good willenter everlasting life and those who have done evil will entereverlasting fire. 

[5] In Sweden, where the religion of faith alone has been received, it isalso plainly taught that faith is impossible apart from charity or goodworks. This is pointed out in an Appendix on things to be remembered, inserted in all copies of the Psalms, and called "Impediments orStumbling Blocks of the Impenitent" (Obotferdigas Foerhinder), where arethese words, Those who are rich in good works thereby show that they are rich infaith, because when faith is saving it acts through charity. Forjustifying faith is never found alone and separate from good works, quiteas no good tree is without fruit, nor the sun without light and heat, norwater without moisture. 

[6] These items have been adduced to make known that although a religiousformula about faith alone has been accepted, nevertheless goods ofcharity, which are good works, are taught everywhere and that this is bythe Lord's divine providence, lest the common people be led astray by theformula. I have heard Luther, with whom I have spoken at times in thespiritual world, execrate faith alone and heard him say that when heestablished it he was warned by an angel of the Lord not to do it; butthat he thought to himself that if he did not reject works, separationfrom Catholicism would not be accomplished. Therefore, contrary to thewarning, he established that faith. 

259. _The merely natural man confirms himself against divine providencein that there have been so many heresies in Christendom and still are, such as Quakerism, Moravianism, Anabaptism, and more. _ For he may thinkto himself, If divine providence is universal in the least things and hasthe salvation of all for its object, it would have seen to it that onetrue religion should exist on the globe, not one divided and, still less, one torn by heresies. But use reason and think more deeply if you can. Can man be saved without being reformed first? For he is born into loveof self and the world, and as these loves do not have any love of God andthe neighbor in them except for the sake of self, he is also born intoevils of every kind. Is there love or mercy in those loves? Does the manmake anything of defrauding or defaming or hating another even to death, or of committing adultery with his wife, or of being cruel to him out ofrevenge, the while having the desire in mind to get the upper hand of alland to possess the goods of all others, thus regarding others incomparison with himself as insignificant and of little worth? To besaved, must he not first be led away from these evils and thus bereformed? As has been shown above in many places, this can beaccomplished only in accordance with many laws of divine providence. Forthe most part these laws are unknown and yet they come of divine wisdomand at the same time of divine love, and the Lord cannot act contrary tothem, for to do so would result in destroying man, not in saving him. 

[2] Look over the laws which have been set forth, bring them together, and you will see. According to those laws there is no direct influx fromheaven but one mediated by the Word, doctrine and preaching; and sincethe Word, to be divine, had to be composed wholly in correspondences, inevitably there are dissensions and heresies. The tolerance of them isalso in accord with the laws of divine providence. Furthermore, when thechurch itself has taken for essentials what pertains only to theunderstanding, that is, to doctrine, and not what pertains to the will, that is, to life, and what pertains to life is not made the essentials ofa church, then man is in complete darkness for understanding and wanderslike one blind, striking against things constantly and falling into pits. For the will must see in the understanding and not the understanding inthe will, or what is the same, the life and its love must lead theunderstanding to think, speak and act, and not the reverse. Were thereverse true, the understanding might out of an evil and even diabolicallove seize on what comes by the senses and demand that the will do it. What has been said may show whence dissensions and heresies come. 

[3] Yet it has been provided that everyone, in whatever heresy he may beintellectually, may still be reformed and saved if he shuns evils as sinsand does not confirm heretical falsities in himself. For by shunningevils as sins the will is reformed and through it the understanding is, which emerges for the first time then out of obscurity into light. Thereare three essentials of the church: acknowledgment of the divine of theLord, acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life which iscalled charity. Everyone's faith is according to the life which ischarity; from the Word he has a rational perception of what life shouldbe; and from the Lord he has reformation and salvation. Had these threebeen regarded as the church's essentials, intellectual differences wouldnot have divided it but only varied it as light varies colors inbeautiful objects and as various insignia of royalty give beauty to aking's crown. 

260. _The merely natural man confirms himself against divine providencein that Judaism still continues. _ That is, after all these centuries theJews have not been converted although they live among Christians and donot, in keeping with prophecies in the Word, confess the Lord andacknowledge Him to be the Messiah, who, as they think, was to lead themback to the land of Canaan; but they steadfastly persist in denying Himand yet it is well with them. Those who take this view, however, and thuscall divine providence in question, do not know that by Jews in the Wordall who are of the church and acknowledge the Lord are meant, and by theland of Canaan, into which it is said that they are to be led, the Lord'schurch is meant. 

[2] But the Jews persist in denying the Lord because they are such that, if they received and acknowledged the divine of the Lord and the holythings of His church, they would profane them. Therefore the Lord said ofthem:

He has blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should notsee with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them (Jn 12:40; Mt 13:14; Mk 4:12; Lu 8:10; Isa 6:9, 10). 

It is said, "lest they should be converted, and I should heal them"because if they had been converted and healed they would have committedprofanation, and according to the law of divine providence treated above(nn. 221-233) no one is admitted interiorly into truths of faith andgoods of charity by the Lord except so far as he can be kept in them tothe close of life; were he admitted, he would profane what is holy. 

[3] This nation has been preserved and dispersed over much of the earthfor the sake of the Word in its original language, which they hold moresacred than Christians do. The Lord's divine is in every particular ofthe Word, for it is divine truth joined with divine good coming from theLord. By it the Lord is united with the church, and heaven is present, aswas shown in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about Sacred Scripture_ (nn. 62-69). The Lord and heaven are present wherever the Word is read assacred. This is the end which divine providence has pursued in thepreservation and in the dispersal of the Jews over much of the world. Onthe nature of their lot after death see _Continuation about the LastJudgment and the Spiritual World_ (nn. 79-82). 

261. These then are the objections listed above at n. 238 by which thenatural man confirms himself against divine providence, or may do so. Still other objections, listed at n. 239, may serve the natural man forarguments against divine providence; they may occur to the minds ofothers, too, and excite doubts. They are the following. 

262. _Doubt may be raised against divine providence in that the whole ofChristendom worships one God under three persons, that is, three Gods, and has not known hitherto that God is one in person and in essence, inwhom is the Trinity, and that this God is the Lord. _ One who reasonsabout divine providence may ask, Are not three persons three Gods if eachperson by himself is God? Who can think of it otherwise? In fact, whodoes? Athanasius himself could not; therefore it is said in the Creedwhich bears his name:

Although in Christian verity we ought to acknowledge each Person as Godand Lord, yet by Christian faith it is not allowable to affirm or to namethree Gods or three Lords. 

This can only mean that we ought to acknowledge three Gods and Lords, butit is not allowable to affirm or name three Gods and three Lords. 

[2] Who can possibly have a perception of one God unless He is one inperson? If it is said that such a concept is possible if one thinks ofthe three as having one essence, does one, indeed can one, have any otheridea than that they are thus of one mind and agree, and yet are threeGods? Thinking more deeply, one asks oneself, How can the divine essence, which is infinite, be divided? Further, how can divine essence frometernity beget another and produce still another who proceeds from themboth? It may be said that it is to be believed and not thought about; butwho does not think about what he is told must be believed? How else canthere be any acknowledgment which in its essence is faith? Was it notbecause of the concept of God as three persons that Socinianism andArianism arose, which prevail in the hearts of more persons than yousuppose? Belief in one God and that this God is the Lord makes thechurch, for in Him is the divine trinity. The truth of this may be seenin _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the Lord, _ from beginning to end. 

[3] But what is thought of the Lord today? Is it not thought that He isGod and Man, God from Jehovah the Father of whom He was conceived and Manfrom the Virgin Mary from whom He was born? Who thinks that God and Manin Him, or His Divine and His Human, are one person, and are one as souland body are? Does anyone know this? Ask the learned in the church andthey will say that they have not known it. Yet it is part of the doctrineof the church received throughout Christendom, as follows:

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man; and although He isGod and Man yet there are not two, but there is one Christ. He is onebecause the divine took to itself the human; indeed He is altogether one, for He is one Person, since as soul and body make one man, so God and Manis one Christ. 

This comes from the Faith or Creed of Athanasius. The learned have notknown it because on reading this they have thought of the Lord not as Godbut only as Man. 

[4] When they are asked if they know from whom the Lord was conceived, whether from God the Father or from His own Divine, they reply that Hewas conceived from God the Father, for this is according to Scripture. Are the Father and He not one then, like soul and body? Who can thinkthat He was conceived from two Divines, and if from His own that this wasHis Father? If you ask them further what their idea of the Lord's Divineand of His Human is, they will say that His Divine is from the essence ofthe Father and His Human from the essence of His mother, and that HisDivine is with the Father. Then, when they are asked where His Human is, they have no answer, for they separate His Divine and His Human in theirthinking and make His Divine equal to the Divine of the Father and HisHuman like the human of another man, unaware that in doing this theyseparate soul and body; nor do they see the flaw in this, that then arational man would have been born from a mother alone. 

[5] As a result of the fixed idea that the Lord's humanity was like thatof another man, it has come about that a Christian can with difficulty beled to think of a Divine Human, even when it is said that the Lord's soulor life from conception was and is Jehovah Himself. Now sum up thereasons and consider whether there is any other God of the universe thanthe Lord alone, in whom is the Divine itself, Source of all, called theFather; the Divine Human, called the Son; and the proceeding Divine, called the Holy Spirit; and thus that God is one in person and essence, and that this God is the Lord. 

[6] You may persist and remark that the Lord Himself spoke of three inMatthew:

Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of theFather, the Son and the Holy Spirit (28:19). 

But it is plain from the preceding verse and the one following that theLord said this in order to make it known that the Divine Trinity was inHim, now glorified. For in the preceding verse He said that all power inheaven and on earth was given Him, and in the following verse that Hewould be with men to the end of the age, speaking of Himself alone andnot of three. 

[7] Now, why did divine providence permit Christians to worship the oneGod under three persons, that is, worship three Gods, and not know untilnow that God is one in essence and person, in whom is the Trinity andthat this God is the Lord? Man and not the Lord was the cause. The Lordhad taught it plainly in His Word, as is clear from all the passagescited in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the Lord, _ and has alsotaught it in the doctrine of all the churches, in which it is said thatHis Divine and His Human are not two but one Person united like soul andbody. 

[8] The first reason why men divided the Divine and the Human and madethe Divine equal to the Divine of Jehovah the Father and the Human equalto the human of another man, was that the church after its rise fell awayinto Babylonianism. This took to itself the Lord's divine power, and inorder that it should be called human and not divine power made the Lord'shuman like that of another man. When later the church was reformed andfaith alone was received as the one means of salvation--faith that God theFather has mercy for the sake of the Son--the Lord's Human could be viewedin no other way. For no one can approach the Lord and acknowledge Him atheart as God of heaven and earth unless he lives by His precepts. In thespiritual world, where everyone is bound to speak as he thinks, no onecan so much as mention the name Jesus if he has not lived as a Christianin the world; this is by divine providence lest His name be profaned. 

263. To make what has just been said clearer I will add what was setforth in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the Lord_ (towards the end, nn. 60, 61), which is as follows:

"That God and Man in the Lord, according to the Creed, are not two butone Person, altogether one as soul and body are, appears clearly in manysayings of the Lord, as that the Father and He are one; that all thingsof the Father are His and all His the Father's; that He is in the Fatherand the Father in Him; that all things are given into His hand; that Hehas all power; that He is God of heaven and earth; that one who believeson Him has eternal life; and that the wrath of God abides on one who doesnot believe on Him; and further, that both the Divine and the Human weretaken up into heaven; and that as to both He sits at the right hand ofGod, that is, is almighty; besides the numerous passages in the Wordabout His Divine Human which were quoted abundantly above. They alltestify that God is one both in person and in essence, and in Him is theTrinity, and that this God is the Lord. 

[2] "These things about the Lord are published now for the first timebecause it is foretold in the Apocalypse, chapters 21 and 22, that at theend of the former church a new church is to be established in which thiswill be the chief doctrine. This church is meant in those chapters by theNew Jerusalem into which only one who acknowledges the Lord alone as Godof heaven and earth can enter; this church is therefore called `theLamb's wife'. I can also report that all heaven acknowledges the Lordalone and that one who does not is not admitted to heaven, for heaven isheaven from the Lord. This very acknowledgment made in love and faithcauses men to be in the Lord and Lord in them, as He teaches in John:

In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me and I inyou (14:20);

again in the same:

Abide in me, and I in you; . .. I am the vine, and you are branches; hewho abides in me and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you cando nothing; unless a man abides in me, he is cast out (15:4-6, also17:22, 23). 

[3] "This has not been seen from the Word before, because if it had been, it would not have been received. For the last judgment had not beenaccomplished yet, and prior to it the power of hell prevailed over thepower of heaven. Man is in the midst between heaven and hell; had thisbeen seen before, therefore, the devil, that is, hell, would have pluckedit from men's hearts and furthermore would have profaned it. Thepredominance of hell was completely broken by the last judgment which hasbeen accomplished now; since that judgment, thus today, every man whowishes enlightenment and wisdom is able to have it. "

264. _A doubt may be raised against divine providence in that it has beenunknown hitherto that in each particular of the Word there is a spiritualmeaning from which it has its holiness. _ One may raise this doubt aboutdivine providence, asking, "why has this been revealed for the first timenow, and why has it been revealed through any one at all and not througha church leader?" But it is at the Lord's good pleasure whether it shouldbe a leader or a leader's servant; He knows the one and the other. However, that sense of the Word has not been disclosed before because1. If it had been, the church would have profaned it and thereby profanedthe holiness itself of the Word. 2. Neither were the genuine truths, inwhich the spiritual sense of the Word resides, revealed by the Lord untilthe last judgment was accomplished, and a new church, meant by the HolyJerusalem, was about to be established by the Lord. These reasons will beexamined separately. 

[2] 1. _The spiritual sense of the Word was not disclosed earlier becauseif it had been, the church would have profaned it and thereby would haveprofaned the holiness itself of the Word. _ Not long after it wasestablished, the church was turned into Babylon, and later intoPhilistia. Babylon acknowledges the Word, to be sure, and yet esteems itlightly, asserting that the Holy Spirit inspires its own highest judgmentjust as much as it did the prophets. They acknowledge the Word for thevicarship founded on the Lord's words to Peter, but esteem it lightlybecause it does not accord with their teaching. It is therefore takenfrom the people also and hidden in monasteries where few read it. If, therefore, the spiritual sense of the Word had been revealed, in whichthe Lord is present together with all angelic wisdom, the Word would havebeen profaned not only, as it is now, in its lowermost expression in thesense of the letter, but in its inmosts, too. 

[3] Philistia, by which faith separated from charity is meant, would haveprofaned the spiritual sense of the Word also, because, as we have shownbefore, it puts salvation in certain formulas which are to be thought andspoken, and not in good works which are to be done. It thus makes savingwhat is not saving and also removes the understanding from what is to bebelieved. What would they do with the light in which the spiritual senseof the Word is? Would that not be turned into darkness? When the naturalsense is, why not the spiritual sense? Does any one of them who hasconfirmed himself in faith separate from charity and in justification bythis faith alone, want to know what good of life is, what love to theLord and towards the neighbor is, what charity is and what the goods ofcharity are, what good works are and what it is to do them, or in factwhat faith is essentially and what genuine truth is, constituting it?They compose volumes, establish in them only what they call faith, anddeclare that all the things just mentioned are present in that faith. Itis clear from this that if the spiritual sense of the Word had beenrevealed earlier, it would come to pass according to the Lord's words inMatthew:

If your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness. If thenthe light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness ( 6:23). 

In the spiritual sense of the Word by "eye" the understanding is meant. 

[4] 2. _Neither were the genuine truths in which the spiritual sense ofthe Word resides, revealed by the Lord until after the last judgment wasaccomplished, and a new church, meant by the Holy Jerusalem, was about tobe established by the Lord. _ The Lord foretold in the Apocalypse thatafter the last judgment was effected genuine truths were to be revealed, a new church was to be established, and the spiritual sense of the Wordwould be disclosed. In the small work, _The Last Judgment, _ and later inthe _Continuation_ of that work, it was shown that the last judgment hasbeen accomplished and that this is meant by the heaven and earth whichwould pass away (Apoc 21:1). That genuine truths are then to be revealedis foretold in these words in the Apocalypse:

And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new(11:5; also 19:17, 18; 21:18-21; 22:1, 2). 

At 19:11-16 it was predicted that the spiritual sense of the Word was tobe revealed; it is meant by "the white horse" on which He who sat wascalled the Word of God and was Lord of lords and King of kings (on thissee the little work _The White Horse). _ That by the Holy Jerusalem a newchurch is meant which was to be established then by the Lord may be seenin _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about the Lord_ (nn. 62-65). 

[5] It is clear, then, that the spiritual sense of the Word was to berevealed for a new church which should acknowledge and worship the Lordalone, hold His Word sacred, love divine truths and reject faithseparated from charity. More about this sense of the Word may be seen in_Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about Sacred Scripture_ (nn. 5-26 andfollowing numbers); what the spiritual sense of the Word is (nn. 5-26);that a spiritual sense exists in all of the Word in general and in detail(nn. 9-17); that by virtue of the spiritual sense the Word is divinelyinspired and holy in every expression (nn. 18, 19); that until now thespiritual sense has been unknown, and why it was not revealed before (nn. 20-25); and that henceforth that sense will be open only to one who isin genuine truths from the Lord (n. 26). 

[6] It may be evident from these propositions that it is by the Lord'sdivine providence that the spiritual sense has lain concealed from theworld until the present day and been kept meanwhile in heaven with theangels, who draw their wisdom from it. This sense was known and treasuredamong ancient peoples who lived before Moses, but when their descendantsconverted the correspondences, of which their Word and hence theirreligion solely consisted, into various idolatries, and the Egyptiansconverted them into magic, by the Lord's divine providence this sense wasclosed up, first with the Israelites and then with Christians for thereasons given above, and is now opened for the first time for the Lord'snew church. 

265. _Doubt may arise against divine providence in that it has beenunknown hitherto that to shun evils as sins is the Christian religionitself. _ That this is the Christian religion itself was shown in_Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, _ from beginning to end; and asfaith separated from charity is the one obstacle to its being received, that also was treated of. We say that it has not been known that to shunevils as sins is the Christian religion itself, for it is unknown tonearly everyone; yet everyone does know it, as may be seen above(n. 258). Nearly all are ignorant of it because faith separate hasobliterated knowledge of it. For this faith declares that it alone savesand not any good work, that is, any good of charity; also that men are nolonger under the yoke of the law, but are free. Those who have frequentlyheard such teaching no longer give thought to any evil of life or anygood of life. Everyone, moreover, is inclined by nature to embrace suchteaching, and once he has done so he no longer thinks about the state ofhis life. This is why it is not known that shunning evils as sins is theChristian religion itself. 

[2] That this is unknown was disclosed to me in the spiritual world. Ihave asked more than a thousand newcomers from the world whether theyknew that to shun evils as sins is religion itself. They said that theydid not and that it was a new idea which they had not heard before, buthad heard that they cannot of themselves do good and that they are notunder the yoke of the law. When I inquired whether they knew that a manmust examine himself, see his sins, repent and begin a new life and thatotherwise sins are not remitted, and if sins are not remitted, men arenot saved; and when I reminded them that this was read out in a deepvoice to them each time they observed the Holy Supper, they replied thatthey paid no attention to that but only to this, that they have remissionof sins by the sacrament of the Supper and that faith effects the restwithout their knowing it. 

[3] I asked again, Why have you taught your children the Decalog? Was itnot that they might know what evils are sins to be shunned? Was it onlythat they might know and believe, but do nothing? Why is it said thatthis is new? To this they could only reply that they know and yet do notknow, and that they never think of the sixth* commandment when theycommit adultery, or about the seventh when they steal or defraudsecretly, and so on, and still less that such acts are contrary to divinelaw, thus contrary to God. 

* Swedenborg follows the numbering of the Commandments customary withLutherans, as with Roman Catholics. 

[4] When I recalled to them many things from the teachings of thechurches and from the Word confirming the fact that to avoid and beaverse to evils as sins is the Christian religion's very self and thatone who does so has faith, they fell silent. They were convinced of it, however, when they saw that all were examined as to their life and judgedaccording to their deeds, and no one was judged according to faith apartfrom life, for everyone has faith according to his life. 

[5] Christendom in large part has not known this because by a law ofdivine providence everyone is left to act in freedom according to reason(on this, above, nn. 71-91 and nn. 101-128); and by another law no one istaught directly from heaven but by means of the Word and by doctrine andpreaching from it; there are besides all the laws on permission which arealso laws of divine providence. On these see above, n. 258. 

274. * _A doubt may be raised against divine providence in that it has notbeen known before that a man lives as a human being after death and thatthis has not been disclosed before. _ It has been unknown because withthose who do not shun evils as sins the belief lies hidden that man doesnot live after death. It is of no moment therefore to them whether onesays that man lives after death or will rise again on the day of the lastjudgment. If belief in resurrection happens to visit one, he tellshimself, "I shall fare no worse than others; if I go to hell I shall havethe company of many and also if I pass to heaven. " Yet all in whom thereis any religion have an implanted recognition that they will live ashuman beings after death. Only those infatuated with their ownintelligence think that they survive as souls but not as human beings. 

* So numbered in the Latin original. 

It may be seen from the following that anyone in whom is any religion hasan implanted recognition that he lives after death as a human being:

1. Who thinks otherwise when he is dying?2. What eulogizer, mourning the dead, does not exalt them to heaven andplace them among the angels conversing with them and sharing their joy?Some men are deified. 3. Who among the common people does not believe that when he dies, if hehas lived well he will enter a heavenly paradise, be arrayed in white, and enjoy eternal life?4. What priest does not speak so to the dying? And when he speaks so hebelieves it, provided he does not think of the last judgment at the time. 5. Who does not believe that his little ones are in heaven and that afterdeath he will see his wife, whom he has loved? Who thinks that they arespectres, still less souls or minds hovering in the universe?6. Who contradicts when something is said about the lot or state of thosewho have passed from time into eternal life? I have told many what thestate or lot of various persons is and have never heard anyone protestthat their lot is not yet determined but will be at the time of thejudgment. 7. When one sees angels in paintings or statuary does he not recognizethem as such? Who thinks then that they are bodiless spirits or airyentities or clouds, as do some of the erudite?8. Papists believe that their saints are human beings in heaven andothers elsewhere are; so do Mohammedans of their dead; more than othersAfricans do, and many other peoples do. Why then do not ReformedChristians believe it, who know it from the Word?9. Moreover, as a result of the recognition implanted in everyone, somemen aspire to the immortality of renown. The recognition is given thatturn in them and makes heroes and brave men of them in war. 10. Inquiry was made in the spiritual world whether this knowledge isimplanted in all men; it was found that it is in a spiritual ideaattached to their internal thought, not in a natural idea attached totheir external thought. 

It is plain from all this that doubt should not be thrown on the Lord'sdivine providence on the supposition that only now has it been disclosedthat the human being continues such after death. It is only the sensuousin man that wants to see and touch what is to be credited. One who doesnot raise his thinking above it is in the dark of night about the stateof his own life. 

XIV. EVILS ARE TOLERATED IN VIEW OF THE END, WHICH IS SALVATION

275. If man were born into the love for which he was created, he wouldnot be in evil, in fact would not know what evil is. For one who has notbeen in evil and is not in it, cannot know what it is; told that this orthat is evil, he would not believe it. This is the state of innocence inwhich Adam and his wife Eve were; that state was signified by thenakedness of which they were not ashamed; the knowledge of evilsubsequent to the fall is meant by eating of the tree of the knowledge ofgood and evil. The love for which the human being was created is love tothe neighbor, to wish him as well as one does oneself and even better. Heis in the enjoyment of this love when he serves his neighbor quite asparents do their children. This is truly human love, for in it is what isspiritual, distinguishing it from the natural love of brute animals. Wereman born into this love, he would not be born into the darkness ofignorance as everyone is now, but into some light of the knowledge andhence of the intelligence soon to be his. To be sure, he would creep onall fours at first but come erect on his feet by an implanted striving. However much he might resemble a quadruped, he would not face down to theground but forward to heaven and come erect so that he could look up. 

276. When love of the neighbor was turned into self-love, however, andthis love increased, human love was turned into animal love, and man, from being man, became a beast, with the difference that he could thinkabout what he sensed physically, could rationally discriminate amongthings, be taught, and become a civil and moral person and finally aspiritual being. For, as was said, man possesses what is spiritual and isdistinguished by it from the brute animal. By it he can know what civilevil and good are, also what moral evil and good are, and if he so wills, what spiritual evil and good are also. When love for the neighbor wasturned into self-love, however, man could no longer be born into thelight of knowledge and intelligence but was born into the darkness ofignorance, being born on the lowest level of life, calledcorporeal-sensuous. From this he could be led into the interiors of thenatural mind by instruction, the spiritual always attending on this. Whyone is born on the lowest level of life known as corporeal-sensuous, therefore into the darkness of ignorance, will be seen in what follows. 

[2] Anyone can see that love of the neighbor and self-love are opposites. Neighborly love wishes well to all from itself, but self-love wisheseveryone to wish it well; neighborly love wants to serve everyone, butself-love wants all to serve it; love of the neighbor regards everyone asbrother and friend, while love of self regards everyone as its servant, and if one does not serve it, as its enemy; in short, it regards onlyitself and others scarcely as human beings, esteeming them at heart lessthan one's horses and dogs. Thinking so meanly of others, it thinksnothing of doing evil to them; hence come hatred and vengeance, adulteryand whoredom, theft and fraud, lying and defamation, violence andcruelty, and similar evils. Such are the evils in which man is by birth. That they are tolerated in view of the end, which is salvation, is to beshown in this order:

i. Everyone is in evil and must be led away from it to be reformed. Ii. Evils cannot be removed unless they appear. Iii. So far as they are removed they are remitted. Iv. The toleration of evil is therefore for the sake of the end in view, namely, salvation. 

277. (i) _Everyone is in evil and must be led away from it to bereformed. _ The church knows that there is hereditary evil in man and thatas a result he is in the lust of many evils. Thence it is that he cannotdo good of himself, for evil does only such good as has evil in it; theevil inwardly in it is that one does good for one's own sake and thusonly for the sake of appearances. It is known that hereditary evil comesfrom one's parents. It is said to come from Adam and his wife, but thisis an error; for everyone is born into hereditary evil from his parent, and the parent from his parent, and so on; thus it is transmitted fromone to another, is augmented and becomes an accumulation, and is passedto one's progeny. There is therefore nothing sound in man but all isevil. Who feels that it is evil to love himself above others? Who, then, knows that this is an evil, though it is the head of evils?

[2] Inheritance from parents, grandparents and great-grandparents isplain from much which is known in the world, from the fact, for instance, that households, families and even nations are distinguishable by theface; the face is also a type of the mind which in turn accords with theaffections of one's love. Sometimes, too, the features of a grandfatherrecur in a grandson or a great-grandson. From the face alone I knowwhether a person is a Jew or not; likewise of what stock certain personsare; others no doubt know also. If the affections which spring from loveare thus derived from parents and transmitted by them, evils are, forthese spring from affections. But it shall be told how the resemblancecomes about. 

[3] Everyone's soul comes from his father and is only clothed with thebody by one's mother. That the soul is from the father follows not onlyfrom what has been said above, but from many other indications, too; alsofrom this, that the child of a black man or Moor by a white or Europeanwoman is black, and vice versa; and especially in that the soul is in theseed, for impregnation is by the seed, and the seed is what is clothedwith a body by the mother. The seed is the primal form of the love inwhich the father is--the form of his ruling love with its nearestderivatives or the inmost affections of that love. 

[4] These affections are enveloped in everyone with the honesties ofmoral life and with the goodnesses partly of civil and partly ofspiritual life, which are the external of life even with the evil. Aninfant is born into this external life and is therefore lovable, butcoming to boyhood and adolescence he passes from that external to theinner life and at length to his father's ruling love. If this has beenevil and not been moderated and bent by various means by his teachers, itbecomes his ruling love as it was his father's. Still the evil is noteradicated, but put aside; of this in what follows. Plainly, then, everyone is in evil. 

277 r. It is plain without explanation that man must be led away fromevil in order to be reformed. For one who is in evil in the world is inevil after he has left the world. Not removed in the world, evil cannotbe removed afterwards. Where a tree falls, it lies. So, too, when a mandies his life remains such as it has been. Everyone is judged accordingto his deeds, not that these are recounted, but he returns to them andacts as before. Death is a continuation of life with the difference thatman cannot then be reformed. For reformation is effected in full, thatis, in what is inmost and outmost, and what is outmost is reformedsuitably to what is inmost only while man is in the world. It cannot bereformed afterwards because as it is carried along by the man after deathit falls quiescent and conforms to his inner life, that is, they act asone. 

278. (ii) _Evils cannot be removed unless they appear. _ This does notmean that man must do evils in order for them to appear, but that he mustexamine himself, his thoughts as well as his deeds, and see what he woulddo if he did not fear the laws and disrepute--see especially what evils hedeems allowable in his spirit and does not regard as sins, for these hestill does. To enable him to examine himself, man has been givenunderstanding, and an understanding separate from his will, in order thathe may know, comprehend and acknowledge what is good and what is evil, likewise see the character of his will or what it loves and desires. Tosee this his understanding has been given higher and lower or interiorand exterior thought, so as to see from the higher or interior what hiswill prompts in the lower or exterior thinking: he sees this quite as hedoes his face in a mirror. When he does and knows what is sin, he isable, on imploring the Lord's help, not to will it but to shun it, thento act contrary to it, if not freely, then by overcoming it throughfighting it, and finally to become averse to it and abominate it. Thenfirst does he perceive and also sense that evil is evil and good is good. This, now, is self-examination--to see one's evils, acknowledge them, confess them and thereupon desist from them. 

[2] But as few know that this is the Christian religion itself, and thesealone have charity and faith and are led by the Lord and do good fromHim, something will be said of those who fail to examine themselves butstill think that they possess religion. They are 1. Those who confessthemselves guilty of all sins but do not search out any one sin inthemselves. 2. Those who neglect the search on religious principle. 3. Those who in absorption with the mundane give no thought to sins andhence do not know them. 4. Those who favor them and therefore cannot knowthem. 5. With all these, sins do not appear and therefore cannot beremoved. 6. Finally, the reason, so far unknown, will be made plain whyevils cannot be removed apart from their being searched out, appearing, being acknowledged, confessed and resisted. 

278 r. But these points will be considered one by one, for they arefundamentals of the Christian religion on man's part. 

First, _of those who confess themselves guilty of all sins, but do notsearch out any one sin in themselves. _ They say, "I am a sinner. I wasborn in sin. From head to foot there is nothing sound in me. I am nothingbut evil. Good God, be gracious to me, pardon, cleanse and save me. Makeme to walk in purity and in a right path"; and more of the kind. And yetthe man does not examine himself and hence does not know any evil, and noone can shun what he is ignorant of, still less fight against it. Afterhis confessions he also thinks that he is clean and washed, whennevertheless he is unclean and unwashed from the head to the sole of thefoot. For the confession of all sins is the lulling of them all to sleepand finally blindness to them. It is like a generality devoid of anythingspecific, which amounts to nothing. 

[2] Second: _Those who omit the search in consequence of their religion. _They are especially those who separate charity from faith. They say tothemselves, "Why should I search out evil or good? Why evil, when it doesnot condemn me? Why good, when it does not save me? Faith alone, thoughtand uttered with trust and confidence, justifies and purifies from allsin, and when once I am justified, I am whole in the sight of God. I amindeed in evil, but God wipes it away the moment it is committed and itno longer appears"; and much else. But who does not see, if he opens hiseyes, that these are empty words, without reality because nothing of goodis in them? Who cannot think and speak so, with trust and confidence, too, even when he is thinking of hell and eternal condemnation? Does hewant to know anything further about either truth or good? Of truth hesays, "What is truth except that which confirms this faith?" and of good, "What is good except what is in me from this faith? And that it may be inme I will not do it as from myself, for that would be self-righteous andwhat is self-righteous is not good. " So he neglects all until he does notknow what evil is; what then is he to search out and see in himself? Isit not his state then that a pent-up fire of lusts of evil consumes theinteriors of his mind and lays them waste even to the entrance? He is onguard only at the door to keep the fire from appearing. After death thedoor is opened and the fire appears for all to see. 

[3] Third: _Those absorbed with the mundane give no thought to sins, hence do not know of any. _ These love the world above all things andwelcome no truth that would lead them away from any falsity in theirreligion. They tell themselves, "What is this to me? It is not to my wayof thinking. " So they reject truth on hearing it and if they listen to itsmother it. They do much the same on hearing sermons; they retain somesayings but not any of the substance. Dealing in this way with truthsthey do not know what good is, for truth and good act as one; and fromgood which is not linked with truth one does not recognize evil except asone calls it good also, which is done by rationalizing from falsities. Itis these who are meant by the seed which fell among thorns, of whom theLord said:

Other seeds fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up and choked them. .. These are they who hear the Word, but the cares of this world and thedeceitfulness of riches choke the Word so that it become unfruitful (Mt13:7, 22; Mk 4:7, 18, 19; Lu 8:7, 14). 

[4] Fourth: _Those who favor sins and therefore cannot know them. _ Theseacknowledge God and worship Him with the usual ceremonials and assurethemselves that a given evil, which is a sin, is not a sin. For theycolor it with fallacies and appearances and thus hide its enormity. Thenthey indulge it and make it their friend and familiar. We say that thosewho acknowledge God do this, for others do not regard an evil as a sin, for one sins against God. But let examples illustrate this. A man makesan evil not to be a sin when in coveting wealth he makes some kinds offraud allowable by reasoning which he devises. So does the man whoconfirms himself in plundering those who are not his enemies in a war. 

[5] Fifth: _Sins do not appear in these men, therefore cannot beremoved. _ All evil which does not come to sight nurses itself; it is likefire in wood under ashes or like matter in an unopened wound; for allevil which is repressed increases and does not stop until it destroysall. Lest evil be repressed, therefore, everyone is allowed to think infavor of God or against God and in favor of the sanctities of the churchor against them, without being punished for it in the world. Of this theLord says in Isaiah:

From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness; wound, and scar, and fresh bruise; they have not been pressed out, nor bound up, nor softened with oil. .. . Wash you, make you clean, remove the evil ofyour doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good. . . . Then if your sins have been as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; ifthey have been red like crimson, they shall be like wool. . . . But ifyou refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword (Isa 1:6, 16, 17, 18, 20). 

To be devoured by the sword signifies to perish by falsity of evil. 

[6] Sixth: _The cause, hidden so far, why evils cannot be removed apartfrom their being searched out, appearing, being acknowledged, confessedand resisted. _ In preceding pages we have mentioned the fact that allheaven is arranged in societies according to affections of good, and allhell in societies according to the lusts of evil opposite to theaffections of good. Each person as to his spirit is in some society, in aheavenly one if in an affection of good, but in an infernal one if insome lust of evil. While living in the world man does not know this andyet as to his spirit he is in some society; otherwise he cannot live; andby it he is governed by the Lord. If he is in an infernal society, hecannot be led out of it by the Lord except according to the laws ofdivine providence, among which is this also, that a man shall see that heis there, want to leave, and make the effort himself to do so. One can dothis while in the world but not after death, for then he remains foreverin the society in which he put himself in the world. It is for thisreason that man is to examine himself, see and avow his sins, dorepentance, and thereupon persevere to the close of life. I mightsubstantiate this to full belief by much experience, but this is not theplace to document the experience. 

279. (iii) _So far as evils are removed they are remitted. _ It is anerror of the age to believe

1. That evils are separated and in fact cast out from man when they areremitted; and2. That the state of man's life can be changed in a moment, even to itsopposite, so that from wicked he becomes good, and consequently can beled from hell and be transported straightway to heaven, and this by theLord's sheer mercy. 3. But those who believe and suppose so, do not know at all what evil andgood are and nothing at all about the state of man's life. 4. Moreover, they are wholly unaware that affections, which are of thewill, are nothing other than changes and variations of the state of thepurely organic substances of the mind; and that thoughts, which are ofthe understanding, also are; and that memory is the permanent state ofthese changes. 

When one knows these things, one can see clearly that an evil can beremoved only by successive stages, and that the remission of an evil isnot complete removal of it. But all this has been said in summary formand unless the items are demonstrated may be assented to and yet notcomprehended. What is not comprehended is as indistinct as a wheel spunaround by the hand. The points made above are therefore to bedemonstrated one by one in the order in which they were set forth. 

[2] First: _It is an error of the age to believe that evils are separatedand in fact cast out when they are remitted. _ It has been granted me tolearn from heaven that no evil into which man is born and which he hasmade actual in him is separated from him, but is removed so as not toappear. Earlier I shared the belief of most persons in the world thatwhen evils are remitted they are cast out and are washed and wiped awayas dirt is from the face by water. It is not like this with evils orsins. They all remain. When they are remitted on repentance, they arethrust from the center to the sides. What is in the center, beingdirectly under view, appears as in the light of day, and what is to oneside is in shadow and at times in the darkness of night. Inasmuch asevils are not separated but only removed, that is, thrust to one side, and as man can go from The center to the periphery, he can return, as itmay happen, to his evils, which he supposed had been cast out. For thehuman being is such that he can go from one affection to another andsometimes to the opposite, and thus from one center into another; theaffection in which he is at the time makes the center, for he is then inthe enjoyment and light of it. 

[3] Some who are raised after death into heaven by the Lord, for theyhave lived well, have carried with them, however, the belief that theyare clean and rid of sins, therefore are not in a state of guilt. Inaccord with their belief they are clothed at first in white garments, forwhite garments signify a state purified from evils. But after a time theybegin to think, as they did in the world, that they are washed, as itwere, from all evil, and to glory that they are no longer sinners likeother men. This can hardly be kept from being an elation of mind and acontempt of others in comparison with oneself. In order, therefore, thatthey may be delivered from their imaginary belief, they are sent downfrom heaven and let back into the evils which they pursued in the world;they are also shown that they are in hereditary evils of which they hadnot known. When they have been led in this way to realize that theirevils have not been separated from them but only put aside, thus that inthemselves they are impure, indeed nothing but evil, and that they arewithheld from evils and held in goods by the Lord, and that this onlyseems to be their doing, they are raised again into heaven by the Lord. 

[4] Second: _It is an error of the age to believe that the state of man'slife can be changed in a moment, so that from wicked he can become good, and consequently can be led from hell and transported at once to heaven, and this by the Lord's direct mercy. _ Those who separate charity andfaith and place salvation in faith alone, commit this error. For theysuppose that merely to think and speak formulas of that faith, if it isdone with trust and confidence, justifies and saves one. Many think it isdone instantly, too, and if not previously, can be done in the last hourof one's life. These are bound to believe that the state of man's lifecan be changed in a moment and that he can be saved by direct mercy. Butin the last chapter of this treatise it will be seen that the Lord'smercy is mediated, that man cannot become good in a moment from beingwicked, and can be led from hell and transported to heaven only by thecontinual activity of divine providence from infancy to the very close oflife. Here it need only be said that all the laws of divine providencehave the salvation and reformation of the human being for their object, in other words, the inversion of his state, which by nativity isinfernal, into the opposite, which is heavenly. This can only be doneprogressively as man recedes from evil and its enjoyment and comes intogood and its enjoyment. 

[5] Third: _Those who believe in an instantaneous change do not know atall what evil and good are. _ For they do not know that evil is theenjoyment of the lust of acting and thinking contrary to divine order, and good is the enjoyment of the affection for acting and thinking inaccord with divine order. They do not know, either, that myriads of lustsenter into and compose each individual evil and myriads of affectionsenter into and compose each individual good, and that these myriads arein such order and connection in man's interiors that it is impossible tochange one without changing all at the same time. Those who are ignorantof this may believe or suppose that evil, which seems to them to be asingle entity, can be easily removed, and that good, which also seems tobe a single entity, can be introduced in its place. Not knowing what eviland good are, they cannot but suppose that there is such a thing asinstantaneous salvation and such a thing as direct mercy. That these arenot possible will be seen in the last chapter of this treatise. 

[6] Fourth: _Those who believe in instantaneous salvation and unmediatedmercy do not know that affections, which are of the will, are nothingother than changes of state in the purely organic substances of the mind;that thoughts, which are of the understanding, are nothing other thanchanges and variations in the form of those substances; and that memoryis the persisting state of the changes and variations. _ Everyoneacknowledges, on its being said, that affections and thoughts exist onlyin substances and their forms, which are the subjects; existing in thebrain which is full of substances and forms, they are called purelyorganic forms. No one who thinks rationally can help laughing at thefancies of some that affections and thoughts do not have substantivebases, but are exhalations given shape by heat and light, like imagesapparently in the air or ether. For thought can no more exist apart froma substantial form than sight can apart from its form, the eye, orhearing apart from its form, the ear, or taste apart from its form, thetongue. If you examine the brain, you will see innumerable substances andfibres, also, and see, too, that everything in it is organized. What moreis needed than this ocular proof?

[7] But one may ask, What are affection and thought then? A conclusioncan be reached from each and all things in the body. In it are manyviscera, each fixed in its place, and all performing their severalfunctions by changes and variations of state and form. It is well knownthat they are engaged in their own activities--the stomach, theintestines, the kidneys, the liver, the pancreas, the spleen, the heartand the lungs, each in its particular activity. All the activities aremaintained from within, and to be actuated from within means that it isby changes and variations of state and form. It may be plain then thatthe activities of the purely organic substances of the mind are similar, the one difference being that those of the organic substances of the bodyare natural, but of the mind are spiritual; plainly, also, the two makeone by correspondences. 

[8] The nature of the changes and variations of state and form in theorganic substances of the mind, which are affections and thoughts, cannotbe shown to the eye. It may, however, be seen as in a mirror by thechanges of state in the lungs on speaking and singing. There iscorrespondence, moreover; for the sound of the voice in speaking andsinging, and the articulations of the sound which are the words of speechand the modulations of song, are produced by means of the lungs; soundcorresponds to affection, and speech to thought. Sound and speech areproduced also from affection and thought. This is done by changes andvariations in the state and form of the organic substances of the lungs, and from the lungs through the trachea or windpipe in the larynx andglottis, and then in the tongue, and finally in the lips. The firstchanges and variations in the state and form of the sound occur in thelungs, the second in trachea and larynx, the third in the glottis by thedifferent openings of its orifice, the fourth in the tongue by itsvarious positions against palate and teeth, and the fifth in the lips bythe various modifications of form in them. It may be evident, then, thatthese consecutive changes and variations in the state of organic formsproduce the sounds and their articulations which are speech and song. Inasmuch, then, as sound and speech are produced from no other sourcethan the affections and thoughts of the mind (for they exist from themand are never apart from them), clearly the affections of the will arechanges and variations in the state of the purely organic substances ofthe mind, and the thoughts of the understanding are changes andvariations in the form of those substances, quite like those in thesubstances of the lungs. 

[9] Since affections and thoughts are simply changes of state in theforms of the mind, memory is nothing other than the permanent state ofthose changes. For all changes and variations of state in organicsubstances are such that once they are habitual they become permanent. Sothe lungs are habituated to produce certain sounds in the trachea, tovary them in the glottis, articulate them by the tongue, and modify themby the mouth; once these organic activities have become habitual, theyare settled in the organs and can be reproduced. These changes andvariations are infinitely more perfect in the organs of the mind than inthose of the body, as is evident from what was said in the treatise_Divine Love and Wisdom_ (nn. 199-204), where we showed that allperfections increase and ascend by and according to degrees. More on thiswill be seen below (n. 319). 

280. _It is also an error of the age to suppose that when sins areremitted they are taken away. _ This is the error of those who believethat their sins are pardoned by the sacrament of the Holy Supper althoughthey have not removed them from themselves by repentance. Those alsocommit this error who believe that they are saved by faith alone; thosealso who believe that they are saved by papal dispensations. All thesebelieve in unmediated mercy and instant salvation. But when the statementis reversed it becomes truth, that is, when sins are removed they arealso remitted. For repentance precedes pardon, and aside from repentancethere is no pardon. Therefore the Lord bade His disciples:

That they should preach repentance for the remission of sins (Lu 24:27, 47), and John preached

The baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Lu 3:3). 

The Lord remits the sins of all; He does not accuse and impute; but Hecan take sins away only in accordance with laws of His divine providence. For when Peter asked how often he was to forgive a brother sinningagainst him, whether seven times, the Lord said to him:

That he should forgive not only seven times, but seventy times seven (Mt18:21, 22). 

What then will the Lord not do, who is mercy itself?

281. (iv) _Thus the permission of evil is for the sake of the end, namely, salvation. _ It is well known that man has full liberty to thinkand will but not to say and do whatever he thinks and wills. He may thinkas an atheist, deny God and blaspheme the sanctities of Word and church. He may even want to destroy them utterly by word and deed, but this isprevented by civil, moral and ecclesiastical laws. He therefore cherishesthis impiety and wickedness inwardly by thinking, willing and evenintending to do it, but not doing it actually. The man who is not anatheist also has full liberty to think many evil things, thingsfraudulent, lascivious, revengeful and otherwise insane; he also doesthem at times. Who can believe that unless man had full liberty, he notonly could not be saved but would even perish utterly?

[2] Now let us have the reason for this. Everyone from birth is in evilsof many kinds. They are in his will, and what is in the will is loved. For what a man wills inwardly he loves, what he loves he wills, and thewill's love flows into the understanding where it makes its pleasure feltand thereupon enters the thoughts and intentions. If, therefore, he werenot allowed to think in accord with the love in his will, which ishereditarily implanted in him, that love would remain shut in and neverbe seen by him. A love of evil which does not become apparent is like anenemy in ambush, like matter in an ulcer, like poison in the blood, orcorruption in the breast, which cause death when they are kept shut in. But when a person is permitted to think the evils of his life's love, even to intend doing them, they are cured by spiritual means as diseasesare by natural means. 

[3] It will be told now what man would be like if he were not permittedto think in accord with the enjoyment of his life's love. No longer wouldhe be man, for he would lose his two faculties called liberty andrationality in which humanness itself consists. The enjoyment of thoseevils would occupy the interiors of his mind to such an extent that itwould burst open the door. He could then only speak and commit the evils;his unsoundness would be manifest not only to himself but to the world;and at length he would not know how to cover his shame. In order that hemay not come into this state, he is permitted to think and to will theevils of his inherited nature but not to say and commit them. Meanwhilehe is learning civil, moral and spiritual things. These enter histhoughts and remove the unsoundness and he is healed by the Lord by meansof them, only to the extent, however, of knowing how to guard the doorunless he also acknowledges God and implores His aid for power to resistthe unsoundness. Then, so far as he resists it, he does not let it intohis intentions and eventually not even into his thoughts. 

[4] Since man is free to think as he pleases to the end that his life'slove may emerge from its hiding-place into the light of hisunderstanding, and since he would not otherwise know anything of his ownevil and consequently would not know how to shun it, it is also true thatit would increase in him so much that recovery would become impossible inhim and hardly be possible in his children, were he to have children, fora parent's evil is transmitted to his offspring. The Lord, however, provides that this may not occur. 

282. The Lord could heal the understanding in every man and thus causehim to think not evil but good, and this by means of fears of differentkinds, miracles, conversations with the dead, or visions and dreams. Butto heal the understanding alone is to heal man only outwardly, forunderstanding with its thought is the external of man's life while thewill with its affection is the internal. The healing of the understandingalone would therefore be like palliative healing in which the interiormalignity, closed in and kept from issuing, would destroy first the nearand then the remote parts till all would become mortified. The willitself must be healed, not by the influx of the understanding into it, for that is impossible, but by means of instruction and exhortation fromthe understanding. Were the understanding alone healed, man would becomelike a dead body embalmed or covered by fragrant spices and roses whichwould soon get such a foul odor from the body that they could not bebrought near anyone's nostrils. So heavenly truths in the understandingwould be affected if the evil love of the will were shut in. 

283. Man is permitted, as was said, to think evils even to intending themin order that they may be removed by means of what is civil, moral andspiritual. This is done when he considers that they are contrary to whatis just and equitable, to what is honest and decorous and to what is goodand true, contrary therefore to the peace, joy and blessedness of life. By these three means the Lord heals the love of man's will, in fear atfirst, it is true, but with love later. Still the evils are not separatedfrom the man and cast out, but only removed in him and put to the side. When they are and good has the center, evils do not appear, for whateverhas the central place is squarely under view and is seen and perceived. It should be known, however, that even when good occupies the center manis not for that reason in good unless the evils at the side tend downwardor outward. If they look upward or inward they have not been removed, butare still trying to return to the center. They tend downward and outwardwhen man shuns his evils as sins and still more when he holds them inaversion, for then he condemns them, consigns them to hell, and makesthem face that way. 

284. Man's understanding is the recipient of both good and evil and ofboth truth and falsity, but not his will. His will must be either in evilor in good; it cannot be in both, for it is the man himself and in it ishis life's love. But good and evil are separate in the understanding likewhat is internal and what is external. Thus man may be inwardly in eviland outwardly in good. Still, when he is being reformed, the two meet, and conflict and combat ensue. This is called temptation when it issevere, but when it is not severe a fermentation like that of wine orstrong drink occurs. If good conquers, evil with its falsity is carriedto the side, as lees, to use an analogy, fall to the bottom of a vessel. The good is like wine that becomes generous on fermentation and likestrong drink which becomes clear. But if evil conquers, good with itstruth is borne to the side and becomes turbid and noisome likeunfermented wine or unfermented strong drink. Comparison is made withferment because in the Word, as at Hosea 7:4, Luke 12:1 and elsewhere, "ferment" signifies falsity of evil. 

XV. DIVINE PROVIDENCE ATTENDS THE EVIL AND THE GOOD ALIKE

285. In every person, good or bad, there are two faculties one of whichmakes the understanding and the other the will. The faculty making theunderstanding is the ability to understand and think, therefore is calledrationality. The faculty making the will is the ability to do thisfreely, that is, to think and consequently to speak and act also, provided that it is not contrary to reason or rationality; for to actfreely is to act as often as one wills and according as one wills. Thetwo faculties are constant and are present from first to last in each andall things which a man thinks and does. He has them not from himself, butfrom the Lord. It follows that the Lord's presence in these faculties isalso in the least things, indeed the very least, of man's understandingand thought, of his will and affection too, and thence of his speech andaction. If you remove these faculties from even the very least thing, youwill not be able to think or utter it as a human being. 

[2] It has already been shown abundantly that the human being is a humanbeing by virtue of the two faculties, enabled by them to think and speak, and to perceive goods and understand truths, not only such as are civiland moral but also such as are spiritual, and made capable, too, of beingreformed and regenerated; in a word, made capable of being conjoined tothe Lord and thereby of living forever. It was also shown that not onlygood men but evil also possess the two faculties. These faculties are inman from the Lord and are not appropriated to him as his, for what isdivine cannot be appropriated but only adjoined to him and thus appear tobe his, and this which is divine with the human being is in the leastthings pertaining to him. It follows that the Lord governs the leastthings in an evil man as well as in a good man. This government of His iswhat is called divine providence. 

286. Inasmuch as it is a law of divine providence that man shall act fromfreedom according to reason, that is, from the two faculties, liberty andrationality; and a law of divine providence that what he does shallappear to be from himself and thus his own; and also a law that evilsmust be permitted in order that man may be led out of them, it followsthat man can abuse these faculties and in freedom according to reasonconfirm whatever he pleases. He can make reasonable whatever he will, whether it is reasonable in itself or not. Some therefore ask, "What istruth? Can I not make true whatever I will?" Does not the world do so?Anybody can do it by reasoning. Take an utter falsity and bid a cleverman confirm it, and he will. Tell him, for instance, to show that man isa beast, or that the soul is like a small spider in its web and governsthe body as that does by threads, or tell him that religion is nothingbut a restraining bond, and he will prove any one of these propositionsuntil it appears to be truth. What is more easily done? For he does notknow what appearance is or what falsity is which in blind faith is takenfor truth. 

[2] Hence it is that a man cannot see this truth, namely, that divineprovidence is in the very least things of the understanding and the will, or what is the same, in the very least things of the thoughts andaffections of every person, wicked or good. He is perplexed especiallybecause it seems then that evils are also from the Lord, but it will beseen in what follows that nevertheless there is not a particle of evilfrom the Lord but that evil is from man in that he confirms in him theappearance that he thinks, wills, speaks and acts of himself. In orderthat these things may be seen clearly, they will be demonstrated in thisorder:

i. Divine providence is universal in the least things with the evil aswell as the good, and yet is not in one's evils. Ii. The evil are continually leading themselves into evils, but the Lordis continually leading them away from evils. Iii. The evil cannot be fully withdrawn from evil and led in good by theLord so long as they believe their own intelligence to be everything anddivine providence nothing. Iv. The Lord rules hell through opposites; and rules the evil who are inthe world, in hell as to their interiors, but not as to their exteriors. 

287. (i) _Divine providence is universal in the least things with theevil as well as the good, and yet is not in one's evils. _ It was shownabove that divine providence is in the least things of man's thoughts andaffections. This means that man can think and will nothing from himself, but that everything he thinks and wills and consequently says and does, is from influx. If it is good, it is from influx out of heaven, and ifevil, from influx out of hell; or what is the same, the good is frominflux from the Lord and the evil from man's proprium. I know that it isdifficult to grasp this, because what flows in from heaven or from theLord is distinguished from what flows in from hell or from man'sproprium, and yet divine providence is said to be in the least of man'sthoughts and affections, even so far that he can think and will nothingfrom himself. It appears like a contradiction to say that he can alsothink and will from hell and from his proprium. Yet it is not, and thiswill be seen in what follows, after some things have been premised whichwill clarify the matter. 

288. All the angels of heaven confess that no one can think from himselfbut does so from the Lord, while all the spirits of hell say that no onecan think from any other than himself. These spirits have been shown manytimes that no one of them thinks or can think from himself, but thatthought flows in; it was in vain, however; they would not accept theidea. But experience will teach, first, that everything of thought andaffection even with spirits of hell flows in from heaven, but that theinflowing good is turned into evil there and truth into falsity, thuseverything into its opposite. This was shown in this way: a truth fromthe Word was sent down from heaven, was received by those uppermost inhell, and by them sent to lower hells, and on to the lowest. On the wayit was turned by stages into falsity and finally into falsity the directopposite of the truth. Those with whom it was so changed thought thefalsity of themselves seemingly and knew no otherwise; still it wastruth, flowing down from heaven on the way to the lowest hell, which wasthus falsified and perverted. I have heard of this several times. Thesame thing occurs with good; as it flows down from heaven, it is changedstep by step into the evil opposite to it. Hence it was plain that truthand good, proceeding from the Lord and received by those who are infalsity and evil, are completely altered and so transformed that theirfirst form is lost. The like happens in every evil person, for as to hisspirit he is in hell. 

289. I have often been shown that no one in hell thinks from himself butthrough others around him, and these do not, but through others still. Thoughts and affections make their way from one society to another, butno one is aware that they do not originate with himself. Some whobelieved that they thought and willed of themselves were dispatched toanother society and held there, and communication was cut off with thesocieties around to which their thoughts usually extended. Then they weretold to think differently from the spirits of this society, and compelthemselves to think to the contrary; they confessed that they could not. 

[2] This was done with a number and with Leibnitz, too, who was alsoconvinced that no one thinks from himself, but from others, nor do thesethink from themselves, but all think by an influx from heaven, and heavenby an influx from the Lord. Some, pondering this, said that it wasamazing, and that hardly anyone can be led to credit it, for it isutterly contrary to the appearance, but that they still could not denyit, for it was fully demonstrated. Nevertheless, astonished as they were, they said that they are not in fault then in thinking evil; also that itseems then as if evil is from the Lord; and, again, that they do notunderstand how the one Lord can cause all to think so diversely. Thethree points will be explained in what follows. 

290. To the experiences cited this is also to be added. When it wasgranted me by the Lord to speak with spirits and angels, the foregoingarcanum was at once disclosed to me. For I was told from heaven that likeothers I believed that I thought and willed from myself, when in factnothing was from myself, but if it was good, it was from the Lord, and ifevil from hell. That this was so, was shown me to the life by variousthoughts and affections which were induced on me, and gradually I wasgiven to perceive and feel it. Therefore, as soon as an evil afterwardsentered my will or a falsity into my thought, I investigated the sourceof it. I inquired from whom it came. This was disclosed to me, and I wasalso allowed to speak with those spirits, refute them, and compel them towithdraw, thus to take back their evil and falsity and keep it tothemselves, and no longer infuse anything of the kind into my thought. This has occurred a thousand times. I have remained in this state formany years, and still do. Yet I seem to myself to think and will frommyself like others, with no difference, for of the Lord's providence itshould so appear to everyone, as was shown above in the section on it. Newly arriving spirits wonder at this state of mine, seeing as they doonly that I do not think and will from myself, and am therefore like someempty thing. But I disclosed the arcanum to them, and added that I alsothink more interiorly, and perceive whether what flows into my exteriorthought is from heaven or from hell, reject the latter and welcome theformer, yet seem to myself, like them, to be thinking and willing frommyself. 

291. It is not unknown in the world that all good is from heaven and allevil from hell; it is known to everyone in the church. Who that has beeninaugurated into the church's priesthood does not teach that all good isfrom God, and that man can receive nothing of himself except it be givenhim from heaven? And also that the devil infuses evils into the thoughtsand leads astray and incites one to commit evils? Therefore a priest whobelieves that he preaches out of a holy zeal, prays that the Holy Spiritmay teach him, and guide his thoughts and utterances. Some say that theyhave sensibly perceived being acted upon, and when a sermon is praised, reply piously that they have spoken not from themselves but from God. Therefore when they see someone speak and act well, they remark he wasled to do so by God; on the other hand, seeing someone speak and actwickedly, they remark he was led to do so by the devil. That there istalk of the kind in the church is known, but who believes that it is so?

292. Everything that a man thinks and wills, and consequently speaks anddoes, flows in from the one Fountain of life, and yet that one Fountainof life, namely, the Lord, is not the cause of man's thinking what isevil and false. This may be clarified by these facts in the world ofnature. Heat and light proceed from the sun of the world. They flow intoall visible subjects and objects, not only into subjects that are goodand objects that are beautiful, but also into subjects that are evil andobjects that are ugly, producing varying effects in them. They flow notonly into trees that bear good fruit but into trees that bear bad fruit, and into the fruits themselves, quickening their growth. They flow intogood seed and into weeds, into shrubs which have a good use and arewholesome, and into shrubs that have an evil use and are poisonous. Yetit is the same heat and the same light; there is no cause of evil inthem; the cause is in the recipient subjects and objects. 

[2] The same warmth that hatches eggs in which a screech-owl, a hornedowl, and a viper lie acts as it does when it hatches those in which adove, a bird of paradise and a swan lie. Put eggs of both sorts under thehen and they will be hatched by her warmth, which in itself is innocentof harm. What has the heat in common then with what is evil and noxious?The heat flowing into a marsh or a dung-hill or into decaying or deadmatter acts in the same way as it does when it flows into thingsflavorsome and fragrant, lush and living. Who does not see that the causeis not in the heat but in the recipient subject? The same light givespleasing colors in one object and displeasing colors in another; indeed, it grows brighter in white objects and becomes dazzling, and dims inthose verging on black and becomes dusky. 

[3] There is what is similar in the spiritual world. There are heat andlight in it from its sun, which is the Lord, and they flow from the suninto their subjects and objects. Now the subjects and objects are angelsand spirits, in particular their volitional and mental life, and the heatis divine love going forth, and the light is divine wisdom going forth. The light and heat are not the cause of the different reception of themby one and another. For the Lord says, He makes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on thejust and the unjust (Mt 5:45). 

In the highest spiritual sense by the "sun" the divine love is meant, andby the "rain" the divine wisdom. 

293. Let me add to this the view of the angels on will and understandingin man. This is that there cannot be a grain of will or of prudence inman that is his own. They say that if there were, neither heaven nor hellwould continue in existence, and all mankind would perish. The reasonthey give is that myriads of human beings, as many as have been bornsince the creation of the world, constitute heaven and hell, of which theone is under the other in such an order that each is a unit, heaven onecomely humanity, and hell one monstrous humanity. If the individual had agrain of will and intelligence of his very own, that unity could notexist, but would be torn apart. Upon this that divine form would perish, which can arise and remain only as the Lord is all in all and men arenothing besides. A further reason, they say, is that to think and willactually from one's own being is the divine itself, and to think and willfrom God, is the truly human. The very divine cannot be appropriated toanyone, for then man would be God. Bear the above in mind, and if youwish you will have confirmation of it by angels when on death you comeinto the spiritual world. 

294. It was stated above (n. 289) that when some were convinced that noone thinks from himself but from others, nor the others from themselves, but all by influx through heaven from the Lord, they remarked in theirastonishment that then they are not in fault when they do evil, also thatthen it seems evil comes from the Lord, nor do they comprehend how theLord can cause them all to think so differently. Since these threenotions cannot but flow into the thoughts of those who regard effectsonly from effects and not from causes, they need to be taken up andexplained by what causes them. 

[2] First: _They are not in fault then in doing evil. _ For if all that aperson thinks flows into him from others, the fault seems to be theirsfrom whom it comes. Yet the fault is the recipient's, for he receiveswhat inflows as his own and neither knows nor wants to know otherwise. For everyone wants to be his own, to be led by himself, and above all tothink and will from himself; this is freedom itself, which appears as theproprium in which every person is. If he knew, therefore, that what hethinks and wills flows in from another, it would seem to him that he wasbound and captive and no longer master of himself. All enjoyment in hislife would thus perish, and finally his very humanness would perish. 

[3] I have often seen this evidenced. It was granted some spirits toperceive and sense that they were being led by others. Thereupon theywere so enraged that they were reduced almost to mental impotence. Theysaid that they would rather be kept bound in hell than not to be allowedto think as they willed and to will as they thought. This they calledbeing bound in their very life, which was harder and more intolerablethan to be bound bodily. Not being allowed to speak and act as theythought and willed, they did not call being bound. For the enjoyment ofcivil and moral life, which consists in speaking and acting, itselfrestrains and at the same time mitigates that. 

[4] Inasmuch as man does not want to know that he is led to think byothers, but wants to think from himself and believes that he does so, itfollows that he himself is in fault, nor can he throw off the blame solong as he loves to think what he thinks. If he does not love it, hebreaks his connection with those from whom his thought flows. This occurswhen he knows the thought is evil, therefore determines to avoid it anddesist from it. He is then also taken by the Lord from the society inthat evil and transferred to a society free of it. If, however, herecognizes the evil and does not shun it, fault is imputed to him, and heis responsible for the evil. Therefore, whatever a man believes that hedoes from himself is said to be done from the man, and not from the Lord. 

[5] Second: _It then seems as if evil is from the Lord. _ This may bethought to be the conclusion from what was shown above (n. 288), namely, that good flowing in from the Lord is turned into evil and truth intofalsity in hell. But who cannot see that evil and falsity do not come ofgood and truth, therefore not from the Lord, but from the recipientsubject or object which is in evil and falsity and which perverts andinverts what flows into it, as was amply shown above (n. 292). The sourceof evil and falsity in man has been pointed out frequently in thepreceding pages. Moreover, an experiment was made in the spiritual worldwith those who believed that the Lord could remove evils in the wickedand introduce good instead, thus move the whole of hell into heaven andsave all. That this is impossible, however, will be seen towards the endof this treatise, where instantaneous salvation and unmediated mercy areto be treated of. 

[6] Third: _They do not comprehend how the one Lord can cause all tothink so diversely. _ The Lord's divine love is infinite, likewise Hisdivine wisdom. An infinity of love and wisdom proceeds from Him, flows inwith all in heaven, thence with all in hell, and from heaven and hellwith all in the world. Thinking and willing therefore cannot lack inanyone, for what is infinite is limitless. The infinite things that issuefrom the Lord flow in not only universally but also in least things. Forthe divine is universal by being in least things, and the divine in leastthings constitutes what is called universal, as was shown above, and thedivine in something least is still infinite. Hence it may be evident thatthe one Lord causes each person to think and will according to theperson's nature and does so in accordance with laws of His providence. Itwas shown above (nn. 46-69) and also in the treatise _Divine Love andWisdom_ (nn. 17-22), that everything in the Lord, or proceeding from Him, is infinite. 

295. (ii) _The evil are continually leading themselves into evils, butthe Lord is continually leading them away from evils. _ The nature ofdivine providence with the good is more readily comprehended than itsnature with the evil. As the latter is now under consideration, it willbe set forth in this order:

1. In every evil there are innumerable things. 2. An evil man of himself continually leads himself more and more deeplyinto his evils. 3. Divine providence with the evil is a continual tolerance of evil, tothe end that there may be a continual withdrawal from it. 4. Withdrawal from evil is effected by the Lord in a thousand most secretways. 

296. In order, then, that divine providence with the evil may be seenclearly and therefore understood, the propositions just stated are to beexplained in the order in which they were presented. 

First: _In every evil there are innumerable things. _ To man's sight anevil appears to be a single thing. Hatred does, and revenge, theft andfraud, adultery and whoredom, pride and presumption, and the rest. It isunknown that in every evil there are innumerable things, exceeding innumber the fibres and vessels in the human body. For an evil man is ahell in least form, and hell consists of myriads and myriads of spirits, each of whom is in form like a man, but a monstrous one, in whom all thefibres and vessels are inverted. A spirit himself is an evil whichappears to him as one thing, but in it are innumerable things, asnumerous as the lusts of that evil. For everyone, from head to foot, ishis own evil or his own good. Since an evil man is such, plainly he isone evil composed of countless different evils, all severally evils, andcalled lusts of evil. It follows that all these, one after another, mustbe cured and changed by the Lord for man to be reformed, and that it canbe done only by the Lord's divine providence, step by step from man'sfirst years to his last. 

[2] Every lust of evil, when it is visually presented, appears in helllike some noxious creature, a serpent, a cockatrice, a viper, a hornedowl, a screech-owl, or some other; so do the lusts of evil in an evil manappear when he is viewed by angels. All these forms of lust must bechanged one by one. The man himself, who appears as to his spirit like amonstrous man or devil, must be changed to appear like a comely angel, and each lust of evil changed to appear like a lamb or sheep or pigeon orturtle dove, as affections of good in angels appear in heaven when theyare visually represented. Changing a serpent into a lamb, or a cockatriceinto a sheep, or an owl into a dove, can be done only gradually, byuprooting evil together with its seed and implanting good seed in itsplace. This can only be done, however, comparatively as is done in thegrafting of trees, of which the roots with some of the trunk remain, butthe engrafted branch turns the sap drawn through the old root into sapthat produces good fruit. The branch to be engrafted in this instance isto be had only from the Lord, who is the tree of life; this is also inkeeping with the Lord's words in John 15:1-7. 

[3] Second: _An evil man from himself continually leads himself moredeeply into his evils. _ He does so "from himself" because all evil isfrom man, for, as was said, he turns good, which is from the Lord, intoevil. He leads himself more and more deeply into evil for the reason, essentially, that as he wills and commits evil, he enters more and moreinteriorly and also more and more deeply into infernal societies. Hencethe enjoyment of evil increases, too, and occupies his thoughts until hefeels nothing more agreeable. One who has entered more interiorly anddeeply into infernal societies becomes like one bound by chains. So longas he lives in the world, however, he does not feel his chains; they seemto be made of soft wool or smooth silken threads. He loves them, for theytitillate; but after death, from being soft, those chains become hard, and from being pleasant become galling. 

[4] That the enjoyment of evil grows is known from thefts, robberies, plunderings, revenge, tyranny, lucre, and other evils. Who does not feela heightening of enjoyment in them as he succeeds in them and practicesthem uninhibited? A thief, we know, feels such enjoyment in thefts thathe cannot desist from them, and, a wonder, he loves one stolen coin morethan ten that are given him. It would be similar with adultery, had itnot been provided that the power to commit this evil decreases with theabuse, but with many there still remains the enjoyment of thinking andtalking about it, and if nothing more, there is still the lust of touch. 

[5] It is not known, however, that this heightening of enjoyment comesfrom a man's entering into infernal societies more and more interiorlyand deeply as he perpetrates evils from the will as well as from thought. If the evils are only in the thoughts, and not in the will, he is not yetin an infernal society having that evil; he enters it when the evils arealso in the will. Then, if he also thinks the evil is contrary to theprecepts of the Decalog and regards these precepts as divine, he commitsthe evil of set purpose and by so doing plunges to a depth from which hecan be brought out only by active repentance. It is to be understood thateveryone as to his spirit is in the spiritual world, in one of itssocieties, an evil man in an infernal society and a good man in aheavenly society; sometimes, when in deep meditation one also appearsthere. Moreover, as sound and, along with it, speech spread on the air inthe natural world, affection and thought with it spread among societiesin the spiritual world; there is correspondence, too, affectioncorresponding to sound and thought to speech. 

[7] Third: _Divine providence with the evil is a continual tolerance ofevil, to the end that there may be a continual withdrawal from it. _Divine providence with evil men is continual permission because only evilcan issue from their life. For whether he is in good or in evil, mancannot be in both at once, nor by turns in one and the other unless he islukewarm. Evil of life is not introduced into the will and through thisinto the thought by the Lord but by man, and this is named permission. 

[8] Inasmuch as everything which an evil man wills and thinks is bypermission, the question arises, what in this case divine providence is, which is said to be in the least things with every person, evil or good. It consists in this, that it exercises tolerance continually for the sakeof its objective, and permits what helps to the end and nothing more. Itconstantly observes the evils that issue by permission, separates andpurifies them, and rejects what is unsuitable and discharges it byunknown ways. This is done principally in man's interior will and throughit in his interior thought. Divine providence also sees to it constantlythat what must be rejected and discharged is not received again by thewill, since all that is received by the will is appropriated to the man;what is received by the thought, but not by the will, is set aside andbanished. Such is the constant divine providence with the evil; as wassaid, it is a continual tolerance of evil to the end that there may becontinual withdrawal from it. 

[9] Of these activities man knows scarcely anything, for he does notperceive them. The chief reason why he does not, is that the evils comefrom the lusts of his life's love, and are not felt to be evils butenjoyments, to which one does not give thought. Who gives thought to theenjoyments of his love? His thought floats along in them like a skiffcarried along by the current of a stream; and he perceives a fragrant airwhich he inhales with a deep breath. Only in one's external thought doesone have a sense of the enjoyments, but even in it he pays no attentionto them unless he knows well that they are evil. More will be said onthis in what follows. 

[10] Fourth: _Withdrawal from evil is effected by the Lord in a thousandmost secret ways. _ Only some of these have been disclosed to me, and onlythe most general ones. For instance, the enjoyments of lusts, of whichman knows nothing, are let by clusters and bundles into the interiorthoughts of his spirit and thence into his exterior thoughts, where theyappear in a feeling of pleasure, delight or longing, and mingle with hisnatural and sensuous enjoyments. There the means to separation andpurification and the ways of withdrawal and unburdening are to be found. The means are chiefly the enjoyments of meditation, thought andreflection on ends that are uses. Such ends are as numerous as theparticulars and details of one's business or occupation. Just as numerousare the enjoyments of reflection on such an end as that one shall appearto be a civil and moral and also a spiritual person, no matter whatinterposes which is unenjoyable. These enjoyments, being those of one'slove in the external man, are the means to the separation, purification, expulsion and withdrawal of the enjoyments of the lusts in the internalman. 

[11] Take, for example, an unjust judge who regards gain or friendship asthe end or use of his office. Inwardly he is constantly in those ends, but outwardly must act as one learned in the law and just. He isconstantly in the enjoyment of meditation, thought, reflection and intentto bend and turn a decision and adapt and adjust it so that it may stillseem to be in conformity with the laws and resemble justice. He does notknow that his inward enjoyment consists in craftiness, defrauding, deceit, clandestine theft, and many other evils, and that this enjoyment, made up of so many enjoyments of the lusts of evil, governs each and allthings of his external thought, in which he enjoys appearing just andsincere. Into the external enjoyment the internal enjoyment is let down, the two are mingled as food is in the stomach, and thereupon the internalenjoyments are separated, purified, and withdrawn. Still this is trueonly of the more grievous enjoyments of the lusts of evil. 

[12] For in an evil man the only separation, purification and withdrawalpossible is of the more grievous evils from the less grievous. 

In a good man, however, separation, purification and withdrawal ispossible not only of the more grievous evils but also of the lessgrievous. This is effected by the enjoyments of the affections of what isgood and true, and of what is just and sincere, affections into which onecomes so far as he regards evils as sins and therefore avoids and isaverse to them, and still more as he fights against them. It is by thesemeans that the Lord purifies all who are saved. He purifies them byexternal means also, such as fame and standing and sometimes wealth, butput into these means by the Lord are the enjoyments of affections of goodand truth, by which they are directed and fitted to become enjoyments oflove for the neighbor. 

[13] If one saw the enjoyments of the lusts of evil assembled in someform, or perceived them distinctly by some sense, he would see andperceive that they are too numerous for definition. For hell in itsentirety is nothing but the form of all the lusts of evil, and no onelust in it is quite similar to or the same as another, nor can be toeternity. Of these countless lusts man knows scarcely anything, and evenless how they are connected with one another. Yet the Lord in His divineprovidence continually allows them to come forth, for them to be drawnaway, and this is done in perfect order and sequence. For the evil man isa hell in miniature, and the good man a heaven in miniature. 

[14] The withdrawal from evils, which the Lord effects in a thousandhighly secret ways, may best be seen and concluded about from the secretactivities of the soul in the body. Man knows that he examines the foodhe is about to eat, perceives what it is by its odor, hungers for it, tastes it, chews it, and by the tongue rolls it down into the esophagusand so into the stomach. But then there are the hidden activities of thesoul of which he knows nothing, for he has no sensation of them. Thestomach rolls about the food it receives, opens and breaks it up bysolvents, that is, digests it, and offers fit portions to the littlemouths opening in it and to veins which imbibe it. Some it sends to theblood, some to the lymphatic vessels, some to the lacteal vessels of themesentery, and some down to the intestines. Then the chyle, conveyedthrough the thoracic duct from its cistern in the mesentery, is carriedto the vena cava, and so to the heart. From the heart it is carried intothe lungs, from them through the left ventricle of the heart into theaorta, and from this by its branches to viscera throughout the body andalso to the kidneys. In each organ separation and purification of theblood are effected and removal of the heterogeneous, not to mention howthe heart sends its blood up to the brain after purification in thelungs, which is done by the arteries called carotids, and how the brainreturns the blood, now vivified, to the vena cava just above where thethoracic duct brings in the chyle, and so back again to the heart. 

[15] These and countless other activities are secret operations of thesoul in the body. Man has no sense of them, and unless he is acquaintedwith the science of anatomy, knows nothing of them. Yet similaractivities take place in the interiors of the human mind. Nothing cantake place in the body except from the mind, for man's mind is hisspirit, and his spirit is equally man; the sole difference being thatwhat is done in the body is done naturally, while what is done in themind is done spiritually; there is all similarity. Plainly, then, divineprovidence operates with every man in a thousand hidden ways, and itsincessant care is to cleanse him, since its purpose is to save him. Plainly, too, nothing more is incumbent on man than to remove evils inthe outward man; the Lord sees to the rest, when He is implored. 

297. (iii) _The evil cannot be fully withdrawn from evil and led in goodby the Lord so long as they believe their own intelligence to beeverything and divine providence nothing. _ It would seem that man couldwithdraw himself from evil provided he thought that this or that wascontrary to the common good, or to what is useful, or to national orinternational law, and this an evil as well as a good man can do if bybirth or through practice he is such that he can think clearly withinhimself, analysing and reasoning. But even then he is not capable ofwithdrawing himself from evil. The faculty of understanding and ofperceiving, even abstractly, has indeed been given everyone by the Lord, to the evil as well as to the good, as has been shown above in manyplaces, and yet man cannot deliver himself from evil by means of thisfaculty. For evil comes of the will, and the understanding influences thewill only with light, enlightening and instructing. If the heat of thewill, that is, man's love, is hot with the lust of evil, it is coldtowards the affection of good, therefore does not receive the light buteither repels or extinguishes it, or by some fabricated falsity turns itinto evil. The light is then like winter light, which is as clear as thelight in summer and remains as clear even when it flows into frozentrees. But this can be seen better in the following order:

1. When the will is in evil, one's own intelligence sees only falsity, and neither desires to see, nor can see, anything else. 2. If then one's own intelligence is confronted with truth, it eitherturns away from it or falsifies it. 3. Divine providence continually causes man to see truth, and also giveshim affection for perceiving and receiving it. 4. Through this means man is withdrawn from evil, not by himself, but bythe Lord. 

298. For these things to be made apparent to the rational man, whether heis evil or good, thus whether he is in the light of winter or in thelight of summer (for colors appear the same in them), they are to beexplained in due order. 

First: _When the will is in evil, one's own intelligence sees onlyfalsity, and neither desires nor is able to see anything else. _ This hasoften been demonstrated in the spiritual world. Everyone, on becoming aspirit, which takes place after death when he puts off the material bodyand puts on the spiritual, is introduced by turns into the two states ofhis life, the external and the internal. In the external state he speaksand acts rationally, quite as a rational and wise man does in the world;he can also instruct others in much that pertains to moral and civillife, and if he has been a preacher he can also give instruction in thespiritual life. But when he is brought from this external state into hisinternal state, and the external is put to sleep and the internal awakes, the scene changes if he is evil. From being rational he becomes sensuous, and from being wise he becomes insane. For he thinks then from the evilof his will and its enjoyments, thus from his own intelligence, and seesonly falsity and does nothing but evil, believing that evil is wisdom andthat cunning is prudence. From his own intelligence he believes himselfto be a deity and with all his mind sucks up nefarious ways. 

[2] I have often seen instances of such insanity. I have also seenspirits introduced into these alternating states two or three timeswithin an hour, and it was granted them to see and also acknowledge theirinsanities. Nevertheless they were unwilling to remain in a rational andmoral state, but voluntarily returned to their internal sensuous andinsane state. They loved this more than the other because the enjoymentof their life's love was in it. Who can believe that an evil man is suchbeneath his outward appearance and that he undergoes such atransformation when he enters on his internal state? This one experiencemakes plain the nature of one's own intelligence when one thinks and actsfrom the evil of one's will. It is otherwise with the good. When they areadmitted from their external state into their internal state, they becomestill wiser and still more moral. 

[3] Second: _If then one's own intelligence is confronted with truth, iteither turns away from it or falsifies it. _ The human being has avolitional and an intellectual proprium. The volitional proprium is evil, and the intellectual proprium is falsity derived from evil; the latter ismeant by "the will of man" and the former by "the will of the flesh" inJohn 1:13. The volitional proprium is in essence self-love, and theintellectual proprium is the pride coming of that love. The two are likemarried partners, and their union is called the marriage of evil andfalsity. Into this union each evil spirit is admitted before he entershell; he then does not know what good is; he calls his evil good, becausethat is what he feels to be enjoyable. He also turns away from truth thenand has no desire to see it, because he sees the falsity which accordswith his evil as the eye beholds what is beautiful, and hears it as theear hears what is harmonious. 

[4] Third: _Divine providence continually causes man to see truth andalso gives him affection for perceiving and receiving it. _ For divineprovidence acts from within and flows thence into the exteriors, that is, flows from what is spiritual into what is in the natural man, by thelight of heaven enlightening his understanding and by the heat of heavenquickening his will. The light of heaven in essence is divine wisdom, andthe heat of heaven in essence is divine love. From divine wisdom nothingcan flow but truth, and from divine love nothing but good. With good theLord bestows an affection in the understanding for seeing and alsoperceiving and receiving truth. Man thus becomes man not only in externalaspect but in internal aspect, too. Everyone desires to appear a rationaland spiritual man, and knows he so desires in order that others maybelieve him to be truly man. If then he is rational and spiritual inexternal form only, and not at the same time in his internal form, is heman? Is he different from a player on the stage or from an ape with analmost human face? May one not know from this that only he is a humanbeing who is inwardly what he desires others to think he is? One whoacknowledges the one fact must admit the other. Man's own intelligencecan induce the human form only on externals, but divine providenceinduces it on internals and thence on externals. When it has been soinduced, a man does not only appear to be a man; he is one. 

[5] Fourth: _Through this means man is withdrawn from evil, not byhimself, but by the Lord. _ When divine providence gives man to see truthand to be affected by it, he can be withdrawn from evil for the reasonthat truth points the way and dictates; doing what truth dictates, thewill unites with truth and within itself turns it into good, for itbecomes something one loves, and what is loved is good. All reformationis effected through truth, not without it, for without truth the willcontinues in its evil, and should it consult the understanding, is notinstructed, rather the evil is confirmed by falsities. 

[6] With regard to intelligence, this seems to the good man as well as toan evil man to be his and proper to him. Like an evil man, he is alsobound to act from intelligence as if it were his own. But one whobelieves in divine providence is withdrawn from evil, and one who doesnot believe in it is not withdrawn; he believes who acknowledges thatevil is sin and desires to be withdrawn from it, and he does not believewho does not so acknowledge and desire. The difference between the twokinds of intelligence is like that between what is believed to exist initself and what is believed not to exist in itself but to appear as if itdid. It is also like the difference between an external without aninternal similar to it and an external with a similar internal. Thus itis like the difference between impersonations of kings, princes orgenerals by mimes and actors through word and bearing, and actual kings, princes or generals. The latter are such in fact as well as outwardly, but the former only outwardly, and when the exterior is laid off, areknown only as comedians, actors or players. 

299. (iv) _The Lord governs hell by means of opposites, and those in theworld who are evil He governs in hell as to their interiors but not as totheir exteriors. _ One who does not know the character of heaven and hellcannot know at all that of man's mind; his mind is his spirit whichsurvives death. For the mind or spirit of man is altogether in form whatheaven or hell is. The only difference is that one is vast and the othervery small, or one is archetype and the other a copy. As to his mind orspirit, accordingly, the human being is either heaven or hell in leastform, heaven if he is led by the Lord, and hell if he is led by hisproprium. Inasmuch as it has been granted me to know what heaven and hellare, and it is important to know what the human being is in respect tohis mind or spirit, I will describe both heaven and hell briefly. 

300. All who are in heaven are nothing other than affections of good andthoughts thence of truth, and all who are in hell are nothing other thanlusts of evil and imaginations thence of falsity. These are so arrangedrespectively that the lusts of evil and the imaginings of falsity in hellare precisely opposite to the affections of good and the thoughts oftruth in heaven. Therefore hell is under heaven and diametricallyopposite, that is, the two are like two men lying in opposite directions, or standing, invertedly, like men at the antipodes, only the soles oftheir feet meeting and their heels hitting. At times hell also appears tobe so situated or inverted relatively to heaven, for the reason thatthose in hell make lusts of evil the head and affections of good thefeet, while those in heaven make affections of good the head and lusts ofevil the soles of the feet; hence the mutual opposition. When it is saidthat in heaven there are affections of good and thoughts of truth fromthem, and in hell lusts of evil and imaginations of falsity from them, the meaning is that there are spirits and angels who are such. Foreveryone is his affection or his lust, an angel of heaven his affectionand a spirit of hell his lust. 

301. The angels of heaven are affections of good and thoughts thence oftruth because they are recipients of divine love and wisdom from theLord; for all affections of good are from the divine love and allthoughts of truth are from the divine wisdom. But the spirits of hell arelusts of evil and the imaginations thence of falsity because they are inself-love and their own intelligence, and all lusts of evil come ofself-love and imaginations of falsity from one's own intelligence. 

302. The ordering of affections in heaven and of lusts in hell ismarvelous, and is known to the Lord alone. They are each distinguishedinto genera and species, and are so conjoined as to make a unit. As theyare distinguished into genera and species, they are distinguished intolarger and smaller societies, and as they are so conjoined as to make aunit, they are conjoined as all things in man are. Hence in its formheaven is like a comely man, whose soul is divine love and wisdom, thusthe Lord, and hell in its form is like a monstrous man, his soulself-love and self-intelligence, thus the devil. No devil is sole lordthere; self-love is so called. 

303. But that the nature of heaven and of hell respectively may be betterknown, instead of affections of good let enjoyments of good beunderstood, and enjoyments of evil instead of lusts of evil, for noaffections or lusts are without their enjoyments, and enjoyments makeone's life. These enjoyments are distinguished and conjoined as we saidaffections of good and lusts of evil are. The enjoyment of his affectionfills and surrounds each angel, the enjoyment common to a society ofheaven fills and surrounds each society, and the enjoyment of all theangels together or the most widely shared enjoyment fills and envelopsheaven as a whole. Similarly, the pleasure of his lust fills and envelopseach spirit of hell, a common enjoyment every society in hell, and theenjoyment of all or the most widely shared enjoyment fills and envelopsall hell. Since, as was said, the affections of heaven and the lusts ofhell are diametrically opposite to each other, plainly a heavenly joy isso unenjoyable to hell that it is unbearable, and in turn an infernal joyis so unenjoyable to heaven that it is unbearable, too. Hence theantipathy, aversion and separateness. 

304. As these enjoyments constitute the life of each individual and ofall in general, they are not sensed by those in them, but the oppositeenjoyments are sensed when brought near, especially if they are turnedinto odors; for every enjoyment corresponds to an odor and in thespiritual world may be converted into it. Then the general enjoyment inheaven is sensed as the odor of a garden, varied according to thefragrance of flowers and fruits; the general enjoyment in hell is sensedas the odor of stagnant water, into which filth of various sorts has beenthrown, the odor varied according to the stench of the things decayingand reeking in it. While I have been given to know how the enjoyment of aparticular affection of good is sensed in heaven, and the enjoyment ofsome lust of evil in hell, it would take too long to relate it here. 

305. I have heard many newcomers from the world complain that they hadnot known that their destiny would be according to the affections oftheir love. To these, they said, they had given no thought in the world, much less to the enjoyments of the affections, for they loved what theyfound enjoyable. They had believed that each person's lot would beaccording to his thoughts from his intelligence, especially according tothoughts of piety and of faith. But they were answered, that they couldhave known, if they wished, that evil of life is unacceptable to heavenand displeasing to God, but acceptable to hell and pleasing to the devil, and the other way about, that good of life is acceptable to heaven andpleasing to God, but unacceptable to hell and displeasing to the devil;consequently that evil in itself is malodorous and good is fragrant. Asthey might have known this if they wished, why did they not shun evils asinfernal and diabolical, but indulge in them merely because they wereenjoyable? Aware now that the enjoyments of evil smell so foully, theymight also know that those full of them cannot enter heaven. Upon thisreply they betook themselves to those who were in similar enjoyments, foronly there could they breathe. 

306. From the idea of heaven and hell just given, it may be evident whatthe nature of man's mind is. For, as was said, man's mind or spirit iseither a heaven or a hell in least form, that is, his interiors arenothing other than affections and thoughts thence, distinguished intogenera and species, like the larger and smaller societies of heaven orhell, and so connected as to act as a unit. The Lord governs them as Hedoes heaven or hell. That the human being is either heaven or hell inleast form may be seen in the work _Heaven and Hell, _ published at Londonin 1758. 

307. Now to the subject proposed, that the Lord governs hell by means ofopposites, and those in the world who are evil He governs in hell as totheir interiors but not as to their exteriors. On the first point, that_the Lord governs hell through opposites, _ it was shown above (nn. 288, 289) that the angels of heaven are not in love and wisdom, or in theaffection of good and thence in thought of truth from themselves, butfrom the Lord, likewise that good and truth flow from heaven into hellwhere good is turned into evil and truth into falsity because theinteriors of the minds of those in heaven and in hell respectively areturned in opposite directions. Inasmuch then as all things in hell arethe opposite of all things in heaven, the Lord governs hell by means ofopposites. 

[2] The second point, that _the Lord governs in hell those in the worldwho are evil. _ This is for the reason that the human being as to hisspirit is in the spiritual world and in some society there, in aninfernal society if he is evil, in a heavenly one if he is good. For hismind, which in itself is spiritual, cannot be anywhere but amongspiritual beings, of whom he becomes one after death. This has also beenstated and demonstrated above. A man is not there, however, in the sameway as a spirit is who has been assigned to the society, for man isconstantly in a state to be reformed, and therefore, if he is evil, istransferred by the Lord from one infernal society to another according tohis life and the changes in it. But if he permits himself to be reformed, he is led out of hell and elevated to heaven, and there, too, he iscarried from one society to another until his death, after which thisdoes not take place as he is then no longer in a state to be reformed, but remains in the state which is his from his life. When a person dies, therefore, he is assigned his place. 

[3] Thirdly, _the Lord governs the evil who are in the world in this wayas to their interiors, but in another way as to their exteriors. _ TheLord governs the interiors of man's mind in the manner just stated, butgoverns the exteriors in the world of spirits, which is between heavenand hell. The reason is that commonly man is different in externals fromwhat he is in internals. He can feign outwardly to be an angel of lightand yet inwardly be a spirit of darkness. His external is thereforegoverned in one way, and his internal in another; as long as he is in theworld, his external is governed in the world of spirits, and his internalin either heaven or hell. On death one also enters the world of spiritsfirst, therefore, and comes into his external, which he puts off there;having put it off, he is conducted to the place assigned as his. What theworld of spirits is and its nature may be seen in the work _Heaven andHell, _ published at London in 1758, nn. 421-535. 

XVI. DIVINE PROVIDENCE APPROPRIATES NEITHER EVIL NOR GOOD TO ANYONE, BUTONE'S OWN PRUDENCE APPROPRIATES BOTH

308. Almost everyone believes that man thinks and wills, hence speaks andacts, from himself. Who of himself can believe otherwise? For theappearance that he does is so strong that it differs not at all fromactually thinking, willing, speaking and acting from oneself, which isimpossible. In _Angelic Wisdom about Divine Love and Wisdom_ it was shownthat there is only one life and that men are recipients of life; alsothat the human will is the receptacle of love, and the humanunderstanding the receptacle of wisdom; love and wisdom are the one life. It was also demonstrated that by creation and steadily therefore bydivine providence this life appears in the human being quite as though itsprang from him and hence was his own, but that this is the appearance sothat man can be a receptacle. It was also shown above (nn. 288-294) thatno one thinks from himself but from others, nor the others fromthemselves, but all from the Lord, an evil person as well as a goodperson. We showed further that this is well known in Christendom, especially to those who not only say but also believe that all good andtruth, all wisdom and thus all faith and charity are from the Lord, alsothat all evil and falsity are from the devil or hell. 

[2] One can only conclude from all this that everything which a manthinks and wills flows into him. And since all speech flows from thoughtas an effect from its cause, and all action flows similarly from thewill, it follows that everything which one speaks and does also flows in, albeit derivatively or indirectly. It is undeniable that all which onesees, hears, smells, tastes or feels flows in; why not then what hethinks and wills? Can there be any difference other than this, thatentities in the natural world flow into the organs of the external sensesor of the body, while entities in the spiritual world flow into theorganic substances of the internal senses or of the mind? Hence as theorgans of the external senses or of the body are receptacles of naturalobjects, so the organic substances of the internal senses or of the mindare receptacles of spiritual objects. As this is man's situation, whatthen is his proprium? It cannot consist in his being such or such areceptacle, for then it would only be the man's manner of reception, notthe life's proprium. No one understands by proprium anything else thanthat he lives of himself and consequently thinks and wills of himself;but that there is no such proprium and indeed cannot be with anyonefollows from what was said above. 

309. But let me relate what I have heard from some in the spiritualworld. They were of those who believe that one's own prudence iseverything and divine providence nothing. I remarked that man has noproprium unless you want to call it his proprium that he is such or sucha subject or organ or form. This is not the proprium that is meant, however, for it is only descriptive of the nature of man. No man, I said, has any proprium as the word is commonly understood. At this those whoascribed everything to their own prudence and who may be called the verypicture of proprietorship, flared up so that flames seemed to come fromtheir nostrils as they said, "You speak paradox and insanity! Would mannot be an empty nothing then? Or an idea or fancy? Or a graven image orstatue?"

[2] To this I could only reply that it is paradox and insanity to believethat man has life of himself, and that wisdom and prudence, likewise thegood of charity and the truth of faith, do not flow in from God but arein man. To attribute them to oneself every wise person calls insane andalso paradoxical. Those who attribute them to themselves are like tenantsof another's house and property who persuade themselves by living therethat it is their own; or like stewards and administrators who considerall that their master owns to be theirs; or like servants in business towhom their master gave talents and pounds to trade with, but who renderedno account to him but kept all as theirs and thus behaved like robbers. 

[3] It may be said of such that they are insane, indeed are nothing andempty, likewise are idealists, since they do not have in them from theLord good which is the esse itself of life, thus do not have truth, either. They are also called "dead" therefore and "nothing and empty"(Isa 40:17, 23), and elsewhere "makers of images, " "graven images" and"statues. " More about them in what follows, to be done in this order:

i. What one's own prudence is, and what prudence not one's own is. Ii. By his own prudence man persuades himself and confirms in himselfthat all good and truth are from him and in him; similarly all evil andfalsity. Iii. All that a man is persuaded of and confirms remains with him as hisown. Iv. If man believed, as is the truth, that all good and truth are fromthe Lord, and all evil and falsity from hell, he would not appropriategood to himself and consider it merited, nor appropriate evil to himselfand make himself responsible for it. 

310. (i) _What one's own prudence is, and what prudence not one's ownis. _ Those are in prudence of their own who confirm appearances inthemselves and make them truths, especially the appearance that one's ownprudence is all and divine providence nothing--unless it is somethinguniversal, which it cannot be without singulars to constitute it, as wasshown above. They are also in fallacies, for every appearance confirmedas truth becomes a fallacy, and so far as they confirm themselves byfallacies they become naturalists and to that extent believe nothing thatthey cannot perceive by one of the bodily senses, particularly that ofsight, for this especially acts as one with thought. They finally becomesensuous. If they confirm themselves in favor of nature instead of God, they close the interiors of their mind, interpose a veil as it were, andthen do their thinking below it and not at all above it. Suchsense-ridden men were called serpents of the tree of knowledge by theancients. It is also said of them in the spiritual world that as theyconfirm themselves they at length close the interiors of their mind "tothe nose, " for the nose signifies perception of truth, of which they havenone. What their nature is will be told now. 

[2] They are more cunning and crafty than others and are ingeniousreasoners. They call cunning and craftiness intelligence and wisdom, nordo they know otherwise. They look on those who are not like themselves assimple and stupid, especially those who worship God and acknowledgedivine providence. In respect of the interior principles of their minds, of which they know little, they are like those called Machiavellians, whomake murder, adultery, theft and false witness, viewed in themselves, ofno account; if they reason against them it is only out of prudence not toappear to be of that nature. 

[3] Of man's life in the world they think it is like that of a beast, andof his life after death that it is like a vital vapor which, rising fromthe body or the grave, sinks back again and dies. From this madness comesthe notion that spirits and angels are airy entities, and with those whohave been enjoined to believe in everlasting life that the souls of menalso are. They therefore do not see, hear or speak, but are blind, deafand dumb, and only cogitate in their particle of air. The sense-riddenask, "How can the soul be anything else? The external senses died withthe body, did they not? They cannot be resumed before the soul isreunited with the body. " Inasmuch as they could comprehend the state ofthe soul after death only sensuously and not spiritually, they have fixedupon the state described; otherwise their belief in everlasting lifewould have perished. Above all, they confirm self-love in themselves, calling it the fire of life and the incentive to various uses in thekingdom. Being of this nature, they are their own idols, and theirthoughts, being fallacies and from fallacies, are images of falsity. Indulging in the enjoyments of lusts, they are satans and devils; thosewho confirm lusts of evil in themselves are satans, and those who livethem are called devils. 

[4] It has also been granted me to know the nature of the most craftysensuous men. Their hell is deep down at the back, and they want to beinconspicuous. Therefore they appear to hover about there like spectres, which are their fantasies, and they are called _genii. _ Some were sentout from that hell once for me to learn what they are like. Theyimmediately addressed themselves to my neck below the occiput and thusentered my affections, not wanting to enter my thoughts, which theyadroitly avoided. They altered my affections one by one with a mind tobend them imperceptibly into their opposites, which are lusts of evil;and as they did not touch my thought at all they would have bent andinverted my affections without my knowledge, had not the Lord preventedit. 

[5] Such do they become who do not believe that there can be any divineprovidence, and who search only for cupidities and cravings in others andthus lead them along until they dominate them. They do this so secretlyand artfully that one does not know it, and they remain the same ondeath; therefore they are cast down into that hell as soon as they enterthe spiritual world. Seen in heaven's light they appear to be without anose, and it is remarkable that although they are so crafty they are moresense-ridden than others. 

[6] The ancients called a sensuous man a serpent, and such a man is morecunning and crafty and a more ingenious reasoner than others; thereforeit is said, The serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field (Ge 3:1), and theLord said:

Be prudent as serpents and simple as doves (Mt 10:16). 

The dragon, too, called "that old serpent" and the "devil" and "satin, "is described as

Having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns (Apoc12:3, 9). 

Craftiness is signified by the seven heads; the power to persuade byfallacies is meant by the ten horns; and holy things of the Word and thechurch which have been profaned are signified by the seven crowns. 

311. From the description of one's own prudence and of those who are init, the nature of prudence not one's own and of those who are in it maybe seen. Those have prudence not their own who do not confirm inthemselves that intelligence and wisdom are from man. They ask, "How cananyone be wise of himself or do good of himself?" When they speak so, they see in themselves that it is so, for they think interiorly. Theyalso believe that others think similarly, especially the learned, forthey are unaware that any-one can think only exteriorly. 

[2] They are not in fallacies by any confirmation of appearances. Theyknow and perceive, therefore, that murder, adultery, theft and falsewitness are sins and accordingly shun them on that account. They alsoknow that wickedness is not wisdom and cunning is not intelligence. Whenthey hear ingenious reasoning from fallacies they wonder and smile tothemselves. This is because with them there is no veil between interiorsand exteriors, or between the spiritual and the natural things of themind, as there is with the sensuous. They therefore receive influx fromheaven by which they see these things. 

[3] They speak more simply and sincerely than others and place wisdom inlife and not in talk. Relatively they are like lambs and sheep whilethose who are in their own prudence are like wolves and foxes. Or theyare like those living in a house who see the sky through the windowswhile those who are in prudence of their own are like persons living inthe basement of a house who can look out through the windows only on whatis down on the ground. Again they are like persons standing on a mountainwho see those who are in prudence of their own as wanderers in valleysand forests. 

[4] Hence it may be plain that prudence not one's own is prudence fromthe Lord, in externals appearing similar to prudence of one's own, buttotally unlike it in internals. In internals prudence not one's ownappears in the spiritual world as man, while prudence which is one's ownappears like a statue, which seems living only because those who are insuch prudence still possess rationality and freedom or the capacity tounderstand and to will, hence to speak and act, and by means of thesefaculties can make it appear that they also are men. They are suchstatues because evils and falsities have no life; only goods and truthsdo. By their rationality they know this, for if they did not they wouldnot feign goods and truths; hence in their simulation of them theypossess a vital humanness. 

[5] Who does not know that a man is what he is inwardly? Consequentlythat he is a man who is inwardly what he wishes to appear to beoutwardly, while he is a copy who is a man outwardly only and notinwardly. Think, as you speak, in favor of God and religion, ofrighteousness and sincerity, and you will be a man, and divine providencewill be your prudence; you will perceive in others that one's ownprudence is insanity. 

312. (ii) _By his own prudence man persuades himself and confirms inhimself that all good and truth are from him and in him; similarly allevil and falsity. _ Rest the argument on the parallel between natural goodand truth and spiritual good and truth. Ask what truth and good are tothe sight of the eye. Is not what is called beautiful truth to it, andwhat is called enjoyable good to it? For enjoyment is felt in beholdingwhat is beautiful. What are truth and good to the hearing? Is not what iscalled harmonious truth to it, and what is called pleasing good to it?For pleasure is felt in hearing harmonies. It is the same with the othersenses. What natural good and truth are is plain, then. Consider now whatspiritual good and truth are. Is spiritual truth anything other thanbeauty and harmony in spiritual matters and objects? And is spiritualgood anything other than the enjoyment and pleasure of perceiving thebeauty and harmony?

[2] Let us see now whether anything different is to be said of the onefrom what is said of the other, that is, of the spiritual from what issaid of the natural. Of the natural we say that what is beautiful andenjoyable to the eye flows in from objects, and what is harmonious andpleasing to the ear flows in from musical instruments. Is somethingdifferent to be said in relation to the organic substances of the mind?Of these it is said that the enjoyable and pleasing are in them, while itis said of eye and ear that they flow in. If you inquire why it is saidthat they flow in, the one answer possible is that distance appearsbetween the objects and the organs. But when one asks why it is said thatin the other case they are indwelling, the one possible answer is that nodistance appears between the two. Consequently, it is the appearance ofdistance that results in believing one thing about what one thinks andperceives, and another thing about what one sees and hears. But thisbecomes baseless when one reflects that the spiritual is not in space asthe natural is. Think of sun or moon, or of Rome or Constantinople: doyou not think of them apart from distance (provided the thought is notjoined to the experience gained by sight or hearing)? Why then persuadeyourself that because there is no appearance of distance in thought, thatgood and truth, as also evil and falsity, are indwelling, and do not flowin?

[3] Let me add to this an experience which is common in the spiritualworld. One spirit can infuse his thoughts and affections into another, and the other not know that it is not his own thinking and affection. This is called in that world thinking from and in another. I havewitnessed it a thousand times and also done it a hundred times; and itseemed to occur at a considerable distance. As soon as the spiritslearned that another was introducing the thoughts and affections, theywere indignant and turned away, recognizing then, however, that to theinternal thought or sight no distance is apparent unless it is disclosed, as it may be, to the external sight or the eye; as a result it isbelieved that there is influx. 

[4] I will add to this experience an everyday experience of mine. Evilspirits have often put into my thoughts evils and falsities which seemedto me to be in me and to originate from me, or seemed to be my ownthought. Knowing them to be evils and falsities, I searched out thespirits who had introduced them, and they were detected and driven off. They were at a great distance from me. 

It may be manifest from these things that all evil with its falsity flowsin from hell and all good with its truth flows in from the Lord, and thatboth appear to be in man. 

313. The nature of men who are in prudence of their own, and the natureof those in prudence not their own and hence in the divine providence, isdepicted in the Word by Adam and his wife Eve in the Garden of Eden wherewere two trees, one of life and the other of the knowledge of good andevil, and by their eating of the latter tree. It may be seen above (n. 241) that in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word by Adam and Eve, his wife, the Most Ancient Church of the Lord on this earth is meant anddescribed, which was more noble and heavenly than subsequent churches. 

[2] Following is what is signified by other particulars. The wisdom ofthe men of that church is signified by the Garden of Eden; the Lord inrespect to divine providence is signified by the tree of life, and man inrespect to his own prudence is meant by the tree of knowledge; hissensuous life and his proprium, which in itself is self-love and pride inone's own intelligence, and thus is the devil and satan, is signified bythe serpent; and the appropriation of good and truth with the thoughtthat they are not from the Lord and are not the Lord's, but are from manand are his, is signified by eating of the tree of knowledge. Inasmuch asgood and truth are what is divine with man (for everything of love ismeant by good, and everything of wisdom by truth), if man claims them ashis, he cannot but believe that he is as God. Therefore the serpent said:

In the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be asGod, knowing good and evil (Ge 3:5). 

So do those in hell believe, who are in self-love and thence in the prideof their own intelligence. 

[3] Condemnation of self-love and self-intelligence is meant by thecondemnation of the serpent; the condemnation of the volitional propriumis meant by the condemnation of Eve and the condemnation of theintellectual proprium by the condemnation of Adam; sheer falsity and evilare signified by the thorn and thistle which the earth would produce forAdam; the loss of wisdom is signified by the expulsion from the Garden;the Lord's care lest holy things of the Word and the church be violatedis meant by guarding the way to the tree of life; moral truths, veilingmen's self-love and conceit, are signified by the fig leaves with whichAdam and Eve covered their nakedness; and appearances of truth, in whichalone they were, are signified by the coats of skin with which they werelater clothed. Such is the spiritual understanding of these particulars. Let him who wishes remain in the sense of the letter, only let him knowthat it is so understood in heaven. 

314. The nature of those who are infatuated with their own intelligencecan be seen from their fancies in matters of interior judgment, as, forexample, about influx, thought and life. Their thinking about influx isinverted. They think that the sight of the eye flows into the internalsight of the mind or into the understanding, and that the hearing of theear flows into the internal hearing, which also is the understanding. They do not perceive that the understanding from the will flows into theeye and the ear, and not only constitutes those senses but also employsthem as its instruments in the natural world. As this is not according tothe appearance, they do not perceive even if it is only said that thenatural does not flow into the spiritual, but the spiritual into thenatural. They still think, "What is the spiritual except a finernatural?" And again, "When the eye beholds something beautiful or the earhears something melodious, of course the mind, which is understanding andwill, is delighted. " They do not know that the eye does not see ofitself, nor the tongue taste, nor the nose smell, nor the skin feel ofitself, but that it is the man's mind or spirit which has the perceptionsin the sensation and which is affected according to its nature by thesensation. Indeed, the mind or spirit does not sense things of itself, but does so from the Lord; to think otherwise is to think fromappearances, and if these are confirmed, from fallacies. 

[2] Regarding thought, they say that it is something modified in the air, varied according to topic, and widened by cultivation; thus that theideas in thoughts are images appearing, meteor-like, in the air; and thatthe memory is a tablet on which they are imprinted. They do not know thatthought goes on in purely organic substances just as much as sight andhearing do. Only let them examine the brain, and they will see that it isfull of such substances; injure them and you will become delirious;destroy them and you will die. But what thought and memory are see aboveat n. 279 end. 

[3] Regarding life, they know it only as an activity of nature, whichmakes itself felt in different ways, as a live body bestirs itselforganically. If it is remarked that nature is alive then, they deny this, and say it enables to life. If one asks, "Is life not dissipated then onthe death of the body?" they reply that life remains in a particle of aircalled the soul. Asked "What then is God? Is He not life itself?" theykeep silence and do not want to utter what they think. Asked, "Would yougrant that divine love and wisdom are life itself?" they answer, "Whatare love and wisdom?" For in their fallacies they do not see what theseare or what God is. 

These things have been adduced that it may be seen how man is infatuatedby prudence of his own because he draws all conclusions then fromappearances and thus from fallacies. 

316. * By one's own prudence one is persuaded and confirmed that all goodand truth are from man and in man, because a man's own prudence is hisintellectual proprium, flowing in from self-love, which is his volitionalproprium; proprium inevitably makes everything its own; it cannot beraised above doing so. All who are led by the Lord's divine providenceare raised above the proprium and then see that all good and truth arefrom the Lord, indeed see that what in the human being is from the Lordis always the Lord's and never man's. He who believes otherwise is likeone who has his master's goods in his care and claims them himself orappropriates them--he is no steward, but a thief. As man's proprium isnothing but evil, he also immerses the goods in his evil, by which theyare destroyed like pearls thrown into dung or into acid. 

* So numbered in the Latin original. 

317. ( iii) _All that a man is persuaded of and confirms remains with himas his own. _ Many believe that no truth can be seen by man withoutconfirmations of it, but this is false. In civic and economic matters ina kingdom or republic what is useful and good can be seen only with someknowledge of its numerous statutes and ordinances; in judicial mattersonly with knowledge of the law; and in natural subjects, like physics, chemistry, anatomy, mechanics and others, only on acquaintance with thosesciences. But in purely rational, moral and spiritual matters, truthsappear in light of their own, if man has become somewhat rational, moraland spiritual through a suitable education. This is because everyone asto his spirit, which is what thinks, is in the spiritual world and is oneamong those there, consequently is in spiritual light, which enlightensthe interiors of his understanding and, as it were, dictates. Forspiritual light in essence is the divine truth of the Lord's divinewisdom. Thence it is that man can think analytically, form conclusionsabout what is just and right in matters of judgment, see what ishonorable in moral life and good in spiritual life, and see many truths, which are darkened only by the confirmation of falsities. Man sees themalmost as readily as he sees another's disposition from his face orperceives his affections from the sound of his voice, with no furtherknowledge than is implanted in one. Why should not man in some measuresee from influx the interiors of his life, which are spiritual and moral, when there is no animal that does not know by influx all things necessaryto it, which are natural? A bird knows how to build its nest, lay itseggs, hatch its young and recognize its food, besides other wonders whichare named instinct. 

318. How this state is changed, however, by confirmations and consequentpersuasions will be told now in this order:

1. There is nothing that cannot be confirmed, and falsity is confirmedmore readily than truth. 2. Truth does not appear when falsity has been confirmed, but falsity isapparent from confirmed truth. 3. The ability to confirm whatever one pleases is not intelligence butonly ingenuity, to be found in the worst of men. 4. Confirmation may be mental and not at the same time volitional, butall volitional confirmation is also mental. 5. Confirmation of evil both volitional and intellectual causes man tobelieve that one's own prudence is everything and divine providencenothing, but not confirmation solely intellectual. 6. Everything confirmed by the will and at the same time by theunderstanding, remains to eternity, but not what has been confirmed onlyby the understanding. 

[2] Touching the first, that _there is nothing that cannot be confirmed, and that falsity is confirmed more readily than truth. _ What, indeed, cannot be confirmed when atheists confirm that God is not the Creator ofthe universe but that nature is her own creator; that religion is only arestraint and is for simple and common folks; that man is like the beastand dies like one; that adultery and secret theft, fraud and deceitfulschemes are allowable, and that cunning is intelligence and wickedness iswisdom. Everyone confirms his heresy. Volumes are filled withconfirmations of the two heresies prevalent in Christendom. Assemble tenheresies, however abstruse, ask an ingenious man to confirm them, and hewill confirm them all. If you regard them then solely from theconfirmations of them, will you not be seeing falsities as truth? Sinceall that is false lights up in the natural man from its appearances andfallacies, but truth lights up only in the spiritual man, plainly falsitycan be confirmed more readily than truth. 

[3] For it to be known that everything false and everything evil can beconfirmed even to the point that what is false seems true and what isevil seems to be good, take for example the confirmation that light isdarkness and darkness is light. A man may ask: "What is light `initself'? Is not light only something which appears in the eye accordingto the eye's condition? What is light when the eye is closed? Do not batsand owls have eyes to see light as darkness and darkness as light? I haveheard it said that some persons see in like manner, and that infernalspirits, despite being in darkness, see one another. Does one not havelight in his dreams in the middle of the night? Is darkness not light, therefore, and light darkness?" It can be replied, "What of that? Lightis light as truth is truth, and darkness is darkness as falsity isfalsity. "

[4] Take a further example: confirmation that the crow is white. May itsblackness not be said to be only a shading which is not the real fact?Its feathers are white inside, its body, too; and these are the stuff ofwhich the bird is made. As its blackness is a shading, the crow turnswhite as it grows old--some such have been seen. What is black in itselfbut white? Pulverize black glass and you will see that the powder iswhite. When you call the crow black, therefore, you are speaking of theshadow and not of the reality. The reply can be, "What of it? All birdsshould be called white then. "

Contrary as they are to sound reason, these arguments have been recitedto show that it is possible to confirm falsity that is directly oppositeto truth and evil that is directly opposite to good. 

[5] Second: _Truth does not appear when falsity has been confirmed, butfalsity is apparent from truth confirmed. _ All falsity is in darkness andall truth in light. In darkness nothing is seen, nor indeed is it knownwhat anything is except by contact with it, but it is different in thelight. In the Word falsities are therefore called darkness, and those whoare in falsities are said to walk in darkness and in the shadow of death. In turn, truths are called light in it, and those who are in truths aresaid to walk in the light and to be the children of light. 

[6] There is much to show that when falsity has been confirmed, truthdoes not appear, but when truth has been confirmed, falsity is apparent. For instance, who would see a spiritual truth unless the Word taught it?Would there not be darkness that could be dispelled only by the light inwhich the Word is, and only with one who wishes to be enlightened? Whatheretic can see his falsities unless he welcomes the genuine truth of thechurch? Until then he does not see them. I have talked with those whoconfirmed themselves in faith apart from charity and who were askedwhether they saw the frequent mention in the Word of love and charity, works and deeds, and keeping the Commandments, and the declaration thatthe man who keeps the Commandments is blessed and wise, but the man whodoes not is foolish. They said that on reading these things they saw themonly as matters of faith, and passed them by with their eyes closed, soto speak. 

[7] Those who have confirmed themselves in falsities are like men who seestreaks on a wall, and at twilight fancy that they see the figure of ahorseman or just of a man, a visionary image which is dissipated when thedaylight floods in. Who can sense the spiritual uncleanness of adulteryexcept one who is in the cleanliness of chastity? Who can feel thecruelty of vengeance except one who is in good from love to the neighbor?What adulterer or what avenger does not sneer at those who call enjoymentin such acts as theirs infernal but the enjoyments of marital love andneighborly love heavenly? And so on. 

[8] Third: _The ability to confirm whatever one pleases is notintelligence but only ingenuity, to be found in the worst of men. _ Someshow the greatest dexterity in confirmation, who know no truth and yetcan confirm both truth and falsity. Some of them remark, "What is truth?Is there such a thing? Is not that true which I make true?" In the worldthey are believed to be intelligent, and yet they are only daubing awall. * Only those are intelligent who perceive truth to be truth and whoconfirm it by verities constantly perceived. Little difference may beseen between the latter and the former because one cannot distinguishbetween the light of confirmation and the light of the perception oftruth. Those in the light of confirmation seem also to be in the light ofthe perception of truth. Yet the difference is like that between illusorylight and genuine. In the spiritual world illusory light is such that itturns into darkness when genuine light flows in. There is such illusorylight with many in hell; on being brought out into genuine light they seenothing at all. It is evident, then, that to be able to confirm whateverone pleases is only ingenuity, which the worst of men may have. 

* Cf. Ezekiel 13:10, 11 and _Arcana Caelestia_ n. 739(2), ApocalypseExplained nn. 237(5) and 644(25). Tr. 

[9] Fourth: _Confirmation may be mental and not at the same timevolitional, but all volitional confirmation is also mental. _ Let anexample serve to illustrate this. Those who confirm faith separate fromcharity and yet live the life of charity, and in general those whoconfirm a falsity of doctrine and yet do not live according to it, are inintellectual confirmation but not at the same time volitional. On theother hand, those who confirm falsity of doctrine and live according toit are in volitional and at the same time in intellectual confirmation. For the understanding does not flow into the will, but the will into theunderstanding. Hence it is plain what falsity of evil is, and whatfalsity not of evil is. Falsity which is not of evil can be conjoinedwith good, but falsity of evil cannot be. For falsity which is not ofevil is falsity in the understanding but not in the will, while falsityof evil is falsity in the understanding which comes of evil in the will. 

[10] Fifth: _Confirmation of evil, both volitional and intellectual, butnot confirmation only intellectual, causes man to believe that his ownprudence is everything and divine providence nothing. _ Many confirm theirown prudence in themselves on the strength of appearances in the world, and yet do not deny divine providence; theirs is only intellectualconfirmation. But in others, who deny divine providence at the same time, there is volitional confirmation; this, together with persuasion, isfound chiefly in worshipers of nature and also in worshipers of self. 

[11] Sixth: _Everything confirmed by the will and at the same time by theunderstanding remains to eternity, but not what is confirmed only by theunderstanding. _ For what pertains to the understanding alone is notwithin man but outside him; it is only in the thought. Nothing enters manand is appropriated to him except what is received by the will; then itcomes to be of his life's love. This, it will be shown in the nextnumber, remains to eternity. 

319. Everything confirmed by both the will and the understanding remainsto eternity because everyone is his own love, and love attaches to thewill; also because everyone is his own good or his own evil, for that iscalled good or evil which belongs to the love. Since man is his own lovehe is also the form of his love, and may be called the organ of hislife's love. It was stated above (n. 279) that the affections of man'slove and his resulting thoughts are changes and variations of the stateand form of the organic substances of his mind. What these changes andvariations are and their nature will be explained now. Some idea of themmay be obtained from the alternating expansions and compressions ordilations and contractions in the heart and lungs, called in the heartsystole and diastole, and in the lungs respirations. These are reciprocalextensions and retractions or expansions and contractions of their lobes. Such are the changes and variations in the state of the heart and lungs. Such changes and variations occur in the other viscera of the body and intheir parts, too, by which the blood and the animal juices are receivedand transmitted. 

[2] Similar changes and variations take place in the organic forms of themind, which, as we showed above, are the substances underlying man'saffections and thoughts. There is a difference. Their expansions andcompressions or reciprocal activities in comparison have so much greaterperfection that they cannot be described in words of natural language, but only in words of spiritual language, which can sound only as sayingthat the changes and variations are vortical gyrations in and out, afterthe manner of perpetually winding spirals wonderfully massed into formsreceptive of life. 

[3] Now to tell the nature of these purely organic substances and formsin the evil and in the good respectively: in the good the spiral formstravel forward, in the evil backward; the forward-traveling are turned tothe Lord and receive influx from Him; the retrogressive are turnedtowards hell and receive influx from hell. It should be known that in themeasure in which they turn backward these forms are open behind andclosed in front; and on the other hand in the measure in which they turnforward, they are open in front and closed behind. 

[4] This can make plain what kind of form or organ an evil man is andwhat kind of form or organ a good man is, and that they are turned inopposite directions. As the turning once established cannot be twistedback it is plain that man remains to eternity such as he is at death. The love of man's will is what effects this turning, or is what eitherconverts or inverts, for, as was said above, each person is his own love. Hence, on death, everyone goes the way of his love, the man in a goodlove to heaven, and the man in an evil love to hell, nor does he restexcept in that society where his ruling love is. Marvelous it is thateach knows the way; it is as though he scents it. 

320. (iv) _If man believed, as is the truth, that all good and truth arefrom the Lord and all evil and falsity from hell, he would notappropriate good to himself and consider it merited, nor evil and makehimself responsible for it. _ This is contrary to the belief of those whohave confirmed in themselves the appearance that wisdom and prudence comefrom man and do not flow in according to the state of the organization ofthe mind, treated of above (n. 319). It must therefore be demonstrated, and to be done clearly, it will be done in this order:

1. One who confirms in himself the appearance that wisdom and prudenceare from man and thus in him as his, must take the view that otherwise hewould not be a man, but either a beast or a statue; yet the contrary istrue. 2. To believe and think, as is the truth, that all good and truth arefrom the Lord and all evil and falsity from hell, seems impossible, yetis truly human and hence angelic. 3. So to believe and think is impossible to those who do not acknowledgethe divine of the Lord and that evils are sins, but possible for thosewho make these two acknowledgments. 4. Those who make the two acknowledgments alone reflect on the evils inthemselves, and so far as they flee them and are averse to them, theysend them back to hell from which they come. 5. So divine providence appropriates neither evil nor good to anyone, butone's own prudence appropriates both. 

321. These propositions will be explained in the order proposed. First:_One who confirms in himself the appearance that wisdom and prudence arefrom man and thus in him as his, must take the view that otherwise hewould not be a man, but either a beast or a statue; yet the contrary istrue. _ It comes from a law of divine providence that man is to think asit were from himself and act prudently as of himself, but stillacknowledge that he does so from the Lord. It follows that one who thinksand acts prudently as of himself and acknowledges at the same time thathe does so from the Lord, is a man, but that person is not who confirmsin himself the idea that all he thinks and does is from himself. Neitheris he a man who, knowing that wisdom and prudence are from God, keepsawaiting influx. This man becomes like a statue, the other like a beast. One who waits for influx is obviously like a statue; he is sure to standor sit motionless, his hands dropped, his eyes closed or, if open, unblinking, and neither thinking nor breathing. What life has he then?

[2] Plainly, too, one who believes that everything he thinks and does isfrom himself is not unlike a beast. For he thinks only from the naturalmind which man has in common with beasts, and not from the spiritual, rational mind which is the truly human mind; for this mind acknowledgesthat God alone thinks from Himself and that man does so from God. Therefore one who thinks only from the natural mind knows no differencebetween man and animal except that man speaks and a beast makes sounds, and he believes they die alike. 

[3] Something further is to be said about those who await influx. Theyreceive none, except for a few who desire it with the whole heart. Theseat times receive some response through a living perception in thought orby tacit utterance but rarely by an explicit one, and this then is thatthey should think and act as they determine and are able, and that onewho acts wisely is wise and one who acts foolishly is foolish. They arenever instructed what to believe or do, in order that human rationalityand liberty may not perish, that is, in order that everyone shall act infreedom according to reason in all appearance as of himself. Those whoare told by influx what they are to believe or do are not beinginstructed by the Lord, nor by any angel of heaven, but by some spirit, an Enthusiast, Quaker or Moravian, and are being misled. All influx fromthe Lord is effected by enlightenment of the understanding and by anaffection of truth, and passes by the latter into the former. 

[4] Second: _To believe and think, as is the truth, that all good andtruth are from the Lord and all evil and falsity from hell, seemsimpossible, yet is truly human and hence angelic. _ To believe and thinkthat all good and truth are from God seems possible, if no more is said, for it falls in with a theological belief contrary to which it is notallowable to think. But to believe and think also that all evil andfalsity are from hell seems impossible, for in that belief man would notthink at all. But man still thinks as from himself though it is fromhell, for the Lord grants to everyone that his thought, wherever it isfrom, shall appear to be his own in him. Else man would not live as ahuman being, nor could he be led out of hell and brought into heaven, that is, be reformed, as we have shown many times. 

[5] Therefore the Lord also grants man to know and consequently to thinkthat when he is in evil he is in hell, and that if he thinks evil hethinks from hell. He likewise grants him to think of the means by whichhe can escape from hell and not think from hell, but enter heaven and inheaven think from the Lord, and He grants man the freedom to choose. Fromall this it may be seen that man can think evil and falsity as if fromhimself and also think that this or that is evil or false; consequentlythat it is only an appearance that he does so of himself, an appearancewithout which he would not be man. To think from truth is what is humanitself and consequently angelic itself; it is a truth that man does notthink from himself, but is granted by the Lord to think from himself toall appearance. 

[6] Third: _So to believe and think is impossible to those who do notacknowledge the divine of the Lord and that evils are sins, but possibleto those who make the two acknowledgments. _ It is impossible to those whodo not acknowledge the divine of the Lord, for the Lord alone gives manto think and will; and those who do not acknowledge the divine of theLord, being separated from Him believe that they think for themselves. Itis impossible also to those who do not acknowledge evils to be sins, forthey think then from hell, and in hell everyone supposes that he thinksfrom himself. That it is possible, however, to those who make the twoacknowledgments can be seen from what was set forth fully above (nn. 288-294). 

[7] Fourth: _Only those who live in the two acknowledgments reflect onthe evils in themselves, and so far as they shun and are averse to them, they send them back to hell from which they come. _ All know or can knowthat evil is from hell and good is from heaven. Who then cannot know thatso far as man shuns and is averse to evil he shuns and is averse to hell?He can know then, too, that so far as he shuns and is averse to evil, hewills and loves what is good, and consequently is so far released fromhell by the Lord and led to heaven. Every rational person may see thesethings provided he knows that heaven and hell exist, where good and evilhave their respective origins. If, now, he reflects on the evils in him, which is the same thing as examining himself, and shuns them, hedisengages himself from hell, puts it behind him, and brings himself intoheaven, where he beholds the Lord before him. Man does this, we say, buthe does it as of himself and from the Lord now. When a man acknowledgesthis truth out of a good heart and in a devout faith, it lies inwardlyhidden in all that he thinks and does afterwards as of himself. It islike the prolific force in a seed which remains in it even until new seedis produced, and like the pleasure in one's appetite for food thewholesomeness of which one has learned; in a word, like heart and soul inall he thinks and does. 

[8] Fifth: _So divine providence appropriates neither evil nor good toanyone, but one's own prudence appropriates both. _ This follows from allthat has been said. Good is the objective of divine providence; itpurposes good in all its activity, therefore. Accordingly, it does notappropriate good to anyone, for then this would become self-righteous;nor does it appropriate evil to anyone, for so it would make himresponsible for evil. But man does both by his proprium, for this isnothing but evil. The proprium of the will is self-love and that of theunderstanding is the pride of self-intelligence, and of these comes man'sown prudence. 

XVII. EVERY MAN CAN BE REFORMED, AND THERE IS NO PREDESTINATION [ascommonly understood*]

* See n. 330 - Tr. 

322. Sound reason dictates that all are predestined to heaven and none tohell, for all are born human beings and consequently God's image is inthem. God's image in them consists in their ability to understand truthand to do good. The ability to understand truth comes from the divinewisdom, and the ability to do good from the divine love. This ability, which is God's image, remains in any sane person and is not eradicated. Hence it is that he can become a civil and moral man, and one who iscivil and moral can also become spiritual, for the civil and moral is areceptacle of what is spiritual. He is called a civil man who knows andlives according to the laws of the kingdom of which he is a citizen; heis called a moral man who makes those laws his ethics and his virtues andfrom reason lives by them. 

[2] Let me say how civil and moral life is the receptacle of spirituallife. Live these laws not only as civil and moral laws but also as divinelaws, and you will be a spiritual man. There is hardly a nation sobarbarous that it has not by law prohibited murder, adultery, theft, false witness and damage to what is another's. The civil and moral mankeeps these laws that he may be, or seem to be, a good citizen. If hedoes not consider them divine laws also he is only a civil and moralnatural man, but if he considers them divine also, he becomes a civil andmoral spiritual man. The difference is that the latter is a good citizenboth of an earthly kingdom and of a heavenly, while the former is a goodcitizen only of the earthly kingdom and not of the heavenly. They aredistinguishable by the good they do. The good done by civil and moralnatural men is not in itself good, for man and the world are in it; thegood done by civil and moral spiritual men is in itself good, because theLord and heaven are in it. 

[3] From all this it may be seen that every person, because he is bornable to become a civil and moral natural being, is also born able tobecome a civil and moral spiritual man. He has only to acknowledge Godand not commit evils because they are against God, but do good becausegood is siding with God. Then spirit enters into his civil and moralactions and they live; otherwise there is no spirit in them and hencethey are not living. Therefore the natural man, however much he acts likea civil and moral being, is spoken of as dead, but the spiritual man isspoken of as living. 

[4] Of the Lord's divine providence every nation has some religion, andprimary in every religion is the acknowledgment that God is, else it isnot called a religion. Every nation that lives its religion, that is, does not do evil because this is contrary to its God, receives somethingspiritual in its natural life. Who, on hearing a Gentile say he will notdo this or that evil because it is contrary to his God, does not say tohimself, "Is this person not saved? It seems, it cannot be otherwise. "Sound reason tells him this. On the other hand, hearing a Christian say, "I make no account of this or that evil. What does it mean to say that itis contrary to God?" one says to himself, "This man is not saved, is he?It would seem, he cannot be. " Sound reason dictates this also. 

[5] Should someone say, "I was born a Christian, have been baptized, haveknown the Lord, read the Word, observed the Sacrament of the Supper, "what does this amount to when he does not count as sins murder, or therevenge breathing it, adultery, stealing, false witness, or lying, anddifferent sorts of violence? Does such a person think of God or ofeternal life? Does he think they exist? Does sound reason not dictatethat such a man cannot be saved? This has been said of a Christian, for aGentile in his life gives more thought to God from religion than aChristian does. But more is to be said on these points in what follows inthis order:

i. The goal of creation is a heaven from mankind. Ii. Of divine providence, therefore, every man can be saved, and thoseare saved who acknowledge God and live rightly. Iii. Man himself is in fault if he is not saved. Iv. Thus all are predestined to heaven, and no one to hell. 

323. (i) _The goal of creation is a heaven from mankind. _ It has beenshown above and in the work, _Heaven and Hell_ (London, 1758), thatheaven consists solely of those who have been born as human beings. Sinceheaven consists of no others, it follows that the purpose of creation isa heaven from mankind. This has been shown above (nn. 27-45), it is true, but will be seen more clearly still with explanation of the following:

1. Everyone is created to live forever. 2. Everyone is created to live forever in a blessed state. 3. Thus every person has been created to enter heaven. 4. The divine love cannot but will this, and the divine wisdom cannot butprovide it. 

324. One can see from these points that divine providence is none otherthan predestination to heaven and cannot be altered into anything else. We must now demonstrate, therefore, in the order proposed, that the goalof creation is a heaven from the human race. First: _Everyone has beencreated to live to eternity. _ In the treatise _Divine Love and Wisdom, _Parts III and V, it was shown that there are three degrees of life inman, called natural, spiritual and celestial, that they are actually ineveryone, and that in animals there is only one degree of life, which islike the lowest degree in man, called the natural. The result is that bythe elevation of his life to the Lord man is in such a state above thatof animals that he can comprehend what is of divine wisdom, and will whatis of divine love, in other words, receive what is divine; and he who canreceive what is divine, so as to see and perceive it within him, cannotbut be united with the Lord and by the union live to eternity. 

[2] What would the Lord do with all the created universe if He had notalso created images and likenesses of Himself to whom He couldcommunicate His divine? What would He exist for, otherwise, except tomake this and not that or bring something into existence but notsomething else, and this merely to be able to contemplate from afar onlyincidents and constant changes as on a stage? What would there be divinein these unless they were for the purpose of serving subjects who wouldreceive the divine more intimately and see and sense it? The divine is ofan inexhaustible glory and would not keep it to itself, nor could. Forlove wants to communicate its own to another, indeed to impart all it canof itself. Must not divine love do this, then, being infinite? Can itimpart and then take away? Would that not be to give what will perish, what in itself is nothing, coming to nothing when it perishes? Whatreally _is_ is not in it. But divine love imparts what really _is_ orwhat does not cease to be, and this is eternal. 

[3] In order that a man may live forever, what is mortal with him istaken away. This mortal of his is his material body, which is taken awayby its death. His immortal, which is his mind, is thus laid bare and hebecomes a spirit in human form; his mind is this spirit. Ancient sagesand wise men perceived that man's mind cannot die. They asked how themind could die when it is capable of wisdom. Few today know the interioridea they had in this. It was the idea, slipping into their generalperception from heaven, that God is wisdom itself, of which man partakes, and God is immortal or eternal. 

[4] Since it has been granted me to speak with angels, I will saysomething from experience. I have spoken with those who lived many agesago, with some who lived before the Flood and some who lived after it, with some who lived at the time of the Lord and with one of His apostles, and with many who lived in the centuries since. They all seemed like menof middle age and said that they do not know what death can be unless itis condemnation. Further, all who have lived well, on coming into heaven, come into the state of early manhood in the world and continue in it toeternity, even those who had been old and decrepit in the world. Women, too, although they had become shrunken and old, return into the bloom andbeauty of their youth. 

[5] That man lives after death to eternity is manifest from the Word, where life in heaven is called eternal life, as in Mt 19:29, 25:46; Mk10:17; Lu 10:25, 18:30; Jn 3:15, 16, 36, 5:24, 25, 39, 6:27, 40, 68, 12:50; also called simply life (Mt 18:8, 9; Jn 5:40, 20:31). The Lordalso told His disciples, Because I live, you will live also (Jn 14:19), and concerning resurrection said that

God is God of the living and not God of the dead, and that they cannotdie any more (Lu 20:38, 36). 

[6] Second: _Everyone is created to live forever in a blessed state. _This naturally follows. He who wills that man shall live forever alsowills that he shall live in a blessed state. What would eternal life bewithout this? All love desires the good of another. The love of parentsdesires the good of their children, the love of the bridegroom and thehusband desires the good of the bride and the wife, and love infriendship desires the good of one's friends. What then must divine lovedesire! What is good but enjoyment, and divine good but eternalblessedness? All good is so named for its enjoyableness or blessedness. True, anything one is given or possesses is also called good, but again, unless it is enjoyable, it is a barren good, not in itself good. Clearly, then, eternal life is also eternal blessedness. This state of man is theaim of creation; that only those who come into heaven are in that stateis not the Lord's fault but man's. That man is in fault will be seen inwhat follows. 

[7] Third: _Thus every person has been created to come into heaven. _ Thisis the goal of creation, but not all enter heaven because they becomeimbued with the enjoyments of hell, the opposite of heavenly blessedness. Those who are not in the blessedness of heaven cannot enter heaven, forthey cannot endure doing so. No one who comes into the spiritual world isrefused ascent into heaven, but when one ascends who is in the enjoymentof hell his heart pounds, his breathing labors, his life ebbs, he is inanguish and torment and writhes like a snake placed near a fire. Thishappens because opposites act against each other. 

[8] Nevertheless, having been born human beings, consequently with thefaculties of thought and volition and hence of speech and action, theycannot die, but they can live only with those in a similar enjoyment oflife and are sent to them, those in enjoyments of evil to their like, asthose in enjoyments of good are to their like. Indeed, everyone isgranted the enjoyment of his evil provided that he does not molest thosewho are in the enjoyment of good. Still, as evil is bound to molest good, for inherently it hates good, those who are in evil are removed lest theyinflict injury and are cast down to their own places in hell, where theirenjoyment is turned into joylessness. 

[9] But this does not alter the fact that by creation and hence by birthman is such that he can enter heaven. For everyone who dies in infancyenters heaven, is brought up there and instructed as one is in the world, and by the affection of good and truth is imbued with wisdom and becomesan angel. So could the man become who is brought up and instructed in theworld; the same is in him as in an infant. On infants in the spiritualworld see the work _Heaven and Hell, _ London, 1758 (nn. 329-345). 

[10] This does not take place, however, with many in the world becausethey love the first level of their life, called natural, and do notpurpose to withdraw from it and become spiritual. The natural degree oflife, in itself regarded, loves only self and the world, for it keepsclose to the bodily senses, which are to the fore, also, in the world. But the spiritual degree of life regarded in itself loves the Lord andheaven, and self and the world, too, but God and heaven as higher, paramount and controlling, and self and the world as lower, instrumentaland subservient. 

[11] Fourth: _Divine love cannot but will this, and divine wisdom cannotbut provide it. _ It was fully shown in the treatise _Divine Love andWisdom_ that the divine essence is divine love and wisdom, and it wasalso demonstrated there (nn. 358-370) that in every human embryo the Lordforms two receptacles, one of the divine love and the other of the divinewisdom, the former for man's future will and the latter for his futureunderstanding, and that in this way the Lord has endowed each human beingwith the faculty of willing good and the faculty of understanding truth. 

[12] Inasmuch as man is endowed from birth with these two faculties bythe Lord, and the Lord then is in them as in what is His own with man, itis manifest that His divine love cannot but will that man should comeinto heaven and His divine wisdom cannot but provide for this. But sinceit is of the Lord's divine love that man should feel heavenly blessednessin himself as his own, and this cannot be unless man is kept in theappearance that he thinks, wills, speaks and acts of himself, the Lordcan therefore lead man only according to the laws of His divineprovidence. 

325. (ii) _Of divine providence, therefore, every man can be saved, andthose are saved who acknowledge God and live rightly. _ It is plain fromwhat has been demonstrated above that every human being can be saved. Some persons suppose that the Lord's church is to be found only inChristendom, because only there is the Lord known and the Word possessed. Still many believe that the Lord's church is general, that is, extendsand is scattered throughout the world, existing thus with those who donot know the Lord or possess the Word. They say that those men are not infault and are without means to overcome their ignorance. They believethat it is contrary to God's love and mercy that any should be born forhell who are equally human beings. 

[2] Inasmuch as many Christians, if not all, have faith that the churchis common to many--it is in fact called a communion--there must be somevery widely shared things of the church that enter all religions and thatconstitute this communion. These most widely shared factors areacknowledgment of God and good of life, as will be seen in this order:

1. Acknowledgment of God effects a conjunction of God and man; denial ofGod causes disjunction. 2. Each one acknowledges God and is conjoined with Him in accord with thegoodness of his life. 3. Goodness of life, or living rightly, is shunning evils because theyare contrary to religion, thus to God. 4. These are factors common to all religions, and by them anyone can besaved. 

326. To clarify and demonstrate these propositions one by one. First:_Acknowledgment of God brings conjunction of God and man; denial of Godresults in disjunction. _ Some may think that those who do not acknowledgeGod can be saved equally with those who do, if they lead a moral life. They ask, "What does acknowledgment accomplish? Is it not merely athought? Can I not 'acknowledge God when I learn for certain that Godthere is? I have heard of Him but not seen Him. Let me see Him and I willbelieve. " Such is the language of many who deny God when they have anopportunity to argue with one who acknowledges God. But that anacknowledgment of God conjoins and denial disjoins will be clarified bysome things made known to me in the spiritual world. In that world whenanyone thinks of another and desires to speak with him, the other is atonce present. The explanation is that there is no distance in thespiritual world such as there is in the natural, but only an appearanceof distance. 

[2] A second phenomenon: as thought from some acquaintance with anothercauses his presence, love from affection for another causes conjunctionwith him. So spirits move about, converse as friends, dwell together inone house or in one community, meet often, and render one anotherservices. The opposite happens, also; one who does not love another andstill more one who hates another does not see or encounter him; thedistance between them is according to the degree in which love is wantingor hatred is present. Indeed, one who is present and recalls his hatred, vanishes. 

[3] From these few particulars it may be evident whence presence andconjunction come in the spiritual world. Presence comes with therecollection of another with a desire to see him, and conjunction comesof an affection which springs from love. This is true also of all thingsin the human mind. There are countless things in the mind, and its leastparts are associated and conjoined in accord with affections or as onething attracts another. 

[4] This is spiritual conjunction and it is the same in things large andthings small. It has its origin in the conjunction of the Lord with thespiritual world and the natural world in general and in detail. It ismanifest from this that in the measure in which one knows the Lord andthinks of Him from knowledge of Him, in that measure the Lord is present, and in the measure in which one acknowledges Him from an affection oflove, in that measure the Lord is united with him. On the other hand, inthe measure of one's ignorance of the Lord, in that measure He is absent;and so far as one denies Him, so far is He separated from one. 

[5] The result of conjunction is that the Lord turns man's face towardsHimself and thereupon leads him; the disjunction results in hell'sturning man's face to it and it leads him. Therefore all the angels ofheaven turn their faces towards the Lord as the Sun, and all the spiritsof hell avert their faces from the Lord. It is plain from this what theacknowledgment of God and the denial of God each accomplish. Those whodeny God in the world deny Him after death also; they have becomeorganized as described above (n. 319); the organization induced in theworld remains to eternity. 

[6] Second: _Everyone acknowledges God and is conjoined with Himaccording to the goodness of his life. _ All who know something ofreligion can know God; from information or from the memory they can alsospeak about God, and some may also think about Him from theunderstanding. But this only brings about presence if a man does not liverightly, for despite it all he can turn away from God and towards hell, and this takes place if he lives wickedly. Only those who live rightlycan acknowledge God with the heart, and these the Lord turns away fromhell and towards Himself according to the goodness of their life. Forthese alone love God; for in doing what comes from Him they love what isdivine. The precepts of His law are divine things from Him. They are Godbecause He is His own proceeding divine. As this is to love God, the Lordsays:

He who keeps my commandments is he who loves me . . . But he who does notkeep my commandments does not love me (Jn 14: 21, 24). 

[7] Here is the reason why there are two tables of the Decalog, onehaving reference to God and the other to man. God works unceasingly thatman may receive what is in His table, but if man does not do what he isbidden in his own table he does not receive with acknowledgment of heartwhat is in God's table, and if he does not receive this he is notconjoined. The two tables were joined, therefore, to be one and arecalled the tables of the covenant; covenant means conjunction. Oneacknowledges God and is conjoined to Him in accord with the goodness ofhis life because this good is like the good in the Lord and consequentlycomes from the Lord. So when man is in the good of life there isconjunction. The contrary takes place with evil of life; it rejects theLord. 

[8] Third: _Goodness of life, or living rightly, is shunning evilsbecause they are contrary to religion, thus to God. _ That this is good oflife or living rightly is fully shown in _Doctrine of Life for the NewJerusalem, _ from beginning to end. To this I will only add that if you dogood aplenty, build churches for instance, adorn them and fill them withofferings, spend money lavishly on hospitals and hostels, give almsdaily, aid widows and orphans, diligently observe the sanctities ofworship, indeed think and speak and preach about them as from the heart, and yet do not shun evils as sins against God, all those good deeds arenot goodness. They are either hypocritical or done for merit, for evil isstill deep in them. Everyone's life pervades all that he does. Goodsbecome good only by the removal of evil from them. Plainly, then, shunning evils because they are contrary to religion and thus to God isliving rightly. 

[9] Fourth: _These are factors common to all religions, and anyone can besaved by them. _ To acknowledge God, and to refrain from evil because itis contrary to God, are the two acts that make religion to be religion. If one is lacking, it cannot be called religion, for to acknowledge Godand to do evil is a contradiction; so it is, too, to do good and yet notacknowledge God; one is impossible apart from the other. The Lord hasprovided that there should be some religion almost everywhere and thatthese two elements should be in it, and has also provided that everyonewho acknowledges God and refrains from doing evil because it is againstGod shall have a place in heaven. For heaven as a whole is like one manwhose life or soul is the Lord. In that heavenly man are all things to befound in a natural man with the difference which obtains between theheavenly and the natural. 

[10] It is a matter of common knowledge that in the human being there arenot only forms organized of blood vessels and nerve fibres, but alsoskins, membranes, tendons, cartilages, bones, nails and teeth. These havea smaller measure of life than those organized forms, which they serve asligaments, coverings or supports. For all these entities to be in theheavenly humanity, which is heaven, it cannot be made up of human beingsall of one religion, but of men of many religions. Therefore all who makethese two universals of the church part of their lives have a place inthis heavenly man, that is, heaven, and enjoy happiness each in hismeasure. More on the subject may be seen above (n. 254). 

[11] That these two are primary in all religion is evident from the factthat they are the two which the Decalog teaches. The Decalog was thefirst of the Word, promulgated by Jehovah from Mount Sinai by a livingvoice, and also inscribed on two tables of stone by the finger of God. Then, placed in the ark, the Decalog was called Jehovah, and it made theholy of holies in the tabernacle and the shrine in the temple ofJerusalem; all things in each were holy only on account of it. Much moreabout the Decalog in the ark is to be had from the Word, which is citedin _Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem_ (nn. 53-61). To that I willadd this. From the Word we know that the ark with the two tables in it onwhich the Decalog was written was captured by the Philistines and placedin the temple of Dagon in Ashdod; that Dagon fell to the ground beforeit, and afterward his head, together with the palms of the hands, tornfrom his body, lay on the temple threshold; that the people of Ashdod andEkron to the number of many thousands were smitten with hemorrhoids andtheir land was ravaged by mice; that on the advice of the chiefs of theirnation, the Philistines made five golden hemorrhoids, five golden miceand a new cart, and on this placed the ark with the golden hemorrhoidsand mice beside it; with two cows that lowed before the cart along theway, they sent the ark back to the children of Israel and by them cowsand cart were offered in sacrifice (1 Sa 5 and 6). 

[12] To state now what all this signified: the Philistines signifiedthose who are in faith separated from charity; Dagon signified thatreligiosity; the hemorrhoids by which they were smitten signified naturalloves which when severed from spiritual love are unclean, and the micesignified the devastation of the church by falsification of truth. Thenew cart on which the Philistines sent back the ark signified a new butstill natural doctrine (chariot in the Word signifies doctrine fromspiritual truths), and the cows signified good natural affections. Hemorrhoids of gold signified natural loves purified and made good, andthe golden mice signified an end to the devastation of the church bymeans of good, for in the Word gold signifies good. The lowing of thekine on the way signified the difficult conversion of the lusts of evilof the natural man into good affections. That cows and cart were offeredup as a burnt offering signified that so the Lord was propitiated. 

[13] This is how what is told historically is understood spiritually. Gather all into a single conception and make the application. That thosewho are in faith severed from charity are represented by the Philistines, see _Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about Faith_ (nn. 49-54), and that theark was the most holy thing of the church because of the Decalog enclosedin it, see _Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem_ (nn. 53-61). 

327. (iii) _Man himself is in fault if he is not saved. _ As soon as hehears it any rational man acknowledges the truth that evil cannot issuefrom good nor good from evil, for they are opposites; consequently onlygood comes of good and only evil of evil. When this truth is acknowledgedthis also is: that good can be turned into evil not by a good but by anevil recipient; for any form changes into its own nature what flows intoit (see above, n. 292). Inasmuch as the Lord is good in its very essenceor good itself, plainly evil cannot issue from Him or be produced by Him, but good can be turned into evil by a recipient subject whose form is aform of evil. Such a subject is man as to his proprium. This constantlyreceives good from the Lord and constantly turns it into the nature ofits own form, which is one of evil. It follows that man is in fault if heis not saved. Evil is indeed from hell but as man receives it from hellas his and appropriates it to himself, it is the same whether one saysthat evil is from man or from hell. But whence there is an appropriationof evil until finally religion perishes will be told in this order:

1. Every religion declines and comes to an end in the course of time. 2. It does so through the inversion of God's image in man. 3. This takes place through a continual increase of hereditary evil overthe generations. 4. Nevertheless the Lord provides that everyone may be saved. 5. It is also provided that a new church shall succeed in place of theformer devastated church. 

328. These points are to be demonstrated in the order given. First:_Every religion declines and comes to an end in the course of time. _There have been several churches on this earth, one after another, forwherever mankind is, a church is. For, as was shown above, heaven, whichis the goal of creation, is from mankind, and no one can enter heavenunless he is in the two universal marks of the church which, as was shownjust above (n. 326), are the acknowledgment of God and living aright. Itfollows that there have been churches on this earth from the most ancienttimes to the present. These churches are described in the Word, but nothistorically except the Israelitish and Jewish church. There werechurches before it which are only described in the Word under the namesof nations and persons and in a few items about them. 

[2] The first, the Most Ancient Church, is described under the names ofAdam and his wife Eve. The next church, to be called the Ancient Church, is described by Noah, his three sons and their posterity. This church waswidespread and extended over many of the kingdoms of Asia: the land ofCanaan on both sides of the Jordan, Syria, Assyria and Chaldea, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Arabia, Tyre and Sidon. These had the Ancient Word_(Doctrine of the New Jerusalem about Sacred Scripture, _ nn. 101-103). That this church existed in those kingdoms is evident from various thingsrecorded about them in the prophetical parts of the Word. This church wasmarkedly altered by Eber, from whom arose the Hebrew church, in whichworship by sacrifices was first instituted. From the Hebrew church theIsraelitish and Jewish church was born and solemnly established for thesake of the Word which was composed in it. 

[3] These four churches are meant by the statue seen by Nebuchadnezzar ina dream, the head of which was of pure gold, the breast and arms ofsilver, the belly and thighs of brass, and the legs and feet of iron andclay (Da 2:32, 33). Nor is anything else meant by the golden, silver, copper and iron ages mentioned by ancient writers. Needless to say, theChristian church succeeded the Jewish. It can be seen from the Word thatall these churches declined in the course of time, eventually coming toan end, called their consummation. 

[4] The consummation of the Most Ancient Church, brought about by theeating of the tree of knowledge, meaning by the pride of one's ownintelligence, is depicted by the Flood. The consummation of the AncientChurch is depicted in the various devastations of nations mentioned inthe historical as well as the prophetical Word and especially by theexpulsion of the nations from the land of Canaan by the children ofIsrael. The consummation of the Israelitish and Jewish church isunderstood by the destruction of the temple at Jerusalem and by thecarrying away of the people of Israel into permanent captivity and of theJewish nation to Babylon, and finally by the second destruction of thetemple and of Jerusalem at the same time, and by the dispersion of thatnation. This consummation is foretold in many places in the Prophets andin Daniel 9:24-27. The gradual devastation of the Christian church evento its end is pictured by the Lord in Matthew (24), Mark (13) and Luke(21), but the end itself in the Apocalypse. Hence it may be manifest thatin the course of time a church declines and comes to an end; so does areligion. 

[5] Second: _Every religion declines and comes to an end through theinversion of God's image in man. _ It is known that the human being wascreated in the image and after the likeness of God (Ge 1:26), but let ussay what the image and the likeness of God are. God alone is love andwisdom; man was created to be a receptacle of both love and wisdom, hiswill to be a receptacle of divine love and his understanding a receptacleof the divine wisdom. These two receptacles, it was shown above, are inman from creation, constitute him, and are formed in everyone in thewomb. Man's being an image of God thus means that he is a recipient ofthe divine wisdom, and his being a likeness of God means that he is arecipient of the divine love. Therefore the receptacle called theunderstanding is an image of God, and the receptacle called the will is alikeness of God. Since, then, man was created and formed to be areceptacle, it follows that he was created and formed that his will mightreceive love from God and his understanding wisdom from God. He receivesthese when he acknowledges God and lives according to His precepts, receiving them in lesser or larger measure as by religion he has someknowledge of God and of His precepts, consequently according to hisknowledge of truths. For truths teach what God is and how He is to beacknowledged, also what His precepts are and how man is to live accordingto them. 

[6] The image and likeness of God have not been destroyed in man, butseem to have been; they remain inherent in his two faculties calledliberty and rationality, of which we have treated above at many places. They seem to have been destroyed when man made the receptacle of divinelove, namely, his will, a receptacle of self-love, and the receptacle ofdivine wisdom, namely, his understanding, a receptacle of his ownintelligence. Doing this, he inverted the image and likeness of God andturned these receptacles away from God and towards himself. Consequentlythey have become closed above and open below, or closed in front and openbehind, though by creation they were open in front and closed behind. When they have been opened and closed contrariwise, the receptacle oflove, the will, receives influx from hell or from one's proprium; so doesthe receptacle of wisdom, the understanding. Hence worship of men arosein the churches instead of the worship of God, and worship by doctrinesof falsity instead of worship by doctrines of truth, the latter arisingfrom man's own intelligence, and the former from love of self. Thence itis evident that religion falls away in the course of time and is ended bythe inversion of God's image in man. 

[7] Third: _This takes place as a result of a continual increase ofhereditary evil over the generations. _ It was said and explained abovethat hereditary evil does not come from Adam and his wife Eve by theirhaving eaten of the tree of knowledge, but is derived and transmittedsuccessively from parents to offspring. Thus it grows by continualincrease from generation to generation. When evil increases so amongmany, it spreads to many more, for in all evil there is a lust to leadastray, in some burning with anger against goodness--hence a contagion ofevil. When the contagion reaches leaders, rulers and the prominent in thechurch, religion has become perverted, and the means of restoring it tohealth, namely truths, become corrupted by falsifications. As a resultthere is a gradual devastation of good and desolation of truth in thechurch on to its end. 

[8] Fourth: _Nevertheless the Lord provides that everyone may be saved. _He provides that there shall be religion everywhere and in it the twoessentials for salvation, acknowledgment of God and ceasing from evilbecause it is contrary to God. Other things, which pertain to theunderstanding and hence to the thinking, called matters of faith, areprovided everyone in accord with his life, for they are accessory to lifeand if they have been given precedence, do not become living until theyare subsidiary. It is also provided that those who have lived rightly andacknowledged God are instructed by angels after death. Then those whowere in the two essentials of religion while in the world accept suchtruths of the church as are in the Word, and acknowledge the Lord as Godof heaven and of the church. This last they receive more readily than doChristians who have brought with them from the world an idea of theLord's human nature parted from His divine. It is also provided by theLord that all are saved who die as infants, no matter where they havebeen born. 

[9] Furthermore, every person is given the opportunity after death ofamending his life if possible. All are instructed and led by the Lord bymeans of angels. Knowing now that they live after death and that heavenand hell exist, they at first receive truths. But those who did notacknowledge God and shun evils as sins when in the world soon show adistaste for truths and draw back, and those who acknowledged truths withthe lips but not with the heart are like the foolish virgins who hadlamps but no oil and begged oil of others, also went off and bought some, but still were not admitted to the wedding. "Lamps" signify truths offaith and "oil" signifies the good of charity. It may be evident thenthat divine providence sees to it that everyone can be saved and that manis himself in fault if he is not saved. 

[10] Fifth: _It is also provided that a new church shall succeed in placeof a former devastated church. _ It has been so from the most ancient daysthat on the devastation of a church a new one followed. The AncientChurch succeeded the Most Ancient; the Israelitish or Jewish Churchfollowed the Ancient; after this came the Christian Church. And this, itis foretold in the Apocalypse, will be followed by a new church, signified in that book by the New Jerusalem descending from heaven. Thereason why a new church is provided by the Lord to follow in place of aformer devastated church may be seen in _Doctrine of the New Jerusalemabout Sacred Scripture_ (nn. 104-113). 

329. (iv) _Thus all are predestined to heaven, and no one to hell. _ Inthe work _Heaven and Hell_ (London, 1758) we showed at nn. 545-550 thatthe Lord casts no one into hell; the spirit himself does this. So ithappens with every evil and impious person after death and also while heis in the world, with the difference that while he is in the world he canbe reformed and can embrace and avail himself of the means of salvation, but not after departure from the world. The means of salvation are summedup in these two: that evils are to be shunned because they are contraryto the divine laws in the Decalog and that it be acknowledged that Godexists. Everyone can do both if he does not love evils. For the Lord isconstantly flowing into his will with power for shunning evils and intohis understanding with power to think that God there is. But no one cando the one without doing the other; the two are joined together like thetwo tables of the Decalog, one relating to God and the other to man. Inaccordance with what is in His table the Lord enlightens and empowerseveryone, but man receives power and enlightenment so far as he does whathe is bidden in his table. Until then the two tables appear to be laidface to face and to be sealed, but as man acts on the biddings in histable they are unsealed and opened out. 

[2] Today is not the Decalog like a small, closed book or document, opened only in the hands of children and the young? Tell someone fartheralong in years, "Do not do this because it is contrary to the Decalog"and who gives heed? He may give heed if you say, "Do not do this becauseit is contrary to divine laws, " and yet the precepts of the Decalog arethe divine laws themselves. Experiment was made with a number in thespiritual world, who at mention of the Decalog or Catechism rejected itwith contempt. This is because in the second table, which is man's, theDecalog teaches that evils are to be shunned, and one who does not do so, whether from impiety or from the religious tenet that deeds effectnothing, only faith does, hears mention of the Decalog or Catechism withdisdain, as though it was a child's book he heard mentioned, no longerof use to adults. 

[3] These things have been said in order that it may be known that aknowledge of the means by which one can be saved is not lacking toanyone, nor power if he wants to be saved. It follows that all arepredestined to heaven and no one to hell. Since, however, a belief in apredestination not to salvation but to damnation has prevailed with some, and this belief is damaging and cannot be broken up unless one's reasonsees the insanity and cruelty in it, it is to be dealt with in thisorder:

1. Predestination except to heaven is contrary to divine love and itsinfiniteness. 2. Predestination other than to heaven is contrary to divine wisdom andits infiniteness. 3. That only those born in the church are saved is an insane heresy. 4. That any of mankind are condemned by predestination is a cruel heresy. 

330. That it may be apparent how damaging the belief is in predestinationas this is commonly understood, these four arguments are to be taken upand confirmed. First: _Predestination except to heaven is contrary todivine love and its infiniteness. _ In the treatise _Divine Love andWisdom_ we demonstrated that Jehovah or the Lord is divine love, isinfinite, and is the esse of all life; also that the human being wascreated in God's image after God's likeness. As everyone is formed in thewomb by the Lord into that image and after that likeness, as was alsoshown, the Lord is the heavenly Father of all human beings and they areHis spiritual children. So Jehovah or the Lord is called in the Word, andso human beings are. Therefore He says:

Do not call your father on earth your father, for One is your Father, whois in the heavens (Mt 23:9). 

This means that He alone is the Father with reference to the life in us, and the earthly father is father of the covering on life, which is thebody. In heaven, therefore, no one but the Lord is called Father. Andfrom many passages in the Word it is clear that those who do not pervertthat life are said to be His sons and to be born from Him. 

[2] Plainly, then, the divine love is in every man, an evil man as wellas a good man, and the Lord who is divine love cannot act otherwise thana father on earth does with his children, infinitely more lovinglybecause divine love is infinite. Furthermore, He cannot withdraw fromanyone because everyone's life is from Him. He appears to withdraw fromthose who are evil, but it is they who withdraw, while He still in loveleads them. Thus the Lord says:

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and you will find; knock and itshall be opened to you . . . What man of you, if his son shall ask bread, will give him a stone? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give goodthings to your children, how much more shall your Father, who is inheaven, give good things to those who ask Him (Mt 7:7-11), and in another place, He makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on thejust and unjust (Mt 5:45). 

It is also known in the church that the Lord desires the salvation of alland the death of no one. It may be seen from all this that predestinationexcept to heaven is contrary to divine love. 

[3] Second: _Predestination other than to heaven is contrary to divinewisdom, which is infinite. _ By its divine wisdom divine love provides themeans by which every man can be saved. To say that there is anypredestination except to heaven is therefore to say that divine lovecannot provide means to salvation, when yet the means exist for all, aswas shown above, and these are of divine providence which is boundless. The reason that there are those who are not saved is that divine lovedesires man to feel the felicity and blessedness of heaven for himself, else it would not be heaven to him, and this can be effected only as itseems to man that he thinks and wills of himself. For without thisappearance nothing would be appropriated to him nor would he be a humanbeing. To this end divine providence exists, which acts by divine wisdomout of divine love. 

[4] But this does not do away with the truth that all are predestined toheaven and no one to hell. Were the means to salvation lacking, it would;but, as was demonstrated above, the means to salvation have been providedfor everyone, and heaven is such that all of whatever religion who liverightly have a place in it. Man is like the earth which produces fruitsof every kind, a power the earth has as the earth. That it also producesevil fruits does not do away with its capability of producing goodfruits; it would if it could only produce evil fruits. Or, again, man islike an object which variegates the rays of light in it. If the objectgives only unpleasing colors, the light is not the cause, for its rayscan be variegated to produce pleasing colors. 

[5] Third: _That only those who have been born in the church are saved isan insane heresy. _ Those born outside the church are human beings equallywith those born within it; they have the same heavenly origin, and likethem they are living and immortal souls. They also have some religion byvirtue of which they acknowledge God's existence and that they shouldlive aright. One who acknowledges God and lives aright becomes spiritualin his measure and is saved, as we showed above. It may be protested thatthey have not been baptized, but baptism does not save any who are notwashed spiritually, that is, regenerated, of which baptism is a sign andreminder. 

[6] It is also objected that the Lord is not known to them and that thereis no salvation without Him. But salvation does not come to a personbecause the Lord is known to him, but because he lives according to theLord's precepts. Moreover, the Lord is known to everyone who acknowledgesGod, for He is God of heaven and earth, as He Himself teaches (Mt 28:18and elsewhere). Furthermore, those outside the church have a clearer ideaabout God as Man than Christians have, and those who have a concept ofGod as Man and live rightly are accepted by the Lord. They alsoacknowledge God as one in person and essence, differently fromChristians. They also give thought to God in their lives, for they regardevils as sins against God, and those who do this regard God in theirlives. Christians have precepts of religion from the Word, but few drawprecepts of life from it. 

[7] Roman Catholics do not read the Word, and the Reformed who are infaith apart from charity do not attend to those utterances in it whichconcern life, only to those which concern faith, and yet the Word as awhole is nothing else than a doctrine of life. Christianity obtains onlyin Europe; Mohammedanism and Gentilism are found in Asia, the Indies, Africa and America, and the people in these parts of the globe are tentimes more numerous than those in the Christian part, and in this partfew put religion in life. What then is more mad than to believe that onlythese latter are saved and the former condemned, and that a man hasheaven on the strength of his birth and not on the strength of his life?So the Lord says:

I say to you, many will come from the east and the west, and recline withAbraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children ofthe kingdom shall be cast out (Mt 8:11, 12). 

[8] Fourth: _That any of mankind are condemned by predestination is acruel heresy. _ For it is cruel to believe that the Lord, who is loveitself and mercy itself, suffers so vast a throng of persons to be bornfor hell or so many myriads of myriads to be born condemned and doomed, that is, to be born devils and satans, and that He does not provide outof His divine wisdom that those who live aright and acknowledge Godshould not be cast into everlasting fire and torment. The Lord is stillthe Creator and the Savior of all men and wills the death of no one. Itis cruel therefore to believe and think that a vast multitude of nationsand peoples under His auspices and care should be handed over as prey tothe devil by predestination. 

XVIII. THE LORD CANNOT ACT CONTRARY TO THE LAWS OF DIVINE PROVIDENCEBECAUSE TO DO SO WOULD BE TO ACT CONTRARY TO HIS DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM, THUS CONTRARY TO HIMSELF

331. It was shown in _Angelic Wisdom about Divine Love and Wisdom_ thatthe Lord is divine love and wisdom, and that these are being itself andlife itself from which everything is and lives. It was also shown thatthey proceed from Him, so that the proceeding divine is the Lord Himself. Paramount in what proceeds is divine providence, for this is constantlyin the end for which the universe was created. The operation and progressof the end through means is what is called divine providence. 

[2] Inasmuch as the proceeding divine is the Lord Himself and paramountin it is divine providence, to act contrary to the laws of His divineprovidence is to act contrary to Himself. One can also say that the Lordis providence just as one says that God is order, for divine providenceis the divine order with reference primarily to the salvation of men. Asorder does not exist without laws, for they constitute it, and each lawderives from order that it, too, is order, it follows that God, who isorder, is also the law of His order. Similarly it is to be said of divineprovidence that as the Lord is providence Himself, He is also the law ofHis providence. Hence it is clear that the Lord cannot act contrary tothe laws of His divine providence because to do so would be to actcontrary to Himself. 

[3] Furthermore, there is no activity except on a subject and on thesubject by means; action is impossible except on a subject and on it bymeans. Man is the subject of divine providence; divine truths by which hehas wisdom, and divine goods by which he has love, are the means; and bythese means divine providence pursues its purpose, which is the salvationof man. For he who wills the purpose, wills the means. Therefore when hewho wills the purpose pursues it, he does so through means. But thesethings will become plainer on being examined in this order:

i. The activity of divine providence to save man begins at his birth andcontinues to the close of his life and afterwards to eternity. Ii. The activity of divine providence is maintained steadily out of puremercy through means. Iii. Instantaneous salvation by direct mercy is impossible. Iv. Instantaneous salvation by direct mercy is the flying fiery serpentin the church. 

332. (i) _The activity of divine providence to save man begins at hisbirth and continues to the close of his life and afterwards to eternity. _It was shown above that a heaven from mankind is the very purpose of thecreation of the universe; that this purpose in its operation and progressis the divine providence for the salvation of man; and that all which isexternal to man and available to him for use is a secondary end increation--in brief, all that is to be found in the three kingdoms, animal, vegetable and mineral. When all this constantly proceeds according tolaws of divine order fixed at the first of creation, how can the primaryend, which is the salvation of the human race, fail to proceed constantlyaccording to laws of its order, which are the laws of divine providence?

[2] Observe just a fruit tree. It springs up first as a slender shootfrom a tiny seed, grows gradually into a stalk, spreads branches whichbecome covered with leaves, and then puts forth flowers and bears fruit, in which it deposits fresh seed to provide for its perpetuation. This isalso true of every shrub and of every herb of the field. Do not each andall things in tree or shrub proceed constantly and wonderfully frompurpose to purpose according to the laws of their order of things? Whyshould not the supreme end, a heaven from the human race, proceed insimilar fashion? Can there be anything in its progress which does notproceed with all constancy according to the laws of divine providence?

[3] As there is a correspondence of man's life with the growth of a tree, let us draw the parallel or make the comparison. His infancy isrelatively like the tender shoot of the tree sprouting from seed out ofthe ground; his childhood and youth are like the shoot grown to a stalkwith its small branches; the natural truths with which everyone is imbuedat first are like the leaves with which the branches are covered("leaves" signify precisely this in the Word); man's first steps in themarriage of good and truth or the spiritual marriage are like theblossoms which the tree puts forth in the springtime; spiritual truthsare the petals in these blossoms; the earliest signs of the spiritualmarriage are like the start of fruit; spiritual goods, which are goods ofcharity, are like the fruit (they are also signified in the Word by"fruits"); the procreations of wisdom from love are like the seed and bythem the human being becomes like a garden or paradise. Man is alsodescribed in the Word by a tree, and his wisdom from love by a garden;nothing else is meant by the Garden of Eden. 

[4] True, man is a corrupt tree from the seed, but still a grafting orbudding with shoots taken from the Tree of Life is possible, by which thesap drawn from the old root is turned into sap producing good fruit. Thecomparison was drawn for it to be known that when the progression ofdivine providence is so constant in the growth and rebirth of trees, itsurely must be constant in the reformation and rebirth of human beings, who are of much more value than trees; so the Lord's words:

Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, yet not one of them isforgotten by God? But even the hairs of your head are all numbered; fearnot therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Which of youmoreover can by taking thought add a cubit to his stature? . . . If thenyou are unable to do what is least, why do you take thought for the rest?Consider the lilies, how they grow . . . If then God so clothed thegrass, which is in the field today and is cast into an oven tomorrow, howmuch more will he clothe you, 0 men of little faith? (Lu 12: 6, 7, 25-28). 

333. The activity of divine providence for man's salvation is said tobegin with his birth and continue to the close of his life. For this tobe understood, it should be known that the Lord sees what a man's natureis and foresees what he wills to be and thus what he will be. For him tobe man and thus immortal, his freedom of will cannot be taken away. TheLord therefore foresees his state after death and provides for it fromthe man's birth to the close of his life. With the evil He makes theprovision by permitting and withdrawing from evils, in the case of thegood by leading to good. Divine providence is thus continually acting forman's salvation, but more cannot be saved than are willing to be saved, and those are willing who acknowledge God and are led by Him. Those arenot willing who do not acknowledge God and who lead themselves. Thelatter give no thought to eternal life and to salvation, the former do. The Lord sees the unwillingness but still He leads such men, and does soin accordance with the laws of His divine providence, contrary to whichhe cannot act, for to act contrary to them would be to act contrary toHis divine love and wisdom, and this is to act contrary to Himself. 

[2] Inasmuch as the Lord foresees the states of all after death, and alsoforesees the places in hell of those who do not desire to be saved andthe places in heaven of those who do desire to be saved, it follows thatHe provides their places for the evil by the permitting and withdrawingof which we spoke, and their places for the good by leading them. Unlessthis was done steadily from birth to the close of life neither heaven norhell would remain standing, for apart from this foresight and providenceneither would be anything but confusion. It may be seen above (nn. 202, 203) that everyone has his place provided for him by the Lord throughthis foresight. 

[3] A comparison may throw light on this. If a javelin thrower or amarksman should aim at a target, from which a line was drawn straightback for a mile and should err in aim by only a finger's breadth, themissile or the bullet at the end of the mile would have deviated very farfrom the line. So would it be if the Lord did not, at every moment andeven the least fraction of a moment, look to what is eternal inforeseeing and making provision for one's place after death. But this theLord does: the entire future is present to Him, and the entire present isto Him eternal. That divine providence looks in all it does to what isinfinite and eternal, may be seen above, nn. 46-49, 214 ff. 

334. As was said also, the activity of divine providence continues toeternity, for every angel is being perfected in wisdom to eternity, each, however, according to the degree of affection of good and truth in whichhe was when he left this world. It is this degree that is perfected toeternity; what is beyond that is outside the angel and not in him, andwhat is external to him cannot be perfected in him. This perfecting ismeant by the

"Good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over" whichwill be given into the bosom of those who forgive and give to others (Lu6:37, 38), that is, those who are in the good of charity. 

335. (ii) _The activity of divine providence is maintained steadily outof pure mercy through means. _ Divine providence has means and methods. Its means are the things by which man becomes man and is perfected inwill and understanding; its methods are the ways this is accomplished. The means by which man becomes man and is perfected in understanding arecollectively called truths. In the thought they become ideas, are calledobjects of the memory, and in themselves are forms of knowledge fromwhich information comes. All these means, viewed in themselves, arespiritual, but as they exist in what is natural, they seem by reason oftheir covering or clothing to be natural and some of them seem to bematerial. They are infinite in number and variety, and more or lesssimple or composite, and also more or less imperfect or perfect. Thereare means for forming and perfecting natural civil life; likewise forforming and perfecting rational moral life; as there are for forming andperfecting heavenly spiritual life. 

[2] These means advance, one kind after another, from infancy to the lastof man's life, and thereafter to eternity. As they come along and mount, the earlier ones become means to the later, entering into all that isforming as mediate causes. From these every effect or conclusion isefficacious and therefore becomes a cause. In turn what is later becomesmeans; and as this goes on to eternity, there is nothing farthest on orfinal to make an end. For as what is eternal is without end, so a wisdomthat increases to eternity is without end. If there were an end to wisdomfor a wise man, the enjoyment of his wisdom would perish, which consistsin the perpetual multiplication and fructification of wisdom. His life'senjoyment would also perish; in its place an enjoyment of glory wouldsucceed, in which by itself there is no heavenly life. The wise man thenbecomes no longer like a youth but like an old man, and at length like adecrepit one. 

[3] Although a wise man's wisdom increases forever in heaven, angelicwisdom cannot approximate the divine wisdom so much as to touch it. It isrelatively like what is said of a straight line drawn about a hyperbola, always approaching but never touching it, and like what is said aboutsquaring a circle. Hence it may be plain what is meant by the means bywhich divine providence acts in order that man may be man and beperfected in understanding, and that these means are called by the commonterm truths. There are an equal number of means by which man is formedand perfected as to his will. These are called collectively goods. Bythem man comes to have love, by the others wisdom. The conjunction oflove and wisdom makes the man, for what he is is in keeping with thenature of this conjunction. This conjunction is what is called themarriage of good and truth. 

336. The methods by which divine providence acts on and through the meansto form and perfect the human being are also infinite in number andvariety. They are as numerous as the activities of divine wisdom fromdivine love to save man, and therefore as numerous as the activities ofdivine providence in accordance with its laws, treated of above. Thatthese methods are most secret was illustrated above by the activities ofthe soul in the body, of which man knows so little it is scarcelyanything--how, for instance, eye, ear, nose, tongue and skin sense things;how the stomach digests; how the mesentery elaborates the chyle and theliver the blood; how the pancreas and the spleen purify the blood, thekidneys separate it from impure humors, the heart collects anddistributes it, and the lungs purify it and pass it on; how the brainrefines the blood and vivifies it anew; besides innumerable other thingswhich are all secret, and of which one can scarcely know. Clearly, thehidden activities of divine providence can be entered into even less; itis enough to know its laws. 

337. Divine providence acts in all things out of pure mercy. For thedivine essence is itself pure love; this love acts through divine wisdomand its activity is what is called divine providence. This pure love ispure mercy because 1. It is active with all men the world over, who aresuch that they can do nothing of themselves. 2. It is active with theevil and unjust and the good and just alike. 3. It leads the former inhell and rescues them from it. 4. It strives with them there perpetuallyand fights for them against the devil, that is, against the evils ofhell. 5. To this end pure love came into the world and enduredtemptations even to the last of them, which was the passion of the Cross. 6. It acts continually with the unclean to make them clean and with theunsound to make them sound in mind. Thus it labors incessantly out ofpure mercy. 

338. (iii) _Instantaneous salvation by direct mercy is impossible. _ Wehave just shown that the activity of divine providence to save man beginsat his birth and continues to the close of his life and afterwards toeternity; also that this activity is continually pursued out of puremercy through means. It follows that there is neither instantaneoussalvation nor unmediated mercy. But as many, not thinking from theunderstanding about things of the church or of religion, believe thatthey are saved by immediate mercy and hence that salvation isinstantaneous, and yet this is contrary to the truth and in addition is apernicious belief, it is important that it be considered in due order:

1. Belief in instantaneous salvation by direct mercy has been assumedfrom man's natural state. 2. This belief comes from ignorance of the spiritual state, which iscompletely different from the natural state. 3. The doctrines of all churches in Christendom, viewed interiorly, areopposed to instantaneous salvation by direct mercy, but external men ofthe church nevertheless maintain the belief. 

[2] First: _Belief in instantaneous salvation by direct mercy has beenassumed from man's natural state. _ From his state the natural man doesnot know otherwise than that heavenly joy is like worldly joy and that itflows in and is received in the same way; that, for example, it is like apoor man's becoming rich and from a sad state of poverty coming into ahappy one of plenty, or like a lowly person's being raised to honors andpassing thus from contempt to renown; or like one's going from a house ofmourning to happy nuptials. As these states can be changed in a day andas there is a like idea of man's state after death, it is plain whence itcomes that instantaneous salvation by direct mercy is believed in. 

[3] In the world, moreover, many can join in one group or in one civiccommunity and enjoy the same things, yet all differ in mind; this is trueof the natural state. The reason is that the external of one person canbe accommodated to that of another, no matter how unlike their internalsare. From this natural situation it is also concluded that salvation ismerely admission among angels in heaven, and that admission is by directmercy. It is also believed, therefore, that heaven can be given to theevil as well as to the good, and that their association then is similarto that in the world, with the difference that it is filled with joy. 

[4] Second: _This belief comes from ignorance of the spiritual state, which is altogether different from the natural state. _ The spiritualstate, which is man's state after death, has been treated of in manyplaces above. It has been shown that everyone is his own love, that noone can live with others than those who are in a like love, and that ifhe comes among others he cannot breathe his own life. For this reasoneveryone comes after death into a society of his own people, that is, whoare in a like love, and recognizes them as relatives and friends, andwhat is remarkable, on meeting and seeing them it is as if he had knownthem from infancy. Spiritual relationship and friendship bring thisabout. What is more, in a society no one can dwell in any other housethan his own. Everyone in a society has his own home, which he findsprepared for him as soon as he enters the society. He may be in closecompany with others outside his home, but he cannot dwell elsewhere. Again, in somebody else's apartment one can sit only in his own place;seated elsewhere he becomes frustrated and mute. And it is remarkablethat on entering he knows his own place. This is as true in temples heenters and in any companies in which people gather. 

[5] It is plain from this that the spiritual state is altogetherdifferent from the natural state, and is such that no one can be anywherebut where his ruling love is to be found. For there the enjoyment ofone's life is, and everyone desires to be in the enjoyment of his life. Aman's spirit cannot be anywhere else because that enjoyment constituteshis life, his very breathing, in fact, and his heartbeat. It is differentin the natural world; there man's external is taught from infancy tosimulate in look, speech and bearing other enjoyments than those of hisinternal man. Accordingly, no conclusion can be formed about man's stateafter death from his state in the natural world. For after deatheveryone's state is spiritual and is such that he cannot be anywhereexcept in the enjoyment of his love, an enjoyment that he has acquired inthe natural world by his life. 

[6] Hence it is quite plain that no one who is in the enjoyment of hellcan be admitted into the enjoyment of heaven, commonly called heavenlyhappiness, or what is the same, no one who is in the enjoyment of evilcan be admitted into the enjoyment of good. This can be concluded stillmore plainly from the fact that after death no one is denied going up toheaven; he is shown the way, has the opportunity given him, and isadmitted, but as soon as he enters heaven and inhales its enjoyment, hebegins to feel constricted in his chest and racked at heart, and fallsinto a swoon, in which he writhes as a snake does brought near a fire. Then with his face turned away from heaven and towards hell, he fleesheadlong and does not stop until he is in a society of his own love. Hence it may be plain that no one reaches heaven by direct mercy. Consequently, just to be admitted is not enough, as many in the worldsuppose. Nor is there any instantaneous salvation, for this presupposesunmediated mercy. 

[7] When some who had believed in the world in instantaneous salvation bydirect mercy became spirits, they wanted their infernal enjoyment orenjoyment of evil changed by both divine omnipotence and divine mercyinto heavenly enjoyment or enjoyment in the good. As they ardentlydesired this, permission was given for it to be done by angels, whoproceeded to remove their infernal enjoyment. But as this was theenjoyment of their life's love and consequently their life, theythereupon lay as if dead, devoid of all feeling and movement; nor couldany life be breathed into them except their own, because all things ofmind and body which had been turned backward could not be reversed. Theywere therefore revived by letting in the enjoyment of their life's love. They said afterwards that in that state they had experienced somethingdreadful and horrible, which they did not care to divulge. There is asaying in heaven, therefore, that it is easier to change an owl into aturtle-dove or a serpent into a lamb than an infernal spirit into anangel of heaven. 

[8] Third: _The doctrines of all churches in Christendom, viewedinteriorly, are opposed to instantaneous salvation by direct mercy, butstill some external men of the church maintain the idea. _ Viewedinteriorly, the doctrines of all the churches teach life. Is there achurch whose doctrine does not teach that man ought to examine himself, see and acknowledge his sins, confess them, repent and then live a newlife? Who is admitted to Holy Communion without this admonition andprecept? Inquire and you will be assured of it. Is there a church whosedoctrine is not based on the precepts of the Decalog? The precepts of theDecalog are precepts of life. What man of the church, in whom there isanything of the church, does not, on hearing it, acknowledge that he wholives rightly is saved and he who lives wickedly is condemned? In theAthanasian Creed, which is also the doctrine received in the wholeChristian world, it is therefore said:

The Lord will come to judge the quick and the dead; and then those whohave done good will enter into eternal life, and those who have done evilinto everlasting fire. 

[9] It is clear, then, that the doctrines of all churches, when viewedinteriorly, teach life, and teaching life they teach that salvation isaccording to the life. Man's life is not breathed into him in a momentbut is formed gradually, and it is reformed as the man shuns evils assins, consequently as he learns what sin is, recognizes and acknowledgesit, does not will it but desists from it, and also learns the helps thatcome with a knowledge of God. By all these means man's life is formed andreformed, and they cannot be given on the instant. For hereditary evil, in itself infernal, has to be removed, and good, in itself heavenly, implanted in its place. Because of his hereditary evil man may becompared to an owl as to the understanding and to a serpent as to thewill, but when he has been reformed, he may be compared to a dove as tothe understanding and to a sheep as to the will. Instantaneousreformation and hence salvation would be like changing an owl at onceinto a dove or a serpent at once into a sheep. Who that knows anythingabout man's life does not see the impossibility of this? Salvation isimpossible unless the owl and serpent nature is removed and the nature ofthe dove and sheep implanted instead. 

[10] Moreover, it is common knowledge that every intelligent person canbecome more intelligent than he is, and every wise man wiser than he is, and that intelligence and wisdom in man may increase and do so in somemen from infancy to the close of life, and that man is thus continuallyperfected. Why should not spiritual intelligence and wisdom increase aswell? These rise by two degrees above natural intelligence and wisdom, and as they ascend become angelic intelligence and wisdom, which areineffable. These in turn increase to eternity with the angels. Who cannotunderstand, if he will, that what is being perfected to eternity cannotpossibly be made perfect in an instant?

339. Thence it is evident now that all who give thought to salvation fortheir life's sake do not think of an instantaneous salvation by immediatemercy. Their thought is about the means to salvation, on and by which theLord acts in accord with the laws of His divine providence, and thus bywhich man is led by the Lord out of pure mercy. Those, however, who donot think of salvation for their life's sake presume an instantaneousnessin salvation and an immediacy in mercy, as do those who, separating faithfrom charity (charity is life), presume that faith can be instantaneous, at the final hour of death, if not earlier. Those do this, too, whobelieve remission of sins without any repentance to be absolution fromsins and thus salvation, when attending the Holy Supper. So again thosedo who trust to indulgences of monks, their prayers for the dead, and thedispensations they grant by the authority which they claim over the soulsof men. 

340. (iv) _Instantaneous salvation by unmediated mercy is the flyingfiery serpent in the church. _ By a flying fiery serpent evil aglow withinfernal fire is meant, as it is by the flying fiery serpent in Isaiah:

Rejoice not, all Philistia, that the rod which smote you is broken, forout of the serpent's root shall come forth a basilisk, whose fruit is aflying fiery serpent (14:29). 

Evil of the kind is flying about in the church when belief is put ininstantaneous salvation by immediate mercy, for this 1. Abolishesreligion; 2. Induces security; and 3. Charges condemnation to the Lord. 

[2] First: _It abolishes religion. _ Two things are the essentials and atthe same time the universals of religion, namely, acknowledgment of God, and repentance. Neither has meaning for those who believe that they aresaved out of mercy alone no matter how they live. What need then to domore than cry, "Have mercy on me, O God"? In all else pertaining toreligion they are in darkness, even loving the darkness. In regard to thefirst essential of the church, which is an acknowledgment of God, theyonly think, "What is God? Who has seen Him?" If told that God is, and isone, they say that He is one; if told there are three, they also saythere are three, but the three must be called one. Such is theiracknowledgment of God. 

[3] Touching the church's second essential, namely, repentance, they givethis no thought, nor thought to any sin, and finally do not know thatthere is such a thing as sin. Then they hear and drink in with pleasurethat the law does not condemn them because a Christian is not under itsyoke. If only you say, "Have mercy on me, 0 God, for the sake of theSon, " you will be saved. This is repentance in their life. If, however, you take away repentance, or what is the same thing, separate life fromreligion, what is left except the words, "Have mercy on me"? They aretherefore sure to maintain that salvation is instantaneous, accomplishedby these words, even if uttered at the hour of death, if not before. Whatdoes the Word become to them then but an obscure and cryptic utteranceissuing from a tripod in a cave, or like an incomprehensible responsefrom the oracle of an idol? In a word, if you remove repentance, that is, sever life from religion, what is human nature then but evil aglow withinfernal fire or a flying fiery serpent in the church? For withoutrepentance man is in evil, and evil is hell. 

[4] Second: _By the belief in instantaneous salvation out of pure mercyalone security of life is induced. _ Security of life arises either fromthe belief of the impious man that there is no life after death, or fromthe belief of one who separates life from salvation. Although the lattermay believe in eternal life, he still thinks, "whether I live rightly orwickedly, I can be saved, for salvation is by outright mercy, and God'smercy is universal, for He does not desire the death of anyone. " If itoccurs to him that mercy should be implored in the words of thetraditional faith, he can think that this can be done, if not earlier, just before death. Everyone who feels this security, makes light ofadultery, fraud, injustice, acts of violence, blasphemy and revenge, andgives a free rein to body and spirit for committing all these evils; nordoes he know what spiritual evil, or the lust of evil, is. Should he hearsomething about it from the Word, it is like something falling on ebonyand rebounding, or falling into a ditch and being swallowed up. 

[5] Third: _By this belief condemnation is charged to the Lord. _ If theLord can save anybody out of pure mercy, who is not going to concludethat if man is not saved, it is not he but the Lord who is in fault? Ifit is asserted that faith is the medium of salvation, what man cannothave this faith? For it is only a thought, and this can be imparted, along with confidence, in any state of the spirit withdrawn from themundane. Man may also declare "I cannot acquire this faith of myself. "Hence if it is not vouchsafed him and he is condemned, what else can hethink except that the Lord is in fault who could have given him the faithbut would not? Would this not amount to calling the Lord unmerciful?Moreover, in the fervor of his belief he may ask, "How can God see somany condemned in hell when He can save them all in an instant from puremercy?" And more such things, which can only be called an atrociousindictment of the Divine. From the above it may be evident that belief ininstantaneous salvation out of sheer mercy is the flying fiery serpent inthe church. 

[6] Excuse the addition of what follows to fill the remainder of thesheet. 

Certain spirits were permitted to ascend from hell who said to me, "Youhave written much from the Lord; write something from us, too. " I asked, "What shall I write?" They said, "Write that every spirit, good or evil, has his own enjoyment; a good spirit is in the enjoyment of his good, andan evil spirit in the enjoyment of his evil. " I then asked, "What is yourenjoyment?" They answered that it was the enjoyment of committingadultery, stealing, defrauding and lying. Again I inquired, "What is thenature of those enjoyments?" They replied, "By others they are perceivedas offensive odors from excrement and as the putrid smell from deadbodies and as the reeking stench from stagnant urine. " I then said, "Doyou find them enjoyable?" "Most enjoyable, " they said. I remarked, "Thenyou are like unclean beasts which live in such filth. " They replied tothis, "If we are, we are; but such things are delightful to ournostrils. "

[7] I asked, "What more shall I write from you?" They said, "Write this. Everyone is allowed to be in his own enjoyment, even the most unclean, asit is called, provided he does not infest good spirits and angels, but aswe could not but infest them, we were driven off and cast into hell, where we suffer fearful things. " I asked, "Why did you infest the good?"They replied that they could not help it; a fury seems to seize them whenthey see an angel and feel the divine sphere around him. Then I said, "Soyou are also like savage beasts!" On hearing this, a fury came over themwhich appeared like the fire of hate, and lest they inflict some injury, they were drawn back into hell. On enjoyments sensed as odors or asstenches in the spiritual world, see above (nn. 303-305, 324).