852. 1
Footnotes:
1. [NCBSP编辑注释：这段经文从中文翻译错失。 这是作者对他精神经历的叙述的指标。 ]
852. [Author's] Index to the Accounts of Memorable Occurrences
16-17: I heard some people who had recently arrived in the spiritual world talking among themselves about three divine persons from eternity. Then one of them who had been in a leadership position in the church during his life in the physical world proudly presented the views he had formed of that great mystery. He said that his opinion had been and still was that the three divine persons sit on exalted thrones in heaven. God the Father sits on a throne made of pure gold and has a scepter in his hand. God the Son sits to his right on a throne of pure silver and has a crown on his head. And God the Holy Spirit sits on a throne of dazzling crystal and holds a dove in his hand - the same form he took when Christ was baptized. Surrounding them are three tiers of hanging lamps glittering with precious stones. At quite a distance from this inner circle stand countless angels, all adoring and glorifying them. The church leader also spoke of how the Holy Spirit enacts faith, purification, and justification in people. He said that many of his colleagues in the clergy agreed with his take on this subject; he believed that because I was a layman, I too would put my faith in his views.
When I was given the opportunity to reply, however, I said that ever since I was a little child I had cherished the idea of one God. I explained to him what the Trinity truly is and what the Word really means when it speaks of God's throne, scepter, and crown. I added that believing in three divine persons from eternity inevitably leads to believing in three gods. Yet in reality the divine essence is indivisible.
25-26: A conversation among angels about God, to the effect that his divine essence is the underlying divine reality in itself, not from itself, and is united, uniform, absolute, and undivided. The angels also said that God has no specific location, although he is with those who are in specific locations, and that his divine love is visible to angels as a sun. The essence of the heat from that sun is love, and the essence of the light from that sun is wisdom.
The three emanating divine activities of creating, redeeming, and regenerating are activities of the one only God, not activities of three separate gods.
35: At one point I was struck to think of the vast number of people who are convinced that nature is the source of all things and therefore that nature created the universe. In a lecture hall that contained people like this, an ingenious person and I debated three topics: (1) whether nature comes from life or life comes from nature; (2) whether the center comes from the expanse or the expanse comes from the center; and (3) the center and the expanse of nature and of life. "The center of nature" meant the sun in the physical world; "the expanse of nature" meant the physical world as a whole. "The center of life" meant the sun in the spiritual world, and "the expanse of life" meant the spiritual world as a whole. We vigorously debated the two sides of these questions; eventually it became clear which was the truth.
48: I was taken to an outdoor arena used for discussing issues of wisdom. Angelic spirits from all four directions who had gathered there were told by angels to discuss three mysteries of wisdom:
(1) What is the image of God and what is the likeness of God?
(2) Why are human beings born without any knowledge that relates to any love they have? Why are animals and birds born with knowledge related to every love they have?
(3) What does the tree of life mean and what does the tree of the knowledge of good and evil mean? The spirits were told to connect their responses into a single statement and give it to the angels from heaven. The group did so, and the angels approved of the resulting statement.
71: I heard a sound like ocean waves coming from evil spirits just above hell. It was a riot on the part of people who had heard from above that God Almighty restricted himself to following the divine design. One spirit came up from below and sharply challenged me regarding this topic. He said that because God is omnipotent he is not restricted to following some divine design. He asked me to tell him more about this divine design, so I said that
(1) God is the divine design itself;
(2) he created humankind on the basis of his design and in keeping with it, and built that design into us;
(3) he created our rational minds in imitation of the divine design in the whole spiritual world, and our bodies in imitation of the divine design in the whole physical world;
(4) as a result, it is a law of the divine design that we are to rule our microcosm or physical-world-in-miniature from our microheaven or spiritual-world-in-miniature, just as God rules the macrocosm or physical world from his macroheaven or spiritual world;
(5) there are many laws of the divine design that follow from this, and I mentioned a few of them to him. The account includes a description of what happened to those spirits afterward.
72: A debate among some people from Holland and England in the spiritual world concerning predestination and the assignment of Christ's merit. One side asked why God in his omnipotence does not assign his Son's justice to all people and redeem them all. Since he is omnipotent, he certainly has the power to turn all satans of hell into angels of heaven. He could turn Lucifer, the dragon, and all the goats into archangels if he wanted to. What would it take except a little word to that effect? The other side maintained that God is the divine design itself. God cannot act against the laws of his own design, because acting against them would be acting against himself. The account includes a number of lively points from the debate.
73: Afterward I spoke with others who believed in predestination, who came to that view through their notion of God's omnipotence or absolute power. Otherwise, they felt, God's power would be less than the power of monarchs on worldly thrones, who can turn the laws of justice in another direction as easily as they turn the palms of their hands and who have the absolute power of an Octavian Augustus and also the absolute power of a Nero. My answer to them was that God created the world and everything in it from himself as the divine design. Therefore he endowed everything with its own design. There are as many laws of his design as there are truths in the Word. Then I listed several laws of the divine design and mentioned what God does as his part and what we do as ours. Those laws cannot be changed, because God is the divine design itself. We have been created as an image of his divine design.
74: I talked with a gathering of clergy and lay people about divine omnipotence. They said that omnipotence was limitless and that the idea of a limited omnipotence makes no sense. I responded that it makes perfect sense for God to act all-powerfully in following the laws of justice and judgment in his actions. In fact, we read in David, "Justice and judgment are the support of your throne" (Psalms 89:14). It makes perfect sense for God to act all-powerfully in following the laws of love and wisdom. What makes no sense is to think that God could act against the laws of justice and love, which would not be acting with judgment or with wisdom. Yet the faith that the church is teaching nowadays entails such nonsense; for example, the notion that God could justify unjust people and bestow on godless people all the gifts of salvation and all the rewards of life. The account includes further details about the faith of today and about omnipotence.
76: One day when I was meditating on how God created the universe, I was taken up in the spirit and brought to some wise people. They expressed to me their frustration with stubbornly persistent ideas they had formed while in the physical world. One idea was that the universe had been created out of chaos. Another was that the universe had been created out of nothing. Yet these ideas obscure, twist, and interfere with one's ability to meditate on how God created the universe. They asked for my perspective on this topic. I explained that it is futile to draw conclusions (and any such conclusions will be seriously flawed) about the creation of the universe without first knowing several facts: There are two worlds, a spiritual world and a physical world, and each world has its own sun. The sun in the spiritual world is pure love; God is within that sun. All things that are spiritual, and are therefore substantial in essence, come from that sun. The sun in the physical world is pure fire. All things that are physical, and are therefore material in essence, come from this sun. Knowing these things allows us to conclude that God created the universe and to learn how he did it. I gave them a very general sketch of the stages of creation.
77: Some satans from hell longed to talk with angels from heaven in order to convince them that everything comes from nature and that God is only a word, unless it means nature. They were given permission to ascend. Some angels came down from heaven into the world of spirits to hear what they had to say. Once they spotted the angels, the satans hurried furiously toward them and said, "You are called angels because you believe there is a God and that nature is nothing in comparison. Yet what you believe runs contrary to all the evidence of the senses. Have any of your own five senses ever detected anything other than nature?" The satans said these and many other harsh things.
The angels then brought back to the satans' remembrance that they were now alive after their own death, although they had not believed such a thing was possible. The angels showed them the magnificent and dazzling things that exist in heaven, and pointed out that such things exist in heaven because all the people there believe in God. Then they showed them the hideous and filthy things that exist in hell, and pointed out that such things exist in hell because all the people there believe in nature [alone]. By seeing the contrast, the satans were convinced for the time being that there is a God and that he created nature. Nevertheless, as they sank back down, their love for evil returned and closed off their intellect at the top. As a result they came back into their original belief that everything comes from nature and nothing comes from God.
78: Through a living experience of a particular instance of creation, I was shown by angels how the whole universe was created. Taken up into heaven, I had the opportunity to see things of every kind from the animal kingdom, things of every kind from the plant kingdom, and things of every kind from the mineral kingdom; all these were exactly the same as their counterparts from those three kingdoms in the physical world. Yet the angels said that all the things I had seen were created by God instantaneously. I was also told that what is created persists as long as the angels' thinking is occurring in an inward state of love and faith. This instantaneous creation bears witness to the fact that similar things were created in a similar way in the physical world. The sole difference is that in the physical world, spiritual things are covered over with material substances; this covering has been provided by God for the sake of having one generation follow another, in order to perpetuate what was created. Therefore the creation of the physical universe was similar to what happens at every moment in heaven. Harmful and disgusting things in the three kingdoms of nature (the account gives specific examples) were not created by God but came into existence along with hell.
79: A conversation with some people who had been well-respected philosophers when they were in the world. The topic was how the universe was created. They expressed the ideas they had formed during their earthly lives. One said that nature created itself. Another said that nature combined its elements to form vortices. The earth was the result of collisions between these vortices. A third countered that nature created itself out of a chaos that occupied a large portion of the universe. First, purer elements broke out of the chaos to form the sun and the stars; then less pure elements formed the atmospheres, and the densest elements formed the globe of the earth. When the philosophers were asked where human souls came from, they replied, "Ether divides itself into little separate balls. These balls pour into people who are about to be born and become their souls. After people die, these souls fly back to the aggregate mass in the ether where they started out. Then they come down into other people, as we know from the ancient concept of reincarnation. " Then a priest, who used solid reasoning to argue that God created the universe, pounded all their arguments to a pulp and put them to shame. They nevertheless held on to the ridiculous ideas they had had to begin with.
80: A conversation with a satan about God, the angelic heaven, and religion. Because he had no idea he was not still in the physical world, he said (among a number of other foolish things) that God is the universe; the angelic heaven is the ethereal firmament; and religion is an evil spell cast on the multitudes. When it was brought to his remembrance that he was in fact now alive after death himself (even though he had not formerly believed in life after death), for a brief moment he confessed that he was insane, but as soon as he turned homeward and left, his former insanity returned.
110: In the night I saw a strange light falling to the earth. Many refer to it as "the dragon. " I made a note of the place where it landed. The ground there was a mixture of sulfur and iron filings. In the morning I saw two tents there. Soon afterward I saw a spirit falling down from heaven. I went over to him and asked why he had fallen out of heaven like that. He answered that Michael's angels had thrown him down, because he had said that God the Father and his Son are two, not one. He said that the entire angelic heaven believes that God the Father and his Son are one as a soul and a body are one - a point the angels support with many passages from the Word. They also use rational argumentation as support: they say the Son's soul came from nowhere else but the Father; therefore that soul was an image of the Father, and the body that came from it contained that image. He added that when he was in heaven he of course spoke of one God, just as he used to do on earth; but because his verbal statements to this effect did not match what he was thinking, the angels said he did not believe in any God, because the two views cancel each other out. He said this was why he was thrown out of heaven.
The next day when I went back to the same spot, in place of the tents I saw two statues that were made of the same materials as the ground there, which, as I say, was a mixture of sulfur and iron. One statue represented the role of faith in the modern-day church; the other represented the role of goodwill. Both were beautifully dressed, but the clothes were just projected images. Because of the materials the statues were made of, however, when a rain shower fell from heaven they both began to fizz and burn.
111: In the spiritual world, no one is able to say anything except what he or she truly thinks; if they do otherwise, their hypocrisy is plainly audible. As a result, no one in hell can say the name Jesus, because "Jesus" means salvation. This is how those in the other world can find out how many people in the Christian world today actually believe that Christ even in his human nature is God. Therefore there was a conference involving many clergy and lay people; they were asked to say "divine-human. " Scarcely any of the participants were able to think these two words together at the same time and say them. Many passages from the Word were read out loud to them to the effect that even the Lord's human manifestation was God, such as Matthew 28:18; John 1:1-2, 14; 17:2; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 5:20; and others. The participants remained still unable to utter the words "divine-human. " People were amazed to find that Lutherans were unable to say this, despite the fact that their orthodox writings teach that in Christ God is human and a human is God. It was even more surprising to find that Catholic monks who had celebrated with the utmost reverence the body of Christ in their Eucharist were unable to say this. These experiments showed that the vast majority of Christians today are inwardly either Arians or Socinians and that any adoration they pay to Christ as God is merely hypocritical.
112: A dispute broke out concerning Survey of Teachings of the New Church, a little volume I published in Amsterdam. People were particularly concerned about the teaching in it that we should turn to and worship the Lord God the Redeemer rather than God the Father. They countered that the Lord's prayer says, "Our Father, you who are in the heavens, your name must be kept holy; your kingdom must come"; therefore we should turn to God the Father. Summoned to settle this dispute, I demonstrated that it is impossible for us to turn to God the Father in his divinity, but we can turn to him in his humanity. Because the divine nature and the human nature together constitute one person, the Lord is the Father mentioned in the Lord's prayer. I backed this up with statements from the Word of the Old Testament, where the Son of God is called the Father of Eternity, and with many passages there that speak of Jehovah the Redeemer, Jehovah our Justice, and the God of Israel. I also cited many passages from the New Testament. Therefore when we turn to the Lord God the Redeemer, we are turning to the Father; then his name is kept holy, then his kingdom comes, and so on.
113: I saw an army on red horses and black horses. The riders were all turned around with their faces toward the horses' tails and their backs toward the horses' heads. They were shouting battle cries against some riders on white horses. This ludicrous army had burst forth from the place called Armageddon (Revelation 16:16). The army consisted of people who in early adulthood had absorbed the dogmas of justification by faith alone. When they were promoted later on to high-ranking positions in the church, they rejected the teachings about faith and religion from the inner realms of their mind and moved them into the outer realms related to their body, where those teachings eventually disappeared altogether. The account includes a description of how they appeared in Armageddon.
There was a report from there that they wanted to meet with Michael's angels. This was granted, although the groups were to remain a certain distance apart. The two groups then battled over the meaning of the following words in the Lord's prayer: "Our Father, you who are in the heavens, your name must be kept holy; your kingdom must come" [Matthew 6:9-10]. Michael's angels said that the Lord the Redeemer and Savior is the Father of all who are in the heavens; he himself teaches that the Father and he are one; that the Father is in him and he is in the Father; that those who see him see the Father; that all things belonging to the Father are his; also that it is the will of the Father that people should believe in the Son, and that those who do not believe the Son will not see life; instead the anger of God will remain on them; also that all power in heaven and on earth belongs to him and that he has power over all flesh; and that no one has seen or could see God the Father except the Son alone, who is close to the Father's heart; and much more. After the Armageddonites were thoroughly conquered as a result of this battle, one part of their group was thrown into the great pit mentioned in Revelation 9; the other part was sent out into a desert.
134: I was in a church that was without windows, but had a large opening in the roof. The people who were gathered there were talking about redemption. They were of one mind in saying that redemption was accomplished through Christ's suffering on the cross. While they were discussing this, a dark cloud came and covered the opening in the roof, causing total darkness in the church. Soon the cloud was driven away by angels who came down from heaven.
The angels sent one of their own down to the church to teach the congregation about redemption. This angel said that the suffering on the cross was not redemption. Redemption was a matter of gaining control over the hells, restructuring the heavens, and restoring all things that had lapsed in both the spiritual and the physical world. Without these achievements, no flesh could have been saved [Matthew 24:22]. He said that the Lord's suffering on the cross was the last step in achieving union with the Father at the deepest level. He also said that confusing the suffering on the cross with redemption entails thinking many unworthy and in fact horrendous things about God - that God locked the whole human race into damnation, but the Son took that damnation on himself, which appeased the Father; then the Son's intercession restored the Father to his divine essence, which is love and mercy; not to mention many other qualities that are very wrong to ascribe to God.
135: I saw the sun in the spiritual world, which surrounds Jehovah God in his human manifestation. Then from heaven I heard, There is one God. As this statement came down into the world of spirits, it changed as it was adapted to the form of the minds there. It eventually turned into a notion of three gods. One person added an argument in support of three gods, saying that there is one who created all things, a second who redeemed all people, and a third who puts everything into effect. Again, there is one who assigns spiritual credit or blame, a second who mediates for us, and a third who gives us our assigned and mediated credit. This, he argued, is how we receive the faith that makes us just. In reality, however, that belief in three gods has corrupted the entire Christian church.
With a perception that was given to me then, I revealed what mediation, intercession, appeasement, and ritual purging mean in the context of one God. These are actually four attributes of the human manifestation of Jehovah God, because without that manifestation, Jehovah God could not have gotten close to us nor we to him. Mediation refers to God's human manifestation as the intermediary. Intercession refers to his mediating as ongoing. Appeasement refers to God's human manifestation as providing every human being with welcome access to God. Ritual purging refers to this access as available even to those who have committed sins. All these [blessings] come to us through God's human manifestation.
136: I entered a hall where people were discussing how one should interpret the statement that the Son of God sits at the right hand of the Father. They expressed various opinions of what this means, but they all agreed that he does literally do this. They discussed possible reasons for it. Some believed it was because he was the Redeemer; some believed it was because of love; some believed it allowed him to act as an adviser; some believed it was so the angels could honor him; some believed it allowed him to rule in place of the Father; some believed it was so that the Father could hear with his right ear the list of people for whom Jesus was interceding. The people also debated whether it was the Son of God from eternity who sits there, or the Son of God born in the world.
When they had finished, I raised my hand and asked if I might be allowed to say something and explain what sitting at the right hand of God means. I said that it means the omnipotence of God that is exercised through the human manifestation that he took on. It was through this manifestation that he achieved redemption, meaning that he gained control of the hells, created a new angelic heaven, and established a new church. To support that this is what sitting at the right hand of God means, I cited a number of passages from the Word in which the right hand means power. Afterward, there was further confirmation from heaven when a right hand appeared above them that had such power and so terrified them that they almost lost consciousness.
137: In the spiritual world I was taken to attend a council. The participants included famous people who had lived before the time of the Council of Nicaea, called the apostolic fathers, and well-known people from after the time of that council. I noticed that some in the latter group were clean-shaven and wore curled wigs of women's hair, but all in the former group were bearded and wore no wigs. Before them all stood a man who had been a judge and critic of the writers of this century.
He began his remarks with the following lament: "Some layperson has risen up and pulled our faith down from its sanctuary. Yet that faith is a star that shines before us day and night. He did so because he is completely blind to the mysteries of our faith. He does not see that it contains the justice of Christ. He does not see that it contains the miracle of justification by faith. Yet our faith believes in three divine persons and therefore in the whole of God. Instead, he has redirected belief toward the second Person - in fact, not even the whole second Person, but just his human manifestation. How can his perspective do anything but spew materialist philosophy?" The group that had lived after the Council of Nicaea applauded his statement. They said that it was impossible for faith to be different or to come from any other source.
The apostolic fathers, who had lived before the century [of the Council of Nicaea], were upset, however. They related a number of things that people in heaven have to say about the Nicene and the Athanasian faith; the reader may review these in the account.
Because the chairman of the council was associated in spirit with an author in Leipzig, I addressed him and demonstrated from the Word that Christ is God even in regard to his human manifestation. I showed from the Formula of Concord, the dogmatic volume adhered to by Lutherans, that in Christ, God is human and a human is God. Among a number of other things, I also showed that the Augsburg Confession completely supports the worship of Christ. In response to all this he just looked away in silence.
After that I spoke with a spirit who was associated with an eminent man in Goteborg who had befouled the worship of the Lord with an even greater insult. By the end, these assaults of theirs were declared to be lies invented by treachery, aimed at turning and deterring the human will from the holy worship of the Lord.
159: Smoke appeared, rising up from the lower earth. I commented that smoke simply means a mass of false beliefs. Some angels were then seized with a desire to explore which false beliefs were causing that smoke. They went down and came upon four sets of spirits in ranks. Two sets consisted of clergy: one group of these was of learned clergy; the other, regular clergy. Two sets consisted of laypeople: one group of these was educated laypeople; the other, uneducated laypeople. They were all convinced that people should worship the God who cannot be seen. That type of worship provides worshipers with holiness. God hears worship like that, which is not the case when worship is directed to a God who can be seen. They used various arguments to support the notion that holiness and God's hearing result from worshiping a God who cannot be seen. This is why they acknowledge the existence of three gods from eternity, none of whom can be seen.
They were shown, however, that worshiping a God who cannot be seen is no kind of worship at all; it is even worse to worship three gods who cannot be seen. As support for this point, Socinus and Arius were brought up from below, along with a number of their followers, all of whom worshiped a divinity that could not be seen. When Socinus, Arius, and their followers spoke from the earthly or outer level of their mind, they said that even though God cannot be seen, he does exist. When their outer mind was closed, however, and their inner mind was opened, and they were compelled to state their real beliefs about God, they said, "What is God? We haven't seen the way he looks or heard his voice. What then is God except nature, or else a figment of the imagination?" They were then taught that it pleased God to come down and take on a human manifestation so that we could see what he looks like and hear his voice. But to their ears, this was a pointless teaching.
160: The first part of the account concerns the possibility that there are the same number of stars in the physical world as there are angelic communities in heaven, since every community in heaven sometimes shines like a star.
Next, I spoke with angels about a certain road that is crowded with countless spirits. It is the road by which all who die in the physical world cross over into the spiritual world. The angels and I went to that road. We took aside twelve people from the road and asked them what they believed about heaven and hell and life after death. Because they were just arriving from the physical world, they did not realize they were not still in that world. As a result they gave us the ideas they were bringing with them from that world. The first said that people who live moral lives go to heaven; therefore no one goes to hell, because everyone lives a moral life. The second said that God rules heaven, and the Devil rules hell. Because they are opposed to each other, one calls good what the other calls evil. Human beings are phonies who can take either side; therefore they are equally capable of living under either leader. The third said that heaven does not exist, and neither does hell. Who has come back to tell us about them? The fourth explained the reason why no one can come back and tell us about them, which is that when we die we become either a ghost or blowing air. The fifth said we need to wait for the day of the Last Judgment. Then they will tell all, and you will know all. But when he said that, he was laughing to himself. The sixth asked how a human soul that was no more than air blowing around could come back into a body that had been consumed by worms, and reclaim a skeleton that had either burned up or crumbled to dust. The seventh said people cannot live after death any more than animals and birds can - animals and birds are just as rational as human beings. The eighth said, "I believe in heaven, but I don't believe in hell. God is omnipotent. He can save everyone. " The ninth said that God is too gracious to throw anyone into eternal fire. The tenth said that no one can go to hell, because God sent his Son to bear the sins of all people and purge them. What is the Devil capable of doing against that? The eleventh, who was a priest, said that the only people who are saved are those who have acquired faith. It is up to the Almighty to choose who is worthy. The twelfth, who was in politics, said, "I will not say anything about heaven or hell. It is good for the priests to preach about them, though, so that commoners are held mentally bound to laws and to leaders by an invisible chain. "
The angels were stunned to hear these points of view. They woke the people up by teaching them that they were now alive after their own death. The angels brought them to heaven, but the people were unable to stay there long because it was discovered that they were not at all spiritual, and as a result the backs of their heads were hollowed out. At the end of the account, there is a discussion about that hollowing out and what causes it.
161: I heard the sound of a mill. As I followed the sound I came to a building that was full of cracks. The entrance went down underground. Inside I saw a man who was collecting [on slips of paper] a number of passages from the Word and other books concerning justification by faith alone. Copyists in the next room were writing out on a full sheet the passages he had found. When I asked him the topic of the passages he was collecting now, he said, "The point that God the Father lapsed from an attitude of grace toward the human race, and therefore sent his Son to make atonement and appease the Father. " By way of response, I said that it goes against Scripture and sound reason to think that God could lapse from an attitude of grace; that would be lapsing from his own essence, and that would mean he was no longer God. When I thoroughly demonstrated this, he became angry and ordered his copyists to throw me out. As I was walking out on my own, he picked up a book that happened to be at hand and threw it at me. The book was the Word.
162: There was a dispute among spirits about whether any of us can see any genuine truth in the Word without help from the Lord, who is the Word. Because there was a strong difference of opinion, we conducted an experiment. The people who turned to God the Father did not see a single truth, but all who turned to the Lord saw things that were true.
As this debate went on, some spirits came up from the abyss mentioned in Revelation 9 a place where they discuss and explore the secrets of justification by faith alone. These spirits claimed that they turn to God the Father and see their mysteries in a perfectly clear light. They were told, however, that they are seeing those mysteries in faint, deceptive light, and that in reality, not a single thing they believe is true. Angered by this, they quoted many sayings from the Word. The angels' response was that those sayings are intrinsically true, but have been falsified by those spirits; the truth of this was shown by taking them to a place with a table onto which light flows straight from heaven. The spirits were instructed to write the truths they had taken from the Word on a piece of paper and place it on the table. They did so. The piece of paper with their truths written on it shone like a star. Nevertheless, when the spirits approached the table and fixed their gaze on the piece of paper, the paper came to look as if it had been blackened with soot.
Then the spirits were taken to another table of the same kind. On it was the Word, surrounded by a rainbow. One of the people present had been a leading author, while in the world, on the doctrine that we are justified by faith alone. When he confidently touched the Word with his hand, there was an explosion as if a gun had gone off. He was thrown into the corner of the room and lay there as if he were dead for about half an hour. The spirits were shown convincingly by this that the truths they knew from the Word were intrinsically true, but they had falsified them.
185: The spiritual world has climatic zones just like the physical world, including northern zones with snow and ice. On one occasion I was led in spirit to that northern area. I went into a church that was buried in snow; inside, it was lit with lanterns. Behind the altar there was a plaque with an inscription: The divine Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are essentially one God but personally three. I heard a priest give a sermon on four mysteries of faith (see details in the account), saying that in regard to them we should hold our intellect under obedience to faith. After church, members of the congregation thanked the priest for a sermon that was rich in wisdom. I asked them whether they understood any of it. They answered, "We took it all in with open ears. Why do you ask whether we understood it? Isn't the intellect too stupid to understand these topics?"
The priest, who was still present, added, "Because you heard and did not understand, you are blessed, since you have salvation as a result. " And so on.
186: The human mind is differentiated into three levels, as is heaven, where angels live. In people who love truth because it is true, theological issues dwell on the highest level of the mind; moral issues are located on the middle level, below theological issues; and political issues dwell on the lowest level, below moral issues. Academic subjects of various kinds form a doorway to all the higher issues. In people who do not love truth, however, theological issues occupy the lowest level and become intertwined with their own self-interest and with lies told by their five senses. This is why some people are completely incapable of taking in theological truths.
187: I was taken to the place where there are people meant by the false prophet in the Book of Revelation. They invited me to come and see their shrine. I went and saw it. In the shrine there was a statue of a woman dressed in scarlet clothes, holding a gold coin in her right hand and a chain of pearls in her left. These were projected images, however. When the Lord opened the inner levels of my mind, instead of the shrine I saw a house that was full of cracks, and instead of the woman, I saw a beast like the one described in Revelation 13:2. Under the floor there was a swamp; in the swamp the Word lay deeply hidden.
Soon, however, the east wind blew away the shrine and dried up the swamp, allowing the Word to appear. In the light of heaven a tent came into view, like the one Abraham had when three angels came to him to announce that Isaac was going to be born. As light was let in from the second heaven, instead of the tent I saw a temple like the Temple in Jerusalem. After that, light from the third heaven shone down. Then the temple disappeared, and I saw the Lord alone, standing on the foundation stone, where the Word was. Because an overpowering sense of holiness then filled our minds, that light was withdrawn, and instead the channel of light from the second heaven was reopened. As a result, the earlier appearance of a temple returned, with a tent in the middle of it.
188: I saw a magnificent palace that had a chapel in its center. In the chapel there were three rows of chairs. A council had been called by the Lord there. The participants were to discuss the Lord the Savior and the Holy Spirit. When as many clergy had arrived as there were chairs, the council began.
Since the first topic was the Lord, the first issue to be discussed was, Who took on a human manifestation in the Virgin Mary? An angel standing by the table read to them what the angel Gabriel said to Mary: "The Holy Spirit will descend upon you, and the power of the Highest will cover you; therefore the Holy One that will be born from you will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35; see also Matthew 1:20, 25). The angel also read a number of statements in the prophets to the effect that Jehovah himself would come into the world and that Jehovah himself is called the Savior, the Redeemer, and Justice. This led the group to conclude that it was Jehovah himself who took on a human manifestation.
The second discussion on the topic of the Lord was, Are the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ one as the soul and the body are one? Many passages both from the Word and from a creed of the modern-day church were quoted in support of this point. The group concluded that the Lord's soul came from God the Father and therefore his human manifestation was divine. They also concluded that when we seek help from the Father, we must turn to the Lord's divine human manifestation. That is how Jehovah God sent himself into the world and made himself visible to human eyes, and accessible.
The third discussion took up the topic of the Holy Spirit. The first thing to be discussed was the issue of three divine persons from eternity. Passages from the Word were used to show that the holy quality that radiates from God, which is called the Holy Spirit, emanates from the Lord on behalf of the Father.
At the end, the council brought all its discussions together into a single conclusion: The divine Trinity exists within the Lord the Savior; the Trinity is made up of the divine nature as an origin called "the Father," the divine human manifestation called "the Son," and the emanating divine influence called "the Holy Spirit"; therefore there is one God in the church. After the council came to an end, the participants were given shining clothing and were led to the new heaven.
277: In a manger, I saw large purses, which contained a significant quantity of silver. Young men were standing guard over them. In the next room, there were some modest young women and a faithful wife. In yet another room there were two little children. Last of all, I saw a whore and dead horses. Afterward I was told what each of these things meant. They were all depicting and describing the Word, either as it is in its essence, or the way it is understood nowadays.
278: I saw an example of the writing used in the highest or third heaven. It consists of curved letters with little horns that turn upward. I was informed that these letters are somewhat similar to the Hebrew letters of earliest times, when they were more curved than they are today. The letter h, which was added to Abram and Sarai's names, means infinity and eternity. I was given an explanation of the meaning of a number of words in Psalms 32:2 on the basis of the letters alone. The meaning is that the Lord is also compassionate to those who do evil.
279: Before the Israelite Word there was a Word whose prophetical portion was called The Pronouncements, and whose historical portion was called The Wars of Jehovah. It also included a work called the Book of Jasher. These three titles are mentioned in the Word we have now. That ancient Word existed in the land of Canaan, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Assyria, Chaldea, and Egypt; and in Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh. That Word was full of a type of correspondences that presented heavenly and spiritual things remotely. This left it vulnerable to [misinterpretation by] idolaters. Therefore by divine providence it disappeared. I have heard that Moses took from that Word the things he wrote about creation, Adam and Eve, and the Flood, and what he mentioned about Noah and his three sons; but nothing after that. I have been told in the spiritual world by angels who had lived in Great Tartary that that same Word still exists among the peoples there; those peoples base the principles of their faith and life on it.
280: People who are in the spiritual world cannot appear to people who are in the physical world, and neither can people in the physical world appear to people in the spiritual world. Therefore spirits and angels cannot appear to people, and people cannot appear to spirits and angels. This is due to the difference between what is spiritual and what is earthly, or, to put it another way, the difference between what is substantial and what is material. It is because of this that spirits and angels have completely different language, different writing, and different thinking than people do.
This was revealed to me through a living experience. Several times, spirits went home to their own group, then came back to me, and we made comparisons. We learned that spiritual language and earthly language have not even a single word in common. In addition, each of the letters in their writing contains a meaning relative to the topic at hand. They also think things that are beyond an earthly person's comprehension. The reason behind these differences is that spirits and angels are at the level of primary structures, whereas people in the world are in derivations from them. To put it another way, spirits and angels live among primary things that act as causes of secondary things; people live among those secondary things. A voice said that a similar difference exists between the language, writing, and thinking of angels of the third heaven compared to the language, writing, and thinking of angels of the second heaven.
281: On the states people go through after they die - what happens generally, and what happens in particular to people who have convinced themselves of theological falsities. About both of these groups I have observed the following: (1) For the most part people come back to their own life spiritually on the third day after they die. At that point they have no idea they are not still alive in the former world. (2) All arrive at a world that is midway between heaven and hell; it is called the world of spirits. (3) They are transferred to various different communities as a way of finding out what their true quality is. (4) In that world, those who are good and faithful are prepared for heaven, and those who are evil and unfaithful are prepared for hell. (5) After this preparation, which lasts for several years, a road opens up for good people, leading to a particular community in heaven where they will live forever; a road into hell opens up for evil people. And so on. Afterward the account describes what hell is like. The spirits there called satans are people who were adamantly devoted to falsities; the spirits called devils are people who lived evil lives.
332: From the lower earth, which is the next level up from hell, I heard people shouting, "They are so just! They are so learned! They are so wise!" Because I was struck by the thought that there might be just, learned, and wise people in hell, I went down. First I went to the place where people were shouting, "They are so just!" I saw a courtroom of sorts. The judges in it were actually unjust and ingenious in their methods of bending the law and handing down favorable sentences to whomever they chose. They saw it as entirely up to their own whim to decide which side their adjudications would support. When they handed down sentences that favored their friends and supporters, these people went all the way down a long road shouting, "They are so just!" Angels later commented on these judges, saying that they are actually incapable of seeing what is just. Some time later, those judges were thrown into hell. Their law books turned into playing cards. Then, instead of being judges they were given the task of preparing makeup and applying it to the faces of promiscuous women to make them beautiful.
333: Next I went to the place where people were shouting, "They are so learned!" I saw a large group of people who dispute about whether a given thing exists or not. They never come to a definite yes; therefore in considering any topic, they never get beyond the first step. They only touch on issues from the outside; they never go deeply into them. Their consideration of God stops at whether he exists or not.
In order to confirm that this was indeed their nature, I posed a question to them: "What does a religion need to be like in order to save people?" Their response was that they would need to debate the following related questions. (1) Is religion anything? (2) Is one religion more effective than another? (3) Is there such a thing as eternal life, and therefore is there such a thing as salvation? (4) Do heaven and hell exist? They began to discuss the first issue: "Is religion anything?" They said this question needed so much investigation that they could not finish within a year. One of them said it could not be finished within a hundred years. I replied, "Meanwhile you have no religion. "
Nevertheless, they discussed this first question with such consummate skill that the crowd standing around them exclaimed, "They are so learned!" Angels told me that [in heaven's light] these kinds of people look like statues. Eventually they are sent out into desert places and blather to each other and utter nothing but nonsense.
334: I went to the third group, where I had heard people shouting, "They are so wise!" I learned that the people who were gathered there were incapable of seeing whether a truth is true or not, yet they can take anything they want and make it appear to be true. Therefore they are called providers of arguments. From the sheer variety of responses they gave to questions posed to them, I observed that this was indeed their nature. For example, they were able to make it seem entirely true that faith is the most important thing in the church. Soon afterward, they were able to make it seem entirely true that goodwill is the most important thing in the church. They did the same for the point that goodwill and faith together are the most important thing in the church. Because they argued every point with consummate skill and draped it in compelling illustrations until it glowed like genuine truth, the crowd standing around them exclaimed, "They are so wise!"
When they said that nothing is true except what people make out to be true, someone proposed a few ridiculous points for them to argue as true: That light is darkness, and darkness is light; and also that crows are white, not black. They did indeed manage to make these points seem absolutely true. (For the arguments they used, see the account itself.)
Angels told me that people like this do not possess even a speck of understanding. Everything above their rational faculty is closed off; only what is below it is opened up. The nature of this lower area is that it can provide arguments to support whatever it wants, but cannot see any real truth for what it is. Being able to provide arguments to support whatever you want is not intelligence; intelligence is being able to see that what is true is true and what is false is false and to provide arguments to support that.
335: I spoke with spirits who had been famous scholars during their lives in the physical world. They were having a sharp dispute about innate ideas. At issue was whether people are born with innate ideas the way animals are. An angelic spirit interrupted their conversation and said, "What you are fighting about is goat's wool. Neither people nor animals have any innate ideas. " The spirits were all outraged by this.
When the angelic spirit was given the floor, the first point he made was that animals have no innate ideas, because they have no thought process. They operate entirely on the instincts that come from the earthly type of love they have. These function like a faculty of will in them. Their instincts flow directly into their bodily senses; they also drive the animals to do whatever agrees with and benefits their love. Ideas come into play only where there is thought. Animals have no thought; they have only sensation.
The angelic spirit supported this point with a number of illustrations - especially the remarkable facts known about spiders, bees, and silkworms. He said, "When a spider is weaving its web, is it thinking in its tiny head that it should weave its web this or that way to serve this or that purpose? When a bee is extracting [the raw materials for] honey from some flowers and wax from others, is it thinking in its tiny head, 'With this wax I will build adjacent cells one after the other; in them I will put enough honey to last all winter,' and other plans like that? Is a silkworm thinking in its tiny head, 'Now I will spend time spinning silk. When I have finished, I will fly off and play with my friends and ensure that I have offspring'? Similar arguments could be made about animals and birds. "
Concerning human beings he said that any mother or wet nurse, or even any father, knows that newborn babies have no innate ideas whatsoever. They have no ideas before they learn to think. Then for the first time ideas develop in them. Their ideas form entirely in accordance with the quality of thought they have developed as a result of their education. The reason for this is that we have nothing innate except a faculty for knowing, understanding, and becoming wise, as well as a tendency to love not only ourselves and the world but also our neighbor and God.
Leibniz and Wolff heard this from a distance. Leibniz agreed, but Wolff felt otherwise.
385: Once, an angelic spirit illustrated for me what faith and goodwill are and what their union accomplishes, through an analogy with light and heat. They come together to form a third entity. In essence, the light in heaven is truth that has to do with faith. In essence, the heat in heaven is goodness that has to do with goodwill. Light without heat, which is what is experienced on earth during winter, strips trees of their leaves and fruits. Faith without goodwill has a similar effect. Light united to heat, which is what is experienced on earth during spring, brings all things to life. Faith united to goodwill has a similar effect.
386: Two angels came down. One was from the eastern part of heaven, where love is the primary focus; the other was from the southern part of heaven, where wisdom is the primary focus. They discussed whether the essence of the heavens was love or whether it was wisdom. They came to agree that love is the essence, and wisdom is derived from it. Therefore God created the heavens from love by means of wisdom.
387: After that, I went into a large garden. A spirit showed me around. We came to a magnificent building called the Temple of Wisdom. It was square; its walls were made of crystal; its roof was made of jasper; its foundation was made of different types of precious stone. The spirit told me that none were allowed in it unless they believe that what they know, understand, and are wise about is so relatively small as to be almost nonexistent compared to what they do not know, do not understand, and are not wise about. Because this was my belief, I was allowed to go in. I saw that the whole temple was built to be a form of light. In the temple, I related what I had just heard from the two angels concerning love and wisdom; [the spirits there] asked whether the angels had mentioned the third element, which is usefulness. [The spirits] said that without usefulness love and wisdom are mere conceptual entities; only in usefulness do they become real. The same is true for goodwill, faith, and good actions.
388: One of the dragon spirits invited me to see the types of entertainment they love. He took me to something like an amphitheater with satyrs and whores in the seats. He said, "Now you are going to see our form of entertainment. " He opened a gate and let in what looked like bull calves, rams, goats, and lambs. Soon, through another gate, he let in lions, panthers, tigers, and wolves. These animals attacked the herd of other animals and tore them to pieces and slaughtered them. The whole spectacle had been conjured up, though, through the use of projected images.
I then said to the dragon, "It won't be long before you see this amphitheater turned into a lake of fire and sulfur. "
Once the entertainment was over, the dragon left, surrounded by his satyrs and whores. Seeing a flock of sheep, he realized that one of the many Jerusalem cities was nearby. When he saw the city he was overcome by a desire to capture it and drive out its inhabitants, but because there was a wall around it, he planned instead to use deceit to capture it. He sent in someone skilled in incantation. Once he was in the city, that person spoke skillfully to its citizens about faith and goodwill, raising the issue of which of the two was primary, and questioning whether goodwill contributes anything to salvation. Irritated at the response he received, the dragon left the city, gathered many of his people, and began to lay siege to the city; but while he was working on capturing and invading the city, fire from heaven devoured them, just as Revelation 20:8-9 predicted it would.
389: On one occasion a document was sent down from heaven. It strongly urged people [of a community in the world of spirits] to acknowledge the Lord the Savior as the God of heaven and earth, as he himself taught (Matthew 28:18). The people sought advice from two bishops in that community regarding what they should do. The bishops told them to send the document back to the heaven where it came from. When they did so, the community sank down, but not very far.
The next day some of them came up from there and recounted what had happened to them after they sank down. They mentioned that they had gone back to the bishops and confronted them about the outcome of their advice. They then had a long interchange with the bishops concerning the state of the modern-day church. They rebuked the bishops for their doctrinal positions on the Trinity, goodwill, and justification by faith, and for other elements of their orthodoxy. They asked the bishops to abandon those positions because they are contrary to the Word; but it was pointless. When they said that according to the Epistle of James the bishops' faith was dead and even diabolical [James 2:14-26; ], one of the bishops took off his miter and put it on the table, saying that he would not put it back on until he had taken his revenge for these insults to his faith. Just then, however, a monster appeared rising up from below that looked like the beast described in Revelation 13:1-2. The monster took the bishop's miter and carried it away.
390: I came to a house where people were discussing the good things that people do in an ongoing state of being justified by their faith. At issue was whether that good is or is not religious good. There was consensus that "religious good" means good that contributes to salvation. The group that prevailed had the opinion that no good thing we do contributes anything to our salvation. Their argument for this was that any good that people do voluntarily cannot be united to something they get for free, and salvation is had for free. How could any good that people do be united to the merit of Christ? The merit of Christ is the sole source of salvation. How could the work that people do be united to the work that the Holy Spirit does? It does everything without the help of humankind. For these reasons they concluded that even when we are being justified by our faith, faith alone saves us; our good works contribute nothing to our salvation. Two non-Christians standing in the front hall said to each other, "These people have no religion. Clearly, religion is doing good to our neighbor for the sake of God and therefore with God and from God. "
391: I heard angels complaining about the spiritual poverty in the church today. It is so pervasive, they said, that people know only that there are three divine persons and that faith alone saves. Of the Lord they know only some historical facts. They are completely unaware of the statements in the Word that concern the Lord, his unity with the Father, and his divinity and power.
The angels told me that one angel went down to investigate whether there really was such spiritual poverty among Christians today. That angel asked someone what his religion was. He answered, "Faith. " The angel asked him his point of view on redemption, regeneration, and salvation. He answered that they all had to do with faith. Asked about goodwill, he said it exists in that faith; we cannot do anything good on our own.
The angel then said to him, "You give answers like someone playing the same note again and again on a flute. I am not hearing anything but faith. If you don't know anything except faith, you don't know anything. " He took him to join his companions in a part of the desert where there was not even any grass. There is more to the account as well.
459: I saw five halls surrounded with different kinds of light. I joined a large group of people entering the first hall, which was surrounded with a fiery light. There was a huge crowd inside. The chairperson proposed that people give their opinions of goodwill.
As the event got underway, the first person said that goodwill is morality inspired by faith. The second defined it as religious devotion combined with compassion. The third defined it as doing good to everyone, whether honest or dishonest. The fourth defined it as doing everything you can for your relatives and friends. The fifth defined it as giving donations to the poor and helping the needy. The sixth defined it as building hospices, hospitals, and orphanages. The seventh defined it as providing church buildings with an endowment and benefiting its ministers. The eighth defined it as the ancient Christian family feeling. The ninth defined it as forgiving anyone's wrongs. They all gave ample support for their own definition; because there was a great deal of this supporting material, it will not fit in this index - see the account itself.
I was then given permission to express my own opinion. I said that goodwill is to act in all our work, and in every role we have, with judgment based on a love for justice - but only if that love comes solely from the Lord the Savior. After giving supporting arguments for my definition, I added that the actions described by the nine distinguished participants are outstanding examples of the practice of goodwill, provided they are done with judgment in accordance with justice; and because the sole source of true justice and judgment is the Lord our Savior, these are actions we need to take on his behalf. Many felt approval in their inner selves for what I had said, but their outer selves did not yet approve.
460: Off in the distance I heard a sound like teeth grinding together and a hammering sound mixed in with it. I went in the direction of the sounds and saw a hut made of rushes plastered together. Instead of the sounds of hammering and teeth grinding together that I had heard before, I now heard inside the hut an argument about faith and goodwill, and which of these two was the essence of the church. The side that favored faith put forward its arguments. They said that faith is spiritual, because it comes from God; but goodwill is earthly, because it comes from human beings. The side that favored goodwill said that goodwill is spiritual, but faith is merely earthly unless it is united to goodwill. A syncretist who was trying to resolve the dispute provided additional support for the view that faith is spiritual and goodwill is only earthly. In response, people said to him that a moral life comes in two types: there is a moral life that is spiritual, and there is a moral life that is merely earthly. People who live for the Lord have a life that is moral in a spiritual way; people who do not live for the Lord have a life that is moral in an earthly way. The latter type of life is practiced by evil people and sometimes even by the spirits in hell.
461: I was led in the spirit to a certain garden in the southern part. There I saw people sitting under a laurel tree eating figs. I asked them how it is that we can do something good on God's behalf and nevertheless do it completely as if we were acting on our own. They replied that God produces goodness inside us, but if we do something good of our own volition and understanding, we pollute that goodness to such an extent that it is no longer good. My response to that was that we are only organs that receive life. If we believe in the Lord, we do good things under our own initiative on the Lord's behalf. If we do not believe in the Lord, and still more so if we do not believe in God at all, we do good things under our own initiative on hell's behalf. The Lord has given us free choice to do one or the other of these. To show that the Lord gives us this freedom, I quoted passages from the Word that command us to love God and our neighbor, to produce good, loving actions as a tree bears fruit, and to do what the Lord commands so that we will be saved; and passages showing that we will all be judged according to our works. We would not have been commanded to do all this if we were incapable of doing good things under our own initiative on the Lord's behalf. After I said this, I gave them branches from a grapevine; in their hands, the branches suddenly produced grapes. The account contains more as well.
462: I saw a magnificent harbor with large and small vessels. Boys and girls were sitting in them, waiting for sea turtles, which would rise up out of the sea. When the turtles emerged, I saw that they had two heads. Whenever they wanted to, they would retract one head into the shell that covered their body. The other head looked human; with it they spoke to the boys and girls. In exchange for the turtles' elegant words, the children would stroke them and give them gifts.
An angel explained the meaning of what I had seen. The turtles are [clergy] in the world (and therefore also the spirits of clergy after they die) who say that once we have acquired faith, God does not look at anything we think or anything we do; the only thing he cares about is the faith that lies hidden deep within our minds. In front of the congregations assembled in their churches, these clergy utter sacred teachings from the Word just as much as other clergy do, but they do so from the larger head, which looks human. They insert the smaller head into the larger head or else retract it into their body.
I later saw the same members of the clergy flying through the air in a boat with seven sails. They were wearing laurel wreaths and purple robes and were shouting that they are the wisest of all clergy. These visions were images of their pride, flowing forth from the pictures in their minds. When they were back on land, I argued with them first on the basis of reason and then on the basis of Sacred Scripture. I put forward many arguments to show that their teaching was insane and came from hell, as one can tell because it goes contrary to Sacred Scripture. (The arguments I used were too extensive to copy here; see the account itself.)
Afterward, I saw them in a sandy place in clothes made out of rags, with something like fishnets wrapped around their waists that still showed their nakedness. They were eventually sent down to a community near the Machiavellians.
503: An assembly had been called for. It met in a round temple with altars along the walls. The participants were sitting at these altars. There was no leader there, so individuals would burst forth into the center of the room whenever they felt so inclined and proclaim their views. The topic of conversation concerned free choice in spiritual matters. The first person to burst into the center of the room said that people have no more free choice in spiritual matters than Lot's wife had when she was turned into a pillar of salt. A second said that people have no more free choice than an animal like a dog. A third said that people's free choice is no better than a mole's or a barn owl's eyesight in broad daylight. A fourth said that if people were to have free choice in spiritual matters, they would become raving lunatics and believe that they, like gods, could regenerate and save themselves. A fifth read quotations from the Lutheran book called the Formula of Concord to the effect that in spiritual matters human beings have no more free choice than a log or a stone and cannot understand, think, or will such things at all, or adapt or accommodate themselves to receive anything spiritual. (More such teachings from that book are given in 464.)
After these speakers had finished, I was given permission to speak. I said, "If we had no free choice in regard to spiritual matters, what would we be but brute animals? If there is no free choice, what is the point of any theological teachings?"
Their reply was this: "Read our theology. You will not find anything spiritual in it. The spiritual aspect lies so deeply hidden within it that not even its shadow appears. Read what our theology has to say about justification, that is, about the forgiving of sins, regeneration, sanctification, and salvation. You will not see anything spiritual there. What is spiritual flows in through faith without our being in the least bit aware of it. " The speaker also indicated that goodwill was far removed from anything spiritual, and that repentance, too, was not within reach of anything spiritual. In regard to redemption, the speaker assigned merely human, earthly attributes to God: for example, that he locked the human race into universal damnation; but the Son took that damnation upon himself and appeased his Father. "What else was the Son's intercession and mediation with the Father if it was not that?" he asked. "Clearly then, there is nothing spiritual anywhere in our theology; there is not even anything rational. It is below what is spiritual and rational, and consists entirely of what is merely earthly. " Suddenly they heard a thunderbolt crashing down from heaven. The participants were terrified; they rushed out and fled to their homes.
504: I spoke with two spirits, one of whom loved goodness and truth, and the other of whom loved evil and falsity. I gathered that each of them had the same ability to think rationally. When the one who loved evil and falsity was left to himself, however, I saw a kind of smoke rise up from hell and extinguish the light that was above his memory. When the one who loved goodness and truth was left to himself, I saw a kind of gentle flame flow down from heaven and illuminate the region of his mind above the memory, as well as the region below it.
Afterward I had a conversation about free choice in spiritual matters with the one who loved evil and falsity. When I merely mentioned free choice he went into a rage. He proclaimed that none can move their hands or feet to do anything that is spiritually good; none can move their tongue or lips to say anything that is spiritually true. "Therefore we are not even able to adapt or accommodate ourselves to receive anything spiritual," he continued. "Surely we are all dead and merely passive in all such matters. How can something that is dead and merely passive do anything good or think anything true on its own? Is this not in accordance with what our church says?"
The other person, the one who loved goodness and truth, had this to say about free choice in spiritual matters: "If there is no spiritual free choice, what is the point of everything in the Word? What is the point of the church? What is the point of religion? What is the point in worshiping God? If there is no spiritual free choice, why have ministers? Because of the light in my intellect, I know that without spiritual freedom humans would be animals, not humans. It is that freedom that makes us human and not animals. For another thing, if there were no free choice in spiritual matters, we would not live on after death. There would be no eternal life, because we could have no partnership with God. Denying spiritual free choice, then, is something that could only be done by people who are spiritually insane. "
Afterward we saw a flying serpent in a tree. It was offering a piece of fruit to the one who denied that we have free choice in spiritual matters. As he took the fruit and ate it, smoke rose up from hell and extinguished any light that existed in the higher part of his rational mind.
505: I heard a loud scraping sound like two millstones grinding against each other. As I moved in the direction of the sound, I came to a building with many small compartments in it; it housed the great thinkers of recent times. They were finding support for justification by faith alone.
I went up to one compartment and asked the person there what he was studying now. He said, "I am studying the act of justification, which is the primary teaching in our Christianity. " I asked whether he knew of any sign that indicates when that justifying faith has begun to enter us and when it has finished. He replied that faith enters us passively, not actively.
To that I said, "If you take away our ability to be active in respect to our faith, aren't you also taking away our ability to be receptive to it? Doesn't that make your 'activation of faith' something purely theoretical, a figment of the imagination? Isn't it no more than Lot's wife as a statue, pinging when touched with a scribe's quill or fingernail, because it consisted of nothing but salt?" He became very angry and grabbed a lamp to throw at me, but the lamp went out and he hit his companion instead.
506: I saw two groups of animals: a herd of goats and a flock of sheep. When I saw them closer at hand, however, in place of the goats and sheep I saw people. I perceived that the herd of goats consisted of people who had made faith the only thing that saves us. The flock of sheep consisted of people who believed that goodwill together with faith [is what saves us]. When asked why they were there, the people who had looked like goats said they had convened a council because they had been told that Paul's statement in Romans 3:28 that "we are justified by faith apart from the works of the law" had not been understood correctly. "Faith" in that passage, they were told, does not mean the faith of [the church of] today; it means faith in the Lord the Savior. The "works of the law" do not mean the works of the law of the Ten Commandments; they mean the works of the Mosaic law, which were rituals. Passages were included that show this. The members of the council said their conclusion was that faith produces good works the way a tree produces fruit. The members of the flock of sheep agreed with this last point.
Then an angel stood between the herd and the flock and told the sheep not to listen to the goats. "They have not left their former belief," the angel said, and divided the sheep into two flocks. To the sheep on the left, the angel said, "Go ahead and join the goats, but I'm telling you, a wolf is coming that is going to snatch them away, and you along with them. " There was an investigation to find out what the goats meant when they said that faith produces good works the way a tree produces fruit. It was discovered that their actual understanding of the relationship between faith and goodwill was quite the opposite of what they had said; their statement was misleading.
Once both groups of sheep learned this, they reunited. Some of the goats even joined them, saying that goodwill is the essence of faith and that when faith is separated from goodwill it is only earthly, but when it is united to goodwill it becomes spiritual.
507: A conversation with angels about the three types of love that are universal and therefore exist in every human being: love for our neighbor, or love of being useful (in its essence this love is related to the spirit); love for the world, or a love of possessing wealth (in its essence this love is related to matter); and love for ourselves, or love of dominating other people (in its essence this love is related to the body). When these three loves are prioritized in the right way within us, we become truly human. They are rightly prioritized when love for our neighbor plays the role of the head, love for the world plays the role of the torso, and love for ourselves plays the role of the legs and feet. Our condition is entirely different when these loves are situated in us in a way that goes against the divine design. There was a demonstration of what human beings are like when love for the world plays the role of the head, and what they are like when love for themselves plays the role of the head. Under either of these conditions, they are upside-down people. At the level of their inner minds, they are predatory animals; at the level of their outer minds and bodies, they are clowns.
Then we saw a devil rising up from below. He had a dusky face and a white ring around his head. He said he was Lucifer (although in actual fact he was not). He said he was inwardly a devil, but outwardly an angel of light. He related that when he is in his outer self, he is moral among the moral, rational among the rational, and spiritual among the spiritual. When he was in the world, he was a preacher; he would rail against evildoers of every kind. At that time he was called a son of the dawn [Isaiah 14:12]. He himself was amazed to note that when he was in the pulpit he had no awareness that he was not as he said he was. Yet he was completely different when he was no longer in church. He even told us why. It was because in church he was in his outer self and in his intellect alone; when he left church he was in his inner self and in his will. His intellect lifted him up into heaven; his will dragged him down into hell. But the will rules the intellect; it turns the intellect to favor and agree with what it wants. Afterward this devil, who passed himself off as Lucifer, sank down into hell.
508: I saw a round temple, whose roof was shaped like a crown. Its walls were continuous windows of crystal clear glass. Its door was made of a pearly substance. In it there was a large raised pulpit, on top of which lay the Word, surrounded by a sphere of light. In the middle of the temple there was a sanctuary, with a veil at the front of it, but the veil was now lifted. In the shrine stood an angel guardian [made out of gold] with a sword moving this way and that in its hand.
After I saw all this, the meaning of each detail was explained to me (see the account itself). Above the door there was an inscription: Now It Is Allowed, which means that we are now allowed to use our intellect to explore the mysteries of faith. It came to mind how extremely dangerous it is to use our intellect to explore any dogma of faith that was constructed by a self-serving mindset and therefore consists of falsities. It is even worse to use statements from the Word to support such dogmas. This is why the Word was taken away from Roman Catholics and why Protestants [were allowed to] close the Word by their widespread assertion that the intellect has to be held under obedience to their faith. The dogmas of the new church, however, are all from the Word. We are allowed to use our intellect to explore them, because they are continuous truths from the Word; in fact, they shine in the intellect. This is the meaning of the inscription Now It Is Allowed over the door, and the meaning of the fact that the sanctuary veil in front of the angel guardian was lifted up.
Then a young child (who was actually an angel in the third heaven) brought me a piece of paper. The writing on it said, "From now on, explore the mysteries of the Word, which was formerly closed up. All of its individual truths are mirrors that reflect the Lord. "
567: I was suddenly overcome with a deadly illness from smoke that was blowing in from the Jerusalem that is called Sodom and Egypt (Revelation 11:8). To people in that city I looked as though I actually was dead. They said to each other that I was not worthy of burial, much like what happened to the two witnesses in that same chapter of the Book of Revelation. Meanwhile I was hearing abundant blasphemies from the city-dwellers because I had been preaching repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. A judgment on them began. I saw the whole city sink down to a lower level and become flooded with water. Afterward I saw them running between piles of stones and loudly bemoaning what had happened to them even though, according to the faith of their church, they believed they had been reborn and had become just. They were told, however, that they were nothing of the kind, because they had never practiced any kind of repentance and therefore did not know of a single damnable evil in themselves. Then a voice from heaven told them that faith in the Lord and repentance are the two means of being regenerated and saved; the whole Word, the Ten Commandments, and the sacraments of baptism and the Holy Supper all make this abundantly clear. For details, see the account itself.
568: All people come into the spiritual world after death and are at first kept outwardly in the state they had been in during their lives in the world. Because most people in this outward state live moral lives and go to church and pray to God, they believe they are definitely bound for heaven. For this reason they are taught that after we die, we all gradually put off that outer self, and our inner self is opened up. Then we come to know what we are truly like inside. After all, what makes us human is not only our action and our speech but our will and our intellect. This is what allows us to appear outwardly as a sheep when we are inwardly a wolf. A wolf is in fact what our inner self is like if we have not examined the evils we have willed and intended, and have not practiced repentance from those evils. And so on.
569: Every type of love exudes a delight, but in the physical world these delights that come from what we love are not often detectable with our senses. In the spiritual world, however, they are very plainly sensed; in fact, they sometimes turn into odors. Then the quality of those delights and the nature of the love they come from is easily perceptible. The delights that come from loving what is good - the types of delight found in the heavens - come across as the fragrances that belong to vegetable gardens and flower gardens. On the other hand, the delights that come from loving what is evil - the types of delight found in the hells - come across as the foul odors and stenches given off by outhouses and [fetid] ponds. Because the two kinds of delight are opposites, devils are tormented when they smell some sweet aroma coming from heaven, and angels are tormented when they smell some reeking stench from hell. The account uses two of my own experiences to lend support to this point. This is why the oil for anointing was prepared with fragrant spices, and why we read [in the Word] that Jehovah smelled a pleasing aroma from burnt offerings. On the other hand, this is also why the children of Israel were commanded to carry unclean things from the camp outside its borders and to dig a hole for their fecal matter. Their camp represented heaven and the desert outside the camp represented hell.
570: A recently arrived spirit who, during his life in the world, had meditated a great deal on heaven and hell, desired to know how the one and the other are experienced. A message for him from heaven said, "Investigate what delight is, and you will know. " He went off on his investigation, but asking spirits who were merely earthly yielded pointless answers. Then he was taken to three groups in sequence. One group investigates purposes; its members are called Wisdoms. The second group surveys means; its members are called Intelligences. The third group conducts research on results; its members are called Knowledges. The recently arrived spirit was taught by these three groups that no angel, no spirit, and no human being would have any life if they did not experience delight from some love. In the absence of delight coming from some love, the will cannot take a single step, and neither can the thought process. What anyone calls good is what that person loves and takes delight in. The delight of heaven is delight in doing good; the delight of hell is delight in doing evil.
As further instruction for the newly arrived spirit and not by mere coincidence, a devil rose up and described for him the delights of hell. They were delights in taking revenge, whoring, stealing, and blaspheming. When those delights are sensed as odors [by those] in hell, they are experienced as intoxicating scents; therefore this devil referred to them as the delights of their nostrils.
621: I saw a group of spirits praying to God to send angels who could teach them about various points of faith. In many areas they were feeling unsure, because the churches disagree with each other and yet all the ministers say, "Believe us! We are ministers of God - we know these things. " Angels did appear to them, so the spirits asked them about goodwill and faith, repentance, regeneration, God, the immortality of the soul, and baptism and the Holy Supper. On each topic the angels gave answers that were understandable to the spirits. The angels added that an incomprehensible teaching is like a seed sown in sand; no matter how much rain falls on it, it still shrivels up. The angels also said that if people close their intellect for religious reasons, they no longer see anything in the Word in the light that the Lord provides there; in fact, the more they read the Word, the blinder they become regarding its teachings on faith and salvation.
622: How we come into heaven after we have been prepared for it: After preparation, we see a pathway to a community in heaven where we will live forever. We take that pathway. At the outskirts of the community there is a gate, which is opened for us. Once we are inside, there is an investigation to see if our light and heat (meaning our truth and goodness) is the same as the light and heat of the angels of that community. Once that is established, we look around to find out where our home is. For every new angel there is a new home. Once we find our home, we are accepted and counted as one of them. If we have no light and heat (meaning no truth or goodness of heaven) within us, though, it is a very hard experience for us to be there. When we enter that community we are miserably tormented. Because we feel tortured we throw ourselves down from there headfirst. We feel such torment in that case because the sphere of light and heat in heaven is the opposite of our own light and heat. After that, we no longer long for heaven; instead we associate with people like ourselves in hell.
All this shows the pointlessness of thinking that going to heaven is just a matter of being let in as a result of grace, and that once we are let in we too will experience joys there, as people on earth do when they are allowed into a home where a wedding is taking place.
623: Many people who believed that going to heaven is just a matter of being let in by grace, and that once they were there they would experience heavenly joy, were granted permission to go up into heaven. They were not able, however, to stand the light and the heat there, that is, the faith and the love; therefore they threw themselves down from there headfirst. As they were falling, they looked like dead horses to people who were standing below.
Among the people standing below and seeing them that way were some children and their teacher. The teacher taught the children what the vision of dead horses meant, and also what sort of people would appear that way from a distance: they were people whose reading of the Word entails thoughts of God, their neighbor, and heaven that are physical rather than spiritual in nature. It is materialistic thinking to judge God's essence on the basis of how he is portrayed, to judge our neighbors' quality on the basis of how they look and sound, and to judge heaven's state of love on the basis of its location. It is spiritual thinking, on the other hand, to judge God primarily by his essence and only secondarily by how he is portrayed; to judge our neighbors primarily by their quality and only secondarily by how they look and sound; and to judge heaven primarily as a state of love and only secondarily as a location.
Afterward the teacher told the students that a horse means a person's understanding of the Word. When people have spiritual thoughts as they read the Word, it is a living text to them. Therefore from a distance they look like living horses. When people have materialistic thoughts as they read the Word, it is a dead text to them. Therefore from a distance they look like dead horses.
624: I saw an angel with a piece of paper in his hand. On it were written the words The Marriage of Goodness and Truth. The angel descended from heaven into the world. I saw that in heaven the piece of paper shone, but bit by bit as the angel descended, the paper shone less and less. Eventually both the piece of paper and the angel became invisible to all but some uneducated people who were simple at heart. The angel explained to these people what the marriage of goodness and truth involves: each and every thing in the whole heaven and each and every thing in the whole world contains both together, because goodness and truth are united in the Lord God the Creator. Therefore nowhere does there exist anything that consists solely of goodness or solely of truth. In absolutely everything there is a marriage of goodness and truth. In the church there is a marriage of goodwill and faith, because goodwill relates to goodness and faith relates to truth.
625: When I was thinking deeply about the Lord's Second Coming, I saw heaven full of light from east to west and heard angels glorifying and celebrating the Lord using passages from the Word - both from portions of the Old Testament written by the prophets and portions of the New Testament written by the apostles. For the actual passages from the Word that were used in this glorification, see the account itself.
661: In the northeastern region there are places of instruction. People who take to heart the instruction offered there are called disciples of the Lord.
On one occasion when I was in the spirit, I asked teachers there whether they knew what the universal characteristics of heaven are and what the universal characteristics of hell are. They replied that the universal characteristics of heaven are three loves: a love of being useful; a love for possessing worldly wealth that comes from loving to do useful things with it; and true marriage love. The universal characteristics of hell are three loves that are the opposite of the three heavenly loves: a love for power that comes from loving ourselves; a love for possessing other people's wealth that comes from loving the world; and promiscuous love.
The account continues with a description of the first hellish love, which is love for power that comes from loving ourselves. The more the reins on this love are let out, the more laypeople with this love want to rule the world; clergy with this love, though, want to rule heaven. Having contact with people like this in hell confirmed for me that people who are caught up in this type of love experience fantasies. In hell, people like this are together in a particular valley. Their minds' highest delight is to imagine that they are emperors of emperors and kings of kings. People in another community there believe themselves to be gods. I witnessed the fact that when people from the first community see people from the second, they are so overcome that they fall on their knees and worship them.
Afterward I spoke with two angels, one of whom was the leader of a community in heaven, and the other was the highest ranking priest in that community. They told me that there are magnificent, gleaming things in their community; these things have their origin in the primary love felt by the people there, which is love of being useful rather than love for themselves. These leaders are inundated with honors, but they accept them not for their own sake but for the benefit to the authority of their office.
I then asked them how people can know whether it is loving themselves or loving the world or loving being useful that motivates their useful activities, since all three motivations make people useful. "Imagine a community," I said, "consisting of nothing but satans and another community consisting of nothing but angels. I would bet that the satans, driven by love for themselves and love of the world, are going to do just as many useful things for their community as the angels are going to do for theirs. Who can tell, then, what love inspires our useful actions?" The leader and the priest replied that satans do useful things in order to benefit their own reputations, to be raised to positions of honor, or to gain wealth. Angels, however, do useful things because they are useful. The main distinction between the satans and the angels is that all who believe in the Lord and abstain from evils because they are sins do useful things in response to the Lord, and therefore do what they do because they love being useful. All who do not believe in the Lord and do not abstain from evils because they are sins do useful things in response to themselves and for their own sake. They do what they do out of love for themselves or love of the world.
662: I went into a grove of trees and saw two angels talking to each other. I joined them. They were talking about what it is to crave all the wealth in the world. They said that many people who seem moral from the point of view of their actions and rational from the point of view of their conversation are actually devoted to that insane craving for wealth. When people indulge themselves in thoughts related to that craving, the craving takes the form of fantasies.
Because all who are in the spiritual world are allowed to indulge their fantasies, provided they do no evil to others, there are gatherings in the lower earth for people with similar fantasies. The location of these gatherings is widely known, so we went down and joined a group of people with this craving. We saw them sitting at tables on which there were massive piles of gold coins. They told us it was all the money in the nation. It was in fact, though, only a vision they created through their imagination - a fantasy. When we said they were insane, they stepped away from their tables and confessed that what we had said was true; but because that visualizing was tremendously pleasurable to them, they could not help going back to it from time to time and indulging in it again; it was extremely enticing to their senses. They added that if any of them sneak off with another's belongings or do evil to another, the perpetrators fall into a prison farther below and have to work to get food, clothing, and a few small coins. If they do evil there, they are punished and their coins are taken away.
663: I was listening to an argument between an ambassador and two priests concerning whether intelligence and wisdom, and therefore also prudence, come from God or from ourselves. The ambassador was adamant that they come from ourselves; the priests were arguing that they come from God. Some angels perceived, however, that the priests inwardly had the same beliefs as the ambassador - that intelligence and wisdom and therefore prudence come from ourselves. To make this clear, the angels asked the ambassador to take off his official robes and put on priestly vestments instead. When he did so, the ambassador put forward a series of arguments to show that all intelligence and prudence come from God. Then the priests were asked to take off their vestments and put on the robes of political office. Once they had done so, the priests spoke from their inner selves and said that all intelligence and prudence come from ourselves. The reason they made these statements was that spirits think they actually are whatever they are dressed to look like. After this exchange, the three became friends at heart and talked together as they traveled along a descending path. A bit later I saw them coming back, however.
664: The account treats first of the people whom the Word refers to as the elect. They are people who are discovered after death to have lived a life of goodwill and faith. They are separated from people who had not lived that life. In that sense they are chosen and prepared for heaven. [The truth is that] all are called; therefore to believe that only some but not all are specially chosen and predestined for heaven (either before birth or after it) is to accuse God of being unable to save and also of being unjust.
665-666: A newly arrived spirit told people in heaven that no one in Christianity knows what conscience is. Because angels could not believe that, they told some spirit to sound a trumpet and gather intelligent people so he could assess whether people know what conscience is. This was done. Among the people who came were politicians, scholars, physicians, and clergy.
The politicians were the first to be asked what conscience is. Their response was that it is a pain that arises from fear (either before or after the fact) of losing honor or wealth, or that it is the result of a melancholy humor caused by undigested food in the stomach, and so on.
Then the scholars were questioned to find out what they knew about conscience. Their response was that it is grief or anxiety that either moves from the body into the head or from the head into the body. It has various causes; it especially arises when people focus their minds on just one single issue. This is prone to happen when people's dominant love suffers a loss, leading sometimes to fantasies or madness. In some, it takes the form of disturbances of the brain in regard to religious issues, which people call an attack of conscience.
Next the physicians were asked what conscience is. They said that it is just a pain that arises from a number of pathological conditions, which they enumerated at great length. Many cases have responded well to drugs. (For the list of diseases thought to cause the pains that are called pangs of conscience, see the account itself.)
Finally the priests were asked what conscience is. They said it is the same as the feeling of contrition that precedes faith. They have found the gospel works to cure these attacks. They added that conscientious adherents in all religions, both the true and the fanatical, become scrupulous about salvation, even in issues that actually make no difference at all.
When the angels had heard all this, they could see that it was true - no one knows what conscience is. Therefore they sent down an angel from their community to teach the people. This angel stood in the middle of them and said, "Conscience is not some pain, as you all suppose. It is a life according to religious principles. This kind of life is practiced especially by people who are devoted both to faith and to goodwill. People who have a conscience say what they say from the heart and do what they do from the heart. " (The angel gave several examples.) "Therefore when we say, 'That person has a conscience,' we mean, 'That person is just. ' And the reverse. "
Upon hearing this, the participants fell into four groups. One group understood what the angel said and agreed with it. A second group did not fully comprehend it, but still felt favorable. A third group were unwilling to comprehend; they said, "What does conscience have to do with us?" A fourth group mocked the whole idea; they said, "Conscience is just gas pain!" The last two groups then went off to the left, but the first two groups went off to the right.
692: I was taken to a place where ancient Greek philosophers live. They call that place New Parnassus. I was told that now and then they send out delegates to summon some new arrivals from the world and find out from them what quality of wisdom exists on earth today. The delegates had recently come across two newcomers from the Christian world and had brought them to New Parnassus.
Shortly after arriving there the newcomers were asked, "What are the latest developments on earth [in regard to wisdom]?"
They replied, "One new development is that people have been found in the woods. Perhaps they were lost there in early childhood. Their faces look human, but they were not actually human. As a result, people in the world have concluded that human beings are nothing more than animals; the only major difference is that humans can articulate sounds and speak. Animals could be just as wise as humans if they were given the ability to articulate sounds. " And so on.
Based on this information the philosophers were able to determine what changes wisdom had undergone since their own times [on earth]. Especially telling to them was the fact that people no longer recognize the fundamental distinction between humans and animals, and do not realize that people are born with no more than the form of a human being. Through instruction they become human, and their degree of humanness depends on how receptive they are to that instruction. Truths lead us into wisdom; falsities lead us into insanity. Our doing evil turns us into predatory animals inside. All we have at birth is a faculty for knowing, understanding, and becoming wise. The purpose of our being born this way is that it allows us to be a being to which God can impart more and more wisdom, from the first steps of it to the highest heights.
The philosophers added something they had come to understand from the newcomers' report: wisdom, which had been in the east when they were alive on earth, was now in the west. Afterward they taught the newcomers how it is that human beings, who have been created in the form of God, could be turned upside-down into the form of a devil. For details, see the account itself.
693: Another gathering was announced in the place where the ancient philosophers live. The reason for it was that their emissaries had come across three new arrivals from the world. The first was a priest, the second was a politician, and the third was a philosopher.
Once they were brought there, the new arrivals were asked, "What are the latest developments on earth [in regard to wisdom]?"
"This is new," they replied: They had heard that someone on earth says he speaks with angels and spirits; that person has related many things about the state angels and spirits are in. Some of what he says is as follows: Human beings are just as human after death. The only difference is that after death we are clothed with a spiritual body, whereas before death we are in a physical body.
The philosophers then asked the priest what he had thought of those teachings while he was still on earth. His reply was that he had believed we would not live again as human beings until the day of the Last Judgment. Therefore he and his colleagues in the ministry thought of those teachings first as visions, then as something made up; eventually they did not know what to think of them. The ancient philosophers asked the priest whether people on earth had the rational capacity to see that human beings are still human after death, which would allow them to dismiss absurd notions of how souls spend their time - for example, the idea that souls flit around in the universe like breezes, or that they are constantly waiting for the Last Judgment to occur so that they can be reunited with their bodies. (In that case, our fate would be worse than any animal's.) The priest replied that some may make those arguments, but they fail to convince others. People see the coming together or reuniting of souls with their corpses and skeletons in the grave as something achieved by the omnipotence of God. And as soon as people mention omnipotence and faith, reason goes out the window.
Next, the ancient philosophers asked the politician what he thought about the new teachings just mentioned. His answer was that in the world he had been unable to believe that human beings are going to live on as humans after death, since everything that makes us human lies dead in the grave. He believed that the person presenting these new teachings was seeing ghosts but mistaking them for angels and spirits. The politician added, however, that he was now for the first time convinced by his own senses that he is just as human as he was before. Consequently he is ashamed of his former point of view.
The newly arrived philosopher said that he, too, had had much the same point of view, and so had other members of his school. The things that that writer had heard and seen, the philosopher labeled as just another opinion and hypothesis, like all the others he had gathered from other writers old and new.
The ancient philosophers were staggered to hear this. They were especially struck that Christians, whose revelation should give them more light than others have, are in such thick darkness concerning their own life after death. They said, "[While we were still alive in the physical world,] we knew about life after death and believed in it, and so did the sages of our day. " They added their observation that the light of wisdom that had been in the inner parts of the brain during their times on earth had now moved down below the nose to the mouth. There it appears to others like gleaming lips, and the speech of the mouth seems like wisdom.
Then one of the recruits at the event said, "How stupid the minds of earth-dwellers have become! I wish the followers of Democritus, who laugh at everything, and the followers of Heraclitus, who cry at everything, were here; what a lot of laughing and crying we would hear then!" The new arrivals were then given gifts of copper plates with hieroglyphics inscribed on them, and they departed.
694: Some new arrivals from the world were discovered, brought to the city below New Parnassus, and asked, "What are the latest developments on earth [in regard to wisdom]?" They replied that in the world they had believed there would be complete rest from labors after death. Yet when they arrived in the spiritual world they were told that there are similar administrative positions, functions, and types of work as there are in the world. This means that it is not a rest.
Wise people who were in attendance said, "Did you really believe that at this stage you were going to live in complete idleness, even though idleness causes both mental and physical lethargy, inertia, unresponsiveness, and loss of consciousness? These are death, not life. "
The new arrivals were taken around the city and saw administrators and artists at work. The newcomers were amazed at what they saw, because they had believed their souls would be living in some void until the new heaven and the new earth came about. They were taught that everything they were seeing was substantial and was called spiritual, whereas everything in their former world was material and was called earthly. Then they were told that this distinction exists because the two have different origins. Everything in the spiritual world takes shape from and is sustained by a sun that is pure love, whereas everything in the physical world takes shape from and is sustained by a sun that is pure fire. They were also taught that in the spiritual world there are not just administrative positions; there is also research of all kinds and also writing and books.
The newcomers were overjoyed to learn all this. As they were leaving, some young women came with pieces of needlework and embroidery of their own making and gave them to the visitors. They also sang the newcomers a song, whose angelic melody expressed their love for useful activity and the pleasure it brings.
695: I was brought to a meeting that was attended by some ancient philosophers. I was asked what people in my world know about inflow. My answer was this: The only inflow they know about is the inflow of their sun's heat and light into the objects in nature, both living and inanimate. They have no idea there is such a thing as an inflow from the spiritual world into the physical world, even though that inflow is what actually causes all the amazing things they see in the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom. (I listed some examples.) Because they do not recognize the existence of this inflow, they convince themselves that nature is the source. They become materialists and eventually atheists.
696: I spoke with followers of Aristotle, Descartes, and Leibniz about [their theories called] physical inflow, occasional inflow, and preestablished harmony and heard the arguments they used to support their own hypothesis. Because they were limited to the supporting arguments and were unable to rise above them and examine the issue with their intellect, they decided to draw lots in order to see which theory was correct. Spiritual inflow was the answer they drew, which is closer to occasional inflow than to the other theories.
697: I was led to a hall where young adults were being initiated into various issues related to wisdom. This was accomplished through a discussion of a topic proposed by a leader there. On that occasion the topic for discussion was, What is the soul and how do we experience it? There was a lectern. The respondents would stand at it to give their answers.
The first speaker stood up and said that no one since the world was created has been able to determine what the soul is and how we experience it. Because people have known, however, that there is a soul inside us, they have pondered where it is. Some thinkers conjectured that it is in the pineal gland, which sits between the cerebrum and the cerebellum in our heads. The speaker said he had originally espoused this view, but when many later rejected it, he too had moved away from that opinion.
The second speaker stood up and said he believed the seat of the soul was in the head, since that is where the intellect is; but because he was unsure, at different times he followed different authorities with regard to where it is in the brain - those who believe it is in the three ventricles of the brain, those who say the striated body, those the medullary, those the cortical substances, and those the dura mater. He left it up to the individual to decide.
The third speaker stood up and said that the seat of the soul is in the heart and extends to the blood. He supported this view with passages from the Word that mention the heart and the soul.
The fourth speaker stood up and said that since childhood he had sided with the ancients in believing that the soul is not in one part of the body, but is throughout it, because it is a spiritual substance, which can be said to fill the body but cannot be said to occupy this or that place within it. He added that "soul" means life, and life is present throughout the body.
The fifth speaker stood up and said that in his view the soul was something pure that could be compared to ether or air. This was his belief because people think the soul will be something like this after it leaves the body.
When the speakers had finished, the wise people in the balcony concluded that none of the speakers knew what the soul is. Therefore they asked the leader, who had proposed the question, to come down and teach. After coming down [from his platform], he said that the soul is the essence itself within a human being. And because an essence is nothing without a form, the soul is the purest human form. It is the truly human form; in every part of it wisdom and love dwell together, along with all their perceptions and desires. "When you were in the physical world," he said, "you believed that you would be souls after death. [You have in fact died]; therefore you yourselves are now souls. " And so on. His statement was supported by the following passage in the Book of Creation (Genesis 2:7): "Jehovah God breathed the breath of lives into Adam's nostrils, and the human being turned into a living soul. "
731-752: I saw an angel with a trumpet. With it he called together the most celebrated Christian thinkers. The topic was what they had believed in the world about the joys of heaven and eternal happiness. The reason for the event was that someone had told people in heaven that no one in Christianity knows anything about these joys and this happiness. About half an hour later we saw six groups of well-educated Christians arrive. When the question was posed to them regarding what they had known about the joys of heaven and eternal happiness, the first group said that they believed it was simply a matter of being allowed into heaven and all its accompanying celebratory joys, as if they were merely being allowed into a home where a wedding and its accompanying festivities were taking place. The second group said they believed that that joy and happiness consists in extremely enjoyable interactions and delicious conversations with angels. The third group said they believed that that joy and happiness consists in dining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The fourth group said they believed that that joy and happiness consists in the delight of a garden paradise. The fifth group said they believed that that joy and happiness consists in the possession of great power, tremendous wealth, and more-than-regal magnificence. The sixth group said they believed that that joy and happiness consists in glorifying God in a celebration that goes on forever. So that these well-educated thinkers could find out whether the things they mentioned truly were the joys of heaven, they had an opportunity to experience their joys. Each group had this experience separately. The purpose was for them to learn by living experience whether they had merely imagined these activities would be joyful or whether these activities actually were joyful. Most people go through this when they cross over from the physical world to the spiritual world (731, 732, 733).
Soon afterward, the group that thought heavenly joy would take the form of extremely enjoyable interactions and delicious conversations with angels was allowed to experience what it imagined to be joy. Because these were external joys, however, and were not internal, the enjoyment wore off after a few days and they left (734).
Then the group that believed heavenly joys would consist in dining with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were allowed to have that experience. They, too, came to feel that those joys were only external and not internal, and became tired of them and left (735).
A similar thing happened to the group that believed heavenly joy and eternal happiness consisted in great power, tremendous wealth, and more-than-regal magnificence (736).
A similar thing also happened to the group that believed heavenly joy and eternal happiness consisted in the joys of a garden paradise (737).
A similar thing also happened to the group that believed heavenly joy and eternal happiness consisted in perpetually glorifying God in a celebration that goes on forever. Eventually this group was taught what glorifying God truly means in the Word (738).
Finally, a similar thing also happened to the group that believed they would come into heavenly joy and happiness if they were simply allowed into heaven, and that the joys they would experience there would be much like those we experience when we go into a home where a wedding is occurring and take part in its festivities. They were shown by living experience, however, that the only people who experience joys in heaven are people who have lived the life of heaven - that is, a life of goodwill and faith. For people who have lived the opposite kind of life, heaven is actually a place of torment. Therefore people like this leave heaven and associate with others like themselves (739).
Since the angels had gathered from this that no one in the physical world nowadays knows what the joys of heaven are like and what eternal happiness is like, they instructed the angel with the trumpet to choose ten of the participants and bring them to a community in heaven. In this way they could see with their own eyes and perceive in their own minds what heaven is and what the joys there are like. The angel did so. After the ten were brought in, they started with a tour of the magnificent palace of the leader of that community (740). Then they toured the gardens next to the palace (741). Afterward they saw the leader himself and his dignitaries in all their finery (742). Invited to dine with the leader, they saw a table setting with amazing accoutrements unlike anything that eyes on earth have ever seen. At the table the leader taught them about heavenly joys and eternal happiness. He said that in essence these consist of inner bliss, which leads in turn to outward delight. The very essence of inner bliss is a desire to be of use (743, 744). After dinner, the leader ordered some of the wisest members of the community to be summoned. These people talked with the visitors at length about what exactly the inner bliss that constitutes eternal happiness is, where it comes from, how it turns external delights into joys, and so on (745-746). After that the ten had the opportunity to see a wedding in that heaven, which is described (747-749); and lastly, to hear preaching (750-751). Having seen and heard all this, being full of newfound knowledge of heaven, and feeling happy at heart, the ten went back down (752).
846-851: This account deals with this revelation. The Lord chose to manifest himself to me and open the inner levels of my mind, allowing me to see what is in heaven and what is in hell. By so doing, he revealed secrets that are of greater excellence and importance than any other secrets that have been disclosed before. They are as follows: (1) In each and every detail of the Word there is a spiritual meaning, which is not apparent in its literal meaning. Therefore the writing in the Word consists of correspondences between spiritual things and earthly things. (2) What those correspondences are like has been made clear. (3) Human beings live on after they die. (4) What heaven and hell are like. Also teachings regarding baptism and the Holy Supper. (5) There is a sun in the spiritual world that is pure love from the Lord, who is surrounded by that sun. The light that emanates from that sun is wisdom and the heat that emanates from it is love. It is also the source of faith and goodwill. All things that emanate from that sun are spiritual and alive. The sun of the physical world, on the other hand, is pure fire. All things that emanate from this sun are earthly and dead. (6) There are three levels [of life]. They have been unknown until now. (7) There is information about the Last Judgment. The Lord the Savior is the God of heaven and earth. There is information about the new church and its teachings; about the inhabitants of other planets and about the worlds in the universe (846). (8) There is also information about marriage love. This love is spiritual among spiritual people, earthly among earthly people, and merely carnal among adulterous people (847). Angels learned through eyewitness experience that although these secrets are more excellent than any other secrets disclosed before, many today think of them as having no value at all (848). I heard some people in the lower earth murmuring that if I performed miracles, they would believe [what I had written]. I replied that they would not be convinced by miracles any more than Pharaoh and the Egyptians were, or any more than Jacob's descendants were when they danced around the golden calf in the wilderness, or any more than Jews were when they saw miracles performed by the Lord himself (849). Finally, why the Lord revealed these secrets to me instead of to someone in the clergy (850).
The things that are in the accounts of memorable occurrences that come after the chapters are true. Before the Lord's Coming, similar things were seen and heard by the prophets; after the Lord's Coming, similar things were seen and heard by the apostles - Peter, Paul, and especially John in the Book of Revelation. The account lists examples (851).
852. [Not translated.]
852. INDEX TO THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS
[This is the Author's Index. The figures refer to the numbered paragraphs. It is not a numbered paragraph, but the numbering was necessary for searching purposes.]
I. I heard certain new-comers in the spiritual world talking together about three Divine persons from eternity; and then a certain one who in the world had been a primate opened the ideas of his thought respecting that mystery, saying that it had been and still was his opinion that the three sit upon high thrones in heaven, God the Father upon a throne of the finest gold, with a scepter in His hand; God the Son at His right hand, upon a throne of the purest silver with a crown on His head; and God the Holy Spirit upon a throne of shining crystal, holding in His hand a dove, in the form of which He appeared when Christ was baptized, with lamps hanging around about them in triple order, glittering with precious stones; while at a distance innumerable angels were standing in a circle, worshiping and singing praises. He also spoke of the Holy Spirit, how He introduces faith, purifies and justifies. He said that many of his order favored his ideas, and he trusted that I also as a layman gave them credit. But as an opportunity to speak was then given me, I said that from my childhood I have cherished the idea that God is one. I therefore explained to him what the trinity involves, and what is signified by throne, scepter, and crown, where these in the Word are ascribed with God. To this I added that all who believe in three Divine persons from eternity must necessarily believe in three Gods; and, furthermore, that the Divine essence cannot be divided (n. 16).
II. A discourse of the angels about God,-that His Divine is the Divine Being (Esse) in itself, and not from itself; and that it is One, the Same, the Itself, and Indivisible; also that God is not in place, but is present with those who are in place; and that His Divine love appears to the angels as a sun, the heat from it being in its essence love, and the light therefrom in its essence wisdom (n. 25).
That the proceeding Divine attributes which are creation, redemption, and regeneration, are attributes of one God, and not of three (n. 26).
III. Perceiving that a vast multitude of men are in the persuasion that all things belong to nature, and consequently that nature is the creator of the universe, in a certain gymnasium where there were persons of this kind I spoke with a certain gifted man respecting these three things: (1) Whether nature is a property of life, or life of nature; (2) Whether the center is from the expanse, or the expanse is from the center; (3) Respecting the center and the expanse of nature and of life; that the center of nature is the sun of the natural world, and the expanse itself of that center is its world; and that the center of life is the sun of the spiritual world, and the expanse itself of that center is its world. These propositions were discussed on both sides, and lastly it was shown what the truth is (n. 35)
IV. I was conducted to a kind of theater of wisdom where angelic spirits from the four quarters were assembled with an injunction from heaven to discuss three arcana: (1) What is the image of God, and what is the likeness of God. (2) Why is not man born into the knowledge proper to any love, when even the beasts and the birds are born into the knowledge proper to all their loves. (3) What do the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil signify. And further, they were to unite the answers to these three in one opinion, and refer this to the angels of heaven; this was done, the opinion was referred, and was accepted by the angels (n. 48).
V. From evil spirits who were just above hell a sound was heard like the roaring of the sea; which was from a tumult that arose among them from their hearing it said above them that the Almighty God had bound Himself to order. A certain one ascending therefrom, addressed me sharply on the matter, saying that as God is omnipotent He is not bound to any order. And on being questioned about order, I said: (1) God is Order itself. (2) He created man from order, in order, and for order. (3) He created man's rational mind in accordance with the order of the spiritual world, and his body in accordance with the order of the natural world. (4) Therefore it is a law of order that man from his little spiritual world or little heaven should govern his little cosmos or little natural world, just as God from His great heaven or spiritual world governs His great cosmos or natural world. (5) Many other laws of order flow forth from these, some of which are recited. What afterward befell those spirits is described (n. 71).
VI. Concerning the reasoning between certain Dutch and British in the spiritual world on the subject of imputation and predestination; on the one side, why God, since He is omnipotent, does not impute the righteousness of His Son to every man, and thus make them redeemed, for being omnipotent, He is able to make all the satans of hell angels of heaven; and even, if it be His good pleasure, He can make Lucifer, the dragon, and all the goats, to be archangels; and what is needed for this but a little word? On the other side, that God is Order itself, and that He can do nothing contrary to the laws of His order; because to act contrary to them would be to act contrary to Himself. Also much beside, about which they contended on this subject (n. 72).
VII. I afterward spoke with others who had believed in predestination, deducing it from God's absolute power or omnipotence; saying that otherwise God would have less power than a king in the world who is a despot, and who can as easily change the laws of justice as he can turn his hands, and can act without restriction, like Octavius Augustus and also like Nero. To which it was answered, that God created the world and each and all things thereof, from Himself as Order, and thus impressed order upon them; also that the laws of His order are just as many as are the truths in the Word. Some of the laws of order were then recited, - what they are, and the nature of them, on God's part, and also on man's part. These cannot be changed, because God is Order itself: and man was created an image of His order (n. 73).
VIII. I spoke with clergymen and laymen who had gathered together, concerning the Divine omnipotence; and they said that omnipotence is unlimited, and that limited omnipotence is a contradiction. To this it was answered, that there is no contradiction in acting omnipotently according to laws of justice with judgment. It is said in David that "Justice and judgment are the support of God's throne" (Psalms 89:14); and that there is no contradiction in acting omnipotently according to the laws of love and wisdom; but there is a contradiction in God's being able to act contrary to the laws of justice and love; which would be to act from what is not judgment and wisdom; and such contradiction is implied in the faith of the church of the present day, which is that God is able to make an unjust man just, and endow the impious with all the gifts of salvation and the rewards of life. With much more concerning this faith and concerning omnipotence (n. 74).
IX. When I was once meditating upon the creation of the universe by God, I was led in the spirit to certain wise ones who at first complained of the ideas they had acquired in the world which related to the creation of the universe out of chaos, and creation out of nothing; because these ideas obscure meditation upon the creation of the universe by God, and degrade and pervert it. Therefore when asked for my opinion, I replied that it is idle to try to form any but a speculative conclusion about the creation of the universe, unless it is known that there are two worlds, the spiritual and the natural, and that in each of these is a sun; and that the sun of the spiritual world, in the midst of which is God, is nothing but love, and that from it are all spiritual things, which in themselves are substantial; while the sun of the natural world is nothing but fire, and from it are all natural things, which in themselves are material. From these knowledges it can be concluded in regard to the creation of the universe, that it is from God, and how. This was also slightly traced out (n. 76).
X. Some satans of hell desired to talk with the angels of heaven, for the purpose of convincing them that all things are from nature, and that God is a mere word unless nature is meant. They were permitted to ascend. Then certain angels descended from heaven into the world of spirits to hear them. When the satans saw the angels they ran up to them furiously and said, "You are called angels because you believe that there is a God, and that nature is relatively nothing; this you believe although it is contrary to every sense; for which of your five senses has a sensation of anything but nature?" After these and many other bitter words, the angels called to the remembrance of the satans that they were then living after death, although formerly they had not even believed that they would so live; and then they caused them to see the beautiful and splendid things of heaven, and told them that these were there because all there believe in God; and afterward they caused them to see the vile and filthy things of hell, and told them that these were there because those there believe in nature. From seeing these things the satans were at first convinced that there is a God and that He created nature; but as they descended, the love of evil returned and closed their understanding from above; and when this was closed they believed as before, that all things are of nature, and nothing of God (n. 77).
XI. A type of the creation of the universe was shown me in a living way, by angels. I was conducted into heaven; and it was granted me to see there all things of the animal kingdom, of the vegetable kingdom, and of the mineral kingdom, which were in every respect like the objects of those three kingdoms in the natural world. And then they said, All these things in heaven are created in a moment by God, and they continue to exist as long as the angels are interiorly as to their thought in a state of love and faith; and this instantaneous creation furnishes a clear proof of the creation of similar things, and even a similar creation, in the natural world, with the sole difference that natural things invest spiritual things, and that this clothing was provided by God for the sake of generations one from another, by which creation is perpetuated. Consequently, the creation of the universe was effected in a way similar to that in which it is effected every moment in heaven. Nevertheless, all the noxious and hideous things in the three kingdoms of nature (which are enumerated), were not created by God, but sprang up along with hell (n. 78).
XII. In a conversation relating to the creation of the universe, with some who when in the world had been celebrated for learning, these spoke from the same ideas that they had formerly entertained. One of them said that nature created itself; another, that nature gathered its elements into vortices, and that by the collision of these the earth was formed; and a third that the origin of all things was chaos which in extent had equalled a great part of the universe; and that first there burst forth therefrom the purest elements, of which the sun and stars were formed; and afterwards those less pure, of which the atmospheres were formed; and at last the grosser matters, of which the terraqueous globe was formed. To the question, "What was the origin of human souls?" they answered, that the ether gathered itself into little individual globules, and that these infuse themselves into those who are about to be born, and make their souls; and that after death these globules fly away to their former company in the ether, and afterward return into others according to the doctrine of metempsychosis of the ancients. After this a certain priest, by solid arguments in favor of the creation of the universe by God showed all the things which they had said to be an absurd medley, and put them to shame. But still they held to their former delusions (n. 79).
XIII. A conversation with a certain satan about God, and the angelic heaven, and religion; who, not knowing that he was not still in the former world, declared that God is the universe, and that the angelic heaven is the atmospheric firmament, and that religion is nothing but a bewitchment of the common people, besides other follies. But when it was brought to his remembrance that he was then living after death, and that he formerly did not believe in that life, for the moment he confessed that he was insane; but as soon as he turned and went away he was as insane as before (n. 80).
XIV. I saw by night an ignis fatuus, often called a dragon, falling toward the earth. I noticed the place where it fell; the ground there was sulphurous, mixed with iron dust. And looking there in the morning, I saw two tents; and just then a spirit fell from heaven. I went to him and asked why he had fallen down from heaven. He replied that he was cast down by the angels of Michael, for saying that God the Father and His Son are two, and not one. He also said that the whole angelic heaven believes that God the Father and His Son are one, as soul and body are one, and that they prove this by many things from the Word and still further from the reason, that the soul of a son is from the father only, and that this is a likeness of the father and from it the likeness is in the body. And he added that he indeed had confessed in heaven, as before on earth, that God is one; but because the confession of the mouth and the thought of the mind disagreed in regard to this, they said in heaven that he did not believe in any God, because the confession and the thought dissipate each other; and he said that this was the cause of his being cast down. Returning the next day to the same place, instead of the two tents I saw two statues composed of the same sort of dust, which was a mixture of sulphur and iron. One of these represented the faith and the other the charity of the church of the present day, both beautifully clothed; but the garments were induced by fantasies. And because they were made of dust, when the rain descended from heaven both of them began to effervesce and burn (n. 110).
XV. In the spiritual world it is unlawful to say anything except what one thinks; if he does, the hypocrisy is distinctly manifest to the ear. In hell, therefore, no one can utter the name Jesus, because Jesus signifies salvation. In this way an experiment was made to ascertain how many in the Christian world at this day believe that Christ even as to His Human is God. Therefore, when many of the clergy and laity were assembled, it was proposed that they say "Divine Human;" but there were scarcely any who were able to draw forth from the thought these two words at once, and so to utter them. It was proved in their presence by many things out of the Word, that the Lord even as to His Human is God as by the following: (Matthew 28:18; John 1:1-2, 14; John 17:2; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 5:20; and in other places also); still they were not able to utter the words Divine Human,- and, what seemed surprising, neither were the Evangelicals able to do this, although their orthodoxy teaches that in Christ God is Man and Man is God; and still more, neither could the monks, although they most devoutly adore the Body of Christ in the Eucharist. From all this it was ascertained that Christians at the present day for the most part are interiorly either Arians or Socinians; and that these, if they adore Christ as God, are hypocrites (n. 111).
XVI. An altercation about a little book entitled, A Brief Exposition of the Doctrine of the New Church, published by me at Amsterdam; and especially about this doctrine in it, that not God the Father, but the Lord God the Redeemer is to be approached and worshiped. It was argued that on the other hand it is said in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father, Who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name: Thy kingdom come," And that consequently it is God the Father who is to be approached. I was summoned to end this strife; and I then showed that God the Father cannot be approached in His Divine, but only in His Human; and as the Divine and Human in Him are one Person, that the Lord is that Father. This also was proved by the Word; both by the Word of the Old Testament, where the Son of God is called Father of Eternity, and in many places called Jehovah the Redeemer, Jehovah our Righteousness, and the God of Israel, and from many passages in the Word of the New Testament; consequently when the Lord the Redeemer is approached, the Father is approached; and then His name is hallowed, and His kingdom comes. With much beside (n. 112).
XVII. I saw an army on red and black horses, with the faces of all the riders turned to the horses' tails, and with the hinder part of the head turned towards the horses' heads; they were crying out for battle against those who were riding on white horses. This ludicrous army was from the place called Armageddon (Revelation 16:16), and consisted of those who in youth had become imbued with the dogmas relating to justification by faith alone, but who afterwards, when they had been promoted to prominent offices, had rejected all things pertaining to faith and religion from the internals of their minds to the externals of their bodies, where at last they disappeared. A description of those who were seen in Armageddon; and it was heard that they wished to meet and contend with the angels of Michael; which was permitted, although at some distance from that place. The contention was about the meaning of these words in the Lord's Prayer; "Our Father, Who art in the heavens, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come." It was then said by the angels of Michael that the Lord the Redeemer and Saviour is Father to all in the heavens; since He taught, that the Father and He are one; that the Father is in Him, and He in the Father; and that he that sees Him sees the Father: that all things of the Father are in Him; also that it is the will of the Father that men should believe in the Son, and that those who believe not the Son shall not see life, but that the wrath of God will abide on them; also, that He has all power in heaven and on earth; and that He has power over all flesh; and moreover, that no one has seen or can see God the Father, except the Son only who is in the bosom of the Father; and more besides. After this combat, some of the vanquished Armageddons were cast into the abyss mentioned in Revelation 9and some of them were banished into a desert (n. 113).
XVIII. I was in a temple in which there were no windows, but a large opening in the roof, and those assembled there were conferring about Redemption, saying unanimously that redemption was wrought by the passion of the cross. But while they were engaged in that conversation, a black cloud covered the opening in the roof, and because of this it became dark in the temple; but a little after that cloud was dispelled by angels descending from heaven, who then sent down one of their number into the temple to instruct them about redemption. He said that the passion of the cross was not redemption, but redemption was the subjugation of the hells, the restoration of order in the heavens, and thus the restitution of all things which were in disorder both in the spiritual world and in the natural world, and that without it no flesh could have been saved. And of the passion of the cross he said, that by it was completed the inmost union with the Father; and that when it is taken for redemption many things unworthy of God, and even unfit to be spoken, follow as consequences; as that He passed sentence of damnation upon the whole human race, and that the Son took that damnation upon Himself, and that thus He propitiated the Father, and by intercession brought Him back to His Divine essence, which is love and mercy; besides many other things, which it is scandalous to attribute to God (n. 134).
XIX. The sun of the spiritual world was seen, wherein is Jehovah God in His Human. Presently there was heard from heaven, that God is One. But when this descended into the world of spirits it was changed according to the forms of the minds there, and finally into the expression three Gods. This was confirmed by one there by this reasoning: that there is one who created all things, another who redeemed all, and a third who operates all things; also that there is one who imputes, another who mediates, and a third who inscribes, and thus implants faith in man, by which He justifies him. But because the belief in three Gods had perverted the whole Christian church, from a perception granted me I disclosed to them what, with the one God, is meant by mediation, intercession, propitiation, and expiation; namely, that these four are attributes of the Human of Jehovah God; that because Jehovah God without the Human cannot approach man, nor be approached by man, mediation means that the Human is the intermediary; that intercession means that it mediates perpetually; that propitiation means that an approach is mercifully opened for every man to God; and that expiation means that this is also for sinners; and all these through the Human (n. 135).
XX. I entered a gymnasium, where they were discussing what is meant where it is said of the Son of God, that He sits at the right hand of the Father. Concerning this there were various opinions; yet it was the opinion of all that the Son actually sits thus; but they were discussing why it was so. Some supposed that it was done on account of redemption; some that it was from love; some, that He might be a counselor; some, that He might have honor from the angels; some, because it was given Him to reign instead of the Father; some, that His right ear may hear those for whom He intercedes. They further discussed whether it was the Son of God from eternity who sits thus, or the Son of God born in the world. Having heard these things, I raised my hand, requesting that I might be permitted to say something, and to tell what is meant by sitting at the right hand of God. I said that it is the omnipotence of God, by means of the Human which He assumed that is meant; for by means of this He wrought redemption, that is, subjugated the hells, created a new angelic heaven, and established a new church. That this is meant by sitting at the right hand, I proved from the Word, in which "the right hand" signifies power; and afterwards it was confirmed from heaven, by the appearance of a right hand over them, from the power of which and the terror therefrom they all became almost lifeless (n. 136).
XXI. I was conducted in the spiritual world to a certain synod at which were assembled celebrated persons who lived before the Nicene council, and who were called Apostolic Fathers; also men renowned in the ages after that council; and I saw that some of the latter appeared with beardless chins, and in curled wigs of women's hair; but all the former with bearded chin, and in natural hair. In front of them stood a man, a judge and critic of the writings of the present century, who began by a kind of lamentation, saying, "A man from the laity has risen up, who has dragged down our faith out of its sanctuary, which yet is a star shining day and night before us; but this is done because that man is blind to the mysteries of that faith, and does not see in it the righteousness of Christ, and thus not the wonders of its justification; and yet that faith is a faith in three Divine persons, and thus in the whole Deity; and because He has transferred his faith to the second Person, and not even to Him, but to His Human, it cannot be otherwise than that naturalism should flow from it." Those who lived after the Nicene council favored his speech, saying, that it is impossible that there should be any other faith, or from any other source. But the Apostolic Fathers, who had lived before that age, being indignant, related many things which are said in heaven respecting the Nicene and Athanasian faith, which may be seen [in the text]. But because the president of the council was affiliated in spirit with that writer in Leipsic, I addressed him, and showed from the Word that Christ, even as to the Human, is God; and also from the dogmatic book of the Evangelicals called Formula Concordiae, "That in Christ God is Man, and Man God;" as also that the Augsburg Confession especially approves of the worship of Christ; besides other things; at which he was silent, and turned away. Afterwards I spoke with a certain spirit who was affiliated with an eminent man in Gottenburg, who defiled the worship of the Lord with a still greater reproach. But at length both of these slanders were declared to be lies craftily invented to turn away men's wills and deter them from the holy worship of the Lord (n. 137).
XXII. There appeared a smoke ascending from the lower earth, and it was said that smokes are nothing else than falsities collected together. And then certain angels were seized with a desire to ascertain what the falsities were that thus smoked; and they descended, and found four crowds of spirits, two of which were of the learned and unlearned of the clergy, and two of the learned and unlearned of the laity, who were all proving to each other that an invisible God is to be worshiped, and that the worshipers then secure holiness and a hearing. It is otherwise when a visible God is worshiped. Holiness and a hearing from an invisible God they proved by various things; for which reason they acknowledge three Gods from eternity, who are invisible. But it was shown that the worship of an invisible God, and still more of three invisible ones, is no worship. To confirm this, Socinus and Arius with some of their followers, all of whom had worshiped an invisible Divinity, were brought forth from below; and when these spoke from the natural or external mind, they said that there is a God, although He is invisible; but when their external mind was closed, and the internal mind was opened, and from that mind they were compelled to avow their belief respecting God, they said, "What is God? We have neither seen His shape, nor heard His voice. What then is God, but a figment of reason or nature?" But they were taught that it had pleased God to descend and assume the Human, that they might see His shape and hear His voice. But this was said to them in vain (n. 159).
XXIII. First concerning the stars in the natural world; that perhaps they were of the same number as the angelic societies in heaven, since every society there sometimes shines like a star. Afterwards, I spoke with the angels about a certain way that appears crowded with innumerable spirits, that it is the way by which all who depart out of the natural world pass into the spiritual world. I went in company with angels towards that way, and we called from that way twelve men, and asked them what they believed about heaven and hell and a life after death. And because they were recently from the world, and did not know but what they were still in the natural world, they answered from the idea which they brought with them The First. That all who live a moral life go to heaven; and as all do live a moral life no one goes to hell. The Second, That God rules heaven, and the devil rules hell; and because they are opposite, one calls good what the other calls evil; and that the man who is a dissembler, because he sides with both, can live equally under the dominion of the one and of the other. The Third, That there is no heaven, and no hell. "Who has come thence and told us?" The Fourth, That no one is able to come back and tell, because man, when he dies, is either a ghost or a wind. The Fifth, That we must wait till the day of the last judgment, and then it will be told, and you will know all about it. But when he said this he laughed in his heart. The Sixth, "How can the soul of man, which is only a wind, re-enter its body that has been eaten up by worms, or be clothed with a skeleton that has either been dried up or has crumbled into dust? "The Seventh, That men can no more live after death than beasts and birds, are not these equally rational? The Eighth, "I believe that there is a heaven, but I do not believe that there is a hell, because God is omnipotent, and is able to save all. "The Ninth, That God, because He is gracious, cannot send any one into eternal fire. The Tenth, That no one can go to hell, because God sent His Son, who has made expiation for all, and taken away the sins of all. What can the devil do against that? The Eleventh, who was a priest, That those only are saved, who have attained to faith, and that election is according to the will of the Almighty. The Twelfth, who was a politician, "I do not say anything about heaven and hell; but let the priests preach about them, that the minds of the common people may be kept bound by an invisible bond to the laws and rulers." On hearing these things the angels were astonished; but they waked up the twelve by teaching them that they were already living after death; and they conducted them into heaven, but they did not stay there long, because. it was found that they were merely natural, and that from this the hinder part of their heads was hollow; concerning which hollowness and the cause of it, something is lastly said (n. 160).
XXIV. There was heard a noise like that of a mill, and following the noise I saw a house full of chinks, to which there was an entrance opening under ground, and in it a man collecting from the Word and books many things concerning justification by faith alone; and at his side copyists were writing his collections upon paper; and when asked what he was now collecting, he said, "This, that God the Father ceased to be gracious towards the human race, and that He therefore sent the Son to make expiation and propitiation. "To which I answered, that it is contrary to Scripture and contrary to reason, that God could fail of grace, for this would be also failing of His essence, and thus He would not be God. And when I demonstrated this even to conviction, he grew warm, and ordered his copyists to cast me out. But when I had gone out of my own accord, he threw after me a book that he happened to lay hand upon; and that book was the Word (n. 161).
XXV. There was a discussion among spirits whether one can see any genuine truth in the Word unless he goes immediately to the Lord who is the Word itself. But as some objected to this an experiment was made; and therein those who went to God the Father, did not see any truth; but all who went to the Lord saw. During this discussion some spirits ascended from the abyss (seeRevelation 9), where they discuss the mysteries of justification by faith alone, saying that they go to God the Father and see their mysteries in clear light. But it was answered that they see them in fatuous light, and that they have not even a single truth; at which, being nettled, they brought forth from the Word many things which were true; but they were told that while these were true in themselves, they were falsified in them. That this was so, was proved by their being led into a house where there was a table upon which light from heaven flowed directly; and they were told to write those truths which they had brought forth from the Word upon paper, and lay it upon that table; and when this was done, the paper on which the truths had been written shone like a star; but when they came up and fixed their gaze upon it, the paper appeared blackened as if by soot. Afterwards they were led to another similar table, upon which lay the Word encircled with a rainbow; and when a certain champion of the doctrine of faith alone touched this with his hand there was an explosion as if from a gun, and he was cast into a corner of the room, and lay as (lead for half an hour. From all this they were convinced that all the truths that they had from the Word were true in themselves but falsified in them (n. 162).
XXVI. There are climates in the spiritual world, as in the natural world; thus also there are northern zones where are snow and ice. On one occasion, being brought thither in spirit, I entered a temple then covered over with snow, illuminated within by lamps, and behind the altar there was seen a tablet, upon which was written this, The Divine Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are essentially one, but personally three. And I heard a priest preaching about four mysteries of faith respecting which the understanding is to be kept under obedience to faith, which may be seen [in the text]. After the discourse, the hearers thanked the priest for his sermon so rich in wisdom. But when I asked them whether they understood anything, they answered, "We took in everything with full ears; why do you ask whether we understood? Is not the understanding benumbed by such matters?" To this the priest who was present added, "Forasmuch as you have heard and have not understood, you are blessed, for thereby you have salvation." And other things (n. 185).
XXVII. The human mind is divided into three regions, like the heaven in which angels dwell; and in those who love truths because they are truths theological matters have their seat in the highest region of the mind; and under these, in the middle region, moral subjects, and beneath these in the lowest region, political subjects; and the various sciences constitute the door. But theological matters with those who do not love truths have their seat in the lowest region, and mingle themselves there with what is man's own, and thus with the fallacies of the senses; and for this reason some cannot perceive theological principles at all (n. 186).
XXVIII. I was brought to a place where those were who are meant by "the false prophet" in the Apocalypse; and I was invited by those there to see their temple. I followed and saw it, and in it the image of a woman clad in a scarlet robe, holding in her right hand a golden coin, and in her left a chain of pearls; but these appearances were produced through fantasy. But when the interiors of my mind were opened by the Lord, instead of the temple there was seen a house full of chinks; and instead of the woman there was seen a beast, such as is described in the Apocalypse (13:2); and under the floor there was a bog, in which lay the Word, deeply concealed. But presently, an east wind springing up, the temple was carried away, and the bog was dried up, and the Word lay exposed; and then, by the light from heaven, there appeared there a tabernacle like that of Abraham when the three angels came slid foretold to him the birth of Isaac; and afterwards, light being sent forth from the second heaven, instead of the tabernacle there appeared a temple similar to that of Jerusalem; and after this a light shone upon it from the third heaven, and then the temple disappeared, and the Lord alone was seen standing upon the foundation stone where the Word was. But because an overpowering sanctity then filled their minds this light was withdrawn, and in place of it light from the second heaven was let in, which caused the previous view of the temple to return, and also that of the tabernacle within it (n. 187).
XXIX. There was seen a magnificent palace, in which there was a temple, and in this seats were placed in triple order. In it there was a council convoked by the Lord, in which they were to deliberate concerning the Lord the Saviour, and concerning the Holy Spirit. When as many of the clergy were present as there were seats, they began the council. And because they were to consult in regard to the Lord, the first proposition was, Who assumed the Human in the virgin Mary? And then the angel standing beside the table read before them what the angel Gabriel said to Mary, "The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee; and the holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35; and also from Matthew 1:20, 25); and many other things from the Prophets, that Jehovah Himself was to come into the world, and that Jehovah Himself is called Saviour, Redeemer and Righteousness; from which it was concluded that Jehovah Himself assumed the Human. Another deliberation concerning the Lord, was, Whether the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are not thus one, as soul and body are one; and this was proved by many passages in the Word, and also from the creed of the present church; from which it was concluded that the soul of the Lord is from God the Father, and consequently that His Human is Divine; and that the Human is to be approached that the Father may be approached, since by means of it Jehovah God sent Himself into the world and made Himself seen before the eyes of men, and thus accessible. This was followed by a third deliberation concerning the Holy Spirit; and then first the idea respecting three Divine persons from eternity was discarded, and it was proved from the Word that the Holy Divine, which is called the Holy Spirit, goes forth out of the Lord from the Father. At length, from the deliberations of this council, this conclusion was reached: That in the Lord the Saviour there is a Divine Trinity, namely, the Divine from which (a quo) which is called the Father the Divine Human which is called the Son, and the Divine going forth which is called the Holy Spirit; and that therefore in the church God is one. When the council was ended, splendid garments were given to those who sat in it and they were conducted to the new heaven (n. 188).
XXX. I saw in a certain stable large purses, in which there was silver in great abundance, and near them young men as guards; in the next room, modest virgins with a chaste wife; and also in another room, two little children; and at last a harlot and dead horses. And afterwards I was taught what each of those things signified; and that by them was represented and described the Word as it is in itself and as it is at this day (n. 277).
XXXI. Writing was seen, such as there is in the highest or third heaven, which consisted of inflected letters with little curves turning upwards; and it was said that the Hebrew letters in the most ancient time were somewhat like these when they were more curved than they are at this day, and that the letter h, which was added to the names of Abram and Sarai, signifies the infinite and the eternal. They explained before me the sense of some words in Psalm 32:2, from the letters or syllables alone there, which is, that the Lord is merciful even to those who do evil (n. 278).
XXXII. Before the Israelitish Word there was a Word, the prophetical books of which were called Enunciations, and the historical, the Wars of Jehovah; and besides these, also one called the book of Jasher; which three are mentioned in our Word; and this ancient Word was in the land of Canaan, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Assyria, Chaldea, Egypt, Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh; but because it was full of such correspondences as remotely signify celestial and spiritual things, which gave occasion for idolatries, this Word, through Divine Providence, disappeared. I have heard that Moses transcribed from this Word the things which he related concerning the Creation, Adam and Eve, the Flood, and Noah and his three sons, but no further. And I was told in the spiritual world by the angels from Great Tartary that this same, Word is still preserved among that people, and that they draw from it the precepts of their faith and life (n. 279).
XXXIII. On account of the distinction between spiritual and natural, or what is the same, between the substantial and the material, those who are in the spiritual world cannot be seen by those who are in the natural world, nor conversely; thus spirits and angels cannot be seen by men, nor men by spirits and angels. From this is the fact that spirits and angels have altogether a different language, different writing, and also different thought from what men have. That this is so, was made evident by living experience, which was done by their going in turn to their associates, and returning to me, and thus comparing. In this way it was discovered, that there is not even one word of spiritual language that is like any word of natural language; and that their writing consists of syllables, each of which involves a meaning pertaining to the subject; and that the ideas of their thought do not fall into the ideas of natural thought. The cause of these differences is, that spirits and angels are in principles, but men in derivatives; or that the former are in prior things which as causes are the origin of posterior things, and that men are in posterior things from those that are prior. It was said that there is a like difference between the languages, writings, and thoughts, of the angels of the third heaven and those of the angels of the second (280).
XXXIV. On the state of men after death, in general, and the state of those who have confirmed themselves in falsities, in particular. In regard to all of these the following things were observed:
(1) For the most part men are commonly resuscitated the third day after death, and then they do not know but that they are still living in the former world.
(2) All go to the world which is intermediate between heaven and hell, which is called the world of spirits.
(3) There they are transferred into various societies, and thus their characters are ascertained.
(4) There the good and faithful are prepared for heaven, and the evil and unfaithful for hell.
(5) After the preparation, which continues for some years, a way is opened for the good to some society in heaven where they are to live forever, but a way for the evil into hell; besides many more things. Afterwards the nature of hell is described; and it is stated that those there who are in falsities from confirmation are called satans and those who are in evils of life are called devils (n. 281).
XXXV. From the lower earth, which is next above hell, I heard shouts, "O how just! O how learned! O how wise!" and because I wondered how there could be any just, learned, and wise persons in hell, I descended, and first went to the place where they were crying, "O how just!" and I saw there, as it were, a tribunal, and in it unjust judges who could skillfully pervert the laws, and turn judgments to the favor of any one whatever; and that thus their judgments were purely arbitrary judgments; and when the sentences were carried out to the clients, they cried out for a long distance, "O how just." Concerning these the angels afterwards said, that such are unable to see any least particle of what is just. After a while these judges were cast into hell, and their books were turned into playing-cards, and instead of judging, they were assigned to the task of preparing paint, with which they daubed the faces of harlots, and thus turned them into beauties (n. 332).
XXXVI. Afterwards I went to the place where they were crying out, "O how learned" and I saw a company of those who were reasoning whether a thing is so or not, but not thinking that it is so; and therefore they stopped at the first step concerning any subject whatever; thus they merely touched it from without and did not enter into it; so they also argue concerning God, whether there is a God. That I might know for certain whether their character was such I put to them the question, What kind of religion is necessary for the salvation of man? They answered, "It must be considered (1) Whether religion is anything. (2) Whether one religion is more efficacious than another. (3) Whether there is any eternal life, and thus whether there is any salvation. (4) Is there a heaven and a hell?" And then they began to discuss the first, Whether religion is anything. And they said that this required so much investigation that it could not be finished in the space of a year; and one among them said, that it could not be finished in a hundred years; to which I replied that in the meantime they would be without religion. But still they discussed this first point so skillfully that the company standing by cried, "O how learned!" I was told by the angels, that such appear like graven images; and that afterwards they are sent out into deserts, where among themselves they gabble and talk nothing but nonsense (n. 333).
XXXVII. I went on further to the third company, where I heard the cry, "O how wise!" and I found assembled there those who are unable to see whether truth is truth or not, and yet are able to make whatever they wish seem true, and are therefore called Confirmers. That they were such, I also saw from various answers to propositions as that they could make it true that faith is the all of the church, and afterwards that charity is the all of the church, and also that faith and charity together are the all of the church; and because they confirmed whichever of these they liked, and adorned them with appearances so that they shone like truths, therefore the by-standers cried, "O how wise!" Afterwards some ludicrous things, also, were proposed to them, that they might make them true; for they say that there is nothing true, except what man makes true. The ludicrous things were these: that light is darkness, and darkness light; and also that a crow is white, and not black; which two they made to appear as wholly true. The arguments for these may be seen in the text. I was told by the angels that such do not possess a single grain of understanding, since all that is above the rational with them is closed, while all below the rational is open; and by this man can confirm whatever he pleases, but cannot see any truth to be truth therefore, this does not belong to a man of understanding, but it does belong to him to be able to see that truth is truth and that falsity is falsity, and to confirm it (n. 334).
XXXVIII. I spoke with spirits who, in the natural world, had been famed for erudition, who were disputing among themselves about connate ideas, whether men have any, as beasts have; and then a certain angelic spirit thrust himself in and said, "You are disputing about goat's wool. Men have no connate ideas, neither have beasts. "At which words all were enraged. But afterwards, opportunity to speak being given, he spoke first concerning beasts, saying, "They have no connate ideas; for the reason that they do not think, but only act from instinct, which they have from their natural love, which makes in them something analogous to a will, and this flows immediately into the senses of their body and excites that which agrees with and favors the love; and yet ideas are predicable only of thought. "That beasts have sensation only and not thought, he confirmed by various things, especially by the wonderful things which are known respecting spiders, bees, and silk-worms, saying, "Does a spider think in its little head, when it forms its web, that the web is to be so woven for the rake of such or such uses? Does a bee think in its little head, 'From these flowers I will suck honey, and from these I will gather wax, out of which I will build compact rows of little cells, and in these I will put honey in abundance that it may be sufficient also for the winter?' besides other things. Does the silkworm think in its little head, 'Now I will betake myself to spinning silk, and when I have spun it I will fly forth and sport with my companions, and provide for myself posterity?' besides like things with beasts and birds." Concerning men he said, that every mother and nurse, and the father also, know that new-born infants have no connate ideas, and that they have no ideas at all until they have learned to think, and that then ideas arise and are produced according to every kind of thought which they have imbibed by instruction; and that this is so because man has nothing born in him except a capacity to know, to understand and to be wise, and an inclination to love not only himself and the world, but also the neighbor and God. These things Leibnitz and Wolfe heard at a distance; and Leibnitz favored, but Wolfe did not (n. 335).
XXXIX. Once a certain angelic spirit illustrated what faith and charity are, and what their conjunction effects. He illustrated it by comparison with light and heat, which meet together in a third; because the light in heaven in its essence is the truth of faith, and the heat there in its essence is the good of charity; therefore as light without heat, such as there is in winter-time in the world, strips the trees of leaves and fruits, so is faith separated from charity; and as light conjoined to heat, such as there is in spring-time, vivifies all things, so is faith conjoined with charity (n. 385).
XL. Two angels descended, one from the eastern heaven where love prevails, and the other from the southern heaven, where wisdom prevails, and spoke concerning the essence of the heavens, whether it is love or wisdom; and they agreed that it is love and wisdom therefrom; consequently, that the heavens were created by God, from love by means of wisdom (n. 386).
XLI. After that, I entered a garden, where I was led around by a certain spirit, and at length to a palace which was called the Temple of Wisdom. This was four-square, the walls of crystal, the roof of jasper, the substructure of various precious stones. And he said that no one can enter it who does not believe that what he knows, understands, and is wise in, compared with what he does not know and understand and is not wise in, is relatively so little that it is scarcely anything. And because I believed this, it was granted me to enter; and it was seen that the whole of it was built to be a form of light. In that temple I related what I had lately heard from the two angels about love and wisdom; and they asked, "Did they not also speak of a third, which is use?" And they said that love and wisdom apart from use are merely ideal entities, but that in use they become real, and that it is the same with charity, faith, and good works (n. 387).
XLII. One of the spirits of the dragon invited me to see the delights of his love; and he led me to something like an amphitheater, upon the seats of which sat satyrs and harlot, And then he said, "Now you shall see our sport." And he opened a door, and let in, as it were, calves, rams, kids, and lambs; and presently through another door he let in lions, panthers, tigers, and wolves, which rushed upon the flock, tearing them and slaughtering them. But all these things which were seen were induced by means of fantasies. Having seen this I said to the dragonist, "After a while you will see this theater turned into a lake of fire and brimstone "The sport being finished, the dragonist went out, attended by his satyrs and harlots, and saw a flock of sheep; from which he inferred that one of the Jerusalemite cities was near by; on seeing which, he was seized with the desire to take it and cast out the inhabitants; but because it was surrounded by a wall, he planned to take it by stratagem. And then he sent one skilled in incantation, who being admitted spoke craftily with the citizens about faith and charity; especially as to which of them is the primary, and whether charity contributes anything to salvation. But the dragonist, enraged at the answer, went out and gathered together many of his crew, and began to besiege the city; but when he was endeavoring to reach and invade it, fire out of heaven consumed them according to what is foretold in the Apocalypse (20:8, 9) (n. 388).
XLIII. A paper was once sent down from heaven, in which there was an exhortation to acknowledge the Lord the Savior as the God of heaven and earth, according to His words (Matthew 28:18). But two bishops who were there were consulted as to what should be done. They said that the paper should be sent back to heaven from which it came. When this was done that society sank down, but not very deep. The next day some ascended therefrom and told what lot they had met with there; also that they went to the bishops there and reproved them for their advice, and that they had talked much about the state of the church at this day, and had censured the doctrine of the bishops regarding the Trinity, of justifying faith, of charity, and other things which pertained to their orthodoxy, and asked them to discard those doctrines because they were contrary to the Word; but to no purpose. And because they called their faith dead and diabolical, according to James in his Epistle, one of the bishops took off the miter from his head, and laid it down upon the table, saying that he would not resume it until the scoffing of his faith had been avenged. But then a monster appeared coming up from below, like the beast described in the Apocalypse (13:1, 2), which took up the miter and carried it away (n. 389).
XLIV. I went to a certain house where those assembled were arguing one with another, whether the good which a man does in the state of justification by faith is the good of religion or not. There was an agreement that by the good of religion the good which contributes to salvation is meant. But the opinion of those prevailed who said that no good that is done by man contributes anything to salvation; since no voluntary good of man can be conjoined with what is free, because salvation is bestowed freely neither can any good from man be conjoined with the merit of Christ, by which alone is salvation possible; neither can the operation of man be conjoined with the operation of the Holy Spirit, that does all things without the aid of man. From which it was concluded that good works, even in the state of justification by faith, contribute nothing to salvation; but faith only. On hearing these things, two gentiles who stood at the door said to each other, "These men have no religion. Who does not know that to do good to the neighbor for God's sake, thus from God and with God, is religion?" (n. 390).
XLV. I heard the angels lamenting that there is such spiritual destitution at this day in the church that they know nothing else than that there are three Divine persons from eternity, and that faith alone saves; and about the Lord they know only the historical facts; and that they are profoundly ignorant of the things that are taught in the Word respecting the Lord, His oneness with the Father, His Divinity and power. And they said that a certain angel had been sent down by them to discover whether there was such destitution at this day among Christians; and that he asked a certain one what his religion was. He answered, that it was faith. Then he asked him about redemption, regeneration, and salvation. He answered that they were all matters of faith; and also in regard to charity that it is in faith; also, whether any one can do good from himself. Afterwards the angel said to him, "You have answered like a man playing but one note on a flute; I hear only faith; but if you know nothing else but that, you know nothing." Then he led him to his companions in a desert, where there was not even grass. Besides more (n. 391).
XLVI. I saw five gymnasia encompassed by different kinds of light, and with many others I entered into the first, which was seen in flame-colored light. Many were assembled there, and the president proposed that they should declare their opinions respecting charity; and when they had begun, the first said that in his opinion charity is morality inspired by faith. The second, that it is pity inspired by commiseration. The third that it is doing good to everyone, both virtuous and vicious alike. The fourth, that it is to serve by every means one's relatives and friends. The fifth, that it is giving alms to the poor and assisting the needy. The sixth, that it is building hospitals, infirmaries, and orphans' homes. The seventh, that it is to endow temples and to do good to their ministers. The eighth, that it is the old Christian brotherhood. The ninth, that it is to forgive every one his trespasses. Each of them fully confirmed his opinion; which confirmations cannot be recited because they are many; they may therefore be seen in the Memorable Relation itself. After this there was given me an opportunity to express my opinion; and I said that charity is to act with judgment from a love justice, in every employment and office but from a love derived from no other source than the Lord the Savior; and after this had been demonstrated, I added that all those things which had been said before respecting charity by the nine celebrated men were eminent examples of charity when done with judgment from justice; and because justice and judgment are from no other source than the Lord the Savior, they are to be done by man from Him. This was approved by most of them in their internal man, but not as yet in the external (n. 459).
XLVII. At a distance there was heard something like the gnashing of teeth, and mingled with this a kind of beating; and I went toward the sounds, and saw a small house built of reeds plastered together; and instead of the gnashing of teeth and the sound of knocking, I heard within, in the little house, disputes about faith and charity which of them is the essential of the church. And those who were for faith brought forward their arguments, saying that faith is spiritual because it is from God, but charity natural because it is from man. On the other hand, those who were for charity said that charity is spiritual and faith is natural unless it is conjoined to charity. To these things a certain syncretist wishing to settle the dispute added to this the proof that faith is spiritual and charity only natural. But it was said that moral life is of two kinds, spiritual and natural, and that in the man who lives from the Lord it is spiritual-moral but in the man who does not live from the Lord it is natural-moral, such as exists with the evil and sometimes with the spirits in hell (n. 460).
XLVIII. In spirit I was brought into a certain garden in the southern quarter, and saw certain persons sitting there under a laurel, eating figs. I asked them how they understood that man can do good from God, and yet do it altogether as if from himself. And they answered that God works good inwardly in man; but if man does it from his own will and from his own understanding, he defiles it so that it is no longer good. But to this I said that man is only an organ of life; and that if he believes in the Lord he does good of himself from the Lord; but if he does not believe in the Lord, and still more, if he does not believe in any God, he does good of himself from hell; and further, that the Lord has given to man freedom of choice in acting from the one or from the other. That the Lord has given this freedom was proved from the Word, in that He commanded man to love God and the neighbor, to perform the good works of charity as a tree produces fruit, and to keep God's commandments that he may be saved, and that everyone will be judged according to his deeds; and that these things would not have been commanded if man could not do good of himself from the Lord. When this had been said, I gave them twigs from a vine, and the twigs in their hands put forth grapes. And more beside (n. 461).
XLIX. I saw a splendid dock-yard, and in it vessels large and small, and on benches there were boys and girls, who were waiting for tortoises to rise up out of the sea; and when they emerged, I saw that they had two heads; one, which at pleasure they drew back into the shell of the body, and another which appeared in form like a man, and from this they spoke with the boys and girls: and these caressed them, because of their elegant discourse and also gave them presents. When these things had been seen an angel explained what they signified; namely, that there are men in the world, and as many spirits from the world after death, who say that in those who have acquired faith God does not look at anything that they think and do, but only looks at the faith which He has stored up in the interiors of their minds; and that these same persons bring forth before the congregations in temples, holy things from the Word just as others do, but this they do from the greater head which appears as a man, into which they then insert the little one, or draw it into the body. The same persons afterwards were seen in the air in a vessel flying with seven sails, and those in it were decorated with laurels and purple garments, and they cried out that they were the chief of the wise of all the clergy. But the things seen were images of pride flowing from the ideas of the minds of such. And when they were upon the earth I spoke with them, first from reason and afterwards from the Sacred Scripture; and by many means I proved that their doctrine was unsound, and, being contrary to the Sacred Scripture, was from hell; but the arguments by which I proved this were too extended to be set forth here, but may be seen in the Relation itself. Afterwards they were seen in a sandy place, in garments of rags, and girt about the loins with network like fishers' nets, through which their nakedness was visible; and at last they were sent down into a society bordering on that of the Machiavelians (n. 462).
L. An assembly was called together which sat in a circular temple, in which at the sides there were altars, and near these the members of the assembly sat; but there was no president; therefore each one of himself rushed forth into the midst and spoke out the feelings of his mind. A discussion began about Freedom of Choice in spiritual things. The first speaker, rushing forth, cried out that man has no more freedom of choice in those things than Lot's wife when turned into a statue of salt; the second, that he has no more than a beast or a dog; the third, that he has no more than a mole, or than a bird of night in the day-time; the fourth, that if man had freedom of choice in spiritual things he would become a maniac and believe himself to be as a God who can regenerate and save himself. The sixth read from a book of the Evangelical, called Formula Concordiae that man has no more freedom of choice in spiritual things than a stock or a stone, and that he has no ability whatever to understand think, or will in respect to these things, or even to adapt and accommodate himself to receive what is spiritual; besides other things (of which above,464). When this had been said, and there was also given me an opportunity of speaking, I said, "What else is man, without freedom of choice in spiritual things, than a brute? And without it, of what use is anything theological?" But to this they replied, "Read our theology, and you will not find therein anything spiritual; you will find this so concealed within that not even a shadow of it appears. Therefore, read what our theology teaches respecting justification, that is, the remission of sins, regeneration, sanctification and salvation; you will not see there anything spiritual, because spiritual things flow in through faith, without any consciousness on man's part. It has also removed charity far from what is spiritual, and repentance also from contact with it. And besides, as to redemption, it attributes to God purely natural human properties, as that He included the human race under a universal damnation; that the Son took that damnation upon Himself, and thus propitiated the Father; and what else are intercession and mediation with the Father? From all this it is clear that in all our theology there is nothing spiritual, and not even what is rational, but merely what is natural below them." But then suddenly a thunderbolt was heard from heaven, and the assembly, seized with terror, rushed forth, and each fled to his own home (n. 503).
LI. I talked with two spirits, one of whom loved good and truth, and the other evil and falsity; and I found that both enjoyed the same ability to think rationally. But when the one who loved evil and falsity was left to himself, I saw a kind of smoke that arose from hell and extinguished the lucidity which was above his memory; but when the one who loved good and truth was left to himself, I saw, as it were, a gentle flame descending from heaven and illuminating the region of his mind above the memory, and from that the things below it. Afterwards I spoke with the one who loved evil and falsity respecting freedom of choice in spiritual things; and at the mere mention of it he fired up and cried out that no one can move his foot or hand to do any spiritual good, or his tongue and lips to speak any spiritual truth, and thus that he cannot even adapt and accommodate himself to receive any such thing. He said, "Is not man in such things dead, and merely passive? How can what is dead or merely passive do good and speak truth of itself? Does not our church so speak?" But the other, who loved good and truth spoke thus respecting freedom of choice in spiritual things: "Without it what would the whole Word be, or what the church, what religion, what the worship of God, thus what the ministry? And from the light of my understanding, I know that man without that spiritual freedom would not be man but a beast; for man is man and not a beast because of that freedom; and moreover, man without freedom of choice in spiritual things would have no life after death, thus no eternal life, because no conjunction with God; therefore, to deny this is the part of those who are insane in spiritual things." Afterwards there was seen an appearance of a fiery serpent upon a tree, which handed fruit therefrom to him who denied freedom of choice in spiritual things; and when this had been eaten a smoke appeared ascending from hell, which extinguished the light in the higher part of his rational mind (n. 504).
LII. There was heard a grating sound like that of two mill-stones grinding on each other; and I went up to where the sound began and saw a house in which were many little cells, and in these the learned of this age were sitting and confirming justification by faith alone; and going up to one, I asked what he was now studying. He answered, "Concerning the Act of Justification which is the head of all things of doctrine in our orthodoxy." And I asked whether he knew any sign by which to tell when justifying faith enters, and when it has entered. And he said, that this is done passively, and not actively. To which I replied, "If you take away what is active in it, you also take away receptivity; and thus that act would be a purely ideal thing, such as is called a figment of reason, thus nothing more than the state of Lot's wife, composed of mere salt which tinkles when scratched by a scribe's pen or fingernail." The man growing warm picked up a candlestick, to throw it at me; but the light going out suddenly he threw it at his companion (n. 505).
LIII. There appeared two flocks, one of goats and the other of sheep; but when they were viewed closely, in place of goats and sheep men were seen; and it was perceived that the flock of goats consisted of those who make faith alone saving, and the flock of sheep of those who make charity and faith together saving. To the inquiry why they were there, those who were seen as goats said that they were sitting as a council because it had been disclosed to them that the saying of Paul, "That man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law (Romans 3:28)" is not rightly understood; because by "faith" here is not meant the faith of this day, but faith in the Lord the Savior; and by "the deeds of the law" are not meant the deeds of the law of the Decalogue, but the deeds of the Mosaic law which were rituals; which also was shown. And they said that they had concluded that faith produces good works as a tree produces fruit. This teaching was favored by those who constituted the flock of sheep. Then an angel, standing between the two flocks, cried out to the flock of sheep, "Do not listen, for they have not receded from their former faith." And he divided the flock of sheep into two, and said to those on the left, "Join yourselves to the goats; but I tell you that a wolf is coming which will carry them off and you with them." Then it was asked how they understood that faith produces good works as a tree produces fruit; and it was found that their perception concerning the conjunction of faith and charity was altogether different from that comparison, and thus that it was a fallacious mode of speaking. When these things were understood, the flocks of sheep reunited themselves into one as before, to which some of the goats joined themselves, confessing that charity is the essence of faith, and that thus faith separate from charity is only natural, but conjoined to it it becomes spiritual (n. 506).
LIV. A discourse with angels concerning the three loves, which are universal, and therefore with every man; which are, Love of the neighbor, or the Love of uses, which in itself is spiritual; the Love of the world, or the Love of possessing wealth, which in itself is material: and the Love of self, or the Love of ruling over others, which in itself is corporeal; and that when these three loves are rightly subordinated in man, he is truly man; and that they are rightly subordinated when love of the neighbor forms the head, love of the world the body, and love of self the feet; it is altogether otherwise when they become fixed in man in a contrary order. And it was shown what man is when the love of the world forms the head, and what he is when love of self; that then he is an inverted man; and in respect to the interiors of his mind is a wild beast, and in respect to his exteriors and the body is an actor. After this there was seen a certain devil ascending from below, having a dusky face with a white circle around the head; and he said that he was Lucifer, although he was not; and that in his internals, he was a devil, but in his externals an angel of light; and he declared when in externals he was moral among the moral, rational among the rational, and even spiritual among the spiritual; and that when he was in the world he had preached; and that then he accursed evil doers of every kind, and this is why he was called "Son of the morning;" and, what he himself wondered at, when he was in the pulpit he had no other idea than that it was as he spoke; but otherwise when he was out of the temple. This he said because in the temple he was in his externals and then in the understanding only, but out of the temple in his internals and then in the will; and thus he was raised into heaven by his understanding while his will drew him down into hell; but that the will prevails over the understanding, because it disposes the understanding according to its beck and nod. After this the devil who pretended to be Lucifer fell down into hell (n. 507).
LV. There was seen a round temple, the roof of which was crown-shaped, its walls continuous windows of crystal, its door of a pearly substance. In it there was a pulpit, on which was the Word enveloped in a sphere of light. In the center of the temple was a sanctuary, before which was a veil, at that time raised, where stood a cherub waving a sword in his hand. When this had been seen it was explained to me what each particular signified; which may be seen. Above the gate there was this inscription, Now it is permitted; which signified, that now it is permitted to enter understandingly into the mysteries of faith; and it was given me to perceive that it exceedingly dangerous to enter with the understanding into dogmas of faith which are from self intelligence and thus in falsities, and still more to confirm these from the Word; therefore, by the Divine Providence the Word had been taken away from the Roman Catholics, and with Protestants it had been closed by their dogma that the understanding is to be kept under obedience to their faith. But because the dogmas of the New Church are all from the Word, it is permitted to enter into these with the understanding, because they are continuous truths from the Word, and also shine before the understanding. This was what is meant by the writing above the gate, Now it is permitted, and by the veil of the sanctuary being raised, within which the cherub stood. After this there was brought to me a paper from an infant who was an angel in the third heaven, on which was written, Enter hereafter into the mysteries of the Word which has been heretofore shut up; for the particular truths therein are so many mirrors of the Lord (n. 508).
LVI. I was seized with a grievous disease, from the smoke that came in from the Jerusalem which is called Sodom and Egypt (Revelation 11:8); and I was seen by those Who were in that city as dead; and they said one to another that I was not worthy of burial, just as it is said concerning the two witnesses in the same chapter in the Apocalypse; and meanwhile I heard blasphemies in abundance from the citizens on account of my having preached repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But as a judgment came upon them, I saw that the whole city fell down and was overflowed with waters; and afterwards that they were running about among the heaps of stones, and lamenting on account of their lot; when their belief was that, by the faith of their church they were born again and were thus righteous. But it was said to them that they were anything else than such, since they had never performed any actual repentance; and were therefore unaware of any damnable evil in themselves. Afterwards it was said to them from heaven, that faith in the Lord and repentance are the two means of regeneration and salvation; and that this is very well known from the Word, and still further, from the Decalogue, baptism, and the holy supper; concerning which see the Relation (n. 567).
LVII. All who after death come into the spiritual world at first are kept in the externals in which they were in the natural world; and because most men who are in externals live morally, frequent churches and pray to God, they believe that they will certainly come into heaven. But they are taught that every man after death gradually puts off the external man, and the internal man is opened, and then the man is known, as he is in himself, since man is man from his will and understanding, and not merely from action and speech: and from this it is that man can in externals appear like a sheep, although in internals he is like a wolf, and that he is such in his internal man unless he examines the evils of his will and of his intention therefrom, and repents of them; with more besides (n. 568).
LVIII. Every love breathes forth delight. In the natural world the delights from love, are but little felt, but in the spiritual world they are clearly felt; and there they are sometimes turned into odors; and the nature of the delights is then perceived and what love they are from; and the delights from the love of good, such as are in the heavens, are perceived as fragrance in gardens and flower-beds; and on the other hand, the delights from the love of evil, such as are in hell, are perceived as the pungent and fetid smells from stagnant waters and from cesspools; and because they are so opposite, the devils are tortured when they are sensible of any sweet odor from heaven, and on the other hand, the angels are tortured when they are sensible of any ill-smelling odors from hell. That it is so, was confirmed by two examples. This is why the oil of anointing was prepared from fragrant things, and why it is said of Jehovah that He smelled a sweet savor from the burnt-offerings; and on the other hand, why it was commanded the sons of Israel that they should carry unclean things out of their camps, and that they should bury their excrements; for their camps represented heaven, and the desert outside of the camps represented hell (n. 569).
LIX. A certain novitiate spirit, who in the world meditated much upon heaven and hell, desired to know the nature of each; and it was said to him from heaven, "Inquire what delight is, and you will know." Therefore going away he inquired; but among spirits merely natural he inquired in vain. But he was led to three companies in succession; to one where they searched out ends and were therefore called wisdoms; to another where they investigated causes, and were therefore called intelligences; and to a third where they inquired into effects, and were therefore called knowledges: and by all these he was taught that every angel, spirit, and man has life from the delight of his love; and that the will and thought cannot move a step except from a delight in some love; and this is to everyone that which is called good; and still further that the delight of heaven is a delight in doing good, and the delight of hell a delight in doing evil. That he might be further taught, a devil providentially ascended, and there before him described the delights of hell, that they were the delights of revenge, fornication, plunder and blasphemy; and these when perceived there as odors are perceived as balsams and therefore he called them the delights of their nostrils (n. 670).
LX. A company of spirits was seen praying to God that He would send angels to teach them about various things pertaining to faith, inasmuch as in most things they were in doubt, because churches so differ one from another, and all their ministers say "Believe us; we are the ministers of God, and we know." And angels appeared, whom they questioned in regard to charity and faith, repentance, regeneration, God, the immortality of the soul, and baptism and the holy supper; about each of which the angels gave such answers as fell into their understanding; saying further that whatever does not fall into the understanding is like what is sown in the sand which, however it may be watered by the rain, still withers away; and the understanding when closed against religion, no longer sees anything in the Word from the light therein from the Lord; and even if the Word is read he becomes more and more blind in the things of faith and salvation (n. 621).
LXI. How man, when prepared for heaven, enters it; namely, that after preparation he sees a path that leads to the society in heaven in which he is to live to eternity; and near the society there is a gate which is opened; and when he has entered an examination is made whether he has in him the same light and the same heat, that is, the same good and truth as are in the angels of that society. When this is determined he goes about and inquires where his house is; for there is for each novitiate angel a new house. When this is found he is received and numbered as one among them. But those who have not in them the light and heat, that is, the good and truth of heaven, have this hard lot, that when they enter they are miserably tortured, and because of the torture cast themselves down headlong. This happens to them because of the sphere of the light and heat of heaven, in the opposite of which they are; and afterwards they no longer desire heaven, but are affiliated with their like in hell. From this it is clear that it is idle to believe that gaining heaven is merely an admission from favor, and that those who are admitted enter into the fruition of the joys there, like those in the world who are admitted into a house where there is a wedding (n. 622).
LXII. Many who believe that heaven is a mere matter of admission from grace, and after admission there is eternal joy, were permitted to ascend into heaven; but because they could not endure the light and heat, that is, the faith and love there, they cast themselves down headlong; and they appeared to those who stood below like dead horses. Among those who stood below and who thus saw them, were boys with their master; and he taught them what their appearing like dead horses signified, and who those are who so appear at a distance, saying that they are those who when they read the Word think materially and not spiritually about God, the neighbor, and heaven; and that those think materially about God who think about essence from person, and in regard to the neighbor about his quality from the face and speech, and in regard to heaven about the state of love there from place; but those think spiritually who think of God from essence, and from essence of person; of the neighbor from his quality; and from quality of his face and speech; and of heaven from the state of love there and of place from that. And afterwards he taught them that a horse signifies understanding of the Word; and because the Word with those who think spiritually when they read it is a living letter, so such appear at a distance as living horses; and on the other hand, because the Word with those who think materially when they read it is a dead letter, so those at a distance appear as dead horses (n. 623).
LXIII. An angel was seen descending from heaven into that world with a paper in his hand, upon which was written the marriage of good and truth and it was seen that in heaven the paper shone, but in its descent gradually less and less, until neither the paper nor the angel was seen, except before some unlearned ones who were simple-hearted. To these the angel explained what the marriage of good and truth involves, namely, that all and each of the things in the whole heaven and in the whole world contain the two together, because in the Lord God the Creator good and truth make one; and therefore nothing is anywhere possible which by itself is good, nor anything which by itself is true; consequently in each and everything there is a marriage of good and truth, and in the church a marriage of charity and faith, since charity pertains to good and faith to truth (n. 624).
LXIV. When I was in profound thought about the second coming of the Lord, I saw heaven from the east to the west luminous, and heard a glorification and celebration of the Lord by the angels, but from the Word, both the prophetic Word of the Old Testament and the Apostolic Word of the New Testament. The passages themselves by which the glorifications were made may be seen in the Relation (n. 625).
LXV. In the north-eastern quarter there, are Places of instruction, and those who interiorly receive instruction there are called disciples of the Lord. Once when in the spirit, I asked the teachers there whether they knew the universals of heaven and the universals of hell; and they answered that the universals of heaven are three loves, the love of uses, the love of possessing the goods of the world from the love of performing uses, and true marriage love; and that the universals of hell are three loves opposite to those three, namely, the love of ruling from the love of self, the love of possessing the goods of others from the love of the world, and scortatory love. It is described afterwards what the first infernal love is, which is the love of ruling from the love of self; that it is such with the laity that, when loose rein is given to it, they wish to rule over all things of the world, and with the clergy, that they wish to rule over all things of heaven. That such a hallucination possesses those who are in that love was proved by the like in hell, where such are together in a certain valley, who find enjoyment for their minds in the hallucinations that they are emperors of emperors, or kings of kings; and elsewhere that they are gods; and it was seen that at the sight of these latter, the former, whose minds were so elated, fell upon their knees and worshiped. Afterwards I spoke with two, one of whom was the prince of a certain society in heaven, and the other was the high-priest there; who said that with those in that society there are magnificent and splendid things, because their love is not from the love of self, but from the love of uses; and that they are surrounded by honors and that they accept them not for the sake of themselves, but for the sake of the good of obedience. I then asked them, "How can anyone know whether he does uses from the love of self or the world, or from love of uses since uses are performed from all these loves? Let it be supposed that there is a society consisting of satans only and a society consisting of angels only, and I can imagine that the satans, from the love of self and the world, would perform as many uses in their society as the angels would in theirs. Who, then, can know from which love the uses are?" To this the prince and priest replied that satans perform uses for the sake of reputation, that they may be raised to honors and acquire wealth, but angels perform uses for the sake of uses. And the latter are distinguished from the former especially by this, that all who believe in the Lord and shun evils as sins perform uses from the Lord, and thus from the love of uses; but all who do not believe in the Lord and do not shun evils as sins perform uses from themselves and for the sake of themselves, thus from the love of self or the world (n. 661).
LXVI. I entered a certain grove and saw two angels talking with each other. I drew near them and they were speaking of the lust of possessing all things of the world, and it was said that many who in actions appear moral and in conversation rational are in the madness of that lust, and that that lust is turned into hallucinations with those who let their minds dwell in ideas concerning it. And because everyone in the spiritual world is permitted to delight himself in his hallucination, provided he does no evil to another there are even congregations of such in the lower earth; and as it was known where they were, we descended and went to them; and we saw that they were sitting at tables, upon which there was an abundance of gold coin, and they said that this was the wealth of all in the kingdom; but it was only a vision of the imagination which is called a hallucination, whereby such an appearance was created. But when they were told that they were insane, they turned away from the tables and confessed that it was so; but because they were exceedingly delighted by the vision, they could not help returning again and again, and indulging the allurements of their senses. To this they added, that if anyone deprives another of his goods, or otherwise harms him, he falls down into a kind of prison under them, and is kept there at work for food, clothing, and some little pieces of money; and if they also do evil there, they are deprived of these and punished (n. 662).
LXVII. A dispute was heard between an ambassador of a kingdom and two priests, whether intelligence and wisdom, and thus also prudence, are from God or from man. The ambassador insisted that these are from man, but the priests that they are from God; nevertheless it was perceived by certain angels that the priests inwardly in themselves believed the same as the ambassador, namely, that intelligence and wisdom, and prudence therefrom, are from man. That this, therefore, might be made clear, the ambassador was requested to lay aside the garments of his office, and to put on the garments of the sacerdotal ministry, and when this was done the ambassador began to prove by many things that all intelligence and also prudence are from God. And afterwards the priests also were asked to lay aside their garments, and to put on the garments of ministers of state; and when this was done the priests spoke from their interior selves, saying that all intelligence and prudence are from man. They so spoke because a spirit thinks himself to be such as his dress is. After this the three became hearty friends; and as they conversed together they went the way that tended downwards; but afterwards I saw them brought back (n. 663).
LXVIII. First those are treated of who in the Word are called the elect, and it is known that they are such as are found after death to have lived a life of charity and faith, and who are separated from those who have not lived that life; thus the elect mean those who are then elected and prepared for heaven. Therefore to believe that only some, before their birth or after it, are elected and predestined to heaven, and not all, since all are called, would be to accuse God of impotence and also of injustice (n. 664).
LXIX. It was said in heaven, by a certain new-comer that no one in the Christian world knows what conscience is; and because the angels did not believe this, they said to a certain spirit that he might call together with a trumpet the intelligent, and ask them whether they know what conscience is. And it was so done; and they came, and among them there were statesmen, scholars, physicians, and priests. First, the statesmen were asked what conscience is. They answered that it is a pain arising from fear anticipated or actual, of the loss of honor or wealth; or from a hypochondriacal humor arising from undigested substances in the stomach; and more besides. Afterwards, they asked the scholars what they knew about conscience. They answered that it is a sadness and anxiety infesting the body and from that the head, or the head and from that the body, from various causes, especially from applying the mind to one thing only, which is done especially when the reigning love suffers; giving rise sometimes to hallucinations and deliriums, and with some to a kind of brain sickness in religious matters, which is called remorse of conscience. Next the physicians were asked what conscience is. And they said that it is only a pain arising from various diseases, which they enumerated in abundance; also that they had cured many by means of drugs. The diseases from which the pains called those of conscience spring may be seen enumerated in the Relation. Finally the priests were asked what conscience is. They said that it was the same with the contrition that precedes faith, and that they had cured it by the gospel; moreover, that there are conscientious persons of every religion, true as well as fanatical, who make to themselves scruples about matters of salvation, also about indifferent matters. The angel from hearing these things perceived it to be true that no one knew what conscience is; therefore they sent down one from themselves to teach. He standing in the midst said that conscience is not a pain, as they had all imagined, but is a life according to religion; and that that life is especially in those who are in the faith of charity; and that those who have conscience speak from the heart what they speak, and do from the heart what they do. This he illustrated by examples. So, when it is said of anyone that he has a conscience, it is meant that he is upright; and conversely. When all this had been said, those who had been called together divided themselves into four bodies; those who understood and favored the words of the angel passed over into one; those who did not understand but still favored, into another; those who had no wish to understand, saying to each other, "What have we to do with conscience?" passed over into a third; and those who scoffed, saying, "What is conscience but a breath of wind?" passed over into the fourth. After this the two latter bodies were seen to go aside to the left, and the two former to the right (n. 665).
LXX. I was led to a place where the ancient Sophi dwelt who had been in Greece, which place they called Parnassium; and I was told that at times they send out some to fetch new-comers from the world that they may inquire about wisdom, how it is at this day on earth. Then two Christians were found and brought, who were presently asked, "What news from earth?" And they answered that this was new there; that they had found human beings in the woods, perhaps left there in early childhood; and that they appeared from the face to be men, and yet they were not men; and that from this it was concluded in the world that man is no more than a beast, except that he can articulate sound, and thus speak; and that a beast could in like manner become wise if endowed with the ability to make articulate sounds; besides more. The Sophi from hearing these things drew many conclusions respecting wisdom, what changes it had undergone since their times; especially from this, that they do not now know the distinction between the state of man and that of a beast, nor even that man is born merely the form of a man, and becomes man by instructions and such a man as the kinds of instruction he receives; that he becomes wise from truths, unwise from falsities, and inwardly a wild beast from evils; and that he is born merely a capacity to know. understand, and become wise, in order that he might be a subject into which God might inspire wisdom, from the first degree of it to the highest. They said further that they understood from the new-comers that wisdom which in their time was in its rise, is at this day setting. Afterwards they instructed the new-comers how it is that man, created a form of God, could be turned into the form of the devil. But concerning all this the Relation may be seen (n. 692).
LXXI. There was again a meeting appointed in the place where the ancient Sophi were, since they had heard from those sent out by them that they had found three new-comers from the earth, one a priest, another a politician, and a third a philosopher; these were brought and were presently asked, "What news from earth?" And they replied, "This is new; we have heard that a certain man says that he speaks with angels and spirits; and he relates many things concerning their state and among them that man lives a man after death as much as before, with this difference only, that he is then clothed with a spiritual body, but before with a material body." On hearing which they asked the priest what he had thought about those things on earth. He replied that because he had believed that man was not to live again as a man before the day of the last judgment, he with the rest of his order were of the opinion that the things the man told were visions, and afterwards fictions, and that at last he was in doubt. Then he was asked whether the inhabitants of the earth could not see from reason that man lives a man after death, and thus dissipate the paradoxical notions concerning the state of souls in the mean time, which are, that souls meanwhile are flying about like winds in the universe, continually awaiting the last judgment that they may be combined with their bodies; which lot would be worse than the lot of any beast. To this the priest replied that they talk, but they do not convince; and that they ascribe the combining or re-uniting of souls with their bodies and skeletons in the sepulchre to the omnipotence of God; and when they name omnipotence and also faith, all reason is exiled. Afterwards the politician being questioned concerning the things heard, replied that in the world he could not believe that man would live after death, since all of man lies dead in the grave, and thus he thought that that man saw specters and believed them to be angels and spirits but that now for the first time he was convinced, by his very senses, that he lives a man as before, and that he was therefore ashamed of his former thoughts. The philosopher related nearly the same things concerning himself, and concerning others of his school; saying, moreover, that he referred those things which he had heard respecting the things seen and heard by that man, to a place among the opinions and hypotheses which he had collected from the ancients and moderns. On hearing these things the Sophi were astonished, especially that Christians, who are in light above others from revelation, should be in such thick darkness respecting their life after death; when yet they and the wise men of their time knew about and believed in that life; saying further that they had noticed that the light of wisdom had lowered itself since that age from the interior of the brain even to the mouth under the nose, where it appears as a brightness of the lip, and in consequence the speech of the mouth appears like wisdom. To this one of the tyros added, "How stupid are the minds of those who now dwell on the earth! Would that the disciples of Heraclitus who laughed at everything and the disciples of Democritus who wept at everything were here, and we should hear both great laughter and great weeping." After this there were given to the new-comers plates of copper on which hieroglyphics were engraved and they departed (n. 693).
LXXII. New-comers from the world were found, and were brought to the city under Parnassium, and were asked, "What news from earth?" And they answered that in the world they had believed that after death there would be rest from all kinds of labor, and yet they had heard, when they were coming hither, that there are here administrations, offices and employments, as in the former world, and thus that there is not rest. To this the wise ones there replied, "Thus you believed that now you are to live in mere idleness, and yet idleness produces a languid, torpid, stupid and sleepy state of the mind, and from that of the whole body, and this is death and not life." And then they were led about in the city, and to the administrators and workmen; on seeing which, they wondered that there should be such things, since they had believed that there would be some empty place in which souls were to live until the new heaven and new earth came into existence. They were also taught that all the things that here appear before the eyes are substantial and are called spiritual; and that all things in their former world are material and are called natural; and that there is this difference because they are from different origins; namely, that all things in this world exist and subsist from a sun which is pure love, and all things in that world exist from a sun which is pure fire. They were also taught that in this world there are not only administrations, but also pursuits of every kind, and also writings and books. The new-comers were delighted with what they were taught, and when they were going away, some virgins came with pieces of needle-work and embroidery made with their own hands, and gave these to them; and they sung before them an ode in which they expressed in angelic melody the affection for useful labor and its charms (n. 694).
LXXIIII. I was introduced into an assembly where some of the ancient philosophers were present, and was asked what they knew in my world about influx. To which I answered, that the only influx they knew about was that of the light and heat of their sun into the things which are of nature, both into animate and into inanimate things; and that they knew nothing about the influx of the spiritual world into the natural world, although from that influx are all the wonderful things which are beheld both in the animal kingdom there, and in the vegetable kingdom (these were in part recounted). And because they are ignorant of this influx, they confirm themselves in favor of nature, and become naturalists, and at length atheists (n. 695).
LXXIV. I spoke with the followers of Aristotle, Descartes, and Leibnitz, concerning physical influx, occasional influx, and pre-established harmony, and heard how each confirmed his hypothesis; but as they were able to look into that subject only with an understanding subordinated to confirmations, and not superior to them, they ended the dispute by lot, which came out in favor of spiritual influx, which to some extent coincides with occasional influx (n. 696).
LXXV. I was taken into a certain gymnasium in which the young were initiated into various things pertaining to wisdom, and this was done by the discussion of some subject which was there proposed by the president; and the subject then under discussion was, What is the soul, and what is its nature? There was a desk into which those who were to answer ascended. And presently one ascended, who said that no one since the creation of the world had been able to find out what the soul is and what its nature is; but since it was known that there is a soul in man, man had sought to know where it is. There was one who held that it has its seat in man in a certain little gland which is called the pineal gland, which is situated between the two brains in the head; and that at first he had believed this; but as it was rejected by many, he afterwards receded from this view. After this the second ascended, and said that he believed the seat of the soul to be in the head, because the understanding is there; but as he was unable to conjecture where in the head it resided, he acceded now to the opinion of those who said that its seat is in the three ventricles of the brain; now to the opinion of those who said that it is in the striated bodies there; now to the opinion of those who said that it is in the medullary or the cortical substance, and now to the opinion of those who said that it is in the dura mater; adding that he would leave it to everyone to think what he liked. The third ascending said that the seat of the soul is in the heart and thence in the blood; and this he confirmed from the Word where it is said, heart and soul. The fourth next ascending said that from his childhood he had believed with the ancients that the soul is not in one part but in the whole, because it is a spiritual substance, of which place cannot be predicated, but impletion; and further, as soul and life mean the same thing, the life is in the whole. The fifth ascending said that he believed the soul to be something pure, like ether or air, and that he believed this because it is supposed that the soul would be such after it had been separated from the body. But the wise ones in the orchestra, perceiving that none of them knew what the soul is, requested the president, who had proposed the problem, to descend and teach. He therefore descending, said, "The soul is the very essence of man; and because an essence without a form is not anything, the soul is the form of man's forms; and this form is the truly human form, in which wisdom with its perceptions and love with its affections universally reside; and as you believed in the world that you would be souls after death, you are now yourselves the souls;" besides more. And this was confirmed by this declaration in the Book of Creation, "Jehovah God breathed into the nostrils of Adam the soul if lives, and man became a living soul" (Genesis 2:7) (n. 697).
LXXVI. There was seen an angel with a trumpet, with which he called together those celebrated for erudition among Christians, that they might tell what they had believed in the world concerning the joys of heaven and eternal happiness. This was done because it had been said in heaven that no one in the Christian world knew anything about them. And after about an hour there were seen six companies coming from the learned Christians, who were asked what they had known about the joys of heaven and eternal happiness. The first company said that they had believed them to be merely an admission into heaven, and then into its festive joys, as one is admitted into a house where there is a wedding and into its festivities. The second company said that they had believed them to be most cheerful companionship and the sweetest conversations with angels. The third company said that they had believed them to be feastings with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The fourth company said that they had believed them to be paradisal delights. The fifth company, that there would be supreme dominion, boundless wealth, and more than royal magnificence. The sixth company, that there would be a glorification of God and a festival enduring to eternity. Therefore that these learned ones might know whether those things which they had believed to be the joys of heaven were so, it was granted them to enter into those their joys, each company by itself, that they might learn by living experience whether those joys were imaginary or real. This takes place with most of those who come from the natural world into the spiritual (n. 731-733).
And then presently the company that had thought the joys of heaven to be most cheerful companionship and sweetest conversations with angels, were let into the joys of their imagination; but because they were external joys and not internal, after some days they were affected with weariness and departed (n. 734).
Afterwards those who had believed that the joys of heaven are feasts with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were let into like things; but because they perceived that such joys were only external and not internal, they became weary and went away (n. 735).
The same was done with those who had believed that the joys of heaven and eternal happiness consist in supreme dominion, boundless riches, and more than royal magnificence (n. 736).
Also with those who had believed that heavenly joys, and consequently eternal happiness, are paradisal delights (n. 737).
Afterwards with those who had believed that heavenly joys and eternal happiness are a perpetual glorification of God, and a festival enduring for ever. These were finally taught what is meant in the Word by the glorification of God (n. 738).
Finally, the same was done with those who had believed that they would enter into heavenly joys and eternal happiness if only they were admitted into heaven; and that they would then have joys like the joys of those who enter into the house of a wedding, and join in the festivities there. But when they were shown by living experience that there are no joys in heaven except for those who have lived the life of heaven, that is, a life of charity and faith, but instead, heaven is a torture to those who have led an opposite life, they withdrew and affiliated themselves with their like (n. 739).
Because the angels perceived that as yet no one in the natural world knows what the joys of heaven are, and thus what eternal happiness is, the angel with the trumpet was told to choose ten from those who had been called together, and introduce them into a society of heaven, that they might see with their eyes and perceive with their minds what heaven is and what the joys there are; and so it was done. And when they had been admitted, it was granted them first to see the magnificent palace of the prince there (n. 740). Then the paradise near it (n. 741). Afterwards, the prince himself and his great men in splendid garments (n. 742). Then, being invited to the table of the prince, they saw such an entertainment as no eye had ever seen oil earth; and at the table they heard the prince give instruction respecting heavenly joys and eternal happiness, that they consist essentially in internal blessedness, and from this in external enjoyments; and that internal blessedness derives its essence from an affection for use (n. 743, 744). After dinner, by command of the prince some wise men of the society were sent for, who taught them fully about the nature and source of internal blessedness, which is eternal happiness; and that this causes external enjoyments to be joys; besides more concerning all these things (n. 745, 746). After this they were permitted to see a wedding in that heaven, (of which n. 747-749). And finally, to hear preaching (n. 750, 751). When they had seen and heard all this, full of knowledge concerning heaven and joyful in heart they descended (n. 752).
LXXVII. Revelation is here treated of. It has pleased the Lord to manifest Himself to me, and to open the interiors of my mind and to enable me thereby to see the things which are in heaven and hell and thus He has disclosed mysteries which in excellence and dignity surpass all mysteries hitherto disclosed. They are as follows. (i.) That, in each thing and all things of the Word there is a Spiritual Sense, which does not appear in the sense of the letter; and that consequently the Word was written by means of the correspondences of spiritual things with natural. (ii.) The Correspondences themselves, what they are has been explained. (iii.) There has also been a revelation concerning the Life of men after Death. (iv.) Also respecting Heaven and Hell, what the one is and what the other is; also respecting Baptism and the Holy Supper. (v.) Respecting the Sun in the spiritual world, that it is pure love from the Lord who is in the midst of it, the light proceeding from which is wisdom, and the heat proceeding from which is love; thus that faith and charity are from it; and that all things that go forth from it are spiritual and thus alive; also that the sun of the natural world is pure fire, and therefore all things that are from the sun are natural, and thus dead. (vi.) That there are three Degrees hitherto unknown. (vii.) And furthermore, matters have been revealed relating to the Last Judgment; the Lord the Savior as the God of Heaven and Earth; the New Church and its Doctrine; the Inhabitants of the Planets, and the Earths in the Universe (n. 846). (viii.) Also respecting Conjugial Love; that with the spiritual it is spiritual with the natural it is natural, and with adulterers it is carnal (n. 847). (ix.) The angels discerned by inquiry that although these mysteries are more excellent than any mysteries hitherto disclosed, still at this day they are regarded by many as of no account (n. 848). (x.) A murmur was heard from some in the lower earth that they would not believe those things unless Miracles were done; but the answer was made that they would no more believe through miracles than did Pharaoh and the Egyptians; or no more than the posterity of Jacob when they danced about the golden calf in the desert; or no more than the Jews when they saw the miracles done by the Lord Himself (n. 849). (xi.) Finally, why the Lord revealed these mysteries to me, and not rather to some one of the ecclesiastical order (n. 850).
The things contained in the Memorable Relations which follow the chapters are true; and like things were seen and heard by the prophets before the coming of the Lord, and like things by the apostles after His coming, as by Peter, Paul, and especially by John in the Apocalypse; which things are set forth (n. 851).
852. INDEX MEMORABILIUM
AUTHOR'S SUMMARY OF THE SPIRITUAL NARRATIVES
I. I heard certain new comers conversing about three Divine Persons from eternity, when one of them, who in the world had been a primate, expressed the ideas that were in his mind concerning that mystery. He said that his opinion had been, and still was, that the three sit upon lofty thrones in heaven-God the Father upon a throne of pure gold, with a sceptre in His hand, God the Son at His right hand upon a throne of purest silver, with a crown upon His head, and God the Holy Spirit upon a, throne of brilliant crystal, holding in His hand a dove, in which He appeared when Christ was baptized; that round about them in triple row pendent lamps glitter with precious stones; and that some distance away countless angels stand in a circle, worshiping and singing praises. He spoke further concerning the Holy Spirit, telling how He brings faith, purifies and justifies. The primate added that many of his order favored these ideas of his, for he supposed that I, being a, layman, would also approve of them. Thereupon, having been granted the opportunity to speak, I said that from my boyhood I had cherished the idea, that there is one God. I then explained to him what the Trinity involves, and what a throne, sceptre and crown signify when these in the Word are predicated of God. I also added that all who believe that there are three Divine Persons from eternity cannot but believe that there are three Gods; and moreover I said that the Divine Essence is not divisible. 16.
II. A discourse of the angels concerning God, affirming that His Divine is the Divine Being in itself, and not from itself; and that it is One, the Same, the Self, and Indivisible; also that God is not in place, but is with those who are in place; and that His Divine Love appears to the angels as a Sun, the heat from which in its essence is love, and the light wisdom. 25.
The proceeding Divine attributes, namely creation, redemption and regeneration, are the attributes of one God and not of three. 26.
III. I perceived that a vast number of men are persuaded that all things belong to nature, and consequently that nature is the creator of the universe. Therefore, being present in a college where such persons were gathered, I spoke with a certain clever individual concerning these three points:
(1) Whether nature is from life, or life from nature.
(2) Whether the centre is from the expanse, or the expanse from the centre.
(3) Concerning the centre and expense of nature and of life-that the centre of nature is the sun of the natural world, and the expanse of nature is the world of that sun; and that the centre of life is the Sun of the spiritual world, and the expense of life is the world of that Sun. These propositions were considered from both points of view, and finally it was shown what the truth was. 36.
IV. I was conducted to a certain theatre of wisdom where there were assembled from the four quarters angelic spirits, who had been instructed from heaven to consider these three mysteries (arcana):
(1) What is the image of God and what is the likeness of God.
(2) Why man is not born into the knowledge relating to any love, while beasts and birds are born into the knowledge relating to all their loves.
(3) What is meant by the tree of life, and what by the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They were also instructed to combine their consideration of these three subjects in one decision, and refer it to the angels of heaven. This was done, and the decision was referred to the angels and accepted by them. 48.
V. From evil spirits just over hell there was heard a noise like that of the sea. This was a tumult which arose among them, because they heard it said above them that the omnipotent God had bound Himself to order. Certain of these ascended and spoke in sharp tones to me on the matter, saying that God, being omnipotent, is not bound to any order. On being questioned concerning order I replied:
(1) God is Order itself.
(2) He created man from order, in order and for order.
(3) He created his rational mind according to the order of the spiritual world, and his body according to the order of the natural world.
(4) Consequently it is a, law of order that man from his own little spiritual world or little heaven should govern his own little natural world or microcosm, just as God from His great heaven or spiritual world governs His macrocosm or great natural world.
(5) More laws follow from this, several of which are adduced; and lastly a description is given of what happened to those spirits. 71.
VI. Concerning a discussion between certain persons from Holland and Britain in the spiritual world on imputation and predestination. On one side, why God, being omnipotent, does not impute the righteousness of His Son to all, and thus make them all redeemed; while He, being omnipotent., can make all the satans of hell angels of heaven. Indeed, if He pleases, He can make Lucifer, 1 the dragon, and all the goats archangels: for this, one little word only is needed. On the other side, God is Order itself, and can do nothing contrary to the laws of His order, for this would be to act contrary to Himself; besides many other matters with which they rallied one another on this subject. 72.
VII. Afterwards I spoke with others who believed in predestination, a faith which they deduced from the absolute power or omnipotence of God, holding that otherwise the power of God would be less than that of a royal monarch in the world, who can turn the laws of justice as he can the palms of his hands, and act absolutely, as did Octavius Augustus and Nero. To this the reply was made that God created the world and all things in it, in general and in particular, from Himself as Order, and thus endowed them with order and that the laws of His order are as numerous as the truths in the Word. Some of the laws of order are then stated, what they are and their nature on God's part, and likewise on man's part. These cannot be changed because God is Order itself; and it is added that man was created an image of His order. 73.
VIII. I spoke with an assembly of clergymen and laymen concerning the Divine omnipotence. They said that omnipotence is unlimited, and limited omnipotence is a contradiction. To this the reply was made that it is not a contradiction to act omnipotently according to the laws of justice with judgment; it is said moreover in David that justice and judgment are the support of God's throne, Psalms 89:14. Nor is it a contradiction to act omnipotently according to the laws of love and wisdom. On the other hand it is a contradiction that God can act contrary to the laws of justice and love, for this would be acting from want of judgment and wisdom. Such a contradiction is involved in the faith of the Church of to-day, that God can make the unjust man just, and honor the impious with all the gifts of salvation and the rewards of life. Much more was said concerning this faith and also concerning omnipotence. 74.
IX. Once when I was meditating upon the creation of the universe by God, I was led in the spirit to certain wise persons who at first complained of the ideas which they had entertained in the world concerning the creation of the universe out of chaos, and concerning creation out of nothing, because these ideas obscure, overturn and pervert one's thought concerning the creation of the universe by God. Therefore, on being asked what my opinion was I replied as follows: It is impossible to form anything but a fanciful idea of the creation of the universe unless it is known that there are two worlds, the spiritual and the natural, and that in each there is a sun; that the Sun of the spiritual world is pure love, in the midst of which is God, and that from it are derived all spiritual things, which in themselves are substantial; and that the sun of the natural world is pure fire, and that from it are derived all natural things, which in themselves are material. From a knowledge of these things it may be concluded that the creation of the universe is from God. An opinion may also be formed as to how creation was effected; and this is also briefly described. 76.
X. Some satans of hell desired to speak with angels of heaven, for the purpose of convincing them that all things are derived from nature, and that "God" is only a word unless nature is meant. They were permitted to ascend; and then certain angels descended from heaven to hear them. When the satans saw them, they ran furiously towards them, saying, "You are called angels because you believe that there is a God, and that nature is relatively nothing. Yet you believe this although it is contrary to all the senses; for which of your five senses perceives anything else then nature? When they had said this and much more with some acerbity, the angels reminded them that they were now living after death, and that formerly they had not indeed believed this. Then they caused them to see the beautiful and splendid objects of heaven, and told them that these things are in heaven because all persons there believe in God. The angels next caused them to see the vile and unsightly things of hell, saying that these things are there because the inhabitants believe in nature. The satans were at first convinced by what they had seen that there is a God, and that He created nature; but as they descended, the love of evil returned and closed their understanding from above. This being closed, they believed as before, that all things are derived from nature, and nothing from God. 77.
XI. Angels showed me by actual examples the manner of the creation of the universe. I was conducted into heaven and there I saw all the objects of the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms similar in all respects to the objects of those three kingdoms in the material world. The angels then said that all these things are created in heaven by God in a moment, and that they subsist just so long as the angels are interiorly as to thought in a state of love and faith. They also said that that instantaneous creation clearly testifies to the creation of similar things, indeed to a similar creation in the natural world, with this difference only, that natural things clothe the spiritual, and this clothing is provided by God for the sake of the generation of one from another, by means of which creation is perpetuated. Consequently the creation of the universe was effected just as it now takes place every moment in heaven Nevertheless, all things that are noxious and hideous in the three kingdoms of nature, and these are enumerated, were not created by God, but originated together with hell. 78.
XII. A conversation concerning the creation of the universe with certain persons who when in the world had been renowned for their learning. They spoke from the same ideas as they had formerly entertained. One said that nature created herself; another, that nature collected her elements into whirling eddies, and that the earth was formed from their rushing together; and a third, that it was formed from chaos, which equaled in magnitude a large part of the universe. He said that there issued forth from chaos substances of the purest kind, from which the sun and sears were formed; afterwards those that were less pure, from which the atmospheres were formed; and finally gross substances, from which the terraqueous globe was formed. To the question, Whence came human souls? they replied that the ether gathered itself into tiny separate balls; and these, infusing themselves into those about to be born, form souls. After death these fly away to their former company in the ether, from which they return to others, according to the ancient doctrine of Metempsychosis. Thereupon a certain priest, by advancing solid reasons in support of the creation of the universe by God, showed that what they had been saying was a farrago of nonsense, and put them to shame; but they still held to their former delusions. 79.
XIII. A conversation with a certain satan concerning God, the angelic heaven, and religion. As he was unaware that he was not still in the former world, he maintained that God is the universe, that the angelic heaven is the atmospheric firmament, and that religion is but a bewitchment of the common people, besides many more foolish things. But when he was reminded that he wets then living after death, and that formerly he had not believed in that life, he for the moment confessed that he had talked foolishly. As soon, however, as he turned and went away, he was as crazy as before. 80.
XIV. In the night I saw a wandering fire, called by many a dragon, falling to the earth. I noted the place where it fell, and there the ground was sulphurous, mixed with iron dust. As I looked towards the spot in the morning, I saw there two tents; and just then a spirit fell down from heaven. Approaching him, I asked why he fell down from heaven. He replied that he was cast down by the angels of Michael, 2 because he said that God the Father and His Son are two, and not one. He added that the whole angelic heaven believe that God the Father and His Son are one, as the soul and body are one; and that they confirm this by many things from the Word, as well as from reason, urging that the soul of the son is only from the father, and that this is a likeness of the father, and from it there is a likeness in the body. He continued that he had indeed confessed in heaven, as he had formerly done on earth, that God is one; but because the confession of the lips and the thought of the mind were not in agreement in regard to this, they said that he did not believe in any God, for the one idea dissipates the other; and he said this was the reason why he was cast down.
The next day, returning to the same piece, I saw two statues formed of the same dust, which was a mixture of sulphur and iron, in the piece of the two tents. One of the statues represented the faith of the present-day Church, and the other its charity, both being beautifully attired; but their garments were the creations of fantasy; and because they were formed of that dust, when rain fell from heaven, they began to effervesce and burst into consuming flames. 110.
XV. In the spiritual world a man may not speak contrary to his thought; if he does, the hypocrisy is manifest to the ear. In hell, therefore, no one can utter the name Jesus, because Jesus signifies salvation. In the following way it was there proved how many in the Christian world believe that Christ even as to His Human is God. When many of the clergy and laity had assembled, it was proposed to them that they should say the words, "Divine Human;" but scarcely any could draw these two words from their thought and utter them together. It was proved to them by many passages from the Word that the Lord even as to His Human was God, as in Matthew 28:18; John 1:1-2, 14; 17:2; Colossians 2:9; 1 John 5:20; and in other places. Still they could not pronounce the words "Divine Human;" and to their surprise not even the Evangelical 3 Protestants could do so, although their orthodox doctrine teaches that in Christ God is Man and Men God; and, still more, neither could the monks, who nevertheless most devoutly adore the body of Christ in the Eucharist. 4 From this it was ascertained that Christians at this day for the most part are interiorly either Arians or Socinians; 5 and these, if they adore Christ as God, are hypocrites. 111.
XVI. A discussion arose concerning a little book, entitled A BRIEF EXPOSITION OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH, published by me at Amsterdam; and especially concerning this point in it that not God the Father, but the Lord God the Redeemer, is to be approached and adored. It was urged that it is said in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father, who art in the heavens, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come;" consequently that God the Father is to be approached. I was sent for to settle this dispute; and then I showed that God the Father cannot be approached in His Divine, but in His Human; and because the Divine and the Human are in Him one Person, that the Lord is the Father. Moreover, this was proved from the Word, both from the Old Testament where the Son of God is called the Father of Eternity, and in many places Jehovah the Redeemer, Jehovah our Justice, and the God of Israel, as well as from many passages in the New Testament. Thus when the Lord God the Redeemer is approached, the Father is approached; and then His name is hallowed, and His kingdom comes; besides much more to the same effect. 112.
XVII. I saw an army on red and black horses, with the faces of all the riders turned to the horses' tails, and the back of their heads to the heads of the horses. They were calling for battle against those who rode on white horses. This ludicrous host issued forth from the place called Armageddon, Revelation 16:16, and consisted of those who had been imbued in their youth with the dogmas concerning justification by faith alone, and who afterwards, on being promoted to high office, had removed all matters of faith and religion from the internals of their minds to the externals of their bodies, where they finally perished. Their nature as they appeared in Armageddon is also described.
Word came from Armageddon that they wished to contend with the angels of Michael. 6 This was granted, but at some distance away. Here a contest was held concerning the meaning of the words in the Lord's Prayer, "Our Father who art in the heavens, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come." The angels of Michael maintained that the Lord the Redeemer and Savior, is Father to all in the heavens, since He Himself taught that the Father and He are one; that the Father is in Him and He in the Father; that he who sees Him sees the Father; that all things of the Father are in Him; also that it is the will of the Father that men should believe on the Son, and those who believe not the Son should not see life, but that the wrath of God should abide on them; also that He has all power in heaven and on earth, and power over all flesh and further that no one has seen, or can see, God the Father, but the Son alone, who is in the bosom of the Father; besides much more. At the conclusion of this contest the Armageddons were convinced, and some were cast into the abyss mentioned in Revelation 9, and some were driven forth into a desert. 113.
XVIII. I was in a temple, in which were no windows, but a large opening in the roof. Those assembled there were conversing about redemption, and they agreed unanimously that redemption was effected by the passion of the cross. While that conversation was in progress, a black cloud covered the opening in the roof, and consequently it became dark in the temple. Shortly afterwards, however, the cloud was dispersed by angels descending from heaven, who then sent down one of their number into the temple to instruct them about redemption. He said that the passion of the cross was not redemption, but that redemption consisted in the subjugation of the halls, the establishment of order in the heavens, and thus in the restoration of all things which had fallen in ruins both in the spiritual world and in the natural world, without which no flesh could have been saved. Concerning the passion of the cross, he said that by it was completed the inmost union with the Father; and when this is taken for redemption, many things unworthy of God, yea impious, follow as consequences; as for example, that He passed sentence of condemnation upon the whole human race, that the Son took this upon Himself and thus propitiated the Father, and by intercession brought Him back to His Divine Essence, which is love and mercy; besides much more that is scandalous to attribute to God. 134.
XIX. The Sun of the spiritual world was seen, in which is Jehovah God in His Human; and then this was heard from heaven, "God is one." But when this idea, descended into the world of spirits, it was changed according to the form of the minds there, finally becoming three Gods. A certain one there confirmed this by the following reasoning: There is one who created all things, another who redeemed all men, and a third who operates all things; also there is one who imputes, another who mediates, and a third who inscribes those upon men, and in this way endows him with faith, by which He justifies him.
However, since faith in three Gods had perverted the whole Christian Church, I disclosed to them, from the perception granted me, what is meant in respect to the One God by mediation, intercession, propitiation, and expiation; namely, that those four are attributes of the Human of Jehovah God. I further showed that because Jehovah God without the Human cannot approach man, nor be approached by him, mediation means that the Human is what mediates; intercession means that it mediates perpetually; propitiation means that an approach is mercifully opened for every one to God; and expiation means that this is also for sinners; and that all these things are effected through the Human. 138.
XX. I entered a college where a discussion was in progress concerning how that passage is to be understood where it is said of the Son of God, that He sits at the right hand of the Father. There were various opinions expressed on this subject; and while all agreed that the Son actually sits in this way they were considering why He does so. Some thought that it was on account of redemption; some that it was from love; some, that He might act as counselor; some, that so honor might be paid Him by the angels; some, because it was given Him to reign in place of the Father; and some, that He might thus be heard the better on behalf of those for whom He interceded. Moreover they also discussed whether the Son of God from eternity was thus seated, or the Son of God born in the world.
Having heard these things, I raised my hand, requesting that I might be permitted to say something, and to explain what is meant by sitting at the right hand of God. I said that the omnipotence of God is meant by the Human which He assumed; for by means of this He effected redemption, that is, He subjugated the hells, created a new angelic heaven, and established a new Church. That this is meant by sitting at the right hand, I confirmed from the Word, where by the right hand is signified power. This was afterwards confirmed from heaven by the appearance of a right hand above them, from the power of which and the terror it inspired they all became almost lifeless. 138.
XXI. In the spiritual world I was conducted to a certain council, in which were assembled celebrated persons who lived before the Nicene Council, 7 and who were called Apostolic Fathers, as well as famous men who lived after that Council. I noticed that some of the latter appeared with beardless chin and in curled wigs of women's hair; but all the former were bearded, and wore their own hair. Before them stood a man who was judge and critic of the writings of this period; and he, speaking through signs of grief, said, "A man from the laity has risen up who has dragged our faith from its sanctuary, a faith which yet is a star shining day and night before us. This he has done because he is a man blind to the mysteries of that faith, and does not see in it the righteousness of Christ, nor, in consequence of this, the wonders of justification which it involves; although it is a faith in three Divine Persons, and thus in the whole Deity; and because he has transferred his faith to the second Person. and not indeed to Him but to His Human, materialism necessarily results." Those who lived after the Nicene Council agreed with this declaration, saying it was impossible that there should be any other faith, and from any other source.
The Apostolic Fathers, however, who lived before that period, were not at all pleased; and they related many of the things which, as may be seen, are said in heaven concerning the Nicene and Athanasian Creeds. 8 As the president of the council was associated as to the spirit with that writer in Leipzig, 9 I addressed him and showed from the Word that Christ, even as to His Human, is God. I also showed him from the book of doctrine of the Evangelicals, 10 called the FORMULA CONCORDIAE, 11 that in Christ God is Man and Man God; and also that the Augustan Confession 12 most strongly approves of His worship; and much more to the same effect. On hearing this he was silent, and turned away. I later had a conversation with a certain spirit who had been associated with an eminent person in Gottenburg who had defiled the worship of God with a still greater scandal. But at length both those scandalous views were declared to be lies cunningly devised to turn away men's wills, and deter them from the holy worship of the Lord. 137.
XXII. Smoke appeared rising from the lower earth, and it was said that smoke fumes are nothing else than conglomerations of falsities. Thereupon certain angels were seized with the desire to find out what those falsities were which occasioned the smoke. They, therefore, descended and came upon four companies of spirits, two composed of learned and unlearned clergy, and two of learned and unlearned laymen, who all supported the view that an invisible God is to be worshiped, and that worshippers are then assured of holiness and of being heard; but that it is otherwise if a visible God should be worshiped. By various arguments they confirmed that worshippers of an invisible God are assured of holiness and of being heard, and therefore they acknowledge three Gods from eternity, who are invisible.
It was shown, however, that the worship of an invisible God, and still more of three invisible Gods, is no worship. In proof of this, Socinus 13 and Arius 14 with some of their followers, who had all worshiped an invisible Deity, were brought up from the lower regions. When these spoke from their natural, that is, their external mind, they said that there is a God, although He is invisible; but when their external mind was closed and the internal opened, from which they were induced to make their confession concerning God, they said, "What is God? We have not seen His shape nor heard His voice. What then is God but a, product of the reason, or nature?" They were instructed, however, that it had pleased God to descend and assume the Human, that men might see His shape and hear His voice; but this fell on their ears in vain. 159.
XXIII. First concerning the stars in the natural world, and the probability that they are the same in number as the angelic societies in heaven, since every society there sometimes shines as a star. I afterwards had a conversation with angels concerning a certain road which appears crowded with innumerable spirits, when it was said that this is the way by which all who depart from the natural world pass into the spiritual world. Accompanied by angels I proceeded to this way; and calling twelve men from it we asked them what. they believed concerning heaven and hell, and the life after death. As they had just come from the world and did not know but that they were still in the natural world, they replied according to the opinion they brought with them. The first said that those who live a morel life go to heaven; and since all do live a moral life, no one goes to hell.
The second said that God rules heaven, and the devil hell; and because these are opposed to each other, the one calls good what the other calls evil; and men, who is a dissembler because he takes sides with both, can live equally well under the rule of the one or the other.
The third said that there is no heaven and no hell. Who has ever come from them and described them?
The fourth said that no one could return and describe them; because when a man dies, he is a spectre, or a breath of wind.
The fifth said that we must wait till the day of the last judgment and then they will tell, and you will know all about it. But when he said this, he laughed in his heart.
The sixth asked, How can the soul of man, which is only wind, re-enter its body that has been eaten up by worms, and be re-clothed with a skeleton that has been consumed with fire or reduced to dust?
The seventh asserted that men can no more live after death than beasts and birds; are they not equally rational?
The eighth said, "I believe there is a heaven but not a hell, because God is omnipotent, and is able to save all.
The ninth said that God, because He is merciful, cannot send any one to eternal fire.
The tenth said that no one can go to hell, because God sent His Son who atoned for all, and took away the sins of all. What power has the devil against that?
The eleventh, who was a priest, said that only those are saved who have obtained faith, and that election is according to the will of the Almighty.
The twelfth, who was a politician, said, "I say nothing whatever concerning heaven and hell; but you should allow the priests to preach about them, that the minds of the common people may be kept bound by an invisible bond to the laws and their rulers."
The angels were amazed to hear such opinions, but they roused up those spirits by showing them that they were now living after death. They then introduced them into heaven; but they did not stay there long, because they were found to be merely natural, and consequently the back parts of their heads were hollow. About this hollowness and the reason for it something is said at the end of this number. 160.
XXIV. A sound was heard like that of a mill; and on following up the sound I saw a dilapidated house, the entrance to which stood open below the surface of the ground. Inside I saw a man consulting passages from the Word, and many more from other books, concerning justification by faith alone. Beside him were scribes writing on paper what he had gathered together. In answer to the question what he was at the moment collecting, he said, On this subject, that God the Father ceased to show mercy for mankind, and therefore sent His Son to make atonement and propitiation. To this I answered that it is contrary to Scripture and also to reason, that God could cease to show mercy, for thus He should depart from His own Essence, and so would not be God. When I demonstrated this even to conviction, he blazed with anger and bade the scribes turn me out. As I went out, however, of my own accord, he threw after me a book his hand chanced to pick up; and that book was the Word. 161.
XXV. A discussion arose amongst some spirits as to whether any one can see any genuine truth in the Word, unless he approaches immediately the Lord, who is the Word itself. But because those were those who contradicted this, an experiment was made; and it was found that those who approached God the Father did not see any truth, but those who approached the Lord, did. In the course of this dispute some spirits ascended from the abyss mentioned in Revelation 9, where the mysteries of justification by faith alone are the subjects of discussion. There it is said that they approach God the Father, and see their mysteries in clear light. The reply was made, however, that they see them in a delusive light, and that they do not possess even a single truth. They were angry at this, and quoted many passages from the Word which indeed were true; but they were told that these were true in themselves, but that they became falsified in their minds.
That this was so was proved by their being led into it house where there was a table upon which light from heaven directly flowed down. They were told to write upon paper the truths they quoted from the Word, and to place the paper upon the table. When this was done, the paper on which the truths were written shone like a star; but when they drew nearer and fixed their eyes upon it, the paper appeared blackened, as if by soot. They were afterwards conducted to another similar table upon which lay a copy of the Word encircled by a rainbow; and when a, certain leading supporter of the doctrine of faith alone touched it with his hand, an explosion like that of a musket followed, and he was hurled into a corner of the room where he lay as if dead for half an hour. These spirits were thus convinced that all the truths which they derived from the Word were true in themselves, but became falsified in their minds. 182.
XXVI. In the spiritual world there are climates as in the natural world; and consequently there are northern zones where are snow and ice. Being once conducted thither in the spirit I entered a temple at that time covered with snow, and illuminated within by lamps. There behind the altar I saw a panel upon which was written this inscription: "The Divine Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who in essence are one but in person three. I heard a minister preaching about the four mysteries of faith (what these are may be seen in this No.), respecting which the understanding is to be kept in obedience to faith.
After the discourse the hearers expressed their thanks to the minister for his sermon, so rich in wisdom. When, however, I asked them whether they understood any of it they replied, "We took it all in with our ears; but why do you ask whether we understood it? Is not the understanding numb in relation to such subjects?" To this the minister who was present replied, "Blessed are ye because hearing ye have not understood; for in this way ye have salvation and much more to the same effect. 185.
XXVII. The human mind is divided into three regions like heaven, where are the angels. Theological matters, with those who love truths because they are truths, reside in the highest region of the mind; and matters relating to morals are beneath them in the middle region; while under these again, that is, in the lowest region, are matters relating to politics, the various sciences forming the doorway. With those who do not love truths, however, theological matters abide in the lowest region, and there mingle with what are peculiarly man's own, and thus with the fallacies of the senses. Hence it is that some men cannot perceive anything of a theological nature. 188.
XXVIII. I was conducted to a place where were those who are meant by the false prophet in the Revelation, and I was invited by them to see their temple. I followed them and saw it. Within it I saw the image of a woman clothed in a scarlet robe, holding in her right hand a gold coin and in her left a string of pearls; but all these were illusions induced by phantasy. When, however, the interiors of my mind were opened by the Lord, a dilapidated house was seen in place of the temple, and instead of a woman, a beast like that described in Revelation 13:2, and beneath the floor was a marsh in which the Word lay, entirely concealed.
Presently an east wind arose, the temple was carried away, the marsh was dried up, and the Word was brought to view. Then in a light from heaven a tabernacle appeared in the same place, like Abraham's when the three angels came and announced the birth of Isaac. Next a light shone from the second heaven, and in piece of the tabernacle there appeared a temple, like that which was at Jerusalem; and after this a light shone out from the third heaven. Then the temple disappeared, and the Lord alone was seen, standing upon the foundation stone, where the Word was. However, because of the overpowering holiness which then filled their minds, that light was withdrawn, and in its place the light from the second heaven was let in, by which the previous appearance of the temple returned, and within it the appearance of the tabernacle. 187.
XXIX. A magnificent palace was seen in which there was a temple and in it were placed seats in three rows. Here a council had been summoned by the Lord to deliberate concerning the Lord the Savior, and concerning the Holy Spirit; and when as many of the clergy were present as there were seats, they entered the council. As the subject of deliberation was the Lord, the first proposition was, Who assumed the Human in the Virgin Mary? An angel standing at the table read before them what the angel Gabriel said to Mary:
"The Holy Spirit (A.V., Ghost) shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:... and that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God" Luke 1:35; and also from Matthew 1:20, 25; also adding many passages from the Prophets to the effect that Jehovah would come into the world, and that Jehovah Himself is called the Savior, Redeemer, and Righteousness; from which it was concluded that Jehovah Himself assumed the Human.
The second subject of deliberation concerning the Lord was, Whether in this case the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ are one, as the soul and the body are one. This was proved from many passages in the Word, and also from the Creed acknowledged by the present-day Church; from which it was concluded that the soul of the Lord was from God the Father, and consequently that His Human is Divine; and that this Human is to be approached in order that the Father may be approached, since Jehovah God, by means of it, sent Himself into the world, and made Himself visible to the eyes of men, and thus also accessible.
The third subject followed, concerning the Holy Spirit. First the idea of three Divine Persons from eternity was discussed, and it was established from the Word that the Holy Divine, which is called the Holy Spirit, proceeds out of the Lord from the Father. Finally, from the deliberations of the council this conclusion was reached: That in the Lord the Savior is a Divine Trinity, which consists of the originating Divine called the Father, the Divine Human called the Son, and the proceeding Divine called the Holy Spirit; thus that there is one God in the Church. After the council was ended splendid garments were given to those who sat in it, and they were conducted to the new heaven. 188.
XXX. I saw in a certain enclosure large money bags, in which was a great quantity of silver, and young men near them, as guards. In an adjoining room I saw modest maidens in the company of a chaste married woman; and in another room two little children, and also a courtesan and dead horses. I was afterwards instructed what each of these signified; and that by them the Word was represented and described, as it is in itself, and as it is at the present day. 277.
XXXI. I saw the kind of writing used in the highest or third heaven. This consisted of letters curved with little flourishes (or tittles) turning upwards. I was informed that the Hebrew letters in most ancient times were somewhat similar to these, when they were more curved than they are to-day; and that the letter H, added to the names Abram and Sarai, signifies the infinite and the eternal. The meaning of certain words in Psalms 32:2 was also explained to me, from the letters or syllables alone, namely, that the Lord is merciful even to those who do evil. 278.
XXXII. Before the Israelitish Word there was a Word the Prophetical Books of which were called THE ENUNCIATIONS, and the Historical Books, THE WARS OF JEHOVAH; and besides these there was a Book called JASHER, all three of which are mentioned in our Word. That Ancient Word existed in the land of Canaan, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Assyria, Chaldea, Egypt, Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh. But as this Word was full of such correspondences its in a remote way signify celestial and spiritual things, thereby giving occasion to idolatry, it disappeared of the Divine Providence. I have heard that Moses copied from that Word what he has related concerning the Creation, Adam and Eve, the Flood, and concerning Noah and his three sons, but nothing more. That same Word is still preserved among the people in Great Tartary, 15 who derive from it the precepts of their faith and life. This was told me in the spiritual world by angels from that country. 279.
XXXIII. Those who are in the spiritual world cannot appear to those who are in the natural world, nor conversely; thus spirits and angels cannot appear to men, nor men to spirits and angels, on account of the difference between the spiritual and the natural, or, what is the same thing, between what is substantial and what is material. This is the reason why angels and spirits have an altogether different language, different writing, and also different thought from men. That this is so was made clear from actual experience by the spirits going alternately to their companions and returning to me, and thus making a comparison. In this way it was ascertained that there is not even one word of spiritual language similar to any word of natural language; that spiritual writing consists of syllables, each one of which involves some meaning; and that the ideas of their thought do not fall into the ideas of natural thought. The reason of these differences is that spirits and angels are in origins (principia), but men in derivatives (principia), or what is the same, that spirits are in prior things from which as from causes posterior things are derived, and men are in posterior things so derived. It was related to me that there is a, similar difference between the languages, writings, and thoughts of the angels of the third heaven and those of the angels of the second heaven. 280.
XXXIV. Concerning the state of men after death, in general, and concerning the state of those who have confirmed themselves in falsities of doctrine, in particular. Concerning such the following observations were made.
(1) Men are, generally, resuscitated the third day after death, and have then no other idea than that they are still living in the former world.
(2) All men pass into the world which is between heaven and hell, called the world of spirits.
(3) There they are transferred to various societies, and in this way they are examined as to their character.
(4) There the good and faithful are prepared for heaven, but the evil and unfaithful for hell.
(5) After preparation, which lasts for some years, a way is opened for the good to some society in heaven, where they are to live for ever, but a way is opened for the evil to hell; with much besides. Afterwards the nature of hell is described, where those are called satans who have confirmed themselves in falsities, and devils, those who are in evils of life. 281.
XXXV. From the lower earth which is just above hell, I heard exclamations, "O how just! O how learned! O how wise!" and wondering that there should also be there just, learned, and wise men, I descended and first went to the piece where they were crying, "O how just!" There I saw as it were a tribunal at which unjust judges were seated, who could dexterously pervert the laws and turn judgments to favor any one whatever. Thus their judgments were only arbitrary; and when their sentences were communicated to their clients, these continued shouting for a long distance, "O how just!" The angels afterwards remarked that judges such as these cannot see even a speck of what is just. After a time those judges were cast into hell, and their books were turned into playing cards; and instead of judging, their duty was to prepare colors for painting the faces of courtesans, thus turning these into things of beauty. 332.
XXXVI. I then continued to the place where the cry was raised, "O how learned!" and I saw a company of those who were reasoning whether a thing is, or is not, and were not basing their consideration on the ground that a thing is. Consequently they remained at the first step in investigating any subject, and thus only touched the fringe of it, without actually entering into it. In this way they reasoned about God, discussing whether there is a God. That I might know for certain that they were of this character, I put to them the question, "What must be the nature of the religion by which a man is saved?" They replied,
(1) That they must inquire whether religion really is anything.
(2) Whether one religion is more efficacious than another.
(3) Whether there is eternal life, and thus whether there is such a thing as salvation.
(4) Whether there is a heaven, and a hell. They thereupon proceeded to discuss the first point, whether religion is anything; and they said it would require so much investigation that it could not be completed within a year, one of them adding, not within a hundred years. To this I replied that meantime they would be without any religion. However, they continued to discuss this first point with such skill that the company standing by called out, "O how learned!" Angels told me that such men appear like graven images, and that they are afterwards sent out into desert places where they give themselves up to idle chatter and merely vain discourse. 333.
XXXVII. I proceeded next to the third company from which I heard the cry, "O how wise!" and I learned that those were assembled there who cannot see whether truth is truth, but still can make whatever they please appear as truth, and are consequently called Confirmers. That they were such I observed also from the various answers they gave to propositions submitted to them; for instance they made it out to be true that faith is the all of the Church, and also that charity is the all of the Church, and afterwards that faith and charity together are the all of the Church. Because they confirmed whichever of these they pleased, and so embellished them with appearances that they shone like truths, therefore the bystanders exclaimed, "O how wise!"
Then some ludicrous propositions were submitted to them that they might make them out to be true; for they say there is nothing true but what a man makes true. The ludicrous things were, that light is darkness, and darkness light; and also that a crow is white and not black; both of which they made to appear as quite true, and their proofs may be seen in this number. Angels told me that such persons do not possess even a grain of understanding, since all that is above the rational with them is closed, and all below the rational, open; and thus the mind can confirm whatever it pleases, but cannot see any truth to be truth. This, therefore, is not the part of an intelligent man, which is, to be able to see that truth is truth and that falsity is falsity, and to confirm it. 334.
XXXVIII. I spoke with spirits who in the natural world were celebrated for their learning; and who were now disputing among themselves about innate ideas, whether men have any, as beasts have. Then a certain angelic spirit, intervening, said: "You are wrangling about the wool on a goat. Men have no innate ideas, nor have beasts." Upon this they were all infuriated; but the angel, having received permission to speak, first spoke of the beasts, saying that they have no innate ideas, because they do not think, but only act from instinct, which they have from their natural love. This constitutes in them what is analogous to the will, flows immediately into the senses of their body, and excites whatever agrees with and favors their love, while ideas are predicated of thought only.
That beasts have only sensations and no thought he proved in various ways, especially by citing the wonderful things that are known about spiders, bees, and silkworms. "Does a spider," he asked, "think in its little head as it forms its web, that the threads must be so connected for the sake of such and such a use? Does the bee think in its little head, 'From these flowers I will suck honey, and from those I will extract wax with which I will build little cells in a continuous series, and store abundance of honey in them that it may also suffice for the winter?' and much more in addition. Does the silkworm think in its little head, 'Now I shall proceed to the spinning of silk; and when the spinning is finished I will fly abroad and sport with my companions, and provide for myself a progeny?' besides similar things I might mention in the case of beasts and birds."
Concerning men, he said that every mother and nurse, and also every father knows that newly born infants have no innate ideas whatever, and do not have any ideas before they have learned to think. Then ideas rise up and are framed according to every kind of thought which they have derived by instruction. This is the case because nothing whatever is innate with man but the faculty of acquiring knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom, and the inclination to love not only himself and the world but also the neighbor and God. These things were heard at a distance by Leibnitz 16 and Wolff; 17 Leibnitz agreed with them, but not so Wolff. 335.
XXXIX. A certain angelic spirit once illustrated what faith and charity are, and what their conjunction effects. This he did by a comparison with light and heat, which meet together in a third; for light in heaven is in its essence the truth of faith, and heat there is in its essence the good of charity. Accordingly, as light without heat, such as there is in winter time in the world, strips the trees of their leaves and fruits, so does faith without charity; and as light conjoined with heat, such as there is in spring time, vivifies all things, so does faith conjoined with charity. 385.
XL. Two angels descended, one from the eastern heaven where the angels are in love, and the other from the southern heaven where they are in wisdom. They spoke concerning the essence of the heavens, discussing whether it is love or wisdom. They agreed that it is love and wisdom thence derived; and accordingly that the heavens were created by God from love by means of wisdom. 388.
XLI. After that I entered a certain garden, where I was conducted around by a certain spirit, and led at length to a palace, called The Temple of Wisdom. It was quadrangular; the walls were of crystal, the roof of jasper, and the lower structure of various precious stones. Be said that no one could enter into it unless he believes that the knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom which he has are so little, when compared with what he has not, as to amount to scarcely anything. Because I believed this it was granted me to enter; and I saw that the whole building was constructed to be a representation of light. In that temple I related what I had just heard from the two angels concerning love and wisdom; and I was asked whether they also spoke of the third, which is use. It was also said that love and wisdom without use are only entities existing ideally, but that they become real in use; and that it is similar with charity, faith, and good works. 387.
XLII. One of the spirits of the dragon invited me to see the delights of his love; and he led me to a building somewhat like an amphitheatre, upon the benches of which sat satyrs and courtesans. Then he said to me, "Now you will see our sport;" and opening a door he let in, so it seemed, bullocks, rams, kids, and lambs. Presently by another door he let in lions, panthers, tigers, and wolves, which fell upon the herd, tearing and killing them. Everything that was seen was induced by the power of illusion. After seeing this I said to the dragon, "You will presently see this theatre turned into a lake of fire and brimstone."
When the sport was over the dragon went out attended by his satyrs and courtesans, and saw a flock of sheep. From this he realized that a city of the Jerusalemites was near at hand; and when he saw it he was seized with the desire to take it and cast out its inhabitants. But as it was surrounded by a wall he planned to take it by stratagem. He then sent one skilled in incantation, who, being admitted, spoke craftily with the townsmen about faith and charity, especially as to which of these is the primary, and whether charity contributes anything to salvation. But the dragon, enraged at the answer he received, went out and gathered together many of his company, and began to besiege the city. When, however, he was endeavouring to capture it by assault, fire from heaven consumed him and his men, according to what was foretold in Revelation 20:8-9. 388.
XLIII. A paper was once sent down from heaven containing an exhortation to acknowledge the Lord the Savior as the God of heaven and earth, according to His words, Matthew 28:18. But two bishops, who were present, were consulted as to what should be done. They said that the paper should be sent back to heaven whence it had come. When this was done that society sank down, but not to a great depth. The next day some of them ascended and related what had fallen them there. They said they had approached the bishops and, besides reproving them for their advice, had a long conversation with them on the state of the Church at this day. They found fault with their doctrine of the Trinity, of justifying faith, and of charity, and with other orthodox doctrines of the bishops, and asked them to abandon them because they were contrary to the Word, but in vain. As they called their faith dead and diabolical, according to James in his Epistle, one of the bishops took his mitre off his head and laid it upon the table, saying that he would not take it up again until he had avenged the insulting remarks concerning his faith. But then there appeared, rising from below, a monster like the beast described in Revelation 13:1-2, which caught up the mitre and carried it away. 389.
XLIV. I went to a certain house where those who were assembled were discussing with one another whether the good which a man does in the state of justification by faith is the good of religion or not. They were agreed that by the good of religion is meant the good which contributes to salvation. However, the opinion of those prevailed who maintained that all the good which a man does contributes nothing to salvation, since the good done of man's own will cannot be conjoined with what is freely given, for salvation is bestowed freely; also that no good of man's can be conjoined with the merit of Christ, through which alone salvation is granted; nor can the operation of man be conjoined with the operation of the Holy Spirit, for this works all things without the help of man. From this it was concluded that good works, even in the state of justification by faith, contribute nothing: to salvation, but faith alone. On hearing these things two Gentiles who stood in the vestibule said to one another, "These people have no religion. Every one knows that religion consists in doing Good to the neighbor for the sake of God, and so from God and with God." 390.
XLV. I heard angels lamenting that there is such spiritual ignorance in the Church to-day that men know nothing more than that there are three Divine Persons, and that faith alone saves, and only historical facts about the Lord; and that they are profoundly ignorant as to what is related in the Word concerning the Lord, His unity with the Father, His Divinity and power. The angels said that one of their number was sent down by them to ascertain whether there was such ignorance at this day among Christians, and that he asked a certain one what religion was. The answer was that it was faith. He then asked about redemption, regeneration, and salvation; and the reply was that all these were of faith, and also that charity consisted in faith, and that no one could do any good from himself. Thereupon the angel said to him: "You have answered like one who plays a single note on a pipe; I hear nothing but faith, and if you know nothing else than that, you know nothing." He then led him away to his companions in a desert place, where there was not even a blade of grass. There is much more narrated. 391.
XLVI. I saw five lecture halls each bathed in a different colored light; and accompanied by others I entered the first, which appeared in a flame-colored light. Many persons were assembled there, and the president proposed that they should declare their opinions concerning charity. When they began the first speaker said his opinion was that charity was morality inspired by faith. The second, that it was piety inspired by compassion. The third, that it was to do good to all, both the good and the wicked. The fourth, that it was to serve in every way one's relatives and friends. The fifth, that it was to give alms to the poor and help the needy. The sixth, that it was to build hospitals, infirmaries, and homes for orphans. The seventh, that it was to endow churches and confer benefits on their ministers. The eighth, that it was the old Christian brotherhood. The ninth, that it was to forgive every one his trespasses. Each of them amply confirmed his opinion with proofs too numerous to quote here, so they must be seen in the narrative itself.
I was then given the opportunity to express my opinion, and I said that charity consists in acting from the love of justice combined with judgment in every work and duty, a love derived solely from the Lord the Savior. After proving this I added that all those opinions just expressed concerning charity by nine celebrated speakers are excellent examples of charity, provided they are practiced from justice with judgment; and because justice and judgment are from no other source than the Lord the Savior, they are to be done by man from Him. This was approved by most of them in their internal man but not yet to the same degree in their external man. 459.
XLVII. A noise was heard from a distance like the gnashing of teeth mingled with the stamping of feet. I approached the sounds and saw a little house built of rushes cemented together; and instead of the gnashing of teeth and the stamping of feet I heard discussions concerning faith and charity, as to which of them was the essential of the Church. Those who were in favor of faith brought forward their arguments, saying that faith is spiritual, because it is from God, but charity is natural, because it is from man. On the other hand those who were in favor of charity said that charity is spiritual, and faith natural, unless it is conjoined with charity. To these arguments a certain Syncretist, 18 wishing to settle the dispute, added a few words, confirming that faith is spiritual and charity only natural. It was rejoined, however, that the moral life is twofold, spiritual and natural; and that in the man who lives from the Lord it is spiritual moral, but in the man who does not live from the Lord it is natural moral, such as it is with the evil, and sometimes with spirits in hell. 460.
XLVIII. I was once conducted in the spirit to a certain garden in the southern region, where I saw some persons sitting under a laurel eating figs. I asked them how they understood that man can do good from God, and yet as of himself. They answered that God works good inwardly in man, but if man performs it from his own will and understanding, he defiles it, so that it is no longer good. To this I replied, that man is only an organ of life, and if he believes in the Lord he does good of himself from Him; but if he does not believe in the Lord, and still more if he does not believe in any God, he does good of himself from hell; and further the Lord has given man free will in acting from the one or from the other.
That the Lord has given this freedom was confirmed from the Word, as He commanded man to love God and the neighbor, to produce the good works of charity as a tree bears fruit, and to do His commandments in order that he may be saved, declaring that every one would be judged according to his works. Such things would not have been commanded if man could not do good of himself from God. Having said these things I presented them with twigs from a vine, and in their hands the twigs put forth grapes; besides other particulars. 461.
XLIX. I saw a magnificent harbor and in it vessels great and small, with boys and girls upon the rowers' benches, waiting to see turtles rise up from the sea. When they arose I saw that they had two heads, one which at pleasure they drew back into the shell of their body, and another which appeared in form like the head of a man. From this head they spoke with the boys and girls, who for their fair speech stroked them and gave them presents. When I saw these things their signification was explained by an angel. He said that there are indeed men in the world, and consequently as many spirits after death, who maintain that in those who have acquired faith God does not regard anything they think and do, but that He only regards the faith which He has hidden away in the interiors of their mind. These same persons before their congregations in their churches bring forth holy things from the Word in the same manner as others; but they do this from the larger head which appears like a man's, into which they then insert the little head, or they withdraw this into their body.
These persons were afterwards seen in the air on a ship sailing with seven sails. They wore laurel wreaths and were clothed in purple robes, and were calling out that they were the chief of the wise from all the clergy; but those things which were seen were the representations of their pride, issuing from the ideas of their own mind. When they alighted upon the earth I conversed with them first from reason, and afterwards from the Sacred Scripture, and proved by many instances that their doctrine was unsound, and being contrary to the Sacred Scripture, was from hell. The arguments, however, by which I demonstrated these things cannot be quoted here because of their length; they must therefore be seen in the narrative itself. These persons were afterwards seen in a sandy place clad in rags, and girt about the loins with what appeared to be fishermen's nets, through which their nakedness appeared. They were ultimately sent down to the society that borders upon the Machiavellians. 19 462.
L. A meeting was convened the members of which sat in a circular temple. There were altars at the sides and near these the members of the assembly sat, but there was no presiding primate there; therefore each one of his own accord rushed forward and spoke out his opinions. They began with a discourse on Free Will in spiritual matters; and the first speaker, rushing forward, called out that man had no more free will in those things than Lot's wife when she was turned into a statue of salt. The second, that he had no more than a beast of the field or a dog. The third, that he had no more than a mole, or than an owl in the daylight. The fourth, that if a men had free will in spiritual matters he would become a madman, supposing himself to be as God, able to regenerate and save himself. The sixth 20 read from the book of the Evangelical Protestants called the FORMULA CONCORDIAE, 21 that man has no more free will in spiritual matters than the stock of a tree or a stone, and that in such matters he is unable to exercise his understanding, thought, and will, nor can he apply or accommodate himself in the slightest to receive what is spiritual; besides much more, for which see 484.
After these things were said an opportunity was given me of speaking, and I asked them what else would man be than a brute, without free will in spiritual things; and without it to what purpose was all theology? To this they replied: "Read our theology, and you will not find therein anything spiritual. This is so concealed within it that not even a shadow of it appears. So read what our theology teaches concerning justification, that is, concerning the remission of sins, regeneration, sanctification, and salvation. You will not see there anything spiritual, because these graces flow in through faith, without any consciousness on man's part. It has also removed charity far from the spiritual, and also repentance from contact with it. Moreover, as to redemption, it attributes to God purely human natural properties: as that He included the human race under universal condemnation; that the Son took this upon Himself, and that thus He propitiated the Father. What else is implied in intercession and mediation with the Father? From all this it is evident that in all our theology there is nothing spiritual, and not even rational, but only what is natural on a plane below these." Then suddenly a peal of thunder was heard from heaven, and the members of the council rushing forth in terror fled, each to his own home. 503.
LI. I spoke with two spirits one of whom loved good and truth, and the other, evil and falsity; and I discovered that both enjoyed a like faculty of thinking rationally. When, however, he who loved evil and falsity was left to himself, I saw, as it were, smoke ascend from hell and extinguish the clear light that was above his memory; but when he who loved good and truth was left to himself, I saw, as it were, a gentle flame descend from heaven and illuminate the region of his mind above the memory, and thence all that was below it. I afterwards conversed with the spirit who loved evil and falsity, concerning free will in spiritual matters; and he, showing some warmth at the very mention of it, exclaimed that no one can move hand or foot to do any spiritual good, or his tongue to utter any spiritual truth, and thus cannot even apply and accommodate himself to receive anything spiritual; adding, "Is not man in such matters dead and merely passive? How can what is dead and merely passive do good and speak truth of itself? Does not our Church also say so?"
The other spirit, however, who loved good and truth, spoke in favor of free will in spiritual matters. "What would the whole Word be without it?" he said; "what the Church, what religion, what the worship of God? and thus what the ministry without it? I know from the light of my understanding that a man without that spiritual freedom would not be a man, but a beast. That he is a man and not a beast is due to that freedom. Moreover, without free will in spiritual things man would not have life after death, and thus not eternal life, because he would have no conjunction with God. Therefore to deny this freedom is the mark of those who are insane in spiritual things." Thereupon there appeared, as it were, a fiery serpent upon a tree, which offered the fruit of it to him who denied free will in spiritual things. When he ate it smoke appeared rising up from hell, which extinguished the light (lumen) of the higher part of his rational mind. 504.
LII. There was heard a grating sound like that of two mill stones grinding against each other; and approaching the piece whence it came I saw a house in which there were many little rooms, where the learned of this age were sitting and confirming the doctrine of justification by faith alone. Going up to one room I asked the person what he was at the moment studying; and he replied, "The act of justification, which is the chief of all the doctrines in our orthodoxy." I asked him whether he knew any sign when justifying faith was entering, and when it had entered; and he replied that its action (on man's part) was passive, not active. To this I answered, "If you take away what is active in it, you also take away what is receptive. In that case the act would be purely ideal, a product of the reason, and thus nothing more than a, statue like Lot's wife, which being composed only of salt, would tinkle when scratched by the pen or the finger nail of a. scribe. The man was enraged at this, and snatched up a lampstand intending to throw it at me; but at that moment the light went out, and he hurled it at his companion. 505.
LIII. Two flocks were seen, one of goats and the other of sheep; but when they mere viewed closely, instead of goats and sheep, men were seen; and it was perceived that the herd of goats consisted of those who make faith alone saving, and the flock of sheep, of those who make charity together with faith saving. To the inquiry, why they wore there, those who were seen as goats said that they were sitting as a council, for it had been disclosed to them that the declaration of Paul,
"That a man is justified by faith without the works of the law," Romans 3:28, was not rightly understood, since by faith there is not meant the faith of the present day, but faith in the Lord the Savior; and by the works of the law are not meant the works of the law of the Decalogue, but the works of the Mosaic law, which were rituals; and this was also proved. They said that their conclusion was that faith produces good works, as a tree produces fruit. This conclusion was favored by those who constituted the flock of sheep; but at that moment an angel, standing between the two flocks, called out to the flock of sheep, "Do not listen to them, for they have not receded from their former faith." He then divided the flock of sheep into two, and said to those on the left, "Join yourselves to the goats; but I warn you that a wolf will come, which will seize them, and you along with them." The question was then asked how they understand the statement, that faith produces good works as a tree produces fruit, and it was discovered that their perception of the conjunction of faith and charity was altogether different from that comparison, and thus that it was a fallacious mode of speaking. When this was understood the flocks of sheep reunited themselves into one as before, and they were joined by some of the goats who confessed that charity is the essence of faith; and, therefore, that faith separated from charity is only natural, but when conjoined to it, it becomes spiritual. 506.
LIV. A discourse with angels about the three loves which are universal, and consequently in every man. These are, the love of the neighbor or the love of uses, which in itself is spiritual; the love of the world or the love of possessing wealth, which in itself is material; and the love of self or the love of ruling over others, which in itself is corporeal. When these loves are rightly subordinated in man, he is truly a man; and they are rightly subordinated when the love of the neighbor constitutes the head; the love of the world, the body; and the love of self, the feet. The case is altogether different when these loves reside in man contrary to order; and it was shown what the nature of man is when the love of the world or the love of self constitutes the head. He is then an inverted man: a wild beast as to the interiors of his mind, and as to the exteriors of his mind and consequently of his body, a play actor.
A certain devil then appeared ascending from the lower regions, having a dusky countenance with a, white halo around his head. He declared that he was Lucifer, 22 although he was not, and that in his internals he was a devil, but in his externals an angel of light. While in externals, he continued, he was moral among the morel, rational among the rational, and even spiritual among the spiritual. When in the world he had been a preacher, and had then forsworn himself, declaiming against evil doers of all kinds, and so was called, "Son of the morning;" and, what he himself wondered at, while he was in the pulpit, he perceived no other than that it was as he spoke; but the case was different when he was out of the church. He said the reason was, because in the church he was in his externals, and then in his understanding only; but when he was out of the church, he was in his internals, and then in the will. Thus the understanding raised him into heaven, while the will drew him down to hell; but the will prevails over the understanding, because it disposes the understanding to favor and respect it. Thereupon the devil who pretended to be Lucifer, sank down into hell. 507.
LV. A temple, circular in form, 23 was seen, the roof of which was in the shape of a crown, the walls continuous windows of crystal, and the gate of pearly substance. In it was a pulpit, upon which was the Word, surrounded with a blaze of light. In the centre of the temple was the shrine, before which a veil was hung. This was now drawn back, and there stood a cherub with a waving sword in his hand. When I saw these things, the signification of each as may be seen in the narrative was explained to me. Over the gate there was this inscription, "Now it is permitted," which signified that now it is permitted to enter with understanding into the mysteries of faith; and it was granted me to perceive that it was very dangerous to enter with the understanding into dogmas of faith which are the product of man's own intelligence, and consequently to be grounded in falsities, and still more dangerous to confirm them from the Word; that therefore by the Divine Providence the Word was taken away from the Roman Catholics, and that with Protestants, it was closed up by their dogma that the understanding is to be kept under obedience to their faith. Because, however, the dogmas of the New Church are all from the Word it is permitted to enter into them with the understanding, because they are truths in series from the Word, and these shine clearly before the understanding. This was signified by the inscription over the gate, "Now it is permitted," and by the circumstance that the veil of the shrine was drawn back, within which stood the cherub. After this a paper was brought to me by an infant, who was an angel in the third heaven, on which was written: "Henceforward enter into the mysteries of the Word which has hitherto been a closed Book; for all its truths are so many mirrors of the Lord." 508.
LVI. I was attacked by a grievous disease from the smoke that poured down from that Jerusalem called Sodom and Egypt in Revelation 11:8, and I was seen by those in that city as one dead. They said one to another that I was not worthy of burial, as is said of the two witnesses in the same chapter of the Revelation. Meanwhile I heard many blasphemies from the citizens because I had preached repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. As judgment, however, was now upon them I saw the whole city fall down and become overwhelmed with water; and afterwards I sew the inhabitants rushing about among the ruins and lamenting their lot, although they had believed that by the faith of their Church they were born again and thus were righteous. But they were told that nevertheless such was their lot since they had never done any of the work of repentance, and consequently were not conscious of a single condemnatory evil within themselves. They were afterwards told from heaven that faith in the Lord and repentance are the two means of regeneration and salvation; and that this is very well known from the Word, and especially from the Decalogue, Baptism and the Holy Supper, details of which may be seen in the narrative itself. 567.
LVII. All who come into the spiritual world after death, are at first kept in the externals in which they were in the natural world; and as most people while they are in externals live moral lives, attend church, and pray to God, they believe that they shall certainly go to heaven. They are instructed, however, that every man after death successively puts off the external man, that the internal man is opened, and that the real character of the man then becomes known; since a man is a man from the will and the understanding, and not only from act and speech. For by act and speech a man can appear in externals like a sheep, although in internals he is like a wolf; and he is such in his internal man unless he searches out the evils of his will, and consequently of the intention, and repents of them; besides much more. 568.
LVIII. Every love exhales a delight; but delights from loves are little felt in the natural world, although they are plainly evident in the spiritual world, where they are sometimes converted into odors. Then else the nature of these delights is perceived, and from what love they proceed. The delights of the love of good, such as are found in the heavens, are perceived as perfumes in gardens and flower beds; but on the other hand, the delights of the love of evil, such as exist in the halls, are perceived as stenches and offensive odors from stagnant ponds and cess-pools. As these odors are thus the opposites of each other, devils are in torture when they are sensible of any sweet-smelling odor from heaven, and angels in turn are tortured when they perceive any rank-smelling odor from hell. This was confirmed by two examples. Thus the oil of anointing was prepared from fragrant spices, and it is said concerning Jehovah that He perceived a grateful odor from burnt-offerings; and on the other hand, the Children of Israel were commanded to carry unclean things out of the camp and bury their excrement. For their camp represented heaven, and the desert outside represented hell. 569.
LIX. A certain novitiate spirit, who in the world meditated much concerning heaven and hell, desired to know the nature of each; and he was told from heaven to inquire what delight is, and he would know. Accordingly he went away and inquired; but among spirits who were merely natural he inquired in vein. He was then conducted to three companies in order: to one where they explored ends, and were therefore called spirits of wisdom; to a second where they investigated causes, and were therefore called spirits of intelligence; and to a third where they examined effects, and were therefore called spirits of knowledge. He was instructed by these different companies that every angel, spirit, and man has life from the delight of his love; and that the will and thought cannot move at all except from the delight of some love; and that this is, to every one, what is called good. Moreover, that the delight of heaven is the delight of doing good, and the delight of hell, the delight of doing evil. That he might be further instructed, a devil, sent purposely, ascended and described to him how the delights of hell consisted in revenge, fornication, robbery, and blasphemy; and he added that when these are perceived there as odors, they are perceived as fragrant balm; and he therefore called them the delights of their nostrils. 570.
LX. There was seen a company of spirits praying to God that He would send angels to instruct them concerning various matters of faith; because in most subjects they were at a loss, for the Churches differ so one from another, and all their ministers say, "Believe us; we are the ministers of God, and we know." Angels then appeared whom they questioned respecting charity and faith, repentance, regeneration, God, the immortality of the soul, Baptism, and the Holy Supper. To each of these inquiries the angels answered in such a way that the subjects came within their understanding. Moreover they added that what does not come within the understanding is like what is sown in the sand, which, however watered by the rain, still withers away; and that the understanding, closed to religion, no longer sees any thing in the Word from the light which is therein from the Lord; indeed, that if any one reads it he becomes more and more blind in matters of faith and salvation. 621.
LXI. How man, when he is prepared for heaven, enters it. It is shown that after preparation he sees away which leads to the society in heaven where he is to live to eternity; and that near the society is a gate which is opened. After he enters inquiry is made as to whether there are in him light and heat, that is, truth and good, similar to what the angels of that society enjoy. When this is found out, he goes about inquiring where his house is; for there is a new house for every novitiate angel, and when he finds it, he is received by the residents there and reckoned as one among them.
Those, however, in whom there is no light and heat, that is, no truth and good of heaven, suffer this hard lot: should they enter such a society, they are miserably tortured, and because of this they cast themselves down headlong. This happens to them because they are opposed to the sphere of light and heat of heaven. Thereafter they no longer desire heaven, but associate with their like in hell. Hence it is evident that it is vain to think that all that is required for heaven is merely admission from favor, and that those who are admitted enjoy the delights there as those who in the world enter into a house where there is a wedding. 622.
LXII. Many who believed that all that is required for heaven is merely admission from favor, and that after admission there is eternal joy, ascended by permission into heaven; but because they could not bear the light and heat, that is, the faith and love there, they cast themselves down headlong; and then they were seen by those who were below as dead horses. Among those who were below, and who thus saw them, were some boys with their master, who instructed his pupils what was signified by the appearance as of dead horses, and also who they are that at a distance present this appearance. He said that they are those who while reading the Word think materially and not spiritually of God, of the neighbor, and of heaven; that those think materially of God who from Person think of Essence; of the neighbor, from his face and speech when thinking of character; and of heaven, from place when thinking of the state of love there. Those, however, think spiritually who think of God from Essence and thence of Person; of the neighbor, from quality and thence of face and speech; and of heaven, from the state of love there and thence of place.
He then taught them that a horse signifies the understanding of the Word; and because the Word, with those who think spiritually while reading it, is a living Letter, such persons at a distance appear as living horses. On the other hand, because the Word, with those who think materially when reading it, is a dead Letter, such appear at a distance as dead horses. 623.
LXIII. An angel was seen descending from heaven into the world with a paper in his hand, upon which was written, "The marriage of good and truth;" and it was seen that in heaven the paper shone brightly, but in its descent it shone gradually less and less brightly, until neither paper nor angel was visible except only to some of the unlearned who were simple in heart. To these the angel explained what the marriage of good and truth involves, namely, that all things, in general and in particular, in the whole heaven and in the whole world, contain both of these at the same time, because good and truth in the Lord God the Creator make one; and therefore there is not anywhere anything that consists only of good, nor anything that consists only of truth. Consequently in all things, in general and in particular, there is a marriage of good and truth; and in the Church there is a marriage of charity and faith, since charity is of good, and faith is of truth. 624.
LXIV. When I was in deep thought concerning the Second Coming of the Lord, I saw heaven from east to wait flooded with light. I heard also a glorification and celebration of the Lord by the angels, but it was from the Prophetic Word of the Old Testament as well as from the Apostolic Word of the New. The passages themselves by which the glorifications were made may be seen in the narrative. 625.
LXV. In the north eastern quarter there are places of instruction and those who receive instruction interiorly are there called disciples of the Lord. Once when I was in the spirit I asked the teachers there whether they were acquainted with the universals of heaven and the universals of hell. They replied that the universals of heaven are three loves: the love of uses, the love of possessing the goods of the world from the love of performing uses; and love truly conjugial; and that the universals of hell are three loves opposite to those three, namely, the love of ruling from the love of self, the love of possessing the goods of others from the love of the world, and scortatory love. Then follows a, description of the nature of the first infernal love, which is the love of ruling from the love of self. This with the laity, is of such a nature that when its restraints are relaxed, they desire to rule over all things of the world; and with the clergy, that they desire to rule over all things of heaven. That such a delusion prevails with those who are in this love was confirmed by their like in hell, where these are together in a certain valley. These delight their souls (animus) with the delusion that they are emperors of emperors, or kings of kings; and in other circumstances, that they are gods, at the sight of whom it was observed that the former, although they were so lofty in mind (animus), fell down upon their knees and worshiped.
I afterwards spoke with two angels, one of whom was a prince of a certain society in heaven, and the other its chief priest. They said that with those in their society there are magnificent and splendid objects, because their love is not from the love of self, but from the love of uses; and that they are surrounded with honors which they accept not for the sake of themselves personally, but for the sake of the good of obedience. I then asked them, "How can any one know whether he performs uses from the love of self, or of the world, or from the love of uses, since all three loves perform uses? Let it be supposed that there is a society composed of out and out satans, and a society composed of out and out angels; I can imagine that the satans from the love of self and of the world would perform as many uses in their society as the angels in theirs; who then can know from what love the uses proceed?" To this the prince and the priest replied, "Satans perform uses for the sake of fame, that they may be raised to honors and gain wealth, but angels perform uses for the sake of uses. Angels, however, are distinguished from satans especially by this, that every one who believes in the Lord and shuns evils as sins, performs uses from the Lord, and thus from the love of uses; but every one who does not believe and who does not shun evils as sins, performs uses from himself and for the sake of himself, and thus from the love of self or of the world." 681.
LXVI. I entered a certain grove and saw two angels conversing together. As I went up to them they were speaking of the lust of possessing all things of the world. They said that many who appear morel in their actions and rational in their conversation, are in the madness of that lust, and that such lust is turned into delusions with those who gratify their ideas concerning it. As every one is permitted in the spiritual world to take delight in his own delusion, provided he does no evil to another, there are groups of such persons in the lower earth. As it was known where they were, we descended and went among them, and saw them sitting at tables upon which was a great quantity of gold coins. They said that this was the wealth of all the people in the kingdom; but this was only an imaginary vision, called a delusion, by which they produced that appearance. When, however, they were told that they were insane, they turned away from the tables and acknowledged that it was so; but because that vision delighted them exceedingly, they could not help going in at intervals and gratifying the allurements of their senses. They said further that if any one steals the property of another, or commits any other evil, he sinks down into a sort of prison beneath them, where he is detained to labor for food, clothing, and small sums of money; and if such persons still commit any evil there, they are deprived of those things and punished. 662.
LXVII. A dispute was heard between an ambassador of a kingdom and two priests, as to whether intelligence and wisdom, and thus also prudence, were from God, or whether they were from man. The ambassador insisted that they were from man, but the priests that they were from God. It was observed, however, by some angels that the priests interiorly believed the same as the ambassador, namely, that intelligence and wisdom, and consequently prudence, were from man. In order, therefore, that this might be made manifest, the ambassador was requested to take off his official robes and put on the garments of the priestly office. When he had done this, he began to confirm with many proofs that all intelligence and also prudence are from God. The priests were then also requested to take off their vestments and put on the robes of political ministers; and when this was done, the priests spoke from the inner self, saying that all intelligence and prudence are from man. The reason why they spoke in this way was that a, spirit thinks himself to be such as the garment which he wears. After this the three became bosom friends; and, discoursing together, they proceeded along a road which led downwards; but afterwards I saw them returning. 663.
LXVIII. The first subject treated concerns those who in the Word are called the Elect; and it is stated that they are those who, after death, are found to have lived a life of charity and faith, and they are separated from those who have not lived that life. Consequently they are then elected, and prepared for heaven. Therefore to believe that only some, before or after birth, are elected and predestined for heaven and not all, because all are called, would be to accuse God of impotence to save, and also of injustice. 684.
LXIX. It was declared in heaven by a certain new comer that no one in the Christian world knows what conscience is. As the angels did not believe this, they directed a certain spirit to summon by trumpet the intelligent, and inquire of them whether they know what conscience is. This was done; and among those who assembled were politicians, scholars, physicians, and priests. Then, first the politicians were asked what conscience is. They replied, that it is pain arising from an apprehensive fear, or a fear that is actually present, of the loss of honor and wealth; or caused by a melancholy humor arising from undigested food in the stomach; and so on. The scholars were then asked what they knew about conscience; and they replied that it is a sadness and anxiety affecting the body and thence the head, or the head and thence the body, arising from various causes, especially from this, that men applied the mind to one thing only. This happens especially when the ruling love suffers, sometimes giving rise to delusions and madness, and, with some men, to brain sickness in religious matters, which is called remorse of conscience. After these the physicians were asked what conscience is, and they replied that it is only a pain arising from various diseases, many of which they enumerated; and they said they had cured many by means of drugs. The diseases which give rise to the pains called conscience may be seen enumerated in the narrative. Finally the clergy were asked what conscience is; and they said that it is the same thing as contrition which precedes faith, and that they had cured it by the Gospel. Moreover, they added, there are conscientious persons of every religion, whether it is a fanatical or a true religion, who create for themselves scruples in matters of salvation, even in matters which are of no consequence. [No. 665. 24 ]
The angels, on hearing these things, realized the truth of the statement that no one knows what conscience is; and therefore they sent down one of their number to give instruction. Standing in the midst of the assembly he said that conscience is not a sort of pain, as they all had supposed; but it is a life according to religion. That life is especially in those who are in the faith of charity; and those who have conscience speak from the heart what they speak, and do from the heart what they do; and this he illustrated by examples. When it is said, therefore, of any one that he has conscience, it is meant that he is just; and conversely. After he had said this, the persons assembled there divided themselves into four companies: into one company passed those who understood and assented to the words of the angel; into another, those who did not understand but who still gave their assent; into a third, those who did not wish to understand, saying to one another, "What have we to do with conscience?" and into the fourth company, those who ridiculed the words of the angel, saying, "What is conscience but flatulence?" The two latter companies were afterwards seen to depart to the left, and the two former to the right. Orig. Ed. has 665 for 666
LXX. I was conducted to a place which was called Parnassium, 25 where the ancient sages who used to live in Greece had their dwelling. I was told that occasionally they send out certain of their number to summon new comers from the world and to inquire about the present state of wisdom on the earth. At that time two Christians were found and brought to them, and they were immediately asked, "What news from the earth?" They replied that this was news there; that human beings were found in the woods, who had probably been left there in early childhood. In face indeed they appeared like men, but still they were not men; and from these it had been concluded in the world that man was no more than a beast, except that he could articulate sound and thus speak; and that a beast could attain to wisdom if it were trained to express articulate sounds. Much more is added on this subject. The sages from what they heard came to many conclusions concerning wisdom, and what changes it had undergone since their time; and especially from this circumstance they concluded that men do not know the difference between the state of man and the state of a beast, nor even that man is only born the form of a man and that he becomes man by instruction, and that his nature as a man is according to the nature of the instruction he receives: that he becomes wise from truths, insane from falsities, and interiorly a wild beast from evils. Moreover men do not know that man is only born with the faculty of knowing, understanding, and becoming wise, in order that he may be a subject upon whom God might be able to confer wisdom from its lowest to its highest degree. They added further that from the new comers they gathered that wisdom, which in their time was on the ascendant, was now in its decline. Afterwards they instructed the new comers how it was that man, created a form of God, could be changed into the form of a devil. However, for an account of all these things the narrative itself may be consulted. 692.
LXXI. Again an assembly was proclaimed to meet at the place where were the ancient sages, because they had heard from those they sent out that they had met with three new comers from the earth, one of whom was a priest, another a politician, and a, third a philosopher. These were conducted to the assembly and presently they were asked, "What news from the earth?" They replied that this was the latest. They had heard that a certain man declares that he talks with angels and spirits, and relates many things concerning their state; and among other things he says that a man is as much a man after death as before, with this difference only, that he is then clothed with a spiritual body, whereas before, he war, clothed with a material body.
When they heard this, the wise men asked the priest what he had thought of this when on the earth. He replied that because he believed that a man would not live again as a man before the day of the Last Judgment he, with the rest of his order, had at first supposed that what the man had related were visions, and then fictions; but finally he confessed that he was in doubt. He was then asked whether the inhabitants of the earth were not able to see from reason that a man lives as a man after death, and so dissipate the paradoxical notions concerning the state of souls in the meantime, such as, that souls in the meantime were floating about like breaths of wind in the universe, and continually awaiting the Last Judgment, in order that they may unite with their bodies, a lot which would be worse than that of any beast. To this the priest replied, that such things are said, but they do not convince; for men ascribe the coming together or reunion of souls with their bodies and skeletons in the sepulchre, to the omnipotence of God; and when they mention omnipotence and faith, all reason is banished.
Thereupon the politician, being asked regarding what had just been heard, replied that while in the world he could not believe that a man would live as a man after death, since the entire man lies dead in the grave; and therefore the man in question saw spectres and supposed them to be angels and spirits; but now for the first time he was convinced by his senses themselves that man lives a man as before; and so he was ashamed of his former views. The philosopher gave much the same testimony concerning himself and some of his school; adding further that he had placed those things just heard concerning what that man had seen and heard, in the same category as the opinions and hypotheses which he had collected from both the ancients and the moderns.
On hearing these things the wise men were amazed, especially that Christians, who are in light beyond others from revelation, should be in such darkness respecting their life after death, when yet they and the wise men of their time knew of that life and believed in it. They said, moreover, that they observed that the light of wisdom since their age had, descended from the interiors of the brain even to the mouth under the nose, where it appeared as lip brilliance, and the words of the mouth which issued forth appeared as wisdom. Thereupon one of the young scholars added: "O how stupid are the minds of men on earth to-day! Would that we had here the disciples of Democritus 26 who laughed at everything, and those of Heraclitus who wept at everything; for we should hear much laughter and much lamentation!" Afterwards medallions of copper, on which were engraved some hieroglyphics, were presented to the new comers, and they departed. 693.
LXXII. New comers from the world were met with, and being conducted to the city at the foot of Parnassium, were asked, "What news from the earth?" They replied that while in the world they had believed that after death there would be an entire rest from labors; and yet they heard when they arrived here, that there are administrative duties, offices and employments, as in the former world, and thus that there is not rest. To this the wise men there replied: "So you believed that now you are to live in perfect idleness, although from idleness arise languour, torpor, stupor, and sleep of the mind, and consequently of the whole body. These states are death, not life." Then they were conducted round the city, visiting administrators and workers; and when they saw them they mar- veiled that such things should be, as they had believed that the future would be a sort of void, in which souls would exist until the new heaven and the new earth should come into being.
They were instructed that all things which here appear to the eye are substantial, and are called spiritual; that all things in the former world are material, and are called natural; and that this difference exists because of their different origin. For all things in the spiritual world exist and subsist from a Sun which is pure Love, and all things in the natural world exist from a sun which is pure fire. They were further instructed that in the spiritual world there are not only administrative duties but also studies of every kind, as well as writings and books. The new comers were delighted by this instruction; and when they were departing, some maidens came and presented them with embroidered and woven articles, examples of their own handiwork. They also sang tot hem a song, expressing in heavenly strains the love of useful work and the pleasures of use. 694.
LXXIII. I was introduced into an assembly where some of the old philosophers were present; and I was asked what was known in my world concerning influx. I replied that nothing was known of any influx other than that of the sun's light and heat into the objects of nature, both animate and inanimate; and absolutely nothing of the influx of the spiritual world into the natural, although from that influx are derived all the wonderful phenomena exhibited both in the animal and in the vegetable kingdom; and these are in part recounted. As men know nothing of this influx they confirm themselves in favor of nature, and become materialists, and finally, atheists. No 695.
LXXIV. I had a conversation with followers of Aristotle, 27 Descartes, 28 and Leibnitz, 29 concerning physical influx, occasional influx, and pre-established harmony, and I heard how each confirmed his hypothesis. As they were not able to examine the subject from any elevation of the understanding above confirmations, but only below them, they decided the dispute by lot. This came out in favor of spiritual influx, which in some measure coincides with occasional influx. 698.
LXXV. I was conducted to a certain school where young men were taught the various branches of wisdom. This was done by the discussion of any subject proposed by the president. At that time the subject for discussion was, What is the soul, and what is its nature? There was a chair to which those went up whose turn it was to give their answer. Presently one went up who said that no one since the creation of the world has been able to discover what the soul is, and what is its nature. As it was known, however, that the soul was in man, search was made for where it might be. One gave it as his opinion that it resides with man in a, certain little gland, called the pineal gland, which is situated between the two brains in the head. He himself had believed this at first; but as it was rejected by many, he also departed from it.
After him the second went up and said that he believed that the seat of the soul was in the head, since the understanding was there. However, as he could not conjecture in what part of the head its seat was, he sometimes approached the view of those who said that its seat was in the three ventricles of the brain; sometimes the view of those who said that it was in the striated bodies there; sometimes of those who said that it was in the medullary or cortical substance; and sometimes of those who said that it was in the dura mater. He added, however, that he left it to every one to think as he pleased on the matter. The third speaker went up to the chair and said that the seat of the soul was in the heart, Land thence in the blood; and he confirmed this from the Word, where the expression "heart and soul" is used. Then the fourth ascended and said that from his boyhood he had believed with the ancients that the soul is not in one part but in the whole body, because it is a spiritual substance, of which place cannot be predicated, but impletion; and further, because by soul is also meant life, and life is in the whole. The fifth then ascended and said that he believed the soul to be something pure, like ether or air. He believed this because of the opinion that the soul was of this nature after its separation from the body.
As the wise men in the gallery perceived that none of those speakers knew what the soul was, they requested the president, who had proposed the problem, to descend and teach them. Accordingly he descended and said that the soul is the very essence of man; and as an essence without a form is not any thing, the soul is the form of the forms of man. This form is the truly human form, in which wisdom with its perceptions, and love with its affections, universally reside. "And you are now souls," he continued, "as you believed when in the world that you would be after death;" with much besides. This was confirmed by the declaration in the Book of Creation:
"JEHOVAH God... breathed into Adam's (A.V., man's) nostrils the soul of lives (A.V., the breath of life); and man became a living soul" Genesis 2:7. [No. 697.]
LXXVI. An angel was seen with a trumpet, with which he called together those who were celebrated among Christians for their learning, that they might relate what they had formerly believed in the world concerning the joys of heaven and eternal happiness. This was done because it was said in heaven that no one in the Christian world knows anything about these things. In less than an hour's time six companies composed of learned Christians appeared there; and they were asked what they had known about the joys of heaven and eternal happiness. The first company said they believed that it would be simply admission into heaven and then into its festive joys, just as a person is admitted to a house where there is a wedding and into its festivities. The second company said they believed that heavenly joy consisted in delightful association and pleasant conversation with angels. The third company said they believed it consists in feasting with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The fourth company said they believed that it consists in the delights of paradise. The fifth company, that it consists in all-embracing dominion, boundless wealth, and more than royal magnificence. The sixth company, that it consists in the glorification of God and a never-ceasing festival. In order that these learned persons might know whether what they believed really constitute the joys of heaven, they were permitted to enter into their joys, each company by itself, in order that they might learn from living experience whether their joys were imaginary or real. This happens with most persons who pass from the natural world into the spiritual. Nos. 731-733.
Then presently, that company who had supposed heavenly joys to consist in delightful association and pleasant conversation with angels, were admitted into the joys of their own imagining. But as their joys were external and not internal, after some days they became tired, and departed. 734.
Afterwards those who had believed that the joys of heaven consist in feasting with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were admitted into such feasts. As they perceived, however, that these joys were only external and not internal, they became weary and withdrew. 736.
The same thing was done with those who had believed that the joys of heaven and eternal happiness consist in all-embracing dominion, boundless wealth, and more than royal magnificence. 736.
The same thing also happened with those who had believed that heavenly joys and consequently eternal happiness consist in the delights of paradise. 737.
The same thing afterwards took place with those who had believed that heavenly joys and eternal happiness consist in the perpetual glorification of God and a religious festival continuing to eternity. These were at length instructed what is meant in the Word by the glorification of God. 738.
Finally the same course was gone through with those who had believed that they enter into heavenly joys and happiness provided only they are admitted into heaven; and that they would then enjoy its pleasures just as those do who enter a house where there is a wedding and forthwith enter into its festivities. However, as it was shown them by actual experience that there are no joys in heaven except for those who have lived the life of heaven, that is, the life of charity and faith; and on the other hand that heaven is torture to those who have lived a contrary life, they withdrew and associated with those who were similar to themselves. 739.
As it was perceived by the angels that hitherto no one in the natural world has known the nature of the joys of heaven, and consequently the nature of eternal happiness, the angel with the trumpet was told to choose out from the assembly ten men and introduce them into a society of heaven, that they might see with their eyes and perceive with their minds what heaven is, and what is the nature of the joys there. This was done, and after their admission they were first granted to see the magnificent palace of the prince there, 740; and then the garden adjoining, 742; and afterwards they saw the prince himself, and his retinue in splendid robes, 742.
They were then invited to the table of the prince and saw such a display as no eye on earth had ever seen. At table they heard the prince giving them instruction on heavenly joys and eternal happiness, explaining that these consist essentially in internal blessedness, and in external delights arising from it; and that internal blessedness derives its essence from the love of use. 744. 30
After dinner, by command of the prince, certain wise men of the society were summoned, who fully instructed the guests on the nature and source of internal blessedness, which is eternal happiness, showing that this causes external delights to be joys; with much more on all these matters. Nos. 745, 748.
After this it was granted them to see a wedding in that heaven. In this connection see Nos. 747-749. Finally it was granted them to hear preaching there. Nos. 750-751.
After seeing and hearing all these things, they descended, full of knowledge concerning heaven and joyful in heart. 752.
LXXVII. Revelation is here treated of. It has pleased the Lord to manifest Himself to me, and to open the interiors of my mind, and in this way to grant to me to see the things which are in heaven and hell. He has thus disclosed to me spiritual truths (arcana) which for excellence and intrinsic worth exceed those hitherto disclosed. These are:
1. In all things of the Word and in every particular, there is a spiritual sense, which does not appear in the sense of the Letter. The Word on this account is written according to the correspondence of spiritual with natural things.
2. The nature of the correspondences themselves has been made known.
3. There has also been disclosed truth concerning the life of men after death;
4. Concerning the respective nature of heaven and hell, and also concerning Baptism and the Holy Supper;
5. Concerning the Sun in the spiritual world, that it is pure love from the Lord who is in the midst of it, from which the proceeding light is wisdom and the proceeding heat is love, whence are derived faith and charity, and that all things which proceed from this Sun are spiritual, and thus alive; that the sun of the natural world is pure fire, and consequently that all things which proceed from this sun are natural, and thus dead;
6. The truth that there are three degrees hitherto unknown;
7. Further, concerning the Last Judgment; that the Lord the Savior is the God of heaven and earth; concerning the New Church and its doctrine; concerning the inhabitants of the planets, and concerning the earths in the universe. 846.
8. Moreover the truth concerning conjugial love, that it is spiritual with the spiritual, natural with the natural, and carnal with adulterers. 847.
9. Angels perceived by actual observation that although these truths surpass in excellence those hitherto disclosed yet they are lightly esteemed by many at the present day. 848.
[10.] A murmur was heard from some in the lower earth that they would not place any faith in these things unless miracles were performed. But they received answer that they would no more believe through miracles than Pharaoh and the Egyptians, or the posterity of Jacob when they danced around the golden calf in the desert, or even the Jews themselves, when they sew the miracles which the Lord Himself performed. 849.
11. Finally, why the Lord revealed those truths to me, and not rather to some one of the ecclesiastical order. 850.
The things which are contained in the Narratives (Memorabilia) at the end of the chapters of this book are true. Similar things were seen and heard by the Prophets before the Coming of the Lord, and by the Apostles after His Coming, as by Peter, Paul, and especially by John in the Revelation. These things are recounted, 851.
Footnotes:
1. Lucifer, fabled son of Aurora, or of Jupiter, morning star, day.
2. Michael, the archangel.
3. Evangelicals, Low Church Protestants who profess evangelical principles, especially the doctrine that salvation is by faith in the Atonement.
4. Eucharist, Holy Supper, thanksgiving.
5. Socinians, members of a religious sect taking their name from Faustus Socinus, A.D. 1539-1604, and his uncle Laelius Socinus. They are antitrinitarians, denying the personality of the Holy Ghost and the Divinity of Christ. Early Socians believed in the miraculous conception and that Christ was entitled to Divine worship; but modern Socinians, chiefly Unitarians, deny both.
6. Michael, the archangel. 43[3], 113[4], 113[6].
7. Nice (Nicaea), city of Asia Minor, in Bithynia. In A.D. 325 it was the seat of a Council summoned to settle the Arian controversy. The creed there adopted is known as the Nicene Creed.
8. Athanasian Symbol or Creed. Although bearing the name of Athanasius, it was probably composed by Hilary, in the century after the formulation of the Nicene Creed, A.D. 325. The name was given to it about the year A.D. 670 as an excellent system of the doctrines of Athansius concerning the Trinity and the Incarnation, principally in opposition to the Arians. It is received by the Romish Church and also by the Reformed.
9. Leipzig, capital of province of same name, seat of highest court of justice in Germany.
10. Evangelicals, Low Church Protestants who profess evangelical principles, especially the doctrine that salvation is by faith in the Atonement.
11. Form of Concord, Formula Concordiae, designed to effect an amicable adjustment of the differences among the Lutherans, by drawing them more closely to their principal standard, the Augsburg or Augustan Confession. Most of the Lutheran Churches add this Formula to their standard creeds.
12. Augustan or Augsburg Confession, presented by the Lutherans to Charles V at Augusta or Augsburg, in A.D. 1530. This is one of the standard books of faith to which members of the Lutheran Church subscribe. Melanchthon was mainly responsible for its composition.
13. Socinians, members of a religious sect taking their name from Faustus Socinus, A.D. 1539-1604, and his uncle Laelius Socinus. They are antitrinitarians, denying the personality of the Holy Ghost and the Divinity of Christ. Early Socinians believed in the miraculous conception and that Christ was entitled to Divine worship; but modern Socinians, chiefly Unitarians, deny both.
14. Arius, theologian of Alexandria, A.D 256-336; founder of Arianism, affirming that Christ was an originated Being. Excommunicated by bishops of Egypt for denying that Christ was made of the same substance (homo-ousion) of any previously existing substance. To settle the consequent dispute Constantine called the Council of Nicaea, A.D. 325. Athanasius successfully led the opposition to Arius; and Arius, with Eusebius, who also refused to accept the Athanasian position, was banished.
15. Tartaria, Tartary, country of Central Asia.
16. Leibnitz, German philosopher, A.D. 1646-1716. He maintained the metaphysical against mechanical causes in the interpretation of the world. He taught the pre-established harmony of the universe, founded upon spiritual agencies, dependent only upon God, which reflected in themselves the whole universe.
17. Wolff, Johann Christian, A.D. 1679-1754, a German philosopher of little originality or depth. His leading ideas are taken from Leibnitz.
18. Syncretist, one who seeks to reconcile and unite various systems of philosophy or religious opinions on the basis of tenets common to all. The Syncretistic controversy was a dispute in the Lutheran Church in the seventeenth century.
19. Machiavellian, one who adopts the principles of Machiavelli, an Italian statesman and writer, A.D. 1469-1527. His best-known works are THE PRINCE and THE ART OF WAR. His views on statecraft were such that his name has become a byword for those who are astute and perfidious, with no sense of honor in political matters.
20. This is the numbering in Orig. Ed.
21. Form of Concord, Formula Concordiae, designed to effect an amicable adjustment of the differences among the Lutherans, by drawing them more closely to their principal standard, the Augsburg or Augustan Confession. Most of the Lutheran Churches add this Formula to their standard creeds.
22. Lucifer, fabled son of Aurora, or of Jupiter, morning star, day.
23. here rotundum; but formae quadratae in 508.
24. In Orig. Ed. 665 is used covering Nos. 665, 668.
25. Parnassius, belonging to Parnassus; subst. Parnassium, hill near Athenaeum, the city in the spiritual world of the Greek sages.
26. These names, Democritus and Heraclitus, are transposed in Orig. Ed.
27. Aristotle, Greek philosopher, 384-322 B.C.; born at Stagiros, so called The Stagirite. He took all knowledge for his province, but had little appreciation of mathematics. He created the science of logic.
28. Descartes, French philosopher, A.D. 1596-1650. According to his theory the essence of the mind, as appears from his proposition, Cogito, ergo sum, is consciousness or thinking; and the essence of matter is extension. Thus the universe falls into two discrete worlds, that of thinking substances and that of extended substances.
29. Leibnitz, German philosopher, A.D. 1646-1716. He maintained the metaphysical against mechanical causes in the interpretation of the world. He taught the pre-established harmony of the universe, founded upon spiritual agencies, dependent only upon God, which reflected in themselves the whole universe.
30. The Original Edition has 743.
852. INDEX MEMORABILIUM.
I. Audivi quosdam novos Advenas loquentes inter se de tribus Personis Divinis ab aeterno, et tunc quidam, qui in Mundo fuerat Primas, ideas cogitationis suae de mysterio illo aperuit, dicens, quod sua Mens fuerit et adhuc sit, quod Tres in Coelo sedeant super altis Thronis; Deus Pater super Throno ex obryzo auro cum Sceptro in manu; Deus Filius ad dextram super Throno ex purissimo argento, cum Corona super capite; et Deus Spiritus Sanctus super Throno ex splendido Chrystallo, tenens Columbam in manu, in qua apparuit cum Christus baptizatus est; et quod circum circa illos in triplici ordine pensiles lampades ex lapidibus pretiosis coruscarent; et quod e longinquo in Circo starent innumerabiles Angeli adorantes et glorificantes; et insuper loquutus est de Spiritu sancto, quomodo infert fidem, purificat et justificat: dixit, quod plures ex suo Ordine his ejus ideis faverint; credens quod ego etiam, quia laicus, illis fidem haberem: at tunc data mihi copia loquendi 1 inquii, quod a pueritia mea foverim ideam, quod Deus unus sit, quare explicui coram illo, quid involvit Trinitas, et quid significat Thronus, Sceptrum et Corona, ubi illa in Verbo praedicantur de Deo: quibus addidi, quod omnes qui credunt tres Personas Divinas ab aeterno, non possint aliter quam credere tres Deos, et insuper, quod Divina Essentia non sit partibilis, 16.
II. Angelorum sermo de Deo, quod Divinum Ipsius sit Divinum Esse in se, et non a se, et quod sit Unum, Idem, Ipsum, et Individuum: tum quod Deus non sit in loco, sed apud illos, qui in loco sunt: et quod Divinus Ipsius Amor appareat Angelis ut Sol, et quod Calor inde sit in essentia sua Amor, et Lux inde in sua essentia Sapientia, 25.
- Quod Attributa Divina procedentia, quae funt Creatio, Redemptio, et Regeneratio, sint unius Dei, et non Trium, 26.
III. Quoniam percepi, quod ingens multitudo hominum sit in persuasione, quod omnia Naturae sint, et inde quod Natura sit Creatrix universi, in quodam Gymnasio, ubi erant tales, loquutus sum cum quodam Ingenioso, de his Tribus: 1. Num Natura sit vitae, vel num Numeri Vita sit naturae. 2. Numeri Centrum sit expansi, vel num Expansum sit centri. 3. De Centro et Expanso Naturae et Vitae; et quod Centrum naturae sit Sol mundi naturalis, et hujus Expansum ipse ejus Mundus, et quod Centrum vitae sit Sol mundi spiritualis, et hujus Expansum ipse ejus Mundus; quae ab utraque parte ventilata sunt, et demum ostensum quid verum, 35.
IV. Quod in quoddam Theatrum sapientiae perductus sim, ubi congregati erant Spiritus angelici ex quatuor plagis, quibus e Coelo injunctum erat ventilare tria Arcana, 1. Quid Imago Dei et quid Similitudo Dei. 2. Cur homo non nascitur in scientiam ullius amoris, cum tamen bestiae et aves nascuntur in scientiam omnium suorum amorum. 3. Quid significat Arbor vitae, et Arbor scientiae boni et mali; et insuper quod conjungerent illa Tria in unam sententiam, et hanc referrent ad Angelos coeli; quibus factis Sententia relata est, et ab Angelis acceptata, 48.
V. Quod a malis Spiritibus mox supra Infernum auditus sit sicut strepitus maris, qui erat tumultus, qui inter illos exstitit, quia audiverunt super se, quod Deus Omnipotens se adstrinxerit ordini, et quod quidam inde ascenderint, et me de ea re acriter alloquuti sint, dicendo, quod Deus, quia Omnipotens est, non adstrictus sit alicui Ordini; ac interrogatus de Ordine, dixi, 1. Quod Deus sit ipse Ordo. 2. Quod hominem ex Ordine, in Ordine, et ad Ordinem creaverit. 3. Quod Mentem ejus rationalem creaverit secundum Ordinem Mundi spiritualis, et Corpus ejus secundum Ordinem Mundi naturalis. 4. Quod inde Lex ordinis 2 sit, quod homo ex suo Mundulo spirituali seu microurano recturus sit suum mundulum naturalem seu microcosmum, sicut Deus ex suo Macrourano seu Mundo spirituali regit suum Macrocosmum seu Mundum naturalem. 5. Quod inde plures Leges ordinis profluant, quae quoad partem adjectae sunt: quid postea spiritibus illis evenit, descriptum est, 71.
VI. De Ratiocinatione quorundam ex Batavia et Britannia in Mundo spirituali de Imputatione et Praedestinatione: ab una parte, cur Deus, quia est Omnipotens, non omnibus imputat Justitiam Filii sui, et sic facit illos Redemptos, cum tamen, quia est Omnipotens, potest omnes Satanas Inferni facere Angelos Coeli, imo si ei beneplacet, potest Luciferum, Draconem, et cunctos Hircos facere Archangelos, et quid opus nisi verbulo ad hoc: ab altera parte, quod Deus sit ipse Ordo, et quod nihil possit contra Leges sui Ordinis facere, quia hoc foret facere contra Seipsum: praeter plura, per quae de hac re inter se ludebant, 72.
VII. Quod postea cum aliis, qui in fide Praedestinationis erant, loquutus sim, qui illam ex Dei absoluta potentia 3 seu Omnipotentia deduxerunt, et quod alioquin Deo minor potestas foret, quam Regi Monarchae in Mundo, qui potest leges Justitiae vertere sicut suas palmas, ac agere absolute sicut Octavius Augustus et quoque absolute sicut Nero; ad quae responsum est, quod Deus creaverit Mundum, ac omnia et singula ejus ex Se ut Ordine, et sic illis indiderit Ordinem, et quod Leges ordinis Ipsius sint totidem, quot Veritates in Verbo: et tunc recensitae sunt aliquae Leges Ordinis, ac quae et quales sunt a parte Dei, ut et quae et quales sunt a parte hominis; et quod illae mutari nequeant, quia Deus est Ipse Ordo, et quod homo creatus sit imago Ipsius ordinis, 73.
VIII. Quod loquutus sim cum congregatis 4 ex Clericis et Laicis de Divina Omnipotentia, qui dixerunt quod Omnipotentia sit illimitata, et quod Omnipotentia limitata sit contradictio: ad quae responsum est, quod non sit contradictio Omnipotenter agere secundum leges Justitiae cum Judicio, dicitur etiam apud Davidem, quod Justitia et Judicium sint fulcrum Throni Dei, Psalm 89:15, 5 et quod non sit contradictio omnipotenter agere secundum leges Amoris et 6 Sapientiae, sed quod Contradictio sit, quod Deus possit agere contra leges Justitiae et Amoris, et quod hoc foret ex non Judicio et Sapientia: et quod talem Contradictionem involvat Fides hodiernae Ecclesiae, quod Deus possit injustum facere justum, ac impium omnibus salutis donis et vitae praemiis insignire: praeter plura de hac Fide, et de Omnipotentia, 74.
IX. Quondam cum in meditatione de Creatione Universi a Deo eram, abductus sum spiritu ad quosdam sapientes, qui primum conquesti sunt de ideis apud se captis in Mundo, quae fuerunt de Creatione universi ex Chao, et de Creatione ex nihilo, quia illae meditationem de Creatione universi a Deo obscurant, pessumdant et pervertunt; quare ad interrogationem quid mea mens, expromsi hoc, quod vanum sit concludere aliud quam phantasticum de Creatione Universi, nisi sciatur quod duo Mundi sint, Spiritualis et Naturalis, et quod in utroque sit Sol; et quod Sol Mundi spiritualis sit purus Amor, in cujus medio est Deus, et quod ex illo sint omnia spiritualia, quae in se sunt substantialia; et quod Sol Mundi naturalis sit purus Ignis, et quod ex illo sint omnia naturalia, quae in se sunt 7 materialia; et quod ex his cognitis concludi possit de Creatione Universi quod sit a Deo; et quomodo; quod etiam parum delineatum est, 76.
X. Quod aliqui Satanae Inferni cupiverint loqui cum Angelis Coeli, ex proposito ut convincerent illos, quod omnia sint ex Natura, et quod Deus sit modo vox nisi intelligatur natura; ac permissum est ut illi ascenderent; et tunc quidam Angeli e Coelo se demiserunt in Mundum spirituum ut audirent illos; quibus visis Satanae furiose accurrebant, dicentes, vos vocamini Angeli, quia creditis quod Deus sit, et quod Natura non aliquid respective, et tamen illa creditis tametsi est contra omnes Sensus; quis Sensus ex quinque vestris aliud sentit quam Naturam; his et pluribus aliis acerbe dictis, Angeli in reminiscentiam illorum revocaverunt, quod nunc vivant post mortem, et quod ne quidem hoc prius crediderint, et tunc fecerunt illis videre pulchra et splendida Coeli, et dixerunt, quod haec sint ibi, quia omnes ibi credunt in Deum; et postea fecerunt illis videre turpia et immunda Inferni, dicentes quod haec sint ibi, quia credunt in Naturam: Satanae ex illis visis primum convicti sunt quod Deus sit, et quod creaverit Naturam; at sicut descenderunt, rediit amor mali, et occlusit intellectum illorum a superiori, quo occluso crediderunt ut prius, quod omnia sint Naturae, et nihil Dei, 77.
XI. Typus Creationis Universi ad vivum mihi ab Angelis ostensus est: perductus sum in Coelum, et datum est videre ibi omnia quae Regni animalis, omnia quae Regni vegetabilis, et omnia quae Regni mineralis erant, quae prorsus similia erant objectis trium illorum Regnorum in Mundo naturali, et tunc dixerunt, omnia illa in Coelo momento creantur a Deo, et subsistunt, quamdiu Angeli interius in statu amoris et fidei quoad cogitationem sunt; et quod momentanea illa Creatio evidenter testetur Creationem similium, imo similem, in Mundo naturali, cum solo discrimine, quod Naturalia investiant spiritualia, et quod investitio illa a Deo provisa sit propter generationes unius ab altera, per quas Creatio perpetuatur: consequenter quod Creatio Universi similiter facta sit, sicut fit omni momento in Coelo. At vero, quod omnia, quae in tribus Regnis naturae noxia et tetra sunt, quae enumerantur, non a Deo creata sint, sed una cum Inferno exorta, 78.
XII. Colloquium cum quibusdam, qui in Mundo Celebres eruditione fuerunt, de Creatione Universi, qui ex iisdem ideis, quas prius foverunt, loquuti dixerunt; Unus, quod Natura seipsam creaverit: Alter, quod Natura sua elementa in vortices conglomeraverit, et quod ex collisione illorum conflata sit Tellus: et Tertius, quod ex Chao, quod magnitudine aequavit multam partem Universi, et quod primum inde eruperint purissima, ex quibus Sol et Stellae, et quod postea minus pura, ex quibus Athmosphaerae, et quod demum crassa, ex quibus Globus terraqueus: ad interrogationem, unde Animae humanae, dixerunt, quod aether se contulerit in parvos glomos discretos, et quod hi se infundant in nascituros, et faciant animas, et quod post mortem evolent ad agmen prius in aethere, et inde redeant in alios, secundum veterum Methempsychosin. 8 Post haec quidam Sacerdos per solidas rationes pro Creatione Universi a Deo redegit omnia illa quae dicta sunt in insulsam farraginem, et illos in pudorem, sed usque retinuerunt priora sua deliria, 79.
XIII. Cum quodam Satana de Deo, de Coelo Angelico, et de Religione, qui quia non scivit aliter, quam quod adhuc in priori Mundo esset, dixit, quod Deus sit Universum, quod Coelum Angelicum sit firmamentum athmosphaericum, et quod Religio sit fascinum plebis, praeter plura fatua; sed cum in reminiscentiam ejus reproductum est, quod nunc post mortem vivat, et quod illam vitam non prius crediderit, eo momento fassus est quod insaniverit, sed ut primum se convertit et recessit, consimiliter insanivit ut prius, 80.
XIV. Quod in nocte viderim Ignem fatuum, defluentem in terram, qui a multis vocatur Draco; observavi locum ubi decidit; erat ibi terra sulphurea mixta pulvere ferreo; et cum mane spectavi illuc, vidi ibi duo Tentoria; et tunc mox e Coelo delapsus est Spiritus, ad quem accessi et quaesivi, cur e Coelo delapsus est; respondit, quod ab Angelis Michaelis dejectus sit, quia dixi, quod Deus Pater et Ipsius Filius sint duo et non unum, et dixit quod totum Coelum Angelicum credat, quod Deus Pater et Ipsius Filius sint unum, sicut anima et corpus unum sunt, et quod hoc per multa confirment ex Verbo, et praeterea ex ratione, quod anima filii non sit nisi ex Patre, et quod illa et inde in Corpore sit instar patris: et addidit, quod quidem in Coelo confessus sit, sicut prius in terris, quod Deus unus sit, sed quia confessio oris et cogitatio mentis in hoc dissidebant, dixerunt quod non crederet 9 in aliquem Deum, quia una dissipat alteram; et dixit, quod haec fuerit causa dejectionis ejus. Post diem redux ad eundem locum, vidi duas Statuas ex simili pulvere, quae erat miscela sulphuris et ferri, loco duorum tentoriorum, quarum una repraesentabat hodiernae Ecclesiae Fidem et altera ejus Charitatem, utramque pulchre vestitam, sed vestes inductae erant per phantasias; at quia ex illo pulvere erant, ex demissa pluvia e Coelo, ambae caeperunt ebullire et deflagrare, 110.
XV. Quod in Mundo spirituali non alicui liceat loqui quam cogitat, alioquin hypocriticum manifeste auditur; et quod ideo in Inferno nemo possit nominare JESUM, quia Jesus significat Salutem: per hoc ibi expertum est, quot in Christiano Orbe hodie credunt, quod Christus etiam quoad Humanum suum sit Deus; quare ubi congregati erant plures ex Clericis et Laicis, propositum est illis, ut edicerent DIVINUM HUMANUM; sed usque vix aliqui has binas voces simul potuerunt extrahere ex cogitatione, et sic illas enuntiare: confirmabatur coram illis per plura ex Verbo, quod Dominus quoad Humanum etiam esset Deus, ut per illa quae Matthaeus 28:18; Johannes 1:1-2, 14; 17:2; Colossenses 2:9, I Ep. Johannes 5:20, 10 et quoque alibi, sed usque non potuerunt eloqui Divinum Humanum; et quod mirati sint, 11 quod nec Evangelici, tametsi Orthodoxia illorum docet, quod in Christo Deus sit Homo et Homo Deus; et adhuc plus quod nec Monachi, qui tamen sanctissime adorant Corpus Christi in Eucharistia. Ex his compertum est, quod Christiani hodie quoad plurem partem interius sint vel Ariani vel Sociniani, et quod hi si adorant Christum ut Deum, sint hypocritae, 111.
XVI. Altercatio de Codicillo, Summaria Expositio Doctrinae Novae Ecclesiae, a me Amstelodami edito, et de hoc ibi imprimis, quod non Deus Pater, sed Dominus Deus Redemptor adeundus et adorandus sit; argumentantes quod usque dicatur in Oratione Dominica, Pater noster qui es in Coelis, sanctificetur Nomen tuum, adveniat Regnum tuum, consequenter quod Deus Pater adeundus sit; ad quam litem dirimendam arcessitus sum, et tunc demonstravi, quod Deus Pater in Divino suo non possit adiri, sed in Humano suo; et quia Divinum et Humanum in Ipso una Persona sunt, quod Dominus sit ille Pater; quod etiam ex Verbo confirmatum est, tam ex Verbo Veteris Testamenti, ubi Filius Dei vocatur Pater aeternitatis, et multis in locis Jehovah Redemptor, Jehovah Justitia, et Deus Israelis, quam ex Verbo Novi Testamenti pluries; et sic quod cum Dominus Deus Redemptor aditur, adeatur Pater, et quod tunc sanctificetur Nomen Ejus, et adveniat Regnum Ejus, praeter plura, 112.
XVII. Quod viderim Exercitum 12 super Equis rufis et nigris, omnes in illo versos quoad facies ad caudas equorum, et quoad occipitia ad capita illorum, clamantes ad pugnam contra Equitantes super Equis albis; et quod ludicer ille Exercitus 13 erupuerit ex loco qui vocatur Armageddon, Apocalypsis 16:16, et quod constiterit ex illis qui in juventute imbuerunt dogmata de Justificatione per solam fidem, et qui postea, dum promoti sunt ad eminentia officia rejecerunt illa quae fidei et religionis sunt ab internis mentis ad externa corporis eorum, ubi denique evanuerunt. Descripti quales apparuerunt in Armageddon, et auditum est inde, quod vellent congredi cum angelis Michaelis, quod etiam datum, sed ad aliquam distantiam abinde; et quod hic inter illos pugnatum sit de intellectu verborum in Oratione Dominica, Pater noster qui es in Coelis, sanctificetur Nomen tuum, adveniat Regnum tuum, et tunc ab angelis Michaelis dictum est, quod Dominus Redemptor et Salvator omnibus in Coelis sit Pater, quoniam Ipse docuit, Quod Pater et Ipse unum sint; Quod Pater in Ipso sit et Ipse in Patre; Quod qui videt Ipsum, videat Patrem; Quod omnia Patris in Ipso sint; tum quod voluntas Patris sit, ut credant in Filium, et quod qui non credunt Filio, non visuri sint vitam, sed quod ira Dei mansura sit super illos; tum quod Ipsi sit omnis potestas in Coelo et in Terra; et quod Ipsi sit potestas omnis carnis; et insuper quod nemo viderit nec videre possit Deum Patrem, sed solus Filius qui in sinu Patris est, praeter plura. Post hanc pugnam Armageddoni convicti, quoad partem conjecti sunt in Abyssum, de qua in Apocalypsi 9, et quoad partem emissi in desertum, 113.
XVIII. Quod fuerim in Templo, in quo non fenestrae, sed magna apertura in tecto, et quod congregati ibi colloquuti sint de REDEMPTIONE, dicentes unanimiter quod Redemptio facta sit per Passionem crucis; at cum in illo sermone erant, atra Nubes obduxit aperturam tecti, unde tenebrae factae sunt in Templo, sed quod paulo post Nubes illa discussa sit ab Angelis qui e Coelo descenderunt, qui tunc Unum ex se demiserunt in Templum, qui instrueret illos de Redemptione; hic dixit, quod Passio crucis non fuerit Redemptio, sed quod subjugatio Infernorum, ordinatio Coelorum, et sic restitutio omnium quae tam in Mundo spirituali quam in Mundo naturali collapsa sunt, et quod absque eo nulla Caro conservari potuerit: et de Passione crucis dixit, quod per illam completa sit unitio intima cum Patre; et quod dum illa assumitur pro Redemptione, multa indigna Deo, imo nefanda, consequantur, ut quod super totum Genus humanum concluserit damnationem, et quod Filius illam in se susceperit, et quod sic Patrem propitiaverit, et per intercessionem redegerit in Divinam suam Essentiam, quae est Amor et Misericordia, praeter plura, quae Deo attribuere, scandalosa sunt; 134.
XIX. Quod visus sit Sol Mundi spiritualis, in quo Jehovah Deus in suo Humano est; et tunc e Coelo auditum est hoc, QUOD DEUS UNUS SIT; sed cum hoc delapsum est in Mundum spirituum, secundum formas mentium ibi versum est, et tandem in tres Deos; quod etiam unus ibi ratiocinans confirmavit per haec, quod Unus sit qui creavit omnia, Alter qui redemit omnes, ac Tertius qui operatur omnia, tum quod Unus sit qui imputat, Alter qui mediat, et Tertius qui illa homini inscribit, et sic indit fidem, per quam illum justificat. At quia Fides trium Deorum perverterat totam Ecclesiam Christianam, ex data perceptione detexi illis quid apud unum Deum intelligitur per Mediationem, Intercessionem, Propitiationem, et Expiationem, videlicet, quod illa quatuor sint attributa Humani Jehovae Dei, quod quia Jehovah Deus absque Humano non adire potest hominem, nec ab homine adiri, Mediatio significet quod Humanum sit intermedians, quod Intercessio significet quod perpetuo mediet, quod Propitiatio significet 14 quod benignus accessus sit cuivis homini ad Deum; et quod Expiatio significet quod etiam peccatoribus, et haec omnia per Humanum, 135.
XX. Quod intraverim in Gymnasium, ubi ventilabatur quomodo intelligendum est, quod dicitur de Filio Dei, quod SEDEAT AD DEXTRAM PATRIS; de hoc variae erant opiniones, omnium tamen quod Filius actualiter ita sedeat; sed ventilabant, cur id, tunc quidam credebant quod id fiat propter Redemptionem, quidam quod ex amore, quidam ut Consiliarius esset, quidam ut Illi honor sit ab Angelis, quidam quia datum est Illi regnare vice Patris, quidam ut dextra aure audiatur pro quibus intercedit: insuper etiam ventilabant, num Filius Dei ab aeterno ita sedeat, vel num Filius Dei natus in Mundo. His auditis, sustuli palmam, rogans ut liceat aliquid loqui, et dicere quid intelligitur per sedere ad dextram Dei, et dixi, quod intelligatur Omnipotentia Dei per Humanum quod assumsit, per hoc enim Redemptionem fecit, hoc est, subjugavit Inferna, creavit Novum Coelum Angelicum, et instauravit Novam Ecclesiam; quod hoc per sedere ad dextram intelligatur, confirmavi ex Verbo, in quo per Dextram significatur Potentia, et postea confirmatum est e Coelo per apparentiam Manus Dextrae super illos, ex cujus potentia et inde terrore omnes paene exanimati sunt, 136.
XXI. Quod in Mundo spirituali perductus sim in quoddam Synedrium, in quo congregati erant Celebres qui ante Concilium Nicenum vixerunt, et vocati sunt Patres Apostolici, et quoque Incluti, qui post illud Concilium: et vidi, quod aliqui ex his apparerent Mento calvo, et in Capillitiis 15 ex crine muliebri cincinnatis, sed omnes priores in Mento barbato, et in Capillis nativis. Ante illos stetit Vir judex et arbiter scriptorum hujus saeculi, qui exorsus est per quandam lamentationem, dicens, Vir e Laicis surrexit, qui Fidem nostram e sanctuario suo detraxit, quae tamen est stella lucens diu noctuque coram nobis, at hoc ex causa, quia vir ille caecutit in mysteriis istius fidei, et non vidit in illa justitiam Christi, et sic non Justificationis ejus mirabilia, cum tamen illa Fides est in tres Personas Divinas, et sic in totum Deum; et quia fidem suam transtulit in Secundam Personam, et non in hanc sed in Humanum Ipsius, non potest aliter quam ut inde scaturiat Naturalismus: hujus effato faverunt illi, qui post Concilium Nicenum vixerunt, dicentes quod impossibile sit, ut fides alia et aliunde sit. Sed Patres Apostolici, qui vixerunt ante illud saeculum, indignati narrabant plura quae de Fide Nicena et Athanasiana in Coelo dicuntur, quae videantur. Sed quia Praesul Synedrii cum Scriptore illo in Lipsia quoad spiritum consociatus erat, alloquutus sum illum, et demonstravi ex Verbo, quod Christus etiam quoad Humanum Deus sit, tum etiam ex Libro dogmatico Evangelicorum, Formula Concordiae, vocato, quod in Christo Deus sit Homo et Homo Deus, ut et quod Augustana Confessio Cultum Ipsius maxime probet, praeter plura, ad quae siluit, et se avertit. Postea loquutus sum cum quodam Spiritu, qui consociatus erat cum Viro eminente in Gothoburgo, qui Cultum Domini foedavit adhuc majori convitio: at demum duo illa convitia declarata sunt pro mendaciis astu inventis, ad avertendum voluntates, et ad deterrendum a Sancto cultu Domini, 137.
XXII. Quod apparuerit Fumus ab inferiore Terra ascendens, et dictum est, quod fumi non aliud sint quam 16 falsa in congerie: et tunc quosdam Angelos invasit desiderium explorandi, quae falsa essent, quae sic fumarent, ac descenderunt, et offenderunt quatuor Turmas spirituum, quarum duae erant ex doctis et indoctis a Clericis, ac duae ex eruditis et ineruditis a Laicis, qui omnes inter se confirmabant, quod Deus invisibilis colendus sit, et quod Cultoribus tunc sanctitas et auditio, aliter si Deus visibilis coleretur: sanctitas et auditio a Deo invisibili confirmabant per varia, et quod idea agnoscant tres Deos ab aeterno, qui invisibiles sunt; sed ostensum est quod Cultus Dei invisibilis, et plus Trium invisibilium sit nullus cultus; ad confirmandum hoc ex Inferis educti sunt Socinus et Arius cum aliquibus illorum asseclis, qui omnes Divinitatem invisibilem coluerant; qui cum ex naturali seu externa mente loquuti sunt, dixerunt quod Deus, tametsi invisibilis, sit; at cum externa mens illorum occludebatur, ac interna aperiebatur, et ex hac adacti sunt confessionem suam de Deo edere, dixerunt, quid Deus; non vidimus speciem Ipsius, nec audivimus vocem Ipsius; quid ergo Deus nisi ens rationis, aut natura; sed instructi sunt, quod Deo placuerit descendere, et assumere Humanum, ut speciem Ipsius viderent, et vocem Ipsius audirent; verum hoc in auribus illorum incassum fuit, 159.
XXIII. Primum de Stellis in Mundo naturali, quod forte essent simili numero quo Societates angelicae in Coelo, quoniam unaquaevis Societas ibi lucet quandoque sicut Stella. Postea loquutus sum cum Angelis de quadam via, quae apparet innumeris spiritibus constipata, et quod sit via, per quam omnes, qui e Mundo naturali decedunt, transeunt in Mundum spiritualem; ad hanc viam in consortio cum Angelis accessi, et duodecim viros e via illa evocavimus, et interrogavimus quid de Coelo et Inferno, et de Vita post mortem, credunt, et quia recentes e Mundo erant, et non sciebant aliter quam quod adhuc in Mundo naturali essent, respondebant ex idea quam secum tulerunt: PRIMUS, Quod illi qui moraliter vivunt, in Coelum veniant, et quod nemo in Infernum, quia omnes moraliter vivunt. SECUNDUS, Quod Deus regat Coelum, ac diabolus Infernum, et quia oppositi sunt, unus dicat bonum quod alter malum, et quod homo simulator, quia ab utriusque parte stat, possit aeque sub unius ac sub alterius dominio vivere. TERTIUS, Quod non sit Coelum, nec Infernum; quis inde venit et narravit. QUARTUS, Quod nemo potuerit inde redire et narrare, quia homo cum moritur est vel larva vel ventus. QUINTUS, Quod exspectandum sit ad diem ultimi Judicii, et quod tunc narraturi sint, ac scituri sitis omnia, sed cum haec dixit, risit corde. SEXTUS, Quomodo potest anima hominis quae est modo ventus reingredi suum corpus a vermibus exesum, ac reindui sceleto vel exusto vel in pulverem dilapso. SEPTIMUS; Quod homines post mortem non plus possint vivere, quam bestiae et aves; suntne aeque rationales. OCTAVUS, Credo Coelum, sed non credo Infernum, quia Deus est Omnipotens et potest omnes salvare. NONUS, Quod Deus quia est gratiosus non possit aliquem mittere in ignem aeternum. DECIMUS, Quod nemo possit venire in Infernum, quia Deus misit Filium suum, qui expiavit omnes, et sustulit omnium peccata, quid diabolus valet contra id. UNDECIMUS, qui erat Sacerdos, quod illi soli salventur, qui adepti sunt fidem, et quod Electio sit in Omnipotentis arbitrio. DUODECIMUS, qui erat Politicus, non quicquam dico de Coelo et Inferno, sed sinite Sacerdotes concionari de illis, ut mentes vulgi invisibili vinculo teneantur adstrictae legibus et ducibus. His auditis obstupuerunt Angeli, sed evigilabant illos per quod instruerent illos quod nunc vivant post mortem; ac introducebant illos in Coelum, sed ibi non diu morati sunt, quia inventi quod essent mere naturales, et quod inde occipitia illorum essent incavata; de qua incavatione et ejus causa, ultimo aliquid dicitur, 160.
XXIV. Quod auditus sit sonus sicut molae, et quod sonum sequutus viderim domum rimosam, in quam introitus patuit sub terra, et in illa Virum colligentem ex Verbo et Libris plura de JUSTIFICATIONE PER SOLAM FIDEM, et quod Scribae a latere collectanea ejus inscriberent Chartae; et ad interrogationem quid nunc colligeret, dixit hoc, quod Deus Pater exciderit gratia pro genere humano, et quod ideo miserit Filium qui expiaret et propitiaret; ad quae respondi, quod hoc sit contra Scripturam et contra rationem, quod Deus potuerit excidere gratia, sic etiam excidisset essentia sua, et sic non esset Deus; et cum hoc usque ad convictionem demonstravi, excanduit, et mandavit scribis ut me ejicerent; at cum sponte egressus sum, post me conjecit librum, quem forte manus ejus apprehendit, et liber ille erat Verbum, 161.
XXV. Disceptatum est inter Spiritus, num quisquam possit videre aliquod genuinum Verum in Verbo, nisi immediate adeat Dominum, qui est ipsum Verbum; sed quia erant qui contradicebant, factum est experimentum, et tunc qui adiverunt Deum Patrem, non viderunt ullum verum, sed omnes qui adiverunt Dominum, viderunt. Hac lite perstante ascenderunt aliqui Spiritus ex Abysso, de qua Apocalypsis IX, ubi ventilant arcana justificationis per solam fidem, dicentes quod ipsi adeant Deum Patrem, et videant arcana sua in clara luce, sed responsum est, quod videant illa in luce fatua, et quod illis non sit ne quidem unicum Verum; ex quo indignati, expromebant plura ex Verbo, quae vera erant, sed dictum est illis, quod vera sint in se, sed in illis falsificata; quod ita esset, comprobatum est per quod deducti sint in domum, ubi erat Mensa, in quam Lux e Coelo directe influxit, et dictum est illis, ut vera illa quae protulerunt ex Verbo, scriberent super Charta, et hanc ponerent super illa mensa, quod cum factum est, Charta illa, cui vera inscripta erant, lucebat sicut Stella, at vero cum accesserunt, ac intuitum fixerunt in illa, Charta apparuit atrata sicut a fuligine: et postea deducti sunt ad aliam Mensam similem, super qua jacuit Verbum circumcinctum iride, quod cum quidam Antesignanus doctrinae de sola fide manu sua tetigit, facta est explosio sicut e sclopeto, et ille conjectus est in angulum Camerae, et jacuit sicut mortuus per semihorium. Ex his convicti sunt, quod omnia vera quae apud illos ex Verbo erant, essent vera in se, sed falsificata in illis, 162.
XXVI. Quod in Mundo spirituali sint Climata sicut in Mundo naturali; et quod inde etiam sint Zonae boreales, ubi nives et glacies; quondam illuc in spiritu perductus intravi Templum tunc nive obductum, lampadibus intus illuminatum, ubi post Altare visa est Tabula, super qua scriptum erat hoc, TRINITAS DIVINA, PATER, FILIUS ET SPIRITUS SANCTUS, QUI ESSENTIALITER UNUS SUNT, SED PERSONALITER TRES; et audivi Sacerdotem concionantem de quatuor Mysteriis fidei, de quibus captandus est intellectus sub obedientia fidei, quae videantur: post Concionem Auditores gratias egerunt Sacerdoti propter ejus tam uberem sapientia sermonem; at cum interrogavi illos num aliquid intellexerint, responderunt, captavimus omnia plenis auribus, quid quaeris Numeri intellexerimus; 17 stupetne intellectus in talibus; his Sacerdos praesens addidit, quia audivistis et non intellexistis, beati estis, quoniam inde vobis salus, praeter plura, 185.
XXVII. Quod MENS HUMANA distincta sit in tres Regiones, sicut Coelum in quo sunt Angeli, et quod Theologica apud illos, qui amant vera quia vera sunt, in suprema Mentis regione resideant, et quod sub illis in media regione moralia, sub his autem seu in ultima, politica, et quod variae scientiae faciant januam. At quod Theologica apud illos, qui non amant vera, in infima regione sedeant, et se ibi commisceant cum propriis hominis, et sic cum fallaciis sensuum; et quod inde sit, quod quidam Theologica non quicquam possint percipere, 186.
XXVIII. Quod perductus sim ad locum, ubi erant qui per PSEUDOPROPHETAM in Apocalypsi intelliguntur, et ab illis ibi invitatus sum ad videndum Fanum illorum, ac sequutus sum et vidi illud, et in illo imaginem Mulieris indutae veste coccinea, tenentis in dextra manu nummum aureum, et in sinistra catenam ex unionibus, sed haec inducta erant per phantasiam; at dum a Domino aperta sunt interiora mentis, loco Fani visa est domus rimosa, et loco mulieris visa est bestia, qualis describitur in Apocalypsi 13:2 et sub solo ibi palus, in qua jacuit Verbum penitus reconditum: at mox spirante Vento orientali, sublatum est Fanum, et exsiccata est palus, et patuit Verbum; et tunc per lucem e Coelo ibi apparuit TABERNACULUM, quale fuit Abrahamo, quando tres Angeli venerunt, et annuntiaverunt de Isaco nascituro: et postea luce emissa e Coelo secundo, loco Tabernaculi apparuit TEMPLUM, quale fuerat Hierosolymae: post haec Lux e Coelo tertio affulsit, et tunc disparatum est Templum, et visus est DOMINUS SOLUS, stans super Lapide fundi, ubi erat Verbum; sed quia nimia sanctitas tunc implevit mentes, subracta est haec lux, et loco ejus immissa est lux e Coelo secundo; ex qua rediit prior aspectus Templi, et intus in illo Tabernaculi, 187.
XXIX. Quod visum sit magnificum Palatium, in quo Templum, et in hoc solia posita erant in triplici Ordine: in illud Convocatum est Concilium a Domino, in quo deliberarent de DOMINO SALVATORE, et de SPIRITU SANCTO, et cum aderant totidem ex Clero, quot erant solia, inibant 18 Concilium; et quia de Domino, prima Propositio fuit, QUIS ASSUMSIT HUMANUM IN MARIA VIRGINE; et tunc Angelus ad Mensam stans legit coram illis, quae Angelus Gabriel dixit ad Mariam, SPIRITUS SANCTUS VENIET SUPER TE, ET VIRTUS ALTISSIMI OBUMBRABIT TE, ET SANCTUM QUOD NASCETUR EX TE, VOCABITUR FILIUS DEI, Luca 1:35 et quoque ex Matthaeus 1:20, 25; et insuper plura ex Prophetis, quod ipse Jehovah venturus esset in Mundum, et quoque quod ipse Jehovah dicatur Salvator, Redemptor, et Justitia, ex quibus conclusum est, quod ipse Jehovah assumserit Humanum. Altera deliberatio de Domino erat, ANNON SIC PATER ET DOMINUS JESUS CHRISTUS UNUM SINT, SICUT ANIMA ET CORPUS UNUM SUNT, et hoc confirmatum est ex pluribus locis in Verbo, et quoque ex hodiernae Ecclesiae Fide symbolica; ex quibus conclusum est, quod Anima Domini esset ex Deo Patre, et inde quod Humanum Ipsius sit Divinum, et quod hoc adeundum sit ut adeatur Pater, quoniam Jehovah Deus per id se misit in Mundum, et se fecit visibilem oculis hominum, et sic etiam accessibilem. Sequebatur Tertia deliberatio, quae erat de SPIRITU SANCTO, et tunc primum discussa est idea de tribus Personis Divinis ab aeterno, et constabilitum ex Verbo, quod Sanctum Divinum, quod vocatur Spiritus sanctus, procedat ex Domino a Patre. Tandem ex deliberatis in hoc Concilio factum est hoc Conclusum; Quod in Domino Salvatore sit Divina Trinitas, quae est Divinum a quo quod vocatur Pater, Divinum Humanum quod vocatur Filius, ac Divinum Procedens quod vocatur Spiritus sanctus, et quod ita sit unus Deus in Ecclesia. Post finitum Concilium datae sunt illis qui sederunt illud Vestes splendidae; et deducti sunt in Novum Coelum, 188.
XXX. Quod viderim in quodam praesepi magnas Crumenas, in quibus erat Argentum in multa copia, et juxta illas Juvenes custodes, in Camera proxima Virgines modestas cum Uxore casta, et quoque in alia Camera binos Infantes; et denique Scortum et Equos mortuos: et postea instruebar, quid illa singulatim significabant, et quod per illa repraesentatum et descriptum sit Verbum, quale id in se est, et quale est hodie, 277.
XXXI. Quod visa sit scriptura, qualis est in supremo seu tertio Coelo, quae constabat ex literis inflexis cum corniculis sursum vergentibus, et dictum est, quod illis literis quoad partem similes fuerint literae Hebraicae in antiquissimo tempore, quando magis inflexae erant quam hodie sunt; et quod Vocalis H, qui adjectus est nominibus Abrami et Sarae, significet Infinitum ac Aeternum. Explicabant coram me sensum aliquot Verborum in Psalm 32:2, ex solis literis seu syllabis ibi, qui est, quod Dominus etiam sit misericors illis qui malefaciunt, 278.
XXXII. Quod ante Verbum Israeliticum fuerit Verbum, cujus Libri Prophetici vocati sunt ENUNTIATA, et Historici BELLA JEHOVAE, et praeter hos etiam Liber JASCHAR dictus, qui tres etiam nominantur in nostro Verbo; et quod Antiquum illud Verbum fuerit in Terra Canaane, Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Assyria, Chaldaea, Aegypto, Tyro, Zidone et Ninive; at quod Hoc, quia plenum erat talibus Correspondentiis, quae remote significant coelestia et spiritualia, quae ansam dederunt Idololatriis, ex Divina Providentia evanuerit. Audivi, quod Moses ex illo Verbo exscripserit illa quae de Creatione, Adamo et Chaiva, Diluvio, ac de Noacho, et de tribus ejus Filiis, memoravit, sed non ulterius. Quod idem illud Verbum apud populos in TARTARIA MAGNA adhuc reservatum sit, et quod ex illo hauriant praecepta suae fidei et vitae, in Mundo spirituali ex Angelis inde mihi relatum est, 279.
XXXIII. Quod illi qui in spirituali Mundo sunt, non possint apparere illis qui in Naturali, nec vicissim, ita non Spiritus et Angeli hominibus, nec hi illis, propter DISCRIMEN INTER SPIRITUALE ET NATURALE, seu quod idem, inter substantiale et materiale: ex hac origine est, quod spiritibus et angelis prorsus alia Lingua, alia Scriptura, et quoque alia Cogitatio sit, quam quae est hominibus: quod ita sit, detectum est per vivam experientiam, quae facta est quod per vices intraverint ad suos et redierint ad me, et sic contulerint: inde compertum est, quod ne quidem una vox Linguae spiritualis detur similis alicui voci Linguae naturalis; et quod Scriptura illorum constaret ex syllabis, quarum unaquaevis involvit sensum alicujus rei; et quod Ideae cogitiationis illorum non cadant in ideas cogitationis naturalis: causa horum discriminum est, quia spiritus et angeli sunt in principiis, homines autem in principiatis, seu quod illi in prioribus sunt, ex quibus ut causis sunt posteriora, et homines in posterioribus ex illis. Dictum est, quod simile discrimen sit inter linguas, scripturas et cogitationes Angelorum tertii Coeli et Angelorum secundi, 280.
XXXIV. De STATU HOMINUM POST MORTEM in genere; et de statu illorum, qui se in falsis Doctrinae confirmaverunt in specie: de his et illis observata sunt haec, 1. Quod homines ut plurimum tertio die post mortem resuscitati sint, et quod tunc non sciant aliter, quam quod adhuc in Mundo priori vivant. 2. Quod omnes alluant in Mundum, qui medius est inter Coelum et Infernum, qui vocatur Mundus spirituum. 3. Quod ibi transferantur in varias Societates, et sic explorentur quales sunt. 4. Quod ibi boni et fideles praeparentur ad Coelum, at mali et infideles ad Infernum. 5. Quod post praeparationem, quae perstat aliquot annis, aperiatur via bonis ad societatem quandum in Coelo, ubi in aeternum victuri sunt; malis autem via in infernum; praeter multa plura. Postea describitur Infernum, quale est; et quod ibi Satanae dicantur qui in falsis ex confirmatione sunt, ac Diaboli qui in malis vitae, 281.
XXXV. Quod ex Terra inferiore, quae proxime est supra Infernum, audiverim vociferationes, O QUAM JUSTI, O QUAM ERUDITI, O QUAM SAPIENTES, et quia miratus sum, quod ibi etiam darentur Justi, Eruditi et Sapientes, descendi, et primum accessi ad illum locum ubi clamabant, O QUAM JUSTI; et vidi ibi sicut Tribunal, et in eo Judices injustitiae, qui dextre potuerunt pervertere leges, et vertere judicia ad cujuscunque favorem; et quod sic judicia illorum essent modo arbitria; et cum sententiae exportabantur ad clientes, tunc hi clamabant longa via, o quam Justi: de his postea dixerunt Angeli, quod tales ne quidem hilum justi possint videre; post tempus Judices illi in Infernum conjecti sunt, et libri legum eorum conversi sunt in chartas lusorias, et loco judicandi datum est illis munus parandi fucos, quibus oblinerent facies meretricum, et sic verterent illas in pulchritudines, 332.
XXXVI. Postea perrexi ad locum, ubi clamabatur, O QUAM ERUDITI, et vidi Caetum ex illis, qui ratiocinabantur, NUM SIT VEL NON SIT, et non cogitabant, QUOD ITA SIT, et inde subsistebant in primo vestigio de quacunque re, et sic illam modo tangebant ab extra, et non intrabant, ita quoque de Deo, Numeri Deus sit; ut pro certo scirem, num tales essent, proposui illis, Qualis erit Religio per quam homo salvatur; reponderunt, quod 1. ventilandum sit, num Religio sit aliquod. 2. Num una Religio plus efficiat quam altera. 3. Num sit vita aeterna, 19 et sic num sit aliqua Salvatio. 4. Numeri Coelum et Infernum sint; et tunc coeperunt ventilare Primum, Num Religio sit aliquid, et dixerunt, quod illud egeat tam multa inquisitione, ut non possit finiri intra annum, et unus inter illos dixit, quod non possit intra centum annos; ad quae retuli, quod interea essent absque religione; at usque Primum illud tam solerter ventilabant, ut Cohors adstans clamaret, o quam Eruditi; dictum mihi est ab Angelis, quod tales appareant sicut sculptilia; et quod postea emittantur in deserta, ubi inter se garriunt et loquuntur modo vana, 333.
XXXVII. Accessi porro ad tertium Caetum, unde audivi clamorem, O QUAM SAPIENTES, et compertus sum quod ibi congregati essent, qui non videre possunt, Numeri verum sit verum, sed usque facere, ut quodcunque volunt, appareat ut verum, et inde vocantur CONFIRMATORES; quod tales essent, etiam ex variis responsis ad propositiones animadverti, ut quod facerent verum quod Fides sit omne Ecclesiae, et postea quod Charitas sit omne Ecclesiae, et quoque quod fides et charitas simul sint omne Ecclesiae, et quia quodlibet ex illis confirmabant et exornabant apparentiis ita, ut lucerent sicut vera, ideo adstantes clamabant, O QUAM SAPIENTES. Postea aliqua ludicra etiam illis proposita sunt, ut facerent ut illa sint vera, nam dicunt quod non detur verum nisi id quod homo facit verum; Ludicra erant haec; quod lux sit caligo et caligo lux; tum etiam quod corvus sit albus et non niger, quae duo fecerunt ut prorsus apparerent sicut vera; confirmationes illorum videantur ibi. De illis ab Angelis mihi dictum est, quod tales ne quidem granum intellectus possideant; quoniam omne id quod supra rationale apud illos est, occlusum est, et quod omne quod infra rationale, apertum, et hoc potest confirmare quicquid lubet, sed non videre aliquod verum esse verum; quapropter hoc non intelligentis est, sed quod posse videre, quod verum sit verum, ac falsum falsum, et id confirmare, sit intelligentis, 20 334.
XXXVIII. Loquutus sum cum Spiritibus, qui in Mundo naturali fama eruditionis incluti fuerunt, qui tunc inter se disceptarunt de IDEIS CONNATIS, num aliquae essent hominibus sicut bestiis; et tunc quidam Spiritus angelicus se intrusit, et dixit, disceptatis de lana caprina; sunt nullae ideae connatae hominibus, nec sunt ullae connatae bestiis; ad quae dicta excanduerunt omnes, sed post datam copiam loquendi, primum fatus est de bestiis, quod illis nullae ideae connatae sint; causa est, quia non cogitant, sed modo operantur ex instinctu, qui illis est ex amore illorum naturali, qui facit analogon voluntatis apud illos, immediate in sensus corporis illorum influit, et excitat id quod concordat et favet amori, et tamen Ideae praedicantur de sola cogitatione; quod bestiis sit modo sensatio, et nulla cogitatio, confirmavit per varia, imprimis per mirabilia quae nota sunt de araneis, apibus, et bombycibus, dicens, num Aranea in pusillo suo capite cogitat, dum format telam, quod ita connectenda sit propter hos aut illos usus: num Apis in pusillo suo capite cogitat, ex his floribus exsugam mel, et ex 21 his ceram, ex hac struam cellulas in continua serie, et in his ponam mel in copia ut quoque sufficiat pro hyeme, prater plura: num Bombyx vermis in pusillo suo capite cogitat, nunc me conferam ad nendum sericum, et cum nevi tunc evolabo, ac ludam cum consociis, et prospiciam mihi progeniem; 22 praeter similia apud Bestias et Aves. De hominibus dixit, quod quaevis mater et alumna, et quoque pater novit, quod infantibus recens natis prorsus nullae ideae connatae sint, et quod non aliquae prius quam dum didicerunt cogitare, et quod tunc exoriantur ideae, et fiant secundum omnem qualitatem cogitationis, quam per instructionem hauserant; et quod hoc fiat, quoniam homini non aliud connascitur, quam facultas ad sciendum, intelligendum et sapiendum, et inclinatio ad amandum non solum se et mundum, sed etiam proximum et Deum: Haec LEIBNITZIUS 23 et WOLLFIUS ad distantiam audiverunt, ac Leibnitzius favit, aliter Wollfius, 335.
XXXIX. Quondam aliquis Spiritus angelicus illustravit QUID FIDES ET CHARITAS, et quid conjunctio illarum effecit; illustravit id per comparationem cum Luce et Calore, quae in uno tertio conveniunt, quia Lux in Coelo in essentia sua est Verum fidei, et Calor ibi in essentia sua est Bonum charitatis, proinde quod sicut Lux absque calore, qualis est tempore hyemis in Mundo, denudat arbores a foliis, et fructibus, ita fides absque charitate; et quod sicut Lux conjuncta calori, qualis est tempore veris, vivificat omnia, ita fides conjuncta charitati, 385.
XL. Quod duo Angeli descenderint, unus e Coelo Orientali ubi in amore sunt, et alter e Coelo meridionali ubi in sapientia sunt, ac loquuti de essentia Coelorum num esset Amor vel num Sapientia, et convenerunt, quod sit Amor et inde Sapientia; proinde quod Coeli a Deo creati sint ex Amore per Sapientiam, 386.
XLI. Quod post illud intraverim quendam Hortum, ubi a quodam Spiritu circumductus sum, et tandem ad Palatium, quod vocabatur TEMPLUM SAPIENTIAE, quod erat quadrangulare, parietes ex chrystallo, tectum ex jaspide, substratio ex variis lapidibus pretiosis; et dixit, quod nemo in illud possit intrare, nisi qui credit, quod id quod scit, intelligit et sapit, ad id quod non scit, intelligit et sapit sit respective tam parum ut vix aliquid, et quia ego id credebam, datum est intrare, et visum est quod totum illud constructum esset ad formam lucis. In Templo illo retuli, quae nuper audivi ex binis Angelis de Amore et Sapientia, et quaesiverunt, annon etiam loquuti sunt de Tertio, quod est Usus, et dixerunt, quod Amor et Sapientia absque Usu sint modo entia idealia, sed quod in Usu fiant realia: et quod simile sit cum Charitate, Fide et Bonis Operibus, 387.
XLII. Quod unus ex Draconis spiritibus invitaverit me ad videndum jucunda amoris sui, et deduxit me ad quoddam simile AMPHITHEATRO, super cujus scamnis sedebant Satyri et Meretrices, et tunc dixit, nunc videbis Ludum nostrum, ac aperuit portam, et immisit sicut juvencos, arietes, haedos et agnos, et mox per aliam portam immisit leones, pantheras, tigrides et lupos, qui irruebant in gregem, et illum dilaniabant et mactabant; sed omnia illa quae visa sunt, inducta erant per phantasias; hoc viso dixi ad Draconem, post tempus videbis hoc theatrum versum in Stagnum ignis et sulphuris. Ludo peracto, exivit draco stipatus suis satyris et meretricibus, et vidit gregem ovium, ex quo comprehendit, quod una Urbs ex Hierosolymitanis in propinquo esset, qua visa invasit illum cupido capiendi illam, ac ejiciendi habitatores, sed quia cincta erat muro, intendit illam capere per dolum, et tunc misit unum gnarum incantationis, qui immissus cum Urbanis callide loquutus est de Fide et Charitate, imprimis quae illarum est primaria, et Numeri Charitas aliquid conferat ad salutem; sed draco iratus ex responso exivit urbe et congregavit multos ex sua turba, et coepit obsidere Urbem, at cum in conatu capiendi et invadendi illam erat, ignis e Coelo consumsit illos, secundum illa quae in APOCALYPSI 20:8-9, praedicta sunt, 388.
XLIII. Quondam Charta demissa erat e Coelo, in qua fuit exhortatio ut agnoscerent Dominum Salvatorem pro Deo Coeli et Terrae, secundum Ipsius verba Matthaeus 28:18, sed consultati sunt Duo Episcopi, qui ibi erant, quid facerent, qui dixerunt, ut Chartam remitterent ad Coelum unde venit; quod cum factum est, Societas illa subsidit, sed non profunde: post diem ascenderunt aliqui inde, et narrabant qualem sortem ibi subiverunt, tum quod ibi adiverint Episcopos et arguerint illos propter suasum illorum, et quod plura cum illis loquuti sint de statu Ecclesiae hodie, et increpaverint Doctrinam illorum de Trinitate, de Fide justificante, de Charitate, et de aliis, quae ex Orthodoxia Episcoporum erant, et rogaverint ut ab illis desisterent quia contra Verbum, sed incassum; et quia Fidem illorum vocaverunt mortuam, et quoque diabolicam secundum Jacobum in Epistola sua, unus ex Episcopis desumpsit Cidarim e capite suo, et reposuit super mensa, dicens quod illam non resumeret, antequam ultus fuerit dicteria de sua Fide; verum tunc apparuit monstrum ex inferis ascendens simile bestiae descriptae in APOCALYPSI 13:1-2, quod Cidarim desumpsit, et deportavit, 389.
XLIV. Quod accesserim ad quandam Domum, ubi congregati inter se ventilabant, num bonum, quod homo in statu justificationis per fidem facit, sit bonum religionis vel non; consensus fuit, quod per bonum religionis intelligatur bonum quod confert ad salutem; sed praevaluit sententia illorum, qui dixerunt, quod omne bonum quod homo facit, non aliquid conferat ad salutem, quoniam non potest aliquod bonum voluntarium hominis conjungi cum gratuito, quia salvatio sit gratis: quod nec aliquid bonum ab homine conjungi cum Merito Christi, per quod unice datur salvatio: quod nec operatio hominis cum Operatione Spiritus Sancti, qui omnia absque ope hominis facit; ex quibus conclusum est, quod bona opera etiam in statu justificationis per fidem nihil ad salutem conferant, sed sola Fides: Ad haec audita duo Gentiles, qui steterunt in ostio, inter se dixerunt, his non est aliqua religio; quis non scit, quod bonum facere proximo propter Deum, ita a Deo, et cum Deo, sit religio, 390.
XLV. Audivi Angelos lamentantes, quod talis EGESTAS SPIRITUALIS hodie in Ecclesia sit, ut nihil plus sciant, quam quod tres Personae Divinae sint, et quod sola fides salvet, et de Domino duntaxat Historica, et quod alte ignorent, quae de Domino, Ipsius Unitate cum Patre, Divinitate et Potestate, in Verbo memorantur; et dixerunt, quod quidam Angelus ab illis demissus sit, ad explorandum num talis egestas hodie apud Christianos esset, et quod ille quaesiverit quendam, quae ejus Religio; responderit quod sit Fides, et quod dein quaesiverit illum de Redemptione, Regeneratione et Salvatione; responderit quod omnia illa sint Fidei; et quoque de Charitate, quod sit in fide, et quis potest facere bonum a se: ad quem postea Angelus dixit, responderas sicut qui canit uno tono tibiae, non audio nisi fidem, at si non aliud praeter illam scis, nihil scis; et tunc deduxit illum ad consocios in deserto, ubi ne quidem gramen erat: praeter plura, 391.
XLVI. Quod viderim quinque Gymnasia varia luce circumcincta, et quod cum multis intraverim in Primum, quod visum est sicut in luce flammea; erant ibi plures congregati; et Praeses proposuit ut sententias suas proferrent de CHARITATE, et postquam exorsi sunt, PRIMUS dixit quod sententia ejus sit, quod Charitas 24 esset Moralitas inspirata fide. SECUNDUS, quod esset Pietas inspirata miseratione. TERTIUS, quod esset bonum facere cuicunque tam probo quam improbo. QUARTUS, quod esset omni modo inservire agnatis et amicis. QUINTUS, quod esset eleemosynas dare pauperibus, et opitulari indigentibus. SEXTUS, quod esset aedificare Hospitalia, Nosocomia, Orphanotrophia. SEPTIMUS, quod esset Templa ditare, et Ministris illorum benefacere. OCTAVUS, quod esset Fraternitas vetus Christiana. NONUS, Quod esset remittere cuique sua delicta: quisque ex illis sententiam suam ample confirmavit, quae quia plura sunt, huc non possunt tranferri, quare videantur in ipso MEMORABILI. Post haec, data etiam est mihi copia expromendi sententiam meam, et dixi, quod Charitas sit ex Amore Justitiae cum judicio in omni opere et officio agere, sed ex Amore non aliunde quam ex Domino Salvatore; et postquam hoc demonstratum est, adjeci, quod omnia illa, quae supra e novem celebribus Viris de Charitate dicta sunt, sint egregia Charitatis documenta, modo fiant ex justitia cum judicio; et quia Justitia et Judicium non aliunde sunt, quam ex Domino Salvatore, ut fiant ex homine ab Ipso: hoc approbatum est a plerisque in Interno illorum homine, sed nondum ita in Externo, 459.
XLVII. Quod e longinquo auditus sit sicut stridor dentium, et ei intermixtum sicut pulsatile; et ad sonos accessi, et vidi domunculam 25 ex juncis conglutinatis structam, et loco stridoris dentium et soni pulsatilis audivi intus in domuncula altercationes de Fide et Charitate, quaenam illarum esset essentiale Ecclesiae; et illi qui pro Fide erant, protulerunt sua Argumenta, dicentes, quod Fides sit spiritualis quia a Deo, sed Charitas naturalis quia ab homine; vicissim illi qui pro Charitate erant, dixerunt quod Charitas sit spiritualis, 26 et Fides naturalis nisi conjuncta sit Charitati. His quidam Syncretista volens dirimere litem adjecit, confirmans quod Fides sit spiritualis, et Charitas modo naturalis; sed dictum est, quod vita moralis sit duplex, spiritualis et naturalis, et quod in homine, qui vivit a Domino, sit spiritualis moralis, at in homine, qui non vivit a Domino, sit naturalis moralis, qualis datur apud malos, et quandoque apud spiritus in Inferno, 460.
XLVIII. Quod in spiritu perductus sim in quendam Hortum in Plaga meridionali, et quod ibi viderim sedentes sub quadam lauru comedentes ficus, quos quaesivi, quomodo intelligunt, quod homo possit facere bonum a Deo, et tamen usque sicut a se; qui responderunt, quod Deus operetur bonum intus in homine, sed si homo id facit ex sua voluntate et ex suo intellectu, quod conspurcet illud ita ut non sit bonum amplius; sed ad illa dixi, quod homo sit modo organum vitae; et quod si credit in Dominum faciat bonum ex se ab Illo, at si non credit 27 in Dominum, et plus si non in aliquem Deum, bonum faciat ex se ab Inferno; et porro, quod Dominus dederit homini Liberum Arbitrium faciendi ab uno aut ab altero: quod Dominus hoc Liberum dederit, confirmatum est ex Verbo, quod mandaverit homini amare Deum et proximum, operari bona charitatis sicut arbor fructus, ac facere praecepta Ipsius ut salvetur, et quod quisque secundum facta sua judicaretur; et quod haec et illa non mandata fuissent, si homo non posset facere bonum ex se a Domino. Postquam haec dicta sunt, dedi illis termites ex quadam vite, et termites in manibus illorum protruserunt uvas; praeter alia, 461.
XLIX. Quod viderim MAGNIFICUM NAVALE, et inibi Navigia magna et parva, et super transtris pueros et puellas, qui exspectabant TESTUDINES, quae e mari exsurgerent, quae dum emerserunt, vidi quod haberent Duo Capita, unum quod ad lubitum retrahebant in conchas corporis eorum, et alterum quod apparebat in forma sicut homo, et ex hoc loquebantur cum pueris et puellis, et hi propter elegantes sermones illorum mulcebant illos, et quoque illis dederunt munera. His visis explicatum est ab Angelo, quid illa significabant, quod nempe sint homines in Mundo, et inde totidem Spiritus post mortem, qui dicunt, quod Deus apud illos qui Fidem adepti sunt, non videat aliquid quod cogitant et faciunt, sed solum spectet ad fidem, quam in interioribus mentis illorum recondidit: et quod iidem illi coram Caetibus in Templis proferant Sancta ex Verbo, prorsus sicut alii, sed haec ex Capite majore apparente sicut homo, cui tunc insertant parvum, aut hoc intrahunt in corpus. Quod iidem postea visi sint in aere in navigio cum septem velis volante, et illi inibi in laureis, inque vestibus purpureis, clamantes quod sint Capita sapientum ex omni Clero, sed visa illa erant imagines fastus, profluentes ex ideis mentis eorum; et cum super terra erant, loquutus sum cum illis primum ex Ratione, et postea ex Scriptura Sacra, et per plura demonstravi, quod illa eorum Doctrina esset insana, et quia contra Scripturam sacram ex Inferno; sed Argumenta, per quae demonstravi illa, propter prolixitatem, huc 28 transferri non possunt, quare videantur in ipso MEMORABILI; tum quod postea visi sint in loco arenoso in vestibus ex frustis, ac cincti retibus quasi piscatoriis circum lumbos, trans quae nuditates illorum apparebant; et demum demissi sunt in societatem, quae in confinio ad Machiavellistas est, 462.
L. Quod convocatum sit Comitium, quod sedit in Templo rotundo, in quo ad latera erant Altaria, juxta quae comitiales sedebant, sed non erat ibi Primas, quare quisque ex se erupit in medium et exclamabat sensa sui animi; et inceptus est sermo de LIBERO ARBITRIO IN SPIRITUALIBUS; et PRIMUS erumpens clamavit, quod non plus Liberi Arbitrii in illis esset homini quam uxori Lothi dum versa est in statuam salis. SECUNDUS, quod non plus quam bestiae et cani. TERTIUS, quod non plus quam talpae, et quam noctuae in luce diei. QUARTUS, Quod si homini foret Liberum Arbitrium in spiritualibus fieret maniacus, et crederet se esse sicut Deus, qui semetipsum possit regenerare et salvare. SEXTUS legit ex Libro Evangelicorum FORMULA CONCORDIAE vocato, quod non plus Liberi Arbitrii in spiritualibus homini sit quam trunco et lapidi, et quod non possit hilum de illis intelligere, cogitare, velle, et ne quidem ad spirituale recipiendum se applicare et accommodare, praeter plura, de quibus supra 464. Post haec dicta, data etiam est mihi copia loquendi, et loquutus dixi, quid homo absque Libero arbitrio in spiritualibus aliud quam brutum; et ad quid absque illo serviunt omnia Theologica; sed ad 29 hoc responderunt, lege nostra Theologica, et non inibi deprehendes quicquam spirituale, et quod hoc intus in illa ita reconditum sit, ut ne quidem appareat umbra ejus, quare lege quae nostra Theologia docet de Justificatione, hoc est, de remissione peccatorum, regeneratione, sanctificatione, et salvatione, non videbis ibi quicquam spirituale, quia influunt per fidem absque ulla hominis conscientia; charitatem etiam procul removit a sprituali, et quoque poenitentiam a contactu ejus; et praeterea, quoad Redemptionem, attribuit Deo proprietates pure humanas naturales, ut quod Genus humanum sub damnatione universali concluserit, quod Filius illam in se susceperit, et quod sic Patrem propitiaverit, et quid intercessio et mediatio apud Patrem aliud. Ex his patet, quod in universa Theologia nostra nihil spirituale sit, et ne quidem rationale, sed mere naturale infra illa. At subito tunc fulmen e Coelo auditum est, et comitiales inde terrefacti eruperunt, et quisque fugit in suam domum, 503.
LI. Quod loquutus sim cum duobus spiritibus, quorum unus amavit bonum et verum, et alter malum et falsum, et deprehendi, quod uterque simili facultate cogitandi rationaliter gauderet, at cum ille qui amavit malum et falsum sibi relictus erat, vidi sicut fumus ex inferno ascenderet, ac lucidum, quod ei erat supra memoriam, exstingueret; at cum ille qui amabat bonum et verum sibi relictus erat, vidi quod tanquam mitis flamma e Coelo descenderet, ac illuminaret regionem mentis ejus supra memoriam, et inde quoque illa quae infra illam erant. Postea cum illo, qui malum et falsum amabat, loquutus de LIBERO ARBITRIO IN SPIRITUALIBUS, et hic modo ad nominationem ejus excanduit, et clamavit, quod nemo possit movere pedem et manum ad faciendum aliquod bonum spirituale, nec linguam et os ad loquendum aliquod verum spirituale, et sic quod ne quidem possit se applicare et accommodare ad aliquod tale recipiendum; estne homo in talibus mortuus et mere passivus; quomodo potest mortuum et mere passivum facere bonum et loqui verum ex se; nonne Ecclesia nostra etiam ita loquitur. Alter vero, qui amavit bonum et Verum de Libero arbitrio in spiritualibus ita fatus est, quid totum Verbum absque illo, et quid Ecclesia, quid Religio, quid Cultus Dei, ita quid Ministerium absque illo; et ex intellectus mei luce scio, quod homo absque Libero illo spirituali non esset homo, sed bestia, nam quod homo sit et non bestia, est ex illo Libero; ac insuper quod homini absque Libero arbitrio in spiritualibus non foret vita post mortem, ita non vita aeterna, quia non aliqua conjunctio cum Deo; quare illud negare non est nisi illorum, qui in spiritualibus insaniunt. Postea visus est sicut prester super arbore, qui inde fructum porrexit illi qui Liberum Arbitrium in spiritualibus negavit, quo comeso apparuit fumus ex inferno ascendens, qui superiorem partem mentis ejus rationalis quoad lumen exstinxit, 504.
LII. Auditus est stridor sicut duorum lapidum molarium inter se collidentium, et accessi ad initium soni, et vidi Domum, in qua plures cellulae erant, in quibus sedebant Eruditi hujus saeculi, et confirmabant Justificationem per solam fidem, et accedens ad unam quaesivi, quid nunc lucubratur; respondit de ACTU JUSTIFICATIONIS, qui est caput omnium Doctrinae in nostra Orthodoxia, et interrogavi, num sciat aliquod signum dum Fides justificans intrat et dum intravit, et dixit quod hoc fiat passive et non active, ad quae respondi, quod si aufers activum in eo, etiam auferas receptivum, et sic foret actus ille modo pure ideale, quod vocatur ens rationis, et sic non nisi quam statua uxor Lothi tinniens ex mero sale, stricta penna scribae, aut ungue digiti ejus: vir ille excandescens sumsit lychnuchum conjecturus in me, sed tunc exstincto lychno conjecit in sodalem, 505.
LIII. Visi sunt duo Greges, unus ex hircis, alter ex ovibus, at cum spectati sunt in propinquo, pro hircis et ovibus visi sunt homines, et perceptum est, quod grex hircorum constaret ex illis, qui solam Fidem salvificam faciunt, et Grex ovium ex illis, qui Charitatem et simul Fidem; ad interrogationem cur ibi, dicebant illi, qui visi sunt sicut hirci, quod sederent Concilium, quoniam illis detectum est, quod dictum Pauli, Quod homo fide justificetur sine operibus legis, Romanos 3:28, non rite intellectum sit, quoniam per Fidem ibi non intelligitur hodierna fides, sed fides in Dominum Salvatorem, et per Opera legis non intelliguntur Opera legis Decalogi, sed opera legis Mosaicae, quae erant ritualia, quod etiam demonstratum est; et dixerunt, quod concluserint, quod Fides producat bona opera sicut Arbor fructus: his illi, qui constituebant Gregem Ovium faverunt, sed tunc Angelus stans inter binos Greges, clamavit ad Gregem ovium, ne auscultate, quia non recesserunt a Fide sua priore, ac divisit Gregem Ovium in Duos, et dixit illis a sinistris, adjungite vos hircis, sed praedico vobis, quod venturus sit lupus, qui rapiet illos, et vos cum illis. Sed tunc inquisitio facta est, quomodo intelligunt, quod Fides producat bona opera sicut Arbor fructus, et compertum est, quod perceptio illorum de conjunctione fidei et charitatis abeat prorsus in diversum ab illa compariatione, et sic quod esset loquutio fallax; quibus intellectis greges ovium se in Unum, ut prius, reuniverunt, cui adjunxerunt se aliqui ex hircis, confitentes, quod charitas sit essentia fidei, et quod sic fides separata ab illa sit modo naturalis, at conjuncta illi fiat spiritualis, 506.
LIV. Sermo cum Angelis de tribus Amoribus, qui universales sunt, et inde apud unumquemvis hominem, qui sunt AMOR PROXIMI SEU AMOR USUUM, qui in se est spiritualis, AMOR MUNDI SEU AMOR POSSIDENDI OPES, qui in se est materialis; 30 ET AMOR SUI, SEU AMOR IMPERANDI SUPER ALIOS, qui in se est corporeus; et quod cum tres illi Amores rite subordinati sunt apud hominem, homo sit vere homo, et quod tunc rite subordinati sint, dum amor proximi facit caput, Amor mundi corpus, et amor sui pedes; aliter prorsus, dum contra ordinem sedent apud hominem; et ostensum est, qualis homo est, dum amor Mundi facit caput, et qualis dum amor sui, quod tunc sit homo inversus, quoad interiora mentis suae ferus, et quoad exteriora ejus et inde corporis, histrio. Post haec visus est quidam diabolus ex inferis ascendens facie furva cum circulo albo circum caput, et dixit, quod esset Lucifer, tametsi non erat ille, et quod in internis suis sit diabolus, sed in externis suis Angelus lucis; ac retulit, quod dum in externis est, sit moralis inter morales, rationalis inter rationales, imo spiritualis inter spirituales, et quod cum fuit in Mundo, concionatus sit, et quod tunc pejeraverit contra maleficos 31 omnis generis, et quod inde vocatus sit filius Aurorae; et quod ipse miratus, quod dum super pulpito esset, non aliter perceperit quam quod ita esset sicut loquutus; aliter vero 32 dum extra Templum erat; dixit causam, quia in Templo erat in Externis suis, et tunc solum in Intellectu, at extra Templum in Internis suis, et tunc in Voluntate, et sic quod Intellectus elevaverit illum in Coelem, at Voluntas detrahat illum in infernum; at quod Voluntas valeat super Intellectum, quia hunc illa disponit ad favorem et nutum: post haec diabolus mentiens Luciferum delapsus est in Infernum, 507.
LV. Visum est Templum rotundum, cujus Tectum erat instar Coronae, Parietes continuae Fenestrae ex Chrystallis, Porta ex substantia margaritica; in illo erat suggestus super quo erat Verbum cinctum sphaera lucis, in medio Templi Adytum ante quod Velum, sed nunc sublatum, in quo stetit Cherubus cum ense vibrante in manu: post haec visa, explicabantur coram me singula quae significabant, quae videantur; super Porta erat Scriptura haec, NUNC LICET, quod significabat, quod nunc liceat intellectualiter intrare in Mysteria fidei, et datum est percipere, quod valde discriminosum esset intellectu intrare in dogmata fidei, quae ex propria intelligentia sunt, et inde in falsis, et plus adhuc illa ex Verbo confirmare, et quod ideo ex Divina Providentia Verbum ademptum sit Romano-Catholicis, et quod apud Protestantes occlusum sit per eorum dogma, quod Intellectus captandus sit sub obedientia fidei eorum. At quia Dogmata, quae Novae Ecclesiae sunt, omnia ex Verbo sunt, quod in illa liceat Intellectu intrare, quia sunt continuae Veritates ex Verbo, quae etiam coram intellectu lucent. Hoc erat, quod per Scripturam super Porta, NUNC LICET, intelligitur, et per quod Velum Adyti sublatum sit, intra quod stetit Cherubus. Post haec allata est mihi charta ex infante, qui erat Angelus in tertio Coelo, in qua scriptum erat; INTRATE POSTHAC IN MYSTERIA VERBI HACTENUS OCCLUSI, NAM SINGULAE VERITATES EJUS SUNT TOTIDEM SPECULA DOMINI, 508.
LVI. Quod gravi morbo sim correptus ex illapso fumo e Hierosolyma, quae in Apocalypsi 11:8, vocatur Sodoma et Aegyptus, et quod visus sim ab illis qui in Urbe illa erant, sicut mortuus, dicentes tunc inter se, quod non sepultura dignus essem, similiter ut de duobus Testibus in eodem Capite in Apocalypsi dicitur, et interea audivi blasphemias in copia ab Urbanis propterea quod praedicaverim poenitentiam, et fidem in Dominum Jesum Christum; sed quia judicium super illos instabat, vidi quod tota illa Urbs decideret, et inundaretur aquis, et postea, quod discurrerent inter strues lapidum, et lamentarentur de sorte sua, cum tamen crediderint, quod per fidem Ecclesiae suae, essent renati, et sic justi; sed dictum illis est, quod nihil minus quam tales essent, quoniam nusquam aliquam poenitentiam egerant, et quod inde non sciant unum malum damnabile apud se: postea dictum illis e Coelo est, quod fides in Dominum ac poenitentia, sint duo Media regenerationis et salvationis, et quod hoc notissimum sit ex Verbo, et insuper ex Decalogo, Baptismo, et Sancta Coena, de quibus videantur in MEMORABILI, 567.
LVII. Quod omnes, qui post mortem in Mundum spiritualem veniunt, primo tempore teneantur in Externis, in quibus fuerunt in Mundo naturali, et quia plerique, dum in Externis sunt, moraliter vivunt, frequentant Templa, et orant ad Deum, credunt quod certe in Coelum venturi sint, sed instruuntur, quod omnis homo post mortem successive exuat Externum hominem, et aperiatur Internus homo, et quod tunc noscatur homo qualis est in se, quoniam homo est homo ex Voluntate et Intellectu, et non solum ex Actione et Loquela, et quod inde sit, quod homo possit in Externis apparere sicut Ovis, tametsi in Internis est sicut Lupus; et quod talis sit in Interno suo homine, nisi exploret mala suae voluntatis et inde intentionis, et ab his poenitentiam agat; praeter plura, 568.
LVIII. Quod unusquisque Amor exspiret jucundum, sed quod JUCUNDA AMORUM in Mundo naturali parum sentiantur, sed quod in Mundo spirituali manifeste, et quod in hoc aliquoties vertantur in odores, et quod tunc percipiatur qualia sunt jucunda, et cujus amoris sunt; et quod percipiantur jucunda amoris boni, qualia in Coelis sunt, sicut fragrantiae in hortis et floretis, et vicissim jucunda amoris mali, qualia sunt in Infernis, sicut nidores et foetores ex stagnis et latrinis; et quod quia ita oppositi sunt, diaboli crucientur dum sentiunt aliquem odorem suaveolentem coeli, ac vicissim angeli dum aliquem graveolentem Inferni: quod ita sit, per duo exempla confirmatum est. Ex hac causa est, quod Oleum unctionis ex aromaticis paratum sit, et quod dicatur de Jehovah, quod ex holocaustis odoratus sit odorem gratum; et vicissim, quod mandatum sit filiis Israelis, 33 ut exportarent immunda extra castra, et quod excrementa alvi defoderent; castra enim illorum repraesentabant Coelum, ac desertum extra repraesentabat Infernum, 569.
LIX. Quod quidam novitius spiritus, qui Mundo multum meditatus est de Coelo et Inferno, desideraverit scire quale est unum et alterum, et quod e Coelo ei dictum sit, INQUIRE QUID JUCUNDUM ET COGNESCES, quare abiens inquisivit, sed apud spiritus mere naturales in vanum; at deductus est ad tres Caetus in ordine, ad unum ubi explorabant Fines, inde dicti sunt Sapientiae, ad alterum ubi rimabantur Causas, et inde dicti sunt Intelligentiae, et ad tertium ubi lustrabant Effectus, et inde dicti sunt Scientiae; et ab his et illis instructus est, quod vita cuivis angelo, spiritui et homini sit ex Jucundo amoris ejus, et quod voluntas et cogitatio non possint movere passum, nisi a jucundo cujusdam amoris, et quod hoc sit cuique id quod vocatur Bonum; et insuper quod Jucundum Coeli sit jucundum faciendi bonum, et quod jucundum Inferni sit jucundum faciendi malum. Ut adhuc instrueretur, ex proviso ascendit diabolus, et coram illo descripsit jucunda Inferni, quod essent jucunda vindicandi, scortandi, depraedandi, et blasphemandi, et quod illa, dum sentiuntur ibi ut odores, sentiantur ut balsama, unde vocavit illa delitias narium suarum, 570.
LX. Quod visus sit Caetus spirituum orantium ad Deum, ut mitteret Angelos, qui instuerent illos de variis quae fidei sunt, quia in plerisque haesitant, quoniam Ecclesiae inter se ita discrepant, et omnes illarum ministri dicunt, CREDITE NOBIS, SUMUS MINISTRI DEI, ET SCIMUS: et apparuerunt Angeli, quos interrogaverunt de Charitate et Fide, de Poenitentia, de Regeneratione, de Deo, de Immortalitate animae, deque Baptismo et Sancta Coena, ad quae singula reponderunt Angeli ita, ut caderent in intellectum illorum, dicentes porro, quod omne id quod non cadit in intellectum, sit sicut seminatum in arena, quod utcunque pluvia irrigatur, usque emarcescit; et quod Intellectus occlusus ex religione, non amplius videat quicquam in Verbo ex luce, quae inibi est a Domino, imo quod si illud legit plus et plus in rebus fidei et salutis caecutiat, 621.
LXI. Quomodo homo, dum parparatus est ad Coelum, intrat illud, videlicet quod post praeparationem videat viam, quae ad Societatem in Coelo, in qua victurus est in aeternum, tendit, et quod juxta societatem sit porta, quae aperitur, et quod post introitum inquiratur Numeri in illo sit similis lux et similis calor, hoc est, simile verum et bonum, quae apud Angelos istius societatis, quod dum deprehenditur, circumvadit et inquirit ubinam sua domus est, nam pro unoquovis novitio Angelo est nova domus, qua inventa recipitur et numeratur ut unus inter illos. At vero illis, in quibus non est lux et calor, hoc est, verum et bonum Coeli, haec dura sors est, quod dum intrant, misere crucientur, et ex cruciatu se praecipites dejiciant deorsum; hoc fit illis ex sphaera lucis et caloris Coeli in quorum opposito sunt, et hi postea non amplius cupiunt Coelum, sed consociantur similibus in Inferno: inde patet, quod vanum sit cogitare, quod Coelum sit modo admissio ex gratia, et quod admissi fruantur gaudiis ibi, sicut qui in Mundo in domum nuptiarum intrant, 622.
LXII. Quod multi, qui crediderunt quod Coelum modo esset admissio ex gratia, et post admissionem gaudium aeternum, ex venia ascenderint in Coelum, sed quod quia non sustinuerunt lucem et calorem, hoc est, fidem et amorem ibi, se praecipites dejecerint, et quod tunc ab illis qui infra steterunt, visi sint sicut Equi mortui: inter illos qui infra steterunt et viderunt illos ita, fuerunt pueri cum magistro, et hic instruxit illos quid significabat apparitio sicut Equi mortui, et tunc quinam sunt, qui e longinquo ita apparent, dicens quod sint, qui dum legunt Verbum, materialiter et non spiritualiter de Deo, de Proximo et de Coelo cogitant, et quod illi materialiter cogitent de Deo, qui ex Persona de Essentia, de Proximo ex facie et loquela de qualitate, et de Coelo ex loco de statu amoris ibi; at quod illi spiritualiter cogitent, qui de Deo ex Essentia et inde de Persona, de Proximo ex qualitate et inde de facie et loquela, ac de Coelo ex statu amoris ibi et inde de loco: et postea docuit illos, quod Equus significet intellectum Verbi, et quia Verbum apud illos, qui spiritualiter cogitant, dum legunt illud, est Litera viva, quod ideo illi e longinquo appareant sicut Equi vivi, et vicissim, quia Verbum apud illos, qui materialiter cogitant, dum legunt illud, est Litera mortua, quod hi ideo e longinquo appareant sicut Equi mortui, 623.
LXIII. Quod visus sit Angelus cum Charta in manu, super qua scriptum erat CONJUGIUM BONI ET VERI, descendens e Coelo in Mundum, ac visum est, quod Charta illa in Coelo luceret, in descensu autem pedetentim minus et minus, usque dum non Charta nec Angelus appareret, solummodo 34 coram aliquibus ineruditis qui in simplici corde erant; coram his Angelus explicabat, quid Conjugium boni et veri involvit, videlicet quod omnia et singula in universo Coelo ac universo Mundo contineant utrumque simul, ex causa quia bonum et verum in Domino Deo Creatore unum faciunt, ac ideo quod non detur alicubi quicquam quod duntaxat est bonum, nec quicquam quod duntaxat est verum, consequenter quod in omnibus et singulis sit Conjugium boni et veri; et in Ecclesia Conjugium Charitatis et Fidei, quoniam Charitas est boni, et Fides est veri, 624.
LXIV. Quod cum eram in profunda cogitatione de Secundo Adventu Domini, viderim Coelum ab Oriente ad Occidentem luminosum, et audiverim ab Angelis Glorificationem et Celebrationem Domini, sed ex Verbo tam Prophetico Veteris Testamenti, quam ex Apostolico Novi; ipsa loca e Verbo, per quae Glorificationes fiebant, videantur in MEMORABILI, 625.
LXV. Quod in Plaga septentrionali orientali sint LOCA INSTRUCTIONIS, et quod illi qui instructiones interius recipiunt ibi nominentur discipuli Domini. Quondam dum in spiritu eram, quaesivi didascalos ibi, num sciant universalia Coeli et Universalia Inferni, et responderunt, quod Universalia Coeli sint tres Amores, Amor usuum, Amor possidendi bona Mundi ex amore faciendi usus, et Amor vere conjugialis; et quod universalia Inferni sint tres Amores illis tribus oppositi, qui sunt Amor imperandi ex amore sui, Amor possidendi bona aliorum ex amore Mundi, et Amor scortatorius. Describitur postea qualis primus INFERNALIS AMOR EST QUI EST AMOR DOMINANDI EX AMORE SUI, quod talis apud Laicos sit, ut dum relaxantur ei fraena, velint dominari super omnia Mundi, et apud Clericos ut velint dominari super omnia Coeli. Quod talis phantasia sit apud illos qui in eo amore sunt, confirmatum est per similes in Inferno, ubi tales in quadam Valle simul sunt, qui jucundant animos suos per phantasias quod sint imperatores imperatorum aut reges regum; et alibi, quod sint Dii, et visum est quod ad horum aspectum priores, qui tam elato animo erant, caderent super genua et adorarent. Quod postea loquutus sim cum duobus, quorum unus erat Princeps cujusdam societatis in Coelo, et alter qui erat summus Sacerdos ibi, qui dixerunt, quod apud illos in societate illa sint magnifica et splendida, quia amor illorum non est ex amore sui sed ex amore usuum, et quod circumfundantur honoribus, et quod acceptent illos non propter se, sed propter bonum obedientiae. Quaesivi tunc illos, quomodo potest aliquis scire, num usus faciat ex amore sui aut mundi, aut ex amore usuum, quoniam omnes tres faciunt usus; ponatur, quod sit Societas composita ex meris satanis, et societas composita ex meris Angelis, et possum augurari, quod Satanae ex amore sui et mundi in sua Societate facturi sint tot usus quot Angeli in sua, quis ergo scire potest ex quo amore sunt usus; ad haec responderunt Princeps et Sacerdos, quod Satanae faciant usus propter famam ut evehantur ad honores et lucrentur opes, Angeli autem faciunt usus propter usus, sed hi discriminantur ex illis imprimis per hoc, quod omnis qui credit in Dominum, et fugit mala ut peccata, a Domino faciat usus, et sic ex amore usuum, at quod omnis qui non credit, nec fugit mala ut peccata, faciat usus ex se et propter se, ita ex amore sui aut mundi, 661.
LXVI. Quod intraverim quendam Lucum, et viderim duos Angelos inter se loquentes; accessi, et loquebantur de CONCUPISCENTIA POSSIDENDI OMNIA MUNDI, et quod plures, qui in actionibus apparent morales, et in loquelis rationales, in vesania istius Concupiscentiae sint, et quod illa Concupiscentia vertatur in phantasias apud illos, qui ideis suis de illa indulgent; et quia cuique licet se delitiari in phantasia sua in Mundo spirituali, modo non malum faciat alteri, quod sint etiam congregationes ex talibus in Terra inferiore; et quia innotuit ubi erant, descendimus et intravimus ad illos, et vidimus quod sederent ad mensas, super quibus erat ingens copia Nummorum aureorum, dicentes quod illi essent opes omnium Regni, sed erat modo visio imaginaria, quae vocatur phantasia, per quam fecerunt apparentiam illam: at cum dicebatur illis, quod insanirent, aversi a mensis fassi sunt, quod ita sit, sed quia visio illa summopere oblectat illos, quod non possint aliter quam per vices intrare, et favere illecebris sensuum suorum: his addiderunt, quod si quis surripit alteri sua, aut aliud malum facit, decidat in aliquem carcerem sub illis, et ibi teneatur laborare pro cibo, veste, et aliquem carcerem sub illis, et ibi teneatur laborare pro cibo, veste, et aliquibus obulis, et si etiam ibi malum faciunt, deprivantur illis et puniuntur, 662.
LXVII. Audita est disceptatio inter quendam Legatum Regni et duos Sacerdotes, Numeri INTELLIGENTIA ET SAPIENTIA, ET SIC QUOQUE PRUDENTIA, ESSENT A DEO, VEL NUM AB HOMINE; Legatus instabat quod ab homine, Sacerdotes autem quod a Deo: sed perceptum est a quibusdam Angelis, quod Sacerdotes interius in se crederent similiter ac Legatus, videlicet, quod Intelligentia et Sapientia, et inde Prudentia essent ab homine; quare ut id patefieret, rogabatur Legatus ut exueret vestes Muneris sui, ac indueret vestes Ministerii sacerdotalis, quo facto incepit Legatus multis confirmare, quod omnis Intelligentia et quoque Prudentia sit a Deo: et postea etiam rogabantur Sacerdotes ut exuerent vestes suas, ac induerent vestes Ministrorum politicorum, quo facto, loquebantur Sacerdotes ex interiori se, dicentes, quod omnis Intelligentia et Prudentia sit ab homine: causa quod ita loquuti sint, erat, quia Spiritus cogitat se talem esse qualis est super illo vestis: post haec, Tres illi amici cordis facti sunt, et inter loquendum simul iverunt viam, quae tetendit deorsum; sed postea vidi illos reduces, 663.
LXVIII. Agitur primum de illis qui in Verbo vocantur ELECTI, et quod sint, qui post mortem inveniuntur vitam Charitatis et Fidei vixisse, et separantur ab illis qui illam vitam non vixerunt, et sic qui tunc ELIGUNTUR, et praeparantur ad Coelum; quapropter credere modo aliquos ante nativitatem vel post illam eligi et praedestinari ad Coelum, et non omnes quia omnes vocati sunt, foret Deum impotentiae salvandi, et quoque injustitiae arguere, 664.
LXIX. A quodam advena dictum est in Coelo, quod non aliquis in Christiano Orbe sciat quid CONSCIENTIA, quod quia Angeli non crediderunt, dixerunt ad aliquem Spiritum, ut tuba convocaret Intelligentes, quos sciscitaret num sciunt quid Conscientia; et factum est ita, et advenerunt, et inter illos erant Politici, Eruditi, Medici, et Sacerdotes, et tunc primum sciscitabantur Politici, quid Conscientia; responderunt, quod sit dolor ex praeconcepto aut postea capto timore discriminum honoris vel opum, vel quod sit ex humore melancholico oriundo ex indigestis in Ventriculo, praeter plura. Postea percontati sunt ERUDITOS, quid sciunt de Conscientia; responderunt, quod sit maeror et anxietas infestans corpus et inde caput, aut caput et inde corpus, ex variis causis, imprimis ex hac, quod animum intenderint uni rei solum, quod sit imprimis dum regnans amor patitur, unde quandoque phantasiae et deliria, et apud quosdam cerebrositates in Religiosis, quae vocantur morsus conscientiae. Post hos interrogati sunt MEDICI, quid Conscientia, et dixerunt, quod sit modo dolor oriundus ex variis morbis, quos in copia enumeraverunt, et quod illi plures per pharmaca sanaverint: morbi ex quibus dolores, qui Conscientiae vocantur, derivantur, enumerati videantur in MEMORABILI. Demum quaesiti sunt SACERDOTES, quid Conscientia; inquierunt, quod sit eadem cum Contritione, quae praecedit Fidem, et quod illam sanaverint per Evangelium: et insuper, quod dentur Conscientiosi ex omni Religione, tam vera quam fanatica, qui sibi faciunt scrupulos in rebus salutis, etiam adiaphoris. Angeli ex his auditis perceperunt veritatem, quod non aliquis sciat quid Conscientia, quare demiserunt Angelum a se, qui doceret; hic adstans in medio illorum dixit, quod Conscientia non sit aliquis dolor, sicut omnes vos autumavistis, sed quod sit vita secundum Religionem, et quod illa vita imprimis apud illos sit, qui in fide Charitatis sunt, et quod illi qui conscientiam habent, ex corde loquantur quae loquuntur, et ex corde faciant quae faciunt, quae etiam per exempla illustravit; quare cum dicitur de aliquo quod Conscientiam habeat, intelligitur quod justus sit, et vicissim. His dictis, diviserunt se convocati in quatuor phalanges; in unam transiverunt illi, qui intellexerunt verba Angeli et faverunt; in alterum qui non intellexerunt, sed usque faverunt; in tertium qui non voluerunt intelligere, dicentes inter se, quid nobis cum Conscientia, et in quartum qui irridebant, dicentes, quid Conscientia nisi flatus; post haec visae sunt duae posteriores phalanges secedere ad sinistrum, et duae priores ad dextrum, 665[, 666].
LXX. Quod deductus sim ad locum, ubi veteres Sophi, qui fuerunt in Graecia, commorabantur, quem locum illi vocabant Parnassium; et dicebatur mihi quod per vices ablegent quosdam arcessendi gratia aliquos Advenas e Mundo, et inquirendi aliquid de sapientia, qualis est hodie in terris; et tunc inventi sunt duo ex Christianis, et adducti, qui mox interrogati sunt, QUID NOVI E TERRA; et hi responderunt, quod hoc ibi Novum sit, quod invenerint homines in sylvis, forte in prima pueritia ibi omissos, et quod illi ex facie quidem appareant ut homines, sed quod usque non essent homines; et quod ex illis concluserint in Mundo, quod homo non plus esset quam bestia, solum quod posset articulare sonum et sic loqui, et quod bestia similiter posset sapere, si imbueretur articulate sonare, praeter plura. Sophi ex his auditis concluserunt plura de Sapientia, quas vices ab illorum temporibus subiverat, imprimis ex eo, quod non sciant discrimen inter statum hominis et statum bestiae, et ne quidem quod homo modo nascatur forma hominis, et quod per instructiones fiat homo, ac talis homo qualiter instructiones recipit, et quod fiat sapiens ex veris, insaniens ex falsis, ac interius fera ex malis, et quod modo nascatur facultas ad sciendum, intelligendum et sapiendum, propter finem, ut sit subjectum, in quod Deus posset sapientiam a primo ejus gradu ad supremum inspirare: dicentes porro, quod ex Advenis comprehenderint, quod sapientia, quae suo tempore in oriente fuit, hodie in occidente sit. Postea instruxerunt Advenas, unde est, quod homo forma Dei creatus potuerit inverti in formam diaboli: sed de his et illis videatur MEMORABILE, 692.
LXXI. Quod iterum indictus sit Conventus in loco ubi erant veteres Sophi, quoniam ab emissariis audiverant, quod offenderint tres novos Advenas e terris, unum qui fuit Sacerdos, alterum qui fuit Politicus, et tertium 35 qui fuit Philosophus, qui adducti, mox quaesiti, QUID NOVI E TERRA, et responderunt, hoc Novum est, quod audiverint, quod quidam dicat se loqui cum Angelis et Spiritibus, et quod ille plura de statu illorum memoret, et inter illa, quod homo sit aeque homo post mortem, cum sola differentia, quod tunc corpore spirituali indutus sit, prius autem corpore materiali: quibus auditis, interrogant SACERDOTEM, quid de illis cogitaverat in Terra; respondit, quod quia crediderat quod homo non victurus sit iterum homo prius quam die Ultimi Judicii, ille cum reliquis ex suo Ordine, putaverit, ejus relata fuisse visiones, et postea commenta, et quod denique haeserit; ad interrogationem, annon incolae telluris potuerunt ex Ratione videre quod homo vivat homo post mortem, et sic paradoxa de statu animarum interea dissipare, quae sunt, quod animae interea sicut venti volitarent in Universo, et continue expectarent Ultimum Judicium, ut cum corporibus suis coalescant, quae fors foret pejor sorte cujusvis bestiae; ad quae Sacerdos respondit, quod dicant sed non convincant, et quod coalitionem seu reunionem animarum cum suis cadaveribus et sceletis in sepulchro adscribant Omnipotentiae Dei, et cum nominant Omnipotentiam et quoque Fidem, exulat omnis ratio. Postea interrogatus est POLITICUS de auditis illis, respondit, quod in Mundo non potuerit credere, quod homo victurus sit homo post mortem, quoniam omne hominis jacet mortuum in sepulchro, et sic quod ille homo viderit Larvas, et crediderit quod illae essent angeli et spiritus: sed quod nunc primum convictus sit ab ipsis sensibus, quod vivat homo sicut prius, et quod ideo illum pudeat cogitationum priorum. Paene similia de se et de quibusdam e sua Schola narravit PHILOSOPHUS; et praeterea quod illa quae audiverat de visis et auditis ab illo homine, retulerit inter Opiniones et Hypotheses, quas ex Antiquis et Hodiernis collegerat. Sophi his auditis obstupuerunt, imprimis quod Christiani, qui in luce prae reliquis ex Revelatione sunt, in tali caligine de Vita sua post mortem essent, cum tamen nos, et sapientes nostri temporis, illam vitam sciverunt et crediderunt; dicentes porro, quod animadvertant, quod Lux sapientiae ab illo saeculo ab interioribus Cerebri se demiserit usque ad os sub naso, ubi illa apparet sicut splendor labri, et inde loquela oris sicut sapientia. His quidam ex tironibus adjecit hoc, oh quam stupidae Mentes Terricolarum hodie sunt, utinam adessent discipuli Heracliti 36 qui ridebat ad omnia, et discipuli Democriti 37 qui flebat ad omnia, et audiremus magnum risum et magnum fletum. Post haec datae sunt Advenis lamellae cupreae, super quibus Hieroglyphica exarata erant, et abiverunt, 693.
LXXII. Quod inventi sint novi Advenae e Mundo, et adducti sint ad Urbem sub Parnassio, ac interrogati, QUID NOVI E TERRA, et responderunt, quod in Mundo crediderint, quod post mortem futura sit omnimoda Requies a laboribus, et tamen audiverunt, cum huc veniebant, quod hic sint Administrationes, Functiones, et Operae sicut in priori Mundo, et sic quod non sit Requies: ad haec Sapientes ibi responderunt, sic credidistis quod nunc victuri sitis in mero otio, cum tamen ex otio sit Mentis et inde totius Corporis languor, torpor, stupor et sopor, quae sunt Mors, et non Vita: et tunc circumducti sunt in Urbe, et ad Administratores et Operarios; quibus visis mirati sunt, quod talia dentur, cum tamen etiam crediderint, quod futurum quoddam inane, in quo victurae sunt Animae, antequam Novum Coelum et Nova Terra existent: et instructi sunt, quod omnia, quae hic coram oculis apparent, sint substantialia, et dicantur spiritualia, et quod omnia in priori Mundo sint materialia et dicantur naturalia; et quod hoc discrimen sit, quia ex alia origine sunt, videlicet, quod omnia quae in hoc Mundo sunt, existant et subsistant ex Sole qui est purus Amor, et quod omnia quae in illo Mundo sunt, existant ex Sole qui est purus Ignis: et insuper instructi sunt, quod non modo in hoc Mundo sint Administrationes, sed etiam Studia omnis Generis, et quoque Scripturae et Libri. Advenae ex his instructionibus laetificati sunt, et cum abirent, venerunt quaedam Virgines cum Acupictis et Netis, operibus manuum suarum, et donaverunt illis; et coram illis cecinerunt Oden, quae affectionem operum usus cum amaenis ejus melo angelico exprimebant, 694.
LXXIII. Quod introductus sim in Conventum, ubi aliqui ex vetustis Philosophis etiam aderant, ac interrogatus sum, quid in meo Mundo sciunt de INFLUXU, ad quae respondi, quod non de alio sciant, quam de Influxu lucis et caloris sui Solis in illa quae naturae sunt, tam in illa ibi quae animata sunt, quam quae inanimata, et quod prorsus non sciant aliquid de Influxu Mundi spiritualis in Naturalem, cum tamen ex illo Influxu sunt omnia mirabilia, tam quae conspiciuntur ibi in Regno animali, quam quae in Regno vegetabili, quae quoad partem recensentur; et quia hunc Influxum non sciunt, confirmant se pro Natura, et fiunt Naturalistae, et tandem Athei, 695.
LXXIV. Quod loquutus sim cum sectatoribus Aristotelis, Cartesii, et Leibnitizii, de INFLUXU PHYSICO, de INFLUXU OCCASIONALI, et de HARMONIA PRAESTABILITA, et audivi, quomodo quisque suam Hypothesin confirmavit; et quoniam non potuerunt inspicere illam rem intellectu supra confirmationes, sed modo infra illas, dirimebant litem per sortem, quae exivit pro Influxu spirituali, quae quoad partem cum Influxu Occasionali coincidit, 696.
LXXV. Quod perductus sim in quoddam Gymnasium, in quo Juvenes initiabantur in varia quae sapientiae sunt, quod fiebat per ventilationem alicujus objecti, quod a Praesule ibi proponebatur, et objectum ventilationis tunc erat, QUID ANIMA, ET QUALIS ILLA; erat Cathedra, in quam ascendebant responsuri; et mox UNUS ascendit dicens, quod nemo a Creatione Mundi potuerit indagare, quid Anima et qualis illa; at quia sciverunt, quod Anima esset in homine, inquisitum est, ubinam illa, et quod fuerit, qui opinatus est, quod apud hominem resideat in quadam Glandula, quae vocatur Pinealis, et sedet inter duo Cerebra in Capite; et quod hoc primum crediderit, sed quia a multis rejectum est, post etiam ipse recesserit. Post hunc SECUNDUS ascendit, et dixit, quod credat quod sedes Animae in Capite sit, quoniam Intellectus ibi est, sed quia non potuit divinare ubi illa ibi, accesserit 38 nunc ad sententiam illorum, qui dixerunt quod sedes ejus esset in tribus Cerebri Ventriculis, nunc ad illorum qui dixerunt illam esse in Corporibus striatis ibi, nunc ad illorum qui dixerunt in Substantia medullari aut corticali, et nunc ad illorum qui dixerunt in Dura Matre, quibus addidit, quod relinquat cuique arbitrari, quod libet. TERTIUS ascendens dixit, quod Sedes animae esset in Corde et inde in Sanguine, et hoc confirmavit ex Verbo, ubi dicitur Cor et Anima. QUARTUS postea ascendens dixit, quod a pueritia cum Antiquis crediderit, quod Anima non esset in parte, sed in Toto, quia est substantia spiritualis de qua non praedicari potest locus, sed impletio, tum quia per animam etiam intelligitur vita, ac vita est in toto. QUINTUS ascendens dixit, quod credat Animam esse purum quid simile aetheri aut aeri, et quod hoc crediderit quia opinati sunt, quod Anima talis foret, postquam separata 39 est a corpore. Sed quia Sapientes in Orchestra perceperunt, quod nullus ex illis sciret quid Anima, rogabant Praesulem, qui id problema proposuerat, ut descenderet et doceret; hic itaque descendens dixit, quod Anima sit ipsa Essentia hominis, et quia Essentia absque forma non est aliquid, quod Anima sit Forma formarum hominis, et quod haec forma sit Forma vere humana, in qua sapientia cum ejus perceptionibus, et Amor cum ejus affectionibus universaliter resident; et quia credidistis in Mundo, quod vos futuri sitis Animae post mortem, estis vos nunc Animae, praeter plura: et hoc confirmatum est per hoc effatum in Libro Creationis, Jehovah Deus inspiravit in nares Adami ANIMAM VITARUM, et factus est homo in ANIMAM VIVENTEM, Genesis 2:7[, 697].
LXXVI. Quod visus sit Angelus cum tuba, per quam convocavit Celebres eruditione inter Christianos, ut proferrent quid in Mundo prius crediderant de GAUDIIS COELI, ET DE FELICITATE AETERNA; hoc fiebat, quia dictum est in Coelo, quod nemo in Christiano Orbe sciat, aliquid de illis: et post horulam visae sunt ex Christianis eruditis adesse sex Cohortes, qui quaesiti, quid sciverant de Gaudiis Coeli, et de Felicitate aeterna; dixit PRIMA COHORS, quod crediderint fore modo Intromissionem in Coelum, et tunc in ejus festiva Gaudia, sicut quis intromittitur in domum nuptiarum et in ejus festivitates. ALTERA COHORS dixit, quod crediderint esse laetissima Consortia, ac suavissimas Confabulationes cum Angelis. TERTIA COHORS dixit, quod crediderint esse Epulationes cum Abrahamo, Isaco et Jacobo. QUARTA COHORS dixit, quod crediderint esse Delitias Paradisiacas. QUINTA COHORS, quod essent supereminentia Dominia, opulentissimae Gazae, et superregia Magnificentia. SEXTA COHORS, quod esset Glorificatio Dei, et Festum perennans in aeternum. Ut ergo Eruditi illi scirent, Numeri illa quae crediderant esse Gaudia coeli, datum est illis intrare in illa sua Gaudia, et cuivis cohorti per se, ob causam, ut per vivam experientiam discerent, num Gaudia imaginaria vel num realia essent; hoc fit cum plerisque qui e Mundo naturali alluunt in spiritualem, 731-733.
40 Et mox tunc illa Cohors, quae putaverat Gaudia Coelestia esse laetissima Consortia et suaves Confabulationes cum Angelis, immissa est in imaginationis suae gaudia; sed quia erant gaudia externa, et non interna, post aliquot dies taedio affecti sunt, et recesserunt, 734.
* Similiter factum est cum illis, qui crediderant Gaudia Coeli et Felicitatem aeternam consistere in supereminentibus Dominiis, opulentissimis Gazis, et in superregia Magnificentia, 736.
* Similiter etiam cum illis, qui crediderant Gaudia coelestia et inde Felicitatem aeternam esse Delicias Paradisiacas, 737.
* Similiter postea cum illis, qui crediderant Gaudia Coelestia et Felicitatem aeternam esse perpetuam Glorificationem Dei, ac Festum perennans in aeternum: hi tandem instructi sunt, quid in Verbo per Glorificationem Dei intelligitur, 738.
* Similiter demum factum est cum illis, qui crediderant se in Gaudia Coelestia et in Felicitatem venire, modo intromittantur in Coelum, et quod illis tunc 41 similiter Gaudia forent, quemadmodum est illis qui intrant in domum nuptiarum et simul tunc in festivitates; at quia illis per vivas experientias ostensum est, quod in Coelo non sint Gaudia nisi illis, qui vitam coeli, hoc est, vitam charitatis et fidei vixerunt, et quod vicissim Coelum illis qui contrariam vitam egerunt, sit cruciatus, recesserunt, et cum similibus se consociaverunt, 739.
Quoniam perceptum est ab Angelis, quod adhuc nullus in Mundo naturali sciret qualia sunt Gaudia Coeli, et inde qualis est Felicitas aeterna, dictum est ad Angelum tubae, ut eligeret ex convocatis decem, ac introduceret illos in unam Societatem Coeli, ut suis oculis viderent et mentibus perciperent quid Coelum, et qualia ibi gaudia sunt, et factum est ita; et post intromissionem, primum datum est illis videre magnificum Palatium Principis ibi, no. 740. Tum Paradisum juxta illud, 741. Postea ipsum Principem, et ejus Magnates in vestibus splendidis, 742. Deinde invitati ad Mensam Principis viderunt apparatus, quos aliquis oculus in terris non viderat; et ad Mensam audiverunt Principem instruentem illos de Gaudiis Coelestibus et de Felicitate aeterna, quod essentialiter consisterent in Beatitudine interna, et ex hac in Jucunditatibus externis, et quod beatitudo interna suam 42 essentiam ducat ex affectione usus, 743[, 744]. Post prandium ex mandato Principis arcessiti sunt quidam sapientes Societatis, qui plene illos instruebant quid et unde beatitudo interna, quae est Felicitas aeterna, et quod haec faciat, ut Jucunditates externae sint Gaudia, praeter plura de his et illis, 745-746. Post haec datum est illis videre Nuptias in illo Coelo, de quibus, 747-749. Et demum auscultare Praedicationem, 43 750-751. Quibus omnibus visis et auditis, pleni cognitione de Coelo, et laeti corde, descenderunt, 752.
LXXVII. Agitur ibi de REVELATIONE; quod placuerit Domino Se manifestare mihi, et aperire interiora Mentis meae, et sic dare videre quae in Coelo et Inferno sunt, et quod sic detexerit Arcana, quae excellentia et dignitate excedunt Arcana hactenus detecta, quae sunt, I. Quod in omnibus et singulis Verbi sit SENSUS SPIRITUALIS, qui non apparet in sensu literae: et quod ideo Verbum per Correspondentias Spiritualium cum Naturalibus conscriptum sit. II. Quod ipsae CORRESPONDENTIAE, quales sunt, manifestatae sint. III. Et quoque de VITA HOMINUM POST MORTEM. IV. De COELO et INFERNO, quale unum et quale alterum; et quoque de BAPTISMO et SANCTA COENA. V. De SOLE in Mundo Spirituali, quod sit purus Amor a Domino, qui in medio ejus est, ex quo procedens Lux est sapientia, et procedens Calor est Amor, et sic quod inde sit Fides et Charitas, et quod inde omnia quae procedunt, sint Spiritualia, et sic viva; et quod Sol Mundi naturalis sit purus ignis, et inde quod omnia quae ex hoc Sole, sint naturalia, et sic mortua. VI. Quod tres Gradus sint, hactenus ignoti. VII. Et praeterea de ULTIMO JUDICIO; Quod DOMINUS SALVATOR SIT DEUS COELI ET TERRAE: de NOVA ECCLESIA, et ejus Doctrina; de INCOLIS PLANETARUM; et de TELLURIBUS in Universo; 846. VIII. Insuper de AMORE CONJUGIALI, et quod sit spiritualis apud spirituales, naturalis apud naturales, et carnalis apud adulteros, 847. IX. Quod 44 ab Angelis per autopsiam compertum sit, quod tametsi Arcana illa excellentiora sunt Arcanis hactenus detectis, usque a multis hodie floccipendantur, 848. [X.] Quod auditum sit murmur a quibusdam in Infera terra, quod illis fidem non adjungant, nisi MIRACULA fiant, sed quod tulerint responsum, quod per Miracula non plus credituri essent quam Pharao et Aegyptii, nec plus quam posteri Jacobi dum saltaverunt circum Vitulum Aureum in deserto; nec plus quam ipsi Judaei dum viderunt Miracula ab ipso Domino facta, 849. XI. Demum, Cur Dominus Arcana illa revelavit mihi, et non potius alicui ex Ordine Ecclesiastico, 850.
* Quod illa, quae in MEMORABILIBUS quae post Capita sunt, vera sint, et quod similia Prophetis ante adventum Domini, et similia Apostolis post adventum Ipsius, ut Petro, Paulo, et imprimis Johanni in Apocalypsi, 45 visa et audita sint, quae recensentur, 851.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: loquendii.
2. Prima editio: or dinis.
3. Prima editio: potcntia.
4. Prima editio: cogregatis.
5. Sic Schmidt et Biblia Hebraica, sed 89:14 apud Biblia Anglica.
6. Prima editio: ex.
7. Prima editio: sun t.
8. Prima editio: Mathempsychosin.
9. Prima editio: crederem.
10. Prima editio: 21.
11. Prima editio: sunt.
12. Prima editio: Excercitum.
13. Prima editio: Excercitus.
14. Prima editio: significat.
15. Prima editio: Capellitiis.
16. Prima editio: quod.
17. Prima editio: intellaxerimus.
18. Prima editio: iniebant.
19. Prima editio: aetera.
20. Prima editio: intelligentis.
21. et ex ubi in prima editione et.
22. Prima editio: prosperitatem.
23. Prima editio: LEIBNITIUS.
24. Prima editio: Charitatas.
25. Prima editio: domunculum.
26. Prima editio: spiritalis.
27. non credit ubi in prima editione non in credit.
28. Prima editio: hoc.
29. Prima editio: a.
30. Prima editio: MATERIALIS.
31. Prima editio: meleficos.
32. Prima editio: vere.
33. Prima editio: Isralis.
34. Prima editio: solumodo.
35. Prima editio: tertius.
36. Sic prima editio, sed fortasse: Democriti.
37. Sic prima editio, sed fortasse: Heracliti.
38. Prima editio: accesserlt.
39. Prima editio: feparata.
40. Postea illi, qui crediderant, quod Gaudia Coelestia essent Epulationes cum Abrahamo, Isaco et Jacobo, in similia illis intromissi sunt, sed quia perceperunt, quod Gaudia illa essent modo externa, et non interna, taeduit illos, et abiverunt, 735.
41. Prima editio: tune.
42. Prima editio: suum.
43. Prima editio: Praedicationem (sine interpunctione).
44. Prima editio: quod.
45. Prima editio: Apocalysi.