TREATISE

Concerning

HEAVEN and HELL,

Containing

A RELATION of many WONDERFUL THINGS

THEREIN, as heard and feen by the Author,

The HONOURABLE

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG,

Of the SENATORIAL ORDER of NOBLES in the Kingdom

of SWEDEN.

Now Firil Tranflated from the Original Latin.
-This is a rebellious people which fay to the Sccrs, See not.

Ifai. XXX. 9, 10.

Where there is no Vifion, the people perifli. Prov. xxix. 18.

I have multiplied Vifions, and ulcJ Similitudes, by the miniftry of the Pro-
phets. Hof. xii. 10.

For the invifiblc things of Him from the creation of the world ate clearly feen,
being underilood by the things that arc mad;. Rom. i, 20.

LONDON:

PRINTED AND SOLD BY' JAMES PHILLIPS, GEORGE YARD, LOMBARD STP.EEr.

AND SOLD ALSO BY
S. LEACROFT, CHARING CROSS; T. MILLS, BRISTOL; AND E. SCORE, EXETER.

M DCC LXXVIII.

••n

THE

R E F A C E

O THE

Following Translation.

ESIDES the more general provifions made by the Father
of Lights for the inftrusflion of his church and people
in divine things, under the publick difpenfations of the
Law and the Gofpel, He has alfo been gracioufly pleafed, at
fundry times and in divers manners, as occalions and the needs
of the church might require it, to make extraordinary difcoveries
and revelations to particular perfons, either for more private or
publick ufe, and to anfwer various ends of his wifdom and good-
nefs : and indeed, were it fo that all things proceeded according to
one invariable rule of government in his adminiftrations, in grace,
in providence, and alfo in the natural world, without his interpo-
fing any particular afts of his divine authority and power, God's
government of the world would be lefs attended to and believed
in, his cognizance of human affairs be queftioned by many, and
fuch a fettled famenefs in the courfe of things be conftrued into
a blind fatality. Nor is it eafily to be conceived by us, how one
unchangeable mode of proceedings could be adapted to the pre-
fent condition of mankind, as free agents, under their continual
fluftuations and deviations from the rule of obedience, their
backflidings, rebellions and apoftacy ; and accordingly we read
-how the Lord varied his particular dealings with the Ifraelites,

a according

[ ii ]

according to their ftates and circumftanccs refpecftively, for
dircdion, for warning, for corrc<flions, &;c. by viiions, by voices,
by figns and wonders, and by the million of angels, to reclaim
and convert them : and this is fo far from arguing any variable-
nefs in God, that it evidences his unchangeablenefs in mercy
and goodnefs, by accommodating his dealings and difpenfations
to tlie needs and requirements of his poor frail creatures, agree-
ably to th.it his declaration ; " I am the Lord, I change not,
" therefore ye fons of Jacob are not confumcd." Mai. iii. 6.

How things went with the Antediluvians in regard to divine ma-
nifellations, the facred records give us but little intelligence; but
thus much we may collecft from them, that in the line of Seth,
as contradiftinguilhed from that of Cain, there was a church of
devout worfliippers then on earth, in which Enoch was highly
favoured of God, and a man of renown, whofe prophetick wri-
tings continued in the church down to the times of the apoftles,
as appears from the Epifllc of Jude. In t!iis line of Seth (from
■what is mentioned of Enoch and Noah) we may conclude, that
the church of God, before the general apoftacy brought on the
flood, was inftruded and conducted by particular revelation from
heaven ; and that an intercourfe between angels and the holy
men of thofe early days (called the Sons of God) was no un-
frequent thing.

c3n the call of Abraham heaven was again opened to man in
the way of divine communications externally, and he was taught
of God the things that be of God, by the minillry of angels ;
fo that what we now call extraordinary difpenfations were then
the ordinary way of conveying divine knowledge (i) : and from
thefc more immediate dilcoveries of himfclf to the patriarchs
we apprehend it was, that God ftiled himfelf the God of Abra-
ham, the God of Ifaac, and the God of Jacob.

Nor was the delivery of the law, as a ilated diredory to the
Ifraelites for duty and worlhip, intended to fuperfcdc particular
revelations from heaven, or communications with angels ; nay,
the promife of an angel to " go before them in the way" was

( I ) Sec Bromley on extraordinary Difpenfations, at the end of liis Jf'ay to t/}e
Suliat/j of Rejl. A book whicli I much rccommcnJ to the reader.

imrae-

[ iii ]

immediately annexed to it (2) -, and the prophetick difpenfatiow
under the law appears as a fupplement of fuperior excellency to
the law itfelf, by expounding and illuftrating the typical parts
of it, in reference to that miniflration of righteoufnefs by Jefus
Chrill, which fliould far exceed it in glory. Thus the law and
the prophets made together, as it were, but one difpenfation ;
and al] ferious Jews looked upon divine manifeftations, by pro-
phecy and vifion, as fuch flanding tokens of God's fiivour to-
wards them, that any occafional ceflation of them was con-
fidered as a mark of the divine difpleafure : thus the Pfalmift ;
** We fee not our tokens, there is not one prophet more (3) :"
and hence it was that the feers or true viiionaries were held iir
fuch honour by the godly of that church. Thus, " The word-
*' of the Lord was precious in thofe days ; there was no open^
" villon (4) :" " her prophets find no vifion from the Lord (5)."
And it is obfervable, that from the time of Malachi to a little
before the advent of Chrift, during which period prophecy and
vifion ceafed in the Jewifli church (at leaft in perfons of a publick
charaifler) was the moft horrid degeneracy of that people from
all things ficred and moral ; inteftine divifions, bribery, and
libertinifm diffufed their poifon through church and ftate ;
the very temple was often polluted with the blood of hoftile
fa(5lions ; and the high priellhood bought and fold, nay, the
nomination to it fubmitted to heathen princes, who conferred
the fame on the higheft bidder : thus fulfilling the truth of So-
lomon's words (6) : " Where there is no vifion, the people
" periHi ;" meaning thereby, that where there is a ceflation of
all divine communications, the fenfe of religion decays, and all
things tend to ruin.

When the time was fully come, as foretold by the prophets,
for the Sun of Righteoufnefs to arife with healing in his wings ;
for God to manifell himfelf in the fleili to deftroy the works of
the Devil, and to fupply what was lacking in all preceding dif-
penfations ; then the heavens were again opened, and coeleflial
communications renewed with men ; an angel foretold the birth

(2) Exod. iii. 20. (3) Pfal. Ixxiv. lo. (4) i Sam. iii. i.

(5) Ifai. iii. 2. (6) Prov. xxix. 18.

[ iv ]

of him, who fliould be the harbinger to this Prince of Peace;
the fame heavenly mefienger was lent to the highly favoured
Virgin with a falutation on her miraculous conception of him ;
and a hoft of angels proclaimed the joyful news of his gracious
advent; angels minillcred unto him during his abode on earth,
and announced his refurred:ion from the dead. But when all
was finiflied relating to our adorable Redeemer's minirtry, fuf-
fcrings, and life in the fledi, and that the difpenfation of the
Holy Ghoft took place according to this promife, were all ex-
traordinary difpenlations then to ceafe ? By no means ; for this
very publick folemnityon the day of Pentecoll was attended with
a gracious promife of their continuance in the cliurch to future
generations, as declared to all prefent by Peter, who, on quoting
the prophecy of Joel (7) concerning the fame vouchf.ifemcnts,
applies them to the times of the Gofpcl difpenfation ; " For
" the promife is to you and to your children, and to tliem that
" are afar off (8)." And they certainly continued with the
apoftles, as more particularly appears from the vifions of angels
by Peter, Paul, Philip, and John the Divine, plainly evincing,
that they were not fuperfedcd by the giving of the Holy Ghoft.

Such as are no friends to the belief of extraordinary gifts and
communications, have laboured all they could to confine them
to the times of the apoftles ; but in fo contradiding the current '
teflimony of the church hirtory, they ihew much prejudice,
and little modefly. The apoll:olical fathers, Barnabas, Clement,
and Hermas (vvhofe writings were reverenced as of canonical
authority for four hundred years, and were read, toc^ether with
the other Canonical Scriptures, in many of the churches) con-
firm the truth of prophecy, divine vilions, and miraculous gifts
continuing in the church after the apollolical age, both by their
teftimony and experience ; and to pals over many other venerable
names (among whom Tertullian and Origen are witnellcs of
eminence to the fame truth afterwards) Eufebius, Cyprian and
Ladlantius, ftill lower down, declare, that extraordinary divine
fnanifeflations were not uncommon in their days : Cyprian is
very exprefs on this fubjedl, praihng God on that behJf, with

(7) Joel ii. 28, 29. (8) Ads ii. 39.

reipedl

[ V ]

refpeJl to himfelf, to divers of the clergy, and many of the
people, ufing thefe words : " The difcipline of God over us
" never ceafes by night and by day to corredl and reprove j for
*' not only by vifions of the night, but alfo by day, even the
" innocent age of children among us is filled with the Holy
** Spirit, and they fee, and hear, and fpeak in ecftacy fuch
" things as the Lord vouchfafes to admonifli and inftrudt us
*' by (9) :" and it was the fettled belief of the early fathers of
the church, that thefe divine communications, for dircdion,
edification, and comfort, would never wholly ceafe therein.

That extraordinary gifts became more rare in the church
about the middle of the third century is allowed by Cyprian
himfelf, and fuch other both cotemporary and fubfequent
writers, as at the fame time teffified to the reality of them ; and
they account for it from the encouragement given to the per-
nicious dodtrines of Epicurus, and other materialifirs at that
time, which difpofed many to turn every thing fupernatural and
fpiritual into mockery and contempt. In the next century,
when the profeffion of Chriftianity became eftablifhed by Con-
flantine as the religion of the empire, and millions adopted it
from its being the religion of the court, the fafliion of the
times, or the road to temporal emoluments, then Chriflianity
appeared indeed more gorgeous in her apparel, but became lefs
glorious within ; was more fplendid in form, but lefs vigorous
in power ; and i'o what the church gained in fuperficies, flae lofl
in depth. She fuffered her faith to be corrupted by the impure
mixtures of heatheniHi philofophy, whilft the honours, riches,
and pleafures of the world infinuated themfclves into her af-
fecflions, flole away her graces, and lb robbed her of her beft
treafure, infomuch that many have made it a doubt, whether
in the times here fpoken of, Paganifm was more chriftianized,
or ChriiHanity more paganized.

In this condition of things, no wonder that we hear fo little
of divine vifions and extraordinary fpiritual gifts in thofe days :
for however outward men are apt to glory in the pompous ap-
pearance of a vifible church, yet the true fpiritual church may

(9) Epift. i6.

b be

[ vi J

be conlidered at that time, and Indeed ever fince, as in her wil-
dernel's llate, withdrawn from the multitude to keep herfelf
unl'pottcd from the world, and to preferve a holy intcrcourfe
with her Beloved, in a life and converfation becoming the
Gofpcl of Chrift ; nor were her heavenly vouchfafements lefs
than before, but only lefs proper to be divulged, as lefs likely
to be received, or to be received only with derifion, as were
the dreams of Jofeph by his brethren. We always mean to
except under this diftindtion many excellent perfons mixed with
carnal profefTors in common life, yet walking in all good con-
fcience, fearing God, and working righteoufnefs. Nor is any
thing here faid with a dcfign to fuggeft, as though the eftablifh-
ment of Chriftianity in the Roman empire were without its
great beneficial effeds ; for it was a means appointed by Pro-
vidence for fpreading the knowledge of the Truth over a great
part of the known world, whereby great numbers under very
dcfedlive and corrupt adminillrations of it were converted from
the error of their ways, and by palling through the outward
forms and ordinances to the inward power, became burning and
fhining lights in the church : befides. Divine Truth is of a
diffufive nature, like the precious ointment upon the head of
Aaron, that fell down to the fkirts of his garments. Thus the
Chriftian religion, in the weukeft: adminiArations of it, was not
without good influence on the nations that received it, by civi-
lizing their manners, improving their fyftems of morality, re-
prelhng their enormous vices, and regulating their polity by
more wholefome laws and inllitutes.

To trace the Chriftian religion in the various revolutions of
its progrefs, from its firft civil eftablhhment down to the pre-
fent times, would be the province of an hillorian j we (hall
therefore pafs over all the intervening periods of it, to confider
the fubjeft before us in the way both of fcriptural and rational
enquiries in relation to ourfelvcs. And here it muft be owned,
that the belief of all extraordinary or fupernatural difpeniations
is at a very low ebb with us, and that from feveral aflignable
caufes, two or three of which fliall here be noticed.

And firft, from an undue exaltation of man's natural rational
faculties and powers, as the fufficient teft of revealed Truths ;
:, I and

[ vii ]

and this grofs error has prevailed more among men of humart
learning for this paft century, than perhaps ever before ; to
which It is owing, that almoft every thing in religion has been
run into queftion and controverfy, and that a general difhelief
of all things fupernatural has in a great meafure banifhed faith,
and introduced Sadducifm amongft us, to the denying of all
fpiritual vifions" and apparition of angels as things incredible,

Secondly, This doubting and unbelief in things of a fpiritual
nature has fpread to a greater extent among all claffes, from
an exceflivc attachment to worldly intereft, and the love of
money in the trading nations of Chriftendom, through the vaft
incrcafe of commerce and navigation in the lafl two centuries^
whereby the affedtions and purfuits of fuch great numbers have
been fo engaged on the fide of hlthy lucre, as to turn an em-
ployment, in itfelf innocent and ufeful, into the occafion of
lln. Hence a fordid avarice, and making hafte to be rich by
frauds, extortion, and injuftice, which lays an invincible ob-
ftacle in the way of faith ; fince we are told, that every one that
would name the name of Chrifl, as his Saviour, mufl firft depart
from iniquity.

Another great hinderance to the belief of all communications
with the world of fpirits, is a life of pleafure, which the apolHe
calls a ftate of death (lo), as it chains down the mind to the
objetfl of the fenfes, and things of outward obfervation, and
totally indifpofes it for the confideration of things inward and
fpiritual : and this is not only the cafe of the voluptuous and
libertine part of mankind, but of thofe alfo, who, from an
indulged levity and diClpation of mind, abandon themfelves to
vain paftimes and amufements, are carried away with every wind
of fafliion and folly, or, like the Athenians, fpend their time
in nothing elfe, but either to tell or to hear fome new thing.
Should an apoftle reveal any thing concerning heaven or hell to
perfons thus indifpoled to receive his report, is it not to be
expe<a:ed that they would reply in derifion, like the philofophcrs
or Athenians before mentioned, at the preaching of St. Paul ?
" What will this babbler fay ?" Nor can it be expecfted that the

(lo) I Tim. V. 6.

contents

[ viii ]

contents of the following volume IhoulJ meet with a more
favourable reception from fuch. All things relating to the
other world, and the condition of departed fouls, are of a moft
interefling nature, and call for great ferioufnefs and awful at-
tention ; and they that bring not with them minds fo prepared
for the confideration of thefe fubjefts, however they may boaft
of their reafon, they are not as yet qualified for judges in thefe
matters. And this leads to an obfervation or two on the fubjed
of reafon.

There is nothing more talked of and pretended to than rea-
fon, and yet nothing in which people of every rank and age are
lefs agreed in ; that which generally pafles for reafon being of a
vague, uncertain nature, varying according to the tempers, in-
clinations, and circumltances of men. Thus it happens, that
the reafon of one of thirty years of age is feldom the reafon of
the fame perfon at fifty ; the reafon of the majority is not the
reafon of the minority j nay, in every profefTion, art, and fci-
ence, men reafon differently, and often oppofitely, except where
reafon has leatl place, as in mathematicks, geometry, and arith-
metick. And yet there is a right reafon in all things, where
men are qualified to find it out ; but thefe are few, and \vc fee
by far the greater part perpetually wrangling, difputing, and
contradiding one another in relation to right and wrong in mofl
things ; and the main caufe of it is the want of fimplicity, and /
a right difpofition of the will and affedions, which are abfo-
lutely necefiary, in order to a right judgment : but whilft men
dignify their paffions, humours, and falfe interefts with the
venerable name of reafon, it remains in them no other than the
operations of their prefent ilate of mind on the errors, preju-
dices, and wrong principles they have before imbibed, and
which they are refolved to maintain with the moll words, and
fuch arguments as they are mailers of j and hence it is, that we
have lb many criticks, politicians, and divines, which arc utter
Grangers to the truth of the matters they take in hand.

But reafon has alfo its fpecifick differences and meafures,
according to the nature of the fubjed to be inveffigated ; thus
ethicks, phyficks, and metaphyficks have each their refpedive
principles, and confequently a dillind kind of reafon, and he

that

[ ix ]

that is a good proficient in the knowledge of one, may be very-
deficient in another. Thus every part of knowledge hag its
ftandard, adequate and proper to itfelf j lb natural things are
known by natural reafon, and fpiritual things are difcerned by
a fpiritual light ; and this diflinflion is founded on the authority
of Scripture, in which we are told, that " the natural man
*' receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
'* foolidinefs unto him ; neither can he know them, becaufe
they are fpiritually difcerned (ii) ;" that is, the animal or
foulifh [4u'x,<)t©-] man, with all his natural faculties and endow-
ments, cannot of himfelf attain to the knowledge of fpiritual
things, they being too far above his reach, and therefore it
muft be given him from above, or he cannot have it : nay, fo
contrary are they to the propenfities and apprehenfions of his
fenfual fallen nature, that whilft he prefumes on a fancied fuf-
ficiency in himfelf to comprehend thefe things, the deeper he
plunges himfelf into the darknefs of human ignorance concern-
ing them, and the more accounts them foolifhnefs ; and thus
God is faid to make foolifli the wifdom of this world, by leaving
fuch to their wilful blindnefs, who chufe darknefs rather than
light.

Nothing is here faid to depreciate the external rational know-
ledge, even in its loweft fphere, when joined with the fear of
God in men of humble minds ; for this alfo is the gift of God,
and is not only helpful to us in all the purpofes of this life, but
in due place and fubordination fubfervient to the divine life; it
is the abufe of this knowledge only that falls under our cenfure,
as when natural knowledge and human learning are employed
to unfettle mens minds with refpecl to the things of the other
world, and to rob them of the precious hopes of a glorious
immortality through the redemption that is in Chrift Jefus. All
fuch kind of fophiftry, mifi:aken for reafon, is no better than
vain deceit, and fcience falfely fo called, and all that exercife
themfelves therein are diflurbers of the peace of mankind, as
well as enemies to the church of God. Nor can we here for-
bear to pafs a reproof on all thofe, who, whilfl they profefs a

(ii) I Cor. ii. 14. • ^

c reverence

[ ^ ]

reverence for the Gofpel Revelation, patronize at the fame time
the infidelity of the Sadducees, as touching angels and fpirits,
and all extraordinary difpenfations : for to deny all communica-
tion with the fpiritual world, whether by vifion, or any other
means, naturally leads to atheifm ; and their pernicious reafon-
ings in this way have had dreadful eifedls upon the prefent times,
by weakening the lenic of religion and confcience in the lower
clalfes of the people. The belief of an intercourfe with the
other world, according to the truth of it, keeps alive and che-
rifhcs faith in the immortality of the foul in all ranks of people,
and familiarizes the mind to its exigence feparate from the body ;
and it is not to be doubted, that fuch gracious vouchfafements
were granted to the Jews under the Law, and have been con-
tinued lince to the church under the Gofpel, in aid and alhilance
to men's faith in the written traditions of both difpenfations :
fuch being the goodnefs of the Lord in compaflion to the weak-
nefs of our nature, and the dulnefs of our minds, which ftand
fo much in need of frelh, awakening incitements to call off our
attention from earthly to heavenly things. And therefore we
cannot but lament, that any men of name in the church, though
little deferving of it on this account, have gone fo far beyond
this line, as to alTert, that all extraordinary gifts and fupernatural
difpenfations have totally ceafed fmce the third century ; but
we have no authority for this but their own, and therefore do
upon much better grounds alTert, that extraordinary gifts and
vouchfafements never did nor will ccafe in the church, till that
which is perfecfl fhall come, that is, till fuch extraordinary
become ordinary difpenfations, and angels ihall converfe with
men as familiarly as they did with Adam before the fall : and.
in the mean time we confidently rely upon the divine promife,
that the fame Lord, who " gave fome apollles, and fome pro-
" phets, and fome evangelifls, and fome payors and teachers,
*' for the perfetfling of the faints for the work of the minillry,
" for the edifying of the body of Chrifl," will fulhl the fame
promife, " till we all come in the unity of the fiiith, and of the
*' knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfedl man, unto the
" meafure of the llature of the fulnefs of Chrill (12)."

(12) Eph. iv. II, 12, 13.

But

[ xi ]

But it may be faid here, that fee-ers of vifions are not men-
tioned along with prophets, ficc. in the foregoing quotation
from the apoftle ; and therefore, as the firft are principally re-
ferred to in this preface, it will be here appolite to obferve,
that the name Prophet in Scripture is not confined to the gift
of prediition or foretelling things to come, but fignifies one to
whom any divine manifeftation was made for the ufe of others ;
and as this was generally by vifion, fo we read that prophets in
ancient times were ufually called Seers, that is, fee-ers of vifions j
thus in I Sam. ix. 9. " Before time in Ifrael, when a man went
** to enquire of God, thus he fpake. Come, and let us go to
" the Seer ; for he that is now called a Prophet, was before
" time called a Seer." And afterwards, in the fame chapter,
Samuel calls himfelf a Seer. And in 2 Sam. xxiv. ri. we read»
" that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet Gad, Da-
" vid's Seer." Of fuch honourable repute was the name Seer,
or vifionary, in thofe times. When therefore the apofi;le gives
it in charge to the church, not to defpife prophefyings, we have
no warrant to exclude vifions from the general charge, efpecially
as we are well informed from ecclefiaftical hiftory, that the
cufi.om of communicating to the church the vifions of holy
perfons, particularly fuch as were of authority in the miniftry,
continued down at leafi: to the days of Cyprian, the good bifliop
of Carthage, who fpeaks of manifefi:ations by vifion throughout
his Epifi^les, and alio of his own ; for he was a man of many
vifions, and among others had one concerning his own martyr-
dom, and the particular manner of it, which happened accord-
ingly-

St. Paul (Heb. xii. 22.) fpeaking of the fuperior excellence

and bleflednefs of the New Covenant, fays, " But ye are come
** unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God,
" the heavenly Jerufalem, and to an innumerable company of
" angels," &c. By which words, we cannot fuppofe him to
mean lefs, than that by Chrifi:, the mediator of this better
covenant, a more free intercourfe with heaven, and a more
intimate fellowfhip with faints and angels, is now opened for
us, if we debar not ourfelves of this blefled privilege. What
then hinders our converfing with angels now, as the patriarchs

and

[ xii ]

and prophets did of old ? what but our own fault and unfitnefs
for fuch glorious company ? Why do we not now fee them
dcfcending and afcending between heaven and earth, as Jacob
did on the typical ladder ? Why, but for our own unbelief, our
fotti(hnefs, our earthly-mindednefs ; from which deep fleep, as
to the things of God, if we were truly awakened, wc ftiould
fee caufe to own in the words of the fame patriarch, when he
awaked from the vifion of the night ; ■' Surely the Lord is in
" this place, and I knew it not (13)." Heaven is as near to
the heavenly, as the foul is to the body ; for we are not fcparated
from it by diil:ance of place, but only by condition of ftate :
thus when Eliflia was furrounded in Dothan by the Syrians, his
fervant faw not the chariots and horfemen [the angelical hoft]
that furrounded his mafter for defence, as Elilha did. till the
Lord opened his eyes. Juft fo it is with us ; unbelief and fin
keep us from feeing the things that are about us and near to us,
and alfo from giving credit to the reports of thofe who are in
the experience of them.

The f.uTie apoftle, who cautions againfl defpifing prophefyings,
does alfo give us to underiland, that angels were not to difcon-
tinue their vifits to men in future times of the church, as where
exhorting us not to ** be forgetful to entertain ftrangers ;" he
adds, " for thereby fome have entertained angels unawares (14)."
Now there would be no encouragement nor argument in the
latter part of the verfe, unlefs the fame might happen to be the
cafe with us alfo. But wherefore fliould we doubt, that thofc
blelTed friendly beings ftiould take delight in cxercifing th ir
good will to men by many kind offices both vifible and invifible,
according to the good pleafure of our common Lord, as by
preferving us in many dangers, protcdling us againft the aiTIiults
of evil men and evil I'pirits, and by counfelling, warning, and
helping us by various ways and means we know not of? We
ought not fo to doubt of this, as w^e are apt to do, nor wonder
at it ; '• For are they not all miniftering fpirits, font forth to
*' miniller for them, who fhall be heirs of falvation (15) ?"
We ftiould rather wonder that good men, wheh they walk out

^13) Gen. xxviii. 16. (14) Hcb. xiii. 2. (1-5) Hcb. i. 14.

[ xiii ] -

to meditate in the field, as Ifaac did (i6), fhould not often
mec-t thofe coeleftial ftrangers to join them in fweet converfation
on heavenly things, and be accompanied by them in their jour-
nics, as Tobias was. But whether manifclted to us or not, fure
it is, that we are more indebted to them for their kind affiftance
and miniflrations than is generally believed, as evidently appears
to have been the fcnfe of our church, heretofore at leaft, as thus
exprefled in her collect for St. Michael and all Angels. " O
** everlalling God, who hafl ordained and conftituted the fervicc
*' of angels and men in a wonderful order, mercifully grant,
** that as thy holy angels alway do thee fervice in heaven, fo
** by thy appointment they may fuccour and defend us on earth,
** through Jefus Chrift our Lord."

As to the argument offered by thofe, who maintain the total
cefTation of thefe and other extraordinary difpenfations on the
eftablifhment of the Chriflian religion, or its protedlion by the
civil powers ; viz. that the extraordinary gifts of the Spirit,
together with its fettled ecclefiaftical ceconomy, are fufficient
for falvation, and the welfare of the church, and therefore what
is more is needlefs, and not to be expedted ; for if men now
will not believe Mofes and the prophets, Chrift and his apoftles,
fo neither would they be perfuaded, though one fhould rife from
the dead. Be it anfwered, firft, that the oppofers of extraor-
dinary difpenfations do here take for granted the very point in
queftion, viz. that they are ceafed, which it is impofTible for
them to prove ; nay, we appeal for the reality of them to the
authority of univerfal ecclefiaftical hiftory, as alfo to the records
of every particular church and nation in Chriftendom, not to
infift on the teftimony given thereto in numberlefs books, tra(fls,
and narratives, fome or other of which have fallen in the way
of every perfon of any reading and converfation : what credit
is to be given to or withheld from them refpedlively, is another
matter of enquiry ; but that all fhould be invention and forgery,
requires a higher degree of credulity than is fufficient for be-
lieving the greater part of them -, and as to the reproachful
epithets of monkiHi and legendary, fo liberally beftowed on well

(i6) Gen. xxiv. 63.

d attefled

[ 3civ ]

attefted narratives of this kind, by fuch as refolve to believe
nothing but what they can fee with their eyes, or touch with
their hands, they are not to be regarded, where the grounds of
credibiUty and evidence are the points in queftion. Many of
the Roman Cathoiick writers ftand confelfedly chargeable with
an over credulity ; and it is to be wilhed, that many of the
Proteftant writers were Icfs cenfurable than they are for incre-
dulity ; and the medium between both thefe extremes will be
found the proper ground from whence to take the cleareft view
of thefe matters. Sure it is, that we are at this time very dan-
geroufly infedled with doubting and unbelief, as to things fuper-
natural ; and that the general idea of reformation amongft us
means rather a departure from certain Popilli errors and fuper-
ftitions, than any advances in true faith and godlinefs.

Secondly, As to what is alleged for the futhciency of the
ordinary means of grace under a legal eflablifhment of religion
for faith and falvation, may we not afk fuch bold pronouncers,
by what commiflion they take upon them to determine con-
cerning fufficicncy in this matter, and who gave autiiority to
teach, that the Lord is become more fparing of his benefits and
gifts to his church than in former times, nay, than He has
promifed to be towards it ; or do they fuppofe, that what is
called an eftablilhment of religion by the civil powers,, is equi-
valent to the extraordinary gifts beftowed on the primitive Chri-
ftians ? Wherefore fhould they go about to limit the loving
kindnefs of the Lord by their own fcanty mcafure of futiiciency,
fincc it is his ufual way to give not only for mere neceiiity, but
alfo for deledation ; his gracious attribute, not only to be good,
but abundant in goodnefs in all his works both of nature and
grace, where men render not themfelves unqualified for the
•fame : and He that giveth one talent, is as ready to beflow ten
talents on a due improvement of the former ; for ih He giveth
grace for grace.

Thirdly, The inference they draw againfl; tlie ufefulnefs of
miraculous gifts, and other extraordinary difpenfations, from
thofe words of Abraham, in the parable of Dives and Lazarus,
" If they hear not Moles and the Prophets, neither will they
" be pcrfuaded, if one Ihould rife from the dead," is not at all

conclufive

[ XV ]

conclufive in this cafe ; as that faying appears to rei!pe<fi fuch
only as have hardened themfelves in unbelief, by departing froin
faith in the written Word, under the ordinary means of falvation j
and not fuch as are weak in the faith, but not obdurate, as was
the cafe with the difciples, who, though under our Lard's own
teachings, yet, through the dulnefs of their apprehenfion, feemed
to need fome mighty work to make an impreflion on their feeble
minds : and accordingly, when Jefus was on the way with them
to raife Lazarus from the dead. He fpeaks of the enfuing miracle
as ufeful for them among others, and takes fatisfadrion on their
account, that He was not prefent with Lazarus in his ficknefs
to heal him : *' I am glad for your fakes, that I was not there,
" to the intent that ye may believe (17) ;" that is, by feeing
him raifed from the dead. So then we are to make a wide
diflindlion between an evil heart of unbelief, as where men,
through an incorrigible attachment to finful courfes, or by
taking pains to confirm themfelves in infidelity, are proof againfl
evidence fufficient for their convidlion ; and where they are in
unbelief through prefent inattention, diftraftion of mind from
worldly hinderances, dulnefs of apprehenfion, and the like
caufes, but without any wilful oppofition to the truth. In thefe
laft cafes extraordinary means have often falutary effedls, by
calling off the mind from its wandering, by alarming and con-
verting the finner from the error of his ways. Hiftory fupplies
us with numberlefs inflances of this kind ; and, among others,
I fee no caufe to doubt what is recorded of Bruno, founder of
the Carthufian order, viz. that he was converted on the follow-
ing occafion. As he attended the corps of a certain ecclefiaflick
(who had been a followed preacher) to his grave, the deceafed
raifed himfelf up from the funeral bier, and pronounced himfelf
condemned by thejuft fentence of God; upon which he was
interred without the folemnity of Chriftian burial, and the eifeft
upon Bruno in particular was, that he became imprelled with
fo piercing a fenfe of his own danger, that he retired from the
world, and devoted himfelf, during the remainder of his life,
to a religious retirement and vigorous difcipline.

(17) John xi. 15.

From

[ xvi ]

From what has been obferved on the foregoing fubjccft, we
fliall conclude, that the fame Lord, who in times paft fent his
prophets, wife men, and fecrs, and gave extraordinary tokens
and warnings to awaken a carelcfs world to a fenfe of its danger,
has not wholly ceafed in thefe laft ages to manifeft his power
and goodnefs for the fame end, in various in fiances, to cooperate
as afhfting means with the more general and ftated provifions of
his revealed will, for our incitement and benefit : and though
fome, through their unbelief and obduracy in fin, refufe to
profit by any methods of his goodnefs, whether ordinary or
extraordinary ; yet many others may not be fo far departed from
the faith and fear of God, as to continue unreclaimable by his
more particular and alarming vifitations. Thus we read, that
many were converted on feeing the miracles which Jefus did,
whilil the Scribes, Pharifces, and Rulers endeavoured to ftifle
their report, and remained wilful unbelievers to the end ; and
we well know what like oppofition we have to cxpedl from men
of the fame leaven to every thing that may here be advanced in
favour of extraordinary manifcltations : but were their names
and number greater than they are, it would have no weight
with us, being no ftrangers to their little length and breadth,
and their want of depth, and ready to meet them in the field of
argument, as well as prepared to anfwer every objedlion they
have to offer; wilhing them at the fame time more modefty for
their own lakes, than to diftate to the church wha^is fufficient,
and what is needlefs to the purpoles of lalvation, without fcrip-
tural authority. In the general divifion I am fpeaking of, there
is a clafs of modeft well-meaning men, who are no further con-
cerned in the matter before us, than to juflify the ways of God
to man, upon a fuppofition that all things are left to one fettled
fcheme of things and means, as not feeing any thing beyond it,
who are eftablilhed in the faith under the ufe of ordinary means,
and have no invincible prejudice againft the extraordinary, but
only think them not granted in thefe ages of the church : and
■with fuch I have no controverfy ; but addrefs myfelf only to
thofe, who declare open war againft all fupcrnatural mani-
feftations, whether they are in the profefllon of Chrillianity or
not.

And

[ xvii ]

And here I muft arte all fuch, to what purpofe is this your
"oppofition to the belief of any fre/h difcoveries of the other
world ? Is it not a fubjeft of the higheft importance to us to
know, ^vhat and wlicre we fliall be to all eternity after a Ihort
palfage over this bridge of time ? Are there not different degrees
of evidence in thefe matters j and fuppofmg that your convidlion
were at all times fo full in relation thereto, as to exclude all
fliadow of doubting, yet are there not infinite particulars and
circum fiances relating to the world of fpirits, which may ferve
as an inexhauftible fund of frefh difcoveries, many of which
may have been revealed to others, though not to us, and for us
to receive from them ? How comes it then, that you are fo void.
of all reafonable curiofity, as to prefer ignorance to information
in thefe things, nay, to fludy objecftions to the belief of them ?
VVere any prejudice allowable in this cafe, it (hould rather be
for, than againll them, efpecially where they have a tendency to
promote faith, virtue, and godlinels. If any knowledge is to
be coveted, furely it is that of the laws, ways, and accommo-
dations of that good country, which we hope to go to and live
in for ever. Befides, fuch extraordinary manifeftations are greatly
conducive to the good of this world, by laying before us frerfi
motives and encouragements in our way through it, to ftrive
lawfully for the high prize that is fet before us in a better, and
by roufing every power and faculty of the mind by frefh news
from heaven. If we believe the Scriptures, we muft allow of
fuch an intercourfc between heaven and earth in former times ;
-and if it be lefs frequent now, it is owing to the infidelity and
apoftacy of the times, for God's goodnefs endureth the fame for
ever, and good fpirits are equally defirous of holding commu-
nication with men now, as formerly ^ but then there muft be
a fuitablenefs for it on the part of the latter, fomething of that
innocence and fimplicity of life, which in ancient times ferved
for the bafis of fuch fellowfhip.

But neither are inftances of extraordinary difpenfations fo very
few now, as moft are apt to imagine ; for among the many
eftimable and excellent men and women in the Chriftian church
now that hold faft found doftrine, walking in the fear of God,
and in all good confcience, there is a feled: company of the inner

e court

[ xvlii }

court worHiippers, to whom the Lord revealeth his fecrets, and
maketh known the hidden things of his kingdom. Some of
thefc are favoured with fecret communications for their own
fiikes, or for the benefit only of fome few others. Tlicy are
generally perfons of a retired life, little known of their bre-
thren, and foraetimes, like Jofeph, perfecutcd by them ; an
inflancc of which kind has been well attefted to me by a pcrfon
of veracity, who knew the party, viz. a gentlewoman of for-
tune i who having declared at different times that fhe converfed
with angels, her relations applied to a late chancellor for a
ftatute of lunacy againft her; and though fhe was allowed upon
examination to be reafonable and of found mind in all other
things, yet, upon her confefhng this article of her charge, flie
was ordered to a private madhoule, and her fortune committed
to the management of her relations. May it not be alTced here,
if they, who can favour fuch profecutions, are not to be fuf-
pevi^ed of thinking that the Seers of old were at times befide
themfelves ? Can we be at a lofs then how to account for our hear-
ing fo feldomof fuch extraordinary difpenfations in thefe times of
unbelief, when it is become fo dangerous to own them, or at
leaft when the recital is likely to meet with nothing better than
mockery and derilion ?

But v/'hatever cautionary referves may be juftifiable, nay, pru-
dent, where the manifeftation appears to refpe<fl only the party
to whom it is made, or for private ufe to fome few others,
according as difcrction may diredl ; yet, where it is evidently
given for publick notoriety and ufe, as in the cafe of this author;
more efpecially if by exprefs command ; here the pcrfon is to
be confidered as ftanding in the prophetick charafler, and there-
fore is not to confult with fjefh and blood in this matter, nor to
regulate his meafurcs by human prudence; but to deliver Ivis
meifage boldly, and leave the event to God, left he fuffer for his
difobedience, as Jonah did, and be obliged to deliver it at lall.
But it may be afked here, if it be not reafonable to expedt that
every fuch mcflage from heaven Ihould have the atteftation of
a miracle to evince the truth of it ; to which it might futlice to
anfwcr, in the words of Job (i8), that '* the Lord giveth not

(18) Job xxxiii. 13.

" an

*' an account of his matters." This however is certain, that
wherever He fends a meffage, He alfo gives power fufficient
with it to convince, or to condemn the rejeiStion of it. Our
Lord, in the days of his fleili, wrought miracles, fometimes to
convince the underflanding, fometimes to take away all excufe
from the hardened and impenitent, and fometimes He refrained
from, doing them, to prevent the greater condemnation of ua-
believers ; thus He is faid not to have done many mighty works in
Galilee, becaufe of their unbelief.

But the foregoing query may be further urged into an ob-
jedtion of fuch apparent flrength, as may be thought deferving
of a more particular anfwer. Thus it may be afked, If any
particular revelation for publick ufe and benefit, either in the
way of inftrudtion, diredlion, or warning, refls only on the
credit and authority of the revealer, are we not liable to much
deception in the matter ; and though the meflenger may be a
true one, yet might not our receiving him as fuch give encou-
ragement to pretenders and impoftors to affume the like charafter
in order to deceive, and to come with, " Thus faith the Lord,"
in their mouths, when the Lord hath not fpoken it ? In this
cafe, what rule have we to go by, and how iliall we tread firm
on fuch flippery ground ? To this it is replied, that as in old
times there were falfe as well as true Prophets and Seers, fo
nothing hinders but there may be like counterfeits now o'days ;
for in this mixed world of good and evil, where men fland in
their liberty of fpeaking and acting, no infallible provifion
againft hypocrify and impofture can take efi^eft, but the enemy
will fow his tares in the fame field where the good hulbandman
has fowed his wheat, and Satan will at all times transform him-
felf into an angel of light. Every thing has its contrary here,
where good and evil arc fet one againft the other ; but then help
and means are provided for our direftion and fafcty ; if ofi^ences
are many, fo alfo are our defences ; if errors are manifold, there
are diverfities of gifts to detedl and refute them ; and if the
father of lies and his cmifiaries arc bufy to deceive us, the good
Spirit of God is ever ready to lead us into all Truth : fo that
we have not only light in the Scriptures, but through fuppli-
cation and prayer may alfo have Light within us from above for

the

[ XX ]

the difccrning of fpirits, and for our fccurity againrt: all the
powers of darkqefs. ^\'c are not therefore to rcjcrt truth and
error indifcriminately in whatever forniK they may appear, be-
caufe the latter may wear a like garb with the former ; but try
the fpirits, and hold fall: to that which is good, herein imitating
the filhers mentioned in the Gofpel (reprefentative of the wife
in ChrilVs kingdom) who, " when they had filled their net
** with fifh of every kind, gathered the good into veflels, and
*' caft the bad away (19) :" nay, the moll illiterate Chrillian
walking humbly in the fear of God, and working righteoufnefs
according to his beft knowledge, never was nor will be fufFered
to fall into any fatal delufion : fimplicity and uprightnefs of
heart place him under the protecftion, of the Almighty, and he
is in the elfence of truth, though without the formal ideas of
it ; for *• all the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to fuch
" as keep his covenant and his teftimonies (20) ;" miftake he
may, but cannot dangeroufly err, for his very errors arc inno-
cent, and love fandlihes all he thinks, fays, and does. Thus
the pure in heart fee God in all things, and from all things reap
benefit without hazard of lofs j whilrt the perverfe and ungodly
" change even the truth of God into a lie (21), by turning that
which was defigned for their good into the occafion of their fin.
But to refumc the fubjedl : If it were allowed to be a juftifiable
caufe for the rejedting every extraordinary difpenfation that comes
fupported by credible evidence, bccaule fome may falfely pre-
tend to the fame, the objedion would be of equal force on the
fide of numbers againft lillening to their eftablifhed paftors and
teachers, becaufe fome among them are ignorant, fome unfound
in dodlrine, and fome handle the word of God deceitfully; and
though this muft be allowed to be a pitiable cafe where it hap-
pens, yet the falvation of the confcientious worfhipper does by
no means lie upon any fuch hazard, for ordinary and extraor-
dinary means are all one with the Lord, and rather than any
fincerely pious and feeking foul fliould perifli for lack of know-
ledge, He would fend, if need were, an angel from heaven to
be its teacher ; but all fuch have an unerring guide, even the

(.19) Matt. xiii. 48. (20) Plal. xxv. 10. (21) Rom. i. 25.

good

good Spirit of God, and " them that are meek ihall He guide in
♦' judgment, and luch as are gentle, them fliall He learn his
*' way (22)."

, Lartly, It is to be obferved under this article, that all who
profefl'edly oppofe every kind of communication with the world
of fpirits, do not only deny the authority of the facred records,
but alfo fet afide that evidence which is given to the truth of
this matter, by the concurrent teflimony of every age and nation;
fo that matter of fadt is againft them, and proves all their pre-
tenfions to reafon and philofophy to be vain, whilft they go
about to invalidate all authority, except that of their own fenfes,
and I may add, even to render that doubtful likewife ; nay, I
have heard one of this fceptical clafs declare, that he would
not believe the teftimony of his own fenfes in fuch a cafe. It
is well known, that the Heathens believed thcmfelves to be under
the care of their gods through the miniftry of genii or tutelary
fpirits, and held the exiftence both of good demons, and of
evil or caco-demons j for dark as their difpenfation was, they
had fliadows of truth among them fufficient to keep alive their
belief of the foul's immortality, and they have tranfmitted down
to us in their hiftories m'any inftances of fupernatural vilions
and apparitions, and of warnings by dreams ; fo that many of
our modern unbelievers have lels of faith in things of the other
world than the very Gentiles, feveral of whom have declared
themfelves indebted to good and vifible agents for the wifdom
of their laws, for many valuable difcoveries in phyfick, for
warnings, predidtions, and extraordinary deliverances (23). To
give only one faying of Cicero, among many, to the fame pur-
pofe : " I know not," fays he, " any one nation, polite, or
" barbarous, which does not hold, that fome perfons have the
** gift of foretelling future events (24)."

But I chiefly conhne myfelf here to coeleflial vifions, anfwer-
able to the following work, and which are by no means to be
confidered on the level with apparitions, whether of ghofts
departed, or of fpirits of any other order, thefe laft being of a
far inferior kind to the firfl: ; and yet it will not be going far

(22) Pfal. XXV. 8. (23) Cicero dc Dlvinatione. (24) Ibid. Lib. i.

f out

[ xxii ]

out of my way to fpeak a few words of the latter. There is
a climax in God's works of nature, or a fcale afcending from
the loweft to the highell: of them, till they terminate in the
great adorable Original, who is the Alpha and Omega of the
univcrfe. From thefe gradations, difcovered or difcoverable in
the natural world> we may from analogy (which is our befl rule
here to go by) conclude, that the like progreffion takes place
in the fpiritual worlds, and that there is not that wide chafm
between one and the other that is generally fuppofed, but that
the moft refined part of the material meets the grolTeft part of
the immaterial fyftem of beings, vifible thus ending where in-
vifible begins ; and confequently, that there are fpirits very near
us, though not difcernible by us, except when according to
certain unknown laws of their cxiftence, or the particular will
of the Lord, they become manifefted to us, either vifibly or
audibly -, and highly credible it is, that all nature is peopled
with them in its feveral regions of the air and earth, and its
fubterraneous dwellings, according to their different clallcs, fub-
ordinations, and allotments. Milton finely expreffes himfelf
on this fubjed: as follows :

-Think not, though men were none.

" That heaven would want fpeiflators, God want praife :

*' Millions of fpiritual creatures walk the earth

" Unfcen, both when we wake, and when we fleep," &c.'

Now to argue againft their exigence from their being incon-
fpicuous, is an abfurd conclufion for men who pretend to phi-
lofophy, efpecially when all know what a new world of animal-
cula, invifible before, has been difcovered to us by the improved
microfcopc : and who will fay, that the natural eye of man is
incapable of fuch further aflillance, as may enable us to ditcern
the fubtle vehicles of certain fpirits, whether confifling of air
or ether ; certain it is, that either by condenfation, or fome '|

other way, they can make themfelvcs vifible, and converfe with
us, as man with man ; and fo innumerable are the inrtances
hereof, as alfo of their difcoveries, warnings, predi(5lions, &,c.
that I may venture to affirm, with an appeal to the publick for

the

[ xxlii ]

the truth of it, that there are few ancient families in any county
of Great Britain, that are not pofleffed of records or traditions
of the fame in their own houfes, however the prevailing Sad-
ducifm of thefe times may have funk the credit of them, as
well as in a great meafure cut off communications of this kind.

Thefe fpirits are of both forts, like men on earth, good and
bad ; as to the latter, they are the agents of Satan, to promote
the interefts of his kingdom, and, like their chief, " go to and
** fro in the earth, walking up and down in it (25)," feeking
whom they may deceive and dellroy. Thefe are enemies to good
men, and the willing affociates of men of evil difpofitions, over
whom they have great power through the confent of their will,,
but none otherwife, pradtifing upon their minds and underftand-
ing ** with all deceivablenefs of unrighteoufnefs in them that
*' perifli, becaufe they received not the love of the truth, that
" they might be faved (26)." This power of enticing, prompt-
ing, and inftigating fuch as become their willing captives to all
kinds of evil ; and the heinous fm of the latter, in freely fur-
rendering themfelves into their hands to be prad:ifed upon, llands
confeffed even in the form of proceeding in our courts of judi-
cature in the cafe of atrocious delinquents, it being part in the
charge of indiftment, that they did fuch and fuch things at the
infligation of the Devil, inferring it as the aggravation of their
crime, that they could chufe the fervice of fo bad a mailer.

To continue infenfible of our danger from evil fpirits, whe-
ther from ignorance, inattention, or the difbelief of them, is
one of the foreft evils that can befall us, and is in the church
at this day a mifery to be lamented with tears of blood, as it
leads to a fatal carelefnefs, expofes us to their fubtle devices,
and gives them an advantage over us every way. Nor are they
an enemy lightly to be accounted of, being watchful, diligent,
and full of llratagems for our ruin ; and they have moreover a
hold on the corrupt part of our nature, and well know how to
ufe it, being furnifhed with traps of all forts to catch the un-
wary, and with baits adapted to every vicious appetite and incli-
nation ; having a great part of the honours and riches of this

(25) Job i. 7. (26) 2 ThefT, ii. lo.

world.

[ xxiv ]

T\orld at their difpofal, through the power and intiuence of
thofc that are fubjedl to them : and tlierefore it behoves us to
be well furnifhed for this part of our fpiritual warfare, and to
put on the whole armour of God, feeing thofe we have to do
with are not to be fubdued with carnal weapons ; for here, as
the apolHe tells us, " we wreftle againft principalities, againft
" powers, againft the rulers of the darknefs of this world,
•' againft fpiritual wickediiefs in high places (27)." But we
come now to fpeak of better fpirits, and more to fatisfadlion.

If there be legions of fpirits about and near us to deceive,
tempt, and annoy us, can we doubt of there being as many
appointed to ferve, help, and defend us, according to their
feveral clafles and offices in this our world ? The conclufion is
natural from parity of reafon, and the law of oppofites, accord-
ing to which the Great Governor of the world has contrafted
evil with a counterbalance of good ; confequently, fuch bene-
ficent beings there doubtlefs always have been, and are, in readi-
ncfs to fuccour the fallen human race by their friendly mini-
itrations, and to fill up the diftance in the fcale of created beings
between men and angels. The darknefs of the Heathen world
moft certainly did not feparate them from the care of that good
God, who is loving to every man, and whofe mercy is over all
his works ; and though their condition might not admit of
communion with angels, but in rare inftances, yet the good
offices of thefe kindly atfedioncd minifters in their refpedlivc
provinces, might, in a fort, be angelical to them anfwerably to
their difpenfation, and ferve as the loweft ftep in Jacob's ladder
for their communication with the heavenly world : anil by what
is handed down to us by authors of credit concerniii.'; commu-
nications of this kind to eminent perfons in the ancitut Heathen
world, as Socrates and others, whether by checks and warnings,
impulfcs, dreams, voices or vilions, we are not at liberty to
doubt of an intercourfc between good fpirits, and the well dif-
pufcd Heathens of all ranks, as a difpenfation not fo unfrequent
as many fuppofe ; feeing that the inftances of this kind amongft
ourfelves, that come to publick knowledge, bear no proportion

{27) Eph. vi. 12.

[ XXV ]

in number to thofe that are concealed from us. This, however,
we arc afTured of upon the befl: authority, that " many fliall
" come from the eaft and from the weft" [in the Gentile world]
" and fit down with Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom
" of heaven ; and that many of the children of the kingdom"
[profeflbrs of the truth] " Ihall be caft out (28)."

Though we now ftand in a far higher diipenfatlon than the
Heathens, and are called to an innumerable company of angels,
and to the fellowfhip of the Holy Ghoft, yet we are not there-
fore to fuppofe, that all intercourfe with good fpirits of an in-
ferior order is now ceafed amongft us j as many, who have not
yet attained to the glorious privileges of the Gofpel, and the
immediate guardianfhip of angels, may neverthelefs ftand in-
debted, under God, to the miniftry of fuch good fpii'its for
many important fervices, both in their fpiritual and temporal
affairs ; nay, they may be to all of us in the natural world what
the good angels are in that which is purely fpiritual, and by
their great knowledge in the laws and po\vers of this mundane
fyftem, and by various impreflions on our animal fpirits and
faculties, may contribute much to our relief, comfort, and
prefervation in many difficulties, diftrefles, and dangers ; and
perhaps few that take a ferious review of the moft remarkable
occurrences of their paft lives, will not be led to afcribe much
of afliftance to the inftrumentality of fuch invifible friends ;
nay, who can fay, that they are not conftitutcd fubordinate agents
on various occaftons in conducing the fcheme both of general
and particular providences ? There is nothing in this fuppofition
that offers violence to reafon or religion ; and fure it is, that we
have abundant credible teftimonies to wonderful difcoveries made
by them of a very intcrefting nature both to individuals, and
alfo to fociety, as of concealed writings and treafure, of mur-
ders, confpiracies, and other matters leading to the adminiftra-
tion of juftice both diftributive and punitive {29), as is well
known of all converfant with men and books ; (o that to give
the lie to all fuch relations as credited by the learned, the wife,

(28) Matt. viii. 11, 12. (49) See, in particular, MifccUanies, by

J. Aubrey, Efq. F. R. S.

g the

[ xxvi ]

the good of all clafles, muft appear nothing Icfs than impudence
joined with infidelity.

It lu\s been made a common objecflion to the credibility of
niiiny apparitions, that they have been either filcnt, or not de-
livered any thing worthy of fuch extraordinary vifits ; and, con-
fequcntly, that fuch vilions were no other than the eft'edl of
hnagination and f\ncy, as not anfwering to any ufe or purpofe.
To which be it anfwered, that the ufe of fuch vifits may be
very important, though nothing fliould pafs in the way of con-
verfation between the parties during the interview ; as firft, by
convincing the fpedlator of the reality of fuch beings as fpirits,
and fo removing doubts concerning a future llate, as by pre-
paring him for the return of fuch vifits to further purpofe.
Secondly, by affetfting the confcience with a tender fenfe of
duty, or with remorfe for pail offences, and imprefling the mind
with awful thoughts of its own exiftence in a feparate ftate.
Thirdly, by giving us to know, that we are the objedts of regard
to beings in the other world, and vifible to them when we think
not of it, which may ferve as a means to reftrain us from inde-
cent and offenfive liberties in our moft retired hours, when the
more weighty conhdcration of the Divine Omniprefcnce may
not be attended to, and fo lofe its proper effecfl upon us.

But here we are called off from anfwering more objeiftions on
this fubjeft, to obferve, that this laboured oppofition to the
belief of all intercourfe betwixt us and the other world, too
often proceeds both from a pradical and a fpeculative kind of
atheifm, and confequently the diibelief of a future rtate. Hence
proceeds that countenance given to fome late writers in favour
of infidelity, as alfo that dreadful aportacy amongft fo many in
thefe lall; days, of exalting I know not what natural religion, ia
order to lelfen the authority of Divine Revelation ; whereas it
may truly be afiirmed, that all fuch refillance to or departure
from the faith under the light of the Gofpel, however it may
be covered, or coloured with the name of natural religion, is
nothing better than atheifm. () wretched men, here fpoken of,
what are you doing ? What but the greatelt pollible injury to
your own fouls ? What but robbing yourfelves of every comfort
that reafon and religion can fupply to make this life a blefiing ?

And

[ xxvii ]

And all for the miferable, mad hope, that when you die, you
ihall be of no more account than a dead dog in a ditch. If
there be any folly, it is yours ; if any infanity in the world, you
are polleired of it : for if there be a God, you make Him your
en^y through your unbelief; if a heaven, what lot have you
to hope for in fuch inheritance ? If a hell, how will you efcape
it ? And here alfo let it be afked, what is your charafter and
eftimation in fociety, if true members of fociety you can be
called, who have no pledge to give of your obedience and fide-
lity to government, as acknowledging no faniSity in an oath,
which is infeparably connected with the belief of a future ftate ?
Thus void of faith, void of confcience, void of honour (for
what is honour without confcience) what have you left for a
fupport to the flendereft virtue, what have you to engage the
fmalleft confidence from man ? Can any firm bond of compadt
or friendfliip find place in that heart, which has no intereft in
Hereafter to care for, and wherein every motive and meafure
mufl; take its rife and diredion from the love of felf, and the
love of this world ? In this cafe, it is more for our comfort to
go by our hopes than our fears ; and therefore one would be
willing to believe, from tendcrnefs to human nature, and alfo
from charity, that the number of thofe who arc in this horrible
degree of infidelity is but fmajl j but however that may be, it
will be proper to obfcrve here, that to the many general caufes
of infidelity, fome of which have been briefly touched on before,
as the undue exaltation of natural reafon, a life of plcafure, and
confirmed habits of vice, we may add the fpirit of controverfy
and difpute long ago introduced into the church by the artificial
logick of Ariftotle, and encouraged and kept up in the fchools
as a neceffary part of education in theology, to the engendering
perplexity and doubting on every fubjeft, and keeping back the
mind from fixing in any fettled principles of religion. The
feveral churches of Chriftendom have confefledly been long in-
fefted with this poifon of fierce contention and debate, to the
banifhing of fweet peace and brotherly love, whilft a pretended
zeal for truth has lervcd for a cloak to that " wrath of man,
** which worketh not the righteoufnefs of God." But fuch
carnal weapons ill befit the Chriftian warfare ; all fuch kind of

driving

[ xxviii ]

ftriving for vi(ftory among ourfelves gives advantage to the ene-
mies of our holy faith, and caufes the Phililtines to rejoice. The
bcft way of healing differences is by compofednefs and gentle-
nefs of mind, and the Truth of the Gofpel of peace is moft
fuitably offered, and moft readily received by humble men, %nd
fuch as are of a meek and quiet I'pirit. It is obvious to remark
in this place, that Deifm, Sadducifm, and Athcifm did never
more abound amongft us than fince the itch of controverfy and
wrangling, on all occafions, has filled the world fo full of falfe
reafoning and perverfe difputings ; nay, the contagion has de-
fcended to private life, and turned much of our converfation
into contradidiion and a ftrife of words, and introduced a bold
behaviour and an afluming talkativenefs, ofFenfive to all modeft
perfons ; infomuch that we are now in general fallen under that
reprehenfion of the apoftle applied to the contentious, who
" come together, not for the better, but for the worfe (30)."

After what has been replied to objedlions againft the credi-
bility of extraordinary manifeflations, and alfo offered as con-
cerning fome caufes of unbelief in this cafe, we are here led to
declare not only our belief, but full affurance, that extraordinary
communications, however now Icfs frequent than formerly, are
ftill continued to feveral particular jnembers of the different
churches, though not publickly revealed by them ; and that
they arc not to be conlidered only as a particular privilege, but
as making part of the ftate of certain perfons (not all) of emi-
nent purity and piety ; and to be inwardly convinced of this
ourfelves, is to make fome approach to their ftate ; for however
we may come fliort of them as to like vouchfafcments, yet both
in the ordinary and extraordinary gifts and graces of the Spirit,
we are led, not only to rejoice with them, but by mutual fel-
lowftiip do participate with them in the bleffing ; for as in the
natural body, fo alfo in the myftical body of Chrift, the inferior
as well as the fuperior members jointly contribute to the nou-
rifhment and welfare of the whole, by a circulation of that
which every one fupplieth, fo that the higheft cannot fay to the
loweft, I have no need of thee. Thus the mecknefs, the pati-

(30) I Cor. xi. 17.

ence.

[ xx'ix ]

ence, ftnd the humLlc condefccnflon in fomc, may countervail
the high illuminations and fplendid miniitrations of others,
whilft a common fcnfe of their mutual dependence and relation
joins them all in the unity of the Spirit to the edifying o^ the
church in love ; and therefore where any, whether in the ftated
office of the miniftry, or others, go about to vilify or obftrud:
the fucccfs of any extraordinary way that has a manifeft ten-
dency to promote true godlinefs, they would do well to confider
and fland in awe, left they be found to oppofe themfelves to a
work of God ; for neither can they be fure that we are not now
come to the near approach of that glorious ftate of the church
fpoken of in fo many places by the prophets ; when the Lord
fhall do great things for her in the latter days by a revival of his
work in righteoufnefs and peace, fhall pour out his Spirit upon
all flefli, reftore the old paths of heavenly communications, and
make his Sion a praife in the earth. However unpromifing the
times are, yet, praifed be God ! we can draw comfort from the
promifes of better days, even under the " prefent falling away,
" and the revelation of the man of fm foretold (31)," to pre-
cede the day of the Lord's coming in the power of his Spirit, to
fancflify and cleanfe his church, and to purify unto himfelf a pecu-
liar people zealous of good works ; trufting in hope that this time
is near at hand, i.e. that he that fliall come, will come, and will
not tarry. And though there has been for a feafon a withholding,
in a meafure, from Sion the ordinary confolations of the Spirit,
in the way of a judgment work [under grace] for felf-condem-
nation, humiliation, and fubfequent glorification, yet we arc
affured that fuch judgment is lent forth unto vidory over the
remainder of indwelling fm : for there is a judgment unto
righteoufnefs, as well as a judgment unto condemnation ; and
accordingly in the former fenfe it is faid, that " Zion fhall be
** redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteouf-
** ncfs (32) ;" fo that her tribulation is for purification, and
exaltation ; as it is faid in another place, " For a fmall moment
** have I forfaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather
•* thee, faith the Lord, thy Redeemer (33) :" and as to the

(31) z TkcfT. ii. 3. (32) Ifai. i. 27, (33) Ifau liv. 7.

h reflitution

[ XXX ]

reftitution of her gifts, graces, and extraordinary dIfpenfAtions,
lignificd by precious ftoncs, under her figurative denominatioa
of the Lord's houfe or temple, the prophet proceeds thus :
" O thou affliifted, tofled with tempcft, and not comforted,
** behold, I will lay thy flones with fair colours, and thy foun-
'• dations with fapphircs, and all thy borders with pleafant flones;
" and all thy children fhall be taught of the Lord, and great iLall
'• be the peace of thy children ; in righteoufnefs ilialt thou be
*' eftabliflicd (34)."

The above is but a fmall part of the glorious things that are
fpokcn by the evangelical prophet, of the city of God, the fpi-
ritual church under the Gofpcl difpenfation in the latter days,
when Ihe fliall have filled up the meafure of her perfecutions
and fufFerings both from her open enemies, and alio in the
houfe of her friends. And we truft that the time draws very
nigh for this glorious difpenfation of the New Jerufalem to take
place ; and particularly, among other important confiderations,
from indances of extraordinary communications from above, by
vihons and otherways, to godly men and women of different
churches within this laft century, and who may be confidered.
as the harbingers or forerunners of it. Nor did ever any extra-
ordinary revolution come to pafs in the church of God, without
previous notices of it firll given to fome chofen veffels for a
teftimony to the times, to ftrengthen the weak in faith, to com-
fort the afflicted, to alarm the carelefs and impenitent, or to
anfwer other good purpofes of the Divine Providence and good-
nefs.

Liftances of the kind above mentioned of both fexcs are
ready at hand to offer, and which were received in their day,
according to the dignity of their charader, by fuch as were
qualified to profit by their meffage and minill;ry ; but, as is
ufual in thefe cafes, they were rejedted by the greater part, and
their names are here paffed over, as it is one dcfign of this pre-
face to guard, as far as pollible, againft giving occafion for cri-
tical cavilling and difputej it being futhcicnt for the main intent
of it, to recommend and enforce, to tlie bcfl of our power, the

(J4) If-'- liv- iij 13-
' credibility

[ xxxi ]

credibility aud authority of the following treatlfe by the ho-
nourable and learned author Emanuel Swedenborg, a native of
Sweden, of eminence and diftindlion in his country, having
had an honourable employment under the crown, and being of
the firft fenatorial order of the kingdom ; of refpefted eftimation
in the royal family during the late reigns ; of extenlive learning,
as his voluminous writings demonftrate ; and as to private life
and characfter, irreproachable. Something more particular, as
to his perfonal characfter, has been fpoken in the Preface to the
Theofophick Lucubration, printed and fold by M. Lewis in Pater-
Nofter Row ; and Mr. Swedenborg's Letter to a Friend, giving
a particular account of himfelf and family, annexed to that
Preface, is pofliixed to this, the original of which is in my
hands.

It mud be owned, that the following treatife contains fo many
wonderful particulars relating to the worlds of fpirits, warranted
for truth by the ocular teflimony of the writer, according to his
folemn affirmation, as would appear impoffible for man in this
mortal body to come at the knowledge of, but for the like
inftances delivered down to us on the authority of the facred
records, and the promife therein made to the church of the
continuance of fuch manifeflations in it : and the vilions of our
author muft appear to us the more extraordinary, when we ccn-
fider that they were of the moft exalted nature, as not being
exhibited objcftively to the bodily organs or external fenfcs ;
nor yet merely intellc(ftual, by reprefentations in the mind, but
purely fpiritual, whereby fpiritual beings and things were ad:u-
ally feen and perceived by his fpiritual fenfes, as one fpirit
beholds another, and anfwcring to thofe expreffions in Scripture,
of " being in the Spirit," and of being " caught up by the.
** Spirit ;" as likewife to that rapt, trance, or ecftacy of the
apoftle, during which he fays, " whether he was in the body,
" or out of the body, he could not tell (35)."

The fime queflion that will be afked here has been briefly
noticed already, viz. Jf a teftimony to fo extraordinary a dif-
penfation docs not require the extraordinary feal of miracles to.

(35.) 2 Cor. xii. 2»

render

[ xxxii ]

render it credible ? To which be it furtlier anfwcred, that many
of the prophets worked no miracles, and yet were believed
upon their own private tcllimony ; and that we Dclicve many
things of the higheft confequence in religion upon human
authority, where the perfons tranfmitting and delivering them
appear properly qualified and circumftanced to give credibility
to what they relate. But this argument has been confidered in
the Preface to the Theofophick Lucubration before mentioned ;
and from the reafons adduced, and fuch as are ready to be fur-
ther produced, if called for, we look upon our author's tcfti-
mony as worthy of our acceptation in this matter, and venture
to rely on his known integrity and piety, and his difintcrefted
-and indefatigable labours to inllrudl the world in the moft im-
portant truths relating to falvation, at the cxpence of his for-
tune, .<in;i the lacrifice of all worldly enjoyments, during more
than the laO: thirty years of his life. And if we further refledl,
that the whole fcope and tendency of his writings is to promote
the love of God and of our neighbour; to inculcate the higheft
reverence to the Holy Scriptures ; to urge the neceiTity of prac-
tical holinefs, and to confirm our faith in the Divinity of our
Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift : thefe confiderationj, I think,
may be allowed of as fufficient credentials (as far as human
tertimony can go) of his extraordinary mifllon and charafter,
and as convincing marks of his fincerity and truth ; efpecially
as we have to add, upon the credit of two worthy perfons (one
of them a learned phyfician, who attended him in his laft fick-
nefs) that he confirmed the truth of all that he had publifhed
relating to his communications with the world of fpirits, by
his folemn teftimony a very Ihort time before he departed this
life in London, Anno Dom. mdcclxxii.

Reader, might it not feem a wonder, if a perfon of fo ex-
traordinary and apoftolical a chara(fl:er fhould better efcape the
imputation of madnefs than the prophets of old ? And accord-
ingly fome have given out, that he was befide himfclf, and in
particular, that it was occafioned by a fever which he had about
twenty years before his death. Now it is well known by all his
acquaintance, that our author recovered of that fever after the
manner of other men ; that his extraordinary communications

commenced

[ xxxiii ]

commenced many years before that time, and that his writings,
both prior and fubfequent to it, entirely harmonize and proceed
upon the fame principles with an exa<5l corrcfpondence ; and
that in the whole of his converfation, tranfidlions, and conduiib
of life, he continued to the end of it the fame uniform, excel-
lent man. Now if to write many large volumes on the moil:
important oP all fubjedls with unvaried confiftency, to reafon
accurately, and to give proofs of an aflonifhing memory all the
way, and if hereto be joined propriety and dignity of characfter
in all the relative duties of the Chriflian life ; if all this can be
reconciled with the true definition of madnefs, then there is an
end of all dillindtion between fane and infane, between vvifdom
and folly. O fie upon thofe uncharitable prejudices, which
have led fo many in all ages to credit and propagate flanderous
reports of the bell: of men, even whilll they have been employed
in the heavenly work of turning many from darknefs to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God.

Were an angel from heaven to come and dwell incarnate
amongfl us, may we not fuppofe that his converfation, dilco-
veries, and conduct of life, would in many things be lo con-
trary to the errors and prejudices, the ways and falliions of this
Avorld, that many would fay with one confent, that he is befidc
himfelf ; and where any one of our brethren, through the di-
vine favour, attains to any high degree of angelical illumination,
and communications, may he not expedl the like treatment ?
I forget the name of the philofopher, whofe precepts and lec-
tures were fo repugnant to the difiblute manners of the Athe-
nians, that they fent to Hippocrates to come and cure him of
his madnefs ; to which melTage that great phyfician returned
this anfwer : that it was not the philofopher, but the Athenians
that were mad. In like manner, the wife in every city and
country are the fmaller part, and therefore muft be content to
iufter the reproachful name that in truth belongs to the majority.
This has been the cafe of all extraordinary meficngers for good
to mankind, and the world is not altered in this refpeift. But
it may be faid, that though it be thus with the ignorant and
profane, yet men of education and learning will form a more
righteous judgment of the matter, and be determined impar-

i tially

[ xxxlv ]

tially according to the nature of the evidence ; and it would be
well if this were fo j but in general it is far otherwife. Human
learning, confidered merely in itfelf, neither makes a man a
believer, nor an unbeliever, but confirms him in truth or error,
according to his prejudices, inclinations, orintereft; at leaft it
is commonly fo : and therefore we find, that in all ages fuch
among the learned as devoted themfclves to fupport the credit
and interell of their particular profelTions, were always the moft
violent perfecutors of the truth ; for though truth has its con-
veyance through the intellectual part in man, yet it never gains
its effeft, or operates as a principle, till it be received into the
atfecflion and will ; and lb man is faid in Scripture to be of an
underftanding heart. So that knowledge is productive of the
greatell good, or the greatefl evil, according to the ground or
difpofition in which it refides j when joined with piety and
humility, it adds both luftre and force to truth ; when joined
with the corrupt paflions of our nature, it is the moft violent
perfecutor of it : and this was the cafe with the Scribes and
Fharifees, and Dodlors of the Law ; no greater enemies to Chrifl
than they ; the pride of reputation for learning, and the autho-
rity of publick teachers, unfitted them for becoming learners
at the feet of the lowly Jefus ; and therefore to them were di-
re(5led thofe words of our Lord : " How can ye believe, who
" receive honour one of another, and feck not the honour tliat
*' Cometh of God only (36) ?" Giving us hereby to underftand,
that the dominion of any wrong paflion over the mind, will
prove a certain hinderance in our way to divine truth.

Great as our lofs is by the fall, yet fomething of that cor-
refpondent relation, which originally fubfiiled between the
human foul and divine truth, is ftill remaining with us (through
grace) otherwife we (hould no more be capable of receiving it
when offered, than the brute hearts, which have no underftand-
ing i but then, that all may not be lofl by wilful fin, and we
rendered thereby incapable of converfion, we mufl be careful
not to iet up idols in our hearts, nor fuller any falfe intereft to
miflead us, as thereby the mind is tinftured with prejudice againil

(36) John V. 44.

tlie

[ XXXV ]

the truth, and the underftanding receives a wrong bias,, and- To
we become like the falfe wife ones fpoken of in Job (3.7), who
** meet with darknefs in the day-time, and grope in the noon day
" as in the night." This difference in the itate of the heort and
the affe(itions, occafions the difference we fee both in the unlearned
and learned of equal natural and acquired abilities, that whilll
fome readily receive the truth in the light and love of it, others
are always dilputing, and always feeking, witliout ever coming
to the knowledge of it.

As there is correfpondency, or a mutual relation between
rightly difpofed minds and truth in the general, fo likewife
there is a particular correfpondency or congruity between certain
minds and certain truths in particular, producing an aptitude
in the former to receive the latter as foon as offered, and that
by a kind of intuition without reafoning ; and hence it comes
to pafs, that fuch as have a remarkable fitnefs for this or that
particular clafs of truths (which we ufually term genius) are
lefs qualified for any confiderable proficiency in certain others.
Thus the mathematician feldom excels in metaphyfical know-
ledge i and he that may be very expert in fyflematical divinity,
is oftentimes a flranger to myftical theology ; one member thus
fupplying what another lacketh, whilfl all may learn thereby to
efteem and love one another, and praife the Lord for his diver-
fity of gifts for the common benefit of his church. Let not
then fuch as walk in tlae fimplicity of a naked faith, without
needing any other evidence ; let not fuch, I fay, cenfure in the
following book what they do not underftand, or cannot receive,
as it may be of ufe to others, who are led more in the way of
knowledge than themfelves. We judge not them, nay, love
them ; wherefore then fliould they come fhort of us in charity ?
Are we not brethren, and travelling to the fame good land, why
then fliould we fall out by the way ? Even the Scribes could
£iLy, as touching Paul : " If a fpirit or an angel hath fpoken to
*' him, let us not fight againft God (38) :" and who can fay,
that what this our author delivers to us, as from vifion and.
revelation in. the other world, is not the very truth ?

(37) Job V. 14. (38) Ails xxiil, g.

Let

[ XXKvi ]

Let it be obferved here, in regard to tlie enfuing work, that
though the narrative part of it Ihould appear to the reader of
doubtful authority, yet the dodlrinal part, where confirmed by
plain Scriptures, certainly merits his ferious attention, nay,
many things therein, touching which the Scriptures are filent,
carry weight and internal evidence along with them in the judg-
ment of impartial minds ; and though they claim not a place
among the Credcnda of religion, yet will often be found ufeful
to illuftrate them, as alfo to enrich the mind, to familiarize
heavenly things to the thoughts, and to wean the affcdtions from
the toys and vanities of a miferable world lying in wickednefs.
It is allowed that our author does not, in all places throughout
his writings, follow the commonly recei\ed interpretations of
the Scriptures J but fo neither do all churches, nor all expofitors
in the fame church. Though as to life and godlincfs, and con-
fequently what pertains to lalvation, the Scriptures are fuffici-
ently plain, yet with refpeft to many dithcult and myfterious
parts of them, they continue wrapped up in a venerable obfcu-
rity, to be opened according to the needs and ftates of the
church to the end of the world ; and we doubt not to affirm,
that the highly illuminated Swedenborg has been inftrumental
in bringing hidden things to light, and in revealing the fpiritual
fenfe of the lacrcd Records above any other perfon, fince the
church became poirclTcd of that divine treafure. In the prefent
dark night of general aportafy has this new liar appeared in our
northern hemifphere, to guide and comfort the bewildered tra-
veller on his way to Bethlehem.

It is further to be remarked on our author's writings (of
\vhich the following treatife is little more than a twentieth part)
that the rcprefentation he therein gives us of the heavenly king-
doms, fets before us that world of defires fo objeftively to the
human intelkvft and rcafon, nay, even to our fenfible appre-
henfion, as to accommodate the defcription of it to the clear
ideas of our minds, whether they be called innate, acquired, or
^as he pronounces them) influxive from the fpiritual world. He
gives us to know from autopfy, or his own view of it, that
heaven is not fo dull a place, as fome fooliibly fuppofc it, who
having no ideas of it, io neither delire to have any, and this

through

[ xxxvii ]

through a fuperflitious fear in Ibme of profaning the fubjecfl by
any affociation of natural ideas ; whereas nature, in the Itate of
man's innocence, was conftituted a fair reprefentation of the firft
or lowell heaven, and will again bear the fame refemblance in
the millennial kingdom (39) ; and though it be now fadly cor-
rupted and deformed through the entrance and dominion of fin,
yet as far as we can feparate the evil from the good, fo far it
adumbrates to us co^leftial things ; nay, even the art and inge-
nuity of man, as difplayed in works of nature, is a ray of the
divine fkill manifefted in the human mind. Thus Bezaleel and
Aholiab are faid to have wrought curious work, for the fervice
of the fanftuary, by wifdom and underftanding given, them from
the Lord (40). If then we receive innocent fatisfa^ftion here
from viewing beautiful houfes and gardens, why fliould we be
fo averie from thinkinsr that there are coeleftial manfions and
paradifes in the kingdom of our Father ? Does mufick delight
us ? why may we not hope to be entertained with more ravi filing
harmony from the vocal and inflrumental melody of the angels
in heaven ? How cheering both to the mind and fenfes, and alfo
helpful to pious meditations in good men, are the fweetly vari-
egated fcenes of nature in the prime of the year ; and can we
be unwilling to believe that correfponding heavenly fcenes are
provided for the delegation of departed happy fouls in the land
of blifs ? Efpecially when we underfland (as underftand we may)
that all that is truly pleafmg, beautiful, and harmonious in
nature, is by influx from the fpiritual into the natural world }
in which latter, archetypal glories are faintly reprefented to us
by earthly images. It was a profane faying of a late well known
jefter and epicure, who was alfo a noted performer on the dra-
matick ftage ; that " as to heaven, he had no great longing for
" the place, as he could not fee what great pleafure there could

^* be in fitting (41) on a cloud, and finging of pfalms."

But had that impious man refledled, that heaven or hell mufl
be the everlafting portion of every one in the other world ; and

(39) Sec Paradife Rtjiored : Sold by Robinfon in Pater-NoJJer Row.

(40) Exod. xxxvi. I.

(41) The expreflion here left out is fo grofs, and unbecoming the fubje£l:, that
we forbear giving it to the reader.

k had

[ xxxviii ]

had he been acquainted with our author's writings, he wou^Id
not have treated the glories of the place with luch ludicrous
profanenefs ; but have thought, and Ipokcn, and lived better
than he did : nay, he might have wilhed his lot to be there,
even from a principle of epicurifm in a certain fenfe ; for all
fpiritual beings niufl: have Ipiritual fenfes, and if in heaven,
thofe fenfes mull be gratified with delights adapted thereto : but
where any one is fo grofsly fenfual, as to place the fupreme
felicity of a fpirit in fuch gratifications as fuit only with the
corporeal part of our prefent degraded nature, may it not be
faid of fuch a one, that he has degraded it llill lower, even to
the level of an afs in his under/landing, and to that of a fwine
by his afFedions ? The work before us will help fuch a one to
very difTcrent conceptions of the heavenly kingdom, even as to
thofe particular beatitudes which are moft nearly accommodated
to the ideas of fenfe ; and he may alfo therein learn, that all
the relative duties, all the fecial virtues, and all the tender
aflecftions tliat give confillencc and harmony to fociety, and do
honour to humanity, find place and exercile in the utmoU: purity
in thofe delegable abodes, where every thing that can delight
the eye, or rejoice the heart, entertain tlic imagination, or exalt
the underftanding, confpire with innocence, love, joy, and
peace, to blefs the Ipirits of jull men made perfedl, and to
make glad the city of our God.

Such, dear reader, and fo excellent are the things here offered,
for thy entertainment and inilrudion by this wonderful traveller.
But if, after all, thou canfl not read him as the enlightened
Seer, and the extraordinary mefl'enger of important news from
the other world, read him as the Chriftian divine and {i\gc in-
terpreter of the Scriptures ; read him as the judicious moralifl,
and acute metaphyiician ; or read him as the profound philo-
fopher ; or if he cannot pleafe in any of thefc characters, read
him at Icail as the ingenious author of a divine romance : but
if neither as fuch he can give content, I have only to add ; Go.
thy way, and leave the book to thofe that know how to make
a better ufe of it ; and fuch, I truft, are not a few among the
fcrious, being willing to hope, for the honour of our country,
that if fuch a ludicrous rtprcfentation of hell, as pafTes under

the

[ xxxix ]

the title of, The V'lfions of Dq7i ^levedo, could make its way
amongfl us through no lets than ten editions, there will not be
wanting in the land a fufficient number of perfons of fober
reflexion and contemplative minds, to give all due encourage-
ment to a work fo well calculated, as this is, to promote true
wifdom and godlinefs, by credible teftimony to the realities of
the world of fpirits, and to the refpedlive ftates and conditions
of departed fouls.

As to the perfons concerned in tranflating and condudllng the
publication of the following extraordinary work, I may venture
to fay, that they deferve well of the publick, as far as the moft
dilinterefted pains and benevolent intentions can juitify the ex-
preffion ; and though we are far from obtruding the contents
of this book on any, as demanding an implicit faith therein,
yet we cannot but zealoufly recommend them to the moll: ferious
attention of thofe who are qualified to receive them, as fubjedts
of the greateft importance, high as heaven, and deep as hell,
and comprehending all that is within us and without us ; as a
key that unlocks all worlds, and opens to us wonderful myfleries
both in nature and grace ; as difplaying many hidden fecrets of
time and eternity, and acquainting us with the laws of the fpi-
ritual worlds j as leading us from heaven to heaven, and bring-
ing us, as it were, into the company of angels, nay, into the
prefence chamber of the King of Saints, and Lord of Glory.
In a word, whatever is anofl defirable to know, whatever moil
deferving of our affedlions, and whatever is mofl interefting ia
things pertaining to falvation ; all this is the fubjeifl of the fol-
lowing volume.

We are not unprepared for the oppofition that may be cx-
pefted to any frefh difcoveries of truth, efpecially, as has been
obferved before, where the credit or interelt of any conliderable
profeffion or body of men is concerned. Eflablilhed dodlrines
and opinions are confidered as facrcd, and the fandlion of cuflom
gives them the firmnefs of a rock with mofl ; as is known to
have been the cafe in phyfick, aflronomy, and natural philo-
fophy, in which, truth, though fupported by the evidence of
demonftration, has fcarcely been able to make its way in a cen-
tury. Befides, the pride of learning is flrong on the fide of

eflabliflied

[ xl ]

•eftabllfhcd inflltutes, and for men to part with what they have
teen building up with much ftudy and pains for a great part of
their lives, is a mortifying confidcration ; they are flartled at
the thoughts of becoming thus poor, and fome would be as
willing to part witli their fkins, as with their acquifitions of
this kind ; and hence it is, that we read of fo many martyrs to
error and folly in all ages. Thefe things confidered, we are not
to wonder that our author's publications have met with no
better encouragement hitherto in his own country (as is ufually
the cafe with prophets) we being informed fome time ago by
a worthy merchant refiding at Gottenburg, that but few of the
■clergy (as fir as had come to his knowledge) had then received
them ; and that the Reverend Dr. Beyer, a learned man, and
profellbr in divinity in that univerfity, had fufFered much per-
secution for adopting and propagating the truths contained in
his writings, and was not fuffcred to print his explication and
defence of them in Sweden. But to the honour of our con-
ilitution, we can as yet call the liberty of the prefs (and a
liberty within the bounds of decency may it always be) as the
privilege of Englilhmen, and therefore may reafonably hope for
better fuccefs to our author's writings in this land of freedom ;
not that we expedl any encouragement on their behalf from our
pharifees and bigots of any denomination, for they are the fame
every where; but our hopes are from men of unprejudiced
minds, dead to felf and the world, of a fimplified underfland-
ing, and fuch as are friends to wifdom wherever they find her ;
in a word, whofe fpirit harmonizes with truth, and whofe
hearts are unifon to heavenly things.

I cannot think of concluding this preface without fpeaking
fomewhat particularly to a point of doiflrine, the knowledge of
which is the more neceflary to the reader for the right under-
ftanding of the author's writings, as in the vaft variety of fub-
jefts and new difcoveries that he prefents to us, it has a principal
connexion with moft of them; nay, is the true key in his hand
that opens the fccrets of the vifible and invifiblc worlds, explains
man to himfclf, and alfo reveals the fpiritual fenfe of the Sacred
Writings. The dodlrine I am here fpeaking of, is that of cor-

refpondency

[ xli ]

refpondency or correfpondence, which are terms nearly of the
fanie fignificution.

Correrpondence or correfpondcncy, in a philorophical fenfe,
is a kind of analogy that one thing bears to another, or the
manner in which one thing reprefents, images, or anfwers to
another ; and this dodtrine, as it refers to things in heaven and
in earth according to their mutual relations, is given us in the
following adage of the renowned Hermes Trifmegiftus — Omnia
qua in ccelis, Junt in terris ierrejli'i niodo ; omnia quce in ten-is, funt
in ccvlis cakjti modo.

This natural or material world, in which we live as to the
body, proceeds derivatively (in a fenfe confident with the Mo-
faick account of the creation) from the fpiritual world, and
fubfiils by continual influx from it ; it is as a fpiritual thing
formed into a palpable and material thing, as an eflence cloath-
ing itfelf with a form ; or as a foul making to itfelf a body.
Therefore this world, and all things in it, as far forth as they
fland in the divine order, do correfpond to heaven and heavenly
things ; but now (through the fall of man) {landing in evil as
well as good, tlie dark, evil, or hellifli world has gained a form
in outward nature. Hence it is, that fo many evil men, evil
beafts, and poifonous things, together with all the diforders in
the natural world, bear its imprefTions and properties, and make
this world a kind of torment-houfe to us. Man, confidered in
himfelf, is a little image of heaven or hell, and alfo of this
outward world, which no other being is ; and therefore he is
the moft wonderful of all God's creatures. At death he puts
off" his part in this material kingdom, and palTes into one of the
other two, being its fervant to which he obeys or unites him-
felf here by his will and aft'edlions ; and therefore he is com-
manded to fet his " affections on things above (42)," as they
conftitutc the band of union betwixt heaven or hell, and the
foul of man. Thefe three worlds are called Principles, as firff,
the light or heavenly world ; fecondly, the dark or hellifli
world ; and thirdly, this natural or material world ; and man's,
jeafoning faculty ilands in the center of the three, and i-eceives

(42) Col. iii, 2.

1 impreffions

C '^lii ]

impreflions from each, as it turns to one or other of them ;
then fpeculates on the materials it derives thence, and contends
for or ngainll right and truth, even as the affe<5tions arc let, for
thefe bias, lead, or bribe it ; and therefore, if reafon be not
enlightened from above, under the condudl of good affedtions, it
is a meer mercenary, ready to enlift on any fide.

The human nature was fo almoft univerhilly corrupted at the
time of our Saviour's advent in the flefh, that unlefs Jcfus Chrift
had come into the world when He did, to reftore the heavenly
principle of light and grace, or truth and goodnefs, through
the medium of his humanity (all immediate communication
between God and the foul being well nigh ceafed) the humaa
race muft have perifhed, by falling irrecoverably into the evil
principle, to the utter cxtindlion of truth, and the lofs of all
free will to good j but by the entrance of this Divine Friend
into the human nature. He opened the fhut gate of communi-
cation betwixt heaven and earth, God and the foul, and fo
became our great Mediator and gracious Redeemer. But ftill
we are at liberty to receive or reje(ft Him as our Sanftification and
complete Redemption, for man can only be faved confiilently
with choice and free will.

Men had lofl; the true original language of nature (which
exprelfed things according to their qualities and properties)
before the flood, even fo much of it as had remained among the
pofterity of Seth and Enoch for a confiderable tinie ; and this
ignorance they fell into on their lofing the knowledge of nature
in its correfpondence to divine and heavenly things ; for nature
in its proper order, as obferved before, is the book of God, and
exhibits Spiritual things in material forms. In the room there-
fore of this was fubdituted a language by letters and reading in
books, to help him this way for attaining to divine knowledge,
as rudiments leading thereto in our prefent flate of ignorance,
in which literature is miftaken by moll: for wifdoni itfelf ; how-
ever, to fome the door was and flill is open for immediate hea-
venly communications, but what through uabelief, earthly mind-
ednefs, and other fid impediments, few at this time are quali-
fied for fo high a privilege.

The

[' xliil ]

The early ancients after the flood had feme knowledge of
correfpondency derived down to them by tradition, though
without any perception of it in themfelves ; and it remained
longeH: among the Egyptians, of which their hieroglyphicks or
facred fculptures were a principal part ; but by degrees they
became fo far corrupted and blind, as to lofe fight of the thingo
reprefented, and to worfliip their reprefentatives or images.
Hence the original of their foolifh idolatry of beafts, birds, firties,
and vegetables. Our enlightened author, had he lived longer,
defigned, as he told me, to give us the key to the ancient hiero-
glyphical learning, faying, at the fame time, that none but
himfelf could do it ; but of this the world was not worthy.

The knowledge of correfpondences is now almoft entirely
loft, efpccially in Europe, where even the name is little under-
flood ; and this is one main caufe of the obfcurity of the Scrip-
tures of the Old Teftament, which were chiefly written by the
rules of this fcience ; nay, man alfo, as an image of the fpiri-
tual and natural worlds, contains in himfelf the correfpondences
of both, of the former in his interior, and of the latter in his
exterior or bodily part, and fo is called the Microcofm, or Little
World. Thus for example ; all the organs of his fenfes, his
features, bowels, and veffels, even to the minutefl vein and
nerve, correfpond to fomething in the foul or fpiritual part.
On the other hand, the aft'edlions and paflions of the mind
reprefent themfelves naturally in the face and features, fo thaS
the countenance would be the natural index to the mind, were
men in a ftate of fimplicity, without guile and diflimulation ;
and yet, as matters ftand at prefent, fo much ftill appears of
the mind in the correfpondent features of the face, as to ferve
for a type, fignature, or impreflion thereof. Thus love, hatred,
hope, fear, joy, forrow, alTent, contempt, furprize, &c. do
naturally, and often involuntarily, manifefl themfelves in the
vifage ; in like manner the will, by the adlions and motions
of the body ; the underflanding exprefl'es itfelf in the fpeech,
and the afl'edlions in the found or voice ; and all thefe by influx
from within, and correlpondencc from without : and as the
features correfpond to the afl^edtions, fo does the eye to the
intclled:, the nofe to the faculty of difcerning, and the ears to

attention,

[ xliv ]

attention and obedience ; accordingly wc ufe the word quick-
fighted, to lignify a ready apprehenlion -, and penetration or dif-
cernment is ibmetimes exprefled by J'melimg a thing out ; and ta
heaj-kcn in Scripture means to obey. Be it likewifc obferved,
that the heart correfponds to linccrity of love ; the loins, &c.
to conjugal affedlion ; the bowels to commileration ; the hands
and fingers to operation, 6cc. and fo much of the language of
nature ftill remains, as to cxprefs by thefc outward reprefen-
tativcs the corrcfponding powers, paflions, and affcdtions of the
foul, which influences and aftuates thefe feveral members and
parts, as every one experiences. And as the body in its feveral
parts and ortices corrcl'ponds to the foul and its operations, fo
docs the foul in its feveral faculties and powers to the heavenly
world in all things good, and to the hellifli world in all things
evil. Thus wifdom, love, purity, innocence, £cc. have refe-
rence to the ca'leftial kingdom, as being communications by
influx from thence, and therefore it is tliat heaven bears a near
analogy to man (as landing in his right order) and is called
bv our author, The Grand Man : for the human form is the
moft pcrfcifl of all, and accordingly, God aifumed it in con-
defcenfion to man, reprefents Himfelf to us by it, and manifclls
Himfelf in it, at times, to the holy angels ; fo likewife the
angelical focieties, according to their diftinguilhing qualities
and excellence, bear a particular relation to this or that part
of the human form. Thus, as our author informs us, one
focicty correfponds to, or is in, the province of the head, and they
are fuch as excel in wifdom ; another to the heart, being fuch
as excel in love ; and fome to the arms, as being of fuperior
ftrength, and fo on. Thus, as the body correfponds to the
foul, (o the foul in its true rtatc and order correfponds to hea-
ven, and heaven to God, wlio is the only original fountain of
gcodnefs and truth, of all bleflednefs and perfection, from
whom thevdefcend, in their difl^crent kinds and degrees, through
the heavenly and fpiritual worlds down to this lail: and lowell
fbrm of creation, the earth in wliich we now dwell.

The earth likewife, in its different kingdoms, animal, ve-
getable, and mineral, correfponds to things in the fpirituaJ
avodd. Thus, not only the bcafts of the held, and the birds

[ xlv j

of the air, according to their different properties, have a rcpre-
fentative meaning in Scripture, but alio trees and plants ot'
various kinds ; lb in particular, thofc of the aromatick kind,
as alio the olive, the vine, and the cedar, do figure divine giftb
and graces, and other rare endowments in the human heart
and mind ; and in like manner, gold, filver, precious ftones,
and other p:u-ticu1ars of rich furniture in the tabernacle and
temple, are mentioned in Scripture with a correfponding refe-
rence to goodnefs, truth, purity of affedtion, holinefs, &c. and
fo the wifell; interpreters expound them, and this not by arbi-
trary fignifications, but as outward proper figns of things inward
and fpirituol. Thus all nature is a theatre of divine wonders,
reprefentative of the invilible world to fuch as are of a right
underftanding and difcernm.ent, as our author has exemplified
in a thouland inrtances. It is hoped, that what has been here
offered on the fubjedt of correlpondency, will be found uleful
to fuch as are in a difpofition to give the following book'^an
attentive perufal.

From the great variety of important fubjedis and difcoveries
to be met with in our author's writings, I cannot refrain from
obferving on one more, as deferving our particular regard, as
alfo to prepare the reader for what he is to meet with in this
volume, viz. the dodlrine of the intermediate Hate of departed
fouls, called here, T/je JVorld of Spirits, as being that in which
they all meet after death (except a vexy few, who pafs diredlly
to heaven or hell) in order to th.eir lafi: preparation for final
blifs or mifery. This dodtrine has long been received in the
church, and revealed to many by their departed friends ; but
having been much disfigured and milVeprefented, like fomc other
truths, by erroneous' additions and lucrative figments in the
church of Rome, it was not admitted by our liirfi: reformers,
v.'ho, inftead of reforming the do(ftrine, totally rejefted it under
the opprobrious name of a Popilh purgatory ; however, it has
been retained by moll of the fpiritual, otherwife called myltick,
writers in all churches, and 1 have feen a judicious defence of
it by the Hon. Archibald Campbell in our own ; but the book,
I believe, is fcarce. Sure it is, that as far as our author's credit
■\nd authority extend, the truth of the dodlrine will not be

ni queftioned.

[ xlvi ]

queflioned, as he relates, that he had frequent rapts or tran-
Jlations of fpirit to that intermediate world, and had there feea
and convcrfed with moft, if not all, his departed friends and
acquaintance, befides a great number ot others, to the aniount oi
very many thoufands. In this intermediate world, which he calls
a ftate of vaftation, the good fpirits are gradually purified from
all the rtains and defilements of fm which they had contja-fted
in this naughty world, whilll the good principle predominating
in them takes full polfeflioa of all their faculties and powers,
confirms them in good habits, and rciiders them meet to be
partakers of heavenly joys ; on which they are tranflated to
iieavcn. On the other hand, the bad fpirits are gradually di-
verted of thofe fupcrficial and apparent virtues, and all that
adventitious, external good, v/hich before had ferved as covers
to the evil principle within, which now predominates without
referve or controul, confirming them in their evil habits, and
their repugnancy to all good ; whicli being eft'efted, they pre-
cipitate themfches into the infernal pit, to join company with
fuch as are like themfelves. Thus what is a llatc of purification
to the good, is to bad fpirits a fliate of feparation of all cxtra-
jieous good from that radical evil which conftitutcs the cfience
of their nature.

Now this dodtrine appears confonant ; firil to reafon, as it
accords with the tenor of the divine adminiflration in the go-
vernment of this world, in which all things proceed to their
limit or completion in a regular and gradual procefs. Secondly,
It is confonant to religion, as it vindicates the divine attributes
from all imputation of undue feverity, by laying man's dellruc-
tion at the proper door, and as the inevitable confequcnce of
liis own free choice. Thirdly, This dodlrine yields conlblation
to tlie humble pious Chriftian, as the time of his departure
draws nigh. Fev/ fuch, upon a ilridt examination of them-
felves, are fo well latisfied with their flate, as to find nothing
lacking, but that they are already fitly qualified for the fociety
of the holy angels ; whereas the belief, that an intermediate
ftate is appointed, wherein every thing tiiat now hindereth fhall
Ic removed out of the v/ay, and their fouls purified from every
pollution and fpot contradcd by their union with this fleHily

nature,,

[ xlvli ]

nature, through the prevailing power and energy of the divine*
principle within them, and i'o bringing them into the llate 6f
jiilt men made perfect, they can take comfort from this con-
iideration, and meet their change with a holy confidence.

If this be fo, and that the fime intermediate ftate, which
purifies the good fpirits, leaves the bad under the total domi-
nion of evil by their ov/n free choice, that fo botli may be pof-
felled by their own proper principle refpedlively, and go to their
own proper place ; how fay fome, that the devils will be eflcn-
tially transformed into angels of light, at a certain time ap-
pointed by the Father ? We deiire here to oppofe with the
greateft tendernefs, a doiflrine which we heretofore judged fa-
vourably of, and modeftly to offer the reafons of our prefent
diffent, wiihing rather that we could agree with fome excellent
men on the other fide of the queftion ; but human v/ilhes are
no rule of the divine proceedings, and even charity muff be
direfted by the principle of truth, and the eftabliflied laws and
nature of things. We find ourlelves in a fort called upon to
offer a few obfervations on this fubjeft, at a time when there is
much reafon to believe, that many have revived this doftrine
more to quiet their fears, and fo lull themfelves into a falfe
peace, than from any conviction of their underffanding ; whereas
they may be fupplied with a much furer remedy againft thofc
fears in the comfortable promifes to the truly penitent delivered
in the Golpel of our moft compaffionate Saviour, whofe laft
declaration to his difciples before his afcenlion was, " that re-
*' pcntance and remiifion of fins fliould be preached in his name
*' among all nations (43)."

It is evident, that the plainefl Scriptures (and fnch we are to
go by) are againft the dodtrine before mentioned ; and that the
fame force of words that is thcreiji ufed to exprefs the eternal
happinefs of thofe that are flwed, is alio made ufe of to exprefs
the eternity of their ftate who are loft. But the advocates for
that fide of the queftion reft their plea and ftrcls of their argu-
ment on the foot of divine mercy ; and God forbid that we
fliould go about to ftraiten that mercy towards others (though.

(43) Luke .xxiv. 47,

even

[ xlviii ]

«ven devils) to which the very beft of us fland indebted both
for all they have, and all they have to hope for ; and did the
matter of the quertion turn merely upon mercy, in like manner
as a gaol delivery depends on the arbitrary clemency of an earthly
prince, I doubt not, that either one hngle foul would not go to
hell, or if any, that a holl of angels would be fent thither with
a mellage of mercy ; nay, if neceil'ary to their falvation, that
even Jcfus Chrill himfelf would condefcend fo far, as to vifit
thofe unhappy prifoners with a free offer of peace and recon-
ciliation for their redemption. But here it mufl be obferved,
that mercy mifundcrftood and mifipplicd, is no other than man's
own falfe idea of mercy. God's mercy in regard to man re-
fpedls him as a creature that He has endovi'ed with freedom of
will, and whofc happinefs or milery depends on the right or
wrong dirc(flion of his choice and atfedtions, by which he be-
comes capable or incapable of the divine mercy. Now to com-
pel fuch a creature, is to undo him, to unmake him what he
is ; and therefore mercy, with regard to him, is to provide for
him fuch means and motives as may intiuence his underllanding,
will, and affections to what is fi;ood as his free choice. Now
ihrough the mercy of God every thing is done in this life (which
is man's only ftate of probation) in order to this end, though
man knoweth it not ; how then are we to exped:, that any means
of this kind fhould be more effe(5tual in the other world, wherein
■all things arc reprefcntcd to us as unchangeable, where the tree
lieth as it falls for heaven or hell, and where all things increafe
in good or evil to eternity in their rcfpedive kingdoms .'' Praifcd
be the name of the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever 1
And as it is infinite, fo it extends to all pofilble cafes ; but to
make us good, that we may be qualified for happinefs againji
our li'ill, is no polhble cale, feeing that to be good, is to veil!
good with dcfire and afiec^tion, which the felf-hurdcned and
impenitent are averfe to, and therefore render themfelves un-
rcceptive of mercy. Now the very idea of diabolifm carries in
it repugnancy and hatred to God and goodncfs, and conlequently'
the greatclT: contrariety to the poflibility of converfion. Were it
otherwifc, and that the moll malignant fpirit in hell could
Jincerclv lav, '* Lord, I am weary and alliamcd of this evil

*' iiature.

[ xlix ]

*' nature, and forry for the fius that have brought me into it ; O
*• help and deliver me through thy mercy iVom it, tliat 1 may be
" converted, and become thy fervant !" In this cafe, he would
inftantly ceafc to be a devil, and become an objedt of the divine
mercy; but repentance, prayer, and the dciirc of good, is all
from the grace of God, and dwelleth not in thofe who are the
willing fervants of fin, and therefore only free from, not to,
righteoufnefs (44).

It is fuppofed by lome, that length of fuffering will at laft
fubdue the reludtancc of the will, melt the heart into tendernefs,
and turn the worfl of evil fpirits to repentance and fupplicatioa
for pardoning mercy, and qualify them for it; but this, as jufl
now oblerved, is the folc effecl of that grace which they are not
udmiffive of, and not the eftedl of fuftering, which has no fuch
power belonging to it ; but has its different effeds relative to
the different ftates of thole who are the fubjefts of its opera-
tions. Thus we fee, that as the fame fire which melts the wax,
hardens the clay, fo the fliarpell fuf^ferings have contrary eitedts
on different perfons. They who have any remnant of grace in
their inmoll foul (however unrighteous they have been out-
wardly) any fpark of the divine life iHll remaining in their in-
teriour, are foftened and meliorated by them, and become obe-
dient to the heavenly voice, crying within them. Why will ye
die ? Turn unto the Lord, that iniquity may not be your ruin :
whilft the obdurate and impenitent fay in their hearts with
Pharaoh, Who is the Lord, that we fliould obey him ? And
turn that punifliment, which flaould be for their amendment,
into the occafion of their blafphcmy and defpair. Could length
of fuffering produce the effeft before mentioned, we might natu-
rally fuppofc that foine change for the better would, in the
couric of thoufauds of years, have taken place in him who is
called in Scripture (45), " That old Serpent, which is the
" Devil and Satan ;" and yet, as he had the prefumption to
tempt our Saviour in the wildernefs, and ftill continues to prac-
tife his wicked devices, in order to work our ruin ; fo of h'un
.it is foretold, that after being bound a thoufand years, during

,(44) Rom. vi. 2C. (45) Apoc. xx. 2.

n Ch rift's

[ 1 ]

Chriit's millciin'uil reign on earth, and being loofed from his
prilbn, he will again go out to deceive the nations (46) ; fo
little of likelihood, if any pofllbility, there is, that they, who
have confirmed thcmfelvcs in enmity and hatred to all goodnefs,
/hoiild become capable of repentance to falvation. I dcfire not
to ftrain any argument beyond its proper flrength againft an
hvpothelis, which I find myfelf more ready to receive, upon
any fatisfavTtory grounds, than to rejedl ; but let truth be ever
held facred and inviolable, whether it be according or contrary
to our natural inclinations and wilhcs ; nor let that be called
a want of charity, where charity is not concerned, or would
fuffcr penerfion and a-bufe : for charity, which in its proper
fignihcation is love, cannot extend to that which is eflentially
evil ; otherwife we mufl; condemn that folemn appeal of the
man after God's own heart : " Do not I hate them, O Lord,
" that hate thee (47) ?" And it was charged upon Jehofliaphat
for fin (though otherwife a good king) that he had joined him-
felf in confederacy with the wicked Ahaziah, as in thofe words
of Jehu : *' Shouldell: thou help the ungodly, and love them
** that hate the Lord ? therefore is v/rath upon thee from before
" the Lord (48)." Whence we are to learn a caution how wc
bring diHionour upon this divine grace of charity, by mifap-
plying it to falfe and unworthy objefts, to the Icil'ening of our
zeal and affeftions for the honour of God, and the things that
be of God.

We are encouraged to hope, that manv tilings which have
been offered in the courfe of this Preface will be found properly
introduftory to the following volume, and fliall now conclude
it with two or three fhort remarks to the ferious reader, as no
other is capable of reaping any benefit from our author's wri-
tings ; nor to others have we any thing to lay, unlefs it be to
caution them againfl: treating with derifion or fcurrility fucli
matters as they may be more nearly concerned in than they at
prefent fuppofe. Even the very dreams of good men, in relation
to things of the other world, have at times fomething divine
in them, and are not lightly to be regarded ^ but where fuclr

(46) Apoc. x-x. 7, 8. (47) Pfal. cxxxix. 21. (48) 2 Chron. xix. 2.

communicate

[ li ]

communicate to us important inftrudlions and dikoveries as by
commilfion, and from tlieir own experience, and that Vv'ith de-
liberation, conliflency, and clearncfs, tliey demand our atten-
tion and reverence. And here it is to be oblcrved, that what
this author has publiiTied to the world concerning the ftates of
departed fouls refpeftivcly, the laws of the invifible worlds,
and a thoufand particular circumftances belonging thereto, ap-
pear to be fuch as could never enter into the heart of man to
conceive, unlefs they had been given to him from above ; and
yet carry fomething of an internal evidence along vvdth them, as
foon as they are received by a ferious mind ; for, after all, it is
more the right temper and difpolition of the mind, than its
fagacity, that gives us to fee thefe things in their proper light.
It is every wife man's care to guard againll a ftubborn incredulity
on the one hand, as well as againft any delulion that an over
hafty belief might expofe him to on the other ; and in this age
of doubting and difputing all things of a fpiritual nature, out-
greater danger is confeflcdly from the former lide, and therefore
it behoves us to give the more heed, that we lean not to the
error of the times. Belides, the weight and importance of the
fubjecfts here treated of adds to the credibility of the meflage,
as coinciding with our confidence in the promifes of the Lord,
that He will reveal his Iccrets to his fervants, and not forfake
his church in the time of her extremity ; but fend his extraordi-
nary melfengers and rninifters endued v/ith light and power from
on high to alarm the carelefs, to call back the wanderers, to
confirm the wavering, and to comfort the fpirit of the humble
and contrite ones with glad tidings from the heavenly Canaan,
the lot of their inheritance ; and this in order to make ready a
people prepared for tlie Lord againft his fecond advent in fpirit
to build up the walls of the New Jerufalem : and when fliould
fuch meffcngers be more expeded, or when more entitled to a
better welcome than in this our time of defolations, when faitii
and charity have fo far failed amongft us, and when darknefs is
on the face of the deep, darknefs in the church, and darknefs
in the ftate, darknefs in the minds of good men, and darknefs
on all the difpenfations of providence, fo as to give emphatical
application of thofc words of the Pfalmift to our prefent con-
dition t

[ In ]

dition : " It is time, O Lord, that tliou have mercy upon Sion,
** yea, the time is come (49)." But who arc they that moft
rejetft the tertimony of thole fpccial mellengers, and thofc faith-
ful witneHcs to the Truth, which the Father of Lights has fent
from time to time for the edification of his church, and the con-
firmation of the faith of many in it ? \\'^ho but fuch as are ever
calling out for more evidence for believing, and pleading the
want of it in iullification of their unbelief, whilfl: at the lame
time tliey labour all they can to invalidate the evidence of all
human tcftimony, which is the ordinary medium through which
divine truth is conveyed to us.

And now, dear reader, I bid you farewell, fincerely wifliing
that you may be of the number of thofo who take the Holy
Scriptures for their guide, as their authentick outward rule of
faith and life, and in an honcli and good heart receive the Word
of God, and keep it : and may the Spirit of W'ildom give us
a right judgment in all things pertaining to falvation, that lb
we may be prefervcd from error through an over hafty credulity
on the one hand, and an obftinate incredulity on the other ;
neither rejecting the tellimony of men fearing God, and of good
report, as to what great things the Lord hatli done for them,
and to be communicated by them for the benefit of their bre-
thren ; nor fuffering ourlelvcs to be impofed on by the cunning
craftinefs of fuch as lie in wait to deceive : and as it is more
profitable for us to have the heart eftablilhed in grace, and to
glorify God in our lives, than to be gifted with vilions and par-
ticular revelations (through danger of being exalted above mea-
fure thereby) fo let us not be high-minded, but fear; nor, be-
caufe others have been fo favoured, expect or defire the fame
ourfclves, but walk humbly and contentedly in the way of God's
ordinary difpenf<itions, left prcfumption or a vain curioiitv (hould
expofe us to the danger of dclulion from ourlpiritual enemy : and
as to thofc that cannot receive many of the things delivered in
the following book, and alfo as to thofe that do receive tliem,
Jet them not judge one another, but follow the rule of mode-
ration laid down by the apoltle, Rom. xiv. every one abiding

(4^) Pul. cii. 13.

[ liii ]

by that of which he is perfuadcd in his own mind, in a candid'
forbearance tov/aids others. In men of a Chriftian fpirit, cha-
rity eafily beareth all fuch things, believeth all things for good,
and hopeth all things for the befl : and as we are all brethren
on a journey to the fame heavenly country, fo let us hold on
our way together in peace, and that love, which is more than
knowledge ; and may the God of peace and love be with us !

A N

N S W E R

TO A

LETTER FROM A FRIEND.

BY THE AUTHOR,

ITA K E plcafure in the friendftiip you exprefs for me in
your letter, and return you thanks for the fame j but as to
the praifcs therein, I confider them as belonging to the truths
contained in my writings, and fo refer them to the Lord our
Saviour as his due, who is in himfelf the Fountain of all Truth.
It is the concluding part of your letter that chiefly engages my
attention, where you fay as follows : " As after your departure
" from England difputes may arife on the fubjedt of your wri-
tings, and fo give occafion to defend their author againll fuch
falfe reports and afperfions, as they who are no friends to
truth may invent to the prejudice of his chara(fter, may it
not be of ufe, in order to refute any calumnies of that kind,
that you leave behind you fome Ihort account of yourfelf, as
concerning, for example, your degrees in the univerfity, the
" offices you have borne, your family and connexions, the ho-
" nours which I am told have been conferred upon you, and
" fuch other particulars as may fervc to the vindication of your

** chararter.

{ 5v ]

^* charadler, if attacked ; that fo any ill-grounded prejudice
■*• may be obviated or removed f For where the honour and
** intereft of truth are concerned, it certainly behoves us to
*• employ all lawful means in its defence and fupport." After
Tcfle<fling on the foregoing paflage, I was induced to comply
with your friendly advice, by briefly commtmicating the fol-
lowing circumitances of my life.

I was born at Stockholui, in the year of our Lord 1689,
Jan. 29. My father's name was Jefper Swedberg, who was
Bifhop of Wertrogothia, and of celebrated charadter in his time.
He was alfo a member of the Society for the Propagation of the
Gofpel, formed on the model of that in England, and appointed
Prefident of the Swedifh churches in Penfylvania and London
by King Charles XIL In the year 17 10 I began my travels,
firfl into England, and afterwaids into Holland, France, and
•Germany, and returned home in 1714. In the year 1716, and
afterwards, I frequently converfed with Charles XII. King of
Sweden, who wa^ pleafed to bertow on me a large fhare of his
favour, and in that year appointed me to the office of AfTeifor
in the Metallick College, in which office I continued from that
time till the yciu: 1747, when I quitted the office, but ftill re-
tain the falary annexed to it as an appointment for life. The
reafon of my withdrawing from the bufinefs of that employ-
ment was, that I might be more at liberty to apply myfelf to
that new funftion to which the Lord had called me. About
this time a place of higher dignity in the ftate vras offered me,
which I declined to accept, left it ftiould prove a fnare to mc.
In 17 1 9 I ^vas ennobled by Queen Ulrica Eleonora, and named
Sivedeniorg' ; from which time I have taken my feat with tlie
nobles of the equcftrian order in the triennial alTemblies of the
ilates. I am a fellow, by invitation, of the Royal Academy of
Sciences at Stockholm, but have never defired to be of any other
community, as I belong to the Society of Angels, in which
things fpiritual and heavenly are the only fubjedts of difcourfc
and entertainment ; whereas in our literary focieties the attention
is wholly taken up with things relating to the body and this
world, in the year 1734 I published the Regnum Minerak at

Leipiick,

[ tvi ]

Lclpfick, In three volume?, folios and in 1738 I took a journey
into Italy, and Aaid a year at Venice and Rome.

With refped to my family connexions: I had four fifters;.
one of them was married to Erick Benzelius, afterwards pro-
moted to the ArchbiHioprick of Upfal j and thus I became re-
lated to the two fucceeding Archbirtiops of that See, both named
Benzelius, and younger brothers of the former. Another of
my lifters was married to Lars Benzelftierna, who was promoted
to a provincial government, but thefe are both dead ; however,
two Bifliops, who are related to me, are Itill living ; one of
them is named Filenius, Bilhop of Oftrogothia, who now
officiates as Prefident of the Ecclefiaftical Order in the General
AlTembly at Stockholm, in the room of the Archbilhop, who
is infirm ; he married the daughter of my lifter ; the other, who
is named Benzelftierna, Bifliop of Weftermannia and Dalecarlia,
is the fon of my fecond fifter j not to mention others of my
family who are dignified. I converfe freely, and am in friend-
4liip with all the Bilhops of my country, which arc ten in num-
ber, and alfo with the fixteen Senators, and the reft of the
Grandees, who love and honour me, as knowing that I am in
fellowfliip with angels. The King and Queen themfelves, as
alio the three Princes their fons, ftiew me all kind countenance;
and I was once invited to eat with the King and Queen at their
table (an honour granted only to the peers of the realm) and
likevvife fince with the hereditary Prince. All in my own
country wifli for my return home ; lb flir am I from the leafl
danger of perfecution there, as you feem to apprehend, and are
alfo lb kindly folicitous to provide againft ; and fliould any thing
of that kind befall me elfewhere, it will give me no concern.

Whatever of worldly honour and advantage may appear to be
in the things before mentioned, I hold them as matters of low
eftimation, when compared to the honour of that lacrcd office
to whicii the Lord himlclf hath called me, who was gracioufly
pleafed to manifcft himfelf to me his unworthy fervant, in a
perlbnal appearance in the year 1743 j to open in me a fight of
the Ipiritual world, and to enable me to converfe with fpirits
and angels ; and this privilege has been continued to me to this
day. From that time I began to print and publilh various un-
known

[ Ivii ]

known Arcana, that have been either feen by me, or revealed
to me, concerning heaven and hell ; the flate of men after
death ; the true worlhip of God ; the fpiritual fenfe of the
Scriptures ; and many other important truths tending to falva-
tion and true wifdom : and that mankind might receive benefit
from thefe communications, was the only motive which has
induced me at different times to leave my home to vifit other
countries. As to this world's wealth I have fufficient, and more
I neither feek nor wiHi for.

Your letter has drawn the mention of thefe things from me,
in cafe, as you fay, they may be a means to prevent or remove
any falfe judgment or v/rong prejudices with regard to my per-
fonal circumftances. Farev/ell ; and I heartily wifh you pro-
fperity both in things fpiritual and temporal, of which I make
no doubt, if fo be you go on to pray to our Lord, and to fet
him always before you.

EMAN. SWEDENBORG.

London, 1769.

CATALOGUE

OF THE

THEOLOGICAL BOOKS

Publirhed by the Author EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.

RCANA CCELESTIA, qu« continent Explicationem fuper
Genefin et Exodum, 8 vol. Londini An. 1747 ad 1758, ed.

De CoELO ET Inferno. De Nova Hierofolyma et ejus Doftrina Coe-
lefti. De Ultimo Judicio. De Eqiio Albo. De Telluribus in Univerfo,
Londini An. 1758, ed.

DocTRiNA Nov^ HiEROsoLYM^. Dc Dooiino. De Scriptura Sacra.
Do(5lrina vitas pro Nova Hierofolyma. Continuatio de Ultimo Judicio,
et de Mundo Spirituali, Amftelodami An. 1763, ed.

Sapientfa Angelica de Dlvina Providentia, et de Divino Amore
et Divina Sapientia, Amftelodami An. 1763, ed.

Deliti^ Sapienti>« de Amore Conjuoiali. Poft quas fequiintur
voluptates infanize de Amore Scortatorio, Amftelodami An. 1768, ed.

Apocalypsis Revelata, Amftelodami An. 1764, ed.

Vera Christiana Religio, continens Univerfam Theologiam Novas
Ecclefias, a Domino apud Danielem, Cap. vii. 13, 14. et in Apoca-
lypfi, Cap. xxi. i, 2. prsediilae, Amftelodami An. 1771.

[ I ]

CONCERNING

HEAVEN AND HELL.

IN our Lord's difcourfe with his difciples on the Co?ifum-
mation of the age (i), or lall time of the church, at the end
of his prophecies concerning its fuccelTive Hates in regard
to love and faith (2), he fays thus : " Immediately after the
** tribulation of thofe days fliall the fun be darkened, and the
" moon fliall not give her light, and the ftars fhall fall from
*• heaven, and the powers of the heavens fhall be fhaken ; and

^f^lM^ References for explanation, illuftration, and proof, to a Latin work of
the author, in eight volumes in quarto, entitled, Arcana Coelejlia^ or, Heavenly
Secrets, printed in numbers, or {hort fedtions, to which the references direct, n.
with the figures following that letter, denotes the number of the feiSions referred to,
from the beginning to the end of that work.

N. B. As the references under many articles are too numerous to be inferted,
the tranflator often pafles over the preceding numbers, and only ijives two or three
of the laft ; as the author, in the body of that work, by a molt: ftupendous fticngth
of memory, generally refers the reader to the foregoing numbers, in which the
fubjeft matter before him is treated of.

(i) The words here tranflated, The confununation of the age, is the tiuc render-
ing from the Greek, and not, The end of the world, as in our common tranflation,
the word ' f^iuv never fignifying the world, but an age or period of time, or a dif-
penfation of things; and here particularly, of the church, as explained by the
author : and that it here fignifies the end of the church under its preftnt diipeu-
fation. See n. 4535. 10672.

(2) Our Lord's prediiSions concerning the confummation of the age, his fecond
advent, the iucccffive defolation of the church, and the lal} judgment, as in Matt.
xxiv. XXV. are explained in the work entitled, Arcana CajUjUa, in the prefixes to
Cicncfis, from the fifth to the twenty-fourth chapter, n. 3353 to 3356, &c. and
5063 to 5071.

A ♦' then

[ 2 ]

" then Hiall appear tlie fign of the Son of Man in heaven : and
" then (hall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they (hall
" ibe the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with
*' power and great glory : and he fhall fend his angels with a
•' great found of a trumpet, and they (hall gather together his
" elc(5t from tlie four winds, from one end of heaven to the
*' other." Matt. xxiv. 29, &.c. They who undcriland thefe
words according to the fenfe of the letter, fuppofe that all thefc
things are to come to pafs, as they are literally defcribcd, at that
time which is called the lad judgment; and accordingly not
unly that the i\\n and moon ihall be darkened, the ftars fall from
heaven, the fign of the Lord appear in heaven, and that they
Ihall fee him in the clouds, and with him his angels with trum-
pets ; but alfo, according to prediftions of like found in other
parts of the facred writings, that the whole vilible world fliall
perilh, and be fucceeded by a new heaven and a new earth ; and
this is the general belief of Chriflians at this time : but all fuch
are ftrangers to the interior of the fcriptures, which have a
hidden fenfe throughout, holding forth to us things fpiritual
and heavenly, by inch as are natural and mundane in the expref-
fion of the letter, and this not only in fentences taken collec-
tively, but alfo in every particular word (3) : for the fcriptures
are written entirely according to correfpondences (4), in order
to reprefent to us inward and fpiritual things, by fuch as are
outward and natural, as will evidently appear by what is delivered
and ihewed in many places concerning this inward fenfe, in a
work intitled, Arcana dvleftia, and alfo by a collection of in-
flances of this kind taken thence, in a fmall treatife, De Equo
yllbo ; or. Of the White Horfe, mentioned in the Revelations :
and according to this fenfe we are to undcriland the things of
which our Lord fpeaks, in the place before cited, concerning
his coming in the clouds of heaven ; viz. by the fun there being

(3) That there is an inwarJ or fpiritual tl-nfe throughout the whole of the fcrip-
tures. Sec n. 1 1 43, 1984, 2135, <^c. 9063, 9086.

(4) That the JVord is written by the ftridt rules of correfpondences, and that
fpiritual th'Hgs arc therein fignificd thrcmghout, 11. 1404, 1408 — 2900, 9086. See
chapters on correfpondences in this work.

darkened.

[ 3 ]

■darkened, is fignlfied the Lord in regard to love (5) ; by the
moon, the Lord with refped: to faith (6) j by ftars, the know-
ledges of goodnefs and truth, or love and faith (7) ; by the
fign of the Son of Man in heaven, the manifeftation of divine
truth ; by the tribes of the earth mourning, all particulars and
circumftances relating to goodnefs and truth, or Jove and
faith (8) ; by the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven
with power and glory, his prefence in the word, and right in-
terpretation of it (9), clouds fignifying the literal (10), and
glory the inward and fpiritual (enk of the word (11) ; and by
angels with a trumpet giving a loud found, is fignified heaven
and divine truth proceeding thence (12). Hence we are given
to underftand by thefe words of our Lord, that at the confum-
mation of the age, or end of the church period, when there
fliall no longer be faith and charity on earth, that the Lord will
open the fcriptures in their fpiritual fenfe, and reveal tlie heavenly
fecrets therein contained. The fecrets revealed in the foHowing
work arc concerning heaven and hell, and the life of man after
death, fubjefts which the church now o'days hardly knows any
thing of, though defcribed in the written word ; nay, many
•^vho were born and live within the pale of it deny them, faying
in their hearts. Who ever came from thence to fliew us of thefe
things : left therefore the like incredulity, which chiefly reigns
among the learned and worldly wife, fhould infed: the fimple
in heart, and the fimple in faith ; to me it has been granted to

(5) That fu/i in the Word fignifies the Lord, in rcfcxeiicc to love, and tluiicc
love to the Lord, ii. 1529, 1837 — 7083, loHog.

(6) That moin in the Word fignifies the Lord, in reference to faith, and thence
faith in the Lord, n. 1529, 1530 — 4996, 70H3.

(7) Thit Jlars in the Word fignify knowledges (cognitioncs) of things good and
true, n. 2495, 2849, 4^7-

(8) That trihfs fignify all truths, and tilings good in their complex, and lb the
wliole of faith and love, n. 3858, 4060, 6555.

(9) That the coming of the Lord fignifies his prefence in the word, and reve-
lation of it, n. 3900, 4060.

(10) That f/owcA in the Word fignify the written word in its literal fenfe, n.
4060 — 10551, 10574.

(11) '\'\\?^t. glory in the Word fignifies divine truth, as it is in heaven, and as it
is in the internal or fpiritual fenfe of the word, i). 4809 — 9429, 10574.

(12) That trumpet fignifies divine trutii in liea\en, and as revealed from heaven»
n- 8815, 8823. in like manner, voia-, 11. 6971, 9926.

ailbciatc

[ 4 ]

alTociate with angels, and to converfe with them, as man docs
with man ; and alio to lee the things that are in the Heavens
and in the Hells, and this now for thirteen years together; and
alio now to dercribe the things fo feen and heard, in order that
hereby the minds of the ignorant may be enlightened, and an
end put to incredulity. By the vouchlafement of this imme-
diate revelation we arc given to know, that the coming of the
Lord is at hand.

That the Lord is the God of Heaven.

2. The firft and principal thing to know is, who is the God
of heaven, as all other things depend thereon; how throughout
the univerfal heaven no other is acknowledged for the God of
heaven, but the Lord alone : it is there confelfed by all, as he
himfclf taught on earth ; that he is " One with the F.aher j"
that " the Father is in him, and he in the Father ;" and that
" he who feeth him, feeth the Father ;" and that " all holinefs
*' proceeds from him," John x. 30, 38. ch. xiv. 10, 11. ch.
xvi. 13, 14, 15. I have frequently difcourfed with the angels
on this fubie(ft ; and thev conllantly affirmed, that they knew
not how to divide the Godhead into three, inafmuch as they
know and perceive that it is one, and that in the Lord : more-
over, they faid, that fuch of the church as paflcd from this
world into the other with the idea of three Deities in their
minds, cannot be admitted into heaven, their thoughts being
diftraded, as it were, between one God and another; whereas
it is contrary to the laws of the kingdom to believe in three,
and confefs but one (13) : for in heaven every one declares his
real fentiments, language there being the exprellion of the mind,
or as thinking audibly ; and therefore there is no admittance
for fuch as have formed their ideas of the Godhe;'d according
to fuch a threefold divilion and feparation, without concen-

(i?) That on certain Chriftians being tried in the other life, as to the idea
they had of God, it was found, that they had the idea of three gods, n. 2329,
5256, 10736, 10738, 10821. That a Divine Trinity in the Ferfoa of the Lord,
is acknowledged in heaven, n. 14, 15, 1729, 2005, 5256, 9303.

trating

[ 5 ]

tratiiig them into one in our Lord ; befides, as among the angels
there is a communication of their thoughts, (liould any one,
whofe belief and confefTion were fo contradidlory, come among
them, he would immediately be difcovcred, and eliminated from
their focicty : let it be noted, however, that all thofe, who in
their life-time here did not feparate between trutli and goodnefs,
or faith and love, do in the other world, under the inilructioil
of tlie angels, [iv/jatevcr mijlakes they tnay have innocently imbibed
herc\ readily receive the true and heavenly doiflrine of our Lord
beine the God of the univerfe : but it is cthcrwife with thofe.
who, in this flate of mortality, feparated between faith and
good life, or, in other words, whofe pracftice was not according
to true faith.

3. They who in this life (though outwardly profefling mem-
bers of the church) did not believe in our Lord, but in the
P'ather only, and confirmed themfelves by arguments in fuch
their unbelief, find no place in heaven ; and forafmuch as they
are without all influx from heaven, where the Lord only is
vvorfhipped, they are gradually diverted of the faculty of think-
ing rightly on any fubjeift, and at length either become like
mutes, or elfe talk foolifhly, moping about with their arms
hanging dangling down before them, like paralyticks or ideots.
They who have openly denied the divinity of our Lord, be-
lieving only in his human nature, as do the Socinians j they
likewife are excluded from heaven, and being carried forward
a little towards the right (*), are let down into a deep pit, and
fo feparated from the reft that come from the Chriftian world :
but as to fuch as profefs to believe in an unmanifefted divinity,
which they call the Great Being, or Spirit of the Univerfe, from
which all things proceeded, and renounce all faith in the Lord ;
thefe, on examination, are found to believe in no God, foraf-
much as their unmanifefted deity, or unknown God, is, accord-
ing to their creed, no other than a myfterious fomething like

(*) The place of fpirits in the other world, as alfo their afccnt into heaven, or
defccnt into hell, is all along defcribcd by the author in reference to the body of the
Ipeftator ; and the meaning in this pafliige is, that the fpirits here mentioned ap-
pear to fink down in front, a little towards the right, into the particular place
appointed for them. Tranfl.

B nature

[ 6 j

Mature in its firrt: forms, which, as they have no conception of
it (14), cannot be any objedt of faith or love to them: thefc
have their lot amoiigll thofe who are called Naturalifts. The
cafe is difterent with thofe that are born without the church,
and are called Heathens, of whom we fhall fpeak hereafter.

4. All infants, which conftitute a third part of the fociety
in heaven, are initiated in the dodtrine and faith of the Lord
being their Father, and afterwards of his being Lord of all,
and confequently the God of heaven and earth. That they
increafe in Itature and knowledge, even to angelical underftand-
ing and wifdom, will be fliewed in what follows.

5. That the Lord is the God of heaven will admit of no
doubt with thofe that- are true members of the church, as he
himfclf hath told us : " All things that the Father hath are
*' mine" — ** All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."
Matt. xi. 27. John xvi. 15. xvii. 2. Matt, xxviii. 18. It is faid
•' in heaven and inearth," for he who governs heaven, governs the
earth alfo, as the latter is fubjedl to the former (15). Now in
quality of Governor of heaven and earth, we receive from him
all the good of love, and all the true of faith, confequently all
undcrftanding, wifdom and happinefs, and, to fum up all, eter-
nal life, according to that declaration of our Lord, " He that
'* helieveth on the Son, hath eternal life ; but he that believeth
*' not the Son, fliall not fee life." John iii. 36. And elfe-
where : '* I am the refurrecflion and the life ; he that believeth
•' in me, though he were dead, yet fliall he live ; and he that
" believeth in me fliall never die." John xi. 24, 25. And in
another place : " I am the way, the truth, and the life." John
xiv. 6.

6. There were certain fpirits, who, whilll they lived in the
body, profefied only faith in the Father, without having any

( 14) Th:it a deity, not conceivable by any idea, is no objc£i of faith, n. 4733,
5110, 5633, 6982, 6996, 7004, 721 1, 9267, 9359, 9972, 10C67.

(15) T iiat the univerfal heaven is the Lord's, n. 2751, 7086. That he hath
all power in heaven and earth, n. 1607, IC089, 10827. That as the Lord governs
heaven, and all things depending thereon, fo confequently all things in this world,
n. 2026, 2027, 4523, 4524. 'I'hat the Lord alone has the power of defending
us againfl the evil fpirits of darkncfs, of guarding us .igainft all e\ ils, and of con-
firming Ub in all good, and fo confequL'ntly, of faving us, n. i6oi^.

Other

(

[ 7 ]

other idea of our Lord than as of another man, and confequently
did not believe in him as the God of heaven ; wherefore they
had leave to go about and enquire as they would, whether there
were any other heaven than that of our Lord ; but after con-
tinuing their enquiry for fome days, they could procure no
information of any otlicr. They were of that clafs, who fup-
pofe the happinefs of heaven to confift in pomp and dominion ;
*and bccaufc they could not obtain their wiflies, but were told,
that the joys of heaven did not confift in fuch things, they were
highly difpleafcd, as not defiring any other heaven than wherein
they might domineer over others in a pre-eminence after the
fafhion of this world.

That the Divinity of the Lord conftitutes

Heaven.

7. The angels confidered colledlively are called Heaven, as
being the conftituents of it, though in truth the divine virtue
preceding from the Lord by influx, and received by the angels,
does really conflitute it effentially, both in general, and alfo in
its particular diilindlions : now this divine influence proceeding
from the Lord, is the good of love, and the true of faith, and
according to the meafure of their recipiency of thcfe from him,
in fuch degree is the excellence of their angelical nature, and fo
far do they conftitute the forms of their refpedlive heavens.

8. Every angel throughout the heavens knows, and inti-
mately perceives, that he cannot will and do anv good, nor
think and believe any truth from mere felf, but only from the
divine influx, and confequently from the Lord; and that wliat-
ever of good and true they do and think from themfelves, arc
only apparently, not really fo, forafmuch -as they have in tiiem
no principle of divine life that they can call their own. The
angels of the in moll or highcll heaven have a clear perception,
and alfo a fenfation of this influx, and in proportion theieto is
their degree of blifs, which confilb in love and light [wifdomj,
and as thefe are derived jVom the Lord's divinity, it is c\ident
that this confl:itutes heaven, and not any thing proceeding from

the

[ 8 ]

the nature of angels, as of thcmielves (i6). Hence it is that
heaven is called in Icripture bis dwelling and tlironc, and that
the blelled inhabitants of it are therein faid to be in the Lord ( 17).
I low heaven is replenilhed with divine virtue proceeding from
liini, will be exj'>lained in what follows.

9. Th.e angels go llill farther in this matter, affirming from
the wifilom that is in them, that not only all goodnefs and truth,,
but likewife the whole of life proceed from the Lord by way
of continual emanation, confirming their pofition by this argu-
ment, viz. That nothing can exifl; from itfelf, but from fome
prior caufe, and all things from the rirll caufe, which they call
the original cllence of the life of all things ; and that they fubfifl:
in like manner, as fubliitence is no other than a continuation of
exigence, and whatever lofes its connexion with the firft caufe,
through the intermediate links, mull lofe its exigence : as then
there is but one fountain of life, and man fubfifls only as a
llream ifi'uing therefrom, confequently, Ihould the communi-
cation ceafc, fo alfo mull his life: moreover, they alHrm, that
as from this one only fountain (the Lord) of life proceed divine
goodnefs and truth, fo do they operate in every one according
to the reception of them : they who receive them into their
faith and life, in fuch they conllitute heaven ; but they who
rtjedl or pervert them, convert good into evil, and truth into
error (*), and fo they become hell to them. They farther'erta-
bliHi this truth by the following argument, viz. That all things
in the univerfe have fome relation to goodnefs and truth, the

(16) That the angels of heaven acknowledge all good to be from the Lo'd, and
nothing of it from fclf, and that the Lord dwells with them, though in hi. >wn
divine principles, and not in any thing that is proper to them, or which they can
call thtir own, n. 9338, 10125, 'O'S'' '0'57' •'^"'^ ^''-i' ther. fore in the word,
by angels, is underllood fome attribute of the Lord, n. 1925, 2821 — 8192, 10528 :
and they are alio fomctimcs called gods, from the indwelling of the divinity in
them, n. 4295, 4402, 8301, 8192. That alfo all gcod and all truth, eflciitiaiiy
fuch, confeijuenily, all peace, love, charity and faiih, are only from the Lord,
n. 1614, 20l6 — 2892, 2904: as likewife all wifdom and underftanding, n. 121,
124.

(i j) That they who are in heaven, are faid to be in the Lord, n. 3637, 3638.

(•) Thus we read ut' thofe, " who changed the truth of God into a lie. Rom.
i. 25. and of the Lord being a " lying fpirit in the mouth of Ahab's prophets,"
I Kijigs xxii. 22. I'r.

life

['9 ]

life of man's will (which is that of his love) to the former,
and man's intclledlual life (which is that of his faith) to the
latter : now as all goodnefs and truth comes from above, fo docs
alfo every vital principle in man : this being the creed of angels,
they of confequencc rejed; all gratitude and tivanks dircdted to
them, even for their moll: beneficent miniilrations, and are
highly difpleafed, and withdraw themfelves, when any one
afcribes good to them as the authors of it ; n.w, they are afto-
niflied to think that any one fliould be fo befottcd, as to imagine
that he can be wife, or do any good from himfelf ; nor do they
call that good, which has felf for its end, but that alone which
is done from a difinterefted love of goodnefs ; this they call
good from the divine fountain, and the principle that coniiitutes
heaven, as having the Lord for its effence and root (i8).

10. There are certain fpirits, who, in the body, had con-
firmed themfelves in this f^ith, that the good which they did,
and the truths which they believed, were from themfelves,
and as fuch to be appropriated to them : of this clafs are all
they who place merit in their good works, and value themfelves
on their own fancied righteoufnefs : fuch have no admittance
into heaven, for the angels fliun their company, and look upon
them cither as ftupid, or as thieves ; as llupid, becaufe they fet
themfelves, and not the Lord, always before them ; as thieves,
becaufe they rob him of the honour tiiat belongs to him : all
fuch are profefl'edly enemies to the afTurance of faith that obtains
among the faints above, viz. That divine virtue, proceeding
from the Lord alone, and received by the angels, coniiitutes
both the landlity and happinefs of heaven.

11. That they who are in heaven, and alfo they who are
true members of the church on earth, are ifi the Lord, and the
Lord in them, appears from his own words : " Abide in n"ie,
'* and I in you : as the branch cannot bear fruit of itfelf, except
" it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in me :
" I am the vine, ye arc the branches : he that abideth in me,
" and I in him, the fame bringeth forth much fruit ; for with-
" out me ye can do nothing." John xv. 4 — j.

(18) That all good in the angels from the Lord, has in it the divine nature of
tlic Lord, biit not the good that is from themfelves, n. 1802, 3951, 8478.

C 12. Ilcncc

[ I<^ ]

12. Hence it may appear, that the Lord is with the angels
in his own divine cirencc, and is all in all in heaven, becaule
the good that is there is from him, and what proceeds from his
divine nature is properly himlllf, and conditutes heaven, and
not any thing that belongs to the angels as their proper own.

That the Di\Inc Influx of the Lord in Hea-
ven produces Love to him, and Charity
to one another.

13. The divine efllux emaning from the Lord is called in
heaven divine truth on the following account : it ilfucs from
his divine love i and this divine love and divine truth are to
each other as the heat and light of the fun in our world,
love being cxpreffed and fignified by the former, and truth pro-
ceeding from it (19) by the latter, and this by the law of cor-
pcfpondcnce : fo then divine love is the efl'encc, and divine truth
is the form, and thus united, they enliven all things in heaven,
as the heat and light of our fun, in conjuntflion, fructify the
earth in the fpring and fummer feafons : but it is otherwifc
where they are not united, or the light not fufficiently impreg-
nated with heat, for then all is benumned and lifelefs. This
divine good, which is rcprcfentcd by heat, is the good of love
in the angels, and divine truth is that through and by which
it operates and is manifelted.

14. That the divine virtue which conftitutes the nature of
heaven is love, is becaufe love is a principle of fpiritual union,
and joins the angels to the Lord, and to one another, infomuch
that they are but as one in his fight : befides, love is the very
ellence to every life, and confequently both to men and angels :
and this anfwers to experience, for how is every one animated
and warmed by the fire of love ! how languid and cold under

(19) That fire in the word fignifies love in both fonfcs, n. 934, 4906, 5215.
That the holy and cteleftial tire figiiilics divine love, and every particular afFedtion
of it, n. 934, 6314, 6832. That the light therefrom fignifies the truth proceed-
ing from the good of love : aiid liijht iu heaven, divine truth, 11. 3395, 34S5,
3636—9548, 9684.

the

[ II ]

the abfence of it ! and how lifelefs under the total privation of
it (20) ! But it muft be remembered by the way, that the life
of every one correfponds to the particular kind of love that
a(^l:uates him.

15. There are two diftindt kinds of love that more parti-
cularly aftuate tlie angels in heaven, love to the Lord, aiid love
to their neighbour : in the inmoll or higheft heaven the former
has the afcendant ; in the fecond or middle heaven, the latter,
yet both proceeding from the Lord, and conftituting their
heavens refpedlively : how both thefe kinds of love operate
diftindlly, and how jointly, is clearly difcerncd in the light of
heaven, but obfcurely in this world. By love towards the Lord,
in heaven, they do not mean the love of him in a perfonal con-
fideration of the word, but to love the good that proceeds from
him, and this is evidenced by the willing and doing good from
the principle of love : and by the love of their neighbour, they
do not mean merely a perfonal love of their fellows, but the
love of truth proceeding from the Divine Word, manifeflino-
itfelf in willing and acTiing according to truth in its feveral re-
lations : hence it is evident, that thefe two loves are to be
dillinguiflied as goodnefs and truth feparately confidered, and
when conjoined, as goodnefs united with truth (21). But thefe
things are of dihicult comprehenfion by thofe who liave not
clear ideas of what is meant by love, by good, and by neigh-
bour (22).

16. I have fometimes converfed with the angels on this fub-
jedt, who feemed to wonder that any in the Chriuian church
Ihould not know, that to love the Lord, and their neighbour,
is to love goodnefs and truth, and to pradife them from incli-

(20) That love is the fire of life, and the rcil efficient caufe of it, n. 4906,
5071, 6032, 6314.

(21 ) '1 hat to iove the Lord and our neighbour, is to keep the di\ ine command-
ments, n. 10143, '"^^53' i<^3io, 10578, IC648.

(22) By love to our neighbour, we arc not to undcrftand the love of his perfon,
hut the good and tiie true which conftitutes his character, n. 5025, IO336. They
who confine their love to the perfon, without regard to his principles, love equally
the evil and the good that is in him, n. 3820. That charity is to will and to be
well afFedted to the truth for its own fake, n. 3876, 3877. That charity towards
our neighbour, is to do what is good, jufl, and right in every relatioji we ftand
in to him, n. 8120, 8121, 8li2.

nation,

[ 12 ]

nation ; when they may fo eafily know, that every one tcCifies
the fincerity of his love for another, by a ready compliance with
his will, and that this alone is the bond and cement of mutual
love among men ; as alfo that good proceeding from the Loid
muft be like him, as having his nature in it; and conl'equcntly
that rhev are in his ima<rc and likcnefs, whofe lives are formed
on principles of goodnefs and truth, by will and pradtice : for
to will a thing, is to love to do it, according to thofe words of
our Lord : " He that hath my commandments, and kcepeth
" them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that lovcth me, ihall
*' be loved of mv Father, and I will love him, and will mani-
*' fell mvfelf to him, and we will make our abode with him."
John xiv. 21, 23. ch. xv. lo,- 12. and elfewhere.

17. That the virtue proceeding from the Lord, which in-
fluences the angels, and coniHtutes heaven, is love, is confinned
by the experience of all in heaven ; for all there are fo many
forms of love and charity, and appear in beauty beyond defcrip-
tion, for their looks, their fpeech, their every a^ftion (23), are
fo many expreffions of love : moreover, there are certain fpiri-
tual fpheres which iilue from and furround every angel and
Ipirit, which make known by fenfible evidence (and that fome-
times to a confiderable diftance) the kinds and degrees of their
particular affedlions ; for thefe fpheres are fo many emanations
from their vital affed:ions, and the fcntlments they produce, or,
in other word?, from the life of their love and faith : the fpheres
thus exhaling from the angels, are fo replete with love, that
they fenlibly affecl the fpirits that are in company with them :
I myfelf at times have been fo aft'efted by them (24). That
love is the predominant principle in the life of angels, is ma-
n'licil ahb from hence, that is, in the other world every one
turns his face to the objeift of his love, fo they who are prin-
cipled with love towards the Lord, and towards their neigh-

(23) That tlic angels are fo many forms of the love of charity, n. 3R04, 4735,
9878, 10177.

(24) 1 hat a fpiritual fphLff, calKt! the fphcre of life, exhales from every man,
fpirit and angcl, and is diftufc i iirounJ him, like to an atmofpherc, n. 4464, 5179,
745 N. 8630. That it fti -ams from the vital affeclionf, and their thoughts ilming
therefrom, n. 2489, 4464, 62^6.

hour.

[ 13 ]

hour, have their faces always turned towards the Lord ; whereas
they who are in the love of felf, have their faces always turned
from him, whatever be the movement of their bodies j for as
in the other world, fpace correfponds to the inward flate of
fpiritual beings refpeftively, fo alfo the four quarters of the
heavens (which have not their fixed determinations there as in
this world) are determined with reference to the afpedt of the
fpedlators refpeftively (*). It is here to be noted, that it is not
by any virtue or power in the angels of themfclves, that they
always turn their f^ices to the Lord, but by a holy inftindtive
power derived from him in thofe who love to obey his will (25) :
but more of this hereafter, where we fhall fpeak of the four
quarters of the heavens in the other world.

i8. That the divine influencing virtue of the Lord in heaven
is love, is becaufe love is recipient of all things proper to heaven,
as peace, underflanding, wifdom, and happinefs ; for love attracts
to itfelf whatever is congenial to it, as by a natural inftind:, for
they are its riches and perfedlion (26) : and this we all can wit-
nefs to, as knowing how love in ourfelves ranfacks whatever is
laid up in the memory, and takes to itfelf whatever it there
finds fuitable to itfelf, which it difpofes of in fubferviency to
its gratification and end, rcjedling and banilliing all that is con-
trary to it. That there is inherent in love a ftrong attradlivc
power, with the defire of appropriating to itfelf fuch truths as
accord with its nature, I had full experience of in certain fpirits

(*) This will be farther explained in the (cqucl of this work, and may be un-
derltood thus : As the Lord has his perfonal manifeftation in heaven always in the
caft, according to what our author relates, the angels and angL'Iicil fpirits, which
way foever they turn themfclves, front always to the eaft, and fo have the Lord
always before them. Q^ierc, If the belief of this among Chrillians in early days
of the church, however they might come by it, did not hill give occafion to the
cuftom of turning to the eaft on repeating the creed. Tr.

(25) I'hat fpirits and angels conilamly turn their faces towards the objc£ls of
their loves, and confequently all that are in the heavens towards the Lord, n. 10130,
10189, 10420, 10702. That the four quarters of the heavens in the other life
arc not fixed as in this, but are determined by the afjjcct of the fpcJlator, and
always the fame, which way foever he turns, n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702.

(20) That in love arc aftcclions and things innumerable, and that love attradts
to itfelf all things that arc concordant with it, n. 2500, 2572, 3078, 3189, 6323,
7490, 7750.

D that

[ H ]

that were trandatcd to heaven, wlio, though of great fimplicity,
and but of moderate capacity Avhillt in this world, prefcntly,
upon their adniifllon into the fociety of angels, attained to
angelical wifdom, and the refined enjoyinents of their kingdom ;
and that, becaufe they loved goodnefs and truth as fuch, and
had, as it were, incorporated them into the very principles of
life, whereby they became qualified for the immediate reception
of the celeftial treafures : but as to thofe, who in this life had
immerged themfelves in the love of felf and the world, they
are fo far from being receptive of them, that they have an anti-
pathy to them, and fo rejecfting tiiem upon the firll fenfations of
them, they immediately affimilate in fcllowihip with fuch of
the infernals, whofe affeftions accord with their own. There
were certain fpirits, who doubted of the beatitudes of celeftial
love, and therefore were defirous of being certified concerning
the reality of this matter ; wherefore they were permitted to
be let into the flate of it by the removal of that which difqua-
lified for it, and accordingly they were conduced on to the
angelical heaven, from whence they told me, that they felt an
inward joy, which they could not exprefs, lamenting at the
fame time, that they muft return to their former condition.
Others alfo were as highly exalted to the participation of hea-
venly light, as their interior capacity would admit (*) ; and
confefTcd that they underftood and perceived things that before
were utterly incomprehenfible by them. Let thus much fuffice
to fliew, that love proceeding from the Lord is the only proper
difpofition for, and recipient of, heaven, and all things proper
to it.

19. That love towards the Lord, and love towards our neigh-
bour, comprehend all divine truths, is manifelt from the fol-
lowing words of our Lord concerning thefe two loves : " Thou
" (halt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
" thy foul : this is the firll and great commandment. And the
" fecond is like unto it : thou Hialt love thy neighbour as thy-
" felf: on thefe two commandments hang all the law and the
" prophets. Matt. xxii. 37, &c. Now the law and the pro-

(•) High in fcnfible appearance, anfwers to inward in fpirituni things, and
higheft to inmofl, and this liy coircfpoiidciicc between nature and fpirit.

phets

▼1

[ 15 ]

phets comprehend the whole revealed world, and confequently
all divine truth.

That Heaven is divided into Two Kingdoms.

20. Inafmuch as there are infinite varieties in heaven, and
no one fociety, nor indeed any one angel, exactly like another (27),
therefore heaven is to beconfidered under the threefold diftindiion
of general, fpecial, and particular : in general, into two king-
doms ; fpecifically, into three heavens ; and, in particular, into
innumerable focieties ; to each of which fliall be fpoken in what
follows : they are called kingdoms, becaufe heaven is called the
kingdom of God.

21. Some angels receive the divine influx more deeply or
interiorly, others lefs ; the former are called cdcjiial angels, the
latter, Jpirltual angels : hence it is that heaven is divided into
two kingdoms, whereof the one is called the celejiial kingdom,
the other the y^/r/W/^// kingdom (28).

22. The angels which conflitute the ccleftial kingdom, in-
afmuch as they receive the divine efflux from the Lord more
inwardly, are called interior, and alfo fuperior angels, from
whom the heavens which they conftitute derive the fame dif-
titi'cftions (29) ; fuperior and inferior anfwering to interior and
exterior (30).

(27) That there is an infinite variety in the works of God, and no one thing
exactly like another,-ii. 7236, 9002. That there is alio an infinite variety in the
heavens, n. 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236. That the varieties in heaven are iu
the principle of good, n. 374, 4005 — 7836, 9002. That hereby all the focieties
in the heavens, and every angel in each fociety, have fome diitinguifhing charac-
teriltick, n. 690, 3241, 3519 — 7833, 7836: and yet, that all are fellov/ members
in the mvHical body of Chrifl:, and, as fuch, united to the Lord, n. 457, 3986.

(28) That heaven, in the full extent of the word, is diftinguifhed into two
kingdoms, the ccleilial and fpiritual kingdoms, n. 3887, 4138. That the angels
of the ccleftial kingdom receive the divine influx in their will-part, and confe-
quently more interiorly than the fpiritual angels, v/ho receive it in their inteiiciitiinl
part, n. 5113, 6367, 8521, 9935, 9995, 10124.

(29) That the heavens, which conflitute the celeftial kingdom, are called the
fuperior heavens, and thofe which conftitute the fpiritual kingdom, the inferior,
n. 10068.

(30) That interior things are exprefled by fuperior, and \\\\\t fuperior fignifies
interior, n. 2148, 3084, 4599, 514^), 8325.

23. The

[ I6 ]

23. 7he love principle in the celeftial angels is called celcAi.^.l
love; and that of the Ijiiritual angels, fpiritual love: celcilial
love has the Lord for its ohjeft, and fpiritual love is the fame
with charity towards our neighbour : and as all good has relation
to love, for whatever any one loves, that is good to him ; there-
fore the tfood of the one kingdom is called celellial, and that of
the other fpiritual good : hence it appears in what refpecls thefe
two kingdoms differ, viz. as the good of love towards the Lord,
and the good of charity towards our neighbour (31); and as
the former is more inward or deeper than the latter, therefore
the celelHal angels arc more interior, and as fuch called fupe-
rior.

24. The celeftial kingdom is alfo called the facerdotal king-
dom of the Lord, and in fcripture his ihveU'mg-place -, and the
fpiritual his regal kingdom, and in fcripture his throne: from the
divine-celellial principle the Lord is in this world called Jesus,
and from the divine-fpiritual, Christ.

25. The celeftial angels far excel the fpiritual in wifdom and
glory, from their more intimate reception of the divine influx ;
and as their predominant principle is love to the Lord, they are
confequently more clofely joined to him (32). This higher
excellence of the angels of this kingdom, is owing to their
recpption of divine truth immediately into the principle of life,
and not as the fpiritual angels, through the previous inftrumen-
tality of memory and refled^ion ; infomuch that divine verities
are written in their hearts, and they fee them by intuition as
within themfelves, as in a kind of lource, without having any
occafion to reafon concerning them, whether the matter be fo
or otherwife [t^^,) '• ^^^^ ""^"^ thofe defcnbed by Jeremiah; " I

(31) That the good of the cclcftial kingdom, is the good of love to the Lord ;
and the good of the fpiritual kingdom, the good of charity towards our neighbour,
n. 3691, 6435, 9+68, 9680, 9683, 9780.

(32) That the celcftial angels far excel the fpiritual angels in wifdom, n. 2718,
9995. The diftcrencc between the celellial and the fpiritual angels, n. 2088, 2669,
2708 — 8121, 9277, 10205.

(33) That the cclcftial angsls reafon not concerning the truths of faith, foraf-
much as they perceive them intuitively in themfelves, whereas the fpiritual angels
reafon conccrninjj them, whetlitr the matter be fo or not, n. 2C2, 337, 397 — 9277,
10786.

" will

[ 17 ]

" will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their
*• hearts ; c:nd they fliall no more teach every man his neigh-
" hour, and every man his brother, faying, Know the Lord ;
" for they fhall all know mc, from the lealt of them unto the
" greateft of them," xxxi. 33, 34. And they are called in
Ifiiah, " T/jc taught of "Jehovah," liv. 13. Now that the
taught of Jehovah are the taught of the Lord, he himfelf de-
clares, John vi. 45, 46.

20. We have faid, that they exxel the other angels in wif-
dom and glory, as receiving divine truths immediately in their
life-principle (*), for as foon as they hear them, they imme-
diutely will and do them, without having any occafion to lay
them up in their memory to refleft and reafon upon, in order to
know whether fuch things be true or not ; for they who arc of
this kingdom know immediately by influx (infpiration) from
the Lord, whether that which they hear be true or not, as this
influx palTes immediately into the will, and mediately through
the will into the thinking faculty ; or, in other words, imme-
diately into the good \bonum\ and mediately through the good
into the true [vem/n] (34) ; for that is called good which ap-
pertains to the will, and thence proceeds to work ; and that true,
which appertains to the memory, and thence proceeds to thought
and refledlion : fo likewife all true [omfie verum] (*) becomes
good, as being implanted in the love-principle, as foon as it

enters

(*) The will is here meant by the life or life-principle, being the fame with
love, which is the fire, and alfo the efficient caiife of life : fee note (u) before. It
will be of great ufc to ketp in memory this definition of our author, for the better
underftanding of his writings throughout. Tr,

(34) That the divine influx is into the property of good, and through the good
into the true, and not contrarywifc, confcquently, into the will, and through that
into the intcllcilt, and not contrarywifc, n. 54^52. 5649, 6027 — 101^^.

(*) The over delicate and critical u-„dcr will likely t;ike offence at the words
good a.nd /r«i' being fo often introduced in this tranihition for fubftantives, as not
agreeing with orduiary ufage in our language, though it is far from being un-
grammatical in the Latin ; but let it be obferved here once for all, that ocithcr the
txpreffion nor fenfc of the author could have been prefervcd without it, as good-
nr/s and truth in the nbflra^l and univcrfal, would not have anfwered to his nican-
ing, where it is needful to dillinguifii or particularize the kind or quality of what
is good or true in any thing ; thus, the food of ]icace, the good of lo\e, the gocd
of grace, &c, denotes the fpecifick goodntfs appertaining to thofe diitinit fubjcdfs,

E and

[ i8 ]

enters into the will ; but fo long us it refts only in the memory,
and thence in the thoughts, it is not called good, as not having
life, or the force of a principle, neither is it appropriated to
man, feeing that man has his denomination from the will and
intcllecft thence proceeding, and not from intellect feparate from
the will (35).

27. Such being the dillinguifhing difference between the
angels of the celcilial, and thofc of the fpiritual kingdom, there-
fore they are feparate, and form different focieties, though there
is a communication between them by means of certain inter-
mediate angelical focieties called celeflial-fpiritual, through
which the celeilial kingdom operates by influx on the fpiritual
kingdom (36) : lience it is, that though heaven (in the complex
fenfe of the word) be diftinguifhed as two kingdoms, yet in
effeiH: they may be conlidered as one, forafmuch as the Lord has
eftablilhed an order of fuch intermediate angels, for the fake of
forming a communication and conjund:ion between them.

28. As much is fpoken in the following work concerning

and alfo the particular divifioiis that come under their feveral denominations : fo
alfo, the true of faith, the true of knowledge, the true of hiflory, &c. fpecify the
particular quality or quantity of truth that rcfults from thofc kinds of evidence
refpcfStivcly : but the objeiStion will vaniOi of itfelf on a little familiarity with the
{enfc and application in which our author ufes thefc cxprefTions. Tr.

(35) 1 hat the will of man is the very clTcncc of his life, and the receptacle of
the good of love, and that the intelleiSt is the cxiftcnccor form of life from thence,
and the receptacle of the true and good of faith, n. 3619, 5CO2, 9282. Confequently
that the life of the will is the principal life of man, and that the life of the intellert
proceeds from thence, n. 585, 590, 3619 — ICIC9, loiio. That thofe thmgs are
(aid to appertain to the life of man, and to be appropriated to him, which are
received in his will, n. 3161, 9386, 9393. That man is denominated futh from
his will and his uiiderrtanding thence proceeding, n. Sqii, 9069, 9071 — loiio.
That every one therefore is beloved and clleemcd according to the goodnefs of his
will, and not that of his underltanding, nay, that he is dcfpifed who has an evil
will, howiver gnat his fliare of underltanding, n. 8911, 10076. That man con-
tinues afier death according to the ilatc of his will and intclIeiSt from thence, and
that thofe things which are only ideally in his underflanding without any fliare of
the will in them, vanifti at his death, as conftituiing no part of the man, n. 9069,
9071, 92K2, 9386, 10153.

{36). That there is a communication and conjumflion between the two king-
doms, by means of certain intermediate angelical focieties, called celeftial-fniritual,
n. 4047, 6435, 8787, 8881. Of the divine influx through the ccleftial kingdom
into the fpiritual, n. 3969, 6366.

tlie

[ 19 ]

the angels of both thefe kingdoms, we forbear to be more par-
ticular on the fubjecft in this place.

That there are Three Heavens (*).

29. There are three heavens, and they entirely diflindl from
each other ; the higheft or inmoft, called the third heaven ; the
middle or fecond ; and the loweft or Rr{[ heaven ; and they rank
in order, like the fupreme part in man, called the head, the
middle called the body, and the lowed or feet; or as the upper-
moft, middle, and loweft apartments in a houfe : in like order
is the divine influx proceeding and defcending from the Lord j
and from the fame law of order it follows, that heaven is tri-
partite, or divided into three.

30. The interior of man, as his underflanding and mind;
fubfifl in like manner, and confifls of inmoft, middle, and
loweft; for at the creation the whole of divine order was imaged
in man, infomuch that he was divine order itfelf in a human
form, and fo heaven in epitome [^y) ; therefore it is, that man

(*) Although the author in the foregoing chapter tells us, that heaven (taken
in the largcft or univerfal extent of that word) is divided into three difliniSt hea-
vens, and but two kingdoms, the kingdoms called the celeflial and fpiritual, and
anfwering to the properties or principles of love and intelle£t, or goodnefs and
truth (as being the predominant attributes in the angels of thofe kingdoms) yet
we are not therefore to underfland, that the angels of the third heaven [paradifej
are not highly tinctured with thcfe divine qualities (for they receive both by influx
through the fuperior heavens) but only that thefe are not their diftiiiguilhing cha-
radtcrilHcks : they partake of both, otherwifc they could not be angels ; but their
beatitudes confift chiefly in a kind of fpiritual gratifications more exterior, and
approaching nearer to fenfe and external nature ; as in emblematical reprefcntaiiojis
of divine and fpiritual things, under forms of exquifite beauty in endkfs varieties,
and fucceflions of wonderful difplays of divine wifdom and power ; and though
their enjoyments be lefs inward and refined than thofe of more exalted fpirits, yet
they arc abundantly fuited to the capacities of their nature, and to fill them with
joy and gratitude to the gracious author of their happinefs. It is to be noted, that
(as Omne mnjus contiut-t minus, fu) the fuperior angels enjoy the fum total of the
felicity of the inferior angels, together with other fupcremincnt beatitudes appro-
priated to their ranks in glory refpe(flively. Tr.

(37) That the whole of divine order was imaged in man, infomuch that by
crfation he became divine order itfelf in a human form, n. 4219, 422c — 10156,

10472.

..: »'

[ ao ]

is capable of communication with the heaycns, as to his inte-
rior, and of afTociating with angels after death, cither with the
angels of the higheil: (inmoil:) middle, or lowcf!: heaven, ac-
cording to his reception of the divine goodncfs and truth frum
the Lord, during his life in this world.

31. The divine influx from the Lord, as received in the
third or inmoil: lieaven, is called celeftial, as arc likcv.ife the
angels of that heaven; the fame divine influx, as received in tlie
fecond or middle heaven, is called fpiritual, as ali > are the
anifels of the fame heaven : and as it is received in the lovveft

or firfl; heaven, it is called natural ; but it mud be noted, that
as what is called the natural of this heaven is very dilfurent from
the natural of this our world, as the former partak' s both of
the fpiritual and celeftial properties, therefore this heaven is
called the fpiritual and celcftial-natural, and its angels like-
wife (38) : fuch of its angels as are called fpiritual-natural, are
they who receive their influx from the middle or fecond, which
Is alfo the fpiritual heaven ; as they are called the celeftial-natural,
who receive their influx from the third or inmoft, which is alfo
the celeftial heaven ; though the angels called fpiritual-natural,
and thofe called celeftial-natural, are of different denominations
and orders, yet they both conftitute but one heaven, as being
in the fame degree of blifs.

32. The dirtindlion of internal and external takes place in
each heaven : they who are in the internal are called interior
angels, as they who are in the external are called exterior angels.
External and internal in the heavens anfwer to the will-part, and
to the intelledtual part in man, internal to the will, and external

IC472. That the inner man in the human nature was formed in the image of
heaven, and the external in the image of this world, and accordingly that man
was named the microcofm by the ancients, n. 4523, 5368 — 10156, IC472. That
man by creation was an epitome of heaven, as he is alio now by his new creation
or regeneration from the Lord, n. 911, 1900, 1982 — 6057, 9279, 9632.

(38) That there arc three iieavtns, the highefl or inmoil-, the middle, and the
loweft ; or the third, fecond, and firft, n. 684, 8594, IC270. That the goods
(good things) there are in the lame order and degree, n. 4938 — 10017. That the
good of the inmoil or third heaven, is called celelHal ; the good of the middle or
fecond, fpiritual ; and that of the lowcft or firft, fpiritual-natural, n. 4279, 4286 —
JOO17, ICC68.

[ 21 ]

to the intellect : every will hath its proper intelleft ; the one is
never without the other ; the former may be compared to a
flam.e, the latter to its light.

33. It is well to be remembered, that the interior ftate of
the angels is that which determines their being of this or that
heaven, for the more open their interiour is to the Lord, the
more interiour is the heaven they belong to. There are three
degrees of the interiour in every angel, fpirit, and man j they
in v/hom the third degree is opened, are in the inmoll: heaven j
ar:d they in whom only the fecond or firfl, are in the middle or
lowell: heaven accordingly. The interiour is opened according to
the reception of divine goodnefs and truth in the inward parts :
they who are fo affedled with divine truths, as to receive them
into the life-principle or will, fo that they become operative,
are in the inmoft or third heaven, and there in rank accord-
ing to the degree of their affedlion for truth i but they who
give them not fo immediate an admilTion into the will, but
only into their memory and underftanding, and then after-
wards frame their will according thereto, and then proceed to
ad: ; thefe are in the middle or fecond heaven : but they who
add to their faith good life, though without any extraordinary
earneftnefs and fedulity after divine knowledge j they are in the
loweft or firfl heaven (39). Hence it is manifefb, that it is the
interiour or inward difpofition that conftitutes heaven, and con-
fequently that heaven is fomething internal, and not external,
according to thofe words of our Lord : " The kingdom of God
" Cometh not with obfervation ; neither fliall they f^y : Lo here,
" or lo there ; for behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
Luke xvii. 20, 21.

34. Every human perfeftion [virtue and grace] increafes
towards the interiour of man, as being nearer to the Deity, and
purer in itfelf, but decreafes towards the exteriour, as this is

(39) That there are as many degrees of life in man, as there are heavens, which
arc opened to every one after death according to their pad lives refpectively, n. 3747,
<j594. That Iieaven is in man, n. 3884 : that tlierefore he who hath received
heaven in hinifclf in this life, is received into heaven after death, n. 10717.

F more

[ 22 ]

more remote from the Deity, and more grofs in itfelf (40).
Angelical perfedion conlifts in underftanding, wifdom, love,
and in every good, and in happinefs from them ; for without
them happinefs is merely external, and not internal. Foraf-
much as the interiour [the inward difpofitions and properties] of
the angels of the inmoll heaven, arc open in the third degree,
therefore their perfccflion is of a far higher nature than that of
the angels of the middle heaven, whofe interiour is open only
in the fecond degree : in like proportion the perfection of the
angels of the middle heaven exceeds that of the angels of the
lowefl heaven.

35. Such being the difference between the angels, it follows,
that the angels of one heaven cannot find admilTion into the
heaven of other angels, or any of them afcend from an inferior,
or dcfcend from a fuperior heaven -, for fhould any of them
afcend to a higher heaven, he would immediately be fcized with
anguifh, neither would he be able to fee any of its inhabitants,
much Icfs to converfe with them ; and he who ihould defcend
from a fuperior to a lower heaven, would lofe his wifdom,
flammer in his fpeech, and be in the greatell diftrefs. Certain »

angels which belonged to the loweft heaven, and had not yet
learned that heaven was a ftate adapted to the interiour, imagined
that they Ihould partake of the fuperior happinefs of the celeftial
angels, could they be admitted into their heaven ; accordingly
this was permitted, but when they were there, they could not
fee fo much as one angel, though they looked about for them,
and, notwithftanding, a multitude of them was prefent ; for the
interiour of thefc Grangers was not opened in the fame degree
Avith the interiour of the celelHal angels, nor confequently their
light : and prefently after they were feized with a heart-felt
anguifli, fo that they fcarcely knew whether they were alive or
not ; wherefore they immediately betook themfelves to their

(40) That what is more interior is more pcrfcA, as nearer to the Deity, n. 3405,
5146, 5147. That in ihe interiour arc many thoufand particular?, which appear
only in the general in the extcrioiir, n. 5707. That in proportion as any one ad-
vances from external to internal things, is his progrefs in light and undcrft..nding,
and is as it were exalted above the mills into the higher and purer regions, n. 4598,
6183, 633.

own

[ 23 ]

own proper heaven, rejoicing that they were got again among
their own companions, and promifing that they would no more
feek after things that were too high for them, and difcordant
to the condition of their nature (*). Some others I faw, who
had defcended from a fuperior to an inferior heaven, and became
for a time fo confufed and loft to their wifdom, that they fcarcely
knew what heaven they belonged to. The cafe is quite other-
wife when the Lord is pleafed to exalt any from an inferior to
a fuperior heaven, to fhew them the glories of the latter, which
often happens, for then they are firft prepared, and furrounded
with the intermediate angels, through whom they enjoy the
communication with their fuperiors. P'rom what has been
already related, it appears that the three heavens are entirely
diiHndl: one from the other.

36. They who are in the fame heaven can aflbciate with all
that are there ; but the delights of their aflbciation are in pro-
portion to the fimilarity of their affeftions, and affinity in good :
but concerning thefe, in the following articles.

37. Though the heavens are fo diftindt, that the angels of
one heaven cannot affbciate with the angels of another, yet the
Lord connedts them all by influx immediate and mediate ; by
immediate influx, from himfelf into all the three heavens ; and
by mediate influx, from one fuperior heaven to another (41),
that fo the three heavens may become one, by their connexion
from firft to laft ; nor indeed is there any thing abfolutely un-
connecfled ; for were any thing to lofe its connedlion by the
intermediate links with its firft caufe, it would no longer fubfift,
but immediately lofe its exiftence {42).

(*) However ftrange the above article may appear at firft, yet probably the
reader upon recollection will find, that he has at one time or other experienced
fomething of like uneafy fenfations, when in company with perfons entirely ual'uit-
able to his particular genius and difpofition. Tr.

(41) That divine influx is both immediate from the Lord, and alfo mediate
through one heaven to another, and alfo into the interior of man, n. 6063, 6307,
6472, 9682, 9683. Of divine influx as immediate from tho Lord, n. 6058, 64-4,
106478, 8717, 8728. Of mediate influx through the fpiritual into the natural
world, n. 4067, 6982, 6985, 6996.

(42) That all things derive their exiftence from things prior to thcmfclvcs, and
fo back from the firft caufe, and fubfift in like dependence, as fubfiftenrc is con-
tinuation of exiftence ; and that thertfore there is nothing abfolutely unconneded,
n. 3626, 3628 — 6040, 6056.

^8. He

[ 24 ]

33. lie, who has no idea of divine order in refpeft to de-
grees, cannot form any conception how the heavens are diftinft,
nor yet what is meant by the inward and outward man ; nor
have the greater part any other notion of interior and exterior,
or fuperior and inferior in this refpecft, than as fomething co-
hering by continuity from a higher to a lower degree of purity ;
whereas things interior and exterior, as here treated of, proceed
not by the rule of Continuum, fo called, but the rule called
Discrete (*). Degrees are of two kinds, continuous, and dif-
continuoiis, or difcrete ; the former are as the degrees of light
decreafmg on to obfcurity, or as the different degrees of purity
between the upper and lower regions of the atmofphere j and
thefe degrees are determined by the diftances refpedively. De-
grees that are not continuous, but difcrete, are diftinguiflied
from the former, as prior from pofterior, as caufe from effe<ft,
and as what produces from the production. He that clofely
attends to this matter will find, that in all things throughout the
univerfe, things are fo ordered in their produftions and com-
pofitions, that one thing proceeds from another, and that from
a third, and fo on ; and he that has no perception of thefe
degrees of order, can have no idea of the diftinftion of the
heavens, nor of the didtinft faculties of the interiour and cxteriour
of man, neither of the difference betwixt the fpiritual and
natural world, nor yet between the fpirit and body of man, and
confequently can know nothing of correfpondences and emble-
matical reprefentations, nor of the important do(3-rine of inl-kix.
Mere fLnfual men cannot receive thefe di^lindions, making

(*) It will be fomcwhat diflicult for a common reader, rightly to apprehend our
author's meaning in this, fection ; and yet a very important meaning belongs to it,
and in particular, as it detedls the grofs error ot" thoie who aflcrt the materiality of
the foul, affirming it to be homogeneous, and continuous with the body ; whereas
it is hctcro|2;eneous, and dij'crctc. A continuum, or cantiuucd quaiuily, is exprefled
by lines, and is the fubjcdt of geometry : a dljcrcte quantity is exprefled by num-
bers, and is the fubjedt of arithmetick. In snothcr light, continuous n.ay be con-
fidered, aniwcrably to the familiar found of the word, as a unit, or any thing of
the fame kind continued without divifion, and giving but one idea ; and difcrete,
as things of different kinds and natures, and disjoined, and fo giving diii'crcnt
ideas : fo man, as confiding of foul and body, or fpirit and matter, the parts or
degrees of his conipofiiion arc not only difcontinuous or difcrete, but alfo dif-
fimilar. Tr.

nothing

[ 25 ]

nothing more of them than higher or lower in their fcale of the
degrees of continuity ; and therefore have no other conception
of what is fpiritual, than as fomething natural in a more refined
degree ; thus they are quite befide the mark, and far from all
true underilanding of the matter (43).

39. Laflly, I find myfelf here at liberty to mention a certain
fecret concerning the angels of the three heavens, which is
entirely unknown to every one, through ignorance as to the
degrees here fpoken of, viz. That there is in every angel, and
alfo in every man, a certain inmofi: or fupreme degree or part,
which is the immediate fubjedl of the divine influx, from whence
the Lord regulates and governs their other interior faculties and
powers fuccelTively, according to their degrees of order : this
inmoft or fupreme part may be called the Lord's entrance into
angel or man, and his dwelling-place in them : it is alfo by
this inmoft or fupreme part in man, that he has his particular
denomination, and is diftinguiflied from the brute animals, for
they have it not ^ and hence it is the peculiar privilege of man
above other animals, ^that with refpedt to the interior faculties
of his foul and fpirit, he is capable of being raifed by the Lord
up to himfelf ; that he can believe in him, be afix-'ifted with love
towards him, and fo fee him j as alfo that he is fufceptible of
underftanding and wifdom, and can converfe rationally ; and
hence likewife he has the privilege of eternal life : but how or
wliat the Lord operates in this fupreme part of the foul, which
communicates with his divinity, is not clearly known even to the
angels, as being above their thoughts and higheft wifdom.

40. So much for thefe general truths concerning the three
heavens : in what follows we fliall fpeak of each heaven in par-
ticular.

(43) That the interiourand exteriourof man are not continuous, but diftiniSt anJ
difcrcte according to tlicir icrpe<Etive degrees, and tiiat every degree has its ter-
mination or limit, n. 3691, 4145, 5iI4> 8603, 10099. Th.it one thing receives
its torm from another, and that tiie things io formed are not more pure or more
grofs according to any rule of continuity, n. 6326, 6465. That he \vlio is a ftranger
to the dillinfiion between things interior and exterior according to the degrees
laid down, can neither form any juft conceptions of the internal and external
man, nor of the interior and exterior heavens, n. 5146, 6465, 10099, ioi8i.

G That

[ 26 ]

That the Heavens confifl: of innumerable

Societies.

41. The angels of each heaven are not all "together, but are
divided into focieties greater or fmaller, according to their de-
grees of difference with refpedl to the good of love and faith :
they who are in the like good, and alfo degree of it, form one
and the lame fociety : the goods [fpecies or kinds of good] in
the heavens are of infinite variety ; and every angel is to himfelf
the condition or quality of his own good (44).

42. The angelical focietics in the heavens have alfo their
dillances one from another, according to their different kinds of
good, both in general and in particular j for diltances in the
fpiritual world are determined by the difference of the interior
ftates, and confequently in the heavens by the difference of the
dates with refpe^ft to love : they are at the greateft dillance
which differ mofl herein, and they at the leafl who differ leaft ;
whereas fimilitude of degree in this property connedts them in
the fime fociety (45).

43. All likewife in the fime fociety have their particular
dilUntSlions of place ; they who are more perfeft, or excel in
good, in love, in underllanding, and in wifdom, have their
Itations in or nearer to the center ; and they who are lefs perfecfl,

(44) That there is an infinite variety in the works of God, and no one thing
cxatitly like another in all rcfpccts, n. 7236, 9C02. That there is the fame infinite
variety in the heavens, n. 684, 690, 3744, 5598, 7236. That the varieties in
the heavens, which arc infinite, are \aricties in good, n. 3744, 5598 — 7836,
9002. That thcfe varieties exill in the multifarious forms of truth, which fpc-
cificate in every one the different kinds and degrees of good, n. 3470, 3804 — 7236.
AVhencc it is, that not only every fociety in the heavens, but every angel in each
fociety, have their particular dillindtion, n. 690, 3241 — 7236, 7833, 7836. But
notwithftanding, that they all adt confcntancoufly to the good of the whole by one
principle of love from the Lord, n. 457, 3986.

(45) That all the focieties of heaven have their conflant fituation according to
their different inward flates of life, and confequently according to their refpedtive
differences in good and faith, n. 1274, 3638, 3639. Wonderful things in the
other life or fpiritual world concerning diluncc, fituation, place, fpace and time,
n. 1273 to 1277.

round

[ 27 ]

round about them, according to their different degrees of per-
feftioj^ : in which refpedt they niay be compared to light, de-
creafing in proportion to its diftance from its center or lumi-
nous body ; fo they, who are in the middle, are in the greateft
light ; they, who are at the circumference, in the lealt ; and
others according to their refpeftive diflances.

44. The angels, who are of a fimilar difpofition or interlour,
come together as by fympathy j for with their fellows they are
as at home with their friends, and with others as abroad and
with flrangers : alfo in company with the former they enjoy
freedom of fpirit, and confequently the true relifh of life.

45. Hence it appears, that good is the bond of fociety in
the heavens, and that the angels are of diftindt focieties, accord-
ing to the kind or quality of their good \Jecundiim ejus quale\ ;
however, it is the Lord, from whom all good comes, that
forms them into focieties, and not the angels themfelves : he
it is that leads them, joins them, diftinguifhes them, and pre-
ferves them in liberty according to their degree of good, and fo
every one in the life of his love, faith, underftanding, and wif-
dom, and thence in their proper happinefs (46).

46. All who are in fimilar good, though they never met
before, know one another as well as men know their friends
and familiar acquaintance in this world, and that becaufe in the
other life all propinquities, affinities, and friendfliips are fpiritual,
and ftand in relation to love and faith (47). This I have fome-
times feen myfelf when abfent from the body, and in company
with angels : at fuch times fome of them appeared as if we had
been acquainted from our childhood, and others as perft^ift
ftrangers : now the former were in a fimilar flate of fpirit with
myfelf, but that of the latter was diffimilar.

(46) That all liberty is from love and affe<£lion, as what a man loves he does
freely, n. 2870, 3158 — 9585, 9591- That as liberty is from love, therefore it is
the life and life's delight in every one, n. 2873. That notiiing appears to be our
proper own work that proceeds not from liberty, n. 2880. Tliat it is the very
perfeftion of liberty to be led by the Lord, as this is to be led by the love of good-
ncfs and truth, n. 892, 905, 2872 — 9096, 9586 to 9591.

(47) That all proximities, relations, affinities, and, as it were, confanguinitics
m heaven, are from good, and according to its concordances and varieties, n. 605,
917, 1394, 2739, 3612, 3815, 4121.

47. All

[ 23 ]

47- All of the fame angelical fociety agree in a common
likencfs of countenance, though with a differ encc in particular;
now we may ealily conceive of fuch a likenefs in common, and
of fuch variations in particular, by what is familiar to us in
this world, it being well known, that in every different nation
refpcotively there is a general fimilitude in the features and eyes
of its inhabitants, that diilinguilhes them froni thole of aiiother
country ; and this holds true more particularly in families : but
this is much more remarkable in the heavens, where the affec-
tions of the mind are tranflucent through the face j for there
the countenance is the external form of the affections within,
and' no counterfeit nor dillimulation is allowed of there. It
was aifo lliewed to me how the general likenefs, whicii appears
througii the whole of a fociety, p.iifes through its particular
differences in the individual members of that fociety, and that
under the following reprefentation : there appeared to me as the
face of an angel, which varied the forms of its countenance,
fo as to exprels the different affeiftions of good and truth that
diltinguiflied a particular fociety ; and each of thefe variations
continued for fome time, fo as to give me leifure to obferve,
that the fame common likenefs ferved as the plane or ground of
all the variations, and that thefe were as fo many derivations
therefrom : in fuch manner did this face reprefent to me the
affedfions of the whole fociety under their particular differences
in the individuals of it j for, as was faid before, the faces of
the angels are fo many external forms of their affections v^ithin,
and confequently of their love and faith.

48. Hence it follows, that any angel, who excels in wif-
dom, can prefently read the (late of another in his countenance,
for no one there can conceal his interior llate, much lefs lie or
deceive by craft and hypocrify. It fometimes happens, that
hypocrites from beneath infinuate thcmfelves into fome ange-
lical focieties, who have learned to conceal their interior ftate
to the form of good peculiar to luch focieties refpedlively, that
they may pafs for angels of light ; but fuch can make no long
tarrying there, for they prefently begin to feel an inward anguifh
and pain, to change countenance, and to be flruck in a manner
lifelefs, through the iiillux of the life-powers of the angels fo

contrary

• [ 29 ]

contrary to their own ; on which they cafl themfelves headlong
into hell among their fellows, without daring to afcend again (^■) :
thefe are lignified by the " man found among the guefts bidden
•' to the marriage feaft, not having on a wedding-garment, and
** caft into outer darknefs." Matt. xxii. ii, &c.

49. All the heavenly focieties communicate with one ano-
ther, but not in the way of open converfe, for few go out of
their own fociety to another, as fuch a departure would be like
departing from themfelves, or their proper life into another,
unfuitable to their nature; but they hold communication by
extending their fpheres, which proceed from their vital affedions
of love and faith (-f-), and extend themfelves far to the focieties
around them, and the farther in proportion to the degree of
their interior excellence ,(48). In proportion to this extenfion
is the underftanding and wifdom of angels : they who are in the
inmoll: heaven, and the center thereof, extend their fpheres
throughout the univerlal heaven ; and hence there is a com-
munication of all heavenly things with every one, and of every
one with all (49). But concerning this extenfion we fliall treat

(*) That evil fpirits may fometimes be perniittetl to appear among the ange!?,
like Satan in paradilb, is eafy to believe ; but tlnis is no mitigation of ilieir niiiciv,
as their hell is vvithin them ; nay, it greatly adds to their fiiffcrings, as appears in
the inftance before us ; fo that it is not the place, but the ftate znd condition of
the parties that conftitutes the happinefs of heaven : thus the devils could not
endure the pain that proceeded from the contrariety between tiieir (late, and the
holy prcfence of our Lord ; and yet to anfwcr a divine purpofc, this huv of tlic
nature of fpirits was fufpended during his temptation in the wilderncfs. Tr.

(t) By faith here we are not to underfl:and mere believing, for there can be no
unbelievers in heaven ; but refignation, truft, reliance, together with a holy excr-
cife of fuch of the intellectual powers as have refpec*; to the divine attributes and
to divine truths. It is here to be noted, that the author frequently ufes the word
faith, as expreflive of intellecl:, and its objcifl, truth ; as on the other hand, he
ufes love and will as fynonymous terms, where he fpealcs of the two great diftinc-
tions or principles in men and angels. Tr.

(48) That the fpiritual fphere, or fpherc of life, proceeds from every man,
fpirit, and angel, and furrounds them, as the atmofphere docs the earth, n. 4464,
5179, 7454, 8630. That it iffues from their vital affections and thoughts, n. 2489,
4464, 6206. That thefe fpheres extend far to the angelical focieties, in propor-
tion to their quality and quantum of good, n. 6598 to 6613, 8063, 8794, 8797.

(49) That in the heavens there is a communication of all kinds of good, it
being natural to celeflial love to communicate of all it hath, n. 549, 550, 1391,
I399> iOl^Ot 10723.

H more

[ 30 ]

more fully in the fequel, where we fpeaJc of the ccleftial form,
according to which the angelical focieties are difpofed ; and
where we treat of the wifdom and underilanding of the angels,
for all extenfioiY of the affedlious and thoughts proceeds accord-
inij to that form.

50. It has been obferved above, that in the heavens there
are greater and leller focieties : the greater confiil of myriads ;
the leller, of fomc thoufands ; and the Icaft, of fome hundreds
of angels : there are alfo fome who dwell in a kind of folitude,
as in fmgle houfcs and families -, but though thcfe live in fo
difperfed a way, yet they are under fubordination and govern-
ment, as well as thofe who are in focieties, the wifer of them
being in the center as governors, and the more limple in the
circumferences : thefe are under the Lord's more particular care
and diredion, and are the befl of the angels.

That every angelical Society is a Heaven in
a IcfTer Form, and every individual Angel
a Heaven in the leaft Form.

51. That every fociety is a heaven in a lefler form, and every
individual angel a heaven in the leall form, is becaufe the good
of love and faith is that which conrtitutes heaven, and is in
every fociety and angel in heaven : nor docs it alter the matter,
that the good here fpokcn of is different in quality or degree
in every one, for rtill it is the good of heaven, and fuch dif-
ference or dillindion only caufes it to be a heaven of this or
that denomination or quality : and therefore it is a common
faying among them, when any one is exalted to this or that
angelical fociety, that he is come to heaven ; and, when fpeak-
ing of thofe that are of it, that they are in heaven, and every
one in his own heaven : this is well known to all in the other
life ; and therefore when any, who are out of or beneath hea-
ven, behold any conipanics of the angels afir off, they readily
fay, There is heaven, or there : the cafe may be compared to
the officers or miniilcrs in a king's palace or court, who, though

they

[ 3^ ]

they have different apartments, one above another, yet are all
in the fame palace or court, according to their feveral ranks and
offices ; which anfwers to thofe words of our Lord : " In my
" Father's houfe are many manfions," John xiv. 2. And alfo
to what we read in the prophets, of the habitations of heaven,
and the heaven of heavens.

52. That every angelical fociety is a heaven in a leffer form,
may alfo be evinced from hence ; that every particular fociety is
formed after the likenefs of the whole heaven, wherein they,
who moft excel, are fituated in the middle, and they, who arc
lefs in excellence, round about them, in diflances proportionate
to their inferiority, as is mentioned in a preceding article, n. 43.
This truth is farther confirmed from hence, that the Lord
governs the univerfal heaven by the laws of an uniform oeco-
nomy, as if they were all but one angel, and confequently thofe
in every particular fociety ; whence it fometimes follows, that
a whole angelical fociety is reprefented under the appearance of
a fmgle angel, which the Lord has vouchfifcd to grant me the
fight of. When it pleafes the Lord to manifcft his perfonal
appearance in the midll of the angels, he does not appear under
the particular diftindlion of being furroundcd by many of them,
but as one of them in an angelical form : hence it is, that he is
fometimes in fcripture called an angel ; as is alfo a whole fociety
of them by a fingle name ; thus Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael,
fignify fo many angelical focieties, deriving thofe names from
their different funftions (50).

53. As an entire fociety is heaven in a lelTer form, fo is
every individual angel in its leall form ; for heaven is not with-
out the angel, but within him, his interior aftetflions and pow-
ers being fo difpofed, according to the form of heaven, as to
be fitted for the reception of all external heavenly good things ;
his receptivity of which is according to the quality of divine

(50) That the Lord is called angel in tljc word, n. 6280, 6831, S192, 9303.
That a whole angelical fociety is alfo called angel in the fingular, and that Michael
and Raphael arc entire focieties, fo called from tl^eir particular offices, n. 8 192.
That the heavenly focieties, and alfo particular angels, are dillinguifhcd only tiy
the cjualitv of their good, ai)d its idea, n. 1705, 1754.

good

[ 32 ]

good in him from the Lord, and by which alone an angel is a
form of heaven (*).

54. It is by no means to be faid, that heaven is without
any one, but within him, for it is according to the kind or
quality of the heaven within, that every angel receives the
heavenly influx from without him. Hence will appear the great
error of thofe, who fuppolc that it is futiicient, in order to be
in heaven, for any one to be exalted to the company of angels,
whatever life he may be of, as to his interior ftate ; and that
therefore to be in heaven is nothing more than a grant by an
immediate aift of mercy (51) ; wliereas, if heaven is not within,
no heavenly influx is received from without. Many fpirits under
this erroneous perfuafion, in order to convince them of their
error, were permitted to afcend into the place of heaven ; but
they were no fooner there, but (as their interior llatc of life
was contrary to that of the angels) their underftanding became
confuled and darkened, all their inward powers difturbed, and
they reduced to fuch a flate of fufl^ering^ that they behaved like
ideots, or infane perfons : in a word, they who are ill-principled
in their life's properties, and are tranflated to angelical fociety,
feel a kind of fuffocation, and fuffer an anguilh, like that of
fillies when out of their clement, or like that of animals in an
air-pump, out of which the air is extraded : which ihews that
licaven conhib in a llate within, and not in a place without
us (52).

^^. As all receive the influences of the external heaven,
according to the quality of the heaven that is within them, in

(•) The truth here laid down by our author ia this and the following fe£lion,
is of infinite importance, and adds light to that moit concerning doctrine of our
holy religion, the ncccifity of regeneration, or of being born again, in order to an
cjitrance into the kingdom of heaven. Tr.

(51) Tiiat hc.iven is not a mere gratuitous grant by an immediate a»Sl of mercy,
but according to the principle of life in evtry one, and that this vital principle of
gootl and godlincfs, by which any one is quJificd for heaven, is by gift and mercy
from the Lord, and that mercy is to be undcrftood in this fenfe alone, n. 5057,
10659. That if heaven were merely a gift by an immediate aiit of morcy, it would
be given to every one, n. 2401. Conctrning feme evil fpirits being c^lt down
from heaven, who bclic\ed that heaven was nothing more than a mere gratuitous
grant of immediate mercy to every one, n. 4726.

(52) That heaven is in man, 3884.

L 33 ]

like manner alio do they receive the Lord, as it is his divinity
that conflitutcs heaven : hence it is, that when he vouchfafes
a perfonal manifeftation of himfelf to any fociety, his appear-
ance is according to the quahty of good in that particular fociety,
and therefore he appears not to any two exaiftly alike (*) ; not
that there is any variablenefs in him ; but the diiiimilitude is
in them who behold him, from their own particular kind or
degree of good, and according to it ; and likewife according
thereto are they affected with fuch beatifick vifion ; they who
love him moft are mod affected with delight, they with lefs that
love him lefs ; and as to the evil who are without heaven, they
are tormented at his prelence. When the Lord manifefls him-
felf to any fociety, he appears therein (as was faid before) as
an angel, though diftinguilhable from the angels by fomething
of a divine tranllucent glory.

56. There alib is heaven, where the Lord is acknowledged,
believed in, and loved : the various modes of worlhipping him
in this or that fociety has no other effedl than for the better,
for it conftitutes a perfeftion in heaven. This will hardly be
received without our taking in here fomething in the literary
way for explanation and diftintflion, to fhew how every thing
that is perfe6t confifts of various other things : every thing,
however fimple or one it may be fuppofed to be, exifls from
various others, otherwife it would not be any thing, but be
void of form, and confequently without particular quality or
mark of dilHnftion ; but where it exifls as a whole, from various
parts and properties uniting with friendly compofition in a
perfedl form, it is then an entire thing, having its own peculiar
quality and diilinftion. Juft fo it is with heaven ; it is a one or
whole, confifting of variety, but of variety ordered and difpofed
in the moft perfedl form, for the heavenly form is of all the
moft perfedl. That all perfcdHon is thus conftituted, appears
from hence, that every thing moft beautiful, pleafing, and de-
lightfu' to the mind and fenfes, do all proceed from confent of
parts, and a harmonizing variety (whether they co-exift in

(*) This may in a fort be illuftrated in nature by the obje£ls of vifion, which
appear to the fpeflator accordina, to the quality of the eye, and the condition of
jts organs rcfpedtiveiy. Tr.

I fimul-

[ 34 ]

rimultaneous order, or follow in luccefTion) and not from any
thing that is but merclv one ; whence comes the common adage,
that in variety is delight ; now we know that this muft be
according to the different qualities in things : and this may
teach us that perfetftion, even in heaven, confills in variety; for
this natural world is a kind of mirrour or glafs, reprefenting to
us the things that are in the fpiritual world (53).

57. The fame may be predicated of the church in this
matter, as the church is the Lord's heaven on earth ; now the
church is manifold, coniilling of many churches, each of which
is called and is a church, in proportion to the good of love and
faith that is in it : and here alfo the Lord forms unity out of
variety, and one church out of many (54). And the fame may
be affirmed of every member of the church in particular, that
has been fpoken of the church in common, viz. that the church
is within, and not without the man ; and alfo that every one,
who is a true member of the church, is likewife a church him-
felf, in whom the Lord is prefent in the good of his love and
faith {§^) : and farther, it may be faid of every one in whom
the church is, as was faid of every angel in whom heaven is,
that he is the church in its leall form, as an angel is heaven
in its Icaft form ; and ftill f;^rther ; that man in whom the
church is [as to its effcntial principle] is heaven in epitome, or
its leaft form, in like manner as an angel is fuch, and that
becaufe man is created for heaven, that he may become an
angel ; confequently he, who lives in the principle of good from

(53) That every one entire thing is from harmony and conftnt of its fcvcral
parts and properties, and that othervi-ifc it would be without its particular quality
and note of diftinclion, n- 457. That in this fenfc it is, that the univcrl'al heaven
is one, n. 457 : and that becaufe all there have rcfpect to one and the fame end,
which is the Lord, n. 9828.

(54) That if the principle of good were the onlyefrential charaiflcr of a church,
without refpedt to feparate truths, then there would only be one [external] church,
n. 1285, 1316 — 3451, 3452- That all external churches, according to the prin-
ciple of good in them, make one church before the Lord, n. 7395, 9276.

{55) I'hat the church (as to its cflential principle) is in man, and not without
him, and that fuch men couftitutc the church conlidcrcd collcdtively, 11. 3884.

the

. [ 35 ]

the Lord, is an angel-man (*) (56). I may here mention what
man hath in common with angels, and what he hath more than
the angels : now man hath in common with ajigels, that his inte-
riour is formed like theirs, according to the model of heaven,
and ulfo that he is a real image of heaven, as far as he is in the
good of love and faitli : and fnan has this more than the angels,
that in his exteriour he is formed after the image of this world ;
and that as far as he is in the principle of good, this world in
him is fubordinate, and fubLrvient to lieaven (57) ; and that
fo the Lord is prefent with him in botli worlds, according to
his divine order in each, for God is order (58).

58. Laftly, wc are here to obferve, that he who hath heaven
in him, hath heaven, not only in his principal powers and
properties, but alfo in the lealt things, as thefe in their pro-
portion refemble the greateft ; and this for the following reafon,
becaufe every one is in reality the fame with his own proper
prevailing love, as this influences and regulates the whole
man (59), and produces its likcnefs therein (*). In the hea-
vens

(*) However inconclufive the foregoing method of reafoning ufed by our author
may appear to the generality of our readers, it is not therefore to be lightly ac-
counted of, as it is of weighty confideration in the fpiritual fubjedl before us. Tr.

(56) That the man, who is the church in epitome, is alfo heaven in its Icaft
form, after the lilcenefs of heaven in its greateft form, and that, becaufe all hrs
interior faculties and powers are ordered and difpofed according to the form and
ceconomy of heaven, and conf quently fitted for the reception of all heavenly
things, n.911, 1900, 1982 — 6057, 9279, 9632.

{57) That to man belong both an intcriour and exteriour, or an internal and
external fyftem ; the former originally created an image of the heavenly world ;
and the latter an image of this mundane fyftem ; and that therefore inaif was
called by the ancients the microcofm, or little world, n. 4523, 4524 — 9706, 10156,
10472. That confequently man v/as fo formed, that the principle of this natural
world in him (hould be fubjcft to the heavenly world's principle, as is the cafe
with all good men ; but that it is quite the reverfe with bad men, in whom the
principle and things of this world are uppermoil, n. 9283, 9278.

(58) That the Lord is order itfelf, inafmuch as divine goodnefs and truth pro-
ceeding from him conftitute order, n. 1728, 1919 — 10336, 10619. Thaf divine
truths are the laws of order, n. 2247, 7995. That as lar forth as any one lives
in order, that is, in divine good according to the laws of divine truth, fo far is he
man, truly fpeaking, and fo far has both the church and heaven a form in him,
n. 4839, 6605, 8067.

(59) That the ruling love in every one enters into the whole of his life, and
confequently into every thought and act of his will, n. 8067, 8853, lono, 10284.

'fhat

[ 36 ]

vens love to the Lord is the governing principle, becaufe there
the Lord is loved -.ibovc all tilings, and confequentlv is all in
all ; he intliiences, guides, and forms the bleilcd angels into
a finiilitudc of hinilelf, and conflitutes heaven by his divine
prefence : hence it is, that every fingle angel is heaven in the
lead and lowelt form ; every angelical fociety in a greater form ;
and all the angelical focieties colle^flively, in the greatell form.
That the divinity of the Lord conftitutes heaven, and is all in
all things there, fee above, n. 7 to 12.

That the univerfal Heaven in Complex
refembles a Human Form.

59. That the univerfal heaven refembles the human form,
is a fecret hitherto unknown in this world, though well known
there ; nay, the knowledge of it in its feveral parts and parti-
culars, conftitutes the main of the intelle*5lual entertainment of
angels, as many truths depend thereon, -which, without this
common principle of fcience, they would never be able to form
any clear conceptions of. Now, forafmuch as they know that
the whole of heaven, together with its feveral focieties col-
ledlively, are in the form of a man, therefore they call heaven
the Grand (Maximum) and Divine Man (60) : divine,
becaufe it is the divinity of the Lord that conflitutes heaven ;

J'ee a6ove, from n. 7 to 12.

60. That heavenly and fpiritual things fliould be formed
into fuch an image and likenefs, will not be conceived by thofe

That where love and faith prevail as principles, they have a part in all that a man
thinks and does, though he knows it not, n. 8854, 8864, 8S65.

(*) The meaning of the author herein is as follv>\vs : The good principle in
anyone (which is and can be only from the Lord) enters into, fandtificsand bleffcs
every thing that fuch a one think?, lays, and doL-s from that principle : as, on
the other hand, the evil principle that prevails in any one, infects with malignity
even thofe things which outwardly appear mofl inditfcrcnt or innocent, according
to that faying of the wife man; " The ploughing of the wicked is fm," Prov.
xxi. 4. Tr.

(60) That the univerfal heaven is in a human form, and therefore called, T/.'e
Grand Alan, n. 2996, 2998 — 3741 to 3745, 4625.

who

[ %7 ]

x^'ho have no competent Idea of them : fuch are apt to fuppofe,
that what is earthly and material in the external part of the
human compofition, is fo cffential to man, that he would ceafe
to be man without fuch materials ; but let them know, that he
receives not his denomination of man from thence, but from
his capacities of knowing truth, and willing good : thefe fpi-
ritual and heavenly properties conftitute his characfter as man :
nay, all know that every one is called fuch or fuch a man,
according to his underllanding, and the (iifpofition of his will j
and alfo may know, that this terreftrial body is formed, in order
to its fubferviency to thofe faculties in this world, and through
the inftrumentality of its feveral organs contribute to their ope-
rations and ufefulnefs in this loweft fpherc of nature ; for to
the body belongs no principle of felf-motion, but only to be
palTive and obfequioufly obedient to the motions of the intelleift
and will, which are the only agents and principals in all that
the man fpeaks or does, making ufe of the body only as their
inftrument ; and confequently thefe are the principles that con-
llitute the man, and alfo are in fimilar form, as appears by their
inftantaneous operations on all the bodily members, as an in-
ternal agent on an external inftrument, whence man is deno-
minated internal and fpiritual : as fuch, a man in the greateft
and moll perfedt form is heaven.

6i. Such is the idea of the angels concerning man, and
therefore they do not confider him in relation to the mere
bodily adts, but with refpedl to the will that diredls them, and
with refpeft to his underftanding, as far as this co-operates with
the will (6i).

62. The angels do not, it is true, behold the univerfal
heaven in fuch a form, becaufe it comes not within the reach
of any angel's ken ; but they fometimes behold very diftant
focicties (confifting of many thoufands of angels) as one in
fuch a form ; and from a focicty as a part, they conclude con-
cerning the whole, that being the molt perfeft form in which

(6i ) That the will of man is the very elTencc of his life, and his unJerflanding
the cxiflencc or form of it, n. 3619, 5002, 9282. That the life of the will is
the principal life of man, and tliv.t the life of his intellect proceeds from thence,
"• 5^5» 590 — 10076, 10109, loiio.

K the

[ 38 ]

the aggregates, and the parts of which they confift, refemblc
each other, without any other difference than betwixt greater
and lefs (*) : wherefore they fay, that the Lord, as the center
and great original of all creation, beholds the univerfal heaven
in this form.

63. Such being the conftitution of heaven, it is accordingly
adluated and governed by the Lord as one man, or one thing :
now it is well known, that though man is a very complicated
fyftem, conlilling of a great variety of parts, as well in the
principals, as in the particulars of his compolition ; in the
former, of members, organs, and bowels j in the latter, of
fibres, nerves, and blood-veffels of different claifes and orders ;
and fo of members within members, and parts within parts ;
yet notwithflianding this his multifarious compolition, when he
afts, he adls but as one fimple agent or man : fo in like manner
may we confider the univerfal heaven, notwithflanding its in-
finite variety, to be uniformly governed by the will, and at the
good pleafure of the Lord.

64. That fo many different parts in man adl with fuch unity
and conformity is, becaufe every thing in his compofition per-
forms its office of ufe, as moft contributes to the good of the
whole, the community miniftring ufe to the particular parts,
and the latter theirs to the fervice of the community ; for the
community is made up of the parts, and the parts conlHtute the
community, wherefore they all confpire with mutual conient
to promote the common good of the whole j whence arifes
uniformity. Jufl lb it is in refpedt to ufe and co-operation with
the conlbciations in the heavens, and they that fliould not con-
tribute their refpcdtivc ferviccs to the common good, would be
ejedled as unprofitable members : by being profitable or un-
profitable here is meant the being well affedled to others for
the lake of the common good, or only for the fake of our own
private good in particular ; of the latter fort are they who are
aftuated only by felf-love in all things ; of the former clafs arc

(*) This may be illuftrated by the configuration of falts of the fame fpecies :
thus for example, whether they confift of parts of a triangular, hexagonal, cylin-
drical, or any other form ; it is well known, tlrat the minutelt particles of thofe
parts arc of the fame figure. Tr,

they

[ 39 ]

they who love the Lord above all things : hence it is, that all
who are in heaven have only one principle of atfting, and that,
not from themfelves, but from the Lord ; for up to him they
look, as the fource of all good, and to his kingdom as that
community, the good of which they are to promote in all
things, according to thofe words of the Lord : " Seek firfl the
" kingdom of God, and his righteoufnefs, and all things fhall
" be added unto you," Matt. vi. 33. Righteoufnefs (62) here
means good from the Lord, as the fource of all good. They
who in this world love the good of their country above their
own private good, and the good of their neighbour as their
own, are they who in the other life love and feek the kingdom
of the Lord, which is to them inftead of their country : and
they who love to do good to others from the love of good, and
not for felhfli ends, are they who love their neighbour ; for
among the angels good and neighbour mean the fame (63) : now
all who are of this characfter are in what is called the Grand
Man, or heaven.

65. As the univerfal heaven reprefents or refembles one man,
and alfo is a divine fpiritual man in the greatefb form and image,
therefore heaven is dilHnguiflied, like man, by human mem-
bers and parts, and after the fame names ; accordingly the angels
well know what particular member this or that fociety belongs
to, and it is common for them to fay, fuch a fociety is in a
certain member or province of the head, another in fuch a part
or province of the breaft, and a third in fuch a member or pro-
vince of the lungs, and fo of the reft. In general, the fupreme
or third heaven forms the head to the neck : the middle or
fecond heaven forms the breaft down to the loins and knees :
and the lovveft or firll heaven forms the inferior parts down to

(62) That righteoufnefi in fcripture is predicated of good, and judgment of
truth ; and that therefore to keep righteoufnefs and judgment, is to adhere to
goodncfs and truth, n. 2235, 9^57-

(63) That the Lord is our neighbour in the higheft fcnfe of the word, and
hence, that to love the Lord, is to love all that proceeds from him, as having
his divine nature in it, confequently goodnefs and truth, n. 2425, 3419 — 6823,
8123. Confequently, that all good proceeding from the Lord [in the abltraiSted
fenfe of the word] is our neighbour, and that to will and do it, is to love our
neighbour, n. 5026, 10336.

the

[ 40 ]

the feet, and alfo the arms to the fingers ; for the arms and
hands are the extremities of the body, though at the fides :
hence ahb proceeds the diftinftion of three heavens.

66. The fpirits, who are beneath heaven, greatly wonder
when they hear and fee that heaven is beneath as well as above j
for they are of the fame opinion with the people of this world,
that heaven is no where but above, not knowing that the litu-
ation of the heavens is as the fituation of the members, organs,
and bowels in man, fome of which are above, and feme be-
neath ; fome within, and fome without ; whence arife their
confufed ideas concerning heaven.

6y. So much for what we had to fay concerning heaven
confidered as the Grand Man; as without this previous know-
ledge, the things which follow relating to heaven could not be
underlliood, nor any idea be conceived of the form of heaven,
of the conjundlion of the Lord with heaven, nor of the con-
jundtion of heaven with man, nor yet of the influx of the fpi-
ritual into the natural world, much lefs of the laws of cor-
refpondence betwixt both ; of which in their order in the fequel
of this work ; and for the better undcrllanding of which fubjedls
thcfe things are premifed.

That every Society in the Heavens refembles

a Human Form.

6S. That every fociety of heaven refembles the human form,
and is in the likenefs and image of man, has fometimes been
given me to fee. There was a fociety into which many had
infmuatcd themfelves, who knew how to counterfeit the ap-
pearance of angels of light, but they were hypocrites : upon
the feparation of thefe from the angels, the whole fociety ap-
peared at firll: as an obfcure body ; afterwards, by degrees, in
a human form, but indiftindly ; and at lafl, clearly in the form
of a man : they who formed this figure, as the feveral members
or conftituent parts of it, were fuch as were in the good (♦)

(•) By the good of any thing, we are to underftand the peculiar good quality
or property that prevails in it, and diftinguilhes it from the kind of good in another

thing :

[ 41 ]

of this fociety ; but they who conflituted no part of this human
form, were not of the fociety, nor in the good property that
diftinguiflied it, but intruding hypocrites, and as fucli feparated
from it. Such here are called hypocrites, who have good
words, and outwardly good works, but at the fame time have
a view to felf in every thing : they can talk like angels, of the
Lord, of heaven, of love, and of fpiritual things, and are alfo
in the outward prailice of what is good, that they may be
thought to be in deed what they are in word ; whereas their
thoughts are far different, and they have neither faith, nor good
will to any but themfelves ; and if at any time they do good
to others, it is for fome felfifli end.

69. That a whole fociety of angels, when the Lord mani-
fefts his prefence to them, appears as one in a human form,
has been given me to fee ; and once in particular, fuch a fociety
appeared high towards the eaft, like a cloud of a pale red
colour, furrounded with little ftars, and defcending ; and as it
defcended gradually, it appeared brighter, and at length in a
perfedl human form : the little liars that furrounded the cloud
were fo many angels under that appearance by light from the
Lord.

70. It is to be noted, that though all of the fame fociety,
when together, appear as one in a human form, yet no one
fociety is exadtly like another, but differs as different families

thing : fo here ; the good of the fociety mentioned in this place, means the par-
ticular characterifHck of that fociety, whether as in the good of humility, of
charity, of gratitude, and fo on. And as all the virtues, graces, relative duties,
and perfeftions of every kind, give diftindtion to the angelical focicties, fo do the
difterent degrees of them, infomuch that they arc innumerable : not that any one
I'ociety is without any other virtue, but that it takes its particular denomination
and diftindlion from that in which it moft excels : and farther, it is to be noted,
that every particular angel in every particular fociety has fomething of dillinftion
peculiar to himfelf, that differences him from every other angel in the fame fociety,
but only as one member in the fame body differs from another, whilft each con-
tributes, by one common harmonizing variety, to the perfcftion of the whole :
the fame is obfervable in every fociety of good men on earth in proportion refpec-
tively : and thus we call the latter by the name of a body ; and what is there
incredible in the fuppofition, that fuch focicties in heaven fhould be rcprefentcd at
times, even to the view of the beholder, under the appearance of a human form,
as of all the moft excellent, and that which the Lord of all Lords has alfumcd for
the manifcftation of his divinity. Tr.

L from

[ 42 ]

from the fame flock here on earth, and that from the like caiife
mentioned, n. 47. viz. that they differ according to the various
kinds and degrees of good in which they are, and from which
they derive their diflincft appearances, though under one com-
mon form. In the moll beautiful and perfedl human form are
the focieties of the inmoil or highell heaven, and more efpecially
they who are in the center of it.

71. It is worthy of notice, that the greater the number in
any of the angelical focieties, and the greater their harmony,
tlie more perfedl is their human form ; for the greater the
variety or number, when adting by confent in a heavenly dil-
pofition, flrengthens the unity of the whole, fee n. 56. Thus
every fociety in heaven, as it daily increafes in number, advances
in perfeftion, and not only every fociety in particular, but.
heaven in common, as the whole of heaven coniills of its feveraL
particular focieties. As heaven thus advances in degrees of
pcrfedlion in proportion to the increafe of its inhabitants, we
may hence learn the error of thofe, who fuppofe that it may
be fo completely furnirtied with guefls, as to leave no room for
more j but imagine the greateft number you can, and yet there
is room -, nor do the angels defire any thing more than to have
their number increaled by the arrival of frelh angels from other
worlds,

72. That every fociety, when together, appears as one human
form, is becaufe the univerfal heaven has the fame form, as
may be fcen in the foregoing article ; and in the moft pcrfetfl
form, as that of heaven, there is a refemblance between the
parts and the whole, between the leller and the greatell ; now
the lefTer, or the parts of heaven, are the focieties of which it
conlifls, which are fo many heavens in a lefTer form ; fee above,
n. 51 to ^H. That there is luch a perpetual fimilitude in the
heavens, is becaufe the various fpecies of good [/^omi] in all
there, proceed from one love or origin ; now the one love from
which all thofe goods originate, is love to the Lord in the angels
proceeding from the Lord : hence it is that the univerlal licaven
is a likencfs of him in common ; every fociety u fimilitude of
him in a leller community ; and every angel a likencfs or image
of him in particular; fee above on this fubjed, n. 58.

That

[ 43 ]

That every Angel is in a perfeft Human

Form.

73. It has been fliewed before, that the univerfal heaven'
refembles the human form, as does likewife every fociety in
heaven ; and from the chain of caufes and effefts there prodaced,
it follows, that every particular angel has the fame figure ; the
univerlal heaven as a man in the greatefl, each fociety in a lelTer,
and every particular angel in the leaft human form ; for in the
mofl perfecfl form, as is that of heaven, there is a mutual like-
nefs between the whole and its parts ; and that becaufe heaven
is a communion, and fo communicates of its whole perfedlion
to every one, whilfl: every individual is a receiver from that
whole, and fo is heaven in its Icaft form, as has been fhewed
before. Man alfo in this world, as far as he is a recipient of
the efHux from heaven, is fo far a heaven, and an angel ; fee
above, n. 57. This is defcribed in the Apocalypfe in the fol-
lowing words : '* And he meafured the wall thereof," [of the
holyjerufalem] " an hundred and forty and four cubits, according
'• to the meafure of a man, that is, of the [an] angel," xxi. 17.
'Jeriijalem there means the church of the Lord, and in a higher
fenfe, heaven (64); the wrt/Zfignifies truth, as its defence again ft
the attacks of error and evil of every kind (65) \ab injultu fal~
forum et mahnwi] ; an hwidred and forty -fmr means every fpecies
of what is good and true in the complex (66) -, the meiafure is
its particular kind or quality \_quale ejus]' {6j) ; 7nan is he, or

(64) That Jerufaleni fignifics the church, n. 402, 3654, 9166.

(65) That wall fignifies the defence of truth againfl the attacks of falfchoods
and evils, n. 6419.

(66) Thut the number twelve fignifies the whole complex of things got)d and
true, n. 577, 20H9 — 3858, 3913- The fame is likewife fignified by the numbers
feventy-two, and one hundred and forty-four, becaufe 144 is the product of twelve
multiplied by itfelf, n. 7973- That in the Scripture, numbers Itand for things,
n. 482, 487, 647 — 4264, 4495, 5265. That multiplied numbers fignify the
fame with the fmiple from which they proceed in multiplication, n. 5^91, 533S>
5708, 79^3. . . . •

(67) That meafure in the fcripture figniEes the quality of a thing with rcfpecS:
to good and true, n. 3104, 9603.

that

[ 44 1

that foclcty, in which all thofe things arc in general and ia
particular, conrequently in which heaven is; and becaufe an
angel is alfo a divine man from thefe divine qualities, there-
fore it is faid ; The meajure of a man, ivhich is that of an angeJ.
This is the fpiritual meaning of thefe words ; and who, without
this interpretation of them, would be able to find out the fcnfe
of the wall of the heavenly Jerufalem being the meafure of a
man, that is, of an angel (68) ?

74. But to come to experience : That angels arc human
forms or men, I have feen a thouland times, and have converfed
with them, as one man with another, fomctimes fingly, fome-
times with many together ; nor did I ever fee in them any thing
that differed from the human form ; at which I have fometimes
wondered -, and that this might not be fufpedled of being a
deception, or vifion of the imagination, it has been given me
to fee them when quite awake, and in all clearnefs of fenfible
perception. I have often told them, that in our ChrilHan world,
the generality were fo grofsly ignorant in refpeift to the nature
of angels and fpirits, as to take them for minds without form,
mere invifible thinkers, and of which they had no other idea
than as of vital aether ; and that confequently, having nothing
in them human but the power of thinking, they could neither
fee, hear, nor fpeak, as being without eyes, ears, and tongues.
To which the angels replied, that they knew it to be fo with
many in this world, particularly among the learned, and (which
they much wondered at) alfo with the clergy : and they alTigned
for the caufe of it as follows, viz. that the learned, who firlt
broached this error, being mere natural men, and borrowing all
their ideas of fubftance from their external fenfes, and not from
any interior light, or from thofe common notices of things
which are implanted in the human mind, refined fpiritual things
and beings, as it were, into nothings ; not feeing, from the
groffnefs of their ideas, how any thing could exift fpiritually
in form and fubftance, that is not material and palpable to fenfe,

(68) Of the fpiritual or internal fcnfe of the word, fee the explanation of the
White Horfe in the Apocalypfe, and the Appendix to the Heavenly Doilrine.

I 45 ]

as in .this natural world (69). From fucli leaders in error this
falle notion concerning angels was derived down to others.:
now they who relign up their minds to others, and believe on
their own authority alone, feldom recover their liberty, but for
the molt part acquiefce in confirming themfelves in what they
fo imbibe. Moreover they faid, that men of limplicity in faith
and heart thought far otherwiie of the angels, and conceived of
them as heavenly men, and that becaule they did not extinguiHi
the heavenly idea of them by human learning, nor admit of
any thing into their minds, but under fome form : hence it is
that angels in churches, whether as carved or painted, have
always been reprefented as men : by heavenly ideas, or ideas
from heaven of celeftial things, they fiid, was meant a divine
influx or light in thofe who are in the good of faith and life'.

y^. From all my experience, which is now of many years,
I can truly affirm, that the angels, in refpe*fl; to their form, are
perfect men, having like faces, eyes, ears, breafls, arms, hands,
feet, 6cc. that they hear, fee, and converfe with one another ;
and, in a word, that nothing human is wanting to them, but
thefe material bodies of flefli that we are inverted with : I have
beheld them in their own light, which far exceeds our greatefl
meridian luftre, and have therein difcerned all the features and
variations of their faces more diflindtly than thofe of my fellow
inhabitants of this earth. It was alfo granted me to fee an
angel of the inmoft or higheft heaven, who appeared with a
more refplendent countenance than the angels of the lower
heavens, and was of a human form in all perfed;ion.

76. It is here to be obferved, that the angels cannot be feen
by any mortal man with the eyes of his body, but with thofe
only of the fpirit which is in man (70), and that becaufe this

(6g) That till a man be elevated above the carnal or fonfual part, as to his
apprchenfions, he has but little wifdom, n. 5089. That a wife man's thoughts
arc ot a more exalted nature, n. 5089, 5094. That when any one is elevated
above fenfc, he comes into a clearer light, and at length advances to heavenly
light, n. 6183, ^3^3 — 973O' 9922. That fuch elevation and abltradtion from
the things of fenfc was known to the ancients, n. 6313.

(70) That man, as to his interiour, is a fpirit, n. 1594. And that fuch fpirit
is properly the man, and that the body derives its life from it, n. 447, 4622,
6054.

M is

[ 46 ]

is in the Tpiritual world ; but all things appertaining to the
body, in the natural world : for like only lees like in the fame
common nature. Moreover, the organ of bodily vilion, or the
material eye, is fo grofs, that it cannot difccrn the more minute
parts of nature without the afiiflance of optical glafles, as is
well known ; how much lefs thofe things which are above the
fphere of nature, as are all things in the fpiritual world : and
yet thefe are maniferted to his view, when he is withdrawn in-
wardly from the bodily fenfe, and the eye of his fpiritis opened,
which is done in an inftant, when it pleafes the Lord to give him
a fight of things in the fpiritual worlds ; and then they appear
as if he faw them with his bodily eyes : it was thus that the
angels appeared to Abraham, Lot, Manoah, and the Prophets ;
and thus alfo was the Lord fecn by his difciples after his refur-
reiftion : in like manner have I alfo been favoured with the
light of angels. From this kind of vifion it was, that the Pro-
phets were called Sec'is, and the " men whofe eyes were open,"
I Sam. ix. 9. Num. xxiv. 3. And to caufe them to fee thus>
was called. Opening their eyes, as in the inflance of Elilha's
fervant, of whom it is faid, " That Eliflia prayed, and faid,
*' Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may fee ; and the
'* Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he faw : and
" behold ! the mountain was full of horfes and chariots of fire
*' round about Eliflia," 2 Kings vi. 17.

77. Some good fpirits with whom I difcourfed on this
fubjedt, expreffed much grief at fuch ignorance in the church
concerning the ftate of heaven, and that of angels and fpirits,
and with fome fliarpncfs charged me to declare, that they were
not mere minds without form, nor like to a breath of a:ther,
but men in human form, and that they faw, heard, and enjoyed
fenfcs, as well as the dwellers upon earth (71).

{71) That every angel, as a recipient of divine order from the Lord, is in a
human form, perfc(5t and beautiful, in proportion to his recipiency, n. 323, 1880,
1881 — 9879, 10177, 10594. That divine truth conllitutes the form or cxillence
of order, and divine good its cflcncc, n. 2451, 3166 — 10122, 10555.

That

[ 47 ]

That Heaven, both in its Whole and Parts,
refembles the Human Form j and that
from the Divine Humanity of the Lord.

78. That heaven, both in its whole and parts, refembles the
human form, and that from the d'ivine humanity of the Lord,
follows by confequence from the preceding articles ; in which
has been declared and (hewed, i. T^hat the Lord is the God of
Heaven, ii. That the Divinity of the Lord conjiitutes Heaveti.
iii. That Heaven confijls of innumerable Societies , and that every
Society is Heaven in a lejj'er Form -, and every Angel in its leaf
Form. iv. That the univerfal Heaveti in Complex refembles one
Man. V. That every Society in the Heavens alfo refembles one
Man as to its Fortn. vi. That likeivife every particular Angel is
in a perfeSl Human Form. From all thefe premifes we may
conclude, that the Deity, or Divine Nature, as conftituting
heaven, is alfo in a human form (*) : and that fuch human
form is the Divine Humanity of the Lord, though otherwife

(*) The undifcerning reader is here to be cautioned againfl: falfely imputing to
our author the error of the ancient Anthropomorphites, whofe herefy did not
confift in afcribing a human form to the Deity, for every true believer acknow-
ledges this in the WORD made flefh, but in afcribing a feparate perfonal form
to the Father or Divine Efience, in dillindlion from the Son : and it is to be wifhcd
that they who are mofl apt to fix fuch a charge upon our author may not be of
that number, who outdo the ancient Anthropomorphites in their herefy, by a
grofs iiiifundcrftanding of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, in affigning to the
Godhead THREE diftind perfonal forms, and fo plunge themfelves into Poly-
theifm, or the belief of a plurality of gods.

I fhall conclude this note with another taken from a pamphlet intitlcd, " The
" Caufc of the Petitioners examined," &c. Printed for Robinfon, Pater Nofter
Row, 1773- and to which I refer the reader for further fatisfaclion on this fubjed.

" I cannot but take occafion in this place, to condemn as highly ofRnlive,
" heathenifh and profane, the manner of fome to reprcfent the Trinity as three
" human pcrfons fitting in council, and making decrees : fee among others a book
♦' intitled. Lux in Tenebris, with fuch a print. All they who figure the like
" rcprefentations of the Godhead, whether in their minds, or on paper, whether
" by fculpture, or painting, are Tritheifts with a witnefs, however they may
" (in order to cover the abfurdity of their error) profcfs to believe in the Unity."
Tr.

thought

[ 4S ]

thought of by many in the church, will more fully appear from
the many quotations extraded from the Arcana Cii'leflia, and
collccfled together in this work ; and alfo from the Doclrine of
the Holy Jcrnjiilem, towards the end of that work, where it
treats of the Lord.

79. Tha.t this is the rea] truth, has been confirmed to me
by much experience, of which I ihall fpeak in what lollows.
All the angels in the heavens have no perception of the Divine
Majeily under any other than a human form ; and what is ilill
more to be admired, they which belong to the fuperior heavens
cannot think of him otherwife, being necefliirily led theretcj
by a divine influx, and alfo by the form and laws of the hea-
venly world, according to which their thoughts extend them-
felves around them ; for the thoughts of angels have fuch ex-
tcnfion, and in proportion thereto is their underitanding and
wifdom : hence proceeds their unanimous confent to the truth
of the Divine Humanity of our Lord, and in him only. Thefe
things were not only told me by the angels, but it was allowed
me to have a perception of them during the elevation of my
fpirit into an interior fphere of heaven : hence it appears, that
the more highly the angels are graduated in wifdom, the more
evident is their perception of this truth, and the better qua-
lified for the beatihck vifion ; for the Lord appears in an ange-
lical, that is, a human form, to thofe who acknowledge and
believe in his divinity as vifible, but not to thofe who think it
invifible ; the former are capable of beholding his glorious
Majelly, but the latter are not.

80. Forafmuch as the angels have no idea of the divine
invifible effence, which they call the divinity without form,
but only of the vifible divinity in a human form ; therefore it
is a ufual way of fpeaking with them to fay, that the Lord alone
is the true perfecT: Man, and that they are only fo far men as
they receive him, by which they mean their receiving good and
truth from him, as therein he himfelf is, and which they call
wifdom and undcrllanding ; for thefe (fay they) all may know,
conftitute the man, and not his mere face and figure without
them : and that this is fo appears evidently from the angels of
the more interior or higher heavens, who, being in the higher

deg^rees

[ 49 ]

degrees of good and truth from the Lord, are alfo of a more
beautiful and perfed: form than the lower angels : but the reverfe
of this is the cafe of the inhabitants of the infernal regions,
who, when viewed in the light of heaven, fcarcely exhibit any
thing of the human form, but appear as monfters ; forafniuch
as they are in the properties of evil and falfe, which are op-
pofite to wifdom and truth ; for which reafon their kind of life
is not called life, but fpiritual death.

8i. As heaven, both in whole and in part, thus refembles
u man, from the Divine Humanity of the Lord ; therefore the
angels commonly fay, that they are in the Lord, and fome of
them, that they are in his body, meaning, in the good of his
love ; according to thofe words of the Lord. " Abide in me,
*' and I in you : as the branch cannot bear fruit of itfelf, ex-
" cept it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except ye abide in
** me : 1 am the vine, ye are the branches : without me, ye
** can do nothing — Continue ye in my love: If ye keep my
" commandments, ye fhall abide in my love." John xv. 4 — 10.

82. Such being the perception of the divinity in the angels,
it is, as it were, congenial to every one that is a recipient of
the divine influx, to form an idea of God under fome fpecies
of humanity : thus did the ancients, and fo the moderns both
within and without the church, whilft the more fmiple of both,
figure him in their thoughts, as the ancient of days in a vefture
of light ; but many extinguifli every idea of God in their minds,
either by carnal reafonings, or an evil life (*) ; and fo in the
former cafe difpute againfl him as a revealed God ; or in the
latter, difown his exiftence ; and thus having extinguiflicd in
themfelves the light from heaven, will not allow that any others
have it : whereas it is given from above to every man as a crea-
ture born into this world for heaven, and whither no one goes
that is entirely without any idea of a Deity.

83. Hence it is, that he, who is devoid of every idea of
heaven, and fo of the Divine Creator of it, is incapable of

(*) Hence it is that fo many amongft us run into Naturalifm, afcribing all
things to blind nature, avoiding even the mention of the name of God, nay,
banilhing every idea of him from tiitir minds, and ib become atheifts ; for that of
which we have no manner of idea ccafes to be an objcit of our faith. Tr.

N entrance

[ 50 ]

entrance into heaven, but finds ii refiftance and repulfe on the
firft approach ; and that bccaufe his intcrioiir, which ihould be
the receptive and qualifying condition, is not adapted to the
Hate of heaven, but is as a ihut gate within him, and the clofer
ihut, by how much nearer he approaches to the holy abode.
Such is the fate of thofe in the outer church, who deny the
Lord, or with the Socinians difown his divinity : as to the lot
of thofe v/ho were not born nor educated within the pale of
the church, nor favoured with the light of the written Word;
tliis fhall be fpoken to hereafter.

84. That the ancients had an idea of the Divine Humanity,
is manifeft from the divine appearances to Abraham, Lot, Jofluia,
Gideon, Manoah, his wife, and others, who, though they
beheld God as man, yet they worfhipped him as the God of the
univcrfe, calling him the God of heaven and earth, and Jeho-
vah ; and that it was the Lord that appeared to Abraham, he
tells us, John viii. 56. and alfo to others in old times, John i.
18. V. 37.

85. But that God is alfo Man, will hardly be believed by
thofe who judge of heavenly things by their external fenfes, and
the things of this world, and confequently of the divine and
fpiritual, by the corporeal and natural man; for fuch a one will
immediately conclude, that if God were alfo Man, he muft
(from his ubiquity) be as large as the univerfe, or, in order to
he Governor of heaven and earth, ftand in need of many lieu-
tenant governors, like earthly monarchs ; or if we fhould tell
them, that there is no fuch extenfion of fpace in heaven, as
with us in this world, they could not receive it ; for they who
think only from outward nature on this fub)c<fl, and apply thofe
thoughts as a meafure to heavenly things, fall into grofs delufion
and abfurdity : extenfion in heaven is of a far different nature
from what is here ; in this world it is fomething determinate,
and, as fuch, meafureable ; but there indeterminate and un-
meafurable (*) : but concerning extenfion in heaven we fliall

fpeak

(*) We are fcnfiblc that this diftinftion of our author, though of highly im-
portant ufc in this fiibjcft, will be of difficult comprehcnfion with many, not
only among the unlearned, but the lciir;ied alio, as it is above the fphtre of mc-

taphyfical

[ 5' ]

fpcak hereafter, where we treat of fpace and time in the fpiritual
world. Every one knows the great extent of vifion by the
bodily organ of fight, even as far as to the fun and ftars, though
at fo immenfe a dillance ; and every man of thought can teftify
to the incomparably greater extent of fight by the eye of the
mind, and that in proportion to the interior capacity of him
that fpeculates. What then fhall we fay of him, who gave fight
both to body and mind, and is the inmoft and fupreme over all !
Such being the extent of our thoughts, how cafy is it to believe,
that the knowledge of all heavenly and divine things is com-
municated from angel to angel from the firft divine fountain of
knowledge, according to their capacities of receiving refpec-
tively, as has been declared in the preceding articles.

86. The angels wonder that men fhould account themfelves
wifer than their brethren for rejeding the belief of the Deity, as
manifefting himfelf under a human form ; whereas, if the truth
be fearched into, they will be found to have fubilituted nature
in the room of the Creator, and as totally ignorant of, what
relates to God, angels, fpirits, and even their own immortaj
fouls i concerning all which, the fimple and unlearned, whom
they fo defpife, have ideas more conform to truth than them-
felves, whilft they conceive of the Deity as having affumed a
human form ; of angels, as heavenly men ; and that they them-
felves {hall be like unto them, if they lead holy lives according
to God's commandments : thefe perfons the angels call intel-
ligent, and not the others (*).

That

taphyfical knowledge in general ; and yet it may readily be underftood by thofe
"who can abftradt their thoughts entirely from natural to fpiritual things, and alfo
may be illuftrateJ by what pafTes within us in tlie fpiritual part of our compo-
fition : Ex. <^r. Th^it the ideas and powers of tlic human mind have their extent
and limits is agreed by all ; for what is more common than to fay of fuch or fuch
a one, that he Js a man of extenfive knowledge, or of a very limited capacity ;
and yet to think of applying any determinate rule from outward nature, as an
adequate mcafure of thcfe, how grofsly abUird would be the thought ! As well
might we go about to mcafure imagination by ilie gallon, or intelledl by the car-
penter's rule. 'Ihe attentive mind, by improving tiiis hint, will difccrn the dif-
ference between degrees ;uid cxtenfion in the natural and fpiritual world:-. Jr.

(*■) We have omitted here to trandatt: a large collection of references on the
fubjecl of the Lord's Divine Humanity, as many of them have been already given;
aad as they refer to books in the hands of exceeding few : and alfo as it may be

judged

[ 52 ]

That there is a Correfpondence between all
Things in Heaven, and all Things in
Man.

87. What is meant by correfpondence between heavenly and
earthly things is fcarcely known at this time, and that through
various caufes -, but principally, becaufe man has fo flir alienated
himfelf from heaven by the love of fclf and the world j and
they who give themfelves up to thefe, diredl all their views and
purfuits to worldly things, as inorc agreeable to nature and
their external fenfes, without attending to thofe that are fpi-
ritual, and fuited to the entertainment of the mind and in-
ward fenfes ; wherefore tiiey rcjcift thefe, calling them ab-
ftrufe, and too high for them : but the ancients were other-
wife minded, for they accounted the knowledge of correfpon-
denccs as the mofl: exalted of all fciences, as the fountain from
whence they drew their underltanding and wifdom : and as to
thofe who were of the church of God, it was by means hereof
that they held communication with heaven ; for the knowledge
of correfpondences is the knowledge of angels. The moft
ancient formed their minds by the doftrine and laws of cor-
refpondence, and thought according thereto, like the angels,
and converfed with them ; and hence it was that the Lord often
vouchfafed to appear to them, and give them divine inflrudtions :
but this kind of knowledge is fo far loft amongft us at this day,
that it is fcarcely any longer known what is meant by the term
correfpondence, as here ufed (72).

88. Now forafmuch as without fome knowledge of what is
meant by correfpondence, nothing relating to the fpiritual world
can clearly be underftood ; neither concerning its influx into the
natural world ; nor of the diftindlion betwixt fpiritual and

judged of life fome time hereafter, to bring the fubftance of them together into
the form of a diftinck treatife on this fubje£l. Tr.

(72) That the fcience of correfpondences excels all other fciences, n. 4280.
That herein confifted the principal wifdom of the ancients, but that it is now
entirely loll, n. 3021, 3419, 4280 — 7729, 10252. That it flouriftied chiefly in
the Eall, and in Egypt, n. 5702, 6092, 7097, 7779, 939i> 10407.

natural ;

[ 53 ]

natural ; nor yet any thing with clearnefs of the fpirit of man
called the foul, and its operation on the body ; nor laftly, of
the rtate of man after death ; we (liall therefore here fliew what
is meant by correfpondence, by way of preparative to what
follows.

89. And firfl:, for what is meant by correfpondence : Now
the whole natural world correfponds to the fpiritual world both
in the whole, and likewife in its feveral parts ; and what exifts
and fublifts in the natural from the fpiritual, is called corre-
fpondence ; now the whole natural world exifts and fublifts from
the fpiritual, as an effeft from its efficient caufe ; therefore there
is a correfpondent relation betwixt them. By the natural world
is meant the whole expanfe under the fun, and whatever therein
receives light and heat from it belongs to that world : by the
fpiritual world is meant heaven, and all that is therein.

90. As man is an image both of heaven and of this world,
in the leaft form (fee above, n. 57.) therefore he ftands here
both in the fpiritual and natural world : the things within
(thofe of the mind and fpirit) which refpeft the intelledl and
will, conftitute his fpiritual world ; but thofe of the body,
which refpecT: his external fenfes and anions, conftitute his
natural world : whatever therefore in his natural world (or
body, fenfes, and aftions) derives its exiftence from his fpiritual
world (or mind, intelle6t, and will) that is called correfpon-
dent (*).

91. This do(ftrine is exemplified in the human countenance:
Thus in the face of any one who is not pra6tifed in the art of

(*) In this (kTiiiition riud diitinilion the intelligent render will find a mofl
admirable and important part of iiiflruiStion, whicli will explain a man to himfclf,
and point out to him all the good and evil in his life, without the help of that
kind of fophiftry commonly called Cafuiflical Divinity. It may be fufficient here,
for a farther explanation of our author's meaning, to obferve, that correfpondence
between things fpiritual and natural, fignifies the efR'nce of a thing brought into
form, or the principle manifefted in a<5t : thus benevolence fhcvvs itfelf in benefits,
and malevolence in injuries : and thus throughout nature, the heavenly world or
good principle realizes itfelf in beautiful and good productions ; and the hellifli,
or evil principle, In all the various forms of nionltrofity and evil : and fo the
rage and horrors of the dark world break forth in thunder and lightning, (torni
and tempeft ; but the niecknefs of paradife rcfrcflies all nature with the genial
warmth and foft bl.mdilhments of vernal delights. It is here to be noted, that
tlie fcienc: of phyfiogaomy is grounded in that of. corrcfpondences. Tr.

O difiimu-

[ 54 ]

diflimulation, we may read the affe<5lions and pafilons of his
mind, as in their type or natural form : hence it is common
to fay, that the face is the index of the mind ; or in other
words, the fpiritual world of fuch or luch a one is conlpicuous
in his natural world : in like manner, the things of the intellect
are rcprefented in the fpeech ; and thofe of the will, in the
geftures and movements of the body : now all that is thus
exprelled in the body, whether by the face, fpeech, or gcflures,
is called correfpondence.

92. Hence may be underftood what is meant by the inter-
nal, and what by the external man, and that the former is
called the fpiritual, and the latter the natural man ; and alfo
that the one is as diltincft from the other, as heaven is from
this world ; and moreover, that all that is formed in or- done
by the latter is from the former.

93. So much for correfpondence between the Inward or fpi-
ritual, and the outward or natural man : we lliall now proceed
to fpeak of that correfpondence which is between the whole of
heaven, and the feveral parts of man.

94. It has been fliewed, that the univerfal heaven refemblcs
one man, or is in a human form, and fo called the Grand (or
greatefl;) Man ; and alfo that the angelical focieties, of which
heaven confilts, have accordingly their order and fituation like
the members, organs, and vifcera in the human body, fo that
fome of them occupy the place of the head, fome that of the
breall, others that of the arms, and others alfo different parts
of thefe, fee n. 59 to 72 : confequently fuch focieties as are in
any particular member there, correfpond to the like member in
man here ; as for example, they who are in the head tl>ere, cor-
refpond to the head in man here ; they who are in the breaH, to
the breafi: ; they who are in the arm^, to the arms, and fo of the
reft : it is from this correfpondence that man fubfills, his fub-
iiflence or continued exilience being from heaven only.

95. That heaven is dilUnguiflied into two kingdoms, the
one of which is called the coflellial, the other the fpiritual king-
dom, has been fliewed in its proper article : now the cadellial
kingdom in common corrcfponds to the heart, and what ap-
pertains to it in the whole body ^ and the fpiritual kingdom to

the

[ 55 ]

the lungs, and ^vhat appertains thereto in the whole body : the
heart and lungs do alio form two kingdoms ; the former ruling
therein by the arteries and veins ; and the latter by the nervous
and motive fibres, and both in every effort and aftion of the
body. In the fpiritual world or fpiritual man of every one are
alio two kingdoms, the one is that of the will, the other tliat
of the intelled: : the will governs by the afteftions of good, and
the intelledl by the affeftions of truth ; and thefc two kingdoms
correfpond to thofe of the heart and the lungs (*) in the body :
fo likewife in the heavens ; the cceleflial kingdom is the will-
part (volunt avium ca'lij of heaven, and there the good of love
has the afcendant or government ; and the fpiritual kingdom
is the intellectual part (IntelleBiiah' cceli) of heaven ; and there
truth has the afcendant or government ; and thefe two kingdoms
correfpond to the fundfions of the heart and lungs in man.
From this correfpondence it is, that the heart in the word
fignifies the will, and alfo the good of love ; and alfo that the
breath or pulmonary fpirit fignifies the underftandiiig and true
of faith : hence alfo it is, that the affecflions are afcribed to
the heart, though in reality that is not the feat or caufc of
them (73).

(*) It is to be obferved here, that though the word lungs is not mentioned in
Scripture, as might be expected of fo principal a corrcfpondeiit in the human
body, according to the dotliine and diftindtion of our author, yet the word breathy
fo frequently mentioned there, is u("ed as its fubftitute, and anfwcrs to, or is the
corrcfpondcnt of fpirit ; and the fame word in the Greek fignifies both breath and
fpirit.

(73) Of the correfpondence of the heart and lungs with the grand man or
heaven, from experience, n. 3883 to 3896. That the heart corrcfponds to the
•angels in the coeleftial kingdom, and the lungs with thofe of the fpiritual king-
dom, n. 3685, 3886, 3887. That the angels have a pulfe like that of the heart,
and refpiration like that of the lungs in men here, but more interior, n. 3884,
3885, 3887. That the pulfe of the heart in angels varies accordmg to their fbtc
of love J and their refpiration according to their ftate of charity * and faith,
n. 3886, 3887, 3889. That the heart in Scripture means the fame with will,
anil therefore, y>'«rt tht heart, the fame with from the will, n. 2930, 7542, 8910,,
9)13, 10336. That the heart in Scripture alfo fignifies love, and therefore, yrow
the heart, llie fame as, from love, n. 7542, 9050, 103 36.

• The author here differences love from charitf no otherwife, than as the former fig-
nifies love to the Lord, and the latter love to our neighbour.

96. The

[ 5(> ]

96. Tlie correfpondencc of the two kingdoms of heaven
with the heart and kings, is the correfpondence of heaven with
man in common, or of the whole of one with the whole of
the other ; the lefs common or particular, is with the feveral
members, organs, and vifcera of man, as fliall be here fpeci-
fied : they who in the Grand Man or Heaven belong to the
head, are the angels who excel all others in every fpecies of
good, as love, peace, innocence, wifdom, knowledge, 6cc. and
eonfequently in joy and happinefs ; and from them proceeds the
influx into the human head, and all that appertains to it here,
for to thefe they correfpond : thofc angels which in the Grand
Man or Heaven belong to the region or province of the breail;,
excel in the good of charity and faith, and operate in their
influence on the human breail here, inafniuch as they corre-
fpond thereto : but they who in the Grand Man or Heaven
belong to the regions of the loins, and the organs appointed
for generation, are they who chiefly excel in conjugal love :
they who belong to the feet are in the loweft good of heaven,
or that which is called fpiritual-natural, or phyfico-fpiriiual
good : they who belong to the arms and hands, are in the
potency of that kind of truth which is derived from good :
they who are in the eyes, excel in underfl;anding : they who
are in the ears, in attention and obedience : they who are in the
nofe, excel in the faculty of perception : they who are in the
mouth and tongue, are eminent in fpeaking from clearncfs of
intelledt and perception : they who belong to the province of
the reins, are more particularly in that kind of truth which
illuftrates, and diflinguiflies : they who are in the liver, pan-
creas, and fpleen, excel in thofe faculties and powers which
exalt the purity of the various kinds of good and truth, by
feparating them from mixtures with their contraries : and fo in
like manner wit 11 others refpetftively, by influx operating on
the correfpondent parts in man : now influx from heaven, is in
order to the right end and ufe of all in man ; and as ufes are
from tlie fpiritual world, fo they form themfelvcs into effed: by
material inflrumcnts in the natural world ; whence proceeds
correfpondence.

97. Hence

[ 57 ]

97- Hence it is, that the fame members, organs, and vif-
cera are ufed in the Scripture (according to the dodtrine of
correfpondcnce) for the things reprefented by them : thus, by
the head is there fignified underltanding and wifdom : by the
breaft, charity : by the loins, conjugal love : by the arms and
hands, the power of truth : by the feet, that which is natural
[in dirtinftion from fpiritual] : by the eyes, intelled : by the
nofe, perception : by the ears, obedience : by the reins, the
purification [elucidation] of truth ; and fo on (74). Hence
thofc cutlomary expreiTions, when fpeaking of a man of deep
knowledge, to fay, that he has a head ; of him who is true and
faithful, that he is a bofom friend [amicus pe^on's] ; of any one
of great fagacity, that he is ready at fmelling a matter out ; of
a man that has a quick comprehcnfion, that he is fharp-fighted ;
of one in great power, that he has long arms ; and of him
who fays or does a thing with love, that he does it from his
heart : thefe and many other fayings familiar to us, are from
correfpondcnce ; for they are from the fpiritual world, though
we know it not.

98. That fuch is the correfpondcnce between all things in
heaven, and all things in man, has been manifefled to me by
long experience, and that in fo full a meafure, that my con-
vidlion herein is beyond all fliadow of doubting ; but to offer
the whole of it here, is not only unnecclfary, but, on account
of its extent, beyond my power ; but it has been given dif-
perfedly in the Arcana Ccelejiia, where I have treated of cor-
refpondences ; of reprefentations ; of the influx of the fpiritual
into the natural world ; and of the communication between foul
and body {j^).

(74) That the breaft or bofoni in Scripture fignifies charity, n. 3934, lOoSr,
lOcJ^y. That the loins and organs of generation llgnify conjugal love, n. 3021,
4280, 4462, 5050, 5051, 5052. That the arms and hands, the power of truth,
n. 878, 3O91, 4931 to 4937, ICO17. That the feet fignify external nature, or
the inferior part of the human coinpofition, n. 2162, 3147 — 4938 to 4952. Tiiat
the eye fignifies i/itelledt, n. 2701, 4403, 4523 to 4534 — 10569. That the nofe
or noltrils fignifies perception, n. 3577, 4624 — 10292. The ears, obedience,
n. 2542, 3869 — 9396, IC061. The rein?, purification, and feparation of truth
from error, n. 5380 to 5386, 10032.

(75) Of correfpotulence between all the members of the body and the Grand
ALin ( .M(i.\i/iii Htmini-) or Hcavcii, both in general and particular, as (roni expc--

P ricncc,

[ 58 ]

99- But though all things in man, even with refpecfl to his
body, correfpond to all in heaven, yet he is not an image of
heaven in his external, but in his internal form ; for it is the
interiour of man that receives the heavenly influx, ^vhilll his
extcriour or natural part is influenced by the things of this
world ; as far therefore as his interiour is receptive of the for-
mer, fo far only is he reputed a heaven in its lealT; form after the
likenefs of the greateft j but fo far as he is unreceptive of the
heavenly influx in his interiour, or inner man, fo far is he not
in the form of heaven ; and yet his exteriour, or natural man,
which communicates with this world, may be in order, accord-
ing to the laws of this mundane fyftem, and confequently be of
a beautiful form, for this originates from the parents, and his
formation in the womb, and is preferved and nouriflied by the
elements of this world ; and therefore it is, that tlie natural
form of a man often widely difl^ers from the form of his fpiritual
man. It has fometimes been given me to fee of what form the
fpirit of a man was, and it plainly appeared to me, that in
fome who were of a comely and beautiful countenance, it was
ugly, black, and monflrous, and rather to be called the image
of hell than of heaven -, whereas in others, though uncomely in
their exteriour, it was beautiful, fliining, and angelical : and it
is to be noted, that the fpirit of a man after death appears fuch
as it was before, whilil in the body.

100. But correfpondence is of much larger extent than in
reference to man only ; for there is a correfpondence of the
heavens between one another : thus the fecond or middle heaven
correfponds to the inmolT: or third heaven j and the firft or lowell
heaven correfponds to the fecond or middle heaven j and it is
this firfl or loweft heaven that more immediately correfponds to
and communicates with the corporeal forms of men, their mem-
bers, organs, and vifcera; and it is this corporeal part in man,

ricnce, n. 3021, 3624 to 3649, 3741 to 3751, 3883 to 3896, 4039 to 4051, 4218
104228, 4318104331, 4403 104421 — 552105573, 571 1 to 5727, 10030. Of
the influx ot the (piritual world or heavcu, into this our natural world, and alfo
of the influx of the foul into all parts of the body, from experience, n. 6053 to
6058, 6189 to 6215, 6307 to 6327, 6466 to 6495, 6598 to 6626. Of the com-
munication (di commercto) between foul and body, from experience, n. 6053 to
6058, 6189 to 6215, 6307 to 6327, 6466 to 6495, 6598 to 6626.

[ 59 ]

in which tlie influence of heaven terminates, and refls as on its
bafis : but this is a fecret which fhall be more fully opened in
another place.

101. It is here to be noted, as a firft principle, that all
correfpondence with heaven is through the Divine Humanity of
the Lord, forafmuch as heaven originates from him as its efTence,
as has been fhewed before : for w^ere not virtue flowing from
his Divine Humanity to influence all in heaven, and by corre-
fpondence all created nature here below, there would be neither
angel nor man : and hence likewife it does appear why the Lord
became man, and inverted his Deity with humanity, from its
higheft to its loweft nature, and dwelt amongft us, viz. becaufe,
through the degeneracy of man, all was brought into fuch dif-
order, that all communication with the Divine Humanity in
heaven, on which his falvation depended, was cut oiF, and could
only be reftored by the affumption of our natural humanity to
his Divine, as a ground of communication between him and
us. Concerning the Divine Humanity of the Lord, and the
ftate of heaven before his advent in the flefli, fee the references
mentioned at the end of the foregoing chapter.

1 02. The angels feem aflonilhed when they hear of men,
who afcribe all to nature, and nothing to the Deity, and can
believe that their own bodies, which confifl of fo many won-
derful correfpondences and reprefentations of heavenly things,
fliould be formed and fafliioned by inanimate nature ; and what
is ftill more abfurd, that they fliould afTign no higher origin to
the rational principle ; whereas the lead exercife of reflexion
might fuffice to demonflrate this to be the effedl of a divine
formation ; and that nature was created on purpofe to ferve for
a covering or outward exhibition of what is fpiritual, and to
yield a correfponding reprefentation of the fame in the loweft
order of things. All fuch are compared by the angels to owls,
which fee in' the dark, but are blind in the light.

That

[ 6o ]

That there is a Correfpondence between
Heaven, and all Thlnors on Earth.

103. We have already explained what is meant hy corre-
fpondence ; and alfo ihewed, that the whole and every part of
the human body is fuch : it now remains to make appear, that
all things of the earth, nay, of this world in general, are cor-
refpondences in like manner.

104. All things belonging to the earth are diflinguilhed into
tliree kinds, which are called kingdoms, viz. the animal, the
vegetable, and the mineral kingdoms : the things in the animal
kingdom are correfpondences in the firll degree, as having life ;
thofe in the vegetable kingdom correfpond in the fecond degree,
as having growth, but no lenfitive life -, and thofe in the mineral
kingdom correfpond in the third degree, as having neither life
nor growth. The correfpondents of the firll kingdom, are the
animals of various kinds, which either walk or creep on the
earth, or fly in the air ; which being fo well known, are not
here enumerated, as neither thofe of the fecond or vegetable
kingdom, which are all trees, herbs, plants, and flowers, which
grow and flourifh in the woods, gardens, fields, or elfewhere.
The correfpondents in the mineral kingdom, are the more noble,
and alfo the inferior metals ; precious and common ftones ;
foflils, and earths of various kinds, and alfo waters. To theie
correfpondences in the natural world, we are to add fuch things
as are prepared and fabricated of them by human Ikill and in-
duflry for the general ufe of man, as food of difl"erent kinds,
veftments, houfes, temples, with many other things.

105. The things that are above the earth, as the fun, moon,
flars, and alio in the atmofpherc, as clouds, rain, vapours,
thunder, lightning, &c. are refpedlively correfpondent ; as alfo
fuch as are occafioned by the prefence or abfence of the fun, as
light and fliade, heat and cold : in like manner thofe which
are determined by its motions, dillanccs, and variations, as
the feafons of fpring, fummer, autumn, and winter, toge-
ther

[ 6r ]

ther with the diurnal periods of morning, noon, evening, and
night.

1 06. In a word, all things that exift in nature, from the
leaft to the greateft, are correfpondences (76) ; and that becaufe
this world, together with the whole of its furniture, exifts and
fubhlls from the fpiritual world, and both from the Deity ; it
is faid here Xo fubftft alfo thence, as every thing fubfifts by that
which is the caufe of its exiftence, as its fubfiilence is no other
than the continuation of its exiftence, and becaufe it cannot
fubfill from itfelf, but from fomething prior to itfelf, and fo
on from its firfl caufe, from which, if it be feparated, it muft
perifli, and be annihilated.

107. Every thing is fiid to correfpond, which exifls and
fubfiils in nature according to the divine order ; now divine
good proceeding from the Lord, is that which conflitutes divine
order, for it begins and proceeds from him through the heavens
to this world, where it terminates in its loweft form ; and all
things here, w'hich are according to the laws of fuch order, are
called correfpondences, viz. all things that are good for ufe, for
good and ufeful mean the fame ; whereas the form or diftinftion
of a thing has relation to truth, forafmuch as truth is the form
of good : hence it is, that all things in the univerfe, and in
nature, as far as they fubfift in the divine order, bear relation
to goodnefs and truth {"J"]^.

108. That all things in the world are from God, and fo
invefted by him with natural forms, as to give them correfpon-
dence and ufefulnefs, manifeltly appears from all things both in
the animal and the vegetable kingdom, many of which difplay

(76) That all things in this World, and its three kingdoms, correfpond to thing*
in heaven, or, in other words, all things in the natural to things in tiie fpiritual
world, fee n. 1632, ]88i, 2758 — 2897 to •J003, 3213 to 3227, 3624 to 3649 —
5477, 9280. That the natural is joined to or communicates with the fpiritual
world by correfpondences, n. 8615. That hence it comes to pafs, that univcrfal
nature is one grand theatre reprelcntative of the kingdom of the Lord, n, 2758,
2999, 13000 — 8848, 9280.

{77) That all things in the univerfe, as well in heaven as on earth, which are
in the divine order, have relation to goodnefs and truth under one denomiiiation
or another, fee n. 2451, 3166, 4390 — 1C122. And alfo have a tendency to coii-
jujidioii, that they may have particular char.iiler ajid diIlui(2.ion, n. IC555.

Q^ evident

[ 62 ]

evident marks, to the thoughtful mind, of their divine original.
To inftance only in a few ; and firft in the animal kingdom : and
here, what wonderful examples of fciencc prefent themfelves
to the curious obferver ? What fkill do the bees fliew in col-
lefting their honey from various flowers, and in forming their
waxen cells wherein to depofite it for food for themfelves and
their offspring during the approaching winter ? How do they
wait upon the queen bee when ihe lays her eggs, difpofe of
them in proper apartments, and carefully provide for the fafety
of her future progeny ? How excellent is their form of govern-
ment, in which every one from an inward Teacher knows his
proper place, and where, by a flridl adminiflration of juftice,
all the ufeful members of the fociety are prote(5led, and the
unprofitable ones expelled with the deprivation of their wings ;
not to mention many other wonderful particulars of knowledge
derived to them from above, in order to the ufc and benefit of
man : thus their wax, among other ufes, being formed into
candles, afix)rds us light } and their honey fupplies us with a
grateful and falutary confedtion. How great is the fagacity of
thofe worms, which extracfl their nourifhment from the leaves
of trees, and at a certain feafon inveft themfelves with a tegu-
ment of their own working, where, as in a womb, they depo-
fite and nourifli their tender young ; whilft fome taking the
form of nymph or chryfalis, fpin their llender threads, and
after finifhing their appointed talk, aflume another body, change
their element, become volatile, and wing the foft air, chufe
their mates, lay their eggs, and tranfmit their nature to a fuc-
ceeding race. How wifely are all the birds of the air intruded
where to feek and find the particular food that is proper for
them ; how to build their nefts differently according to their
kinds, to hatch their eggs, and to provide for their young till
they are able to take care of themfelves ! And how early do
they rightly dillinguifh between their enemies and friends,
fliunning the former, and affociating with the latter ! Not to
mention here in particular the wonderful provifion obfervable in
their eggs, both for the formation and nutrition of their embryo
young through the different ftages of their growth, as alfo in-
numerable other wonderful particulars. Now who that has but

a fpark

[ 63 ]

a fpark of realbn can deny thefe things to proceed from that
wifdom which is from above, and to defcend from the fpiritual
world, to which the natural is fubfervient, by clothing thofa
things with material forms, which are fpiritual in their feveral
eliences, or, in other words, to give eifeds to fpiritual caufes.
The reafon why this kind of knowledge is innate in the other
living creatures, and not in man, though far more excellent
than them, is becaufe they ftand in that order of life to which
they were appointed ; nor could they deflroy that which is in
them by influx from the fpiritual world, as being deftitute of
reafon ; but it is otherwile with man, who, having perverted
his more exalted powers by tranfgreffing the order of his nature,
was thenceforward to be born in mere ignorance, that fo he
-might be reformed, and reftored to the order in which he was
created (which was the order of heaven) by the means appointed
by God for that end.

109. As to correfpondency in the vegetable kingdom j this
might be illullrated by many confiderations drawn from the
growth of fmall feeds into trees, putting forth leaves, bloflbms,
and fruit, in which other feeds are contained, whereby propa-
gation is carried on in a way of exiftence both limultaneous and
fucceflive, according to the laws of a wonderful order ; to in-
veftigate all the ufes of which would exceed the bounds of
human fcience : and as thefe originate from the fpiritual world
or heaven, which is in the human form, as fliewn before, fo
have they all relation to or correfpondence with fomething in
man, as is known to fome few in the learned world. That all
things in the vegetable kingdom are thus correfpondent, I have
had experimental evidence of ; for oftentimes when walking in
gardens I have infpcdled the trees, flowers, and plants therein,
I have had a fight of their correfpondents or correlatives in the
fpiritual world, and in converfation with thofe to whom thefe
lignatures belonged, have received the explanation of them from
their particular defcent, genius, and charadler (*).

110. As

(*) As this paffhge is fomewhat obfcure in the original, it neceflarily rende-is
the tranflation of it more difficult : however, tlie fubllance of it means, that the
author had a fatisfying knowledge of certain properties and qualities in fome claflls

[ 64 ]

no. As to thofe fpiritunl things in heaven, to which natural
things in this world correfpond, no one now can underftand
them, but by a particular illumination from above, forafmuch
as the fcience of correfpondences is at this time totally loll
amongll us ; however, I rtiall illullrate this do(5lrine of corre-
fpondence between natural and fpiritual things by fonie few
examples of the latter, as generally known here below. The
beafts of the earth in general, not only the tame and ufefui
ones, but alfo the wild and unprofitable, correfpond to the
affeiflions of the human mind, the former to its good affcdtions,
the latter to its evil ones : in particular, oxen and calves cor-
refpond to the aftedions of the natural mind ; but iheep and
lambs to thufe of the fpiritual mind ; whereas the winged
tribes, according to their refpeftive kinds, correfpond to the
intelledlual part in both {'/'i) : hence it was, that animals of
various kinds, as oxen, calves, rams, (heep, goats, lambs, and
alfo pigeons, and turtle doves, were appointed among the Ifrael-
ites, who were a typical or reprefentative church, for facrifices

of the vegetable kingdom, as corrcfponding with and reprefentative of certain
charasSers, difpofitions, or attributes in particular perfons : now whether this, be
called analogy, correfpondcncv, or emblematical fimilitude, it will amount nearly
to the fame. From this copious fource of refcmblances in nature to the microcofm,
or little world of man, the art of poetry confcflTedly borrows its moil {hiking
beauties ; and it formed a confiderablc part of the language of the ancient caftern
nations : and it is alfo well known, that the facred oracles of truth do inftrudl us
by fuch fimilitudes (Hofea xii. ro.) in numberlefs places, and reprefent things,
both divine and hunnan, by images or refemblances thereof in the animal, mineral,
and vegetable kingdoms of this our natural world : thus the wicked are dcleribcd
b)' thorns, to denote their oppreffioiis and otliL-r j)crnicious qualities ; whilfl the
candour, humility, and lovely fimplicity of the true church and its members, arc
figured to us by their correfpondent natural emblems in the lillics of the valley.
But the dodrine ot corrcfpondency will be opened in a deeper ground, and more
fignlficant fenfe, under a variety of ftriking illuftrations, in the following and
other works of the autlior. Tr.

(78) rh.it the beads by corrcfpondcncc fignify the affedlions, good or bad, as
the former are of the trnic and profitable, or of the wild and unprofitable kinds,
lee n. 45, 46 — 3519, 92i>0. This alfo illuftrated by experience from the fpiritual
world, n. 3218, 5198, 9C90. Of influx from the fpiritual world into the life of
hearts, n. 1633, 3^4^- ' '^''^ oxen and calves by corrcfpondcncc, the affections of
the natural mmd, n. 2180, 2566 — 10407. What flieep fignifv, n. 4169, 4809.
What lambs, n. 3994, 10132. That the fowls fignify intellectual things, n. 40,
745 — 51495 7441- And that with difference accoiding to their various, kinds and
tnlKs, by experience from the fpiritual world, n. 3219.

and

I 65 ]

and burnt offerings, as In fuch religicms inflitutions they were
reprctentative of I'piritu.il things, and accordingly were received
in heaven according to correfpondency. That animals, accord-
ing to their difference as to genus and fpccics, fland for the af-
fedions, is becaufe they are endued with life ; now the life oF
every creature is from the fire of love or affeftion, and according
to the quality thereof; and fuch alfo is their innate knowledge
rcipeilively : man alfo, confidered merely in the animal part of
his nature, is conffituted in like manner, and as fuch is com-
pared to them ; thus it is common to fay of any one that is of
a meek and gentle difpofition, that he is ilieepilli, or lamb-like;
to call a rugged or rapacious man, a bear or wolf; and to give
the name of fox or fcrpent to the fubtle and crafty, and io on.

III. Correfpondency obtains in like manner in the vegetable
kingdom : thus a garden in general correfponds to heaven in
rcfpeft to underrtanding and wifdom ; wherefore heaven is called
the garden of God and paradile (79), ^nd by man the heavenly
paradife. Trees, according to their different kinds refpedively,
correlpond to perceptions, and the cognitions of things good
and true ; and therefore the ancients, who were in the know-
ledge of correfpondency, celebrated their religious worfliip in
groves (80), and therefore it is that wc have mention made in
Scripture fo ol'ten of trees, and that .heaven, the church, and
n\an, are in fo many places compared to them, as to the vine,
the olive, the cedar, and others, and our good works to fruit.
The different kinds of food alfo, which are prepared from thefe,
but more efpccially from the feeds of the field, correfpond alfo
to the affc(ftions of the good and the true, as tliefe aPford nourifli-
ment to the fpiritual, as earthly foods do to the natural life (81).

(79) That garden and paradife by corrcfponJcnce fignify IntcIlciSt and wifdom,
n. too, 108 ; from experience, n. 3220. That all things that mutually corre-
fpond have one and the fame fignification in Scripture, n. 2890, 2987 — 3002,

3225- ^ . .

(80) That trees fignify perceptions and knowledges (cogtiit'ioncs) n. 103, 2163 —

2972, 7692. That therefore the ancients celebrated their religious worfliip in
proves under trees, according to their correfpondent kinds, n. 2722, 4552. Of
the cceleilial influx into the fubjeii'ts of tiie vegetable kingdom, as trees and plants,

(81 ) That foods by corrcfpondencc fignify fuch thijigs as are for nourilhniciit to
the fpiritoiil life, n. 31 14, 4459 — 8562, 9003.

R Hence

[ 66 ]

Hence It is that bread is the corrcfpondent to affedlon refpe«fl:ing
every particular good, as it is in a more eminent manner the'
fupport of life, and is ufed to fignify the whole of food ; and
in this univerfil fenfe it is, that the Lord calls himfcif the bread
of life ; and likewife on this account bread was appointed for
a facred fymbol in the Ifraclitini church, and was placed on a
table in the tabernacle under the name of fhew bread, or ther
bread of faces ; and alfo that the whole of divine worfhip by
facrifices and burnt offerings was called bread : laftly, it is from
correfpondency, that bread and wine are ufed in the Holy
Supper, as it is celebrated in the Chriftian church (82). Thefe
few inftances may fervc as a farther illuftration of correfpon-
dency.

112. We /hall here briefly fliew how a conjundlion is formed
between heaven and this world by means of correfpondences.
The kingdom of the Lord is a kingdom of ends or ufes, or, in
other words, a kingdom, the adminiftration whereof is to the
end of ufes ; confequently the univcrfe is fo conftituted by its
Omnipotent Creator, that all things therein fliould be fitted with
forms and powers to ferve as means to produce and realize fuch
ufes, firft in heaven, then in the general fyllem of this world ;
and fo on by a fuccefTive gradation to the leaft and loweft de-
partments of nature ; whence it follows, that the correfpon-
dence between natural and fpiritual things, or of this v/orld
and heaven, fubfifts by ufes as the means of their conjunction,
and that the external forms of thefe ufes do correfpond and
conjoin them, according to the degrees of their utility. All
things in this natural world throughout its three kingdoms, as
far as they ftand in their eftablifhed order, may be confidered as
fo many forms of ufes, or formed efFefts proceeding from ufe
to ufe i and fo circumftanced, are correfpondences : with refpcd:
to man ; as far forth as he lives according to the divine order,
or in love towards the Lord, and in charity towards his ncigh-

(82) That bread fignifies every good tlut is for fpirinial food to man, n. 2165,
2177 — 9545') 10686. That this was fignificd by the fhcvv-bread of the tabernacle,
n. 3478, 9545- That the facrifices in general were called bread, n. 2165. That
bread Hands for all kinds of food, n. 2165 : and therefore for all food coclellial
and fpihiual, n. 276, 680 — 6ii8, 8410.

hour.

[ 67 ]

hour, fo far his adllons are forms of ufes, and as fuch ib mauy
correfpondents, whereby he communicates with and is joined to
heaven ; for to love the Lord and our neighbour, is, in a general
fcnfe of the expreflion, to perform ufes (83) : moreover, let it
be remembered, that it is through man (as the proper medium
of their coimexion) that the conjunftion is formed betwixt the
natural and fpiritual worlds, as he is the fubjedl of both (fee
before n. 57.) and therefore as far forth as any man is fpiritual,
in fuch degree he is the medium of this conjunftion ; and as far
forth as he is natural and not fpiritual, .he is not fo ; neverthe-
Icfs, even in this latter cafe, the divine influx is continued to
this world, and what belongs to it in man, though it be not
received into his rational part.

113. As all things which continue in the divine order cor-
i-efpond with heaven, fo all things which are contrary to the
divine order correfpond with hell : the former have relation to
things good and true ; the latter to fuch as are evil and falfe.

114. A word more as touching the fcience of correfpon-
dences, and its ufc. It has been faid before, that heaven or the
fpiritual world is joined to the natural world by correfpondences :
hence it is that man here has the power of holding communi-
cation with heaven ; for as the bleffed angels form not their
ideas like men from natural, but fpiritual things ; io when men
are gifted with the knowledge of correfpondences, they can
think in like manner with the angels, and be joined with them

(83) That every kind of good has its delightful rclifh from and according to
its ul'es, and alfo its particular dilliniStion and quality, and therefore, as is the
ufe, fuch is the good, n. 3049, 49H4, 7038. That the angelical life confifls in
the goods of divine love and charity, and fo in the exercifc of ufes, n. 453. That
the Lord and his angels have refpe(fl only to the final caufes or ufes in human
EiStions, n. 1317, 16455 5^44- That the kingdom of the Lord is the kingdom
of ufes or good ends, n. 453, 696 — 4054, 7038. That the fcrvice of good ufes
is to fcrve the Lord, n. 7038. That all in general, and every particular thing
in man, are formed to the end of ufc, n. 3565, 4104, 5189, 9297 : and that final
caufes or ufes (as efficients to their eftedts) were prior to the fornuition of our
bodily organs, by a divine influx through heaven, n. 4223, 4926. That alfo the
interior faculties of the human mind, when attained to reafon, are formed for a
progreflion from ufe to ufe, n. 1964, 6815, 9297. That therefore man is to be
eftimated according to the ufes that he fulfills, n. 1568, 3570 — 6938, 10284.
That ufes are the ends for which all things were created, n. 3565 — 6815. That
tife is the firft and laft, and fo the whole end of man, 1964.

[ 63 ]

in the fplrltual or inward man. The Holy Scriptures are written
entirely according to the truth of correfpondency (84), in order
that wc may thereby have communication witii heaven ; and
therefore, were any one rightly polTclfcd of the fciencc of cor-
refpondences, fuch a man would thoroughly underll:and the
Scriptures in their fpiritual fenfe (as all thijigs therein fpoken
of correfpond) and would thereby come at the knowledge of
iuch fecrets as cannot be learned from their literal fenfe alone ;
for as in the written word there is a literal, fo al fo is there a i

fpiritual fenfe (85) ; the literal fenfe concerns the things of this
world ; the Spiritual fuch as are heavenly ; and as a conjuniiVion
is formed, by the relation of corrcfpondences, between heaven :j

and earth, therefore fuch a difpcnfation is vouchfafed to us, in f

which all things in both worlds do pcrfedrtly correfpond, and 4

anfwcr the one to the other, as face to flice in a glafs. ^

115. I have learned from heaven, that among the moft ;'

ancient inhabitants of our earth, there were certain heavenly
men, who \\-ere in the true knowledge of correfpondency, and
whole conceptions and thoughts were according thereto, to
whom the vifible things of this world fer.ved as fo many me-
diimis of difccrning fpiritual things, and who as fuch affociated
and convcrfed with angels, and that through them was kept up
a communication between heaven and earth j whence this was
called the Golden Age j of which mention is made by ancient
writers, who relate, that in thofe times the inhabitants of hea-
ven became the vilitors and gueils of men, and familiarly con-
verfed with them, as one friend with another -, but that to thefe
fucceeded another race of men, who were not in the fame
intuitive knowledge of corrcfpondences, but only underftood
them fcientifically : that, however, there was a communication
between heaven and earth in their days, but not fo open and
intimate as the former : this was called the Silver Age. In the
next generation were thofe who retained fome fpeculative know-

(84) That the Scriptures are to be underftood according to the do£trine of cor-
rcfpondences, n. 8615. That hereby man has a communication with heaven,
n. .-".Sgo, ^6943—1 037 5, 1C457,.

(83) Concci.-iing the fpiritual fenfe of the word, fee a fnjall Treatife concerning
t!u: White Horf:; [De Equo Alio} in the Apocalypfe.

ledge

[,69 ]

ledge of correfpondences, but did not think and difcern accord"-
ing thereto, as being only in natural, and not in fpiritual good
like the former ; and their period was called the Copper Age.
In the following times men became fucceflively merely external,
and at length corporeal or fenfual, and without all knowledge
of correfpondency, and nearly fo of all heavenly things. That
the forementioned ages were denominated from gold, filver, and
copper, was from the dotTrrine of correfpondences (86), foraf-
much as according thereto gold fignifies coeleftial good, in which
principle v/ere the moft ancient ; ijlver, fpiritual good, in which
were the ancient that fucceeded them ; and copper, natural
good, the iignature or chara<^er of the following race ; but iron,
which gives denomination to the laft times, fignifies a faplefs
knowledge of ideal truth without any mixture of good in it.

Concerning the Sun in Heaven.

1 1 6. In heaven the fun of this world appears not, nor any
thing that proceeds from it, as being natural, for nature takes
its beginning or rife proximately from this our fun, and what-
ever i'o proceeds from it is termed natural ; whereas that which
is fpiritual, as heaven, is above nature, and therefore entirely
diflinifl from all that is called natural, neither is there any com-
munication betwixt them, but by correfpondency. This di-
i'l:in(flion will be underftood by what has been laid before in
n. 38, concerning degrees ; and what is here meant by com-
munication, by what appears in the two preceding articles con-
cerning correfpondences.

117. But though neither the fun of this world, nor any
thing proceeding from it, is feen in heaven, yet neither is hea-
ven without its fun, light, and heat ; nay, therein are all things
that are in this world, with innumerable others, though of a
different origin; for the things in heaven are fpiritual, but thofe

(86) That gold according to correfpondency fignifies coelcflial good, n. 113,
1551 — 9881. That fdvcr fignihcs rpiritiuii good, or truth from coeleftial original,
n. 1551, 1552, 2954, 5648. That c()p])cr fignifies natural good, n. 425, 1551-
That iron fignifies tniih tii the lowdt order, n. 425, 426.

S oil

[ 7» .]

on earth are natural. The fun of heaven is the Lord, the light
of it is divine truth, and the heat of it divine love, proceeding
from the Lord as a fun ; and from him as their divine fource
do all heavenly things proceed : but concerning the light and
heat in heaven, and whatever is produced by them, Ihall be
treated of in the following articles } but here firft as touching
its fun. Now the Lord appears in heaven as a fun, forafniuch
as he is that divine love from which all fpiritual things derive
their exiftence, and alfo, through the medium of this our mun-
dane fun, all natural things likewife : he is that love whofe
brightnefs is as the fun.

1 18. That the Lord adlually appears in heaven as a fun,
has not only been told me by the angels, but alfo been granted
me to fee myfelf at certain times ; and therefore I fhall here
briefly relate what I myfelf have fo heard and feen of this won-
derful appearance. The Lord appears in heaven as a fun, not
as horizontally in heaven, but high above the heavens ; not
over head or vertical, but before the faces of the angels in a
middle altitude : he appears in two places, in one before the
right eye, in the other before the left eye, and that at a con-
fiderable diftance : before the right eye he appears as a perfeft
fun, of a glow and magnitude fimilar to thofe of our mundane
fun ; but before the left eye he appears not a fun, but as a
moon, of the like fliine, but brighter, and of the like mag-
nitude with our moon, and as furrounded with many Iclfer
moons, each in like manner having its particular glittering luftre.
That the Lord appears in two places fo differently, is becaufe
that his appearance is to every one according to their quality
and degree of their recipiency refpe(ftively, and therefore other-
wife to thofe who receive him in the good principle of love,
than to thofe who receive him in the good of faith ; to the
former his appearance is like that of a fiery refulgent fun, and
they are the angels of his caleftial kingdom ; but to the latter
as a pale but bright moon, and thefe are the angels of his fpi-
ritual kingdom (*) 3 and to both in degrees refpetftively to their

reci-

(•) The author, as obferved before, diftinguifhcs tlie third and fccond heavens
by the numcs of coelcftial and fpiritual ; the third or coeleltial as the higheft, the

angels

[ 71 ]

recipiency (Sy) : the reafon of which i?, becaufe the good of
love correfponds to fire, and therefore fire in a fpiritual fenfe
fignifies love : and the good of faith correfponds to light in a
fpiritual fenfe, and fignifies faith (88). That he appears in the
plane of or before the eyes, is becaufe the interiour of the mind
manifefls itfelf by the eyes, the good of love through the right
eye, and the good of faith through the left eye (89) ; for that
which is on the right fide of angels or men correfponds to that
good, which is the fource of truth ; and that which is on the
left, to that truth which ifilies from it (90). The good of
faith, as to its eflence, is that truth which proceeds from the
good principle.

119. Hence it is, that in the Scriptures the Lord, with
regard to love, is compared to the fun ; and with regard to faith,
to the moon ; and alfo that our love to the Lord, as proceeding
from him, is fignified by the fun ; and our faith in the Lord,
as his gift, is fignified by the moon, as in the following places :
" Moreover, the Mght of the moon fhall be as the light of the
" fun, and the light of the fun fliall be feven-fold, as the light
** of feven days ;" Ifai. xxx. 26. *' And when I fhall put thee

angels of which excel in divine love ; and the fecond or fpiritual, the angels of
which are n)orc efpccially charaftered by faith and love to their neighbour. Tr.

(87) That the Lord appears in heaven as a fun, and alfo is the fun of heaven,,
n. 1053, 3636, 3643,. 4060. That he appears to the fabjefts of his cceleftial
kingdom, which excel in love to him, as a fun ; and to the fubjedls of his fpi-
ritual icingdom, whofe more diftinguifbing charaiSler is that of fajth and charity
to tlieir neighbour, n. 1521, 1529, 1530, 1531, 1837, 4696. That the Lord
appears as a fun in the middle altitude before the right eye ; and as a moon before
the left eye, n. 1053, 1521, 1529 — 8812, 10809. That the Lord has been feen^
under this twoi'old appearance, n. 1531, 7173. That the real divinity of our
Lord is far above his divine manifcftations in heaven, n. 7270, 8760.

(88) That fire in the Scriptures fignifies love in both fenfes, n. 934, 4906,.
5215. That the facred or cceleftial fire fignifies divine love, n. 934, 6314, 6832.^
That the infernal fire fignifies the love of felf and of tiie world, and all concu-
pifcencc arifing from thofe loves, n. 1801 — 7575, 10747- That love is the fire-
of life, and that life itfelf aiSually proceeds therefrom, n. 4096, 507 1, 6032,
6314. That light fignifies the true of faith, n. 3395, 3485 — 9548, 9684.

(8g) That the fight of the left eye correfponds to the truths of faith, and the
fight of the right eye to their good, n. 4410, 6923.

■ (90) That the parts or organs, which are on the right fide of the human body,.
correfpond to the good from which any truth proceeds, and thofe on the left to.
fuch kind of truth, n. 9495, 9604.

*«

OUt>

[ 7- ]

** out, I will cover tlie heaven, and make the flars tliereof
** dark ; I will cover the fun with a cloud, and the moon Ihall
" not give her light : all the bright lights of heaven will I
*' make dark over thee, and fet darknefs upon thy land ;" Ezek.
xxxii. 7, 8. " The ftars of heaven, and the conilellations
" thereof, fliall not give their light : the fun fliall be darkened
*' in his going forth, and the moon Ihall not caufe her ligiit
** to fliine ;" Ilai. xiii. 10. " The fun fliall be turned into
*' darknefs, and the moon into blood; and the Ihxrs fliall wilh-
** draw their fliining ;" Joel ii. 31. iii. 15. " The fun be-
*' came black as fackcloth of hair, and the moon became as
*' blood, and the flars of heaven fell into the earth ;" Apoc.
vi. 12. " Immediately after the tribulation of thofe days fliall
*' the fun be darkened, and the moon fliall not give her light,
*' and the flars fliall fall from heaven ;" Matt. xxiv. 29, and
elfewhere : in which places, by the fun is fignified love, and
by the moon faith, and by the ftars the knowledges [cognitionfs]
of good and truth (91), which are then faid to be darkened, to
lofe their light, and to fall from heaven, when the things figni-
fied by them ceafe among men. That the> Lord appears as a
fun in heaven, may alfo be gathered from his transformation
before Peter, James, and John, when " his faced fliined as
*' the fun ;" Matt, xvii, 2. Such was his appearance to his
difciples, when they were out of the body, and in the light of
heaven. From fome knowl-edge of this truth it was, that the
ancients, who formed a reprefentative church, in their more
folemn adorations turned their faces to the eafl, where the fun
rifes ; and alfo gave a like afpedl to their temples.

120. The greatnefs of divine love may in a fort be conceived
by us, from its being compared to the fun of our world, though
indeed it is far more ardent ; and therefore the Lord, as under
the manifeftation of his divinity by a fun, tempers the ardour
of it in the progreflion of its powers, according to certain de-
grees, denoted by apparent radiant circles round the fun : the
angels, moreover, are furrounded by a kind of thin, tranfparent

(91) That the ftars and conftellations fignify in the word the knowledges of
good and truth, n. 2495, 2849, 4697.

vapour,

[ n ]

vapour, to enable them to ruftiiin the divine influx (92), ac-
cording to their receptivity of which, is the nearer or greater
dilhmce of tlie angels ; thus fuch of them as excel moft in the
good of love are nearcit to this divine fun, whilft they who
are charadlered by the good of faith, are more remote from it :
but as to thofe who are in no kind of good, of which fort are
the infernal fpirits, they are at an immenfe diftance, and that
in proportion to the degree of their oppofition to all good (93).

121. When the Lord appears in heaven with the angels, as
he often does, he appears not as clothed with the fun, but in
an angelical form, though diftinguilhed from the angels bv a
divine glory radiating from his countenance ; not that this is
properly his appearance in perfon, for that is always as clothed
with the fun (Rev. xii. i.) but it is his [apparent or] prefence
by afped; ; for in heaven it is common for the blefled beings to
appear in the termination of the beholder's view, though it be
far diftant from the place where they a(flually are ; and this
apparent prefence is called the prefence of the internal fight,
of which hereafter. I alfo myfclf have it^xx the Lord without
the fun, and in a lefTer degree of altitude, in an angelical form;
and alfo near, in a like form, with a fplendid countenance ; and
once alfo in the midft of the angels as a flaming ftream of light
[^Juhar flainmeuni\ .

122. The fun of this world appears to the angels as a dark
fpot, in oppofition to the heavenly fun, and the moon in like
manner, in oppofition to the heavenly moon ; and that becaufe

(92) Whnt and how great the divine love of the Lord is, illullratcd by a com-
parifon with tlie fire of this world's fun, n. 6834, 6844, 6849. ^ hat the divine
love of the Lord is his love for all mankind, in order to their falvation, n. 1820,
1865, 2253, 6872. That the fire of divine love, in its full ardour, enters not
heaven, but apjjcars in the form of radiant circles round the fun, n. 7270. That
the angels arc, as it were, veiled with a kind of rare vapour, or diaphanous cloud,
to moderate the ardour of the divine influx, n. 6849.

(93) That the divine prefence with the holy angels is in proportion to their
reception of the good of love and faith from the Lord, n. 904, 4198 — 10106,
10811. That the Lord's appearance to every one is according to his quality and
difpofition refpcctivcly, n. 1861, 2235, 419H, 4206. That the rcinotc diltance
of the hells from the heavens, is becaufe the infernals arc not able to endure the
influx of divine love, n. 4299, 7519 — 8266, 9327. Hence it is, that between
heaven and hell there is fo great a gulf, n. 9346, 1O187.

T the

[ 74 ]

the clement of fire in this world correfponds to the love of fclF,
and the light proceeding from it to fallehood the ifliie of that
love : now the love of fclf is diametricLilly oppofite to divine
love, as falfehood is to divine truth ; and all that is oppofite to
divine love and divine truth is as darknels to the angels : there-
fore it is, that to ^\;orlhip the fun and moon of this world, and
to bow down to them, denotes in Scripture felf-love, and flille-
hood, and error derived therefrom, and that all fuch flaould be
cut off; Deut. iv. 19. xviii. 3, 4, 5. Jer. viii. 1, 2. Ezek, viii.
15, 16, 18. Apoc. xvi.'8. Matt. xiii. 6. (94).

123. As the Lord's appearance in heaven is as a fun from
the divine love that is in him, and proceeds from him, there-
fore all the angels conftantly turn their faces towards him ; they
in the ca'leftial kingdom towards him as a fun, and the fpi-
ritual kingdom towards him as a moon ; whereas the infernal
fpirits turn themfelves to that blacknefs and darknefs which are
oppofite thereto, having their backs towards the Lord, foraf-
much as all that are in hell are in the love of felf and of the
world, and as fuch in oppofition to his Divine Majefty. Such
of them as face to that dark orb, which is reprefentative of the
fun of this world, are in the hells behind, and are called Genii ;
but they which face to that which is reprefentative of the moon,
are in the foremoft hells, and are called Spirits : hence it is,
that all who are in hell are faid to be in dirknefs, and all who
are in heaven to be in light : darknefs correfponds to the falfe,
as proceeding from evil, and light to the true, as proceeding
from the good principle. That the inhabitants of the otheF
worlds turn their fiices as before-mentioned, is becaufe all there
dircift their view to thofe things which correfpond to their in-
teriour, or what they love moil -, for the f\ices of angels and
fpirits manifert and are directed by their interior difpofitions and

(94) Th.it the fun of this world is not vifiblc to the angels, it being as a dark
orb behind them, oppofite to the heavenly fun, n. 7078, 9755. That the fun,
in an oppofite fcnfe, fignifies the love of felf, n. 2441 ; in which fenfc, to worfhip
the fun, is to worfhip thofe things which are contrary to divine love, or to the
Lord, n. 2441, 10584. That the heavenly fun is to thofe that are in the hells,
as .1 blackncft, n. 2441.

ftates i

[ 7S ]

ftates ; and, as obferved before, in the fpiritual world the four
cardinal points are' not fixed, as in the natural, but are deter-
mined by the afped: of the face : nor is it otherwife with the
fpirit of man in this world ; for it turns its afpe6t to or from
the Lord, according as it is in the love of him and its neigh-
bour, or in the love of felf and the world ; but this man is
ignorant of, while he continues in this natural world, where the
four quarters are determined by the riling and fetting of the
fun : but as this is difficult of comprehenfion, it will be illu-
flrated in the fequel of this work, where the four quarters,
fpace, and time in heaven, will be treated of.

124. As the Lord is the fun of heaven (Rev. xxi. 23.) and
all things there point to him as to their divine original, fo
confequently he is the common centre of all diredlion and de-
termination (95) : and hence it further follows, that all things
both in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, are prefent
to him, and under his government.

125. From the things here laid down will more clearly
appear what has been alferted and proved in fome preceding
articles concerning the Lord as the God of Heaven, n. 2 to 6.
That the Virtue of his Divinity conjtitutes Heaven, n. 13 to 19.
That there is a Correfpondence between all Things in this World and
Heaven, and through Heave?! with the Lord, n. 87 to 115 : as
r.ljb that the Sun and Moon of this World have their correfpondent
Relations, n. 105.

Of Light and Heat in Heaven.

126, That there is light in heaven is not to be conceivecf
by thofe, who form their idea of light only from our natural
fun ; whereas the heavenly light far exceeds the meridian light
of this world : I have often feen it, and alfo at thofe times of
its diminution, which anfwer to our times of evening and

^95) That the Lord is the common centre to whom all things in heaven tend,

night*

[ 76 ]

night (*). At firft I was furprized to hear the angels affirm,
that the light of this world was but as ihadc compared to that
of heaven -, but I can now alfert the truth of it from ocular
evidence, and that the fplendour of it exceeds all defcription :
the things which I have fcen in heaven was by this light, and
confequently with greater clearnefs and diftindion than any
which are feen on earth,

127. The light of heaven is not a natural light, like that
of our world, but fpiritual, for it proceeds from the Lord as
a fun, and that fun is divine love, as was fhewed in the pre-
ceding article. This emanation from the Lord, as a fun, is
called in heaven by the name of Divine Truth, and is in its
elTcnce and fource divine good united with divine truth ; and
hence the angels have their light and heat, the former from the
divine truth, the latter from the divine good or love, which,
like their divine original, are both fpiritual, not natural (96).

128. That divine truth is the light of the angels, is becaufe
the angels are fpiritual beings, and fuch fee things by the light
of their proper fun, as natural beings do by the light that is
proper to them ; and as divine truth is to the angels a fource of
intellecftual fight, fo this by influx produces their external vifion ;
and thus the light of the divine fun illuminates all things in
heaven, both inwardly and outwardly (97). And as fuch is the

(•) It is certain that the great A'lilton had fome idea of fuch variation in heaven,
by the following lines :

" There is a cave

" Within the mount of God, fafl by the throne,

" Where light and daricnefs in perpetual round

" Lodge and diflodgc bv turns, which makes through hcav'n

*' Grateful viciflltudc, lilce dav and night :

*' Though darkntfs there might well

" Seem twilight here." Par. Lost. B. VL

The a!)ove quotation is not adduced by way of authority, but to fhcw that
certain notices of heavenly things are imprefled on fomc minds by a kind of hea-
venly irradiation or influx.

(96) That all light in the heavens is from the Lord, as a fun, n. 1053, 1521 —
9548, 9684, 10809. Tliat divine truth proceeding from the Lord has its external
appearance in heaven as light, and conltitutes all the light of heaven, n. 3195,
3222 — 9684.

(97) That the light of heaven illuminates angels and fpirity, both as to their
intclleiSlual and organical fight, n. 2776, 3138.

original

[ 77 ]

original of light in heaven, fo does it likcwile differ in degree,
according to the different reception of divine truth from the
Lord in the angels, or, in other words, according to their dif-
ferent qualities or meafures, as to underflanding and wifdom (*) ;
for thefe are not the fame in all, but different not only in the
cceleftial and fpiritual kingdoms, but alfo in the feveral focieties
in each of thole kingdoms : thus, with refpedl to external vifion,
tiie light of the cotleflial kingdom appears of a flame colour,
as the angels therein receive their light from the Lord as a fun;
but in the fpiritual kingdom it appears of a white or filver
colour, as the angels of the latter receive it from the Lord as
a moon. See above, n. ii8. Nor is the light the fame to one
fociety as to another ; thus, they who are in the centre have
a larger meafure of it than they who are in the circumference j
•and fo in proportion according to their diftances refpedlively,
n. 43. In a word, according to the degree in which the angels
are recipient of divine truth, or, in other words, according to
the meafure of their underftanding and wifdom from the Lord,
fuch is their light (98) : however, all the angels of heaven are
called angels of light.

129. As the Lord in the heavens is divine truth; and as
divine truth there appears in the form of light, therefore he is
called in Scripture, The Light ; as likewife all truth that pro-
ceeds from him, as in the following places : " Jefus faid, I am
" the light o^ the world ; he that followeth me (liall not walk
" in darknefs, but Ihall have the light of life;" John viii. 12.
" Whilft: I am in the world, I am the light of the world ;"
John xix. 15. " Jefus faid, Yet a little while, and the light
" is with you : walk whilft ye have the light, lell darknefs
" come upon you : while ye have light, believe in the light,
" that ye may be the children of light. I am come a light
" into the world, tliat whofoever believcth in me fliould not

(*) According to th;\t received maxim: ^'tcquid recipitur, rccipitur ad inodian
}',\ipi(-itt'!S.

(98) That light in heaven is according to the underftanding and wifdom in the
angels, n. 1524, 1529, 1530, 3339- Tliat the differences in light there, arc as
nianv as angelical locieties ; and alfo in proportion to the rucceiiivc variations iti
the decrees of goodnefs and truth, and fo ot wifdom and underftanding, in thofc
focieties, n. 684, 690, 3241 — ji^S^.

U " abide

[ 78 ]

' abide in darknefs ;" John xii. 35, 36, 46. " Light is come
' into the world, but men love darknefs rather than light ;"
[ohn iii. 19. And John, fpcaking of the Lord, fiys : " This
' is the true light, which lighteth every man that cometh into
the world ;" John i. 4, 9. " The people who lat in dark-
aiefs fliall fee great light ; and to thofe who Hit in the fhadow
of death is light arifen ;" Matt. vi. 16. "I will give thee
for a covenant to the people, for a light to the Gentiles ;"
Ifaiah xlii. 6. "I have given thee for a light to the Gentiles,
' that thou mayeft be my falvation, even to the ends of the
' earth ;" Ifaiah xlix. 6. " The nations of them that are
* fiived fliall walk in his light ;" Rev. xxi. 24. " Send forth
' thy light and thy truth : they ihall lead me ;" Pfli. xliii. 3.
In thefe and other places the Lord is called Light, as the foun-
tain of that divine truth that proceeds from him, which alfo is
called Light ; and as he is the divine fun that gives light to the
heavens, fo when he was transformed before Peter, James, and
John, " his face appeared as the fun, and his garments fliining,
*' and white as fnow, fo as no fuller on earth can white them ;"
Mark ix. 3. Matt. xvii. 2. That the Lord's garments appeared
in this fort, was becaufe they reprefentcd divine truth as pro-
ceeding from him in heaven, and as garments in the Scriptures
fignify truths (99) j and to this purpofe are thofe words of
David : *' O Lord, thou clothcll thyfelf with light, as with
" a garment ;" Pfa, civ. 2.

130. That the light in heaven is fpiritual, and the flimc
with divine truth, may alfo be gathered from hence, viz. that
there is alfo a fpiritual light in man, which at times illul1:rates
his mind with the knowledge of divine truth, according to his
clafs in the fchool of wifdom. The fpiritual light in man is
the light of his underftanding, as far as it has truths for its
objefts, which he difpofes analytically in order, forms into
reafons, and from thence draws conclufions (100) : the natural

(99) That garments in the Scripture fignify truths, as thefe nre the clothing of
good, n. 1073, 2576 — 9952, IC536. 1 hat the garments of the Lore', at his
transfiguration, fignificd divine truth proceeding from his divine love, n. 921 z,
9216.

(100) That the illumination of the human intelledl by the light of heaven, is
the caufe of rationality in man, n. 1524, 3138 — 9399> 10569. That the miiiJ

has

[ 79 ]

man indeed knows not that this is a real light by which we To
fpeculate, becaufe he fees not either inwardly or outwardly j but
nevcrthelefs, many know it to be fo, and have a diflindt per-
ception of its difference from that natural light which they are
in, whofe thoughts are not fpiritual, but natural only j of
which fort are all thofe who have regard only to things of this
world, and afcribe all to nature j whereas they that think fpi-
ritually, think of heavenly things, and afcribe all to God : and
tha.t it is a real and true light which illuminates the minds, and
totally diftindl from that which we call natural light, has often
been given me to difcern, by a gradual afcent of the mind
therein, and according to the degrees of fuch elevation, I have
been given to perceive things, of which I had not the leafl:
perception before, and fo on to higher things, which far ex-
ceeded my conception by any powers of the natural under-
ftanding ; and fome times 1 have been much diPcurbed and of-
fended at my prior ignorance of things, which I faw with fuch
convincing evidence by a fpiritual light (loi) : and as light and
vilion are thus proper to the intelled:ual part, fo by correfpon-
dence we apply to it the fame terms that we make ufe of in
fpeaking of corporeal light ; thus it is commonly faid of the
imderftanding, when it is in the perception of any truth, that
it fees it, or is in the light of it j and fo on the contrary, when
it perceives it not, that it is in darknefs concerning it, with
many other like expreffions.

has its capacity for divine illumination from its being receptive of truth, n. 6222,
6608, 10659. That its illumination is in proportion to its recipiency of truth in
the good principle from the Lord, n. 3619. That the mind of man takes its par-
ticular diilinction and charaftcr from the nature and quality of the truths it im-
bibes, and which form it, n. 10064. That the light of hLavcn is to the human
intelled what the light of this world is to the eye, n. 1524, 5114, 6608, 9128.
That heavenly light from the Lord is always prcfcnt with man, but influences him
no farther than as he is in that truth which is from good [/« vffo ex bono'] n. 4060,

42 J 3-

(loi) When any one is raifed up from a ftate of fenfual darkne{s, he is firft

brought into a lower degree of light, and fo on, till he is exalted to coeleftial light,

n. 6313, 6315, 9407. That he is then exalted to heavenly light, when he attains

to a right underitanding of divine truth, n. 319O. How great the light I became

percipient of, when 1 was raifed above all thoughts relating to worldly things,

ji. 1526, 66g8.

131. As

■[ 8o ]

131. As the light of heaven is divine truth, or, in otlier
words, divine wildoni and underftanding ; confequently, to be
raifed up to the light of heaven, and to have the illumination
of divine underllanding, mean the flime thing ; and therefore
the light of the angels is in exaifl proportion to their under-
Handing and wifdom : and as light in heaven [in its eHence] is
divine wifdom, fo does it manifeft the particular diilindtions and
qualities of the angels, for with thofe blelfed beings the fl\ce is
the index of the mind, and reveals all that is within ; nay, the
more interior angels love to have it fo, as they harbour nothing
but what is [^ood in their intentions and wills : but the cafe is
far othcrwife with the infernal fpirits ; for as they are void of
all good within, they dread being viewed in the manifefting
light of heaven ; and (which will be thought very ftrange)
though they appear to one another in the regular human form,
yet when viewed by the heavenly light, they appear as monfters,
with ugly faces and hideous rtiapcs, correfponding to the evil
that is within them refpedively (102) : nor is it otherwife with
man, as to his fpiritual form, when viewed by the angels ; for
it he is in the good principle, he appears to them in a beautiful
human form according to his good ; but if in the evil principle,
he appears to them deformed and ugly according to his evil ; for
all things are made manifeft in the light of heaven, forafmuch
as it is the fame with divine truth.

132. As divine truth is the eflence of the heavenly light,
therefore all truths every where, whether within or without the
angels, and within or without the heavens, have a lucid form,
but the latter in a lefs degree ; for truths without the heavens
have a cold lucid afpecft, like fnow without heat, as not having
their eflence from good, like truths within the heavens ; where-
fore fuch kind of frigid light difappears upon the breaking in
upon them of the heavenly light, and is turned into darknefs,
if evil be concealed under it : this I myfelf have fometimes feen,
as alio many other memorable things concerning Ihining truths,
which I here pafs o\cr,

(lO?) That they who arc in hell appear to one another like men by their own
light, which rcfemblcs that from fiery coals, but as monfters in the light of hea-
ven, n. 4532, 4533 — 6605, 6626.

133. I pro-

[ 8i J

133. I proceed to lay fomething concerning the heat of
heaven, which in its eflence is love, for it proceeds from the
Lord as a fun, and that fun in its eflence is divine love pro-
ceeding from the Lord, as has been fliewed in a former article ;
[q that the heat of heaven is equally fpiritual with the light of
heaven, leeing that the origin of both is the fame (103). There
are two things which proceed from the Lord as a fun, divine
truth and divine good : tlie former has its manifeftation in
heaven as light, and the latter as heat, but both in fuch a Hate
of union, as to form only one and the fame thing ; nevcr-
thelefs in the angels they are diflindl, as fome angels receive
more of the divine good, and fome, on the other hand, more
of the divine truth ; they of the former clafs belong to the
ca'leflial kingdom of the Lord, and thofe of the latter to his
fpiritual kingdom ; but fuch among them as receive of both in
equal meafure, are the moil perfedt of all.

134. The heat, as well as light of heaven, varies throughout
the regions of blifs, not being the fame in the cceleilial with
that of the fpiritual kingdom ; nay, it differs in every fociety
in both, as well in degree as quality ; it is more intcnfe and
pure in the coeleftial kingdom, as the angels therein receive
more of the divine good ; but lefs intenfe and pure in the fpi-
ritual kingdom, as the angels therein receive lefs of divine good
than of divine truth ; nay, it varies in every particular fociety
refpecftively, according to their difference of recipiency. The
hells allb have their heat, but of an impure nature (104) : the
heat in heaven, reprefented by the facred and coeleflial lire, and
the heat of hell, by the profane and infernal fire, are both cor-
refpondents of love ; the former of love to the Lord and our
neighbour, and of every particular afFeftion proceeding there-

(103) That there is a twofold origin of heat and light, the one from the fun
of this world, the other from the coelcftial fun, n. 3338, 5215, 7324. That
heat from the Lord as a fun, is that fpiritual aftcdtion which proceeds from love,
n. 366, 3643. Hence, that fpiritual heat in its cfl'cncc is love, n. 2146, 3338,
3339. 6314.'

(104) I hat the h.ells alfo have rcfpccStively their heat, but of an impure kind,
n. 1773, 2757, 3340 ; and that it yields a foetid, excrementitious fnicll ; and iii
the lov.-cfl hells like that which proceeds from a putrid carcafc, n. 814, 815 — 944,
5394-

X from i

[ 82 ]

from ; the latter of the love of fclf and the world, and of all
their concomitant concupifcenccs. That love is heat from a
fpiritual fource, is evident from its effcds ; for how does any
one feel himfelf warmed by its influence, according to its de-
gree and quality ; nay, how hot when crolled in this palhon ?
Hence thofe common forms of fpeaking ; to take fire, to glow,
to burn, and the like, when we would exprefs the fervors of
a lawful, or unlawful love.

135. That love proceeding from the Lord as a fun is felt in
heaven as heat, is becaufe the divine principle, or fire of love
•within the angels, excites that fenlation in their external form, ;|,'
for love and heat mutually correfpond both in kind and degree,

as was obferved before. The heat of this world finds no place
in heaven, as being of a grofs nature, and not fpiritual ; though
it is otherwife with us men, as partaking of both worlds at the
fame time, the natural and the fpiritual ; and therefore have not ^•

only a fpiritual heat adapted to fpiritual afFe«flions, but alfo a
corporeal fenfation of heat derived by influx therefrom, as well
as from the natural fire of this world. The correfpondence
between thefe diflrerent kinds of heat is manifcft in the loves of
the brute animals, the chief of which is that of propagating
their fpecies, and which operates in them according to its con-
currence with our folar heat in the fpring and fummer feafons ;
but fundamental is the error of thofe, who fuppofe that the
heat of this materid world can, by any influxive power in itfelf,
beget love [which is of a fpiritual origin] for all influx is from
fpirit to matter, not from matter to fpirit ; the former being
according to the efl:abliflied laws of divine order, but the latter
contrary thereto (105).

136. Angels are endowed with intelled: and free will, as
well as men ; the former they derive from the liglit of heaven,
or, in other words, from divine truth and wifdom ; and the
latter from the heat of heaven, or that divine principle of good-
nefs which produces divine love ; however, the efl'ence of the
angelical life is from heat, or fo far only from light, as light is

(105) That influx is fpiritual, and not phyfical ; confequently from the fpi-
ritual to the natural world, not vice ver/ii, n. 3219, 51 19 — 91 ic, 9111.

animated

[ 83 ]

animated by heat ; and that this is fo, appears evidently in that
life entirely ceafes upon a total extindlion of heat. The cafe is
exaiftly fimilar with refpe<ft to that kind of faith which is void
of love, or that kind of truth which is void of good, as the
true of faith \yeriim Jidei] anfwers to light, and the good of
love to heat (io6). This may be illuftrated from the heat and
light of this world, to which thofe of heaven correfpond, as
from the conjunftion of the light and heat of this world, which
happens in fpring-time and fummer, all things on earth are
animated and fiourilh ; but from light without heat, as in
winter, nothing thrives ; but vegetables are torpid, and, as it
were, without life. From correfpondence herein, heaven is called
Paradife or Garden, feeing that truth is there joined to good,
or faith to love, in the fame manner that light and heat are
conjoined on earth in the fpring-time. This may ferve to
illurtrate what has been laid down before under its proper head,
n. 13 to 19; viz. That the divine ruling principle with the
angels, is love to the Lord, and charity or love towards their
neighbour.

137. It is faid in the Gofpel (John i. i, 3, 4, 10, 14.) " la
" the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God,
'• and the Word was God : all things were made by him, and
" without him nothing was made that was made. In him was
" the life, and the life was the light of men. He was in the
" world, and the world was made by him. And the Word"
" was made flefli, and dwelt among us, and we faw his glory."
It is evident, that by the JVord is meant tlie Lord ; for it is
faid, that the JVord was made Hefh ; but what we are to under-
hand by the Woi'd in a more efpecial fenfe, has not as yet been
explained, and therefore ihall now be declared. By the JVordt

(106) That truths (fo called) without good as their root or effence, are not
real truths, and therefore are faid not to have life, for the life of truth is from the
principle of good, n. 9603 ; and confequently are like a body without a foul,
n. 3180, 9454 ; nor are fuch apparent truths acceptable to the Lord, n. 436S.
As is truth without good, fo is faith without love ; and as according to the good,
fuch is its truth ; fo according to the love, fuch is the quality of its iaith, n. 1949,
1950 — 5S30, 5951. That it comes to the fame, whether wc fay truth or faith,
and good or love, forafmuch as truth is the property of faith, and good is the
property of love, n. 2839, 4353 — 7624, 10367.

[ 84 ]

in the places before cited, we are to underftand divine truth as
in the Lord, and from the Lord (107), and which there alfo is
called Light, as fignifying the (mx\c with divine truth, as has
been Ihewed in the preceding numbers : and that all tilings were
created and made by Divine Truth will appear from what fol-
lows. In heaven all power belongs to Divine Truth alone (108),
and it is from thence that the angels are called Powers, and are
fuch according to the degree in which they are receptive of it :
it is hereby that they prevail over the powers of darknefs, and
all oppofition from every quarter, for a thoufimd enemies are
not able to withfland a iingle ray of divine light or truth (*) :
and as the angels derive their angelical nature from their being
recipients of divine truth, fo heaven mull: be from the fame
origin, inafmuch as they conftitute heaven. That there flioulj
be fuch a kind of Omnipotence in Divine Truth, mull; appear
incredible to fuch as hold the latter to conlill only in thoughts
and ideas of the mind, or the agreement of certain proportions,
which have no other power than what ariles from the allent and
obedience of thofe that embrace them ; whereas Divine Truth
has power in itfelf, infomuch that by it was created heaven and
this world, and all things that are therein : this may be illuflrated
by two comparifons, viz. By the power of truth and good in
man, and by the power of light and heat from the fun of this
world : with relpeft to the former, it is to be noted, that what-

(107) That JVord in Scripture language has various fignifications ; as Tpeech,
operation of the mind, real exiftence, and in its highcft fcnfc, divine truth, and
the Lord, n. 9987. That Word fignifics divine truth, n. 2803, 2884 — 7830,
9987. That it lignifics the Lord, n. 2533, 2859.

(108) That to divine truth proceeding from the Lord belongs all poxrcr, n.
6948, 8200. That all power in heaven belongs to truth, as united to and pro-
ceeding from good, n. 3091, 3563 — looig, 10182. That angels are called pow-
ers, and are powers from their reception of divine truth from the Lord, n. 9639.
That hence, in fome places in the Word they are called Gods, n. 4295, 4402,
8301, 8192, 9398.

(*) Sec in Efdras the following characlcrifticks of divine truth : " As for the
*' truth, it enduretli, .-.nd is always ftrong ; it liveth, and conquereth for evcr-
" more. With her there is no accepting of pcrfons : flie is the ftrength, king-
" dom, power, and majcfty of all ages — Bleflcd be the God of truth." Efdras,
B. L iv. 38, 40. Truth, under the charafler of wifdom, is in many places of
Scripture dignified with divine perfonality, and diftinguifhed by the attribute of
Omnipotence : fee in particular, Piov. P'ljjiniy and the Book of Wifdom. Tr.

ever

[ ^5 ]

ever a man does, he performs it from his intelledl and will ;
from his will by good, and from his intellecft by truth j for all
things in the will have fome relation to good, and all things in
the underftandiug fome relation to truth (109) : it is therefore
by power derived from them, that he adluates his whole cor-
poreal fyftem, in which a thoufand different parts concur to
pay an obfequious obedience to their government, in conformity
to the laws of that correl'pondency, according to which it is
formed. As to the other inllance refpedting the power of heat
and light, as proceeding from the lun of this world ; it is to
be obierved, that all things that vegetate on earth, as trees,
plants, flowers, grain, and feeds of all kinds, owe their vege-
tation thereto, and manifeft the power of the folar influence ;
but how much greater mull be the power of that divine light,
which, in its efl'ence, is divine truth; and of that divine heat,
which, in its effence, is divine good, and from which the hea-
venly world derives its exifl:ence, and confequently this cur
world, as proceeding from the heavenly, as has been fliewed
before ? Thus much may ferve to illullrate this great truth ;
that by the Word all things were made, and that without him
nothing was made that was made ; and alfo that the world was
made by him, viz. by divine truth from the Lord (no). Hence
it is, that in the Book of the Creation mention is firll: made
of light, and afterwards of thofe things that proceed from it,

(109) That the intcIlecSt is the recipient of truth and the will of good, n. 3623,
6125, 7503, 9300, 9930. That therefore all things in the underftanding have
relation to truths, whether really fiich, or only believed to be fo ; and that all
th.ings in the will have relation to good in like manner, n. 803, 1 01 22.

(no) That divine truth proceeding from the Lord, is that which alone hath
reality and exigence in itfflf, n. 68bo, 70C4, 8200. That by divine truth all
things were created and made, n. 2803, 2884, 5272, 7835.

N. B. The author, in the abo\e note, fpcaks of the divine exiftcnce as
diftinguifhcd, and proceeding from the divine elTence from eternity to eternity, and
as giving exiltence to all other things. Every thing has an eflence and form, for
without eflence there could be no form ; and without the form the clTc-nce would
be unmanifeik'd, and therefore unknowable : they are as foul and body to each
other : the eflliice indeed is of prior confideration, yet in the divine nature they
are cocxillent and coequal, and differ only with refpedt to manifellation : but I dare
not be confident that I exprcfs myfelf aright on tliis moft awfully myfterious
fubject. Tr.

Y Gen.

[ 86 ]

Gen. i. 3, 4; and alfo that all things both in heaven and earth
have relation to good and truth, and to the conjundion of both,
in the order of creation and ufe.

139. It is to be noted, that the divine good and the divine
truth, which are in the heavens from the Lord as a fun (*), are
not in, hut Jrom the Lord ; for in him only is divine love, which
is the effence [fj('] from whence they exift : now to exifl, and
to proceed from an effence, mean the fame thing, as may be
illuftrjted by comparifon with the fun of this world ; as for
inflauce, the heat and light in this world are not in the fun,
but from the fun ; for in the fun is only fire, and from it they
derive their exiftence and procefTion.

140. Forafmuch as the Lord [under his manifeflation and
appearance in heaven] as a fun, is divine love ; and as divine
love conftitutes the very efTence of divine good, fo the divine

(*) It will not be difficult for perfons of an abftraflcd and philofophical turn
of mind (and fuch will receive moft benefit from our author's v/ritings) to con-
ceive that the moft adorable Majtfty of the Infinite Eternal God (unknowable in
himfelf, as above the comprehenfion of all created intellect) fhould manifcft him-
felf in appearances, human or other, accommodated to the limited capacities of
his creatures in all wprlds : nor confequcntly will it be difficult for fuch to believe,
that in a fpiritual world there fhould be a fpiritual fun, to reprefent vifibly to the
angels the invifible glory of the divine eflence, and to ferve as a medium or vehicle,
imder God, of communicating fpiritui! blcffings to fpiritual beings, both as to
foul and body ; efpccially as fuch a conftitution in the heavenly world fo aptly
correfponds with the rule of analogy, and fo fitly adapts itfelf to our familiar ideas
concerning the divine wifdom, power, and goodncfs, as manifeftcd in the confti-
tution of this our folar fyftem. That natural heat and natural light are the cor-
rcfpondent images of fpiritual love and fpiritual truth, is confirmed to us by the
received ufe and application of thefe fimilitudes or emblems in all languages : now
if natural heat and light are derived to us from a natural fun, where is room for
doubting, that their fpiritual correfpondent relative's, love and truth, fiiould in
like manner proceed from a fpiritual fun, though mediately from the Lord ? It can
only be from the newnefs of this rcprefcntation of the fubjccl before us, that it
is of difficult admiffion to the mind of any reader ; let it only be familiarized, and
his objeflions will prcfently vani/b. I fhall conclude this note with obfcrving,
that this our natural fun, confidered in all its animating and comforting influences,
and in all its wonderful efFefts and productions in this world, exhibits fuch a
ftrilcing difplay of the divine wifdom, power, and goodncfs, that it inclines one
to fuppofe, that the religious veneration given to it by the unenlightened Eaftern
nations, was one of the moft pardonable kinds of idolatry ; if it may be allowed
lawful to fpeak with the Icaft degree of mitigation of any profane worfhip, whereby
that honour is given to fcnfclefs matter, which is due only to the ever-living, life-
giving God» Tr.

emanation

[ 87 ]

emanation from him in heaven is, for diflindlion fake, called
Divine Truth, though, in reality, it is the divine good united
with divine truth ; and this, in quality of its divine operation
and energy, is called the Holy Spirit \_SanBtim procedens].

Of the Four Quarters in Heaven.

141. In heaver, as well as in this world, are the four quar-
ters or cardinal points of the Eaft, South, Weft, and North,
and in both determined by their proper fun ; in heaven by the
cosleftial fun [reprcfenting] the Lord, and in this world, by
our fun ; but yet with much diifcrence between them : firft, in
that the point of the fun's greateft altitude' in our hemifphere,
is by us called the South ; the oppofite thereto the North ; the
point where the fun rifes at the times of the equinoxes, the
Eaft ; and where it then fets, the Weft ; fo that in our world
all the quarters are determined by the meridian fun. But in
heaven that is called the Eaft where the Lord appears as a fun ;
oppofite thereto is the Weft ; to the right hand is the South ;
and to the left hand is the North ; and thus always the fame to
the angels, wliich way foever they turn their faces or bodies
[as having the Lord always before them] fo that in heaven all
the four quarters are determined by the Eaft, that being the
quarter in which the Lord appears as a fun ; from which he is
called the origin (*) of all life ; and agreeably thereto, in pro-
portion to the heat and light, or love and underftanding, received
by the angels from him, in fuch degree the Lord is faid to rife
upon or in them : hence likewife it is, that the Lord in the
Scriptures is called the Eaft (iii).

142. Another difference is, that the angels have the Eaft
always before them, the Weft behind them, the South on their
right, and the North on their left hand : but as this is difficult

(*) This alludes to the fignification of the words Oriens and OrigOy from snV/,
to rife.

(ill) That the Lord, in the higheft fenfe of the word, is the Eaft: or Orient,
as being the fun of heaven, always rifen, but never fctting, n. loi, 5097, g668.

[ 88 ]

to be underflood by the inhabitants of our earth, who turn their
faces indifferently to every one of the quarters, fomething fball
here be faid by way of explanation. The whole heaven has its.
afpedl towards the Lord, as to its common centre; confequently
that of the angels has the fame direction. It is well known by
us, that all things on earth have a direction to its centre, though
this differs from the former,, as in heaven tlie front or fore parts
have this direftion, but in our world, the lower parts, and this
tendency is called centripetal, or otherwife gravitation. The
whole interiour of 'the angels has its direction or tendency for-
ward to the Lord ; and as this influences and manifelh itfelf in
the fice, fo confequently the face of the angel gives determi-
nation to the quarters (i 12).

143. But that the angels fliould ever front to the Eaff,
which way foever they turn their faces or bodies, will appear
full more hard to be conceived by men, who view every quarter
alike, accordingly as they turn their bodies : to this alfo a word.
The angels move, and turn their fices and bodies every way
like men on earth, and yet notwithllanding, their afpe<ft is
always to the Ealt ; but then it mufl: be obferved, that thefe
their motions and turnings, though like to thofe of men, are
not the fame, being from a different principle, viz. the love
that prevails in them, which is the determining power, even in
externals, both with angels and other fpirits j for, as was faid
before, their interiour is atflually turned towards their common
centre, and confequently, in heaven, towards the Lord as a fun ;
for love being the inward ruling principle of the angels, ma-
nifefling itfelf in the face as its outward form ; therefore the
angels naturally turn their flices to him who is the great objcdt
of that love, or rather it is the Lord (as being in that love,
and alfo the giver of it) that prefents himfelf to them which
way foever they look (113). Thefe things cannot be farther

cluci-

(112) That all the angels turn their faces to the Lord, 11.9828, 10130, iOi8g,
IC219 ; not that the angels turn thcmfclves to the Lord, but that he turns thcin
to himfelf, n. ioi8g. I'hat the angels arc not fo properly faid to be prefent with
the Lord, as the Lord to be prefent with them, n. 9415.

(113) That in the fpiritual world all turn to the objects of their loves; and
that the four quarters of the heavens have their names and determination from the

afpea

[ B9 ]

elucidated at prefent, but fliall be farther explained in the fol-
lowing articles, wherein reprefentations and appearances, time
and fpace in heaven, will be treated of as their proper fubjed:s.
That the angels have the Lord always before their faces, has
been given me to know by full experience ; for as often as I
have been in company with them, I have been made fenfible
of his being fo prefent, by light in my underftanding, when
I had no ocular vifion of him ; and the angels have often
affirmed to me the truth of it ; and indeed this is fo eftabliihed
and confeffed a truth, that it is common among men, when
fpeaking of fuch as truly believe in and love the Lord, to fay,
they have the Lord always before them ; that they walk in his
fight ; and the like : now it is from the fpiritual world that we
are led fo to fpeak, for many forms of fpeech in the language
of man exprefs ideas and truths derived from thence, though
we 'know it not to be fo.

144. This feeing of the Lord by the angels, even where
many of them look different ways from one another, and jet
every one beholds him, notwithflanding their feveral different
directions, is one of the wonders of the heavenly world ; and
however difficult to conceive, yet fo it is, that which way foever
they turn themfelves, he is always before them, and they have
the South on their right hand, the North on their left, and the
Wefl behind them (*). Among other wonderful things there

are

afpcft of the angels, n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702. That the face is formeJ
fo as to correfpond with the mind or interiour, n. 4791 to 4805, 5695. That
therefore the inward difpofition beams in the countenance, n. 3527, 4066, 4796.
That the face and mind in the angels entirely correfpond, n. 4796, 4797, 4799»
5695, 8250. Of the influx of the mind into the face and its mufcles, n. 3631,
4800.

(*) The author's relation of the particulars before us, is undeniably furprizing ;
and yet I doubt not but many befides myfelf will not only give credit to, but alfo
be able to form fome conception of them, would they but abllrafl their thoughts
from the laws of vifion, place, and direction, as eftabliftied in this our natural
world. Our cuftomary ideas are apt to tiniture the mind with prejudices againft
many truths even in nature ; and were it not for mirrors and glalfcs, how im-
poflible would it fecm to many, that objects behind us fhould fo diftin£lly be fceh
as before us ; nay, how many deceptions are we liable to from appearances, and
a falfe judgment concerning natural caufcs and efFedts. It may truly be affirmed,
that a great part of the infidelity that is in the world, proceeds from the immerfioii

Z of

[ 90 ]

are likewifc the two following, viz. Firft, Though the angels
always front to the Eaft, yet they have alfo a view of the other
three quarters at the lame time, hut of the latter hy an inward
kind of vifion like that of thought. Secondly, That no one
in the heavenly world ihuids behind another, fo as to look at
the hinder part of his head, as this is contrary to the laws of
influx of goodnefs and truth from the Lord.

145. The angels look at the eyes of the Lord [when he
appears to them in perfon] but the Lord at the forehead of the
angels, and that becaufe the forehead correfponds to love, througli
which the Lord influences their wills ; as he enlightens their
minds with the knowledge of him, to which intellectual fight
the eyes correfpond (114).

146. The quarters in the heavens, which conflitute the
cceleflial kingdom of the Lord, differ from thofe which con-
ftitute his fpiritual kingdom, and that becaufe the Lord appears
to the angels of the former as a fun, and to the angels of the
latter as a moon ; and his appearance is in the Eart: : the diftance
between the fun and moon there is thirtv degrees, as alfo that
of the quarters. That heaven is diftinguilhed into two king-
doms, the cceleftial and the fpiritual, fee in its proper article,
n. 20 to 28 : and that the Lord appears in the former as a fun,
and in the latter as a moon, n. 118 : but neverthelefs the quar-
ters or cardinal points are not therefore indirtindl, becaufe the
fpiritual angels cannot afcend to the cocleflial, nor thefe defcend
to the former, fee n. 35 (*).

of mens mintls into matter and fcnfe, and their fcttins »ip natural things as the
ftandard of judgment in fpiritual things; or clfe fiom holding the former only
to be realities. The conftitution and jaws of" tilings in all worlds (more efpccially
between the natural and fpiritual worlds) are unqueilionably very different, fo as
to exhibit, in endlefs variety, moit wonderful dilplays of the infinite wifJoin and
power of the adorable Creator. Tr.

(114) That the forehead correfponds to heavenly lo\e, and that therefore the
latter is fignified by it in Scripture, n. gg 56. That the eye correfponds to the
underftanding as to the inward eye, n. 2701, 4410, 452b, 9051, 105O9: where-
fore to lift up the eyes and fee, fignifies to underlland, perceive, and aniniadverc,
n. 2789, 2829, 3198—4339, 5684.

(•) 1 muft confefs that I undcriland not the meaning of this laft fentence, as
an inference from what goes before : there is much rcafon to fufpe(5t an error of
the prefs here. Tr.

J 47. Hence

[ 9t 1

147. Hence it appears in what {enfe the Lord is prefent in
the heavens ; that he is every where, and with every one in that
goodnefs and truth which proceed from him ; and that he dwells
with the angels in his own divine principle, as was mentioned
before, n. 12. The perception of the prefence of the Lord in
the angels is primarily in their interior or intcllecftual part, from
which their external fight proceeds, and whereby they behold
him outwardly ; for to them outward vifion is a continuation
of the inward ; and thus we are to underftand how the Lord is
in them, and they in the Lord, according to thofe words :
" Abide in me, and I in you," John xv. 4. " He who eateth
** my flefli, and drinketh my blood, abideth in me, and I in
" him," John vi. 56. The flefh of the Lord fignifies divine
good, and his blood, divine truth (115).

148. In the heavens all have their feparate dwellings accord-
ing to the feveral quarters. They who are in the good of love,
in the Halt and Weft i they who are in the fenfation of it, in
a higher degree, dwell in the Eaft ; they who have it in a lower
degree, have their dwellings in the Weft : they who are en-
dowed with wifdom from that fource of good, have their habi-
tations in the South and in the North ; fuch of them as partake
of a clearer light of wifdom, in the South ; and fuch as poflefs
it in a lelTer degree of clearnefs, in the North. In like manner
are fituated the angels of the fpiritual kingdom, but .with dif-
ference, according to their kind and degree of good, and of
light from that good refpeftively ; for as the prevailing love irx
the coeleftial kingdom is love to the Lord, and the light of truth
from thence is wifdom ; fo in the fpiritual kingdom, the pre-
vailing love is that to their neighbour, which is called Charity;
and the light of truth proceeding thence, is intelleiTtual know-
ledge, which is called faith, fee above, n. 23. There is a dif-
ference alfo betwixt them refpefting the quarters, in the diftance
of thirty degrees, as mentioned before, n. 146.

(115) That the flcfli of the Lord fignifies his Divine Humanity, and nlfo the
divine good of his love, n. 3813, 7850, 9127, 10283: and that his blood fignifies
divine truth, and the holiiiefs of fiiith [SanSfum Fiild] n. 4735, 4978, 7317-,
7326 — 10152, 10204.

149. In,

[ 92 ]

149' Ii^ like manner dwell the angels in their feveral foci-
eties : luch of them as are in a greater degree of love and charity
being fituated to the Eaft of their particular departments ; they
that pofTefs a lell'er degree, in the Weft : they who have more
of wifdom and underftanding, are to the South of their tribes ;
and they who have lefs, to the North : and this diftindlion takes
place throughout the coeleftial regions, and that becaufe every
particular fociety is a reprefentation of the whole heaven, nay,
is a heaven in a leffer form, fee n. 51 to 58. The fame order
is alfo obferved when they meet in their alfemblies, whilft every
one knows and readily takes his proper place, as it were, bv a
heavenly inftinft : it is likewife ordained, by an eftabliflied law,
that there ftiould be fome angels of all clalfes and degrees in
every particular fociety, that there may be a conformity between
the whole complex of heaven and its feveral parts, but yet with
this difference, that the angelical focieties in the Eaft are of
fuperior excellence to thofc of the Weft ; and they who are
ftationcd in the South to thofe of the North.

150. Hence it arifes, that every quarter in the heavenly
world points out or fignifies the particular excellencies and
qualities with their degrees, that appertain to their inhabitants
refped:ively ; thus the Eaft fignifies love and its good qualities
in a higher degree ; the Weft the fame, but in a lower degree ;
the South fignifies wifdom and underftanding of eminent clarity ;
and the North the fame, but with a degree of obfcurity : and
as the four quarters have fuch a fignification, fo the like things
are reprefented to us in the internal or fpiritual (eni'e of the
written Word (116), which exadlly correfponds w^ith the con-
flitution of things in heaven.

151. The very reverfe of what has here been related, is
the cafe with the inhabitants of the infernal kingdoms, as they
behold not the Lord as a fun, or as a moon ; but, with their
backs towards him, look at that black body which is to them
in the room of what our fun is to us ; and to that dark orb,

(116) That the Eaft in Scripture language fignifies love in clear perception,
n. 1250, 3708: the Weft, love with a degree of obfcurity, n. 3708, 9653: the
South, a ftate of light with refpeft to wifdom and underftanding, n. 1458, 3708,
5672 : the north, the like ftate, but with fome obfcurit)-, n. 3708.

which

r n ]

which is to them Inrtead of a moon ; thofe which are called
Genii to the former ; and thofe which are called Spirits to the
latter (117). That the fun of our world, and the moon be-
longing to our earth, are not feen in the fpiritual world, but
inftead of the former a black diik (Caliginofum quid) oppofite
to the coeleftial fun ; and inftead of the latter a dark orb (Tene-
brofum quid) oppofite to the heavenly moon, fee before, n. 122.
Wherefore the four quarters with the infernals are oppofite to
thofe in heaven, their Eaft being where the black diflc, or the
dark orb appears ; their Weft towards the coeleftial fun ; the
South to their right, and the North to their left hand ; and
thus, which way foever they turn ; nor can it be otherwife, as
blacknefs and darknefs is the centre of all their motions. That
all in the other worlds are determined in externals from their
inward difpofitions and affeftions, fee above, n. 143. That the
love of felf, and the love of the world, are the prevailing prin-
ciples that govern the inhabitants of the infernal regions ; and
that thefe two kinds of love are fignified by the fun and moon
of our world, fee n. 122. They are likewife oppofite to the
love of God and of our neighbour (118) ; and hence it is, that
they who are adluated by them turn their backs to the Lord,
and direcft their faces to the dark orbs before mentioned. The
infernals alfo have their habitations in the four quarters, accord-
ing to their evil qualities and conditions refpedtively ; they who
are in the evil habits proceeding from felf love (in malis ex
amore fui) dwell from Eafl to Weft, according to the degrees
of their malignity ; and they who are in the depravity of error
from an evil heart (qui in faljis mali) have their ftations from
South to North, according to their degrees in depravity : but more
on this fubjecft when we come to treat of the hells in particular.

152. When any evil fpirit comes into the company of the
good, it is wont to occafion fuch a confufion in the four quar-

(117) Who and what they are wliich are called Genii, and who and what that
are called Spirits, n. 947, 5035, 5977, 8593, 8622, 8625.

(118) That they who are in the loves of felf and of the world, turn their backs
to the Lord, n. 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702. That love to the Lord, and
charity towards our neighbour, conftitutc heaven ; and that the love of felf and
of the world conftitutes hell, as bciiiig oppofites to the former, n, 2041, 3610,
4225, 4726 — 10741 to 10745.

A a ters,

[ 94 ]

ters, that the latter are fometimes at a lofs to know which is
tlie Ecift ; and this I have fometinies been witnefs to, and have
alio heard tlie good fpirits complain of the dilbrder occafioned
thereby (*).

153. Evil fpirits fometinies appear with their faces turned
towards the quarters of heaven, at which times they become
receptive of underllanding, and perception of the truth, but
not of any affedtion for good ; and therefore, as foon as ever
they turn back their faces to their own quarters, they become
immediately deprived of fuch underftanding and perception,
dcn\iiig that they have received or perceived any truths, nay,
affirming them all to be lies, as having their wills and afFe(f]:ions
flrongly bent for falfehood (*). As to fuch turnings to and
from the truth, it has been given me to know, that the wicked
and ungodly, even whilft they continue fuch, may be converted
as to their intelledlual, though not in their voluntary or will
part ; and that this is by a divine provifion, to the end that all
may come to the knowledge of the truth, though none can
favingly receive it, unlefs they are principled in good, as what
is good can alone effedlually receive divine truth : and that like-
wife the cafe is the fame with men, who can receive the truth
intelle(5lual]y, but are no farther the better for it, than as they
are in the defire and affedlion for good, and fo capable of true
converfion ; but if they are the willing fervants of fin, they
only get a fpeculative glimpfe of truth, which leaves no im-
preffion, but through the evil in their wills, which rules in
them, and perverts their judgment, they return to the fide of
error, and confirm themfelves in it.

(*) Let it be obferved here, that on particular and cxtraordTnary occafrons the
general laws of oeconomy in the heavens are fufpendcd by divine pcrmiflion, with
refpe<S to individuals, to anfwer certain purpoies of the divine wifdom, many
inftances of which are given by our author, and fome of them accounted for.
Many fuch extraordinary cafes, and particular exceptions to the rules of God's
general government of this world, are productive of ufeful leflbns and beneficial
effedls to us his poor creatures ; and even the angels (who, as creatures, muil be
imperfe£t) may at times ftand in need of extraordinary documents, to remind them
of their dependence, and by way of prefervatives to humility. Tr.

(*) The truth of this is exemplified to us by frequent inftances of perfons,
who, on returning to their vices and fins, lofe their former conviiStions, and be-
come downright infidels, Tr.

Concerning

[ 95 ]

Concerning the Changes in the States of
the Angels in Heaven.

154. By changes of ftates here, we are to underftand fuch
changes in the angels as have rofpedl to their love and faith, and
to their wifdom and underftanding derived theiefrom ; for thefe
conftitute their fVates of life, and, which amounts to the fame,
are therefore called, their ftates of love and faith, and their
ftates of wifdom and underftanding : and thefe admit of variation
or changes, as will here be fliewed.

155. The angels are not always in the fame ftate with re-
fpeft to love, nor confequently in refpeft to wifdom; for their
wifdom is derived from, and in quality according to their love :
fometimes they are in a ftate of intenfe love, and fometimes in
a ftate of it lefs intenfe ; for it has its higheft and loweft de-
grees : when their love is at the higheft, their light and heat
are then the greateft, and confequently their glory and joy ; and
when their love is at the loweft, then they may be faid to be in
the fliade and in the cold, as their brightnefs is obfcured, and
their ftate unjoyous (*) ; but they return from the loweft up
again to the higheft, and from one degree to another by various
fucceffions, like to the changes in this world between day-light
and twilight, heat and cold, morning, noon, and night ; and
alfo according to the various feafons of the year : and there is
alfo a correfpondence between them : thus morning anfwers to
their ftate of love in clarity ; noon to their meridian ftate of

(*) However ftrange it may appear in our author, that he should defcribe the
ftates of the angels as bordering at certain times upon obfcurity and dejedtion, yet
it fcems highly credible, even upon a rational view of the matter, that perfedb
blif^, without intermilBon or abatement, is not compatible with the nature of
created beings, nay, perhaps without fome viciflitudes, would ceafe to be blifs :
bcfides, fomething of diveriity herein, as it recommends and heightens enjoyment,
may be of moral ufe even to the angels, as was obferved in a preceding note.
Let it be added, that probably thofe angels, which are moft highly graduated in
excellence and blifs, may, at certain fhort intervals, experience the greateft de-
preffions, or deprivations of joy, as the moft favoured fcrvants of God are oft
times moft debafed here, that they may be made meet to partake of a more exalted
inheritance hereafter^ Tr..

wifdom i

[ 9^ ]

wlfdoni ; evening to their wifdom in a degree of obfcurity ; and
night to a ftate of deprivation as to both ; though it niufi: be
noted, that there is no corrcfpondence between night, and any
ftate of the angels in heaven, but only with the Hate of thofe
that are in hell (119), as the former never fuffer a total depri-
vation of their love and wifdom ; and therefore the twilight
before day is the correfpondcnt to their loweli flate. From this
law of correfpondency it is, that Day and Tear in the Word fig-
nify the flates of life in general, and Heat and Light, love and
wifdom ; morning, the tirft and moft intenfe degree of love ;
noon, wifdom in its moll luminous llate ; evening, wifdom in
fome degree of obfcurity j and night, a total deprivation of
both love and wifdom (120),

156. Together with the interior ftates of love and wifdom
in the angels, is alfo changed the ftate of various things without
them that are the obje(ft:s of fight, for thefe vary their appear-
ance according to the inward ftate of the angels (*) : but this
will be treated of under the articles of RepreJ'entathes and ylp-
■pcarances in heaven.

157. Every angel is fubjeft to thefe changes, and alfo un-
dergoes them, and alfo every angelical fociety in common, but
one differently from another, and that becaufe of their difference
as to love and wifdom ; for they who are in the centre of a
fociety are in a more perfedl ftate than thofe who are nearer to
its periphery, fee n. 23, 128: but to dwell on the particular

(119) That in heaven there is no ftate correfponding to night, but only to the
morning twilight, n. 61 10. That the morning twilight fignifies a mitidle ftatc
between the higheft and loweft, n. 10134.

(i2c) That the viciflitudcs of ftatcs in heaven, in refped to illumination and
perception, anfwer to the times of day in this world, n. 5672, 5962, 6310, 8426,
9213, 10605. That Day and Year in the Word fignify all ilatcs in general, n. 23,
487, 488 — 4850* 10656. That Morning fignifies the beginning of a new ftate j
and alfo the Itate of love, n. 7216, 8426, 8427, 101 14, 10134. T\\2.\. Evening
fignifies a ftate of declining light and love, n. 10134, 10135. '\'\\-i.X. Night fignifies
a ftate void of love and fi;(h, n. 221, 709, 2353, 6000, 6110, 7870, 7947.

(*) This is imaged to us in this our natural world, in which things appear to
us according to the frame and ft.ite of mind that we are in : how dull, how ghaftly
do things appear to the view of the fpedator, when under trouble or melancholy !
Can we avoid obferving here on the folly of thofe who feck for happincfs in ex-
ternal things, whilft they negled to cultivate and chcrifh that inward fenfe or
ftate, which alone can give good rclifli to them ?

differences

[ 97 I

differences would be too prolix, as the changes in every one arc
according to the quality of his love and faith, fo that one may
be in his full fplcndor and joy, whilll: another may be eclipfed
and in his joylefs Itate, and this even in the fame fociety ; each
fociety alfo has its rcfpedtive difference in this refpedl, both in
the cceleftial and the fpiritual kingdom. The difference in the
changes of their ffates is in general like that of the days in the
different climates here on earth, where it is morning to fome,
whilft it is evening to others ; fummer to one country, at the
fame time that it is winter to another.

158. I have received light from heaven as touching thefc
changes there, and been informed by the angels with refpedl to
the caufes of them, which are feveral. Firil, that the delights
of life, and the joys of heaven, would by degrees fuffer dimi-
nution, if they were to continue always the fame, as happens
to thofe who always go on in the fame round of pleafures.
Another reafon is, that felf love is a property inherent in angels
as well as men ; that this is contrary to the laws of heaven,
and that the angels excel in love and wifdom only fo far as they
are kept from it by the Lord ; and as otherwife, they would be
carried away by this propenfity (121), therefore thefe viciffitudes
of ftates are appointed for good to them. A third caufe is, that
it may ferve as a means of their higher perfecftion, by keeping
them habitually in the love of the Lord, and reftraining them
from felf love ; and alfo to increafe their relifh for the delights
of good (122), by fuch occafional fufpenfions of them. They
farther added, that the Lord does not produce thefe changes in
their ftates from himfelf, feeing that, as a fun, he never with-
holds his heat and light, or love and wifdom ; but that the
hindrance is in themfclves, by giving way to that principle of
felf, which renders them unreceptive of thofe bleffmgs ; which

(121) That fclf-love is a property inherent in man, n. 694, 731, 4317, 5660.
Tliat this muft be alienated, in order to the enjoyment of tlie lyord's prefence,
n. 1023, 1044: and that accordingly it is actually alienated, fo long as anyone
perfeveres in the principle of good by prcfervation from the Lord, n. 9334, 9335,

(122) 1 hat the angels advance in degrees of perfcilion eternally, n. 4803, 6648.
That in the heavens no one {late is exadtly like another, whence a conftant progrefs
in perfection, n. 10200. :

B b they

[ 98 ]

they illuftratcd by a comparifon with our fun and earth, ob-
ferving that the fucceifive changes from heat to cold, and from
light to darknefs on this our globe, are not owing to the fun,
which continues always the fame, but to the form, fituation,
and revolutions of the earth.

159. It has been given me to behold, how the Lord appears
as a fun to the angels of the cceleflial kingdom, in their firft
fliate, how in their fecond, and how in their third flate : and
firfl, his appearance was as that of a fun of a bright red colour,
and glittering with a fplendor furpafling all defcription. It was
told me, that fuch was the appearance of the divine glory to
thofe angels in their firll flate [of higheft love] : afterwards there
appeared a large dulTcy circle or belt round the fun, whereby its
bright rednefs and fplendor were much abated ; I was informed,
that fuch was its appearance to the angels in their fecond ftate.
After this, the circle or belt before mentioned appeared of a
ftill darker complexion, which ftill farther diminirtied the fun's
fplendor, and fo on gradually, till at length its glittering red-
nefs was changed to a pale colour ; fuch was the appearance of
the fun to the angels in their third ftate. After thefe mutations,
this pale fun feemed to pafs on the left towards the moon of
heaven, and to join itfelf to her, whereby her fplendor wa&
exxeedingly augmented ; I was told, that hereby was repre-
fented the fourth ftate of the coeleftial angels, and the firft or
higheft of the fpiritual angels ; and that thefe changes take place
in both kingdoms fuccelTively, but not in every fociety therein
at the fame time : nor are thefe changes at any fixed periods,
but befall the angels fooner or later, without imy knowledge of
their approach. Moreover, they fiid, that thel'e were not real
changes in the fun itfelf, but only fo many appearances depend-
ing on the fucceflive changes in the ftates of the angels, foraf-
much as the Lord, as reprefented by the fun, appears to every
one according to the quality of his ftate ; as for example, bright
and ruddy to thofe that are in the degree of intenfe love ; lefs
fo to fuch as are in an inferior degree of it, and lb on to quite
pale, as their love departs ; and that the quality and degree of
their ftates is reprefented by that dim circle, which apparently
fuperinduces thefe variations in the luftre and light of the fun.

160. When

[ 99 ]

i6o. When the angels are in their lowefl ftate, or property
of felf love, they decline into fadnefs : I have converged with
feme of them in this ftate, and was witnefs to their dejeftion ;
but they told me, that they hoped to be foon reftored to their
heavenly ftate ; for it is heaven to them to be delivered from
propriety or felf love.

i6i. The infernal fpirits alfo have their change of ftates ;
but of this hereafter, where we fliall treat of Hell.

Of Time in Heaven.

162. However all things go on in heaven according to
fucceflion and progreftion, as in this world ; neverthelefs, the
angels have no idea of time or fpace, nor any notion concerning
them : we fliall here treat of time in heaven, and hereafter of
fpace, under its proper article.

163. That the angels have no idea of time, though all things
go on fucceflively with them in like manner as with us, is
owing to there not being years and days in heaven, but only
changes of condition ; now as the former conftitute times, fo
the latter are called States.

164. By times on earth, we mean the fun's apparent progrefs
from one degree of its annual orbit to another, fo conftituting
that period of time which we call a year ; and alfo its apparent
diurnal revolution round the earth, which we call a day ; and
thefe according to ftated vicift'itudcs : but it is othcrwife with
the fun in heaven, which makes no fuch progrefl'ions and revo-
lutions, to conftitute years and days, but only apparent changes
of ftates in the angels, and thefe according to no ftated rules,,
as was obferved in a preceding article ; hence it is, that the
angels can have no idea of time, but only of ftate in room
thereof, fee State above, n. 154.

165. As the angels derive no idea from time, after the man-
ner of men, fo neither have they any conception of its divifions,.
as of years, months, weeks, days, hours, to-day, to-morrow>
yefterday, &c. infomuch, that when they hear of thefe dif-
tinftions by men (to whom they are always prefent by divine

appoiat-

[ 100 ]

appointment) in the room thereof they fubftitute flates, and
fuch things as appertain thereto ; thus changing the natural idea
oi a man into the fpiritual idea of an angel : hence it is, that
times in the written VV^ord fignify ftates, and the diftindlions of
time, as mentioned above, fuch fpiritual things as correfpond
thereto (123).

166. It is the fame with all things that owe their exiftence
to time, as the four feafons of the year, called Spring, Summer,
Autumn, and Winter ; the four times of the day, morning,
noon, evening, and night; alfo with the four ages of man, as
infancy, youth, manhood, and old age ; and in like manner
with other things, which derive their being from time, or fuc-
ceed according to it : when any of thefe are prefent to the mind
of man, his thoughts thereon are regulated by time, but thofe
of an angel by ftate ; thus the latter changes the idea of fpring
and morning into the idea of love and wifdom, as in their firll:
ftate with the angels ; fummer and noon into the idea of love
and wifdom, as they are in the fecond flate j autumn and even-
ing, as they are in their third flate ; and night and winter into
the idea of the abfence of love and wifdom, and fo conftituting
a hellifh ftate ; and hence it is, that fuch ftates are fignificd by
fuch times in the written Word, fee above, n. 155. Thus we
fee how the ideas of natural things in the mind of a man are
converted into correfponding fpiritual ideas in the mind of an
angel prefent with man.

167. As the angels have no notion of time, fo do they form
a very different idea of eternity from that of men : by Eternal,
the angels conceive a ftate without end, but not a time without
end (124). As I was once thinking on the fubjeft of eternity,
I found, that by my ideas of time, I could form a conception
of what might be to eternity, or without end, but not of what

(123) That T/'/w;, in the Word, fignify 5/^/«, n. 2788, 2837, 3254 — 10133,
10605. That the angels never think of time or fpace, n. 3404. The caufcs why,
1274, 1382 — 7218, 7381. What I'irtfr fignifies in the Word, n. 487, 488 — 10209.
What, Month, n. 38 1 4. What, JVeek, n. 2044, 3845. What, Day, n. 23,
487,488, 10605. What, To-day, n. 2838, 3998 — 6984, 9939- What, To-morrow,
n. 3998, 10497. What, Yejlerday, n. 6983, 7124, 7140.

(124) That men think of eternity from time, but the angels not from time,
n. 1382, 3404, 8325.

has

[ ICI ]

has been from eternity, nor confequently of what God did from
eternity before the creation : and being troubled in my mind at
this, I found myfelf exalted to angelical illumination concern-
ing eternity, and given to know, that as to things eternal, v/c
are not to take our meafure of thinking from time, but from
ftate ; and that by this means we may form a conception of
what has been from eternity ; which I experienced to be the
cafe.

i68. When the angels converfe with men, they never fpeak
to them from thofe natural ideas which are common and proper
to man, as thefe are all derived from time, fpace, materiality,
and things analogous thereto ; but from their own fpiritual ideas
derived from flates, and their various mutations within and
without the angels : however, thefe ideas of the angels, though
fpiritual, yet when they enter the minds of men inftantaneoufly,
and as of themfelves, convert into fuch natural ideas as are pro-
per to men, and correfpond to the fpiritual ones, though im-
perceptibly both to the angels and men ; and the cafe is the
fame with the heavenly influx in man. On a certain time there
were fome angels who had accefs to my mind, in which were
many natural thoughts borrowed from time and fpace ; but, as
they could form no conception of them, they immediately with-
drew ; on which I heard them fay, that they were darkened and
confufed. I had alfo the following convincing experiment how
far the angels are ftrangers to every idea of time : one of them,
who was more receptive of natural knowledge, and with whom,
on that account, I was by degrees able to converfe as one man
with another, at firft did not know what I meant by time ; and
fo was obliged to explain to him how our fun, by its apparent
revolutions round the earth, conftituted what we call days and
years ; how the year was divided into four feafons, and alfo into
months and weeks, and the days into twenty-four hours j and
that thefe divifions took place regularly at flated periods, from
whence the idea of times originates ; on hearing which he won-
dered, faying, that he had no other notion of thefe, but as
ftates. In the courfe of our converfation, I faid, that we men
fhewed our affent to the truth of there not being time in heaven,
by our familiar forms of expreffion concerning the deceafed, as

C c that

[■ 102 ]

that temporal things were over with them ; that they had pafled
through time, or left this world, and the like. I told him,
moreover, that fome Teemed confcious that times in their origin
were no other than ftates, inafmuch as they fo nearly corre-
fponded to the flate of their affetflions and feelings, feeming
fhort to thofe who are in pleafing and joyous frames ; tedious to
thofe that are forrow and fiidnefs ; and different according to the
ftate of our hope, or expecflation : and therefore hence it is,
that the learned are fo much puzzled in their invefligations con-
cerning the nature and effence of time and fpace, and that fomp
among them are agreed, that they are only relative to man
during his exiftence in this natural world.

169. The mere natural man may here be led to fancy, that
if he were deprived of his ideas of time, fpace, and material
things, he fhould in that cafe be flript of the faculty of think-
ing, forafmuch as they are the fundamentals of all his
thoughts (125) : but, on the contrary, let him know, that fo
far as his thoughts are confined to time, fpace, and material
things, in fuch proportion are they limited and narrowed ; and
only fo far at liberty and enlarged, as they are difengaged from
thefe fubjefts, as hereby foaring above the contrafted regions of
corporeal and earthly things : hence proceeds the fublime wif-
dom of angels, which is incomprehenfible by ideas of fo low
an extradion.

Of Reprefentatives and Appearances in

Heaven.

170. The man who thinks only from natural light, cannot
comprehend that there fhould be any refemblance between
things in heaven and in this world, and that becaufe from fuch
light he has accuftomed himfelf to think, and confirmed him-
felf in the notion, that angels are only mere minds, or a kind
of aethereal fpirits, and as fuch have not fenfes like men, nor

(125) That man cannot think, without having fome idea of time ; but that it
is otherwJfe with the angels, n. 3404.

eyes;

[ I03 ]

eyes ; and if not eyes, confequently not objed:s of fight ;
whereas they have all the fenfes that men are gifted with, and
thofe in a more exquifite degree of perfedlion ; and the light in
which they fee is far brighter than ours. That angels are men
in a perfed form, and endowed with every fcnfe, fee above, n.
73 to jy ; and that the light in heaven is far more fplendid than
any light in this world, n. 126 to 132.

171. It is hard to defcribe the various kinds of things that
are feen by the angels in the heavens : let it fuffice to fay, that
in the main they refemble thofe on earth, though in form more
perfed: ; and far excelling \n. abundance. That fuch things are
in the heavens is given us to underrtand by thofe which are
recorded as {ttw by the prophets, and in particular by Ezekiel,
concerning the new temple and the new earth, as defcribed
from ch. xl. to xlviii : by Daniel, from ch. vii. to xii : by John,
from the beginning to the end of the Apocalypfe ; and by others
as recorded in the prophetical and hiitorical parts of the written
Word. Such things were iztn by them when heaven was opened
to them, or, which is the fame thing, when their inward fight,
which is the fight of the fpirit of a man, was opened to fee
things in heaven, for thefe are not to be feen by the bodily, but
fpiritual eye only ; and this is opened, according to the good
pleafure of the Lord, when a man is withdrawn from the
natural light, which is the light of his bodily fenfes, and
exalted to the fpiritual light, which is the proper light of his
fpirit ; and in this light have I beheld things that are in the
heavens.

172. However, the vifible things in the heavens, though,
in refpedl to a great part of them, they refemble the things on
earth, yet they differ from them in regard to their effence, in-
afmuch as the former derive their exiftence from the coeleflial
fun, but things on earth \^proximately\ from the fun of this
world : the former are called fpiritual, and the latter are called
natural.

173. Things in the heavens exift not in like manner with
things on earth ; in the former, all things are formed by the
Lord according to correfpondency with the intcriour \c117n tnte-
rioribus'l of the angels ; for with the angels arc things interior

and

[ I04 ]

and exterior ; the former have rehition to love and faith, and
conlcquently to will and intclleft as the receptacles of them,
and their exterior things correfpond to thole that arc interior,
fee above, n. 87 to 115. This may be illuflrated by what has
been faid before of the heat and light of heaven, viz. that the
angels poflefs a heat according to the quality and degree of their
love, and a light according to the quality and degree of their
wifdom, fee n. 128 to 134; and fo other things in like manner,
which are the objet^ts of their fenfes.

174. When I have had the privilege to be in company with
the angels, all tilings about them appeared to me in the fame
manner as things do on earth, and that with fuch clearnefs of
perception, that I feemed to be in fome royal palace in this
world, converhng with them, as one man converfes with another.

175. As all things that outwardly correfpond to things that
are inward do alfo reprefent them, therefore they are called
Representatives ; and as they vary according to the variation
of fuch interior things, therefore they are called Appearances,
though the things which prefcnt themfelves to the fight of the ^
angels, and are perceived by their fenfes, make as diftindt and

clear impreffions as things on earth, and more fo, for they have
a real and fubltantial exigence, though there are fome which
are mere appearances without fubflance, viz. fuch as have no
relation or correfpondence to things interior (126) ; but of thefe
hereafter.

176. One inflance, by way of illuftration, Ihall here be
given, to explain what is meant by correfponding appearances.

(126) That all things that appear among the angels are reprefcntatives, n. 197 1,
3213 to 3226 — 9576, 9577- That the heavens abound with reprefcntatives, n.
1521, 1532, 1619. That the nearer to the centre, the more beautiful they are,
n. 3475. That they are realities, as being from the light of heaven, n. 3485.
That the divine influx affumes the form of reprefentatives in the fuperior hea\cns,
and dcfcends thence to the inferior, n. 2179, 3213 — 9577- They are called re-
prefentatives, which appear to the fight of angels in fuch forms as arc known in
nature or this world, n. 9574. That things internal are thus changed into exter-
nal, n. 1632, 2987 to 3002. What kinds of reprefentatives in heaven, illuflrated
by various examples, n. 1321, 1532, 1619 — 9090, 10278. That all things which
appear in heaven arc according to correfjjondcncy, and called reprefentatives, n.
3213 to 3226 — 9576, 9577' That all things which correfpond, do alfo reprefent
and fignify their archetypes, n. 2890, JgS/, 2971, 2989, 2990, 3002, 3225.

I 'OS ]

To fuch of the angels as excel in knowledge do appear delightful
plantations and gardens, abounding in all kinds of trees and
flowers, where beautiful rows of trees form arched viftos, and
other pleafing walks, diverfified with exquifite Ikill, not to be
defcribed. Here the highly intelleftual angels take their walks
amidft various kinds of trees and flowers not known in this
world, fometimes gathering the flowers, and drefling up gar-
lands for the children of Paradife, whilfl the fpreading branches,
decorated and enriched with fruit, emblematically reprefent the
interior good qualities of thefe intelledual happy beings ; for
fuch plantations, gardens, fruit-bearing trees, and flowers, are
correfpondent to their high underllanding and wifdom (127).
That there are fuch delightful fcenes as thefe in the heavenly
world, fome good people here, who have not obfcured their
coelefliial notices of thefe things by their fallacious natural reafon,
are fully convinced of; and accordingly are not only ufed to
i think, but to fay, as concerning heaven, that many more things
are there than " ear hath heard, or eye hath feen" on earth.

Of the Garments in which the Angels appear

to be clothed.

177. As the angels are heavenly men, and live together as
men do on earth, fo alfo have they garments, dwellings, and
many other like things in common with us men, but with this
diff'erence, that as they themfelves are in a more perfedl ftate,
fo likewife are all things that belong to them : thus, for inrtance,
as the angelical wifdom excels the human beyond expreflion, fo
do all things about them, and that are perceived by them, for

(127) That Garden and Paradife fignify underftanding and wifdom, n. 100,
108, 322c. What the Garden of Eden, and Garden of Jehovah fignify, n. 99,
100, 1588. How magnificent paradifiacal things appear in the other world, n.
1122, 1622, 2296, 4528, 4529. That trees fignify the perceptions and cogni-
tions from which underllanding and wifdom originate, n. 103, 2163, 2682, 2722,
2972, 7692. That fruits fignify the goods of love and charity, n. 3146, 7690,
9337-

D d thef^

• [ io6 ]

thefe are correfpondcnt to the wifdom that is within them, fee
above, n. 173.

178. The garments with which the angels are inverted have,
like other things,' a correfponding relation to their interior per-
feftions, and confcquently a real exiftence, fee above, n. 175.
Now their veftments correfpond to their degrees of underftand-
ing and wifdom, and therefore they appear arrayed accordingly ;
and as fome excel others in intelledual endowments, (n: 43,
and 128) their garments are fuitably adapted to their different
diPiindions therein : fuch as are moft highly intelledlual appear
in gliftering flame-coloured robes, and fome in fliining veft-
ments ; they who are intelle(5tual in a lower degree are in white,
or pale-coloured, but not fliining garments ; and thofe who are
fo in the loweft degree wear raiment of different colours refpec-
tively : but the angels of the third or inmoft heaven appear
naked (*).

179. As the garments of the angels correfpond to their
underftanding, fo do they alfo correfpond to truth, as all right
undcrftanding is from divine truth, and therefore it amounts to
the fame thing, whether you fay, their clothing is according
to the one or the other. That the veftments of fome glifter as
from flame, and thofe of others are of a fliining light, is bccaufc
flame correfponds to good, and light to truth from good (128) :

(*) From this laft particular given us by the author, it feems, that Adam and
Eve, before the fall, reprefented the ftate of the angels of the third heaven ; for
they were nalced, and were not afhamed. To the pure all things are pure, and
with refpeft to fuch no part of the human body wants a covering ; for perfeft
innocence knows no fhame, as it needs none; whilft confummate guilt, that can
even glory in its fhame, knows no modefty to conceal that fhame. Little children,
who have a relative or comparative purity, as free from artual fin, may ferve to
image to us the truth of the foregoing remark, and to indicate how confcioufnefs
of guilt, producing fhame, is the fruit of that tree, by which comes the know-
ledge of good and evil. If then garments only became ncceffary to us by the lofs
of innocence, how great muft appear the folly of thofe, who turn that into an
occafion of pride, which firft took its rife from fin, and continues to be the badge
and evidence of their fhame. Tr.

(128) That garments in the Word fignify truths from correfpondence, n. 1073,
1576 — 7692 ; and that becaufe good is invefted with truth, n. 5248. That a
covering alfo fignifies the intellectual part, as this is the recipient of truth, n. 6378.
That white linen garments fignify truths from a divine origin, n. 5319, 9409.
That flame fignifies fpiritual good, and the light of it truth from that good, n.
3222, 6832.

that

[ 107 ]

that the garments of others are white and pale without fplendoi,
and feme of different colours, is becaufe divine good and divine
truth arc lefs fplendid, and alfo differently received in thofe,
whofc intelledlual faculties are of the lower degrees (129).
White and pale do alfo correfpond to fimple truth (130), and
colours to the different kinds and meafures of it (131). That
the angels of the inmoft or third heaven appear unclothed, is
bcca-ufe they are in perfedt innocence, and innocence is the
correfpondent to nakednefs (132).

180. As the angels are clothed with garments in heaven,
therefore did they appear in like manner to the prophets, and
alfo at our Lord's fepulchre, with " raiment white as fnow,"
Matt, xxviii. 3. Mark xvi. 5. Luke xxii. 4. John xx. 11, 13.
as likewife thofe who were feen in heaven by John, Apoc. iv. 4.
And as all wifdom is from divine truth, therefore our Lord's
raiment, at his transfiguration, was " fhining, and exceeding
*' white as fnow," Mark ix. 3. That light correfponds to
divine truth proceeding from the Lord, fee above, n. 129.
Therefore it is, that Garments in the Word fignify Truths, and
hence underftanding ; thus in John, ** They which have not
" defiled their garments fhall walk with me in white, for they
** are worthy : he that overcometh, the fame fhall be clothed
** in white raiment : bleffed is he that watcheth and keepeth his
** garments," Rev. iii. 4, 5. xvi. 15. And of Jerufalem, by

(129) That angels and fpirits appear clothed according to their truths, or in-
telleftual powers, n. 165, 5248 — 10536. That the garments of angels are fhining,
or othcrwife, n. 5248.

(130) That white in the Word fignifits truth, becaufe from a heavenly light,
n. 3301, 3593—4922.

(131) That colours in heaven are variegations of light of heaven, n. 1042,
1043, 1053 — 4922. That colour fignify various things relating to upderftanding
and wifdom, n. 4530, 4922, 4677, 9466. That the precious ftoncs in Urim
and Thummim, according to their colours refpeiStively, fignified the whole of
divine truth from divine good, n. 9865, 9868, 9905. That colours, fo far as
they partake of red, fignify good ; and fo far as they partake of white, they fignify
truth, n. 9476.

(132) That all in the inmoft heaven are innocences, or perfeft in innocence,
and therefore appear naked, n. 154, 165, 297 — 9960. That innocence is rcpre-
fentcd in heaven by nakednefs, n. 165, 8375, 9960. That to the innocent and
chafte nakednefs gives no fhame, becaufe they are free from all offence, n. 165,

2i3> 8375-

which

[ io8 ]

which is meant the true church (133), is faid In Ilaiah, " Awake,
*• Awake, put on thy ftrength, 6 Zion, put on thy beautiful
" garments, O Jcrulalcm," lii. i. And in Ezekiel, " I girded
** thee about with fine linen, and covered thee with filk : and
" thy raiment was of fine linen and filk," xvi, 10, 13. not to
mention many otlicr places : but he that is not in the truth, is
faid, not to be " clothed with a wedding garment : and when
" the king came in to fee the gueils, he faw there a man which
*' had not on a wedding garment : and he faid unto him. Friend,
" how cameft thou in hither, not having a wedding garment ?
*' Wherefore he was caft into outer darknefs," Mat. xxii. 12,
13, By the marriage houfe is to be underltood heaven and the
church, from the union of the Lord therewith by his divine
truth ; ajid therefore the Lord is called in the Word, the Bride-
groom and Hufband, and heaven with the church, the Spoufe
and the Wife.

181. That the garments of the angels not only appear fuch,
but really arc what they appear to be, is evident both from their
figiit and feeling : and alfo they have change of raiment, which
they put on and off, and lay by for future ufc, as occafion may
require : and that they appear clothed differently at different
times, I have been eye-witnefs to a thoufand times : I alfo allied I
them whence they had them ; they anfwcred, by the gift of the |
Lord, and that fometimes they found themfelves clothed there-
with without their knowledge. Moreover, they faid, that their
garments were varied according to the variation of their ftates ;

that in their firft and fecond Hate they were of a Ihining white,
but in their third and fourth fomething darker, and that accord-
ing to the rules of correfpondency, as the changes happened in
refpedl to their underflanding and wifdom, of which fee above,
n. 154 to 161. A

182. As in the fpiritual world every angel has garments »
adapted to and reprefentative of his intelledlual gifts, or accord-
ing to the particular truths which form his underftandi ng ; fo
likewife the infernal fpirits, who are deftitute of all truth, ap-
pear alfo in their garments, but fuch only as are ragged and

(133) That Jerufalem fignifies the church, wherein the true doftrinc is taught,
n. 402, 3654, 9166.

filthy.

[ 109 ]

filthy, each according to the kind and degree of his folly and
madnefs, nor can any others fuit them ; however, the Lord
allows them clothing, that their nakednefs and deformity may
not appear.

Of the Habitations and Manfions of the

Angels.

183. As the angels live in focieties, as men do on earth, fo
In like manner they have their particular dwellings, and thefe
different according to their ftates of life refpedtively, magnificent
to thofe who are worthy of greater honour; and lefs fo to thofe
of inferior degree. I have fometinies difcourfed with the angels
concerning their dwellings, and told them, that among us at
this time fcarcely any believed that they were fo accommodated,
fome becaufe they are not vifible to them ; fome becaufe they
have no notion of angels being men ; fome becaufe they fuppofe
the angelical heavens to be the fame that they behold with their
eyes ; and as thefe appear to them no other than void fpace, and
fancying at the fame time that the angels are only thin a^therial
forms, therefore they conclude that they hover in the jether :
befides, as they have not the leafl notion of any thing fpiritual,
fo neither can they conceive how there can polTibly be in the
fpiritual world things like to thofe in the natural. The angels
replied, that they knew that fuch ignorance prevailed on earth
at this time, and wondered at it, more efpecially in the Chridian
church, and therein more among the learned, than among thofe
whom they called the illiterate and fimple; adding moreover,
that they might gather from the written Word that angels are
men, as having appeared of old always as men, and from the
Lord's having rifen again, and afcended with his entire huma-
nity ; and if the angels are men, tliat they muft of confequencc
have habitations or dwellings, and not as fome foolilhly (madly
they termed it) fuppofe, hover in the air, or becaufe they are
c;illed fpirits, are therefore no other than a breath of wind.
They likewife f\id, that fuch might emerge from their prefent
ignorance as touching thcf; matters, would they but drop their

L c prejudices.

[ no ]

prejudices, and not bewilder themfclves by flarting queftions
and doubtful difputations, wlicthcr thefe .things be fo or not,
lince there are in the mind of every man certain plain, common
notices or impreflions concerning the truth of angels being
men, and dwelling in heavenly maniions, far excelling any
ftrudtures here on earth; but that thefe common notices or im-
preflions (which are from above) are obliterated when men
cxercife themfclves in vain reafonings, and bring the fubjedb
into queftion with their logical ambiguities and fubtle rea-
fonings i which is principally the cafe with the learned, who,
by their oppofitions of Jc'wnce falfcly fo called, darken divine truths,
and render their minds inacceltible to the light of heaven. And
juft fo it is with refpetit to their belief of the ftate of the
loul after death : he that is converfant on this fubjcJl without
puzzling his head with the curious difquifitions of the learned ■

concerning the nature of the foul, and its reunion with the '

body, readily takes for granted, that man enters upon a new
life after death, and paffes into the foclcty of angels, if he has
lived well, where he is entertained with raviibing fccnes, and
feels joy unfpeakable ; but no fooner does he bend his mind to
philofophical reafonings upon the fubjcdl:, or to confider It by
fome learned hypothelis concerning foul and body, and their 5

mutual relations and communications, but he lofes his former J

faith, and falls into doubting.

184. But it will bring the matter more home, to alledge
inftances drawn from experience : as often as I have converfed
with tlie angels face to face, it was in their habitations, which
are like to our houfes on earth, but far more beautiful and mag-
nificent, having rooms, chambers, and apartments in great
variety, as alfo fpacious courts belonging to them, together with
gardens, parterres of flowers, fields, &c. Where the angels %

are formed into focieties, they dwell in contiguous habitations,
dlfpofed after the manner of our cities in ilreets, walks, and ,.

fquares : I have had the privilege to walk through them, to &

examine all round about me, and to enter their houfes ; and
this when I was fully awake, having my inward eyes opened ( 1 34).

(134.) The angels have their cities, palaces, and houfes, n. 940, 941, 942,
H16, 1626, 1627, 1628, 1630, 1631, 4622.

185. I have

[ III ]

185. I have fecn alfo the palaces in heaven, the magnificence
of which exceeds defcription, the roofs glittering as with pure
gold, and the floors as with precious flones ; but fome more
fplendid than others ; the inner apartments likewife were orna-
mented beyond all human conception. On the fouth fide were
gardens, where all things appeared with radiant luftre, certain
trees bearing leaves of a filver hue, and fruit that glittered like
burnilhed gold, whilll: flowers in the borders, by a beautiful
arrangement of their colours, prefented, as it were, rainbows
to the eye of the fpecftator : at the end of the walks frefh palaces
rofe to the view, and terminated the profpedl. Such is the
architedlure and beautiful fcencry in heaven, infomuch that it
may well be faid, that the very principle of art appears there in
its efl^efts, and no wonder, when we confider fuch art is hea-
venly : and yet the angels faid, that not only like things, but
others beyond number of fl:ill higher degrees of perfection, were
at times exhibited to their view by the goodnefs of the Lord,
for their recreation and entertainment ; and yet that the intel-
ledlual pleafure they received therefrom was greater than the
fenfible, and that, becaute in all and Angular of thofe objecfls
they difcerned correfpondency, and through their correfpondents
the divine things which they reprefented.

186. As touching correfpondences I learned, that not only
palaces and houfes, but likewife all things within and without
them were relative to the interior divine gifts and qualities in
the angels ; that houfe in general correfponded to the principle
of good in them, and tlie particular things therein, to the dif-
ferent fpecies or kinds of good (135); as the things without
their houfes, to the truths relative to and proceeding from fuch
good refpedively, and alfo to perceptions and knowledge of
clitfercnt kinds ; and as they correfpond to the principles and
different fpecies of goodnefs and truth [6o?iis et vcris\ which are
in them by influx from the Lord, fo alfo do they correfpond to

(135) That a houfe, with the things in it, fignify things pertaining to the
mind, or interior Rate of man, n. 710, 2233 — 7929, 9150, and confequently his
itate as to things good and true, n. 2233, 2234 — 7929. That chambers and inner
apartments fignify fuch of them as arc more interior, n. 3900, 5994, 7353- That
the roof of a houfe fignifies what is inmoft in his mind, n. 3652, 10184. T hat
a houfe of wood fignifies things of tlie quality of good, and a houfj of Itonc,
things of truth, n. 37 2Q.

the.

[ 112 ]

the prevailing principle of love in them, and to their undcr-
flanding and wifdoni originating thence, for love originates in
good, wifdom in goodnefs and truth [Sapientia ejl bout et Jimul
^vr/■] and intelledual knowledge proceeds from that truth which
is the offspring of good [veri ex bono]. The fight of the fore-
mentioned correfponding objeds excites in the minds of the
angels thefe perceptions, which yield more delight to their
intcllcdual faculties, than the objedts themfelves to their exte-
rior fenfes.

187. Hence it appears why the Lord applied to himfelf the
name of the temple at Jerufalcm, John ii. 19, 21. (136) ; and
why the New Jerufalem appeared to be of pure gold, its gates
of pearls, and its foundations of precious ftones, Apoc. xxi.
viz. becaufe the temple reprefentcd the Divine Humanity ot
the Lord ; the New Jerufilem fignifies the church hereafter to
be cftablifhed on earth ; the twelve gates, the truths which lead
to goodnefs -, and the foundations, thofe effential truths on
which the new church is to be built (137).

188. The angels which conllitute the coeleftial kingdom,
or third heaven, dwell moltly in lofty places, which appear as
mountains ; thofe of the fpiritual kingdom or middle heaven,
in places of lefs eminence ; and thofe of the lowefl or firft
heaven in rocky fituations, and all this from correfpondency ;
for the more interior itates corrcfpond to vifible eminences, and
the more exterior to inferior places (138); and therefore it is
that mountains in Scripture-language i\gm^y ca:ileftial love ;
hills, fpiritual love; and rocks, faith (139).

(136) That the houfe of God, in its highcft fcnfe, fignifies the Divine Huma-
nity of the Lord with refpect to divine good ; the temple the fame, in refpcfl to
divine truth ; and in a comparative ienk, heaven and the true churcli, in rcfptit
to goodiiols and truth, n. 3720.

(137) That Jcrufahin iignifics the church, in which is true doiSlrine, n. 402,
3O54, 9166. That gates fignify introduction into, or initiation in the dodrine
of the church, and through the dodlrine into the church, n. 2943, 4478. That
foundation fignifies truth, on vvliich heaven, the church, and its doctrine are
founded, n. 9643.

(138) That in Scripture-language thing's of a more interior kind are exprcflld
by outward things of a fupcrior kind, and fignified by them, n. 2148, 3084, 4599,
5146, 8325. 'i~hat high ix^miics iiiwcvd, and alfo heaven, n. 1735, 2148, 4210,

4599' 815,3-

(139) That in heaven there appears to be mountains, hills, rocks, valleys, and

different kinds of earth, altogether like what we fee here, n. 10608. That on the

mountains

[ 113 ]

iSg. There are likewife angels which live not ia focieties,
but difperfed in feparate houfes : fuch dwell in the middle parts
of heaven, as being the beft of the angels.

190. The manlions inhabited by the angels are not built by
them, as we build ours, but are the gift of the Lord to them,
to each according to his recipiency of goodnefs and truth ; and
they alfo are fubjeift to fome changes, accordingly as variations
happen in the inward flatc of the angels, concerning which
above, n. 154 to 160. The angels live in a conflant fenfe of
their dependence on, and gratitude to the Lord for all that they
poiTefs, and all that they fland in need of he freely gives them.

Of Space in Heaven.

191. Though all things in heaven appear to exifl in place
and fpace after the manner of this world, neverthelefs the angels
have no idea of either : now as this cannot but appear a paradox,
and is a fubje(ft of great importance, I proceed to the expla-
nation of it.

192. All progreffions and advances in the fpiritual world are
caufed by change of dates in the interiour, nor are they any
otherwife (140) ; accordingly I have been taken up by the Lord

mountains dwell the angels, who excel in the good of love ; on the hills thofe
that excel in charity or love of their neighbour ; on the rocks thofe that walk by-
faith, n. 10438. That therefore by mountains in Scripture is fignified the good
of love, n. 795, 4210 — 10438, 10608. By hills, the good of charity, n. 6435,
10438. By rocks, the good and truth of faith [bonum ct venini fidei'\ n. 8581,
10580. That Jlone, from whence comes rock, in like manner fignifics the truth
of faith, n. 114, 643, 1298 — 10376. Hence that by mountiims is fignified heaven,
n. 8327, 8805, 9420. And by the top of a mountain, the fupreme part of heaven,
n. 9422, 9434, 10608. That therefore the angels celebrated their religious wor-
fhip on mountains, n. 796, 2722.

(140) That places and fpaces in the Word fignify flates, n. 2625, 2837, 3356,
3387, 7381, 10578. Proved from experience, n. 1274, 1277, 1376 to 1381 —
10578. That diflance iignifies difference in the ftatcs of life, n. 9104, 9967.
That movements and changes of place in the fpiritual world are from changes in
the life's ftates, n. 1273, 1274, 1275, X377, 3356, 9440; as alfo progreflive
motion, n. 9440, 10734; illuftratcd from experience, n. 1273 ^^ '^77, 5606;
that hence it is, that in the Word, to walk, fignifies to live, and alfo the progrefs
of life, as alfo does journeying, n. 3335, 4554, 4585 — 8557. To walk with the
Lord means the fame as living agreeably to his will, n. 10567.

F f into

[ 114 1

into heaven, and have been in different worlds in the univerfe
as to my fpirit, whilft my body was all the while here on earth
in the fiime place (141) : and fo it is with the angels, for to
them diftances are nothing, and if nothing, fo neither is fpace
any thing, but inftcad thereof are their flates and changes, and
changes therein.

193. As progreffions are effecfted this way, it is evident that
the approximation to, and elongation from perfons reciprocally,
confill;; in the fimilarity or diihmilarity of their interior flates
rcfpedively, they who are in the former approaching near to
one another, and fuch as are in the latter feparating from each
other; and that fpaces in heaven are nothing more than their
external flates correfponding to their internal ones : fo alfo it is
that the heavens are diftindl from one another, as alfo the fo-
cieties in each heaven, and every individual of a fociety : hence
likewife that the different hells are totally feparated, and in
cppofition to the heavens, as being by conditions and qualities
diametrically contrary to one another.

194. From the fame caufe it comes to pafs, that in the fpi-
ritual world one becomes immediately prefent to another, who
intenfely defires his company, for by that means he fees him in
thought, and enters into the fame flate with his ; and, on the
contrary, that one is feparated from another in proportion to
his averfion to him : and as all avcrfion proceeds from contra-
riety of affedtions, and diffent of minds, hence it appears often-
times, that many who continue together whilfl they agree, im-
mediately difippear on the firfl quarrel.

195. So likewife when any one takes a walk from one place
to another, whether in the city he belongs to, in the fquares,
gardens, or on a vifit to any of another fociety, he reaches the
end of his walk fooner or later, according to the greater or
leffer earneflne.fs of his defire to be there, the way, though the
fame in itfelf, appearing fliorter or longer in proportion to luch
defire : this I have often fcen and wondered at. Hence it is
plain, that diftance, and confequently fpace in heaven, are alto-

(141) That man, in fpirit, may be conveyed to a great diftance by change of
ftatcs, his body remaining in the fame place : this from experience, n. 9440, 9967,
10734. What it means to be led by the fpirit to another place, n. 1884.

gether

[ 115 ]

gether relative to the interior ftates of the angels, and therefore
that the idea of fpace enters not into their thoughts (142).

196. This may be illuftrated from what pafles in the mind
of man, in which there is no fpace, but every thing that he
intenfely thinks of appears prefcnt to him : in like manner,
every one that reflefts on the matter muft know, that fpace is
no objed; of fight, any farther than he borrows the idea of it
from intermediate objedls, and from what he has learned of
di (lance by experience : now this proceeds from the following
caufe, viz. that in what is continuous we have ncr precife idea
of diftance, but from things that are not continuous (*) : and
this is ftill more ftrongly the cafe with the angels, as their
feeing is correfponding to and one with their thinking, and
their thinking with their affeftions, and as things appear to
them near or remote, and in all their variations, according to
their inward ftates, as has been fhcwed before.

197. Hence, that in Scripture-language, by places, fpaces,
and all things that carry in them any idea of ipace, we are to
underfland things pertaining to ftates ; thus by diflances, as
near, far off, ways, journeys, wandrings ; by miles, furlong,
fields, gardens, cities, ftreets, and going from one place to an-
other ; alfo by meafures of various kinds, as long, broad, high,
and deep, and innumerable other things, as moil of the ideas

(142) l^hat places and fpaces appear according to the interior ftates of angels
and fpirits, n. 5604, 9440, 10146.

(*) It will be fomewhat difficult for the reader, that is not of a philofophical
turn of mind, to take the author's meaning in this place. It may appear fome-
thing clearer, if expreffed thus : Were any one furrounded only by fpace, as it
confifts of no diftindt vifible parts, but is all one continued famencfs, he would
not be able to form any notion of diftance therein ; but were bodies of vifible
dimenfions introduced into it, they would interrupt the continuity, and ferve as fo
many meafures of fpace, by having a relative diftance one from another : thus
place, which arifes from the different fituation of bodies, becomes the meafure of
fpace, by giving to it diftindtion. Eternity alfo is of like confideration, as having
no divifion or diftinftion in itfclf, but borrows them from time, as time has ii^
meafures only from the fucceffions of bodies and founds, according to their im-
prtfTions on the fenfcs. Thus do things difconiinuous and finite give us fomc,
though inadequate, notions of things continous and infinite, whilft they leave us
utterly incapable of forming any pofitive idea of them as they are in themfclvcs :
fo full of inconceivable myftery is every thing infinite and eternal, and abundantly
fufficient to humble the pride of man, when he turns his thoughts to fuch fub-
jeits. Tr.

[ ii6 ]

in the human mind borrow fomething from fpace and time : to
inftancc only in what is nieant in Scripture by length, breadth,
and height ; in this world what is called long, broad, or high,
is lb denominated from fpace -, but in heaven, where they have
no ideas of fpace, by length is meant a ftate of good, by breadth
a ftate of truth, and by height their refpeftive difference as to
degrees, of which in n. 38 ; and the reafon of underftanding
thefe dimenfions in fuch fenfes, is becaufe that there Long is
from Eall to Weft, where dwell the angels who excel in the
good of love J and Broad in heaven is from South to North,
where the angels, whole chief eminence and diftinftion is in
truth proceeding from good, have their habitations, fee above,
n. 148 : and High in heaven fignifies both, according to their
degrees refpedlively ; whence it is that length, breadth, and
height have fuch fignifications in Scripture-language. Thus in
Ezekiel, from ch. xl. to xlviii. where the meafures affigned to
the new temple and the new earth, together with their courts,
doors, gates, chambers, windows, &c. are denominated accord-
ing to length, breadth, and height : all which fignify and typify
the New Church, and the various fpecies of good and truth
therein ; and to what elfe can fuch meafures be applicable ?
And in like manner the New Jerufalem, as defcribed by St.
John in the following words : " And the city lieth four fquare,
** and the length is as large as the breadth. And he meafured
** the city with the reed, twelve thoufand furlongs : the length,
*' and the breadth, and the height of it are equal," Rev. xxi.
16. Now, as by the New Jerufalem is here fignified the New
Church, fo by thofe meafures are fignified the things pertaining
to this Church : by length there is fignified its good of love ; by
breadth its truth, as the offspring of that love, and by height
the degrees of both refpcdlively ; as by the twelve thoufand fur-
longs, the whole of its good and truth in their complex (*) :
what other meaning can belong to, the length, and the breadth,

(*) As it appears from many parts of our author's writings, that numbers in
Scripture fignify things, fo that the number twelve fignifies the complex or aggre-
gate of all the things of the kind mentioned ; thus, if Good be the predicament,
the number twelve added to it makes it to fignify all forts of good j if Truth, the
fame number added makes it to fignify all truths. Tr.

and

f ^^7 ]

and the height of it being equal? That by Breadth in the Word
is fignified truth, appears from thofe words oi David, Pf. xxxi, 8.
*' Thou haft not ihut me up into the hand of the enemy :
" thou haft fet my feet in a large room [/;/ latitude^. " I called
" upon the Lord in diftrefs [in Jlraitnefs\ ; the Lord anfwered
** me, and fet me in a large place" \in breadtb'\, Pf. cxviii. 5.
So in If. c.h. viii. 8. and Hub. i. 6. and alfo in other places.

198. Fi'om what has been faid it may appear, that though
there be fpace in heaven, as well as here, yet no account is
made of it there, but only of ftates j and that it is not meafured
there by diftances, as in this world, but from and according to
the interior ftate of the angels (143).

199. The true and principal caufe hereof is, that the Lord
is prefent to every one according to his faith and love (144),
and that all things appear near or far off" according to his pre-
fence, for this gives determination to all things in the heavens ;
on this depends the wifdom of the angels, and the extent of
their mental powers ; to this is owing the communication of
all heavenly things ; and hence it is that the angels think fpi-
ritually, and not naturally after the manner of men.

Of the Form of Heaven, according to which
are regulated the Angelical Confociations
and Communications.

200. As concerning the form of heaven, what has already
been faid on that fubjedt may ferve to give the reader fomc idea
of it ; as that it is uniform and fimilar to itfelf in all its parts,
both great and fmall, n. 72 ; whence it is, that every fociety
therein is a heaven in a lelfcr form, and every individual angel

(143) That in the Word, Zrw^^A fignifics Cuiirt', n. 1613, 9487. T\\-a\. Breadth
fiyiiifics Truth, n. 1613, 3433, 3434j 44S2, 9487, 10179. 1 hat Height fignifics
Good ai\d Truth, according to their degrees rcfpedlively, n. 9489, 9773, 10181.

(144) That the Lord is adjoined to and prefent with the angels, in proportion
to their recipiency of love and charity from him, n. 290, 681, 1954, 2658, 2886,
2888 — 4524, 7211, 9128.

G g a heaven

[ ii8 ]

a heaven in the fmalleft form, n. 51 to 58 ; and that as'heaven
in its whole or complex refenibles one man, lb does eveiy
fociety in a Icfler, and every angel in the leaft form, n. 59 to
'jl : that in the middle are the wifeft of the angels, and round
about them towards the circumference thofe who Icfs excel in
wifdom refpedlively ; the like regulation alfo takes place in
every particular fociety, n. 43 : that from Eaft to Well dwell
the anp-els who are eminent in the sfood of love, and from the
South to the North thole who are eminent in truths derived
from that good, all according to their degrees, and the fame in
every particular fociety, n. 148, 149. All thefe regulations are
according to the form of heaven, and may ferve to give us a
general idea of it (145).

201. It concerns us the more to have fome apprehenfion of
the form of heaven, not only as all the focieties of the angels
are regulated by it, but alfo as it determines the method of
their communications with one another; and if fo, the extent
of their thoughts and afFeftions alfo, and confequently their
underrtanding and wifdom, receive their determinations here-
from, infomuch that the nearer any one approaches in himfelf
to the perfedt form of heaven, the higher is the degree of his
wifdom : now whether we fay of any one, that he is in the
form of heaven, or in the order of heaven, it comes to the
feme, as the form of every thing is from the law of its order,
and according to it (146).

202. It will be proper in this place to explain briefly what
is meant by being in the form of heaven. Man was treated
after the image of heaven, and after the image of this world ;
as to the former internally, and as to the latter externally, fee
above, n. 57. (Now after the image, and after the form, mean
the fame). But forafmuch as man, by the evil in his will, and
the falfe in his thoughts [per fa If a cogitationis inde\ in confe-

(145) That the univcrfal heaven, with regard to all the angelica! focieties, is
difpofcd or regulated by the Lord according to liis own divine order, forafmuch as
tht divine prefence in the angels conftitutes heaven, n. 3038, 721 1, 9128 — IO157.
Of the heavenly form, n. 4040, 4041 — 9877.

(146) That the form of heaven ii according to the divine ordir, n. 4040 to
4043, 6607, 9877.

quence

[ 119 ]

quence of the former, deflroyed in himfelf the image or form
of heaven, and in the room of it introduced the imag-e or form
of hell i therefore it is that man is born into tlie world in
greater ignorance than any other animals, and to the end that
the image or form' of heaven may be reftored in him again, it
is become necefl'ary for him to be inftrufted in things pertaining
to the divine order, for, as was faid before, the form of any
thing is according to its order. The Word of God contains
all the laws of divine order in the precepts therein delivered,
and therefore as far as any one knows and keeps them, fo far is
his internal, or inward man, opened, and the order or image
of heaven formed therein : hence appears what is meant by
being in the form of heaven, viz. a life according to the divine
laws (147) and order, as laid down in the Word of God.

203. As far as one is in the form of heaven, fo far is he in
heaven, nay, fo far is a heaven in its loweft form, n. 57, and
confequently in divine underftanding and wifdom ; for, as was
faid before, the thoughts of his mind, and the affecftions of his
heart, extend themfelves every way according to his form, and
wonderfully communicate with the angelical focieties there, and
they with him (148), Some fuppofe that their thoughts and
affedlions have no aftual extent around them, but are iliut up
within them, becaufe they view what they think of as within
their own minds, and not at a diftance ; but this is a great

(147) That divine truths are the laws of order, n. 2247, 7995. That as far
as any one lives according to order, confequently in good according to divine truths,
fo far only is he to be tlleemed a man, n. 4839, 6605, 6626. That man is the
proper fubjedl of all things pertaining to divine order, and that by original creation
he was a form of divine order, n. 4219, 4220, 4223, A523 — 10156, 10472. That
man is not now born in the principles of goodncfs and truth, but in the evil and
the falfc, and confequently in contrariety to the divine order, and of confequence
in mere ignorance, and therefore mufl: of neceiTity be born again, or regenerated
by the power of divine truth from the Lord, before he can enter again into the
divine order, n. 1047, 2307, 2308 — 10286, 1C731. That when the Lord forms
man anew, or regenerates him, he difpofes all things in him according to divine
order, or fafhions him to be a form of heaven, n. 5700, 6690, 9931, 10303.

(148) That everyone in heaven partakes in a communication of life (which
may be called an extenfion of it) with the angelical focieties around him, in pro-
porticn to his quantity and quality of good, n. 8794, 8797. lliat thoughts and
afFeiStions have the like cxtcnfion, n. 2475, 6598 106613. That the angels are
alTociated or feparated accordinjj to their ruling aticiStions refpedtively, n. 4111.

niiilake,,

[ 120 ]

miftake, for, as the fight of the eye extends to very diftant
objedls, and is afteded by them according to their nature,
though at a great diftance, fo the interior fight of the under-
flanding extends to tlie fpiritual world, though it perceives it
not, for the reafon mentioned above, n. 196 : ^he only dilference
is, that the fight of the bodily eye is affedied naturally, as from
things in the natural world, and the intellectual fight is affedled
fpiritually, as from things in the fpiritual world, all which
latter have relation to goodnefs and truth. That man is not
confcious of its being thus with him, is becaufe he does not
apprehend that it is a real light which gives him underftanding,
and that without fuch light in his underftanding he would not
be able to think at all : concerning this light, fee above, n. 126
to 132. There was a certain fpirit, who believed that the power
of thinking was from and vsithin himfelf only, without any
extenfion beyond himfelf, and confequently without communi-
cation with any fociety ; and to convince him of his error, all
communication was cut off betwixt him and the focieties next
to him, on which he was not only immediately deprived of the
power of thinking, but alio fell down as dead, except that he
fiung about his arms like a child newly born : in a little time
after, the communication was again opened, and according to
its return he was gradually reftored to the ufe of his under-
ftanding : hereupon, certain angels that were witnelfes to this
tranfaftion, confeffed that all thought and affedlion were by influx
from communication, and confequently the whole of life, as the
whole of the life of man confills in his thinking and being
affe<5ted, or, in other words, that he can underlland and
will (149).

204. But

(149) That there is only one original life, from which all lives cxift both in
hea\cii and this worlJ, n. 1954, 2021, 2536 — 5847, 6467. 'I'hat the Lord is
the folc fountain o( that life, n. 2886 to 2889, 334 — 927O, 10196. That it is
derived by influx to angels, Spirits, and men, after a wonderful manner, n. 2886
to 2889, 3337, 3338, 3484, 3742. That this influx is from divine love, whofe
nature it is to communicate of its own, n. 3472, 4320 : and from thence it is,
that life appears to man as properly his own, and not by influx, n. 3742, 4320.
Of the joy which the angels receive (and whereof they alfured me) from knowing
that their life is by continual influx from the Lord, n. 6469. That evil people
will not receive this truth concerning influx, n. 3743. That life even in evil men,

[ 121 ]

204. But we are to take with us, that underflanding and
wifdom vary in all according to the kind of communication ;
they in whom thefe are formed from genuine aud pure fpecies
of goodnefs and truth [ex gemdnis verts et bo7iis\ communicate
with the angelical focieties according to the form of heaven ;
but they whofe underftanding and wifdom are not formed of
fuch goods and truths, but of fuch only as may confifl with
them, here the communication is in a fort broken and incohe-
rent, as not being rightly conformable to the order of heaven :
but as to thofe w^ho have no true underftanding and wifdom,
but are abforbed in the falfe of evil \in faljis ex malo'\ their
communication is only with the infernal focieties. It mufh be
obferved, that the degree of extenfion before-mentioned is ac-
cording to the degree of confirmation in the flate of the parties
refpecflively, and that fuch communication with the focieties is
not attended with any perception of what they do, or pafles
among them, but only a communication of their qualities and
influence (150).

205. All are confociated in heaven according to their fpi-
ritual affinities of good and true, in their feveral ranks and
degrees, whether in the univerfal heaven, in the feveral focieties,
or in particular families, infomuch that the angels, who are in
the fame kinds and degrees of good and truth, know one another
like kindred here on earth, who have been educated together ;
and there is the like affinity and agreement between the feveral
truths and fpecies of good that conftitute their underftanding
and wil'dom, in every particular angel, and producftive of the
lame harmony (151) : whence it comes to pafs, that they in
whom goods and truths are united after the form of heaven,

is by influx from the Lord, n. 2706, 3743, 4417, 10196 ; but that fuch change
good into evil, and true into falfe ; for as the man is, fuch is his recipiency of life
— this illuftrated, n. 4319, 4320, 4417.

(150) That thought diffufes itfclf to the focieties of fpirits and angels around
us, n. 6600 to 6605, and that without aftecSling or difturbing their courfe of
thinking.

(151) That every good knows its own proper truth, and every truth its own
proper good, n. 2429, 3101, 3102 — 5835, 9637. Hence the conjunction of good
and truth, n. 3834, 4096, 4097 — 7623 to 7627 — 9258, 10555 : and that this is
the effedt of heavenly influx, n. 9079.

II h fee

[ 122 ]

fee things in tlieir various combinations and dillant confcquences
all around them j but it is otherwife where goods and truths
are not lo combined in a heavenly form.

206. There is a like form belonging to each of the heavens,
according to which the communication and extenfaon of the
thoughts and affecflions of the angels are effefted, and confe-
quently their underltanding and wifdom ; and yet there is a
difference in the communication between one heaven and ano-
ther, viz. of the third or inmoft with the fecond or middle
heaven, and of both thefe with the firft or loweft heaven ;
though the communication between heaven and heaven is not
properly called communication, but influx, of which we pro-
ceed to fpeak. That there are three heavens, and thefe dillindt
from one another, fee above in its proper article, n. 29 to 40.

207. That, properly fpeaking, it is not communication, but
influx, that fubfilts between heaven and heaven, as may appear
from the order of the heavens : the third or inmolt heaven is
the fupreme ; the fecond or middle heaven is beneath it ; and
the firll heaven is the lowelt of all. All the focieties in each
of the heavens are diftinguillied in like manner ; as for example,
thofe focieties which are flationed in places of the higheft emi-
nence, having the appearance of mountains, (fee n. 188.) are
thus dilHnguiflied : they who are of the greateft excellence, and
of the quality of the angels of the third heaven, have their
dwelling on the fummits ; they who refemble more the angels
of the fecond heaven, are ranked beneath them ; and they who
come nearer to the angels of the hrft heaven are claflld llill
lower ; and the fame regulations are obferved both in the fupe-
rior and the inferior fituations. A ibciety of a fuperior heaven
has its communication with that of an inferior heaven only by
correfpondency, fee above, n. 100 ; and communication by cor-
refpondency is that which we call influx.

208. It is the Lord only that conioins heaven with heaven,
or the fociety of one heaven with that of another, and this by
influx immediate or mediate; immediate from himfelf, and me-
diate through the fuperior to the inferior heavens (152). As

(152) That influx is twofold, immediate from the Lord, and mediate through
heaven, n. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683. That immediate influx from the

Lord

[ 123 ]

the conjunftion of the heavens is from the Lord only, fo it is
carefully provided, that no angel of a fiiperior heaven look into
any fociety of an inferior heaven, or converfe with any there ^
for no fooner fhould he do this, than he would be deprived of
his underilanding and wifdom, and that through the following
caufe : every angel has three degrees of life, anfwering to the
three degrees of heaven ; they who are in the inmoft heaven
have the third or inmoft degree of life open, and the fecond and
firft Ihut : they who are in the middle heaven, have the fecond
degree open, and the firft and third ftiut : and they who are in
the loweft heaven, have the firft degree open, and the fecond and
third ftiut : as foon therefore as an angel of the third heaven
looks down upon any fociety in the fecond, and converfes with
any therein, his third degree of life is fliut, whereby he is
deprived of his wifdom, which lies only in the third degree of
life, for he has none in the fecond or firft ; according to which
meaning are thofe words of our Lord, Matth. xxiv. 17, 18.
" Let not him whicli is on the houfe top come down to take
'• any thing out of his houfe ; neither let him which is in the
** field return back to take his cloaths :" and alfo in Luke xvii.
31, 32. " In that day he which Ihall be on the houfe top, and
" his ftuft' in the houfe, let him not come down to take it
" away : and he that is in the field, let him likewife not return
" back : remember Lot's wife."

209. There is no influx from the inferior heavens to the
fuperior, this being contrary to the laws of order, but only
from the fuperior to the inferior ; for the wifdom of the angels
of a fuperior heaven, as far exceeds that of an angel of an in-
ferior heaven, as a myriad exceeds a unit, which is the reafon
why the angels of an inferior cannot converfe with thofe of a
fuperior heaven, nor can they fee them when they look up,
their heaven being, \\'ith refpect to riicm, veiled as it were with
a dark miit ; but the angels of a fuperior heaven can fee thofe
beneath them, but not converfe with them, but at the peril of
being deprived of their wifdom, as was fi\id before.

Lord extends to the moft minute p;irticulars of all things, n. 6058, 6474 to 6478,
8717, 8728. Of the mcdii-.tc- influ.\ of the Lord through the heavens, n.. 4067,
6982, 6985, 6996.

210. Tho

[ 12+ ]

210. The thoughts, afFedlions, and dilcourfe of the angels
of the inmoll heaven, come not within the apprehenllon of thofe
of tlie middle heaven, as far tranfcending their capacities; but
at times, as the Lord fees fit, there appears thence in the infe-
rior heavens a kind of riame-coloured pha;nomenon ; and from
the middle heaven into the loweft, a lucid form, and fometimes
a white or party-coloured cloud, from the afcent, defccnt, or
fliape of which they are able to form fome judgment concerning
what they are difcourfmg of above.

211. What has been faid on this fubjecfl may ferve to give
the reader an idea of the form of heaven, and how that of the
inmoft heaven is the moft perfedl ; that of the middle heaven,
lefs perfe(5l ; and that of the firll or lowell heaven, the leaft
perfedl of all ; and that the form of one heaven owes its fub-
liilence to that of another, under the efficiency of the divine
influx; but what communication by influx is, cannot be com-
prehended without having an idea of the degrees of altitude,
and knowing the difl^erence between them, and thbfe of longi-
tude and latitude, concerning which, fee n. 38.

212. As concerning the form of heaven in particular, to-
gether with its feveral changes and flud:uations ; this is a lubjedl
patfmg the comprehenfion even of the angels, though fome ■
conception of it may be borrowed from the flrudlure of the
human body, as viev/ed and examined by a fkilful anatomift,
it having been fliewed before in its proper place, that the whole
of heaven refembles one man, fee n. 59 to 72 ; and how all
things in man correfpond to the heavens, n. 87 to 102. Now,
how inexplicable and paft comprehenfion this wonderful fi:ru(flure
of man is, may appear even from a general view of the nervous
fibres whereof its feveral parts are compacfled, and which are'
fo extremely fmall, as to efcape the notice of the fliarpeil: fight
in their feveral meanders and tranfits in the brain, which afl'umes
its foft, medullary, and almolt fluid fubftance from their innu-
merable complications ; and yet, through their mediate inllru-
mentality, all the operations of the will and intelledl pafs into
their refpedtive dilHndl adls and forms : and how they meet
again, to form admirable complications in different parts of the
body, appears from their various plexus or folds in the heart,

mefentery.

[ 125 ]

mefentery, and other regions of the body j and alfo from thofc
nodes or network calfed ganglions, where many fibres from
different provinces of the human microcofm meet to form their
proper combinations, and thence proceed in their various in-
tcrtex tares to dilcharge other fundlions in their progrefs, and
that by fundry repetitions ; befides other like offices in every
bowel, member, organ, and mufcle in the body. The artift,
who, with a difcerning eye and a reflefting mind, views all this
and many other admirable contrivances in the human llrudture,
muft ftand afloniflied at the fkill of the divine artificer ; and yet
the things which are difcoverable therein by the eye, though
affirted by the beft glaffes, are but few in comparifon of thofe
ftill more wonderful things concealed from us in the deep of
interior nature. That the human form correfponds to the form
of heaven, is evident from the operations of the underftanding
and will therein and according to it, for whatever any one de-
termines in his will, the fame fpontaneoufly influences the body,
and palfes into adt (*) ; and fo what he thinks of, that inftan-
taneoufly aftedts the fibres from their beginning to their termi-
nations, and produces fenfe : now that which is the form of

(*) This doctrine laid down by our author cfFcftually folves that knotty point
(o much controverted by the learned, concerning mufcular motion, as it accounts
for it. in a fatisfadtory manner from the inftantaneous ojjcration of the will, by
influx, on the correfpondent parts of the body : and at the fame time it totally
annihilates that objection of the materialills againft the immortality of the foul,
drawn from the diforder occafioned in the underftanding through a diftempered
ftatc of tlie brain, or any ijiimy fiiftained by it ; for beginning at the wrong end,
and tracing the intclltihtual operations from organlz,ed matter, as the fource and
caufe of them, they infer, that the caufc being \ itiated or taken away, the effect
muft neccflarily ceafc ; whereas perception, thought, and memory, do not flo\y
from the brain, hut from the mind into it, as the proper recipient thereof, for the
manifeftation of ihefe powers in outward nature : the defeat or deftruftion of the
organ occafions no annihilation or lofs of the intellect, for that remains ftill the
fame in its own fpiritual piinciple or world ; but only hinders its influx into ano-
ther condition of exiftencc, and fo from manifefting its operations in this outward
natural world. The foul and its mind are abfolutely independent on this mortal
body, they communicate to it, but recei\e nothing from it, though they reach to
natural things by means of and through it : they Jive, even during their union
with the body, in the fpiritual world in their own fpiritual body, and here only
by communication with this organized natural body : fo much depends on afligiiing
to influx Its proper fource and progrefs, even the whole of the difference between
infidelity and believing rightly. See Theofophic Lucubration, p. 23, 24. ,

I i thought

[ 126 ]

thought and will, is alfo the form of underflanding and wifdom.
Such is the human form as concfponding to the form of heaven,
and may ferve to give us fome idea of the extenfion appertaining
to the affedions and thoughts of angels, and how their under-
flanding and wifdom are in proportion to their degree of per-
fedion as to that form. That the form of heaven is from the
Divine Humanity of our Lord, fee above, n. 78 to 86. Thefe
things are offered to the reader, with a defign to fhew, that the
form of heaven is a fubjecft of fuch vaft extent as not to be
exhaufted, even with refped to generals, and confequently, not ,F^

to be comprehended even by the minds of angels, as was before
obferved.

Of the Governments in Heaven.

213. As heaven is diflinguifhed into focieties, the greater of
which confift of fome hundred thoufands of angels, n. 50 : and
as all in the fame fociety are in the like good, but not alike in
wifdom, n. 43 ; it therefore ncccffarily follows, that there muft
be governments there, for order in every fociety is of necelfary
obfervation and ufe ; however, governments in the heavens are
of various kinds, fome refpedling the focieties which conftitute
the Lord's ca^leftial kingdom, and others refpeding thofe which
conftitute his fpiritual kingdom : and they alfo differ with regard
to the difference of office and miniltry appointed to focieties in
particular : but then it muft be noted, that in the heavens there
is no kind of government differing from that of mutual love,
for this is univerfally the heavenly government.

214. The government in the Lord's cceleftial kingdom, or
third heaven, is called Justice [Righteoufnefs] as all there
are in the good of love to the Lord, from the Lord ; and all
that proceeds from that principle is called Jurt: [Righteous].
Here the Lord is the fole governor, guiding the angels himfelf,
and teaching them the ways of life they fliould walk in, and
writing on their hearts thofe truths, which are called the Truths
of Judgment i infomuch that every one there fees and knows

them.

[ 127 ]

them (153), and therefore there is no controverfy on thefe fub-
jedls among them, but their thoughts and converfation turn
chiefly on things pertaining to righteoufnefs and hoHnefs of life :
they who are lefs wife confult thofe who excel in wifdom, and
the latter afk counfel of the Lord, who vouchfafes to give them
anfwers : upon the whole, it is their heaven and higheit joy to
live righteoufly and holily under the influence and government
of the Lord.

215. The government in the Lord's fpiritual kingdom is
called Judgment, the fubjefts of it being in fpiritual good,
which is the good of charity towards our neighbour, and in its
effence is truth (154) ; for truth relates to judgment, and good
to righteoufnefs (155). Thefe alfo are under the Lord's gui-
dance, but mediately by others, n. 208 ; and accordingly they
have rulers, more or fewer, according to the exigences of that
particular fociety to which they belong : they live together
under laws which are well underftood and obferved by their
rulers in the adminillration of their office, and when any dif-
ficulty or doubt arifes, they receive light from the Lord.

216. As that government which is from good (*), as in the
Lord's coeleftial kingdom, is called Righteoufnefs ; and that

which

(153) That the cceleflial angels do not think and reafon of truths like the fpi-
ritual angels, feeing that they are in the perception or immediate intuition of all
things relating to truth, by the gift of the Lord, n. 202, 597, 607, 784 — 8780,
9277, 10336. That the coelcftials, where truths are the fubjc£t of converfation,
only fay concerning fuch fubjects. The matter is fo, or is not fo ; whereas th«
fpiritual angels reafon concerning them, as whether the matter be fo, or not, n.
2715, 3246, 4446, 9166, 10786; where is given the explication of thofe words
of our Lord : " Let your communication be, yea, yea ; nay, nay j for whatfo-
" ever is more than thefe cometh of evil." Matt. v. 37.

(154) That the angels of the fpiritual kingdom are more for intellectuals, or
the knowledge of truths ; and thofe of the ctelcflial are more in good, n. 863, 875,
927—5113, 9596.

(155) That juftice or righteoufnefs, in the Word, is predicated of good, and
judgment of truth ; and therefore to exercife righteoufnefs and judgment figiiifies
to pra£tife both goodnefs and truth, n. 2235, 9857. That great judgments lignify
the laws of divine order, or divine truths, n. 7206.

(*) Let it be obferved here, by way of caution againft miflake, that our author
never ufes the terms good and truth in the way of contr.adiftin>.'tion, or as though
either could fubfift entirely feparate from the other ; and therefore where he fpcaks
of fome angels being in [the principle of J good, and others iu the [principle of]

truth.

[ 123 ]

which is from truth, as in his fpiritual kingdom, is called Judg-
ment ; therefore the terms juftice or righteoufnefs, and judg-
ment, are fo often in Scripture-language, where heaven and the
church are the fuhjeds treated of, and there, by julHce or righ-
teoufnefs is lignified ccrleftial good, and by judgment fpiritual
good, which latter, as was faid before, in its efl'ence is truth :
thus in the following texts : " Of the increafe of his govern-
'* mcnt and peace there fliall be no end, upon the throne of David
** and upon his kingdom, to order and to cftabliHi it with judg-
** ment and with juftice, from henceforth even for ever," Ifai.
ix. 7. By David in this place is meant the Lord (156), and by
his kingdom, heaven, as appears from the following words :
" I will raife unto David a righteous branch, and a king fhali
** reign and profper, and Ihall execute judgment and juftice in
** the earth," Jer. xxiii. 5. " The Lord is exalted, for he
** dwelleth on high : he hath filled Zion with Judgment and
*• Righteousness," Ifai. xxxiii. 5. By Zion here is meant
heaven and the church (157). ** I am the Lord exercifing
" loving-kindnefs. Judgment, and Righteousness in the
" earth ; for in thefe things I delight, faith the Lord," Jer.
ix. 24. " I will betroth thee unto me for ever, yea, I will
*' betroth thee unto me in Righteousness and in Judg-
** ment," Hofea ii. 19. " Thy Righteousness is like the
*• great mountains; thy Judgments are a great deep," Plal.
xxxvi. 6, 7. " They alk of me the ordinances [the judgments]
" of Justice ; they take delight in approaching to God,"
Ifai. Iviii. 2 : and alfo in other places. - "

217. In the Lord's fpiritual kingdom are different forms of Je

government in different focieties, according to the various ofhces <

truth, it means only that the former were more eminent for love in the aifedlionatc
part, than for knowk-dge in the intcilecluai, and lb vice vcrja : but no angel can
be dcflitute of either, however they may diffVr in tl»c degrees of the one or the
other. In like manner, when we mean to dillinguifli any one more particularly
by the name of a good man ; this does not imply that he is deficient in the intel-
leclual part or knowledge of truth, but only that goodnefs forms the more diilin-
guilhing part of his chara(Ster.

(156) That by David in the prophetic parts of the Word is meant the Lord,
n. 1888, 5954..

(157) I hat by Zion in the Word is meant the Church, and particularly the
Ca-leftial Church, n. V362, 9055.

and

[ 129 ]

and minlftrations of thofe focieties, and thofe anfwer to the
fun(ftions of the feveral parts in man, which every one knows
are manifold : thus one function belongs to the heart, another
to the lungs ; and fo in like manner, the liver, the pancreas,
the fpleen, and every organ of fenk, &c. have each their feveral
offices ; and according to their different miniftrations in the
body are thofe of the angelical focieties correfponding thereto j
for that there is a correfpondence between all things in heaven,
and all things in man, has been (hewed before, fee n. 87 to 102.
Now thefe feveral forms of government agree in this, that they
are all calculated to promote the good of the whole, and of
every member in particular (158) ; and this, becaufe all through-
out the univerfal heaven are under the care and guidance of the
Lord, who loves them all, and has therefore fo conftituted the
good of the community, that every individual finds his own
private good conne(fled with it, and receives of it in proportion
to his love for the community ; for in loving the whole he loves
every one, and according to the extent of his love (which is a
divine gift) he is beloved of the Lord, and is blelTed in the
fame degree.

218. Hence we may form a judgment of the charadler of
their rulers, viz. that they are fuch as excel in love and wifdom,
and confequently affecftionately wifh the good of all, and are
endowed with knowledge fufficient to effecfl it : now they who
are of this charadler, are not given to behave lordly and impe-
rioufly over thofe that are fubjecft to them, but minifter to and
ferve them ; for to do good to others from love, is to ferve them,
and to provide the means of their receiving it, is to miniilcr to
them : nor do they efteem themfelves greater, but lefs than

(158) That every man, and alfo the communit)', as likcwifc our country, the
church, and, in a univerfal fcnfe, the kingdom of the Lord, is our neighbour ;
and that, to do them good from love, according to their quality and condition, is
charity or love to our neighbour : fo their good and benefit, colledtively confidered,
is our neighbour, n. 6H18 106824, ^123. That alfo civil good or juftice, ab-
flraclcdly confidered, is our neighbour, n. 2915, 4730, 8120, 8123. Hence it is
that charity towards our neighbour extends to all the particulars of the life of
man, and that to do good from the love of good and truth ; and to do julHce fronj
the love of juftice in all the offices and rciatioiir. of life, is the fuuj and complex
of charity to our neighbour, n. 2417, 8121, 8124.

K k others.

r i3<^ ]

others, for they have refpedl to the good of the community and
of their neighbour in the firft place, and of their own but fub-
fcquently ; now that which is firft is greater than that whicli
follows : however, honour and preeminence are aillgncd them,
for they are fituated in the centre of their fociety, in places
fomewhat exalted above their brethren, and dwell in magnificent
palaces ; and they accept of thefe honourable diftindlions, not
for their own fakes, but for the fake of obedience, to the end
all may know, that as they are appointed for them of the Lord,
fo they are to pay them obedience as governors inftituted by
him : alluding to what has been faid are thofc words of our
Lord to his difciplcs : *' Whofoever will be great among you,
" let him be your miniller j and whofoever will be chief among
" you, let him be your fervant, even as the Son of man came
'* not to be miniil:ered unto, but to miniiler," Matt. xx. 26,
27, 28. •' He that is greatefl among you, let him be as the
*' younger, and he that is chief as he that doth ferve," Luke
xxii. 26.

219. Every family alfo is a government in a lower form;
for there is mafter and fervants, and the mafter loves his fervants,
and the fervants their mafler, and fo ferve each other from
love; whilfl: the mafter inftruiTts them how they are to live, and
what they are to do ; and the fervants, on their part, difcharge
the duties belonging to them : and let it be noted, that to be
ufeful is their highefl delight ; for the Lord's kingdom is the
kingdom of ufes.

220. There are governments alfo in the hells, for otherwife
the infernals could not be kept within bounds j but the govern-
ments there are of an oppofite nature to thofe in the heavens,
as being founded in felf-love, every one driving to be the
greateft, and domineering over others, and purfuing all that
refufe to be fubjedt to them, with hatred and revenge, fuch being
the nature of felf-love : therefore they have the mofi: fierce and
malignant for their rulers, that they may obey through fear (i 59) :
but of this hereafter, where we Ihall treat of the hells.

(159) That there are two kinds of government, the one founded in love to our
neighbour, and the other in felf love, n. 10814. 7'hat from the former proceed
all things good and delightful, n. ioi6o, 10814. That in heaven no one defircs

[ 131 ]

Of Divine Worfhip in Heaven.

221. Divine worfliip in heaven is not unlike that on earth,
as to the external part, though with regard to the internal there
is a difference : they have their doftrines, their preachings, and
their temples, as we have, and their do<5trines in all elTential
points perfeftly agree together, but of more interior wifdom
in the fuperior heavens than in the inferior, and their preachings
are according to their doctrines : and as they have houfcs and
palaces, n. 183 to 190, fo likewife have they temples to preach
in. That thefe things are fo in the heavens, is becaufe the
angels continually advance to higher degrees of perfeiflion in
wifdom and love, for they have underftanding and will like
men, and thofe are capable of fuch proficiency, the under-
ftanding in intellecflual truths, and the will in the various
fpecies of good arifing from love (160).

222. But the true divine worlliip is not confidered in the
heavens as confifting in frequenting the temples, and hearing
preachings, but in a life of love, charity, and faith, according
to the dodrines received, preaching ferving only as the means
of inftrudlion in things pertaining to life. I have converfed
with the angels on this fubjeifl:, and told them, that it is the
general belief in this world, that divine worfliip confilts only
in frequenting the churches, hearing fermons, receiving the
facrameni of the fupper three or four times a year, and ob-
ferving other rites inftituted by the church, together with at-
tending at the publick prayers with reverence and devotion : to

to govern from the love of felf, but that all chufc to minifter to others, and that
this is to govern from love to our neighbour, and the caufe of their great power,
n. 5732. That from government founded in the love of felf proceed all kinds of
evil, n. 10038. That from the time that the love of felf and the love of the
world began to prevail in the earth, men found thcmfelves obliged to have lecourfc
to civil government for their fafety, n. 7364, 10160, 10814-.

(160) That the intelledt is the recipient of truth, and the will of good, n. 3623,
6125, 7503, 9300, 9930. As all things have fome relation to good and truth,
fo all things in the life of man to the undcrftanding and will, n. 803, 10122.
That the angels advance in degrees of perfection eternally, n. 4803, 6648.

which

[ 132 ]

which the angels replied, that thcfe external things ought to be
obferved, but that they availed nothing, if they did not proceed
from an inward good principle, and that this confided in a life
according to found docftrine,

223. That I might be an eye-witnefs to the manner of their
aflemblies in their temples, I have been indulged with permiffion
to enter them, and hear the preachings. The preacher ftands
in a pulpit on the Eafl fide; before him fit thofe who are moft
eminent for wifdom, and on each hand fuch as are inferior in
this refpedl : they fit in fomething of a circular form, fo that
all can fee the face of the preacher, but no one fo as to be out
of his fight : at the gate which is on the Eaft fide of the temple,
to the left of the pulpit, fland thofe who are in the degree of
the newly initiated ; but no one is allowed to ftand behind the
pulpit, for fliould any one do fo, it would confufe the preacher,
as would alfo be the cafe, fliould any one prefent diflent from
his dodrine ; and if this were to happen, fuch a one would be
obliged to turn away his face from the minifler. The preach-
ings there are fraught with fuch fublime inllrucftion, as is not
to be equalled in this world, fo greatly fuperior is their wifdom.
Their temples in the fpiritual kingdom appear to be conftru<5led
of ftone, and of wood in the coeleilial, and that becaufe flone
correfponds to truth, for the inveftigation of which the angels
of the former are more diftinguiflied ; and wood to the principle
of good, which is more eminently the characfteriiliick of the
angels in the latter (161) ; nor are they called Temples in the
latter, but the Houfe of God. In the cceleftial kingdom their
ftruiflures are without magnificence, but in the fpiritual, not
without a greater or lefl'cr degree of it.

224. I had fome difcourle with one of their preachers con-
cerning the pious difpofition of their hearers during their af-
femblics, who faid, that the degree of piety, devotion, and
holinefs in every one was in proportion to his love and faith
within, as all fanftity is from the internal prefence and grace
of the Lord, and that without thefe he could not fee what an

(161) That Stonf fignifies Truth, n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8609, 10376.
Tliat ff^coJ fignifies Good, n. 643, 3720, 8354 : that therefore the moft ancient
of our anccftors, as being of cceleftial good, dwelt in houfes of wood, n. 3720.

apparent

[ ^33 ]

apparent external fandity availed ; and then refledling a little on
the latter, he farther added, that there might be ibmething like
faniftity in the outward pracftice and behaviour, either acquired
artificially, or aflumed in hypocrify, but that without the in-
ternal of holinefs in the heart, all was no better than a falfe five
kindled by the love of felf, and to catch the praife of men.

225. All the preachers are of the Lord's fpiritual kingdom,
for none belong to his coeleftial ; and the reafon of this is, hc-
caufe in the former they are in the province of truths from
good, and all preaching muft be fi'om truths ; whereas in the
cceleftial kingdom, they are all in the province of the good of
love, which principle gives them an intuitive perception of all
truths, fo that they have no occafion to difcourfe of them ;
however, notwithrtanding, they are not without their publick
inftruftions, as well for illuftration of the truths they already
know, as to enrich them with a farther increafe, which, as foon
as offered, they own and perceive, without fpeculating or rea-
foning upon them ; and what they fo perceive they graft in their
hearts, and bring forth in their lives, it being uiual with them
to fay, that, to live according to his truths, is to love the
Lord (162).

226. All the preachers are of the Lord's appointment, and
accordingly endowed with the gift of preaching, nor are any
others allowed to teach in their temples : they are called preach-
ers, and not priefls, and that becaufe the cceleftial kingdom is
the priellhood of heaven, forafmuch as priefthood fignifies the
good of love to the Lord, in which are all the angels of that
kingdom ; whereas the fpiritual kingdom is called the Royalty
of Heaven, for the royal or kingly office fignifies truth as pro-
ceeding from good, fee above, n. 24. (163).

227. The doctrines on which their preaching is grounded
have, all of them, refpedl to life and pradice, and none to

(162) That to keep the divine precepts is to love the Lord and our neighbour,
n. 143, 10153, 10310, 10578, 10645, 10648.

(163) That the priefts reprefentcd tlie Lord as to divine good, and kings, as to
his divine truth, n. 2C15, 6148. Hence, that the title Prieji in the Word fignifies
fuch as are in the good of love to the Lord, and priefthood the good itfclf, n. 9806,
9809. That King in the Word fignifies divine truth, and Royalty the fiimc truth
as proceeding from good, n. 1672, 2015, 2069, 4575, 4581, 4966, 5044.

L 1 believing

[ ^34 1

believing only, as feparate from life : the dodrine taught in the
third or inmoft heaven is more replete with wifdom than that
of the middle heaven ; and the latter more highly intellectual
than that of the loweft heaven ; for the dodtrines in each are
adapted to the perception and capacities of the angels therein
refpcclively ; and it is an cfTential point in all their doftrines to
inculcate the belief of the Lord's Divine Humanity.

Of the Power of the Angels.

228. Such as have no notion of the fpiritual world, and its
influx into the natural, will not be able to form an idea of the
power of the angels, fuppofmg, becaufe they are fpiritual, and
not vifible to us, that fuch pure, immaterial beings mufl be
deftitute of power ; but they who think deeper have different
fentiments of this matter, as knowing that all power in man
is from his intelledl and will, which conftitute his fpiritual
man, and without which he could not give motion to any part
of his body, it being therefrom that his whole corporeal frame
receives diredlion in all its movements ; thus, what the mind
thinks, the mouth and tongue utter ; and that which the will
commands, the body and its members obey, the intellec^l and
will being fubjecfl to the government of the Lord, through the
miniflry of angels and fpirits, and confequently all the bodily
fun(ftions depending thereon ; and, however incredible it may
leem, man would not be able to move a fingle Hep witliout
influx from the heavenly world. Of this truth I have had full
experience at fuch times as it has been given to the angels
[without my concurrence] to govern my adlions, and to move
my fteps, tongue, and fpeech at their plcafurc, and that by
[lenfible] influx into my mind and will, inlbmuch that I per-
ceived myfelf incapable of doing any thing as of myfelf : after
which they told mc, that every one was actuated in like manner,
as he might learn from the dodlrine of the church, and from
the Scriptures, being therein taught to pray, that God would
fend his angels to guide him, and diredl his ftcps, to teach and
infpire him what to think, and what to fpeak, and the like,

though

[ 135 3

though at other times, when this dodlrine is out of his mind,
he believes and fpealcs differently. This inftance is given, to
Ihew the power and influence of the angels with man.

229. The power of the angels in the I'piritual world is fo
exceeding great, that were I to relate the proofs of it which
I have feen, they would exceed belief. If at any time ought
fliould happen there to obflrudl the ellablillied laws of govern-
ment and peace, and therefore to be removed as contrary to
divine order, they fubdue and banifli it with a mere effort of
their will, or even with a forbidding countenance ; fo have I
{ecn mountains, that had been occupied by evil fpirits, caft
down and overturned, or fhaken from top to bottom, as by an
earthquake ; rocks alfo rent afunder to their very foundations,
and the evil fpirits upon them fwallowed up ; nay, I have feen
fome hundred thoufands of fuch fcattered before them, and by
their power caft into their proper hells ; for neither numbers,
policy, nor confederacies, avail ought againft them ; for they
difcover their moft fubtle devices in the twinkling of an eye,
and difcomfit all their adverfaries in a moment (*) : fee more on
this fubjed: in the account of Babylon dejlroyed. Such power

have

(*) However contrary the foregoing teftimoiiy of our author may appear to the
general preconceived opinions concerning the heavenly worlds, and the eftablifhed
laws of harmony, peace, and blifs therein; it is far from incredible (fetting afide
his authority) that the fettled courfe of things in thofe bleiTed regions may admit
of fome variation on certain occafions, and for wife purpofes, by divine permiffion
and appointment: thus, for example, the admiffion of evil fpirits into the heavenly
kingdoms at particular times may anfwer the following good ends, viz. to con-
found and mortify their pride, and the vain conceits of their own fufEcicncy as to
firength, fubtlety, and numbers, and to humble them the more under their dif-
appointments and defeats ; and fecondly, to convince them, that it is not in
change of place, but in condition of exiilence, that happincfs or mifery confifls,
and that therefore, as evil fpirits, they are and muft be impotent and miferable,
and carry their hell within them. On the other hand, to the good angels it may
fcrve as a falutary memento (and what created beings arc without all need of it)
of due gratitude to him, who hath fo made them to differ from others once of the
fame fpccies v/ith themfelves ; to confirm them in pious humility, adoration, and
love to their Divine Benefa£for ; and prompt them with greater alacrity to praife
and glorify him for their vidtory and triumph over all that might othcrwife offend
or hurt them : and we may add to the foregoing confiderations the following one,
viz. that certain interruptions, even in blifs, may ferve to give a higher relifh to
the returns of it ; and that perfect happinefs, without fome degrees of abatement
at times, rnay be incompatible with tlie nature of created beings : and it may

farther

[

136

have the holy angels in the fpiritual world j nor have they lefs
in the natural world, when the Lord fees fit to make ufe of
them there, as appears from the Scripture, of their deftroying
whole armies, and of caufmg a plague, of which no lefs than
twenty thoufand died i concerning which angel we read, that,
** Wlien the angel ftretchcd out his hand upon Jerufalem to
" deftroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and faid to
*' the angel that dertroyed; It is enough : ftay now thine hand ;
*' and David faw the angel that fmote the people," 2 Sam. xxiv.
16, 17 : not to mention other inftances. From the angels being
inverted with fuch powers, they are fometimes called Powers ;
and in David : " Blcfs the Lord, ye his angels that excel in
** ftrength," Pf. ciii. 20.

230. But we muft take with us, that the angels have not
this power from themfelves, but wholly from the Lord, and
that they are only fo far powers, as they acknowledge it ; for
fhould any of them believe that fuch power belonged to himfelf,
he would inftantly become fo weak, as not to be able to contend
with one evil fpirit : wherefore the angels abfolutely renounce
all merit as belonging to them, and afcribe the praife of what
they do to God only.

231. All power in the heavens is from divine truth pro-
ceeding from the Lord, as he is elTentially divine truth united
with divine good, fee n. 126 to 140, and as far forth as the
angels are recipients thereof, fo far are they powers (164), and
in the fime meafure each is true and good, or endued with
underftanding and will, their correlatives ; or, in other words,
according to their degree of divine goodnefs and truth from the

farther be remarked, that were an invariable adminiftration of government in
heaven and earth to take place, all proof of the divine liberty and interpofition,
together with the ufcs arifing from the belief of them, would be removed, and
the notion of fatalit)' be fubftituted in their ftead : fome viciflitudes and interrup-
tions may therefore be appointed to obviate fuch errors, as alfo to keep dependent
creatures under a conftnnt fenfe of their dependence, and to anfwer many purpofcs
of good both to men and angels that they know not. Tr.

(164) That the angels are called Powers^ and are really fuch from their recep-
tion of divine truth from the Lord, n. 9630. That the angels are recipients of
divine truth from the Lord, and as fuch called in Scripture Gods, n. 4295, 4402,
8301, 8192, 9398,

Lord,

Yi?

[ 137 ]

Lord, fo far is each his own good and truth (165), and fo far
excels in power ; and as there is the like variety in heaven as in
earth, fo no two angels are exadlly equal in the above refpe(fts,
nor confequently in power : they who conftitute the province of
the arms are inverted with the greateft power, as they moft excel
in truths, which are replenifhed with good from the univerfal
heaven, like as the ftrength of the whole body transfers itfelf
to and exerts itfelf in the arms j hence it is that power is ex-
prelfed and fignified in Scripture by the arms and hands (166).
In heaven is fometimes the emblematical appearance of a naked
arm, apparently of ftrength fufficient to break in pieces the
hardeft rock ; it once came very near me, and feemed as if it
could bruife my bones to powder.

232. That all power is from divine truth as proceeding from
the Lord, and that the angels are fo far in power as they are
recipients of it, fee above, n. 137: ncverthelefs, their reception of
divine truth is in proportion to their reception of divine good, for
truths have all their power from good, and none without it, as
good exerts all its power through truths, and none without
them; it is from the conjunction of both that power exifts :
and the cafe is the fame with faith and love ; for whether we
call it faith or truth, it is all one, becaufe the whole of faith is
truth ; fo, whether we fay good or love, it means the fame, as
the whole of love is good (167). How great the power of the

(165) That the proper good and trutli [by derivation from the Lord] of every
angel and man, and confequently his love and faith, is that which conftitutes his
identity, n. 10298, 10367 ; or, in other words, his undcrftanding and will give
him that diltindlion, as being the eflenccs of his life; the life of his good con-
fifling in his will, and that of his truth in his undcrftanding, n. 10076, 10177,
10264, 10284.

(166) Of the correfpondence of the hands, arms, and fhouldcrs with heavtn,
or grand man, n. 4931 to 4937. That by the arms and hands in Scripture is
fignified power, n. 878, 3C91, 4931, 6947, 10017.

(167) That all power in the heavens is through truth from good, and confe-
quently through faith from love, n. 3191, 3563 — 10019, 10182. That all power
is from the Lord, as from him proceeds all the truth appertaining to faith, and all
the good appertaining to love, n. 9327, 9410. That this power is meant by the
keys delivered to Peter, n. 6344. That to divine truth, as proceeding from the
Lord, appertains all power, n. 6948, 8200. That this power of the Lord is
meant by his fitting at the right hand of Jehovah, n. 3387, 4592 — 8281, 9133-
That the right hand fignifies power, 11. IC019.

M m angels

[ 138 ]

angels is through truths from good [per vera ex bono] may be
gathered from this, that an evil fpirit, when viewed intently
by the angels, prefently falls, as it were, into a fwoon, and lofes
the appearance of a human form till the angel turns away his
eyes ; the caufe of which is, that the fight of the angels is from
the light of heaven, which is the fame with divine truth, fee
above, n. 126 to 132 : the eyes alfo correfpond to truths pro-
ceeding from good \yeris ex bono] (168).

233. Forafmuch as all power belongs to truths from good,
fo none belongs to falfe from evil [Jaljis ex malo] (169) : in the
latter are all the infernal fpirits, and therefore they have no
power over truth and good ; but what kind of power belongs
to them amongft themfelves, and what before they are call into
hell, /hall be Ipoken to hereafter.

Of the Speech of the Angels.

234. The angels converfe together as we do on earth, and
in like manner, on various fubjedls, whether of a domeftick,
civil, moral, or fpiritual nature, nor is there any other difference
between them and us in this refpedl, than that their convcrfation
is more intellectual, as coming from a deeper ground. I have
been permitted to be often in their company, and to converfe
with them as a friend with friends, and fomctimes as a Granger
with ftrangers ; and at fuch times, from the fmiilarity of our
ftates, it appeared to me as if I were converfmg with men on
earth.

235. The fpeech of angels is equally divided into words
with ours, and alike fonorous and audible, for they have mouths,
tongues, and ears, as we have, and alfo an atmofphere to give
articulation to their fpeech j but then that atmofphere is fpiritual,
accommodated to their nature, and they make the fame ufe

(168) That the eyes correfpond to truths from good, n. 4403 to 4421, 4523 to
4534. 6923.

(169) That no power belongs to falfe from evil, but all to truth from good,
n. 6784, 10481.

[ 139 ]

of It for refpiration and enunciation, as we do of our atmo-
fphere (170).

236. There is but 'one language ufed throughout heaven,
fo that all of every fociety, however diflant, underlland one
another ; nor is that language learnt, but natural to every cnc,
flowing fpontancoufly from their affeftions and thoughts, wjiilil
the found of the voice correfponds to the affed:ion, and the
articulations of that found, or the words, to the ideas of the
thoughts proceeding from that affediion ; and as their language
correfponds thereto, it is alfo fpiritual, and may be called a
founding affecftion, and a fpeaking thought. Whoever confiders
the matter attentively, may know that all thought proceeds
from fome aifedlion of love, and that the ideas of the mind
are fo many different forms into which the common affeftion
diffufes itfelf, for every idea which is the objedl of thought
owes its exiftence to fome affecftion. Hence it is that the angels
know the difpoiition and qualities of another from his fpeech,
his affedtion from the found of his voice, and his intelledtual
quality from the articulations of that found in his words ; and
fuch of the angels as are eminent in wifdom can tell from a
fentence or two what is the ruling paffion in another, which is
a thing they principally attend to. That every one is fenfiblc
of various affedions by turns, is very well known, as of one
when merry, of another when fad, of another under the pre-
vailing influence of mercy and pity, of another when in llncerity
and truth, of another in love and charity, of another when in
deceit and guile, of another when actuated by zeal or anger,
and of another in the purfuit of honour and fiime, and fo on ;
but yet the principal or ruling love is more or lefs in all of thefe
different affedlions, infomuch that the more eminently wife
among the angels, who have a quick difcernment in this matter,
can judge of the ftate of another by his fpeech : and that this
is fo, it has been given me to know from full experience : I

(170) That the angels in the heavens arc not without refpiration, though in
a more interior way, n. 3884, 3885: this from expciiciicc, n. 3884, 3885, 3891,
3893. That their refpiration varies according to the difference of their Aates,
Ji. 1119, 3886, 3887, 3889, 3892, 389J. That the evil fpirits are incapable of
refpiration in heaven, and when admitted there fuftcr a kind of fuft'ocation, n. 3893.

[ 140 ]

have heard the angels declare what life another perfon has led
from only hearing him fpeak ; nay, that they could difcern all
the particulars of the life of another from certain ideas in his
mind, as knowing thereby his ruling pafTion, which enters into
all the divilions of it, and exhibits a regifter or book of the
life.

237. The language of the angels has nothing in it common
with that of men, except in certain words which exprefs an
affedtion, and that, not with the words themfelves, but only
with the found of them, of which hereafter ; and that this is
fo, appeared to me from the angels not being able to utter one
word in any human language, after repeated trials, it being
impoffible for them to utter any thing which does not corre-
fpond with their affe<ftion, for what is not fo, is contrary to
their principle of life, which is from affeftion, and from which
they fpeak : they informed me, that the firft language of the
human race here on earth was of the like kind, as being of
heavenly extradtion ; and that the Hebrew language in fomc
words is conformable thereto.

238. As the fpeech of the angels correfponds to fome affec-
tion of their love, and as the love of heaven is love to the Lord
and to their neighbour, fee n. 13 to 19, we may hence gather
how harmonious and delightful their fpeech mufl: be, for it not
only plcafes the ear, but alfo exhilarates the minds of thofe that
hear it. A certain hard-hearted fpirit being once on a time in
converfation with an angel (*), he was fo charmed with his
fpeech, that he flied tears, owning that he could not refrain,
though he had never done the like before, faying, that it feemed
to him as if love itfelf hud fpoken with a tongue.

(*) Though this feemiiigly contradi<£ls what has been faitl before by the author,
viz. that no bad fpirit (as every hard-hearted one mufl: needs be) can ftand before
an angel, or bear the efflux or virtue proceeding from him, as a furrounding
fphcre, without the greateft confufion and difmay ; yet it is to be noted, that on
particular occafions, and to anfwer certain purpofes, according to the Lord's good
pkafurc, the laws and properties of the heavenly world arc fufpendcd, or fo qua-
lified, as to admit of conferences between the angels and evil fpirits, frequent
inilantes of which are to be met with in our author's writings. The reader is
here cautioned againft being ftumbled upon his meeting with fome few things that
he cannot eafijy reconcile, as in the farther courfe of his reading, or in the Tran-
llator's notes, he probably will find matters cleared up to his fatisfacStion. Tr.

239. The

[ HI ]

239. The dilcourfe of the angels is full of wifdom, as pro-
ceeding from a deep ground, and as their interior thoughts are
wifdom, fo their interior affedtion is love, which both unite
in their exprellion. Hence it is, that they poffefs fo copious
a wifdom, as to be able to exprefs more in one word than we
can do in a thoufand, and that they comprehend in their ideas
fuch things as the mind of man is not capable to receive, much
lefs to exprefs ; wherefore it is faid of the things heard and
feen in heaven, that they are unutterable, and fuch as ear hath
not heard, nor eye feen : and the truth of this has been given
me to know by experience ; for having been fometimes tranf-
lated into the angelical flate, and given to converfe with the
angels in that flate, I at fuch times underftood all that I heard
from them j but when, upon being reflored to my former ftate
and natural way of conceiving things, I endeavoured to recolleifl
what I had fo heard and underftood, I was by no means able
to do it, there having been a thoufand things incommenfuratc
to the natural mind, and therefore not to be communicated by
human words, but by the variegations of heavenly light only.
The ideas in the thoughts of the angels, which form their
words, are likewife modifications of the light of heaven, and
their afFedions, which produce the found of their words, are
fo many variations of the heat of heaven ; for as the light of
heaven is divine truth or wifdom, fo the heat of heaven is
divine good or love, fee above, n. 126 to 140 ; and as the
angels derive their aifedtions from divine love, fo do they think
from divine wifdom (171).

240. As the fpeech of the angels proceeds immediately from
their affedlion (for, as was faid before, n. 236, their ideas in
thinking are fo many different forms, into which the common
affeftion is diftributed) fo they can exprefs in a minute, things
which a man could not do in lefs than half an hour, and alfo
the contents of feveral pages in a few words, as I have often
experienced (172). The ideas in the thinking of the angels,

(171) Thnt the ideas from which the angels fpeak are formed by wonderful
variegations of the heavenly light, n. 1646, 3343, 3693.

(172) That the angels can exprefs more in thtir language in a moment, than
we en m ours in half an hour, and alfo fuch things as cannot be acconimodattd
to huin.'ii language, n. 1641, 1642, 1643, 1645, 4602, 7089.

N n and

[ 142 ]

and tJieir words in fpeaking, arc one, as caufe and effeifl, the
former being the producer, and the latter the produdl ; whence
it is, that every word comprehends fo much : Avhen the flow
of thoughts and words of the angels is at any time reprefcnted
under a vifible appearance, it rcfembles a thin undulating fluid ;
or a circumfluent atmofphcre, in which appear innumerable
things in wonderful order flowing from the fountain of their
wikicm, which make delightful impreflions on the mind of the
fpeftator ; for it is to be obferved here, that the ideas in the
minds both of angels and men are capable of being reprefcnted
under vifible forms, as viewed in the light of heaven, according
to divine permiflion (173).

241. The angels of the Lord's coeleftial kingdom fpeak in
like manner as do the angels of his fpiritual kingdom [the
middle heaven], but the former from a deeper ground than the
latter ; for as the coclellial angels are in the good of love to the
Lord, they fpeak from wifdom ; and the fpiritual angels, who
are more dillinguilhed for their good of love to their neighbour
(which in its eflfence is truth, n. 215.) they fpeak from intel-
ledlual knowledge ; for as wifdom is from good, fo the latter is
from truth. Hence it is, that the fpeech of the cocleftials may
be compared to a fmooth, gently flowing water ; but that of
the fpiritual angels to a current fomewhat interrupted and
broken : the fpeech of the former founds much from the vowels
{/and O, and that of the latter from the vowels E and I ; for
as the found is in the vowels, fo the affeftion is in the found ;
for, as was faid above, n. 236, the found in the fpeech of the
angels correfponds to afFedtion, and the articulations of the
found, which are the words, correfpond to their ideas derived
from fuch affedlion : and forafmuch as the vowels do not pro-
perly conftitute any part of the language, but only ferve to give

(173) That there arc innumerable things in every fingle idea, n. ico8, 1860,
4946- — 6618. That the ideas of the human mind are laid open in the other life,
and rendered vifible, n. i86g, 3310, 5510. How they appear, n. 6201, 8885.
That the ideas of the angels of the inmoft heaven appear like flaming lights, n.
6615. That the ideas of the angels of the lowefl heaven appear as fmall, thin,
white clouds, n. 6614. The idea of an angel as fcen, from which flrcamcd a ray
of light towards the Lord, n. 6620. That the ideas of the thoughts extend them-
fdves wide to the circumjacent focictics of angels, n. 6598 to 6613.

found

[ H3 ]

found to the words according to the various affe^flions of every
one's flate ; therefore it is, that in the Hebrew language the
vowels are not written, and alfo are differently pronounced ;
and from the difference in founding the vowels, the angels can
diflinguilli the particular affedlion and love of the fpeaker. The
fpeech of the coeleftial angels is without hard confonants, and
they feldom utter two words together, where the former ends
and the latter begins with a confonant, but interpofe a third
beginning with a vowel ; whence it comes to pafs, that the
little word and is fo often met with in the Hebrew Bible,
as that word in the Hebrew language has a foft found, and
both begins and ends with a vowel : by the Scripture words
alfo in that language may partly be known, whether they belong
to the cceleftial or fpiritual clafs, and fo relate to Good or to
truth, the former founding moftly from V and O, and partly
from A, and the latter from £ and / ; and as the affedlions
principally diftinguifh themfelves by founds, therefore in the
human language, when any thing of an exalted nature is the
fubjedt, as Heaven and God, we give the preference to fuch
words, whereby to exprefs them, as have TJ ox O h\ them : and
alfo, when we would exprefs any thing fublime in mufick, we
naturally fwell thofe notes which come nearefl to the found of
thofe vowels, but not fo, when things of an inferior nature are
the fubjed:. Hence it is, that the art of mufick is fo aptly
fuited to exprefs the affections and pafhons of the human mind.

242. In the fpeech and converfation of the angels there is
an expreffible kind of harmony (174) arifing from this caufe,
viz. That their affections and thinking, from which they fpeak,
are according to the laws and form of heaven, which are the
bond of their union and communications. That the angels are
confociated according to the form of heaven, and that their
thoughts and affections are regulated thereby, fee n. 200 to 212.

243. There is an innate language in man, fimilar to that in
the fpiritual v/orld, but in his interior intellectual part ; but as
it does not manifeff itfelf in man in words analogous to the
affeClion, as it does in the angels, therefore he knows not that

(174) That the fpeech of angels refcmblcs the flowing harmony in a tunc or
concert, n. 1648, 1649, 7 191.

[ 144 ]

it is in him ; yet from hence it is, that when he enters into the
other life, his language is the fame with that of the fpirits and
angels there, without any occafion of learning it (175). But
more on this fubjcdt hereafter.

244. They have all oijo and the fame language in heaven,
as was faid before, though with this difference, that the fpeech
of the angels, who are moft eminent for wifdom, is more in-
ward, and abounds with greater variety in the affeftions, and
alfo in the ideas, than that of the inferior angels ; and as to
fuch of them as pre more in limplicity, their converlation is
ftill more exterior and in words, to be underflood after the
manner of men : there is alfo a kind of converfing by the face,
terminating in found, which is modified by the ideas : there is
alfo a kind of converfing together, wherein reprefentations of
heavenly things are mixed with their ideas, and the latter exhibit
themfelves in vifible forms : there is another by gcflures cor-
refponding to affedlions, and reprefentative of things in like
manner as words are : there is, moreover, among them, a man-
ner of converfing by general affedtions and general thoughts ;
and alfo a rumbling way of fpeaking like the rolling of thunder :
and others befides.

245. The language and fpeech of the bad and infernal fpirits
is likewife natural to them, as proceeding from their affeftions
alfo, but fuch affetftions as are evil, and from fuch impure ideas
as originate from thofe affedlions, and which the angels are
highly averfe to, fo great is the contrariety between infernal and
heavenly things, infomuch that they cannot endure one another ;
the fpeech of the infernals being as a flink in the noflrils of
the angels. The language of thofe hypocrites, who are ufed
to counterfeit angels of light, in words rcfembles that of the
angels, but with relpcdl to the affedlions and ideas that are con-
cealed under it, it is quite contrary thereto ; and therefore,

(175) That there is a fpiritiial or angelical fpeech belonging toman, though
he knows it not, n. 4014. Thiit the ideas of the inward man are fpiritual, but that
in this life he perceives them naturally, forafmuch as his thoughts here have their
exercifcin his natural part, ormaii, n. 10236, 10240, 10550. 1 hat man after death
enters into his interior idea«, n. 3226, 3342, 3343, 10568, 10604. That then
his ideas form themfelves into his proper fpiritual language, n. 2470, 2478, 2479.

hen

[ H5 ]

when their interiour is dilcovered, as it is by the wifer angels,
the found of their voice feems like the gnafhing of teeth, ex-
citing horror.

Of the Converfation of the Angels with

Men.

246. When angels converfe with any man, they do not
fpeak their own language, but that of the man, or any other
that he is acquainted with, but never in an unknown tongue ;
and that becaufe the angels at fuch times turn and join them-
felves to him, and from fuch conjundlion they both come to be
in a like mode of thinking ; and as man's thinking coheres with
his memory, and his fpeaking proceeds from both, therefore
they are both in one language : belides, an angel, or fpiric,
when he comes to any man, and fronts him fo as to be joined
to him, he enters into the whole of his memory fo far as that,
in a manner, it becomes his own, infomuch that he can hardly
difcern between the man's knowledge and his own, and the
fame with regard to his language. I have converfed with the
angels on this fubjed:, and told them, that perhaps they might
imagine, according to appearance, that they fpake with me in
my own native language, whereas it was not they, but I who
fpake it ; and that this might be evidenced, in that angels were
not able to utter a fingle word of any human language, fee n.
237, for that being natural, and they fpiritual, they could not
poflibly efteft that which was of a nature difl'erent from them-
felves : to which they replied, that they well knew that their
communion with any man they converfed with was with his
fpiritual thinking part, but as this pafled by influx into his
natural thoughts, and thefe cohered with his memory ; it mull
therefore appear to them as if his human language and fcience
were theirs, and that this was by divine appointment, to the
end that fuch union and communion between heaven and man
might be effcfted i but that the condition of the human nature
was at this time fo altered, that fuch communion between man

O o and

[ h6 ]

and angels could no longer take place, but only between him
and other fpirits. I have alio converled with Ipirits on the
lame lubjeft, who would not be convinced, that it was man
that fpake, not they in him; nor yet that the knowledge in the
mind of man (during their communion with him) was not their
own : I endeavoured to prove the contrary to them by many
arguments, but all to no purpofe. Who are meant by fpirits,
and who by angels, fhall be fhewed when we come to treat of
the world of fpirits.

247. That angels and fpirits are fo clofely united to man,
that they miftake what belongs to him for their own, is becaufe
the fpiritual and natural worlds are fo nearly connetfled in man,
that they in a manner make but one : now as man had feparated
himfelf from heaven, provifion was made in mercy by the Lord,
that there fhould be angels and fpirits with every man, that he
fliould be governed by him through their miniflry, for which
reafon there is fo ftridl a communion between them : but had
man not cut off the communication between himfelf and heaven,
the matter had been otherwifc, as in that cafe he might have
been diredled and governed by the Lord through a general influx
from heaven, without the adjuncftion and inftrumentality of
fpirits and angels : but more particularly of this when we come
to treat of the conjuntflion of heaven with man.

248. When an angel or fpirit converfes with a man, he is
heard as plainly as one man is by another, but by himfelf only,
and not by any of the by-rtandcrs : and the reafon is, becaufe
the fpeech of the angel or fpirit firil infinuates itfelf into the
thinking faculty of a man, and fo by a fecret paflage llrikes his
organ of hearing from within ; whereas the voice of one man
talking with another pafles into the atmofphere, and flrikes the
organ of hearing from without ; hence it comes to pafs, that
the fpcaking of the former is equally audible in many, as the
organ is affcdied in like manner, though it be by impulfe from
within : and that the fpeaking of an angel or fpirit has this
operation on the ear, was evidenced to me by its having a like
effeift on the tongue, by its influx on that member, in which it
caufed fome gentle vibrations, though not the fame fenfible
motions, as when we therewith articulate our words.

249. To

[ H7 ]

249* To hold converfc with fpirits is rarely permitted at
this day, as being dangerous (176), for in fuch cafes the fpirits
are given to know that they are in company with a man, which
they would not know otherwife ; and fo great is the malignity
of evil fpirits, that they bear a mortal hatred to man, and wifli
for nothing more than to injure him in foul and body, in which
they too well fucceed with thofe who abandon themfelves to
melancholy phantafies and rigorous mortifications : fome alfo,
who lead folitary lives, hear fpirits talking to them, and that
without any danger, fuch fpirits being removed from them at
proper intervals by divine appointment, that they may not know
that they are in company with men ; for the greater part of
fpirits- have no knowledge of any other world but their own,
nor confequently of men ; and therefore no one ought to enter
into converfe with them, and thereby give them light in this
matter. They who fo addi(5t themfelves to muling on religious
things, as to work their minds into fuperftitious reveries con-
cerning them, come in time to hear fpirits talking to them ;
for fuch religious reveries, where any one wilfully gives himfclf
up to them [illis ex inhceret'\ to the negledl of relative duties and
ufefulnefs in his flation, enter deep, and gain a form in the
interior part of man, and fo taking full pofl'effion of him, com-
municate with the fpiritual world, and excite certain fpirits
there to affociate with him : fuch are properly vifionaries and
enthufiafts, who believe every fpirit they hear to be the Holy
Spirit, whereas they are no other than enthufiaftick fpirits, who,
being under delufion themfelves, delude thofe whom they have
accefs to and influence over ; but thefe alfo are generally re-
moved upon their inftigating to evil. The enthufiaftick fpirits
are diftinguiflied from others by their imagining themfelves to
be the Holy Ghofl:, and what they deliver to be divinely ora-
cular : thefe fpirits offer no injury to the perfons they are aflb-

(176) That a man Is capable of convcifing with fpirits and angels, and that
the ancients frequently converfed with them, n. 67, 68, 69, 784, 1634, 1636,
7802. That in (bme worlds fpirits and angels appear in a human form, and con-
verfe with the inhabitants therein, n. 10751, 10752; but that in our world it
would be dangerous at this time to have communication with fpirits, unlcfs a man
were in true faitli, and under the guidance and defence of the Lord, n. 784, 9438,
10751.

ciated

[ 143 ]

ciated with, becaufe they receive divine honour from them :
with thefe alio I have fometimes converfed, and lb have had
opportunity of detcding the delufions which they inftill into
their votaries : their fituation is to the left hand in a defart
region.

250. To converfe with angels is granted to none but thofe
who are in truths from the fource of good, and in particular to
fuch as are in the faith of the Lord, and of the divinity as in
his humanity, for on this truth the heavens are founded, the

Lord being the God of heaven, as was faid before, n. 2 to 6. ■

The divinity of the Lord conrtitutes heaven, n. 7 to 12. The

divine influx from the Lord in the angels is love to him, and

charity to their neighbour, n. 1 3 to 19. The univerfal heaven

in its complex refembles a man ; in like manner every fociety

in heaven, and every angel in particular, is in a perfedl human

form, and this from the Divine Humanity of the Lord, n. 59

to 86 j whence we may gather why to converfe with angels is

only granted to thofe whofe interiour is open to the Lord, ,

through the influence of divine truths, as it is through thefe •

thut the Lord communicates with man, and if the Lord, fo *

hea\en. That divine truth opens the interiour of man, fo as

to' render it receptive of heavenly communications, is becaufe t

man is fo created, as to be the image of heaven, as to his inward

man, and the image of this world, as to his outward man, n. 57 :

and the inward man is only opened by divine truth proceeding

from the Lord, as this is both the light and life of heaven, n,

126 to 140.

251. Divine influx palTes from the Lord to man through the
forehead, and fo into his whole face ; for the forehead of a
man correfponds to love, and the face to the interiour of his
mind (177). The influx from the fpiritual angels to man is all
round from his forehead and temples to every part under whicli
lies the brain, as that region of tiie head correfponds to intel-

(177) That the forehead correfponds to heavenly love, and accordingly fignifies
it in Scripture, n. 9936. That the face correfponds to the interior things of
thought and affedtion in man, n. 1568, 2988, 2989 — 5695, 9306. That the face
alfo is formed in correfpondency With the interiour of man, n. 4791 to 4805, 5695.
That hence the face in Scripture J'lgnifies the inward man, n. 1999, 2434, 3527,
4066, 4796.

ledt:

[ H9 ]

left : but the influx of the cosleJlial angels is on that part of
the head which covers the cerebeHum, and is called the occiput,
or back part of the head round from the cars to the neck, for
that region correfponds to wifdom : when angels converfe with
man, their fpecch enters bv thefe ways into his thoughts ;
hereby I could perceive who the angels were that fpake with
me.

252. They who fee and converfe with the angels, behold
alfo the tilings that are in heaven, for they fee by that heavenly
light which illuminates their interiour j the angels alfo through
them behold the things on earth (178) ; becaufe through their
union heaven and earth are conjoined, for, as was faid above,
n. 246, when the angels turn themfelves to the front of a man,
they are, as it were, fo united to him, that they cannot diftin-
guilh between the things of a man and their own, and this not
only with refpedt to fpeaking, but alfo to feeing and hearing ;
and man, on the other hand, is apt to think that what he re-
ceives from the angels by influx is from himfelf. In this kind
of union with the angels of heaven were the moft ancient of
our race on earth, and therefore the times in which they lived
were called the- Golden Age ; and becaufe the Divine Nature
under a human form, and confequently the Lord, therefore they
had the privilege of converfing with angels, as with their fami-
liar friends, and the angels converfed with them in like manner,
and fo heaven and this world became in them as one. But man
fmce that time cut himfelf off fuccelTively more and more from
thefe heavenly communications, by transferring his alfedlions
from the Lord and from heaven, to himfelf and the world, and
fo brought himlelf to relifh no other delights, but what pro-
ceeded from the love of felf and of the world, upon which his
internal faculties, before open to heaven, became (hut, and his
external faculties wide open to the world ; and where this is the
cafe, man is in light with regard to the things of this world,
and in darknefs with regard to tlie things of heaven.

(178) That fpirits can fee nothing in this folar world through man now o'days,
but that tliey have feen things therein through my' eyes, together with the realba
of this JiiFerencc, n. i8i>c.

P p 253. Since

[ ^50 ]

253* Since thole times it has rarely happened for any one
to I'peak witli the angels of heaven, though fome have with
fpirits that are not in heaven ; for the interior and exterior parts
in man are fo conftituted, that they are either turned to the
Lord as their common center, n. 124, or to felf, and fo reverfely
from the Lord : in the former cafe, they are turned towards
heaven ; in the hitter, towards the world ; and where they have
this latter diredlion, it is difficult to elevate them to things
above ; yet, as far as fuch elevation is poffible, it is effetfted by
the Lord through the converfion of their love, which is wrought
by the inltrumentality of truths from the Word.

254. I have received iiiformation in what manner the Lord
fpake to the prophets, through whom the Word was revealed,
and that it was not by influx into their interiour, according to
the manner of his communication with the antients, but by
emiJTary fpirits, whom the Lord tilled with his afpe<fl:, and fo
infpired the words which they di(ftated to the prophets ; and
therefore the revelation was not bv influx, but bv diftation :
and as the words came immediately frona the Lord, therefore
they were replete with divine truth, and contain an inward
meaning, fo that the fame words which men underltand in a
natural fenfe, the angels receive in a ca^lcftial and fpiritual {cnfe ;
fo hath the Lord joined together heaven and this world by the
Word. It has alfo been fliewed to me how fpirits are filled
with divine truth from the Lord by afped: : the fpirit that is fo
filled knov/s no other than that he himfelf is the Lord, and
the fountain of what he utters, till he has finiflied his mcifage,
and then he perceives and owns that he is only a fpirit, and that
he fpake not from himfelf, but from the Lord. From this
being the ftate of the fpirits tliat fpake witli the prophets, it is
faid by them, that Jehovah [the Lord] fpake ; and even thofe
very fpirits called themfelves Jehovah, as appears both from the
prophetical and hillorical parts of the Scriptures.

255. That the reader may be informed as to the manner of
the union of angels and fpirits with man, I find myfelf at
liberty to declare tlae following remarkable particulars, for the
elucidation of that matter. When angels and fpirits turn their
faces to a man, fo as to be in communion with him, at fuch

time?

[ 151 ]

times they know no other than that they and the man are of one
and the fame language, and this, becaufe they are then in his,
and not in their own, of which they have no remembrance j
but as foon as they turn themfelves from him, they immediately
enter again into their own angehcal, fpiritual language, and
know nothing of his. The fame thing happened to me when
in company with fome angels, at a time when I was in a fimilar
ilate with them, for then I converfed with them in their own
language, having no knowledge or remembrance of mine ; but
I was no fooner difengaged from their company, than I was in
my own again. It is alfo worthy of remarking, that when
angels or fpirits turn their faces to a man, they can converfc
with him at any diftance j and have fpoken with me as audibly
when far oif, as when near to me ; but when they turn away
their faces from a man, and converfe together by themfelves,
the man hears nothing that they fay, though they fpeak clofe
to his ear ; whence it was evident to me, that all communion
[omnis conjunSiio] in the fpiritual world, is according to the
direil'tion of the face. It is alfo a memorable particular, that
leveral of them can converfe with a man at the fame time, and
the man with them : the manner is thus : When they would
hold converfition with any man, they lend a fpirit to him froni
tiieir company, which emilfary fpirit turns to the man, and they
to their fpirit, by which means they concentrate their thoughts,
which the emiffiry delivers, he not knowing- at the time but
that he utters them from himlelf, nor they that fent him, but
that they are the fpeakers : thus a communication of many with
one is conduced by converfion or direcftion of the faces (179).
But of thelc emiflary fpirits, which are alfo called fubjedts,
more Ihall be fpoken hereafter.

2j6. No angel or fpirit is allowed to converfe with man
from his own memory, but from that of the man only, for
angels and fpirits have memory as well as men : if an angel or

(179) That the fpirits which are fent by one fociety to another, arc called Sub-
jc£ts, n. 440^, 5856. That communications in the fpiritual world arc conduced
by fuch emifiary fpirits, n. 4403, 5856, 5983. That a fpirit fent on thcfc occa-
lions, is a mere fubject, and docs not think from himfelf, but from them that fend
hiiu, n. 5985, 5986, -5987.

fpirit

[ 152 ]

fpirit were from his own memory to converfe with any man,
the latter would in that cafe know no other than that the things
mentioned were his own, though they really were tlic fpirit's,
and confequently it would be like the remembrance of what he
never faw nor heard of j and that this is fo has been given me
to know by experience; hence fome of the ancients were of
opinion, that at the expiration of fome thoufands of years, they
fhould return to their former life on earth, and live over again
all the particulars of it ; and that they had aftually fo returned ;
and this they inferred from hence, viz. that fometimes there
occurred to their minds a recolledion of things which they had
never ieen nor heard of during their prefent life : now this
happened to them, becaufe fome fpirits had, by influx into tlieir
minds, excited therein ideas from their own (the fpirit's) me-
mory.

257. There are alfo fome fpirits, which are called natural
and corporeal fpirits, which, when they come to a man, do not
join themfelves to his thinking part, like other fpirits, but
enter into his body, take polfelTion of his fenfes, and fpeak
through his mouth, actuating likewife his corporeal members,
not knowing any other at the time, than that all things in the
man are their own : thele are the fpirits that obiefs (*) a man :
but thefe fpirits are remanded to hell by divine appointment,
and fo entirely removed from us ; and therefore it is, that fuch
obfellions are no longer known amongfl: us (180).

(*) Where the body only is under the influence and power of evil fpirits, it is
called OhfeJJion ; where the mind and affe£lions, PoJJljJion.

(180) That external obfeflions of the body are not now permitted as formerly,
n. 1983: but that internal obfeflions [poflcflions] of the mind arc more common than
formerly, n. 1983, 4793- That any one is inwardly polVclVed, when he entertains
impure and dilhonourable thoughts of God, and is only reflrained from making
them known, by outwiird confidcrations, as fear of the law, the lofs of honour,
gain, and the like, n. 5990. Of thofc diabolical fpirits which poflefs the minds
and afteiStions [interiara] of men, n. 4793- Of luch diabolical fpirits as have
a longing to poflefs the bodies [cxtiriorti] of men, but are now confined to their
proper hells, n. 2752, 5990.

f ^53 J

Of Writings in Heaven.

258. As fpeech is a property belonging to angels, and as
their fpeech conlifts of words, fo alio have they writing among
them, whereby they exprefs their thoughts, as well as by
words : fometimes I have had fent to me papers accurately
written, exaftly refembling our manufcripts, and feme appeared
as if printed ; I was able to read them, but could feldom pick
out any meaning from them, as it is not according to the divine
order that man fhould receive inftruftion from heaven bv any
other writings than the lacred Scriptures, as thefe are the in-
ftituted means of communication between heaven and earth, and
therefore between the Lord and man. That the prophets faw
writings in heaven, appears from Ezekiel ii. 9, 10. '* And
'• when I looked, behold, an hand was fent unto me j and lo
" a roll of a book was therein ; and he fpread it before me ;
" and it was written within and without : and there was written
*' lamentations, and mourning, and woe." As alfo from John,
Apoc. V. I. " And I faw in the right hand of him that fat on
•* the throne a book written within, and on the back fide, fealed
" with feven feals."

259. It is appointed of the Lord, that there fhould be
writings in heaven, for the fake of the Word, as this is, in its
efl'ence, that divine truth from which both men and angels
receive cceleflial wifdom, as being diiflated by the Lord j and
what is didlated by him, palfes fucceffively through all the hea-
vens, and terminates in man, and therefore is accommodated to
the wifdom of angels, as well as to the underflanding of men.
Hence it is, that the Word [the Holy Scriptures] is comniitted
to the angels, who read it as well as we, and therefrom deduce
their dotftrinals, and the fubjcdls of their preaching, n. 221 :
the Word is the fame to both ; but the natural fenfe of it, which
is to us the literal fenfe, is not known in heaven, but its fpi-
ritual or internal fenfe only ; and what this is, may be (ecn in
a little work concerning the JVhite Horfe, mentioned in the
Revelations.

Q^q 260. On

[ 154 ]

260. On a certain time a little paper was fent me from
heaven, on which were written lome words in Hebrew cha-
racters, and it was told me that every letter contained fome
fecrets of wifdom, nay, the very flexures and curvatures of the
letters, and the founding of them from thence ; which gave
me to understand the meaning of thofe words of the Lord :
" Verily I fay unto you, till heaven and earth pafs, one jot
" or one tittle Ihall in no wife pafs from the law," Matt. v. i8.
Now that the Word is divine, as to every tittle of it, is allowed
in the church ; but in what fenfe it is thus divine in every apex
and point, being at prefent unknown, it ihall here be declared ;
The Scripture in the inmofl: heaven confifts of various charadters
inflexed and circumflexed ; all which inflexions and circum-
flexions are accordino; to the form of heaven, and bv them the
angels exprefs the fecrets of their wifdom, and alfo many other
things which they cannot utter by words ; and, which is won-
derful, the angels know how to write thus without lludy and
inftrudtion, it being in them from divine inilincft, as well as
their fpeech, fee n. 236, which evidences that they write from
coelefliial flcill ; and that it is thus natural to them is, becaufe
the progrelTion of their thoughts and affcdions, and the whole
communication of their underllanding and wifdom, is regulated
by the form and conftitution of heaven by influx, n. 201, and
fo is their writing. I have been informed, that fuch alfo was
the manner of writing by the mofl: ancient inhabitants of our
earth, before the invention of letters ; and that it was afterwards
tranflated into Hebrew charadters, which were all inflexed for-
merly, and not terminated by fpaces, as at prefent : hence it is,
that the Word contains divine and heavenly fecrets, even in its
jots, tittles, and points.

261. This manner of writing in charadters of a ccrlcftial
form is ufed by the angels of the inmofl: heaven, who excel the
others in wildom, and by them they exprefs the very aifedtions
trom whence their thoughts originate, and proceed in order,
according to the fubjedt treated of, replete with wifdom not to
be conceived by the human mind : thefe writings I myfelf have
feen : but this kind of writing is not known in the lower hea-
vens, but others of a fimilar kind, and of like letters with thofe

that

[ ^55 ]

that are ufed by us in this world, though not intelligible by
us, as being in the language of angels, which has nothing in it
that agrees with human languages, n. 237 ; for they exprefs
affedlions by the vowels, and the particular ideas of their
thoughts proceeding from thofe affedtions, by the confonants ;
and by the words derived from thence, the whole fenfe of the
matter; fee above, n. 236, 241 : this kind of writing contains
more in a few words than any man can exprefs in fome pages :
thefe alfo I have been gratified with a light of. Thus it appears,
that they have the written Word in the lower heavens as well
as in the higheft heaven, though in the latter, in a coeleftial
form.

262. It is worthy of remark, that writing by the angels
flows naturally from their thoughts, and with the lame eafe, as
if thought cafl itfelf upon paper ; nor do they experience any
hefitation as to tlie choice of words, as both the words which
they fpeak and write correfpond to their thoughts ; and all
correfpondency is natural and fpontaneous. There is alfo in the
heavens a kind of writing without the ufe of the hand, as being
folely from correfpondence with the thoughts ; but this is not
permanent.

263. I have alfo feen writings from heaven that confifled
merely of numbers [figures] placed in order and fequence with
the fame regularity as letters and words, and was informed that
they were from the inmoft heaven ; and that their cosleftial
Scripture, of which fee above, n, 260, 261, prefents itlelf in
n ambers by influx to the angels of the next heaven, and alfo
contains a depth of wifdom not to be fathomed by thought, nor
confequently to be exprefl'ed by words j for all numbers are in
correfpondency, and according to their correfpondence relpec-
tively, fignify things equally with words (181), only with this
difference, that numbers exprefs things in the general, and

(181) That all numbers in the Word [the Scriptures] fignify things, n. 482,
487, 647, 648, 755, 813 — 9659, 10217, 10253. This revealed from heaven,
n. 4495, 5265. That multiplied numbers fignify the fame things [in fubltancej
with the fimple numbers whence they arife in multiplication, n. 5291, 5335, 5708,
7973. That the molt ancient of the human race pieferved their heavenly fecrets
111 numbers, in manner like an Eecicfialtical Kalcndar [^Computiim EccltjiajUcum'^

n- 575-

words

[ 156 ]

words in their particulars ; and as one general includes in it
numberlefs particulars, therefore this way of writing in numerals
is far more comprchenfive than the literal way of writing :
hence it appeared evident to me, that numbers in the Holy
Scriptures fignify things as much as words. What is tlierein
fignified by the fimple numbers, as 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10,
II, 12 i and what by the compounded ones, as 20, 30, 50, 70,
loo, 144, 1000, 1 0000, 12000, and many others, may be fcen
in the Arcana Ccelejha, in the places where they are mentioned.
In the Scripture in heaven before-mentioned, the radical number
from which the others proceed in fequence, and on which they
depend as their principal, is prefixed to the following ones, and
is, as it were, the index of the fubjecft treated on, and from
which the reft receive their determinate fignification with regard
to the particulars of that fubjecft.

264. They who know nothing of heavenly things, and
rejeift every other idea of heaven than that of its being a mere
atmofphere, in which the angels hover about as in the air, like
fo many intelle<ftual minds, or thinking fpirits, but without
any fenfe of fight or hearing ; fuch can have no notion of their
being able to fpeak or write, inafmuch as they confine thefe and
numberlefs other adls to material fubftances j whereas the things
in heaven [though not material] have really as fubllantial an
exiftence as the natural things of this world ; and the angels
have there all things as means conducive to life, increafe of
wifdom, and happinefs.

Concernlngr the Wifdom of the Angels of

Heaven.

265. It is very difficult to form any moderate conception of
the wifdom of the heavenly angels, as it fo far tranfcends all
human wifdom, as not to admit of any comparifon with it ;
now what exceeds the reach of the latter mull appear aS nothing
to it : however, it may be defcribed by fome things, which,
though at prefent unknown to us, yet are khowable, if the

mind

[ ^57 ]

mind takes delight therein ; for delight, as proceeding from
love, carries light with it ; and on fuch as arc affedlionately
difpofed to become acquainted with divine and heavenly wifdoni,
light Ihines from heaven, and illuminates their underftanding.

266. The greatnefs of the angelical wifdom may be gathered
from their being in the light of heaven : now the light of hea-
ven is, in its ellence, the fame with divine truth or wildom ;
and this light enlightens the eyes of their underftanding, as well
as gives them external fight : that the light of heaven is di\ ine
truth or wifdom, fee above, n. 126 to 133. The angels alfo
are in the heat of heaven, which is, in its efl'ence, divine good
or divine love, from which they derive their affediionate dcfire
of wifdom : that the heat of heaven is, in its eflence, divine
good or divine love, fee above, n. 133 to 140: that the angels
are fo highly advanced in wifdom, that they may even be called
Wifdoms, may be gathered from hence, that all their thoughts
and affecftions are conrrruous to the form and conftitution of
heaven, which is the form and difplay of the divine wifdom,
and that their interiour, which is the recipient of it, is accord-
ing thereto : that their thoughts and affeftions flow in fuch
diredlion, and confeqiiently their underftanding and wifdom,
fee above, n. 201 to 212 : that the wifdom of the angels is
highly eminent, may alfo appear from this, that their fpeech or
converfation is the language of wifdom, for it flows immediately
and fpontaneoufly from their thoughts, as thefe do from their
affecftions, infomuch that it may be fud, that their fpeech is
thought and affecftion in an external form : hence it comes, that
nothing interrupts or difturbs the divine influx into them, nor
any of thofe foreign things or thoughts which in man fo often
break in upon iind elalh with his communications : thit the
language of angels is the language of their thoughts and aftec-
tions, fee n. 234 to 245. To this wifdom of the angels alfo
confpires not a little, that all which they fee with their eyes,
and perceive by tjieir fenfcs, is congruous to their wilclom, as
being correfpondcnces, and accordingly fo many reprefcntative
forms of things appertaining or relating to wifdom : that all
things vifible in heaven correfpond to tilings internal in the
angels, and are^ rcprefcntatives of their wifdom, fee above, n.

R r 170

( iSa) That the wifdom of angels is both ineffable and incomprehenfible, n. 2795,
2796, 2802 — 9094, 9176.

(183) That as tar as man is elevated from external to internal things, fo far
he entc-is into light and true undcrrtandlng, n. 6183, 6313. That this is a real
elevation, n. 7816, 10330. That elevation from externals to internals, is, as it
were, from a mift into a clear day, n. 4598. That what is external in man is
proportionably remote from what is divine, and by confequence refpectivcly ob-
fcure, n. 6451 ; and alfo refpedtively inordinate, n. 996, 3855. That interior
things are more perfcft, as being nearer to what is divine, n. 5146, 5147- That
m the intcriour are thoufands of particulars, which in the cxtcriour appear only
in the light of one general truth or fubjccl [ut commune u)iu/n'\ n. 5707 : and
therefore the more inward the thought and perception, the clearer it is, n. 5920.

angels

[ 158 ]

170 to 182. Moreover, the thoughts of angels are not limited
and ftraitened by ideas from fpace and time, as the human
thoughts are; for fpace and time are peculiar to nature, and
what is peculiar to nature withdraws the mind from Ipiritual
things, and fetters the underftanding : that the ideas of angels
have no relation to fpace and time, and are therefore lefs confined ,»

than ours, fee above n. 162 to 169, and 191 to 199. The ■■

thoughts of angels are neither drawn down to earthly and ma- *

terial things, nor interrupted by any cares or necellities of life,
and therefore are not detained from the fweet relifh of wifdom
after the manner of men ; their food, their raiment, their ha-
bitations, and all things being freely given them of the Lord,
n. 181, 190: and they have alfo many pleafures and delights
beftowed on them in proportion to their reception of wifdom
from the Lord. Thus much has been faid, to fhew from what
caufes the angels are fo eminent for their wifdom (182).

267. That the angels arc in a capacity of receiving fo high
a meafure of wifdom is, becaufe their interior faculties are open,
and wifdom, like every other perfedlion, has its increafe inward,
according to the opening of the intcriour (183). There are
three degrees of life correfponding to the three heavens in every
angel, fee n. 29 to 40 : they in whom the firll: degree is open,
are in the firft or loweft heaven ; they in whom the fecond degree
is open, are in the fecond or middle heaven ; and they in whom
the third degree is opened, are in the third or inmoft heaven ; ..I

and in proportion to thefe degrees is the wifdom of the angels
In the heavens : hence it is, that the wifdom of the angels of
the third or inmoft heaven immenfely tranfcends that of the

[ 159 ]

angels of the middle heaven ; and the wifdom of thefe, that of
the angels of the loweft heaven, fee above, n. 209, 210 ; and
what thcfe degrees are, n, 38. The reafon of thefe differences
is, becaufe thofe things which are of a fuperior degree are more
particular and diftinft j and thofe of an inferior degree, of a
general and common predicament, in which precifion and dif-
tindiion lie concealed ; now the former are to the latter as thou-
fands or myriads to one, and in fuch pi'oportion is the wifdom
of the fuperior to that of the inferior angels refpeftively (*) ;
and yet the wifdom of the latter exceeds human wifdom in as
high a proportion ; for man in his prefent condition being
chained to a natural body and its fenfes, and as what is cor-
poreal and fenfual is lowelt in degree, it is evident what fort of
wifdom theirs muft be, who think only from fenfe, and there-
fore are properly denominated fenfual men ; but indeed it can-
not be called wifdom, for it is nothing more than fcicnce at
befl (184) : but it is otherwife with thofe who have their

thoughts

(*) This diftinflion of our author may be illiiflrated by the following inftance
in hiftorical knowledge, thus : To know only fo much of the hiftory of this our
ifland, before the conqueft of it by Will. I. as that in the time of the ancient
Britons it was conquered by Julius Casfar, became fubjeft to the power of the
Romans, and afterwards palled fucceffively into the polleflion of the Saxons, Danes^
and Normans : to know the times when thefe revolutions happened, together with'
the names of its feveral kings, and the moll remarkable battles and events of their
reigns : fuch a general and common knowledge of the Englifh hiftory falls within
the compafs of a low capacity : but to enter minutely into the particular genius
and character of thofe feveral nations rcfpedlivcly ; their manners, cuftoms, laws,
tenures, forms of government, and various connexions ; their ftate of religion,
learning, and traffick ; the rife and progrefs, or decay of arts and fciences in thefe
feveral periods ; the diftinguifliing characters of their princes, ftatefmen, and men
of eminence in all profiffions, together with their maxims and rules of policy in
conducing matters both ecclefialtical and civil ; and to trace back important
changes and events from remote beginnings, and caufes feemingly of little con-
fequence, making judicious obfervations and reflections on the whole : thcfe, and
a thoufand other particulars refpeifling legiflation, government, and publick weal,
conftitute the province of a fage hiitorian, and fliew us, by comparifon and in
miniature, the dillindtion of our author between the wifdom of the fuperior, and
that of the inferior angels, under the two predicaments of general and particular
wifdom. Tr.

(184) That the fenfual part of man is his loweft degree of life, as properly
belonging to and inherent in his earthly, corporeal frame, n. 5077, 5767, 9212,
9216, 9331? 9730. Tiiat this is called the itnfual man, who judges and draws
concluuons of things by his bodily fenfes, and believes nothing but what he caa

fee

[ i6o ]

thoughts elevated above matter and fenfe ; and ftill more £o witli
fuch as have their minds open to the heavenly light.

268. We may alio form an idea of the exalted wifdom of
angels from their mutual communication of all things without
relerve, infomuch that the underftanding Tmd wifdom of one is
communicated to another ; for heaven is a communion of goods
of every kind, it being of the nature of heave;ily love to impart
of its own to others, and accordingly no one there confiders
any thing he has as good, unlefs others partake of it : this
principle of love conftitutes the elTential happinefs of heaven,
and is derived to the angels from the Lord, whofe divine love
is infinitely communicative. It has been granted me to have an
experimental knowledge of fuch communication in the heavens
from being prefent with fome fpirits of great fimplicity, which,
upon their exaltation thitiier, were illuminated with angelical
wifdom, and underflood and fpake things which were incon-
ceivable and ineffable by them before.

269. The wifdom of the angels is not to be defcrlbcd in
words, but may in a fort be conceived by fome general inflances ;
thus, the angels can exprefs more in one word than a man can
in a thoufand ; and moreover, every word of theirs is replete
with numberlefs fenfes not to be exprelfed in human language, J
and containing fecrets of wifdom beyond the reach of our facul- ^
tics ; and farther, where words fail to utter the copioufnefs of

their meaning, the angels fupply that defed: in the found of
them, which exprelTes the affedtions therein ; for, as was faid
before, n. 236, 241, they exprefs their affcdtions by founds, as
they do their ideas and thoughts by words ; whence it .is laid,

fee with his eyes, and feci with his hands, n. 5094, 7693. That fuch a one
thinlcs as a mere animal [in extfrris], and not in his fpiritual part [interiiis inje],
n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693. That the interior faculties of fuch a one are fhut,
fo that he is incapable of difcerning fpiritual truth, n. 6564, 6844, 6845. That
fuch a one is in the dimnefs of mere nature, and fo perceives nothing by the light
of heaven, n. 6201, 6310, 6564, 6S44, 6845, 6598, 6612, 6614, 6622, 6624.
That, inwardly, he is in oppofition to things that are heavenly, and Aich as be of
the church of God, ji. 6201, 6316, 6844, 6845, 69+8, 6949. That fcnfual
men are crafty and malicious above others, n. 7693, 10236. That they arc acute
and fubtle in reafoning, but fo only from their natural faculties and memory^ in
which lies all the (Irength of their underftanding, n. 195, 196, 57CO, 10236 ;
and that this is from the fallacy of their fenfes, n. 5C84, 6948, 6949, 7693.

that

. [ i6i ]

that in heaven are heard things that cannot be uttered. The
angels alfo can exprefs in a few \\-ords the contents of a whole
volume, and likewife iniinuate into every word a power of raifmg
the fubjecS to a more interior fenfe ; for their language is fo
conflructed, as to be confonant to the aftedlions, at the fame
time that the words communicate the ideas of the fpeaker ; and
what is ftill more extraordinary, their words admit of inlinite
variations, whereby to exprefs in exact order and fequence all
the combinations and connexion of parts that form the moil
complicated fubjedts. The more interior angels can difcover
by the found, and certain words of him that fpeaks, the whole
courfe of his life, perceiving by the variegations in the voice,
occafioned by the ideas in his mind, what is his ruling pafTion,
as herein are recorded, as in a regifter, all the particulars of his
life (185). Hence we may form fome idea of the fuperior ex-
cellence of the wifdom of the angels, it being refped:ively to
man's wifdom as a myriad (ten thoufand) to one, and compa-
ratively as all the moving inftruments and powers in the body,
which are innumerable, to the ail produced by them, which
appears to our fenfes ; or like the thoufmd minute parts of an
objedt, when examined by a good microfcope, which, when
viewed by the naked eye, appears but as an atom. To illuf-
trate this by example : A certain angel, in defcribing the work
of regeneration from the high wifdom he pofTefTed, difcovered
a hundred fecret things in the chain of his difcourfe on the fub-
jeift, every one of which abounded with flill more myfterious
fecrets, and fo on from the beginning to the end of his expo-
fition ; fliewing how the I'piritual man is conceived anew, palTes,
as it were, through a kind of geflation, is bcfn, grows j.ip, and

(185) That the prevailing or ruling pafTion in man influences all the particulars
of his life, and all and fingular his thoughts and affcdtions, n. 4459, 5949» 6150,
6571, 7648, 8067, 8853 tb 8858. T^iut as is the prevailing love, fuch is the
man, n. 918, 1040, 8858. This illuftratcd by examples, a. 8854, 8857. That
the pa/Tion which has dominion over a man, forms the life of his fpirit, n. 7648.
That it conftitutes his will, his love, and the direction of his whole life; and
this, becaufc that which he chufes and wills, that he loves, and what he loves
molt, to that tend all his purfuits, n. 1317, 1568, 1571, 1909, 3796, 5949, 6936.
That therefore, as the will, or the r\iling love, or the propofed end of living is,
fuch is the man, n. 1568, 1571, 3570 — 10109, I0II0> 10284.

S f

[ i62 ]

is fuccefllvely peffefted : he alfo faid, that he could fwell the
number of myllerious difcoveries on this fubjeft to feme thou-
fands ; and that what he had delivered thereupon concerned -^•

the regeneration of the outward man only ; and that unlpeak-
ably more belonged to the regeneration of the inward man,
Thele and other like things told me by the angels evinced the
fublimity of their wifdom, and how that of man may be ftiled
ignorance, if compared to it ; as he fcarcely knows what rege-
neration means, and fees not any one flep he takes in his pro-
grefs through it.

270. We fhall now fpeak of the wifdom of the angels of
the third or inmoft heaven, and how far this exceeds that of the
angels of the firfl or loweft heaven : now the wifdom of the
former is incomprehenfiblc by the latter, and that becaufe the
interior faculties of the former are open in the third or higheft
degree, and thofe of the latter only in the firfl or lowell degree :
now all wifdom increafes in proportion to its progrefs inward, t

and is perfedled according to the opening of the interiour, n.
208, 267 i and as the interiour of the angels of the third heaven
is open in the third degree, therefore divine truths are molt
intimately written in their hearts, this degree being more near |

to the form of heaven than thofe of the inferior angels, and
becaufe the form or conftitution of heaven is from divine truth,
and therefore according to divine wifdom, therefore divine
truths appear to the higheft angels as innate or congenial to
them, and therefore as foon as they are propoied, they imme-
diately afTcnt to and own them, and prelently after perceive,
and, as it were, read them in thcmfelves. Such being the flatc
of the angels of the inmoft heaven, they have no need to reafon
concerning divine truths, much Icfs have they controverfies
about any truth, to know wlicther it be a truth or not; nor do
they underftand what it is to believe, or have faith in this or
that thing, faying. What is fiiith, when I perceive and know ^

the matter to be fo ? ufing moreover the following comparifons,. «

viz. That it would be as abfurd in them to talk of believing^
as if any one were to view a houfe, and all things in and about
it, and were to fay to one in company with him, that he muft
needs believe that to be a houfe with fuch and fuch furniture :

[ 1^3 ]

or as if any one faw a garden with its trees and fruit, and were
to tell his compp.nion, that he could not but believe that to be
a garden with trees and fruit in it, whilft at the fame time his
own eyes beheld them. Hence it is, that the angels before-
mentioned never name the word faith, nor have any idea of it,
and confequently never reafon rcr difpute about the reality of
any divine truth (i86) : but the angels of the firft or loweft
heaven have not divine truths fo implanted within them, as
having only their firft degree of life open ; and therefore they
reafon concerning them : now they who reafon on any fubjed:
fpeculate it, as it were, without themfelves, and go no farther,
ufing arguments only for confirmation, and when they have
confirmed the matter to others, they require their belief in it,
I have difcourfed with the angels on this fubjed:, who told me,
that there was as great a difference between the wifdom of the
angels of the third, and that of the angels of the loweft heaven,
as between the twilight and noon day ; and compared that of
the former to a magnificent palace richly furnilhed with all
things for ufe, and furroundcd with fpacious gardens fplendidly
ornamented, into which the angels of wifdom enter, and enjoy
the variegated delights of the whole in their full extent : but
that it is very different with thofc that are in reafonings, and
more efpecially if in controverfies concerning truths ; for fuch
perfons not feeing them in the light &f truth, but either re-
ceiving them from others, or from the literal fenfe of the Scrip-
tures without the fpiritual underftanding of them, they cry out.
You muff believe or have faith, without allowing any farther
demonllration, or inward manifellation of them : as touching

(i86) That the coelcftial angels (*) \cry far cxci-l the fpiritual angels in know-
ledge and wifdom, n. 2718. Iliat the former do not think and fpeak of faith like
the latter, as having received of the Lord to be in the clear perception of all
things pertaining to faith, n. 2.02, 597, 607 — 9277, 10336. That they only
affirm or deny with regard to the truths of faith ; whereas the fpiritual angels reafon
much v/hether thcfe things be fo or not, n. 2715, 3246, 4448, 9166, 10786^
where an explanation is given of thofc words of our Lord : " Let your commu-
" nication be, yea, yea ; nay, nay ;" Matt. v. 37.

(•) It is judged proper to remind the reader under the above note, that the author
diftinguifhes the angels of the third or highcft heaven by the addition of eailtjiial, and
ihofe of the middle heaven b^ that of fprituaU

thefe.

[ i64 ]

thefe, they faid, that they come not even up to the gate of the
palace of wifdom, much lefs enter in, and walk in its paradi-
liacal gardens ; whilll: they who are in the very truths themfelves,
not only do this, but alio make free excurlions into wifdom's
wide domains, palling by light from truth to truth, the extent
and connexions whereof know no bounds. They faid farther,
that the wifdom of the angels of the third or inmoll heaven,
more efpecially conlilted in their beholding divine and cceleflial
things in every particular object, and iHll more wonderful
things in an alfemblage of many ; for all tliat they fee with
their eyes correfpond to interior things ; thus for example, when
they view palaces and gardens, their view does not terminate in
the objedts themfelves, but extends to the contemplation of
their caufes and correfpondences, and that in all the variety A

reprefented by the different forms and appearances of the cor- ~

refponding vilible objeds, befides innumerable things anfwering
to their order, feries, and connexions refpedtively, which de- ^

light even to extacy their intellectual faculties. That all vilible >^

things in the heavens correfpond to divine things derived from
the Lord to the holy angels, fee before, n. 170 to 176.

271. That the angels of the third heaven are thus confli-
tuted, is from their being in the element of love to the Lord,
and this love opens the interior fiiculties of their minds to the
third degree, which renders it the receptacle of all things ap- i

pertaining to wifdom ; and we are moreover to underfland, that ^

the angels of this heaven are continually advancing to flill
higher degrees in wifdom, and this in a different manner from
the angels of the loweft heaven, as not committing divine truths ,.i

to their memory, and fo forming them into a fcicnce j but, J

from a clear perception of them as foon as offered, ingrafting
them into their very life, wherebv they become a principle, and ^.

written, as it were, upon tlieir hearts : but the cafe is otherwife H

with the angels of the lowefl heaven ; for they firil commit
them to memory, and then digelt them fcientifically, calling
them forth occalionally for their intelleftual improvement, but ^

without an interior perception of their truth, fo that they fee J

them but obfcurcly in comparifon with the former angels j
however, they conf\antly ufe them for the diredion of the will,

and

[ i65 ]

and the government of life. It Is worthy of being noticed
here, that the angels of the third heavei^advance in wifdoni by
liearing, and not by fight ; for what they hear from preaching
enters not into the memory, but immediately into their per-
ception and will, and fo into the forni of their life : but what
the other angels behold with their eyes, they commit to their
memory, and reafon and difcourfe therefrom j whence it plainly
appears, that their way of increafmg wifdom is by hearing, and
that by correfpondence, for the ear correfponds to obedience,
and obedience relates to life ; but the eye correfponds to the
intelleft, and intelleift relates to doiftrine (i 87). The ftate of
the coeleftial angels is defcribcd in many places of the Scrip-
tures, and particularly by Jeremiah, as follows : *' I will put
** my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts :
** and they fhall teach no more every man his neighbour, and
*' every man his brother, faying. Know the Lord ; for they
*' fhuU all know me, from the leaft of them unto the greateft
" of them," xxxi. 33, 34. And in Matt, v, 37. " Let your
** communication be, yea, yea ; nay, nay ; for whatfoever is
** more than thefe cometh of evil." By cometh of evil, is meant
comparatively and refpecftively fo, as not coming from the Lord ;
for the truths pofleffed by the angels of the third heaven are
from the Lord, as proceeding from love towards him. Love to
the Lord in this heaven is to will and aft from divine truth, for
divine truth is effentially one with the Lord in heaven.

272. To the reafons already given in proof of the angels
being receptive of fuch exalted wifdom, this f.\rther one (which
is of primary confideration in heaven) may be added, viz. That
they are without felf-love ; for fo far as any one is free from
this, in fuch proportion he is capable of receiving vvildom in
divine things ; for that kind of love Ihuts the inward eye and
faculties to the Lord and heavenly things, whilft it opens thofe

(187) Of the correfpondence of the car and of the hcarinjr, n. 4652. That
the tiir correfponds both to perception and obedience, and therefore fignifies them,
n. 7542, 3869, 4653, 5017, 7216, 8361, 9311, 93975 10065. That it alfo
iignifies the reception of truths, n. 5471, 5475» 9926. Of tiie correfpondence
of the eye and its fight, h. 4403 to 4421, 4523 to 4534 ; that therefore the eyes
fignify the underftanding that cometh of faith, and alio faith itfeif, n. 2701, 4410,
4526, 6923, 995 ij 10569.

T t that

[ i66 ]

that nrc external, and gives them a diredion to itfelf ; nod
thcret'ore all thore, ov«» whom this pallion gains the dominion,
arc in darkncfs with regard to heavenly things, however quick-
lighted they may be in thofe of this world : and on the other
hand, the angels, as nut being infedled with it, are in the pure
light of wifdom ; for the cceleftial loves with which they are
principled, viz. to the Lord, and to their neighbour, open their
hearts to the divine influx, and fo the Lord is in them. That
thefe two loves conftitute heaven as its common, effential prin-
ciples, and alfo form a heaven in every one in particular, fee
above, n. 13 to 19. As thefe ca;lefi:ial loves open the inward
man to the Lord, fo all the angels turn their faces towards him,
n. 142 ; for in the fpiritual world it is the divine principle of
love that turns the heart of every one to itfelf, and whither it
turns the heart, it alfo turns the face, for there the face aAs in
confent with the heart, as its expreffion : and as love, together
wath the objeft of it, turns both the heart and the face to itfelf,
therefore it joins itfelf thereto (for it is the bond of fpiritual
union) and communicates of its own to them ; and from this
converfion, and confequent conjunftion and communication, the
angels derive their wifdom. That all conjuncftion or union (or
fellowiliip) in the fpiritual world, is according to this conver-
fion or turning, may be feen above, n. 255.

273. The angels continually advance to higher degrees of
perfe<ition in wifdom (188); and yet attain not in eternity to
luch perfe(ft:ion therein, as beai'S any proportion to the divine
wifdom; for this is infinite, and theirs only finite, and between
finite and infinite there is no proportion.

274. As wifdom conftitutes the perfeftion of angels, and
alfo the very form of their life ; and as heaven, with all the
good things therein, communicates with every angel in pro-
portion to his wifdom, fo all there defire and hunger after it,
even as a hungry man after his food ; for knowledge, under-
ftanding, and wifdom, are as truly fpiritual nourilhment, as
earthly food is natural nourifliment, and they alfo mutually
correfpond.

(188) That the angels advance eternally in degrees of perfedion, n. 4803,
6648^

275. The

[ i67 ]

275. The angels of the fame heaven, though of one and
the fame fociety, differ in degrees of wifdom ; they being in the
highefl who are fituated in the center, and the reft in lower
degrees of it, in proportion to their diftance from the center,
decreafing gradually like light verging to fhadc, fee above, n. 43,
128. They have alfo light in the lame degree; for the light
of heaven and divine wifdom agree in one, and every one has
fo much of the former as he receives of the latter. Concerning
the light of heaven, and the various receptions of it, fee above,
ji. 126 to 132.

Of the State of Innocence in the Angels.

276. Few in this world have any tolerable notion concerning
innocence, and they who are in the evil principle, none at all :
they fee indeed fomething that carries in it the appearance,
efpecially in the faces, language, and aftions. of little children;
but yet they underlland not the true nature of it, much lefs
that it is the receptacle of heaven in man : that the reader
therefore may be the better inftruded in this matter, I fhall
proceed in the following order to fiiew, firft, what is the inno-
cence of little children ; then, what is the innocence of wif-
dom ; and laftly, what is the ftate of angels with refpedl to
wifdom.

277. The innocence of infuicy, or of little children, is not
genuine innocence, as being only in their exterior, not interior
form i and yet we may conceive fomething of innocence by
what appears in their looks, in fome of their actions, and their
prattle, which affefts us the more, as they have no defign nor
reflexion, know neither good nor evil, nor what is true or falfe,
from whence reflexion proceeds ; and confequently they have
no prudence of their own, no deliberation, purpofe, nor ill in-
tention : neither have they as yet attained to any notion of
property from the love of felf and the world ; but look on
themfelves as obliged to their parents for all that is given them,
with which they are pleafcd and content, not being folicitous
about food or raiment, or wliat may befall them, neither regarding

the

[ i6S ]

the world, nor the things of it, but confining theic affeflions
to their parents, nurfes, and little companions, and fliewing
a dudile obedience to their governors : luch being their ftate,
all that they are capable of receiving enters into the form of
their life, and conrtitutes (without their knowledge) the whole
of their winning bchuviour, and fervcs for the rudiments of
their language, memory, and thinking, according to their Hate
of innocence refpedlively : but yet this kind of innocence, as
was faid before, is only external, as being animal, and not
mental (189), their minds being not yet formed; for mind
confills of intclled: and will, and as fuch only becomes the W

fountain of reflexion and true affciftion. I have been tauglit
from heaven, that little children are in a particular manner,
under the Lord's care and protediion, and that they are the
fubjedls of an influx from the inmoft heaven, which is the ftate f

of perfeft innocence, which influx pervades their interiour, and
operates in them by the effecfts of innocence, exhibiting ap-
pearances of it in their faces and certain of their adtions,
thereby exciting in their parents that natural affe<flion, which
we call by the name of Storge [rofj/n].

278. But the innocence of wifdom is the true and genuine
wifdom, as being internal in the mind, and confequently in
the will and underflanding ; and where innocence is in thefe, "s

there alio is wifdom, for they are wifdom's dwelling ; and
therefore it is a common faying in heaven, that " Innocence
'• dwells in wifdom ;" and that every angel has fo much of the
latter as he poflefles of the former ; and they confirm it by
this argument, viz. becaufe they who are in innocence aflume
nothing to thcmfclves, but afcribe all they have to the goodnefs
of the Lord as his free gift ; that it is their defire to be led
and governed by him, and not by themfelves ; that they love
every thing that is good, and delight in all truth, inafmuch as

(189) That the innocence of infants is not the true innocence, hut that the
true innocence dwells in wifdom, n. 1616, 2305, 2306, 3495, 4563> 4-797, 5608,
9301, I0C2I. That the good of childhood is not fpiritual good, but becomes fo
by the fowing of truth into their minds, n. 3504 ; and that their good of relative
innocence is the medium of effecting this, n. 1616, 3183, 9301, loiio. That
man, without this good of innocence in childhood, would be a favage, n. 3494»
That whatever the mind imbibes in childhood appears natural, n. 3494.

they

[ 169 ]

as they know and perceive, that to love good (that is, to will
and do it) is to love the Lord ; and to love truth is to love
their neighbour ; that they are content with what they have,
be it little or much, as knowing that to all is given what is
needful for them, little to thofe that need little, and much to
them that need much, and that they know not what that fit
meai'ure is, but the Lord only, wha poflefTes all things, and
provideth all things fur all ; and therefore they are not Iblicitous
about what fliall befall them, calling this, the " taking thought
" for the morrow," and being anxious about what does not
belong to them, nor is needful for them. They never deal de-
ceitfully by their fellows, but uprightly and in fmcerity, calling
every other way by the name of fubtlety, which they avoid as
poifon, and contrary to all innocence : and as they delight to
be under the tuition and guidance of the Lord, above all things,
afcribing whatever they have to his free bounty, therefore they
are far removed from felfiflmefs, and fo far enriched with divine
communications from the Lord. Hence it is, that whatever
they hear immediately from himfelf, or through the means of
the word, or of preaching, they do not lay by in their memory,
but apply it to practical ufe, that is, will it and do it, their
will ferving them inftead of memory. The external afpedl of
thefe is, for the mofl part, that of great fimplicity, though
within they are full of wifdom and prudence, being fuch as are
meant in thofe words of our Lord : " Be ye wife as ferpents,
*' and harmlefs as doves," Matt, x, i6. Such is the nature of
that innocence, which is called the innocence of wifdom. Now
as innocence takes no merit to itfelf, but gives the praife of all
good to the Lord only ; and as it delights to depend upon him
for all that goodnefs and truth which conflitute genuine wifdom j
therefore it is fo appointed, that man, during the time of his
infancy, ftiould have the external form of innocence, and when
old, its internal form, that fo through the former he may pafs
on to the latter, and in the latter to a refcmblance of the
former : and accordingly it comes to pafs, that man in his old
age decreafcs in bulk, and in many particulars puts on, as it
were, the child again -, but this in order to be as a wife child,
as an angel ; for a wife child, in an eminent fenfe of the word,

U u is

[ 170 ]

is an angel : therefore it is, that in the written Word, a child
fignifies one that is innocent ; and an old man, one that is wife,
in whom dwelleth innocence (190),

279. It happens in like manner to every one that is rege-
nerated, for regeneration is a new birth as to the fpiritual man :
and here he is firil brought into that innocence of childhood,
to he fenfible that he cannot attain to the knowledge of good
and truth from himfelf, but from the Lord only, and to defire
and hunger after them as his true nourifliment ; and thefe are
given to him according to his growth in the fpiritual life : firfl,
he is given to know them fcientifically, then intelledlually, and
after this, he is brought into wifdom ; feeing and confelTing all
the way, from the innocence and humility within him, that
his futliciency herein is only from the Lord, without which
faith and conviftion no one is capable of heavenly communi-
cations, in which chiefly confirts the innocence of wifdom.

280. As it is the property of innocence to chufe the Lord
only for our guide, therefore all in heaven are in innocence, as
this is the choice of all that are there, as knowing well, that to
fet up for our own diredlors, is to abandon ourfelves to felf-love,
and to renounce the Lord's government over us : as far there-
fore as any angel is in innocence, fo far is he under the divine
leadings and influence, and fo far in heaven, or, in other words,
fo far is he principled in goodnefs and truth, which conftitute
the blifs of heaven ; and therefore the heavens are dlAinguiflied
according to the diflxrent degrees of innocence : thus they who
are in the lowefi: or firft heaven, are in innocence of the tirft or
loweft degree; they who are in tlie fecond or middle heaven,
are in innocence of the fecond degree; and they who are in the
third or inmoll heaven, are in innocence of the third or highelt
degree, and may be titled the very innocences of heaven, as
they are more particularly diltinguifhed for their love of being

(190) That by infants or little children in the Word is fignified innocence,
n. 5608 ; and alfo by fucklings, n. 3183. That by an old man is fignified a wife
man, and in the abllradt, wifdom, n. 3183, 6523. That man is fo created, that
as he verges towards old age, he becomes as a child, and that then innocence is in
wifdom ; as alfo that in this flate he may pafs the better qualified into heaven, and
becomx an angel, n. 3183, 5608.

guided

[ 171 ]

guided and governed by the Lord, as little children by thelr-
common Father ; and therefore, whatever divine truth is com-
municated to them, either immediately from the Fountain of
all Truth, or by means of the Word, or preaching, they in-
ftantly receive it Into their will, and fo conlign it to life and
pradllcal ufe j and hence it Is, that they fo far excel the angels
of the inferior heavens in wifdom, fee n. 270, 271. Such being
the nature of thcfe angels, they are next In honour to the Lord,
who is the author of their innocence ; and they are fo far re-
moved from all propriety, and every thing that borders upon
felf, that they may be faid to live In him. Their external form
exprefles great fimplicity, and they appear in the fight of the
inferior angels as little children with little fliow of wifdom,
whilft they are In reality the wifeft of all the angels, yet know-
ing at the fame time, that they are only receivers of all they
have, and that it Is a part of wifdom to be fenfible of It, and
alfo that what they do know Is nothing in comparifon with the
things they are ignorant of : to be thoroughly convinced of this
truth they call the firfl; ilep to wifdom, Thefe angels are with-
out any garment or covering, for nakednefs correfponds to in--
nocence (191).

281. I have difcourfed much with the angels concerning
innocence, and been informed by them, that innocence is the
cflence of all good, and that the latter cannot fubfiil; without
it, confequently that wifdom is only fo f;ir wifdom, as it leads
to innocence ; and that the fame may be faid of divine love,
charity towards our neighbour, and faith ((192) ; from whence
it will follow, that without innocence no man can be qualified
for heaven, according to thofe words of our Lord ; " Suffer the
•' little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of
" fuch is the kingdom of heaven : Verily I fay unto you, that
*' whofoever fliall not receive the kingdom of heaven as a little

(191) That all in the inmoft heaven are innoccncei;, n. 154, 2736, 3887 : and
that therefore they appear to others as childrciT, n. 154 : alfo that they are naked,
n. 165, 8375. That it is cuftomary with fpirits, in tcftimony of their innocence^
to throw off their garments, and appear naked, n. 8375, 9960.

(192) That innocence is clfcntial to every good of love, and every truth o€
faith, n. 2526, 2780, 311, 3994, 6013, 7840, 9262-, 10134. That Tio one
dcftitute of innocence is admitted into heavtn, n. 4797.

»* child,.

[ X7= ]

** child, fliall not enter therein," Mark x. 14, 15. Luke xviii.
16, 17. where, as well as in other parts of the Word, by littU
children we are to underftand innocent ferjons. The Hate of in-
nocence is alio delcribed by our Lord, Matt. vi. 24, (Sec. but
merely by correlpondences. The reafon why good is only lb
far good as innocence is in it, is becaufe all good is from the
Lord, and innocence confifts in a difpofition to be led and
governed by him. I was alfo informed, that good and truth
can only be mutually conjoined by the medium of innocence ;
and that therefore any angel is only fo far an angel of heaven,
as he partakes of innocence, for heaven is not in any one till
truth be joined to good within him : therefore it is, that this
conjun(fl:ion of truth and good is called the heavenly marriage,
for this conftitutes heaven. I was alfo informed, that true con-
jugal love derives its nature from innocence, as proceeding from
the union of good and truth in two minds, viz. of hufband and
wife, which union, in its defcent from above, is reprefented
under the form of conjugal love ; for where two fuch perfons
are joined together, they neceffarily love each other, and in
them the conjugal Hate may be called a difplay of the delights
of infancy and innocence (193).

282. As innocence (*) is the very eflence of good in the
angels of heaven, it follows, that divine good proceeding from
the Lord mufl include it in its principle, for it is that very

(193) That true conjugal love is innocence, n. 2736. That conjugal love is
a mutual confent of wills in both partita, n. 2731. That they who are in the
inward principle of conjugal love dwell together in heaven, n. 2732. That they
become one through union of minds, n. 10168, 10169. That true conjugal love
derives its origin and eflence from the union of good and truth, n. 2728, 2729.
Of the angelical fpirits, who have a true perception of the conjugal ftatc from the
idea of good and truth in conjunction, n. 10756. That conjugal love entirely
correfponds to fuch conjundion, n. 1094, 2173, 2429 — 9495, 9637- That for
this reafon by Marriage in the Word, we are to underftand the marriage or con-
jundion of good and truth, as it fubfifts in heaven, and fhall do in the new church,

n- 3132. 4434» 4834-

(•) Innocence throughout this chapter is not to be taken in a mere negative
feme, or freedom from evil, for fo our author docs not mean it ; but as a pofitive
good from the Lord, confiding in that heavenly congruity and difpofition in all
the powers and properties of the foul, which render it as a well tuned inftrument
of divine harmony, or as the fubftratum or fubjeft of every divine virtue, gift,
and grace. Tr.

principle

[ 173 ]

principle in the angels that dilpofes and qualifies them for all
the bleirednels of heaven. The cafe is fiinilar v/ith regard to-
little children, whofe interiour is not only formed by a transflux
of innocence from the Lord, but alfo difpofed and adapted to
receive the good of coeleflial love, forafmuch as the good of
innocence ^tts from their inmoft faculties, and is, as was faid
before, the ellence of every good : and as all innocence is froij\
the Lord, therefore he is called in the Word, T/te Lamby for
Lamb fignifies innocence (194) ; and as innocence is the efl'ence
of all ccelcftial good, fo it affeds the minds of others with fo
- much fweetnefs and delight, that he who is fenfible of its in-
fluence (as happens on the approach of any angel from the
inmoft heaven) is, as it were, ravilhed from himfelf, and feels
a joy which far furpaffes any that this world can yield — I fpeak
this from experience,

283. All who are in the good of innocence are, in propor-
tion thereto, cordially affedled with the fame in others ; but it
is far otherwife with thofe that are not in a finiilar ll:ate ; and
therefore all the infernals are utter enemies to innocence, though
they have no idea of what it is, nay, their evil nature is fo
oppofite to it, that they burn with a delire to injure every inno-
cent perfon, and therefore cannot bear with little children, but
are feized with a rage at the fight of them, and long to do them
a mifchief : hence it appeared evident to me, that a contradled
fpirit, filled with the love of felf, is contrary to innocence, as
is the cafe of all in hell (*).

(194) That Lamb in the Word fii^nifies innocence, and the good thereof, n.
3994, 10132.

(*) I his dcfcription of infernal fpirits by our author, as to their enmity to all
innocence and goodncfs, exhibits likcwifc a melancholy, but too true a rcprefen-
tation of that malignity, which the human nature is capable of in its greatell
degree of depravity and corruption ; as when men, fclf-alicnated from divine grace, .
and abandoned to evil, inftead of being the temple of the living God, through
the cffciilual operation of his fpirit, become tiie habitation of evil fpirits, and, as
fuch, haters of their brethren, and defpifc-rs of them that arc good : fo true it- is,
that man even in this life may be as an angel or a devil, according to the fpiri?:
that governs him ; for his fcrvants we arc to whom we obey, and become like ujito
the mafter that rules over us, Tr.

X X Concernin

[ ^74 ]

Concerning the State of Peace in Heaven.

284. He that has not been in the peace of heaven, can have
no true perception of that peace which the angels enjoy, foraf-
much as the perceptions of man, during his clofe connexion
with this mortal body, are in nature, and hinder fuch expe-
rience ; and therefore, in order to be capable of it, he muft
be brought into fuch a llate of elevation above nature, by an
abflradtion of his fpirit from the body, that he may be with
the angels : now as by this means I have been favoured with the
privilege of experiencing this heavenly peace, I am qualified to
give fome account of it ; not as though human language were
equal to the defcription, but in fuch words as may exprefs it
comparatively with that rti\ or tranquillity [commonly called
peace] of mind, which is the common privilege of godly per-
Ibns.

285. There are two moft inward principles in heaven, viz.
innocence and peace ; and they are called moll inward or inmofl;,
as proceeding immediately from the Lord, Innocence is that
from which fprings every good in heaven ; aiul peace is that
which conftitutes the delightful fenfe or rclifh [jucunduin boui]
of fuch good ; for every good has its delightful fenfation [fnu/ii
jiicundufit] : now both the good, and its delightful lavour or

relilh, are in the love property {fuut n;/wris], for what we love
we call good, and take delight therein j and confequently thefe
two inmoft principles of innocence and peace proceed from
divine love, and conflitute the central joy of angels. That
innocence is the fundamental ground of good, fee the preceding
article ; and that peace is the ground of delight, ariiing from
the good of innocence, will appear from what follows.

286. And firft for the origin of peace : and this has its
fource ia the Lord from the union of his Divinity with his
Divine Humanity, and fo giving birth to the divine peace in
heaven by his communication with the angels, and more par-
ticularly by the conjundion of good with truth in every angel :
and as fuch is the origin of peace in heaven, it muft necelTarilv

[ ^75 I

be a divine principle communicating bleflcfincfs to every gcod
therein, and be the fpring of a joyous life in all the ccelellial
inhabitants, it being nothing lefs than the joy of divine love
flowing from the Lord into every one of them. Such is that
peace which conftitutes the joys and happinefs of the bleffed
above (195).

287. From this divine original of peace the Lord is named
the Prince of Peace, and fpeaks of himfelf as the author and
giver of it : hence likewife the angels are called the Angels of
Peace, and heaven the Habitation of Peace, as in the following
places : •' Unto us a child is born, unto us a fon is given, and
" the government fliall be upon his fhoulder ; and his name
" lliall be called. Wonderful, Counfellor, The mighty God,
•* The everlafting Father, The Prince of Peace : Of the in-
*' creafe of his government and peace there fhall be no end,"
Ifai. ix. 6, 7. Jefus faid, " Peace I leave with you, my peace
" 1 give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto you,"
John xiv. 27. '* Thefe things I have fpoken unto you, that
'* in me ye might have peace," John xvi, 33. " The Lord lift
" up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace," Numb.
vi. 26. " The ambaffadors of peace fhall weep bitterly; the
" highways lie wade," Ifai. xxxiii. 7, 8. " The work of
" righteoufnefs fhall be peace ; and my people fliall dwell in
" a peaceable habitation," Ifai. xxxii. 17, 18. And that by
peace in the Word we are to underftand a divine and heavenly
peace, will appear from other places wherein it is mentioned, as
Ifai. lii. 7. liv. 10. lix. 8. Jer. xvi. 5. xxv. 37. xxix. 11. Hag.
xi. 9. Zech. xvili. 12. Pfa. xxxvii. 37. and elfewhere. Foraf-
much as peace flands alio for the Lord its author, for heaven,
for heavenly joy, and the bleffing cf every good ; therefore the
ufual falutation in old times, from whence we alfo derive the
cuflom, was, " Peace be with you !" And this received divine

(195) That by peace, in the higheft (Infc of the word, is meant the Lord, as
being the fountain of peace, and in the inward fcnic, lieaven, as the feat of peace,
». 3780, 4681. That peace in the heavens is a divine influx, conltituting cffen-
tially the bleflednefs of every good and truth therein, and that the nature: of it is
incomprchenfibte by man, n. 92, 3780, 5662, 8455, 8665. That divine peace
is in every good, but not in truth void of good, n. 8722.

faniftion

[ 1/6 ]

fan<flion from*our Lord, when he fent out his dilclples, faying:
** Into whatfoever houle ye enter, lirll lay. Peace he to this
" houfe ; and if the fon of peace be there, your peace fhall
*' reft upon it," Luke x. 5, 6. And likewile, when our Lord
appeared to the apolllcs, he laid, " Peace be unto you," John
XX. 19, 2'i, 26. The ftate of peace is alio fignihed in the
Word by, " A Iweet favour unto the Lord," as in Exod. xxix.
18, 25, 41. Lev. i. 9, 13, ij. ii. 2, 9. vi. 8, 14. xxiii. 12,
13, 18. Numb. XV. 3, 7, 1-^. xxviii. 6, 8, 13. xxix. 2, 6, 8,
13, 36. A fwect favour, or a favour of reft, fignifying, in a
heavenly fenie of the word, the perception of peace (196).
And becaufc peace fignifics the union of the Divinity with the
Divine LIumanity in the perfon of the Lord, and his conjunftion
with heaven and his church, and with all that receive in both,
accordingly was the fabbath inftituted in remembrance thereof,
and had its name from reft or peace, being a holy reprefcntative
of the church ; and therefore the Lord called himfelf Lord of
the Sabbath, Matt. xii. 8. Mark ii. 27, 28. Luke vi. 5. (197).

288. As the peace of heaven is that inward divine principle
which gives blelling to all the good in the angels, lb it only
manifefts itfelf to them perceivably by a heart-felt ioy, when
in their happieft frames ; as alio by a fweet relifli of the truth
which is concordant with their particular good, when they hear
it ; and by an exhilarating delight on the union of both, dif-
fuling a joyous influence in all thev do, and all they think, and
ipanifefting itfelf in all their looks. However, this peace, as

(196) That odour or favour in the "Word, fignifics the perceptivity of what is
well pleafmg, or otherwilc, accorJiiig to the kind or quality of good and faith
predicated of, n. 3577, 4626, 4628, 4748, 5C21, 10292. That odour of rcH,
when fpoken of Jehovah, fignifics perception of peace, n. 925, 10054. That
therefore incenfe, perfumes, and the odours in oils and ointments, become reprc-
fentatives, n. 925, 4748, 5621, ioi77'

(197) That the fabb;;th, in the highcft fen fe of the word, fignifius the union
of the Divinity and DJ\inc Humanitv in the perfon of the Lord ; in the inward
fcnfcy the conjuniftion of his Divine Humanity with heaven and with his church j
and in general, the conjun£lion of good with truth, or the heavenly marriage,
n. 8495, 10356, 10730. Hence, that reft on the fabbath day is fignificant of
the itate of that union, and, in a relative fenfc, of the conjundtion of the Lord
with man, as the efficient caufc of his peace and falvation, n. 8494, 85 ic, 1036c,
10367, 10370, 10668, 10730.

■i-

[ ^77 ]

to its fpccifick quality and degree, differs in the different hea-
vens, according to the ijinocence of their inhabitants rcfpec-
tively ; for innocence and peace, as was faid before, go hand
h\ hand with one accord, innocence being the fource of heavenly
good, and peace the delightful fenlation of that good [jucundiim
illiiis boni\ fo that nearly the fame that was f\id in the preceding
article, of the liate of innocence in heaven, may be faid of
peace in this, as they are conjoined in like manner with good,
and its pleafint fruit ; for good is knov/n by the delight it
yields, and the particular delight diftinguiihes the kind of its
proper good, and is owned by it. Hence it appears, that the
angels of the inmofl or third heaven are in the third or inmofb
degree of peace, as being in the third or inmoft [higheft] de-
gree of innocence; and that the angels of the inferior heavens
are in a lower degree of peace, as being in a lower degree of
innocence, fee above, n. 280. That innocence and peace go
together, like good, and the plealing fenfation of it, may be
known by little children, which are in peace, becaufe in inno-
cence ; and becaufe in peace, there all things ferve to them as
matter of play and harmlefs delight : however, the peace of
infants is only external, for internal peace, like internal inno-
cence, is only to be found in wifdom, and confequently where
good and truth are conjoined, for hence comes wifdom. There
is alfo an heavenly or angelical peace in fuch men as are poffeffed
-of wifdom from a conjunction of good with truth, and thereby
find themfelves refigned to the will of God ; but this peace,
during their abode here, lies concealed in their inner man, but
is manifefted when they quit the body, and enter into their
heavenly reft, for then the things that were hidden will be
revealed.

289. As divine peace originates from the conjundlion af the
Lord with heaven, and particularly in every angel, from the
conjunction of good and truth, therefore the angels, when '\n
their higheft ftate of love, are in their molt pcrfecfl itate of
peace, for then good and truth are in their moft perfe<ft con-
junction with them (*). That alternate changes of flates take

(*) The reader, for the better undcrflranding of our author's meaning, is to
take with him iJl along, that as the tv/o chief conftitueiit principles cf man's

Y y l^iritual'

[ ^78 1

place in the angels, fee above, n, 154 to 160. Similar to this
is the regeneration of man, when the conjundtion of good and
truth is formed within him ; which more efpecially is effed:ed
after temptations, when he enters into the delightful ftate of
heavenly peace (198). This peace may be compared to a lovely
morning in the fpring feafon, when nature appears revived, as
well as beautified, by the warmth and fplendor of the newly
rifen fun, whilft grateful odours, exhaling from the vegetable
world, mix their rich fweets with the defcending dew of heaven,
and at the fame time that they add fertility to the earth, regale
the fenfes, and exhilarate the minds of men : and this com-
parifon muft appear the more apt, as the morning rcdnefs in
the fpring time correfponds to the ftate of peace in the heavenly
angels, fee n. 155 (199).

290. I have alfo converfed with the angels on the fubieift
of peace, and told them, that the men of our world call that
peace, when wars and hoftilities ceafe between nations, and
enmity and difcord between neighbours ; and have no other
notion of internal peace, than of that which confifts in a free-
dom from anxious cares about things future, and efpecially in
a pleafing tranquillity of mind arifing from the fuccefs of their
temporal affairs : to which the angels replied, that however fuch
eafe and tranquillity might, in their opinion, carr}' in them the
appearance of peace, yet they had nothing of the true nature
of it, except with thofe who were in the principle of coeleftial
good, as in that good only the true peace was to be found, fee-
ing that it was a pure influence emaning from the Lord into
their inmoll or fupericr faculties, and thence defcending into
their inferior ones, and fo producing true reft and tranquillity of

fpiritiial nature are the will, and the underftanding or intellect, fo the divine good
of love is the perfection of the former, and the divine light of truth that of the
lattcrr ; and that when thefe two principles or faculties in man arc thus dignified
and exalted, he is then in his moll: perfect ftate, as having the highi-rt good and
truth conjoined or united in him : hence proceeds, derivatively from the Lord, the
rclati\ e perfection both of men and angels.

(198 J That the conjunction of good and truth in a regenerate perfon is effected
when in a ftate of peace, n. 3696, 8517.

(199) That the ftate of peace in heaven is comparatively as a delightful fpring
morning on earth, n. 1726, 2780, 5662.

mind.

«»!

- [ 1/9 ]

mind, and the joy that proceeded thence : but as to thofe who
are in the evil principle, they know not what peace is (200) j
for as to that apparent tranquillity and pleafure which they have,
when things go according to their willies, it is all external and
fuperiicial only, whilft enmity, hatred, revenge, and wrath,
■^^ ith other evil paiiions, remain unmortified within, and are
ready to break out on the firft provocation or incitement, when
unrertrained by fear ; and that therefore what pleafure they are
capable of is founded on infinity ; but that of thofe who are
principled with good, on wifdom, the difference between them
being nothing lefs than that which is betwixt hell and heaven.

Of the Conjunftion of Heaven with Men.

291. It is a received doflrine in the church, that all good
is from God, and none originally from man, and that therefore
no one ought to alfume any merit to himfelf on that account :
and it is equally confefTed, that evil is from the Devil ; and
accordingly it is common for thofe, who fpcak from dodlrine,
to fay of fuch as live well, preach the truth, and are of a godly
converfation, that they have God for their guide, and the con-
trary of fuch as are of bad life and converfation ; but this could
not be fo were there no communication between heaven and
hell and men, and that with their wills and intellects, as from
thcle the body is ailuated, and the mouth fpeaks. What kind
of communication or conjundlion this is, Hiall now be fhewed.

292. There are good fpirits and evil fpirits prefent with
every man ; by the former he has communication with heaven,
by the latter with hell ; now both thefe kinds of fpirits belong
to that intermediate ftate or world of fpirits which is betwixt
heaven and hell, of which we Hiall particularly treat hereafter.
When thefe fpirits come to any man, they enter into the whole
of his memory, and the whole of his thinking ; the evil fpirits

(200) That the lull arifing from the love of felf, ?nJ tlie love of the world,
hinder all true peace, n. 3170, 566?. That fonie place peace in diflipatioii, ami
things contrary to the nature of peace, n. 5662. That there can be iiu true peace
till evil lulls be firlt eliminated, n. 5662.

into

[ iSo ]

into all the evil that is in his memory and thoughts, and the
good fpirits into all the good therein : now thcfe Ipirits know
nothing of their being in the perlbn, but ail the time they are
with him, fuppofe that his memory and thoughts are tlicir own ;
neither do they fee him, for the things in our folar world are
not objeds of their fight (201). The Lord has in a particular
manner provided, that the fpirits fliould not know that they
are prcfent with the perfon, for were they to know this, they
would converfe with him, and fo the evil fpirits would have
power to deflroy himj for as they are conjoined with hell, they
covet nothing more earneilly than his dellruttion, not only as
to his foul, or which is the fame, his faith and love, but alfo
as to his body : but it is far otherwife when they converfe not
with him, for in that cafe they know not that they think his
thoughts, nor communicate them to their fellow fpirits, for
they converfe together from man, as it were by proxy, whilft
at the fame time they believe that they think and fpeak from
themfelves ; now as it is natural for every one to efteem and love
himfelf, fo thefe fpirits are allured to elleeni and love the man
[for their own fakes] without knowing that they do fo. That
fpirits are thus conjoined with man, I can and do certify from
many years full experience.

293. That fpirits whicli communicate with hell are alfo t.

joined to man, is becaufe tliat man is born into all kinds of ^

evil, which are, as it were, the elements of his natural life ; '^

and therefore, unlefs fpirits fimilar to himfelf were joined to
him, he could not live, nor confee]uently be reformed and re-
generated ; fo that he is continued in life by means of his com-
munication with evil fpirits, and attracted to good by the good
fpirits, and fo ftands in a kind of equilibrium between both,
and in this equilibrium confifts his liberty or free will, whereby
he is in a capacity of efchewing the evil, and chufing the good,

(201) That angels and fpiiits are prefcnt to every man, and that through them
he has communication with the Ipiritual world, n. 697, 2796, 2886, 2887, 4047,
4048, 5846 to 5866, 5976 to 5993. That man taiinot live without the aflo-
cjation of fpirits, n. 5993- I'hat man does not fee thoCc ipirits, nor is feen by
them, n. 5885. That fpirits can fee nothing in this folar world belonging to
man, unkfs they arc permitted to converfe with him, n. 1880.

and

[ i8r ]

■and alfo of being principled with the latter, which could not
be effcdled, were he not ia the power of free will ; nor could
he be thus free, did he not lland in the exa(£l medium between
the equal influence of evil fpirits on the one hand, and the
counter influence of good fpirits from heaven on the other (*).
It has likevvife been made known to me, that if man, as now
born and conftituted in his prefent fallen flate, had not the
power of being in the evil that he chufes, and was deftitute of
free will, he could not continue in life ; as alfo that he cannot
be compelled to good, forafmuch as what he does by conftraint
makes no part of his proper life, nor continues with him ; but
that the good which he receives freely, takes root in his will,
and fo becomes, as it were, his own property : and hence it is,
that man may have communication with hell, and alfo with
heaven. .

294. What kind of communication fubfifts betwixt heaven
and good fpirits, and what betwixt hell and evil fpirits, and
confequently what kind of conjunftion is formed thereby re-
fpe;.'Hvcly, Ihall here be mentioned. All fpirits in the world
of fpirits have communication with heaven or hell, the good
with the former, the evil with the latter j and both heaven and

(*) It muft be owned, that the difcoveries held forth to us in this article or
fi.»5tion, are no lefs wonderful than important, as explaining man's relation to e;ood
and evil fpirits ; his communication with ht.'.ven or hell through them ; and the
origin of free will. Surely, 1 think, that human reafon on invention could never
luuc hit on thcfe difcoveries, nor that cool unbiaflcd reafon can eafily reject them
when offered, efpecially as they fo well confoit with what is recorded in the
facrcd writings concerning the agency and influence of fpirits on the human in-
tcllLcl and will : nor is it any new point of belief in the church, that the influ-
ence and operations of the Holy Spirit on the hearts and minds of pious Chriflians
arc conduiSted by the inflrunienf.ility of the good angels, who are ftiled " iiiini-
" firing fpirits fent forth to miniller for them who Ihall be he-irs of falvation :"
and by like authority we may conclude, that Satan advances the dominion of fin,
and " worketh in the hearts of the children of difobedicnce" by the miniftry of
Ims evil angels. And as the holy angels are rcprefcnted in Scripture as miniftring
in fpiritual things from God to man, fo are they likewifc there reprefentcd as the
mediums or conveyancers through which fpiritual facrifices afcend from m.An to
Ciod ; thus Rev. viii. 3, 4, " And another angel came, and flood at the altar,
" having a golden cciiler ; and there w.is given unto him much inccnfc, that he
"• fliould offer it with the prayers of all f.iints upon tlic golden altar wliich was
" before the throne : and the fmoke of the incenfe, with the prayers of the faints,
" afccnded up before God cut of the angel's hand." Tr.

Z z hell

[ i82 ]

hell are diftinguifhed into leparate focietles, to one of which
every particular angel belongs, and as he fublilTs by influx from
it, fo he co-operates in all things with it : hence it is, that
accordingly as a man is joined to fpirits good or bad, lo is he
joined to heaven or hell, and alio to that particular fociety in
either, which he refembles moft in his afFedlions or prevailing
love ; for all the heavenly focieties are clafled according to their
affections of good and truth ; and all the infernal focieties ac-
cording to their affeftions of evil and falfe. Concerning the
focieties of heaven, fee above, n. 41 to 45, as alfo, n. 148 to

295. As man is with regard to his affections or love, accord-
ingly fimilar fpirits are joined to him, the good fpirits by ap-
pointment from the Lord ; but the evil fpirits are attradted to
him by man's ownfelf, however the fpirits that are for his com-
panions are changed according as his affedions vary ; thus one
fort attends him in his infixncy, another in childhood, a tliird
fort in youth and manhood, and another in old age : in infancy
he is attended by fuch fpirits as are more particularly didin-
guifhed for their innocence, and as fuch communicate with the
inmoft or third heaven ; in early youth by thofe who are in the
affedlion of knowledge, or fuch as communicate with the lowelt
or firft heaven ; in riper age by thofe who are in the affedion of
truth and good, and fo on to intelledual attainments, and as
fuch communicate with the fecond or middle heaven ; and in
old age they have for their affociated fpirits fuch as excel in
wifdom and innocence, and have communication with the inmoll
or third heaven : but this affociation or adjundion is effcded bv
the Lord in thofe who are in a capacity of being reformed and
regenerated, and not in any elfe, it being otherwife with fuch ;
for though perfons, who are in no fuch capacity, have good
fpirits attending them to keep them from evil, as fiir as it is
poflible to be done, yet their dole connexion [co/iju^iclio] is with
evil fpirits that communicate with hell, from whence they are
fupplied with affociates of like difpofition with thcmfelves :
thus, if they are addidcd to felf-love, given to filthy lucre, i
revengeful, or adulterers ; in this cafe fimilar fpirits become
prefent to them, and unite with their evil affedions ; and where

fuch

^^i?

[ i83 ]

fuch a one cannot be kept from evil by the good fplrits, they
inflame his evil paflions, and enter in and dvv:-ll Vv'itli him. In
this manner bad men are joined to hell, and good men to
heaven.

296. That man is thus under the government of fpirits by
divine appointment, is becaufe he is not conftitutcd, in his
prefent ftate, according to the laws and order of heaven ; but
fubjedl, by the depravity of his nature, to the evils which
originate from hell, and as fuch contrary to the order of heaven,
to which he muft be reltored, which can only be by the miniftry
of fpirits, whereas the matter would be otherwife were man
born perfeift according to the order of heaven : for in fuch caf&
he would not have been under the mediate government of fpirits,
but under that of divine inftinvl:, and fubjeft to the general
laws of influx ; and by influx man is now governed as to thofe
things which proceed from his thoughts and will into acTt : as
for example, his words and aftions ; for thefe flow fpontaneoufly,
according to the eftablilhed laws of order in this natural world,
with which the fpirits that are joined to him have nothing in
common. The inferior animals alfo are governed by a general
inllindf, or influx from the fpiritual world, for they are in the
appointed order of their nature, which they could not corrupt
or dcflroy, as being without rationality (202). As to the dif-
ference between men and them, fee above, n. 39.

297. With refpeft to the conjundtion of heaven with man,
we are moreover to know, that the Lord adls upon him accord-
ing to the eflablifhed laws of order, both inwardly and out-

(202) That the clifFercnce betv/ccn ihe humim and the bcftial nature confifts in
the capacity of the former tu be exalted to a participation of the divine : that
nun are qualified by grace to tiijnlc of God, to love hiiu, and to be joined to the
Lord, and confequencly to become heirs of eternal life, of which the brute btafts
are in no wile capable, 11. 4525, 6323, 9231. That the brutes come into the
world in the appointed order of their nature, and tlierefore in a condition every way
fuitable thereto ; but that it is otherwife with man, who is to be introduced again
into the primitive order and condition of his nature by inftruction, and the im-
provement of his iiUelleftual faculties, n. 637, 585O, 6323. That according to
the general law of influx in human nature, thought i'pontancoufly forms itfclf
into fpeech, and the will into bodily geftures and adts, n. 5862, 5990, 6192, 621 1.
Concerning the general laws of influx from the fpiritual world into the lite of
brutes, n. 1633, 3646.

wardly.

[ i84 3

wardly, and difpofes him to receive the heavenly influence, that
fo both parts of his conftitution, viz. the outward and inner
man, may mutually co-operate in an uniform obedience to his
government. This influx from the Lord is called immediate,
and the former by angels, which depends on this, is called
mediate influx : immediate influx is from the Lord's Divine
Humanity into the will of man, and through the will into the
underftanding ; or, in other words, into his good, and through
the good into his truth ; or, which amounts to the fame, into
his love, and through the lo\e into his faith, but not alternately,
or v/Vt' rerfj, much lefs into a fi\ith without love; or into a
truth without good; or into underftanding not influenced by
the will. This immediate kind of divine influx never ceafes,
and is received in the good principle by the good, but not by
the evil, for thefe rejeift, fHfle, or pervert it ; and therefore they
continue in that kind of evil life, which in a fpiritual fenfe is
called death (203).

298. The fpirits that are aflbciated to a man, whether they »

be fuch as communicate with heaven, or with hell, never ope- -

rate on him by influx from their memory and thoughts ; for in
that cafe he would be led to millake their memory and thoughts ||

for his own, fee above, n. 256 ; but the influence v.hich he ^

receives from heaven through them is afi^ection principled with
the love of good and truth, and that which he receives from
hell through them is afi-eiftion principled with the love of what
is evil and falfe ; and as the man's affecftion is concordant with
the influx, fo far he receives it into his mind and thoughts, for

(2C3) That influx is twofold, immeilinte from tlic Lord, and medintc through
the fpiritual world, n-. 6063, 6307, 6472, 9682, 9683. That there is an im-
mediate influx from the Lord into the moft minute particular things [/>; omnium
/ingu/arij/lma] n. 6058, 6474. to 6478, 8717, 8728. That the divine influence
extends to the firft aiui lift in all things, and how, n. 5147, 5150, 6473, 7004,
7007, 7270. That the d vine influx is into the good property in man, and through
good into truth, and not vice -verfa, n. 5482, 5649, 6027 — 10153. That the
vital principle flowing; from the Loid is varied accorJing to the ftatc of iiian, and
h'\^ reception of it, n. 2069, 5986, 6472, 7343* That in the wicked, the good
influx from the Lord is changed into evil, und truth into falfhood ; this from
experience, n. 3643, 463Z. That fo much of good and truth is received by influx
from the Lord, as is not obftru<5ted by the contrary properties in man, n. 241 1,
3142, 3147, 5828.

man's

[ i85 ]

man's inward thoiiglits keep pace with his afFedlion or love ;
but in proportion to their dilagreement the influx is rejcdted.
Hence it appears, that as man receives not his thoughts through
the Ipirits, but only the affedtion of good, or of evil, that he
is endowed with elecltion, or is free to receive good or evil, con-
cerning which he is inlhuJfed in the written Word j now which
of thel'e he receives into his mind with affeftion and defire, that
becomes his own, or a principle within him ; but what he does
not fo receive, that makes no part of himfelf, or is not appro-
priated to him. Thus much may fut^ice to fliew the nature of
influx of good from heaven, and of evil from hell in man.

299. It has alfo been given me to know whence anxiety,
grief, and that fadnefs of mind, which we call melancholy in
man, proceed : there are certain fpirits which are not yet joined
to hell, as being newly departed from the body (of which here-
after when we come to treat of the world of fpirits) which take
delight in things indigefted and putrid, fuch as meats corrupted
in the ftomach, and hold their confabulations in fuch flnks of
uncleannefs in man, as fuitable to their impure aff"edtions ; now
if thefe their afl*edtions are contrary to thofe in man, they be-
come in him the occafion of fadnefs and melancholy ; but on
the contrary, if they correfpond to his own affedtions, he is
pleafed and delighted therewith. Thefe fpirits appear near tq
the ftomach, fome to the right, fome to the left of it, fome
higher, fome lower, fome nearer, fome more diltant, according
to their difl^erent kinds of affedlion ; and that they caufe un-
eafinefs of mind, I am fully convinced by much experience :
I have Cten and heard them, and felt the un'eafinefs caufed by
them, and I have alfo converfed with them : upon their removal
the uneafinefs has ceafed, and returned upon their return ; and
I have alfo been fenfible of its increafe and decreafe, according
to the degrees of their approach or removal refpedtively : and
hence I have learnt whence it comes, that they who have no
notion of confcicnce, from not having any themfelves, afcribe
the anguilh of it to difordcrs in the ftomach or bowels (204),

300. The

(204) That they who are without confcicnce themfelves, have no notion nf
what confcicnce is, n. 7490, 9121. 'I'hat there are fome, who, when they hc:!r

A a a mention

[ i86 ]

;oo. The communication [conJimSlio] of heaven with man,
is with the interiour of his mind, that is, with his fpiritual or
inner man, and with his natural or external man by correfpon-
dences, of which more particularly in the following article,
wherein we Ihall treat of the conjundlion of heaven with man
through the Word.

301. That the conjun(5l:ion of heaven v?ith man is of fuch
a nature, that they have a mutual dependence on each other,
fhall be fpoken to in the following article.

302. I have converfed with the angels on this fubjecfl:, and
told them, that fuch as are members of the church on earth
do indeed dodtrinally hold, that all good is from God, and that
angels are prefent with men ; but that few inwardly and truly
believe that they are joined to them, much lefs in their thoughts
and affedlions. To which the angels replied, that they knew
there was fuch a contradicflion betwixt profefTion and aftual
belief among men in this matter, and efpecially in the church,
which they wondered at the more in thofe who were in pof-
feffion of the Holy Scripture, which inftrudled them in the
things of heaven, and man's communication therewith, efpe-
cially as his power of thinking, and the whole of his fpiritual
life, depended on fuch communication and conjunvflion with
fpirits : moreover they faid, that the caufe of this ignorance in
man was his belief, that he lived wholly from himfelf, without
any connexion with the Author and Fountain of Life ; and that
his connexion was through tlie medium of the heaven^, and
that were this broken or interrupted man would inllantly die.
Did man firmly believe, as is the very truth, that all good is
only from the Lord, and all evil from hell ; in that cafe he
would not affume any merit to jiimfelf on account of the former,

mention made of coni'ciencc, turn it into jiiiicule, n. 72/7. That fome believe
tiisre is no fuch thing ; others, that it is nothing more than fome natural melan-
choly or diforder, occafioned by bodily indifpofition, or difappointment in worldly
matters j and fome, that it is only fuperftition in vulgar minds, n. 950. That
there is a true confcience, a fpurious confcience, and a falfe confcience, n. 1033.
That rcmorfe of confcience is an uncafinefs of mind for fonicthing unjull, deceit-
ful, or evil, that a man has done, which ho confiders as contrary to his duty to
God or his neighbour, n. 7217. That they, and they only have confcience, who
love God and their nclghboiir, n. 831, 965, 2380, 7490.

uor

[ i87 ]

nor would the latter be imputed to him i but in all the good he
thinks or does, he would look up to, and afcribe the praife of
it to the Lord, and all the evil wherewith he is tempted he
would give back to hell from whence it came ; whereas by dif-
believing all influx, either from heaven or hell, and by fup-
pollng that all he thinks and wills is in and of himfelf alone,
he appropriates to himfelf the evil, and corrupts the good by
a vain conceit of felf-righteoufnefs.

Of the Conjunflion of Heaven with Man

by the Word.

303. All who reafon from any depth of thinking know well,
that there is a connexion between all things and their firll
caufe through intermediate caufes, and that whatever is not fo
connecfted mufl; immediately ceafe to be, as nothing can fubfift
from itfelf, but from fomething prior to itfelf, and all things
from that which is original, or firft ; and that this connexion,
with what is prior to itfelf, is an efFedt from its etlicient caufe,
which caufe being removed, the efredl neceffarily ceafes. Hence
it is become a maxim among the learned, that fubfiftence is no
other than a continuation of exiftence ; and that therefore all
things fubfifl; from that firft caufe to which they owe their ex-
iitence : but as to the particular connexion of every thing with
its prior caufe, and fo back to the firil caufe or origin of all
things, this is fo multifarious, as not eahly to be defcribed ;
and therefore let it fuffice to obferve in general, that there is
Inch a connexion betwixt the fpiritual and natural worlds, that
ail things in the latter correfpond to thofe in the former, con-
cerning which correfpondence, fee n. 103 to 1 1 5 ; as alio that
there is a connexion, and confcquently a correfpondence be-
tween all things in man, and all things in heaven, of which, fee
above, n. 87 to 102.

304. Man is fo formed by his nature, as to be capable of
connexion and conjunftion with the Lord, but only confociation
with the angels of heaven ; and why not conjunction, is becaufe

he,-

[ i8S ]

he is by creation fimihir to an angel with reipc(fl to his inward
man, having a like will and a like underltanding, and therefore
after death, if his life had been according to the divine order
and laws, becomes an angel, and of like wifdom with the
angels ; and therefore by man's conjunction with heaven is meant
his conjundlion with the Lord, and his confociation with the
angels ; for heaven is not conllituted from any thing proper or
peculiar to the angels, but from the Divinity oi' the Lord ; and
that this is fo, fee above, n. 7 to 22. But man has, moreover,
this privilege above the angels, that he not only belongs to the
fpiritual world with refpedt to his interior part, but is alfo an
inhabitant of this natural world in refpeft to his exterior or
outward man. Now to this latter part of his compofition ap-
pertain all things belonging to his natural or external memory,
together with his thoughts and imaginations from thence, as in
general is his knowledge of arts and fciences, and the natural de-
lights thefe yield him ; as likewife his natural fenfes, fpeech, and
aiitions, which conftitute the lowefl part of his nature, and are
the ultimate things in which the divine influx terminates ; for
it pafles through what is intermediate in man to the moft infe-
rior parts of his compofition : whence it will appear, that in
man is the laft and lowert: dilplay of the divine influx and order,
and, as it were, the balis and foundation of it. Now, as fuch
is the tranlit of the divine influx through its medium (the an-
gelical heaven) to its ultimatum or termination in man ; and
as nothing is unconnected or independent, fo the conjundtion
of heaven and mankind forms fo clofe and necellary a relation
between them, that neither can fublifk without the other ; info-
much that men without heaven would be as a cliain without
a fattening [catt'/ia ablato unco] and heaven without mankind,
as a houfe without a foundation (205).

305. But

(205) That notliiiu: cxills from itfcif, but from a prior caufc, and all things
from a firft caufc : that they owe their fiibfiftcnce to that from which they derive
their exiflcncc, as fiibiiftcncc is a continuation of cxiftcncc, n. 2886, 2888, 3627
— 6056. That divine order terminates not fliort of man, but in man as its ulti-
matum, n. 634, 2853, 3632 — 10329, 10335, 10548. That internal and fpiri-
tual things pafs by fucccllivc order of influx into external and natural things, as
into their extreme or limit, where they cxift and fubfill, n. 634, 6239, 6465, 9216,

9217.

[ i89 ]

305. But forafmuch as man has broken his connexion with
heaven, by that which has eflranged his afFeftions from heavenly
things, and turned them to felf and the world by the love
thereof, and fo withdrawn himfelf from good, that he was no
longer in a capacity to ferve for a bafis and foundation to heaven j
therefore the Lord has gracioufly provided a fubftitute in the
room thereof by the medium of the Word, for his conjunftion
with heaven ; and how this ferves for fuch a medium has been
fhewed in many places of the work intitled Arcana Ccekjlia, or
Heavenly Secrets, which are to be found colle<fled together in a
little treatife on the White Horfe, fpoken of in the Apocalypfe j
as alfo in the appendix to the Heavenly DoBrine, from which
fome articles are adduced in the notes underneath (206).

306. I have been informed, that the moft ancient church
on earth had immediate revelations, as their minds and affedlions
were turned towards heaven, and therefore, that then there was

9217. That interior things exift and fubfifl: in their laft ftate in fimultaneous
order, n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099. That all things are continued in a chain of
connexion from firft to laft, n. 9828. That therefore the firft and laft fignify the
whole of any thing, n. 10044, ^03^95 10335 ; and that the ftrength and power
of the preceding efficient caufes are continued to the laft effeft, n. 9836.

(206) That the Word in its literal fenfe is in a natural form, n. 8783 ; and
that becaufe things natural are the laft and loweft form of manifcftation belonging
to things inward and fpiritual, and therefore ferve as a foundation in nature for
the latter to reft on, n. 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436. That the Scripture
nay ferve to this end, it is formed by correlpondences in nature, n. 1404, 1408,
14O9 — 8615, 10687. That the Word being fuch in the literal fenfe, it is as the
containing veffel of the inward and fpiritual fenfe, n. 9407 : and that it is accom-
modated to the ufe both of men and angels, n. 1769 to 1772, 1887, 2143 — 7381,
8862, 10322 : and alfo the connecting medium between heaven and earth, n. 2310,
2495, 9212, 9216, 9357, 9396, 10375. That the conjunction of the Lord with
man is by the Word through the medium of its interior fenfe, n. 10375. That
this conjundlion is by the Word throughout, and therefore that it is of wonderful
virtue and excelltnce above all other writings, n. 10632, 10633, 10634. That
fince the Word was committed to writing, the Lord communicates himfelf to man
thereby, n. 10290. That the church in which the Word, and by it the Lord,
is known, is to thofe who are without the ciiurch, and know them not, as the
heart and lungs in man refpe£tively to thofe parts of the body which derive their
vital powers from them, n. 637, 931, 2054, 2853. That the univerfal church
on earth is before the Lord as one man, n. 7395, 9276. Hence it is, that were
there no church on earth where the Word, and by it the Lord, was known, there
would be an end of the human race on this globe, n. 468, 637, 931, 4545,
ZO452.

B b b a con-

[ 190 ]

a conjuiKftion of the Lord with men ; but that after that time
there was no fuch immediate revelation, but a mediate one by
corrcfpondences, and that their divine worrtiip confilled in thefe j
whence the churches of thofe days were called Rcprefentativc
Churches, for they then underftood the nature of correfpon-
dences and reprefentations, and that all things on earth corre-
fponded to fpiritual things in heaven and in the church, or,
which fignifies the fame, reprefented them ; wherefore thofe
natural things, in which their outward worHiip confilled, ferved
them as means to their thinking fpiritually, and fo with the
angels. After the fcience of corrcfpondences and reprefentations
was loft, then the Word was committed to writing, all the
words and fenfes of which are according to the rules of cor-
refpondency, and fo containing that Ipiritual or inward fenfe in
which the angels underftand them ; for when a man reads the
Word, and underftands it in its literal or external meaning, the
angels receive it according to its internal or fpiritual fenfe ; for
the angels think fpiritually, as men think naturally ; and though
thefe two ways of thinking appear widely different, yet they
come to the fame by correfpondency. Thus it came to pafs,
that after man had broken off his connexion with heaven, the
Lord fubftituted the Word as a medium, whereby to reftore
that connexion.

307. In what manner heaven is joined with man by the
Word, fliall here be illuftrated by fome paliliges taken from it.
The New Jerufalem is defcribed in the Apocalypfe as follows :
" I faw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the firft heaven and
*♦ the firft earth were paffed away : and I faw the Holy City,
*' the New Jerufalem coming down froni God out of heaven :
" and the city lieth four fquare, and the length is as large as
" the breadth : a:id the angel meafured the city with the reed
•' twelve thouland furlongs : the length, and the breadth, and
*' the hciglit of it are equal : and he meafured the wall thereof,
•' an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to ihc mea-
" fure of a man, that is, of an angel : and the building of it
" was of jafper ; and the city was pure gold, like unto clear
'* glafs : and the foundations of the wall of the city were gar-
" nifhed with all manner of precious flones : and the twelve

** gates

L 191 ]

*' gates were twelve pearls ; and the ftreet of the city was pure
" gold, as it were tranfparent glafs," ch. xxi. i, 2, 17, i8, 21.
When man reads the above delcription, he takes it only in the
literal fenfe, as that the vifible heaven and earth rtiall perifli,
and be fucceeded by a new heaven and earth, and that on the
latter fhall defcend the holy city Jerufalem, of the above given
dimenfions : but the angels take it in a very different fenfe, un-
derftanding all thofe things fpiritually, which man underflands
naturally. Thus, by the new heaven and the new earth they
undcrftand the new church, and by the city Jerufalem coming
down from God out of heaven, its heavenly dodtrine as revealed
by the Lord : by the length, breadth, and height thereof as
equal, and by 12000 furlongs they underftand every good and
truth contained in that dodlrine in their complex or total : by
the wall thereof they underiland the truths which guard and
defend that dodlrine, and by the meafure of the wall, viz. 144
cubits, which is the meafure of a man, i. e. of an angel, all its
auxiliar truths in their complex, and their feveral kinds : by its
twelve gates of pearls, they underiland initiatory or introdudtory
truths, luch being meant thereby; and by the foundations of
the wall of the city, as garniflied with all manner of precious
itones, the knowledges [cognit/o?ies] upon which its dodrine is
founded ; and by pure gold like unto tranfparent glafs, of which
the city and its ftreet confilted, they underiland the good of love,
from which the heavenly dodtrine of the new church originates,
together with all its clear, convincing truths. Such are the
perceptions of the angels as touching thefe things, and fo dif-
ferent from thofe of men ; and in this manner the natural ideas
of men are converted and changed into fpiritual ideas in the
minds of the angels, without the latter knowing any thing of
the literal fenfe of the word, as of a new heaven and earth, of
a new city called Jerufalem, of a wall and its foundations, and
of mealures : however, the thcnu^hts of the angels coincide with
the thoughts of men by correfpcjndency, and meet together like
the words of the fpeaker, and the ftnic of thofe words in, the
mind of the hearer, who attends not to the found, but to the
i'cni'e of the words. From what has been faid, it may appear
how heaven is joined with man through the medium of the

Word.

[ 192 ]

Word. But to illuftrate the matter by another example from
the written Word : " In that day Hiall there be a highway out of
*' ^gyP^ **^ Aflyria ; and the AfTyrian Hiall come into Egypt,
** and the Egyptian into AlTyria, and the Egyptians iTiall ferve
** with the Allyrians. In that day iliall Ifrael be the third with
'* ^SyP^ ^""^ with Allyria, even a blefling in the midfl; of the
" land, whom the Lord of ho/Is fliall blefs, laying : Blefied be
" E2:ypt my people, and AfTyria the work of my hands, and
** and Ifrael mine inheritance," Ifai. xix. 23, 24, 25. The
difference in thinking and underltanding between angels and
men, on reading the above paflage, will appear by giving both
the literal and the fpiritual fenie of it. Now, according to the
former, men underfland, as meant thereby, that the Egyptians
and Affyrians are to be converted, and find acceptance with
God, and to make one church in conjuncflion with the people of
Ifrael : but the angels interpret it fpiritually, of the man of the
fpiritual church, who is there meant, according to the inward
fenfe ; and whofe fpiritual part is fignified by Ifrael, his natural
part by the Egyptian, and his rational part (which is the me-
dium between the two former) by the Affyrian (207) : and yet
both thefe fenfes meet in one by correfpondence ; and there-
fore, at the fame time that the angels think and underftand in
a fpiritual, and men in a natural manner, they are conjoined
like body and foul, the internal fenfc of the word being, as it
were, the foul, and the literal fenfe its body. Such is the Word
throughout, and confequently a fit medium of conjunction be-
tween heaven and man, to which the literal fenfe ferves for the
bafis or foundation.

308. There is alfo a conjundtion of heaven, through the
Word, with thofe that are without the church, and have not
the Word ; for the church of the Lord is catholick or univerfal,
confifting of all who believe in a God, and live in charity one
with another, for fuch after death are iufirudted by the angels,

(207) That Egypt and Egyptian in the Word fignifies natural [naturale], and
f hence fcientifick, n. 4967, 5079, 5080 — 9340, 93 iQ. That Afhur or Affyrian
lignifies rational [rationale], n. 119, 1186. That I(racl fignifies fpiritual [fpiri-
tuale], n. 5+14, 5801, 5803, 5812, 5806, 5817, 5826, 5951 — 6868, 7201, 8805,
9340-

and

[ m ]

and become partakers of divine truth (208) ; of which here-
after in its proper place, when we come to treat of the Heathens.
The univerfal church in the fight of the Lord is as one man,
as was faid before of heaven, n. 59 to 72 : but the church where
tlie Word is, and whereby the Lord is known, is as the heart
and hmgs in that man. It is well known that all the vifcera
and members of the body derive life from the heart and lungs
through various channels and conveyances; fo that part of man-
kind which is without the church where the Word is, yet derive
virtue from it, as members of the fame body : the conjunction
of heaven, through the Word, with thofe that are at a diilance
from the church, and therefore have it not, may alfo be com-
pared to light propagated from its center to the circumference ;
now in the Word is divine light, and therein the Lord is pre-
fent, and difFufes light, in a meafure, from thence to all that
are afar off; which would not be fo but for the Word. This
may be farther elucidated by what has been faid before con-
cerning the form of heaven, according to which the confocia-
tions and communications therein are regulated : but this is
among thofe fecrets of wifdom, which are to be underftood by
fpiritual minds only ; for as to thofe who are pofleffed of natural
light, it will be too hard for them, as the former difcover in-
numerable things, which the latter fee not, or fee but very
obfcurely.

309. Unlefs fuch a Divine Word had been difpenfed to the
inhabitants of this world, they would have been feparated from
heaven, and in that cafe would have ceafed to be rational crea-
tures ; for the rationality of our nature proceeds from the influx
of heavenly light : befides, men here are fo conftituted, as not
to be capable of immediate revelation, and fo to be inflrudled

(208) That the church, in a more efpecial fenfe of the word, means that church
which is in pofTcffion of the \Voicl, and where the Lord is known by means thereof,
and confequtntly where divine truths are revealed from heaven, n. 3857, 10761.
That in a larger fenfe of the word, the church of the Lord confifts of all through-
out the whole world, who lead a good life according to that religion which they~
profefs, n. 3263, 6637, 1 0765. That all who do fo, wherever they are, and
believe in God, are accepted of the Lord, n. 2589 to 2604, 2861, 2863, 3263,
4190, 4197, 6700, 9256 ; and alfo all infants wherefoevcr they axe born, n. 2289
to 2309, 4792.

C c c

[ 194 ]

in divine truths, like the inhabitants of other worlds (of whom
I have treated in a dillin(5t fmall piece) as being more in eartlily
affedions than them, and confequently more outward, whereas
they are the inward and fpiritu.d only, who are receptive of fuch
revelation ; for if they who are otherwife rtiould receive it, yet
divine truths would not enter into their intelleftual faculties :
and that fuch is the nature of men now o'days on earth, is evi-
dent from many within the church, who, although they have
been inftrucfted from the Word concerning heaven and hell, and
a life after this, yet remain unbelievers in their hearts ; among
whom are fome who have fhewed an ambition of being tliought
more learned than their neighbours, and confecjuently from
whom might have been expected greater proofs of wifdom than
from many others.

310. I have fometimes difcourfcd with the angels concerning
the Word, and told them, that fome held it in contempt on
account of the fimplicity of its ftyle ; and that as its internal
fenfe was no longer underftood, therefore few believed that it
contained fuch a rich treafure of wifdom : to which the angels ^,

replied, that though the ftylc of the Word in the fenfe of the t

latter appeared fo limple, yet nothing was comparable to it for
excellence, as it contained divine wifdom, not only in every
fenfe, but in every word, and that the illumination therefrom
was manifefl: in heaven, meaning thereby that it was the light
of heaven, as being divine truth ; for divine truth has a vifihle
fplendor in heaven, fee above, n. 132. Moreover they faid,
that without fuch a Divine Word men on earth would have no
divine light, nor any conjuncftion with heaven ; for in propor-
tion to the former is the latter, and alfo every one's meafure of
revealed truth : that man's ignorance as to fuch conjundion
through the fpiritu.il fenfe of the Word, in corrcfpondence with
its natural fenfe, is the caufc of his ignorance likewife as touch-
ing tiie fpiritual perception and language of the angels, and the
difference between theirs and thofe of us poor mortals in this
our naturd Hate ; without underltanding fomething of which,
he can form no judgment concerning the fpiritual fenfe of the
Word, and how thereby man may be conjoined with heaven.
They moreover fiid, that if man believed that fuch an inward

and

[ ^95 I

and fpirltual fenfe belonged to the Word, and in fome fort
framed his mind according thereto on reading it, he would
advance in wifdom's fchool, and to a nearer conjundtion with
heaven, through a greater conformity to the angels in fpiritual
conceptions.

That Heaven and Hell are from Mankind.

311. That heaven and hell arc from mankind, is a do(5lrine
entirely unknown in the Chriftian world, it being therein be-
lieved by all, that the angels were firft created fuch, and fo
heaven became their dwelling ; and that the Devil or Satan was
an angel of light, but on revolting from his obedience was caft
down from heaven, together with his rebellious crew, and that
fo hell came from them. That fuch a belief fliould prevail
among Chriftians is matter of aftonifhment to the angels, and
a ftill greater, that they fhould be under a total ignorance as to
heaven, though it ought to be fo fundameiftal a dodtrine in the
church : as men have been fo long in darknefs touching thefe
important points, the angels expreflbd great joy that the Lord
was pleafed now at laft to vouchfafe to them farther difcoveries
concerning heaven and hell, in order, as far as poffible, to difpel
that darknefs which has continued to increafe upon them, and
that the rather, as the church [with refped: to its prefent dif-
pcnfation] has now entered upon its lafl period, and is near to
the end of it '. therefore it is their delire that I would declare
upon affurance from them, that there is not a fingle angel in
the univerfal heaven that was created fuch at firft, nor a fingle
devil in all hell that had been an angel of light, and afterwards
caft out from heaven ; but that all, both in heaven and in hell,
are of the human race -, in the former, fuch as had lived in the
world in heavenly love and faith, and in the latter, fuch as had
lived in hellifli aftecftions and difpohtions ; and that the whole
of hell taken colleftively, or in its complex, is called the Devil
and Satan, as well that hell which is behind (*), in which arc

(*) Here the author is to be underftood as fpraking of the fituation of thing'?
Riul places as thiy ujipear to the Ipectator in the Ipirituai world, ;tnd which always

ha;c

[ 196 ]

the evil genii called the Devil, and that hell which appears in
front, in which are the evil I'pirits called Satan (209) ; of which
fhall be I'poken more dilHiKflly hereafter. They moreover faid,
that the erroneous belief of the Chrillian world on thefc fiib-
je(fls proceeded from certain palfages in the Word taken accord-
ing to their literal fenfe, and not illuftrated by the light of
genuine dodlrine, as delivered in the fame Word ; and that the
letter of Scripture, if not underftood and explained by the
rule of the latter, often mifleads the mind into miftakes and
erroneous opinions, from which have arifen herefies in the
church (210).

312. The forementioned error in Chriftian men has given
occafion to that other in believing, that no one goes to heaven
or hell before the time of the laft judgment, when they fuppofe
that the prefent vifible frame of things fliall perilh, and be
fucceeded by a new creation, and that our fouls fliall then be
reunited to our bodies, and fo we fliall live again as men ; and
this belief is connecftcd with that of the angels having been
created angels from the beginning, as it cannot be thought that
heaven and hell are inhabited by the human race, if none of
them go to either before the end of the world : but that the
matter may appear from evidence to be othcrwife, the privilege
of being in company with angels has been granted to me, and
alfo of converfing with fome that are in hell, and that now for

have the fame afpe£l with rcfpeft to his body, as to right anJ left, bchiiiJ and
bt^ore, above and beneath, &c. wherefocver he is, or which way foc\er he turns,
fee before, n. 123, 124. Tr.

(209) That the heils in thtir complex, or the infernals cone(ftively, are called
the Devil and Satan, n. 694. That they who were devils in this world become
devils after their death, n. 968.

(210) That the dodlrine of the church muft be taken from the ^V'^o^d, n. 3464,
5402, 6832, 10763, 10765. That the Word, as to particulars, is only to be
underftood by the general tenor of its doctrine, n. 9021, 9409, 9424, 9430, 10324,
10431, 10582. That true dotSrine is a light to thofi- who read the VVord, n.
10401. That genuine doctrine muft come from thofc who are in illuftration from
the Lord, n. 251c, 2516, 2519, 10105. That they who Tclk in the letter, with-
out any knowledge of doctrine, attain not to the underftanding of divine truths,
n. 9409, 9410, 10582 ; and alfo fail into many errors, n. 10431. The difference
between thofe who teach and learn from the doftrine of the church, as taken
from the Word, and thofe who go by the fenfc of the letter only, n. 9025.

feveral

[ 197 ]

feveral years together, fometimes from morning till dV'ening,
and fo to receive: information concerning both kingdoms j and
this to tlie end tivat Chriftian men may no longer continue in
their miftaken notions concerning the rcfurrcftion at the hn-il
judgment, the ftate of fouls in the mean time, and alio conccrninjj
angels and the devil ; which notions, being founded on a fal(e
belief, introduce darknefs into the mind, and in thole who arc
led entirely by their own reafonings, engender doublings, and
at length a total denial of the truth itfelf, whilll they argue
thus with themfelves : How can it be that fuch a glorious hea-
ven, with all its rich furniture of ftars, together with fun and
moon, lliould be deftroyed and perilh ; and how can the ftars
fall down from heaven to the earth, which are fo much bigger
than it ? How can bodies, after they have been devoured by
worms, palled through corruption, and been fcattered by winds
to the four corners of the heavens, be reftored to their proper
forms for the ufe of their refpeftive fouls ; and what, in the
mean time, becomes of the foul, and what fort of a being is it
without all fenfe ? With many fuch like difficulties, which,
being unintelligible, fall not within the province of faith, and,
with refpeiH to many, beget infidelity concerning the immor-
tality of the foul, heaven and hell, and other articles of faith
as held by the church ; and that they have been producftive of
fuch effect we have a proof in all thofe who fay, Who ever came
from heaven to tell us what fort of a place it is ? or who from
the other world to tell us whether there be fuch a place as hell ?
What means beine tormented for ever in fire ? and what the
diiy of judgment ? Have not men looked for it many ages in
vain ? with many fuch like fpceches, fhewing rank dilhelief of
all the articles of the Chriftian faith : left therefore fuch like
infidels (among whom are too many of the wife of this world,
who pafs for great fcholars) fliould any longer confound and
feduce the fimple-heartcd, and fuch as are weak in the faith,
fpreading darknefs over the minds of men in relation to the
belief of a God, of heaven, of eternal life, and of fuch truths
i[^ depend thereon, therefore the Lord has been pleafed to open
my fpiritual eyes and fenfes, and given me to converfc with all
whom I knew in the body after their departure from it, with

D d d fomc

[ 198 ]

fome for days, fome for months, and fome for a year together;
and alfy with fo many otliers, that I flioiild come Ihort of the
truth were I to reckon tlie number of them all at a hundred
thou(^\nd, many of whom were in heaven, and many in hell.
I alio fpake with fome two days after their deceafc, and told
them that their friends were at that time preparing for their
funeral ; to which they replied, that they did well to remove
out of the way what was no longer of ufe to them, as it had
been, r.nd hade me to tell them, that they were not dead, but
yere as truly living men as before ; having only palled out of
one world into another, and did not know that they had loft
any thing by the change, having a body and fenfes as before,
with underftanding and will, as alfo like thoughts, affedfions,
and defires, as when they lived in this world. Moft of thofe
who w'ere newly departed, on finding themlelves living men as
before, and in a fimilar Hate of mind (for immediately after
death every one's ffate of life is the fame as when he left this
world, but is fuccefiively and gradually changed either for hea-
ven or hell) they were affedled with a new kind of joy at their
being alive, and laid that they could fcarce believe their fenfes ;
and yet wondered at their former hebetude and blindnefs with
refpedl to a future flate, and more particularly, that profclTing
members of the Chrillian church ihould remain in darknefs as
to thefe points of faith, who have opportunities, above all per-
fons in the world, of being thoroughly inftrudled in them (211) ;
and that they then for the firft time faw the true caufe of this

(211) That at this day few in the Chriftian world believe that man fliall rife
again immediately after death, Pref. to ch. xvi. of Gen. rnd n. 4622, 1075S ; but
not till the time of the lali judgment, upon the dilTolution of this vifiblc world,
n. 10594. The caufe of this belief, n. 10594, 10758. That notwiihftanding,
man will rife again immediately after death, and will be a living man in all re-
fpcdts, n. 4527, 5006, 5078, 8939, H991, 10594, 10758. That the foul which
lives after death is the fpirit of a man, which is, properly fpeaking, his true man,
zni has a pcrted human form in the next life, n. 322, 188c, 1881, 3633, 4622,
4735, 5883, 6054, 6605, 6626, 7021, 10594, from experience, n. 4527, 5006,
8939 ; from the Word, n. 10597. An explanation of what is meant by the dead
being fccn in the holy city. Matt, xxvii. 53. n. 9229. How a man is raifcd from
the dead, by experience, n. 168 to 189. Concerning his Itatc after his rcfufcit»-
tion, n. 317, 318, 319, 2119, 5079, 10596. Falfe opinions concerning the foul
and its refurrcftion, n. 444, 445, 4527, 4022, 4658.

ignorance^

[ 199 ]

ignorance, which is, that external things, fuch as mundane and
corporeal, have lb captivated and filled their minds, as to render
them unreceptive of the light of heaven, and of the truths
maintained in the church, any farther, than as to doflrinal
knowledge [not as principles of life] and that from fuch earthly
and fenfiial affecftions arifes a darknefs with refpeift to any thing
farther than niere fpeculative belief.

313. Many of the learned from the Chriftian world, when
they rind themfelves, after death, in a body, in garments, and
in houfes, are in amazement ; and when they recolleft their
former thouglits concerning a future ll:ate, the foul, fpirits,
heaven, and hell, they are covered with fliame, own their paft
infatuation, and that the fimple, illiterate believer was far wifer
than themfelves. On fcrutinizing into fome of thefe learned
fophifters, who had confirmed themfelves in their errors, and
particularly in afcribing all to nature, it was found that their
interior or fpiritual part was flmt againft all influx from heaven,
and their exterior or natural open and expanded, fliewing that
they had not turned their thoughts and affedions to heavenly
things, but to things earthly, fenfual, and devililh : for accord-
ing to the opening or fliutting of the fpiritual or natural part in
nian refpedtively, fo are his thoughts and affections direfted to
things above, or things beneath ; and as his interiour is formed
Jbr the reception of heavenly things, and his exteriour for the
things of this world, fo if he receives only the latter, without
any thing of heaven at the fame time, he receives likewife an
evil influx from the kingdom of darknefs along with them (212).

314. That the inhabitants of heaven are of the human race»
may alfo be gathered from hence, that the minds of angels and
men are alike, both poffefs the fame faculties of underltanding,.
perceiving, and willing, and both arc equally formed to- receive
the heavenly virtue and powers ; for the human mind is capable
of like wifdom with the angelical, and the only reafbn why
men are not as wife in this world as the angels, is becaufe they

(212) That in man are conjoined the fpiritual and natural worlds, n. 6057.
That the internal or fpiritual part of man is formed after the image of heaven,
and his external or natuial part after the image of this woild, n. 3628, 4523> 4524>
6057, 6314, 9706, 10156, 10472.

arc

[ 20O ]

are here confined to earthly bodies, and in fuch a prifon the
fprritual mind can only think naturally, or according to the
nature it is joined to -, but when it is fct at liberty therefrom,
it no longer performs its operations naturally, but fpiritually,
Itretches itfelf beyond the reacli of mortal ken, comprehends
things inconceivable by the natural man, and pofiell'cs the wif-
dom of an angel ; from whence we may gather, that the inte-
rior part in man, called his Spirit, is, in its efience, angelical,
fee above, n. 57 (213); and when delivcx-ed from its earthly
prifon, appears in the fame perfect human form with the angels :
that fuch is their form, fee above, n. 73 to 77 : but when man's
internal principle is not open in its fuperior part, but only in
its inferior, then, after his feparation from the body, he con-
tinues indeed to appear in a human form, but in fuch a one as is
deformed and diabolical ; nor can he look up to heaven, but
only down to hell.

315. He that is inftrutfled in the nature of the divine order,
may alfo know, that man was created fo as to become an ajigel,
forafmuch as the divine order terminates in him, n. 304, and
makes a part of his original compofition ; confequently, heavenly
or angelical wifdom may be formed, renewed, and augmented
in him. Divine order does not flop fhort of its utmoft polliblc
progrefs, for if fo, it would not be full and perfect ; but it
proceeds to its ultimatum or limit ; and when it has attained
thereto, it proceeds afrefli (according to the divine fecundity
therein, and by the ufe of appointed means) to new formations ;
and thefe it effeiils by the means of procreation, which fo be-
comes a new fcminary and difplay of the divine wifdom and
wonders.

316. That our Lord rofe again, not only as to his fpirit, but
iilfo as to his body, was becaufe, when in the world, he glori-
fied, that is, divinized his whole Hunianity ; for the foul which
he received from the Father was the Divinity itfelf [cxje ipfiwi

(213) That there arc as many degrees of life in man as there are heavens, and
that they are opened in him after death, according as his life has been, n. 3747,
9594. That heaven is in man, n. 3884. That men, who Ii\c in love and charity,
have in themfclves angelical wifdom, but hidden here ; and that they enter upon
it after this life, n. 2494. That the man, who is recipient of the good of love
and faith from the Lord, is called anjjcl in the Word, n. 10528.

Dh'mum

[ 2or ]

Dhinum fuit'\ and the body was formed after the fimilitude of
the foul, that is, of the Father, and fo alfo was made divine ;
and therefore he rofe again as to both (214), differently from
all other men ; which he alfo declared to his difciples when
they took him for a fpirit, faying, " Behold my hands and my
" feet, that it is I myfelf: handle me, and fee; for a fpirit
" hath not fleljh and bones, as ye fee me have," Luke xxiv. 39,
By which he made it appear, that he was man, not only as to
his fpirit, but alfo as to his body.

317. That it might be made known, by fenfible evidence,
that man lives after death, and goes to heaven or hell, according
to the life which he lived in the body ; therefore many things
have been manifefted to me concerning the ftate of man after
.death, of which hereafter, when we come to treat of the world
of fpirits.

Concerning the Gentiles, or People without
the Church, in Heaven.

318. It Is a common opinion, that all who are born and
die without the pale of the church, fuch as are called Heathens
or Gentiles, are not in a way of falvation, as being without the
Word, and fo remaining ignorant of the Lord, without whom
none can be faved ; and yet we may better conclude on the other
hand, that they are in a falvable flate, bccaufe the *' Lord's
" mercy is over all his works," and therefore he is merciful to
every man, they being men as well as thofe who are born within
the pale of the church, and by far the greater number ; and
alfo becaufe it is not their fault that they know not the Lord :
befides, every one that is in any good degree rational will con-
clude, that the Lord made none of fet purpofe for hell, as he is
love itfelf, and that it muft be a property of divine love to will
the falvation of all men j to which end he has provided, that
all fliouid have fome religion, and confequently fome fenfe of

(214) That man rifcs again only in fpirit, n. 10593, i°594- That the Lord
alone rofe again alfo with his body, n. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825.

E e e a God,

[ 202 ]

a God, and of an Inward fpiritual life, for that all religion
teaches, iiiafmuch as it refpeds God, and lb far it turns the
tlioughts from the world, and from outward things (215).

319. That the Heathens are in a falvable flate, as well as
Chrillians, is eafy for fuch to know, as know what conltitutes
heaven in man ; for heaven, ftridtly fpeaking, is within him,
and tlicy who have the heavenly principle within them, and
cherilh it, may go to heaven. Heaven is faid to be in man,
when he owns a God, and conforms to his will : this is a fun-
damental in all religion, without which it cannot fubfiil: j and
all religion teaches, that God is to be worfhipped in fome
manner, fo as to render the worfliipper acceptable to him. This
is an acknowledged principle in the mind of man, and fo far
as he is led by it, fo far he afts conformably to the will of God
and his confcience. It is well known that the Heathens lead
as moral lives as Chrillians, and many of them excel profefling
Chriftians in this particular : now morality is that which we
pradlife either in refpecfl to God, or in refpetfl to men ; and the
former is called the fpiritual life : both outwardly appear alike,
but inwardly and in principle they are very different : the one
is profitable to falvation ; the other is not ; for he who lives
a moral life, as commanded by God, fuch a one is adluated by
a divine principle ; but he who does the fame only from human
refpedts, is aftuated by a felfifli principle. To illuftrate this by
an example: He that forbears to injure his neighbour, becaufe
it would be adting contrary to religion, and confequently to the
divine will, fuch forbearance is from a fpiritual origin ; but he
that refrains from doing the like only through fear of the law,
of lofs of character, honour, or advantage ; fuch a one's re-

(215) That the Gentiles arc faved as ■well as the Chriftians, n. 932, 1032^
1059, 2284, 2589, 2590, 3778, 4190, 4197. Of the lot of the Gentilcf, and
of people without the church in the other world, n. 2589 to 2604. That the
church, in a more fpecial fcnfe of the word, is that which is in pofi'c/Tion of the
Divine Word, and where the Lord is thereby known, n. 3857, 10761 : yet not
fo to be undcrRood, as if all who had thefe advantages were of the true church,
but only fuch therein as live in faith and charity, n. 6637, 10143, 10153, 10578,
10645, 10829. That the catholick church of the Lord confifts of all throughout
the whole world that lead good lives according to the religion they know, and
acknowledge a Supreme Being ; and that fuch are accepted of the Lord, and go
to heaven, n. 2589 to 2604, 2861 — 6700, 9256.

flraint

[ 203 ]

ftraint from evil being only from felfiih and worldly refpeds, it
has nothing of virtue or religion in it ; and as the former is a
ipiritual, fo the latter is a mere natural man ; in the one a hea-
venly influence opens his interior, and fo proceeds to operate in
his exterior life ; in the other a worldly principle from beneath
influences his external man, but not his internal ; for no influx
is from the natural to the fpiritual world, but vice verja : where-
fore, if the good principle from above is not received at the
fame time, the interior gate in man becomes iliut, and fuch a
one altogether a man of this world : hereby we may know who
they are who receive heaven into themfelves, and who do not.
But heaven, or the heavenly principle, is not the fame in one
as in another, but diifers in every one according to his aifeftion
of good and its truth : thus, they who are in the affedlion of
good from love to God, they alfo love divine truth, for good
and truths of the fame kind love one another by fympathy, and
tend to union (216] ; and therefore the Heathens, though they
be not in genuine truths in this world, yet in the love-principle
receive them in the next.

320. A certain fpirit from the Heathen world, who had
lived in all good charity in his life here, being in company with:
fome Chriftian fpirits, heard them difputing on the articles of
their belief (for fpirits reafon, efpecially on the nature of good
and truth, more fully and acutely than men) upon which, ex-
preffing fome furprize at the warmth of their controverfy, he
fiid, that he could not endure to hear any more of it, for that
their difputc was merely from appearances and fallacies, faying
to them thus : If I am in the good principle, I can eafily know
the truths that proceed from it, and thole which I fee not at
prefcnt may be given me hereafter.

321. I have been fully taught, that the Heathens, who have
led a good moral life, in becoming obedience and fubordination,.
and in mutual charity, according to the religion they knew,

(216) That there is a coiiiurnftlon, like that of marriage, betwreen good and
truth [bonum et verumi n. 1094, 2173, 2503. That good and truth ha\e a per-
petual tendency to union, and that every good dcfircs its proper truth, and to be
united to it, n. 9206, 9207, 9495. How good and truth are joined together, and
in whom, n. 3834, 3843, 4C96, 4097—7623 to 7627, 9258.

and

[ 204 ]

and thence derived a principle of confcience, arc accepted in
the other life, and are there diligently inflruifted by the angels
ill all things of good and truth refpec'Ving faith, and readily
receive truths fo as to be principled with tiiem, behaving with
great modefty, and (hewing a teachable difpofition ; and that
they receive inflruftion the more readily, as not having been
tindured with erroneous doctrines or prejudices againll the
truths of faith, and as fuch to be firll: purged from their minds,
much lefs with heretical doftrines concerning our Lord's divine
perfon, like many profefiing Chriflians, v\'ho entertain no other
conception of him than as of another man ; whereas the Gen-
tiles, on the contrarv, as foon as they are informed that God
became man, and manifelled himfelf to the world in our nature,
they prefently acknowledge and adore the Lord, faying j " It
•* muft: needs be true, that God did fo manifeft himfelf, as he
" is the God of heaven and earth, and as the human race are
*' his offspring" (217). It is indeed a divine truth, that with-
out the Lord there is no falvation ; but then it is to be under-
ftood thus, viz, that there is no falvation, but from the Lord.
There are many worlds in the univerfe, and thofe full of inha-
bitants ; and yet very few among them know any thing of our
Lord's having afiumed the human nature in this our world j but
neverthclefs, as they worfhip the Deity under a human form,
they are accepted of the Lord, and taken under his guidance.
Concerning which fubjedl, fee a little piece intitled, Df Tellu-
ribiis in Univerfo, Of the Worlds in the Univerfe.

322. There are among the Heathens, as well as Chriflians,
both wife and fimple ; and that I might know the difference,

(217) The difference between the good of the Gentiles, and the good of the
Chriftians, n. 4189, 4197- Of truths among the Gentiles, n. 3263, 3778, 4190.
That the inner gate of the mind in the Gentiles cannot be fo fhut againft the
divine influx as in Chriftians, n. 9256 : nor can truth be vailed from the fight of
the firmer by fo thick a cloud, if they live up to the religion they have, as in the
cafe of Chriftians who li\'e without charity, and the caufcs of this, n. 1059, 9256.
That the Gentiles cni-.not profane holy things like the Chriftians, as the former
are in ignorance concerning them, n. 1327, 1328, 2051. That the Heathens are
afraid of the Chriitians on account of their bad lives, n. 2596, 2597. That fuch
among the Heathens as have lived good lives according to the light they had, are
inftrufted by the angels, and readily receive the truths of faith, and acknowledge
the Lord's Divinity, n. 2049, 2595, 2598, 2600, 2601, 2603, 2661, 2863, 3263.

I was

[ 205 ]

I was allowed to converfe with both, fomctlmes for hours, at
others for days together ; but of the wife, few fuch are to be
found now as in former times, particularly in the ancient church,
which fpread over a great part of Afia, and from whence reli-
gion was propagated in many other countries ; that I might
judge of their abilities, it was allowed me to have familiar can-
verfation with fome of them j and accordingly I was in com-
pany with one, who was formerly in high reputation for his
■wifdom, and as fuch well known in the learned world, with
whom I difcourfed on various fubjeds, and it was imprefl'ed
upon my mind that he was Cicero ; and knowing him to be a
man of underftanding, I reafoned with him on wil'dom, on in-
telledlual knowledge, on order, on the Word, and, laflly, on
the Lord : concerning wifdom he faid, that nothing deferved
that name, but what related to the condu^fl of life ; and as to
true intelleiflual knowledge, that it was the offspring of wif-
dom : with refpedt to order, he faid, that it proceeded from the
moft high God, and that to live according to it was the beft
wil'dom and underftanding : in regard to the Word ; when i read
to him a portion from the prophetick writings, he appeared
highly delighted, and in particular, that all the names and
words therein had an inward and fpiritual meaning, expreffing
his wonder at the fame time, that the learned now o'days did
not take delight in the ftudy of it ; whereby I could plainly
perceive that his mind was inwardly enlightened. Moreover, he
laid, that he was not able to attend farther to my reading, as
the facred influence that flowed in upon him was too much for
his faculties to bear : at laft we entered into difcourfe concern-
ing the Lord ; of his being born man, but conceived by the
Deity ; and how he put off the human part received from his
mother, and put on the Divine Humanity ; and that he is the
Great Governor of the univerfe. To which he anfwered, that
he knew many things concerning the Lord, which he under-
ftood according to the meafure of his capacity ; and that man-
kind could not have been faved by any other means. At this
time certain heretical profefling Chrifl:ians prefent fuggefted fome
fcandalous things on what had been fiid, which he Teemed not
to regard in the lealt, faying, no wonder if they, who had cor-

F f f rupted

[ 2C6 ]

ruptcd their minds in their bodily life-time with futli irreverent
notions on tlicfe fubjecfls, were harder to be convinced than the
ignorant, who were not tainted in like manner.

323. It was alfo allowed me to converl'c with others who
lived in old times, who were diftinguilhed fur wil'dom : at iirft
they appeared in front at a diftance, and could even there dif-
cover my fccret thoughts with fuch fagacity, as to know from
a finglc idea the whole train to which it belonged, and alfo how
to fill my mind with pleafing images and iiillruc^ive emblems
of wifdom ; from which it was eafy to judge, that they were
fages of an eminent clafs ; and it was told me, that they were
ancients of renown : they then drew nearer, and as I read to
them a portion of the Word, the;y appeared greatly delighted j
and I could perceive, that it gave them a more particular plea-
fure to find that all and fingular the things I read to them out
of the Word, were reprefentative and defcriptive of coeleAial and
fpiritual things : they told me, that when they lived upon earth,
their manner of thinking, fpeaking, and writing, was of tlw;
fame kind, and therein confifted their fludy of wifdom.

324. As to the modern Heathens, they come iliort of the
ancient in wifdom, but moft of them are men of great fimpli-
city ; and fuch among them as lived in mutual charity on earth
readily receive wifdom from their inftradiors in the other world,
of which I ihajl here give an example or two. As I was reading
the hiftory of Micah, Judg. ch. xvii and xviii ; how the Danitcs
took away his graven image, his Teraphim, and his Levite ;
a certain fpirit from the Gentile world was prefent, who, in
the time of his living in the body, had been a worlliippcr of a
graven image j and upon hearing of the injury done to Micah,
he was fo afFedted with it, as to be overwhelmed with grief,
Ihewing unqueftionable marks of his innocent and tender affec-
tions ; which fome Chriftian fpirits prefent taking notice of,
they wondered that an idolater could be affedted with fuch ten-
dernefs of compaffion on the occafion : prefently after this, two
^ocd fpirits joined him, and told him that no image was to be
worfliippcd, and that he might know fo much, as a rational
creature, or man ; and therefore, that he ought to extend and
"^ireit his thoughts and woriliip beyond fuch fenfelcfs objects to

the

[ 2<^7 ]

the Great God, the Creator and Governor of heaven and earth,
and that God is the Lord. Upon uttering thefe words, it was
given me to perceive (by communication with his i'pirit) an
affefting fenfe of interior, devout adoration within him, beyond
that of many Chriftians j from which we may gather, that
many from the Heathen world gain a more eafy admitTion into
the kingdom of heaven than many modern profeiring Chriftians,
according to thofe words of our Lord : " And they fliall come
" from the Eaft, and from the Weft, and from the North, and
" from the South, and ftiall fit down in the kingdom of God :
" and behold, there are laft which (hall be firft, and there are
" firft which ftiall be laft," Luke xiii. 29, 30; for in the ftate
in which he was, he was capable of being imbued with all
things pertaining to a true faith, and of receiving them into his
aftedlions ; in him was compalfion from the love-principle, and
in his ignorance was innocence ; and where thefe are conjoined,
true faith gains a fpontaneous and welcome admiflion : after
this he was received into the fociety of angels (*).

325. One morning I heard a company [chorus] at a diftance,
which by their badge of diftinition (reprefenting a kind of
woolly goat, a cake of millet, an ebony fpoon, and a floating
city) appeared to be Chincfe : on their nearer approach fome of
them delired to be alone with me for the fake of private con-
verfation ; but they received for anfwer, that their companions
refentcd the propofal, as having a right to be prefent alfo ; upon
which, perceiving anger rifing in their minds, they began to
queftion with themfelves, whether they had not fome how given
juft caulc of offence to their brethren ; and ftiewed marks of
trouble and fliame, as though they had done them wrong, giving
proof hereby of a tender confcience, and of their being in tlie
principle of charity. Soon after, I ejitered into converfation
with them, and turned the fubjed: of it to our Lord, under the

(*) It is to be noted, that this and the foregoing trar)fa<^ions in the two pre-
ceding articles, are to be underftood as having paitcd in the world of fpjrits, or
that intermediate ftate betwixt heaven and hell, in which fpirits receive their laft
prcparatioi) for the one or the other, accordingly as they have been principled with
good or evil in this lift, of which our aythor diftijwSlly treats in the following part
of this work. Tr.

name

[ 2o8 ]

name of Chrift ; on which I perceived them to fliew fome re-
pugnance when I mentioned the name of Chrift, and found that
it proceeded from fonie prejudice they had been tinc^tured with
in this life from feeing the Chrirti^ins lead worfc lives, and to
fhew lefs of charity than their own countrymen ; but when I
only ufed the name of the Lord, they gave tokens of a devout
reverence : tiiey were then i-nformed by the angels, that the
Chriftian dodrine recommended and enjoined love and charity
beyond all other religions in the world, but that few of its pro-
felfors lived according thereto. There are fome Gentile fpirits,
who in their life-time here, knowing from character and con-
verfation with them, how Chriilians, many of them, lived in
adultery, hatred, flrife, drunkennefs, and other vices, which
the Gentiles held in abhorrence, they become thereby more
timid in the other world in embracinff the truths of the Chrirtian

faith, till initrufted by the angels, that the Chriltian religion
teaches the very contrary to fuch pratflices, though the gene-
rality of its profeflbrs walk lefs by its rules and precepts than
the Heathens themfelves ; upon which, though after fome delay,
they embrace the faith, and worship the Lord.

326. It is cuftomary for fuch of the Gentiles, as were wont
to worfliip any fuppofed god under the form of an image or
ftatue, to be introduced, on their entrance into the other world,
to fome fpirits who were to reprefent fuch gods or idols, and
that, in order to expofe and cure them of fuch vain and foolirti
phantafies ; and after ftaying with them fome days they are dif-
mifled : and they who have been given to worlhip men, are
introduced to thofe very men, or fome appointed to reprefent
them ; as many of the Jews are to Abraham, Jacob, Mofes, or
David, and when they find that they have no divine power to
help them, they are put to confufion, and remanded to their
proper ftations. Of all the Gentiles, the Africans meet with
the kindeft reception in heaven, as they Ihew the readied dif-
polition to receive all the good things and truths of that king-
dom : they chufe to be called the obedient, and not the faithful,
faying, that the latter charadter belongs to the Chriftians, as
being in the faith, and not to them, unlefs they had received it,
or arc, as they term it, capable of receiving it.

327- I

f 209 ]

327. I have coiiverfed with fome who were of the ancient
church (that is here called the ancient church which was next
after the deluge, and which fpread over many kingdoms, viz.
Allyria, Mefopotamia, Syria, Ethiopia, Lybia, Arabia, Egypt,
Philiftia to Tyre and Sidon, through the land of Canaan on both
fides of Jordan (218) : and they who at that time were inftrudled
in the dodrine of our Lord's Advent upon eartli, and received
the fliith, but afterwards departed from it to idolatry, had their
ihition in front to the left, in a dark place, and were in a mi-
ferable condition ; the found of their voice was a piping aiono-
tony, and they fcarce talked rationally : they faid, that they
had been there many ages, but were at times fet at liberty to do
drudgery and fervile oHices for others. By their condition was
given mc what to think of many profeffing Chriftians, and of
their ftate in the other world ; I mean fuch as, though not
outward idolaters, yet are fo inwardly, worfliipping themfelves
and the world with an affedionate fervice, and denying the Lord
in their hearts.

328. That the church of the Lord confifts of members dif-
perfed over the face of the earth, and therefore it is denominated
catholick or univerfal, including all of whatfoever religion that
live confcientioufly according thereto j and that the church,
which is in pofleirion of the Word, and has attained to the
knowledge of the Lord thereby, is to all that are without the
pale of it, as the heart and lungs in man, from which all the

(218) That the firft and moft ancient church on earth was that which wc
read of in the lirft chapters of Gencfis, and that it was coeleftial, and the chief
of all churches, n. 607, 895, 920, 1121, 1122, 1123, "24, 2896, 449,^, 8891,
9942, 10545. Concerning the quality and ihite of its members in heaven, n. 1 1 14
t<j 1 125. 'I'hat there were diverfc churches foon after the deluge, called the an-
cient churches, n. 1125, 1126, 1127, 1327, 10355. Men of the ancient church,
of what condition, n. 609, 895. 'I'hat the ancient churches were rcpr f. ntative
churches, n. 519, 521, 2896. That the ancient church had a revealed "Word,
but that it was long ilnce loft, n. 2897. Of the ancient church when it began to
apoftatizc, n. 1 128. The difference between the moft ancient and the ancient
church, n. 597, 607, 640, 641, 765, 784, 895, 4493. That the ftatutes, judg-
ments, and laws, commanded to be obfcrvcd in the Jewifh church, are in part
like thofe that were in force in the ancient church, n. 4288, 4449, ioia.9. That
the Lord was the CJod of the moft ancient, and alfo of the ancient church, and
that he was called therein Jehovah, n. 1348, 6846.

G g g vifcera

[ 210 ]

vifcera and members of the body derive life, according to their
different forms, fituations and conjunftions, fee above, n. 308.

Of Infants, or Little Children, in Heaven.

329. According to the belief of fome, no other infants go
to heaven than thofe which arc born in tlie church, and the
reafon they affign is, becaufe fuch are baptized, and by bap-
tifm initiated into the faith of the church : but fuch perfons
are to be told, that baptifm is not the procuring caufe either of
heaven or of faith to any one, but ferves only for a fign or me-
morial that fuch pcrfon is to be regenerated ; and that they who
are born in the church have the means of being fo, as therein
is the Word, which contains thofe divine truths by which rege-
neration is effedled, and whereby the Lord is known, who is
the author of regeneration (219) : and they are alfo to know,
that every infant, dying fuch, whether he be born in the church,
or out of the church, whether of godly or ungodly parents, is
accepted of the Lord, and educated by angels, according to
divine order ; and thus being formed to good affedtions, and
through them to the knowledge of truth, when advanced in
underflanding and wifdom, he is introduced into heaven, and
becomes an angel. Every one that thinks rationally may know
of a truth, that none were ever dcilgnedly born for hell, bur,
on the contrary, all for heaven ; and confequently, that who-
ever goes to the former, muil owe it to his own fault, wliich
cannot be the cafe of infants.

330. All who die infants are equally fuch in the other world,
of like infmtile minds, of like innocence in ignorance, and
a like tendernefs in all things^ being only as the young plants

(zig) That baptifm is a fign of regeneration from tlie Lord thrcKij,h the truths'
of faith revealed in the Word, n. 4255, 5120, 9089, 10239, 10386, 10387, 1038X,
10392. That baptifm is a fign of our belonging to that church, where the Lord,
who is the Author of Regeneration, is acknowkJged, and in which is the revealed
Word, from which we derive thofe truths of faith, by means of which regene-
ration is cffeded, n. 10386, 10387, 10388. That the outward baptifm neither
gives faith nor falvation, but is a fign and pledge of their being received by the
regenerate, n. 10391.

that

[ 211 ]

that are to grow up to angels ; for infants are not angels as yet,
but only in the w^y of becoming fuch, feeing that every one
appears, upon his entrance into the other world, in the fame
ftate in which he departed this, whether infant, child, youth,
adult, or aged, but, in fome time after, every one's ftate is
changed ; but it is to be obferved, that the ftate of infants has
this advantage over others, that being in innocence, actual evil
by confent of will has not taken root in them, fo that they are
eahly receptive of all heavenly good ; for innocence is the pro-
per receptacle of the truth of faith and the good of love.

331. The ftate of infants in the other world is much higher
than in this, as there they are not invefted with an earthly body,
but with one like to that of the angels ; for the earthly body
being grofs, does not receive its firft fenfations and movements
from the interior or fpiritual, but from the exterior or natural
world, and therefore infants here muft learn to walk, behave,
and fpeak, nay, their very fenfes, as feeing and hearing, muft
be formed by ufe j but not fo in heaven, for then, being fpirits,
they are acftuated by an interior impulfe, walk fpontaneoufly of
themfelves ; they alfo fpeak, but at firft only confufedly from
the impulfe of affedlion in general, without any diftindt arrange-
ment of ideas ; but this they foon come to, as their exterior
part is conformable to their interior. That the difcourfe of
angels flows fpontaneoufly from their atfedtions modified by their
ideas, and therefore fpeak as they think, fee above, n. 234 to

245-

332. Infants, as foon as raifed from death, which is imme-
diately after their deceafe, are taken up into heaven, and are
delivered to fuch of the female angels as, when in this world,
were more particularly fond of children, and who alfo loved
God : now as fuch, from a certain maternal tendernefs in their
nature above common, loved all little children, fo they receive
them as their own, and the children in return love them as their
ov.n motliers, each of which takes as many of them under her
care as her tendernefs for them prompts her to take. This par-
ticular heaven appears full in front in the lame direftion of
view wherein the angels behold the Lord, and that becauie all
little children arc under the immediate tuition of the Lord ; and

their

[ 212 ]

their influx is from the heaven of innocence, which is the third
heaven.

333. Little children are of different difpofitions, feme like
the Ipiritual, fome like the coeleflial angels : fuch as are of the
furmcr clafs appear in heaven Rationed to the left hand ; thofe
of the latter clafs, to the right hand : and all little children iu
the Grand Man or heaven, are in the province of the eyes ; fuch
as refemble the fpiritual angels, in the province of the left eye ;
and fuch as refemble the cadcrtials, in the province of the right
eye ; and that becaufe the Lord appears to the angels of his
fpiritual kingdom, fronting the left eye ; and to the angels of
coeleftial kingdom, fronting the right eye, fee above, n. iiS.
Little children being thus in the province of the eyes, denotes
them to be under the immediate guardianihip and protevflion of
the Lord.

334. How infants are educated in heaven fliall here briefly
be told. They are firft taught to fpeak by thofe that have the
care of them : their firfl utterance is only a kind of aff'edlionate
found, which, by degrees, grows more diftind:, as their minds
become furniflied with ideas -, for the ideas of the mind fpring-
ing from the afi^edtionate part, immediately give birth and form
to the fpeech of the angels, as mentioned above, n. 234 to 245.
Into their affedtions, which all proceed from innocence, the
delegable things, which are the objedls before them, firfl: in-
linuate themfelves -, and as thefe are of a fpiritual origin, they
ferve as receptacles of fuch heavenly things as are of ufe to open
their minds, and enlarge their faculties in the way of intellec-
tual attainments : after completing this their firfl: age, they are
tranflated to another heaven, where they are inflrufted by ange-
lical mafters, and fo pafs on to further improvements.

335. Little children are firfl taught by beautiful fimilitudes
and inftrudlive emblems, adequate to their genius and capacity,
containing leflbns of wifdom beyond imagination : thus they are
gradually formed to that wifdom, which has goodnefs for its
efl'cnce. To mention here only two fimilitudes or reprefentatives
that I was witnefs to, whereby to judge of the reft : and firfl,
they reprefented our Lord as rifing from the fcpulchre, and alfo Ui
the uniting of his humanity with the divinity, and that with

fuch

[ 213 ]

fuch divine Hvill, as far exceeded all human wifdom, and, at
the fame time, with infantile fimplicity : they reprcfented like-
wife tlie form of a fepulchre, and alfo of our Lord, but in fo
delicate and refined a manner, as fcarcely to be perceived ; and
that becaufe there is fomething fo affedtingly mournful and fad
in that image of mortality, which they thus prudently foftened :
they then caufed to pafs into the fepulchre, as it were, a thin
lucid vapour, remotely to reprefent the fpiritual life fignified in
baptifm. After this I faw a reprefentation of our Lord's defcent
to the fpirits in prifon (i Pet. iii. 19, 20.) and his afcent with
them into heaven, conduced with incomparable ikill and pious
reverence j and in order to accommodate the reprefentation to
their childiih minds, they let down, as it were, fmall cords of
the fineft texture, to aid in the elevation of his body ; guarding
at the fame time, with religious caution, againfl admitting any
thing into the reprefentation that did not image and lead their
tender thoughts to fomething fpiritual and heavenly ; not t»
mention other kinds of emblematical fcenery made ufe of, in
order to inftil into them good affeftions, and to form their minds
to truth, by entertainments adapted to their faculties.

336. I had alfo a proof of the delicacy of their fentiments
once, as I was praying the Lord's prayer, when they joined their
ideas with mine ; and I became fenfible of an influx proceeding
from their intelledlual part, as that of tender affedtion ; and that
their minds were open to the Lord, fo that I could perceive,
that what at firfl feemed an influx from them, was a transflux
through them ; for there is a near communication from the
Lord to the minds of little children, as not being (hut againfl
the divine influx like thofe of adults, and neither oppofmg the
entrance of truth through the refitlance of error, nor hindering
the admiflion of good, and fo of wifdom, by any wilful and
acquired evil. Hence we may learn, that infants do not enter
upon the angelical ftate immediately after death, but are gra-
dually prepared for it by the knowledge of good and trutii,
according to heavenly order ; the Lord providing means fuited
to their capacities and difpofitions, to fit them as recipients for
all the trutlis pertaining to good ['vera boni^ and all the good
things pertaining to truth [bona vert^,

H h h 337. It

[ 214. ]

^■^j. It has alfo been fliewed to me, how things inward and
fpintual inlinuate thenifclves into their tender minds, through
I'uch external delights as arc accommodated to their genius re-
fpedively, I have leen them beautifully drefled, and adorned
on tiicir little arms and breafls with flowers of coelcftial colours ;
and thus I £Iuv them once walking with their angelical inftruc-
tors and virgins in one of the gardens of paradife : the garden
was not fo much adorned with trees, as with what may be
compared in a fort to our laurel efpaliers and arched walks, with
alleys leading to fweet recefles ; and as the little children drew
near, the borders of flowers feemed to glow with frefh and more
lively luflre ; from whence we may gather what pleafure they
muft receive from fuch exhilarating fcenes, miniftering to the
increafe as well as delights of innocence and charity, through
the bounty and influence of the Lord.

338. It has been lliewed to me by a manner of communi-
cation common in the other world, what kind of ideas infiints
have of the objedls they fee ; and it was found, that they all
appeared to them as having life, from whence the idea of life
became joined with all their thoughts. It appeared alfo to me,
that children here on earth have much the fame ideas in all their
little diverfions, as not having yet attained, like thofe of a more
advanced age, to know by reflexion what it is to want life.

339. It has been faid above, that all little children are by
difpofition and genius diflinguiflied into coelefl;ial and fpiritual
refpeftively : now they of the former clafs are eafily known by
this, viz. that there is fomething foft and gentle in all they
think, fay, and do, as if it fpontaneoufly flowed from a prin-
ciple of good within, of love to the Lord, and to other little
children ; whereas the latter fliew not the like foftnefs, but
fomething quick and fmart \_alatum et 'vibratile'\ in all their be-
haviour (*). The like alfo appears in their refentmcnt, and
other ways.

340. Many may think that little children keep their flate in
heaven, and fo continue children among the angels ; and they
who know nothing of the nature of angels may be confirmed

(*) Sec n. 241.

^ [ 215 ]

in this miRakc, by feeing angels painted and carved in the
churches : but tlie matter is quite otherwife ; for as underftand-
ing and wifdom are eHential to an angel, fo children, being
delHtute of thefe, though among the angels, yet are not of
their number ; but as foon as they have attained thereto, they
then firft become angels ; and then, which was matter of won-
der to me, they no longer appear as children, but as adults,
having, through wifdom, changed the infantile genius and cha-
radler for that which is angelical. That children in heaven,
when perfected in underftanding and wifdom, appear in the
form of adults, or as youths, is becaufe underftanding and wif-
dom is their true fpiritual food (220) ; and what is nourifliment
to their minds, ferves for the fime to their bodies alfo, and this
by corrcfpondency ; for the form of the body [with refped: to
all in the other worlds] is the form of the fpirit within. It is
here to be noted, that in heaven children advance not in their
external form and appearance beyond youth, or the flower of
their age, but flop there for ever : that I might know this for
certain, it was permitted mc to converfe with fome that were
educated in heaven as children, and grown up -, and alfo with
fome others whilfl: they were children, and with the fame after-
wards, when they had attained to their flower of youth ; and
from both I received information concerning their progreflion in
life from ftate to ftate.

341. That innocence is the receptacle of all heavenly good
things, and therefore that the innocence of little children is the
plane or ground of all their affedions for good and truth, may
appear from what has been faid before, n. 276 to 283, concern-
ing the innocence of the angels in heaven ; that it confifl:s in
a rcfigned fubmiflion to the government of the Lord, and a
renunciation of man's own will, who is only fo far in innocence

(220) That fpiritual food is the fame with knowledge, underftanding, and
wildom, and alfo conflitutes the good and truth from which they proceed, n. 31 14,
4459, 4792, 5147 — S^JSfc"* 8562, 9003. Hence that food, in a fpiritual fenfe of
the word, fignifits all that procecdfth out of the mouth of God, Matt. iv. 4. n.
681. As bread fignifics all kinds of food in general, confequcntly fo does it fig-
nify all coelcftial and fpiritual good, n. 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3478, 61 18, 8410 ;
and that becaufe the latter nourifhcs the mind, which is the inner man, n. 4459,
5293, 5576, 6277, 8418.

[ 2i6 ] 'V

as he is remote from felf, and fo far only Is he in the Lord, or
partakes of his righteoufnefs and merits : but the innocence of
little children, as obferved before, is not genuine innocence,
becaufe void of wifdom ; for genuine innocence is wifdom, and
fo far only is any one to be reputed wife, as he is refigned to
the will of the Lord, or is content to be under his guidance :
and therefore children are conducfted from their primary external
innocence of infancy to that internal innocence of wifdom,
which crowns their education and progreis j and when they have
attained to this, their formal external innocence, which was the
ground of the latter, is joined with it, and fo they become
perfect children or angels. The innocence of children was
imaged to me by the reprefentation of a child in wood with
fcarce any thing of life in it, but which was vivified gradually,
anfwerably to the progrefs of children in their knowledge of
truth, and their affecftion for good : and afterwards I had a re-
prefentation of genuine innocence in a very beautiful child quite
lively and naked ; for the innocents which are in the inmolt
heaven, and as fuch ncarcfl to the Lord, appear as little chil-
dren, and fome of them naked; for innocence is reprefented by
nakednefs without fliame, as we read of the firft man and his
wife in paradife. Gen. ii. 25 ; but v/hen they loll their inno-
cence, they were afhamed, becaufe of their nakednefs, and hid
themfelves, ch. iii. 7, 10, 11. In a word, the more the angels
excel in wifdom, the higher is their degree of innocence ; and
the higher their degree of innocence, the more do they appear
to one another as little children : hence it is, that infancy in
the Word fignifies innocence, fee above, n. 278.

342. I have converfed with the angels concerning infmts,
and afked them, if they were pure from all evil, feeing they had
not committed adlual evil, like adults ; to which they anfwered,
that they were in evil as well as the latter ; nay, that of them-
felves they were nothing but evil (221); but were kept from
evil, like as were the angels, and preferved in good by the Lord,

and

(221) That all men, without exception, are by nature born to all kinds of
evil, fo that as to their proper felves, they are nothing but evil, n. 210, 215, 731,
874, 875, 876 — 10284, 10286, 10731. That therefore man mud be born again,
that iSj legenerated, n. 3701. That it is an hereditary evil in man to love himfelf

■

[ 217 ]

and that in a way fo little perceived by them, that it appeared
to them as if they were good of themfelves j and therefore all
infants, after they are grown up in heaven, in order to cure
them of fuch a falfe conceit of themfelves, as though they
poffefTed any good but from the Lord, are fometimes left to
their own hereditary evils for a while, to convince them of the
truth of the matter : one fuch, who was a certain king's fon,
and had died an infant, but was grown up in heaven, had con-
ceived the foregoing erroneous opinion, and was therefore fuf-
fered to be poifcfTcd of his own hereditary innate evils ; upon
which I perceived from his fphere, that he was of an imperious
mind, and made light of adultery, having inherited thefe pro-
penfities from his parents : but after feeing what he was by
nature, and being humbled at the fight, he was received again
into the fociety of angels to which he belonged. No one fuffers
punilhment in the other world merely for hereditary evil, as
that was not contradled by his own fault, but only for that
adtual evil which proceeded from himfelf; and confequently,
only for fo much of hereditary evil as he adopted and appropri-
ated to himfelf by his own will and deed : nor are infants, when
grown up to adults in heaven, configned for a time to their
proper natural ftate of hereditary evil merely for the lake of
punilhment, but in order to their conviftion, that of themfelves
they are only evil, and therefore delivered from hell, which
belongs to an evil nature, by the mere mercy of the Lord j
confequently, that their heavenly inheritance is from his free
gift, and not from any merit in themfelves ; and therefore they
have nothing to glory in, or whereof to efteem themfelves above
others, on account of any felf-affumed good ; for that in fo
doing, they would as much tranfgrefs the law of mutual love,
as the true dodtrine of faith.

more than God, and this world more than heaven, and to eftcem his neigiibour as
nothing in comparifon of himfelf, or only for himfelf, fo that he may be faid to
be love of felf and of the world in the very abftracSt, n. 694, 731, 4^17, 5660.
That the prevailing love of felf and of the world is the root of all evil, n. 1307,
1308, 1321, 1594, i6pi — 10038, 10742, fuch as contempt of others, enmity,
hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit, &c. n. 6667, 7372, 7373, 7374, 9348, 10038,
10742 : and that from thefe evils proceeds every falfe [ownc fh/fum] n. 1047, 10283,
10284, 10286.

I i i 343. Oft

[ 2iS ]

343. Oft times when companies [Ciori 1 (*) of little cliil-
dren have been with me, and their fpeech founded in a foft
confufed manner, as not having yet attained to fpeak in concert
as when grown up, I obfcrved with fomething of furprize,
that certain fpirits prefent could not refrain from urging them
to fpeak in another manner, on which the infant chorus fhewed
a repugnance, denoting fomething like refentment, faying, when
given them to fpeak, t/jal it jhould not be fo. This I have often
perceived, and was told, that it was for their trial, and to ac-
cuftoni them to refift any temptation to what is fulfc or evil, as
alfo not to fuffer themfelvcs to be compelled to think, fpeak,
or adl by diredlion from any other than the Lord only.

344. Thus much may ierve to flievv in what manner infants
are educated in heaven, that fo through the knowledge of truth,
and the wifdom of good, tliey may be qualified for the angelical
life, confifting in that love to the Lord, and one another, which
has its ground in innocence : but how contrary is the education
cf children with many on earth ! To give only the following
inftance. As I was one day walking in the flreet of a certain
great city, I faw fome boys fighting, which prefcntly drew a
great croud round them, which feemed much pleafed with the
light ; and I was told, that the parents of the young warriors
were among them, encouraging their fons to the combat : cer-
tain good fpirits and angels then prefent with me faw all that
pafled, through my eyes, and were aftedled, even to horror, at
the fight, more efpecially at the encouragement given to the
fray by the parents ; faying, that all fuch ways of inciting chil-
dren to hatred and revenge, tended to extinguidi in them all
mutual love and innocence implanting in them by the Lord;
confequently, that they did all in their power to difqualify their
own children for heaven, where all is love. May fuch parents
as wifh well to their children take warning hereby.

345. And here for a word concerning the difference between
thofe who die in their infant ftate, and thofe who die adults.

(*) By the word Chori In this place, the author means fuch companies of fpirits
or angels as think in unity, and fpeak in fymphony, fo concentrating, as it were,
their thoughts and words, as if they conftitutcd but one perfon : but this is hard
to defcribe, fee above, 11. 242, 255. Tr.

Now

[ 219 ]

Now the latter have In this life acquired a ground or plane [/>/«-
num] which they take with them to the other world, and which
conlifts of their memory and prevailing natural afFe^5tion ; this
remains fixed, and though quicfcent after death as to any activity,
yet it ferves as an ultimate ground or bafis to the thoughts ; and
hence it follows, that according to the quality of this ground
or plane, and the correfpondence of the rational part therewith,
fo is the man after death (*) : but fuch as die inf-mts have no
fuch plane, but one that is natural-fpiritual [p/anum 7iaturale
Jpirituali\ as not having contrafted any impurity from this ma-
terial world and earthly body, and therefore not being infefted
with the like grofs afFedions and cogitations, but having im-
bibed all they have from heavenly influence : befides, infants
know nothing of their having been born in this world, but look
upon themfelves as natives of heaven, being ignorant of every
other kind of nativity than what is fpiritual, and effedled by
knowledges of good and truth, and that underftanding and wif-
dom from which man is only properly denominated man ; and
as thefe are only from the Lord, fo it is their belief, and their
rejoicing therein, that they are the Lord's. But notwithfland-
ing this, the condition of men, who have had their time in this
world, may be equally perfedt with that of infants in the next,
if they put away from tHem their corporeal and earthly afi-'ec-
tions, which are the love of felf and of the world, and in the
room thereof become receptive of fpiritual loves.

(*) As it is very difficult to give a clearer tranflation of the foregoing pafTage ;
fo probably, few of our readers, befidcs thofe who have been accuftomed to think-
ing abftradtediy, will readily enter into the author's meaning : let it fuffice here
to cbfcrve in general, that by the acquired ground or plane (or fund) here fpoken
of, we arc to underftand fuch an habitual difpofition or tendency to the things of
this world as remains with us after death, and by a kind of fecret influence of habit
withholds the thoughts and afFedtions from heavenly things ; and yet not fo to be
vmderftood, as if this tendency were not to be done away by the methods appointed
for our purification in the intermediate flate, where it was not by free choice and
determination of the will become radical and eflential in the conftitution of the
foul. Let it be obferved, that the leffon here held forth to the reader is of infinite
importance, as it denotes, that grace may be fo extinguiflied, and the habitual
love of fin fo confirmed in this life, as to place us beyond the poiFibility of help
in the next, according to thofe words of the prophet : " Can the Ethiopian change
*' his fkin ? or ihe leopard his fpots ? then may ye alfodo good that are accuftomed
" to do evil," Jcr. xiii, 23. Ti.

[ 220 ]

Of the Wife and the Simple in Heaven.

346. It is commonly believed, that wife men will be exalted
in heaven above the fmiple in honour and dignity, becaufe wc
pead in Daniel xii. 3. that " they that be wife fliall fliine as the
*' brightnefs of the firmament, and they that turn many to
*' righteoufnefs, as the ftars forever and ever;" but few feeni
to know who are meant here by the wife, and by thofe that turn
many to righteoufnefs ; it being generally thought, that this is
fpoken of the learned and the wife docftors in the church, who
excel in do(ftrinal knowledge and preaching, and more efpecially
fuch among them as have converted many to the faith ; thefe
are called men of wifdom and underftanding in this world, but
they are not fo in a fpiritual fenfe, unlefs their wifdom be of a
heavenly quality, which lliall here be fpoken to.

347. True underflanding, in a heavenly fenfe of the word,
is interior underflanding, fpringing from the love of truth, and
not from any motive of glory either here or hereafter, but from,
a pure regard to truth itfelf in minds intimately alfedted and
delighted with it ; and all fuch love the light of heaven or divine
truth, and confequently the Lord himfelf, who is the truth
itfelf, fee above, n. 126 to 140. Now this heavenly light of
truth only enters the interior receffes of the mind, as being its
proper receptacle ; and as it enters and is received there, it gives
delight, as is the property of all influx from heaven to do ; fuch .»
is the origin of genuine affeiffcion for truth, for its own fike j M
and they who are in this affection or love, they are in tiie true
heavenly underllanding, and " fhine as the brightnefs of the
*• firmament :" they are faid to fliine, becaufe divine truth in
heaven appears fplendent, fee above, n. 132 : and the firmament
or expanfe of heaven fignifies by correfpondency that interior
intelledlual part both in angels and men, which is in the light
of heaven : but as to thofe who love truth only for the fake
of honour here, or glory hereafter, fuch Ihine not in heaven,
forafmuch as their delight is not in the light of heaven, but
of this world, which of itfelf, without the former, is mere

darknefs j

[ 221 ]

darknefs (222) -, for all fuch confider felf only as the end, and
truth but as the means fubfervient to that end; and therefore as*
their view is diredied, not to heaven, but to this world, not to
the Lord, but to themfelves, confequently, they are not in the
light of heaven, but in that of this world only : thefe, indeed,
to outward appearance, and before men, feem as knowint^ and
wife as the children of light, nay, and fometimes wifcr, as
being more warmed with the fire of felf-love, and having
learned to fpeak the fame language with them, and alfo to make
a fliew of heavenly affedlions ; but inwardly and in the iight of
the angels they appear very different. Let this fliffice to fhew,
who are meant in Scripture by the wife, who Ihall '• fhine in
*' heaven like the brightnefs of the firmament :" and now for
a word as to fuch as are meant by thofe '* that turn many to
" righteoufnefs, who fhall fhine as the ftars."

348. By fuch as turn many to righteoufnefs are meant the
truly wife, and they only are called fuch in heaven, who are
in the good of life, or who apply divine truths immediately to
praftical ufe j for divine truth, when fo applied, becomes good,
as being animated with free will and love, which conftitutes the
very ef fence of wifdom ; whereas they who are called intel-
leftual or underflanding men, live not from truth as a principle,
but commit it firfl to their memory, and from thence as a flore-
houfc draw occafionally the documents of truth, whereby to
regulate their life (*). In what particulars thefe two clafTes

difi'er

(222) That the light of this world is for the outward, and the light of . luaven
for the inner man, n. 3222, 3223, 3337- That tlic light of heaven is in the
natural light by influx, and that the natural man becomes wife only fo far as he
receives of the light of heaven, n, 4302, 4408. That the things of heaven are
not vifible by the light of this world, n. 9754, 3108. That the light of this
world is as darknefs to the angels, n. 1521, 17B3, i88c.

(*) The difference between wife and intelkdlual men, according to our author's
dif.nition, appears to be this, viz. that the former receive divine truths into their
uftecftions (and not fpeculatively only ) and ar,- led thereby fpontaneoufly, as from
a divine principle or inllinit into all good ; whereas the latter treafure up truth in
the memory, and fo fit the external lite theii-to by a kind of reflex operation of mind ;
("0 that the good life of the former fecms, as it were, natural, and the good life
of the latter, as it were, ftudied and artificial. I wifti that I may have fo exprcflej
niyfelf here, as to render the matter more clear to the reader. Let it be remem-
bered, that the author dots not always ufe thefe two words, underftanding and

K k k wifdom

[ 222 ]

dii^cr ill the heavens may he feen in the article concerning the
two kingdoms of heaven, the ccelellial and the Spiritual, n. 20
to 28 J and alio in the article concerning the three heavens, n.
29 to 40. They who are in the ccelellial kingdom ot the Lord,
which is the third or inmolt heaven, are called Righteous, and
that becaufe they afcribe no righteoulhefs to themlclves, but all
to the Lord only. Now righteoufnefs in heaven lignifies good
proceeding from the Lord (223), and they who receive the
lame, and miniller therefrom to the converfion of others, arc
fuch as the Lord fpeaks of. Matt. xiii. 43. " Then lliall the
•' righteous fhine forth as the fun in the kingdom of my Fa-
" ther." Their (hinino; as the fun, is from their b?in<j in love
to the Lord from the Lord, as that love is fignitied by the fun,
fee above, n. 116 to 125 : their light alfo partakes of the bright-
nefs of flame ; and their ideas are vivacious and correfponding
thereto, inafmuch as they receive the good of love imniediately
from the Lord as the heavenly fun.

•^49. All who have acquired true underftanding and wifdom
in this world are received into lieaven, and become angels, every
one according to the meafure and qualitv thereof; lor whatfo-
ever principle any one has acquired and tixed in himfelf in this
world, that remains with him after death, and is alfo aug-
mented to fulnefs, but that within the degree of his affedion
.md deiire of good and truth, and not beyond it ; they who
have little affecftion and deiire, receive but little, but yet as
much as thev can contain ; and tliev who have much afledion
and defirc, receive increale accoriiiiigW ; tlie degree ot atle^.'^ion
and deiire in everv one bcin<j the meafure that is to be filled :
the reafon of this i>s, becaufe love, the properties of which are

wifdom [intclUgentla (t Japietit'itil piccillly according to tlafc dctiiiitioiis ; but
wlicrc thiy arc ipoktii of in diltinction, ilicy are to be undcrltood according
thereto. Tr.

(223) That the merit and righteoufnefs of the Lord is properly that good which
prevails and reigns in hea\en, n. 94^6, 9986. That the rigliteous or julliiied j)er-
fon is he to whom is imp.jrted th;'.t merit and righttoLirners ; and he the uurlglueous
and unjulHficJ pcrfon, who builds upon his own fancied righteoufnefs and merit,
r. 5069, 9203. The condition of the felf-righteous In the other lite, n. 942,
2027. That righteoufnefs or juftice in the Word is fpoken of good, aud judg-
ment of truth ; and therefore, to do iuflice and judgment mtans there, to acl
accoiding to good and truth, n. 2235, 9857.

affe<!tioji

[ 223 ]

afre(flion and defire, receives what is anfwerable or luitable tcs
itlelf according to its meafure, as figniiied by thofe words of
our Lord, " Whofoever hath, to him ihall be given, and he
" rtiall have more abundantly." '* Good meafure Ihall be given
" unto you, preffed down, and fliaken together, and running
" over," Matt. xiii. 12. -xxv. 29. Luke vi. 38.

350. All are received into heaven, who have loved good
and truth as fuch ; and they who have loved them much are
called wife, and they who have loved them little are called
fniiple ; the former enjoy much light in heaven, the latter lefs ;
each according to tiie degree of his love : to love good and truth
as fuch, or for their own fake, is to will and to do them from
choice, for fuch only can be faid to love them ; and they are the
people who love the Lord, and are loved by him ; for good and
truth are from the Lord, and confequently the Lord is in them
as proceeding from him, and alfo in all fuch as receive them
into their life's principle by willing and doing them. Man alfo,
confidered in himfelf, is no other than his meafure of good and
truth from the Lord, tlie former conilituting his will, and the
latter his underftanding ; and as the will and underftanding are,
fuch is the man : hence it follows, that fo far any is loved ot
the Lord, as his v/ill is formed by good, and his underftanding
by truth : to be loved of the Lord is infcparable from love to
him, for love is reciprocal, and to him whom the Lord loveth
he givcth to love him again.

351. It is commonly believed in the world, that they wlio
are men of learnins: and fkill in the doftrines of the church and
the letter of Scripture, or in the fciences, are more acute dil-
ccrncrs of truths than other men, and confequently excel them
in true underftanding and wifdom • and fuch form the like
Judgment as touching thcmfelves ; and therefore we fliall pro-
ceed to fticw Avhat true imderilandiiig and wifdom is, what is
tlie ipurious, and \vhcit tlic falfe. True underftanding and wif-
dom confifts in feeing and perceiving ^\■hat is good and what is
true, and tliereby what is falfe and evil, and in accurately dif-
titiguiHung betwixt them, and that from an interior intuition
and difcernment. There is in every one an interiour and an
exteriour, the former belonging to the inward or fpiritual, and

the

[ 224 ]

the latter to the outward or natural man ; and accordingly as
the interiour is formed and co-operates with the exteriour, fo
a man fees and perceives. The interiour of man can only be
formed in heaven ; but the exteriour is formed in this v^^orld.
When the interiour is formed in heaven, then heavenly things
pafs by influx into the exteriour, which is from this world, and
form it to a correfpondence with the former, that fo both may
co-operate or adl as one ; and when this is effected, then the
man fees and perceives from an inward fight. In order to the
formation of the interiour, this one medium is requilite, viz.
that man look up to a Divine Supreme Being, and to heaven ;
for, as was faid before, the interiour is formed in heaven ; and
a man is then faid to look up to the Divine Being, when he
believes in him, and that he is the fountain of all good and
truth, and confequently of all underflanding and wifdom ; and
is willing to be led and governed by him : fo, and fo only, the
interiour of man is opened to divine things. A man in this
belief, and living according thereto, is in the power and capacity
of becoming intelledlual and wife ; but in order to his being
really fo, he has many things to learn, both concerning heaven
and this world; as touching the former, from the Word and
the doftrines of the church ; and as touching the latter, from
fcientifick knowledge j and is alfo to take along with him, that
in the fame proportion that he applies knowledge to the pur-
pofes of good life, fo far only is he worthy of being reputed an
underftanding and wife man, as in that degree and no farther,
his interior fight, which is the property of his intellecft, and
his interior affedtion, which is that of his v.'ill, derive their
progrefs to perfection. The fimple are of the following clafs,
viz. fuch as have their interiour open to divine things, but their
underftanding not fo well cultivated by truths, fpiritual, moral,
civil, or natural ; fuch have indeed a fight of truths, and re-
ceive them when heard, but have no inward clear perception of
them : but they who are denominated wife, are as follows, viz.
fuch who have not only their interior affedtions open to divine
good, but alfo their intelledtual faculties fo cultivated and en-
larged, that they fee divine truths by an internal evidence.

Thus

f 225 ]

Thus much may ferve to fliew what iS meant by true under-
llanding and wildoni.

352. A Cpurious underrtanding and wifdom is, not to fee
wliat is true and good, and from thence what is falfe and evil,
from any interior fight, but only to believe it fo on the autho-
rity of others, and then to lludy to confirm ourfelves in that
belief. Now as fuch perfons receive not truth by the light of
truth, but on the credit given to another, they are equally liable
to embrace falfehood as well as truth, and to confirm themfelves
in the former by reafonings and arguments adapted thereto, fo
as to give it the appearance of truth, for whatever is fo con-
firmed puts on that appearance ; and there is nothing but what
is capable of fuch kind of confirmation. Now the interior
faculties of fuch perfons are only open from beneath, but their
exterior in proportion to the degree of fuch confirmation ; and
therefore the light they fee by is not the light of heaven, but
the light of this world, or natural light, in which light what
is falle may appear as true, and when confirmed by a fpecious
kind of arguments, may carry in them an apparent luftre of
evidence, but not fo when viewed in a heavenly light. Of this
clafs fuch are lead intelligent and wife, who have dealt moft in
this way of confirmation ; and they come neareft to wifdom,
who have pradlifed it the leall. Plence may be gathered what
is meant by fpurious underftanding and wifdom i however, we
range not under this clafs what has been received by children
on the authority of their teacheri, if when grown up to the
ufe of reafon they do not implicitly enflave themfelves to their
documents, but lludy to find out the truth, and cherilh it when
found : as fuch are led by a fincere affed:ion for truth for its
own fake, they fee it in the light of its own evidence before
they let themfelves to confirm it by arguments (224). To illuf-
trate this by an example : Certain fpirits were reafoning together,

how

(224) That it is the part of a wife man to fee and perceive the truth of a doc-
trine before he goes about to confirm it by arguments, and not becaufe it is held
for truth by others, n. IC17, 4741, 7012, 7680, 7950- To fee and perceive the
truth by its ow2i native evidence without the aid of argument, is the privilege of
thofc only who love truth for its own fake, and as a rule of life, n. 8521. That
the evidence arifmg from confirmation l>y argument is a natural, not a fpiritual

L 1 1 light,

[ 226 ]

how It came to pafs that the brute animals were born to all
knowledge congruous to their nature refpeftively, but not man ;
upon which they were told, that the former Itood in the pri-
mitive order of their nature, but man not fo, and therefore he
is to be led back into it by inftruftion and difcipline ; whereas
if man had preferved his original perfection, conlifting in loving
God above all things, and his neighbour as himfelf ; in that
cafe he would have been born with innate underllanding and
wifdom, and to the belief of all truth, according to the enlarge-
ment of his faculties. Now the good fpirits immediately per-
ceived the evidence of this argument by the light of truth ; but
the fpirits, who had confirmed themfelves in folihdianifm, and
thereby had caft afide divine love and charity, could not receive
it, as their confirmation in error had obfcured in them the light
of truth.

353. Falfe underftanding and wifdom is that which is fepa-
rate from the acknowledgment of a Divine Being in all thofe
who place nature in the room of God : all fuch think as mere
animals, and are no other than fenfualifts, whatever charai^ler
they may have in the world for erudition (225) ; for their learn-
ing reaches no farther than to the objefts of fenfe laid up in
their memory, and viewed in the light of material nature,
though the fame natural fciences are of fubfervient vAe to form
the minds of perfons truly intellertual : by the fciences we
underftand experimental knowledge of various kinds, phy-

light, and fuch as fenfual and bad men may Iiavc, n. 8780. That all things,
even Inch as are falfe, m.ny he fo confu-mcd by fpecious arguments, as to put on
the appearance of truth, n. 2482, 2490, 5035, 6865, 8521.

{225) That the fenfual part is tlie lowcft degree of the life of man, as apper-
taining to his corporeal nature, n. 5077, 5767, 9212, g:ii6, g^i, 9730- That
he is called a fenfual man, who forms all his judgment and conclufions trom his
bodily fenfcs, and believes nothing; but what he can fee with his eyes, or touch
with his hands, n. 5094, 7693. That fuch a one thinks in his extremities, and
not in his interiour, n. 5089, 5094, 6564, 7693. That his interior or fpiritual
part is (hut againft all light of divine truth, n. 6564, 6844, 6845. That he is
in the dim light of nature, and can fee nothing that is difcoverable only by the
light of heaven, n. 6201, 6310, 6564 — 6622, 6624. That he is therefore in-
wardly in a (late of oppofition to all things that relate to heaven and the true
church, n. 6201, 6316, 6844, 6845, 6948, 6949. That even the learned, who
have confirmed themfelves againft the truths of the latter, are no better thati fen-
fual men, n. 6316. A defcription of the fenfual man, n. 10236.

ficks>

[ 22? ]

ficks, aflronomy, chymiflry, mechanicks, geometry, anatomy,
metaphyficks, philolbphy, the hiftory of kingdoms, and of the
learned world, criticifm, and languages. Now as to thofe who
prefide in ecclefiaftical matters, who at the fame time difbelieve
the operations of a divine principle, and have no higher fcnti-
ments of religion than what relate to the outward man ; fuch
fee nothing farther in the Scriptures than others do in their fci-
ences, nor confider them as containing matters that are to be
underftood only by a reafon enlightened from above ; and this
becaufe the inner gate of their minds, and the faculties next to
them, are fiiut againft divine illumination ; and this becaufe
they have turned away their affecftions and underflanding from
heavenly to earthly things ; and therefore it is that truth and
good are to them as darknefs, and falfe and evil as light : but,
notwithftanding, mere fenfual men can play their part at reafon-
ing, and fomc of them very acutely, but then it is from the
fallacies of fenfe in which they have confirmeu themfelves by
the fubtleties of fcience, and becaufe of their adroitnefs herein
they conceit themfelves to be wifer than others (226) j and their
love of felf and the world is the fire that gives earneftnefs and
warmth to their reafon ings : fuch are they who are in falfe
underflanding and wifdom, and are meant by thofe words of our
Lord, Matt. xiii. 13, 14, 15. " Seeing they fee not, and hear-
" ing they hear not, neither do they underftand, &c." xi. 25.
" Thou hall hid thefe things from the wife and prudent, and
" revealed ihem unto babes."

354. I have had the privilege of converfjng with many
learned men after their deceafe, fome of them of great fame,
and celebrated in the learned world for their writings ; and with
others of Icfs note, but of deep underflanding : now fuch of
them as inwardly dilbelieved a Divine Being, though they out-
wardly profeffed one, became fo ilupid in the other world, as

(226) That fenfual men often reafon with great fubtlcty and acutenefs, from
an inferior underllanding joined to a prompt corporeal memory, n. 105, 196, 5700,
102'^6 : but this from the fallacies of the fenfcs, n. 5084, 6948, 7693. That the
(tnlual are fubile and knavilh above others, n. 7693, 10236. That fuch were
called by the ancients, fcrpents of the tree of knowledge, n. 195, 196, 197, 6398,
4)949, 10313.

not

[ 2?8 ]

not to be able to comprehend truths relating even to civil mat-
ters, much lefs fuch as are fpiritual : and 1 could alio perceive,
nay, behold (for in the Ipiritual world luch things arc repre-
fented in a vifible manner) that their interiour was lb darkened,
even to blacknefs, and lo fliut againll: every thing fpiritual, as
to be inaccelhble to all heavenly light and influx : and that
inward blacknefs appeared more particularly intenfe in thofc
who had confirmed themfelves in unbelief by their fcientifical
reafonings. All fuch in the other world greedily imbibe falfe-
liood and error, as a fponge does water, and nejedl all truth, as
rain is repelled from the tile of an houfe ; nay, I have been
informed, that the interiour of thofe, who have exalted nature
in the room of God, appears, as it were, olTified ; and their
heads, even to the noflrils, have the refemblance of ebony, in
token of their being dellitutc of all fpiritual and intelle(ftual
perception : they who are of this clafs are plunged into a kind
of gulphs or bogs, where they are difquieted and terrified with
phantafies produced by the falfities they had adopted and che-
ridied : the infernal fire of their life is a thirll: of glory and the
pride of diftindlion, by which they are incited to exafperate one
another, and to torment all they can fuch as refufe to worfhip
them as deities ; and this they do by turns. Such is the end
of all the learning and wifdom of this world, which, not having
its foundation in the faith of Almighty God, is utterly deftitute
of heavenly light.

355. That fuch is the lot of the perfons before mentioned,
in the other world, may be gathered from hence ; viz. that all
things in their natural memory, and immediately conncfted
with their bodily fenfes (as are the fcientifical acquifitions fpoken
of above) arc then totally quiefcent, and only the conclufions
or principles formed from thence remain as a fund for to fupply
them with thoughts and matter for converfation j for though a
man carries his natural memory along with him, yet what he
had laid up therein falls not under his intuition as before, as
not being concordant with the light of a different world, and
therefore he cannot call them forth to ufe ; whereas things of
a rational and intelledtual nature, grounded on fcientifick prin-
ciples, quadrate with the light of the fpiritual world ; confc-

quently.

[ 229 J

quently, fo far as any one has attained to rationality by the ufe
of the fcienccs in this world, fo far he is rational after he is fct
free froni the body, it being the lame fpirit that thinks in both
worlds (227).

356. But as to thofe, who, by the cultivation of their minds,
by the fciences and different kinds of knowledge, have acquired
true underftanding and wifdom, as is the cafe with thofe who
apply all their attainments to the purpofcs of good life, walk
in the fear of God, reverence his Word, and adhere to fpiritual
morality (fpiritualem moralem vitarn, fee above, n. 319). To
fuch the fciences ferve, as the means of attaining to wifdom,
and of rtrengthening the things appertaining to faith : it was
given me to perceive the interiour of their minds, wherein all
appeared tranfparent from the light within them, and reprefent-
ing the fparkling colours and brightnefs of the diamond, the
ruby, and the fapphire, in degree of luftre, according as they
had employed their knowledge of the fciences in proof and con-
firmation of divine truths : fuch is the appearance which true
underftanding and wifdom exhibit, when reprefented as vifible
in the fpiritual world (*), and this anfwerably to the nature of

(227) That things fcientifical appertain to man's natural memory whilft in the
bodv, n. 5212, 9922. That man carries with him his whole natural memory
after death, n. 2475. This from experience, n. 2481 to 2486 : but that he can-
not draw from that memory in the other world, as he did in this, and that for
many reafons, n. 2476, 2477, 2479.

(*) It is by no means incredible, that things fpiritual and intelleftual fhould be
reprefented under vifible appearances in the other world, as nature in this abounds
with fuch fignificant emblems and expreffions far beyond what is generally fup-
pofcd : how do the paffions and affections, the virtues and vices, and even the
intclleftual powers, figure themfelvcs in the countenance and geftures of the body !
and how do many of the flowers readily excite in us the ideas of mental properties
and qualities, as of modefty, innocence, and purity, &c. inducing us, by confent,
to denominate them by fuch epithets refpedtively ! and thus heavenly tliir.gs arc
pictured to us by fuch as are natural, according to an ancient doftrine alluded to
by the fublime Milton in the following lines :

" I (hall delineate {o,
" By liic'ning fpiritual to corporeal forms,
" As may exprefs them beft, though what if earth
" Be but the fliadow of hcav'n, and things therein
" Each to other like more tlian on earth is thought."

Par. Lost, Book V.

M m m hcavenlv

[ 230 ] t

heavenly light, which is divine truth from the Lord, who is
the original Iburce of all true underftanding and wildom, fee
above, n. 126 to 133. The grounds [p/ana] of that light in
its fcveral variegations of colours, are the interior recelfes of the
mind ; and the illuftrations and confirmations of divine truths
by fuch things as are in nature, and therefore in the fciences,
produce thofe variegations (228) ; for the more interior and
fpiritu.il part in man contemplates what is laid up in the natural
memoi-y, and whatever is therein employed for the confirmation.
of divine truth, it fublimates, as it were, by the fire of cceleflial
love, takes it to itfelf, and fpiritualizes it : whilft man is in the
body, he continues a ftranger to this procedure of the mind,
and that becaufe during his abode therein he thinks in a double
capacity, both fpiritually and naturally, but has no perception
of the former, but only of what palles in his natural thoughts;
but when he enters upon the fpi ritual world, he has then na
longer any perception of what he thought naturally in this
world, but only of what he thought fpiritually (*) ; and this
by change of ftate. Hence it may appear, that men through
knowledge and inftruiftion in the fciences, as the means of wif-
dom, may become fpiritual, if this obfervation be confined to
fuch as live in the faith and fear of God : nay, fuch meet with
a more particular acceptance in heaven, and obtain a place in
the center of their rcfpeftive focieties, n. 43, as being more
illuminated than their fellows. Thefe are the underflandinsr and
wile ones, who are faid to fliine as the brightnefs of the firma-
ment, and as the ilars in the heavens : but they are denominated
fimple, who indeed had faith in God, reverenced his ^^'^ord, and

(228) That there are moft beautiful colours in heaven, n. 1053, 1624. That
thofe colours are the modifications or variegations of the light of heaven, n. 1042,
104-^ — 4922, 4742, and confcqucntly fo many appearances of truth from good,
and fignify things appertaining to underftanduig and wifdom, n. 4530, 4922, 4677,
9466.

(*) Let it be noted here, that the author docs indeed, in many parts of his
writings, (peak of departed fpirits as rccolledtin^: and refcrriiig to pall tranfaftions
in the body from their natural memory ; but then this is not to be underilood
according to the ftated laws of the other world, but as a particular privilege, per-
miflion, or flate, to anfwer certain purpofes ; and accordingly he generally pre-
mifes on thcfe occafions, that they were placed in fuch a ftate as when in the body,
ir the like. Tr.

lived

[ 231 ]

lived fpiritual and moral lives, but had not much improved
their intelledlual part ; for the mind of man, like any foil, rifes
in value according to the degree of its cultivation.

Of the Rich and the Poor in Heaven.

357. Various are the opinions concerning admiffion into the
kingdom of heaven, whilil fome fuppofe that the poor only,
not the rich, meet with a reception there ; others hold, that
both rich and poor are admitted alike ; and a third fort, that
the former can gain no admittance without firft diverting them-
felves of their wealth, and entering into a voluntary poverty :
and all thefe fupport their diiferent opinions by paifages from
the Scriptures : but they who make fuch diilinftions between
the rich and the poor, in refpetft to their qualification for heaven,
fhew them.felves ftrangers to the right meaning of the Scriptures,
which have both a recondite or fpiritual, and alfo a literal or
natural fenfe ; and they who interpret them only according to
the latter, mufi: miftake their true meaning in many places, par-
ticularly in what is fpoken therein concerning the rich and the
poor in relation to this fubjeftj as for inftance, that it is as
impoflible for the rich to -enter into the kingdom of heaven, as
for a camel to pafs through the eye of a needle ; but that it is
eafy for the poor, as we are therein told, that " theirs is the
" kingdom of heaven," Luke vi. 20, 21 ; v/hereas they who
know any thing of the fpiritual fenfe of the V/ord, underftand
thefe fayings very differently, being convinced on the authority
tlicreof, that the kingdom of heaven is appointed for all who
live the life of faith and love, whether they be rich or poor ;
and who they are that are meant by this diftincftion in Scripture
ihall be explained in what follows. From much converfation
jind long abode with the angels, I know of a truth that the
rich find as ready admilfion into heaven as the poor, and that
no one is excluded merely on account of his wealth, or received
becaufe of his poverty in this world ; both clafles are there alike,
and more of the rich in the higher flations of blifs and glory
than of the poor.

358. I fliall

[ 232 ]

358. I fliall enter upon this fubjeft with obferving, that a
man may lawfully acquire riches, and increafe his ftore, accord-
ing to the opportunity afforded him, provided he keep free from
fubtle devices, and every evil art ; may eat and drink of the
beft, if he place no part of his happinefs therein ; may dwell
magnificently, if according to his rank in life ; converfe like
others upon common worldly topicks, and mare in the publick
diverfions; that tliere is no need of feverity of behaviour, dov/n-
caft looks, and other appearances of mortification ; but he may
be pleafant and chearful ; nor is under any other obligation ot
diverting himfclf of his goods to beftow them on the poor, than
what his own particular impulfe or choice may lay upon him ;
in a word, that as to externals, he may live in a common way
like other orderlv people, without anv bar to his admilTion into
heaven, provided that he inwardly cheriflies a due reverence and
fear of the Lord, and afts juftly and with all good confcience
towards his neighbour ; for every one's real charadler is to be
eftimated according to his internal fentiments and affedlions, or
by his faith and love ; for thefe are the principles that give life
and charadter to all that proceeds from him, as the life of the
adl is in the will, and the life of the fpeech is in the fentiment ;
for as we atl from the will, fo we fpeak from the thought ; and,
therefore, where it is fiiid in Scripture, that every one lliall be
judged according to his deeds, and recompenfed according to
his works, we are to underftand it, as if it were faid, according
to his thoughts and afFecftions, from which his works proceed,
or which are in his works ; for without the former, the latter
are of no confideration, and therefore receive their quality and
charader from them (229). Hence we fee, that it is not the

exteriour,

(229) That it often occurs in Scripture, that man ftiall he judged and recom-
penfed according to his deeds or works, n. 393+- By deeds and works there, we
are not to underftand them as they appear in their external form, but as they arc
in their root or inward principle ; for even bad men do works apparently good in
their external form, but only good men fuch as. arc both outwardly and inwardly
good, n. 3934, 6073. That all moral deeds, as well as bodily adts, proceed from
man's inward faculties and powers, as his thinking and willing, and owe their
cfTencc and qualities thereto ; and, therefore, according to the internal principle is
the external production, n. 3934., 891 1, 10331 ; confequently, according to a man's
love and faith, n. 3934, 6073, 10331, 10333; that therefore the works contain

their

[ ^ll> J

exterlour, but the interiour, which commands the exteriour»
that does all in man. To illuflrate this by the following in-
flance : He that refrains from defrauding another only through
fear of the laws, and of the lofs he might other wife fuffer in
his reputation or irtfercfl, and who but for fuch rcftraints would
not fcruple to take all advantages of him in his power ; fuch
a one, however honefl his dealings may appear outwardly, yet
he is guilty of deceit and fraud iit his thoughts and will, and
is governed by a principle from beneath \jnjermu7i in Je habet\.
On the other hand, the upright man, who refrains from taking
all undue advantages of another, though fecure from difcovery,
and th;it becaufe it would be contrary to his duty to God and
his neighbour j fuch a one makes a confcience of his willing
and thinking, and is under a heavenly influence : their dealings
outwardly are the fame in both, but inwardly and in principle
they are widely different.

359. As then a man may purfue an ordinary courfe of life
in externals, may acquire riches, and live elegantly according
to his rank, as to good cheer, drefs, and dwelling ; carry on
his worldly bufinefs like other men, and take pleafure in the
good things of this life, to the comforting both of his body
and mind, provided that he lives in the true fear of God, and
in love towards his neighbour. 'As this is the cafe, it will not
appear fo difficult a matter to get to heaven, as fome imagine (*) :
the main difficulty lies in relilling the love of felf and of the
world, that they gain not the viftory over us ; as from this
quarter all our danger proceeds (230) : and that otherwife our

way

their principle, or arc the principle itfelf in cfTeiTt and operation, n. 10331. There-
tore, to be judged and recompenfed according to our deeds and works, is the (ame
as if fpoken of our principles, n. 3147, 3934, 6073, ^9^'j i033I> i°333- 1 hat
thofe wprks which have rcfpeft to felt, and the world, arc not good works, but
only fuch as refpcdt the Lord, and the good of our neighbour, n. 3147.

(*) It uuift be owned, that our author here is far from fhewing any thing of
the prccifian, or of inonaftick rigour ; and yet his doilrine, when taken along
with the applied .rellrictions, is as far from giving countenance to careleflhefs, or
over-indulgence ; and the danger he iubjoins that we arc in from the love of felf
and of the world, and whatever wrong habits we may have contradled thcrebv,
will be found to mlnifter to the beft of us abundant matter for repentance, felf-
denial, and watchfulnefs. Tr.

(230) That all evils originate f.om the love of felf and of the world, n. 1307,

N n n 1308,

[ 234 ]

way is not fo hard to make, as feme fuppofc, we may learn
from thofe words of our Lord ; " Learn of me, for I am meek
** and lowly in heart, and ye fhall find reft unto your fouls ;
*' for my yoke is eafy, and my burden is light," Matt. xi. 29,
30, Now the yoke of the Lord is eafy, and his burden light,
fo far as man renounces the evils flowing from the love of felf
and of the world, for fo far the Lord is his guide, and gives
him the maftery over them.

360. I have converfed with fome after their deceafc, wJio
had in this life abdicated the world, and betook themfelves to
folitude, that they might be the more at leifure for devout
excrcifes, as the fafer way to heaven : but fuch moftly appear
of a melancholy caft in the other world, lightly efteem thofe
that are not like themfelves, and are dilfatisfied, through a fup-
pofed merit in themfelves, that they are not exalted to a higher
ftate than others ; they have little aifecftion for others, and there-
fore are backward to exercife thofe offices of love, which is the
bond of a heavenly conjun(fl:ion (*) : they exceed, it is true, in
an ardent defire for heaven, but when they are exalted to be
with the angels, they carry with them a certain fadnefs that
damps the joys of the former ; wherefore they are disjoined
from them, and betake themfelves to a kind of lonely fituations,
where they lead a reclufe life, as they did in this world. Man
can only be formed for heaven in this world, where his affec-
tions have their beginning objects, but vanifli and come to
nothing, if not exercifcd in focial connexions, or rather are
fwallowed up folely in felf, to a total negledl of his neighbour;
fo that a life of charity towards our neighbour, confiding in a
confcientious difcharge of every relative and focial duty, is the
path-way to heaven, and not a mere fpeculative piety ieparated
therefrom (231) ; now adtion, and not inadion, is the vital fup-

port

1308, 1321, 1594 — 93+8, 10038, 10742; fuch as contempt of others, enmity,
hatred, revenge, cruelty, deceit, &c. n. 6667, 7372, 7373 — 10038, 10742. That
man is born with a natural propcnfity to thofe two loves, and that his hereditary
evils are from thence, n. 694, 4317, 5660.

{*) Hitherto we arc to undcrlland them as in the intermediate ftate. Tr.

(231) That charity towards our neighbour confifts in doing every thing that is
good, jaft, and right, in all our aits and relations rcfpeding him, n. 812c, 8121,

8122 ;

[ ^3S ]

port of charity. I ihall here give an inftance of this from ex-
perience : I have known more in the regions of blifs among
thofe that had acquired riches in trade by an honcil induftry,
than among fuch as had become wealthy through the emolu-
ments of high and honourable offices in the ftate j as the latter
are fo liable to be infedlcd, on account of their honours and
importance, with the pride of life and love of the world, which
have a natural tendency to beget felf-love, and confequently to
alienate the affedlions from heavenly things.

361. The lot of the good rich, when tranflated to heaven,
is that of being in a condition of greater apparent fplendor than
others ; fome of them dwell in ftately palaces, richly furnifhed
and ornamented as with gold and filver, together with abun-
dance of all things miniftering to the delights of life ; however,
they place no part of their affedlions on thefe things, but only
on their ufes ; of thefe they take good notice, but the mere
ornamental part, as gold and filver, this they regard with little
attention, and that becaufe when in this world their minds v/ere
fet on ufes, and they confidered gold and filver only as means
fubfervient thereto. Now ufes in the other world appear in
fplendid forms, the good of ufe as gold, and the true of ufe as
fjlver (232) ; and according to their pradtical ufes in this life,
fuch is the fplendor and fuch the delights of their ftate in the
following. Among the good ufes, are thofe of providing things
needful for ourfclves and dependants fuitably to our rank ; to
feek the means of promoting the publick good ; and alfo to have

8122 ; and therefore it extends to all that a man thinks, wills, and does, n. 8124.
That a life of piety without charity avails nothing, but joined with charity leads
fo every good, n. 8252, 8253.

(2'?2) That every good has its particular delight from uf;-, and according to its
ufe refpc£l:ively, n. 3049, 49H4, 7038 ; and alfo its fpccificic quality, confequently
as is the ufe fuch is the good, n. 3049. That all the delight and comfort of life
IS from uf.s, n. 997. That, generally fpealcing, life confilts in ufes, n. 1964.
That the angelical life confills in the goods of love and charity, confequently in
the exercifc of ufes, n. 453. That the Lord, and confequently the angels deriva-
tively from him, has principally only regard to final caufes, which anfwer to ufes
among men, n. 1317, 1645, 5844. That the kingdom of the Lord is the king-
dom of ufes, n. 453, 696, 1103, 3645, 4054, 7038. That the fervice of the
Lord confifts in the pL-rformanee ot ules, n. 7038. That all have their diftin-
guiftiing charaiiter from the ufes they perform, n. 4054, 6815. This illuftratcd,
n. 7038.

where-

[ 236 ]

n-herewith to help our neighbour, which he that abounds, can
better do than he that does not ; befides, that fuch a diligence
to procure what may be for the good of them that lack, pre-
serves us from idlenefs, that pernicious kind of life which gives
our innate evil the power to take pofielfion of us. Thefe are
among the good ufes, as far as they are invigorated bv a divine
principle, or fo far as man is actuated therein by motives of-
duty to God, and regards worldly means only as fubordinatc
thereto.

362. But quite contrary is the lot of fuch rich pcrfons in
the other world, as lived without religious taith in this, nav,
hardened themfelves in unbelief: all fuch are in hell, where
filth, mifery, and want of every comfort, is their portion ; for
into thefe are riches changed, when loved for their own fike ;
and not only their riches, but alfo the ufes to which they ap-
plied them, fuch as their luxury and felf-indulgence for the
gratification of their other corrupt paffions, or to evidence their
pride and contempt of others : riches in fuch hands, having
nothing but what is earthly and vile in their ufe, become
changed into vilenefs at lafl. A fpiritual ufe and application of
riches is, as it were, a feafoning and prefervative to them, and
may be compared to the loul in the body, or to the light and
heat of the Inn in their eifedls on a humid foil ; but in the
other cafe, riches may be confidered as a body without a foul to
preferve it from putrefaftion ; or to a fwampy ground in a deep
valley {haded from the light of the lun : fuch are the men who
fuffer riches to alienate their hearts from God.

363. Every one's darling afFed:ion or ruling palTion con-
tinues with him after his departure from this world, nor is it
extinguilhed in eternity (*) j for the fpirit of a man is as the
love that prevails in and polIelTes him ; and, moreover, (which
has hitherto been a fecret on earth) the body of every Ipirit and
angel is the external form of the love that prcfides in him, and

(*) It muft here be obfervcd to the reader, that a more concerning doiHrinc
(and highly credible it appears from fcriptural authority) or one that infers more
important caution as to what aft'edtions and habits we contrail, cannot prefent
itfelf to the mind of man ; and therefore the fubjecl of this particular number is
warmly recommended to his ferious attention, Tr.

correfponds

I ^Z7 ]

correfponds to the internal form of his mind and will, infomuch
that fpirits know one another by their countenances, geftures,
and fpeech ; and by the fame correfpondent marks it would be
known what fpirit a man is of in this world, were he not ac-
cullomed to atl the counterfeit in thefe particulars ; the ruling
pafiion would equally manifeft itfelf in time, as it does in eter-
nity. I have couvcrlcd with fome that lived fevenfeen centuries
ago, whole lives are recorded in the writings of thofe days j and
they appeared to be governed by the fame affedlions and difpo-
litions by which they are charadtered therein j from which we
may gather, that the lame love of riches, and for the fame ends,
continues with every one hereafter, though with this difference,
that the riches which had been applied here to good purpofes
are changed into heavenly pleafures to the owners in the other
world according to their ufes refpedlively ; and that the riches,
which had been applied here to bad purpofes, become changed
to the owners into filth and corruption hereafter, anfwerably to
the evil ufes they had made of them ; nay, fuch naflinefs they
take pleafure in, as correfponding to thofe filthy lufts to which
they had made their riches fubfervient, or to that fordid avarice
which conlifls in the love of riches for their own fake ; for fuch
paflions are a fpiritual filthinefs defiling the foul.

364. The poor are not qualified for heaven by their poverty,
but by their principles and life, for thefe follow every one, be
he rich or poor, nor is there any diflinguilhing mercy for the
one more than the other (233) ; but he is I'eceived whofe life
has been good, and he is rejedled whofe life has been evil : be-
lides, poverty may be turned into as great a fnare and himlcrance
to a man in his way to heaven, as riches themfclves, feeing that
many of the poorer fort fall into difcontcnt at their condition,
covet many things above their rank, and looking upon riches
as the greatcft of bleflings (234), grudge if they be not fatisfied,

and

(233) Th;it mercy is not arbitrary and immediate, but rcfpe<£tive and mediate;
and that all they, who live in the fear of the Lord, are under his merciful pro-
te«Slion and guidance both here and for ever,- n. 8700, 10659.

(234) That riches and honour arc not real blcflings in themfelvcs, arvd therefore
are given alike both to the good and the evil, n. 8939, IO775, 10776. That the
true blefling is love and faith from the Lord, cffeding a union with ium, and there-

O o o by

[ 238 ]

and indulge murmurings againft God's providence; add to thefe,
their envjings againll- others, their fraudulent pradices, and
grofs fcnfual indulgences : how different will be the lot of
thefe from that of the contented induftrious poor, who pafs
the time of their fojourning in all godlinefs and honefty ? I have
fometimes convcrfed in the other world with certain departed
pealants, who had lived here in the fear of God and all good
confcience, who, having an affedlionate defire to know the truth,
fought to be more particularly inftrudted as to faith and charity,
having heard much concerning the former in this world, and
more concerning the latter in the other ; on which it was told
them, that charity has refpeft to every thing belonging to life,
and faith to every thing belonging to docftrine ; confequently, that
the former confifts in willing and doing every thing that is juft
and right, and the latter in thinking and believing according
thereto ; and that when any one wills and does what he thinks
and believes to be right and good, then faith and charity are
no longer two but one, juft as thought and will unite in form-
ing a determinate ad: of the mind : this they well underftood
and received with pleafure, faying, that when in this world they
did not look upon believing as a thing different or feparate from
living.

365. From what has been offered on this head, it will ap-
pear, that the rich may find as eafy an admifllon into heaven as
the poor ; and the notion of its being more difficult to the
former is from a wrong -underftanding of thofe places in Scrip-
ture, where both are mentioned. By the rich there, in a fpi-
ritual fenfe, we are to underftand fuch as abound in the know-
ledge of good and truth, and accordingly thofe who are within
the church where the Word is known ; and by the poor, fuch
as are deflitute of that knowledge, but defire it, confequently
thofe who are without the church, and ftrangers to the Scrip-
tures. By the rich man cloathed in purple and fine linen, who
was caft into hell, is meant the Jewilh nation, which being in
pofTefHon of the Word, and through that abounding in the
knowledge of good and truth, is reppefented by the rich man ;

by becoming the procuring caufe of man's eternal happinefs, n. 1420, 1422, 2846
—4981, 8939, 10495.

[ 239 ]

by purple clotlilng, is meant the knowledge of good ; and by
fine linen, the knowledge of truth. By the poor man, who lay
at his gate, and defired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from
the rich man's table, and was carried into heaven by the angels,
we are to underftand the Gentiles, who had not the foremen-
tioned knowledge, but defired to have it, Luke xvi. 19, 31.
By the rich, who were invited to the great fupper, and excufed.
themfelvcs, is alfo to be underflood the Jewith nation ; and by
the poor, who were called to fupply tlieir place, are underflood
the Gentiles, or fuch as were without the pale of the church,
Luke xii. 16, 24; and as to the rich man, concerning whom
the Lord faith, that " it is eafier for a camel to go through the
" eye of a needle, than for fuch a one to enter into the king-
** dom of heaven," Matt. xxix. 24. we are to underftand as
mean rich men both in a literal and figurative fenfe ; in the
former, fuch as abound in riches, and fet their hearts upon
them ; in the latter, fuch as abound in natural knowledge and
the fciences ; for thefe are their fpiritual riches, by which,
through the effort of their own underftanding, they prefumptu-
oully think to poffefs themfelves of the knowledge of divine
things, which method being contrary to the divine order, it is
fald to be harder, than for a camel to pafs through the eye of
a needle ; for in this fenfe catnel fignifies fcientifical knowledge in
general, and by the eye of a needle is fignified fpiritual truth (235).
That thefe are fignified by camel, and the eye of a needle, is not
undcrftood at this day, becaufe the key to that knowledge, which

(235) That by camel in the Word is fignified, in general, fcientifical know-
ledge, or what paffes through the fcnfes, n. 3048, 307 1, 3143, 314s. What is
fignified by embroidery and iiecdle-work, and confequently by neeille, n. 9688.
That to enter into the truths of faith by fuch kind of knowledge is contrary to
the divine order, n. 10236. That they who attempt this are infane with re!"pe£t
to things pertaining to heaven and the true church, n. 128, 129, 130, 232, 233,
6047 ; and appear as intoxicated in the other world when they think of fpiritual
things, n. 1072. Their particular dilpofition, n. 196. llluftration by examples,
th;it fpiritual things arc not to be comprehended by fuch natural knowledge, n. 233,
2094, 2196, 2203, 2209. That by means of Ipiritual light we may fearch out
the fcientifical knowledge of the natural man, but not vice verfa, becaufe fpiritual
Influx dcfcends into nature, but nature afcends not up to fpirit, n. 3219, 5119—
9H0, 911 1. That divine truths are firft to be admitted and received into the
mind, and then we may apply to things of fcientifical kjiowkdgc for illuftration,
but not vice vcrfci^ n. 6047.

explains

[ 240 ]

explains how fpiritual things are fignihed by the literal fcnfe of
the word, is not in the hands of the church ; for there is both
a fpiritual and a natural fenfe throughout the Word, it being
written according to correfpondcncy between things natural and
fpiritual, to the end that there might be an alliance between
heaven and earth, and between angels and men, fince the time
of their immediate communication ceafed. Thus we have
fliewed who are meant in particular by the rich in the Word,
viz. fuch as abound in the knowledge of good and truth, and
that by the feveral kinds of this knowledge are meant the riches
there fpoken of, as may be feen in the paffages here referred to,
Ifai. X. 12, 13, 14. ch. XXX. 6, 7. xlv. 3, Jer. xvii. 3. xlvii. 7.
1. 36, 37. li. 13. Dan. v. 2, 3, 4. Ezek. xxvi. 7, 12. xxvii. i.
to the end. Zech. ix. 3, 4. Plal. xl. 13. Hof. xii. 9. Apoc. iii.
17, 18. Luke xiv. 33. et alibi : and that by the poor are meant
thofe who have not the fame means of knowledge, but are
defirous of them, fee Matt. xi. 5. Luke vi. 20, 21. xiv. 21.
Ifai. xiv. 30. xxix. 19. xli. 17, 18. Zeph. iii. 12, 18. All
thefe paffages referred to may be feen explained according to
their fpiritual fenfe in Arcana Coelestia, n. 10227.

Of Marriage in Heaven.

366. As heaven Is inhabited by the human race, and the
angels there are of both fexes ; and as by the order of creation
the woman is for the man, and the man for the woman, and
the love of each for the other innate in both, it follows, that
there are rfiarriages in heaven as well as on earth, though very
different in kind. Now wlierein they differ, and wherein they
refemble each other, fhall be the fubjeft of the following chap-
ter (*).

(*) The reader will have no reafon to be offended at the title of this chapter,
when he is told, that the fpiritual union here treated of under the name of mar-
riage, is quite of a different kind, boch as to means and end, from that marriage
which our Lord declares to have no place at the refurreftion, as will evidently
appear to him as he proceeds. Tr.

367. Mar-

[ 241 ]

367. Marriage In heaven is the conjuntfllon of two in unity
of mind, the nature of which Ihall here be explained. The
mind confiils of two parts, one of which is called the intelleft
or underftanding, and the other the will, and where both thefe
co-operate or adt in union, they form one mind. Now the
hufband there reprcfents and exercifes the intelledual part, and
the wife the province of the will ; and when the interior union
of both manifells itfelf in the exterior or fenfitive part, it is
called conjugal love; whence it appears, that conjugal love de-
rives its origin from the conjundlion of two in unity of mind,
■and this is called in heaven cohabitation, without the idea of
di(lin(;:l:ion of parties -, and, therefore, where two arc fo united in
fpiritual marriage, they are not called two, but one angel (236).

368. That fuch is the proper conjundlion and intimate unioa
of minds between huiband and wife, is indicated by their very
formation, the man being formed more for intellectual purpofes,
and of deeper thought ; but the woman naturally to be led and
a<5luated more by the motions of the will. The like alfo feems
denoted by the particular genius and form of each refpecftively ;
Ijf the genius, in that the talent of the man confifts more in the
exercife of reafon ; that of the woman in the difplay of affec-
tion : and by the difference of for?}i, in that man has a rougher
and lefs comely afpedt, a harflier fpeech, and a more robuft
body J whilfl a lovely countenance, a foft voice, and a tender
frame, recommend the female : nor is the difference lefs be-
tween the underftanding and will, or thought and affedlion ;
and fo alfo between truth and good, and faith and love ; for
truth and faith refpedl the vmderftanding, as good and love
refpedt the will. Hence it is, that in the Word, by youth and
fuan, in a fpiritual {cnic, are meant the underftanding of truth ;
and by virgin and ivoman, the affedlion of good ; and likewife,
that the church, from its affedtion to good and truth, is repre-
fented and denominated woman, and alfo virgin j as likewife,

(2.36) That men little know now o'days what and whence true conjugal love is,
n. 2727. That true conjugal love confifts in unity of will, n.2731. That fuch as
are in it have, as it were, but one mind, n. 2732, I0i68, 10169. From this
conjunction of minds proceeds fpiritual love or union, n. 1594, 2057, 3939 — 7081
to 7086, 7501, 10J30.

P p p that

[ 242 ]

thiU all, who are in the afFedlion of good, are filled virgins ;
thus in Apoc. xiv. 4. (237).

•^69. What has been faid above is not fo to be uiidcrftood,
as if hufhand and wife were not each feparately endowed with
underftanding and will, but only that the intclledlual part has
the afcendant in the former, and the will part in the latter, and
each is denominated from the predominant property, though,
ftridly fpeaking, there is no predominancy in the heavenly mar-
riages, becaufe the will of the wife is that of the huiband, and
the intelleft of the hufband is that of the wife, both willing
and thinking the fame, and confequently of one mind : and
this union is the more clofe and intimate, as the will of the
wife joins itfelf to the intelledl of the hufband, and the intcl-
k(5l of the hufband to the will of the wife, and that more efpe-
cially when they face each other ; for, as has been faid more
than once, there is then a mutual communication of thoughts
and affediions in the heavens, and more efpecially between huf-
band and wife through greater mutual afFtftion. Thus much
may fuf^ice to explain that conjundlion of minds, which is the
bond of fpiritual marriage in the heavens, and is the fource of
conjugal love, viz. when each freely communicates their fpi-
ritual good things to the other.

370. I have been told by the angels, that as far forth as
any two are conjoined in this bond of mental union, fo far are
they advanced in conjugal love, and alio in underftanding, wif-
dom, and happinefs, and that becaufe divine truth and good,
from whence proceed all true underftanding, wif'dom, and hap-
pinefs, have their ingr-efs into conjugal love, as their proper
plane or ground, wherein truth and good unite ; for as there is

(237) That by young inert in the Word is meant the underftanding of truth,
or the pcrfons that iinderftand it, n. 7668. That men fignifies the fame, n. 158,
265, 749, 915, 1007 — 9007. 'I'hat by woman is fignifitd the afFeftion of good
and truth, n. 568, 3160, 6014, 7337, 8994. The church by the fame, as alfo
by wife, n. 252, 253, 749, 770 — 252, 253, 409, 749, 770 : under what dif-
ference, n. 915, 2517, 3236, 4510, 4822. That hujband and ^uife, taken in
their moft exalted fenfc, are fpoken of the Lord, and his conjuudlion with lieaven
and the ciuirch, n. 722. That virgin fignifics the afte(Sion of good, n. 3067,
31 10, 3179, 3189, 6731, 6742 : and alfo the church, n. 2362, 3081, 3963, 4638,
6729, 677s, 6778.

a con-

♦^

[ 243 ]

a conjundlion of intelleft and will, fo is there alfo of truth and
good, becaofe the intelledl is that which receives divine truths,
and is formed thereby ; and the will is that which receives divine
good, and alio receives its form from it ; for wnat a man wills,
that is his good ; and what he receives into his underftanding,
that appears to him as truth ; and, therefore, it comes to the
fame, whether you call it a conjunction of the intelledt and
will, or a conjunction of truth and good. The conjunction of
truth and good conftitutes an angel, and alfo his underflanding,
wifdom, and happinefs j for according to fuch conjuniftion is
the degree of angelical perfecftion ; and, therefore, as far as truth
and good, or, which comes to the fame, as far as faith and love,
are conjoined in any angel, fuch is his angelical charadtcr and
excellence.

371. That a divine virtue proceeding from the Lord is the
influencing principle in true conjugal love, is becaufe the latter
is derived from the conjunction of good and truth ; for, as
was faid above, it is all the fame, whether we call it the con-
junction of intellect and will, or the conjunction of good and
truth: now this conjunction of good and truth derives its origin
from the divine love of the Lord towards all in heaven and
earth. From this divine love proceeds divine good, and divine
good is received both by angels and men in divine truth as its
proper receptacle -, and, therefore, he, who is in no degree of
divine truth, can receive nothing from the Lord and from hea-
ven ; but as far forth as good and truth are conjoined in any
one, fo far is he joined to the Lord and heaven. Such is the
origin of true conjugal love, and accordingly a fit plane or
ground for the reception of the divine influx ; and hence it is,
that the conjunction of good and truth is called in heaven the
coelefliial marriage, and that heaven in Scripture language is
compared to and called marriage ; and alfo that the Lord is
called the bridegroom and hufband, and heaven with the church,
his bride and wife (238).

372. Good

(238) That true conjugal love derives its origin, caufc, and efltnce from the
conivindtion [cofijugto'] of good and truth, and is therefore of heavenly extradtion,
n. 27285 2729. Of the heavenly fpirits, who have a perception of it from this

idea,
\

[ 244 ]

372- Good and truth, as conjoined in angel cr mm, are not
two, but one, becaufe there the good is in the trutli, and the
trutli in the good : this conjundtion is as when any one thinks
of what he wills, and wills what he thinks of, for fo the think-
ing and willing co-operate and conllitute one mind, the thought
being the form to tiie will, and the will as the ellence and life
of the thought ; and hence it is, that where two are joined
together in this fpiritual marriage, they are not called two in
heaven, but one angel. In this fenfe are to be taken thofe
words of our Lord : " Have ye not read, that he who made
" them from the beginning, made them male and female r And
*' faid. For this caule fliall a man leave father and mother, and
" cleave unto his wife, and they twain ihall be one flelh ;
" wherefore they are no more twain, but one fielli ; wherefore
** what God hath joined together, let not man put aliinder :
" all men cannot receive this laying, but they to wiiom it is
** given," Matt. xix. 4, ^,6, u. Mark x. 6, 7, 8, 9. Gen. ii.
24. In thefe words are defcribed the heavenly marriage of the
angels, and alfo the conjunction of good and truth ; and by a
man's being forbid to feparate what God hath joined together,
we are to underfland, that good is not to be feparated from
truth.

373. Thus has been explained the origin of true conjugal
love, and fliewed how it is lirrt: formed in the minds of the
parties, and thence defcending to the corporeal part, is there
fenfibly experienced as love ; for whatever is perceived in the
bodily affedions is derived from man's fpiritual part, viz. his
underltanding and will, which conftitute the fpiritual man ;
and though in fuch defcent it affumes a different form, yet it is
fimilar and confentaneous to its principle, jull as the body adls
conformably to the dircftion of the foul, or as the effeft is

idea, n. 10756. That conjugal love exaftly rcftmbles the conjim£lion of good
and truth, of which, n. 1094, 2IJ3, 2429 — 9206, 9495, 9637. How the con-
junclion of good and truth takes eftcdt, and in whom, n. 3834, 4096, 4301 — 7623
to 7627, 9258. That none know what true conjugal love is, but thev who are
in good and truth from the Lord, n. 10171. That by marriage in the Word is
fignitied the marriage of good and truth, n. 3132, 4434, 4834. That in true
conjugal love is the kingdom of the Lord and hea\cji, n. 2737.

obfequious

[ H5 ]

obfequlous to the efficiency of its caufe, according to what has
been laid down in the two articles concerning correfpondences.

374. I heard an angel defcribe true conjugal love, and its
coeleftial delights, as divine good and divine truth from the
Lord in two perfons, fo united, as to form in a manner but
one J and he faid, that every married pair in heaven was an
inftance of this heavenly love, forafmuch as the good and truth
in every one is his proper fclf both in mind and body, feeing
that the body is the exprefs image of the mind, as being formed
after its likenefs. He inferred from hence, that a divine like-
nefs is imaged in two perfons that are in true conjugal love, and
confcquently that they are a fimilitude of heaven, as the uni-
verfal heaven is divine good and divine truth proceeding from
the Lord, and confequently that the whole of heaven was repre-
fented in that love, together with beatitudes and delights in-
numerable, which indefinite term he exprefled by a word that
fignifies myriads of myriads. He exprefled aftonifhment, that
members of the Chriftian church fhould continue fuch ftrangers
to this truth j whereas that church is the Lord's reprefentative
of heaven on earth, and heaven exhibits a complete marriage
of good and truth. He likewife appeared amazed at adultery
being more commonly pracftifed within than without the church,
as the inordinate gratification of that paffion in every fpiritual
view is thf love of falfe joined with evil, and the pleafure of it
of an infernal nature, being diametrically oppofite to the de-
lights of heaven flowing from the love of truth conjoined with
good.

375. Every one knows that two married perfons, who are
in mutual love, have an interior bond, as it is effential to the
true conjugal ftate that there be a union of minds and affedtions,
and according to the quality of thcfe fuch is the union, and
confequently the love : now the mind is entirely formed of the
fpecies of truth and good that it has imbibed, for all things in
the univerfe have fome relation to good and truth (real or ap-
parent), and alfo to their conjundlion ; wherefore tlie union of
minds is according to the quality and kinds of truth and good
from which they are formed, and that the moft perfcdl union
where the latter are pure and genuine. It is to be remarked

Q^q q here.

[ 246 ]

here, that there is no ftronger fympathy than between truth
and good, and accordingly from this fourcc it is that true con-
jugal love deduces its origin (239) : there is alio a fympathy
between falfe and evil, from which proceeds a love, but of an
infernal kind, and the end of which is hell.

376. From what has been here faiu concerning the origin
of conjugal love, we may be able to pronounce who are in con-
jugal love, and who are not : now of the former clafs are all
they, who, through divine truths, attain to divine good, con-
jugal luve being only fo far pure and genuine, as the truths
which arc joined to the good are fo : and as all good in union
with its truths is from the Lord, it follows, that no one can
be in a ftate of perfed: conjugal love, unlefs he acknowledge the
Lord and his divinity, for otherwife the divine influence and
prefence are not in the truths, which a man has, to faniflify and
make them divine.

377. From hence we may conclude, that they who come
under the predicament of falfe (*), or oppofite to the truth,
[jtt/ infaljis\ more efpecially if from an evil principle, \in faljis

(239) That all things in the univerfal heaven and world have fome relation to
good and truth, n. 2451, _3i66, 4390, 4409, 5232, 7256, 10122 ; and to their
conjunftion, n. 10555. That there is a marriage between good and truth, n.
1094, 2173, 2503. That good loves, and confequcntly defires truth, and to be
joined to it, and that there is a perpetual tendency to union in both, n. 9206,
9207, 9495' That the life of truth is from good, n. 5089, 1997, 2379, 4070 —
5147, 9607. That truth is the form of good, n. 3049, 3180, 4574, 9J54' That
truth is to good as water is to bread, n. 4976.

(*) It is not eafy to render our author's meaning in this place intelligible to the
common reader without a paraphrafe, not only on account of the difference of
idioms in the two languages, but alfowith refpc»ft to the conception of the matter.
Thus where he fpeaks of the falfe of evil, anvi the true of good, he not only ufes
thofe words as fubftantivcs, which are adjcdtives in the Englifh, but in a fenfe
which we have no fubftantivcs that fully exprefs. Thus, the error, falfchood, or
falfity of evil, conveys not the idea meant ; but the falfe of e\ il here fignifies a
contrariety to whatever is right and true, proceeding from a difpofition of mind
or principle contrary to every thing" that is good, or a wrong imdcrftanding ifTuing
from a pcrvcrfe will and depraved afFe£tions. Thus, the unconverted, natural
man, who loves only himfelf and the world, is an enemy to all fpiritual truth
through the malignity of his nature ; and all that fuch a one thinks, fays, and
does, is contrary to the divine order and will ; as there is no divine love in his
heart, there is no divine light in his mind and underftanding, but fuch a one is in
fpiritual darkucfs, or in tiie falfe of (from) evil. Tr.

[ 247 ]

ex malo] cannot experience any thing of true conjugal love, a«!
their inward gate is (hut againft tlie heavenly influx, and their
e^cternal or natural part occupied by falfe and evil, which,
through their clofe conjunction, form an infernal kind of mar-
riage ; fome inftances of which I have feen : they converfe
indeed together, and have external fellowfhip in lewdnefs y but
inwardly hate one another beyond all defcription.

2)7^ • Neither can there be true conjugal love between two
perfons of different religions, as the true of one agrees not with
the good of the other ; but two diflimilar and difcordant per-
fuafions cannot confift with unanimity, and therefore their love
cannot be of fpiritual extraftion ; or if they cohabit and agree,,
fuch agreement is the eft'edt only of natural caufes (240) ; for
this reafon marriages in the heavens are formed only of thofe
who belong to the fame fociety, as being in good and truth of
the fame kind and quality : that all there of one and the fame
fociety are in like good and truth, and differ from thofe of other
focieties, fee above, n. 41, &/eq. This was reprefented among
the Ifraelites by their marrying within their own tribes, and ia
particular into their own families, and not with others.

379. Neither can there be true conjugal love between a
hufband and different wives at the fame time, as this counteradls
the fpiritual origin and end of marriage, which is the union of
two nunds, and confequently hinders the interior conjunction
of good and truth, which is effential to this love : now mar-
riage with more than one wife is like an underfbanding divided
into many wills, or as a man that joins himfelf to different
churches, whereby his faith is fo diffrafted, that it comes to
nothing. The angels declare, that to marry feveral wives is
abfolutely contrary to the divine order, and that they are affured
of this many ways, particularly from hence, that as foon as
they entertain any notion of fuch marriages, they lofe their
heavenly peace and joy, and become, as it were, intoxicated
tlirough a feparation between their internal good and truth : and
if their mental faculties become fo difordered through thinking

(240) That it is unlawful for perfons of difFtrcnt religions to contr.i<£l marriage,,
as this hinders the conjun<5lion of like good and like truth in the afFcitions and
imderftanding, and coniec^utntly unanimity, n.. 8998.

with.

[ 248 ]

with the leafi: inclination on polygamy, they conclude with
the flroiigeil: convidlion, that the engagement itlelf would darken
their minds, and banifli their joys, and that from a heavenly
conjugal love they fliould fall into a grofs inordinate pallion
inconfiflent with the purity of Cffileftial delights (241) : .they
lay, that it is difficult for men now o'days to form any con-
ception of this matter, as fo very few have any experience of
true conjugal love, without which they mult remain entire
flrangers to that inward fatisfadion which refults from it, whilft
they experience nothing more than the gratification of the i'cn-
fual part, which in a little time changes into dirgufl: j whereas
the Spiritual delight of pure conjugal love not only lafts even
to old age in this world, but after death makes a part of the
joys of heaven, where it is exalted to higher fpirituality and
perfedion in eternity : they moreover faid, that the beatitudes
of truly fpiritual conjugal love might be reckoned up to many
thoufands, of which not one was fully known by mortal man,
nor can be thoroughly experienced by any who are not in that
flate of heavenly marriage, which confifts in the union of good
and truth from the Lord.

380. Love of dominion in one of the married parties over
the other banifhes true conjugal love and its heavenly delight ;
forafmuch as the latter, as was obferved "before, confifts in a
conformity of wills on both fides by mutual con feat and choice,
which the thirft of dominion in the party aiming at government
totally defeats, by exalting the will of felf over that of the
other, and obftrutSting that free and equal communication of
love and its friendly offices, in which the happincfs of marriage

(241) As hufband and wife fliould be one in the eflential principles of life, and
as they conftitutc one angel in heaven, therefore true conjugal love cannot fubfiil
between one hufband and different wives, n. 1907, 2740. That to have more
wives than one at the fame time is contrary to the divine order, n. 10835. That
marriage can only be between two, evidently appears from thofe who belong to the
Lord's ccelcftial kingdom, n. 865, 3x46, 9902, 10172 ; and that bccaufe the
angels of that kingdom arc in the mod intimate union of good and truth, n. 3246.
That it was permitted to the Ifraelites to have more wives than one at the fame
time, and alfo to keep concubines, but not fo to Chriftians ; and the rcafon of the
difference is, becaufe the former were only in the externals of religion, but the
latter are called to inward and fpiritual religion, and confcqucntly to the internal
marriage of good and truth, n. 3246, 4837, 8809.

confifts ;

[ 249 ■]

confifts ; nay, fo oppofite is the luH: of power and rule to every
thing that is ca-leftial and fpiritual in that flate, as to render
the very mention of it ridiculous. Where one will§ and loves
as the other docs, there is liberty in both, for liberty is the
ofFipring of love ; but where the fpirit of governing prefidcs,
all is fcrvitude, for the party, who is inftigated by the defire of
dominion, is a fervant to the imperious paflion. Thefe things
will not appear in their full evidence to fuch as are wholly
ftrangers to the fweet liberty that is in heavenly love ; but
enough has been faid on this fubjeCl to fliew, that the exercife
of dominion is fo far from uniting, that nothing tends more
to di\ ide minds ; it may indeed fubdue, but a mind fubdued or
fubjugated, is either without a will of its own, or has an op-
polite will ; if it has no will, it confequently has no love ; and
if an oppofite will, the paflion that prevails in it is hatred and
not love ; and fuch married perfons as are in this condition and
charafter, are all at ftrife and war within, however they may
fmooth over their behaviour towards one another with an ex-
ternal decency for the fake of peace. This inward hoftility
manifefts itfelf in the other world, where they attack each other
with fury and open violence when they meet, as I can teftify
from having been a fpedlator of their quarrels and vindictive
rage, as in the intermediate flate every one appears outwardly
wliat he is inwardly, being free there from thofe reftraints and
motives to fave appearances, by which they regulate their be-
haviour in this world.

381. We have indeed inflances of apparent coniugal love
in fome, but without the reality, if they are not in the love of
good and truth ; and it is not unufual to counterfeit this ap-
pearance from various motives, as for example, that the parties
may live quietly and at eafe in their families, may be properly
accommodated in ficknefs and old age, or that the children they
arc fond of may be duly taken care of ; fome praftife an afl-ec-
tionate behaviour through fear of the other party, through
regard to charaifler, to prevent bad confcquences, and in fome
cales on account of natural paflion. Conjugal love has alfo its
diftl-rent degrees in married perfons ; fome have it in a higher,
and fome in a lower degree, nay, one may be in 'a difpofltion

R r r for

[ 250 1

for it, and the other In none at all ; and under fuch difference
marriage may be to one as heaven, and to the other as hell.

382. The moft perfect conjugal love is in the inniofi: hea-
ven, as the angels there are moll highly graduated in conjoined
truth and good, and alfo in innocence : the angels of the infe-
rior heavens are alfo (according to their degree in innocence) in
pure conjugal love, which, confidered in itfelf, is a Itatc of
innocence, and attended with heavenly delights, whilll the
bielled pairs, from an infantile fimplicity of dilpol'ition, receive
pleafure from all that they fee, and give pleafure in all that they
do ; for a heavenly virtue tintlures all things to them : and
hence it is, that conjugal love is reprefented above by the moft
delightful emblems ; accordingly I have fecn it reprefented by
a virgin of exquifite beauty, girt about, as it were, with a white
cloud ; and it was told me, that all the angels derive their
beauty from conjugal love, that all the particular affedions and
fcntiments, that ilTued from this fource, were reprefented by
adamantine atmofpheres intermixed with carbuncles and rubies,
exciting fenfations that penetrated even to the mental affedlions.
In a word, heaven reprefents itfelf by conjugal love, and that
becaufe the conjuniflion of good and truth in the angels con-
ftitutes heaven, and the fame conjundlion conilitutcs the clfcnce
of true, fpiritual, conjugal love.

382. Marriage in the heavens differs from marriage on earth,
and herein more particularly, that die latter is inftituted for
the procreation of children, whereas the end of heavenly mar-
riages is the procreation or multiplication of good and truth,
in the conjunction or union of which fuch n;iarriage conlifls ;
and as the love of good and truth is the bond of it, fo are thefe
the fruit of it : hence it is, that by births and generations in
the Word, we are to underlland fuch as are fpiritual, viz. of
good aad truth ; by father and mother, truth conjoined with
good as the propagating principles ; and by fons and daughters,
the truths and goods propagated; and by fons and daughters-in-
law, the conjundions of thefe, and fo on (242). It is evident

from

(242) That conception, delivery, nativities and generations, have alfo a Cpi-
litual meaning in reference to good and truth, or love and faith, n. 613, 1145,

i775>

[ 251 I

from hence, that marriages in the heavens are very different from
marriages on earth, the fonner being fpiritual, and not fo pro-
perly called nuptials, as conjundlion of minds through the
union of good and truth ; whereas on earth they are properly
nuptials, as confifting not only in a fpiritual, but alio a carnal
conjundion ; and forafmuch as fuch kind of nuptials is not in
heaven, therefore the two mates or married perfons are not
there called hulband and wife ; but each other's partner [cofT/ux]
is named (from an idea in the angels of two minds united) by
a term anfwering to his or her tnutual, or fecondfelf. What has
been here faid may lead us to the true meaning of thofe words
of our Lord concerning marriage, Luke xxi. 35, 36.

383. It has been given me to fee haw marriages are con-
tracted in the heavens : now it mufl be obferved, that through-
cut heaven, fuch as are of like difpolitions and qualities are
confociated into particular fellowfliips ; and fuch as differ in
thefe refpeds are diflbciated or feparated, fo that every fociety
in heaven confifls of fimilar members ; and thefe are brouglu
together by the Lord, and not through their own feeking, fee
above, n. 41, 43, 44, ^ feq. In like manner the hufband and
wife are brought together, being fuch whofe minds are capable
of union with each other, on v/hich they love each other with
mutual cordiality at firil: light, immediately perceive their ap-
pointed union, and enter into marriage : thus all marriages in
heaven are from the Lord only : they alio celebrate a feflival on
tlie occafion in the prefence of many ; thefe fcftivals differ in
different focieties.

3 84. As marriages in this world are the feminaries of man-
kind, and alfo of future angels (for, as was obferved under its
proper article, heaven is peopled by the human race) and being

1755, 2020 — 8042, 9325, 10197. That hence, by fpLritiial application we reml
of regcntration and new birth through f;iith and love, 11. 5160, 5598, 9042, 9845.
'I'hat A'lot/jfr f;gnifies the church in refpcfl to true do£trine, and Faiber good, and
alfo good of the churcli, n. 2691, 2717, 3703, 5580, 8897- That Sam lignify
the aftedions of truth, and confequently truths, n. 489, 491, 533, 8649, 9807 ;
and Daughters, the aftections of good, and alfo good in general, n. 489, 490,
491 — 6778, 9055. That Son-in-law fignifies truth afibciated to the aftcdtion of
good, n. 2389. That Daughter-in-law fignifies good affociatcd to its proper truth,
n. 4843.

according

[ 252 ]

according to the tnie inftitution of them of a fpiritual origin
through the conjunftion of good and truth, and the divine blef-
fing on pure conjugal love ; on thefe accounts they are con-
iidered as holy by the angels j and, on the other hand, they
look upon adultery, tiie oppofite to conjugal love, as profa-'
nation ; whilll they beliold in one the image of heaven, through
tlie conjunction of good and truth therein ; and in the other an
image of hell, through the conjundtion of fi\lfe with evil :
wherefore, on the very naming of adultery, they turn their
backs in token of a\erfion : from this contrariety in it to every
thing facred, it comes to pafs, that the gate of heaven is fluit
againrt the adulterer, the confequence of which is his turning
infidel, and renouncing the faith of the church (243). That
all in hell are enemies to conjugal love was given me to per-
ceive by an imprelTion on my mind by the fphere exhaling
thence, which feemed as a continued effort to diffolve and vio-
late the marriage bond ; denoting thereby, that the ruling paf-
fion in hell is that of adulterv, and confequentlv an enmity to
the union of good and truth, which is the foundation of heaven.
From which we may conclude, that the gratification of this
inordinate paffion is nothing fliort of an infernal pleafure, and
diametrically oppofite to the innocent fatisf^dlion of pure con-
jugal love, which is a heavenly pleafure.

385. There were, on a time, certain fpirits, wlio, from a
pradifed behaviour in this life, followed me witli an over-
officious fedulity, and with an air of foftnefs that rcfembled the
humility of good fpirits ; but by the influx from their fpheres;
I could perceive fallacy and guile within. At length I entered
into convcrlation with one of them, who, I found, had been
a commanding military officer, and, as I difcovered fomething
of the libertine in his ideas, I turned the difcourfe to the fub-

(243) That adultery i"; profanation, n. 9961, 10174. That the gate of heaven
is fhut againll adulterers, 11. 275. That they, who place their delight in this fin,
difqualify thcnifclves for iica\cn, n. 539, 2733, 2747, 2748, 2749, 2751, 10175.
That adulterers arc unniercitul, and without religion, n. 824, 2747, 2748. That
in the other world they dilight in naftincfs, and are in hells fiiitcd thereto, n. 2755,
5394, 5722. 'I'hat their ideas arc filthy, n. 2747, 2748. That by adultery 1n the
AV'ord, in a fpiritual fenfe, is fignified the adulterating of good ; and by fornica-
tion, the perverting of truth, n. 2466, 2729, 3399, 4865, 8904, 10648.

jca

[ 253 ]

jedl of marriage, in that way of fpiritual converfation which is
by reprefentatives, equally exprefiive with any other, and much
more copious, though laconick ; and he told me, that in this
world he had made light of adultery : I had the freedom to tell
him, that adultery was abominable, whatever pains they who
were guilty of that fm- might take to reafon themfelves into a
perfuafion of its- lawfulnefs ; and that he might know this from
marriage being the feminary of the human race, and alfo of the
coelefUal kingdom, and confequently not to be violated, but
held as facred ; moreover, that, as he was in the fpiritual world,
and in a ftate of perception, he ought to know that conjugal
love, as a fpiritual principle, was derivative from the Lord
through heaven ; and that mutual love, which is the cement of
heavenly blifs, proceeded from the fame fource ; as likewifc
from hence, that adulterers, as foon as they approach the coe-
leftial focieties, become fenfible of their own impurity, and
being unable to bear the holy efflux, fpontaneoufly precipitate
themfelves down to hell : I farther obferved to him, that at the
leaft, he could not but know, that to violate the laws of mar-
riage was contrary to all laws both divine and human, as well
as to the didlates of unbiaffed reafon ; to which I added other
arguments. To all which he only replied, that he was of a dif-
ferent way of thinking when in this world, and fliewed an incli-
nation to difpute the matter with me ; but I told him that plain
truths did not allow of reafonings, and that arguments might
be invented to plead for any thing a man liked, nay, in defence
of any error or evil ; and that he would do well to confider the
unanfvverable reafons that had been offered ; or» to view the
matter in another light, that he would try the cafe by that well
known unalterable rule of equity ; that no man fliould do to
another what he would not that another fhould do to him, and
by thus making the cafe his own, afk himfelf ; If any one
fliould have feduced a wife he had loved, whether under the
frefh fenfe of the injury he would not have exprclTed the utmoft
deteftation of adultery, and have employed the fkill in reafon-
ing, to aggravate the guilt of it, which he now meant to em-
ploy in the defence of it ; nay, if he would not, in the bitter-

S f f nefs

[ 254 ]

nefs of his refentment, have adjudged the criminal to the pit
of hell.

■^86. I have had a perception of the delights of pure con-
jugal love in their progrelTion to the heavenly ftate, and alfo of
the impure pleafures of adultery in theirs to the infernal ftate,
in the other worlds ; and faw how the former were fublimated
by an increafe of innumerable and unfpeakable beatitudes, from
more to more, till they were exalted to the joys of the inmoft
heaven, or that of perfecfl innocence, and that with the like
increafe of liberty ; for all liberty proceeds from love, and the
higheft degree of it from conjugal, which is alfo cceleftial love :
but the progreflion of adulterous love is by inverfe degrees to-
wards hell, and fo on to the lowermoft hell, where all is dire
and horrible : fuch is the lot of adulterers in the other world.
By adulterers is here meant, they who take delight in the gra-
tification of this linful pafTion, but have no relifli for the in-
nocent delights of pure conjugal affedion.

Of the Funftlons of the Angels in Heaven.

387. The fundlions of the angels in heaven cannot be enu-
merated or defcribed in particular ; and therefore, being inde-
finite and various according to the different offices and fervices
of the feveral focieties, we can only fpeak of them in a general
way. Every fociety has its particular offices, for they are all
diftin<5l according to their peculiar excellencies and fpecies of
good (fee above, n. 41.) and confequently according to their
ufes ; for that only is confidered as good by all in heaven, which
is good by operation and adt : there every one performs good
offices ; for the Lord's kingdom is the kingdom of ufes (244).

(244) That the kingdom of the Lord is the kingdom of ufes, n. 453, 696, 1 102,
3645, 4054, 7038. That to fervc the Lord is to do ufes, n. 7038. That all in
■ the other world are appointed to ufefulnefs, n. H03 ; and that this extends even
to bad and infernal fpirits, and in what manner, n. 696. That all have their
chara<5ter and denomination from the ufes they perform refpedlively, n. 4054, 6815.
This illuftrated, n. 7038. That angelical bleflcdnefs confifts in doing goad offices
of love, n. 454.

388. There

[ ^ss ]

388. There are different adminlftratlons in the heavens as
well as on earth, viz. ecclefiaflical, civil, and domeftick ; of
the firft has been fpoken in the article concerning divine vt'orlhip,
n. 221 to 227; of the fecond, in the chapter concerning go-
vernments in heaven, n. 213 to 220 j and of the laft, in the
chapter concerning the habitations and manfions of the angels,
n. 183 to 190 J and alfo in the lafl: chapter concerning marriages
in heaven, n. 366 to 386 ; all which make appear, that there
are fevcral functions and adminiftrations eftablilhed in every one
of the heavenly focietics.

389. All things in the heavens are inftituted according to
divine order, which is preferved throughout by the adminillra-
tions of angels j thofe things which relate to more general good
or ufe, by the angels who are moft eminent for wifdom ; and
fuch as are of more private or particular confideration, by thofe
which are lefs eminent, and fo on ; all in fubordination to divine
order according to their ufes refpedtively ; and hence it follows,
that to every angelical office is annexed a dignity according to
the dignity of its ufe ; however, the angel affumes not the
honour to himfelf, but afligns it to the ufe, and as the ufe is
the fame with the good which he adminiflers, and all good is
from the Lord, therefore to him he afcribes all the praife : nay,
were any difpofed to appropriate to himfelf any part of the
honour, he would thereby difqualify himfelf for any high office
in heaven, as feeking his own glory more than the ufe of his
office, and the honour of God. By ufe here is to be underftood
the Lord, feeing, as was faid before, ufe fignifies the fame as
good, and all good proceeds froni him.

390. From what has been faid,. a judgment may be formed
concerning the nature of fubordination in heaven ; and how
every one there not only loves, efteems, and honours the good
ufe of adminiftrations, but alfo the inflruments employed in
conducing them, and that in proportion to their humility and
gratitude in giving glory to the Lord in that behalf j for in
proportion thereto is their wifdom, and the extent of their
ufefulnefs ; and as fpiritual love, eftimation, and honour rc-
fpedt the ufe,. fo the honour of the perfon miniflering it arifcs

thence.

[ 256 ]

thence (245). He alfo that confiders men by the ftandard of fpi-
ritual truth, forms his judgment according to the fame rule : he
fees one man refembling another, whether in a higher or lower
degree of office and dignity, and eflimates the difference onl,Y
by the difference of wifdom that is in him, viz. the wifdom of
loving ufefulnefs, whether for the good of his fellow-citizen,
of his focicty, his country, or the church he is of. In this
exercife of ufes confifts our love to the Lord, from whom pro-
ceeds all the good that is in ufes -, and alfo our love to our
neighbour, whofe real good and benefit is to be the obje^fl of
our love and beneficence, whether confidered under the cha-
ni(5ler of fellow-citizen, or the complex relation of fociety,
country, or church.

391. All the focletics in the heavens are diftin6t [or diftin-
guiflied] according to the adminiftration of ufes therein, in the
fame manner as they are diftinguilhed according to their refpec-
tive goods [kinds of good] and thofe goods are adlual, or goods
of charity, as obferved above, n. 41, et feq. or, in other words,
goods of ufes : thus fome focicties are appointed to the charge
of infants ; others to inftrudt and educate them till they arc
grown up : there are particular focieties inftituted for the im-
provement of fuch young perfons of both fexes as have been
prepared for heaven in this world by a virtuous and pious edu-
cation ; and others to form for heaven fuch as are well dif-
pofed, but ignorant : fome whofe office it is to inffru(fl thofc
that arc from the various heathen nations : fome to receive the
novitiate fpirits, or fuch as are newly arrived from this world,

(245) That by the love of our neighbour is not meant the love of his pcrfon,
but of his principles and qualities, which are the conftitucnts of him, n. 5025,
10336. That they who love the perfon, without refpedting the principle, love
good and evil alike, n. 3820. That fuch befriend the evil as well as good, which
is being injurious to the latter, and makes no part of love to our neighbour, n.
3820, 6703, 8120, 81 21. The judge, who punifties criminals for their refor-
mation, and to the end that the good may not be injured or fuftcr by them, thereby
docs an ad of love for his neighbour, n. 3820, 8120, 8121. That every man
and focicty in particular, as alfo our country and church, and, in an univerfal fenfe,
the kingdom of the Lord, is our neighbour, and that to do good thereto from the
love of good, according to their refpedlive qualities and flatcs, is fticwing love to
our neighbour, confcquently their benefit, which is to be confultcd by us, is our
neighbour, n. 6S18 to 6824, 8123.

and

[ ^S7 J

and to defend them againfl all affaults from evil fpirits : feme
alfo there are, whofe defignation is to minifier to'thofe who are
detained for a while in the inferior regions on earth (*) : fome,
whofe province it is, by turns, to prefide as overfeers in the
infernal kingdom, to reflrain the evil fpirits from tormenting
one another beyond due meafure ; and laltly, fome are appointed
to the care of thofe who are raifed from death (246). In ge-
neral, the angels of every fociety are employed about men, in
order to preferve and lead them from evil affeftions, and the
thoughts which they are apt to excite in their minds ; and to
infpire them with good afFedlions, as far as they can receive
them confiftently with free will ; and hereby they guide and
influence their works and actions, and bend their inclinations
from evil, as far as may ftand with the nature of free agents.
The angels, whilfl they are prefent with men, refide, as it were,
in their affedtions, and are nearer to or further from them,
according to their degree of good life from true dodlrines : but
all thefe adminiflrations are from the Lord through the angels,
which adt only as his inftruments therein. Hence it is, that by
angels, in the inmofl fenfe of the word, is meant fome attribute
or operation of the Lord, and alfo that the angels in Scripture
are called gods (247).

392. The forementioned are the common fundlions of the
angels ; but befides thefe, every angel has his charge or office
in particular ; for every common or general ufe is compounded
of innumerable others, which are called mediate, miniftering,

(*) By thefe probably are meant the fouls defcribed by St. John as under the
altar, Rev. vi. 9, 10. 'I"r.

(246) Concerning the angels appointed to the care of infants, grown children,
and fo on in fucceflion, n. 2303. That man is raifed from death by angels ; this
from experience, n. 168 to 189. lliat angels are fcnt to the infernal f]Mrits, to
prevent their tormenting one another beyond meafure, n. 967. Concerning the
good offices of angels to men on their arrival in the other world, n. 2131. That
angels and fpirits are prefent to all men, and that man is led by the Lord through
their inllrumentality, n. 50, 697, 2796 — 5847 to 5866, 5976 to 5993, 6209.
That ang.ls have dominion over evil fpirits, n. 1755.

(247) That hy angels in the Word is fignified fome divine property from the
Lord, n. 1925, 2821, 3039, 4085, 628c, 8192. That angels in the Word are
called gods, from their reception of divine truth and good from the Lord, n. 4295,
4402, 8301, 8192.

T t t or

[258 ] .

or attendant ufes ; all and every of which, whether co-ordinate
or fubordinate, are according to divine order, and in their com-
plex conftitute and perfeift the common ufe or common good.

393. They who loved the Word in this world, and ftudi-
oufly invefligatcd the truths therein, not for honour or fecular
advantage, but for purpofes of practice and good life, both with
refpedt to themfelves and others ; fuch are thofe who are ap-
pointed to the ecclefiaftical fundlions in heaven, and according
to the degree of fuch their pious purfuit is their illumination
and wifdom from the Word in the heavens, the fenfe of which
there is not natural, as in this world, but wholly fpiritual, fee
above, n. 259. Thefe exercife the office of preachers, and ac-
cording to the eftabliflied laws of divine order excel in eminence
of rank and dignity, as they are fuperior to others in divine
illumination. As to matters of civil adminiftration, they con-
ftitute the province of fuch as in this world loved their country,
and preferred the good of it to their own private advantage,
doing that which is juft and right from affedion and principle :
as far as thefe took pleafure to improve their minds in the
knowledge of the laws of juftice and equity, in fuch degree are
they qualified for offices in the heavenly ibcieties, which they
adminifter, each according to his intclledlual abilities, wliich
are in proportion to the degree of their affisdtionate zeal for the
common good. In a word, the offices, adminiftrations, and
employments in heaven are innumerable, and far exceeding thofe
that are to be found in this world, and all that arc concerned
therein take delight to be fo engaged from their love of ufe-
fulnefs ; where no one is adluated by felfifli or lucrative motives,
or under the temptation of anxious care for the needful accom-
modations of life, as thefe are all minillered to them gratui-
toufly, as fuitable habitations, veflments, food convenient, &c.
From all which it follows, that they who have loved felf and
the world above ufefulnefs, have no place nor portion in heaven ;
for the ruling paffion or affedion, which has taken pofieffion
of the heart of any one in this world, follows him in the next,
and is not eliminated in eternity, fee above, n. 363.

394. Every one in heaven is in his office according to cor-
refpondency, but correfpondcnce refpedls not merely the out-
ward

[ 259 ]

ward office or adl, but its ufe and tendency, fee above, n. 112;
and there is a correfpondence in all things, n. 106. He, who
in heaven is in any fundlion or work, correfponding to its ufe,
is in a fimilar ftate of life to that which appertained to him in
the body (for things fpiritual and natural are the fame by cor-
refpondence) with this difference, that there his delight in good
is more interior and central, anfwerably to his fpiritual life,
which is more receptive of heavenly joy (*).

Of the Joys and Happinefs of Heaven.

395. Few or none at this time have any conception of hea-
ven, and the joys and happinefs thereof; nay, the ideas of
thofe, who have exercifed their minds moft on thefe fubjedts,
are very grofs, or next to none ; I had the beft opportunity of
knowing this from the fpirits, who had newly been tranflated
from this world to the other, and which, left to themfelves,
think as they had done before. Now this ignorance in men
concerning the joys of heaven arifes from their conceiving them
to be fimilar to the outward gratifications of the natural man
in this world, and from their having no notion of the inward
and fpiritual man, nor of what conftitutes the happinefs of his
condition, infomuch, that were anyone to defcribe to them fuch
fpiritual delights from his own experience of them, the defcrip-
tion could take no hold of their grofs material ideas, nor excite
any perception in their minds of what was told them, but be
immediately rejefted by them : and yet it is rational to conclude,
that when any man is diverted of the external or natural part
of his compofition, he mull wholly enter upon that which is
internal and fpiritual, and confequently, that his pleafures and

(*) There is confcffcdly fome difficulty in comprehending the fcnfe of our
author in this paflagc, which feems to be as follows, viz. the interior ftate of a
good man on earth has its correfponding ftate in heaven, though the fwcet reiifh
and dcledtahle fcnfation of it is different in thefe different kingdoms : thus the love
of God and the peace of God are the fame divine aflections in the foul in both
worlds, yet their beatitudes can only be fully experienced in the angelical ftatc,
as free from the impcrfc6lions and impurities of animal nature. Tr.

joys

[ 260 ] :

joys muft be of the fame nature with himfelf, and if inward f

and fpiritual, fo neceffarily more pure and refined, in order to
be fuitably accommodated to the condition of a foul or fpirit.
This may ferve to evince, that what his fpirit took delight irj
here mull conflitute the delight of his fpirit hereafter; as to
the corporeal gratifications of our nature, being of the earth
earthly, they can make no part of a heavenly Hate ; but the
things of the fpirit of a man follow him into the other world,
where he lives fpiritually.

396. All pleafures flow from love as their only fource, -for
what any one loves, that is pleafint to him ; confequently, ac-
cording to the kind of love, fuch is the pleafure it yields : all
corporeal or fenfual pleafures iflue from the love of fclf, and the
love of the world, from which proceed all kinds of concupif-
cence and voluptuoufnefs j but all true delights of the foul or
fpirit originate from love to God, and love to our neighbour ;
and from thefe fources are derived our affeftions for good and
truth, and our moft fatisfying interior pleafures. Thefe two
loves, with their concomitant pleafures, proceed by influx from
the Lord, and from heaven by internal emanation from above,
and afi^edl the inmoft recefles of the foul ; but the former fpu-
rious loves, with their pleafures, ilfue from the carnal part, and
from the world outwardly, or from beneath, and affedl the ex-
terior fenfes. As far therefore as the two heavenly loves before
mentioned are received and affcA us, fo fir the inward gate of
the foul or fpirit fliands open to the divi;ie influences ; and as
far as the other two fpurious loves are received and aftedl us,
fo far the outward gate of the bodily fenfes ftands open to this
world and its evil influences : and as thefe difi'ercnt kinds of
love gain admiffion into our hearts, fo alio do their refpecftive
pleafures, thofe of heaven into the inward, and thofe of the
world into the outward man ; for, as was faid before, every
pleafure is attendant on its parent love.

397. Heaven is fo conflituted, as to abound with pleafures ;
infomuch that, confidered in itfelf, it is an aggregate of beati-
tudes and deledlations ; and that becaufe divine good, proceeding
from the divine love of the Lord, conllitutes heaven both in
the general, and alfo in particular, in every c>ne there : now it

[ 26i ]

is the property of divine love, to will the falvation and happi-
nels of all, and that intimately and fully ; fo that whether you
fay heaven, or the joys of heaven, it comes to one and the fame
thing,

398. The pleafures of heaven are unutterable, as they arc
innumerable ; but innumerable as they are, no man that is ab-
forbed in carnal and fenfual gratifications can have the leatt
notion of any one of them, and that becaufe, as was faid before,
all his receptive faculties are turned backward from heaven to
this world, and confequently, being immerfed in the love of
felf and of the world, he is incapable of taking pleafure in any
thing but the honours and riches of this world, or in fenfual
gratihcations i whereas thefe things do, as it were, extinguifh
or fuffocate all fenfe of the refined pleafures of heaven, even fo
far as to render the reality of them incredible -, fuch a one
would be ready to wonder, were you to tell him that there are
pleafures, of which honours and riches make no part ; and ftill
more, fliould it be affirmed, that in heaven there is an endlefs
variety of delights, to which the mofl fplendid enjoyments of
tliis world, added to the higheft: gratifications of fenfe, are not
worthy to be compared : how can it feem llrange, that perfons
of fo grofs an apprehenfion fliould be unable to form any notions
of coelefiial happinefs !

399. Something of an efiimate may be made concerning the
fuperlative felicity in heaven from the following fingle con-
fideration, viz. that it conftitutes part of the happinefs of angels,
tp communicate their joys to one another ; and as all of them
are like minded in this matter, how joyous mud be the efteft !
feeing, as was faid above, n. 268, in the heavens there is a
mutual communication between one and all ; and this refults,
as was faid before, from the twofold love that prevails there ;
love to the Lord, and love to their neighbour, both of wJiich
are of a communicative nature. Now love to the Lord is his
own gift proceeding from his divine goodnefs, which commu-
nicates of his blefi'ednefs to all as far as they can receive it, for
he wills the hajipinels of all : and all who love him partake of
his fpirit, which is the bond of communion and communication
in his holy angels ; and that love towards their neighbour is of

U u u like

^ 262 ]

like tendency and effedt will appear from what follows ; though
what has already been offered may fuffice to indicate the natural
tendency of thefe loves in thofe that polTefs them, to commu-
nicate of their bcft things : but it is far otherwife with rcfpeift
to the love of felf and the love of the world j for the former of
thefe is a greedy dehre of enriching felf at the expence of others,
and therefore draws all to it, feeking only its own things ; whilft
the love of the world grudges to others the fliare they polfefs
of it, thinking that themfelves can never have enough ; fo that
thefe two loves are dellrucftive of all pleafant and friendly com-
munication ; or where fuch perfons do communicate to others,
it is for their own fakes, and that it may fome way or other
redound to their own profit or pleafure : that this is the cafe,
I have had frequent experience when in company with fpirits,
who had been addiifted to thefe loves whillt they lived in the
body, always finding my pleafant frames to depart from me
upon the firft approach of fuch ; and I have alfo been told, that
when they draw nigh to any angelical fociety, the members of
it feel a diminution of their joy according to the nearnefs of
their approach ; and what is no lefs flrange, that the evil fpirits
on their part receive a proportionable increafe of pleafure : hence
we may know, that the ll:ate of any one's fpirit, after its fepa-
ration from the body, is fimilar to what it was upon leaving it;
and that thofe here fpoken of have the fame covetous defire for
the goods of others in the other world that they had in this,
and take the fame pleafure in procuring to themfelves the pof-
feflion of them : and it may be farther obferved from what has
here been faid, how deftrudive of heavenly joys the love of felf
and of this world are, and confequently how contrary to the
loves of that blefiTcd kingdom, the effential property of which
is to be communicative.

400. It is here to be noted concerning thofe who are under
the dominion of the love of felf and the love of the world, that
the pleafure they feel on their approach to any of the heavenly
focieties, is the pleafure of their own evil concupifcence, and
diredlly oppofitc to every cceleftial delight, and that fuch plea-
fure proceeds from depriving others of their heavenly joy ; but
when no fuch deprivation takes place, the cafe is quite other-
wife

[ 263 ]

wife with them,' for then they dare not advance a ftep towards
them, or if they fliould, they would be fure to fufFer great per-
turbation and anguifh, and therefore they feldom have the bold-
nefs to come near them ; and as I have often had experience of
this, I Hiall here relate fomething by way of inftance. There
is nothing which fpirits newly arrived in the other world more
earnellly delire than their immediate admiffion into heaven ; this
is the cafe with almoll; all, fuppoling that to be in heaven is no
other than to be introduced and received into a certain place ;
and accordingly, purfuant to their longing, they are conducted
to fome fociety in the firll or loweft heaven. Now as foon as
they who are in the love of felf and of the world approach to
the entrance of heaven, they begin to feel fuch internal pains
and anguilli, as to find a hell inilead of a heaven within them,
and therefore precipitate themfelves thence, without being at
reft till they join company with their fellows in hell. It often
happened, that fome of this clafs had a longing defire to expe-
rience fomething of the joys of heaven ; and upon being told
that thefe were only experienced in the fenfations of the angels,
they defired communication with them, which was granted j for
what any fpirit, which is not yet in heaven or hell, defires, is
readily granted, if it may be of any ufe : now upon fuch com-
munication being opened between them and the angels, they
felt fuch agonizing pains, that they could not contain them-
felves, bending their heads down to their feet, rolling on the
ground, and twifting themfelves into various forms, like fo
many ferpents, through the anguifh they felt within. Such
effects had the heavenly fenfations of the angels, when com-
mvmicated to thofe, vvhofe fouls were immerfcd in the love of
felf and of the world, fuch corrupt concupifcences being quite
contrary to thofe pure affedlions, which are the inmates of
angels : when one oppofite ads upon another, the efFecl is vio-
lence and ftrife ; and thus the ca-leftial virtues of the angels,
operating on the evil qualities of the other party, occafioncd the
violent diforder within them, which produced thofe contortions
and conflid:s. The caufe of this contrariety, as afiigncd before,
is, that they who are influenced by the divine graces of the love
of God, and charity towards their neighbour, are liberal and

commu-

[ 264 ]

communicative of wliat they have ; whereas they who are under
the dominion of thofe evil pallions, tlie love of felf and the
love of the world, are grudging and greedy of what belongs to
others : hence it is, that heaven and hell are not only feparate,
but oppofite to each other. Now all in the latter are fuch as
in this life abandoned themfelves to temporal and carnal grati-
fications from the love of lelf and the love of the world j and
all in the former, fuch as here took delight in fpiritual things
from love to the Lord, and love to their neighbour ; and con-
fequcntly, as their loves were oppofite, fo are the kingdoms to
which they belong, infomuch, that were they who are in the
hellilli kingdom to extend but a finger beyond the fphere of it,
they would fufi'cr pain thereby. This I have often been witnefs
to.

401. The man who is in the love of felf and of the world,
is, during his bodily life here, feniibly affected therewith, and
the pleafures refulting from them ; whereas he wlio is in the
love of God and of his neighbour, has feldom, during his life
here, the fame manifefl: fenlations thereof, nor of the fweets of
the good affecftions refulting therefrom ; but in their room feels
only a kind of fecret fatisfadion in tiie center of his foul, dark-
ened and covered, as it were, with this natural, corporeal inte-
gument, and deadened, in a manner, by the cares of this life :
but thefe fi:ates are quite altered after death ; for then the plea-
fures refulting from the love of felf and of the world are changed
into horrors, fignified by the name of hell-fire, and alternately
into fuch kinds of nafiinefs and filth, as correfpond to thofe
impure gratifications, in which (liovvever llrangc it may be
thought) he takes pleafure : but that which, as obferved before,
was no more than an inward, fecret, and obfcure fatisfaftion in
thofe who were in the love of God and of their neighbour, is
then changed into clear perceptions, and joyous fenfitions, and
what was before a hidden, though fpiritual root of blefiednefs,
does, in their manifefted Hate of fpiritual life, bring forth the
pleafant fruit of fpiritual delights.

402. All the pleafures of heaven are connedled with and
infeparable from ufes, thefe being the good fruits of love and
charity in the angels ; and according to the quality of the ufes,

and

■i

[ 265 ]

and tlieir alacrity to perform them, is the degree of their joy :
that this is fo may be illullrated by comparifon with the five
bodily fenfes in man, each of which derives its pleafure from
exercife and ufe ; the fight from beholding beautiful objefts ;
the hearing from harmonious founds ; the fmelling from odo-
riferous fcents, and the tafte from food of good favour; and the
ufes which they feverally perform by their refpecftive offices are
well underft:ood by thofe that attentively confider them, more
efpecially if they are acquainted with their correfpondent rela-
tions in refpevft to the intclleftual and animal oeconomy : thus
the pleafure annexed to feeing, is from its fubfervient ufefulnefs
to the underflanding, which is the internal fight of the mind ;
and the pleafure of hearing from the fervice it minifters to the
intellect and will, by hearkening, in order to obedience (*) :
the fenfe of fmelling has its pleafure from the refreflmient and
aid it yields to the brain and lungs ; the tafte from its ufe in
fupplying the ftomach with food for the nourifliment of the
whole body ; and the touch, confidered in a conjugal view,
from its eminent ufe in the propagation of the human fpecies,
and thereby providing a feminary for ccElelHal inhabitants. All
thefe pleafures with innocence are communicated to the fenfes
by influx from the heavenly world, where every delight has its
ufe, and is in proportion to its degree of ufe.

403. Certain fpirits, from a notion they had entertained in
this world, fancied that the happinefs of heaven confifted iii a
life of eafe and indolence, and being ferved in all things by
others ; but it was told theiii, that no fociety could fubfifl hap-
pily in fuch a fi:ate, and that where all were to be ferved, there
could not be any to ferve ; moreover, that a life of idlenefs
would render them ftupid and good for nothing ; that action
was effential to felicity, and reft only the means of fitting them
the better for it : they were likewife given to underfl:and, that
tlie life of angels principally confiflcd in doing ofiices of love

(*) Obedience is fignificd by bcaykcn'nig in many places of the Sacred Writings;
thus in particular, A(its iv. ig. " Whether it be right to hearken unto you more
" than unto God, judge ye." To hear likewife has the fame fignification, not
only in Scripture language, but alfo in many other writings ; thus: Ni que audit
(uirui hahenui. Virg. Georg. I. Tr.

X X X and

[ 266 ]

and life, and that it was their higheft delight to be fo employed :
and then, to make them afliamed of fo abfurd a notion, as that
of happinefs in heaven confifting in eveilafting indolence, there
vas given them a perception of fuch a ftate, by which it ap-
peared to tliem moft irkfome and melancholy, and fuch as would
not only be deftrudlive of every joy, but in a little time be
attended with difguft and loathing.

404. Some fpirits, which thought themfelves wifer than
their fellows, had conceived an opinion in this world, that hea-
venly joy confifted altogether in praifmg and worlliipping God,
and that this conftltuted the adlive life of angels ; but it was
told them, that God needed not their praifes and worlhip, but
willed rather that they fliould moftly be employed in performing
offices of ufe and love to one another ; but this they confidered
more as a talk of fervitude than true happinefs, although the
angels alTured them, that it was a mofl free and delightful em-
ployment, as proceeding from the mofl affectionate good will,
and which they executed with unfpeakable pleafure.

405. Almort all, on their arrival in the other world, think
that all infernal fpirits have one and the fame hell, and all cce-
leftial fpirits one and the fame heaven ; whereas there is an
endlefs variety in both, neither is one hell or one heaven quite
fimilar to another, as there are no two men, fpirits, or angels,
that exaftly refemble each other, not even in the face ; and
when I went about to figure to my imagination two fuch exadly
the fame, the angels feemed to fhudder at it, telling me, that
every whole was formed by the harmonizing confent of many
different parts, and that as was the harmony or agreement of
the component parts, fuch was the aggregate or whole ; and
that in this manner every fociety in heaven was one body formed
of feveral different individuals, and the univerfal complex of
heaven was formed of all the different focieties, and that the
bond of their union was love from the Lord (248). Ufes in

the

(248) That every whole confifts of various different parts, from which it re-
ceives its form and quality ; and according to the harmony and confent of its
component parts, is the degree of its pcrfeflion, n. 457, 3241, 8oo?. That
there is an infinite \ aricty in the works of God, and no two things exaaly alilce,
o. 7236, 9002. The fiimc holds true in the heavens, n. 5744, 4C05, 7236, 7833,

7836,

[ 267 ]

the heavens have alfo their like variety and dlverfity, no two
of them being exadtly fimilar or the fame, nor yet the pleafures
refulting from them, though to every ufe belong innumerable
pleafures, and though all different, yet fo orderly difpofed and
connedled, as to harmonize together, like the ufes of every
member, organ, and bowel in the human body, nay, which is
ftill more, of every veffel and fibre in each member, organ, and
bowel, which are all fo wonderfully adjuftcd, as to co-operate
with their affociates, and perform their diftindl offices one in
all, and all in every one ; whilll fepavately, yet conjuncftly, they
form one regular fyilem of complicated ufes without the leaft
confufion or diforder.

406. I have fometimes converfed with fpirits newly come
from this world concerning their eternal ftate, obferving to
them, that it nearly concerned them to know who was the fove-
reign of the kingdom, what the conftitution of it, and what
the particular form of its government ; and that if fuch as
travelled into a foreign country in this world confidcred it of
confequence to be acquainted with thefe and the like particulars
relating to it, it was of ftill greater importance to them to be
informed of the fame in reference to the kingdom in which they
now were, and wherein they were to live for ever : that there-
fore they were to know, that the Lord of glory was the King
of heaven, and alfo the fupreme Governor of the univerfe, and
therefore that they were his liege fubjedts ; and moreover, that
the laws of his kingdom were eternal truths founded on that
univerfil indifpenfable law of loving the Lord above all things,
and their neighbour as themfelves ; nay, what was ftill more,
that now, if they would be as the angels, they ought to love
their neighbour more than themfelves : on hearing which they
were ftruck dumb ; for though in this world they might pof-
fibly have heard of fuch a dodtrine, yet they gave no credit to
it ; and therefore wondered at fuch love, even in heaven ; nay,

7836, 9002. Hence, that all the focieties in the heavens, ami every angel in
each fociety, have their diftiiict charadtcrs, and their dificrcnc kinds and degrees
as to good and ufe, n. 6go, 3241, 3519 — 7236, 7833, 3986. That the divine
love of the Lord gives them their heavenly form, and makes them to be as one
man, n. 457, 3986, 5598.

tliat

[ 268 ]

that it was ponible for any one to love his neighbour better than
himfelf : but they were informed, that all kinds of good be-
came immenfely increafcd in the other world, and though in
this life, few, through the impcrfedion of human nature, could
go farther than to love their neighbour as themfelves, as being
here fubjedt to corporeal affedlions ; yet on their removal from
thefe impediments, true love became more pure and exalted,,
even to an angelical ftandard, which is to love their neighbour
more than themfelves, and to eftcem it their happinefs to do
good to others without feeking their own good, unlefs for the
fake of their neighbour, that he may receive the benefit of it
by communication ; and that this was properly to love their
neighbour better than themfelves : and with refpecfl not only to
the poflibility, but alfo to the reality of fuch love, they were
told, that many convincing proofs might be brought from
examples in this world; thus in the conjugal flate, where one
of the parties had fufFered death to fave the other ; in mothers,
many of which would endure hunger, rather than their children
ihould want food ; in inflances of clofe friendlhip, where the
one had expofed himfelf to the greateft hardfliips and dangers
for the fake of the other ; nay, even in decent and polite com-
pany, where fuch kind of love is only imitated, how common
is it for people of good breeding to offer preference, and the
beft things to others, from mere civility and fhew of greater
refpedl j and laftly, they were told, that it was of the very
ell'ence and nature of true love to do all kind offices to the objcdls
of it, not from felfilh views, but from difinterell:ed affediion.
But notwithflanding the force of thefe arguments, they who
were deep in the love of felf, and had been greedy of filthy
lucre in this world, could not receive fuch docTtrinc, and the
covetous leall of all.

407. A certain fpirit, who, in the life of the body, was in
high power, and llill retained tlie love of command, was told,
that his authority was now at an end, he being in a very dif-
ferent kingdom, where every one's eltimation was only accord-
ing to the good and truth that was in him, and from the mercy
of the Lord, who had tranflated him thither j and it was more-
over told him, that the country to which he now belonged had

indeed

[ 269 ] •

indeed this in common with the world he came from ; that
riches and the favour of the prince conferred preeminence, hut
then it was to he remcmhered, that good and truth were the
only riches there accounted of i and that the favour of tlie prince
was no other than the Lord's mercy to thofe, who had been
fiitliful ftewards of the grace they had received from hini in
this world ; and confequently, that to claim any farther autho-
rity than was founded hereon, would be nothing better than
ufurpation and rebellion againll the laws of his government : on
hearing this he was put to Ihame and confufion.

40S. I was in converlation with fome fpirits, which had a
notion that heaven, and the joys thereof, conlifted in being
great there, when it was told them, that he which is leafl: is
greateil in the kingdom of heaven, and that by leaft is meant
he, who, being without ftrength and wifdom, defires not to
have either from himfelf, but from the Lord only ; now fuch
a leaft one is the happieft, and confequently the greateft, for
the Lord is to him both ftrength and wifdom ; and what means
greateft but happieft, or what do the mighty propofe by their
power, or the rich by their riches, but to be happier than
others ? Moreover, it was told them, that it made no part of
heavenly happinefs to defire to be leaft, in order thereby to be
the greateft, for that was afpiring after grandeur ; but that it
confifted in heartily wifliing better to others than to themfelves,
and in doing them the beft fervices for their own fakes with a
dilinterefted love.

409. What heavenly joy is, in its eflence, will not admit
of defcription, as being feated in the inmoft principles of life
in the angels, from which it diftufcs itfclf into all their tlioughts
and affedlions, and thence into every thing they lay and do : it
is as if the fecret reccfles of their fouls were wide open to the
divine influence, in order to give it free admiflion into every
fibre of their fpiritual bodies, thereby to excite perceptions and
fenfations of delight furpafting the power of expreffion j for
what takes its rife in the center is propagated through all the
derivations from it to the circumference, or external parts. The
good fpirits, which have not as yet been received into heaven,
nor confequently entered into this joy, arc even tranfported at

Y y y the

[ 270 ]

the fcnfation of it, when communicated to them by the efflux
or fphere of love ilTuing from any angel, as is fomctimes granted
to thofe who have an earnell defire to taltc of heavenly joy.

410. Certain fpirits, on a time, were anxious to feel fome-
thing of this joy, and accordingly they were permitted to tafte
as much of it as they were able to bear ; and though the quan-
tity communicated to them was fo extremely fmall, as fcarcely
to deferve the name of angelical, yet they deemed it to be highly
cceleftial, as being fuperlative with regard to their fenf\tions ;
which convinced me, not only that there are many degrees in
heavenly joy, but alfo, that what is the highert degree to one
fcarcely equals the lowefl: degree in another ; and alfo, that every
one has his limited or utmoll: mcafure of joy, which is heaven
to him, and that more, inflead of increafing his happinefs,
would be painful and more than he could fuftain.

411. There were fome other fpirits of no bad difpofition,
which funk into a trance, and were favoured with heavenly
vifions ; for fpirits, even before the gate of communication is
opened in their interiour, may be tranllated into heaven, and
there become acquainted with the happy flate of angels : I favv
them in this ftillnefs for half an hour, and then reltored to their
former ftate in full remembrance of all they had feen : they
faid, that they had been with the angels in heaven, and feen
flupendous things glittering like gold and filver, with various
forms of cxquifite beauty, which changed thcmfelves into others
in a wonderful manner ; but that the angels did not feem to be
pleafed fo much with thofe external objefts, as delighted with
the things reprefented by them, which were unutterable, as
full of divine wifdom : they likewifc declared, that they had
been given to know innumerable things, which could not be
defcribed in any human language to the ten thoufandth part,
nor quadrate with ideas converfant with material objedts.

412. The ignorance of almoll all that enter into the other
world, in relation to coeleftial happinefs, proceeds from their
being fuch Grangers to true internal joys, and having been ac-
cuflomed only to relilh the pleafures of fenfe, and of this world ;
and therefure what they know not pafTcs with them for nothing;
whereas fenfual and worldly pleafures are as nothing when com-
pared

[ 271 ]

pared to the former : therefore it is, that for the in/lruftion of
fome good fpirits in this matter, who are without any notioa
of the nature of heavenly joys, they are at firlf entertained with
a light of paradifiacal reprefentations, which, for their beauty,
furpafs the reach of imagination ; upon which they fuppofe that
they are in the true heavenly paradife ; but are told, that they
are as yet far fliort of it. In the next place, they are brought
into a flate of internal joy to fuch a degree as they are capable
of receiving ; and then into a ftate of heavenly peace ; at which
they exprefs a fenfe of joy that exceeds the power of words to
defcribe, or even of thought to conceive : thus they are gra-
dually formed to the experience of true fpiritual and coelellial
good.

413. That I might be inwardly convinced both of the
reality and nature of coeleftial joys, the Lord has gracioufly been
plealed to grant me an experimental fenfe thereof, and this often
and long together ; and therefore I can teftify to them, though
not defcribe them ; however, a word fliall be fpoken on the
fubje<fl, in order to convey fome imperfeft idea thereon. It is
an affeftion or ftate of the foul, in which innumerable lefTer
pleafures and joys form one total or aggregate, in which the
component particular ones harmonize, but are not diftindlly and
feverally perceived, but only as forming one general or common
perception or fenfation ; however, I could find that there were
innumerable others therein difpofed in marvellous manner ac-
cording to heavenly order, for in all, even the very leaft, fuch
order is obferved, though all combined form but one. general
fenfation according to the quality of the recipient. In a word,
in every general are infinite particulars, every one of which has
its vital influence and operation, and that from the inmoft ground
or center from which heavenly joys proceed. I perceived alfo,
that this joy and delight iffued, as it were, from the heart, dif-
fufing itfelf gently and fweetly through all the original fibres^
and from them to their feveral ramifications and complications,,
and that with fo cxquifite a fenfe of pleafure, as if every fibre
were a fountain of joyous perceptions and fenfations, in com-
parifon to which, grofs corporeal pleafures are but as the muddy
waters of a putrid lake to the wholfome ventilations of refrefh-

ing

[ 272 ]

ing breezes. I found by experience, whenever I was prompted
by a motive of benevolence to communicate the joy I felt to
ajiy other, that in the room of what was fo communicated, a
frelh and more copious llream of joy flowed in upon my foul,
and that according to the degree of fuch benevolence. This
I perceived to be from the goodnefs and free bounty of the
Lord,

414. All who are in heaven continue in their progrefs to-
wards the flower and perfedion of life, and the more thoufunds
of years they pal's, the more pleafantly and happily they advance
on in an eternal progreflion, according to their proficiency in
love, charity, and faith (*). There luch of the female fex as
had departed this life broken with the iniirmities of old age,
but after having; lived in the faith of tlie Lord, in' charitv to-
wards their neighbour, and in all the focial duties of conjugal
affedlion, after a fuccelTion of ages appear as advancing towards
perfedion in the bloom of youthful beauty furpalfing defcription,
whilft goodnefs and charity add graces to their perfons, and
exprefs themlelves in every feature of their faces, infbmuch that
they may pafs for forms of charity : certain Ipirits that beheld them
w^ere afloniflied at the fight. Such is the form of charity, which
in heaven is reprefented to the life, for it is charity that pour-
trays it, and is pourtrayed in it, and that in a manner fo expref-
five, that the whole angel, more particularly as to the face,
appears as charity itfelf in a perfonal form of exquifite beauty,
ali^eding the foul of the Ipedator with fomcthing of the fame
grace. In a word, to grow old in heaven is to grow in youth

(*) Something has been faid before in a former note concerning faith in heaven ;
and it may not be improper further to obferve in this place, that though it be a
generally received opinion in the church, that faith in heaven will ceafc, as being
fwallowcd up in vifion and the accomplifhment of the promifes, yet however a
human faith, as to the reality and certainty of future things, will ceafc when
thofe things now future {hall come to pafs ; yet it follows not that a divine, de-
pendent, confidential faith in the Lord for the continuance of his goodjicfs and
bleflings will ever fail, as it is the exercife of a duty naturally fpringing from the
relation fubfifting between the moft exalted of created beings, and their adorable
Creator and Benefadtor, to whofc free bounty and goodnefs they ftand indebted
both for the continuation of their exiftence, and the happinefs of it; of which,
faith, love, and obedience, may be the abfolutc conditions, though no lefs volun-
tary on their part on that account. Tr.

and

r 273 ]

and beauty, as is the cafe with all thofe who have here lived in
love to the Lord, and in chirity towards their neighbour. Such
are the forms of the coeleftial inhabitants, though with unfpeak-
able dillindtion and variety.

Of the Immenfity of Heaven.

415. That heaven is of immenfe extent may be gathered
from many things laid down in the foregoing part of this work,
and particularly from what has been faid concerning its being
inhabited by all good people of the human race (fee above, n.
311 to 317) both from within and without the church, from
the creation of the earth. He that knows any thing of geo-
graphy may form fome judgment how vafl a multitude muft
people this our world, and will find, upon a moderate calcu-
lation, that feveral thoufands die every day, and fome millions
in the fpace of a year, and that mortality has been going on
with us from the earlieft times now for fome thoufands of years,
palling thus continually into the world of fpirits : how many
of thefe have and do become angels cannot be known j but thus
much I have been told, that very many fuch there were in an-
cient times, for then men were more fpiritually minded, and
miore heavenly in their affedlions ; but not fo many in the fol-
lowing ages, as in procefs of time they turned more to the
world, and more fet their affeiftions on things below. From
this firft confideration it may appear, that heaven is of great
extent from the number of inhabitants therein from this world
only.

416. But the immenfity of heaven will llill farther appear
from confidering, that all infants that depart this life, whether
within or without the church, are adopted by the Lord, and
advanced to the angelical ftate, and that the number of thefe
amounts to the fourth or fifth part of the human fpecies on
earth. That every infant, wlierever born, and whether fprung
from good or bad parents, is after death received by the Lord,
educated in heaven, and, according to an efiabliHied order of
that kingdom, principled v/ith good affedlions, and inftrudled in

Z z z the

[ 274 ]

the knowledge of the truth ; and, when perfedted hi underftand-
ing and wirdom, adopted into the order of angels, fee above, n,
329 to 345. How great a multitude of angels may we fuppofe
to come from this lingle feminary from the creation to this
prefent time !

417. Another proof of the immenfity of heaven is deducible
from hence, viz. that all the planets, fo vifible to our fight in
this folar fyflem, are fo many worlds or earths ; and that there
are ulio innumerable others in tlie univerfe, all inhabited, con-
cerning which I {hall quote the following pallage extradled from
a little work written by me, intitled, De Telluribus in Unhcrjb.
" That there arc many worlds inhabited by men, who after-
" wards become fpirits and angels, is a truth well known in
" the other life ; for every one there, that defires it from the
** love of truth and ufeful knowledge, is allowed to converfe
" with the fpirits from other worlds, in order to be convinced
" of the plurality of worlds, and that not this earth only, but
♦* alfo innumerable others are peopled by the human fpecies.
" I have fometimes converfed with fpirits from our world on
*♦ this fubjeft, and told them, that any man of rational under-
'* flanding might conclude from things clearly known, that
" there are more worlds befides this, inhabited by human crea-
" tures, as it was highly reafonable to conclude, that fuch
" great bodies as the planets, fome of which exceed our earth
" in magnitude, are not mere folitudes, and created only to
" revolve round the fun, and flied a little inconfiderable light
" on our earth, but defigned for far more important ufes. He
" that believes, as every rational man muft, that Divine Omni-
" potence created the univerfe for human cre?.tures, and through
" them for heaven, they being the feminary for the peopling
" of heaven, cannot but believe that every world is inliabited
** by mankind. That the planets, which are fo confpicuous to
" us within the limits of our folar fyftem, are fo many habitable
" worlds, manifcllly appears from their exhibiting all the pha;-
" nomena of terreftrial bodies, fuch as rcflecfting to us the light
" of the fun, and, when viewed through a telefcopc, not
" fhewing themfelves as glittering maifes of fire, but as folid
•* globes of earth variegated with dark fpots ; as alfo from their

'* rcfembling

[ ^1S ]

" refembling our earth in their revolutions round the fun in
" their progrefs through the zodiack, thereby delcribing their
'• annual courfes and leafons of fpring, fummer, autumn, and
" winter j and likcwife in their diurnal revolutions round their
" their own axis, whereby they effed: the fame regular vicilfi-
** tudes of morning, noon, evening, and night, as with us :
" add to this, that fome of them have their moons, called Sa-
" tellites, which perform their ftated revolutions round them,
" as the moon does round our earth ; and that the planet Sa-
" turn, as being moft diftant from the fun, is furrounded with
*' a large girdle or belt, that retleds much light to that ter-
*' reftrial globe. Who, that knows and confiders thefe things
*' in a rational light, can believe that thefe ftupendous bodies
" are without inhabitants, and fo without ufe. In converfation
" with the fpirits before mentioned, I took occafion to obferve
" further, on the great probability of there being more worlds
" than one, from the immenlity of the ftarry heavens fo be-
*' fpanglcd with fhining fpheres, and that it muft appear highly
" credible to the attentive obferver, that each of them did the
" fame office with our fun to their refpedlive planets, thus
" ferving as fubordinate means to the ultimate end of creation,
" which doubtlefs was to provide and prepare for heaven an
** infinite number of human beings, to be blefl'ed with the
" divine prefence and communications ; whilll fo many ftars
" fcrved as fo many funs to enlighten, warm, and fruftify fo
*' many earths for the fupport of men, that Ihould in due time
" become angels in the kingdom of heaven. What rational
'* man can fuppofe, that fuch an immenfe provifion of means
** fhould not be in order to a proportionate end ; or be weak
" enough to imagine, that fo llupendous an apparatus lliould
" all be for the fake of the inhabitants of one earth only, when
'* as myriads of worlds are but as the duft of the balance to an
" Infinite Omnipotent Creator ? There arc certain fpirits, who
" n:iake it their bulinefs to acquire knowledges, as placing their
** whole delight therein ; and thefe are allowed the liberty of
" expatiating far in the univerfe, and to pafs from one iolar
" fyltem to another, in order to procure intelligence. Thcfc
*' affured me, that there were not only more tcrreihial worlds

" befides

[ 276 ]

*' befides this in our folar fyftem, but alio an immenfe number
" of others beyond it I'cattered throughout the ibirry heavens :
*♦ thefe ipirits were from the planet Mercury. Upon forming
" a calculation it was found, that upon the fuppolltion of there
♦' being a million of worlds in the univerfe like ours, and inha-
'* bitants to the number of three hundred millions in every world ;
*' and fuppofing two hundred generations of men to take place in
" the compafs of fix thouiand years, and every man or fpirit to
•' be allowed a fpace of three cubical yards ; that in this cafe
" the number of men or fpirits colledted together would not
*' fill this cur earth, nay, little more than one of the Satellites
" of the planets, which would be but as a point compared to
*' the univerfe, as any one of the Satellites ken from our earth
" is hardly vifible to the naked eye : and what is this, or an
" univerfe of worlds, to Infinite Power ? I have had conver-
" fation with fomc angels on this fubjedl:, who exprcfied like
" fentiments on the matter, laying, that their thoughts were
" more employed about ftates than fpace j but that it was very
** evident, that all the generations of men, and countlefs my-
" riads of worlds, were as nothing compared to infinity." As
to the worlds in the univerfe, and their inhabitants, and fpirits
and angels from thence, fee the little work before mentioned :
all therein related was revealed and Ihewed to me, in order to
make manifell: fomewhat of the immcnfity of heaven, and that
all the inhabitants thereof were originally of human extradion ;
and alfo to make known, that our Lord is every where acknow-
ledged for the God of heaven and earth.

418. The immenfity of heaven will farther appear from
hence, that heaven in its whole complex refembles one man,
and alfo correfponds to all and fingular the parts in man, and
that fuch corrcfpondency cannot be fo full, as to admit of no
increafe, feeing it not only has relation to all the members,
organs, and vifcera of the body in general, but alfo to the moft
minute particulars thereof, and to every vellel, nerve, and fibre;
and not only to thefe, but alfo to thofe moit fubtle organized
forms, which in the inmoll recefies of material fubftances are
firfl aded upon by the heavenly influx, and whence arife thofe
interior adtive powers, which are the next immediate inftruments

fubfervient

[ ^77 J

fubfcrvient to the operations of the human mind ; for whatever
internally exifls in man, exifts in fomc fubftantial form as its
fubjeft, without which it is nothing : now there is a correfpon-
dence between all thefe and the heavenly world, fee ch. Of the
Correfpondetice of all T/jwgs in Heaven tviib all Things in Man,
0. 87 to 102. This correfpondency can never be at its ne plus
ultra, becaufe the more numerous the angelical confociations,
which correfpond to any one member, the higher is the degree
of perfecftion in heaven, for all perfedtion there increafes accord-
ing to plurality, and that becaufe in the heavens one end is
purfued in all things, and by the unanimous confent of all ;
now this end is the comm.on good, from which arifes benefit to
the individuals, and from the good of the individuals arifes
benefit to the community ; this proceeds from the Lord turning
all in heaven towards himfelf (fee above, n. 123) j and thereby
making them all one in himfelf. That the unanimity and con-
cord of many, more efpecially from a divine original, and fuch •
a bond of union, muft produce perfection, every one of found
judgment will readily allow.

419. I have been favoured with a fight of the heaven that
is inhabited, and alfo of that which is not inhabited, and I faw
that the former was of fuch vafi: extent, as not to be filled in
eternity, on a fuppofition that there were many myriads of
worlds like this of ours, and every one of them equally full of
inhabitants, concerning which ice my little work, De Telluribus
in Univerjb, n. 168.

420. Some erroneoufly fuppofe, that heaven is not of fuch
vaft extent as is here mentioned, but rather comparatively fmall,
being led into this error by Ibnie palfages in Scripture ill under-
i1:ood, as where it feems to .be implied, that the poor only are
admitted into heaven ; or none but the elcit ; or fuch only as
are within the church ; or thofe alone in whofe behalf the Lord
intercedes ; as alfo where heaven is reprefented as being fliut
after having received its full number, and that there is a fixed
time appointed for this purpofc : but let them know, that
heaven will never be fhut ; ami that there is no appointed time
for any fuch cxclufion, and no certain number limited for ad-
miflion thereinto ; and alfo, that by the eleft are meant all who

A a a a arc

[ 278 ]

are in the life of good and truth (249) ; and that by the poor
are fignified fuch as arc without the knowledge of good and
truth, but earncftly dtfire to have it, and that from fuch defire
they are called thofe that hu?iger (250). 'All they who have
fuch confined notions of heaven, and of the number of its in-
habitants, do greatly miftake the fenfe of the Scriptures, whiKt
they fuppofe that all there make up one general aflembly rtiut
up in the fame place, whereas heaven confills of innumerable
diftindt focieties (fee above, n. 41 to 50) ; and moreover are of
opinion, that every one receives his appointment to heaven by
a mere arbitrary grant of immediate mercy, and confequently,
that coeleftial happinefs means no more than admiifion into a
certain place by mandate or form of defignation, not under-
Aanding that the Lord leads every one by his mercy that receives
him ; and that to receive him is to live according to the laws of
divine order, or his precepts of love and faith ; and that to be
under his leadings from the beginning to the end of our lives in
this world, and fo on in eternity, is what we are to underlland
by his mercy : therefore let all fuch know, that every one is
defigncdly born into this world for heaven, and that he is re-
ceived into it, who receives into himfelf the qualifyiiig heavenly
principles in this world, and that no other is excluded than he
who rejeifls them.

(249) That thofe are called EleSi, who :iie in the life of good and truth, n. 3755,
3900. That elciStion and reception into heaven is not according to an arbitrary
dillinclion of mcrcv, as fome underftand it, but according to the inward life,
"• 5057» 5058' That there is no fuch immediate arbitrary mercy rtfpcdting fal-
vation, but mediate c>r through the ufe of means, that i?, to thofe who live ac-
cording to the Lord's precepts, and whom he mticifuUy guides inthis world, and
hereafter in eternity, 11. 10659, 8700.

(250) That by Poor in the Word, we are to underft::.iij to be meant fuch as
are poor in a fpiritual fenfe, or fuch as are ignorant of the truth, but defiruus of
inftruction, n. 9209, 9253, 10227. That thefe are figmficd by thofe that hunger
and thirli, th.it is, defire thofe knowledges of good and truth, which are intro-
uuiltory to the cliurch and to hcaveiij n. 4958, 10227.

t 279 ]

OF THE

WORLD OF SPIRITS,

ANDOFTHE

State of Man after Death.

421. What is called the world of fpirits is neither heaven nor
hell, but a place or ftate betwixt both, into which man enters im-
mediately after death, and after ilaying there a certain time, longer
or Ihorter, according to what his paft life had been in this world,
he is either received up into heaven, or caft down into hell.

422. That there is fuch an intermediate place appointed for
man after this life has been manifefted to me from having i'een
hell beneath, and heaven above it, and that man whillt there is
in neither of them. The heavenly ftate in man is from the
conjunction of good and truth within him, and the hellifh ftate
in man is from the conjundlion of evil and falfe within him ;
by the former he is prepared for heaven, and by the latter for
hell ; nov/ this ccnjunition is completed in the world of fpirits,
or the intermediate ftate : whether wc call it the conjundlion of
the underftanding and will, or the conjundlion of good and
truth, it comes to the fame thing.

423. Something muft be prcmifed here concerning this con-
jundlion of the intelledl and will, ahd their correlatives good
and truth, as com.pleted in the world of fpiiits. To man belong
underftanding and will j the former is the recipient of truths,
and is formed by them, and the will is the recipient of goods,
and is formed thereby : fo that whatever a man underftands, and
brings into thought, that he calls truth ; and what he wills and
brings into thought, that he calls good. A man may think from
his intellcdlual part, and thence perceive what is true, and what
is good ideally ; but he thinks it not from the will part or
faculty, unlefs he chufes and does it; but when he wills it, and

*" from

[ 28o ]

from the operation of willing alfo does it, then It is both in the
underftanding and in the will, and confequently in the man,
who confifts of both jointly, but not of either fmgly and fcpa-
ratcly ; and therefore in that cafe only it is appropriated to him,
or becomes properly his own ; whereas what a man has only
intelledlually and in theory, however it may ferve liim to reafon
upon, and to make a counterfeit fliow of outwardly, yet having
got no hold on his will, it makes no part of himfelf, but is only
a matter of memory and fcience, which he can take up or lay
down, but gains no eifential form in him.

424. It is provided that man (hould be able to think from
the intclle(5tual part feparately from the will, to the end that he
may be reformed and changed ; for he is reformed by means of
truths, and thefe appertain to the intclleft, as was faid before.
Man is born into the world with natural propenfities to evil,
whence it is that he is fo fwallowcd up in the love of felf,
as to grudge and covet the good things of others, and to take
pleafure in their lofs if it may turn to his gain, being only in-
tent on the honours, riches, and pleafures of this \\'orld : now
that this malignity of his nature may be reformed, he is endowed
with the power of apprehending truths in his underftanding,
that he may thereby cuunteradt and fubduc the evil afFe(ftions in
his will : hence it is that he can fpeculate truths in his intellecfl",
and bring forth into fpeech, and aiit according to them ; yet they
are not properly hii own till they be didlated from his heart and
will, and flow fpontaneoully into his life and anions ; and where
this is the cafe, the thoughts of a man's mind, or uiider/tanding,
conrtitute his faith ; and the thoughts of his heart or will, con-
ftitute his love; and fo his fiich and love, like his underftanding
and will, are united and agree in one.

425. As far therefore as truths in the underftanding arc
conjoined with good [6onis] in the will, and confequently, as
far forth as any one is freely actuated thereby in the practical
manifeftation of them, fo far he has heaven in himfclf, or is in
a heavenly ftate ; for, as was faid before, the conjuncTiion of
good and truth is heaven in the foul ; but as far as the falfe
[Ja//a] in the underftanding is conjoined with evil in the will,
fo far a man has hell in himfelf, or is m a helliih ftate ; for the
conjuncftion of falfe and evil conftitutes hell : bat as far as truth

[ 28l ]

In the underftanding is not united with good in the will, fb far
man is in a middle ftate between both ; now almoft all at this
time are in a ftate of knowing fomething of truth intellecftually
or fcientifically, whilft: fome live more, fome lefs, and fome not
at all according to it, nay, fome quite contrary to it through
the love of evil, and from thence through a falfe belief; there-
fore, that every one may have his full preparation and fitnefs for
heaven or hell, he palles immediately after death into the world
of fpirits, where the conjunftion of good and truth is com-
pleted in thofe whofe lot is to heaven ; and the conjunftion of
evil and fdfe in thofe who are to have their portion in hell : for
in thofe two kingdoms none are allowed to be divided betwixt
good and evil, or to think one way, and will another; and
therefore the angels in heaven, who have their wills in good,
have their underftandings in truth ; and the fpirits in hell, who
have their wills in evil, know only the falfe j confequently, in
this intermediate ftate of final preparation, whatever of falfe
[^f<^lfa] has cleaved to the good fpirits is done away, and fuch
truths as are accordant and conformable to their good are given
them ; and from the bad fpirits are taken away luch adventitious
or fpeculative truths as they may have acquired, and they he-
come poffefled of fuch falfities [/^^(^] in their room, as are
accordant and conformable to their evil nature (*). Thus much
may fuffice to explain what is meant by the world of fpirits.

426. In

(*) However obfcurc at firft fight this and the three preceding numbers may
appear to feme of our readers (though wc have ufcd our bert endeavours to render
the matter intelligible to all) it nuift be obfervcd, that they hold forth to us a
tloclrine of great importance, and worthy of their moft attentive conilderation ;
and the knowledge thereof is highly conducive to the clearer underftanding of the
author in many parts of his writings : he therein treats of the two grejt (onfti-
tuent principles of man, the und;.-rli:ani!ing and will, and {hews how the depraved
affections of the latter arc to be fubdued and reformed here by the light and power
of truth received from the former ; in which cafe the undcritanding and will are
in union, and truth fprings not fo much from the exercife of reafoning, as from
the principle of good in the will ; the tree being made good, the fruit is confe-
quently the fame : but v/ithout this union the underllanding and will may be con-
trary to each other, and the former think the things that are excellent, whilft the
latter follov.-s thofe that are contrary thereto, as is the cafe with the fpeculative
believer, whofe life is not as becometh the Gofpcl of Chrifl, but contrary to his
faith. Now in the world of fpirits, where all are finally prepared for heaven or
hell, the underftanding and will arc united both in the good and the bad fpirits,
when the latter, having their underftanding darkened through the evil in their

B b b b will.

[ 282 ]

426. In the world of Ipirits is always a very great number
of them, as there is the firll rcfort of all, in order to their
examination and preparation ; but there is no fixed time for
their llay there, for fome are tianflated to heaven, and others
configned to hell foon after their arrival, whilrt: fome continue
there for weeks, and others for feveral years, though none more
than thirty, this depending on the correfpondencc or non-cor-
refpondence between the interiour and exteriour of men. How
they pafs from one itate to another in this world, in the courfe
of their preparation, fhall be fpoken of in what follows.

427. As foon as they arrive in the world of fpirits, they are
all cLilTed by the Lord according to their feveral qualities and
difpofitions, the evil with fuch infernal focieties as they had
communication with in this world in the ruling pairion ; and
the good with fuch of the heavenly focieties as they had com-
munication with in love, charity, and faith : but however they
are thus diverfely clallcd, yet all meet and converfe together in
tliat world, when they have a defire fo to do, who have been
friends and acquaintance in this life, more efpecially hufbands
and wives, brothers and fiflers : I have feen a father converfing
with his fix fons with a perfect remembrance of them all, and
alfo many others with their kindred and friends; but as mort: of
them were of different inclinations and habits of mind, accord-
ing to their different ways of life here, they were foon parted ;
but it mulT: be noted both concerning thofe that go to heaven,
and thofe that go to hell, that after their arrival in thofe two
different kingdoms, they no more fee or know one another,
unlets they are of like minds and affedions. The reafon why
they meet and know one another in the world of fpirits, and
not fo in heaven or hell, is, bccaufe in the firil of thele worlds
they pafs through the fame flates they were in, in this life, and
fo from one to another 3 but afterwards, all are fixed in one

will, know only what is falfc, or contrary to truth, ■wihilft the former liave their
undeiftanding cnirghtened with the knowledge of the truth from their love of good
ill the will ; and fo both good and bad fpirits think and fpeak and adt in all things
confiftently with the governing principle within them refpeiflively. Let it be noted
here, that this intermediate Itate has nothing in it of the probationary kind, for
that is all over with the life of this world, but is a ftate of feparation, or reducing
every one to his proper prevailing principle, and, as fuch, finally preparatory for
heaven or bell. Tr.

permanent

[ 283 ]

permanent ftate refpedilvely, according to the ftate of that love
which prevails in them, in which one knows another from fimi-
larity of condition ; for, as was obferved above, n. 41 to 50,
fimilitude joins, and diflimilitude feparates.

428. As the world of fpirits is a middle flate in man betweea
heaven and hell, fo is it alio a middle place, having the hells
beneath, and the heavens above. All ^he hells are fliut next to
that world, except that fome holes or clefts, like as in rocks,
or wide mouths, are left open, and thefe fo guarded, that none
can pafs through them but by permiffion, which is granted on
particular occafions, of which hereafter : heaven likewife ap-
pears as fenced all round, fo that there is no pafling to any of
the heavenly focieties, but by a narrow way, which is likewife
guarded. Thefe outlets and inlets are what in Scripture are
called the doors and gates of heaven and hell.

429. The world of fpirits appears like a valley between,
mountains and rocks, here and there finking and rifing. The
doors and gates opening to the heavenly focieties are only f en
by thofe who are in their preparation for heaven, nor are they
to be found by any others : to every fociety in heaven there is
an entrance from the world of fpirits, after pafling which there
is a way, which, as it rifes, branches into feveral others : nor
are the doors and gates of the hells vifible to any, but thofe that
are going to enter therein, to whom they are then opened j at
which time there appear, like as it were, dark and footy caverns
leauii^g obliquely down to the deep, where there are alfo m »"£
gates. Through thofe dark and difmal caverns exhale certain
fetid vapours, which are moft olTenfive to the good fpirits, but
which the evil ones are greedily fond of; for as was the evil
which any one took moft delight in when in this world, fuch is
the flink correfponding thereto that moft pleafes him in the other ;
in which they may be aptly compared to thofe birds and hearts
of prey, as ravens, wolves, and Iwine, that are attrafted by the
rank elHuvia emitted from carrion and putrid carcafes : I once
heard one of thofe unhappy fpirits loudly bemoaning him (elf,
as from fome inward anguifli, on being ftruck with a fragrant
odour from heaven ; and afterwards relieved from his mifcry on
fcenting a fetid exhalation from hell.

430. There

[ 284 1

430- There are alfo in every man two gates, the one of
which opens towards hell, and to all that is evil and falfe [malis
et faljis\ proceeding thence ; the other gate opens towards hea-
ven, and to all good and truth \bonis et veris\ that ifTue thence :
the infernal gate is open in thofe who are in evil and its falfe \in
malo ct hide JalJo\ and they receive from above only fome glim-
mering of heavenly light, juft fufficient to fervc them to think,
reafon, and talk of heavenly things ; but the gate of heaven
ftands open in thofe who are in good and its truth \jn bono et
inde 'vero\. There are alfo two ways leading to the rational mind
in man, the fuperior or internal, by which good and truth is
communicated from the Lord ; and the inferior or external way,
by which evil and falfe are communicated from hell, and the
rational mind is in the midll: of thefe two ways ; hence it is,
that as much of the heavenly light as any man admits into his
mind, fo far is he truly rational ; and fo much as he admits not
of it, in fuch proportion he is not rational, hov.'cver he may
think himfclf fo. Thefe things are here offered, to (liew the
correfpondence that fubfilts between man and heaven and hell ;
for his rational mind, during the formation of it, correfponds
to the world of fpirits, the tilings above it being in heaven, and
the things beneath it in hell ; the former arc opened, and the
latter (as to all influx of evil and falfe) are fhut with refpedt to
thofe who are in their preparation for heaven ; but, on the other
hand, the things from beneath are opened, and the things above
are (hut (as to all influx of good and truth) with refpe<ft to
ihofe who are in their preparation for hell ; confequently, the
latter can only look down to the things beneath them, or to
hell ; and the former only to the things above them, or to hea-
ven. Now to look up is, by correfpondence, to look to the
Lord, who is the common center to which all heavenly things
point their afped: and tendency ; but to look downwards is to
turn from the Lord to the oppofite center of attrartion to all
things of a hellilh nature, fee above, n. 123 and 124.

431. They who are in the world of fpirits are fpoken of in
the preceding numbers under the denomination of Sph-i's, and
they who are in heaven, under the denomination of An^elsm

That

f 285 ]

That every Man is a Spirit as to the Inner

Man.

432. Whoever rightly confiders the matter, cannot but
know, that it is not the body, or material part, but the foul,
or fpiritual part, that thinks within him. Now the foul is his
fpirit, immortal in all its properties, and receptive of what is
fpiritual, as having a fpiritual life, which confifts in thinking
and willing ; confequently, the whole of the rational life ap-
pertains thereto, and not to the body, though manifefted therein ;
for the body, as obferved before, is only thoughtlefs matter,
and an adjund: or inftrument to the fpirit of man, whereby it
may manifeft its vital powers and functions in this natural world,
where all things are material, and as fuch void of life : it is
indeed cuflomary to afcribe adlion, motion, and power to the
body in the common forms of fpeaking ; but to fuppofe that
thefe properties belong to the inllrument, and not folcly to the
principle that aftuates it, is erroneous and abfurd.

433. As all vital power, both of adiing and thinking, ap-
pertains folely to the fpirit, and in no wife to the body, it fol-
lows, that the fpirit is truly and properly the man, and that
without its influence and operation there is neither thought nor
life from the crown of the head to the fole of the foot ; con-
fequently, that the feparation of the body from the fpirit, which
we call death, takes nothing from tliat which in reality con-
flitutes the man. I have been informed by the angels, that
fome, even after death, before they are raifed to their fecond life,
have fenfible perceptions for a while, as if flill in the body, though
without the power of bodily motion.

434. Man would not be capable of thinking and volition,
unlefs there were in him a fubftance to fcrve as the fubjed of
thefe operations, and to fuppofe otherwife would be afcribing
exigence to non-entity, as may appear from man's not being
able to fee without that organ, which is the fubjcdl of vifion,
or to hear without the. organ of hearing; thefe fenfes being no-

C c c c thing

[ 286 ] ,

thing without fuch fubjcds of their operations. Now thought *

is internal vifion, or the light of the miiid, as perception is the -i

internal hearing, and thefc withou't internal organized fubftances,
as their proper fubjeds, c;'.nnot cxill : fo that the fpirit of a
man has equally a form, and that a human one, as alfo its {cn-
fory and fenfes, when diverted of its material body, as it had
before ; for all the perceptive life of the eye and the ear, and
of every other fenfe that appertains to man, is not frojn Jiis
materi.'.l body, but from his Ipirit, and the vital powers thereof,
in alland fingular the organs and parts of his body : hence it is,
that fpirits fee, hear, and feel, as well as men, in the fpiritual
world (*), though not in this natural world after their feparation
from this mortal body. That the fpirit had natural fenfations
in this world was owins: to its union with a natural or material
body J but then alfo it had its fpiritual fenfes exercifed in the
various modes of thinking and willing.

435. The foregoing dodlrine is here offered, to convince the
rational reader, that man, confidered in himfelf, is a fpirit, and
that the corporeal part of his compofition annexed to him in
this natural and material world is in order to his relation thereto,
and what he has to do therein, but is not the man himfelf, but
only defigned to be inftrumental to the operations of his fpirit :
but, as few are capable of receiving abilradl reafonings, and
many are apt to run them into matter of doubtful difputation,
by arguments drawn from fallacious appearances of fenfe, I

(*) To fuppofe a human fpirit void of a liumnn form and fenfes, is to anni-
hilate the very idea of fpirit ; for as every ciVcnce has its proper form, and every ■■'
form its own efTence (they being neccflary correlatives) fo every Ipirit has its body ,|
Juited to the \vor!d it belongs to, according to that diftincf^ioii laid down by the a
apoftle : " There is a natural body, and there is a fpiritual body :" and indeed, it >
is as rational to conclude, that a human fpirit fhould have a human, organized j
body endued with fpiritual fenfes in a fpiritual world, as that the fam.c fpirit fliould ' .1
be invefled with a material organiz-ed body with natural fenfes in this natural
world. It is to be lamented, and the more for its tendency to promote infidelity,
that many of the learned, fo called, ha\e in a manner defined and refined fpiritual
nature into nothing, by diverting it of fubllaiuiality, to which it has a m.ore pe-
culiar right ; nor is the body of an angel lefs fubftanti.il in a proper fenfe of the
word than a folid rock, though not according to the condition of material nature.
Upon the whole, the common ideas of the vulgar and illiterate come m\ich nearer
to the truth and reality of heavenly things than the \aia conceits of fuch fpccu-
lating fciolilts. Tr.

chufc.

[ 28; ]

chufe, for confirmation of the doiftrine in hand, to appeal to
truths founded on experience. Such as have confirmed them-i
felves in the belief of the contrary fide, are given to think, that
as the beafts have life and fenfations as well as men, fo they
have both the fame fpirit and the fame end ; but this is a grofs
error, as the fpirit of a beaft immcnfely differs from that of a
man, as being deftitute of that fublime principle of a heavenly
life, by Vv'hich the latter is made receptive of the divine influx,
and capable of being exalted to a participation of the divine
nature ; and therefore it is that man is fo highly privileged above
the beafls, that he can think of God, and the things pertaining
to his kingdom both in heaven and earth, and be led thereby to
love the Lord, and to be united to him : now that which is in
the capacity of fuch union is not liable to perifli like that which
is not. As to this inmoft or fupreme part in man above v/hat
the hearts poffefs, fomething has been faid before, n. 39, but
which it is thought proper to repeat in this place, as appofite to
the fubjeft before us, viz. " I am here led to fay fomething
♦' concerning the angels of the three heavens, which has hitherto
" continued a fecret, through want of knowledge as to the
" three degrees of the divine order, fpokcn of, n. 38, viz. that
" there is in every angel, and in every man, an inmoft and
" fupreme degree or part, which more immediately admits the
*' divine influx from the Lord, and whereby all that is within
" man in the inferior degrees are orderly difpofed and regulated.
" This inmoft or fupreme part of the fpirit or foul, may be
" called the Lord's entrance into angels and men, nay, his very
" habitation in them ; and hereby it is, that man is diftin-
*' guiflied from the brute animals (which have it not) and is
" rend red capable of near cominunications with the Lord in
" the inner man, of believing in liim, loving him, and of feeing
" him : nay, from hence it is that man is a recipient of under-
" ftanding and wifdom, and alfo that he is endowed with a
" rational life, and an heir of immortality : but how or what
" the Lord operates in this inmoft recefs or fupreme part of
" man, exceeds the capacity of an angel to comprehend."

436. That man is a fpirit internally, has been given me to
know from an experience, which would lake up many fheets to

relate.

[ 288 ] i

relate. I hav'^c converfed with fpirits, as a fpliit, and alfo as a
man in the body, and when I converfed with them in the former
charadler, I appeared to them as a fpirit in a human form like
to themfelves, my interior part being in all things conformable
thereto, for at fuch times the corporeal material part did not
appear. 5

437. That man is a fpirit internally, may alfo be evinced
from hence, that upon his feparation from the body by death,
he ftill continues a living man as before : that I miglit be certi-
fied of this, it has been allowed me to converfe with almofl- all

that I was acquainted with in their life-time here, with fome |

only for hours, with fome for weeks and months, and with '*

fome for years ; and this was permitted, to the intent that '1
might be confirmed in this truth, and alfo be qualified by expe- g

rience to bear teftimony to the fame. *

438. To what has been faid I have permiffion to add, that '
every one whilll here in the body is, as to his fpirit, in fome
fociety of fpirits, though he knows it not, and by means of

them has communication either with fome heavenly or infernal i

fociety, accordingly as he is good or bad, and alfo that he is
joined thereto after death. This is often told and fliewed to
thofe who pafs from hence into the world of fpirits : not that
a man appears, whilft he lives in this world, as a fpirit in fuch
fociety, and that becaufe he as yet exercifes his thinking faculties
according to his flate in nature ; but where any are fuch as think
abftradtedly from the body, they being in a fpiritual frame, do
fometimes appear in their refpedive focieties, and are v.-ell dif-
tinguiflied by the fpirits that are of it ; their manner is to go
about mufing and filent, without looking at others, and as if
they did not fee them j but as foon as any fpirit fpeaks to them,
they immediately difappear.

439. To illuflrate that a man is interiorly a fpirit, I fliall
here fhew from experience, what it is to be withdrawn from the
body, and what it is to be carried by the fpirit to another place.

440. As to the firft, viz. to be withdiax-. n from the body, it
is in this manner : a man is brought into .; middle flate betwixt
fleeping and waking, during which he kno\^s no other than that
he is perfeftlv awake, forafmuch as all his fenfes are as lively

[ 289 ]

as ever, his fight, his hearing, and what appears ftill more
ftrange, even his feeling ; nay, this lad is at ilich a time more
exquilite than at others. In this ftate I have feen fpirits and
angels to the life, have heard them fpeak, and, what will be
thought ftill more wonderful, have touched them, though the
material body then bore no part therein : it is in reference to
this ftate that we read of being " ablent from the body;" and
alio of " not knowing whether one is in the body, or out of
" the body." Into this ftate I have been brought only three or
four times, to the intent that I might have fome experience of
it, and alfo know that fpirits and angels are poftTeft'ed of every
fenfe, and man alfo in fpirit when withdrawn from the body.

441. As to the fecond of the ftates mentioned, viz. that of
being tranflated by the fpirit to another place ,• this I have had
living proof of, though only twice or thrice ; my experience of
which is as follows. As I was walking in the ftreets of a certain
city, and at another time out in the fields, to all feeming per-
feftly in the ufe of my bodily fenfes, and feeing my way as at
other times, I was in a trance, converfing with fpirits, and faw
in the vifion groves, rivers, palaces, houfes, men, and many
other objedls ; when after walking thus for fome hours, I fud-
denly returned to my natural fight, and found myfelf in a far
diftant place ; at which I was at firft greatly amazed ; but on
recollection perceived, that I had been in the like ftate witii
thofe that are faid to have been carried by the fpirit into another
place; for during the trance or tranfit, the perlbn has no idea
or thought concerning the way, though of many miles ; nor of
the time, though it Ihould be of many hours, or even days ;
neither is he fcnfible of any fatigue. Thus he is condui^l:ed
through ways he is an entire ilranger to, by a certain direction,
to the place appointed.

442. Fut thefe two ftates of man, as being of the more in-
terior kind, or, which fignifics the fame, when he is in the
fpirit, are an extraordinary difpcnfition, and only occafionally
made known to mc as realities acknowledged by the church j
but to converfe with fpirits, and to be with them as one of their
own focicty, is a privilege which has been granted to me in the

D d d d moft:

[ 290 ]

•moH; perfed ufe of all the bodily fcnfes, and that now for many
years.

443. That man, as to his interior ftate, is a fpirit, may
further be confirmed by what has been laid above, n. 31 1 to 317,
on the fubjed: of heaven and hell, as confiiling of the humaa
race.

444. That fuch alfo is the nature of man, may be learned
from his faculties of thinking and willing, which are fpiritual,
and conilitute the very elTence of the human fpecies ; and alfo,
according to their rcfpedlive difference therein, the particular
diftindion of one individual of it from another.

Of Man's being raifed from Death, and his
Entrance into ImmortaHty.

445. When the body of a man is no longer able to perform
its natural fundlions correfponding to the thoughts and affedions
of his fpirit, and which are derived to him from the fpiritual
world, then he is faid to die ; which comes to pafs when the
lungs and the heart ceafe their refpiratory and contradile mo-
tions, not that man then fuffers extindlion of life, but only is
feparated from that corporeal part of his compofition, which
ferved him for an inftrument of ufefulnefs in this world ; but
he ftill continues a living man, and that in a proper and literal
fenfe of the expreffion, inafmuch as man receives his denomi-
nation, not from his body, but from his fpirit, lince it is the
latter that thinks in him, and that thought with affedion ellen-
tially conAitute the man ; fo that when any is faid to die, it
means no more than that he pafTes from one world into another;
and hence it is, that by Jeatl in the Scripture, according to the
internal fenfe of that word, is fignified rcfurredtion, and con-
tinuation of life (251).

446. There is a very near communication and correfpondence
betwixt the fpirit and refpiration, and the motion of the heart

(251) That <■/(•«//; in the Word fignifies refurredtion, forafinuch as life is con-
tinued to man after death, n. 3498, 3505, 4618, 4621, 6036, 6222.

[the

[ 291 ]

[the fyftole] betwixt thinking and refplratlon, and betwixt the
affcdion of love and the heart (252) j fo that when thefe two
motions ceafe In the body, a feparatlon presently enfues ; for
thefe two motions, viz. that which is refpiratory In the lungs,
and that which is called the fyftole or contrtictile power of the
heart, are the two bonds of union, which when broken, the
fpirit is left to Itfelf, and the body, being deftitute of life from
the fpirit, becomes cold and putrities. That fo intimate a com-
munication fubfifts between the human fpirit and refplratlon,.
and the heart, is becaufe all the vital motions in this world
depend thereon, not only In common, but alfo in every parti-
cular part of the body (253).

447. The fpirit of a man remains fome little time in the
body after all figns of life difappear, but not longer than till
a total ceffatlon of all power in the heart enfues, which varies
according to the nature of tlie difeafe he dies of, for the motioix
of the heart continues long after in fome, but not fo in others j
but as foon as the total ceffatlon of it happens, the refufcitation
of man commences, and this by the fole power of the Lord.
By refufcitation here is meant the liberation of the fpirit of a
man from his body, and the introduction of it into the world
of fpirits, and commonly called refurre(Slion. That the fpirit
of a man is not feparated from his body before all motion and
power in the heart entirely ceafes, is becaufe the heart corre-
fponds to the affecftion of love, which Is the very life of man»
for it is from love that every one derives his vital heat (254) ;
therefore fo long as this conjun<ftion kifts, fo long correfpon-

(2,52) That the heart correfponds to tlie will, confequently to the affcflion of
love ; and that the rcfpiration of the lungs correfponds to the undcrftanding, con-
fequently to thought, n. 38S8. That the heart in the Word fignifies will and
love, n. 7540, 9C50, 10336 ; and that foul or fpirit fignifies unJerftanding, faith,
and truth ; that therefore, fro>u the foiil^ and from the heart, from the will, love,
and good, ji. 2930, 9050. Of the corrcfpondence of the heart and lungs with
the grand man or heaven, n. 3883 to 3896.

(253) That tile pulfe of the lirart, and the rcfpiration of the lungs, hold do-
minion throughout the whole body, and influence every part of it, n. 3887, 3889,
3890.

(254) That love is the efTence of life in man, n. 5002. That love is a (piri-
tual heat, and confequently the vital principle in man, n. 1589, ZI46, 3338 — 9954»
10749. That aftectiou is the continuation of love, 11. 3938>

deiicc

[ 292 ]

dence continues, and it is from correfpondency that the fpirit
actuates and communicates life to the body.

448. The manner in which refufcitation is performed, has not
only been told to me, but alfo manifclved to mc by aiftual expe-
rience in myfelf, to the end that I might be fully certified
thereof.

449. I was brought into a ftate of infenfibility with refpedl
to the bodily fenfes, and nearly into that of dying pcrfons, the
interior life, together with the power of thinking, remaining
at the fame time pcrfecflly entire, fo that I could perceive and
retain in memory what happened, and alfo know how it is with
thofe who are raifed from the dead : I perceived likewife that
the lungs fcarcely continued their otlice, but there remained an
interior refpiration in my fpirit joined with a gentle and almojft
imperceptible breathing of the body: I then hvl\ experienced a
communication of the pulfe of the heart with the heavenly king-
dom, for that kingdom correfponds to the heart in man ; fome
angels alfo appeared from thence, fome at a diftance, and two
placed themfelves near to my head, upon which all concern and
regard for myfelf ceafed, however thought and perception remained
W"ith me : in this ftate I continued for fome hours. At length the
fpirits that were about me departed, fuppofmg me to be dead ; and
at the fame time an aromatick odour, like that of a body em-
balmed, difFufed itfelf around ; for on the prefence of the coe-
leftial angels, that which would be otherwife a cadaverous fmell,
is changed into fuch a fragrancy (*), which is io offenfive to
bad fpirits, as to hinder their approach ; and it is by this means
that they are kept from molclling fuch as are in their pallage to
eternal life. The angels which had placed themfelves at my
head were filent, only communicating their thoughts to mine,
which being received, they know that the fpirit of the man fo
recipient, is in a proper llate to be conveyed from the body.

1 (*) This may fervc to explain what many readers liave met with, as related by
authors of good credit, concerning certain perfons of eminent pictv, who are faid
to have died in the oJiur of fandity, from the fragrancy that iftued from their
bodies after death. A truth cafily admilTible by all who believe an intercourfc as
fubfifting between the fpiritual and natural worlds ; and they who do not, arc ill
qualified to receive benefit from our author's writings. Tr.

The

[ 293 ]

The manner of communicating their thoughts to mc was by
looking at me full in the face, for fuch is the manner of like
communication in heaven. As thought and perception all along
remained with me, to the end that I might know and remember
the way of rcfiifcitation, fo I perceived that the angels before
mentioned fcrutinized into my thoughts, to know whether they
were like to thofe of dying perfons, which are generally em-
ployed on the fubjefts of eternal life, and alfo I found, that
they endeavoured to direcft my thoughts that way : I was told
afterwards, that the fpirit of every dying man was preferved ia
his laft beft thoughts, till the prevailing power of thofe, which
proceeded from his ruling love or paiVion when in the world,
took polleirion of him. I was given to perceive and experience,
in a particular manner, a certain violent attraction of my inward
man or fpirit from my body ; and it was told me, that this was
from the Lord, and introdudlory to refurrecftion.

450. The coeleflial angels, after joining themfelves to any
raifed fpirit, do not leave him, for they are loving to every one j
but if he be one that is not qualified to be their companion, he
earneftly wiihes to be feparated from them, on which he is
joined by fome of the angels from the middle or fpiritual hea-
ven, who bring him to a fight of the external light, for hitherto
all had pafled with him inwardly in vifion. 1 beheld the man-
ner in which this appeared to be done, namely, by an evolution
of the external coat of the left eye back to the fence or feptum
of the nofe, in order to give a free ingrels of light to the eye
for the purpofe of vihon (*). This fecms to be a real operation
to the fpirit, though it is only fuch in appearance : upon this

(*) It is eafy to forcfee what kind of r'prefcntation men of a j^fting and ludi-
crous turn are likely to give of this among other like pafi'agcs of our author's
writings : It may not therefore be amil's to caution them againlt indulging a vein
of liberty bordering on profanencfs, as far as it may extend to the parables of our
Lord, and the vifions in the Prophets and the Apocalvpfe, wherein fpiritual things
in the hea\ens are rcprefented by natural fimilitudes on earth. Btfides, it is very
rcafoitable to fuppofc, that to fpirits newly arrived from this world all things arc
imaged by corrcfponding figns or appearances accommodated to the apprehenfions
and ideas they carry with them ; nay, that all things fpiritual will eternally be
vifibly reprefentcd under fignificant emblems, both for the inflruclion and enter-
tainment of the heavenly inhabitants, as this may conllitutc no liiiall part of
coeleflial delights.

E e e e an

[ 294 ]

an imperfcdl light at firfk appears, fomcthing like that which is
difccrncd through the eye-lids upon a man's firfi: waking in the
morning : it leemcd to me to be of a CGL'leftial colour, but I was
told afterwards, that it appears dift'crently to different perfons :
after this, a kind of tegument or veil is perceived to be gently
removed from the face, but this alfo is in appearance only, fuch
evolution reprefenting a fpiritual frame of mind and thinking,
fucceeding to that which before was natural only. Moreover,
thcfe angels ufe their beft endeavours to hinder any fentiment
or affe<ftion from being excited in the mind of the new raifed
fpirit that is not tindtured with love ; after this they give him
to know, that he is now a fpirit. After thefe miniilrations of
light and knowledge as to his condition, the fpiritual angels
fliew all kind offices to the new fpirit that accord with his ftate,
and inflru<ft him in things pertaining to the other life, fo far as
confifl with his prefent capacity ; but if he is fuch a one as is
not capable of receiving benefit from their friendly endeavours,
in that cafe he defires to be feparated from their company, not
that they leave him, but he quits them ; for the angels love
every one, and it is their highell delight to attend, inftrud, and
to condu(5l them to heaven. When he has thus feparated himfelf
from their fociety, he is next received by the good fpirits [in
the intermediate Itate] into their fociety, who, in like manner,
do him all kind offices ; but if his life in this world has been
fuch as difqualifies him for their fociety, he is defirous, as
before, to be feparated from them alfo ; and fo on, till he can
affociate with fuch as are like himfelf, in whofe company he
finds his true enjoyment ; and with them he lives (however
flrange it may feem) a life conformable to that which they chofe
in this world.

451. But this way of life in his new ftate lafts only for fome
days ; after which he continues his progrefs frorh ftate to ftate,
till it finally terminates in heaven or hell, as will appear in the
fequel, and of which I have had con\'incing proof.

452. I have converfed with fome tiie third day after their
deceafe, when they paffed through all that has been mentioned in
the foregoing numbers, 449, 450 ; and alfo with three, who were
of my aciijuaintance in this world, whom I informed, that their

friends

[ 295 J

friends were at that time preparing their funerals, and that they
were then on the point of interment ; at which account they
appeared aftoniflied, faying, that they knew themfelves to be
alive, and therefore that they could only bury what had been
of ufe to them in this world, but now belonged to them no
more ; and prefently after expreffed their wonder, that whLHl
in this world, neither they, nor fo many others in the church,
truly believed in fuch a life after the death of the body. Such
as in this world had little or no belief of a life after death,
appear confounded and afliamed when they experience the con-
trary ; but as to thofe who had taken pains to confirm them-
felves in unbelief as to this matter, they are clafTed with their
fellows, and feparated from fuch as had lived in the belief of
it ; and as to the greater part of them, they are in chains with
a certain hellifli fociety, which in this world had denied God,
and held the fundamental dodlrines of the Chrillian church in
contempt ; for as far as any one ftudies to confirm himfelf in
the difbelief of a future ftate, fo far he declares himfelf an
enemy to heavenly things, and to the church of God.

That Man after Death is in a perfefl: Human

Form.

453. That the form of the fpirit of a man is in a human
form, or, in other words, that the fpirit is the true formed
man, may be evinced from many of the foregoing articles, par-
ticularly from thofe, wherein is fhewed, that every angol is in
a perfedt human form, n. 73 to 77 ; and alfo that every man is
a fpirit as to his inner man, n. 432 to 444 ; and that the angels
in heaven are from the human race, n. 311 to 317. This alfo
more evidently appears from man's being denominated man from
his fpirit, and not from his body, and becaufe the corporeal
form is an adjune^l to the fpirit alter its form, and not contra-
riwile, the former being but the cloathing of the latter. More-
over, the fpirit is the fole moving power in man, afting upon
and adUiating every the moll minute part of the body, infomuch

that

[ 296 ]

tluu, when any part no longer derives vital influence tlierefrom,
it prefently dies. Now the ruling powers, which govern the
body as their lubjeifl, arc the thought and the will ; but thele
are from the fpirit only, nay, conftitute its very eirence. The
realbn why we do not Tee any feparate Ipirit, nor yet that of
another man whilft in his body, in its human form, with our
prelliit organs of fight, is becaufe thele organs of vilion are
material, and therefore only capable of difcerning objefts of a
material nature, whereas fpiritual things mull; be feen by a fpi-
ritual eye (^) ; but when the corporeal fight is extinguilhed by
the death of the body, and the fpirit's eye is opened, then fpirits
appear to one another in their human form, not only in the
fpiritual world, but they alfo fee the fpirits of thole who yet
live here in the body.

454. That a human form is proper to a human fpirit, fol-
lows from man's being created in the form of heaven, and alfo
receptive of all things of a heavenly nature and order (255),
confequently with the faculty of receiving underftanding and
wifdom J for whether we exprefs it by the words, faculty of
receiving underftanding and wifdom, or, the faculty of receiving
heaven, it comes to the fame, as may appear from what has
been faid before concerning the light and heat of heaven, n. 126
to 140: concerning the form of heaven, n. 200 to 212: con-
cerning the wifdom of angels, n. 265 to 275 j and in the article
wherein is fliewed, that heaven, as to its form, rcleniblcs a man
both in whole and in part, n. 59 to 77, and this from the Divine

(*) It is to be noted here, that when fjiiiits are fccn by any one in tlic body,
they are not Iccn with tlic corporeal organs of vifior., but by the fpirit of the
beholder abftrafledly from the body, though the appearance is exactly :he fame in
both cafe?, as implied in thole words of the apoftle, where, fpcaking of his vifions,
he fays : " Whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell." \N'h;it is
here obfervcd is not intended by wav of objection to the fiippofuion, that fpirits,
for certain purpofes, may he permitted to allunie corporeal \chiclcs vifibic to the
bodily eye. Tr.

(255) That man is the fiibject participating of all things relative to the divin*
order, and that by creation he was a form of divine order, n. 4219, 4220, 4223,
4523 — 9706, 10156, 10472. That as far as any one lives here according to divine
order, fo far he aj)pcars pcrfcft, and of beautiful form in the other world, n. 4839,
6605, 6626.

riumanitv

[ 297 ]

Humanity of the Lord, from whom heaven and its form ori-
ginate, n. 78 to 86.

455. What has hitherto been faid on this fubjecTt may be
underftood by the rational man, from his view of caufes and
their effed:s, of premifes and their confequences ; but not fo
by the obftinately irrational, and that for many aflignable rea-
fons ; but principally, becaufe he is averfe to all dodtrines whicii
are contrary to the falfe principles that he has adopted in the
room of truths ; and he that has thus fliut up his mind, hath
fhut the gate of heaven againft himfelf, fo that no light from
thence can illuminate his rational faculties -, and yet that gate
might be opened if his will did not refifi:, fee above, n. 424.
That any man (free from natural defedl) may form a rational
conception of truth when offered, if his will be not averfe to
it, I have had convincing proof. Thus I have known bad
fpirits, who, having rendered themfelves irrational by a wilful
oppofition to divine truths, and by confirming themfelves in
unbelief, yet, when compelled to turn themfelves towards thofc
who were in the light of truth, they became intelligent like
the angels, had a clear comprehenfion of the truth, and con-
felled it ; but they no fooner returned to themfelves, and the
bias of their prevailing love or will, than they lofl all, and de-
clared themfelves on the contrary fide : I have alfo heard fome
infernals confefs, that their adtions were indeed evil, and their
thoughts contrary; but that they could not refift the ruling
paffion or bent of their will ; and moreover, that under the
influence thereof upon their minds, they faw evil as good, and
falfe as truth. This makes it evident, that they who are in falfe
thinking from an evil principle [1/2 faljis ex malo] might be
pofTelled of a rational underftanding, if they were in a willing
difpofition for it, and that the rcafon why they are not fo, is
becaufe they love the falfe above the true [fdlfa prce 'ucris] as
more agreeing with the evil they have adopted, and which they
chufe to follow. It is to be obferved, that to love and to will
a thing is the fame j for what a man wills he loves, and what
he loves that he alfo wills. As men are thus conflitutcd, to be
in a capacity of receiving the truths relating to the kingdom of
God both in heaven above, and in his church on earth, if their

F f f f wills

[ 298 ]

wills be accordant thereto ; therefore I have been called to this
miniftration of confirming the truths in both kingdoms by ra-
tional arguments, that fo the errors which have been introduced
by falfe reafoning may be difcuffed and refuted by fuch as are
true, if fo be that any by this means may be brought to the
knowledge of the truth ; for to confirm fpiritu;il truths by ra-
tional arguments, is the proper province of thofe who are in
the pri:iciple of truth; for how fliould any one rightly interpret
or underfland the Sacred Writings from the literal expreflion,
without the aid of reafon enlightened from above ! To the want
of this qualification in expofitors it is owing, that fo many
heretical doftrines have been introduced into the church (256).

456. That the fpirits of men are real men after their fepa-
ration from the body, I can teftify to from a daily experience
of many years, and after having fecn and heard them a thoufand
times : I have alfo difcourfed with them on the incredulity of
many here on earth as to this matter, and how they who are
believers in this refpedl are confidered by the learned as weak
and credulous. The fpirits exprefied a heart-felt grief, that
fuch ignorance fliould prevail among men, efpecially in the
church, faying, that this incredulity took its rife from the
learned, who, from their grofs, fenfual ideas of fubftance, as
appropriated to material bodies, conceived no otherwife of the
foul than as of mere thought without any vifible fubjeft to in-
here and fubfift in, and fo vanifliing into a kind of volatile fubtle ^
aether upon its feparation from the body : but as the church J
believes in the immortality of the foul on the evidence of the W
Scriptures, they could not but afcribe to it fome vital property,
as of thought, though they diveft it of all human fenfitive per-
ception till its re-union with the body, according to their doc-
trine of the refurredtion at the time of the laft judgment.

(256) Tliat we fhould fet out with an affent to fundamental truths grounded oiv
plain fcriptural evidence, and then we may proceed to fcicntifick knowledge for
the purpofcs of illuftration, n. 6047 ; but that they who are in unbelief, and on
the negative fide, are in no wife qualified to judge of divine truths from natural
knowledge, n. 2568, 2588, 4760, 6C47. That it is according to divine order to-
proceed from fpiritual truths to the rational inveftigation of fuch as are natural,
and not contrarywife, and that becaufe influx is from the fpiritual into the natural
world, aai not vice ver/dy n. 3219, 5119, 5259 — 911c, giii.

Hence

[ 299 ]

Hence it is, that when any one thinks of the foul according to
their hypothefis, he has no conception of it as a fpirit in a
human form ; and this falls in with the general ignorance as to
the nature of fpiritual beings, whether angels or others ; whence
it comes to pals, that almoll all, upon their arrival in the other
world, ftand amazed on finding themfelves to be living men,
and that they can fee, hear, fpeak, and ufe their bodily fenfes
equally as in this world, fee above, n. 74. But when this won-
der is over, they wonder next at the great ignorance in the
church concerning fuch a flate after death, as alfo concerning
heaven and hell, when they fee all after their departure from
this lite as truly living, human perfons as they were before ;
and as fome of them feemed to be totally at a lofs to account
for fo important an article of belief not being put beyond all
doubt by vifions and fupernatural appearances to men in this
world ; they were informed, that nothing was ealier to be done,
by divine permiflion, than this ; but that all fuch, as had con-
firmed themfelves in a contrary perfuafion, would not even be-
lieve their own fenfes on the occafion ; and moreover, that it
was dangerous to confirm any thing by fupernatural evidence to
thofe who have grounded themfelves in filfities [injaf/is] as after
convidlion at firil by fuch evidence, they would afterwards depart
from it, which would fubjeft them to the guilt of profaning
fuch truths ; for to receive a truth, and afterwards to renounce
it, is the fin of profanation, and fuch profme perfons have their
portion in the deepeft lake hereafter (257). This is the great

** danger

(257) That profanation is a commixture of good and evil, and of what is true
and falfe, n. 6348. That they are find to profane good and trutii, or what is
facrcd, who at firft acknowledge them, more cfpccially if they have lived accord-
ing to them, and afterwards depart from the faith, and live to themfelves and the
world, n. 593, IC08, loic — 4601, 10284, 10287. That if a man relapfes, after
repentance and contrition, he is guilty of profanation, and hi^ Lift ftate is worfc
than his firft, n. 8394. That they are not guilty of profaning facrcd things, who
did not know or oelieve them to be fuch, n. 1008, loio, 1059, 8188, 10284.
l^hat the Gentiles, who arc without the church, and knew not the Scriptures,
cannot be guilty of this profanation, n. 1327, 1328, 2051, 2081. That there-
fore fpiritual truths were not revealed to the Jews, as othcrwife they would not
have profaned them, n. 3398, 3489, 6963. That the lot of profane perfons in
the other world is the moft mifcrable of all, as the good and truth which they
acknowledged remains in their belief, joined with the evil and falfc they had

adopted

[ 300 ]

danger fignified by tliofe words of our Lord : " He hath blinded
** their eyes, and hardened their hearts, left they fhould fee
" with their eyes, and underlland with their heart, and be con-
** verted, and I fliould heal them," (*) Joh. xii. 40. And with
reference to fuch as have fo hardened themfelves in unbelief, as
to be proof againft all convicftion, are fpoken the following
words : " If they hear not Mofes and the Prophets, neither
** will they be perfuaded, though one rofe from the dead,"
Luke xvi. 31.

457. When the fpirit of a man firft enters into the world
of fpirits, which is foon after his refufcitation (of which men-
tion has been made before) he as yet retains the lame face and
voice that he had in this world, as being hitherto in his exterior
flate, that of his interiour being yet unmanifeiled ; and this
is his firft ftate after death : but fome time after, his face be-
comes entirely changed, fo as to correfpond with the particular
affedlion or love that pofTelfed his fpirit when in the body j for
the face of a man's fpirit differs greatly from that of his body,
the latter being derived from his parents, but the former a cor-
refpondent to his predominant affedion, of which it is the fig-
nature or image, and which becomes appropriated to man in
the other world, upon the manifcll:ation of his interior ftate ;
this is his third ftate. I have feen fome upon the firft of their
arrival in the other world, whom I knew by their face and voice j
but, when I faw them fome time after, they were fo changed,
that I knew them not ; fuch of them as were endowed with
good aft'edlions appeared with beautiful countenances, and they
whofe affedlions were contrary looked deformed and ugly ; for
the fpirit of a man rightly confidered is the fame with his pre-
dominant afte(ftion or love, and his face is the external form of
it. This change refpeding faces in thofe who pafs from hence
into the other world, is founded on this law j that no diflimu-

adopted, and from this commixture their life is a ftate of contrariety and diftraflion,
n. 571, 582, 6348. That therefore the Lord has provided the moft cfFciSlual bars
againlt the fin of profanation that may be, n. 2426, 10384.

(*) This pafTage is beft underflood with a fuppofition of apofbafy forefcen in
fuch as (hould otherwife have been converted, as it is Icfs dangerous to continue
ignorant of the truth, than to depart from and renounce it after having received
it. Tr.

lation

r 301 ]

lation or counterfeiting Is there allowed, but all mufl appear to
be what they really are, and confequently exprefs their thoughts
in their words, and their afFedions and delires in their looks
and adions, fo that the faces of all there reprefent their minds
relpedively. Hence it is, that though all who knew one another
in this world are alike mutually acquainted in the world of
fpirits, yet it is otherwife in heaven and in hell, as fliewed
before, n. 427, (258).

458. The faces of hypocrites undergo not their proper change
fo foon as the faces of others, and that becaufe they have by
cuflom contradted a habit of forming their minds to a kind of
imitation of good fentiments and affedlions, and therefore they
appear not uncomely for fome time ; but as the difguife gra-
dually w^ears off, and their inmoll thoughts and affed:ions mani-
feft themfelves, they appear more ugly than others. The hy-
pocrites here fpoken of, are fuch as know how to talk like
angels upon divine fubjedls, and yet in their hearts exalt nature
on God's throne, and difbelieve all heavenly truths, as acknow-
ledged in the church of Chrift.

459. It is to be obferved, that the human form of every
man after death is beautiful in proportion to the love he had
for divine truths, and a life according to the fame, for by this
llandard things within receive their outward manifeftation and
form, fo that the deeper grounded the affeftion for what is good,
the more conformable it is to the divine order in heaven, and
confequently the more beauty the face derives from its influx.
Hence it is, that the angels of the third or inmoft heaven, whofe
love is of the third or higheft degree, are the moft beautiful of
all the angels j whereas they whofe love for divine things had
been in a lower degree, or more external than that of the coe-

(258) That the face is formed for correfpoiulcncy with the inner or fpiritual
man, n. 4791 to 4805, 5693. Of the corrt-fpondence of the face and its coun-
tenances with the aftl-dtions of the mind, n. 1568, 2988, 2989 — 5168, 5695, 9306.
That the face and inward ftate in tiic ai)ii;cls arc perfcc'lly confcntancous, n. 4796,
4797, 4798, 4799, 56955 8250. That ilicrcfore by /rtiv in the Word is fignificd
the ihitc of the nnnd with rcfpeft to its aftl-dtions and thoughts, n. 1999, 2434,
3527, 4066, 4796, 5102, 9306, 9546. How the influx from the brains in pro-
cefs of time became changed, and thereby the countenances in regard to corrc-
fpondency with the interior ftates of the mind, n. 4326, 8250.

G g g g IclHal

[ 3<^2 ]

leftial or highcfl angels, poffcfs an inferior degree of beauty ;
and the tranllucent luftre in their faces, as proceeding from a
leflcr degree of divine virtue within them, is comparatively dim :
for as all perfection rifes in degrees from the inward to the
inmoft, fo the external beauty, to which it gives life and vigour,
has its degrees in the fame proportion (*). 1 have feen the faces
of fome angels belonging to the third heaven, of fucii exquifite
luftre and beauty, as no painter on earth could defcribe, even
to the thoufandth part ; though a confummate artift might be
able to give us fome near refemblance of the faces of the loweft
angels, or fuch as belong to the firft heaven.

460. I ftiall conclude this chapter with mentioning what has
hitherto remained a fecret to all, viz. that all that good and
truth [omne bonuin et I'erum] that proceeds from the Lord, and
conftitutes heaven, has a human form both in whole and in part,
even to the Icaft portion thereof j and that this form has rcfped:
to and influences every one that receives good and truth from
the Lord, and alfo is the caufe of everv one in heaven havin?
a human form according to his reception of it refpedtively : and
hence it is, that heaven is fimilar to itfclf, as well in every par-
ticular, as in its complex, inafmuch as the lame human form
that belongs to the whole, belongs in like manner to every
fociety, , and to every individual angel therein, as has been fet
forth in four articles, from n. 59 to 86 ; to which it muft here
be added, that the fame holds true with refpedl to every thought
in the minds of angels, that takes its rife from coeleftial love.

(*) That beauty fpring? from goodnefs or virtue as its foiircc, or is the form of
it, is a dod:rinc that fcems to carry its genuine evidence with it, and is received as
fooH as propofcd to the virtuous mind. The two lalt lines of the following well
Itnown epitaph t;.prcfs much of this idea.

" Underneath this ftone doth lie
" As much virtue as could die,
" Which when alive did vigour give
" To as much beauty as could live."

Nay, the wifer heathens annexed the idea of pulchritude to the excellency of
virtue ; v^htnce that faying, I think, of TuHy ; " That if virtue were to aflume
•' a human form, all her beholders would be ravilhcd with the charms of her
" beauty."

But

[ 3^3 ]

But this doftrine will not eafily gain admittance into the human
mind, though it is clearly undcrftood by the angels.

That Man, after Death, retains every Senfe,
as alfo the fame Memory, Thoughts, and
AfFe(9:ions which he had in this World,
and leaves nothingr behind him but his
terreftrial Body.

461. That when a man pafles from this natural world into
the Spiritual, which is at the time of his death, he takes with
him all that belonged to him as man, has been manifefled to
me by repeated experience : for when any one enters into the
fpiritual world, or into the life after death, he is equally in the
body as before, nor is there to all appearance the leaft difference :
but his body then is a fpiritual body, and feparate from all the
groffnefs and impurity of matter ; and as when a fpiritual body
fees and feels th.it which is fpiritual, it appears the fame as
when a natural body fees and feels that which is natural, fo
man, when firll become a fpirit, feems to himfelf to be as he
was in this world, and knows not as yet that he has pafTed
through death. Man, when become a fpirit, poffefies every
fenie, both external and internal, that he pofi'effcd before ; he
fees, hears, and fpeaks as before j has the fame fmelling, tafle,
and feelhig as before; and he has the fame appetites and defires ;
the fame thoughts, reflexions, and affedlions as before ; and he
who took delight in lludying, reads and writes as before. In
a word, when a man paffes from one life to another, or, which
is the fame thing, from one world to another, it is but as re-
moving from one place to another ; for he takes all with him
that belongs to him as a man, fo that he cannot be faid to have
left any thing behind him but his mere earthly covering :
moreover, he takes with him his natural memory, retaining
all that he ever heard, faw, read, learned, or thought in the
world, from his infancy to his leaving it ; but as to the me-
mory

[ 304 ] il

mor)' of fuch natural objects, which there is nothing In the
fpiritual world to revive the ideas of, that is quiefcent, like as
in a man when he thinks not of them ; however, thefe alfo are
again excited in the mind occalionally, by the divine permifllon,
to anfvver certain purpofes : but with refpeifl to this fpecies qf
memory, and the (late of it after death, more will be faid here-
after. Such a ftate of man as this after death, will appear in-
credible to the mere fenfualift, who is incapable of receiving
any ideas even of fpiritual things, but according to natural ; for
fuch a one, being led only by fenfe, makes no account of any '

thing but what he can fee with his eyes, and feel witli his hands, S

as is fiid of Thomas, John xx. 25, 27, 29. Concerning the
fenfual man, fee above, n. 267, and aho in the note (i^) there.

462. But notwithftanding what has been faid above, there -j

is a very great difference between the life of any one in the
fpiritual world, and the life of the fame in the natural v/orld,
and that with refpedl both to his external and internal fenfes, ,

and the affcdions thereof refpedively. Thus, for inftance, all
in heaven have their fight, their hearing, and all their fenfes, in
far greater perfedion than when in this world, and alfo their
minds more abundantly replete with wifdom ; for they fee by
the light of heaven, which greatly exceeds that of this world,
fee above, n. 126; and they hear through the medium of a
fpiritual atmofphere, to which that of our earth is not com-
parable, n. 235. The comparative difference between thefe two
fenfes there and here, is as that of a bright llcy to a thick fog,
or as the luflre of the meridian fun to the diilk of the evening.
Now the light of heaven, which is divine truth, makes manifcil
the minutell things to the perception of angels, and as their
external correfponds to their internal or intelledual fight, fo by
mutual influx they co-operate in forming tlie high porfedlion
of angelical perfpicuity. In like manner their fenfe of hearing
correfponds to their perception, botli in the underftanding and
will, fo that in tlic found of the voice, and in the words of the
fpeaker, they can trace the moft minute particulars of his affec-
tions and thoughts ; in the found what relates to his affedlions,
and in the words what concerns his mind or thoughts, fee above,
n. 234. to 245 : but it is to be obfcrved, that the other fenfes

[ 305 ]

of the angels are not in the fame high degree of perfedllon with
thofe of light and hearing, and that becaufe the latter are the
fubfervient inftruments to their underftanding and wifdom, and
not fo the others, which, if equal in power, would leflen their
preference to intelleftual delights over and above thofe of their
ipiritual bodies, as we find to be the cafe with men in this world,
who, according to their greater relifli and indulgence as to their
grofTcr fenfes, have the lefler appetite and fenfibility with rcfpedt
to fpiritual things. That the interior or fpiritual fenfes of the
angels, (viz. fuch as refpedt their thoughts and aftedlions) are
more exquifite and perfedt than they had been in this world, has
been declared before, in the article Cojicerning the Wifdom of
Angels, n. ibz^ to 275. As to the difference of flate in thofe
who are in hell, compared with thofe that are in this world,
this alfo is very great ; for in proportion to the exceeding excel-
lence and perfeftion both of the external and internal fenfes in
the angels above thofe on earth, is the comparative imperfeftion
and degradation of thofe that are in hell ; but of the flate of
^he latter in what follows.

462. That man takes with him all his memory from this
world into the other, has been fully fliewed before : I have had
much fenfible and memorable experience of this, part of which
fliall here be orderly related. There were certain fpirits in the
other world, who denied the crimes and enormities which they
had been guilty of in this ; and therefore, to the end they might
not pafs for innocent in thefe matters, all the capital fins they
had committed in the courfe of their pall life, particularly thofe
of adultery and fornication, were fet before them in cu'dcr, as
they were recorded in tlieir own memory ; as likewifc fume
others, who, by various artifices of deceit and fraud, had wronged
their neighbours, to whom alfo their various afts of craft and
injuflice were enumerated, many ot which were known only to
tliemfelves ; and as thefe were difcovered to them with clearnefs
of evidence, even to all their circumftances, and alfo what had
paflcd in their own minds relating thereto, they could not but
confefs their guilt. There were fume who had fat in the feat
of judgment, and fuffered themfelves to be corrupted by gifts
and bribes, whofe memories were fcrutinized, and all their mal-.

H h h h vcrlations

iif*

[ 3o6 ]

:i:'

verfations and iniquitous pradices in office produced againft
them, to the number of fome hundreds, together with the time,
place, and the ftate of their minds during fuch tranfadions ;
nay, however wonderful it may appear, the very books in which
they had entered thefe things were opened, and read to them
page by page. There were others who had feduced and violated
the chaflity of virgins, who were brought to the fame trial, and
convidtcd by the evidence of their own memory made manifeft,
even as to time, place, converfation, and other particulars, nay,
the very faces of the virgins and women they had feduced, were
all at once fully reprefented, and that fometimes for hours to-
gether. A certain fpirit, who in this world had been much
addidled to flandering and backbiting, which he had here ftudi-
oufly endeavoured to conceal from the parties injured, was there
cxpofed to open fhame by a publick recital of his calumnies and
defamation, and that in his own words, together with the names
of the perfons before whom he uttered them. Another, who
had deceitfully deprived a kinfman of his inheritance, was in
like manner judged and convidted, and, which will appear very
flrange, the letters and writings, that had paiTed between them,
were read in my hearing ; and I was told that they were exaft
to a word : the fame fpirit had a little before his death taken
away the life of his neighbour by poifon, which was made
manifefl under the following reprefentation : he appeared as jj,

digging a hole in the ground, and having ended his work, a -;|

man was feen to rife out of it as from his grave, crying out to tj

him, What have you done to me ? Upon which he made a full
difcovery of the truth, and related how the poilbner befpoke
him in a friendly manner, and handed to him the fatal cup ;
and alfo what pafled in his mind, and what followed after : upon
this evidence the delinquent was fentenced to hell. In a word,
all murders, robberies, fraudulent devices, and hns and crimes
of every kind, are fo evidenced from the memories and con-
fciences of all offenders to their full convidlion in the other
world, and all the circumftances of them fet in fo clear a light,
that not the leafl room is left them for evafion or denial. I have
alfo heard from the memory of a certain fpirit, as viewed and
examined by the angels, all that had pafled in his mind from

day

[ 307 ]

day to day for a month together, without the leafl miftake, and
that by a revocation of particulars as to the perception of the
party himfelf, in as clear a manner as at the time of the firll
impreffion. Thefe examples may ferve to evince, that man
retains the memory of pall things after he has entered upon the
other world ; and that nothing is kept i'o fecret here, as not to
have its manifeilation there, and that in the prefence of many
witneffes, according to thofe words of our Lord : " There is
** nothing covered, that fliall not be revealed ; neither hid, that
*' fliall not be known. Therefore, whatfoever ye have fpoken
" in darknefs, fliall be heard in the light; and that which ye
" have fpoken in the ear in clofets, Oiall be proclaimed upon
" the houfe-tops," Luke xii. 2, 3.

463. When all that a man had done here in his natural body
is made manifeft to him after death, then the examining angels
infped: his face, and commence their inquell, which begins at
the fingers of each hand, and is from thence continued through-
out the whole body : as I wondered at this way of proceeding,
I was told, that as all the particulars belonging to thinking and
willing have their firft fignatures in the brain as their fubjedt
and beginning to manifeltation, fo are they continued through
the whole body, and terminate in its extremities ; fo that a man
is entirely fimilar to himfelf in whole and every part, according
to the quality of his will and intelledt : thus an evil man is his
own evil ; and the derivative good in any one conftitutes the
good man (259). What has here been faid explains what is
meant by the book of life in the Word, viz. that all the deeds
and thoughts of any one are fo infcribed upon his whole man,
that when recollefted by his memory they appear legible as in
a book i and are imaged in his very perfon, when he is viewed
in the light of heaven. I rtiall here add the following remark-
able particular concerning man's memory, as remaining with

(259) That the- good and truth in every good man, fpirit, and angel, conftitiites
his identity, and that he receives his particular denomination from the quality
thereof, n. 10298, 10367 ; and that becaufe good coaftitutes his will, and truth
his intclleft, and will and intellect are the conftituent principles of life in man,
fpirit, and angel, n. 3332, 3623, 6065. It is of like import to fay, that every
man, fpirit, and angel, is the fame with his particular predominant love, n. 6872,
10177, IC284.

him

9rt>

[ 3o8 ]

hlin after death ; whepeby I am convinced, that things not only
in their general, but alio in their moft minute particulars, aro
never totally obliterated in him : I faw Ibme books there written
in charafters like thofe in ufe with us, and was told that they
were penned from the memory of the writer, without the dif-
ference of a fingle word from thofe written by the fame author
in this w'orld ; which fliews, that from the memory of any
other perfon many particulars might be collefted, which he
himfelf had forgotten in this world ; and the reafon of this was
explained to me, viz. from man's having a twofold memory (*),
the one external or natural, and the other internal or ipiritual ;
and that all the thoughts, defires, and a*ftions of a man, and
the things that he had heard and feen, are infcribed on his in-
ternal memory (260), nay, on the very members of his fpiritual
body, as was faid before, never to be obliterated, for that his
fpirit was formed according to his thoughts and adfs of volition :
1 know that thefe things will appear as paradoxes, and gain
credit with few ; but they are no lefs true for that. Let no one

(*) That there may be a memory within a memory, unknown to that which is
outward, will not appear incredible to the attentive reader, when he reflects that
our minds are chiefly formed by what we learned and read many years ago, little
of which we have a diftiniSl remtinbrance of : thus wc may have received much
inftrudtion, to the improvement both of heart and mind, from books that wc do not
remember to have read, nor even the names of, which muft ha\e been laid up
fomewherc. In a word, this diilinction of the human faculties and powers into
exterior and interior, or natural and fpiritual, has its foundation in the nature of
man, and opens many myfterious things in a being, which is an inhabitant of two
worlds, even in this life, without knowing it. l"r.

(260) That man has two memories, the exterior ami interior, or the natural
and fpiritual, n. 2469 to 2494.. That man has no knowledge ot his interior me-
mory, n. 2470, 2471. The fuperior excellence of his interior above his exterior
mernory, n. 2473. That the things of his exterior memory arc in il)e light of
the world, but thofe of his interior in the light of heaven, n. 5212. That it is
from his interior memory that man is qualified to think and fpeak intelkctually and
rationally, n. 9394. T hat all ajid fingular the things which m;.n has thought,
fpokcn, done, Iccn and heard, are recorded in his interior memory, n. 2474, 9386,
0841, 10505. That in the interior memory are the truths which conllitute taith,
and the good which confHtutes love, n. 5212, 8067. That tliofe things which
are become habitual, and have entered into the forms of life, and thereby are ob-
literated in the exterior memory, remain in the interior, n. 9394, 9723, 9841.
That fpirits and angels fpeak from their interior memory, and thence have the
univcrfal language, n. 2472, 2476, 2490, 2493. ^ hat Iwiguages in this world
belong to the exterior memory, n. 2472, 2476.

therefore

«l

[ 309 J

therefore flatter himfclf, that any thing which he has thought
or done in fecret will not be known after death, for all will
then be made manifefl as in open day.

464. Although the external or natural memory remains with
man after death, yet things merely natural are not reproduced
therein in the other life, but only fuch fpiritual things as are
adjunvfts to the natural by correfpondence, which neverthelefs,
when exhibited to fight, appear in the fame form as in this
natural world ; for all things in the heavens appear in like man-
ner as they do on earth, though in their elTence they are not
natural, but fpiritual, as may be feen in the chapter, Coticerning
Rep?-efe}itc!tives and Appearances in Heaven, n. 170 to 176. But
then it muft be obferved, that the fpirit, by means of that ex-
ternal or natural memory, derives no ufe from thofe appearances
with refpedt to materiality, time, fpace, and other natural pro-
perties, as it did in this world ; as here (when not in the ufe of
of his intelleftual powers, but of his external fenfes only) he
thought naturally, and not fpiritually ; but in the other life
(where he is a fpirit in a fpiritual world) he no longer thinks
naturally, but fpiritually : now to think fpiritually, is to have
the mind intellecftually or rationally employed. Hence it is,
that the external or natural memory, in relpedl to all things
material, is quiefcent in the other world, making no ufe of any
of that nature, but fuch as he had applied to rational and intcl-
lecflual improvement in this. The reafon why the external
memory is quiefcent with refpe6t to material things in the fpi-
ritual world, is through want of things of a fimilar nature there
to excite or reproduce ideas of that kind ; for fpirits and angels
converfe from their afteftions, and the thoughts which fpring
from them in the mind ; nor can they exprefs any that are hete-
rogeneous thereto, as may be feen in what has been mentioned
before, concerning the converfation of angels in heaven with
one another, and alfo with man, n. 234 to 257. This may fervc
to (hew, that it is not the mere knowledge of languages and
fciences as fuch, but the intelledual ufe and improvement from
them that renders the fpirit more rational both here and after
death.' I have convcrfcd with m.iny, who flattered themfelves
with a belief that they fliould be highly accounted of in the

I i i i other

[ 3^0 ]

ether world for their learning, becaufe of their being acquainted
with the ancient languages, as Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, whilll
at the fame time they had negletfled to cultivate their minds
with the ufcful truths written therein ; whereas they appeared
there as arrant novices in all found literature, as they who were
totally ignorant of thofe tongues -, nay, fome of them Ihipid, but
yet ehited with a fancied futhciency of their fuperior wifdom.
I have difcourfed with others, who fancied that a man's wifdom
was in proportion to what he retained in his memory, and therefore
had furniflied their own with a pretty large flock of other men's
fayings; thus afFeding to be rich in what did not belong to them,
as not having any fund of truth in their own minds j but fome
of thefe were very dullards, others of them foolifli, not being
able to diftinguidi between right and wrong in common matters :
and I have had converfition with fome, who had publilhed
many things in the fcientifick way, and had acquired fome repu-
tation in the world by their writings j fome of thefe could rcafon
about truths, whether they were fucli or not, and could alfo
under ftand them when they turned to thofe that were in die
light of truth ; but when they turned back to their own con-
fufed dark minds, they would not receive, but rejeded them ,-,
and fome of them were as void of true knowledge, as the illi-
terate vulgar ; to fo little purpofe of real intelledlual improve-
ment had they fludied the fciences. But as to thofe, who, by
an abufe of their fcientihcal learning, have lludied to draw
argumentb from it againil: the trutlis oi religion, and to confirm
themfelves in unbelief; all tliey have gained by it is a trick of
difputing and reafoning without rationality (however it may
pafs for fiich with the world) and of giving to error the ap-
pearance of truth by a fallacious fophilliry : it is impollihle for
fuch to attain to a right underlianding, whilil they adhere to
the falfe principles they have adopted ; for though by the light
of truth we can deted: error, yet in the darknefs of error we
cannot find the way to truth. Now to oppofe divine truths is
to fliut the gate of communication betwixt heaven and our fouls ;
and as the foil of a garden or field, however fowed with feed,
cannot bring forth fruit without the frudiifying influence of the
fun, fo neither caa the rational part in man, however cultivated

by I

[ 3" J

by natural knowledge, attain to wifdoni without the light of
heaven, which is divine truth, and the heat of heaven, which
is divine love. It is matter of great grief to the angels, that fo
many of the learned, through the oppositions of fcience, falfcly
fo called, (liould fo far facrifice to the pretended fovcreignty of
nature and natural knowledge, as to exclude all communication
of divine light from their minds ; on which account it is, that
all fuch in the otlier world are deprived of the faculty of reafon«
ing, and appointed to be in defart places, to the end that they
may not flumble or perplex the limple, good fpirits with their
infidel notions and Ibphiflry.

465. A certain fpirit feemed much dillurbed at his not being
able to remember many things that he knew in this world, and
exprefled grief for the pleafurc he loft thereby : but he was told,
lliat, properly fpcaking, he had loft nothing, but was in pof-
feilion of all knowledge that could be of any ufe to him ; that
the things which he no more remembered did not fuit with his
prefent ftate, and that he ought to be fatisfied that he could
now think and fpeak more perfectly than before, without having
his mind depraved with grofs, material ideas, which could
anfwer no good end in the kingdom where he was at prefent,
and where he was richly fupplied with all things conducive to
an eternal happy life ;, and moreover, that true intclleftual know-
ledge was fo far from being kflencd by the removal of all ma-
terial images from the memory, that the more the mind was
•difengaged from all fuch natural impediments of the outward"
man, the more it was at liberty to make higher advances in the
contemplation of fpiritual and heavenly things.

466. Different kinds of memory are fometimcs reprefented
in the other world under iignificant forms known only there,
many things which the mind is only fufceptible of here, being
there imaged under vifible appearances^ Thus tlie exterior
memory is there reprefented under the figure of a callus, or
denfe fubftancc [if/Jlar calli] ; but the interior memory, like the
medullary part of- the human brain, to denote the diftindtion
between them : they who only ftudicd to furnifli their memory
here with ideas, whilft they nefjledled to cultivate their rational
part, their callofity appears of a ftill harder texture, and ftreaked

within.

[ 312 ]

xvithin as with tendons: they who in this life ftuffed their
memory only with faliities and figments, their callus appears
rough and hairy from the confufed heap and lumber therein :
they who retained nothing in their memory, but what was con-
nected with the love of felf and of the world, their callus re-
prefented a glutinous confillence bordering upon odification :
they who lludied to fearch out the divine fecrcts by their fcien-
tifical, and more efpecially their philofophical in\ elligations,
with full purpofe to believe nothing but what fquarcd therewith,
their memory was reprefcnted under the appearance of, as it
were, a gloomy cavity, which abforbed the rays of light, and
converted them into darknefs : theirs who had been given to
hypocrify and deceit, was figured by a boney fubftance, like as
of ivory, rcliedting the rays of light : but as to all thofe who
have lived in the good of love towards God and their neighbour,
and in the truths of faith j with them there is no fuch ap-
pearance of callofity, for their interior memory tranfmits the rays
of light to the exterior, in which they terminate, as their proper
bafis or ground; for the exterior memory is the lowed degree of
order in man, and may be confidered as the laft refidence or
receptacle of fpiritual and heavenly things, \\here they friendly
join themfelves to the correfpondent good and truth \^bonis et
ven's] they meet with therein.

467. Men who live in love towards the Lord, and in cha-
rity towards their neighbour, poflcfs even in this life angelical
underftanding and wifdom, but fo hidden within the recef-
fes of their interior memory, that they are not manifefled to
their knowledge till they have quitted their mortal bodies ^
then their natural memory becomes quicfcent, or as alleep, and
they awaken to their interior memory, and fo fucceflively to the
angelical.

468. A few words fliall here be fpoken concerning the cul-
tivation of the rational faculty in man. Genuine rationality
conhfts in truths, not in falfes [nou in falfis\. Now truths are
of three kinds, civil, moral, and fpiritual : civil truths relate
to judicial matters, and fuch as refpeft publick government,
and, in a general confideration, juilice and equity : moral truths
have relation to the condud: of life with refped to focieties and

leffer

[ 3^3 ]

Icfler connexions ; In general, to fincerity and reditude -, and ia
particular, to virtues of every clafs : but fpiritual truths relate
to the things of heaven, and of the church on earth; and in
general to the good of love, and the truths of faith. There are
three degrees of life in every man, fee above, n. 267 : the
rational part in man is opened to the firit degree by civil truths ;
to the fecond by moral truths ; and to the third by fpiritual
truths. But let it here be obfcrved, that man's rational part is
not opened and formed merely by his knowing fuch truths, but
by living according to them when known, thit is, by loving
them with a fpiritual affeiliion, or the affection of his fpirit, or,
in other words, by loving juftice and equity as fuch, fmcerity
and reftitude of manners as fuch, and good and truth as fuch j
whereas to love them only from external regards, is loving them
for the fake of felf, for one's own charadter, honour, or profit ;
and therefore fuch a love, as it terminates in felf, gives not a
man any right to the chara<fter of rational, as fuch a one ufes
truths as a lordly mafler ufcs his fervants, viz. for his pleafure
or intereft ; and where this is the cafe, they make no part of the
man, nor opsn fo much as the firft degree of life in him, but
only have a place in his memory, like other fcientifical ideas
under a material form, where they unite with the love of felf
in mere animal nature. Hence it may appear how man becomes
truly and properly rational, viz. in the third or highcll: degree,
by the fpiritual love of good and truth, or the things of heaven,
and its reprefentative the church; in the fecond degree, by the
love of fincerity and redlitude ; and in the firft degree, by the
love of julliceand equity; which two lall loves become fpiritual
by influx of the Ipiritual love of good and truth from the higheft
degree, by joining itlelf to the inferior loves, and forming in
them its own likcnefs (*).

(*) This fomcwhat obfcure paflage may be reiiJcrcii more intelligible thus.
There are three degrees in man corn rpondiii<^ to the three hiavens ; and as the
third or higheft heaven does, as it were, faiictifv the two interior heavens by the
delcendiiif:; influx of its coeleftial fupcrior virtui-, (b ihe fpiritual love of all that
is good and true in man (correfponding to the third heaven) ipirituali/xs or fanc-
tifics his virtues, though of an inferior clafs : thus, to give a cup of cold water to
another, is a little thing ; but when it is the moft we can do, and love is in the
doing of it, the aft has in it the efTence of Chriftian charity. Tr.

Kkkk 469. Me-

r 3H 1 {

469. Memory alfo belongs to fpirits and angels in like man-
ner as to men, and they retain whatever they hear, fee, think,
will, and do : hereby their rationality incrcafes to higher degrees
of improvement even to eternity, and tliey grow in underiland-
ing and wifdom through increafing knowledges of truth and
good, as the human fpecies here on earth. Tliat fpirits and
angels are endowed with memory I have frequently been witnefs
to, when they have given proofs of it by a recital of what they
had thought and done, both openly, and alfo in private com-
pany with other fpirits ; and I have alfo known fome fimple,
good fpirits, with but a moderate degree of the light of truth,
advanced by the gift of knowledge to higher degrees of intel-
Icdlual light, and then raifed up to heaven [from the interme-
diate ftatej ; but then it muft be obferved, that the meafure of
fuch illumination is according to the kind of affedion for good
and truth they were in during their life in tliis world, and not
beyond it ; for every fpirit and angel continues to poffefs the
fame kind of affeftion, or a lo\e of tiic fame quality that he
poflefl'ed in this life, in which he advances hereafter to higher
and higher degrees of perfedtion eternally j for there is no end
to perfection there, but every good, as proceeding from an in-
finite caufe, is capable of infinite variation and increafe. That
fpirits and angels continue to advance to higher and higher de-
grees of underflanding and wildom by increafing knowledges
[cogriitiones] of good and truth, fee in the chapters Concerning
the Wifdom of Angels, n, 265 to 275: Concerning the Gentiles
and Peoples ivithout the Church, in Heaven, n. 318 to 328 , and.
Concerning Infants in Heaven, n. 329 to 345 : and that fuch pro-
greffion is according to the quality or kind (*) of aftedtion in
good and truth, and not beyond it, n. 349.

(*) The v/QxA gradus in the original, here and before in this number tranflated
quality or kind, refers to a diftini5lion of the author (fee the foregoing number) as
to the three degrees in man with rcfpeft to flates, and not to degrees of the fame
ftate ; which, if not kept in mind, would miflead the reader, as if implying, that
the bledcd in the other world did not advance in degrees of the fame good begun
here, in con tradition to tlie author's meaning, which is, that good of the fame
dafs or charader in anyone here, is increafcd m the other life by degrees ad infi-
nitum, according to the cjuality or kind of that good, and that progreflion in de-
grees of perfection is only from good begun in this world, 1"r.

That
\

[ 3^5 ]

That the Condition of Man after Death is
according to his paft Life here.

470. That every one's life follows him to the other world,
is a truth known to all that believe the Bible, which tells us
in many places, that every man fhall be judged and recompenfed
according to his deeds and works ; and whofoever eftimates
things according to the nature of good and of truth, cannot but
conclude, that a good life leads to heaven, and an evil life to
hell : but the unconverted man, efpecially when vifited with
ficknefs, thinks otherwife concerning his future flate, not being
willing to believe that his lot will be according to how he has
lived here, but that admiflion into heaven is a grant of pure
favour and mercy to any one, whatever he had done in the body,
provided he has but faith, which faith he conliders feparately
from a good life.

471. From the many declarations in Scripture, fetting forth
that man fliall be judged and recompenfed according to his deeds
and works, I fliall here feled: the following : ** The Son of man
" fhall come in tlie glory of his Father, with his angels ; and
** then he fliall reward every man according to his works,"
Matt. xvi. 27. *' Blefl'ed are the dead which die in the Lord :
" even fo, faith the Spirit, that they may rell from their labours,
" and their v/orks do follow them," Apoc. xiv. 13. " And I
** will give unto every one of you according to your works,"
Apoc. ii. 23. " And I faw the dead, fmall and great, ftand
" before God, and the books were opened ; and the dead were
** judged out of thofe things which were written in the books
** according to their works : and the fca gave up the dead which
" were in it ; and death and hell delivered up the dead which
** were in them ; and they were judged every man according to
** their works," Apoc. xx. 12, 13. " And behold J come
" quickly, and my rew.ird is with mc, to give every man ac-
** cording as his work fhall be," Apoc. xxri. 12. ** Whofoever
*' heareth thefc flyings of mine, and docth them, I will liken

" hiiu

[ 3i6 ] . I

" him unto a wife man which built his houfe upon a rock : and
•'. every one that heareth thele fayings of mine, and doeth tiiem
" not, rtiall be likened unto a foolifli man, which built his
" houfc upon the land," Matt. vii. 24, 26. " Not every one
" that faith unto me. Lord, Lord, Hiall enter into the kingdom /

" of lieavcn, but he that doth the will of my Father which is /

" in heaven : many lliall I'xv unto me in that day. Have we not
** propheficd in thy name, and in thy name caft out devils j and
** in thy name done many wonderful works ? And then will 1
*' profefs unto them, I never knew you : depart from me, ye q.

*' that work iniquity," Matt. vii. 22, 23. '* Then ihall ye
** begin to fay. We have eaten and drunk in thy prefence, and
*' thou haft taught in our ftreets : but he fliall fay, I tell you,
" I know you not whence ye are : depart from mc all ye workers
" of iniquity," Luke xiii. 26, 27. " I will recompenfe them
" according to their deeds, and according to the works of their
" own hands," Jer. xxv. 14. " Thine eyes are open upon all
" the ways of the fons of men, to give every one according to
*' his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings," Jer. xxxii.
19. " I will punifh them for their ways, and reward them
" their doings," Hof. iv. 9. ** According to our ways, and
" according to our doings, fo hath he dealt with us," Zach. i.
6. Our Lord, in his prcdidions of the lail: judgment, makes
mention only of works, and declares that they who have done
good fliall enter into life eternal, and they who have done evil
into everlafting fire. Matt. xxv. 32 to 46 ; and alio in many
other places, where he fpeaks of the falvation, and the con-
demnation of man. Now it is evident, that works and deeds
are man's outward life, manifefting the principle of life within \,

him.

472. But by deeds and works here, we do not mean fuch
confidercd only in their external form, but according to what
they are internally ; for it is allowed by all, that every a6t and
deed of man mull proceed from his tliought and will, otherwife
it would be no better than the movement of a piece of mecha-
nifm } but what we call a man's act or deed, is an effedl which n'

has its caufe and principle in the huni.in mind, and may be faid
to be the thought and will of a man exprelfed or repici^nted in

[ 317 ]

an external form ; confequently, as is the thought and will,
which give being and life to the ad-, fuch is the quality of the
adt J if the former be good, fo is the aift or deed ; but if evil,
then fuch is the deed or work likewife, however they may both
have the fame outward form. A thoufand men may do the
fame adl, fo like in appearance, as not to admit of diftindion,
and yet the adt of every one of them may be different in quality,
through the difference in the will, or motive of the doer. Thus
for example, in the adl of dealing juftly and faithfully with
one's neighbour ; one may difcharge this office, as to the out-
ward part, for the credit and reputation of paffmg for an upright
man ; another, for the fake of lucre and worldly advantage j
a third, with a view to recompenfe ; a fourth, from fome par-
ticular attachments of friendfliip j a fifth, through fear of the
law, lofs of charader, or employment ; a fixth, in order to
bring fome over to his party ; a fcventh, that he may gain credit
for an opportunity of deceiving afterwards to greater temporal
benefit, and fo on : but all fuch apparent honelly and juftice,
however good as to the external ad;, is entirely void of it, or
contrary to it, relatively to the party, and to principles, as not
being done for the fake of truth and juftice, but from the love
of felf and of the world, to which they ficrifice even the fem-
blance of virtue, as it may fervc their turn, as an imperious
mailer ufes his Haves, merely in fubferviency to his iutereft, and
the gratification of his paffions, and turns them off when they
can no longer anfwer thefe purpofes. On the other hand, the
fame external ads of julHce and fidelity towards their neighbour
are done by fuch as are principled in thefe virtues ; fome from
the obedience of faith, as being enjoined by the authority of
God's Word j others from a religious confcience ; fome from
charity towards their neighbour ; and fome from love to the
Lord, having a nncere affedion for juftice, truth, and goodncfs
of every kind, as proceeding from him, and partaking of his
divine nature. Now as the ads of thefe perfons are from the
fource of a good internal princij'le, fo are they properly and
truly good works; for it is the quality of the thought and will,
as obfervcd before, that determines their diftindion and kind,
and without whicli they are no better than mere mechanical

L 1 I 1 movements.

[ 3iB ] I

movements. Thus much may fuffice to fliew what is meant by
deeds and works in the Scriptures.

473. As works and deeds derive their nature from will and
thought, Co conlequently from love and faith, and are of the
fame quality with them ; now whether we fay the love or will
of a man, or the faith or thought of a man, it amounts to the
fame, for what he loves, that he wills ; and what he believes,
that he thinks; and if he loves what he believes, then he wills
and does it according to his power. That love and faith ap-
pertain to the willing and thinking, and are not extraneous to
them, is allowed by all, as the will has its fire from love, and
thought its light from faith, fo that to think wifely is to have
the mind or thoughts enlightened by the truths of fliith. Thus
every wife man thinks and wills the truth, or, in other words,
believes and loves it (261).

474. But we arc to obferve here, that it is the will that
properly conftitutes the man, and thought no farther than as it
iffues from the will, and that deeds or works proceed from
both } or, which comes to the fame, that love conftitutes the
man, and faith only fo f;ir as it fprings from love, and that
works proceed from both ; confequently, that will or love is the
man himfelf, for that which proceeds belongs to the fource or
principle it proceeds from : now to proceed from a thing, is to
be produced by it in a proper form or mode of operation, for
the fake of manifestation (262). It is an obvious conclufion
from the premifts, that what is called fliith, fcparated from love,

has

(261) That as all things in the uni\erfe, which cxift according to their nature,
bear relation to good r.nd truth, fo in mr.n, to will and underftandin^, n. 803,
10122 -, and that, becaufe his will is the recipient of good, and his undcriianding
of truth, n. ^332, 3623 — 030c, 993c. Whether we fay truth or faith, it comes
to the fame, becaufe they ate correlatives like good and love, n. 4353, 4997, 7178,
IC122, 10367. Hence it follow?, that the undcrilanding is the recipient of faith,
and the will of love, n. 7178, 10122, 10367. And as the underftanding of
man is receptive of faith in (Jod, and the will of love to God ; fo man, by f.uth
and love, may be joined to God, and he that is capable of being joined to God
by love and faith, cannot die eternally, n. 4525, 6323, 9231.

(262) That the will of man is the elVence of his life, as being the receptacle
of love or good ; and that his underftanding is the cxiftence [form] of his life from
fhence, as being the receptacle of faith or truth, n. 3619, 5002, 9282. There-
fore, that the life of the will is the principal life of man, and tliat the life of the

under-

[ 3^9 . ]

has no reality of faith in it, but is only a notional thing void
of all fpintiuJ life : in like manner, works, that proceed not
from love, Ir.'.ve no virtue or life in them, and confequently are
dead works ; and as to whatever appearance of life they may
have from an evil love and a falfe faith, it is in Scripture deemed
and ftiled fpiritual death.

475. It is farther to be noted, that the whole man {lands
repreiented in his deeds or works, and that his willing and
thinking, or his love and faith, which are the principles of his
inner man, are not complete till they are imaged in the works
of his outward man, as being the ground or limit in which they
terminate j and without fuch termination or fixednefs, they are
but vague, uncertain things, without refidence or body. To
think and will without arting, where power is not wanting,
may be compared to a candle (hut in a clofe vefTel, where it is
foon extinguifhed ; or to feed fowed in the fand, where it lofcs
its prolifick virtue, and perirties ; whereas to think and will,
and thence proceed to adl, is like the fame candle fet in a proper
place diffufing its light around it ; or to feed fowed in good
ground, where it thrives and ripens into a flower or tree. Who
does not know, that to will, and not to adl when one may, is
the fame with not willing ; and to love, and not do good when
opportunity fervcs, is not to love, but only to fancy that one
loves, and but as the phantom of a thought, which vanifhes
into nothing : whereas love or will is the very life and foul of
action, and forms to itfelf a body (or makes itfelf fubftantial)
by operation : jull fo it is with the fpiritual body, or the body
of a man's fpirit, which is formed of that which proceeds from

uiidcrftanding is from thence, n. 585, 590, 3619 — IOIO9, JOIIO, as light iffues
from fire or flame, n. 632, 6314 ; confequently man is man from will, and its
fequent undcrllanding, n. 8911, 9069,9071, I00"6, 10109, lOiiO.* That every
(lie is amiable and eilimable for the good that s in his will and underftanding
jointly ; and that to have a good uiiderftaiuiing, and no good will, is a con-
lemptiblc cliaradkr, n. 891 1, iOG-76. That the condition of man after death is
according to the flate of his will and mind (or underftanding) as formed thereby,
Ji. 9069, 9071, 9386, 1C153. Tliat therefore the condition of man after death
is according to his love and faith refulting therefrom ; and that matters of belief
tailed faith, which are not joined with love, then vanifh into nothing, as not
being in nor of the man, n. 553, 2364, 10153.

a man's

[ 320 ] I

a man's love or will (*), fee above, n. 463. In a word, the |

works of a man arc the image and likenefs of himfclf (263). •

476. We have here feen what is meant by that life which
remains with every one after death, viz. that of his love and
faith, not only in their principle, but ad, confequently in deeds i
and works, as thefe are the produdl of all that appertains to

love and faith in every one.

477. There continues a ruling love in every one after he *
has left this world, which changes not its particular kind even ^,
in eternity; and tliough he may he faid to have many aftedions, <=
yet they all have relation to the principal one, and co-operate

with it, as many ingredients in one compound. All the ope-
rations of the will, which accord with the ruling palTion, bear
the name of loves ; and thefe are both interior and exterior,
fome of them are immediately connefted with the principal or ij

ruling paflion, fome mediately, and many of them fubfervient 7

to it different ways ; but, confidered colledively, form, as it
were, one kingdom or government in man in their different
offices and places ; and though a man knows nothing of their
order and arrangement in this life, yet fomething of it is mani-
fefled to him in the other, for according thereto is the diredion
of his thoughts and aifedions there ; to the heavenly focieties, r

(*) This hint of our author ftarts a fuhjcct to the mind no kfs important, than ^

of new and curious confidcration, viz. how the (piritual body, which we fliall
have in the other world, is formed in this life from the uffccflions, qualities, and
properties of the fpirit acquired here, even (if thvr comparifon may be allowed)
as the fhells of certain animals are formed from the juices tranfpiring from the
body of the animal within : if fo, as is the nature, qualities, and properties of
the fpirit of a man here, fuch will be thofe of his fpirituul body herenfter. Qu.
If this is not to be underftood in Scripture as meant by the refurrt-ction-bcoy ?
N. B. Let all fuch as aie in lo\c with true beauty, be heedful what fpirit they
are of. Tr.

(263) Tl)»t the interior things of a man's fpirit communicate thcmfelves by
influx to the outward man, and fubfift therein, as in their ground and limit, n.
634, 6239, 6465, 9216, 9217 ; ajid that thty not only fiicceflivtly pafs-into the
outward, but alfo have therein a finiultaneous i'libfiftence, and in what order, n.
5897, 6451, 8603, ICC99. That fo fpiritusl things have a connexion and form
in natural thinu;s, n. 9828. That deeds or works are their ultimate form, n. 1C331.
Therefore to be judged and recompcnfed according to works or deeds, means the
fame as according to all things appertaining to love and faith, or to the will aivd
thoughts of man, as thefe form the efience and quality of fuch works, n. 3147,
3934"'> 6073, 891 1, IC331, 10333.

[ 321 ]

if his prevailing love confifts of heavenly affedlions ; and to the
infernal focieties, if it confifts of infernal affedlions. That all
the affei5lions and thoughts of angels and fpirits have a dired:ion
or extenfion to fome particular focieties, fee above, in the
chapter Concerning the Wijdom of the Angels, as alfo in that
which treats Of the Form of Heaven, with rcfpe£l to the Confo-
ciations and Communications therein.

478. But what has hitherto been f\id on this fubjefl is of
deep confideration ; in order therefore to render it more intel-
ligible and plain to all, I fliall here adduce fome experiences,
by way of illuftration and confirmation, to fhew, firfl:, that
every man's ruling love or will continues after death to be his
effential felf. Secondly, that his particular charader or quality
for ever remains according thereto. Thirdly, that every one,
whofe prevailing love is fpiritual and heavenly, goes to heaven ;
and that every one, whofe prevailing love is fenfual and mun-
dane, and as fuch contrary to all that is heavenly, goes to hell.
Fourthly, that all faith, which has not heavenly love for its
root, vaniflies into nothing after death. Fifthly, that operative
love is that only which continues with him, and conftitutes his
true life.

479. That every man's ruling love or will continues after
death to be his eflential felf, has been evidenced to me by full
experience. The univerfal heaven is diftinguiflied into different
focieties according to their different degrees in the good of love
refpedtively ; and every fpirit that is exalted to heaven, and fo
becomes an angel, is firll: condu(ited to that fociety, which is in
the fame love with himfelf ; and when he is joined to it, he is,
as it v/ere, at home in his proper felf: this he becomes imme-
diately fenfible of, and enters into intimacy with his friendly
affociates. When he leaves them at any time to make an occa-
fional vifit elfewhere, it is with a kind of reludlance, and he
always feels an attraction to the fociety of thofe with whom he
is in the clofell fellowlhip of the fame love. \n this manner
confociations are formed in heaven -, nor is it otherwife in hell,
according to their infernal loves. That both heaven and hell
confiil of focieties diflinguifhcd and ranked according to their
refpediive different loves, fee above, n. 41 to 50, and n. 200 to

M m ni m 212:

y '

r 1 I

[ 322 ] I

212 : and that it is every one's love that conftitutcs his proper
lelf after de.uh, may further appear from hence, that every
thing is then removed or taken from a man that does not accord
with his ruling love j thus all adventitious evil and falfe is
removed from the good, as not agreeing with his governing
principle; and every apparent good and truth from the man of
evil principle ; that fo every one may be wholly and confiilently
in that love, which is the ruling power of his life : and this
feparation is efFedted when a fpirit advances to iiis third llate,
of which in ^vhat follows. No\v when this has taken place, the
fpirit has always before his eyes the objed: of his love, which
way foever he turns himfelf, fee above, n. 123, 124. All fpi-
rits are led by thofe who have hold of their aftcvftions, even as
they lift ; and though the former know it, tJiey have not power
to relifl, but are drawn as with a ftrong cord : I have often ken
the experiment made, whether they would rcfifl: the attrad:ion,
and found they could not. The cafe indeed is much the fime
with men in this world, who are under a ftrong influence of the
prevailing affedlion, and the leading of others who have hold
thereon ; but the fame operates ftill with greater flrength when
they become fpirits in the other world, as then they are not
fubjedt to the counteraftion of any other pafiion, which may
lay a reftraint on their inclinations. The thefis at the head of
this article is further confirmed by what frequently happens in
the converfation of fpirits in the other world. Thus, where
any one does or fays in company what is agreeable to the pre-
vailing love of fome particular fpirit, the latter appears to be
of an expanded, pleafant, and lively countenance ; but when
ajiy thing is done or faid in oppofition to fuch love, his coun-
tenance prefently changes, and is obfcured, and at length be-
comes totally invifible, as if he were not prefent. On my
Ihewing fome amazement at this, as a thing unknown in this
world, it was told me, that the like thing happened to the fpirit
of man in this world, which, upon conceiving an averfion to
another, became invifible to him (*). That every fpirit is one

and

(*) This pafTage is of difficult comprehcnfion, but from other parts of the
author's writings leems to mean thus, viz. that the fpirits of men in this life (if

they

[ 3 = 3 1

and the fame with his ruling love, is evident from his earneflly
coveting and appropriating to himfelf all things relative and
correfponding, and his rcjedling all things contrary thereto ; juft
as the fpongy root of a plant attradts and imbibes thofe juices
which favour its peculiar kind of vegetation, and repels the
others ; or as the brute animals are led by a native inuindl to
chul'e only that particular kind of food which is fuitable to their
nature : fo every love is fupported by that which is congruous .
to its nature, an evil love by that which is falfe, and a good
love by truths. Accordingly, I have fometimes feen good fpirits
apply themfelves to inftrudt fuch as were evil, upon which the
latter left them with fpeed, and went to their fellows to feail
on folly fuited to their tafte ; and alfo when good fpirits have
been difcourfing together upon divine truths, to which thofe of
their own clafs liftened with attention and delight, that fuch as
were of a contrary difpofition appeared quite heedlefs and un-
concerned. In the world of fpirits there is an appearance of
highways or roads, fome of them as leading to heaven, others
to hell, and every one of them to fome particular fociety there-
in : the good Ipirits take thofe that lead to heaven, and to fuch
focieties therein refpedively as poffefs the fame particular good
love with themfelves, nor do they fee the other ways ; but the
evil fpirits take thofe that lead to hell, and to fuch particular
focieties therein refpei5lively as beft fuit with their own depra-
vity and corrupt afifeftions, neither do they fee any of the other
ways, or, if they do, they go not in them. Thefc appearances
of ways in the fpiritual world correfpond to verities and falfities
[ven's et fnljis] and accordingly truth and error are fignified by
ivays in the Scripture (264). Thefe proofs from experience

confirm

they arc in good agreement) are vifihie to each other, otheCwife not: and though
this be not known to us here, whilft we think in or according to nature, yet it is
not ir.ore to be wondered at than that our fpirits, even whillt connected with thefc
bodic;;, fhould at the fame time communicate with fpiritual fcicietics in the other
world without our knowing; it ; and yet it is founded on nothing lefs than Scripture
eiidi-'iicc, that fpiritual Ciiriftians have in this life fcllowfhip with " the general
" afTembly and church of the firfl-born, and an innumerable company of angels,
" and the fpirits of juft men made pcrfetSt," Heb. xii. 22, 23. Tr.

(264) That il^cy, path, Jireet, tic. fignify truths leading to good, as alfo errors
leading to evil, n. 627, I'^'H', 10422. That to prepare the way fignifics to fit or

difpofc

[ ZH ]

confirm what was i^aid before from reafon, viz. that every man
after death is one and the llunc with his ruling love or will,
which are fynonymous terms.

480. That man alfo continues for ever in the fame will or
predominant love that he takes with him into the other world,
has been confirmed to me by many convincing proofs : it has
been granted to me to converfe with fome that lived above two
thoufand years ago, whofe lives and manners are tranfmitted
down to us in hiftory j and they in all things anfwcred the cha-
radters therein given of them, and as to the ruling pallion that
influenced their adlions : others I have converfed with that lived
above feventeen hundred years ago, in like manner charactered
in hiflory, with others that lived above four centuries ago,
others above three, and fo on ; and they were all found to
anfwer the defcription given of them, and to pollefs the fame
predominant aftedion as in this life, only with this ditference,
that their delight was placed in the correfpondences of thofe
things which they were palTionately fond of here, I was told
by the angels, that the predominant aftedlion did not change in
eternity, and that becaufe every one was the fame with his
governing love, and therefore to deprive a fpirit of that would
be to deprive him of his being : the angels farther afligned this
reafon for it, viz. that man was no longer capable of being
reformed by inftrudlion after death, as in his life-time here j
and that becaufe his ultimate plane or ground, which confillis
of natural knowledges and affecftions, was then quiefcent, and
could no more be opened, as not being fpiritual, fee above, n.
464 : and that upon this ground or bafis, as a foundation to a
houfe, the interior things of the human mind refted, and had
their fixednefs j therefore a man could not change his fettled
afFeftions after this life, no not in eternity. The angels greatly
wonder, that man Hiould be fo ignorant of his being effentially
one and tlie fame with his predominant love, and that fo many
can truft for their falvation to a mere inoperative fi\ith in im-
mediate, unconditional mercy, however they have lived, not

difpofe the mind for the reception of truth, n. 3142. To make known the way,
when fpoken of the Lord, fignificsto inftruil in truths leading to good, n. 10564.

knowing

r 325 ]

knowing that the divine mercy is mediate, or through the ufe
of means, particuhirly that of refigning ourfelves to tlic divine
leadings both in time and for eternity, and that they only are
under the divine leadings who efchew evil, and chufe the good ;
and moreover, that the Gofpel faith is a fincere affedtion for the
truth proceeding front that divine love, which is tlie Lord's
own gift.

481. That the man ivho is infiuenced here by divine and fpiritual
love goes to heaven ; and he who is under the dominion of carnal
and worldly love, without any thing of the heavenly, fpiritual life
in him, goes to hell, has been evidenced to me by all whom I
have feen taken up into heaven, and call into hell, all they of
the former clafs being in the firft, and all thofe of the latter
clafs, in the fecond of thofe loves. Now it is the eflential pro-
perty of heavenly love to love goodnefs, truth, and julHce for
their own fake, and to be led thereby to the praftice of them,
which is the true heavenly life, as herein confifts the love of
God and of our neighbour, for thefe duties themfelves bear to
us the relation of neighbour (265) : but it is the property of
carnal \corporeus'\ and worldly love to love goodnefs, truth, and
juftice, not for their own lake, but the fake of felf, and as the
means of procuring to ourfelves the glory, honour, and gain of
this world. All fuch, as having no' regard to the Lord and
their neighbour in what they do, turn virtue into vice ; and,
whilH they appear in the garb of truth and juflice, are inwardly

(265) That in the liigheft fenfe of the word, the Lord (confidcred in his Hu-
manity) is our proximus, or neareft neighbour, as dcfcrving our love above all
things. Now to love the Lord, is to love all that proceeds from him, as bearing
his image, imd confequently all good and truth, n. 2425, 34.19, 6706, 67 1 1 — 8123.
That to love good and truth, as proceeding from him, is to live accordir.g thereto,
ftnd that this is properly to love the Lord, n. 10143, '°I53 — 10578, 10641). That
every man and fociety, as alfo our country, the church, and in an univerfal I'eniV,
the whole kingdom of the Lord is our neighbour, and that to do good to thcni,
according to their dilFerent relations, is to love our neighbour, n. 6818 to 6824,
8123. That alfo moral good or fincerity, and civil good, which is juftice, are
our neighbour ; and to act fincerely and judly, from the love of fincerity and
juftice, is to love our neighbour, n. 291 5, 473O, 8r20, 8121, 8122, 8123. There-
fore, that charity to our neighbour extends through the whole life of man, n. 2417,
8121, 8124. That the dotStrine more particularly infilled on in the ancient church
was the doctrine of charity, and that this conilitutcd a great part of their wifdom,
n. 2417, 2385, 3419, 3420, 4844, 6628.

N n n n g>-'ilty

[ 326 ]

guilty of hypocrify and deceit. As every one's life is thus efT-i-
mated according to the quality of his love, therefore all, at
their firft arrival in the world of fpirits, undergo a fcrutiny with
refpe(fl to the ftate of their affedtions, and are clafled with thofe
of fimilar difpofitions either for heaven or hell ; and after having
gone through their firft and fecond ftates, are feparated fo as to
fee and know one another no more, for then every particular
difference in their loves within becomes fignatured accordingly
in the form of the body, the features of the face, and the
found of the voice, fo that the exterior part is a correfpondent
image and likenefs of the interior. Thus, fuch as are in cor-
poreal and earthly loves, appear grofs, dark, or black, and
deformed refpeftively ; but fuch as are in heavenly loves, ap-
pear lively, ihining, fair, and beautiful ; nor is there lefs
difference in their minds and intelleftual capacities, for as the
former are ftupid and fooliffi, fo the latter are intelligent and
wife : alfo when permilllon is given to infpeft the interior ffate
and frame of the affeftions and thoughts of tliofe who are in
heavenly love, fome of them appear in the form of a fliining
light, fome of a flame colour, and fuch of them as are neareft
to fenfe, beautifully variegated like rainbows ; whilft the fame
in fuch as are of grofs, corporeal affecStions, prefent a black
appearance, and in fuch as are fubtle and malicious, a refem-
blance of a dufky, fiery rednefs, whilft the more external ftate
of their minds appears of a difmal hue and afpedl ; for it is
to be noted, that both the inmoft and outermoit ftates of the
mind, and its operations in the fpiritual world, are at times,
by divine permiltion, reprefented by vifible appearances. Thefe
here laft mentioned fee nothing in the light of heaven, for that
is to them as darknefs, and that fo terrifying to their inward
fight or underftanding, as to affe<fl them with madnefs ; where-
fore to avoid it they hide themfelves in dens and caverns, of a
depth proportionate to their degree of falfe from evil {fo/fa ex
ma/is]. But they, on the other hand, who are in ctt;leftial love,
the farther they advance into the light of heaven, the more
clearly they fee all things, and the more beautiful do all things
appear to them ; and what is ftill more, the brighter and deeper
is their underftanding and wifdom. Again, they who are in

grofs

[ 327 ]

grofs corporeal affections cannot live in the heat of heaven,
which is ca'lcftial love, but only in the heat of hell, which is
the love of unmercifulnefs to all that are not obfequious to
them ; for contempt of others, enmity, hatred, and revenge,
are the elements and comfort of their lives, whiliT: they know
not what it is to do good to others from any thing of benevo-
lence ; and when they do any apparent good, it is from an evil
principle, and to an evil end. And, laftly, they who are of
this clafs have no ufe of refpiration in heaven, for when any
fpirit comes thither, he gafps as if in an agony ; whereas they
who are in the coeleftial love, the farther they advance into
heaven, the more free is their refpiration, and the more com-
plete is their enjoyment of life. From the foregoing obferva-
tions we cannot but infer, that cceleftial and fpiritual love is
heaven in man, as carrying with it the fignatures of all heavenly
things; and that grofs, corporeal affeftions are hell in man, as-
bearing the image and fuperfcription of all things hellifli. Thus
much may ferve to confirm the foregoing thefis. That he who
lives under the influence of cceleftial and fpiritual love goes to
heaven, and that he who is governed by a fenfual and earthly
love, without any principle of heavenly life in him, goes to
hell.

482. T'/jut no faith abideth ivith man, that docs not fpring from
heavenly Icve. The truth of this has been manifefted to me fo
abundantly, that were I to relate the whole of what I have ken.
and heard concerning this matter, it would fill a volume ; and
from which 1 can tcftify, that they who live to the world and
to fenfe, without any affcdlion for fpiritual things, neither have
nor can have true faith j whilft that which palTes with them
for fuch, is no better than natural Icience. or a fiiith of pcr-
fuafion, which they make fubfervient to their inclinations and
widies. I have known many fuch, who fancied themlelves pof-
feffed of true faith, who, after I'ome free communication with
fuch as were really in the faith, were brought to confefs that
they had no right faith, and that mere ailcnt to divine truths
delivered in the Scriptures was not a faving faith, but only the
love of it from a fpiritual principle joined to good life, and a
willing obedience thereto : and it was likewilc demonftratcd to

them.

[ 328 ]

them, tlut the perfualion which they called faith, was but as the
light in winter, which, being deftitute of genial heat, had not the
power of communicating the vital warmth of vegetation to the
torpid earth : and not only lb, but this glimmering light of their
faith of perfualion, when penetrated by the rays of cceleftial light,
is extinguilhed, nay, turned into darknefs, which fo far obfcures
and confounds their intelle(ftual faculties, that they become, as
it were, mad with folly j and therefore the light of divine truth
from the Word and found dodrine is withheld from them, and
they are left to that falfe judgment which bell fuits with their
evil life : for there all join themfelves to, and, as it were, in-
corporate with their own proper loves, and the delulions that
are fuited thereto, and then become haters of the truth, as ini-
mical to the principles they have adopted. This I can teftify
to from the whole of my experience, as to the things of heaven
and hell ; that all Solifidians, who had profefl'ed the doctrine of
being faved by faith alone, after having led wicked lives, are all
in hell ; I having feen feveral thoufands of them call in thither :
concerning which fee my little work, intitled. Of the laji fudg-
nienty and Babylon dejlroyed.

483. That love in a5l, or operative love, is that ivhich remains
•with man, and confequently is the proper life of man. This pro-
pofition follows from what has been here advanced from expe-
rience, as its proper inference j and alio from what has been
faid above concerning works and deeds. Now love in ail or
exercife, is the fame with work and deed.

484. It is to be remembered, that all outward a<fts and
works appertain either to the moral or civil life, and compre-
hend all the duties of fincerity and redlitude of manners relative
to the former, and all the duties of juftice and equity relative
to the latter ; and the love they proceed from as their principle,
is either coeleftial or infernal : the works and adls both refpefting
moral and civil life are cceleftial or heavenly, if they are done
from a heavenly love ; for then they are of the Lord's doing in
us, and by necefl'ary confequence are good ; but if the fame
works are done from an infernal love, then are they alfo of an
infernal nature. Now infernal love is the love of felf and of
the world, and fuch works, as proceeding only from man's felf

I or

[ 329 3

or fallen nature, are in themfelves evil, becaufe man confidered
fingly in himfelf is nothing but evil (266).

That the Delights of every one's Life are
changed after Death to Things corre-
fponding thereto.

485. That the ruling affe(5lion or love continues with man
for ever, has been fhew^ed in the preceding article ; and that
the pleafures or gratifications of that love are changed in the
other world to things correfponding thereto, will in this place
be made appear. By being changed into correfpondences, is
meant into fuch fpiritual things as correfpond to their natural
exemplars or types ; and the reafon of fuch change arifes from
man's different condition of exiftence j as, whilll in this natural
world, he is in a terreftrial body, and when removed to the
fpiritual world, he is clothed with a fpiritual body. That both
angels and men appear in a perfedt human form, and have fpi-
ritual bodies in the other world, fee above, h. 73 to "jj, and
n. 453 to 460 ; and what is fignified by correfpondence between
fpiritual and natural things, n. 87 to 115.

486. All the delights belonging to man have relation to his
ruling love ; for what gives him pleafure but that which he
loves, and what the greateil but that which he loves moft ?

(266) That it is the property of man in fallen nature to love himfelf above
God, and this world above heaven, and to think lightly of his neighbour com-
pared to himfelf, and confequently, that he is a lover of felf and of the world,
n. 634, 731, 4317- That this property is innate in man, and is cillntial evil,
n. 210, 215, 731, 874, 875 — 10284, 10286, 10731. That from this innate
property of man all evil and falfe proceed, n. 1047, 10283, 10284, 10286, IO731.
That the evils which proceed from this felfifli property in man, are contempt of
others, enmity, hatred, revenge, cruelty, and deceits, n. 6667, 7372, 7373, 7374,
9348, 10038, 10742. That fo far as felf in man prevails, fo far the good of love,
and the truth of faith, are either rcjedted, extinguifhed, or perverted, n. 2041,
7491, 7492, 7643, 8487, 10455, I0743' That propriety, or the felfifli property
in man, is hell within him, n. 694, 8480. That the apparent good which man
does from the principle of fclfifhnefs, or as his proper own, is not real good, but
real evil, n. 8478.

O o o o Now

[ 33° ]

Now thefe pleafures are as various as the different kinds of love,
or as many in number as there are men, fpirits, and angels ; for
the predominant affeftion is not exactly fimilar in all refpecfts ia
any two of them ; and therefore it is, that no two have exaftly
the fame face, for the face is the image of the mind in every
one, and in the fpiritual world it is a true index of the predo-
minant affedion. There is alfo an infinite variety in their par-
ticular pleafures and gratifications, as well in thofe that are fuc-
ceflive, as in thofe that are fimultaneous ; and yet thefe parti-
cular different pleafures in every one are all relative to the go-
verning love, nay, are fo many ingredients in it, and as fuch
make one with it ; and as all particular delights in every indi-
vidual are relative to the predominant affedlion, fo the general
kinds of alfedtion in all, both in heaven and hell, correfpond in
each to one univerfal love, viz. to the love of the Lord in
heaven, and to the love of felf in hell.

487. As to the kind and quality of thofe fpiritual delights,
into which thofe that are natural and peculiar to every one here
are changed after death, this can only be known from the doc-
trine of correfpondences ; which teaches in general, that all
things natural have their correlative fpiritual correfpondents j
and in particular, the kind and quality of fuch correfpondents ;
confequently, he that is an adept in this fcience, may judge
concerning his own flate after death from the knowled":e of his
own prevailing love, and the relation it bears to that univerfal
love before-mentioned, to which the inferior loves are fubfer-
vient and relative in their feveral clafTes : but they that are
under bondage to the government of felf-love cannot know it,
becaufe they take delight in it, and call their evil good, and the
falfe [JalfTi] (*), wherewith they confirm themfclves in their

(*) It is with reluflance that we find ourfelves obliged, both here and in other
parts of this tranflation, to render the words falj'um and falfa literally as fubltan-
tives ; but there is no help for it, as our language affords no other word that fo
fully exprefTes the oppofite to truth. The word error reaches not the full fcnfe,
as iignifying miftakc in judgment, or a deviation from fome particular truth, rather
than the contrary principle ; and falfity denotes the negation of truth in this or
that inflance, as likcwife falfchood, but not the dirc6f contrary to truth abllraftedly
confidcred ; and therefore fome few authors have complied with the neceffity of
ufing the words falfe and falfes in the fenfe here given them, though not fo agree-
able to cuftom and grammar.

delufion.

[ 33^ ]

delufion, they call truth ; and yet, were they but willing to
take advice from men wifer than themfelves, they might be fet
right in this matter, but fuch willingnefs is wanting in them :
fo great is the infatuation of felf-love, as to fliut the ear to the
voice of wifdom. On the other hand, they who are influenced
by heavenly love are receptive of inftrudtion, and learn to know
both their innate evils, and their propenfities to them from
thofe truths which make them manifeft ; for by the light of truth
fhining from the good principle, we may diicover evil and the
falfe belonging to it j but in the darknefs of evil we fee not
the good and its truth, nay, all fuch as are blind men that
grope at noon-day as in the night ; nay, like owls, chufe the
darknefs (267) rather than the light, fee n. 126 to 134. I have
been confirmed in this truth by experience communicated from
the angels, who immediately deteft every flirring of imper-
fedtion (*) in themfelves (as fometimcs happens to them) and
likewife all malignity in the unhappy fpirits that are in the
intermediate ftate or world of Ipirits, though fuch fpirits fee
not their own evils, being fo far gone in depravity, as not to
know what is meant by the good of heavenly love, or con-
fcience, or dilinterefted juftice, or to be fubjedl to the Lord ;
but, on the contrary, deny the reality of thefe things. What
has been laid down in this article, is to the end that man may
examine himfelf, and from the things he moft delights in come
to the knowledge of his predominant love, and thereby be able
to form a judgment (according to his Ikill in the dodlrine of
correfpondeiices) concerning his future ilate.

(267) That darknefs in the Word fignifies (by correfpondency) falfes [/al/a']
and thick darknefs or blackncfs, the falles of evil, n. 1839, i860, 7688, 7711.
That the light of heaven is darknefs to thofc that are evil, 1861, 6832, 8197.
That they who arc in hell are faid to be in darknefs, as being in the falfes of evil,
concerning which, fee n. 3340, 441H, 45'?i. That by the blind in Scripture,
are fignificd thofe who are in falfes, and rcfufe inftrudtion, n. 2383, 6990.

(*) It is highly credible, if not abfoliitcly certain, from the diftance betwixt
finite and infinite, that even the higheft of created beings have in them fomething
of defcft, which may be called relative evil ; and this in order to preferve in them
a due fenfe of humility, and of their dependence on their infinitely perfect Creator
and Benefadlor ; but in order to this end, they muft be confcious at times, of fuch
imperfection, dcfcfl, or evil, and yet in a way confiftcnt with their happincfs and
free will.

488. How

[ 332 ]

488. How the plcafures of this life in every one are changed
after death into their figurative reprefentations, may be learned
from the doclrine of corrcfpondences ; but as that fcience as yet
remains a fecret, I fhall illuftrate the matter by fome examples.
All that are in the principle of evil, and have confirmed them-
felves in oppofition to the truths of religion, and more efpecialiy
by their diibelief of the Scriptures, all fuch avoid the light of
heaven, and hide themfelves in dark caverns and the clefts of
rocks, and that becaufe they hated the truth, and loved the
falfc, which correfponds to darknefs, as reprefented by fuch
hiding places (268), wherein they take pleafure : nor is it other-
wife with the infidious and fubtle, who had addidled themfelves
to the deceitful works of darknefs in this world, who, in like
manner, hide themfelves in caverns and obfcure corners in the
other, where they whifper to one another in the dark j for llich
fort of concealments correfpond to thofe clandeftine doings in
which they had taken pleafure. They who had applied them-
felves to the fludy of the fciences merely for the fake of being
accounted men of learning, priding themfehes in what they
could from their memory relating thereto, whilfl at the fame
time they had neglefted to cultivate their minds with knowledge
ufeful for life ; fuch take delight in fandy places, which they
prefer to the moil pleafant fields and gardens, as the former
correfpond to the ufe they had made of fuch lludies. Such as
had employed much of their time and pains to acquire a fpe-
culative knowledge in tiie docftrines of their own and other
churches, without applying fuch knowledge to pradlical ufe,
avoid improved and well-cultivated places, and chufe their habi-
tations among rocks, and in flony ground. All fuch as had fet
up nature in the room of God, and had facrificed to their own
prudence, and by various political ftratagems had advanced
themfelves to worldly riches and honours, devote themfelves in
the other world to the ftudy of the magical arts, the end of
which is to profane and confound the divine order in God's
works. They who had indulged themfelves in making falfe

(268) That the hole and cleft of a rock fignifies in Scripture the obfcurity and
falfc of faith, n. 10582 ; becaufe rock fignifies faith from the Lord, n. 8581, 10580 ;
and fVone the truth of faith, n. 114, 643, 1298, 3720, 6426, 8608, 10376.

applica-

f 33S ]

ajppliccition? of divine truths to the gratification of their pafiions,
take delight in places of an urinous fmell, as fuch correfpond
to that kind of profanation. They that were infedled with
a fordid avarice have their abode in cells, where they take plea-
fure in fuch filth and ftench as come from fwine and corrupted
meats. Such as lived in fenfual pleafures, and made their belly
their God, become enemies to all cleanlinefs, and find their
gratification in ordure, as fpiritual filthinefs anfwers to filthinefs
of the flefh. They who had habituated themfelvcs to commit
adultery d\<'ell in as nafty brothels, having the ib-ongeft anti-
pathy to all purity and chaftc connexions. The cruel and re-
vengeful delight in cadaverous fmells, and inhabit hells adapted
to their favage difpofitions : and fo with others in like manner,
according to their refpedive qualities,

489. But the delights of life in thofe who lived here in
heavenly love are changed into correfpondences of a heavenly
nature from the coeleflial fun, in the light of which are formed
reprefentations of the divine properties and qualities in the
angels of fuch exquifite beauty, as ravifli their minds and fenfes
with unfpeakable delight ; whilft the fame light, which illumi-
nates their intellediual part with the knowledge of divine truths,
images to their external fight the things that correfpond thereto.
That the appearances in the heavens are outward vifible figns of
things inward in the angels appertaining to their faith and love,
and confequently to their underfi;anding and wifdom, has been
fhewed before in the chapter Concerning Reprefentatives and Ap-
pearances in Heaven, n. 170 to 176 ; and alfo in that which
treats Of the Wifdom of the Angels, n. 265 to 275. As I have
produced fome examples from experience in confirmation of the
matter in hand, and to illufi:rate what had been advanced doc-
trinally, fo I proceed to farther infiances in refpeft to thcfe cor-
rcfpondent heavenly pleafures which fuccecd to the natural ones
in thofe who live here in coele/lial love. They who have loved
divine truths and the facred writings with an inward affedlion,
or from the affection of truth, \\wc luminous dwellings in the
other world upon eminences which have the appearance of
mountains, where they continually enjoy the light of heaven ;

1' P P t"* they

[ 334 ]

they arc ftrangers to the darknefs of our nights in tliis world,
and are bleflcd with a perpetual fpring, whilft delightful fcenes
of meadows, corn fields, and vineyards are reprefented to their
view J the fplendour, like as of precious ftoncs, beautifies their
houfcs, and through windows, as of pure chryftal, they behold
ravilhing profpeds ; and whilll thefe external objefts entertain
the outward fenfe, fo do they at the fame time convey an inward
delight to their minds from the correfpondent relation they bear
to the divine truths within them, which they had received from
God's word. They who, upon their firfi: receiving the dodlrines
of Chriitianitv, applied them to practical ufe, and made them
the rule of life, arc in the third or inmoft heaven, and enjoy
the delights of wifdom above others : in every objedt they fee
fomething divine, and though the objecfts themfelves arc with-
out them, yet the divine correfpondence that is in them, does
by a fecret influx affecfl their minds, and fill them with blefled
fenfitions, (o that from the joy within them all things appear
pleafant without them, and, as it were, to live, fmile, and play,
of which fee above, n. 270. They who have taken pleafure in
fludying the fciences, fo as to render them fubfervient to ufeful
intellectual improvements, and to imprefs their minds with a
deeper {enfe of divine things, the rational delights of fuch are
changed in the other world into fpiritual delights, as fublime
attainments and difcoveries in the knowledges of good and
truth : luch have their dwellings in beautiful gardens, curioufly
adorned and diverfificd with flowers, plants, trees, walks, por-
ticos, &CC. The flowers and trees alfo are varied every day, fo
affording frefh entertainment to the fenfes, and gratifying both
the mind and eye with new fucceflions of delightful fcenes,
whilft at the fame time they exhibit inftruiTtive emblems of
divine things, from which, by their ikill in the dodlrines of
correfpondences, they continually draw frefli fupplies of matter
for their fpiritual-intelledual improvement and delight (270).

They

(270) That garden, grove, and plantation, fignify intcllci'!lual knowledge, n.
100, 108, 3220. That therefore the ancients celebrated their religious worship in
groves, n. 2722, 4552. That flowers and flower gardens fignify fcientifical truth?,

"• 9553-

[ 335 ]

They who faw God in all things as their creator, upholder, and
governor, and confidered nature only as his inflrument in fub-
ferviency to ipiritual ufes, and had confirmed themlelves in this
belief, thefe are in coeleftial light, which gives tranfparency to
every thing they behold, and by different variegations forms
therein fuch beautiful reprefentations of divine things, as gives
unfpeakable pleafure to their intellectual ught. Their houfes
glitter with adamantine fplendour j and I was told that the walls
thereof were as chryllal, and of like tranfparency (exhibiting
alfo fluent reprefentations of divine things with unceafing va-
riety) and that becaufe fuch tranfparency correfponds to a mind
in iiluftration from the Lord, and totally freed from all fliadow
of doubting, and from every impurity from the love of natural
things. Thefe, and innumerable other things, are related by
thofe who have been in the [third] heaven -, and moreover, that
they have feen and heard there things which none elfe ever faw
or heard. Such as had afted with opennefs and fimplicity, and
made no fecrets of their thoughts, as far as the relations of civil
life allowed of it, llridly adhering to the rules of truth and
juffcice from a divine principle, they appear in heaven with lucid
faces, reprefenting, as it were, in vifible forms the thoughts
and difpofitions of their minds, whilft their fpeech and adlions
cxprefs the reality of their affedtions ; and therefore they are
beloved above others : whilft they are fpeaking there feems to
be, as it were, obfcurity upon their countenances ; but when
they have done, what they have delivered appears legibly and
in full light fignatured on their faces ; and as the things about
them correfpond to thofe within them, fo do they reprefent them
in fo ftriking a likenefs, as to make them plainly underftood by
others. Such fpirits as had been accuftomed to fubtlcty and
clandeftine dealings avoid coming near them, and are feen to
creep away like ferpents as foon as they fpy them. Such as held
adultery in horror, and lived chaftly in conjugal love, ftand in
the heavenly order and form above others, and therefore appear
in beauty and the bloom of youth with particular diftincftion j

n. 9553. That herbs, grafs, and lawns fignify the like kinds of knowledge, n.
7571. That trees fignify perceptions and knowledges, n. ic^, 2163, 2682, 2722,
2972, 7692.

the

[ 336 ] I

the delights appertaining to their love are inexprefTible, and go \\

on incrcafing to eternity; for all the joys of heaven communicate
by influx with it, as being that love which is derived from the
conjunftion of the Lord with heaven, and with his church on
earth, and in a general fenfc from the conjuniflion of good and
truth, which conftitutes heaven in common, and in every angel
in particular, fee above, n. 366 to 386. In a word, the de-
lights of thofe here mentioned are not to be defcribcd in words :
but what has been faid of the correfponding delights enjoyed in
heaven by thofe who have lived here in ca'leftial love, falls very
far rtiort of their number.

490. Thus much may fuffice to Hiew, that the pleafures of
every one in this life become changed after death into fuch as
correfpond to them in the fpiritual world, the principal love
continuing the fame in every one to eternity ; whether, for in-
Itance, it be that of conjugal love^ the love of juflice, fincerity,
goodnefs, and truth, the love of fcientifick knowledge, the love
of intelleftual knowledge and wifdom, and fo on ; and the
pleafures which flow from them, as llreams from their fountains,
continue with them in like manner, but are augmented in pro-
portion to the difli'erence between natural and fpiritual.

Of Man's Firft State after Death.

491. There are three ftates which man goes through after
death, before he enters into heaven, or hell ; the finl refpefts

his exterior part ; the fecond his interior ; and the third is his !

ftate of final preparation. Thefe ftates man pafles through in
the world of fpirits ; however, there are exceptions, as fome 1

are immediately after death taken up into heaven, or cafl into
hell ; of the former clafs are they who are regenerated, and fo
prepared for heaven in this world, and that in fo high a degree,
as to need only the putting off all tlicir natural impurities with 1

their bodies ; thcfe are immediately carried by the angels into \

heaven, and fome fuch I have feen fo conveyed thither within
an hour after their departing this life. On the otlier hand, fuch
as have been internally evil under the malic of externally ap-
parent

[ 337 ]

parent goodnefs, and Co have filled up the meafure of their ini-
quities by hypocrify and deceit, uling the cloak of goodnefs as
a means whereby to deceive others ; thefe are immediately caft
into hell ; and this I have feen to be the cafe with fome within
an hour after their death, and in particular one fuch, who had
been a hypocrite and deceiver above others, caft in thither with
his head downward, and his feet upward; and others in a dif-
ferent manner. There are alfo fome who are committed to
caverns immediately after their deceafe, and fo feparated from
others in the world of fpirits, but afterwards releafed, and re-
manded thither by turns ; fuch are they who, under civil pre-
texts, dealt fraudulently with their neighbours : but the fore-
mentioned are very few compared to the many clafles of thofe
who are detained in the world of fpirits, in order to their pre-
paration for heaven or hell, according to the ellablifhed order of
the divine oeconomy.

492. As to the firft ftate before mentioned, or that which
refpei5ts the exterior, this, man enters upon immediately after
death. Every one's fpirit has belonging to it properties exterior
and interior ; the former are thofe by which he governs and
accommodates the corporeal functions in this world, more efpe-
cially the face, fpeech, and bodily gelfures, according to his
focial connexions ; the latter are proper to his will and free
thoughts, which are feldom made manifcft by the face, fpeech,
and outward behaviour, man being accuftomed through edu-
cation and example to counterfeit friendlhip, fmcerity, and be-
nevolence, and to conceal his true thoughts even from his in-
fancy. Hence it is, that fo many learn the external pradiice of
morality and good manners, however different they may in
reality be within, and fo, miftaking cuftom for principle, know
not themfelves, nor enter into any examination concerning the
matter.

493. The firft ftate of man after death nearly refcmbles his
laft in this life, and he is much the fame in the external ope-
rations of his mind ; nay, he ftill retains the like face, fpeech,
and inclinations, and alfo the like difpofitions with refpedl to
moral and ci\ il life, infomuch that he knows no otiier than that
he is ftill an inhabitant of this world, unlefs he feriouily refleds

Q^q q q o«

[ 338 ]

on the things that prcfent themfelves to him, and on what was
told him by the angels, on his rclufcitation, ol his being a Tpiiit,,
n. 450. Thus one life is progreflively continued to another,
and death is only the paflage between them.

494. As fuch is the ftatc of man's fpirit immediately after
his departing this life, he is confequently known in the other
world by fuch as were his friends and acquaintance in this, not
only from his face and fpeech, but alfo from the fphere of his
life, and that on the fird approach. When any one there thinks
intenfely of another, and is imprefled in his mind and memory
with his likenefs, and certain particulars of his life [having at
the fimc time a ftrong defire to fee him] the perfon fo thought
of becomes immediately prefent to him as if fent to him : and
this comes to pafs from the nature of the fpiritual world, where
thoughts are mutually communicated at any diftance, and where
fpace is very different from what it is here, fee above, n. 191 to
1995 by which means fuch as pais from hence thither arc
readily known by their friertds, relations, and acquaintance ;
and they ccnvcrfe and alTociate together after the manner of
their former connexions : I have often heard their mutual con-
gratulations on the occafion of thefe meetings. It is common
for hulhand and, wife to meet thus, and to abide together for a
longer or {horter time, accordingly as they agreed in this world ;
but if they had not lived together in conjugal love, which is
union of minds from a heavenly principle, after fome fliort
ftay they are feparated : but if they had lived in variance and
hatred, it is not unufual for them to break out into ftrife and
quarreling, even to fighting ; but, neverthelefs, they are not
totally feparated before they enter upon their fecond ftate, con-
cerning which hereafter.

495. As the life of men newly become fpirits is fo like to
their natural life in this world, and as they are at firfl Grangers
to their new ftate, without knowing any thing more of heaven
and hell than what they have learned from the letter of Scrip-
ture, and their preachers ; therefore after wondering for fome
time at their being clothed with a body, and pofleirmg every
fenfe as in this world, and alfo at their feeing things under the
like appearance as before, they find themfelves urged by a defire

[ 339 ]

of knowing what and where heaven arid hell are: upon which
they are initrufted by their friends in things relating to eteinal
life, and are conducted to various places, and different focieties,
and fome into cities, gardens, and beautiful plantations, and mere
particularly to fee magnificent buildings, as fuch external objefts
fuit with the prefent external ftate of their minds. Then they
are led to infpe€l thofe interior fentiments and ideas which they
had in this life concerning the ftate of fonts after death, and
concerning heaven and hell, not without indignation to think
of their own pad ignorance, and alfo that of the church in
relation to thefe important fubjecfts. Almoft all in the world
of fpirits are defirous to know whether they fliall go to heaven
or not, and the greater part judge in favour of themfelves as to
this particular, efpecially fuch as had lived by the external rules
of morality and civil obligation here ; not confidering that both
good and bad do the fame to outward appearance, as alfo do
many good offices to others, and in like manner go to church,
hear fermons, and bear a part in the publick worfhip j not re-
fledting that thefe external a6ls, and this outward form of wor-
Ihip avail nothing in themfelves, confidered feparately from the
difpofition and principle of the worfhipper, and that it is the
interior or inner man that ftamps the charafter and value upon
the outward work and form ; but fcarcely one in a thoufind
knows what is meant by the interior, and even after being
taught it, place all in the words and bodily fervice ; and fuch
is the greater part of thofe, who at this day pafs from the Chri^
ftian world into the other life.

496. The new comers are tried as to their qualities by the
good fpirits, and that according to various ways ; for in -this
their firft ftate the bad fpeak and ad, to appearance, like the
good, and that from having kept up an outward moral deport-
ment in the world, in conformity to the laws of government
and the rules of fociety, to preferve charafter and the praife of
men, for the fike of worldly advantage ; but the internally bad
fpirits are particularly diftinguiflied from the good by this among
other figns, viz. that they eagerly attend to \yhat is faid of
things without them, but give little attention to inward and
fpiritual truths. They are alfo known from turning themfelves

frequently

[ 34° ]

frequently to certain points of the compafs, and from tiking
tlie ways that lead thereto when left alone, both of which are
marks in the other world of the particular kind of love that
influences and direds them.

497. All fpirits, on their leaving this world, are indeed in
fellowfliip with fome particular fociety either in heaven or hell ;
but fo only in their inner man or ground, which is not mani-
felted to others, whillt they are occupied in the exterior mental
faculties and exercifes [fuch as border on the fenfes or outward
life] for external things cover and hide what is internal, efpe-
cially in thofe who are rooted in evil, but hypocritically good
in the outward life ; but afterwards, when they enter upon their
fecond llate, the outward is quiefcent, and what was inward is
made manifeft.

49S. This firft ftate of man after death continues to fome
for days, to fome for months, and to others for a year, but
rarely for longer to any one, though to all differently, according
to the agreement or difagreement between their interiour and
exteriour; for in the fpiritual world they muft be brought into
correfpondence and confent ; as it is not allowed there for any
to think and will one way, and to fpeak and aft another, but
every one muft be an exprefs image of his thoughts and affec-
tions, or to appear outwardly as he is inwardly ; and therefore
the external ftate or province of the fpirit muft firft be fo mani-
felled and regulated, as to ferve for a correfpondent plane or
ground to the internal.

Of the Second State of Man after Death.

499. The fecond (late of man after death is called his in-
terior ftate, as he then paffes into the more recondite things of
his mind, or of his will and thoughts, whilft the more external
fundions of it, as exercifed in his firfl: ftate, are then quiefcent
or dormant. Whoever carefully attends to the lives, words,
and adions of men, may foon find that fevery one has both his
exterior and interior thoughts and intentions ; thus for example,
the man of civil connexions and manners forms his judgment

[ 34^ ]

of others by what he knows of them by charadlcr and convert
fation ; and though he diould find tliem to be far othcrwife tliaa
men of probity and worth, yet he does not fpeak and behave
to them according to his real fcntiments of them, but with
fomething of feeming refpedt and civility : and this is ftill more
ftrongly exemplified in the bel\aviour of perfons addicfled to
difiiniulation and flattery, who fpeak and &6t quite contrary to
what they think and mean ; and aUb in hypocrites, who cnn
talk of God, of heaven, and fpiritual things, and alfo of their
country, and neighbour, as if from faith and love, when at the
fame time they have neither the one nor the other, and love
none but themfelves. This evinces that there are thoughts in
the fame mind of two different complexions, the one interior,
and the other exterior, and that it is common for men to fpeak
from the latter, whiHl their real fentiments in the interior are
contrary thereto ; and that thefe two arrangements of thoughts
are of diftind: and feparate apartments in the mind, appears
from the pains fuch perlbns take to prevent thofe that are int-
terior from flowing into the exterior to manifeftation. Now
man was fo formed by his original creation, that both the(e
were as one by correfpondence and confent, as is the cafe now
with the good, who both think and fpeak what is good and
true ; whereas in the evil the interior and the exterior are di-
vided, for they think evil, and fpeak good, thus inverting the
order of things, whilfl the evil is innermoft, and the good
outermoft, the former excrcifing rule over the latter, and ufing
its fervices for temporal and felfilh ends, fo that the feeming good
which they fay and do is corrupted and changed into evil, how-
ever the undifcerning may be deceived by its outward appearance.
On the other hand, they who are in the good principle ftand
in the divine order of God's creation, whilfl the good in their
interiour flows into the exteriour of their minds, and thence
into their words and aftions. This is the ftate in which man
was created, and thus they have communication with heaven,
and have the Lord for their leader. Thus much may ferve to
fhcw, that man thinks from two diflind grounds, the one called
tlie interior, the other the exterior j and when we fpeak here of

R r r r his

[ 342 ]

his thinking, we include likewife his faculty of willing, as his
thoughts are from his will, neither can they exift feparately.

500. When willing and thinking are confidered under their
particular diflindions, then by the will is alfo to be underftood
the afFe(flion or love, with the particular pleafures annexed to
it, as thele alfo have relation thereto, as the fubjedt in which
they inhere ; for what a man wills, that he loves and takes
pleafure in, and fo reciprocally, what he loves and takes pleafure
in, that he alfo wills : and by thought is meant that operation
of the mind by which a man conlirms and fixes his affe^ftion
or love, it being the form of the will made manifeft in the light
of the underftanding. This form of the will may be conlidered
under various relations to the fpiritual world, and is properly
the fpirit of a man.

501. It mufl: be noted, that man is to be eflimated accord-
ing to what he is inwardly, and not according to what he is
outwardly only, and that becaufe his interior things appertain
to his fpirit, which is the proper life of man, and is that which
animates his body ; and therefore accordingly as man is in his
interiour, fuch he remains for ever ; whereas exterior things, as
appertaining to the body and its fenfcs, are feparated after death,
fo much of them only remaining (and that in a quiefcent, dor-
mant llate) as may ferve as a plane or ground to his interiors,
as was fhewed before in the article treating of the memory
retained by man after death. Hence it may appear what pro-
perly belongs to man as himfelf, and what not ; thus for ex-
ample, the good that bad men fpcak and do from their exterior
thought and will, is not their proper own, but only that which
proceeds from their inner man, or the ground of the heart.

502. After that man, now become a fpirit, has gone through
his firfl ftate, which is tiiat of his exterior thoughts and will,
he pafles into his fecond or interior ftate, and this he enters
upon infenfibly, which refembles that of a man in this world,
who, finding himfelf at liberty from every rellraint and dilTi-
pation, recolledls himfelf, and enters into the moft fecret recelTcs
of his foul. Now in this ftate of introverfion, when he thinks
freely from his inmoll difpofition and affedions, he is properly
himfelf, or in his true life.

503. When

[ 343 ]

503. When a fpirlt is in this flate of thinking from his
will, confequently from his ruling affe<n:ion or love, thought
and will in him appear fo much one and the fame, that he
fcems only to be in the exercife of the latter : and the cafe is
nearly the fame when he fpeaks, only with this difference, that
then he is not without fome little fear of betraying the whole
of his afrecftions, and that through a habit contracted in this
world from the referves pradlifcd in ordinary converfation.

504. All without exception enter into this ftate in the other
world, as proper to fpirit, for the former is afiumed and prac-
tifed in accommodation to fociety and tranfadlions in this world ;
and therefore, though it remains with man for fome time after
death, yet it is not long continued in, as not being fuitable to
the nature of a fpirit, for the following reafons : Firfl:, Becaufb
a fpirit thinks and fpeaks from the governing principle of life
without difguife, fee article Concerning the Converfation of Angels,
n. 234 to 245 ; nay, the fame is the cafe of man in this world,
when he enters into his inmoft felf, and takes an intuitive view
of his outward man, in which kind of furvey he fees more in
a minute than he could utter in an hour. Secondly, Becaufe
in his converfation and dealings in this world, he fpeaks and
a<5ls under the reftraint of thole rules which fociety has efta-
blilhed for the maintenance of civility and decorum. Thirdly,
Becaufe man, when he enters into the interior recefles of his
fpirit, cxercifes rule over his outward economy, prefcribing
laws tlicreto, how to fpeak and aft in order to conciliate the
good will and favour of others, and that by a conflrained ex-
ternal behaviour. Thefe confiderations may ferve to fliew, that
this interior flate of liberty is not only the proper flate of the
fpirit of a man after death, but even in this life.

505. When a fpirit has paffed into his fecond or interior
ftate, it then appears outwardly what manner of man he had
been in this world, as he now ads from his proper felf j thus
if he had been a wife and good man before, he now manifefts
llill higher degrees of rationality and wifdom in his words and
adlions, as being freed from thofe corporeal and earthly cmbar-
rafiinents which had fettered and obfcured the inward opera-
tions of his mind, whereas the bad man evidences greater folly

than

[ 344 ]

than before, for wliilft in this world he fafliioned his external
behaviour by the rules of prudence, in order to fave appearances ;
but not being under the like rellraints now, he gives full fcope
to his infinity, A bad man, that apes the manners and beha-
viour of a good one, is nothing better than a neat veflel well
covered, but replete with filthinefs ; and anfwers to that com-
parifon of our Lord : ** Like unto a whited fcpulchre, which
" indeed appears beautiful outward, but is within full of dead
*' mens bones, and of all uncleannefs," Matt, xxiii. 27.

506. All who in this world lived uprightly, and preferved
a good confcience, walking in the fear of God, and in the love
of divine truths, applying the fame to praftical ufc, feem to
themfelves as men awaked out of fleep, and as having paifed
from darkncfs to light, when they firft enter upon tlieir fecond
or interior flate ; they think from the light of pure wifdom,
and they do all things from the love of goodnefs ; heaven influ-
ences their thoughts and affeftions, they are in communication
with angels j and they love and worfliip the Lord from the very
principle of life : for they have entered into the holy of holies,
in which the true worfliip confifts, and is to them and in them
a fervice of perfedt freedom, fuch is the ftate of thofe hereafter,
whofe life here has been according to the Gofpel of Chrift.
But very different is the condition of thofe, whofe lives have
been contrary thereto, and therefore have denied the Lord in
their works, however they may have confeffed him with their
lips ; all fuch, when they enter upon their interior or fecond
ftate, and fo are fet free from outward relbaints, appear as in-
fatuated and mad in all they fay and do ; for being now under
the full uncontrolled dominion of their evil lufts and paffions,
they commit all iniquity with grecdincfs, as contempt of others,
mockery, hatred, revenge, and blalphemy, and fome of them
are crafty and malicious to a degree exceeding belief; in a word,
they appear wholly deftitute of rationality, though wife in their
own conceits : they are fometimes, during fliorj intervals, re-
ftored to their external flate, together with the remembrance of
thefe flagrant enorniities ; at which fome of them feem alhamed,
and to confefs their madnefs ; but others are void of all fliame.
Some of them alfo appear indignant, that they are not fuffered

[ 345 J

to continue in their former exterior flate ; when it Is told them,
that this would prove to their detriment ; for that they would
go on to commit the fame things in a clandeftinc manner, would
do evil under the appearance of good, and defraud the fimple-
hearted by their diliimulation, till by degrees they waxed as
wicked openly, as they were inwardly, and fo increafed their
condemnation and wretchednefs.

507. The fpirits of this ftate appear outwardly fuch as they
were inwardly whilft in this world, and alfo publickly declare
the things they had fpokcn and done here in private, and en-
deavour to repeat the fame without regard to decency and cha-
radler ; and this is permitted, that they may be known to the
angels for what they are. Thus their hidden things are made
manifeft, and their fecret things declared openly, according to
thofe words of the Lord : *' There is nothing covered, that
" (hall not be revealed ; nor hid, that Ihall not be made known.
" Therefore, whatfoever ye have fpoken in darknefs, fliall be
" heard in the light, and that which ye have fpoken in the ear
** in clofets, fhall be proclaimed upon the houfe-tops," Luke
xii. 2, 3. "I fiy unto you. That every idle word that men
*' fhall fpeak, they fliall give account thereof in the day of
*' judgment," Matt. xii. 36.

508. The condition of the evil in this ftate rcfpecflively
cannot be dcfcribed in a few words, as every one's infatuation
there, is according to his particular concupifcence : from the
following examples we may form fome judgment of the reft.
They who had been abforbed in felf-love, fo as not to attend to
the good ufes of their refpcdive ollices and functions, but dif-
charged them only with a view to their own eftimation and
honour, appear more ftupid than others ; for in proportion to
the degree of felf-love in any one is his diftance from heaven,
and confcquently from wifdom : but they who to the evil of
felf-love had added crafty devices, and by means thereof ad-
vanced themfelves to worldly honours, they alfociate themfelvcs
to the worft of fpirits, and addirt themfelves to the magical
arts, which are profane abufes of the divine order, by means of
which they moleft and vex all that pay them not honour ; tlie
praftifing of infidious wiles, and to kindle ftrife and hatred yield

S f f f . them

[ 346 ]

them the higheft pleafure ; they burn with revenge, and long
for nothing more than to tyrannize over all that fubmit not to
their will ; and all thele wicked pallions they gratify as far as
their evil aflbciates give them afliftance ; nay, fo far does mad-
nefs hurry them on, as to make them wifh to fcale heaven,
either to fubvcrt the government of the holy kingdom, or to
caufe themfclves to be worfhipped for gods therein. Such of
this clafs as were of the papal church are more mad than the
reft, as vainly thinking that they have power over heaven and
hell, and can forgive lins at pleafure : fome of thcfe arrogate to
themfelves divine honour, and exalt themfelves into the place
of Chrift. Such diabolical perfuafions fpread darknefs and dif-
tra^fcion upon their minds ; they are indeed fimilar in both the
fore-mentioned ftates, but in the latter of them they totally
lofe their reafon. As concerning their madnefs, and their en-
fuing lot, fomething fliall be particularly faid in a little piece,
intitled. Of the Laft Judgment, and Babylon dejlroyed. As to
thofc who in this world afcribed all creation to nature, and fo
in effecft denied a God, and confcquently all divine truths, fuch
herd together in this ftate, calling every one a god who excelled
in fubtlety of reafoning, and giving him divine honour. I have
fecn fome fuch in their conventicle woriliipping a magician,
holding conferences concerning nature, and behaving more like
brute beafts than human creatures, and among them fome who
were dignitaries in this world, and had the reputation of being
learned and wife, and others of a different charadler. From
thus much we may gather what they are, the interiour of whofe
minds is fhut againft divine things, as theirs is, who receive no
influx from heaven through looking up to God, and a life of
faith. Now let every one judge from himfclf, what fort of
creature he Ihould be, were he to live without regard to laws
both human and divine, and without all external rcftraints
arifing from fear in refpedl to li/e, character, honour, advantage,
and the plcafures refulting therefrom. However, the madnefs of
thofe before mentioned is fo far reftrained by the Lord, as not
to break all bounds of ufes, for even a ufe arifes from every one
of them, evil as they are ; for in them the good fpirits fee the
odioufnefs of evil, and what man is, fcparate from the divine direc-
tion

[ 347 ]

tion and leadings. Another ufe is, that all evil is fo colledled
into a vifible body, and that all apparent good and truth, which
ferved them only for a cover to their malignity, is taken from
them, and they fo left to their own evil, and the falfe ifTuing
from their evil, that they may be totally difqualiiied for all
fociety with the good, and fitted for their own place : for no
one is allotted to his portion in hell before evil and the falfe
from evil have taken full pofleflion of him, and that becaufe it
is contrary to the laws of the other world to have the mind fo
divided, as to think and fpeak one way, and to have the will
fet the contrary way ; but every evil fpirit muft think and fpeak
there from the falfe of his own evil or proper affetlion, as he
did in this world, when under no conftraint or reftraint ; and
that becaule the affeilion or love is the fame with the will, and
the will is man's proper felf or nature, which is formed accord-
ing to his life in this world, and never forfvkes him, as it is not
to be reformed by any power of thinking, or knowledge of the
truth in the next.

509. As bad fpirits in this their fecond flate are given to
evils of all kinds, fo do they frequently fuffer fevere punifliment.
Now punidmients in the world of fpirits are manifold, and they
are inflifted on all alike without refpeft of perfons, had he been
a king, or the meanefl fervant ; for fin carries its fuffering with
it by neceflary conjuncflion, and confequently, he that is in evil
is alfo in the pain of evil ; ncverthelefs, no one fuflfers there for
the evils he had committed in this world, but for thofe which
he is in, loves, or does in the other; for it comes to the f\me,
whether we fay, they are puniflied for part: or prefent fins, as
every one after death returns to the fi:ate of his own life, and
confequently into all the evils belonging to it : for the fpirit of
a man is the fame that it was in the body, fee n. 470 to 484.
The reafon of infiiding punilliment here, is becaufe the fear of
it is the only means of fupprefiing evil in thofe on whom exhor-
tation, infiirudlion, confcience, or regard to charadler have no
influence, but they adt folcly from the bent of their nature, which
can only be awed and reftrained by punilliment. On the other
hand, the good fpirits fuffer no punifiiment, and though they
had done evils in this world, yet they make no part of them in

the

[ 348 ]

the other J and it is alfo given them to know, that the evils
which they had done, were of another kind or nature, and not
of fet purpofe and determined oppolition to the truth, nor from
any other bad difpofition than what was derived to them from
their parents, or which they were inftigated to commit by the
urgency of fome blind paflion, when they forfook their inward
guide.

510. Every one betakes himfelf to that fociety to which his
fpirit belonged in this world, for every man in this life was
joined to fome fociety in fpirit, either to an infernal or ca'leflial
one, the bad to the former, and the good to the latter, fee n.
438 ; and after fome fucceflive experiments with refpcd: to Jther
focieties after his departure hence, he is at laft condu<iled to his
own, which he joins himfelf to. An evil fpirit, when in his
interior ftate, gradually turns towards the particular fociety he
belongs to, till at length he fully faces it, and that before his
flate of preparation for it is quite finiflied ; and when this is
effedled, he cafls himfelf into hell, to join his proper compa-
nions : his manner of carting himfelf thither has the appearance
of one falling down headlong from a precipice with his feet
upwards ; and the reafon of fuch appearance is, becaufe he had
inverted the order of things in himfelf, by having loved the
infernal, and rejedled the coeleflial. Some evil fpirits in this
their fecond flate go in and out of hell by turns, but appear not
to be cafl down in the manner juft now mentioned, as when in
full preparation for their final abode there : they have alfo fome-
times, when in their external iLite, a fight of the fociety they
had fellowfhip with in fpirit, when in this world, to give them
to underfland, tliat they belonged to the internal kingdom even
in this life, though they were not at the fame time in a like
condition with thofe that are adlually in hell, but only with
thofe that were in the world of fpirits on their way to it ; of
whofe condition, in refpedl to the infernal fpirits, fomething
fliall be faid hereafter.

511. The feparation of the evil from the good fpirits takes
effecft in this fecond ftate, for they are both together in the
former ftate ; for fpirits, vvhilft they are in externals, are in the
fame condition of ftate as in this world, the bad with the good,

and

r 349 1

and the good with the bad ; but it is otherwife when they arc
in their internals, and fo entirely under the dominion of their
own nature and will (*). It is an ufual way for them to be led
round the other focieties in a wide circle, and to be exhibited
to the good fplrits in their proper form and afpc^H, on which
the good fpirits all turn their back.^- to them, and the evil fpirits,
on their part, do the fame to them, with their faces towards
fuch infernal focieties as they refpeftively belong to, and are
appointed for; not to mention many other ways by which this
fcparation is condu(iled.

Of the Third State of Man after Death,
which is the State of Inftrudlion for thofe
that go to Heaven.

512. The third ftate of man, or of his fpirit, after death,
is the flate of inflruiftion, which is appointed for thofe that go
to heaven, and become angels ; but not for thofe that go to hell,
as fuch are not in a capacity of inftruftion, and therefore their
fecond ftate is their laft, and anfwers to the third in others, as it
terminates in their total change into that prevailing love which
conftitutes their proper principle, and confequently into a con-
formity to that infernal fociety with which they have fellow-
fliip. When this is accompliflied, their will and thoughts flow
fpontaneouOy from their predominant love, which, being in-
fernal, they can only chufe the evil and falfe, and rejedl all that
apparent good and truth which before they had adopted, folely
as means fubf.rvient to the gratification of their ruling palTion.
On the other hand, the good fpirits are introduced from tlieir
fecond into their third Hate, which is that of preparation for
heaven by the means of inftruction ; for none can be qualified

(*) Some capital error plainly appears to have crept into the text in this place,
to the caufing of a maniftlt contradidtion in the fcnfe, and to an important doc-
trine of the author, as dilcovered and explained to us in other parts of his wri-
tings : it was therefore thought proper to leave thtfc four lines untianflated.

T t t t for

[ 35° ]

for heaven, but through the knowledges of fpiritual good and
truth, and their oppofites, evil and falfe, which can only come from
previous inilrudtion. As to good and truth in a civil and moral
fcnfe commonly called juftice and fincerity, thefe may be learned
trom the laws of nations, and from converfition in virtuous
company j but fpiritual good and truth, as ingrafted principles
in the heart, are only received by the teachings of a divine light :
for though they are literally fet forth in the Scripture, and the
dodtrines of the Chriflian churches founded thereon, yet thev
only gain the efficacy of a vital principle from a ca^lertial intiu-
ence manifefting itfelf in a confcientious obedience to the divine
laws, as promulgated in the written word, and that in refpe<fi: to
the divine authority of them, and not from felfilli and worldly
motives ; then a man is in the heavenly life, or in heaven, even
whilft in this world. But in order to this, he muft firft be
taught, that there is a God, a future ftate, a heaven and hell ;
and that God is to be loved above all things, and his neighbour
as himfelf ; and that the Holy Scriptures are the rule of faith,
together with other rudiments of the Chriflian religion, with-
out which a man attains not to that fpiritual underftanding and
will, which are the proper recipients of the heavenly influx and
divine wifdom. Thus the fpirituality of religion is by vital
influence from the Lord, which, when received into the heart
of man, enters even into all his moral and civil virtues, and
fandtifies them alfo, as being done from and to the Lord ; fo
that all the common offices of life, proceeding from this divine
fource or principle, are fo many effects of the fpiritual life ; and
as every effecft partakes of the nature of its efficient caufe, fo it
makes one with it.

513. The angels appointed for infl:rudl:ors are from feveral
focieties, but chiefly from fuch as are in the north and the fouth,
as their undcrftanding and wifdom more particularly confift in
the diftindl knowledges of good and truth. The places let apart
for inflirudting are towards the north, and are various, well-
ordered, and divided, according to the particular clalfes of the
difciples to be inftrucfled in heavenly things, that fo all may
have their proper portion according to their particular capacity
and genius refpedtively. Thefe places extend f\ir and wide in

a circular

[ 351 ]

a circular form, and thither are led by their divine guide, the
good fpirits that are to receive their inftrutftion, after having
pafied their fecond ftatc in the world of fpirits, but not all of
them, as fome of their number received their full inflruiftion
in this world, and fo were here prepared for heaven by tlie Lord,
and are condufted thither another way ; fome immediately after
death, fome after a fhort flay with the good fpirits in the world
of fpirits, in order to be defecated and purified from fome im-
purities contracted in their thoughts and r.wcdions from the
honours and riches of this world ; and fome not till they have
undergone vaftation (*), which is performed in fubterraneous
places called the lower earth [terra inferior] where fome pafs

(*) The words vujiatlo and vnjiat't, as here ufed by our author, with refpecSt
to good fpirits, and more particularly in his large work, intitlcd Arcjna Ca-le/iiOy
are difficult to tranflate by any fingle words in the Englifli language : thole of
purgation and purification, or the phyfica! term-:, depuration and defecation, come
the ncareft to what he means by vaftat'nn, vi7,. a kind of refining or feparating
difcipline, by which a fpirit, whofe radix or principle is good, is cleanfcd from
thofe ftains and pollutions, which it had contradled in its paffiige through this
naughty world, and as yet hinder its fitnefs for heaven. Some who have a bigoted
averi'ion to cv. ry doftrine indifcriminately that is held by the Romifh church, and
not adopted by the Proteftants, will doubtlefs be ortended at one fo nearly border-
ing upon purgatory as this before us ; but that we cannot help : it is for men of
more enlarged minds, to feek out and embrace truth wherever they find it ; nor is
a pearl the Icfs valuable, becaufe it has lain among rubbifh. In a word, it is the
doclrinc of a Romifh purgatory, as ItufFcd with abfurd figments, and the gainful
fiiperftitions introduced into it by the priefts, that is to be repudiated, and not
that of a ftate of purification after death, which, as it is confonant both to the
goodncfs of God, and to our moil rational id=as of a future happy ilate, fo is it
no Itfs comforting to the mind of the ferious Chriftiun : for few, I think, are lb
well fatisfied with their condition and flate of acceptance at the time of their de-
parture hence, as to think themfdves entirely meet for the kingdom of heaven, fo
it cannot fail to minifler great confolation to their fpirit, to believe that the Lord
hath appointed a ftate hereafter, wherein every thing that hinders Ihall be removed
cut of their way to the heavenly inheiitancc But the word vaftation \yaJ}aUo'\
relates alfo to evil fpirits, and, in fuch application of it, fignifics tlie diverting
them of that feeming good which they might derive from mere outward nature or
practice, and ufed as a cover to the predominant evil principle within, and there-
lore to br done away by this vaftation or ll-paratiiig difcipline, that they may be
wholly in their own proper principle, and fo fitted for the kingdom to which they
belong. Thus both the good and the evil fpirits become entirely their real felves
without any heterogeneous mixtures. N. B. The word \yaJlatio\ will be tranflaied
by that of vaftation in the following note, and where elfc it may occur ; but as the
participle vnjlati literally tranflated vnjinted would found more harlh to an Englilh
car, the word diverted will be ufed in its pLcc.

through

[ 352 ]

througli ii very painful dilcipline ; fuch in particular as had
confirmed themfelves in grofs errors, whilil at the lame time
thcj led good lives : for falfc doiftrines, confirmed by reafonings
into a belief of them, flick very clofe to the mind, and mufl
firfl: be difcuficd and difcharged from it, before truths can be
clearly perceived and gain admillion. But concerning vaftations,
and the different ways whereby they are cffe(5led, much has been
rehtcd in the Arcana Coklestia, from which fome parti-
culars are extra(fted in the note here referred to (271).

514. All that are in the places fet apart for inftrudion have
diftind habitations ; for every one, in refped to his interior ftate,
is in communion with that heavenly fociety to which he is to be
joined ; and therefore, as the heavenly focietics are all according
to a heavenly form and order (fee above, n. 200 to 2 1 2) fo are the
places where thefe inftrudions are held ; and therefore, when

(271) That vaftations are appointed in the other world, or that they who pafs
from hence thither are divcftcd of ail that docs not properly belong to them, n. 698,
7122, 7474, 9763' That good fpirits arcdivcfted as to falfc;?, and evil fpirits as
to truth-, II. 7474, 7541, 7542. That the good fpirits are divefted of the earthly
and mundane infedlions vvliich they had contrafted in this life, n. 7186, 9763 ;
and liicewife of all evil and falfe adhering to them, that fo they may become re-
ceptive of all good influxes from the Lord, n. 7122, 9331. I'hat without fuch
a feparation none can be qualified for the kingdom of heaven, n. 6928, 7122, 7136,
7541, 7542, 9763. That all arc thus prepared before their exaltation thither, n.
4728, 7090. That without fuch prcjjaration, admiffion into heaven would be
attended with danger, n. 537, 538. Of the ftate of illuftration, and of the joy
of thofe who have p.dled throu^'li their vaftation for heaven, and their reception
there, n. 2699, 2701, 2704. That the region appointsd for vaftations is called
the lower earth, n. 4728, 7090. That it is fituated dircftly under the feet, and
furrounded with infernals ; a defcription of it; n. 494O to 4951, 7090. From
experience, n.-bqg. Vaftations of the infernal kinds, what, n. 7317, 7502, 7545.
That fuch of the evil fpirits as are employed in the vaftations of the good, do
afterwards fear and fliun them, and have an averfion to them, n. 7768. That
fuch infeftations and vaftations are diftcrcnt according to the different adherence of
evil and falfe, and conliiiue according to their difference in quality and degree, n.
1 106 to 1113. That fome are willing to undergo vaftation, n. 1107. That fomc
are divefted through kars, n. 4942. Some through infeftations- from the evils they
were chargeable with in this world, and through anxiety and remorfe of confcience
for the fame, n. iic6. i'ome through fpiritual captivity confifting in ignorance,
and a witliholding from t!itm the light of truth joined to a ftrong dcfirc of knov/ing
it, n. 1 109, 2694. Some in their ilcep ; and fome in a middle ftate betwixt fiecp-
iiig and waking, n. iic8. That they who place merit in works, feem to thcm-
felves as hewers of wood, n. 11 10. Others differently, in many various ways,
n. 699.

they

[ 353 ]

they are fccn from heaven, they appear from thence as a heaven^
of a lefTer form : they extend in length from eafl to weft, and
in breadth from fouth to nor<h, but appear of lefs breadth than
length. The order of clafies is as follows : foremoft are they
who died infants, and were educated to their early part of youth
in heaven, and after fuch their firft tuition in infancy, are ap-
pointed hither by the Lord for initrutftion in knowledge. Be-
hind thefe arc the places for the inftru^flion of thofe v/ho died
adults, and who in this world were in the affedlion of truth from
the good of life. Next to them are fuch as had profeifed the
Mahometan religion, led a moral good life, believed in one God,
and acknowledged the Lord for his prophet, who, after death,
finding no help to be had from Mahomet, go to the Lord, and
worfliip him, and acknowledge his divinity, after which they
are inltrufted in the Chriftian religion. Behind thefe more to
the north are the places appointed for the inftruftion of the
various Gentiles, who had led a good lifr according to the reli-
gion they profefTed, and that from a confcience agreeing thereto,
and fo pracflifing what is juft and right from an inward law, and
not merely in obedience to civil inftitutes. All fuch are foon
brought to the knowledge of and belief in the Lord through
the means of inftrutflion ; and the more fo, as it is a funda-
mental of their creed, that God is vifible in a human form.
Thefe are the greater number [of the appointed for heaven] and
the beft of them are from Africa.

515. But all are not inftrudted in the fame manner, nor by
angels of the like focieties : fuch as were educated in heaven
from tlieir infancy, are inftradted by angels of the two interior
heavens, as not having imbibed dangerous errors [Jh//h] from
falfe principles of religion [ex falfis 7-digionis\ nor defiled the
fpiritual part with the pollutions of worldly honours and riches.
They who died in their adult ftate, are, as to the greater part
of them, inftrudted by the angels of the loweft or firil heaven,
as being of an order better fuited to their capacity than the
former, who are of too interior a wifdom for their recipiency in
their prefcnt ftate. The Mahometans are inftrudled by angel?,
who had been of the fame religion in this world, and afterwards

U u u u converted

[ 354 ]

converted to the Chriftian ; and the Heathens in Jike manner by
their angels.

516. All inftrudion there, is by way of doiflrines drawn from
the written Word, and not from the Word itfclf fcparately from
the doftrinal form. Thus for example : The Chriftians are
inllrurted from luch heavenly doctrines as are moft adapted to
the internal or fpiritual fenfc of the Word ; others, as the Ma-
hometans and Gentiles, from fuch as are moft adequate to their
capacity and genius, and may lead them to the fpiritual life by
the way of a ChriiVian morality in a fort conformable to the
bell: and moft fublime of their own moral precepts.

517. The way of conveying inftru(ftion in the other world
differs from that on earth, inafmuch as truths there are com-
mitted, not to the memory, but to the life ; for the memory of
fpirits is in their life's principle, and they receive and imbibe
only what is conformable thereto, for fpirits are fo many human
forms of their own affeftions. As the nature of fpirits is fuch,
therefore they are continually infpired with an affeftion for truth
for the ufes of life ; for the Lord has fo ordered it, that every
one fliould love the ufes that accord with their particular gifts
and qualities ; which love is likewife heightened by the hope
of their becoming angels ; for in heaven all particular and fin-
gular ufes have relation to the general ufe or good of the Lord's
kingdom, and may be conlidered as fo many parts of one whole,
fo that the truths which they learn are both truths and the ufes
of truths conjunftly: thus the angelical fpirits arc prepared for
heaven. The affeftion or love of truth lor the purpofes of ufe
is infmuated into them many ways not known in this world,
more particularly by various reprefentations of ufes under fuch
delightful forms as affedl both their minds and fenfcs with un-
fpeakable pleafure, fo that when any fpirit is joined to the fociety
for which he was prepared, he then enjoys life moft when he
ih in the exercife of its proper ufes (272). Hence it may ap-
pear,

(272) That every good receives its joy anJ delight [ftium jucu»dum'\ from and
according to ufes, and that their particular qualities are reciprocal, n. 3049, 4984,
7038. That the angelical life confifts in the goods [in bonis'] of love and charity,
and accordingly in the exercife of ufes, n. 453. That the Lord, and his angels
from him, have refped only to the ends or ufes of things in man, n. 1317, 1645,

5S44.

[ 355 ]

pear, that not the ideal knowledge of truths, as things without
us, but an implantation of them in the affecflions and life for
the purpofe of ufes, is that which qualifies for the kingdom of
heaven,

518- There were certain fpirits who had flattered themfelves
in this world, not only with the expectation of going to heaven,
but alfo of being received there with particular marks of diftinc-
tion on account of their learning, and for their great fcientifical
knowledge in the Scriptures and the doiflrines of the feveral
churches, luppofing this to be wifdom, and that fuch as them-
felves were meant by thofe in Dan. xii. 3. " They that be wife
" Ihall Ihine as the brightnefs of the firmament." Thefe were
configned over for examination, whether their knowledge refided
in their memory only, or was carried alfo into pradlical ufe.
There were others who pofTcffed a genuine afted:ion for truth,
for the fake of fpiritual ufe and improvement, who, after they
had pafled through their courfc of inftrudlion, were received
into heaven, and given to know the caufe of fplendor there, viz.
that it was divine truth (which is the eflence of light in heaven)
in ufe, which ufe is the plane or ground that receives the rays
of that light, which it converts into various fplendors ; whereas
they whole knowledge refided only in their memory for the pur-
pofes of reafoning about truths, and oftentimes to confirm their
belief in error ; fuch not being in the light of heaven, but felf-
exaltcd through their pride of knowledge into a fancied fupe-
riority above angels ; thefe, in order to cure them of their vain
conceit, were introduced into the firft or loweil heaven, as
though to be joined to fome fociety there ^ but upon their firft
entrance, the brightnefs of the light flruck them with dimnefs ;
their minds were pcrturbated and confufed, and they gafped for
breath like dying perlbns ; and upon feeling tlie heat of heaven
(which anfwcrs to heavenly love)- they were tormented with
inward excruciating pains, and immediately caft down from
thence; fo learning by experience, that it is not knowledge, but

5844. That the kingc'om of the Lord is the kingdom of ufcs, n. 453, 6g6, 1 103,
3645, 4054, 7038. ihat the fervicc of the Lord confifts in the exercifc of ufes,
n. 7038. That according to ufcs in man, fuch is his quality and dillin(5lion, n.
1568, 3570, 4054, 6571, 6934, 6938, 10284.

life

[ 356 ]

life influenced by knowledge that qualifies for the angelical ftate:
vvhilrt the former, coniidercd in itfclf alone, is but as a foreign
plant ; but the latter as a tree of life in the midil: of paradife.

519. After that the angels are duly prepared for heaven in
the places before defcribed, which comes to pafs in a fliort time,
as fpiritnal minds arc of quick coinprehenlion, they are then
clothed in angelical garments, which, for the moil part, are
white as of fine linen, and condudted to the way which leads up
to heaven, and delivered to the guardian angels there ; after
w'hich they are received by other angels, and introduced to dif-
ferent focieties, where they partake of various delights : after
this every one is led by the Lord's guidance to his particular
proper fociety, and this by various ways, fometimes diretfl, fome-
timcs otherwife, not known to any of the angels, but to the
Lord only. Laflly, When they -are come to their own ibciety,
their inmofi: thoughts and affedtions [inten'ora illoruitt] open and
expand themfelves, which meeting with the like returns of
cordial fympathy from their lellovv-angels, they are immediately
known and received by them with a joyful welcome.

520. I am led here to mention a memorable particular con-
cerning the ways which lead from the places before mentioned
to heaven, through which the novitiate angels pafs thereto :
there are eight fuch, two from every place of inftrudlipn, the
one of which afcends to the eaft, the other to the welt : they
who are .appointed to the Lord's cci^leftial kingdom [the third
heaven] take the eaflern way ; but they who are appointed to
his fpiritual kingdom [the fecond heaven] take the wcftern way.
The four ways which lead to the former kingdom are beautifully
planted with olive and other fruit bearing trees of various kinds;
the other four leading to his fpiritual kingdom, with vines and
laurels ; and this from correfpondency, as vines and laurels cor-
refpond to the affecftion of truth and its ufes ; and olives and
fruits, to the afFedion of good and its ufes.

That

[ 357 ]

That no one is appointed for Heaven by an
immediate [arbitrariousj A<9: of Mercy.

521 . They who are not rightly inllrudled concerning heaven,
and the heavenly life in man, are apt to fiippofe, that admiffion
into heaven is by a particular grant of favour and mercy in
behalf of certain perfons who are in a particular belief, and
have the privilege of a peculiar election through our Lord's
intercelfion in their behalf; and fome, that all men may be
faved hy an arbitrary will, without refpeft to meetnefs or qua-
lification, nay, even the very devils : but all fuch are utter
Grangers to the nature of man, viz. that he is identically one
and the fame with his life's principle, and that this is one and
the fome with his predominant love, not only with refpedl to
his interior, but alfo to his exterior life, for the latter is only tlic
external form, in which his will and intelleft manifefl them-
fclves in vifibility and efFedl ; and therefore, that man is wholly
according to his love or ruling paHion, fee above, n. 363 : nor
do they underltand, that the body lives not from itfelf, but
from its fpirit, and that the fpirit of a man is his affedtion ; and
that his fpiritual body is no other than his affedion in that
liuman form, in which he appears after death, fee above, n. 455
to 460, Ignorance, as touching thcle things, leads many to
think, that falvation is nothing more than a mere gratuitous Jtft
of favour and good pleafure, called mercy, without any refped
to means or qudification.

522. Sometiiiiig (hall here be foid concerning the divine
mercy : and this is no other than the divine compalhon tov.ards
all m-jn, to the end that they may be faved, abiding with every
one, and never departing from him ; and therefore all may be
laved, whom it is polhble to fave, but that only in the way of
divine means. Thefe are revealed to us in the Scriptures, and
are called divine truths, teaching us by what kind of life falva-
tion is attainable ; and by thefe truths the Lord, who is loving
to every man, dire^^s all in the way to heaven, and imparts to

X X X X them

[ 358 ]

them a principle of life, provided they refrain from evil, but
otherwife they are not receptive of his gift, for evil hinders.
This is that pure mercy of the Lord to every one that walketh
not in the ways of evil, and which abides with him trom inflmcy
to the end of his days here, and forlakes him not in eternity ;
but not fuch an immediate arbitrarious kind of mercy, as fome
falfch' fuppofe, by which all may be faved, however unright-
eoufly they had lived.

523. The Lord never does any thing contrary to order, for
he is himfelf the fountain of it, and the divine truths pro-
ceeding from him are the laws of it, by which he condufts the
lalvation of men, and to which an immediate or arbitrary mercy,
with means and fitnefs in the fubjedl of it, would be a manifclt
contrariety. Divine order is heaven in man, which he had per-
verted by difobedience to its laws, or to divine truths ; and
therefore muft be reduced by the pure mercy of the Lord by
divine truths to the fame order from which he had fallen, and
as far as he recovers this ilate, fo much of heaven he receives
here, and becomes meet to be a partaker of its joys hereafter ;
thus he receives all from mere mercy, but not by an immediate
unconditional aft of it (273).

524. If men might be faved by immediate, arbitrarious
mercy, then all would be faved, even the devils, nay, in that

(273) That divine truth proceeding from the Lord conftiiutcs order, and that
divine good is the cflence of it, n. 1728, 2258, 8700, 8988. That therefore the
Jyord is the fountain of order, n. 1919, 201 1, 5110, 5703, 10336, ic6ig. That
divine truths are the laws of oider, n. 2247, 7995. That the univerfal heaven
is difpofcd by the Lord according to his divine order, n. 3038, 7211, 9128, 9338,
IOI25, 1015 I, 10157 ; and receives its form from ihencc, n. 404O to 4C43. 'f'hat
as far as any one lives according to the divine order, or in good according to
divine truths, fo much of heaven he receives into himfelf, n. 4839. That man
by creation was a form of the divine order as a recipient of it, n. 4219, 4220,
4223 — 10156, 10472. That man by birth inherits not good and truth, but only
evil and falfe, and confequently is in contrariety to the divine oider; tfierefore he
is born in mere ignorance, and muft be born again, or regenerated by divine truths,
that fo he may be reftored to order, n. 1047, 1.307, 2308 — 10286, 10731. That
when the Lord regenerates man, he difpofes all things in him according to the
form of heaven, n. 5700, 6690, 9931, 10303. That all evil and falfe is con-
trary to order, and that fuch as are therein are governed by the Lord not as regu-
lars, but irregulars, n. 4839, 7877, 10778. That it is impoffible for any one
that is in the evil principle to be faved by an immediate, inftantaneous adt of mercy,
as this would be contrary to the divine order, n. 8700.

cafe.

[ 359 ]

cafe, there would be no fuch place as hell ; for feeing that the
Lord is all mercy, love, and goodnefs, it would be nothing lefs
than denying his nature, to fay, that he could fave all men
itnmediately if he would, but is not willing ; whereas it is de-
clared in his Word, that the Lord willeth not the death of a
finner, but that all (hould be faved.

525. The greater part of thofe, who pafs into the other
world from Chriftendom, retain the belief, that they are to be
faved by an immediate acft of mercy, and accordingly they im-
plore it ; but upon examination it is found, that they have no
other idea of the happinefs of heaven than by admilTion into it
as a place of all delights (without conlidering the necellity of
preparation and fitnefs for it) thus ihcwing their ignorance as to
the nature of heaven and heavenly joys ; upon which it is told
them, that tlie Lord denies entrance into heaven to no one, and
that if they defire it, they may not only be admitted, but flay
there : accordingly fome that were fo defirous were admitted j
but no fooner did they enter, and feel the heat of heaven, which
is that love in which the angels are ; and were flruck by the
influx of the heavenly light, which is divine truth, than they
were feized with fuch an heart-felt agony, that inftead of hea-
venly joy they were racked with infernal pains, and, as it were,
mad through anguifli,. caft thcmfclves down headlong ; thus
learning, by dear-bought experience, that the fruition of heaven,
though all from pure mercy, yet is not from an immediate adl
of mercy feparate from the means of meetnefs, through pre-
paration, for the hea\'enly inheritance.

526. I have fometimes converfed with the angels on this
fubjedl, and told them, that the greater part of thofe in this
world, who live in fm, in the freedom of converfation con-
cerning heaven and eternal life, fpeak of going to heaven, as
a mere admiflion into fuch a place .through a mere adl of gra-
tuitous favour, and unconditional mercy ; and they in particular
who lay down faith as the only means of falvation : for having
fixed upon this as the fundamental principle of religion, they
pay little regard to life, nor to thofe operations of love vvhich
conftitute tlie elfence of life, nor to any other means which the
Lord has appointed, whereby to render man a recipient of the

fpiritual

[ 3^0 ]

fpiiitual life, and of heavenly joys ; and thus having rejeded
the ufe of all preparatory means, they by necellary confequcncc
from the principle they have adopted, maintain, that God the
Father is prevailed upon, by the interceflion of his Son, to
advance fome particular favourites to the kingdom of heaven by
fpecial grants of mercy. To which the angels replied, that
fuch a belief was a nccefiary confequcncc of the Solitidian doc-
trine ; and as this was the foundation of their creed, no wonder
that from an error, fo far diilant from all truth, Ihould proceed
fuch ignorance among Chriltians concerning the Lord, con-
cerning the flate of life after death, and the joys of heaven ; or
that they were fo little acquainted with the true nature of love
and charity, and the necelhty of good being joined with truth,
to conftitute the divine life in man, which coniifled no lets in
the will and its operations, thai", in thoughts of the mind ; and
confequently not a perfuafion called faith, feparate from love,
and the efteds of love. The angels fhew concern for their folly,
in fuppofing that true faith can fuhfift in any one fmgly and
alone ; as faith feparated trom its origin, which is love, is no
other than fcicnce, or a certain kind of perfuafion, which is no
better than a counterfeit of faith (fee above, n. 482) and makes
no part of the life of man, as not being conjoined with love.
Moreover, the angels faid, that all of the Solihdian perfunfion
muil: neceflarily believe, that falvation mull be by favour of
grant, or from immediate, unconditional mercy (I'eparate from
the ufe of means) as they know both from the light of nature,
and from experience, that fuch kind of feparate faith makes
no effential part of life, and therefore that evil doers may work
themfelves into the flime dodrinal perfuafion of their own fal-
vation with others : and. hence it is, that the bad are believed
by fuch to be equally in a falvable ftate witii the good, provided
they have but confidence futhcient to apply the merits and inter-
cefiion of Chrift to themfelves in their lafl hours, and to rely
on an immediate ad of mercy. The angels declared, that they
had never known any one that had palled his life in fin, to be
made partaker of heavenly joy, whatever confidence he might
have had in this world, under the name of faith, as touching
his /alvation ; and being alked as concerning Abraham, Ifaac,

Jacob,

[ 36i ]

Jacob, David, and the Apoftles, whether their portion in heaven
was not by a fpecial grant of immediate mercy and favour ;
they anfwered, that not one of them, but each had his reception
and portion according to what his life had been in this world ;
that they knew their place and lot, and that they were in the
fame degree of eftimation and honour with others of their own
clafs ; that the reafon of the honourable mention made of them
in the written Word, is becaufe, that in the internal fenfe of it
they were fo many typical reprefentatives of the Lord in their
feveral charaftcrs and callings; thus he was reprefented by Abra-
ham, Ifaac, and Jacob, as to his Divinity and Divine Huma-
nity ; by David, as to his Divine Sovereignty ; and by tlic
Apoftles, as the fountain of Divine Truths. Moreover they faid,
that when the Word was read by any man, they [the angels]
received not the ideas of the perlbns reprefenting (for names
enter not heaven) but inftead thereof fo much of the Lord as
was reprefented by them -, and therefore no mention was made
of them in the written Word in heaven (of which fee above,
n. 259) as that Word contains only the inward and fpiritual
fenfe of that which we have in this world (274).

527. That it is impoffible for thofe to receive the principle
of heavenly life in the other world, who have rejed:ed and lived
contrary to it in this, I can witnefs to from abundant experience
in many. There were certain fpirits which polIelTed the notion,
that they could readily receive divine truths after death, as foon
as they Ihould be declared to them by the angels, and that in

(274) That by Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, in the inward fenfe of the word,
is meant the Lord, in rcfpe£l to his Di\ inity, and Di\inc Humanity, n. 1893,
4615, 6098, 61H5, 6276, 6804, 6847. That the name Abraham is not known
in hea\cn, n. 1834, 1876, 3229. Tiiat by David is to be underftood the divine
fovercignty or royalty, n. 1888, 9954. That the twelve apoftles rcprei'cntcd ail
divine truths in the Chriftian church, confcqucntly, all things appertaining to
faith and love, n. 2129, 3354, 3488, 3858, 6397. That Peter reprefented the
Lord as to faith ; James, as to charity ; and John, as to the works of charity, n.
3750, 10087. That the twelve apoftles, fitting on twelve thrones to judL;.e the
twelve tribes of IfracI, fignify that tlie Lt)rd will proceed in judgment accurdin;;;
to the truths and gcods of faith and love, n. 2129, 6397. That the names of
perfons and places mentioned in the Word have no place in heaven, but are
changed into things and ftatts ; and that fuch names cannot be uttered in heaven,
n. 1876, 5225, 6516, 10216, 10282, 10432. That the angels alfo think ab-
ilradtedly from perlbns, n. 8343, 8945, 9007.

Y y y y confe-

[ 36:t ]

confequence thereof, they fliould believe, and change their courfe
of life, and become qualihed for heaven. An experiment of
this kind was made on many who were of the like perfualion,
to the end they might be convinced, that there is no repentance
after death : fome of thofc on whom tlie trial was made, ap-
peared to underftand the truths that were announced to them,
and alfo to admit them at firii ; but no fooner did they return
to their ruling love or life's principle than they immediately
rejedled them, and argued againll them i and others rejedled
them as foon as offered, and would hear no more of them.
There were fome in particular, who were defirous to be wholly
deprived of that governing love, or life's principle [vita dmoris]
which they had contracted in this world, and that the angelical
life, or life of heaven, might be infufed inltead thereof: their
requell was granted ; but no fooner did the change take effei^V,
than they lay as dead without any power over themfehcs. From
thefe and other means of experience the fingle-hearted, good
fpirits were convinced, that every one's flate abideth the fame
after death ; and that beyond this period an evil life cannot be
changed for a good one, nor that which is infernal, for one that
is angelical ; becaufe that every fpirit is in every part throughout
the fame with the love that predominates in him, and that a
change of it to its contrary would be to deflroy the fpirit. The
angels affirm, that a night-owl may fooner be changed into a
pigeon, or a buzzard into a bird of paradife, than an infernal
fpirit into an angel of heaven. That man continues after death
in a Itate conformable to his life in this world, fee above in its
proper article, n. 470 to 484. Thus far may fuffice to fhew,
that no one is made a partaker of the kingdom of heaven by an
aft of immediate, unconditional mercy, or without the means
and fitnefs of a qualifying preparation.

That

[ 3^3 ]

That it is not fo difficult a Thing to live
for Heaven, as fome fuppofe.

528. Some fuppofe that the fpiritual life, or that which
qualifies for heaven, is extremely difficult ; and that becaufe we
are told, that we muft renounce the world, and die to the lufls
of the flefli, and live to the fpirit ; which they fo conftrue, as
if we were to rejecft all worldly things, particularly the riches
and honours of this life ; to be conllantly exercifed in pious
meditations of God, falvation, and eternal life, and to employ
a great part of our time in prayer, and reading the Word, and
other pious books. This they call renouncing the world, and
to live, not after the flefli, but after the fpirit : but that the
truth of the matter is otherwife, I can teftify both from expe-
rience, and from converfation with the angels ; nay, that they
who fo renounce the world, in order to become fpiritual, are
fuch, for the moft part, as contract a melancholy and fourncfs
of fpirit, as indifpofes them for the reception of heavenly joys ;
whereas in order to qualify and form himfelf for a heavenly
life, is to bear his part in the relative duties and offices of this ;
and by a life of morality, and a difcliarge of the duties refpedl-
ing civil fociety, afcend to the fpiritual life, as preparatory for
heaven : for to live an internal life feparatc from the external,
is like dwelling in a houfe without a proper foundation, which
therefore necellarily finks into the earth, divides, or falls into
a ruin.

529. The life of man, when confidcred in a rational view,
. will appear to be threefold; the fpiritual, the moral, and the
civil life ; and thefe three are diftincfl ; for fome lead a civil,
but not moral and fpiritual life ; fome, both' civil and moral,
but not. fpiritual ; and fome, a civil, moral, and fpiritual life
alfo ; and the lafl arc they who live a heavenly life, whilll tiie
other two live only the life of this world. From this view it
may appear, that the fpiritual life, though diflinvfl, is not fejja-
rate from the natural, or life of this world, but clofely con-

ncrtcd

[ 3^4 ]

neded with it, as the foul with the body, and if feparated from
it, would be like the houfe before mentioned ; for the moral
and civil life conlHtute tbe activity of the fpiritual life; and as
the will to good is the«|>r ocrty of the latter, fo the doing good
is the property of the former, and if this were feparated from
the other, then tlie fpiritual life would confift only in think-
ing and fpeaking, and the will would remain folitary and in-
aflive, as having no outward termination to refledl and difplay
its operations i and yet it is the very principle of the fpiritual
life in man.

530. That it is not fo difficult a thing to live for heaven, as
many think, may appear from the following confiderations.
Who can fay, that he has no power to lead a civil and moral
life, when every one ^'rom his infancy is educated to it, and may
eflablifli his ideas of it from what he fees around him in the
world ; nay, even the bad (if not abandoned to profligacy) as
well as the good, adl it externally, and to fave appearances with
the world, for the fake of interell and charader ? The fpiritual
man does but the fame, with this difference, that he has f;iith
in God, and does it, not only in obedience to the laws of fociety,
and of moral obligation, but in obedience to the authority of
the divine laws ; for as he fets God always before him, he has
fellowfhip with the angels in heaven, having his inmofl or fpi-
ritual man open to fuch communion ; and in this ftate he is an
adopted child, under the Lord's leadings, even when he knows
it not, difcharges all the duties both of civil and moral obliga-
tion from a principle of vital love, and fo ferves the Lord with
his whole heart. His juftice and truth, as to external mani-
feftation and form, appear indeed like the fame in natural men,
even of the moft infernal difpolitions, but inwardly they are
totally different ; for the evil fay and do the fame things from
felfifli and worldly refpedls only ; but having neither confcience,
nor fear of God, were it not for human laws, and the fear of
fuffering in charadler, interell, or other ways, they would give
full fcope to their wicked wills, to commit all iniquity with
greedinefs, as evidently appears in the other world in fuch as are
of the like difpofitions ; who, being no longer under fuch out-
ward reffraints, manifeft openly the malignity that is within

them.

[ 3^5 ]

them, turning into mockery all virtue and godlinefs, and hold-
ing on in the fame courfe to eternity, n. 499 ; whilft they who
have the divine laws written in their hearts do all things well,
and that more abundantly, as their liberty and freedom from
rellraints is the greater (*) ; adding to their goodnefs wifdom,
which is minillered unto them from the Lord by the angels of
wifdom, with whom they are in bleffed fellowfliip. Thus wc
fee, that the fpiritual man may aft in all the relations both of
moral and civil life as the natural man does, provided that he
adheres clofely to that divine principle within, which is to be
the regulator of his will and thoughts, fee above, n. 358, 359,

531. The laws of the fpiritual life, as alfo of the civil and
moral life, are laid down in the ten precepts of the decalogue ;
in the firft three are the laws of the fpiritual life ; in the four
following, the laws of the civil life ; and in the three laft, the
laws of the moral life. Now the mere natural man [of decency]
pays an external obedience to thefe precepts, as well as the fpi-
ritual man : thus he is prefent at the celebration of divine wor-
Ihip in the church, hears preachings, and compofes his exteriour
to a form of devotion j he refrains from committing murder,
adultery, and theft, bears not falfe witnefs, and defrauds not
his neighbour of his goods ; but in all thefe things he has
regard only to himfelf, and to five appearances with the world,
being inwardly the reverfe of what he appears outwardly, as
having no fenfe of God in his heart, playing the hypocrite with
the form of religion, and fecretly deriding things facred, as
only fo many inventions of flats policy to keep the fnnple mul-
titude in awe and order ; and therefore fuch a one ftands in no
relation to heaven ; and being deftitute of all fpirituality, fo
neither can he be faid to polfefs either moral or civil viitue :
for though he does not kill, yet he hates and wiflies vengeance
on all that oppofe or provoke him, and but for human laws

(*) The different motives in thefe tyvo forts of perfons for refraining from the
Cinic things, are well exprcfied in the following lines :

" Oderunt peccarie boni x.irtutis aniorc :

" Tu nihil admittcs in tc forraidinc pcenae." HoR.

Z Z Z Z would

[ 366 ]

would execute his wrath upon them, and therefore is in heart
no better than a murderer ; nor is it from any better principle
that he refrains from adultery, theft, or other crimes and im-
moralities prohibited in the decalogue. Such a one is every
man that di(believes a God, and has no principle of conlcienet;
formed in him by a fenfe of religion : and that this is tlie cafe
with all fuch, appears from like fpirits in the other world, who,
being left to their freedom, openly declare againll: every thing
that is heavenly ; and as they think and aft like devils, fo with
them is their everlaiting portion : but they that fear the Lord,
and walk in the ways of his commandments with a pure heart,
and faith unfeigned, are after death brought into their full in-
terior liberty, and into a degree of wifdom that far furpaffes
what they pofl'efled before, their forrow is turned into joy, and
all being divine within them, makes all things heaven without
them. So different are thefe two claffes in the other world,
who, to appearance, were fo much alike as to the outward life
in this.

532. It is well known that the thoughts, or intellecft, which
is the eye of the mind, receives that diredlion, like the eye of
the body, which the intention or will gives it, and alfo takes
its delight therein. Thus if the intention be direcfled to heaven,
the thoughts become heavenly j if to felf, fenfual ; if to this
world, earthly ; and as the ruling love makes one with the
intention, fo from the direftion and employment of the thoughts
may be known what any one loves mofl, and what the interior
ftate of his mind is with refpedl to things above, and things
beneath. Such, for example, as love themfelves, and the world
above all things, have the inward gate of their minds fo fhut to
all heavenly influx and heavenly things, that they fee not the
truths of religion at all, or fo very obfcurely, that they either
deny, or underftand them not ; the things of fenfe and of this
world are all in all with them, and thefe are continually fug-
gcfting many grofs, impure, or profane ideas incompatible with
heavenly influx, and the due confideration of divine things. It
is the intention or will of man, as obferved before, that diredls
his thoughts, or internal fight, and if heaven is the objed:, his
whole mind is there, from whence he looks down on this

world.

[ 36? ]

world, as on things beneath him ; and from the fame elevation
fees and judges all that is evil and falfe in his inferior nature j
which he who is dcftitute of the fame fpiritual fight cannot
difcover, becaufe he is in it, and not above it. Hence we learn
from what fources man derives his wifdom, or his -folly, which
refpeiftively determines his ftate after death, when he will be
left at liberty, not only to will and tliink, but alio to acft and
fpeak without difguife, according to the ruling principle within
him. Thus much for the diftin(flion between the inward and
the outward man.

533. It is not fo difficult a thing, as many imagine, for a
man fo to live, as might qualify him for the heavenly inheri-
tance, were he, when tempted to evil, to flop, and refle(fl that
he ought not to confent to it, as being forbidden by Gods com-
mand ; fome fuch refletftion [like that of Jofeph] often repeated,
would beget an habitual fear of offending, by degrees draw the
attention to heavenly things, and open the inward gate of the
mind to the divine influx, whereby it would obtain a full fight
of the deformity of fin. Every one has received power and
freedom fo to think and refle(ft, in order to this procefs, till the
operations of divine grace fhould overcome all the reludlances of
the will, excite an abhorrence to fin in the mind, and fubdue
the power of it in the foul, till the man experience the truth
of thofe words of our Lord : " My yoke is cafy, and my bur-
" den is light," Matt. xi. 30. The difficulty witli regard to
ferious confideration and refledtion, in the firft inftance, arifes
from a hafty furrendcr of the will to the temptations of evil,
till cuftom in finning reconciles to it, and then begets love for
it ; and fo the unhappy profxcicnt goes on to excufe, and then
to defend it by every kind of fallacious arguments, till at laft
he confounds all diftindtion of right and wrong, putting evil
for good, and good for evil. Such is the cafe of thofe, who,
in the early part of life, rufh into evil courfes, like the horfe
into the battle, and fo, lofing all fight of divine truths, become
infidels.

534. I had formerly reprefentcd to me the way which leads
to heaven, and alfo the way which leads to hell, in the follow-
ing manner. There was firil a broad way bearing to the left or

north.

[ 368 ]

north, in which many fpirits appeared as walking; and at a
diftance where the broad way terminated was feen a large ftone,
from which went two ways, the one to the left, and the other
to the riLi;ht ; the former was narrow and (Iraight, leading wefl-
i ward to the fouth j the other broad and fpacious, leading ob-
liquely downwards towards hell. They all appeared to hold on
their way together, as far as to the great llone ; but when they
came thither they feparated, the good taking the left-hand narrow
road leading to heaven ; but the bad, not feeing the llone,. fell
upon it, and received hurt, but recovering thcmfelves went fait
on in the broader way to the right, leading to hell. The inter-
pretation of it was given to me afterwards as follows, viz. that
by the firft broad way, in which both good and bad fpirits went
together converling as friends, without any apparent difterence
between them, are ligniiied thofe who lived To alike in the way
of an external righteoufnefs, as not to be diftinguilhcd. By the
corner ftone at the end of the common broad road, on which
the bad flumbled, and afterwards took the way leading to hell,
was fignified divine truth, denied by thofe that walk therein,
and in the highefi; fenfe was fignified by that llone the Divine
Humanity of our Lord : but they who acknowledged and be-
lieved divine truth, and alfo his Divine Humanity, were con-
ducted in the way leading to heaven ; fliewing hereby, that the
principle from which men ad", is that which determines the
difference of their flates after death ; the thoughts of the mind
proceeding from the heart and will, being rcprefcnted in the
other life by ivays ; and accordingly in Scripture, the internally
righteous are faid to wulk in the ways of the Lord ; and there
the quality of fpirits is kno\yn by the ways that they are feen
to walk in. What has been faid above may ferve to illullrate
thofe words of our Lord : " Enter ye in at the flrait gate ; for
" wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to de-
" ftrudion, and many there be which go in tliereat ; becaufe
" flrait is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto
" life, and few there be that find it," iVIatt. vii. 13, 14; not
implying that the way is ditticult to find, but only that it is
fought, and therefore found by few. By the corner ftone before
mentioned, i<.tvi where the common broad way terminated, and

the

[ 369 ]

the two oppofite Ways took their diredion, is plainly given to
underftand the meaning of thole other words of our Lord :
'* The ftone which the builders rejected, the fame is become
** the head of the corner : whofoever fliall fall upon that ftone
" fliall be broken ; but on whomfoever it fliall fall, it will
*' grind him to powder," Luke xx. 17, 18. The flione fignifles
divine truth, and the fl:one or rock of Ifrael, the Lord as to his
Divine Humanity ; the builders are the rulers in the church ;
the head of the corner fignihes where the two ways meet j and
to fall upon, and be broken to powder, fignifies a denial of the
truth, and defl:ru6lion enfuing thereon.

535. It has been given me to converfe with fome in the
other life, who had fequeilered themfelves from all connexions
and commerce with fociety, and others that placed religion in
macerations of the body, and fuch like aufl:erities of difcipline,
under the notions of renouncing the world, and of attaining to
higher degrees of purity in the fpiritual life j but moft of thefe,
from having contradled a feverity and fournefs of mind contrary
to a life of charity, had rendered themfelves unfit for the fociety
of angels, who are pleafant and amiable, and take delight in
exercifing oflices of kindnefs and love towards one another.
Befides, they who fo devote themfelves to a life of folitude and
abftrac^ion from all focial relations, are for the mofl part deeply
infedted with conceits of their own fancied merit, whence they
are led to look upon heaven as their reward by debt ; fo that
when they are permitted to come into the company of angels,
and are witnefTes to their joys (which they afcribe folely to the
divine goodnefs) and when they behold their innocent liberty,
and free communications, and the pleafure they take in their
affe(5tionate exchange of good offices, they are offended, as at
things contrary to the ftridtnefs of religion ; and being not
capable of partaking in their joys and delights, they quit their
company to confociatc with thofc that are like-minded with
themfelves, and had lived in the fame manner in this world.
As to thofe who aftcdlcd a fandtimonious fliew of godlinefs in
their outward religious forms and mortifications, to pafs for
faints both here and hereafter, thinking highly of themfelves,
and defpifing others ; they have no lot with the faints in the

A a a a a other

[ 37° ]

other world, as having profaned fiicred things with the impu-
rities of felf-love ; nay, fomc of them there become fo infa-
tuated and mad with pride, as to fancy themfelves gods, and fo
are configned over to inch infernal focieties as refemblc them-
felves. Some are full of fiibtlety and deceit, who have alfo
their lot among thofe, who, by various crafty devices, had be-
witched the vulgar with a belief of their extraordinary fandity.
Many of thefe were of the Romifli religion, and appeared in
like form and outward demeanour, as when in this world ; I
have converfed with fome of them in the other. Hence it may
appear, that it is not the folitary life, or life of reclufe piety
feparate from charity, but fuch a one as may confift with the
relative and focial duties that bell qualifies for the kingdom of
heaven, as that wherein truth and jullice, benevolence, and ad:s
of charity, in conformity to the divine laws, may have their
fcope and exercife. Thefe virtues proceeding from, and fanc-
tified by a divine principle within (and not a life of reclufe,
religious exercifes, void of charity towards our neighbour) ren-
der the way to heaven both ealy and delightful, exalt the foul
in all its faculties, and give it a meetnefs for the participation
of cceleftial joys (275).

(275) That a life of piety, feparate from a life of charity, avails nothing; but
joined therewith is profitable to all things, n. 8252, 8253. That charity to our
neighbour confids in truth, juftice, and integrity in all our dealings and r< lations
towards him, n. 8120, 8121, 8122. That charity towards our neighbour extends
to every thing that a man thinks, wills, ajid does, n. 8124. That the life of
charity is to live according to the divine commands, n. 3249. That to live ac-
cording to the divine commands is to love the Lord, n. 10143, 10153, 10310,
10578, 10648. That genuine charity is free from all taint of fancied merit, as
p»roceeding from interior afFedtion, and taking delight in the exercife of it, n. 2340,
2373, 2400, 3887, 6388 to 6393. That man continues after death in the fame
ftatc of charity he was in during this life, n. 8256. That cceleflial happinefs is
by influx from the Lord into the life of charity, n. 2363. That no one is ad-
mitted into heaven merely for thinking, but for alfo willing and doing the fame,
n. 2401, 3459. Unlefs the doing good [according to the power] be joined with
willing and thinking it, it avails not to the conjundlion of the inner and outward
man, nor confequently to falvation, n. 3987.

CONCERNING

[ 37^ ]

CONCERNING

HELL.

That Hell is under the Lord's Government.

536. 'T~*'Hroughout the foregoing treatife on heaven it has
-■• been Hiewed, that the Lord is the God of heaven
(fee in particular, n. 2 to 6.) confequently, that the whole go-
vernment of the heavens is in his hands ; and as heaven and hell
are to each other as two contraries in mutual oppofition, from
the adlion and readtion of which refults that equilibrium by
which all things fubfiil j therefore, in order to the prefervation
of fuch equilibrium, it necefTarily follows, that he who governs
the one muft alfo govern the other ; for unlefs the fame Lord
were to reflrain the fury and madnefs of hell, the equilibrium
would be loft, and all would be deftroyed.

537. But to fay fomethi ng firft concerning equilibrium. It
is well known, that when two things are fo in mutual oppo-
fition, that readion on one fide is equal to adlion on the other,
there remains no excefs or fuperiority of power on either fide j
fo that through fuch extindlion of power by their equality of
oppofition, they become fubjedl to the difpofal and will of any
third agent. Such is the equilibrium betwixt hell and heaven,
but not as betwixt two bodies of equal powers ; for it is of a
fpiritual nature, viz. of falfe againft true, and of evil againft
good ; from hell proceeds falfe from the root of evil, and from
heaven truth from the root or principle of good ; and froni this
equilibrium in fpirituals it is that man's freedom of thinking
and willing arifcs ; for whatfoever a man thinks and wills has
relation to evil and its falfe, or to good and its true ; therefore

when

[ v^ ]

when the mind Is in this balance, it is at full liberty to admit
the former from hell, or the latter from heaven ; and in this
equipoife man Hands by appointment of the great Governor
ti heaven and hell : but why this is the cafe with him, and
that he is not wholly feparatcd from the fphere of evil and falfc,
and fixed in that of good and true, iTiall be fpokcn of under its
proper article.

538. It has fometimes been given me to perceive the fphere
of falfe from evil iffuing from hell, as a perpetual endeavour or
malignant will \conatus\ to deflroy all good and truth, joined to
rage and madnefs at not being able to eftetlt it ; but this efflux
of malice was principally direfted againfl the Divinity of the
Lord, as the fountain of all good and truth : on the other hand
was perceived a fphere of truth from good from heaven oppofing
and reftraining the fury and madnefs of the former, from
whence proceeds an equilibrium. The heavenly fphere was per-
ceived to be an emanation from the Lord, though it appeared
as proceeding from the angels ; but the latter could not really
be the cafe, as every angel knows and acknowledges, that no
good and truth originates in them, but all from the Lord.

5:19. All power in the fpiritual world appertains to truth
ilTuing from good, and none to lalfe ifluing from evil, and this,
becaufe the Deity, who is the fource of all power, is alfo the
fource of all good and truth, which being only in heaven, and
their contraries in hell, therefore to the former kingdom belongs
all power, and none to the latter : fee in the articles concerning
the firft, fecond, and third flate of man, n. 491 to 520: and
that all power belongs to truth from good, fee the chap. Con-
cerning the Poiuer of the Angels, n. 228 to 233.

540. Such is the equilibrium betwixt heaven and hell ; and
all in the world of fpirits are in this equilibrium, as being be-
twixt both ; and hence it is, that all men in this world are in
the like equilibrium, as being under the Lord's government
through the minillry of the fpirits in the world of fpirits ; of
which hereafter. Thus all things are balanced by the wifdom,
power, and goodnefs of the Great Sovereign of the univerfe,
who keeps hell within its bounds, and preferves the world from

being

[ 373 ]

being deftroyed by evil. In this equilibrium ilands the liberty
or free will of men.

541. Hell has its diftindl focieties as well as heaven, and as
many in number, every fociety in the one having its oppofite in
the other, and that in reference to equilibrium ; and as the
focieties in heaven are clafled according to their diflindlions as
good and truth, fo are the infernal focieties, according to their
diftindtions as to evil and falfe : for eveiy good has its oppofite
evil, and every truth its oppofite falfe, there not being any thing
without its relation to a contrary, by which it is diftinguifhed
both in quality and degree j nay, this gives the difference to all
perception and fenfation. And thus the Lord difpofcs and re-
gulates the evil in hell into focieties of contradiftindlion and
oppofition to the focieties in heaven, for the fake of order and
equilibrium.

542. As there is the fame number of focieties in hell as
in heaven, fo there are as many different hells ; for as every
fociety in heaven, is heaven in a lelfer form (fee above, n. 51
to 58) fo every fociety in hell, is hell in a leffer form; and as
in the general divifion there are three heavens, fo alfo three
hells, the loweft of which is refpeftively oppofite to the inmofl
or third heaven ; the middle hell, to the middle or fecond hea-
ven ; and the uppermoft, to the firft or lowefl heaven.

543. A word here, as to the adminiflration of the Lord's
dominion over the hells, which, in general, is ''by a common
eftlux of divine good and truth from the heavens, by which the
evil efflux from the hells is obftrufted and reflrainedj and alfo
by a fpecial cfHux from each of the heavens, and from each
fociety therein : and in particular, they are governed by fuch
angels as are commilfioned to infped and flill the tumults and
madnefs that may arife therein ; and fometimes angels arc i'^nt
to the infernal focieties to reduce them to order by their perfonal
prefence. 'In general, the infernals are governed by their fears^..
and fome by^thofe of the fame kind which awed them here ; but
as thefe for. the mofi: part wear off by degrees, or are infufiicient
to influence them, they are chiefly deterred from perpetrating
their wickednefs by the dread of fufl^ering for it. Now the
punifliments in their ft*te arc multifarious, more gentle, or.

B b b b b more

[ 374 ]

more fevere, according to their malef^icftions : for the moft part,
they are placed under difcipline to fuch as are more malignant
than themfelv.s, who keep them under fubjeiftion by fubtle arts
and devices, or by feverity and dread of punifhment, but are
not allowed to extend their feverity beyond the bounds ap-
pointed. But it mufi: be obferved, that the only means of keep-
ing thefe rebellious fpirits in order, is the dread of punifliment.

544. It has hitherto obtained in the world, as an article of
belief, that there is one certain Devil, who rules as a king over
hell ; and that he was created an angel of light, but, upon his
rebelling againfl the Almighty, was caft down from heaven with
his apollate followers : and this belief is grounded on a literal
intepretation of thofe palTages of Scripture, where the words
Devil, Satan, and Lucifer occur ; whereas by Devil and Satan
in thofe places is meant hell ; by the former, that hell which
is hindermoft \_quod a tergo] and occupied by the word: of the
devils, called evil genii j and by Satan, that hell which is fore-
moil, and occupied by fuch as are of leller malignity, and called
evil fpirits : and by Lucifer, fuch are meant as are from Babel
or Babylon, who are for ufurping a dominion and power even
to heaven. That there is no one particular Devil that rules as
chief in the hells may be gathered from hence, that all both in
the heavens and in the hells are from the human race (fee n. 311
to 317) in which are myriads of millions from the creation to
this time ; and that every one in the latter, is a Devil of the
fame quality, which diftinguiflied his particular enmity againfl
all that is divine and good when in this world, fee above,, n. 311,
312.

That the Lord cafts none into Hell, but that
the Spirits caft themfelves into it.

545. It is a prevailing opinion with many, that God turns
away his face from man, rejedls and cafts him into hell ; in a
word, that he is angry with him for fin, and infliiSts vindidlive
punifhment upon him on that account ; and they confirm them-
felves

[ 375 1

felves in this belief from like expreffions in the Scriptures, not
confidering, that the fpiritual Icnfe of the word, which is the
true interpreter of the letter, is very different. Now the ge-
nuine dodrines of the Chriftian church, as founded on the fpi-
ritual fenfe of the word, teach us, that God is not inexorable,
nor implacable, neither hath any vindid:ive wrath, nor cafts any
one into hell : and this all may plainly know, that read the
Scriptures with any degree of divine light in their underftand-
ings, as He is there reprefented as the fountain of all good,
love, and mercy, and confequently, that it is contrary to his
nature and elTence to rejedland caf} away any : but contrariwife,
that he willeth the good and happinefs of all men, and dealeth
with them according to his infinite love and mercy. They that
fo read the Word of God will not fail to difcern therein that
hidden, fpiritual fenfe which gives light and liie to the letter,
which is written in a fenfe accommodated to our natural capa-
cities, and firft rudiments of knowledge.

546. Men of an enlightened underftanding, moreover, fee
good and evil in the fame fulnefs of contrariety and oppofition
that heaven and hell ftand in to each other, and how all good
comes from the former, and all evil from the latter (n. 7 to 12)
and confequently, that man is continually drawn to good by the
Lord of heaven, as well as to evil by the attracftion of hell ; and
that unlefs man flood between thefe two contrary attradlions, he
would neither have thought, will, nor liberty, thefe being the
effedls of his equilibrium betwixt good and evil ; confequently,
were the Lord fo to turn away from man, as to leave him wholly
to the power of evil, he would immediately ceafe to be human.
This divine influence extends to every man both bad and good,
only with this difference, that in refpedt to the former, its ope-
ration confifts in withdrawing from evil ; in refpeft to the latter,
in attradting to all good j and the caufe of the difference is the
quality or will of the recipient.

547. It has here been fhcwed, that the evil which a man
does, is by influx from hell ; and that the good which he does,
is by influx from the Lord ; but by believing [and confenting
to it as fuch] that the evil which he does, is from himfclf, he
makes it his proper own, and therefore is the caufe of his own

eviL

r 376 ]

evil. Evil in man [as his choice] is hell within him ; for
whether we call it evil or hell, it amounts to the llune. Now
as far as man is the caufe of his own evil, fo far he is his own
leader to hell ; and fo fiir is the Lord from being chargeable
with his dertrudion, that He does all that divine goodnefs can
do to deliver him from it, as far as can conlill: with his choice
and free will. All that becomes elicntial in a man's will and
love remains witli him after death (n. 470 to 484) ; he that
wills and loves evil in this world, wills and loves the fame after
death, and then it is no longer feparable from him ; and there-
fore it is, that he who by choice continues in evil here, binds
himfelf to hell, and is adually in it in fpirit, even in this life,
and after death delires nothing more than to be where his own
beloved evil may be in its proper province and exercife ; con-
fequently, fuch a one is cafl into hell by himfelf, and not by
the Lord.

548. How the above is efFedled fliall here be mentioned :
When any one firfl: enters the other world, he is received by
angels, who do him all kind offices, enter into converfation with
him concerning the Lord, heaven, and the angelical life, and
inflrud him in various kinds and relations of good and truth ;
but if the perfon (now become a fpirit) be one that was ac-
quainted with the like things in this world, but in his heart had
rejefted and defpifed them ; in this cafe, after fome fhort con-
ference with the angels, he defires his difmiffion : upon which
they leave him. He then, after fome conferences with others,
affociates with fpirits like unto himfelf (fee above, n. 445) which
done, he turns away from the Lord, and fets his face towards
that particular hell which he had fellowlhip with in this world,
and where the infernals are of the lame evil affedions with him-
feJf. By this we may learn, that the Lord Itrives with every
fpirit to draw him to himfelf by the minillry of angels, and by
an influx from heaven j but that fuch as are under the dominion
of fin are reludant to all his gracious means for good to them,
being drawn away from them as by a rope by their evil propenfi-
ties, and fo voluntarily caft themlclves into hell. This will feem
incredible to molt in this world, from the general idea conceived
of hell J nor do thofe miferable wretches think that they fo

precipitate

[ 377 ]

precipitate themfclves, but only that they enter in of their o»wn
accord, though I'uch of them as enter their difmal prifons under
ardent propenhties to evil, appear to the good fpirits as if they
were call; headlong thither ; and from this appearance of preci-
pitation comes the notion of the Lord's carting them into hell by
his Almighty power; fee more on this fubjedt hereafter, n. 574.
Let thus much fuffice to Ihew, that the finner's dell:rud:ion and
carting into hell, is not from the Lord, but from himfelf both
in this world and the other.

549. That the Lord, who is the eflential good, love, and
mercy, cannot exercife them towards all alike, is becaufe of the
hinderances which evil and falfe lay in the way, and fo weaken
or repel the divine emanations. Evils and falfes are as fo many
black clouds, which, by their interpofition between the fun and
the human eye, intercept its lovely light and cheering influences,
whilft the fun continues the fame, all glorious, and ftrives to
diflipate the obrtruifling medium, nay, tranfmits, though a
fainter, light through the intermediate vail. The cafe is rtmilar
in the fpiritual world : the Lord and his divine love are there
reprefented by the fpiritual fun (n. 116 to 140) and the light
thereof is divine truth, n. 126 to 140 ; the black clouds are the
faifes from evil ; and the eye fignifies the underrtanding ; and as
far as anyone there, is in the falfes of evil \in faljis ex malo\ in
the fame degree of darknefs and thicknefs is the cloud that fur-
rounds him. This comparifon may reprefent to us how the
Lord is prefent to every man, but diftercntly according to his
recipiency,

550. Severe puniHiments are appointed for the evil fpirits in
the fpiritual world, to deter them from the commiflion of evil ;
and the infliiftion of them appears as if from the Lord ; but in
reality it all proceeds from the evil that is in them ; for e\ il and
its puniHiment are infeparable companions. Infernal fpirits
wilh and delight in nothing more than to do mifchief, and tor-
ment others that are not under the divine protedion ; and as all
that ortend through malicious wickednefs withdraw thcmfelves
from tliat protection, on fuch they rudi and exercife their cruelty.
This may be illuftrated from the adminiftrations in this world,
where the punifhment alfo follows its evil. Thus human laws

C c c c c have

[ 378 ]

have provided a penalty for every crime, and which the delin-
quent brings upon himfclf, only witii this difference, that
offences may be concealed here, but not in the other life. Thus
the Lord can no more be faid to be the author of the finner's
mifery, than the king, the judge, or the law to be the caufe of
the criminal's punifhment, as having nothing to do with the
guilt that entails it upon him.

All that are in the Hells, are in the very
Principle of Evil, and in Oppofition to
Truth from the Love of Self, and the
Love of the World.

551. All that are in the hells are in evil and its refpeflive
falfes, and none in evil and truth conjuncflively. The greateft
part of evil fpirits had been taught the rudiments of religion in
this world in their very childhood, and afterwards further in-
truded in the knowledge of the truth by their paftors, and in
converflition ; nay, fome of them, by hypocritical appearances
in their words and adlions, had paffed for fincere Chriftians,
whilft at the fame time they had abftained from evil, only
through fear of the laws, human refpeds, or other felfifh con-
fiderations j but in the other world (where all external motives
and reftraints are removed) they fhew outwardly what they are
inwardly, and that all their knowledge and pradlice of truth and
good were nothing but fpeculation and imitation, without reality
and principle. In this their internal ftate they can no longer
fpeak the truth, or counterfeit the good ; but the evil that rules
within them, and exercifes dominion over them, manifeds itfclf
in all their words and adions. Every evil fpirit is brought into
this ftate before he is cafl: into hell (fee above, n. 499 to 512) ;
and this is called vacation as to good and truth (276), which

means

(276) That the evil, before they are caft into hell, are ilivefted of all tliat is
good and true, on which they bc^ke theml'clves to hell of their own accord, n.

6977*

[ 379 J

means the reducing any one to his proper principle, or con-
dition of fpirit, and to the free liberty of adling according
thereto ; fee above, n. 425.

552. In this Hate of man after death, when he is no longer
between man and fpirit, as in his firft flate (of which above,
n. 491 to 498) but is truly and properly a ipirit, having both
face and form correfponding to the inward difpofition of his
mind, or, in other words, being an external type of his fpiritual
life ; in this their third ftate the fpirits appear to be what they
really are at firft fight, and are known, not only by their coun-
tenances, and the forms of their fpiritual bodies, but alfo by
their fpeech and geftures, for now they are uniformly their pro-
per felves ; and as there is a mutual communication of the
thoughts and afteftions in the world of fpirits, fo they naturally
turn to and confort with fuch as are like themfelves, for with
them only they have liberty and true enjoyment. We are to
know, that mutual communications in the fpiritual world are
according to the converfion of the face, and that they who are
in the fame kind of love, conftantly front one another, which
way foever they turn their bodies; fee above, n. 151. Hence
it is, that all the infernal fpirits have their faces averted from,
the Lord towards an oppofite black fpot, that is to them inflead
of the fun and moon of this world ; but that all the angels of
heaven turn their faces to the Lord, as to the fun and moon of
heaven J fee above, n. 123, 143, 144, 151. From what has
here been faid it will appear, that all the infernals are in the
elements of evil, and ail its derivations of falfe, and that their
fole bent and diredlion is towards it.

553. All fpirits in the hells, when feen in the light of hea-
ven, appear in the feveral forms of their particular evils refpec-
tively, as fo many types or portraits thereof; for in every one
the interiour manifeils itfelf in the exteriour, and exhibits the
fignatures of his particular dillindlion, fo as to be vifibly known

6977, 7039, 7795, B210, 8232, 9330. That it is not the Lord, but they who
divert tliemfelves, n. 7642, 7926. That all evil has its refpeftive falfe, and there-
fore all who are in evil, arc Jiicewife in falfe, though fome know it not, 11. 7577,
E094. That they who are in evil cannot but think falfe from themfelves, n. 7437.
That all that arc in hell fpeak only falfe from evil, n. 1695, 7351, 7352, 7357,
7392, 7698.

[ 3So ]

to^e what he is, by his face, by his fpiritual body, his fpeecli,
and his gertures. Thcle forms in general, are fucii as exprefs
contempt of others, and threatening of thofe that refufe them
homage ; forms of hatred and revenge of various kinds ; forms f

of rage and cruelty, &c. But when fuch fpirits receive adu-
lation, homage, or worHiip from others, their features foften
into a rtiew of felf-complacency and fecret fatisfadlion. It is no
cafy matter to defcribe thefe forms under their various appear-
ances, as no two are exaftly alike ; only it muft be obferved,
that among all that are in the fame fpecics of evil in any focieiy,
there is one common ground of fimilitude, or, as it may be
called, of family likenefs, however it may be diverfihed in the
individuals. In general, their faces are hideous and ghaftly, like
thofe of carcalTes, fome black, fome refembling firebrands, and
fome deformed and ugly with warts, carbuncles, and running
fores ; many appear as having no face, but in the room of it
fomething of a vifage of hair or bone ; and fome only a kind of
fnout with prominent teeth ; their bodies alfo are monftrous ;
and their fpeech founds as from anger, hatred, or revenge j for,
as every one fpeaks from his own falfe, fo he founds his voice
from his own evil ; in a word, they are all fo many images of
their particular and proper hell. It has not been given me to
fee the form of hell in the whole of it, but only it has been
told mc, that as the univerfal heaven refembles in form one
man, fo the univerfal hell refembles in form one devil, and may
be conceived under that image, fee above, n. 544; but as to
the form of particular hells, or infernal focicties, it has often
been given me to fee it, for at the apertures or mouths of thofe
hells, which are called the gates of hell, there for the moft
part appears a monfter, rcprefenting the general form of thofe
that are within it : their rage and cruelty likewife are reprelentcd
by fuch horrid images, as I am retrained from mentioning.
But it is to be remarked, that though the infernal fpirits appear
thus like hideous monliers in the light of heaven, yet to one
another they appear as men, and that from divine mercy, that
they may not be fo abominable to one another, as they arc to
the angels. But fuch appearance is all deception, for no fooner
does the light of heaven appear, than their human form.s exhibit

them-

[ 38r ]

themfelves in their real monflrofity, for in that light every thing
appears as it is j for this reafon they fhun the heavenly light as
much as poflible, and fcek to appear in their own light, which
refenxbles that which comes from fire coals, or burning brim-
ftone ; but even this light is turned into mere darknefs by any
influx of that from heaven. Hence it is, that darknefs and
thick darknefs are predicated of hell, to denote the falfes from
evil that are there.

554. Upon a narrow infpeiflion into thofe monftrous forms
of the infernal fpirits, expreiling, as was obferved before, con-
tempt of others, and alfo hatred and vindidlive anger towards
fuch as did not favour and honour them, it appeared, that they
were in general fo many forms of the love of felf and of the
world, and that their particular differences were but fo many
derivations from thence ; and it was alfo told me by the angels,
and alfo confirmed by much experience, that thefe two loves
were their ruling pafiions in hell, and were fundamental in the
conftitution of it ; and that love to the Lord and our neighbour
were the prevailing and conflituent principles of the kingdorii'
of heaven ; and that thofe two infernal, and thefe two heavenly
loves, were diametrically oppofite.

^^^. At firft I was in wonder how it came to pafs, that the
love of the world, and the love of felf, fliould be of fo diabo-
lical a nature, as to give fuch monftrous forms to fuch as were
under the dominion of thefe paffions ; whereas in this world
we are not apt to pafs condemnation on the love of felf further
than it manifefts itfelf in that elation of mind with refpedl to'
external things, which we call pride; and that fliort of this,
the love of man's felf is a becoming vivacity of fpirit, inciting
to a laudable ambition in queft of honourable employments and
offices of publick ufefulnefs ; and that without fenfe of honour,
and love for dilHndion and glory, the mind of man would be
torpid and inacflive. Thus the men of this world reafon, little
confidering that the love of felf, confidered in its own nature,
is of infernal extradlion, and that which is the beginning of
hell in man j which leads to the faying fomcthing concerning
this love, and to Ihew how all evils and their refpedlive falfes
[omnia 7)iala et ifide faljii] originate in it.

D d d d d 556. Self-

■ [ 38o ]

to be what he is, by his face, by his fpiritual body, his fpeech,
and his geftures. Thele forms in general, are fuch as exprefs
contempt of others, and threatening of thofe that refufe them
homage ; forms of hatred and revenge of various kinds j forms
of rage and cruelty, &:c. But when fuch fpirits receive adu-
lation, homage, or worfliip from others, their features foften
into a fliew of felf-complacency and fecret fatisfacftion. It is no
eafy matter to defcribe thefe forms under their various appear-
ances, as no two are exa«5tly alike ; only it mull be obferved,
that among all that are in the fame fpecies of evil in any focieiy,
there is one common ground of fimilitude, or, as it may be
called, of family likenefs, however it may be diverfihed in the
individuals. In general, their faces are hideous and ghaAly, like
thofe of carcaffes, fome black, fom.e refembling firebrands, and
fome deformed and ugly with warts, carbuncles, and running
fores J many appear as having no face, but in the room of it
fomething of a vifage of hair or bone j and fome only a kind of
fnout with prominent teeth ; their bodies alfo are monftrous ;
and their fpeech founds as from anger, hatred, or revenge j for,
as every one fpeaks from his own falfe, fo he founds his voice
from his own evil ; in a word, they are all fo many images of
their particular and proper hell. It has not been given me to
fee the form of hell in the whole of it, but only it has been
told me, that as the univerlal heaven refembles in form one
man, fo the univerfal hell refembles in form one devil, and may
be conceived under that image, fee above, n. 544 ; but as to
the form of particular hells, or infernal focicties, it has often
been given me to fee it, for at the apertures or mouths of thofe
hells, which are called the gates of hell, there for the moft:
part appears a monfter, reprefenting the general form of thofe
that 'are within it : their rage and cruelty likewife are reprefentcd
by fuch horrid images, as I am retrained from mentioning.
But it is to be remarked, that though the infernal fpirits appear
thus like hideous monfters in the light of heaven, yet to one
anotlier they appear as men, and that from divine mercy, that
they may not be fo abominable to one another, as they arc to
the angels. But fuch appearance is all deception, for no fooner
does the light of heaven appear, than their human forms exhibit

them-

[ 38i J

themfclves in their real monftrofity, for in that light every thing
appears as it is j for this reafoii they fliun the heavenly light as
much as poffible, and fcek to appear in their own light, which
refemhles that which comes from fire coals, or burning brim-
ftone ; but even this light is turned into mere darknefs by any
influx of that from heaven. Hence it is, that darknefs and
thick darknefs are predicated of hell, to denote the falfes from
evil that are there.

554. Upon a narrow infpeiflion into thofe monftrous forms
of the infernal fpirits, expreliing, as was obferved before, con-
tempt of others, and alfo hatred and vindidive anger towards
fuch as did not favour and honour them, it appeared, that they
were in general fo many forms of the love of felf and of the
world, and that their particular differences were but fo many
derivations from thence ; and it was alfo told me by the angels,
and alfo confirmed by much experience, that thefe two loves
were their ruling paflions in hell, and were fundamental in the
conftitution of it ; and that love to the Lord and our neighbour
were the prevailing and conflituent principles of the kingdom
of heaven ; and that thofe two infernal, and thefe two heavenly
loves, were diametrically oppofite.

555. At firft I was in wonder how it came to pafs, that the
love of the world, and the love of felf, fliould be of fo diabo-
lical a nature, as to give fuch monftrous forms to fuch as were
under the dominion of thefe pafTions ; whereas in this world
we are not apt to pafs condemnation on the love of felf further
than it manifefls itfelf in that elation of mind with refpedl to'
external things, which we call pride; and that fliort of this^
the love of man's felf is a becoming vivacity of fpirit, inciting
to a laudable ambition in queft of honourable employments and
offices of publick ulcfulnels ; and that without fenfe of honour,
and love for diifindion and glory, the mind of man would be
torpid and inadive. Thus the men of this world reafon, little
confidering that the love of felf, confidered in its own nature,
is of infernal extraftion, and that which is the beginning of
hell in man ; which leads to the flying fomcthing concerning
this love, and to fliew how all evils and their refpedtive filfcs
[omfji'a mala et hide falfa\ originate in it.

D d d d d 556. Self-

[ 2^^ ]'

556. Self-love is that principle in any one that leads him to
feck his own good only, and that of others no further than it
may be fubfervient thereto ; nay, fuch a one is a mercenary in
the whole of his zeal and regards for his religion, his country,,
or any human focicty, and all his wifhes and endeavours for
their refpedive interefts center in views to his own private ad-
vantage, honour, or welfare, and therefore he cannot fo pro-
perly be faid to love them, as himfelf in them, for felf is the
root of his love ; and as the root is evil, fo is the fruit alfo.
Such a one may indeed love his children and defcendants, and
thofe who are nearly conncdled with him by the ties of confan-
guinity or intereft, and fuch he calls his own, but flill the
matter reverts to the fame, for he loves them only as fo many
parts of his own dear felf; and the fame holds good in regard to
the affedlion he bears to thofe who fhew him refpcdl and honour.

557. The odioufnefs of felf-love will manifeftly appear by
comparifon with its oppofitc, or that love which is coeleftial,
confiding in the love of ufes for the fake of ufefulncfs, and the
love of good for the fake of goodnefs, whether a man exercife him-
felf therein in behalf of religion, his country, or fellow-citizens,,
fludying and labouring to promote their intereft and welfare with
all the fmcerity of a cordial affedlion, and takes pleafure in the
work, without any view to confequences refpeding felf. Thi&
is to love God with all our heart, and our neighbour as our-
felves ; and as wc do this from the love which is from God, fo
in doing it we glorify him, who is the giver of every good and
perfed gift. But how different is the man of felf, who, being
the idol of his own vanity, confiders others as his flaves, and
only eftimates them by the fervice and worfhip they pay him ;
little knowing, that fo far as he departs from the difinterefted.
principle of cosleilial love, fo far is he diftant from the kingdom
of heaven.

558. As far as any one is aduated by this divine principle
of heavenly love in the confcientious and affectionate difcharge
of all the relative duties of religion and morality, fo far he is;
under the divine guidance and fafeguard, whilft the man of felf-
love takes the government out of the Lord's hands into his own,
and becomes a flave to the hereditary corruptions of his nature ;

and

[ 383 1

and- as In man, through his original depravity, dwelleth no good
thing, fo in his unconverted ftate evil appears to him as good,
and good as evil, " becaufe of the blindnefs of his heart,"
loving himfelf more than God, and earth above heaven (277),
nay, corrupting the very good that he does, by placing felf in
the center of it, as the objeft of his affedlions. There are cer-
tain evil fpirits that dwell in thofe regions under the heavens
that lie between the north and the weft, which with great fub-
tlety know how to pradlife on the minds of virtuous fpirits, fo
as to give them a turn to the felfifh and other bad properties of
nature, and this either by means of open flattery, or by artful
infinuations into their affedtions ; and fo far as they fucceed in
their wicked devices, they draw, for the time, the minds and
thoughts of fuch virtuous fpirits from heavenly things, darken
their underftanding, and call forth and ftir up the corrupt pro-
perties of their nature.

558. That the love of felf is oppofite to the love of our
neighbour will appear from the origin and eflence of both : they
who are led by the former principle go by this maxim, that
charity begins at home, and as every one is his own neareft, fo
he fhould be his own deareft neighbour. Thus his love to
others originates in felf, and ifluing thence, as from its center,
leflens as it proceeds, according to the diminution of his in-
terefting connexions, making no account of the wifdom or
probity of others, but only of their fubferviency to his own
private ends, and holding all for his enemies that crofs them.
Such is the corrupt tree of felf-love, and fuch the corrupt fruit
that it brings forth ; whereas true and genuine love to our-

(277) That aJl that conftitutes man's ftlf, as derivative' from his parents, is'
entirely evil, n. 210, 215, 731, 876 — 10284, 10286, 10731. That it is the
original fin of man's nature to love himfelf more than God, and this world more
than heaven, and his neighbour only for his own fake, and confequently, that he
may be called a compound love of f.lf and of the world, n. 694, 731, 43I7».
5660. That from the predominant loves of felf and of the world proceeds evil
of every kind, n. 1307, 1308, 1321 — 9348, 10038, 10742; fuch as contempt of
others, enmity, hatred, revenge, deceit, cruelty, n. 6667, 7372, 7374, 9348,
10038, 10742 : and that from thefe evils come falfes of every kind, n. 1047,,
XO283, 10284, 10286.

nei

gh.

[ 3^^ ]

neighbour (278) Is of heavenly extradlion, a ftrcani from the
fountain of all pcrfedlion, the gift of the Lord, communicating
itfelf, like its Divine Autlior, to all that are receptive of it :
" It fuffcreth long, and is kind ; it feeketh not its own things;
" it beareth all things, bclievcth all things, hopeth all things,
" endureth all things, and never faileth ; and it comprchendeth
" all the properties of that wifdom which is from above, being
•' pure, peaceable, gentle, e.ify to be entreated, full of mercy
" and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrify."

559. So unbounded is the ambition, fo infatiable the thirft
of rule in felf-love, that were it free from all reftraints, and
had power equal to its will, it would aim at the fovereignty, not
only of the whole earth, but of heaven alfo. What examples
have we of this unlimited ambition in thofe greedy conquerors,
who, not fatisfied with kingdoms and empires, have afpired
after univerfal dominions ; and alfo in Ecclefiaftical Babylon the
Great, by her arrogant, ufurping claims to divine authority and
power. All of this character after death are on the fide of hell
againft the Lord and his kingdom : fee a little piece. Concerning
the Laft "Judgment, and the DcJlriiSlion of Babylon.

560. If we figure to our minds a fociety of fuch as love
themfelves only, and others but for their own lakes, fuch a love
mull appear to us no other than that of a company of robbers,

(278) They who have not a right underftanding concerning the duty of love to
our neighbour, are apt to fuppofe, that every man falls under this dcnominat-ion,
and that therefore we mult be bcmficcnt to all indifcriminately, n. 6704 : and
fome, that every man is nearelt nciglibour to hiiiifclf, and therefore that charity is
founded in felf, n. 6933. That they who are und' r the dominion of fclf-love go
by that maxim, n. 8120. How every one is neighbour to himfclf explained, n.
6933 to 6938. That the ChriRian, who loves God above all things, loves his
neighbour from a divine principle, n. 6706, 671 1, 6819, 6824. That the dif-
ferences, as to our neighbour, are as many as the dift'erences of good in him ; and
that to regulate and proportion our beneficence towards him is the office of Chriftian
prudence, n. 6707, 6710, 6818. That thcfe dift'erences are innumerable, and
therefore the ancients, who undcrftood thtir., reduced the exercifes of charity into
clafTcs, and diftinguiih.d them by their proper names, by which their feveral fpe-
cifick differences were noted, and rules of religious prudence laid down for the
direction of their charity, n. 2417, 6629, 67C5, 7259 to 7262. That the prin-
cipal doftrine in the ancient church was tlie doctrine of charity towards our neigh-
bour, and that therein conlilted their chief wifdom, n. 2417, 2385, 3419, 3420,
4844, 6628.

who

f 3^5 ]

who continue in all good agreement and friendlinefs whilfl they
are confederates in their iniquity, but are no fooner feparated
than they arc ready to exercile the fame villany on one another,
SIS on ftrangers. Self-love, where intereil is concerned, is the
fame principle in others, however covered with the vail of an
external decorum, as being equally void of juiHce, confcience,
and religion. This will appear (till more evidently from the
infernal focieties of this character mentioned hereafter.

561. The inmoft thoughts and affedlions of thofe above-
mentioned being thus turned wholly to felf and the world, and
fo from tiie Lord and the things of his kingdom, they fall under
the power of infeftion from their other natural corruptions, and
this, becaufe they fo render themfelves unreceptive of the divine
influence, which can alone fubdue their evil, and renovate their
nature ; fo impoflible it is for thofe to be helped, who turn their
backs upon the Lord, and wilfully oppofe the corruptions of
their nature to the influences of his grace. Hence it is, that in
the other world all fuch turn their faces from the Lord towards
a certain dark orb, which is to them a fubftitute for the fun of
this world, and diametrically oppofite to the fun of heaven,
the reprefentative of the Lord; lee above, n. 123. Darknefs
alfo fignifies evil, and the fun of this world emblematically
fignifies the love of felf (279).

562. Such as are abforbed in the love of felf are addidted to
the following evils in general, contempt of others, envy, enmity
towards thofe that fide not with them, and hatred, if againft
them, revenge, craft, deceit, uncharitablenefs and cruelty ; and
with refpedl to fpirituals, an averfion to divine things and reli-
gious worfhip, which in the other lite becomes chan2;L'd into
hatred towards them, and thofe that are addid:ed to them. I
once converfed with a certain fpirit that had been in great power
in this world, and in the fuperlative love of felf, who was pof-
feflcd with fuch an abominable hatred to all that was divine,
that he could not bear to hear the name of God mentioned,

(279) That the fun of this world is an emblem of the love of felf, n. 2441.
In what fcnfc to worfliip the fun, is to worfhip thofe things that arc contrary to
ilivinc love, and to the Lord, n. 2441, 10584. That an ardent fun emblema-
tically fignifies evil concupifccncc, n. 8487.

E e e e e more

[ 388 ]

565. As to the love of the world ; though it be highly dan-
gerous and pernicious to the foul of man, yet it has not alto-
gether the fame degree of malignity with the forementioned
love, as not ftanding in the fame diredl oppofition to all love
of heavenly things. It fliall fuffice here to obferve, that it con-
lifts in the general, in an eager delire after the riches of this
world, and to acquire them by any means, however indiredt ;
and alfo in fuch a paffionate fondnels for them, as alienates the
afFe(ftions from all love of fpiritual things, and from true love
towards our neighbour, which is of fpiritual extradlion. This
love of the world is multifarious in kind ; thus it is the love of
riches, as thefe may be the means to worldly honour and emi-
nence of ftation ; or it is the love of dignity and eminence, as
thefe may be the means fubfervient to the acquifition of riches ;
it is the love of riches, in order to a fuller gratification of the
fenl'es, for oftentation, and the pride of life ; or it is the love
of riches for their own fike, and fo the fame with avarice.
Thefe, with many others, are the fnarcs and hinderances that
the love of the world lays in our way to heaven : to guard us
againft the dangers and delulions of which is that important
caution given ; " Love not the world, neither the things that
" are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of
*' the Father is not in him," i John ii. 15.

What is meant by Hell Fire, and Gnaftiing

of Teeth.

566. Hitherto very few have rightly underftood what is
meant in Scripture by hell fire, and the gnafliing of teeth, as
fpoken of thofe that are in hell, and that becaufe they have
taken thefe expreflions, not in their fpiritual, but literal fenfe
only ; and accordingly fome have thereby underftood material
fire, fome torment in general, fome remorfe of confcicnce, and
others that it was only made ufe of to deter men from fin by the
confideration of its penal confequence ; whilll by gnaftiing of
teeth, they have underftood as meant fuch an aftual found, or

a horror

[ 389 ]

a horror like that occafioned by it ; but thefe words, like the
reft of the Scriptures, have a more inward fignification j for
though the fpiritual things contained therein muft be exprefled
by fuch as are natural, in accommodation to the natural under-
ftanding of man, yet to the mind that is capable of receiving
it, they are to be interpreted according to their recondite and
fpiritual fenfe j it fliall therefore here be explained what is meant
by fire and gnafliing of teeth, as applied to the fufFerings of
evil fpirits in the other world.

567. There is a twofold origin of heat, the one from the
fun of heaven, which is the Lord, and the other from the fun
of this world ; the heat from the former is fpiritual, and in its
eflence is love (fee above, n. 126 to 140); the heat from the
latter is natural, and has not love for its eflence, but fcrves as
a receptacle to fpiritual heat or love. That love in its eflence
is heat or fire, is indicated by the fervor it communicates, firft
to the mind, and then to the body of man, according to its
degree and quality, in winter as well as fummer ; and alfo from
the increafing heat of the blood from its influence. That na-
tural heat ferves as a receptacle of the fpiritual heat, or love,
appears from the defire in all animals towards the other fex in
the fpring and fummer feafons ; not that this orgafm proceeds
from natural heat, any farther than as this difpofes their bodies
to receive the fpiritual heat (the cfl"ence of which is love) from
the fpiritual world j for the fpiritual world operates by influx
on the natural, as caufe on effedl, but not fo the natural on the
fpiritual ; and therefore it is a great error to think that animal
love is caufed by the natural heat, for love is a property of life,
and all life is fpiritual ; nay, the whole natural world exifls and
fubfifts by influx from the fpiritual world. To this all the fub-
jedls of the vegetable kingdom owe their vegetation, virtues, and
increafe, whilfl the natural heat only does the oflice of opening
and expanding their feeds and vefl'els, and of difpofing them for
the reception of the genial and frudtifying influences of the
fpiritual world ; thus joining in concurrent evidence to this
truth, that there are two kinds of heat, the one fpiritual, and
the other natural, the former of which is from the fun of hea-
ven, and the l;ittcr from the fun of this world ; and that by

F f f f f influx

[ 390 ]

influx from the firft, and the co-operation of both, are pro-
duced thofe vilible effedls which prefent themfelves to us in this
natural world (280).

568. The fpiritual heat in man is his vital heat ; for, as
was faid before, its eflencc is love. This is the heat which is
fignified by fire in the Word ; love to the Lord and our neigh-
bour by the heavenly fire ; and the love of felf and the world by
the fire of hell.

569. Both infernal and coeleftial love originate from the
fame divine principle, but the former becomes infernal only
from the will and difpofition of the recipient ; for all influx
from the fpiritual world is according to the condition or ftate of
the fubjedl receiving it, in like manner with the heat and light
from the fun of this world, which, operating in odoriferous
plants and flowers, produces the moll grateful and delicious
fcents ; whilfl the fame falling upon putrid carcafes, and fcetid
bodies, gives them to exhale the mufl: offenfive ftinks. Thus
likewife the fame light from the fame fun which ftrikes the eye
with pleafing and refrefhing colours from fome obje<5ls, caufes
others to reflecSt a fad and mournful hue. The cafe is the fame
with refpedt to the heat and light proceeding from the heavenly
fun } for when thefe enter by influx into good fubjedls, as good
fpirits, good men, or angels, they advance their good properties
to higher degrees of perfedlion, by augmenting the vigour and
luftre of them. On the other hand, when they fall upon the
ungodly, they produce the contrary efl^cft, for the evils within
them reverberate, fuffocate, or pervert the good influx, and fo
turn it to their own greater detriment. Thus the light of hea-
ven, incident on the truths of good, increafes underllanding and
wifdom ; but the fame, when incident on the falfes of evil, is
tranfmuted by the recipients into the moll extravagant phan-
tafies and madnefs. Thus all things become in quality accord-
ing to that of the receiver.

(280) That the fpiritual world ails by influx on the natural world, n. 6053 to
6058, 6189 — 6598 to 6626. That this holds true with regard to the life of
animals, n. 5850 ; as alfo with regard to the fubjeds of the vegetable kingdom,
n. 3648. That this influx is a continual tendency of things fubfervicnt to the
wonderful fyftem of divine order in the world, n. 621 1.

570. As

[ 39' T

^o. As the infernal fire confills in the love of lelt" and tiie
love of the world, fo likewifc in all the inordinate paffions and
evil concupifcences which fpring from thofe loves, and confe-
quently in the gratification of them ; for what a man loves he
paflionately defires, and what he defires he takes delight in.
Now thefe are all the evils before mentioned, viz. contempt of
others, enmity to thofe that are not on his fide, envy, hatred,
and revenge, and in confequence thereof, unmercifulnefs and
cruelty ; and with regard to things divine and facred, unbelief,
contempt, derifion, and blafphemy, which after death become
changed into indignation and hatred againll: them ; fee above,,
n. 562. And as thefc infernal pafiions naturally aim at the ruin
and deftrucftion of thofe who are the objeifls of them, fo where
fuch evil-minded perfons have it not in their power to efFedt
this, they however give the fulleft fcope they can to their dia-
bolical malevolence and hatred. Thefe are the things meant
by fire in the Scriptures, as applied to evil men and evil fpirits,
as will appear from the following quotations : " Every one is
** an hypocrite, and an evil-doer, and every mouth fpeaketh
" folly J for w'ckednefs burneth as the fire : it fhall devour the
" briars and thorns, and it fhall kindle in the thickets of the
•* forefl, and they fhall mount up like the lifting up of fmoke :
*' and the people fliall be as the fuel of fire," Ifa. ix. 17, 18,
*' 19. The land fliall become burning pitch; it fhall not be
" quenched night nor day ; the fmoke thereof fhall go up for
*' ever," Ifa. xxxiv. 9, 10. " Behold, the day cometh that
*' fliall burn as an oven ; and all the proud, and all that do:
•' wickedly, fhall be as -ftubble, and the day that cometh fhall
*' burn them up," Mai. iv. i. " Babylon is fallen, and is
*' become the habitation of devils : and they cried when they
" faw the fmoke of her burning : and her fmoke afcended up
" for ever and ever," Apoc. xviii. 2, 18. xix. 3. " And he
*' opened the bottomlefs pit, and there arofe a fmoke out of
** the pit, as the fmoke of a great furnace ; and the fun and
*' the air were darkened by realbn of the fmoke of the pit,"
•' Apoc. ix. 2. And out of their mouths iffued fire and fmoke, {

" and brimflone : by thefe three was the third part of men
" killed," Apoc. ix. ij, i8. " If any man worfliip the beafl

" and.

[ 392 ]

" and his image, the fame fliall drink of the wine of the wrath
" of God, and be tormented with lire and brimiloiie," Apoc.
xiv. 9, 10. " And the fourtli angel poured out his vial upon
" the fun, and power was given unto him to fcorch men with
*' fire ; and men were fcorched with great heat, and blafphemed
*' the name of God," Apoc. xvi. 8, 9. " Every tree that
" bringeth not forth good fruit, (hall be hewn down and caft
" into the fire," Matt, iii. 10. ** Where their worm dieth not,
** and the fire is not quenched," Mark ix. 44. In thefe and
many other places, bv fire, is meant the inordinate and evil
affeftions proceeding from the love of ftlf and of the world ;
and by fmoke we are to underftand the falfe proceeding from
evil.

571. It has been Ihewed in the foregoing article, that by
the fire of hell is meant all thofe evil affections and propenfities
which proceed from the love of felf and of the world, and with
which all the inhabitants of the infernal regions are infedled,
fo that when the gates of the hells are fet open, there appears
a column of fire mixed with fmoke afcending from the pit, as
from a houfe on fire, more thick and dark from the hell where
felf-love is predominant, and of a flame colour from that where
the love of the world prevails ; but when the hells are Hiut, no
fuch pha;nomenon of fire is fecn, but in the room of it a denfe
exhalation as of fmoke, which affecfts the fenfes as from a heat
within, in fome places refembling that of a flove, in others the
vapour of a hot bath ; when this heat extends its influence to
a man on earth, it excites in him inordinate appetites and de-
fires ; it inlligates the wicked to hatred and revenge, and fome-
times caufes infanity in fick perfons ; and this heat or fire is the
prevailing element in fuch as are under the dominion of the
above mentioned loves, as having communication in fpirit with
thofe hells whiHt here in the body. It mull be obferved in this
place, that they who are adtually in hell, have no fcnfation of
fire or burning, as is commonly imagined, but only experience
fuch a kind of heat or fire as inflamed their irafcible and other
evil paflions in this world : that all about them appears in the
form of fire, is from corrcfpondency, and that becaufe every
love, according to its kind, correfponds to fire, and in the fpi-

ritual

f 393 ]

ritual world all things have their reprefentations and vifible
forms according to the laws of correfpondency.

572. It is to be noted here, that this infernal heat or fire is
changed into intenfe cold on any influx of heat from heaven,
and at fuch times the infernals are feized with a convulfive
fhivering and rigour like perfons in an ague fit, and that becaufe
of the contrariety between the elements of heaven and hell,
infomuch that the heat of the former, which is divine love,
cxtinguifiies the heat of the latter, which is the love of felf,
thefe being oppofite to each other. The dufky light that is
from the fire of hell is likewife at fuch times turned into dark-
nefs, and the infernal fpirits are fo overcome by the divine
influx, as to fall into allonifhmcnt and extreme infatuation :
but fuch a vifitation feldom happens, except when the tumult
and uproar in hell requires fuch a difcipline to reduce them to
order and fubjecftion.

573. As this fire of hell fignifies every propenfity to evil
flowing from the love of felf, fo likewife it fignifies its punirti-
ment in thofe felf-tormenting pafllons of hatred, revenge, and
cruelty towards thofe who are the objedls of them ; for this
kind of love is the root of all tyranny and arbitrary power, and
the enemy of God and man ; it quits not the foul even in death,
but follows it to hell, and there becomes its confirmed infernal
paffion, for ever excluding divine light and love, and binding
itfelf in chains of darknefs, and the penal fire of its own evil.

574. It was faid before, that the evil fpirits cafl themfelves
into hell of their own accord ; now how it comes to pafs that
they fhould voluntarily commit themfelves to a place of fuch
miferies muft be explained. P'rom every particular hell exhales
a fphere of effluvia from the paflions and qualities of tiie inha-
bitants therein, which ft:riking the fenfes of thofe who are of
fimilar afi^ed:ions, it excites in them the mofl: grateful percep-
tions, as every one's pleafure is according to the kind of his
love. The fpirit that is thus agreeably aftefted, prefently turns
himfclf to the quarter from whence the fphere arofe, and wiflics
to be there, for as yet he is unacquainted with the miferies it is
replete with, nay, otherwife he would wi/h the lame : for in
the fpiritual world no one can refifl: the propenfities of his ruling

G g g g g pallion

[ 394 ]

pafllon or love, for therein is his will, and thefe conftitute his
nature, and there every one goes by the bent of his nature.
On the fpirit's firft arrival in hell, he is received with a fliew
of kindnefs, infomuch that he now thinks that he is with his
friends ; but this lafts only a few hours ; for after fifting into
his genius and particular turn of mind, they begin to moled
and vex him different ways, and fo go on to greater provoca-
tions, till they lead him to a deeper hell j for the more interior
and deep the hell, the more malignant the fpirits that dwell
there ; and here, after other exercifes of difcipline, they tor-
ment him, till they have entirely brought him under fubjedtion
to their will. But as there arife continual tumults and infur-
red:ions where all hate one another, and every one ftrives to be
the greateft ; fo they who were lately fubdued to the will of
others, become in turn confederates with fome more potent
infernal, to flrengthen his fadtion, and fupport his pretenfions
to fuperiority. Thus the fcene of diforder and confufion con-
tinually varies, whilll all according to their power evilly intreat
and tyrannize over others. Such are the miferies and fuffcrings
which go by the name of hell fire.

575. By gnafliing of teeth is fignified the difcordance and
contradidlion betwixt falfe and falfe [pugna falfonirn] and the
various difputes and wranglings of fuch as are in error from the
ground of falfe (*) joined with contempt of others, enmity,
mockery, railings, and bitter drife, whilft every one fights for
falfity [pro Jiiofalfo'] and calls it truth. Thefe wrathful con-
tentions, as heard by thofe that are not within thofe hells, found
like the gnafliings of teeth, and are changed into fuch when
truths from heaven are manifefted there. In thefe hells are all

(*) Error is to be diftinguifhcd from falfey where it proceeds from miftakc,
defeiSt of underftanding, influence of education, or deference to the judgment of
thofe whom we deem to be wifer than ourfelves. In thefe and fuch like cafes it is
innocent error, or matter of infirmity, and demands all candid allowances, as fuch
perfons, through fimplicity, finccrity, and an earned defire of finding the truth,
may be in the principle, though without the knowledge of it : but it is far other-
wife where error in the judgment proceeds from evil in the will, as from attach-
ment to vice, any falfe intereft, or the love of felf, &c. Here the judgment is
infecSled and determined by the will, and makes part of it, and fuch error has in
it the nature oi falfe ^ and is properly what our author calls fatfum ex malo. Tr.

thofe

f 395 ]

thofe who fet up nature for God ; and In ftill deeper hells fuch
as had confirmed themfelves by ftudied arguments in this athe-
iftical perfuafion. All of this clafs, as being unreceptive of
light from heaven, and confequently having no perception of
truth w^ithin them, are merely fenfual and corporeal, believing
nothing but what they can fee with their eyes, or touch with
their hands ; whence it is, that all the fallacies of the fenfes
pafs with them for real truths, and all that is fpiritual for fal-
lacy ; which is the caufe of all their difputes and vain janglings
having a refemblance to the gnalhings of teeth in the fpiritual
world, where all falfes have that found. Now teeth correfpond
to the extremities in nature, and to the lowefl things in man,
fuch as thofe which are fenfual and corporeal. As to gnafliing
of teeth in hell, fee Matt. viii. 12. xiii. 42, 5©. xxii. 13. xxiv.
51. XXV. 30. Luke xiii. 28.

Of the Malignity and wicked Devices of
the infernal Spirits.

576. Every one that is given to introverfion, when he refle(fls
upon the operations of his own mind, may form an idea of the
fuperiority of fpirits over man as to the intellcdlual powers, as
knowing, that he himfelf can conceive, reafon upon, and form
a judgment of more things in a minute, than he can exprefs or
commit to writing in half an hour ; learning hereby, how far
a man under the exercife of his intelleiflual or fpiritual faculties
excels himfelf at another time, and confequently how much
more he fhall excel when he comes to be a pure fpirit diverted
of his earthly body; for it is the fpirit alone that thinks in him,
whilll: the body is no more than the inftrument whereby he
exprefics his thoughts : and hence it is, that the angels polTefs
unfpeakably greater underflanding and wifdom than when they
were joined to this material world by their corporeal vehicles,
in connexion with which the mind is for the mofl part fuf-
ceptible only of general and obfcure notices of things, and
unable to difcern innumerable others pertaining to Ipiritual

know-

[ 396 ]

knowledge ; not to mention the many hinderances in the way to
it from worldly cares and connexions : but when man is freed
from thefe defeds and impediments by a tranflation to the an-
gelical ftate (for every angel once lived here as man, and in the
fame low degrees of knowledge) he no longer fees as through
a glafs darkly, but a new intelledtual world opens to his view,
and he has clear perceptions of things unconceivable by the
mind of the natural man.

^jj. In the lame degree that the angels excel in underfland-
ing and wifdom, the infernal fpirits increafe in ferpentine craft
and deceit j for after this life every fpirit enters into the whole
of its good or evil, and thinks, wills, and adls therefrom with-
out difguife ; whereas in this life the evil of a man's fpirit was
curbed by legal reftraints, regards to character, intereft, and
other human conliderations, nay, fometimes fo artfully con-
cealed utider an outfide fliew of jufHce, fmcerity, and the form
of godlinefs, that he did not know himfelf, nor difcover the
latent evils in his heart and nature, which manifeft themfelves
to his allionifhment when he arrives in the world of fpirits.
The number and different kinds of evil that there appear in
their feveral hideous forms, are not to be defcribed in any
human language, and this I can teitify, as having been witnefs
thereto feveral times ; for the Lord has granted me the privilege
to be in [as one of] the fpiritual world as to my fpirit, whiift
in this natural world as to my body : and this I can affirm, that
fo great i^ the malice of evil fpirits againft man, that except the
Lord did take him under his protedion by the miniflry of angels
(for botli attend him here, fee n. 292, 293), it would be im-
poflible for him to deliver himfelf from the power of hell. But
man withdraws himfelf from this proteiftion by denying his
divinity, and renouncing a life of faith and charity, for fo he
turns away from the Lord to the evil fpirits, and enters into
fellowrtiip with the powers of darknefs ; yet even fo (when loft
to all fenfe of confcience) the Lord makes ufe of external re-
flraints and fears, in order to deter him from the commifllon
of outward evils ; but then thefe means are unavailable to in-
troduce him into the fpiritual life, feeing this can only be
effcfted by a real convcrfion of his mind, will, and affedions.

578. The

[ 397 ]

^yS. The worfl of fpirits are thofe, who in this life were
immerfed in the principle of felf-love, and at the fame time
adiuated by a ferpentine fubtlety ; for all deceit and craft enter
deep into the thoughts and intentions, and fo poifon the very
root of life in man, as to deflroy every feed of fpiritiial good
therein. Moll of thefe are in the hells behind, and are called
genii ; their pleafure is to make themfelves inconfpicuous, flut-
tering about like bats by night, that they may do their works
of darknefs in fecret : thefe fuffer more than any other of the
evil fpirits. Such as were in the lij<e principle of felf-love, but
not aiftuated by the like fubtlety and deceit, are alfo in the hells
behind, but not of like depth. And as to thofe who were pof-
feflcd by the evils proceeding from the love of the world, but
not fo deep in the love of felf, nor alike addidled to hatred and
revenge, deceit and fubtlety, they are called evil fpirits, and
their hells are milder, as they fuffer Icfs from their lelTer degrees
of malignity.

579. It has been given me to know experimentally the par-
ticular kind of malicious wickednefs in thofe fpirits which are
called genii. Now thefe do not pracflife their diabolical fubtlety
on the thoughts, but on the afteftions, which they fcent by a
peculiar fagacity, like as dogs do their game ; and when thev
have made the difcovery, they make it their bufinefs to turn and
wind the good affedlions of any one, all they can, to their con-
traries, and this by drawing them off to other objefts by allure-
ments fuited to their particular inclinations and complexions ;
and this they manage with fuch art and cunning, that the party
is not aware of the deceit, as they hinder him by various crafty
devices from attending to and making reflexions upon the n>atter.
Their fituation, when with man, is under the occiput, or hin-
der part of the head. Thefe, when living in this world, were
fuch as cunningly applied to the ruling paliions of men, and by
artfully infinuating themfelves into their affedlions captivated
their minds, in order to lead them more cafily into the traps
and fnares they laid for them : but all, of whofe reformation
and regeneration there are the kail ho])es, are carefully prefcrvcd
by the goodnefs of the Lord from thefe infidious fpirits, whofe
power and fubtlety are otherwife fufficient to remove the barriers

H h h h h of

[ 398 ]

of confcience, and to awaken and put in motion all the here-
ditary evils in man's nature ; and therefore they are not per-
mitted to infeil fuch perfons. Such are the companions, and
fuch the manlions to which all crafty and malicious deceivers
are configned after death : when viewed in the other world in
their proper form and charader, they appear in the fhape of
vipers.

580. The malignity of the infernal fpirits manifefls itfelf
in fo many wicked arts and devices (unknown in this world)
that to enumerate them would fill a volume, and to defcribe
them many volumes. One kind of them rcfpedls the abufe and
perverting of correfpondences : another, in dill:urbing the divine
order in its loweft clafTes : a third, is by the influxive commu-
nication of evil thoughts and affedlions, and this by falfe con-
verfions, infpeftions, and emilTary fpirits : a fourth, by opera-
tions on the mind by phantafies : a fifth, by falfe appearances
of thcmfelves, where in reality they are not : and fixthly, by
counterfeiting other chara<5lers, by evil perfuafions and lies. By
thefe and various other deceitful arts they vex and torment one
another in their miferable focieties : but as all thefe wicked arts,
except the laft mentioned, are unknown in our world, I forbear
to defcribe them, not only becaufe they would not be under-
ftood, but alfo becaufe they are not fit to be mentioned.

581. This feverity of fufferings and tormenting difcipline
is permitted by the Lord, to keep within certain bounds the
flagrant evils of the infernal fpirits, by their mutual oppofition,.
as they are fubjedl to no other reftraint than the fear of fufix;ring
for them, without which, hell would be tenfold itfelf in uproar,
rage, and madnefs ; a pidlure of which we may form to our-
felves by the idea of an earthly kingdom without coercive laws
with penal fandions {*)^

(*) This obfcrvation of our author may fuggcft to us a good additional argu-
ment in vindication of the Divine Providence in permitting the calamities of
tumults, infurrections, and wars, in the prcfent degenerate ftate of mankind ; for
though thefe are confefledly great evils, yet they ferve as means preventive of
greater, by operating on the fears and pafTions of men various ways : thus, by
rellraining the oppreflions, tyranny, and cruelty of wicked rulers on the one hand,
and by experience of the evils and mifcrics thereof curbing the licentioufnefs of

ihc

[ 399 ]

Of the Appearance, Situation, and Plurality

of the Hells.

582. In the fpiritual world, where fpirits and angels have
their abodes, there are the fame appearances of things as in
this our natural world, as of plains, mountains, hills, rocks,
vallies, waters, &c. but all from a fpiritual origin, and there-
fore only vifible to thofe fpiritual beings, and not to man whilft
in this natural Itate, unlefs it be given him to be converfant in
the fpiritual world as a fpirit : nor can an angel or fpirit behold
the material things of this world, except he be joined to man
in like manner ; for as the fight of the former is adapted only
to natural light, fj is the fight of the latter to fpiritual light,
though the eyes of both are to appearance the very fame. This
will hardly be received by the natural man, much lefs by the
fenfualift, who, being governed in all things by his bodily fenfes,
can form no conception of reality and fubflance, as pertaining
to any thing beyond material nature ; but notwithftanding this,
the refemblance between the fpiritual and natural world is fuch,
that man for fome time after his departure hence, knows not
but that he is llill in the latter, infomuch that his death may
very properly be termed a tranflation from one world to another
like it ; and that there is fuch fimilitude betwixt them has been
fliewed before in the chapter Coficerning Reprefe?itatives and Ap-
peai-ances in Heaven, n. 170 to 176.

583. The heavens there appear above; the world of fpirits
beneath ; and the hells are under both. The heavens are not
feen by the fpirits that are in the world of fpirits, except when
their interior fight is opened ; at otlier times they appear only
as through a mift, or as light clouds, and that becaufc the angels
of heaven are in a more interior fiate of underfianding and wif-
dom, and accordingly above the fight of thofe that are in the

the multitude on the other, which is only awed by fear of fufFerings from venting
their malignity every man on his neighbour, and from turning all things into
chaos and confufion. Tr.

world

[ 4='o ]

world of fpirits : but the fpirits, who are in the plains and
valleys, fee each other, except when they are internally fepa-
rated by intromiiTion into their interior ftates ; for at fuch times
the evil fpirits do not fee the good, but the good fpirits fee the
evil ones, but turn away their faces from them, and fo become
invifiblc to the others. As to the hells, they are not £ecn in
this world, as being fliut, but only the entrances into them,
called their gates, when they arc opened for the admilTion of
thofe that are configned to them. Thefe gates are vifible in the
world of fpirits, but not in heaven.

584. There are hells every where under the mountains, hills
and rocks ; and the holes or gates leading into them, appear
as fo many clefts or filfures in rocks, fome of larger, and fome
of narrower extent, and they all appear dark and difmal, though
the fpirits within have a kind of light like that from burning
coals, to which their fight is accommodated •. and that becaufe
in this world, being in darknefs as to divine truths through
unbelief, they had no other light than what proceeded from
vain reafonings and error, and therefore they can fee nothing in
the light of heaven, when they quit their gloomy manfions ;
fuch oppofites are the light of faith, and the darknefs of un-
belief.

585. The openings or gates leading to the hells, which are
underneath the plains and valleys, have different afpefts ; fome
refemble thofe which are underneath the mountains, hills and
rocks ; fome of them look like dens and caves ; fome like wide
mouths and gulfs, and others like lakes and pools of water.
They are only open when evil fpirits come thither from the
world of fpirits, to be palfed into their refpeftive hells, at
which times are feen to ilfue from them fire, and flame with
or without fmoke, as alfo thick clouds of fuliginous vapour ;
though it is faid, that they do not appear as fuch to the infernal
fpirits, as being then in their own proper atmofphere, and the
elements that are congruous to tlieir nature; for they correfpond
to the evils and falfes thereof : for example, fuch fire to hatred
and revenge ; fmoke and foot to the falfes belonging thereto j
flame to the evils of felf-love ; and black clouds and vapour to
tlie falfes thereof.

586. I was

[ 401 ]

586. I was allowed to look into the hells, and take a view
of their infide ; for the power of fuch infpedlion is, by divine
permiffion, granted at times to the angels and fpirits abov':
them, even when they are not open : fuch an infide view of
them I had. Some of the hells appeared like caverns in rocks,
firll proceeding far horizontally, and then defcending either
perpendicularly, or by windings, to a great depth. Some re-
iembled the dens of wild beafts in the woods ; others the fub-
terraneous works in mines, with different chambers and defcents
to Hill lower floors. Moft of them are of three degrees of de-
fcent, the uppermoft dark, as correfponding to the falfes of
evil ; the lowefl of a fiery appearance, as correfponding to the
evils themfelves. In the lowefl hells are thofe who acfted im-
mediately from the root or principle of evil ; but in fuch as
are lefs deep, thofe who afted from evil errors, or the falfes of
evil. In fome hells appear, as it were, ruins of houfes and
towns after fome dreadful conflagration, in which the infernal
fpirits Ikulk j and in the milder hells are feen a kind of rude
cottages, and in fome places contiguous in the form of a city
or large town, with ftreets and lanes, inhabited by infernal
fpirits that live together in fl;rife, hatred, quarrellings, and
fightings even to blood, whilfl in the fl:reets and publick ways
are committed thefts and robberies ; and in fome of the hells arc
places like publick fliews fliocking to behold, as full of un-
cleannefs and filth of all kinds. There are alfo gloomy woods,
in which the infernal fpirits wander about like wild hearts, and
alfo fubterraneous caves, into which fuch as are purlued by
others fly for refuge. Moreover, there are barren and fandy
defarts, ragged rocks with caverns, and fcattered cottages ; and
to thefe defert places arc configned fuch in particular as had
pafTed through fevere fufferings in the other hells, and had been
foremoft among thofe who deceive others by crafty devices and
wicked fl:ratagems, This is the laft ilate of their appoint-
ment.

587. The exaft particular fituation of the hells is not known
even to the angels, but to the Lord only, though tlieir general
difliinftions are known from the quarters refpectively where
they lie ; thefe diftindtions being the fame as in the heavens,

I i i i i where

[ 402 ]

where they are regulated according to the kinds and degrees of
heavenly love, beginning with the Lord as the fun of heaven,
which is called the eaft j and as the hells are in all things op-
pofite to the heavens, fo the principal or regulating quarter
there is tiie wert (lee the chapter Concerning the Four garters
of Heaven, n. 141 to 153). Hence it is, that the weftern hells
are the worft: and moil: horrible of all, and that in proportion
to their greater degrees of diftance from the eaft. To thefe are
appointed fuch as in this world were fo fwallowed up in the
love of felf, as to hold in contempt and bitter hatred all that
were not of their party and in their intereft, or refufed to ho-
nour them : and in the remoteft of thofe regions are thofe in
particular of the Romilh religion, who had arrogated to them-
felves divine worfhip, burning with rage and revenge againft all
that denied their power and heavenly jurifdiftion over the fouls
of men ; and as they ftill retain the fame proud vindi^ftive fpirit,
fo to fhew tlieir rage and cruelty is their greateft pleafure j but
this turns to their greater mifery in the other world, for all of
their clafs being actuated by the fame infernal paffion of domi-
neering, they exercife their fury and malice upon one another :
but more of this in a fmall work Concernifig the Lajl yiidgment,
and the DeftruBion of Babylon. As to the particular circum-
ilances relative to the hells, it can only be laid, that the worft
of them are to the northward ; that they abate in degree of
malignity towards the fouth, and ftill more towards the caft.
Towards the laft alfo are many who were high-minded and
atheiftical, but not of like favage cruelty and infernal fubtlety
as thofe nearer to the weft. At this time there are no infernal
focieties in full eaft, they having been tranOatcd nearer to the
vveftern regions ; but the hells in the north and fouth are very
many, and inhabited by fuch as were immcrfed in the love oif
the world, and the various evils derived from that fource, as
enmity, hollilities, extortion, wrong and robbery, artifice, ava-
rice and uncharitablenefs, increafintr or decreafine in decrees of
malignity, as was faid before, according to theii greater or lelTer
degrees of diftance from the eaft. Behind the hells in the
weftern and northern divifions are the gloomy woods and deferts

before

[ 403 ]

before mentioned. Thus much concerning the fituation of the
hells.

588. With regard to plurality of hells, it is here to be
noted, that they equal in number the angelical focieties in the
heavens ; for there is a fociety of infernals anfwering to every
fociety of angels, according to the nature of oppofites. That
the heavenly focieties are innumerable, and all diftindt, accord-
ing to the different kinds and degrees of their goods of divine
love, charity and faith, fee under the article, Concerm'ng the
Societies of which the Heavens confijl, n. 41 to 50 : as alfo in that.
Concerning the hnmenfity of Heaven, n. 415 to 420. In like
manner the infernal focieties are diftindi, according to their
refpedlive evils oppolite to the goods before mentioned. Every
evil, as vv^ell as every good, is a genus or general, which con-
tains in it innumerable fpecies or particulars ; however, this
may not appear to thofe who form to themfelves only one fimple
idea of every evil ; as for example, of contempt, hatred, enmity,
revenge, deceit, and the like ; whereas every one of thefe con-
tains fo many fpecifick differences, and under them as many
particular fubdivifions as would more than fill a volume to enu-
merate them all. According to thefe manifold diflindlions in
evil, and their nearer or more remote diftances from one ano-
ther, are the feveral hells divided and regulated with the utmoft
exadtnefs and congruity. There are alfo hells under hells, com-
municating with one another, fome by pafTagcs, and fome by
exhalations, according to the agreement or affinity betwixt evil
and evil. That the hells are fo many and various appears from
its being given me to know, that under every mountain, hill,
rock, plain and valley, there were particular hells of different
extent in length, breadth, and depth. In a word, both heaven
and the world of fpirits may be confidered as convexities, under
which are arrangements of thofe infernal manfions. So much
concerning the plurality of hells.

[ 4^4 ]

Of the Equilibrium betwixt Heaven and

Hell.

5S9. An equilibrium is neceffhry to the exiftence and fub-
liftence of all things, and confifts in the equality of adlion and
reaction between two oppofitc powers, producing reft or equi-
librium ; and this according to an eil:abliflicd law throughout
the natural world, obferved in the very atmofpheres, in which
the lower and denfer air reafts on the fuperincumbent columns ;
nay, even betwixt heat and cold, light and darknefs, dry and
moift J and the middle point is the temperature or equilibrium.
The fame law obtains throughout the three great kingdoms of
this world, the mineral, vegetable, and animal ; wherein all
things proceed and are regulated according to adlion and re-
adlion, or adlivcs and palfives, producing or reftoring an equili-
brium in nature. In the phyfical world, the agent and reagent
are called Power and Conatus ; and in the fpiritual world, life
and will, as being living power and conatus ; and here the
equilibrium is called liberty. Thus there exifts a fpiritual equi-
librium or liberty betwixt good and evil, by the adiion of one,
and the reaftion of the other ; for example, in good men this
equilibrium is effedled by the acftion of the good principle, and
the readion of the evil principle ; but in bad men, evil is the
agent, and good is but the reagent. That there is a fpiritual
equilibrium betwixt good and evil, is becaufe every thing ap.-
pertaining to the vital principle in man has relation to good or
evil, and the will is the receptacle of both. There is likewife
an equilibrium betwixt true and falfe ; but this depends on the
equilibrium betwixt good and evil, according to their kinds
refpedively. The equilibrium betwixt truth and falfe, is fimi-
lar to that which is betwixt light and darknefs [umSraffi] which
operate, according to the heat and cold therein, on the fubjeds
of the vegetable kingdom ; for that light and darknefs have no
fuch operation in theml'elves alone, but only through the heat
in them, may appear from the fimilarity that is betwixt the

light

[ 405 ]

light and darknefs in winter and in fpring. The comparifon of
truth and falfs with light and darknefs is from correfpondency,
for truth correfponds to light, and falfe to darknefs, and heat
to the good of love. Spiritual light alfo is the fame with truth,
and fpiritual darknefs is the fame with falfe, concerning which,
fee the chapter. On the Light and Heat i7i Heaven, n. 126 to
140.

590. There is a perpetual equilibrium betwixt heaven and
hell; from the latter continually exhales and afcends a conatus
of doing evil ; and from the former continually emanes and
defccnds a conatus [tendency to or will] (*) of doing good, la
this equilibrium is the world of fpirits, which is fituated in the
midft betwixt heaven and hell (fee above, n. 421 to 431) ; and
this may appear from hence, that every man immediately after
death enters into the world of fpirits, and there continues in
the fame ftate in which he died ; is examined and proved thereby,
as a touchftone of his principles j and remains under the fame
free will, which all indicate an equilibrium ; for fuch a fpiritual
equilibrium there is in every man and fpirit, as obferved before.
The particular kind and tendency of this liberty or free will, is
well known by the angels in heaven by the communication of
thoughts and aiFedions j and it appears vifibly to the angelical
, fpirits (*), by the paths and ways which they chufe to walk in,
lis the good fpirits take thofe which lead to heaven, and the
evil fpirits thofe which lead to hell ; for fuch ways and walks
have actually a vifible appearance in that world j and this is the
reafon, that the word loay or ways in Scripture fignifies thofe
truths which lead to good, and in an oppofite fenfe, thofe falfes
which lead to evil ; and hence alfo it is, that to go, walk, or
journey, fignify the progreffions of life in the fame Sacred Wri-
tings (2S1). It has oftentimes been given me to fee fuch ways

{*) It will not appear ftrnngc, that in the fiiiritual worlds the fpiritual mental
power,'!, Inch as willing, (.itfiriiig, &:c. fliould have their extrinfick operations and
cffci^ls at great diitunces, when we reflect on the like diftant opcratioiis and efl'edls
of bodies upon one another in this matcri.al world, in their different properties
of attraiftion, repulfion, gravitation, &c. Tr.

(*) By angelical fpirits is here meant fuch fpirits as are yet in the intermediate
world of ipirits, in their (late of final preparation for heaven. Tr.

(281) That to journey, inScripturc ligiiifies progrcfs in life, as docs likewifc to

K k k k k go.

[ 4o6 ]

or roads, and tlie Ipirits walking and palTing therein, as they
were led to chufe one or the other by the particular bent of their
minds and affecflions.

591. That evil continually exhales and afcends from hell,
and that good continually tiows and delcends from heaven, is
becaufe every one is furrounded by a fpiritual fphere flowing or
tranfpiring from his vital affecftions and thoughts (282), and
confequently the fame from every fociety coelelHal or infernal,
and coUedively from the whole heaven and the whole hell.
This univerfal efflux of good from . heaven originates in the
Lord, and pafles through the angels without any mixture of
their propriety [proprium] or felf-hood ; for this is fupprcfTcd
in them by the Lord, who grants them to live in his own divine
property ; whereas the infernal fpirits are in their own property
of felfiilh nature, or what only belongs to themfelves [proprww]
which, as unbleffed with divine communications from the fole
fountain of all good, is only evil in everyone continually (283).
This may fuffice to fhew, that the equilibrium both of the
angels and devils differs from that in the middle world of fpirits ;
the equilibrium of the former being according to their free will
in the principle of good from a life and love of good, and hatred
to evil in this world -, but the equilibrium of the latter, accord-
ing to their free will in evil from a life and love of evil, and
a hatred to good in this world.

go, n. 3335, 4375, 4554 — 8417, 8420, 8557. That to walk with the Lord
fignifies to lead a fpiritual life, or to live to him, n. 10567. That to walk figni-
fies to live, n. 519, 179+, 8417, 8420.

(282) That a fpiritual fphere, which is the fphere of life, proceeds from every
man, fpirit, and angel, and forms a kind of atmofphere around them, n. 4464,
5179, 7454, 8630. That this flows from their inmoft aiFcdions and thoughts,
n. 2489, 4464, 6206. That the quality of fpirits is known at a diftance by their
fpheres, n. 1048, 1053, 1316, 1504. That the fpheres of evil fpirits are oppo-
fite to thofe from good fpirits, n. 1695, 10187, 10312. That thcfe fpheres extend
f-r to the heavenly focieties, according to their quality and degree of good, n. 6598
to 6613, 8063, 8794, 8797. And likewife to the infernal focieties, according to
their quality and degree of evil, n. 8794, 8797.

(283) That the property or nature of man is altogether evil, n. 210, 215, 731,
874 — 10283, 10284, 10286, 10731. That the felfiih property in man is hell
within him, n. 694, 8480.

592. Except

[ ^^7 1

592. Except the Lord kept the government of the heavens
and hells in his own hands, there would be an end of equili-
brium, and confequently both of heaven and hell ; for all
things in the natural and fpiritual worlds fubfift thereby, and
the balance once deftroyed, all things would iicceffarily run into
diforder and confufion. Such would be the cafe in the fpiritual
world, unlels the power of evil were reftrained by the rcacftion
of the good principle, and fo hindered from acquiring the fupe-
riority. Unlefs this were effefted by the fole government of
the Lord, there would be an end of heaven and hell, and of
the whole human race : the words, fole government of the Lordt
muft here be repeated, as He alone is fufficient for this work ;
for every thing belonging to the creature as his proper own or
felf, whether it be angel, Ipirit, or man, is nothing but evil,
and therefore abfolutely incapable of making any refinance to
the efliux and powers of hell, as being more on their fide j fo
that the whole of falvation in every creature is folely owing to
the government and grace of the Lord : nor can it be fuppofed,
that lefs than his omnipotent arm can be fufficient to keep
within bounds the hoftile fury and malice of all the hells, which
join in one common confederacy againll heaven, and all that
are therein.

593. The equilibrium between the heavens and the hells is
determined by the number of thofe that enter therein, which
amounts to feveral thoufands every day ; and to adjufl a matter
of fuch univerfal importance can only belong to that omnipre-
fent Lord, who weighs all things in the balance of infinite wif-
dom ; for wife as the angels are, they fee comparatively but a
little way, nor know all things that pafs within the circle of
their own focieties.

504. Something has been offered before on the government
of the Jieavens and the hells with relation to the fubferviency
of all therein to the prefervation of equilibrium ; as that all the
focieties in both are difpofed and regulated according to their
general and fpecifick diftindtions in good and evil ; and that
under every cceleftial there is an infernal fociety anfwering
thereto as its oppofite, from which oppofite correfpondence re-
fults the equilibrium, whereby the evil is reftrained from over-
powering

[ 4oS ]

powering the good, and a provifion made by the divine wifdom
to check every tendency to fuperiority in the former over the
latter : and this is eJicdted by various means ; as by a ftronger
operation of the divine prcknce ; or by a flriitter confederacy in
good among particuhir angelical focieties. There are alfo other
means made ufe of, in order to this end, by various regulations
as to the hells -, thus, by dividing particular focieties therein,
and by ejecting a certain number into the delerts before men-
tioned ; by the tranllation of Ibme infernals from one hcli to
another, and divers other adminilTirations of government both
in the heavens above, and in the hells beneath. By fo many
ways does the Lord provide for the prcfcrvation of that equili-
brium between good and evil, on which the falvation and hap-
pinefs of men and angels fo much depend.

595. The hells are continually plotting againft heaven, and
exerting their holtile malice fur its deftruCtion ; though impo-
tent and vain are all their endeavours againfl thofe v/ho are under
the defence of the Lord omnipotent. I have often feen their
enmity and hatred to all things divine and facred reprefentcd
by the form of a fphere afcending from the infernal regions, as
if to infult and alfault heaven 3 whereas the heavens, on the
contrary, make no affault on the hells, the divine fphere pro-
ceeding from the Lord being an efflux of love for the filvation
of all ; but as thofe miferable fpirits, through the evil they are
in and chufe, render themfelves incapable ot fuch falvation,
therefore this emanation of the divine goodnefs can etfedl nothing
more in their behalf, than to reflrain, as far as poffible, their
vindi(ftive malice from wreaking itfelf with unbridled fury and
madnefs on one another ; and to this end He is gracioufly pleafed
to employ various means j fo merciful is the Lord even towards
the impenitent and incorrigible.

596. The heavens, in the general, are diflinguiflied into
two kingdoms ; the one of which i.s called the cceleflial, the
other the fpiritual kingdom; of which fee above, n. 20 to 28.
The hells likewife are diftinguifhed into two kingdoms ; the
one of which is oppofite to the coeleifial, the other to the fpi-
ritual. That which is oppofite to the coeleftial is in the weft,
and they who belong to it are called genii ; and that which is

oppofite

■*

[ 409 ]

bppofite to the fplrltual kingdom is in the north and fouth, and
they who belong to it are called evil Ipirits. All in the coe-
leftial kingdom excel in love to the Lord, and all that are in
the hells oppolite to that kingdom, are under the prevailing
power of felt-love ; all that belong to the fpiritual kingdom are
dillinguifhed in excellence by love to their neighbour, and all
that are in the hells oppofite to thjs kingdom are Haves to the
love of the world ; fo that love to the Lord and the love of felf
are in the fame diiunetrical oppolition to each other, as the love
of our neighbour and the love of the world. Eifettual provifion
is made by the Lord, that no power of evil from the hells, that
are in oppoiition to the coeieilial kingdom, may reach the fub-
jedts of the fpiritual kingdom, as the confequence in" that cafe
would be the fubverfion of the latter, for the reafon given in
n. 578, 579. Thus does the Lord keep the balance betwixt
good and evil in his own hand for the prefervation of his king-
doms.

That the Liberty or Free Will of Man, is
from the Equilibrium that fubfifts between
Heaven and Hell.

597. In the foregoing chapter we have treated of that equi-
librium which fubfifts betwixt heaven and hell, and /hewed,
that it is no other than an equilibrium betwixt the good that
proceeds from the former, and the evil that proceeds from the
latter, and fo conftltuting the cft'ence of human liberty : and as
good and evil, truth and Falfe, are of a fpiritual nature, fo alfo
is that equilibrium in which confifls the power of thinking and
willing the one or the other, and the liberty of chuling or rc-
fuling accordingly. This liberty or freedom of the will origi-
nates in the divine nature, but is given to every man by the
Lord for a property of his life, nor does He ever take it back
again. This good gift to man is to the end that he may he
regenerated and fived, for without free will there is no falvation
for him ; but that he adlually poflefi'es it, he may know from
the operations of his own mind, and what pafles inwardly in

L 1 1 1 1 his

[ 4IO ]

his fplrit, he being able to think and chufc either good or evil,
whatever reftraints he may be under from uttering- or adting the
latter in refpeift to laws divine or human. Now this inward
experience evinces beyond a thoufand arguments, that liberty
belongs to man, as his fpirit is his proper lelf, and it is that
which freely thinks, wills, and chufes j confcquently, liberty
is to be eftimated according to the inner man, and not from
what he may be outwardly through fear, human refpefts, or
other external reftraints.

598. That man would not be capable of being reformed or
regenerated without free will, is becaufe he is by the original
conftitution of his nature born to evils of every kind, which
muft be removed in order to his falvation ; and that can only be
by his knowing, owning, renouncing, and abhorring them. To
this end, he mufl be inltrudled in the nature of good ; for it is
by good only that he can fee the evil, but by evil he cannot fee
the good : accordingly, he muft be early educated in the know-
ledge of fpiritual truths by teaching, by reading the Scriptures,
and by the preaching of the Word, that fo he may attain to a
right underftanding of what is good ; as he is likewifc to cul-
tivate his mind with the knowledge of moral and civil ti-uths
from his intcrcourfe with fociety in the different relations of
life J all which imply the ufe and exercife of freedom. Another
thing to be confidered is, that nothing becomes appropriated to-
man, or can be called his own, that is not received into the
affedlionate part ; other things he may apprehend or form an
ideal knowledge of, but what enters not his will or love, which
is the fame thing (for what a man wills lie loves) that makes
no part of him, nor abides with him. Now man being natu-
rally prone to evil, he could not receive its contrary, the good,
into his will or love, fo as to become appropriated to liim, unlefs
he were endowed with liberty or freedom of will, feeing that
the good is oppofite to the evil of his nature.

599. That man may be poffcfled of liberty or free will, in^
order to be capable of regeneration, therefore he can have com-
munication in fpirit with heaven, or with hell ; for evil fpirits
from the one, and angels from the other, are prefent \\ith him ;
by the former he polfefles his own evil ; by the latter he is ia
the principle of good froni the Lord i and herein iVands his

equili-

[ 4" ]

equilibrium or liberty. That every man has both angels and
evil fpirits attending him in this world, fee the chapter Con--
cerning the Conjun£lion of Heaven with the Human Race, n. 291
to 302.

600. Not that this conjundlion of man with heaven or hell
i5 an immediate conjundion, but mediate only, and that through
the fpirits that belong to the world of fpirits ; for thefe are the
fpirits that attend on man, and not any immediately from heaven
or hell (*). By the evil fpirits belonging to the world of fpirits
man joins himfelf to hell ; and by the good fpirits of the fame
world he has communication with heaven ; for the world of
fpirits is intermediate between heaven and hell, and conftitutes^
the true equilibrium ; for thefe two particulars, fee above, n.
421 to 431, and n. 589 to 596. Thus much for the origin of
human liberty.

601. Let it be obferved, as touching thofe fpirits that are
appointed to be man's aiTociates here, that a whole fociety may
hold communication with another fociety, and alfo with any
ijidividual wherefoever, by means of an emifTary fpirit, which
fpirit is called. The Subjeii of many \Subje£lum phiriutn]. The
caufe is fimilar with refpedt to man's communication [cofi/un^io]
with the focieties in heaven and in hell by the intervention of
his affociate fpirits from the world of fpirits.

602. As to that common imprefiion of belief concerning
a future life on the human mind, which fome call innate, or
natural, though in reality it be from coeleftial influx, the fol-
lowing memorable particular fliall here be related. Certain
fpirits, which in their life-time here had been of that fimple
plebeian clafs which live in all good faith, were reinllated in
the fame low degree of underllanding and thinking that they

^•) This is entirely confiflent with what was affirmed by the author in the fore*
going number, as the good fpiiits bclougiiig to the world of fpirits, being in their
linal preparation for the angelical ftate, are called angelical fpirits ; and .is they
have immediate communication with the heavenly angek, fo has man, through
thtm, a mediate communication with the fame. On the other hand, the bad
(^irits belonging to the world of fpirits, being in their final preparation for hell,
are called infernal fpirits, and have immediate communication with devils ; and
wicked men, through them, a mediate communication with the lame. Thus all
communications between man, nncl the hi ;hc(t and lowelt in iK-avin and hell, arc
conduced through mediums adapted to liis nature and ftatcs refpcclively. Tr.

poflefTed

[ 412 ]

poffefied in this world (as may be the cafe of every one, by the
divine permiiiion, to anfwer certain ends). On this change
they difcovered what ideas they had here concerning the ftate
of n-".an after death, and related as follows ; viz. that they were
aiked on a time by fome learned men when in this world, what
they thought of their fouls after death ? To which they anfwered,
that they did not know what the foul was. They then alked
them, what their belief was concerning their ftate after death ?
To which they replied, that they believed they (hould be living
fpirits. They afked them, what their faith was, as to fpirits ?-
They faid, that a fpirit was a man. They afked them, how
they knew that .'' They anfwered, after their fimplicity, that
they knew it, becaufe it was fo. On which thefe learned quc-
riits ftood aftonifhed, to find fuch fimple illiterate people pof-
fened of a ftronger faith than what they had themfelves ;
manifefting hereby, that in all who are in communion with
heaven' there is a principle of faith, as touching the immortality
of the foul by a divine influx from the Lord, through the
medium of thofe fpirits which belong to the world of fpirits,
but not received by fuch as, through a vain philofophy and
fcience falfely fo called, poifon their minds with corrupt doc-
trines concerning the foul, as that it is nothing elfe than mere
thought, or a certain animated fomething proceeding from
matter ; and th^n go to find out the particular place of its
refidence in the body ; whereas the immortal fpirit is the man
himfelf that animates his body, and ufes it only as its inftru-
ment or fervant to perform the funcftions of life in this natural
world, according to his dift^ercnt ftates and relations therein,
on, his pilgrimage to and preparation for a better country, even
a heavenly one.

603. What has been delivered in this work concerning
heaven, the world of fpirits, and hell, will appear obfcurc to
thofe who have no relifh for fpiritual truths, but clear to fuch
as take delight therein, more efpecially to all who are in the
love of Truth for its own fiike. What we love, we readily
receive and underftand ; and where Truth is the objedl of our
a^edlions, it recommends itfelf to the mind by the evidence it
brings with it ; for Truth is Light.

FINIS.

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