Divine Providence · §§ 271–315

274. (4) A doubt may arise in opposition to Divine providence from the fact, that it has not hitherto been known that man lives as a man after death; also that this has not been disclosed before. This has not been known before for the reason that in those who do not shun evils as sins there is concealed interiorly a belief that man does not live after death; and therefore it is a matter of no consequence to them whether it is said that man lives as a man after death or whether it is said that he is to rise again at the day of the last judgment; and if by any chance a belief in the resurrection occurs to him he says to himself, “It will be no worse for me than for others; if I go to hell I shall have plenty of company, and the same is true if I go to heaven.” And yet in all that have any religion there is implanted a knowledge that after death they live as men; while the idea that they will then live as souls and not as men exists only with those that have been infatuated by their own intelligence, and with no others. That in every one that has any religion there is implanted a knowledge that after death he will live as a man can be seen from the following considerations:-(1) Does any one when dying think otherwise? (2) [2] What eulogist, when lamenting the dead, does not exalt them to heaven, and place them among angels as talking with them and enjoying their happiness? Some, moreover, are deified. (3) [3] Who among the common people does not believe that when he dies, if he has lived well, he will go to a heavenly paradise, be clothed in white raiment, and enjoy eternal life? (4) [4] What clergyman is there who does not say the same or like things to one about to die? And when he says it he also believes it, unless he is at the same time thinking about the last judgment. (5) [5] Who does not believe that his little children are in heaven, and that after death he will see his wife whom he has loved? Who thinks that they are ghosts, still less that they are souls or minds flitting about the universe? (6) [6] Who objects when anything is said about the lot or state of those who have passed from time into the eternal life? I have said to many that such is the state and lot of these and of those, and I have never heard any one say that they have not yet had their lot, but will have it at the time of the judgment. (7) [7] When one sees angels painted or sculptured does he not recognize them to be such? Who thinks at such a time that they are spirits without bodies, or are air or clouds, as some of the learned do? (8) [8] The papists believe that their saints are human beings in heaven, and that the rest are somewhere else; the Mohammedans believe the same of their dead; the Africans believe this more than others, and many other nations believe it;-why do not Reformed Christians who know it from the Word? (9) [9] From this knowledge implanted in every one there are some that aspire to immortality of fame; for this knowledge is turned into such an aspiration with some, and makes them heroes or brave in war. (10) [10] Inquiry was made in the spiritual world whether this knowledge is implanted in all, and it was found to be implanted in all, not however in the natural ideas belonging to their external thought, but in the spiritual ideas belonging to their internal thought. From all this it can be seen that no doubt in opposition to a Divine providence ought to arise from the fact that it is supposed to be now first disclosed that man lives as a man after death. It is only man’s sensual part that wishes to see and to touch what it is to believe; and whoever does not think above that is in the darkness of night regarding the state of his life.

275. EVILS ARE PERMITTED FOR THE SAKE OF THE END, WHICH IS SALVATION.

If man were born into the love into which he was created he would not be in any evil, nor would he even know what evil is; for one who has not been in evil, and consequently is not in evil, cannot know what evil is; and if told that this or that is evil would not believe it possible. Such was the state of innocence in which Adam and Eve his wife were, the “nakedness” that they were not ashamed of signifying that state. A knowledge of evil after the fall is meant by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The love into which man was created is love of the neighbor, to the end that he may wish as well to the neighbor as to himself and even better, and may be in the delight of that love when he is doing good to the neighbor; nearly the same as a parent’s love for his children. This love is truly human, for there is in it a spiritual [element] that distinguishes it from the natural love that belongs to brute animals. If man were born into that love he would not be born into the thick darkness of ignorance, as every man now is, but into a certain light of knowledge and intelligence therefrom; and into these he would quickly come. At first, of course, he would creep like a quadruped, but with an inherent endeavor to raise himself up upon his feet; for however much like a quadruped he would not turn his face downward to the earth but forward towards heaven, and would so raise himself up as to be able also to look upwards.

276. But when love of the neighbor was turned into love of self, and this love increased, human love was turned into animal love, and man from being a man became a beast, with the difference that he was able to think about what he felt in the body, and could rationally discriminate one thing from another, and could be taught, and could become a civil and moral man, and finally a spiritual man. For, as has been said, a man has a spiritual, and by this he is distinguished from a brute; for by this he is able to know what civil evil and civil good are, also what moral evil and moral good are, and also if he will, what spiritual evil and spiritual good are. When love of the neighbor had been turned into love of self man could no longer be born into the light of knowledge and intelligence, but he was born into the darkness of ignorance, because he was born into the very outmost of life called the corporeal-sensual; and from that he could be led into the interiors of the natural mind by means of instruction, the spiritual always accompanying. Why man is born into the outmost of life which is called the corporeal-sensual, and consequently into the thick darkness of ignorance, will be seen in what follows. [2] That love of the neighbor and love of self are opposite loves any one can see; for love of the neighbor wishes well to every one from itself, while love of self wishes well to itself alone from every one, love of the neighbor wishes to serve every one, while love of self wishes every one to serve it; love of the neighbor regards every one as its brother and friend, while love of self regards every one as its servant, or as its enemy if he does not serve it; in a word, it regards itself only, and others scarcely as men, holding them in heart in less estimation than its horses and dogs. And because it regards them as of so little account it thinks nothing of doing evil to them; and this is the source of hatred and revenge, adultery and whoredom, theft and fraud, lying and defamation, violence and cruelty, and other such evils. Such are the evils in which man is from birth. That they are permitted for the sake of the end, which is salvation, will be shown in the following order:-

(1) Every man is in evil, and must be led away from evil in order to be reformed.

(2) Evils cannot be removed unless they appear.

(3) So far as evils are removed they are remitted.

(4) Thus the permission of evil is for the sake of the end, that there may be salvation.

277. (1) Every man is in evil, and must be led away from evil in order to be reformed. It is admitted in the church that every man has hereditary evil, and that from this he is in the lust of many evils; and it is from this that man cannot do good of himself; for evil does not do good except such good as has evil within it. The evil that is within the good is his doing the good for the sake of self, and thus only for the sake of the appearance. It is admitted that this evil is inherited from parents. It is said to be from Adam and his wife, but this is an error; for every one is born into it from his parent, and the parent from his parent, and he from his, and thus it is successively transferred from one to another; so, too, it is increased, and grows as it were to an accumulated mass, and is transmitted to offspring. In consequence of this there is nothing sound in man, but he is altogether evil. Who has any feeling that it is wrong to love himself more than others? Who, then, knows that it is evil? And yet this is the head of all evils. [2] That there is this inheritance from parents, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, is evident from many things that are known in the world, as that households, families, and even nations, are distinguished from each other merely by the face, and the face is a type of the mind, and the mind is in accord with the affections which belong to the love. Sometimes, too, the features of a grandfather reappear in those of a grandson or a great-grandson. From the features alone I know whether a man is a Jew or not, and also from what stock some are; and others doubtless know the same. If affections, which belong to the love, are thus derived and handed down from parents, it follows that evils are, for they belong to the affections. But the origin of this resemblance shall now be explained. [3] Every one’s soul is from the father, and from the mother it is merely clothed with a body. That the soul is from the father follows not only from the things mentioned above, but also from many other indications; also from the fact that a child of a black or Moorish father by a white or European woman is black, and vice versa; also chiefly from this, that the soul is in the seed, for from the seed is impregnation, and the seed is what is clothed with a body by the mother. The seed is the primal form of the love in which the father is; it is the form of his ruling love with its nearest derivations, which are the inmost affections of that love. [4] In every one these affections are encompassed with the honesties that belong to moral life and with the goodnesses that belong partly to the civil and partly to the spiritual life. These constitute the external of life even with the wicked. Into this external of life every infant is born, and consequently is loveable; but as the child grows to boyhood or to youth he passes from that external to what is interior, and finally to the ruling love of his father; and if this has been evil, and has not by various means been tempered and bent by his teachers, it becomes his love as it was the father’s. And yet the evil is not eradicated but only removed; of which in what follows. Evidently, then, every man is in evil.

277b. That man must be led away from evil in order to be reformed is evident without explanation; for he that is in evil in the world is in evil after he has left the world; consequently if evil is not removed in the world it cannot be removed afterwards. Where the tree falls there it lies. So, too, does a man’s life when he dies remain such as it has been. Every one is judged according to his deeds; not that these are enumerated, but because he returns to them and acts in the same way; for death is a continuation of life, with the difference that man cannot then be reformed. All reformation is effected in completeness, that is, simultaneously in first principles and in outmosts; and outmosts are reformed in agreement with first principles while man is in the world, and cannot be reformed afterwards, because the outmosts of life that man carries with him after death become quiescent, and are in agreement with his interiors, that is, they act as one.

278. (2) Evils cannot be removed unless they appear. This does not mean that man must do evils in order that they may appear, but that he must examine himself,-not his deeds alone but also his thoughts, and what he would do if he did not fear the laws and disrepute, especially what evils he regards in his spirit as allowable and does not account as sins; for these he still does. It is to enable man to examine himself that an understanding has been given him, and this is separated from the will to the end that he may know, understand, and acknowledge what is good and what is evil, also that he may see what his will is, that is, what he loves and what he longs for. In order that man may see this there has been given to his understanding higher and lower thought, or interior and exterior thought, to enable him to see from the higher or interior thought what the will is doing in the lower and exterior thought; this he sees as a man sees his face in a mirror; and when he sees it and knows what sin is, he is able, if he implores the Lord’s help, to cease willing it, to shun it, and afterwards to act against it, if not freely, still to coerce it by combat, and finally to turn away from it and hate it; and then, and not before, he perceives and also feels that evil is evil and that good is good. This, then, is examining one’s self, seeing one’s evils, acknowledging them, and afterwards refraining from them. But as there are few who know that this is the Christian religion itself (because such only have charity and faith, and they alone are led by the Lord and do good from Him), so something shall be said of those who do not do this and nevertheless think that they have religion. They are these: (1) Those who confess themselves guilty of all sins, and do not search out any one sin in themselves. (2) Those who neglect the search from religious reasons. (3) Those who for worldly reasons think nothing about sins, and are therefore ignorant of them. (4) Those who favor them and in consequence are ignorant of them. (5) To all such sins are not apparent, and therefore cannot be removed. (6) Lastly, the reason, hitherto hidden, will be made evident, why evils cannot be removed unless they are sought out, discovered, acknowledged, confessed, and resisted.

278b. But these points must be examined one by one, because they are the primary things on man’s part of the Christian religion. First: Of those who confess themselves guilty of all sins, and do not search out any one sin in themselves. Such a one says, “I am a sinner; I was born in sin; there is nothing sound in me from head to foot, I am nothing but evil: good God, be gracious unto me, pardon me, cleanse me, save me, make me to walk in purity and the way of righteousness,” and so on; and yet he does not examine himself, and consequently is ignorant of any evil; and no one can shun that of which he is ignorant, still less can he fight against it. He also believes himself to be clean and washed after his confessions, and yet he is unclean and unwashed from the head to the sole of the foot; for a confession of all sin lulls one to sleep, and at length brings blindness. It is like a universal apart from any particular, which is nothing. [2] Secondly: Of those who neglect the search from religious reasons. These are especially such as separate charity from faith; for they say to themselves, “Why should I search whether there is evil or good? Why search for evil, when it does not condemn me; or why for good, when it does not save me? It is faith alone, thought and declared with trust and confidence, that justifies and purifies from all sin; and when once I am justified I am whole before God. I am indeed in evil, but God wipes this away as soon as it is done, and thus it no longer appears;” and other like things. But who does not see, if he will open his eyes, that such things are empty words, in which there is no reality, because there is no good in them? Who cannot so think and speak, even with trust and confidence, when at the same time he is thinking about hell and eternal damnation? Does such a one wish to know anything further, either what is true or what is good? Respecting truth he says, “What is truth but that which confirms this faith?” And respecting good he says, “What is good but that which is in me from this faith? But that it may be in me I must not do it as from myself, since this is meritorious; and good for which merit is claimed is not good.” Thus he ignores everything until he ceases to know what evil is. What then shall he examine and see in himself? Does not his state then become such that the pent-up fires of the lusts of evil consume the interiors of his mind and lay them waste to the very gate? Only this gate does he guard that the burning may not appear; but after death this is opened, and then it is evident to all.

[3] Thirdly: Of those who for worldly reasons think nothing about sins and are therefore ignorant of them. These are such as love the world above all things, and admit no truth that would lead them away from any falsity of their religion, saying to themselves, “What is that to me? It is not for me to think of.” Thus they reject the truth the moment it is heard, and if they listen to it they stifle it. They do much the same when they hear preaching; they retain nothing of it except some few phrases,-nothing real. Dealing thus with truths they do not know what good is; for good and truth act as one; and from any good that is not from truth evil is not recognized, unless it be to call it good, and this is done by means of reasonings from falsities. Such are meant by the seed that fell among thorns, of whom the Lord says:-

Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. These are they that hear the Word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches so choke the Word that it becometh unfruitful (Matt. xiii. 7, 22; Mark iv. 7, 19; Luke viii. 7, 14).

[4] Fourthly: Of those that favor sins, and in consequence cannot know them. These are such as acknowledge God and worship Him in accordance with established ceremonies, and convince themselves that any evil that is a sin is not a sin, painting it over with fallacies and appearances, and thus hiding its enormity; and having done this they favor it, and make it their friend and familiar. It is said that those do this who acknowledge God, for others do not regard any evil as a sin, for all sin is against God. But let examples illustrate. One that is greedy for wealth makes evil to be no sin when, from reasons that he devises, he makes certain kinds of fraud allowable. He does the same who justifies in himself a spirit of revenge against enemies; or who in war justifies the plundering of those who are not enemies.

[5] Fifthly: To all such sins are not apparent and therefore cannot be removed. Every evil that is not seen nourishes itself. It is like fire in wood covered with ashes, or like matter in a wound that is not opened. For all evil that is shut in grows and does not stop till the end is reached. That no evil, therefore, may be shut up, every one is permitted to think in favor of God or against God, and in favor of the holy things of the church or against them, and not be punished therefore in the world. Of this the Lord. thus speaks in Isaiah:-

From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it; the wound, the bruise, and the fresh stripe, they have not been pressed out, nor bound up, nor mollified with oil. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes, cease to do evil; learn to do well. Then, although your sins have been as scarlet they shall become white as snow; although they have been red as crimson they shall be as wool. But if ye refuse and rebel ye shall be devoured by the sword (i. 6, 16-18, 20).

“To be devoured by the sword” signifies to perish by the falsity of evil. [6] Sixthly: The reason hitherto hidden why evils cannot be removed unless they are sought out, discovered, acknowledged, confessed and resisted. It has been remarked in the preceding pages that the entire heaven is arranged in societies according to [the affections of good, and the entire hell according to] the lusts of evil opposite to the affections of good. As to his spirit every man is in some society; in a heavenly society if he is in an affection for good, but in an infernal society if he is in a lust of evil. This is unknown to man so long as he lives in the world; nevertheless he is in respect to his spirit in some society, and without this he cannot live, and by means of it he is governed by the Lord. If he is in an infernal society he can be led out of it by the Lord only in accordance with the laws of His Divine providence, among which is this, that the man must see that he is there, must wish to go out of it, and must try to do this of himself. This he can do while he is in the world, but not after death; for he then remains forever in the society into which he has inserted himself while in the world. This is the reason why man must examine himself, must recognize and acknowledge his sins and repent, and then must persevere even to the end of his life. That this is true I could prove by much experience, sufficient for complete belief; but this is not the place to set forth the proofs of experience.

279. (3) So far as evils are removed they are remitted. It is an error of the age to believe that evils have been separated from man, and even cast out, when they have been remitted; and that the state of a man’s life can be changed instantly, even to its opposite, and thus from being evil a man can become good, and in consequence be led out of hell and transferred straightway into heaven, and this by the Lord’s mercy apart from means. But those who hold this belief and opinion know nothing whatever about what evil is or what good is, and nothing whatever about the state of man’s life, and are wholly ignorant of the fact that affections, which belong to the will, are nothing but changes and variations of state of the purely organic substances of the mind, and that thoughts, which belong to the understanding, are nothing but changes and variations in the form of these substances, and that memory is the state of those changes that remains permanent. When all this is known it can be clearly seen that no evil can be removed except by successive steps, and that the remission of evil is not its removal. But these are summary statements, and unless they are demonstrated may be acknowledged but can not be comprehended; and what is not comprehended is [seen indistinctly] like a wheel turned round by the hand; therefore these statements must be demonstrated one by one, in the order in which they are presented. [2] First: It is an error of the age to believe that evils have been separated, and even cast out, when they have been remitted. It has been granted me to know from heaven that no evil into which man is born and that he himself actually imbibes is separated from him, but is so removed as not to appear. I formerly held the belief that is held by most in the world, that when evils are remitted they are cast out, and are washed and wiped away, as dirt is washed from the face by water. But this is not true of evils or sins, they all remain; and when after repentance they are remitted they are moved from the center to the sides; and then what is in the center, because it is directly under view, appears as in the light of day, and what is at the sides is in the shade, and sometimes as it were in the darkness of night. And as evils are not separated but only removed, that is, dismissed to the sides, and as man can pass from the center to the parts round about, it is possible for him to return into his evils which he supposed had been cast out. For man is such that he can pass from one affection into another, and sometimes into an opposite one, thus from one center to another, his affection, so long as he is in it, making the center, for then he is in its delight and in its light. [3] There are some who are raised up by the Lord after death into heaven because they have lived well, but who have carried with them a belief that they are clean and pure from sins, and therefore are free from all guilt. These at first are clothed in white garments, in accordance with their belief, for white garments signify a state cleansed from evil. But afterwards they begin to think as they did in the world that they are as it were washed from all evil, and to glory therefore in the idea that they are no longer sinners like others, which can hardly be separated from a kind of elation of mind and a kind of contempt of others compared with themselves. Then, in order to remove them from their imaginary belief they are sent away from heaven and let down into their evils which they contracted in the world; and at the same time they are shown that they are also in hereditary evils, of which they had been ignorant before. When they have thus been compelled to acknowledge that their evils have not been separated from them but only removed, consequently that of themselves they are impure and in fact nothing but evil, and that they are withheld from evils and kept in goods by the Lord, although there is an appearance that this is from themselves, they are again raised up by the Lord into heaven. [4] Secondly: It is an error of the age to believe that the state of man’s life can be changed instantly, and thus from being evil man can become good, and in consequence can be led out of hell, and transferred straightway into heaven, and this by the Lord’s mercy apart from means. Those are in this error who separate charity from faith, and place salvation in faith alone; for they imagine that merely thinking about and uttering the statements of that faith, if it is done with trust and confidence, is what justifies and saves; and many imagine that this may be done instantly, and, if not before, at about the last hour of man’s life. Such must needs believe that the state of a man’s life can be changed instantly, and man be saved by mercy apart from means. But that the Lord’s mercy is not apart from means, and that man cannot from being evil become good in a moment, and can be led out of hell and transferred into heaven only by the unceasing operations of the Divine providence from infancy even to the end of his life, will be seen in the last chapter of this work. Here this only need be said, that all the laws of the Divine providence have for their end the reformation and consequent salvation of man, thus the reversal of his state, which by birth is infernal, into the opposite state which is heavenly; and that this can be done only step by step, as man withdraws from evil and its delight and enters into good and its delight. [5] Thirdly: Those who so believe know nothing whatever about what evil is or what good is. For they do not know that evil is the delight of the lust of acting and thinking contrary to Divine order, and that good is the delight of the affection of acting and thinking in accordance with Divine order, and that there are myriads of lusts that enter into and compose every single evil, and myriads of affections in like manner that enter into and compose every single good, and that these myriads are in such order and connection in man’s interiors that no one can be changed unless at the same time all are changed. Those who do not know this may hold the belief or opinion that evil, which seems also to them to be a single thing, can easily be removed; and good, which also appears to be a single thing, can be brought in in its place. As such do not know what evil is and what good is they must needs be of the opinion that instant salvation and mercy apart from means are possible; but that they are not will be seen in the last chapter of this work. [6] Fourthly: Those who believe in instant salvation and mercy apart from means do not know that affections, which belong to the will, are nothing but changes of the state of the purely organic substances of the mind; and that thoughts, which belong to the understanding, are nothing but changes and variations in the form of these substances; and that memory is the state of these changes and variations that remains permanent. Who does not acknowledge, when it is stated, that affections and thoughts are possible only in substances and their forms, which are subjects? And as these exist in the brains, which are full of substances and forms, the forms are called purely organic. No one who thinks rationally can help laughing at the fancies of some that affections and thoughts do not exist in substantiated subjects, but are exhalations modified by heat and light, like images appearing in the air and ether; and yet thought can no more exist apart from a substantial form than sight apart from its form which is the eye, or hearing apart from its form which is the ear, or taste apart from its form which is the tongue. Examine the brain, and you will see innumerable substances, and fibers likewise, and that there is nothing there that is not organized. What other evidence than this ocular proof is needed? [7] But it is asked, What is affection there, and what is thought there? This may be inferred from all things and each thing in the body; in it are many viscera, each fixed in its place, and these perform their functions by changes and variations of state and form. That each is engaged in its own operations is known-the stomach in its own, the intestines in theirs, the kidneys in theirs, the liver, pancreas, and spleen in theirs, and the heart and lungs in theirs; and all of these are moved to their work solely from within, and to be moved from within is to be moved by changes and variations of state and form. All this makes clear that the operations of the purely organic substances of the mind must resemble these, with the difference that the operations of the organic substances of the body are natural, while those of the mind are spiritual; and that the two make one by correspondences. [8] The nature of the changes and variations of state and form in the organic substances of the mind, which are affections and thoughts, cannot be shown to the eye; nevertheless they may be seen as in a mirror in the changes and variations in the state of the lungs in speaking and singing. There is also a correspondence; for the tone of the voice in speaking and singing, and also its articulations, which are the words of speech and the modulations of singing, are made by the lungs, and tone corresponds to affection and speech to thought. They are also produced therefrom; and this is done by changes and variations in the state and form of the organic substances in the lungs, and from the lungs through the trachea or windpipe in the larynx and glottis, and then in the tongue, and finally in the lips. The first changes and variations of the state and form of the tone take place in the lungs, the second in the trachea and larynx, the third in the glottis by the varied openings of its orifices, the fourth in the tongue by its various adaptations to the palate and the teeth, the fifth in the lips by their varied forms. All this makes clear that mere changes and variations, successively continued, in the state of organic forms, produce tones and their articulations, which are speech and singing. Inasmuch, then, as tone and speech are produced from no other source than the affections and thoughts of the mind (for they exist from these, and never apart from them), it is evident that the affections of the will are changes and variations in the state of the purely organic substances of the mind, and that the thoughts of the understanding are changes and variations in the form of those substances, the same as in the pulmonary substances. [9] As affections and thoughts are mere changes in the state of the forms of the mind it follows that memory is nothing else than the state of these changes that is permanent. For all changes and variations of state in organic substances are such that having once become habitual they are permanent. Thus the lungs are habituated to produce various sounds in the trachea, and to vary them in the glottis, to articulate them with the tongue, and to modify them with the mouth; and these organic activities, having once become habitual, are in the organs and can be reproduced. That these changes and variations are infinitely more perfect in the organic structures of the mind than in those of the body is evident from what has been said in The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom (n. 199-204), where it has been shown that all perfections increase and ascend with degrees and according to degrees. More about this may be seen below (n. 319).

280. Another error of the age is that when sins have been remitted they are removed. Those are in this error who believe that sins are remitted to them by the sacrament of the Supper, although they have not removed them from themselves by repentance. Those also are in it who believe that they are saved by faith alone; also those who believe that they are saved by papal dispensations. All of these believe in mercy apart from means and in instant salvation. Yet when this is reversed it becomes a truth, namely, that when sins have been removed they have also been remitted; for repentance precedes remission, and without repentance there is no remission. Therefore the Lord commanded the disciples

To preach repentance for the remission of sins (Luke xxiv. 47).

And John preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins (Luke iii. 3).

To every one the Lord remits sins. He does not accuse and impute. And yet He can take them away only in accordance with the laws of His Divine providence; for when to Peter (who asked how often he should forgive a brother sinning against him, whether seven times), the Lord said

That he should forgive not only seven times but until seventy times seven (Matt. xviii. 21, 22),

what will not He forgive who is mercy itself?

281. (4) Thus the permission of evil is for the sake of the end, that there may be salvation. It is admitted that man has full liberty to think and will, but not full liberty to say and to do whatever he thinks and wills. For he can think like an atheist, can deny God, and blaspheme the holy things of the Word and the church; and can even desire to destroy them by word and deed to their utter extermination, but this is prevented by civil, moral and ecclesiastical laws; consequently he cherishes inwardly these wicked and impious things, by thinking and willing and also purposing them, but not doing them. One who is not an atheist has also full liberty to think about many things that pertain to evil, such as things fraudulent, lascivious, revengeful, and other insanities; and at times he does them. Who can believe that unless man had full liberty he not only could not be saved but would even perish utterly? [2] Now let the reason be heard: Every man is from birth in evils of many kinds; these evils are in his will; and whatever is in the will is loved; for that which a man wills from the interior he loves, and that which he loves he wills, and the will’s love flows into the understanding and makes its delight to be felt therein, and from that it comes into the thoughts, and also into the intentions. If, therefore, man were not permitted to think in accordance with his will’s love, which is implanted in him by inheritance, that love would remain shut in, and would never be seen by him, and a love of evil that is not seen is like an enemy in ambush, like matter in an ulcer, like poison in the blood, or corruption in the breast, which, if they are kept shut in, induce death. But on the other hand, if man is permitted to think about the evils of his life’s love, even so far as to intend them, they can be cured by spiritual means, as diseases are by natural means. [3] What a man would be if he were not permitted to think in accordance with the delights of his life’s love shall now be told. He would no longer be a man. His two faculties called liberty and rationality, in which the essential humanity consists, would be destroyed. The delights of these evils would occupy the interiors of his mind, even to the extent that the door would be closed; and in that case he could speak and act only in accordance with those delights, thus he would act insanely, not only in his own sight but also before the world, and at last he would not know enough to cover his shame. But that he may not become such he is indeed permitted to think about and to will the evils of his inherited nature, but not to talk about and do them; and in the meantime he learns civil, moral, and spiritual things, and these also enter into his thoughts and remove the insanities, and by means of this knowledge he is healed by the Lord; and yet no further than to know how to guard the door, unless he also acknowledges God and implores His help that he may be able to resist the insanities. Then so far as he resists them so far he refuses them admittance into his intentions, and finally into his thoughts. [4] Since, then, man is free to think as he pleases, to the end that his life’s love may come forth from its lurking- places into the light of his understanding, and since otherwise he would know nothing about his evil, and therefore would not shun it, it follows that the evil would so grow in him that no spot for restoration would be left in him, and scarcely any in his children if he should beget any, for the parent’s evil is transmitted to the offspring. But the Lord provides that this shall not take place.

282. It would have been possible for the Lord to heal the understanding in every man, and thus cause him to think what is good and not what is evil, and this by fears of various kinds, by miracles, by conversations with the dead, and by visions and dreams. But to heal the understanding alone is to heal man only from without; for the understanding with its thought is the external of man’s life, while the will with its affection is the internal of his life; consequently the healing of the understanding alone would be like palliative healing, whereby the interior malignity, shut in and wholly prevented from going out, would destroy first the near and then the remote parts, even till the whole would become dead. It is the will itself that must be healed, not by means of an influx into it of the understanding, for that is not possible, but by means of instruction, and exhortation by the understanding. If the understanding alone were healed man would become like a dead body embalmed or encased in fragrant aromatics and roses, which would soon draw from the corpse so foul a stench that they could not be brought near to any one’s nostrils. So would it be with heavenly truths in the understanding if the will’s evil love were shut in.

283. Man is permitted to think about evils, as has been said, even so far as to purpose to do them, in order that they may be removed by means of civil, moral, and spiritual things; and this is done when he thinks that a thing is contrary to what is just and equitable, to what is honorable and becoming, and to good and truth; thus contrary to the tranquility, the joy, and the blessedness of life. By means of these three, civil and moral and spiritual things, the Lord heals the love of man’s will, first by means of fears, and afterwards by means of loves. Nevertheless, evils are not separated and cast out from man, but are only removed and transferred to the sides; and when they are there and good is at the center, evils do not appear; for whatever is at the center is directly under view, and is seen and perceived. But it must be known that although good is at the center man is not therefore in good unless the evils that are at the sides bend downward or outward; if they look upward or inward they have not been removed, for they are still striving to return to the center. They bend and look downward or outward when man is shunning his evils as sins, and still more when he turns away from them; for he then condemns and assigns them to hell, and makes them look hellwards.

284. Man’s understanding is a recipient of both good and evil and of both truth and falsity, but his will itself is not; this must be either in evil or in good, it cannot be in both, for the will is the man himself, and his life’s love is there. In the understanding, however, good and evil are separated, like what is internal and what is external, and in consequence man can be interiorly in evil and exteriorly in good; and yet during his reformation good and evil meet, and then conflict and combat arise; this, if severe, is called temptation, but if not severe it goes on like the fermentation of wine or liquor. If good then conquers, evil with its falsity is removed to the sides, comparatively as dregs fall to the bottom of a vessel; and the good is like wine that becomes generous after fermentation, or liquor that becomes clear. But if evil conquers, good with its truth is removed to the sides, and becomes turbid and offensive, like unfermented wine or liquor. This process is compared to fermentation because “ferment” [leaven] signifies in the Word the falsity of evil (as in Hosea vii. 4; Luke xii. 1; and elsewhere).

285. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE IS EQUALLY WITH THE EVIL AND WITH THE GOOD.

In every man, both good and evil, there are two faculties, one of which constitutes the understanding, and the other the will. The faculty that constitutes the understanding is an ability to understand and think; this faculty is therefore called rationality. The faculty that constitutes the will is an ability to do these things freely, that is, to think and consequently to speak and to act in any way not contrary to reason or rationality; for to act freely is to act whenever one pleases and as he pleases. Since these two faculties never cease, and are continuous from firsts to lasts in all things and in each thing that man thinks and does, and as they are not in man from himself but are present with him from the Lord, it follows that the Lord’s presence, when in them, is in the particulars and even in the least particulars of man’s understanding and thought, and also of his will and affection, and therefore in the least particulars of his speech and action. Remove these faculties from any least particular and you will not be able to think or speak of it as a man. [2] It has been abundantly shown already that it is through these two faculties that man is a man, that he is able to think and speak, to perceive what is good and to understand truths, not only civil and moral but also spiritual, also to be reformed and regenerated-in a word, that he is able to be conjoined with the Lord and thereby live for ever; and furthermore, that evil men as well as good men possess these two faculties. Since, then, these faculties are in man from the Lord, and are not appropriated to man as his (for what is Divine cannot be appropriated to man as his, but can be adjoined to him and thereby appear as his), and since this Divine with man is in the least particulars of his life, it follows that the Lord governs every least particular, in an evil man as well as in a good man, and the Lord’s government is what is called the Divine providence.

286. And since it is a law of the Divine providence that man shall be able to act from freedom in accordance with reason, that is, from the two faculties, liberty and rationality, and since it is also a law of the Divine providence that what a man does shall appear to him to be as if from himself, and therefore to be as if it were his own, also that it is a law that evils must be permitted in order that man may be led out of them, it follows that man has the ability to misuse these faculties, and from freedom in accordance with reason to confirm whatever he pleases; for he is able to make whatever he pleases to be reasonable, whether it is in itself reasonable or not. Consequently some say, “What is truth? Am I not able to make anything I wish to be true?” And does not the world do this? And whoever does this does it by reasonings. Assume the falsest proposition and ask an ingenious man to prove it, and he will prove it. Ask him, for instance, to prove that man is a beast; or that the soul is like a little spider in its web, and governs the body as the spider governs by means of its threads; or tell him that religion is nothing but a mere restraint-and he will prove any one of the things proposed until it looks as if it were true. What is easier? For he knows nothing about the nature of appearances, or of falsity assumed as truth from a blind faith. [2] It is for this reason that man is unable to see this truth, namely, that the Divine providence is in the least particulars of the understanding and will, or what is the same, in the least particulars of thought and affection in every man, whether bad or good. He confuses himself especially by the thought that then evils also would be from the Lord; but it will be seen in what now follows that not the least fraction of evil is from the Lord, but that evil is from man, through his confirming in himself the appearance that he thinks, wills, speaks, and acts from himself. That this may be seen clearly it will be set forth in the following order:-

(1) The Divine providence, not only with the good but with the evil as well, is universal in every least particular; and yet it is not in their evils.

(2) The evil are continually leading themselves into evils, but the Lord is continually leading them away from evils.

(3) The evil cannot be wholly led by the Lord away from evil and into good so long as they believe their own intelligence to be everything and the Divine providence nothing.

(4) The Lord governs hell by means of opposites; and He governs in hell the evil who are in the world in respect to their interiors, but not in respect to their exteriors.

287. (1) The Divine providence, not only with the good but with the evil as well, is universal in every least particular; and yet it is not in their evils. It is shown above that the Divine providence is in the least particulars of man’s thought and affections; and this means that man can think and will nothing from himself, but that every thing that he thinks and wills, and says and does therefrom, is from influx; if good from influx out of heaven, and if evil from influx from hell; or what is the same, that good is from influx from the Lord, and evil from what is man’s own (proprium). But I am aware that this can scarcely be comprehended, because a distinction is made between that which flows in out of heaven or from the Lord and that which flows in out of hell or from what is man’s own; and yet it is said that the Divine providence is in the least particulars of man’s thoughts and affections, even to the extent that man can think and will nothing from himself. But when it is added that he can also do this from hell, also from what is his own, there appears to be a contradiction, and yet there is not. That there is no contradiction will be seen in what follows, when some things have been premised that will illustrate the matter.

288. That no one can think from himself, but can think only from the Lord, all the angels of heaven confess; while all the spirits of hell declare that no one can think from any other than himself. It has often been shown to these spirits, but in vain, for they were unwilling to accept it, that no one of them thinks or can think from himself, but that it is from influx. But experience will teach, in the first place, that every thing of thought and affection, even with the spirits of hell, flows in out of heaven; but that this inflowing good is there turned into evil and this truth into falsity, thus every thing into its opposite. This has been shown thus: A certain truth from the Word was sent down out of heaven, and was received by those who were in the upper part of hell, and by them it was sent down into the lower parts, even to the lowest; and on the way it was gradually turned into falsity and at last into a falsity wholly opposite to the truth; and those in whom this change was made were thinking the falsity as if from themselves, and did not know otherwise, although the truth thus falsified and perverted was a truth flowing down out of heaven on its way to the lowest hell. I have heard three or four times that it was so done. The same is true of good; this flowing down out of heaven is changed as it goes into the evil opposite to the good. Thus has it been made clear that truth and good going forth from the Lord and received by those who are in falsity and in evil are wholly changed, and pass into another form, so different that the first form is not apparent. The same thing takes place with every evil man, for he in respect to his spirit is in hell.

289. It has been shown to me frequently that no one in hell thinks from himself, but he thinks from others about him; and that these others do not think from themselves, but they, too, from others; and that thoughts and affections pass in order from one society to another, and no one is aware that they are not from himself. Some who believed that they thought and willed from themselves were sent into a society and were detained in it, and communication with the neighboring societies to which their thoughts were usually extended was cut off. They were then told to think differently from the spirits of that society and to compel themselves to think in an opposite way, but they confessed that it was impossible. [2] This was done with many; and even with Leibnitz, and he, too, was convinced that no one thinks from himself, but only from others; and that neither do these others think from themselves, but that all think by influx out of heaven, and heaven by influx from the Lord. Some that thought carefully about this have declared it to be astounding, and that scarcely any one could be brought to believe it, because it is wholly contrary to the appearance, and yet they could not deny it, because it was fully shown. Nevertheless, even while they were wondering about it, they said that they were not to blame for thinking evil, also that this made evil seem to be from the Lord; also that they did not comprehend how the Lord, alone could cause all to think so diversely. But these three points shall be unfolded in what follows.

290. To the experiences already presented let this be added: When it was granted me by the Lord to speak with spirits and angels this arcanum was at once disclosed to me; for I was told from heaven that, like others, I believed that I thought and that I willed from myself, yet in fact nothing was from myself, but if good it was from the Lord, and if evil it was from hell. That this was true I had a living proof in various thoughts and affections induced upon me, and gradually it was granted me to perceive and to feel it; and thereafter as soon as any evil glided into my will, or any falsity into my thought, I inquired into its source, and this was disclosed to me, and I was permitted to speak with those from whom it came, to reprove them, and to compel them to withdraw, and thus to take back their evil and their falsity and to keep them to themselves, and no longer to infuse any such thing into my thought. This I have done a thousand times; and I have now continued in this state for several years, and continue in it still; and yet I seem to myself to think and to will from myself, like others, with no difference; for it is of the Lord’s providence that it should so appear to every one, as has been shown above in its proper place. Novitiate spirits wonder at this state of mine, for it seems to them that I have no thought or will at all from myself, and am therefore like an empty something. But I laid open the mystery to them, showing that while I think interiorly and perceive what flows into my exterior thoughts, and whether it is from heaven or from hell, and reject what is from hell and receive what is from heaven, I still seem to myself to think and to will from myself, as it seems to them.

291. That all good is from heaven and all evil from hell, is not among the things unknown in the world; for it is known to every one in the church. Who in the church that has been inaugurated into the priesthood does not teach that all good is from God, and that man is unable from himself to accept anything except what has been given him from heaven; also that it is the devil who infuses evils into the thoughts of men and leads them astray, and excites them to do evils? Therefore the priest who believes that he preaches from a holy zeal prays that the Holy Spirit may teach him and direct his thoughts and his words, and sonic declare that they have sensibly perceived that they have been so actuated, and when their preaching is praised they piously reply that they have spoken from God and not from themselves. Moreover, when they see any one speaking well or doing well they say that he has been led to it by God; and on the other hand, when they see any one talking or acting wickedly they say that he has been led to it by the devil. That there is such a mode of speaking in the church is well known; but who believes it to be true?

292. That everything that a man thinks and wills and speaks and does therefrom flows in from the one fountain of life, and yet that the one fountain of life, that is, the Lord, is not the cause of man’s thinking evil and falsity, can be illustrated in this way from the natural world: That from its sun heat and light go forth, and these two flow into all subjects and objects that appear before the eyes, both into good subjects and beautiful objects and into evil subjects and unbeautiful objects, and produce in these a variety of effects; for they flow both into trees that bear good fruits and also into trees that bear evil fruits, and even into the fruits themselves and cause them to grow. They flow likewise into good seed and into tares; also into shrubs that have a good use or are wholesome, and into shrubs that have an evil use or are poisonous; and yet it is the same heat and the same light, in which there is no cause of evil; but the cause is in the recipient subjects and objects. [2] The heat that hatches eggs containing the screech-owl, the horned owl, or the viper, acts in the same way as when it hatches eggs in which lie hidden the dove, the beautiful bird, or the swan. Put eggs of the two kinds under a hen, and they will be hatched by her heat, which in itself is free from harm. What, then, has the heat in common with these evil and noxious things? The heat that flows into marshy, stercoraceous, putrid, and cadaverous substances acts in the same way as when it flows into things vinous, fragrant, active and living. Who does not see that the cause is not in the heat but in the recipient subject? Again, the same light presents pleasing colors in one object and disagreeable colors in another; it even grows bright and glows in objects of shining whiteness, and becomes dim and dusky in those verging to black. [3] The same is true in the spiritual world. There, too, there are heat and light, from its sun, which is the Lord; and from that sun these flow into their subjects and objects. The subjects and objects there are angels and spirits, particularly their voluntary and intellectual capacities. The heat there is the Divine love going forth, and the light there is the Divine wisdom going forth; and these are not the cause of the difference in their reception by one and by another, for the Lord says that

He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matt. v. 45).

In the highest spiritual sense “the sun” means the Divine love, and “rain” the Divine wisdom.

293. To this I will add the angelic view of will and intelligence in man, which is, that not a grain of will or of prudence that is his own is possible in any man. They say that if a grain were possible in any one neither heaven nor hell would continue to exist, and the whole human race would perish; and the reason given is that myriads of myriads of men, as many as have been born since the creation of the world, constitute heaven and hell; which are arranged in such an order, one under another, that on either side they make a one, heaven forming one beautiful Man, and hell one monstrous Man. If any one of these had a grain of will or intelligence of his own that oneness would not be possible, but would be rent asunder; and with it would perish that Divine form, which can have consistence and permanence only when the Lord is the All in all things, and these are utterly nothing. They say further, that this is so because the essential Divine is to think and to will from itself, while the essential human is to think and to will from God; and the essential Divine cannot be appropriated to any man, for if it were man would be God. Keep this in mind, and if you wish you will have it corroborated by the angels when after death you go to the spiritual world.

294. It has been stated above (n. 289) that when some were convinced that no one thinks from himself but only from others, and that all these others think not from themselves but from influx through heaven from the Lord, they said in their wonder that they could not then be blamed for doing evil; also that this made evil seem to be from the Lord; also that they did not comprehend how the Lord alone can cause all to think so diversely. As these three opinions must needs flow into the thoughts of those who think of effects only from effects, and not of effects from causes, it is necessary to take them up and explain them from causes. [2] First: They could not then be blamed for doing evil. For if every thing that a man thinks flows into him from others the blame would seem to rest on those from whom it comes; and yet the blame itself rests on him who receives, for he receives it as his, and he does not know and is unwilling to know anything to the contrary. For every one wishes to be his own and to be led by himself, and especially to think and to will from himself; for this is freedom itself, which appears as the own (proprium) in which every man is. If, then, he knew that what he thinks and wills flows in from another he would seem to himself like one bound and captive, and no longer his own master; and thus all the delight of his life would perish, and finally the human itself. [3] That this is so I have often seen proved. It has been granted to some to perceive and feel that they were led by others; they then became so enraged as to lose all self-control, and declared that they would rather be kept bound in hell than not be allowed to think in accordance with their will and to will in accordance with their thought. Not to be allowed to do this they called being bound in their very life, which is harder and more intolerable than being bound in body. Not to be allowed to speak and act in accordance with their thought and will they did not call being bound; because the delight in civil and moral life, which consists in speaking and doing, checks and as it were soothes this feeling. [4] Since, then, man is not willing to know that he is led to think by others, but wishes to think from himself, and believes that he does so, it follows that he is blameable; nor can he rid himself of blame so long as he loves to think what he is thinking; but as soon as he ceases to love this he releases himself from this bond to others. This takes place when he knows that a thing is evil, and wishes in consequence to shun it and refrain from it. And then he is taken away by the Lord from the society that is in that evil, and is transferred to a society that is not in that evil. But if he knows that evil and does not shun it the blame is imputed to him and he becomes guilty of that evil. Anything, therefore, that a man believes that he does from himself is said to be done from him, and not from the Lord. [5] Secondly: This makes evil to seem to be from the Lord. This may be thought to be a conclusion from what has been shown above (n. 288), namely, that good flowing in from the Lord is turned in hell into evil, and truth into falsity. But any one can see that evil and falsity are not from good and truth, and thus from the Lord, but are from the recipient subject and object, which is in evil and falsity, and which perverts and inverts that which flows in, as is also fully shown above (n. 292). But it has been frequently shown in the preceding pages what the source of evil and falsity is in man. In the spiritual world an experiment was made with those who believed that the Lord could remove evils in the wicked and could put goods in their place, and thus transfer all hell into heaven and save all. But that this is impossible will be shown near the close of this work, where instant salvation and mercy apart from means are to be treated of. [6] Thirdly: They do not comprehend how the Lord alone can cause all to think so diversely. The Lord’s Divine love is infinite and His Divine wisdom is infinite, and infinite things of love and of wisdom go forth from the Lord, and these flow into all in heaven, and therefrom into all in hell, and from both of these into all in the world; therefore thinking and willing fail in no one, for infinite things are all things without limit. Those infinite things that go forth from the Lord flow in both universally and also most particularly; for the Divine is universal from its least particulars; and it is these Divine least particulars that are called the universal, as has been shown above; and every Divine least particular is also infinite. From this it can be seen that the Lord alone causes every one to think and to will in accordance with his quality and in accordance with the laws of the Divine providence. That all things that are in the Lord and go forth from the Lord are infinite has been shown above (n. 46-69); and also in the work on The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom (n. 17-22).

295. (2) The evil are continually leading themselves into evils, but the Lord is continually leading them away from evils. What the Lord’s Divine providence is with the good is more easily comprehended than what it is with the evil; but as the latter is now treated of it shall be told in the following order: (1) In every evil there are things innumerable. (2) An evil man from himself continually leads himself more deeply into his evils. (3) The Divine providence with the evil is a continual permission of evil, to the end that there may be a continual withdrawal from it. (4) The withdrawal from evil is effected by the Lord in a thousand ways, and even in most secret ways.

296. Therefore that the Divine providence with the evil may be more clearly seen and thus comprehended the points that have been stated above shall be explained in the order of their presentation. First: In every evil there are things innumerable. In man’s sight every evil appears as one simple thing,- hatred and revenge, theft and fraud, adultery and whoredom, pride and haughtiness, and other evils, so appear,-and it is not known that in every evil there are things innumerable, more than there are fibers and vessels in a man’s body. For an evil man is hell in the least form; and hell consists of myriads of myriads, and every one there is in form like a man, though monstrous, in which all the fibers and vessels are inverted. The spirit is itself an evil, appearing to itself as a one; but as many as are the innumerable things in a spirit so many are the lusts of that evil; for every man is his own evil or his own good from the head to the sole of the foot. Since, then, an evil man is such, it is evident that he is one evil composed of innumerable different ones, each of which is a distinct evil; and these are called lusts of evil. From all this it follows that all these, in the order in which they are, must be restored and turned about by the Lord that man may be reformed; and that this can be done only by the Lord’s Divine providence, step by step, from the earliest period of man’s life to the last. [2] Every lust of evil in hell, when it is represented, appears like some noxious animal, as a dragon, or a basilisk, or a viper, or a horned owl, or a screech-owl, and so on; the lusts of evil in an evil man have a like appearance when he is looked at by angels. All these forms of lusts must be changed, one by one; the man himself who appears in respect to his spirit as a monster man or as a devil, must be so changed as to be like a beautiful angel; and every evil lust must be so changed as to appear like a lamb or a sheep, or like a pigeon or turtle-dove, which is the way in which the good affections of the angels appear in heaven when they are represented; and to change a dragon into a lamb, a basilisk into a sheep, or an owl into a pigeon, can only be done gradually by eradicating evil from its seed and implanting good seed in place of it. This can only be done comparatively as in the grafting of trees, the roots and some of the trunk of which remain, and yet the ingrafted branch turns the sap drawn up through the old root into a sap that makes good fruit. The branch to be ingrafted can be taken from no other source than the Lord who is the Tree of Life. This is in accordance with the Lord’s words (John xv. 1-7). [3] Secondly: An evil man from himself continually leads himself more deeply into his evils. The expression, from himself, is used because all evil is from man, for man turns good that is from the Lord into evil, as has been said above. The essential cause of the evil man’s leading himself more deeply into evil is that as he wills and does evil he advances more and more interiorly, and also more and more deeply, into infernal societies, and in consequence the delight of evil grows; and this so occupies his thoughts that at length nothing is sweeter to his sense. And he who has advanced more interiorly and deeply into infernal societies becomes as if he were bound with cords; although so long as he lives in the world he does not feel the cords, they are as if made of soft wool or smooth threads of silk, which he loves because they titillate. But after death these cords from being soft become hard, and instead of titillating they become galling. [4] That the delight of evil is augmented is known from thefts, robberies, depredations, revenge, tyranny, money-getting, and other evils. Who does not feel the exaltation of delight in these things in the measure of his success and unrestrained indulgence? It is known that a thief feels such delight in thefts that he is unable to refrain, and what is wonderful, that he has more love for one coin that is stolen than for ten received as a gift. The same would be true of adultery, if it had not been provided that this evil decreases in potency in the measure of the abuse; although with many a delight in thinking and talking about it remains, and if nothing more there is still the lust of touch. [5] But it is not known that this increase of delight comes of man’s advancing into infernal societies more and more interiorly and more and more deeply, as from will and at the same time from thought he commits the evils. So long as the evils are in thought alone, and not in the will, man is not in an infernal society with the evil, but he enters it as soon as the evils are also in the will. And if he then thinks that this evil is contrary to the commandments of the Decalogue, and regards the commandments as Divine, he commits the evil designedly and thereby sinks himself to a depth from which he can be led forth only by actual repentance. [6] It must be understood that in respect to his spirit every man is in the spiritual world, in some society there-an evil man in an infernal society, and a good man in a heavenly society, and sometimes when in deep meditation he also appears there; also that as the sound of the voice with the spoken words spreads itself all about in the air of the natural world, so affection with thought spreads itself into societies in the spiritual world; and this is a correspondence, for affection corresponds to sound and thought to speech. [7] Thirdly: The Divine providence with the evil is a continual permission of evil, to the end that there may be a continual withdrawal from it. The Divine providence with evil men is a continual permission, because nothing but evil can go forth from their life; for man whether he be in good or in evil, cannot be in both at the same time, nor alternately unless he is lukewarm; and it is not the Lord but man that introduces evil of life into the will and through the will into the thought. This is what is called permission. [8] Since, then, all things that an evil man wills and thinks are of permission, it may be asked what the Divine providence therein is which is said to be in the least particulars in every man, whether evil or good. But it consists in this, that it continually permits for the sake of the end, and permits such things as pertain to the end and nothing else; and the evils that go forth from permission it continually surveys, separates, and purifies, sending away things discordant and discharging them by unknown ways. These processes take place especially in man’s interior will, and from this in his interior thought. The Divine providence is also unceasing in keeping watch that what must be sent away and discharged be not received again by the will; since all things that are received by the will are appropriated to man, while whatever is received by the thought and not by the will is separated and banished. Such is the Lord’s continual providence with the evil, which is, as has been said, a continual permission, to the end that there may be an unceasing withdrawal. [9] Of all this man knows scarcely anything, because he has no perception of it. The primary reason that he has no perception of it is that these evils are the evils pertaining to the lusts of his life’s love; and these evils are not felt as evils but as delights to which no one gives attention. Who attends to the delights of his love? His thought floats on in them like a boat borne by the current of a river, and there is a perception as it were of a fragrant atmosphere which is inhaled with a full breath. Only in his external thought can he feel something of them, and even there he gives no attention to them unless he knows well that they are evils. But of this more in what follows. [10] Fourthly: The withdrawal from evil is effected by the Lord in a thousand ways, and even in most secret ways. Only some of these have been disclosed to me, and none but the most general, which are these: The delights of lusts of which man has no knowledge are emitted in companies or in bundles into the interior thoughts that belong to man’s spirit, and therefrom into his exterior thoughts, in which they appear under a kind of feeling of satisfaction or pleasure or longing; and there they are mingled with his natural and sensual delights. There, too, are the means of separation and purification, and also the ways of withdrawal and discharge. The means are chiefly the delights of meditation, of thought, and of reflection for the sake of certain ends which are uses; and the ends, which are uses, are as many as are the particulars and least particulars of one’s business and office. Or again, they are as many as the delights of reflection, to the end that he may appear like a civil and moral man and also like a spiritual man; besides the undelightful things that insert themselves. These delights, because they belong to one’s love in the external man, are the means of separation, purification, excretion, and withdrawal of the delights of the lusts of evil belonging to the internal man. [11] Take, for example, an unjust judge who regards gains or friendship as ends or as uses of his office; inwardly he is continually in these things, but outwardly he aims to act like a skilled lawyer and a just man. He is constantly in the delight of meditation, thought, reflection, and purpose, that he may so bend, turn, adapt, and adjust the right that there may still appear to be a conformity with the laws and a semblance of justice, not knowing that his internal delight consists of cunning, frauds, deceits, clandestine thefts, and many other things, and that this delight, made up of so many delights of the lusts of evil, rules in all things and each thing of his external thought, wherein are the delights of appearing to be just and sincere. The internal delights are let down into these external delights, and they are mixed together like various kinds of food in the stomach; and there they are separated, purified, and conducted away; nevertheless, this is done only with the more grievous delights of the lusts of evil. [12] For with an evil man no separation, purification, and withdrawal is possible except of the more grievous evils from the less grievous; while with a good man there can be not only a separation, purification, and withdrawal of the more grievous evils, but also of the less grievous; and this is done by means of the delights of affections for what is good and true and for what is just and sincere, into which he comes so far as he regards evils as sins and in consequence shuns them and turns away from them, and still more if he fights against them. Such are the means by which the Lord purifies all who are saved. These He also purifies by external means, which have respect to fame and honor, and sometimes to wealth; nevertheless there are implanted in these by the Lord the delights of affections for good and truth, by which they are so regulated and fitted as to become delights of love of the neighbor. [13] If one could see the delights of the lusts of evil together in some form, or if he could clearly perceive them by any sense, he would see and perceive them to be too numerous to be defined; for all hell is nothing but a form of all the lusts of evil, and there no lust of evil is exactly like another or the same as another, neither can there be to eternity. And of these numberless lusts man knows scarcely anything, still less how they are connected. Nevertheless, the Lord through His Divine providence continually permits them to come forth, to the end that they may be taken away, which is done in every order and series. An evil man is a hell in the least form, as a good man is a heaven in the least form. [14] That this withdrawal from evils is effected by the Lord in a thousand ways, even the most secret ways, one can best see and be convinced of by comparison with the secret operations of the soul in the body. Those that man has knowledge of are the following: The food that he is about to eat he looks at, perceives the odor of, hungers for, tastes, chews with his teeth, rolls to the oesophagus with his tongue, and thus into the stomach. But the soul’s secret workings, of which man knows nothing because he has no sensation of them, are these: That the stomach rolls about the food received, opens and separates it by means of solvents, that is, digests it, and offers fitting portions of it to the little mouths there opening and to the veins that drink them in, sends some to the blood, some to the lymphatic vessels, some to the lacteal vessels of the mesentery, and some it sends away down the intestines; and finally the chyle, conveyed through the thoracic duct from its receptacle in the mesentery, is carried into the vena cava, and so into the heart, and from the heart into the lungs, from them through the left ventricle of the heart into the aorta, and from this by its branches into the viscera of the whole body and also to the kidneys; and in every one of these organs a separation of the blood, a purification and a withdrawal of heterogeneous substances is effected; not to speak of how the heart presents its blood, when defecated in the lungs, to the brain, which is done through the arteries called carotids, and how the brain returns the blood vivified to the vena cava (just above where the thoracic duct brings in the chyle), and so back again to the heart. [15] These and innumerable others are the secret operations of the soul in the body. These operations are not felt by man, and he who is not versed in the science of anatomy knows nothing about them. And yet similar things take place in the interiors of man’s mind; for nothing can take place in the body except from the mind; for man’s mind is his spirit, and his spirit is equally a man, with the difference only that whatever is done in the body is done naturally, and whatever is done in the mind is done spiritually; the similitude is complete. From all this it is evident that the Divine providence works in every man in a thousand ways, even to the most secret, and that its unceasing end is to purify him, because its end is to save him; and that nothing is incumbent on man except to remove evils in the external man. All the rest the Lord provides if He is appealed to.

297. (3) The evil cannot be wholly led by the Lord away from evil and into good so long as they believe their own intelligence to be everything, and the Divine providence nothing. The appearance is that man has the ability to withdraw himself from evil, provided he thinks this or that to be contrary to the common good, contrary to what is useful, and contrary to the law of the nation and of nations. This an evil man can do as well as a good man, provided he is such by birth or by practice as to be able inwardly in himself to think clearly, analytically and rationally. Nevertheless he is not able to withdraw himself from evil. And the reason of this is that while the Lord gives to every man, the good and the evil alike, the capacity to understand and perceive things, even abstractly, as has been shown above throughout, yet man from that capacity is not able to deliver himself from evil, because evil belongs to the will, and the understanding flows into the will only as with light, enlightening and teaching; and if the heat of the will, that is, man’s life’s love, is glowing with a lust of evil it is frigid in affection for good; and in consequence, he does not receive [that light], but either rejects or extinguishes it, or by some contrived falsity turns it into evil. It is in this as with the light of winter, which is equally clear with the summer’s light, and acts in a like manner as it flows in upon the frozen trees. But this can be seen more fully in the following order: (1) One’s own intelligence, when the will is in evil, sees nothing but falsity, and has no desire or ability to see anything else. (2) If one’s own intelligence then sees truth it either turns itself away or it falsifies the truth. (3) The Divine providence continually causes man to see truth, and also gives an affection for perceiving it and for receiving it. (4) By this means man is withdrawn from evil, not by himself, but by the Lord.

298. But that these things may be made evident to the rational man, whether he be an evil or a good man, thus whether he be in the light of winter or of summer (for colors appear the same in both), they shall be explained in their order. First: One’s own intelligence, when the will is in evil, sees nothing but falsity, and has no desire or ability to see any thing else. This has often been shown in the spiritual world. Every man when he becomes a spirit, which takes place after death (for he then puts off the material body and puts on the spiritual), is admitted by turns into the two states of his life, the external and the internal. While he is in the external state he speaks and acts rationally and wisely, just as a rational and wise man does in the world; he can also teach others many things that pertain to moral and civil life; and if he has been a preacher he can teach things pertaining to spiritual life. But when from this external state he is let into his internal, and the external is put to sleep and the internal is awakened, if he is an evil man the scene is changed; from being rational he becomes sensual, and from being wise he becomes insane, for he then thinks from the evil of his will and its delight, thus from his own intelligence, and he sees nothing but falsity and does nothing but evil, believing that shrewdness is wisdom and that cunning is prudence; and from his own intelligence he believes himself to be a deity, and with his whole mind drinks in nefarious schemes. [2] Such insanities I have often seen; I have also seen spirits let into these alternate states two or three times within an hour; and they were then permitted to see their insanities and to acknowledge them; nevertheless they were unwilling to remain in a rational and moral state, but turned themselves back of their own accord into their internal state, which was sensual and insane, for they loved this more than the other, because the delight of their life’s love was in it. Who can believe that an evil man is such behind his outward appearance, and that he undergoes such a transformation when he enters into what is within? From this experience alone it can be seen what one’s own intelligence is when he thinks and acts from the evil of his will. It is otherwise with the good: when these from the external state are admitted into the internal they become still wiser and better behaved. [3] Secondly: If one’s own intelligence then sees truth it either turns itself away or it falsifies the truth. Man has a voluntary self (proprium) and an intellectual self; the voluntary self is evil, and the intellectual self is falsity therefrom; the latter is meant by “the will of man,” and the former by “the will of the flesh” (John i. 13). The voluntary self in its essence is love of self, and the intellectual is conceit from that love; these two are like two consorts, and their marriage is called the marriage of evil and falsity. Every evil spirit is admitted into this marriage before he comes into hell, and when he is in it he does not know what good is, for he calls his evil good because he feels it to be delightful; and he then also turns away from the truth and is unwilling to see it, because he sees the falsity that is in harmony with his evil as the eye sees what is beautiful, and he hears it as the ear hears what is harmonious. [4] Thirdly: The Divine providence continually causes man to see truth, and also gives an affection for perceiving it and receiving it. This is done because the Divine providence acts from the interior, and through it flows into exteriors, that is, from the spiritual into the things that are in the natural man; and by the light of heaven enlightens the understanding, and by the heat of heaven vivifies the will. The light of heaven in its essence is Divine wisdom, and the heat of heaven in its essence is Divine love, and from the Divine wisdom nothing else can flow in but truth, and from the Divine love nothing else can flow in but good; and from this the Lord gives in the understanding an affection for seeing truth and also for perceiving and receiving it. Thus man becomes a man both in external and in internal aspect. Does not every one wish to appear a rational and spiritual man? And does not every one know that he wishes so to appear, that he may be believed by others to be a true man? If, therefore, he is rational and spiritual in external form only, and not also in internal form, is he a man? Is he anything but as a player upon the stage or as an ape with a face almost human? From this can it not be known that he alone is a man who is interiorly what he wishes to seem to others to be? He who acknowledges the one must acknowledge the other. One’s own intelligence can induce the human form on externals only; but the Divine providence induces that form on the internals, and through these in the externals; and when it has been so induced man does not merely appear to be a man but he is a man. [5] Fourthly: By this means man is withdrawn from evil, not by himself but by the Lord. When the Divine providence enables man to see truth, and at the same time gives him an affection for it, man can be withdrawn from evil, because truth instructs and prescribes, and when the will does accordingly it conjoins itself with the truth, and in itself it turns the truth into good; for the truth comes to be of its love, and what is of the love is good. All reformation is effected by means of truth, and not without it; for without truth the will is continually in its own evil, and if it consults the understanding it is not instructed, but the evil is confirmed by falsities. [6] In respect to intelligence, it appears both to the good man and to the evil man to be his, even his own; moreover, a good man is bound to act from intelligence as if it were his own just as much as an evil man; but he that believes in the Divine providence is withdrawn from evil, while he that does not believe is not withdrawn; and he believes who acknowledges evil to be sin and wishes to be withdrawn from it, while he does not believe who does not so acknowledge and wish. The difference between these two kinds of intelligence is like the difference between that which is believed to be in itself, and that which is believed not to be in itself and yet as if in itself; or it is like the difference between an external without a correlative internal and an external with a correlative internal; thus it is like the difference between the words and gestures of mimics and actors who personate kings, princes, and generals, and the kings, princes, and generals themselves; the latter are such both inwardly and outwardly, while the others are such only outwardly, and when this outward is put off they are called comedians, performers, and players.

299. (4) The Lord governs hell by opposites; and He governs in hell the evil who are in the world in respect to their interiors, but not in respect to their exteriors. He that does not know what heaven is and what hell is can know nothing whatever about what man’s mind is. The mind of man is his spirit that lives after death. This is because the mind or spirit of man is wholly in the form in which heaven is or in which hell is; there is not the slightest difference, except that one is the greatest and the other the least, or that one is the effigy and the other the type. Consequently in respect to his mind or spirit man is either a heaven or a hell in the least form. He that is led by the Lord is a heaven, and he that is led by what is his own is a hell. Since, then, it has been granted me to know what heaven is and what hell is, and it is important to know what man is in respect to his mind or spirit, I will describe both briefly.

300. All that are in heaven are nothing but affections for good and thoughts of truth therefrom, and all that are in hell are nothing but lusts of evil and imaginations of falsity therefrom; and these are so arranged on either side that the lusts of evil and the imaginations of falsity in hell are directly opposed to the affections for good and the thoughts of truth in heaven. Consequently hell is under heaven, diametrically opposite to it; that is, diametrically opposite like two men lying in opposite ways, or standing as antipodes, thus inversely to each other and meeting at the soles of the feet, or with the heels together. Sometimes hell is seen to be so situated or reversed in respect to heaven. This is because those that are in hell make lusts of evil the head and affections for good the feet, while those who are in heaven make affections for good the head and lusts of evil the soles of the feet; hence the mutual opposition. When it is said that in heaven there are affections for good and consequent thoughts of truth, and in hell there are lusts of evil and consequent imaginations of falsity, it is meant that there are spirits and angels there who are such; for every one is his own affection or his own lust, an angel of heaven is his own affection and a spirit of hell is his own lust.

301. The angels of heaven are affections for good and consequent thoughts of truth, because they are recipients of Divine love and Divine wisdom from the Lord. All affections for good are from the Divine love, and all thoughts of truth are from the Divine wisdom. But the spirits of hell are lusts of evil and consequent imaginations of falsity, because they are in the love of self and in their own intelligence, and all lusts of evil are from the love of self, and the imaginations of falsity are from one’s own intelligence.

302. The arrangement of affections in heaven and of lusts in hell is wonderful, and is known to the Lord alone. In each they are distinguished into genera and species, and are so conjoined as to act as one. And because they are distinguished into genera and species they are distinguished into societies greater and less; and because they are so conjoined as to act as one they are conjoined like all the things that are in man. Consequently heaven in its form is like a beautiful man, whose soul is the Divine love and Divine wisdom, thus the Lord; and hell in its form is like a monstrous man, whose soul is the love of self and self-intelligence, thus the devil; for there is no devil who is sole lord there, but the love of self is called the devil.

303. But in order to make it better known what heaven is and what hell is, let delights of good be substituted for affections for good, and delights of evil for lusts of evil; for there is no affection or lust without delight, since these make the life of every one. These delights are what are distinguished and conjoined in the way described above respecting affections for good and lusts of evil. The delight of his affection fills and surrounds every angel of heaven, and also a general delight fills and surrounds every society of heaven, and the delight of all together or a most general delight fills and surrounds the universal heaven. In like manner the delight of his lust fills and surrounds every spirit of hell, and a general delight every society of hell, and the delight of all or a most general delight fills and surrounds the entire hell. Because, as said above, the affections of heaven and the lusts of hell are diametrically opposed to each other, it is clear that the delight of heaven is so undelightful in hell that it cannot be endured, and on the other hand, that the delight of hell is so undelightful in heaven that it cannot be endured. This is the cause of the antipathy, aversion, and separation.

304. Inasmuch as these delights constitute the life of every one in particular and of all in general, they are not felt by those who are in them, but their opposites are felt when they approach, especially when they are turned into odors; for every delight corresponds to an odor, and in the spiritual world may be converted into an odor; and then the general delight in heaven is sensed as the odor of a garden, with variety according to the varieties of fragrance there from flowers and fruits, while the general delight in hell is sensed as stagnant water into which different kinds of filth have been thrown, with variety according to the bad odors from putrid and offensive things therein. How the delight of each affection for good in heaven and the delight of the lust of evil in hell is felt it has been granted me to know; but it would require too much space to explain it here.

305. I have heard many newcomers from the world complain that they had not known that their life’s lot would be in accordance with the affections of their love, saying that in the world they had not thought about these affections, still less about their delights, because they had loved whatever was delightful to them, and had merely believed that every one’s lot would be in accordance with their thoughts from intelligence, especially in accordance with the thoughts arising from their piety and also from their faith. But it was replied that they could have known if they had wished, that evil of life is disagreeable to heaven and displeasing to God, but is agreeable to hell and pleasing to the devil, and on the other hand, that good of life is agreeable to heaven and pleasing to God, and disagreeable to hell and displeasing to the devil; consequently that evil in itself is a stench, while good in itself is fragrant. And as they might have known this if they would, why had they not shunned evil as infernal and diabolical and why had they favored evils merely because they were delightful? And as they were now aware that the delights of evil have so foul a smell, they might also know that those who exhale such smells cannot enter heaven. After this reply they betook themselves to those who were in like delights, because there and not elsewhere they could breathe.

306. From the idea here given of heaven and hell it can be seen what man’s mind is; for, as has been said, man’s mind or spirit is either a heaven or a hell in the least form, that is, its interiors are mere affections and thoughts therefrom, distinguished into genera and species, as into greater and less societies, and so conjoined as to act as one, and that the Lord rules them in the same manner as He rules heaven and hell. That man is either a heaven or a hell in the least form can be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, published in London in the year 1758 (n. 51-87).

307. Now in regard to the subject proposed: That the Lord governs hell by means of opposites, and that the evil who are in the world He governs in hell, in respect to their interiors but not in respect to their exteriors. As to the first: That the Lord governs hell by means of opposites. It has been shown above (n. 288, 289), that the angels of heaven are not in love and wisdom, or in affection for good and the consequent thought of truth from themselves, but from the Lord; also that good and truth flow out of heaven into hell, and that good is there turned into evil, and truth into falsity, because the interiors of the minds of those in heaven and in hell are turned in opposite directions. Since, then, all things in hell are opposite to all things in heaven it follows that the Lord governs hell by means of opposites. [2] Secondly: The evil who are in the world the Lord governs in hell. This is true because man as to his spirit is in the spiritual world and in some society there, in an infernal society if he is evil, and in a heavenly society if he is good; for man’s mind, which in itself is spiritual, must needs be among the spiritual, and he comes among such after death. That this is true has also been said and shown above. But a man is not there in the same way as a spirit is who has been assigned to the society, for a man is constantly in a state to be reformed, and if he is evil he is transferred by the Lord from one society of hell to another in accordance with his life and its changes. But if he suffers himself to be reformed he is led out of hell, and is led up into heaven, and there he is transferred from one society to another, and this even until death. But after death he is no longer borne from one society to another there, because he is then no longer in any state to be reformed, but remains in the state in which he is in accordance with his life. When, therefore, a man dies he is assigned to his own place. [3] Thirdly: The Lord in this way governs the evil in the world in respect to their interiors, but otherwise in respect to their exteriors. The Lord governs the interiors of man’s mind, as has now been told; but the exteriors He governs in the world of spirits, which is intermediate between heaven and hell. The reason of this is that in externals man is for the most part different from what he is in internals, for in externals he can feign himself an angel of light while in internals he is a spirit of darkness; therefore his external is governed in one way and his internal in another. As long as he is in the world his external is governed in the world of spirits, but his internal is governed in heaven or in hell; therefore when he dies he first enters the world of spirits, and there comes into his external, which is there put off; and when this has been put off he is borne into his own place to which he has been assigned. What the world of spirits is and the nature of it may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, published at London in the year 1758 (n. 421-535).

308. THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE APPROPRIATES NEITHER EVIL NOR GOOD TO ANY ONE; BUT MAN’S OWN PRUDENCE APPROPRIATES BOTH.

Nearly every one believes that man thinks and wills from himself, and consequently speaks and acts from himself. And who from himself can believe otherwise, when the appearance that it is so is so strong that it does not differ in the least from an actual thinking, willing, speaking, and acting from one’s self? Nevertheless, that is impossible. In Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom it has been shown that there is only one life, and that men are recipients of life; also that man’s will is the receptacle of love, and his understanding the receptacle of wisdom, and these two are that only life. It has also been shown there that it is from creation, and therefore from an unceasing Divine providence, that in man this life should manifest itself in the similitude of belonging to him, consequently as if it were his own life; this, however, being an appearance, to the end that man may be a receptacle. It has also been shown above (n. 288-294) that man never thinks from himself, but always from others, nor these others from themselves, but all from the Lord, and that this is true both of the evil man and of the good; furthermore, that this is recognized in the Christian world, especially by those who not only say but believe that all good and truth are from the Lord, also all wisdom, thus all faith and charity, while all evil and falsity are from the devil, or from hell. [2] From all this no other conclusion can follow than that every thing that man thinks and wills flows in. And since all speech flows from thought as an effect from its cause, and all action flows from will in like manner, it follows that everything also that a man says and does flows in, although derivatively or mediately. That every thing that a man sees, hears, smells, tastes, and feels, flows in cannot be denied; why not, then, every thing that a man thinks and wills? Can there be any other difference than that what flows into the organs of the external senses, or those of the body, are such things as are in the natural world, while what flows into the organic substances of the internal senses or those of the mind are such things as are in the spiritual world? Consequently as the organs of the external senses or those of the body are receptacles of natural objects, so the organic substances of the internal senses or of the mind are receptacles of spiritual objects. Such being the state of man, what has he that is his own? His being this or that kind of receptacle is not what is his own, since this own is simply what he is in respect to reception, and is not his life’s own, for by one’s own nothing else is meant by any one except that one lives from himself, and therefore thinks and wills from himself. But that such an own is not in man, and cannot possibly exist in any man, follows from what has been said above.

309. But I will relate what I have heard from some in the spiritual world. They were among those who believed their own prudence to be everything, and the Divine providence to be nothing. I said that man has nothing that is his own unless you choose to say that his being this or that kind of a subject, or his being this or that kind of an organ, or this or that kind of a form, is his own. But this is not the own that is meant, for this is merely what he is. In fact, no man, according to the common understanding of his own has any thing his own. Those who had ascribed all things to their own prudence, and who might be called owners in their very image, so blazed up at this that flame appeared from their nostrils, saying, “You are uttering contradictions and insanities; would not a man thus be nothing and emptiness, or an idea or fantasy, or a graven image or statue?” [2] But I could only answer that it is absurd and insane to believe that man is life from himself, and that wisdom and prudence do not flow in from God, but are in man, as well as the good that belongs to charity and the truth that belongs to faith. To attribute these to oneself is called by every wise man an insanity, consequently it is absurd; moreover, those who do this are like those who occupy the house and property of another, and as soon as they are in possession persuade themselves that they are the owners; or they are like overseers and stewards who believe all things belonging to their lord to be theirs; or like business servants to whom their lord has given talents and pounds to trade with, and who render no account but keep them as their own, and thus act as thieves. [3] Of all these it can be said that they are insane, and even that they are nothings and vanities, and are merely creatures of thought (idealistoe), since they do not have in them from the Lord that good which is the very being of life, thus neither the truth. Therefore such are called “dead,” and “nothings and vanities” (Isaiah xl. 17, 23), and elsewhere, “formers of an image,” and “graven images,” and “statues.” But of all this more in what follows, which will be considered in this order:-

(1) What one’s own prudence is, and what prudence not one’s own is.

(2) Man from his own prudence persuades himself and corroborates in himself that all good and truth are from himself and in himself; likewise all evil and falsity.

(3) Everything that a man has adopted by persuasion and confirmation remains in him as his own.

(4) If man believed, as is the truth, that all good and truth are from the Lord, and all evil and falsity from hell, he would not appropriate good to himself and make it meritorious, nor appropriate evil to himself and make himself guilty of it.

310. (1) What one’s own prudence is, and what prudence not one’s own is. Those are in their own prudence who corroborate appearances in themselves and make them truths, especially the appearance that one’s own prudence is everything, and the Divine providence nothing unless something universal; and this is impossible without the particulars that constitute it, as has been shown above. Such are in fallacies also, for every appearance confirmed as a truth becomes a fallacy; and as far as they confirm themselves by fallacies they become naturalists, and to that extent they believe nothing but what they are able also to perceive by some bodily sense, especially by the sense of sight, because that sense especially acts as one with thought. Such at last become sensual. When such confirm themselves in favor of nature against God, they close up the interiors of their minds, interposing a veil, as it were, and afterwards they think below the veil, but not of any thing that is above it. The ancients called such sensual men serpents of the tree of knowledge; and in the spiritual world it is said of them that as they confirm themselves they close up the interiors of their minds, at length even to the nose; for the “nose” signifies perception of truth, and this means that they have no perception. What such are shall now be told. [2] They are above others shrewd and cunning, and ingenious reasoners; and they call shrewdness and cunning intelligence and wisdom, nor do they know otherwise. Those not like themselves they regard as simple and stupid, especially those who worship God and acknowledge the Divine providence. In respect to the interior principles of their minds, about which they have little knowledge, they are like those called Machiavelians, who regard murder, adultery, theft, and false witness, viewed in themselves, as of no account; and if they reason against them it is merely from prudence, lest they should appear such themselves. [3] Of man’s life in the world they think only that it is like the life of a beast; and of man’s life after death that it is like a living vapor that after rising out of the corpse or the grave settles back again and thus dies. From this madness arises the idea that spirits and angels are made of air, and with such as have been trained to believe in eternal life, that the souls of men are of the same nature, and thus cannot see, hear, or speak, and therefore are blind, deaf, and dumb, and can merely think in some part of their air. They say, How can the soul be any thing else? Did not the external senses die with the body; and how can the soul again resume them until it is reunited with the body? And this belief has been maintained because they have been able to comprehend the state of the soul after death only in this sensual way and not spiritually; and except for this the belief in an eternal life would have perished. Such have especially confirmed in themselves the love of self, calling it the fire of life and the incentive to the various uses in the kingdom. And being such they are idols of self; and as their thoughts are fallacies and from fallacies they are images of falsity; and as they favor the delights of lusts they are satans and devils. Those who confirm in themselves the lusts of evil are called satans, and those who live those lusts are called devils. [41 What the most cunning sensual men are it has been granted me to know. Their hell is deep down behind, and they wish to be invisible; therefore they appear there flying about like specters, which are their fantasies. They are called genii. Some of them were once let out of that hell that I might know their character. They immediately applied themselves to my neck, beneath the occiput, and thus entered into my affections, not wishing to enter my thoughts-these they skilfully voided; and they varied my affections one after another for the purpose of bending them insensibly into their opposites, which are lusts of evil; and as they did not touch my thoughts they would have bent and inverted the affections without my knowledge if the Lord had not prevented it. [5] Such do those become who in the world do not believe that there is any such thing as Divine providence, and who seek out in others nothing but their cupidities and desires, thus leading them on until they rule over them And as they do this so secretly and cunningly that the other does not know it, and as after death they become like themselves, as soon as they enter the spiritual world they are cast down into that hell. Such when seen in the light of heaven appear without noses, and what is wonderful, although they are so crafty they are nevertheless more sensual than others. As the ancients called a sensual man a serpent, and as such a man is shrewd, crafty, and an ingenious reasoner above others, therefore it is said that,

The serpent was made more crafty than any wild beast of the field (Gen. iii. 1);

and the Lord says:-

Be ye therefore prudent as serpents and simple as doves (Matt. x. 16);

and also the dragon, which is likewise called “the old serpent,” “the devil,” and “satan,” is described as,

Having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads (Apoc. xii. 3, 9);

“seven heads” signifying craftiness; “the ten horns” the power of persuading by fallacies; and “the seven crowns” the holy things of the Word and of the church profaned.

311. This description of one’s own prudence and of those who are in it makes clear what prudence that is not one’s own is, and the character of those who are in it, namely, that prudence not one’s own is the prudence of those who do not persuade themselves that intelligence and wisdom are from man; for they say, How can one be wise from himself, or how can one do good from himself? And when they say this they see in themselves that it is so, for they think interiorly; and they also believe that others think in the same way, especially the learned, not knowing that any one can think in a purely exterior way. [2] Such are not in fallacies through any confirmations of appearances, and therefore they know and perceive that murder, adultery, theft, and false witness are sins, and consequently shun them. They know also that shrewdness is not wisdom, and that cunning is not intelligence. When they listen to ingenious reasonings from fallacies they wonder and inwardly smile. This is because with them there is no veil between interiors and exteriors, or between the spiritual and the natural things of the mind, as there is with the sensual; therefore they receive influx from heaven, by which they interiorly see these things. [3] Such speak more simply and sincerely than others, and place wisdom in the life, and not in talking. They are comparatively like lambs and sheep, while those who are in their own prudence are like wolves and foxes. They are like those who live in a house and see heaven through the windows; while those who are in their own prudence are like those who live in the cellar of a house, and through their windows see only what is below the level of the ground. They are like those who stand on a mountain, and they see those who are in their own prudence like persons wandering in the valleys and forests. [4] From all this it can be seen that the prudence that is not one’s own is prudence from the Lord, having the same appearance in externals as one’s own prudence but wholly unlike it in internals. In the spiritual world prudence not one’s own appears in internals like a man, while one’s own prudence appears like an effigy, seemingly alive merely from this, that those who are in that prudence have nevertheless rationality and liberty, or a capacity to understand and will, and consequently to speak and act, and by means of these capacities they can feign themselves men also. They are such effigies because evils and falsities have no life, but goods and truths only are living; and knowing this from their rationality (for if they did not know it they would not counterfeit goods and truths) they endow their effigies with human vitality. [5] Who cannot know that a man is such as he is interiorly? Consequently, is not he a man who is interiorly what he wishes to seem to be outwardly? And is not he an effigy who is a man only outwardly, and not interiorly? Think as you talk, in favor of God and religion, and justice and sincerity, and you will be a man, and the Divine providence will then be your prudence, and you will see in others that one’s own prudence is insanity.

312. (2) Man from his own prudence persuades himself and corroborates in himself that all good and truth are from himself and in himself; likewise all evil and falsity. Let an argument be drawn from the analogy between natural good and truth and spiritual good and truth. It is asked what the true and the good are in the sight of the eye? Is not the true there that which is called beautiful, and good there that which is called delightful? For delight is felt in seeing what is beautiful. What are the true and the good in the hearing? Is not the true there that which is called harmonious, and the good that which is called pleasing? for pleasure is felt in hearing harmonious sounds. So of the other senses. This makes clear what natural truth and good are. Consider now what spiritual truth and good are. Is spiritual truth any thing except the beautiful and harmonious in spiritual things and objects? And is spiritual good any thing except the delight and pleasure that are derived from what is perceived of their beauty or harmony? [2] And now observe whether anything can be said of the one different from what may be said of the other, that is, of the spiritual different from what may be said of the natural. Of the natural it is said that beauty and delight flow from objects into the eye, and that what is harmonious and pleasing flows from musical instruments into the ear. What is there different in the organic substances of the mind? Of these it is said that their contents reside in them, of natural organs that they flow in. But if it is asked why they are said to flow in, there can be no other answer than that it is because there is a manifest distance between them. But why in the other case are they said to be contained in them? There can be no other answer than that it is because there is no manifest distance between them. Consequently it is the appearance of distance that causes one kind of belief about what man thinks and perceives and another about what he sees and hears. But this falls to the ground as soon as it is known that the spiritual is not in distance as the natural is. Think of the sun and the moon, or of Rome and Constantinople-in the thought is there any distance between them, provided this thought is not joined with experience acquired through sight or hearing? Why then persuade yourself that because there is no manifest distance in the thought, good and truth and also evil and falsity reside within and do not flow in? [3] To this I will add this experience, which is common in the spiritual world. One spirit can infuse his thoughts and affections into another spirit, and the latter be unaware that it is not a part of his own thought and affection. This is there called thinking from another and thinking in another. I have seen this a thousand times, and I have myself done it a hundred times, even when there was an appearance of considerable distance. But as soon as they knew that another had introduced these thoughts and affections they were indignant and turned themselves away, acknowledging, however, that in the internal sight or the thought there is no appearance of distance, except when it is detected, as it may be by the external sight or the eye; and from that it may be believed that there is an inflowing. [4] To this I will add my own daily experience. Evil spirits have often infused into my thoughts evils and falsities which appeared to me to be in me and from me, that is, as if I myself thought them; but as I knew them to be evils and falsities I tried to discover who had infused them, and they who did so were detected and driven away. These had been at a very great distance from me. All this makes clear that all evil with its falsity flows in from hell, and that all good with its truth flows in from the Lord, and that they both appear to be in man.

313. The character of those who are in their own prudence and of those who are in prudence not their own, and who are thus in the Divine providence, is described in the Word by “Adam and his wife Eve,” in “the garden of Eden,” where there were two trees, one of life and the other of the knowledge of good and evil, and by their eating of the latter tree. That by “Adam and his wife Eve,” in the internal or spiritual sense, the Most Ancient Church of the Lord on this earth, which was more noble and heavenly than the succeeding churches, is meant and depicted, can be seen above (n. 241); the signification of the other things is as follows.

[2] “The garden of Eden” signifies the wisdom of the men of that church; “the tree of life” the Lord in respect to the Divine providence; and “the tree of knowledge” man in respect to his own prudence; the “serpent” signifies the sensual of man and what is his own (proprium), which in itself is the love of self and the pride of self-intelligence, thus the devil and satan; “eating from the tree of knowledge” signifies the appropriation of good and truth, as being from man and consequently man’s, and not from the Lord and consequently the Lord’s. And as good and truth are the Divine things themselves with man (for by good everything of love is meant and by truth everything of wisdom), so when man claims these to himself as his he cannot but believe that he is as God; therefore the serpent said:-

In the day ye eat thereof your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil (Gen. iii. 5).

Thus do those do in hell who are in the love of self and in the conceit of their own intelligence therefrom. [3] The condemnation of the serpent signifies the condemnation of one’s own love and one’s own intelligence; the condemnation of Eve signifies the condemnation of the voluntary self (proprium), and Adam’s condemnation signifies the condemnation of the intellectual self (proprium); “the thorn and the thistle” that the earth would bring forth to him signify pure falsity and evil; the expulsion from the garden signifies the deprivation of wisdom; “the guarding of the way to the tree of life” the Lord’s care lest the holy things of the Word and the church be violated; “the fig leaves with which they covered their nakedness” signify moral truths by which the things of their love and pride were veiled; and “the coats of skin” in which they were afterwards clothed signify the appearances of truth, which were all that they had. Such is the spiritual meaning of these things. But let him who wishes remain in the sense of the letter; only let him know that in heaven this is the meaning.

314. The character of those who are infatuated by their own intelligence can be seen from their fancies in matters of interior judgment; for example, respecting influx, thought, and life. Respecting influx their thought is inverted, as that the sight of the eye flows into the internal sight of the mind, which is the understanding; and the hearing of the ear flows into the internal hearing, which also is the understanding; and they fail to perceive that the understanding from the will flows into the eye and the ear, and not only makes those senses but also uses them as its instruments in the natural world. But as this is not in accordance with the appearance they fail to perceive what is meant when it is simply said that the natural does not flow into the spiritual but that the spiritual flows into the natural, still thinking, “What is the spiritual but a purer natural?” also, “Is it not evident that when the eye sees any thing beautiful, or the ear hears any thing harmonious, the mind, which is the understanding and the will, is delighted?” And they are not aware that the eye does not see from itself, nor the tongue taste from itself, nor the nose smell from itself, nor the skin feel from itself; but that it is man’s mind or spirit that there perceives things by the sense, and is affected by the sense in accordance with its nature; and still these things are not felt by man’s mind or spirit from itself, but from the Lord; and to think otherwise is to think from appearances, and if these are confirmed, from fallacies. [2] Of Thought they say that it is something modified in the air, varied according to its objects and enlarged according to culture, thus that the ideas of the thoughts are images like meteors appearing in the air, while the memory is the tablet on which they have been impressed; and they are not aware that thoughts are as much in substances purely organic as the sight and the hearing are in theirs. Only let them examine the brain and they will see that it is full of such substances; injure them and you become delirious, destroy them and you will die. But what thought is and what memory is can be seen above (near the end of n. 279). [3] Of Life they know nothing else than that it is a certain activity of nature that makes itself felt in various ways, as a living body moves itself organically. If it is asserted that if this be so nature is alive, they deny it, and say that nature imparts life. If it is asked, Then is not life dissipated when the body dies? they answer that life remains in that body of air that is called the soul. If it is asked, What is God then? is He not Life itself? they are silent, and are unwilling to declare what they think. If it is asked, Would you admit that Divine love and Divine wisdom are life itself? they answer, “What are love and wisdom?” For in their fallacies they fail to see what these are or what God is. These things are adduced to make clear how man is infatuated by his own prudence, for the reason that he draws all conclusions from appearances and consequent fallacies.