True Christian Religion · §§ 406–450

406. III. EVERY MAN INDIVIDUALLY IS THE NEIGHBOR WHO IS TO BE LOVED, BUT ACCORDING TO THE QUALITY OF HIS GOOD.

Man is born not for the sake of himself but for the sake of others; that is, he is born not to live for himself alone but for others; otherwise there could be no cohesive society, nor any good therein. It is a common saying that every man is a neighbor to himself; but the doctrine of charity teaches how this is to be understood, namely, that everyone should provide for himself the necessaries of life, as food, clothing, a dwelling, and other things which are necessarily required in the social life in which he is, and this not only for himself, but also for his family, nor for the present alone, but also for the future. For unless a man acquires for himself the necessaries of life, he is not in a condition to exercise charity, since he is in want of everything. But how every man ought to be a neighbor to himself may be seen from the following comparison: Every man ought to provide his body with food; this must be first, but the end should be that he may have a sound mind in a sound body; and every man ought to provide his mind with food, namely, with such things as pertain to intelligence and judgment; but the end should be that he may thereby be in a state to serve his fellow-citizens, society, his country, the church, and thus the Lord. He who does this provides well for himself to eternity. From this it is plain what is first in time, and what is first in end, and that the first in end is that to which all things look. It is also like building a house; first the foundation must be laid; but the foundation must be for the house, and the house for a dwellingplace. He who believes himself to be a neighbor to himself in the first place or primarily, is like one who regards the foundation, not the dwelling, as the end; and yet the dwelling is itself the first and the last end, and the house with its foundation is only a means to the end.

407. What it is to love the neighbor shall be explained. To love the neighbor is not alone to wish well and do good to a relative, a friend, or a good man, but also to a stranger, an enemy, or a bad man. But charity is to be exercised toward the latter in one way and toward the former in another; toward a relative or friend by direct benefits; toward an enemy or a bad man by indirect benefits, which are rendered by exhortation, discipline, punishment, and consequent amendment. This may be illustrated thus: A judge who punishes an evil-doer in accordance with law and justice, loves his neighbor; for so he makes him better, and consults the welfare of the citizens that he may not do them harm. Everyone knows that a father who chastises his children when they do wrong, loves them, and that, on the other hand, he who does not chastise them therefore, loves their evils, and this cannot be called charity. Again, if a man repels an insulting enemy, and in self-defense strikes him or delivers him to the judge in order to prevent injury to himself, and yet with a disposition to befriend the man, he acts from a charitable spirit. Wars that have as an end the defense of the country and the church, are not contrary to charity. The end in view declares whether it is charity or not.

408. Since, therefore, charity in its origin is good will, and good will has its seat in the internal man, it is plain that when anyone who has charity resists an enemy, punishes the guilty, and chastises the wicked, he does this by means of the external man; and therefore, after he has done it he returns to the charity that resides in his internal man, and then, so far as he can, and so far as is useful, he wishes him well, and from good will does good to him. Those who have genuine charity have a zeal for what is good, and that zeal may appear in the external man like anger and flaming fire; but its flame dies out and is quieted as soon as his adversary returns to reason. It is different with those who have no charity. Their zeal is anger and hatred; for by these their internal man is heated and set on fire.

409. Before the Lord came into the world scarcely anyone knew what the internal man is or what charity is, and this is why in so many places He taught brotherly love, that is, charity; and this constitutes the distinction between the Old Testament or Covenant and the New. That good ought to be done from charity to the adversary and the enemy the Lord taught in Matthew:

Ye have heard that it hath been said to them of old time, Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that hurt you and persecute you; that ye may be sons of your Father who is in the heavens (Matt. 5:43-45).

And when Peter asked Him how often he should forgive one sinning against him, whether he should do so until seven times, He replied:

I say not unto thee, until seven times, but until seventy times seven (Matt. 18:21, 22).

And I have heard from heaven that the Lord forgives to everyone his sins, and never takes vengeance nor even imputes sin, because He is love itself and good itself; nevertheless, sins are not thereby washed away, for this can be done only by repentance. For when He told Peter to forgive until seventy times seven, what will not the Lord do?

410. Since charity itself has its seat in the internal man, wherein it is willing well, and from that is in the external man, wherein it is well-doing, it follows that the internal man is to be loved, and from that the external; consequently that a man is to be loved according to the quality of the good that is in him. Therefore good itself is essentially the neighbor. This may be illustrated thus: When one selects for himself from among three or four a steward for his house, or a servant, does he not try to find out about his internal man, and choose one who is sincere and faithful, and for that reason love him? In like manner a king or magistrate from three or four persons would select one competent for office, and would refuse the incompetent, whatever his looks, or however favorable his speech and actions.

[2] Since, then, every man is the neighbor, and the variety of men is infinite, and everyone is to be loved as a neighbor according to his good, it is plain that there are genera and species and also degrees of love to the neighbor. And because the Lord is to be loved above all things, it follows that the degrees of love towards the neighbor are to be measured by love to the Lord, that is, by how much of the Lord or of what is from the Lord the other possesses in himself; for thus far he possesses good, since all good is from the Lord.

[3] But as these degrees are in the internal man, and the internal man rarely manifests itself in the world, it is sufficient that the neighbor be loved according to the degrees that are known. But after death these degrees are clearly perceived; for the affections of the will and the consequent thoughts of the understanding form a spiritual sphere round about those in the spiritual world, which is felt in various ways; while in this world this spiritual sphere is absorbed by the material body, and encloses itself within a natural sphere, which then flows forth from man. That there are degrees of love towards the neighbor, is plain from the Lord’s parable of the Samaritan who showed mercy to the man wounded by thieves, whom the priests and the Levite saw and passed by; and when the Lord asked which of those three seemed to have been the neighbor, He was answered,

He who showed mercy (Luke 10:30-37).

411. It is written,

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God above all things, and thy neighbor as thyself (Luke 10:27).

To love the neighbor as oneself is, not to hold him in light esteem in comparison with oneself, to deal justly with him, and not to pass evil judgments upon him. The law of charity set forth and given by the Lord is this:

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the prophets (Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31, 32).

So do they love the neighbor who are in the love of heaven; while those who are in the love of the world love the neighbor from the world and for the sake of the world; and those who are in the love of self love the neighbor from self and for the sake of self.

412. IV. THE COLLECTIVE MAN, THAT IS, A COMMUNITY SMALLER OR GREATER, AND THE COMPOSITE MAN FORMED OF COMMUNITIES, THAT IS, ONE’S COUNTRY, IS THE NEIGHBOR THAT IS TO BE LOVED.

Those who do not know what the term neighbor means in its true sense, suppose that it means nothing else than the individual man, and that loving the neighbor means conferring benefits upon him. But the neighbor and love to him have a wider meaning and a higher meaning as individuals are multiplied. Who cannot understand that loving many men in a body is loving the neighbor more than loving one individual of a body? Thus, a community smaller or greater is the neighbor because it is a collective man; and from this it follows that he who loves a community loves those of whom the community consists; therefore he who wills and acts rightly towards a community consults the good of each individual. A community is like a single man; and those who enter into it form as it were one body, and are distinct from each other like the members of one body. When the Lord and the angels from Him look down upon the earth, they see an entire community just like a single man, with a form according to the qualities of those in it. It has been granted me to see a certain community in heaven precisely as a single man, in stature like that of a man in the world.

[2] That love towards a community is a fuller love to the neighbor than love towards a separate or individual man, is obvious from this, that dignities are measured out according to the kind of administration over communities, and honors are attached to offices according to the uses they promote. For in the world there are higher and lower offices subordinated according to their more or less universal government over communities; and the king is he whose government is the most universal; and each one has remuneration, glory, and the general love according to the extent of his duties, and the goods of use which he promotes.

[3] Nevertheless, the rulers of this age can perform uses and consult the good of society, and not love the neighbor; as those do who perform uses and consult the good of others with reference to the world or to self, or for the sake of appearances, or that they may be thought worthy to be elevated to higher dignities. But although the character of such is not discerned in the world, it is discerned in heaven; and in consequence those who have promoted uses from love to the neighbor, are the ones placed as rulers over heavenly communities, and there enjoy splendor and honor; and yet such do not set their hearts upon these things, but upon uses. But the others, who have performed uses from love of the world and of self, are rejected.

413. The difference between love to the neighbor and the exercise of it when directed towards man as an individual and towards the collective man or a community, is like that between the duty of a private citizen and the duty of a civil officer or a military officer, or like that between the one who traded with two talents and the one who traded with five (Matt. 25:14-30); or it is like the difference between the value of a shekel and that of a talent, or between the product from a vine and that from a vineyard, or between the product from an olive tree and that from an olive yard, or the product from a tree and that from an orchard. Moreover, love to the neighbor in man ascends more and more interiorly, and as it ascends he loves a community more than an individual, and his country more than a community. Since, then, charity consists in right willing and right doing therefrom, it follows that it ought to be exercised towards a community in much the same way as towards the individual, but in one way towards a community of good men and in another way towards a community of evil men. Towards the latter charity is to be exercised according to natural equity; towards the former according to spiritual equity. But on these two kinds of equity something will appear elsewhere.

414. One’s country is more a neighbor than a single community, because it consists of many communities, and consequently love towards the country is a broader and higher love. Moreover, loving one’s country is loving the public welfare. One’s country is the neighbor, because it is like a parent; for one is born in it, and it has nourished him and continues to nourish him, and has protected and continues to protect him from injury. Men ought to do good to their country from a love for it, according to its needs, some of which are natural and some spiritual. Natural needs relate to civil life and order, and spiritual needs to spiritual life and order. That one’s country should be loved, not as one loves himself, but more than himself, is a law inscribed on the human heart; from which has come the well-known principle, which every true man endorses, that if the country is threatened with ruin from an enemy or any other source, it is noble to die for it, and glorious for a soldier to shed his blood for it. This is said because so great should be one’s love for it. It should be known that those who love their country and render good service to it from good will, after death love the Lord’s kingdom, for then that is their country; and those who love the Lord’s kingdom love the Lord Himself, because the Lord is the all in all things of His kingdom.

415. V. THE CHURCH IS THE NEIGHBOR WHO IS TO BE LOVED IN A STILL HIGHER DEGREE, AND THE LORD’S KINGDOM IN THE HIGHEST DEGREE.

Since man was born for eternal life, and is introduced into it by the church, the church is to be loved as the neighbor in a higher degree, because it teaches the means which lead to eternal life and introduces man into it, leading to it by the truths of doctrine and introducing into it by goods of life. This does not mean that the priesthood should be loved in a higher degree, and the church because of the priesthood; but it means that the good and truth of the church should be loved, and the priesthood for the sake of these. The priesthood merely serves, and is to be honored so far as it serves. The church is the neighbor that is to be loved in a higher degree, thus even above one’s country, for the reason also, that by his country man is initiated into civil life, but by the church into spiritual life, and by that life man is separated from a merely animal life. Moreover, civil life is a temporary life, which has an end and which is then as if it had not been; while the spiritual life is eternal, having no end; therefore of the latter may be predicated being [esse], but of the former non-being. The distinction is like that between the finite and the infinite, between which there is no ratio; for the eternal is the infinite as to time.

416. The Lord’s kingdom is the neighbor that is to be loved in the highest degree, because the Lord’s kingdom means the church throughout the world, which is called the communion of saints; also heaven is meant by it; consequently he who loves the Lord’s kingdom loves all in the whole world who acknowledge the Lord and have faith in Him and charity towards the neighbor; and he loves also all in heaven. Those who love the Lord’s kingdom love the Lord above all things, and are consequently in love to God more than others, because the church in the heavens and on earth is the body of the Lord, for those who are in it are in the Lord and the Lord in them. Therefore love towards the Lord’s kingdom is love towards the neighbor in its fullness; for those who love the Lord’s kingdom, not only love the Lord above all things, but also love the neighbor as themselves; for love to the Lord is a universal love, and consequently is in each thing and all things of spiritual life, and in each thing and all things of natural life; for that love has its seat in the highest things in man, and things highest flow into lower things and vivify them, as the will flows into all things of intention and of action therefrom, and the understanding into all things of thought and of speech therefrom. Therefore the Lord says:

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33).

That the kingdom of the heavens is the Lord’s kingdom is evident from these words in Daniel:

Behold, there was coming with the clouds of heaven one like unto the Son of Man; and there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages shall worship Him. His dominion is a dominion of ages, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Dan. 7:13-14).

417. VI. TO LOVE THE NEIGHBOR, VIEWED IN ITSELF, IS NOT TO LOVE THE PERSON, BUT THE GOOD THAT IS IN THE PERSON.

Who does not know that a man is not a man because of his having a human face and a human body, but because of the wisdom of his understanding and the goodness of his will? As the quality of these ascends, he becomes the more a man. At birth man is more a brute than any animal, but he becomes a man through instruction of various kinds, by receiving which his mind is formed, and from his mind and according to it man is a man. There are some beasts whose faces resemble the human face, but these enjoy no faculty of understanding or of doing anything from the understanding; but they act from the instinct which their natural love excites. The difference is that a beast expresses by sounds the affections of its love, while man speaks them as they are formulated in thought; also, a beast with his face downward looks upon the ground, while man with his face raised beholds heaven all about him. From all this it may be inferred that man is a man so far as he speaks from sound reason, and looks forward to his abode in heaven; while so far as he speaks from perverted reason, and looks only to his abode in the world, so far he is not a man. Yet even such are men potentially, though not actually; for every man enjoys the ability to understand truth and to will what is good; but so far as he has no wish to do good or understand truth, he can only counterfeit man in externals and play the ape.

418. Good is the neighbor, because good belongs to the will, and the will is the being [esse] of man’s life. The truth of the understanding is also the neighbor, but only so far as it proceeds from the good of the will; for the good of the will take form in the understanding, and makes itself visible there is the light of reason. That good is the neighbor is evident from all experience. Who loves a person except from the quality of his will and understanding, that is, from what is good and just in him? For example, who loves a king, a prince, a general, a governor, a consul, any magistrate or judge, except for the judgment from which they act and speak? Who loves a primate, a minister of the church, or a canon, except for his learning, his integrity of life, and his zeal for the salvation of souls? Who loves the general of an army or any officer over him, except for bravery combined with prudence? Who loves a merchant except for his honesty? Who loves a workman or a servant, except for his fidelity? Nay, who loves a tree except for its fruit, the soil except for its fertility, a precious stone except for its value? and so on. And what is remarkable, it is not only the upright man who loves what is good and just in another, the man who is not upright does so also, because with him he is in no fear of losing reputation, honor, or wealth. But the love of good in one who is not upright, is not love of the neighbor; for he loves another interiorly only so far as he is of service to him. But loving what is good in another from the good in oneself is genuine love to the neighbor; for the goods then kiss and mutually unite with each other.

419. The man who loves good because it is good, and truth because it is truth, loves the neighbor eminently, because he loves the Lord who is good itself and truth itself. There is no love of good and love of truth from good, that is, love to the neighbor, from any other source. Love to the neighbor is thus formed from a heavenly origin. It is the same thing whether you say use or good; therefore performing uses is doing good; and according to the quantity and quality of the use in the good so far in quantity and quality the good is good.

420. VII. CHARITY AND GOOD WORKS ARE TWO DISTINCT THINGS, LIKE WILLING WELL AND DOING WELL.

In every man there is an internal and an external. His internal is what is called the internal man, and his external what is called the external man. But one who does not know what the internal man and the external man are, may suppose that it is the internal man that exercises thought and will, and the external that speaks and acts. These latter belong, indeed, to the external man, and the former to the internal; yet they are not what essentially constitute the external and internal man. In common perception indeed man’s mind is his internal man, but the mind is itself divided into two regions; the one region which is higher and more internal is spiritual; and the other which is lower and more external is natural. The spiritual mind looks mainly to the spiritual world, and has for its objects the things that are there, either such as are in heaven or such as are in hell; for both are in the spiritual world. But the natural mind looks mainly to the natural world, and has for its objects the things that are there, whether good or evil. All of man’s action and speech proceeds from the lower region of the mind directly, and indirectly from its higher region, since the lower region of the mind is nearer to the bodily senses, and the higher region more remote from them. There is this division of the mind in man, because he was so created as to be both spiritual and natural, and thus a man and not a beast. All this makes clear that the man who looks primarily to himself and the world is an external man, because he is natural, not only in body but also in mind; while the man who looks primarily to the things of heaven and the church is an internal man, because he is spiritual both in mind and body. He is spiritual even in body, because his actions and words proceed from the higher mind, which is spiritual, through the lower, which is natural. For it is known that effects proceed from the body, and the causes that produce the effects proceed from the mind; also that the cause is everything in the effect. That the human mind is so divided is clearly evident from the fact that a man can act the part of a dissembler, a flatterer, a hypocrite, or an actor; and that he can assent to what another says and yet laugh at it; doing one from the higher mind and the other from the lower.

421. From all this it can be seen how it is to be understood that charity and good works are distinct like willing well and doing well; that is to say, formally they are distinct, as the mind, which thinks and wills, is distinct from the body through which the mind speaks and acts; while essentially they are distinct because of the distinction in the mind itself which has an inner region that is spiritual, and an outer that is natural, as said above; so that when works proceed from the spiritual mind, they proceed from its good will, which is charity; but when they proceed from the natural mind, they proceed from a good will that is not charity. For even when it appears in the external form like charity, it is not charity in the internal form. In fact, charity in external form merely presents the show of charity, but does not possess its essence. This may be illustrated by a comparison with seeds in the ground. Each seed produces a plant, whether useful or useless, according to the nature of the seed. So is it with spiritual seed, which is the truth of the church derived from the Word; from this seed doctrine is formed, useful if from genuine truths, useless if from truths falsified. It is the same with charity that springs from good will, whether the good will is for the sake of self and the world or for the sake of the neighbor in a limited or in a broad sense; if for the sake of self and the world, it is spurious charity, but if for the sake of the neighbor, it is genuine charity. But of this more may be seen in the chapter on Faith, especially in the section where it is shown that charity is willing well, and good works are doing well from willing well (n. 374); and that charity and faith are only mental and perishable things unless they are determined to works and coexist in them when possible (n. 375-376).

422. VIII. CHARITY ITSELF IS ACTING JUSTLY AND FAITHFULLY IN THE OFFICE, BUSINESS, AND EMPLOYMENT IN WHICH A MAN IS ENGAGED, AND WITH THOSE WITH WHOM HE HAS ANY DEALINGS.

Charity itself is acting justly and faithfully in the office, business, and employment in which a man is engaged, because all that such a man does is of use to society, and use is good; and good in a sense abstracted from person is the neighbor. (That not a single man only, but also a lesser community, and even a man’s country, is the neighbor, has been shown above.) Take, for example, a king who sets his subjects an example of well-doing, who wishes them to live according to the laws of justice, rewards those who so live, regards everyone according to his merits, protects his subjects against injury and invasion, acts the part of a father to his kingdom, and consults the general prosperity of his people; in his heart there is charity, and his deeds are good works. The priest who teaches truth from the Word, and thereby leads to good of life, and so to heaven, because he consults the good of the souls of those of his church, is eminently in the exercise of charity. The judge who judges according to law and justice, and not for reward, friendship and relationship, consults the good of society and of each individual; of society because it is thereby kept in obedience to law and in the fear of transgressing it; and of the individual because justice thereby triumphs over injustice. The merchant who acts from honesty and not from deceit, consults the good of his neighbor with whom he has business. It is the same with a common or skilled workman, if he does his work rightly and honestly, and not fraudulently and deceitfully. It is the same with all others, as with captains and sailors, with farmers and servants.

423. This is charity itself, because charity may be defined as doing good to the neighbor daily and continually, not only to the neighbor individually, but also to the neighbor collectively; and this can be done only through what is good and just in the office, business, and employment in which a man is engaged, and with those with whom he has any dealings; for this is one’s daily work, and when he is not doing it it still occupies his mind continually, and he has it in thought and intention. The man who thus practises charity, becomes more and more charity in form; for justice and fidelity form his mind, and the practice of these forms his body; and because of his form he gradually comes to will and think only such things as pertain to charity. Such at length come to be like those of whom it is said in the Word, that they have the law written on their hearts. Nor do they place merit in their works, because they do not think of merit but of duty-that it becomes a citizen so to act. But a man can by no means of himself act from spiritual justice and fidelity; for every man inherits from his parents a disposition to do what is good and just for the sake of himself and the world; but no man inherits a disposition to do it for the sake of what is good and just; consequently, only he who worships the Lord, and acts from Him when acting from himself, attains to spiritual charity, and becomes imbued with it by the practice of it.

424. There are many who act justly and faithfully in their occupation, and thus promote works of charity, and yet do not possess any charity in themselves. But in these the love of self and the world predominates, and not the love of heaven; or if, perchance, the love of heaven is present, it is beneath the former love, like a servant under his master, a common soldier under his officer, or a doorkeeper standing at the door.

425. IX. THE BENEFACTIONS OF CHARITY ARE GIVING TO THE POOR AND RELIEVING THE NEEDY, BUT WITH PRUDENCE.

We must distinguish between the obligations of charity and its benefactions. By the obligations of charity those exercises of it that proceed directly from charity itself are meant. These, as has just been shown, relate primarily to one’s occupation. But benefactions mean such acts of assistance as are given apart from these obligations. These are called benefactions because doing them is a matter of free choice and pleasure; and when done they are regarded by the recipient simply as benefactions, and are bestowed according to the reasons and intentions that the benefactor has in mind. In common belief charity is nothing else than giving to the poor, relieving the needy, caring for widows and orphans, contributing to the building of hospitals, infirmaries, asylums, orphans’ homes, and especially of churches, and to their decorations and income. But most of these things are not properly matters of charity, but extraneous to it. Those who make charity itself to consist in such benefactions must needs claim merit for these works; and although they may profess with their lips that they do not wish them to be considered meritorious, still a belief in their merit lurks within. This is clearly evident from the conduct of such after death, when they recount their works, and demand salvation as a reward. But the origin of their works and the resulting quality of them is then inquired into, and if it is found that they proceeded from pride or a striving for reputation, or from bare generosity, or friendship, or merely natural inclination, or hypocrisy, from that origin the works are judged, for the quality of the origin is within the works. But genuine charity proceeds from those who are imbued with charity because of the justice and judgment in the works, and they do the works apart from any remuneration as an end, according to the Lord’s words in Luke (14:12-14). They also call such things as are mentioned above, benefactions as well as duties, although they pertain to charity.

426. It is known that some who perform these benefactions which present to the world an image of charity, entertain the opinion and belief that they have practiced works of charity, and look upon them as many in popedom regard indulgences, as means whereby they are purified from sins, and that they are worthy, as if regenerated, to have heaven bestowed upon them, and yet they do not regard adultery, hatred, revenge, fraud, and in general the lusts of the flesh, in which they indulge at pleasure, as sins. But in that case what are these good works but painted pictures of angels in company with devils, or boxes made of lapis lazuli containing hydras? It is wholly otherwise when these benefactions are done by those who shun the evils above mentioned as hateful to charity. Nevertheless, these benefactions are advantageous in many ways, especially giving to the poor and to beggars; for thereby boys and girls, servants and maids, and in general all simple-minded persons, are initiated into charity, for these are its externals whereby such are trained in the practice of charity, for these are its rudiments, and are then like unripe fruit. But with those who are afterwards perfected in right knowledges respecting charity and faith, these acts become like ripe fruit, and then they look upon those former works, which were done in simplicity of heart, merely as what they owed to others.

427. At this day these benefactions are believed to be those proper acts of charity that are meant in the Word by good works, because charity is often described in the Word as giving to the poor, helping the needy, and caring for widows and orphans. But hitherto it has not been known that the Word in its letter makes mention only of the outer things of worship, even the outermost things, and that these signify spiritual things, which are internal (as may be seen above, in the chapter on the Sacred Scripture, n. 193-209). From all this it is plain, that by the poor, the needy, the widows and orphans there mentioned, such persons are not meant, but those who are spiritually such. That the “poor” mean those who are without knowledges of truth and good, may be seen in the Apocalypse Revealed (n. 209) and that “widows” mean those who are without truths and yet desire them (n. 764); and so on.

428. Those who are by nature compassionate, and do not make their natural compassion spiritual by putting it in practice in accordance with genuine charity, believe that charity consists in giving to every poor person, and relieving everyone who is in want, without first inquiring whether the poor or needy person is good or bad; for they say that this is not necessary, since God regards only the aid and alms. But after death these are clearly distinguished and set apart from those who have done the beneficent works of charity from prudence; for those who have done them from that blind idea of charity, then do good to bad and good alike, and with the aid of what is done for them the wicked do evil and thereby injure the good. Such benefactors are partly to blame for the injury done to the good. For doing good to an evil-doer is like giving bread to a devil, which he turns into poison; for in the hands of the devil all bread is poison, or if it is not, he turns it into poison by using good deeds as allurements to evil. It is also like handing to an enemy a sword with which he may kill some one; or like giving the shepherd’s staff to a wolfish man to guide the sheep to pasture, who, after he has obtained it, drives them away from the pasture to a desert, and there slaughters them; or like giving public authority to a robber, who studies and watches for plunder only, according to the richness and abundance of which he dispenses the laws and executes judgments.

429. X. THERE ARE DUTIES OF CHARITY, SOME PUBLIC, SOME DOMESTIC, AND SOME PRIVATE.

The benefactions of charity and the duties of charity are distinct, like the things done from choice and the things done from compulsion. But by the duties of charity official duties in a kingdom or state are not meant, as the duties of a minister to minister, of a judge to judge, and so on, but the duties of everyone whatever his employment may be. Thus these duties are from a different origin, and flow forth from a different will, and are therefore done from charity by those who have charity, and on the other hand from no charity by those who have no charity.

430. The public duties of charity are especially the payment of tribute and taxes, which ought not to be confounded with official duties. Those who are spiritual pay these with one disposition of heart, and those who are merely natural with another. The spiritual pay them from good will, because they are collected for the preservation of their country, and for its protection and the protection of the church, also for the administration of government by officials and governors, to whom salaries and stipends must be paid from the public treasury. Those, therefore, to whom their country and also the church are the neighbor, pay their taxes willingly and cheerfully, and regard it as iniquitous to deceive or defraud. But those to whom their country and the church are not the neighbor pay them unwillingly and with resistance; and at every opportunity defraud and withhold; for to such their own household and their own flesh are the neighbor.

431. The domestic duties of charity are those of the husband toward the wife, and of the wife toward the husband, of fathers and mothers toward their children, and of children towards their fathers and mothers, also the duties of masters and mistresses towards servants, male and female, and of the latter towards the former. These duties, because they are the duties of education and management at home, are so numerous that if recounted they would fill a volume. To the discharge of these duties everyone is moved by a love different from that which moves him to discharge the duties of his employment; husbands and wives are moved to their duties towards each other by marriage love and according to it; parents towards their children by the love implanted in everyone, called parental love; and children towards their parents by and according to another love which is closely connected with obedience from a sense of duty. But the duties of masters and mistresses towards their servants, male and female, have their source in the love of governing, and this love is according to the state of each one’s mind.

[2] But marriage love and the love of children, with the duties of these loves and the practice of these duties, do not produce love to the neighbor as the practice of the duties in one’s employment does; for the love called parental love exists equally with the bad and the good, and is sometimes stronger with the bad; moreover, it exists in beasts and birds, in which no charity can be formed. It is known that it exists with bears, tigers, and serpents, as much as with sheep and goats, and with owls as much as with doves.

[3] As to the duties of parents to children in particular, they are inwardly different with those who are in charity and those who are not, although externally they appear alike. With those who are in charity, that love is conjoined with love towards the neighbor and love to God; for by such children are loved according to their morals, virtues, good will, and qualifications for serving the public. But with those who are not in charity, there is no conjunction of charity with the love called parental love; consequently, many such parents love even wicked, immoral, and crafty children more than the good, moral, and discreet; thus they love those who are useless to the public, more than those who are useful.

432. The private duties of charity are also numerous, such as the payment of wages to workmen, the payment of interest, the fulfillment of contracts, the guarding of securities, and so on, some of which are duties enforced by statute law, some by common law, and some by moral law. These duties also are discharged by those who are in charity from one state of mind, and by those who are not in charity from another state of mind. Those who are in charity perform them justly and faithfully; for it is a precept of charity that everyone should act justly and faithfully toward all with whom he has any business or dealing (on which above, n. 422-425). But those who are not in charity discharge these same duties very differently.

433. XI. THE DIVERSIONS OF CHARITY ARE DINNERS, SUPPERS, AND SOCIAL GATHERINGS.

It is known that dinners and suppers are everywhere customary, and are given for various purposes, and that with most they are given for the sake of friendship, relationship, enjoyment, gain, and remuneration; also that they are employed for corrupting men and drawing them over to certain parties; and that among the great they are given for the sake of honor, and in kings’ palaces for splendor. But dinners and suppers of charity are given only among those who are in mutual love from similarity of faith. With the Christians of the primitive church dinners and suppers had no other object; they were called Feasts, and were given both in order that they might heartily enjoy themselves, and at the same time be drawn together. In the first state of the establishment of the church suppers signified consociation and conjunction, because evening, when they took place, signified that state. But in the second state, when the church had been established, there were dinners, for morning and day signified that state. At table they conversed on various subjects, both domestic and civil, but especially on such as pertained to the church. And because they were feasts of charity, whatever subject they talked about, charity with its delights and joys was in their speech. The spiritual sphere that prevailed at those feasts was a sphere of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, which cheered the mind of everyone, softened the tone of every voice, and from the heart communicated festivity to all the senses. For there emanates from every man a spiritual sphere, which is a sphere of his love’s affection and its thought therefrom, and this interiorly affects his associates, especially at feasts. This sphere emanates both through the face and through the respiration. It is because dinners and suppers, or feasts, signified such association of minds that they are so frequently mentioned in the Word, and nothing else is there meant by them in the spiritual sense; and the same is meant in the highest sense by the paschal supper among the children of Israel, also by their banquet at other festivities, and by their eating together of the sacrifices near the tabernacle. Conjunction itself was then represented by the breaking and distribution of bread, and by drinking from the same cup and handing it to another.

434. As to social gatherings, they were composed in the primitive church of such as called themselves brethren in Christ; they were therefore assemblies of charity, because there was spiritual brotherhood. They were also a consolation in the adversities of the church, seasons of rejoicing on account of its increase, recreations of mind after study and labor, and at the same time opportunities for conversation on various subjects; and as they flowed from spiritual love as from a fountain, they were rational and moral from a spiritual origin. There are at this day assemblies of friendship, which regard as an end the delights of sociability, the exhilaration of the mind by conversation, the consequent expansion of the feelings and the liberation of imprisoned thoughts, and thus the rekindling of the sensual faculties and the renewal of their state. But as yet there are no gatherings of charity; for the Lord says,

In the end of the age (that is, at the end of the church), iniquity will be multiplied and charity will grow cold (Matt. 24:12).

This is because the church has not yet acknowledged the Lord God the Savior as the God of heaven and earth, and gone to Him directly, from whom alone genuine charity goes forth and flows in. But social gatherings where friendship emulating charity does not bring minds together, are nothing but pretenses of friendship, deceptive attestations of mutual love, seductive insinuations into favor, and sacrifices offered to the delights of the body, especially the sensual, whereby people are carried away like ships by sails and favoring currents, while sycophants and hypocrites stand in the stem and hold the helm.

435. XII. THE FIRST THING OF CHARITY IS TO PUT AWAY EVILS; AND THE SECOND IS TO DO GOODS THAT ARE OF USE TO THE NEIGHBOR.

In the doctrine of charity this holds the first place, that the first thing of charity is not to do evil to the neighbor; and to do good to him holds the second place. This tenet is like a door to the doctrine of charity. It is admitted that evil is firmly seated in every man’s will from his birth; and as all evil has relation to man both nearly and remotely, and also to society and one’s country, it follows that inherited evil is evil against the neighbor in every degree. A man may see from reason itself, that so far as the evil resident in the will is not put away, the good that he does is impregnated with that evil; for evil is then inside the good, like a kernel in its shell or like marrow in a bone; therefore although the good that is done by such a man appears to be good, still intrinsically it is not good; for it is like a healthy-looking shell containing a worm-eaten kernel, or like a white almond rotten within, with streaks of rottenness extending even to the surface.

[2] Willing evil and doing right are two essentially opposite things; for evil belongs to hatred towards the neighbor and good belongs to love towards the neighbor, or evil is the neighbor’s enemy and good is his friend. These two cannot exist in the same mind, that is, evil in the internal man and good in the external; if they do, the good in the external is like a wound superficially healed, within which there is putrid matter. Man is then like a tree with a decayed root, which still produces fruit that outwardly looks like well-flavored and useful fruit, but is inwardly offensive and useless. He is also like rejected scoria, which, being bright on the surface and beautifully colored, may be sold for precious stones; in a word, he is like an owl’s egg, which men are made to believe to be a dove’s egg.

[3] Man ought to know that the good that a man does by means of his body proceeds from his spirit, or out of his internal man, the internal man being the spirit which lives after death. Therefore when the man [above described] casts off the body which formed his external man, all there is of him is in evils and takes delight in them, and is averse to good as something inimical to his life.

[4] That until evil has been put away man cannot do good that is good in itself the Lord teaches in many places:

Men do not gather the grape from thorns or figs from thistles. A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit (Matt. 7:16-18).

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside of them may become clean also (Matt. 23:25-26).

And in Isaiah:

Wash you, put away the evil of your doings, cease to do evil, learn to do well, seek judgment. Then although your sins have been as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow; although they have been red like crimson, they shall be as wool (Isa. 1:16-18).

436. This may be further illustrated by the following comparisons: One cannot visit another who keeps a leopard and a panther shut up in his chamber (living safely with them himself because he feeds them), until these wild beasts have been removed. Who, when invited to the table of a king and queen, does not, before he goes, wash his hands and face? Who does not purify ores by fire and separate the dross before he obtains pure gold and silver? Who does not separate the tares from the wheat, before putting the wheat into his granary? Who does not prepare raw food by cooking it before it is made eatable and placed upon the table? Who does not beat the worms from the foliage of the trees in his garden, so that the leaves may not be devoured and the fruit thereby destroyed? Who loves and seeks to marry a maiden who is full of disease, and covered with pimples and blotches, however she may paint her face, dress finely, and labor by the charms of her conversation to affect him with the enticements of love? Man himself ought to purify himself from evils [and not wait for the Lord to do this without his cooperation, see n. 331]. Otherwise he would be like a servant, going to his master, with his face and clothes befouled with soot or dung, and saying, “Master, wash me.” Would not his master answer him, “You foolish servant, what are you saying? See, here are water, soap, and a towel; have you not hands of your own and the power to use them? Wash yourself.” And so the Lord God will say, “These means of purification are from Me; and your ability to will and do are also from Me; therefore use these My gifts and endowments as your own, and you will be purified.”

437. At the present day it is believed that charity is simply doing good, and that then one does not do evil; consequently that the first thing of charity is to do good, and the second not to do evil. But it is wholly the reverse; the first thing of charity is to put away evil, and the second to do good; for it is a universal law in the spiritual world and from that in the natural world also, that so far as one does not will evil he wills good; thus that so far as he turns away from hell from which all evil ascends, so far he turns towards heaven from which all good descends; consequently also, that so far as anyone rejects the devil he is accepted by the Lord. One cannot stand with his head vibrating between the two, and pray to both at once; for of such the Lord says:

I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; would that thou wert cold or hot. So because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spit thee out of My mouth (Apoc. 3:15-16).

Who can skirmish with his troop between two armies, favoring both? Who can be evilly disposed towards the neighbor, and at the same time well disposed towards him? Does not evil then lie hidden in the good? Although the evil that so hides itself does not appear in the man’s acts, it manifests itself in many things when they are reflected upon rightly. The Lord says:

No servant can serve two masters. . . . Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13).

438. But no one is able to purify himself from evils by his own power and his own abilities; yet neither can it be done without the power and abilities of man as if these were his own. If these were not as if they were his own, no man would be able to fight against the flesh and its lusts, which everyone is commanded to do; he would not even be able to think of any combat, thus his mind would be opened to evils of every sort, and would be restrained from them as deeds only by the laws of justice established in the world, and their penalties; and thus he would be inwardly like a tiger, a leopard, or a serpent, which never reflect at all upon the cruel delights of their loves. From this it is clear that as man, in contrast with wild beasts, is rational, he ought to resist evils by the power and abilities given him by the Lord, which in every sense appear to him to be his own; and this appearance has been granted by the Lord to every man for the sake of regeneration, imputation, conjunction, and salvation.

439. XIII. IN THE EXERCISES OF CHARITY MAN DOES NOT PLACE MERIT IN WORKS SO LONG AS HE BELIEVES THAT ALL GOOD IS FROM THE LORD.

To ascribe merit to works that are done for the sake of salvation is harmful because evils lie concealed in so doing of which the doer is wholly ignorant. There also lies hid in it a denial of God’s influx and operation in man; also a confidence in one’s own power in matters of salvation; faith in oneself and not in God; self-justification; salvation by one’s own abilities; a reducing of Divine grace and mercy to nought; a rejection of reformation and regeneration by Divine means; especially a limitation of the merit and righteousness of the Lord God the Savior, which such claim for themselves; together with a continual looking for reward, which they regard as the first and last end; a submersion and extinction of love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor; a total ignorance and lack of perception of the delight of heavenly love as being without merit, and a sense only of self-love. For those who put rewards in the first place and salvation in the second, and who value salvation for the sake of the reward, invert order and immerse the interior desires of the mind in what is their own [proprium], and defile them in the body with the evils of the flesh. This is why the good that claims merit appears to the angels as rust, and the good that does not claim merit as purple. That good ought not to be done for the sake of reward, the Lord teaches in Luke:

If ye do good to them who do good to you, what thank have ye? But rather love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and then your reward shall be great, and ye shall be sons of the Most High for He is kind unto the unthankful and the evil (Luke 6:33-35).

And that man cannot do good that in itself is good, except from the Lord, He teaches in John:

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, so neither can ye except ye abide in Me; for apart from Me ye can do nothing (15:4, 5). And again,

A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven (John 3:27).

440. But to think about getting into heaven, and that good ought to be done for that reason, is not to regard reward as an end and to ascribe merit to works; for thus do those also think who love the neighbor as themselves and God above all things; so thinking from faith in the Lord’s words,

That their reward should be great in the heavens (Matt. 5:11, 12; 6:1; 10:41, 42; Luke 6:23, 35; 14:12-14; John 4:36);

That those who have done good shall possess as an inheritance a kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world (Matt. 25:34);

That everyone is rewarded according to his works (Matt. 16:27; John 5:29; Rev. 14:13; 20:12, 13; Jer. 25:14; 32:19; Hosea 4:9; Zech. 1:6 and elsewhere).

Such do not trust to reward on the ground of their merit, but have faith in the promise from grace. With such the delight of doing good to the neighbor is their reward. This is the delight of the angels in heaven, and it is a spiritual delight which is eternal, and immeasurably exceeds all natural delight. Those who are in this delight are unwilling to hear of merit, for they love to do, and in doing they perceive blessedness. They are sad when it is believed that they work for the sake of recompense. They are like those who do good to friends for the sake of friendship, to brethren for the sake of brotherhood, to wife and children for the sake of wife and children, and to their country for their country’s sake; thus from friendship and love. Those who do acts of kindness also say and give evidence that they are doing this not on their own behalf, but on behalf of the others.

441. It is wholly different with those who regard reward as the essential end in their works. These are like such as form friendships for the sake of gain, and who make presents, perform services, and profess love seemingly from the heart, but when they fail to obtain what they hoped for, they turn about, renounce their friendship, and devote themselves to the enemies of their former friends and to those who hate them. They are also like nurses who suckle infants merely for wages, and in presence of their parents kiss and fondle them; but as soon as they cease to be fed with delicacies and rewarded just as they wish, they turn against the infants, treat them harshly, beat them, and laugh at their cries.

[2] They are also like those whose regard for their country springs from love of self and the world, and who say that they are willing to give their property and their lives for it; and yet, if they do not acquire honors and riches as rewards, they speak ill of their country, and connect themselves with its enemies. They are also like shepherds who care for sheep merely for hire, and if the hire is not given when they wish it, drive the sheep with their crook from the pasture to the desert. Like these again are priests who discharge the duties of their office solely for the sake of the emoluments attached to them, and who, evidently, regard as of little account the salvation of the souls over whom they have been placed as guides.

[3] It is the same with magistrates who look only to the dignity of their office and its revenues; and when they do right, it is not for the sake of the public good, but for the sake of the delight in the love of self and the world, which delight they breathe in as the only good. It is the same with all the rest; the end in view carries every point, and the mediate causes pertaining to the function are renounced if they do not promote the end.

[4] And the same is true of those who demand reward on the ground of merit in matters of salvation. Such after death confidently demand heaven; but when it has been found that they have no love to God or love towards the neighbor, they are sent back to those who can instruct them concerning charity and faith; and if they repudiate their instructions, they are sent away to their like, among whom are some who are enraged against God because they do not obtain rewards, and who call faith a mere figment of reason. Such are meant in the Word by “hirelings,” who were allotted service of the lowest kind in the outer courts of the temple. At a distance they appear to be splitting wood.

442. It must be well understood that charity and faith in the Lord are closely conjoined, consequently, such as the faith is such is the charity. That the Lord, charity, and faith make one, like life, will, and understanding [in man], and if they are divided each perishes like a pearl reduced to powder, may be seen above (n. 362-363); and that charity and faith are together in good works (n. 373-377). From this it follows that such as faith is, such is charity, and that such as charity and faith are together, such are works. If then there is a faith that all the good that a man does as if of himself is from the Lord, man is the instrumental cause of that good, and the Lord the principal cause, which two causes appear to man to be one, and yet the principal cause is the all in all of the instrumental cause. From this it follows that when a man believes that all good that is good in itself is from the Lord, he does not ascribe merit to works; and in the degree in which this faith is perfected in man, the fantasy about merit is taken away from him by the Lord. In this state man enters fully into the exercise of charity with no anxiety about merit, and at length perceives the spiritual delight of charity, and then begins to be averse to merit as a something harmful to his life. The sense of merit is easily washed away by the Lord with those who become imbued with charity by acting justly and faithfully in the work, business, or function in which they are engaged, and towards all with whom they have any dealings (see above, n. 422-424). But the sense of merit is removed with difficulty from those who believe that charity is acquired by giving alms and relieving the needy; for when they do these things, in their minds they desire reward, at first openly and then secretly, and draw to themselves merit.

443. XIV. WHEN MORAL LIFE IS AT THE SAME TIME SPIRITUAL, IT IS CHARITY.

Every man is taught by his parents and teachers to live morally, that is, to act the part of a good citizen, to discharge the duties of an honorable life (which relate to the various virtues that are the essentials of an honorable life), and to bring them forth through the formalities of an honorable life, which are called proprieties; and as he advances in years he is taught to add to these what is rational, and thereby to perfect what is moral in his life. For in children, even to early youth, moral life is natural, and becomes afterwards more and more rational. Anyone who reflects well upon it can see that a moral life is the same as a life of charity, and that this is to act rightly towards the neighbor, and to so regulate the life as to preserve it from contamination by evils; this follows from what has been shown above (n. 435-438). And yet, in the first period of life, a moral life is a life of charity in outermosts, that is, it is merely the outer and foremost part of it, not the inner part.

[2] For there are four periods of life through which man passes from infancy to old age; the first is when he acts from others according to instructions; the second, when he acts from himself, under the guidance of the understanding; the third, when the will acts upon the understanding, and the understanding regulates the will; and the fourth, when he acts from confirmed principle and deliberate purpose. But these periods of life are the periods of the life of a man’s spirit, not in like manner of his body; for the body can act morally and speak rationally while its spirit is willing and thinking opposite things. That this is the nature of the natural man is obvious in the case of pretenders, flatterers, liars, and hypocrites. These evidently enjoy a double mind, that is, their minds are divided into two discordant minds. It is otherwise with those who will rightly and think rationally, and consequently act rightly and talk rationally. These are meant in the Word by the “simple in spirit;” they are called simple, because they are not double-minded.

[3] From all this it can be seen what is meant specifically by the external man; also that, from the morality of the external man, no one can form any conclusion as to the morality of the internal, since this may be turned in an opposite direction, and may hide itself as a tortoise hides its head within its shell, or as a serpent hides its head in its coil. For such a so-called moral man is like a robber in a city and in a forest, acting the part of a moral person in the city, but of a plunderer in the forest. It is wholly otherwise with those who are moral inwardly or in the spirit, which they become through regeneration by the Lord. These are meant by the spiritually-moral.

444. Moral life, when it is also spiritual, is a life of charity, because the practices of a moral life and of charity are the same; for charity is willing rightly towards the neighbor, and consequently acting rightly towards him; and this is also moral life. The spiritual law is this law of the Lord:

All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets (Matt. 7:12).

This same law is the universal law of moral life. But to recount all the works of charity, and to compare them with the works of moral life, would fill many pages; let the six commandments of the second table of the Decalogue serve for illustration. It is evident to everyone that these are precepts of moral life. That they include everything relating to love to the neighbor, may be seen above (n. 329-331). That charity is the fulfilling of all these precepts, is evident from the following in Paul:

Love one another; for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment it is summed up in this word, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Charity worketh no ill to his neighbor; charity is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:8-10).

He who thinks from the external man only, cannot but wonder that the seven commandments of the second table were promulgated by Jehovah on Mount Sinai with so great a miracle; when yet these same precepts, in all the kingdoms of the world, consequently also in Egypt whence the children of Israel had lately come, were the precepts of the law of civil justice, for without them no kingdom can continue to exist. But they were promulgated by Jehovah, and were, moreover, written by His finger on tables of stone, in order that they might be not only the precepts of civil society, and therefore of natural-moral life, but also the precepts of heavenly society, and therefore of spiritual-moral life; so that acting contrary to them would be not only acting in opposition to men, but also to God.

445. Viewing moral life in its essence, it can be seen that it is a life that is in accordance both with human laws and with Divine laws; therefore he who lives in accordance with these two laws as one law is a truly moral man, and his life is charity. Anyone, if he will, can understand from external moral life the nature of charity. Only transfer external moral life, such as prevails in civil communities, over into the internal man, so that in its will and thought there may be a likeness and conformity to the acts in the external, and you will see charity in its true image.

446. XV. A FRIENDSHIP OF LOVE, CONTRACTED WITH A MAN WITHOUT REGARD TO HIS SPIRITUAL QUALITY, IS DETRIMENTAL AFTER DEATH.

A friendship of love means interior friendship, which is such that not only is the man’s external man loved but his internal also, and this without scrutiny into the quality of his internal or spirit, that is, into his mind’s affections, as to whether these spring from love towards the neighbor and love to God, and are thus adapted to association with angels of heaven, or whether they spring from a love opposed to the neighbor and a love opposed to God, and are thus adapted to association with devils. Such friendship is contracted in many instances from various causes and for various purposes. It is distinct from external friendship, which relates only to the person and exists for the sake of various bodily and sensual delights, and for the sake of mutual interaction in various ways. This kind of friendship may be formed with anyone, even with the clown who jokes at the table of a nobleman. This is called friendship simply; but the former is called the friendship of love, because friendship is natural conjunction, while love is spiritual conjunction.

447. That the friendship of love is detrimental after death, can be seen from the state of heaven, of hell, and of man’s spirit in relation to them. As to the state of heaven, it is divided into innumerable societies according to all the varieties of affections of the love of good; while hell, on the other hand, is divided according to all the varieties of affections of the love of evil; and after death, man, who is then a spirit, is at once adjudged, according to his life in the world, to the society where his ruling love prevails – to some heavenly society, if love to God and love towards the neighbor has formed the head of his loves, and to some infernal society, if love of self and the world has formed the head of his loves. Immediately after his entrance into the spiritual world, which is effected through the death of the material body and its rejection to the sepulchre, man for some time undergoes a preparation for the society to which he has been adjudged, which preparation is effected by the rejection of such loves as are not in accord with his chief love. Thus one is then separated from another, friend from friend, dependent from patron, also parent from children, and brother from brother; and each one of these is connected with those interiorly like himself, with whom he is to live to eternity a life in common with them and yet properly his own. Nevertheless, during the first period of the preparation they all come together, and converse in a friendly way, as in the world. But little by little they are separated, and in ways they are not sensible of.

448. But those who in the world have contracted with each other friendships of love cannot be separated like others in accordance with order, and adjudged to societies correspondent to their lives; for they are bound together interiorly as to the spirit, nor can they be torn apart, because they are like scions ingrafted into branches; consequently, if one as to his interiors is in heaven, and the other as to his interiors in hell, they stick together much as a sheep tied to a wolf, or a goose to a fox, or a dove to a hawk; and he whose interiors are in hell breathes his infernalism into the other whose interiors are in heaven. For among the things well known in heaven is this, that evils may be breathed into the good, but not goods into the evil; and for this reason that everyone is in evils by birth; and in consequence, the interiors of the good, who are thus joined fast to the evil, are closed, and both are thrust down to hell, where the good spirit suffers severely, but finally, after a lapse of time, he is released, and only then begins his preparation for heaven.

It has been granted me to see spirits so bound together, especially brothers and relatives, also patrons and their dependents, and many with flatterers, the two having contrary affections and diverse inclinations. I have seen some who were like kids with leopards, who were kissing each other and swearing to maintain their former friendship; and I then perceived that the good were absorbing the delights of the evil, holding each other by the hand and entering caves where crowds of the evil appeared in their hideous forms, although to themselves, owing to the illusions of phantasy, they seemed lovely. But after a while I heard from the good cries of fear, as if they were in snares, and from the evil rejoicings, like those of enemies over spoils; besides other sad scenes; and I was told that when the good had been released they were prepared for heaven by means of reformation, but not so easily as others.

449. It is wholly different with those who love the good in another, that is, who love justice, judgment, sincerity, and benevolence arising from charity, and especially with those who love faith in the Lord and love to Him. Because these love the things within man apart from the things without, when they do not discover the same things in the person after death, they at once withdraw from the friendship and are associated by the Lord with those who are in like good. It should be said that no one is able to explore the interiors of the mind of those with whom he associates or deals; and this is not necessary; only let him guard against a friendship of love with anyone. External friendship for the sake of various uses does no harm.

450. XVI. THERE IS SPURIOUS CHARITY, HYPOCRITICAL CHARITY, AND DEAD CHARITY.

There is no genuine, that is, living charity, except that which makes one with faith, and the two look conjointly to the Lord; for these three, the Lord, charity, and faith, are the three essentials of salvation, and when they make one, charity is charity, and faith is faith; and the Lord is in them and they are in the Lord (see above, n. 363-367, and n. 368-372). On the other hand, when these three are not conjoined, charity is either spurious, or hypocritical, or dead. In Christianity since its establishment there have been various heresies, even down to the present day, in each of which these three essentials, God, charity, and faith, have been and still are acknowledged; for apart from these three, there is no religion. As to charity in particular, it may be joined to any heretical belief, as with that of the Socinians, the Enthusiasts, the Jews, and even to the faith of idolaters; and they may all believe it to be charity, since it appears like it in the external form. Nevertheless, the quality of charity is changed in accordance with the faith to which it is joined, as may be seen in the chapter on Faith.