Chapter IX: Part 9

{Footnote 1} All freedom pertains to love and affection, since
what a man loves, that he does freely (n. 2870, 3158, 8987,
8990, 9585, 9591). As freedom belongs to man's love, so it
belongs to man's life (n. 2873). Nothing appears as man's own
except what is from freedom (n. 2880). Man must have freedom
that he may be reformed (n. 1937, 1947, 2876, 2881, 3145, 3146,
3158, 4031, 8700). Otherwise no love of good and truth can be
implanted in man and be appropriated seemingly as his own (n.
2877, 2879, 2880, 2883, 8700). Nothing that comes from
compulsion is conjoined to man (n. 2875, 8700). If man could be
reformed by compulsion everyone would be reformed (n. 2881).
Compulsion in reformation is harmful (n. 4031). What states of
compulsion are (n. 8392).

294. What the communication of heaven is with good spirits, and what the communication of hell is with evil spirits, and the consequent conjunction of heaven and hell with man, shall also be told. All spirits who are in the world of spirits have communication with heaven or with hell, evil spirits with hell, and good spirits with heaven. Heaven is divided into societies, and hell also. Every spirit belongs to some society, and continues to exist by influx from it, thus acting as one with it. Consequently as man is conjoined with spirits so is he conjoined with heaven or with hell, even with the society there to which he is attached by his affection or his love; for the societies of heaven are all distinguished from each other in accordance with their affections for good and truth, and the societies of hell in accordance with their affections for evil and falsity. (As to the societies of heaven see above, n. 41-45 also n. 148-151.)

295. The spirits associated with man are such as he himself is in respect to his affection or love; but the Lord associates good spirits with him, while evil spirits are invited by the man himself. The spirits with man, however, are changed in accordance with the changes of his affections; thus there are some spirits that are with him in early childhood, others in boyhood, others in youth and manhood, and others in old age. In early childhood those spirits are present who are in innocence and who thus communicate with the heaven of innocence, which is the inmost or third heaven; in boyhood those spirits are present who are in affection for knowing, and who thus communicate with the outmost or first heaven; in youth and manhood spirits are present who are in affection for what is true and good, and in consequent intelligence, and who thus communicate with the second or middle heaven; while in old age spirits are present who are in wisdom and innocence, and who thus communicate with the inmost or third heaven. But the Lord maintains this association with such as can be reformed and regenerated. It is otherwise with such as cannot be reformed or regenerated. While with these also good spirits are associated, that they may be thereby withheld from evil as much as possible, they are directly conjoined with evil spirits who communicate with hell, whereby they have such spirits with them as are like themselves. If they are lovers of self or lovers of gain, or lovers of revenge, or lovers of adultery, like spirits are present, and as it were dwell in their evil affections; and man is incited by these, except so far as he can be kept from evil by good spirits, and they cling to him, and do not withdraw, so far as the evil affection prevails. Thus it is that a bad man is conjoined to hell and a good man is conjoined to heaven.

296. Man is governed by the Lord through spirits because he is not in the order of heaven, for he is born into evils which are of hell, thus into the complete opposite of Divine order; consequently he needs to be brought back into order, and this can only be done mediately by means of spirits. It would be otherwise if man were born into the good that is in accord with the order of heaven; then he would be governed by the Lord not through spirits, but by means of the order itself, thus by means of general influx. By means of this influx man is governed in respect to whatever goes forth from his thought and will into act, that is, in respect to speech and acts; for both of these proceed in harmony with natural order, and therefore with these the spirits associated with man have nothing in common. Animals also are governed by means of this general influx from the spiritual world, because they are in the order of their life, and animals have not been able to pervert and destroy that order because they have no rational faculty.{1} What the difference between man and beasts is may be seen above (n. 39).

{Footnote 1} The difference between men and beasts is, that men
are capable of being raised up by the Lord to Himself, of
thinking about the Divine, loving it, and being thereby
conjoined to the Lord, from which they have eternal life; but
it is otherwise with beasts (n. 4525, 6323, 9231). Beasts are
in the order of their life, and are therefore born into things
suitable to their nature, but man is not, and he must therefore
be led into the order of his life by intellectual means (n.
637, 5850, 6323). According to general influx thought with man
falls into speech and will into movements (n. 5862, 5990, 6192,
6211). The general influx of the spiritual world into the lives
of beasts (n. 1633, 3646).

297. As to what further concerns the conjunction of heaven with the human race, let it be noted that the Lord Himself flows into each man, in accord with the order of heaven, both into his inmosts and into his outmosts, and arranges him for receiving heaven, and governs his outmosts from his inmosts, and at the same time his inmosts from his outmosts, thus holding in connection each thing and all things in man. This influx of the Lord is called direct influx; while the other influx that is effected through spirits is called mediate influx. The latter is maintained by means of the former. Direct influx, which is that of the Lord Himself, is from His Divine Human, and is into man's will and through his will into his understanding, and thus into his good and through his good into his truth, or what is the same thing, into his love and through his love into his faith; and not the reverse, still less is it into faith apart from love or into truth apart from good or into understanding that is not from will. This Divine influx is unceasing, and in the good is received in good, but not in the evil; for in them it is either rejected or suffocated or perverted; and in consequence they have an evil life which in a spiritual sense is death.{1}

{Footnote 1} There is direct influx from the Lord, and also
mediate influx through the spiritual world (n. 6063, 6307,
6472, 9682, 9683). The Lord's direct influx is into the least
particulars of all things (n. 6058, 6474-6478, 8717, 8728). The
Lord flows in into firsts and at the same time into lasts-in
what manner (n. 5147, 5150, 6473, 7004, 7007, 7270). The Lord's
influx is into the good in man, and through the good into truth
and not the reverse (n. 5482, 5649, 6027, 8685, 8701, 10153).
The life that flows in from the Lord varies in accordance with
the state of man and in accordance with reception (n. 2069,
5986, 6472, 7343). With the evil the good that flows in from
the Lord is turned into evil and the truth into falsity; from
experience (n. 3642, 4632). The good and the truth therefrom
that continually flow in from the Lord are received just to the
extent that evil and falsity therefrom do not obstruct (n.
2411, 3142, 3147, 5828).

298. The spirits who are with man, both those conjoined with heaven and those conjoined with hell, never flow into man from their own memory and its thought, for if they should flow in from their own thought, whatever belonged to them would seem to man to be his (see above n. 256). Nevertheless there flows into man through them out of heaven an affection belonging to the love of good and truth, and out of hell an affection belonging to the love of evil and falsity. Therefore as far as man's affection agrees with the affection that flows in, so far that affection is received by him in his thought, since man's interior thought is wholly in accord with his affection or love; but so far as man's affection does not agree with that affection it is not received. Evidently, then, since thought is not introduced into man through spirits, but only an affection for good and an affection for evil, man has choice, because he has freedom; and is thus able by his thought to receive good and reject evil, since he knows from the Word what is good and what is evil. Moreover, whatever he receives by thought from affection is appropriated to him; but whatever he does not receive by thought from affection is not appropriated to him. All this makes evident the nature of the influx of good out of heaven with man, and the nature of the influx of evil out of hell.

299. I have also been permitted to learn the source of human anxiety, grief of mind, and interior sadness, which is called melancholy. There are spirits not as yet in conjunction with hell, because they are in their first state; these will be described hereafter when treating of the world of spirits. Such spirits love things undigested and pernicious, such as pertain to food becoming foul in the stomach; consequently they are present with man in such things because they find delight in them; and they talk there with one another from their own evil affection. The affection that is in their speech flows in from this source into man; and when this affection is the opposite of man's affection there arises in him sadness and melancholy anxiety; but when it agrees with it it becomes in him gladness and cheerfulness. These spirits appear near to the stomach, some to the left and some to the right of it, and some beneath and some above, also nearer and more remote, thus variously in accordance with their affections. That this is the source of anxiety of mind has been shown and proved to me by much experience. I have seen these spirits, I have heard them, I have felt the anxieties arising from them, and I have talked with them; when they have been driven away the anxiety ceased; when they returned the anxiety returned; and I have noted the increase and decrease of it according to their approach and removal. From this it has been made clear to me why some who do not know what conscience is, because they have no conscience, ascribe its pangs to the stomach.{1}

{Footnote 1} Those who have no conscience do not know what
conscience is (n. 7490, 9121). There are some who laugh at
conscience when they hear what it is (n. 7217). Some believe
that conscience is nothing; some that it is something natural
that is sad and mournful, arising either from causes in the
body or from causes in the world; some that it is something
that the common people get from their religion (n. 206, 831,
950; [TCR n. 665]). There is true conscience, spurious
conscience, and false conscience (n. 1033). Pain of conscience
is an anxiety of mind on account of what is unjust, insincere,
or in any respect evil, which man believes to be against God
and against the good of the neighbor (n. 7217). Those have
conscience who are in love to God and in charity towards the
neighbor, but those who are not so have no conscience (n. 831,
965, 2380, 7490).

300. The conjunction of heaven with man is not like the conjunction of one man with another, but the conjunction is with the interiors of man's mind, that is, with his spiritual or internal man; although there is a conjunction with his natural or external man by means of correspondences, which will be described in the next chapter where the conjunction of heaven with man by means of the Word will be treated of.

301. It will also be shown in the next chapter that the conjunction of heaven with the human race and of the human race with heaven is such that one has its permanent existence with the other.

302. I have talked with angels about the conjunction of heaven with the human race, saying that while the man of the church declares that all good is from God, and that angels are with man, yet few believe that angels are conjoined to man, still less that they are in his thought and affection. The angels replied that they knew that such a belief and such a mode of speaking still exist in the world, and especially, to their surprise, within the church, where the Word is present to teach men about heaven and its conjunction with man; nevertheless, there is such a conjunction that man is unable to think the least thing unless spirits are associated with him, and on this his spiritual life depends. They said that the cause of ignorance in this matter is man's belief that he lives from himself, and that he has no connection with the First Being [Esse] of life; together with his not knowing that this connection exists by means of the heavens; and yet if that connection were broken man would instantly fall dead. If man only believed, as is really true, that all good is from the Lord and all evil from hell, he would neither make the good in him a matter of merit nor would evil be imputed to him; for he would then look to the Lord in all the good he thinks and does, and all the evil that flows in would be cast down to hell from which it comes. But because man does not believe that anything flows into him either from heaven or from hell, and therefore supposes that all things that he thinks and wills are in himself and therefore from himself, he appropriates the evil to himself, and the good that flows in he defiles with merit.

303. XXXIV. CONJUNCTION OF HEAVEN WITH MAN BY MEANS OF THE WORD.

Those who think from interior reason can see that there is a connection of all things through intermediates with the First, and that whatever is not in connection is dissipated. For they know, when they think about it, that nothing can have permanent existence from itself, but only from what is prior to itself, thus all things from a First; also that the connection with what is prior is like the connection of an effect with its effecting cause; for when the effecting cause is taken away from its effect the effect is dissolved and dispersed. Because the learned thought thus they saw and said that permanent existence is a perpetual springing forth; thus that all things have permanent existence from a First; and as they sprang from that First so they perpetually spring forth, that is, have permanent existence from it. But what the connection of everything is with that which is prior to itself, thus with the First which is the source of all things, cannot be told in a few words, because it is various and diverse. It can only be said in general that there is a connection of the natural world with the spiritual world, and that in consequence there is a correspondence of all things in the natural world with all things in the spiritual (see n. 103-115); also that there is a connection and consequently a correspondence of all things of man with all things of heaven (see n. 87-102).

304. Man is so created as to have a conjunction and connection with the Lord, but with the angels of heaven only an affiliation. Man has affiliation with the angels, but not conjunction, because in respect to the interiors of his mind man is by creation like an angel, having a like will and a like understanding. Consequently if a man has lived in accordance with the Divine order he becomes after death an angel, with the same wisdom as an angel. Therefore when the conjunction of man with heaven is spoken of his conjunction with the Lord and affiliation with the angels is meant; for heaven is heaven from the Lord's Divine, and not from what is strictly the angels' own [proprium]. That it is the Lord's Divine that makes heaven may be seen above (n. 7-12). [2] But man has, beyond what the angels have, that he is not only in respect to his interiors in the spiritual world, but also at the same time in respect to his exteriors in the natural world. His exteriors which are in the natural world are all things of his natural or external memory and of his thought and imagination therefrom; in general, knowledges and sciences with their delights and pleasures so far as they savor of the world, also many pleasures belonging to the senses of the body, together with his senses themselves, his speech, and his actions. And all these are the outmosts in which the Lord's Divine influx terminates; for that influx does not stop midway, but goes on to its outmosts. All this shows that the outmost of Divine order is in man; and being the outmost it is also the base and foundation. [3] As the Lord's Divine influx does not stop midway but goes on to its outmosts, as has been said, and as this middle part through which it passes is the angelic heaven, while the outmost is in man, and as nothing can exist unconnected, it follows that the connection and conjunction of heaven with the human race is such that one has its permanent existence from the other, and that the human race apart from heaven would be like a chain without a hook; and heaven without the human race would be like a house without a foundation.{1}

{Footnote 1} Nothing springs from itself, but from what is
prior to itself, thus all things from a First, and they also
have permanent existence from Him from whom they spring forth,
and permanent existence is a perpetual springing forth (n.
2886, 2888, 3627, 3628, 3648, 4523, 4524, 6040, 6056). Divine
order does not stop midway, but terminates in an outmost, and
that outmost is man, thus Divine order terminates in man (n.
634, 2853, 3632, 5897, 6239, 6451, 6465, 9215, 9216, 9824,
9828, 9836, 9905, 10044, 10329, 10335, 10548). Interior things
flow into external things, even into the extreme or outmost in
successive order, and there they spring forth and have
permanent existence (n. 634, 6239, 6465, 9215, 9216). Interior
things spring forth and have permanent existence in what is
outmost in simultaneous order (n. 5897, 6451, 8603, 10099).
Therefore all interior things are held together in connection
from a First by means of a Last (n. 9828). Therefore "the First
and the Last" signify all things and each thing, that is, the
whole (n. 10044, 10329, 10335). Consequently in outmosts there
is strength and power (n. 9836).

305. But man has severed this connection with heaven by turning his exteriors away from heaven, and turning them to the world and to self by means of his love of self and of the world, thereby so withdrawing himself that he no longer serves as a basis and foundation for heaven; therefore the Lord has provided a medium to serve in place of this base and foundation for heaven, and also for the conjunction of heaven with man. This medium is the Word. How the Word serves as such a medium has been shown in many places in the Arcana Coelestia, all of which may be seen gathered up in the little work on The White Horse mentioned in the Apocalypse; also in the Appendix to the New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, from which some notes are here appended.{1}

{Footnote 1} The Word in the sense of the letter is natural (n.
8783). For the reason that the natural is the outmost in which
spiritual and heavenly things, which are interior things,
terminate and on which they rest, like a house upon its
foundation (n. 9430, 9433, 9824, 10044, 10436). That the Word
may be such it is composed wholly of correspondences (n. 1404,
1408, 1409, 1540, 1619, 1659, 1709, 1783, 8615, 10687). Because
the Word is such in the sense of the letter it is the
containant of the spiritual and heavenly sense (n. 9407). And
it is adapted both to men and to angels (n. 1769-1772, 1887,
2143, 2157, 2275, 2333, 2395, 2540, 2541, 2547, 2553, 7381,
8862, 10322). And it is what makes heaven and earth one (n.
2310, 2495, 9212, 9216, 9357, 9396, 10375). The conjunction of
the Lord with man is through the Word, by means of the internal
sense (n. 10375). There is conjunction by means of all things
and each particular thing of the Word, and in consequence the
Word is wonderful above all other writing (n. 10632-10634).
Since the Word was written the Lord speaks with men by means of
it (n. 10290). The church, where the Word is and the Lord is
known by means of it, in relation to those who are out of the
church where there is no Word and the Lord is unknown is like
the heart and lungs in man in comparison with the other parts
of the body, which live from them as from the fountains of
their life (n. 637, 931, 2054, 2853). Before the Lord the
universal church on the earth is as a single man (n. 7396,
9276). Consequently unless there were on this earth a church
where the Word is, and where the Lord is known by means of it,
the human race here would perish (n. 468, 637, 931, 4545,
10452).

306. I have been told from heaven that the most ancient people, because their interiors were turned heavenwards, had direct revelation, and by this means there was at that time a conjunction of the Lord with the human race. After their times, however, there was no such direct revelation, but there was a mediate revelation by means of correspondences, inasmuch as all their Divine worship then consisted of correspondences, and for this reason the churches of that time were called representative churches. For it was then known what correspondence is and what representation is, and that all things on the earth correspond to spiritual things in heaven and in the church, or what is the same, represent them; and therefore the natural things that constituted the externals of their worship served them as mediums for thinking spiritually, that is, thinking with the angels. When the knowledge of correspondences and representations had been blotted out of remembrance a Word was written, in which all the words and their meanings are correspondences, and thus contain a spiritual or internal sense, in which are the angels; and in consequence, when a man reads the Word and perceives it according to the sense of the letter or the outer sense the angels perceive it according to the internal or spiritual sense; for all the thought of angels is spiritual while the thought of man is natural. These two kinds of thought appear diverse; nevertheless they are one because they correspond. Thus it was that when man had separated himself from heaven and had severed the bond the Lord provided a medium of conjunction of heaven with man by means of the Word.

307. How heaven is conjoined with man by means of the Word I will illustrate by some passages from it. "The New Jerusalem" is described in the Apocalypse in these words:

I saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the first heaven
and the first earth had passed away. And I saw the holy
city New Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. The
city was foursquare, its length as great as its breadth;
and an angel measured the city with a reed, twelve
thousand furlongs; the length, the breadth, and the height
of it are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, an
hundred and forty-four cubits, the measure of a man, that
is, of an angel. The building of the wall was of jasper;
but the city itself was pure gold, and like unto pure
glass; and the foundations of the wall were adorned with
every precious stone. The twelve gates were twelve pearls;
and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were
transparent glass (21:1, 2, 16-19, 21).

When man reads these words he understands them merely in accordance with the sense of the letter, namely, that the visible heaven with the earth is to perish, and a new heaven is to come into existence; and upon the new earth the holy city Jerusalem is to descend, with all its dimensions as here described. But the angels that are with man understand these things in a wholly different way, that is, everything that man understands naturally they understand spiritually. [2] By "the new heaven and the new earth" they understand a new church; by "the city Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven" they understand its heavenly doctrine revealed by the Lord; by "its length, breadth, and height, which are equal," and "twelve thousand furlongs," they understand all the goods and truths of that doctrine in the complex; by its "wall" they understand the truths protecting it; by "the measure of the wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel," they understand all those protecting truths in the complex and their character; by its "twelve gates, which were of pearls," they understand introductory truths, "pearls" signifying such truths; by "the foundations of the wall, which were of precious stones," they understand the knowledge on which that doctrine is founded; by "the gold like unto pure glass," of which the city and its street were made, they understand the good of love which makes the doctrine and its truths transparent. Thus do the angels perceive all these things; and therefore not as man perceives them. The natural ideas of man thus pass into the spiritual ideas with the angels without their knowing anything of the sense of the letter of the Word, that is, about "a new heaven and a new earth," "a new city Jerusalem," its "wall, the foundations of the wall, and its dimensions." And yet the thoughts of angels make one with the thoughts of man, because they correspond; they make one almost the same as the words of a speaker make one with the understanding of them by a hearer who attends solely to the meaning and not to the words. All this shows how heaven is conjoined with man by means of the Word: [3] Let us take another example from the Word:

In that day there shall be a highway from Egypt to
Assyria, and Assyria shall come into Egypt and Egypt into
Assyria; and the Egyptians shall serve Assyria. In that
day shall Israel be a third to Egypt and to Assyria, a
blessing in the midst of the land, Which Jehovah of hosts
shall bless, saying, Blessed be My people the Egyptian,
and the Assyrian the work of My hands, and Israel Mine
inheritance (Isaiah 19:23-25).

What man thinks when these words are read, and what the angels think, can be seen from the sense of the letter of the Word and from its internal sense. Man from the sense of the letter thinks that the Egyptians and Assyrians are to be converted to God and accepted, and are then to become one with the Israelitish nation; but angels in accordance with the internal sense think of the man of the spiritual church who is here described in that sense, whose spiritual is "Israel," whose natural is the "Egyptian," and whose rational, which is the middle, is the "Assyrian."{1} Nevertheless, these two senses are one because they correspond; and therefore when the angels thus think spiritually and man naturally they are conjoined almost as body and soul are; in fact, the internal sense of the Word is its soul and the sense of the letter is its body. Such is the Word throughout. This shows that it is a medium of conjunction of heaven with man, and that its literal sense serves as a base and foundation.

{Footnote 1} In the Word "Egypt" and "Egyptian" signify the
natural and its knowledge (n. 4967, 5079, 5080, 5095, 5160,
5460, 5799, 6015, 6147, 6252, 7355, 7648, 9340, 9391).
"Assyria" signifies the rational (n. 119, 1186). "Israel"
signifies the spiritual (n. 5414, 5801, 5803, 5806, 5812, 5817,
5819, 5826, 5833, 5879, 5951, 6426, 6637, 6862, 6868, 7035,
7062, 7198, 7201, 7215, 7223, 7957, 8234, 8805, 9340).

308. There is also a conjunction of heaven by means of the Word with those who are outside of the church where there is no Word; for the Lord's church is universal, and is with all who acknowledge the Divine and live in charity. Moreover, such are taught after death by the angels and receive Divine truths;{1} on which subject more may be seen below, in the chapter on the heathen. The universal church on the earth in the sight of the Lord resembles a single man, just as heaven does (see n. 59-72); but the church where the Word is and where the Lord is known by means of it is like the heart and lungs in that man. It is known that all the viscera and members of the entire body draw their life from the heart and lungs through various derivations; and it is thus that those of the human race live who are outside of the church where the Word is, and who constitute the members of that man. Again, the conjunction of heaven with those who are at a distance by means of the Word may be compared to light radiating from a center all around. The Divine light is in the Word, and there the Lord with heaven is present, and from that presence those at a distance are in light; but it would be otherwise if there were no Word. This may be more clearly seen from what has been shown above respecting the form of heaven in accordance with which all who are in heaven have affiliation and communication. But while this arcanum may be comprehended by those who are in spiritual light, it cannot be comprehended by those who are only in natural light; for innumerable things are clearly seen by those who are in spiritual light that are not seen or are seen obscurely as a single thing by those who are only in natural light.

{Footnote 1} The church specifically is where the Word is and
where the Lord is known by means of it, thus where Divine
truths from heaven are revealed (n. 3857, 10761). The Lord's
church is with all in the whole globe who live in good in
accordance with the principles of their religion (n. 3263,
6637, 10765). All wherever they are who live in good in
accordance with the principles of their religion and who
acknowledge the Divine are accepted of the Lord (n. 2589-2604,
2861, 2863, 3263, 4190, 4197, 6700, 9256). And besides these
all children wheresoever they are born (n. 2289-2309, 4792).

309. Unless such a Word had been given on this earth the man of this earth would have been separated from heaven; and if separated from heaven he would have ceased to be rational, for the human rational exists by an influx of the light of heaven. Again, the man of this earth is such that he is not capable of receiving direct revelation and of being taught about Divine truths by such revelation, as the inhabitants of other earths are, that have been especially described in another small work. For the man of this earth is more in worldly things, that is, in externals, than the men of other earths, and it is internal things that are receptive of revelation; if it were received in external things the truth would not be understood. That such is the man of this earth is clearly evident from the state of those who are within the church, which is such that while they know from the Word about heaven, about hell, about the life after death, still in heart they deny these things; although among them there are some who have acquired a pre-eminent reputation for learning, and who might for that reason be supposed to be wiser than others.

310. I have at times talked with angels about the Word, saying that it is despised by some on account of its simple style; and that nothing whatever is known about its internal sense, and for this reason it is not believed that so much wisdom lies hid in it. The angels said that although the style of the Word seems simple in the sense of the letter, it is such that nothing can ever be compared to it in excellence, since Divine wisdom lies concealed not only in the meaning as a whole but also in each word; and that in heaven this wisdom shines forth. They wished to declare that this wisdom is the light of heaven, because it is Divine truth, for that which shines in heaven is the Divine truth (see n. 132). Again, they said that without such a Word there would be no light of heaven with the men of our earth, nor would there be any conjunction of heaven with them; for there is conjunction only so far as the light of heaven is present with man, and that light is present only so far as Divine truth is revealed to man by means of the Word. This conjunction by means of the correspondence of the spiritual sense of the Word with its natural sense is unknown to man, because the man of this earth knows nothing about the spiritual thought and speech of angels, and how it differs from the natural thought and speech of men; and until this is known it cannot in the least be known what the internal sense is, and that such conjunction is therefore possible by means of that sense. They said, furthermore, that if this sense were known to man, and if man in reading the Word were to think in accordance with some knowledge of it, he would come into interior wisdom, and would be still more conjoined with heaven, since by this means he would enter into ideas like the ideas of the angels.

311. XXXV. HEAVEN AND HELL ARE FROM THE HUMAN RACE.

In the Christian world it is wholly unknown that heaven and hell are from the human race, for it is believed that in the beginning angels were created and heaven was thus formed; also that the devil or Satan was an angel of light, but having rebelled he was cast down with his crew, and thus hell was formed. The angels never cease to wonder at such a belief in the Christian world, and still more that nothing is really known about heaven, when in fact that is the primary principle of all doctrine in the church. But since such ignorance prevails they rejoice in heart that it has pleased the Lord to reveal to mankind at this time many things about heaven and about hell, thereby dispelling as far as possible the darkness that has been daily increasing because the church has come to its end. [2] They wish for this reason that I should declare from their lips that in the entire heaven there is not a single angel who was created such from the beginning, nor in hell any devil who was created an angel of light and cast down; but that all, both in heaven and in hell, are from the human race; in heaven those who lived in the world in heavenly love and belief, in hell those who lived in infernal love and belief, also that it is hell taken as a whole that is called the Devil and Satan-the name Devil being given to the hell that is behind, where those are that are called evil genii, and the name Satan being given to the hell that is in front, where those are that are called evil spirits.{1} The character of these hells will be described in the following pages. [3] The angels said that the Christian world had gathered such a belief about those in heaven and those in hell from some passages in the Word understood according to the mere sense of the letter not illustrated and explained by genuine doctrine from the Word; although the sense of the letter of the Word until illuminated by genuine doctrine, draws the mind in different directions, and this begets ignorance, heresies, and errors.{2}

{Footnote 1} The hells taken together, or the infernals taken
together, are called the Devil and Satan (n. 694). Those that
have been devils in the world become devils after death (n.
968).

{Footnote 2} The doctrine of the church must be derived from
the Word (n. 3464, 5402, 6822, 6832, 10763, 10765). Without
doctrine the Word is not understood (n. 9025, 9409, 9424, 9430,
10324, 10431, 10582). True doctrine is a lamp to those who read
the Word (n. 10400). Genuine doctrine must be from those who
are enlightened by the Lord (n. 2510, 2516, 2519, 9424, 10105).
Those who are in the sense of the letter without doctrine come
into no understanding of Divine truths (n. 9409, 9410, 10582).
And they are led away into many errors (n. 10431). The
difference between those who teach and learn from the doctrine
of the church derived from the Word and those who teach and
learn from the sense of the letter alone (n. 9025).

312. The man of the church also derives this belief from his believing that no man comes into heaven or into hell until the time of the final judgment; and about that he has accepted the opinion that all visible things will perish at that time and new things will come into existence, and that the soul will then return into its body, and from that union man will again live as a man. This belief involves the other-that angels were created such from the beginning; for it is impossible to believe that heaven and hell are from the human race when it is believed that no man can go there until the end of the world. [2] But that men might be convinced that this is not true it has been granted me to be in company with angels, and also to talk with those who are in hell, and this now for some years, sometimes continuously from morning until evening, and thus be informed about heaven and hell. This has been permitted that the man of the church may no longer continue in his erroneous belief about the resurrection at the time of judgment, and about the state of the soul in the meanwhile, also about angels and the devil. As this belief is a belief in what is false it involves the mind in darkness, and with those who think about these things from their own intelligence it induces doubt and at length denial, for they say in heart, "How can so vast a heaven, with so many constellations and with the sun and moon, be destroyed and dissipated; and how can the stars which are larger than the earth fall from heaven to the earth; and can bodies eaten up by worms, consumed by corruption, and scattered to all the winds, be gathered together again to their souls; and where in the meantime is the soul, and what is it when deprived of the senses it had in the body?" [3] With many other like things, which being incomprehensible cannot be believed, and which destroy the belief of many in the life of the soul after death, and their belief in heaven and hell, and with these other matters pertaining to the faith of the church. That this belief has been destroyed is evident from its being said, "Who has ever come to us from heaven and told us that there is a heaven? What is hell? is there any? What is this about man's being tormented with fire to eternity? What is the day of judgment? has it not been expected in vain for ages?" with other things that involve a denial of everything. [4] Therefore lest those who think in this way-as many do who from their worldly wisdom are regarded as erudite and learned-should any longer confound and mislead the simple in faith and heart, and induce infernal darkness respecting God and heaven and eternal life, and all else that depends on these, the interiors of my spirit have been opened by the Lord, and I have thus been permitted to talk with all after their decease with whom I was ever acquainted in the life of the body-with some for days, with some for months, and with some for a year, and also with so many others that I should not exaggerate if I should say a hundred thousand; many of whom were in heaven, and many in hell. I have also talked with some two days after their decease, and have told them that their funeral services and obsequies were then being held in preparation for their interment; to which they replied that it was well to cast aside that which had served them as a body and for bodily functions in the world; and they wished me to say that they were not dead, but were living as men the same as before, and had merely migrated from one world into the other, and were not aware of having lost anything, since they had a body and its senses just as before, also understanding and will just as before, with thoughts and affections, sensations and desires, like those they had in the world. [5] Most of those who had recently died, when they saw themselves to be living men as before, and in a like state (for after death everyone's state of life is at first such as it was in the world, but there is a gradual change in it either into heaven or into hell), were moved by new joy at being alive, saying that they had not believed that it would be so. But they greatly wondered that they should have lived in such ignorance and blindness about the state of their life after death; and especially that the man of the church should be in such ignorance and blindness, when above all others in the whole world he might be clearly enlightened in regard to these things.{1} Then they began to see the cause of that blindness and ignorance, which is, that external things which are things, relating to the world and the body, had so occupied and filled their minds that they could not be raised into the light of heaven and look into the things of the church beyond its doctrinals; for when matters relating to the body and the world are loved, as they are at the present day, nothing but darkness flows into the mind when men go beyond those doctrines.

{Footnote 1} There are few in Christendom at this day who
believe that man rises again immediately after death (preface
to Genesis, chap. 16 and n. 4622, 10758); but it is believed
that he will rise again at the time of the final judgment, when
the visible world will perish (n. 10595). The reason of this
belief (n. 10595, 10758). Nevertheless man does rise again
immediately after death, and then he is a man in all respects,
and in every least respect (n. 4527, 5006, 5078, 8939, 8991,
10594, 10758). The soul that lives after death is the spirit of
man, which in man is the man himself, and in the other life is
in a complete human form (n. 322, 1880, 1881, 3633, 4622, 4735,
5883, 6054, 6605, 6626, 7021, 10594); from experience (n. 4527,
5006, 8939); from the Word (n. 10597). What is meant by the
dead seen in the holy city (Matt. 27:53) explained (n. 9229).
In what manner man is raised from the dead, from experience (n.
168-189). His state after his resurrection (n. 317-319, 2119,
5079, 10596). False opinions about the soul and its
resurrection (n. 444, 445, 4527, 4622, 4658).

313. Very many of the learned from the Christian world are astonished when they find themselves after death in a body, in garments, and in houses, as in the world. And when they recall what they had thought about the life after death, the soul, spirits, and heaven and hell, they are ashamed and confess that they thought foolishly, and that the simple in faith thought much more wisely than they. When the minds of learned men who had confirmed themselves in such ideas and had ascribed all things to nature were examined, it was found that their interiors were wholly closed up and their exteriors were opened, that they looked towards the world and thus towards hell and not towards heaven. For to the extent that man's interiors are opened he looks towards heaven, but to the extent that his interiors are closed and his exteriors opened he looks towards hell, because the interiors of man are formed for the reception of all things of heaven, but the exteriors for the reception of all things of the world; and those who receive the world, and not heaven also, receive hell.{1}

{Footnote 1} In man the spiritual world and the natural world
are conjoined (n. 6057). The internal of man is formed after
the image of heaven, but the external after the image of the
world (n. 3628, 4523, 4524, 6013, 6057, 9706, 10156, 10472).

314. That heaven is from the human race can be seen also from the fact that angelic minds and human minds are alike, both enjoying the ability to understand, perceive and will, and both formed to receive heaven; for the human mind is just as capable of becoming wise as the angelic mind; and if it does not attain to such wisdom in the world it is because it is in an earthly body, and in that body its spiritual mind thinks naturally. But it is otherwise when the mind is loosed from the bonds of that body; then it no longer thinks naturally, but spiritually, and when it thinks spiritually its thoughts are incomprehensible and ineffable to the natural man; thus it becomes wise like an angel, all of which shows that the internal part of man, called his spirit, is in its essence an angel (see above, n. 57);{1} and when loosed from the earthly body is, equally with the angel, in the human form. (That an angel is in a complete human form may be seen above, n. 73-77.) When, however, the internal of man is not open above but only beneath, it is still, after it has been loosed from the body, in a human form, but a horrible and diabolical form, for it is able only to look downwards towards hell, and not upwards towards heaven.

{Footnote 1} There are as many degrees of life in man as there
are heavens, and they are opened after death in accordance with
his life (n. 3747, 9594). Heaven is in man (n. 3884). Men who
are living a life of love and charity have in them angelic
wisdom, although it is for the time hidden, but they come into
that wisdom after death (n. 2494). The man who receives from
the Lord the good of love and of faith is called in the Word an
angel (n. 10528).

315. Moreover, any one who has been taught about Divine order can understand that man was created to become an angel, because the outmost of order is in him (n. 304), in which what pertains to heavenly and angelic wisdom can be brought into form and can be renewed and multiplied. Divine order never stops midway to form there a something apart from an outmost, for it is not in its fullness and completion there; but it goes on to the outmost; and when it is in its outmost it takes on its form, and by means there collected it renews itself and produces itself further, which is accomplished through procreations. Therefore the seed-ground of heaven is in the outmost.

316. The Lord rose again not as to His spirit alone but also as to His body, because when He was in the world He glorified His whole Human, that is, made it Divine; for His soul which He had from the Father was of Itself the very Divine, while His body became a likeness of the soul, that is, of the Father, thus also Divine. This is why He, differently from any man, rose again as to both;{1} and this He made manifest to the disciples (who when they saw Him believed that they saw a spirit), by saying:

See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; handle Me
and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye
behold Me having (Luke 24:36-39);

indicating thereby that He was a man both in respect to His spirit and in respect to His body.

{Footnote 1} Man rises again only as to his spirit (n. 10593,
10594). The Lord alone rose again in respect also to His body
(n. 1729, 2083, 5078, 10825).

317. That it might be made clear that man lives after death and enters in accordance with his life in the world either into heaven or into hell, many things have been disclosed to me about the state of man after death, which will be presented in due order in the following pages, where the world of spirits is treated of.

318. XXXVI. THE HEATHEN, OR PEOPLES OUTSIDE OF THE CHURCH, IN HEAVEN.

There is a general opinion that those born outside of the church, who are called the nations, or heathen, cannot be saved, because not having the Word they know nothing about the Lord, and apart from the Lord there is no salvation. But that these also are saved this alone makes certain, that the mercy of the Lord is universal, that is, extends to every individual; that these equally with those within the church, who are few in comparison, are born men, and that their ignorance of the Lord is not their fault. Any one who thinks from any enlightened reason can see that no man is born for hell, for the Lord is love itself and His love is to will the salvation of all. Therefore He has provided a religion for everyone, and by it acknowledgment of the Divine and interior life; for to live in accordance with one's religion is to live interiorly, since one then looks to the Divine, and so far as he looks to the Divine he does not look to the world but separates himself from the world, that is, from the life of the world, which is exterior life.{1}

{Footnote 1} The heathen equally with the Christians are saved
(n. 932, 1032, 1059, 2284, 2589, 2590, 3778, 4190, 4197). The
lot of the nations and peoples outside of the church in the
other life (n. 2589-2604). The church is specifically where the
Word is, and by it the Lord is known (n. 3857, 10761).
Nevertheless, those born where the Word is and where the Lord
is known are not on that account of the church, but only those
who live a life of charity and of faith (n. 6637, 10143, 10153,
10578, 10645, 10829). The Lord's church is with all in the
whole world who live in good in accordance with their religion
and acknowledge a Divine, and such are accepted of the Lord and
come into heaven (n. 2589-2604, 2861, 2863, 3263, 4190, 4197,
6700, 9256).