CL 523. The Lord says:

This can be understood in no wise as meaning judgment concerning a man's moral and civil life in the world, but as meaning judgment concerning his spiritual and celestial life. Who does not see that were it not lawful for a man to judge as to the moral life of his fellow inhabitants in the world, society would fall! What would society be if there were no public judgments? or if one did not form his own judgment concerning another? What is not lawful, is judgment as to the quality of the interior mind or soul within man, thus as to what his spiritual state is and hence his lot after death. This is known to the Lord only; nor does the Lord reveal it until after death, and this in order that what a man does he may do from freedom, and that thereby good or evil may be from him and so in him, and he thus live for himself and be himself forever. That the interiors of the mind, hidden in the world, are revealed after death is because this is a matter of importance and use to the societies into which the man then comes; for there all are spiritual. That they are revealed then is plain from these words of the Lord:

There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be proclaimed upon the housetops. (Luke 12:2, 3).

A general judgment such as: If in internals you are what you appear to be in externals you will be saved or condemned, is allowed; but a particular judgment such as, You are such in internals and therefore will be saved or condemned, is not allowed.

It is judgment of man's spiritual life or of the internal life of his soul that is meant by the imputation here treated of. What man knows who is a whoremonger at heart? and who a consort at heart? Yet it is the thoughts of the heart, being the purposes of the will, that judge every man. But these matters shall be laid open in the following order:

1. That after death the evil in which one is, is imputed to him; likewise the good.

2. That the transcription of the good of one man into another is impossible.

3. That if by imputation is meant such transcription, imputation is an idle word.

4. That evil is imputed to everyone according to the nature of his will and the nature of his understanding; likewise good.

5. That scortatory love is imputed to each man in the same way.

6. And likewise conjugial love.

The explanation of the above follows:

CL 524. I. That after death the evil in which one is, is imputed to him; likewise the good. That this may be seen in some clearness, it shall be illustrated under distinct heads, thus:

1. That everyone has a life proper to himself.

2. That this his life remains with everyone after death.

3. That to the evil man is then imputed the evil of his life, and to the good, the good of his life.

FIRST: That everyone has a life proper to himself, thus a life distinct from that of another, is well known; for there is perpetual variety, and no one thing is the same as another. Therefore, each individual has what is peculiar to himself. This is very manifest from men's faces, in that there is not, nor can ever be, a single face absolutely like another. The reason is because there is no animus the same as another, and the face is from the animus; for, as the saying is, the face is the type of the mind (animus), and the animus draws its origin and form from the life.

[2] Unless a man had a life properly his own, as he has an animus and face properly his own, then, after death he would not have any life separate from that of another. Indeed, there would be no heaven, for heaven consists of perpetually distinct individuals. Its form is solely from the varieties of souls and minds disposed into such order that they make a one; and they make a one from the One whose life is in each and everyone there, as the soul is in man. Were this not the case, heaven would be dispersed because its form would be dissolved. The One from whom each and all have life and by reason of whom the form coheres, is the Lord. In general, every form consists of various things, and the quality of the form is according to the harmonious co-ordination and arrangement of those things into a one. Such is the human form. Hence it is that man, consisting of so many members, viscera, and organs, does not sensate anything, whether in himself or from himself, save as a one.

[3] SECOND: That this his life remains with everyone after death is known in the Church from the Word and from the following passages there:

The works according to which it will be rendered to everyone are the life, for it is the man's life that does them, and they are in accord with his life.

Because it has been granted me for many years to be with angels and to talk with new-comers from the world, I can testify for a certainty that in the spiritual world everyone is explored as to the kind of life he has led; and that the life which he has contracted in the world remains with him to eternity. I have spoken with those who lived ages ago whose life was known to me from history, and I recognized that it was like the description. I have also heard from angels that no man's life can be changed after death because it has been organized according to his love and the works therefrom; that if it were changed, the organization would be torn apart, and this can never be; also that a change in organization is possible only in the material body, being entirely impossible in the spiritual body after the former is cast off.

[4] THIRD: That to the evil man is then imputed the evil of his life, and to the good, the good of his life. The imputation of evil is not an accusation, incrimination, charge, and judgement as in the world, but the evil itself does this; for the evil separate themselves from the good of their own free will, inasmuch as the two cannot be together. The delights of the love of evil have an aversion to the delights of the love of good, and (in the spiritual world) his delights exhale from everyone like odours from every plant on earth; for they are no longer absorbed and concealed by a material body but flow freely from their loves into the spiritual aura. And because evil as manifested in its odour is there sensated, it is this that accuses, incriminates, charges, and judges, not before any judge but before everyone who is in good. This is what is meant by imputation. Moreover, an evil man chooses companions with whom he may live in his delight; and being averse to the delight of good, he spontaneously betakes himself to his own in hell.

[5] The imputation of good is made in the same way, being made with those who in the world have acknowledged that all the good in them is from the Lord and none from themselves. These, after being prepared, are let into the interior delights of good, and then a way is opened for them into heaven, to the society whose delights are homogeneous. This is done by the Lord.

CL 525. II. That the transcription of the good of one man into another is impossible. The evidence of this also can be seen from the following heads in this order:

1. That every man is born in evil.

2. That by regeneration he is led into good by the Lord.

3. That this is done by a life according to His commandments.

4. Therefore good when thus implanted cannot be transcribed.

FIRST: That every man is born in evil is known in the Church. It is said that this evil is by inheritance from Adam; but it is from the man's parents, it being from them that everyone derives his disposition, that is, his inclination. As to this, both reason and experience bring conviction; for the parents' likeness in face, genius, and habits comes out in their children, and from them, in their descendants. It is from this that by many men families are recognized and judgment is made concerning their animi. Therefore, the evils in which men are born are evils which the parents themselves have contracted and have conveyed to their offspring by transmission. The reason why it is believed that the guilt of Adam is inscribed on the whole human race is because few reflect upon and thus recognize any evil in themselves. Therefore they opine that it is so deeply hidden as not to appear except before God.

[2] SECOND: That by regeneration man is led into good by the Lord. The fact of regeneration and that unless one is regenerated he cannot enter heaven, is clearly evident from the Lord's words. (John 3:3, 5). That regeneration is purification from evils and thus renovation of life, can be no secret in the Christian world, for reason also sees it when acknowledging that every man is born in evil, and that evil can be washed away and removed, not like dirt with soap and water, but only by repentance.

[3] THIRD: That man is led into good by the Lord by a life according to His commandments. The commandments of regeneration are the five which may be seen above, in (n. 82). Among them are these: That evils are to be shunned because they are of the devil and from the devil, and that goods are to be done because they are of God and from God; and that the Lord is to be approached that He may lead men to the doing of them. Let everyone take counsel with himself and consider whether man has good from any other source; and if he does not have good he does not have salvation.

[4] FOURTH: That good when thus implanted cannot be transcribed. By transcription is meant the transcription of the good of one man into another. From what was said above, it follows that by regeneration a man is made wholly new as to his spirit, and that this is effected by a life according to the Lord's commandments. Who does not see that this renovation cannot be accomplished except from time to time, in almost the same way as from seed a tree successively takes root, grows, and is perfected? Those who perceive regeneration in any other way do not know anything concerning man's state, or concerning evil and good, that the two are altogether opposite, and that good cannot be implanted except so far as evil is removed. Nor do they know that so long as one is in evil he is averse to every good which in itself is good. Therefore, were the good of one to be transferred into another who is in evil, it would be as though a lamb were thrown to a wolf, or a pearl tied to the snout of a swine. From this it is manifest that transcription is impossible.

CL 526. III. That if by imputation is meant such transcription, imputation is an idle word. It was demonstrated above (n. 524), that after death the evil in which a man is, is imputed to him and likewise the good. What is meant by imputation is therefore evident. But if by imputation is meant the transcription of good into one who is in evil, then, this being impossible, imputation is an idle word. This also was demonstrated above (n. 525).

In the world, merits can in a way be transcribed by men, that is, good can be done to children on account of their parents, or to friends of an adherent, from favour; but the good of the merit cannot be inscribed upon their souls, it can only be adjoined from without. The same thing is not possible with men as regards their spiritual life. This, as shown above, must be implanted; and the man remains in the evil in which he was born, if this spiritual life is not implanted by a life according to the Lord's commandments mentioned above. Until this is done, no good can reach him, or if it touches him, it is either thrown back and recoils like an elastic ball falling on a rock, or is swallowed up like a diamond thrown into a marsh. As to his spirit, an unreformed man is like a panther or an owl and may be compared to a briar and a nettle; but a man regenerated is like a sheep or a dove and may be compared to an olive tree and a vine. Pray think, if you will, how can a man-panther by any imputation, if by that is meant transcription, be converted into a man-lamb? or an owl into a dove? a briar into an olive tree? a nettle into a vine? If there is to be conversion, must not the ferine nature of the panther and the owl, and the noxiousness of the briar and the nettle be first taken away, and thus the truly human and innocuous be implanted? In (John 15:1-7), the Lord teaches how this is done.

CL 527. IV. That evil is imputed to every one according to the nature of his will and the nature of his understanding. It is known that there are two things which make man's life: will and understanding, all that is done by a man being done by his will and his understanding; also that without these agents man would have no action or speech other than that of a machine. It is evident from this that a man is such or such a man according to his will and understanding; also that a man's action, viewed in itself is such as is the affection of his will which produces it; and that his speech viewed in itself is such as is the thought of his understanding which produces it. Therefore, a number of men may act and speak in the same way and yet be acting and speaking differently, some from a depraved will and thought, and others from an upright will and thought.

[2] From this it is evident that what is meant by the deeds or works according to which everyone will be judged, is the will and understanding; and consequently, that by evil works are meant the works of an evil will, howsoever they may have appeared in externals, and by good works, the works of a good will even though in externals they may have seemed to be the same as the works of an evil man. Everything that is done by man's interior will is done from purpose; for that will proposes to itself that which it does in intention; and because the understanding confirms that intention, everything that is done by the understanding is done from confirmation. From this it is evident that evil or good is imputed to everyone according to the nature of the will in his deeds, and according to the nature of his understanding concerning them. It is allowed to confirm this by the following:

[3] In the spiritual world I have met with many who in the natural world had lived in the same way as others, dressing finely, faring sumptuously, doing business for gain like other men, attending dramatic performances, jesting about amatory matters as if from lust, besides other like things; yet in some the angels condemned these things as evils of sin, and in some they did not account them as evils; and the latter they declared guiltless, and the former guilty. To the question why they did so when yet the men had done the same things, they answered that they view all men from their purpose, intention or end, and make distinction accordingly; thus that those whom the end excuses or condemns, they excuse or condemn, for all in heaven have good as an end, and all in hell have evil as an end.

CL 528. To the above is added the following: It is said in the church that no one can fulfil the law, and the less so since he who transgresses against one commandment of the Decalogue, transgresses against all. But this formula of speech is not as it sounds. It must be understood in this way: He who from purpose or confirmation acts against one commandment acts against the rest; for to act thus from purpose or confirmation is wholly to deny that the action is a sin, and he who denies sin makes nothing of acting against the other commandments. Who does not know that one who is an adulterer is not therefore a murderer, a thief, and a false witness, and does not wish to be? But one who is an adulterer from purpose and confirmation makes all things of religion to be of no account, and so makes nothing of murder, theft, and false witness, and abstains from them, not because they are sins but because he fears the law and the loss of his reputation. That adulterers from purpose and confirmation account the sacred things of the church and of religion as of no value may be seen above (n. 490-493) and in the two Relations, (n. 500, 521, 522). It is the same if from purpose or confirmation one acts against any other commandment of the Decalogue; because, not reputing anything as a sin, he acts also against the rest.

CL 529. The same is the case with those who are in good from the Lord. If from will and understanding, or purpose and confirmation, they abstain from one evil because it is a sin, and still more if they abstain from several, they abstain from all; for as soon as one from purpose or confirmation abstains from any evil because it is a sin, he is held by the Lord in the purpose of abstaining from the rest. Therefore, if he does evil from ignorance or from some prevailing concupiscence of the body, it is not imputed to him because he did not propose it to himself and does not confirm it with himself. A man comes into this purpose if once or twice a year he examines himself and repents of the evil which he finds in himself. Not so with one who never examines himself. From this it is manifest who it is to whom sin is not imputed, and who it is to whom it is imputed.

CL 530. V. That scortatory love is imputed to each man in the same way, being imputed, not according to the deeds as they appear outwardly before men, nor even as they appear before a judge, but as they appear inwardly before the Lord and from Him before angels; that is to say, according to the nature of the man's will and understanding in them. In the world there are various circumstances which mitigate and excuse crimes, and also which aggravate them and make them more blameworthy; but after death, imputations are not made according to the external circumstances of the deed but according to the internal circumstances of the mind, and these are regarded according to the state of the Church with each individual. Take, for example, a man impious in will and understanding, one who has no fear of God nor love of the neighbour, and so no reverence for any holy thing of the church. After death he is found guilty of all the crimes which he had committed in the body, and there is no recording of his good deeds; for the heart from which they issued as from a fountain was turned away from heaven and turned towards hell, and deeds flow from the place where one's heart has its abode.

[2] That this may be understood, I will relate an arcanum. Heaven is distinguished into innumerable societies, and so likewise hell by reason of its opposition; and according to his will and to his understanding therefrom, every man's mind is actually dwelling in some one society, and in intention and thought he is one with those who are there. If his mind is in some society of heaven, then in intention and thought he is one with those who are there. If it is in some society of hell, then, in intention and thought he is one with those who are there. So long as man is living in the world, however, he migrates from one society to another according to the changes of the affections of his will and thence of the thoughts of his mind; but after death his journeyings are gathered together, and on the basis of these gatherings into a one, a place is appointed him, if evil, in hell, if good, in heaven.

[3] Now since all in hell have a will of evil, all there are regarded from that will; and since all in heaven have a will of good, all there are regarded from that will. After death, therefore, imputations are made according to the nature of the individual's will and understanding. It is the same with scortation, whether it be fornication or keeping a mistress, or concubinage, or adultery, these being imputed to the individual, not according to his deeds but according to the state of his mind in the deeds. The deeds follow the body into the tomb, but the mind rises again.

CL 531. VI. That in the same way conjugial love is imputed to each man. There are marriages in which there is no appearance of conjugial love, and yet it is there, and there are marriages in which there is an appearance of conjugial love, and yet it is not there. The reasons in both cases are many and can be learned in part from what has been treated of in the chapters on Love truly Conjugial (n. 57-73), the Causes of Colds and Separations (n. 234-260), and the Causes of apparent Love and Friendship in Marriages (n. 271-292). External appearances, however, afford no conclusion as to imputation. The sole thing which affords a conclusion is the conjugial which is inseated and guarded in the will of every man in whatsoever state of marriage he be, this conjugial being as a balance wherein that love is weighed; for, as shown above (n. 457-458), the conjugial of one man with one wife is the precious jewel of human life and the repository of the Christian religion. This being the case, that love may have place with one married partner and not at the same time with the other; and it may lie so deeply concealed that the man himself does not notice it; it may also be inscribed during the course of his life (on earth). The reason is, because in its steps, that love accompanies religion, and religion, being the marriage of the Lord and the Church, is the initiament and engrafting of the love. Therefore, after death, conjugial love is imputed to everyone according to his spiritual rational life; and for him to whom it is imputed, after his decease, marriage in heaven is provided, whatsoever may have been the nature of his marriage in the world.

And now, from the above comes the final clause: Conclusion as to whether a man has or has not conjugial love must not be made from the appearance of marriage or of scortation. Therefore,

Judge not, that ye be not condemned (Matt. 7:1).

CL 532. To the above I will add the following Memorable Relation:

As to my spirit I was once taken up into the angelic heaven and into one of its societies. Some of the wise men there then came to me and asked, "What news from earth?" I told them: "This is new: The Lord has revealed arcana which surpass in excellence the arcana hitherto revealed from the beginning of the Church." To their question, "What are these arcana?" I answered, "They are these:

"1. That in the Word, in each and every part thereof, there is a spiritual sense corresponding to the natural sense; that by this sense, the men of the Church have conjunction with the Lord and consociation with angels; and that in it resides the holiness of the Word.

"2. The correspondences of which the spiritual sense of the Word consists have been disclosed."

The angels asked, "Did not the inhabitants of the globe know about correspondences before?" I said: "Nothing whatever. They have lain hidden now for some thousands of years, ever since the time of Job. With those who lived at that time and previous thereto, the science of correspondences was the science of sciences from which they had their wisdom, because from it they had knowledge concerning things spiritual, being the things of heaven and hence of the church. But when this science was turned into an idolatrous science, then, of the Lord's Divine Providence it was so obliterated and destroyed that no one saw any sign of it. Still, it has now been disclosed by the Lord in order that men of the church may have conjunction with Him and consociation with angels. This is effected by means of the Word in which each and every thing is a correspondence." Greatly rejoicing that it had pleased the Lord to reveal this great arcanum, so deeply hidden for some thousands of years, the angels said, "This has been done to the end that the Christian Church, which is founded upon the Word and is now at its end, may again revive and draw breath through heaven from the Lord." They then asked whether by means of that science it had been now disclosed what is signified by Baptism and the Holy Supper, about which men have hitherto thought so variously. I answered that this is now disclosed.

3. I said further, "A revelation has at this day been made by the Lord respecting the life of men after death." Whereupon the angels said, "Why about life after death? Who does not know that man lives after death?" I replied: "Men know of it and do not know. They say that what lives after death is not the man but his soul; that this lives as a spirit, and of the spirit they cherish an idea as of wind or ether; that men do not live as men until after the day of the last judgment; that their corporeal parts which they had left behind in the world, though eaten up by worms, mice, and fishes, will then be gathered up and again be fitted into a body, and that in this way men will rise again." the angels said: "What is this? Who does not know that after death. man lives as a man, with the sole difference that he then lives as a spiritual man? and a spiritual man sees a spiritual man just as a material man a material, nor do they know a single distinction except that they are in a more perfect state?"

4. The angels then asked, "What do they know about our world? and about heaven and hell?" I said: "They have not known anything; but at this day the nature of the spiritual world in which angels and spirits live has been disclosed by the Lord, and thus the nature of heaven and the nature of hell; also that angels and spirits are in conjunction with men, besides many wonderful things about them." The angels were glad that it had pleased the Lord to disclose such things so that man from ignorance may no longer be in uncertainty respecting his immortality.

5. I said further: "At this day it has been revealed by the Lord that in your world there is a sun other than the sun in ours, and that the sun of your world is pure love, and the sun of our world pure fire; that therefore all that proceeds from your sun, this being pure love, partakes of life, and all that proceeds from ours, this being pure fire, takes nothing from life; and that thence is the difference between the spiritual and the natural. This difference, hitherto unknown, has also been disclosed, and thereby, it has been made known whence is the light which enlightens the human understanding with wisdom, and whence the heat which enkindles the human will with love.

6. "Moreover, it has been disclosed that there are three degrees of life, and hence three heavens; that the human mind is distinguished into these degrees, and that man thus corresponds to the three heavens." The angels said, "Did not men know this before?" I answered that they knew of the degrees between greater and less, but nothing of the degrees between the prior and the posterior.

7. The angels then asked whether any other new things had been revealed, and I said: "Many, being things concerning the Last Judgment; concerning the Lord, that He is the God of heaven and earth; that God is one, both in person and in essence, in whom is a Divine Trinity, and that He is the Lord; also concerning the New Church to be established by Him, and concerning the doctrine of that Church; concerning the holiness of the Sacred Scripture. Moreover, the Apocalypse has been revealed, and this could not have been revealed, even as to the smallest verse, save by the Lord. Furthermore, revelation has been made concerning the inhabitants of the Planets and concerning the Earths in the Universe; besides many memorable and wonderful things from the spiritual world, whereby much that pertains to wisdom has been disclosed from heaven."

CL 533. On hearing all this, the angels greatly rejoiced; but then, perceiving a sadness in me, they asked, "Whence is your sadness?" I said, "The arcana now revealed by the Lord, though in excellence and worth they surpass the knowledges hitherto made public, are yet esteemed on earth as of no value." Wondering at this, the angels besought the Lord that it might be allowed them to look down into the world. And they looked down and there, lo, mere darkness! They were then told to write those arcana upon a paper, and the paper would be let down upon the earth and they would see a portent. This was done. The paper on which those arcana had been written was let down from heaven, and lo, in its progress, while still in the spiritual world, it shone like a star; but as it fell into the natural world, the light disappeared and by degrees, as it went down, it was darkened. When it was let down by the angels into companies where were doctors and learned men of the clergy and laity, from many of these a murmur was heard, in which were the words: "What is this? Is it anything? What matters whether we know these things or not? Are they not offspring of the brain?" and it seemed as though some of them took the paper and folded and rolled and unrolled it with their fingers in order to obliterate the writing. It also seemed as though others would tear it to pieces, and as though still others wished to trample it under their feet. But from that criminal deed they were restrained by the Lord, and command was given to the angels to withdraw the paper and guard it. And because the angels were made sad and thought, "How long will this be?" it was said, "Until a time and times and half a time" (Rev. 12:14).

CL 534. After this I spoke with the angels and said, "In the world yet one more thing is revealed by the Lord." "What is that?" they asked, and I answered: "Concerning love truly conjugial and its heavenly delights." The angels then said: "Who does not know that the delights of conjugial love exceed the delights of all other loves? and who cannot see that there is some love into which are gathered all the blessedness, happiness, and delight that can ever be conferred by the Lord? and that the receptacle of these is love truly conjugial?--a love which can receive and perceive them with fullness of sensation."

I answered: "Men do not know this because they have not approached the Lord and lived according to His commandments by shunning evils as sins and doing goods; and love truly conjugial with its delights is solely from the Lord, and is given to those who live according to His commandments. Thus it is given to those who are received into the Lord's New Church, which is meant in the Apocalypse by the New Jerusalem." To this I added: "I am in doubt whether at this day men in the world are willing to believe that in itself this love is a spiritual love and therefore has its existence from religion, for they cherish only a corporeal idea concerning it."

The angels then said to me: "Write about it, and follow the revelation. The written book shall then be let down by us out of heaven and we shall see whether what is written therein is received, and at the same time, whether men are willing to acknowledge that this love is with man according to his religion--spiritual with the spiritual, natural with the natural, and merely carnal with adulterers."

CL 535. After this I heard a hostile murmur from those below, and at the same time the words, "Do miracles and we will believe." To my question, "Are not these things miracles?" they answered, "They are not!" I then asked, "What miracles then?" and the answer came, "Show and reveal the future, and we will have faith."

"But" I replied, "such knowledges are not given from heaven, because in so far as man knows the future, his reason and understanding with his prudence and wisdom fall into inactivity, become torpid, and decay." And again I asked, "What other miracles shall I do?"

Then came the cry, "Do miracles like those which Moses did in Egypt"; to which I replied, "Perhaps you would harden your hearts at them, as did Pharaoh and the Egyptians." The answer came that they would not; and again I said: "Assure me that you will not dance around a golden calf and adore it, as Jacob's posterity did within a month after they had seen the whole of Mount Sinai on fire and heard Jehovah Himself speaking out of the fire; thus, after a miracle which was the greatest of all." (In the spiritual sense, a golden calf is the pleasure of the flesh.) And from below came the answer, "We will not be like Jacob's posterity."

Then I heard it said to them from heaven: "If you believe not Moses and the Prophets, that is, the Word of the Lord, you would no more believe from miracles than did the sons of Jacob in the wilderness, nor, indeed, more than they believed when they saw with their own eyes the miracles done by the Lord when He was in the world."