Spiritual background for GENESIS 22    previous  -  next  -  text  -  Genesis  -  BM Home  -  Full Page

AC 2760. The Word as to its internal sense is thus described by John in the Apocalypse:--

I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and He who sat upon him was called faithful and true; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were a flame of fire; and upon His head were many diadems; and He had a name written which no one knew but He Himself; and He was clothed in a garment dipped in blood; and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean. And He hath upon His garment and upon His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords (Apocalypse 19:11-14, 16).

What each of these things involves no one can know except from the internal sense. It is manifest that every one of them is something representative and significative, as, that heaven was opened, that the horse was white, that He that sat upon him was faithful and true, and judgeth and maketh war in righteousness; that His eyes were a flame of fire, that upon His head were many diadems, that He had a name written which no one knew but He Himself, that He was clothed in a garment dipped in blood, that the armies which are in heaven followed Him upon white horses, that they were clothed in fine linen white and clean, and that He had upon His garment and upon His thigh a name written. It is said in plain words that it is the Word which is meant, and that it is the Lord who is the Word; for it is said, "His name is called the Word of God," and then, "He hath upon His garment and upon His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords."

[2] From the interpretation of each of the words it is manifest that the Word is here described as to its internal sense. "Heaven being opened," represents and signifies that the internal sense of the Word is not seen except in heaven, and by those to whom heaven is opened, that is, who are in love to the Lord and thence in faith in Him. The "horse which was white" represents and signifies the understanding of the Word as to its interiors; that a "white horse" is this will be manifest from what follows. That "He who sat upon him" is the Word, and the Lord who is the Word, is evident. He is called "faithful and judging from righteousness" on account of good, and "true and making war from righteousness" on account of truth. His "having upon His head many diadems," signifies all things of faith. His "having a name written which no one knew but He Himself," signifies that no one sees what the Word is in its internal sense but Himself, and he to whom He reveals it. "His being clothed in a garment dipped in blood," signifies the Word in the letter. The "armies in the heavens which followed Him upon white horses," signify those who are in the understanding of the Word as to its interiors. "Clothed in fine linen white and clean," signifies the same in love and thence in faith. The "name written upon His garment and upon His thigh," signifies truth and good. From all this, and from what there precedes and follows, it is manifest that toward the last period the internal sense of the Word will be opened; but what will then come to pass is also described there (Revelation 19:17-21).

AC 2761. That the "white horse" is the understanding of the Word as to its interiors, or what is the same, the internal sense of the Word, is evident from the signification of a "horse," as being the intellectual faculty. In the prophetic parts of the Word a horse and a rider are often named; but no one has hitherto known that a "horse" signifies the faculty of understanding, and a "rider" one who is intelligent--as in the prophecy of Jacob, then Israel, respecting Dan:--

Dan shall be a serpent upon the way, an arrow-snake upon the path, biting the horse’s heels, and his rider shall fall backward. I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah (Gen. 49:17, 18).

That a "serpent" is one who reasons concerning Divine arcana from the senses and from memory-knowledges, may be seen above (n. 195); also that a "way" and a path" are truth (n. 627, 2333); and that the "heel" is the lowest of the natural (n. 259); a "horse" is the understanding of the Word; and a "rider" he that teaches. Hence it is manifest what these prophetic words signify, namely, that one who reasons concerning the truths of faith from the senses and from memory-knowledges, sticks fast in the lowest things of nature only, and thus believes nothing, which is to "fall backward;" wherefore it is added, "I wait for Thy salvation, O Jehovah."

[2] In Habakkuk:--

O God, Thou dost ride upon Thy horses, Thy chariots are salvation, Thou hast made Thy horses to tread in the sea (Habakkuk 3:8, 15);

where "horses" denote the Divine truths which are in the Word; " chariots," doctrine from them; the "sea," knowledges (n. 28, 2120); and because these are of the understanding of the Word from God, it is said, "Thou hast made Thy horses to tread in the sea." Horses are here attributed to God, as in the Apocalypse, above; to whom they cannot be attributed unless they signify such things.

[3] In David:--

Sing unto God, sing praises to His name, extol Him that rideth upon the clouds, by His name Jah (Ps. 68:4);

to "ride upon the clouds" denotes the understanding of the Word as to its interiors, or in its internal sense. A "cloud" is the Word in the letter, in which is the internal sense (n. 2135a).

[4] In the same:--

Jehovah bowed the heavens, and came down, and thick darkness was under His feet; and He rode upon a cherub (Ps. 18:9, 10);

"thick darkness" here denotes clouds; to "ride upon a cherub" represents the Lord‘s providence lest man should of himself enter into the mysteries of faith which are in the Word (n. 308). In Zechariah:--

In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness unto Jehovah (Zechariah 14:20);

the "bells of the horses" denote the understanding of the spiritual things of the Word, which are holy.

[5] In Jeremiah:--

There shall enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes, sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariot and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city shall be inhabited forever (Jeremiah 17:25, 26; 22:4);

the "city Jerusalem" denotes the Lord’s spiritual kingdom and church; "kings," truths (n. 1672, 2015, 2069); "princes," the primary precepts of truth (n. 1482, 2089); "David," the Lord (n. 1888); the "men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem," those who are in the good of love, of charity, and of faith (n. 2268, 2451, 2712); thus to "ride upon a chariot and upon horses" means to be instructed in the doctrine of truth from the internal understanding of the Word.

[6] In Isaiah:--

Then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah, and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob (Isaiah 58:14);

to "ride upon the high places of the earth" denotes intelligence. In David:--

A song of loves: Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O mighty one, Thy glory and Thy majesty; and in Thy majesty go forward, ride upon the word of truth, and of the gentleness of righteousness, and Thy right hand shall teach Thee wonderful things (Ps. 45:3, 4);

to "ride upon the word of truth" manifestly denotes the understanding of truth; and "upon the word of the gentleness of righteousness," the wisdom of good.

[7] In Zechariah:--

In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness; and I will open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness (Zechariah 12:4, 5);

where also the "horse" manifestly denotes the understanding, which would be smitten with astonishment and blindness; and the "rider" him that understands, who would be smitten with madness. In Hosea:--

Take away all iniquity, and accept that which is good, and we will render the bullocks of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses; and we will no more say to the work of our hands, Thou art our god (Hosea 14:2, 3);

"Asshur" denotes reasoning (n. 119, 1186); the "horse" one‘s own intelligence. Besides these there are many other passages.

AC 2762. That a "horse" signifies the faculty of understanding is from no other source than the representatives in the other life. Often there, in the world of spirits, horses are seen, and this with great variety, and those also that sit on them; and whenever they are seen they signify the faculty of understanding. There are such representatives continually with spirits. It is from the representation of the horse, as being the understanding, that when horses are mentioned in the Word, the spirits and angels with man at once know that the understanding is what is treated of. It is also from this that when spirits from a certain distant world on being imbued with intelligence and wisdom are taken up from the world of spirits into heaven, there appear to them horses shining as with fire; which also I have seen when they were taken up.

[2] From this I could see what is signified by the chariot of fire and horses of fire seen by Elisha when Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven; as also what is signified by the exclamation of Elisha then: "My Father, my Father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof" (2 Kings 2:11, 12); and by Joash king of Israel saying the same to Elisha when he was dying: "My Father, my Father, the chariot of Israel and the horsemen thereof" (2 Kings 13:14). That by Elijah and Elisha was represented the Lord as to the Word, will of the Lord’s Divine mercy be told elsewhere; the doctrine of love and charity from the Word being meant by the "chariot of fire," and the doctrine of faith therefrom by the "horses of fire." The doctrine of faith is the same as the understanding of the Word as to its interiors, or as to its internal sense.

[3] That chariots and horses are seen in the heavens with spirits and angels, is evident from the fact of their being seen by the prophets, as by (Zechariah 1:8-10; 6:3-7), and by others, and also by Elisha‘s servant, as thus described in the book of Kings:--

Jehovah opened the eyes of Elisha’s boy, and he saw; and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha (2 Kings 6:17).

Moreover, where the abode of the intelligent and wise is, in the world of spirits, chariots and horses appear continually; for the reason as said that by chariots and horses are represented the things of wisdom and of intelligence. Resuscitated persons after death, who are entering into the other life, see represented to them a young man sitting upon a horse, and then alighting from the horse; and by this is signified that they are to be instructed in the knowledge of good and truth before they can come into heaven, see (n. 187, 188).

[4] That chariots and horses signified these things, was well known in the Ancient Church, as also is evident from the book of Job, which is a book of that Church, where are these words:--

God hath made her to forget wisdom, and hath not imparted to her intelligence; what time she lifteth up herself on high she scorneth the horse and his rider (Job 39:17-19).

From the Ancient Church the signification of the horse, as being the faculty of understanding, was extended to the wise round about, even into Greece. From this it came to pass that when they described the sun, by which was signified love, (n. 2441, 2495), they placed in it the god of their wisdom and intelligence, and gave him a chariot and four horses of fire; and that when they described the god of the sea, because by the sea were signified knowledges in general (n. 28, 2120), they gave horses also to him; and that when they described the rise of knowledges from the understanding, they represented a flying horse which with his hoof broke open a fountain, where dwelt the virgins that were the sciences; and by the Trojan horse nothing else was signified than a contrivance of their understanding for destroying city walls. Even at this day the intellect is often described, according to the custom received from those ancient people, under the figure of a flying horse, or Pegasus and learning is described as a fountain; but scarcely anyone knows that a horse, in the mystic sense, signifies the understanding, and a fountain truth; still less that these significatives were handed down to the Gentiles from the Ancient Church.

AC 2763. From all this it is now manifest whence come the representatives and significatives in the Word, namely, from the representatives that exist in the other life. From this source they came to the men of the Most Ancient Church, who were celestial, and were in company with spirits and angels while living on earth. From them the representatives passed to their posterity, and at length to those who merely knew that they had such a signification; but because the representatives came from the most ancient times, and were in their Divine worship, they were venerated and held sacred.

[2] Besides representatives, there are also correspondences which suggest and also signify something altogether different in the spiritual world from what they do in the natural world; as the heart, the affection of good; the eyes, the understanding; the ears, obedience; the hands, power; besides innumerable other correspondences. These are not represented in this way in the world of spirits; but they correspond, as what is natural to what is spiritual. Hence it is that every word, even to the smallest iota of all, in the Word, involves spiritual and heavenly things; and that the Word is in this manner inspired, so that when it is read by man, spirits and angels immediately perceive it spiritually according to the representations and correspondences. But this knowledge, which was so much cultivated and esteemed by the ancients after the flood, and by means of which they were able to think with spirits and angels, is at this day altogether obliterated, so much so that scarcely anyone is willing to believe that it exists; and they who believe in it merely call it a kind of mystical thing, of no use; and this for the reason that man has become altogether worldly and corporeal; to such a degree that when what is spiritual and heavenly is mentioned, he feels a repugnance, and sometimes a loathing, or even nausea. What then will he do in the other life, which lasts forever, and where there is nothing worldly and corporeal, but only what is spiritual and heavenly, which makes the life in heaven?

CONCERNING MAN’S FREEDOM

AC 2870. Few know what freedom is, and what non-freedom is. All that which is of any love and its delight appears to be freedom, and that which is contrary to these, non-freedom. What is of the love of self and the love of the world, and of their cupidities, appears to man as freedom, but it is infernal freedom; while what is of love to the Lord and of love toward the neighbor, consequently of the love of good and truth, is freedom itself, and is heavenly freedom.

AC 2871. Infernal spirits do not know that there is any other freedom than that which is of the love of self and the love of the world; that is, of the cupidities of commanding, of persecuting and hating all who do not serve them, of tormenting every one, of destroying the universe if they could for the sake of self; of taking away and claiming to themselves whatever is another‘s. When they are in these and similar things, they are in their freedom, because they are in their delight Their life consists in this freedom to such a degree that if it were taken away from them, nothing more of life would remain to them than that of a newborn infant. This was also shown by living experience. A certain evil spirit was in the persuasion that such things could be taken away from him, and that in this way he could come into heaven; consequently that his life could be miraculously changed into heavenly life; on which account those loves together with their cupidities were taken away from him (which is done in the other life by dissociation), and he then appeared like an infant paddling with his hands, which he could scarcely move; and he was at the same time in such a state as to be less able to think than any infant, and unable to speak anything at all, or to know anything. But he was soon restored to his delight, and thus to his freedom. From this it is manifest that it is impossible for anyone to come into heaven who has procured a life for himself from the love of self and the world, and consequently who is in the freedom of these loves; for if that life were taken away from such a person, he would not have anything of thought and will remaining.

AC 2872. But heavenly freedom is that which is from the Lord, and in it are all the angels in the heavens. As before said this is the freedom of love to the Lord and mutual love, and thus of the affection of good and truth. The quality of this freedom may be seen from the fact that every one who is in it communicates his blessedness and happiness to another from inmost affection, and that it is a blessedness and happiness to him that he is able to communicate it. And because the universal heaven is such, it follows that every one is a center of all forms of blessedness and happiness, and that all these belong at the same time to each angel. The communication itself is effected by the Lord, by wonderful inflowings in an incomprehensible form, which is the form of heaven. This shows what heavenly freedom is, and that it is from the Lord alone.

AC 2873. How far distant heavenly freedom (which is from the affection of good and truth) is from infernal freedom (which is from the affection of evil and falsity), is evident from the fact that when the angels in heaven merely think about such freedom as is from the affection of evil and falsity, or what is the same, from the cupidities of the love of self and the world, they are immediately seized with internal pain; and on the other hand, when evil spirits merely think about the freedom which is from the affection of good and truth, or what is the same, from the desires of mutual love, they at once come into anguish; and what is wonderful, so opposite is the one freedom to the other, that the freedom of the love of self and the world is hell to good spirits; and on the other hand, the freedom of love to the Lord and mutual love is hell to evil spirits. Hence all in the other life are distinct according to their kinds of freedom, or what is the same, according to their loves and affections, consequently according to the delights of their life, which is the same as according to their lives; for lives are nothing else than delights, and these are nothing else than affections which are of the loves.

AC 2874. From this it is now evident what freedom is, namely, that it is to think and will from affection, and that the freedom is such as is the affection; also that the one freedom is infernal, and the other freedom heavenly, and that infernal freedom is from hell, whereas heavenly freedom is from the Lord. It is also evident that they who are in infernal freedom cannot come into heavenly freedom (which would be coming from hell into heaven) unless the whole of their life is taken away from them; also that no one can come into heavenly freedom except by reformation from the Lord; and that he is then introduced into it by the affection of good and truth, that is, by the good of life in which the truth of doctrine is being implanted.

AC 2875. The good of life, or the affection of good, is insinuated by the Lord by an internal way, without man’s knowing anything about it; but the truth of doctrine, or faith, by an external way, into the memory, whence it is called forth by the Lord in His own time and according to His own order, and is conjoined with the affection of good. This is done in man‘s freedom; for as before said man’s freedom is from affection. Such is the insemination and inrooting of faith. Whatever is done in freedom is conjoined, but that which is done under compulsion is not conjoined; as may be seen from considering that by no possibility can anything be conjoined except that by which we are affected: affection is the very thing that receives; to receive anything contrary to the affection is to receive it contrary to the life. Hence it is manifest that truth of doctrine, or faith, cannot be received except by the affection of it. But such as is the affection, such is the reception. It is only the affection of truth and good that receives the truth of faith; for they agree, and because they agree, they conjoin themselves together.

AC 2876. As no one can be reformed except in freedom, therefore freedom is never taken away from a man, in so far as the appearance is concerned; for it is an eternal law that every one should be in freedom as to his interiors, that is, as to his affections and thoughts, in order that the affection of good and truth may be implanted in him.

AC 2877. Whenever the affection of truth and the affection of good are insinuated by the Lord, which is done without man‘s knowledge, he then imbues himself with truth and does good in freedom, because from affection; for when anything is done from affection, then as before said there is freedom; and the truth of faith conjoins itself with the good of charity. Unless a man had freedom in everything he thinks and wills, the freedom of thinking truth and of willing good could never be insinuated by the Lord into anyone; for in order that a man may be reformed he must think truth as of himself, and do good as of himself; and what is done as of one’s self is done in freedom. Unless this were so, there would never be any reformation or regeneration.

AC 2878. There are innumerable causes from which and on account of which a man loves to learn truth and to will good (very many from the world, and also very many from the body); and sometimes these things are not done for the sake of heaven, and still less for the sake of the Lord. A man is thus introduced by the Lord into truth and good by affections, and one man altogether differently from another, each one according to his disposition, innate and acquired. And as he is continually being introduced into truth and good by affections, and thus continually by freedom, and at length into the affections of spiritual truth and spiritual good, the Lord alone knows the times and the states, and He alone arranges and governs them in application to each one‘s genius and life. This shows why man has freedom.

AC 2879. The Lord flows in through man’s inmost with good, and there conjoins truth with it: their root must be in the inmost. Unless a man is in freedom interiorly as to all his affections and as to all his thoughts, he can never he so disposed that good and truth may take any root.

AC 2880. Nothing else appears to a man as his (or what is the same, as his own) except that which flows from freedom. The reason is that all affection which is of love is his veriest life; and to act from affection is to act from life, that is, from himself, and thus from what is his, or what is the same, from his own. In order therefore that man may receive an Own that is heavenly, such as have the angels in heaven, he is kept in freedom, and through freedom he is introduced into it, in the way already stated. It may be known to every one that to worship the Lord from freedom appears as if it were from one‘s self, or from one’s own; but that to worship Him under compulsion is not from one‘s self, but from a force from without, or from some other source, compelling him to do it; thus that worship from freedom is worship itself, and that worship under compulsion is no worship.

AC 2881. If man could have been reformed by compulsion, there would not be any man in the universe who would not be saved; for nothing would be easier for the Lord than to compel man to fear Him, to worship Him, and indeed as it were to love Him; the means being innumerable. But as that which is done under compulsion is not conjoined, and thus is not appropriated, it is therefore the furthest possible from the Lord to compel anyone. So long as a man is in combats, or is one of the church militant, it appears as if the Lord compels the man, and thus that he has no freedom; for he is then continually combating against the love of self and of the world, thus against the freedom into which he was born and into which he has grown up; hence comes the appearance just referred to. But that in the combats in which be overcomes, the freedom is stronger than when out of combats (a freedom not from himself, but from the Lord, and still appearing as his), may be seen above (n. 1937, 1947).

AC 2882. Most of all does man believe that he has no freedom from the fact that he has learned that he cannot do good and think truth of himself. But let him not believe that anyone ever has or ever had any freedom of thinking truth and doing good of himself, not even the man who, from the state of perfection in which he was, was called a "likeness and image of God;" for the freedom of thinking the truth of faith, and of doing the good of charity, all flows in from the Lord. The Lord is Good itself and Truth itself; and is hence their fountain. All the angels are in such freedom, and indeed in the very perception that what we have just stated is the truth. The inmost angels perceive how much is from the Lord, and how much from themselves; and so far as it is from the Lord, they are in happiness; but so far as it is from themselves, they are not in what is happy.

AC 2883. In order therefore that a man may receive an Own that is heavenly, he must do good of himself, and think truth of himself; but still must know, and when reformed must think and believe, that all the good and all the truth are from the Lord, even as to the very least of all (and this because it is so) while its being given to man to think that it is from himself, is in order that the good and truth may become as his own.

AC 2884. The freedom of the love of self and of the world, and of their cupidities, is anything but freedom, being complete slavery; but still it is called freedom, just as love, affection, and delight are so called in both senses; and yet the love of self and of the world is anything but love, being hatred and so are its affection and delight. They are named according to what they appear; not according to what they are.

AC 2885. No one can know what slavery is and what freedom is, unless he knows the origin of them (which no one can know except from the Word), and unless he knows how the case is with man in regard to his affections which are of his will, and his thoughts which are of his understanding.

AC 2886. As to man’s affections and thoughts, the case is this: No one, whoever he may be, whether man, spirit, or angel, can will and think from himself; but from others; nor can these others will and think from themselves, but all again from others, and so on; and thus each one from the First of life, which is the Lord. That which is unconnected has no existence. Evils and falsities have connection with the hells; from the hells come the willing and thinking of those who are in evils and falsities; and also their love, affection, and delight, consequently their freedom. But goods and truths have connection with heaven, and the willing and thinking of those who are in them is from heaven, and so also are their love, affection, and delight, and therefore their freedom. From this we may see whence comes the one freedom, and whence the other. That the case is really so is most fully known in the other life, but is at this day altogether unknown in the world.

AC 2887. With man there are evil spirits constantly, and also angels; by the spirits he communicates with the hells, and by the angels with the heavens. If these spirits and angels were to be taken away from him, he would in a moment be devoid of willing and thinking, thus of life. That this is so may seem a paradox; and yet it is most true. But concerning the spirits and angels who are with man, of the Lord‘s Divine mercy elsewhere.

AC 2888. The truth is that the life of every one, both of man, of spirit, and also of angel, flows in solely from the Lord, who is life itself; and diffuses itself through the whole heaven and also through hell, thus into every one; and this in an order and series incomprehensible: but the life which flows in is received by each one according to his disposition. Good and truth are received as good and truth by the good; but good and truth are received as evil and falsity by the evil, and are also turned into evil and falsity in them. The case with this is comparatively like the light of the sun, which diffuses itself into all the objects of the earth, but is received according to the quality of each object, and becomes of a beautiful color in beautiful forms, and of a disagreeable color in disagreeable forms. In the world this is an arcanum, but nothing is better known in the other life. That I might know that influx is of such a nature, it has been given me to speak with the spirits and angels who were with me, and also to feel and perceive their influx; and this so often that I cannot number the times. But I know that the fallacy will prevail, the fallacy that is to say, that men will believe that they will from themselves, and think from themselves, and thus have life from themselves; whereas nothing is further from the truth.

AC 2889. Evil spirits cannot possibly apprehend that they do not live from themselves, and that they are only organs of life; still less that there is no life except that which is from good and truth; and still less that they do not begin to live until the life of the cupidities of evil and of the persuasions of falsity, in which they are, is extinguished. They believe that if they were deprived of these there could be nothing of life remaining; whereas the truth is that when they have lost the life of the cupidities of evil and of the persuasions of falsity, they then first begin to live; and that the Lord, together with the good and truth in which life solely consists, is not till then received; and that intelligence and wisdom, and thus the veriest life, then flow in, and are afterwards immensely increased; and this with delight, blessedness, and happiness, and thus with inmost joy, and with ineffable variety, to eternity.

AC 2890. The evil spirits who are with man, through whom he communicates with hell, regard him no otherwise than as a vile slave; for they infuse into him their cupidities and their persuasions, and thus lead him whithersoever they will. But the angels through whom man communicates with heaven, regard him as a brother, and insinuate into him affections of good and truth, and thus lead him by freedom, not whither they will, but whither it pleases the Lord. From this we can see of what kind the one freedom is, and of what kind the other; and that it is slavery to be led by the devil, and freedom to be led by the Lord.

AC 2891. Spirits fresh from this world severely torment themselves by trying to comprehend how no one can do good of himself, or think truth of himself, except from the Lord; believing that thus they would be like machines, having no control of anything; and that if this is really so they should let their hands hang down, and suffer themselves to be acted upon. But they were told that they ought by all means to think, to will, and to do good of themselves; and that in no other way could they have an Own that is heavenly, and heavenly freedom; but that still they should acknowledge that the good and truth are not from them, but from the Lord: and they are instructed that all the angels are in such an acknowledgment, nay, in the perception that it is so; and the more exquisitely they perceive that they are led by the Lord, and thus are in the Lord, the more are they in freedom.

AC 2892. He who lives in good, and believes that the Lord governs the universe, and that all the good which is of love and charity, and all the truth which is of faith, are from the Lord alone; nay, that life is from Him, and thus that from Him we live, move, and have our being, is in such a state that he can be gifted with heavenly freedom, and together with it with peace; for he then trusts solely in the Lord and has no care for other things, and is certain that all things are tending to his good, his blessedness, and his happiness to eternity. But he who believes that he governs himself is continually disquieted, being borne along into cupidities, and into solicitude respecting future things, and thus into manifold anxieties; and because he so believes, the cupidities of evil and the persuasions of falsity also adhere to him.

AC 2893. Good spirits wondered exceedingly that the man of the church at this day does not believe that all the evils and falsities within him flow in from hell, and all the goods and truths from the Lord; when yet he has learned this from the Word, and also from the doctrine of faith; and, when and one has done a grievous evil, everybody says that he has suffered himself to be led by the devil; and when anyone has done good, that he has suffered himself to be led by the Lord.

 previous  -  next  -  text  -  Genesis  -  BM Home  -  Full Page