Spiritual Life and the Word of God Part 3

When a man begins to shun and turn away from evils because they are sins all things that he does are good, and may be called good works; with a difference according to the excellence of the use. For what a man does before he shuns and turns away from evils as sins are works done by the man himself; and as the man's own (proprium), which is nothing but evil, is in these, and they are done for the sake of the world, so they are evil works. But the works that a man does after he shuns and turns away from evils as sins are works from the Lord, and because the Lord is in these and heaven with Him they are good works.

The difference between works done by man and works done by the Lord in man is not apparent to man's vision, but is clearly evident to the vision of angels. Works done by man are like sepulchers outwardly whitened, which within are full of dead men's bones. They are like platters and cups outwardly clean, but containing unclean things of every kind. They are like fruits inwardly rotten, but with the outer skin still shining; or like nuts and almonds eaten by worms within, while the sh.e.l.l remains untouched; or like a foul harlot with a fair face. Such are the good works done by man himself, since however good they appear on the outside, within they are full of impurities of every kind; for their interiors are infernal, while their exteriors appear heavenly.

But as soon as man shuns and turns away from evils as sins his works are good not only outwardly but inwardly also; and the more interior they are the more they are good, for the more interior they are the nearer they are to the Lord. Then they are like fruits that have a fine-flavored pulp, in the center of which are depositories with many seeds, from which new trees, even to whole gardens, may be produced; but everything and all things in his natural man are like eggs from which swarms of flying creatures may be produced, and gradually fill a great part of heaven. In a word, when man shuns and turns away from evils as sins the works that he does are living works, while those that he did before were dead works; for what is from the Lord is living but what is from man is dead. (A.E., n. 974.)

It has been said that so far as a man shuns and turns away from evils as sins he does goods, and that the goods that he does are such good works as are described in the Word, for the reason that they are done in the Lord; also that these works are good so far as man turns away from the evils opposed to them, because so far they are done by the Lord and not by man. Nevertheless, works are more or less good according to the excellence of the use; for works must be uses. The best are those that are done for the sake of uses to the church. Next in point of goodness come those that are done as uses to one's country; and so on, the uses determining the goodness of the works.

The goodness of works increases in man according to the fullness of truths from affection for which they are done; since the man who turns away from evils as sins wishes to know truths because truths teach uses and the quality of their good. This is why good loves truth and truth loves good, and they wish to be conjoined. So far, therefore, as such a man learns truths from an affection for them so far he does goods more wisely and more fully, more wisely because he knows how to distinguish uses and to do them with judgment and justice, and more fully because all truths are present in the performance of uses, and form the spiritual sphere that the affection for them produces. (A.E., n. 975.)

Take judges for an example: All who make justice venal [purchasable] by loving the office of judging for the sake of gain from judgments, and not for the sake of uses to their country, are thieves, and their judgments are thefts. It is the same if judgments are given according to friendship or favor, for friendships and favors are also profits and gains. When these are the end and judgments are the means, all things that are done are evil, and are what are meant in the Word by "evil works" and "not doing judgment and justice, perverting the right of the poor, of the needy, of the fatherless, of the widow, and of the innocent." And when such do justice, and yet regard profit as the end while they do a good work, to them it is not good; for justice, which is Divine, is to them a means, and such gain is the end; and that which is made the end is everything, while that which is made the means is nothing except so far as it is serviceable to the end. Consequently, after death such judges continued to love what is unjust as well as what is just, and are condemned to h.e.l.l as thieves. I say this from what I have seen. These are such as do not abstain from evils because they are sins, but only because they fear punishments of the civil law and the loss of reputation, honor, and office, and thus of gain.

It is otherwise with judges who abstain from evils as sins and shun them because they are contrary to the Divine laws, and thus contrary to G.o.d.

Such make justice their end, and they venerate, cherish, and love it as Divine. In justice they see G.o.d, as it were, because everything just, like everything good and true, is from G.o.d. They always join justice with equity and equity with justice, knowing that justice must be of equity in order to be justice, and that equity must be of justice in order to be equity, the same as truth is of good and good is of truth.

As such make justice their end, their giving judgments is doing good works; yet these works, which are judgments, are to them more or less good as there is in their judgments more or less of regard for friendship, favor, or gain; also as there is more or less in them of a love of what is just for the sake of the public good, which is that justice may prevail among their fellow citizens, and that those who live according to the laws may have security. Such judges have eternal life in a degree that accords with their works; for they are judged as they themselves have judged. (A.E., n. 976.)

Take as an example managers of the goods of others, higher or lower. If these secretly by arts or under some pretext by fraud deprive their kings, their country, or their masters of their goods, they have no religion and thus no conscience, for they hold the Divine law respecting theft in contempt and make it of no account. And although they frequent churches, devoutly listen to preachings, observe the sacrament of the Supper, pray morning and evening, and talk piously from the Word, yet nothing from heaven flows in and is present in their worship, piety, or discourse, since their interiors are full of theft, plundering, robbery, and injustice; and so long as these are within, the way into them from heaven is closed; consequently all the works they do are evil works.

But the managers of property who shun unlawful gains and fraudulent profits because they are contrary to the Divine law respecting theft, have religion, and thus also conscience; and all the works they do are good, for they act from sincerity for the sake of sincerity, and from justice for the sake of justice, and furthermore are content with their own, and are cheerful in mind and glad in heart whenever it happens that they have refrained from fraud; and after death they are welcomed by the angels and received by them as brothers, and are presented with good things even to abundance. But the opposite is true of evil managers; these after death are cast out of societies, and afterward seek wages and finally are sent into the caverns of robbers to labor there. (A.E., n. 977.)

Take merchants as an example: All their works are evil works so long as they do not regard as sins, and thus shun as sins, unlawful gains and wrongful usury, also fraud and craft; for such works cannot be done from the Lord, but must be done from man himself. And the more expert they are in skillfully and artfully contriving devices from within for overreaching their companions the more evil are their works. And the more expert they are in bringing such devices into effect under the pretense of sincerity, justice, and piety, the more evil still are their works. The more delight a merchant feels in such things the more do his works have their origin in h.e.l.l.

But if he acts sincerely and justly in order to acquire reputation, and wealth through reputation, even so as to seem to act from a love of sincerity and justice, and yet does not act sincerely and justly from affection for the Divine law or from obedience to it, he is still inwardly insincere and unjust, and his works are thefts, for through a pretense of sincerity and justice he seeks to steal.

That this is so becomes evident after death, when man acts from his inner will and love, and not from the outer; for then he thinks about and devises nothing but sharp practices and robberies, and withdraws himself from those who are sincere, and betakes himself either to forests or deserts, where he devotes himself to stratagems. In a word, all such become robbers.

But it is otherwise with merchants who shun as sins thefts of every kind, especially the more interior and hidden, which are effected by craft and deceit. All the works of such are good, because they are from the Lord; for the influx from heaven, that is, through heaven from the Lord, for accomplishing such works is not intercepted by the evils just mentioned. To such riches do no harm, because to them riches are means for uses. Their tradings are the uses by which they serve their country and their fellow citizens; and through their riches they are in a condition to perform those uses to which affection for good leads them.

(A.E., n. 978.)

From what has been said above, what is meant in the Word by good works can now be seen, namely, that they are all works done by man when evils have been set aside as sins. For the works done after this are done by man only as if by him; for they are done by the Lord; and all works done by the Lord are good, and are called goods of life, goods of charity, and good works; as for instance, all judgments of a judge who has justice as his end, all who venerates and loves it as Divine, and who detests as infamous decisions made for the sake of rewards or friendship, or from favor. Thus he consults the good of his country by causing justice and judgment to reign therein as in heaven; and thus he consults the peace of every innocent citizen and protects him from the violence of evildoers. All these are good works. So all services of managers and dealings of merchants are good works when they shun unlawful gains as sins against the Divine laws. When a man shuns evils as sins he daily learns what a good work is, and an affection for doing good grows in him, and an affection for knowing truths for the sake of good; for so far as he knows truths he can perform works more fully and more wisely, and thus his works become more truly good. Refrain, therefore, from asking in thyself, "What are the good works that I must do, or what good must I do to receive eternal life?" Only refrain from evils as sins and look to the Lord, and the Lord will teach and lead you. (A.E., n. 979.)

VI. The Sixth Commandment

Thus far five commandments of the Decalogue have been explained. Now follows the explanation of the sixth commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery."

Who at this day can believe that the delight of adultery is h.e.l.l in man, and that the delight of marriage is heaven in him, consequently so far as he is in the one delight he is not in the other, since so far as man is in h.e.l.l he is not in heaven? Who at this day can believe that the love of adultery is the fundamental love of all h.e.l.lish and devilish loves, and that the chaste love of marriage is the fundamental love of all heavenly and Divine loves; consequently so far as a man is in the love of adultery he is in every evil love, if not in act yet in endeavor; and on the other hand, so far as he is in the chaste love of marriage he is in every good love, if not in act yet in endeavor? Who at this day can believe that he who is in the love of adultery believes nothing of the Word, thus nothing of the church, and even in his heart denies G.o.d; and on the other hand, that he who is in the chaste love of marriage is in charity and in faith, and in love to G.o.d; also that the chast.i.ty of marriage makes one with religion, and the lasciviousness of adultery makes one with naturalism?

All this is at this day unknown because the church is at its end, and is devastated in respect to truth and in respect to good; and when the church is such, the man of the church, by influx from h.e.l.l, comes into the persuasion that adulteries are not detestable things and abominations, and thus comes into the belief that marriages and adulteries do not differ in their essence, but only as a matter of order, and yet the difference between them is like the difference between heaven and h.e.l.l. That such is the difference between them will be seen in what follows. This, then, is why in the Word in its spiritual sense heaven and the church are meant by nuptials and marriages, and h.e.l.l and rejection of all things of the church are meant in the Word in its spiritual sense by adulteries and wh.o.r.edoms. (A.E., n. 981.)

Since adultery is h.e.l.l in man and marriage is heaven in him, it follows that so far as a man loves adultery he removes himself from heaven; consequently adulteries close heaven and open h.e.l.l, and this they do so far as they are believed to be allowable and are perceived to be more delightful than marriages. The man, therefore, who confirms himself in adulteries and commits them from the favor and consent of his will, and turns away from marriage, closes heaven to himself, until finally he ceases to believe anything of the church or of the Word, and becomes a wholly sensual man, and after death an infernal spirit; for, as has been said above, adultery is h.e.l.l, and thus an adulterer is a form of h.e.l.l.

And since adultery is h.e.l.l it follows that unless a man abstains from adulteries and shuns them and turns away from them as infernal he shuts up heaven to himself, and does not receive the least influx therefrom.

Afterward he reasons that marriages and adulteries are alike, but that marriages must be maintained in kingdoms for the sake of order and the training of offspring; also that adulteries are not criminal, since children are equally born from them; and they are not harmful to women, since they can endure them, and by them the procreation of the human race is promoted. He does not know that these and other like reasonings in favor of adulteries ascend from the Stygian [extremely dark] waters of h.e.l.l, and that the l.u.s.tful and b.e.s.t.i.a.l nature of man which inheres in him from birth attracts them and sucks them in with delight, as a swine does excrement. That such reasonings, which at this day possess the minds of most men in the Christian world, are diabolical, will be seen.

(A.E., n. 982.)

That marriage is heaven and that adultery is h.e.l.l cannot be better seen than from considering their origin. The origin of true marriage love is the Lord's love for the church; and this is why the Lord is called in the Word a "Bridegroom" and a "Husband," and the church a "bride" and a "wife." It is from this marriage that the church is a church in general and in particular. The church in particular is a man in whom the church is. From this it is clear that the Lord's conjunction with a man of the church is the very origin of true marriage love; and how that conjunction can be the origin shall be told.

The Lord's conjunction with a man of the church is a conjunction of good and truth; good is from the Lord, and truth is a man, and from this is the conjunction that is called the heavenly marriage, and from that marriage true marriage love exists between the married pair that are in such conjunction with the Lord.

From this it is now evident that true marriage love is from the Lord alone, and exists in those who are in the conjunction of good and truth from the Lord. As this conjunction is reciprocal it is said by the Lord that

They are in Him, and He in them (John xiv. 20).

This conjunction or this marriage was thus established from creation.

The man was created to be an understanding of truth, and the woman to be an affection for good; and thus the man to be a truth, and the woman to be a good. When understanding of truth which is in the man makes one with the affection for good which is in the woman, there is a conjunction of the two minds into one. This conjunction is the spiritual marriage from which marriage love descends. For when two minds are so conjoined as to be one mind there is love between them; and when this love, which is the love of spiritual marriage, descends into the body it becomes the love of natural marriage. That this is so anyone can clearly perceive if he will. A married pair who interiorly or in respect to their minds love each other mutually and reciprocally also love each other mutually and reciprocally in respect to their bodies.

It is well known that all love descends into the body from an affection of the mind, and that apart from such an origin no love exists.

Since then the origin of marriage love is the marriage of good and truth, which marriage in its essence is heaven, it is clear that the origin of the love of adultery is a marriage of evil and falsity, which in its essence is h.e.l.l. Heaven is a marriage because all who are in the heavens are in a marriage of good and truth; and h.e.l.l is adultery because all who are in the h.e.l.ls are in a marriage of evil and falsity.

From this it follows that marriage and adultery are as opposite as heaven and h.e.l.l are. (A.E., n. 983.)

Man was so created as to be spiritual and celestial love, and thus an image and likeness of G.o.d. Spiritual love, which is a love for truth, is an image of G.o.d; and celestial love, which is a love for good, is a likeness of G.o.d. All angels in the third heaven are likenesses of G.o.d; and all angels in the second heaven are images of G.o.d. Man can become the love which is an image or likeness of G.o.d only by a marriage of good and truth; for good and truth inmostly love one another, and ardently long to be united that they may be one; and for the reason that Divine good and Divine truth go forth from the Lord united, therefore they must be united in an angel of heaven and in a man of the church.

This union is by no means possible except by a marriage of two minds into one, since, as has been said before, man was created to be an understanding of truth, and thus a truth, and woman was created to be an affection for good, and thus a good; therefore in them a conjunction of good and truth is possible. For marriage love which descends from that conjunction is the veriest medium by which man (h.o.m.o) becomes the love that is an image or likeness of G.o.d. For the married pair who are in conjugal love from the Lord love one another mutually and reciprocally from the heart, thus from inmosts; and therefore although apparently two they are actually one, two in respect to their bodies, but one in respect to life.

This may be compared to the eyes, which are two as organs but one in respect to the sight; also to the ears, which are two as organs but one in respect to hearing; so, too, the arms and the feet are two as members but one in respect to use, the arms one in respect to action, and the feet one in respect to walking. So with the other pairs with man. All these have reference to good and truth, the organ or member on the right to good, and that on the left to truth. It is the same with a husband and wife between whom there is a true marriage love; they are two in respect to their bodies but one in respect to life; consequently in heaven the married pair are not called two angels but one. All this makes clear that through marriage man becomes a form of love, and thus a form of heaven, which is an image and likeness of G.o.d.

Man is born into a love of evil and falsity, which love is the love of adultery; and this love cannot be turned about and changed into spiritual love, which is an image of G.o.d, and still less into celestial love, which is a likeness of G.o.d, except by a marriage of good and truth from the Lord, and not fully except by a marriage of two minds and two bodies. From this it is clear why marriages are heavenly and adulteries infernal; for marriage is an image of heaven, and true marriage love is an image of the Lord, while adultery is an image of h.e.l.l, and love of adultery is an image of the devil. Moreover, marriage love appears in the spiritual world in form like an angel, and love of adultery in form like a devil. Reader, treasure this up within you, and after death, when you are living as a spirit-man, inquire whether this is true, and you will see. (A.E., n. 984.)

How profane and thus how much to be detested adulteries are can be seen from the holiness of marriages. All things in the human body, from the head to the sole of the feet, both interior and exterior, correspond to the heavens, and in consequence man is a heaven in its least form, and also angels and spirits are in form perfectly human, for they are forms of heaven. All the members devoted to generation in both s.e.xes, especially the womb, correspond to societies of the third or inmost heaven, and for the reason that true marriage love is derived from the Lord's love for the church, and from the love of good and truth which is the love of the angels of the third heaven; therefore marriage love, which descends therefrom as the love of that heaven, is innocence, which is the very being (esse) of every good in the heavens. And for this reason embryos in the womb are in a state of peace, and when they have been born as infants are in a state of innocence; so, too, is the mother in relation to them.

As this is the correspondence of the genital organs in the two s.e.xes, it is evident that by creation they are holy, and therefore they are devoted solely to chaste and pure marriage love, and are not to be profaned by the unchaste and impure love of adultery, by which man converts the heaven in himself into h.e.l.l; for as the love of marriage corresponds to the love of the highest heaven, which is love to the Lord from the Lord, so the love of adultery corresponds to the love of the lowest h.e.l.l.

The love of marriage is so holy and heavenly because it has its beginning in the inmosts of man from the Lord Himself, and it descends according to order to the outmosts of the body, and thus fills the whole man with heavenly love and brings him into a form of the Divine love, which is the form of heaven, and is an image of the Lord. But the love of adultery has its beginning in the outmosts of man from an impure lascivious fire there, and thus, contrary to order, penetrates toward the interiors, always into the things that are man's own, which are nothing but evil, and brings these into a form of h.e.l.l, which is an image of the devil. Therefore a man who loves adultery and turns away from marriage is in form a devil.

As the organs of generation in the two s.e.xes correspond to the societies of the third heaven, and the love of a married pair corresponds to the love of good and truth, so those organs and that love correspond to the Word. The reason is that the Word is Divine truth united to Divine good going forth from the Lord; and this is why the Lord is called "the Word," also why in every particular of the Word there is a marriage of good and truth, or a heavenly marriage. That there is such a correspondence is a mystery not yet known in the world, but it has been made evident and proved to me by much experience.

From this also it is clear how holy and heavenly marriages are in themselves, and how profane and diabolical adulteries are. And for this reason adulterers make no account of Divine truths and thus of the Word, and if they were to speak from the heart they would even blaspheme the holy things that are in the Word. This they do when they have become spirits after death, for every spirit is compelled to speak from the heart, that his interior thoughts may be revealed. (A.E., n. 985.)

As all the delights that man has in the natural world are turned into correspondent delights in the spiritual world, so are the delights of the love of marriage and the delights of the love of adultery. The love of marriage is represented in the spiritual world as a virgin, whose beauty is such as to inspire the beholder with the charms of life; while the love of adultery is represented in the spiritual world by an old woman, whose deformity is such as to inspire in the beholder a coldness and death to every charm of life. Therefore in the heavens the angels are beautiful according to the quality of marriage love in them, and in the h.e.l.ls the spirits are deformed according to the quality of the love of adultery in them. In a word, the angels of heaven have life in their faces, in the movements of the body, and in their speech, in the measure of their marriage love, while the spirits of h.e.l.l have death in their faces in the measure of their love of adultery.

In the spiritual world the delights of marriage love are represented to the sense by odors from fruits and flowers of various kinds, while the delights of the love of adultery are there represented to the sense by the stenches from excrements and putridities of various kinds.

Moreover, the delights of the love of adultery are actually turned into such things, since all things pertaining to adultery are spiritual filth. Therefore from the brothels in the h.e.l.ls stenches pour forth that excite vomiting. (A.E., n. 986.)

How holy in themselves, that is, from creation, marriages are can be seen from the fact that they are the nurseries of the human race; and as the angelic heaven is from the human race they are also the nurseries of heaven; consequently by marriages not only the earths but also the heavens are filled with inhabitants; and as the end of the entire creation is the human race, and thus heaven, where the Divine itself may dwell as in its own and as it were in itself, and as the procreation of mankind according to Divine order is accomplished through marriages, it is clear how holy marriages are in themselves, that is, from creation, and thus how holy they should be esteemed. It is true that the earth might be filled with inhabitants by fornications and adulteries as well as by marriages, but not heaven; and for the reason that h.e.l.l is from adulteries but heaven from marriages.

h.e.l.l is from adulteries because adultery is from the marriage of evil and falsity, from which h.e.l.l in the whole complex is called adultery; while heaven is from marriages because marriage is from the marriage of good and truth, from which heaven in its whole complex is called a marriage. That is called adultery where its love, which is called a love of adultery, reigns, whether it be within wedlock or apart from it, and that is called marriage where its love, which is called marriage love, reigns.

When procreations of the human race are effected by marriages in which the holy love of good and truth from the Lord reigns, then it is on earth as it is in the heavens, and the Lord's kingdom on earth corresponds to the Lord's kingdom in the heavens. For the heavens consist of societies arranged according to all the varieties of celestial and spiritual affections, from which arrangement the form of heaven springs, and this pre-eminently surpa.s.ses all other forms in the universe. There would be a like form on the earth if the procreations there were effected by marriages in which a true marriage love reigned; for then, however many families might descend in succession from one head of a family, there would spring forth as many images of the societies of heaven in a like variety.

Families would then be like fruit-bearing trees of various kinds, forming as many different gardens, each containing its own kind of fruit, and these gardens taken together would present the form of a heavenly paradise. This is said in the way of comparison, because "trees" signify men of the church, "gardens" intelligence, "fruits"

goods of life, and "paradise" heaven. I have been told from heaven that with the most ancient people, from whom the first church on this globe was established, which was called by ancient writers the golden age, there was such a correspondence between families on the earth and societies in the heavens, because love to the Lord, mutual love, innocence, peace, wisdom, and chast.i.ty in marriages then prevailed; and it was also told me from heaven that they were then inwardly horrified at adulteries, as at the abominable things in h.e.l.l. (A.E., n. 987.)

That heaven is from marriages and h.e.l.l from adulteries has been shown above. What this means shall now be told. The hereditary evils into which man is born are not from Adam's having eaten of the tree of knowledge, but from the adulteration of good and the falsification of truth by parents, thus from the marriage of evil and falsity, from which a love of adultery springs. The ruling love of parents by means of a germ from it pa.s.ses over into the offspring and is transcribed upon it and becomes its nature. If the love of the parents is a love of adultery it is also a love of evil for falsity and of falsity for evil. From this source man has all evil, and from evil he has h.e.l.l. All this makes clear that it is from adulteries that man has h.e.l.l, until he is reformed by the Lord by means of truths and a life according to them. And no one can be reformed unless he shuns adulteries as infernal and loves marriages as heavenly. In this and in no other way is hereditary evil broken and rendered milder in the offspring.

It is to be noted, however, that while from adulterous parents man is born a h.e.l.l, he is not born for h.e.l.l but for heaven. For the Lord provides that no one shall be condemned to h.e.l.l on account of hereditary evils, but only on account of the evils that the man has actually made his own by his life, as can be seen from the lot of infants after death, all of whom are adopted by the Lord, educated under His auspices in heaven, and saved. This makes clear that every man, although from the evils with which he is born he is a h.e.l.l, is born not for h.e.l.l but for heaven.

It is the same with every man born from adultery if he does not himself become an adulterer. Becoming an adulterer means living in the marriage of evil and falsity by thinking evils and falsities from a delight in them and by doing them from a love for them. Every man who does this becomes an adulterer. Moreover, it is from Divine justice that no one suffers punishments on account of the evils of his parents, but only on account of his own; therefore the Lord provides that hereditary evils shall not return after death, but only one's own evils, and it is only for those that return that a man is then punished. (A.E., n. 989.)

It has been said that the difference between a love of marriage and a love of adultery is like that between heaven and h.e.l.l. There is a like difference between the delights of these loves; for delights derive their all from the loves from which they spring. The delights of the love of adultery derive what they are from the delights of doing evil uses, thus of evil-doing; and the delights of the love of marriage from the delights of doing good uses, thus of well-doing. Therefore such as the delight of the evil is in doing evil such is the delight of their love of adultery; because a love of adultery descends therefrom. That it descends from that scarcely anyone can believe; and yet such is its origin. From this it is evident that the delight of adultery ascends from the lowest h.e.l.l. But the delight of the love of marriage, since it is from the love of the conjunction of good and truth and from the love of doing good, is a heavenly delight; and it comes down from the inmost or third heaven, where love to the Lord from the Lord reigns.