of fraud, of adultery, of hatred, of blasphemy, and such like; in this case, the pious things which he thinks and speaks are inwardly not pious, inasmuch as the man himself, with his evils, is in them: he, indeed, at such time is ignorant of this, but nevertheless those evils are within, and escape his observation; for he is as a fountain whose water is impure, by reason of the impurity of its source. His religious exercises, therefore, are either the effect of habit only, or they are meritorious, or they are hypocritical: they ascend, indeed, towards heaven, but, like smoke in the air, soon change their course, and fall down again.

26. It has been given me to see and hear many after death who were enumerating their good works and exercises of piety, such as are mentioned above, n. 24, 25, and still more than those amongst them I also saw some who had lamps and no oil and inquiry was made whether they had shunned evils as sins, and it was found that they had not; wherefore it was de clared to them that they were evil. They were also seen af terwards to enter into caverns, inhabited by evil spirits of a like nature with themselves.

27. III. The reason why Man has no wisdom, unless he shuns evils as sins, notwithstanding his being skilful and wise in many things, is, because his wisdom is from himself, and not from the Lord. As for example: if he be skilful in church doctrines, and has a perfect knowledge of whatever relates thereto; if he knows how to confirm such doctrines by the Word, and by his own reasonings; if he be versed in the doctrines of former churches, and at the same time in the decrees of all councils; nay, if he even knows truths, and also sees and understands them, so as to be perfectly acquainted with the nature of faith, of charity, of piety, of repentance and the remission of sins, of regeneration, of baptism and the holy supper, of the Lord, and of redemption and salvation; still he is not wise, unless he shuns evils as sins: for, until evils are so shunned, knowledges are without life, appertaining to the understanding only, and not to the will; in which case they presently perish, for a reason spoken of above, n. 15: after death also the man himself casts them off, because they do not agree with the love of his will. Still, however, knowledges are highly necessary, because they teach how a man ought to act; and when he brings them into act, then they become alive in him, and not before.

28. All that has been said above is taught in many passages of the Word, of which it may suffice to adduce the fol

lowing. The Word teaches that no one can be in good, and, at the same time, in evil; or, what is the same thing, that no one can, as to his soul, be in heaven, and, at the same time, in hell. This is taught in the following passages: "No one can serve two masters: for he will either hate the one and love the other; or he will cleave to the one and despise the other: ye cannot serve God and Mammon," Matt. vi. 24. "How can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things," Matt. xii. 34, 35. "A good tree bringeth not forth evil fruit, neither doth an evil tree bring forth good fruit: every tree is known by its own fruit: for men do not gather figs of thorns, nor of a bramble-bush gather they grapes," Luke vi. 43, 44.

29. The Word teaches also that no one can do good from himself, but from the Lord: "Jesus said, I am the vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser; every branch in me which beareth not fruit, he taketh away; but every branch that beareth fruit he will prune, that it may bear more fruit. Abide in me, and I in you: as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine, so neither can ye, unless ye abide in I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and withereth, and they gather him, and he is cast into the fire, and is burned," John xv. 1 to 6.

me.

30. The Word teaches, also, that so far as man is not purified from evils, his good deeds are not good, nor are his pious acts pious, neither is he wise; and vice versa. This is taught in the following passages: "Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like to whitened sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful without, but within are full of the bones of the dead, and of all uncleanness; so also ye indeed appear outwardly righteous, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Wo unto you! for ye cleanse the outside of the cup and platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee! cleanse first the inside of the and platter, that the outside may be clean also," Matt. xxiii. 25 to 28. And also from these words in Isaiah: "Hear the words of Jehovah, ye princes of Sodom, hear the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah: To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? Bring no more the oblation of vanity; incense is an abomination to me, the new moon, and

cup

the sabbath; I cannot bear iniquity: Your new moons and appointed feasts my soul hateth; wherefore, when ye spread forth your hands, I hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye multiply prayer, I do not hear; your hands are full of bloods. Wash ye, make you clean; remove the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool," i. 10 to 18; the summary sense of which words is, that, unless a man shuns evils, all things relating to divine worship, as performed by him, are void of goodness, and in like manner all his works; for it is said, I cannot bear iniquity, make you clean, remove the evil of your doings, cease to do evil. So in Jeremiah: "Return ye every one from his evil way, and make your works good,"

XXXV. 15.

That the same are not wise appears also from Isaiah: "Wo to them that are wise in their own eyes, and intelligent before their own face," v. 21. And again: "The wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the intelligent, shall perish. Wo unto them that are profoundly wise,—and their works are done in darkness," xxix. 14, 15. And again: "Wo unto them that go down into Egypt for help, and stay on horses, and trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are strong, but look not to the Holy One of Israel, and do not seek Jehovah. But he will arise against the house of the evil doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity: for Egypt is man and not God, and the horses thereof are flesh and not spirit,” xxxi. 1, 2, 3. Man's own intelligence is thus described: Egypt denotes science; a horse denotes understanding thence derived; a chariot denotes doctrine thence derived; a horseman denotes intelligence from the same origin; of all which it is said, Wo unto them who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, and do not seek Jehovah: their destruction by evils is meant by his arising against the house of the evil doers, and against the help of them that work iniquity: that the above things originate in man's proprium, and consequently have no life in them, is meant by Egypt being man and not God, and by the horses thereof being flesh and not spirit; man and flesh denote man's proprium; God and spirit are life from the Lord; the horses of Egypt are man's own intelligence. There are several other passages in the Word, which thus describe intelligence dé rived from man's self, and derived from the Lord, which pas sages are to be understood only by means of the spiritual sense.

That no one will be saved by the good deeds which proceed from self, because they are not good, appears from the following passages: "Not every man that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father. Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied by thy name, and by thy name cast out devils, and by thy name done many mighty works? But then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, YE THAT WORK INIQUITY," Matt. vii. 21, 22, 23. And in another place: "Then shall ye begin to stand ~ without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and ye shall begin to say, We have eaten in thy presence, and have drunken, and thou hast taught in our streets: but he will say, I say unto you, I know you not whence you are; depart from me, all ye WORKERS OF INIQUITY," Luke xiii. 25, 26, 27. For all such are like unto the Pharisee, "who stood and prayed in the temple, saying, that he was not as other men, an extortioner, unjust, an adulterer, that he fasted twice in the week, and gave tithes of all that he possessed," Luke xviii. 11 to 14. They are also those who are called “unprofitable servants,” Luke xvii. 10.

31. It is a truth that no man can do good, which is really good, from himself; but so to apply this truth as to destroy all the good of charity performed by the man who shuns evils as sins, is an enormous perversion: for it is diametrically contrary to the Word, which enjoins man to do good: it is also contrary to the precepts of love towards God and our neighbor, on which hang all the law and the prophets; and it undermines and overturns the whole of religion; for every one knows that religion consists in doing good, and that every one will be judged according to his deeds. Man's nature is such that he can shun evils as of himself by virtue of a power communicated to him by the Lord, if so be he implores it; and when this is the case, the good which he does is from the Lord.

IV. THAT SO far as any ONE SHUNS EVILS AS SINS, SO FAR HE LOVES TRUTHS.

32. THERE are two universals which proceed from the Lord, divine good and divine truth: divine good is of his divine love, and divine truth is of his divine wisdom. Those two in the Lord are a one, and thence proceed as a one from kim; but they are not received as a one by the angels in

heaven, and by men on earth. There are angels and men who receive more of divine truth than of divine good, and there are others who receive more of divine good than of divine truth; hence it is that the heavens are distinguished into two kingdoms, one of which is called the celestial kingdom, the other the spiritual kingdom: the heavens which receive more of the divine good constitute the celestial kingdom, but those which receive more of the divine truth constitute the spiritual kingdom. Concerning these two kingdoms, into which the heavens are distinguished, see the TREATISE ON HEAVEN AND HELL, n. 20 to 28. But still the angels of all the heavens are so far in wisdom and intelligence, as good with them makes a one with truth; the good which does not make a one with truth is to them not good; and the truth which does not make a one with good is to them not truth * Hence it appears, that good conjoined with truth constitutes love and wisdom with angel and with man; and whereas an angel is an angel by virtue of love and wisdom appertaining to him, and in like manner man is man, it is evident, that good conjoined with truth causes an angel to be an angel of heaven, and causes a man to be a man of the church.

33. Inasmuch as good and truth are a one in the Lord, and proceed as a one from him, it follows, that good loves truth, and truth loves good, and that they desire to be a one. The like is true of their opposites: evil loves the false, and the false loves evil, and they are desirous of being a one. the following pages, we will call the conjunction of good and truth the celestial marriage, and the conjunction of evil and the false the infernal marriage.

In

*This may be exemplified by considering the operations and relations of love, motive, or inclination, in the human mind. Strength of affection or inclination, without the concomitancy of true wisdom to bound or direct it, is actu ally the cause of much evil in the world, and consequently so far not good; and, on the other hand, clear views of what is right and fit to be done, if there is a want of inclination or strength of motive to put a man onward to do it, are so far short of real wisdom, which consists not merely in knowing, but in doing what is right. Thus our author in other places of his works observes, that love without wisdom is nothing-for it wants quality or form; and wisdom without love is nothing-for it wants essence or energy; but love and wisdom joined are every thing.

As to what is said about the angels of the different kingdoms, his sense is very clear to any one who has read his other works; which is, that love or affection is the distinguishing character of the celestial angels, and judgment or intelligence the distinguishing character of the angels of the spiritual kingdom; not that the angels of the celestial kingdom want wisdom, for they are the wis est angels, or that the angels of the spiritual kingdom are without love. The difference of the male and female character may elucidate this: the male character is that of judgment-the female that of love and affection; not that men are void of affection, or women without judgment.