New Christian Bible Study

Commentary

 

Memorable Occurrences in Swedenborg's Writings

This list of Memorable Occurrences in Swedenborg's Writings was originally compiled by W. C. Henderson in 1960 but has since been updated.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #281

Study this Passage

  
/ 853  
  

281. The fifth experience.

The Lord has permitted me to be simultaneously in the spiritual and the natural worlds, so that I have been able to talk with angels just as I do with men, and thus to discover the states of those who after death arrive in that hitherto unknown world. For I have talked with all my relations and friends, as well as with kings and dukes, not to mention scholars, who have met their fates; I have been doing this now constantly for twenty-seven years. I can therefore describe from direct experience the nature of the states people undergo after death, both those who have lived good as well as those who have lived wicked lives. At this point I shall only relate something about the state of those who have convinced themselves from the Word of false doctrines, in particular those who have favoured the doctrine of justification by faith alone. The stages through which they pass are the following:

(i) When they have died and come alive again in the spirit, an event which commonly takes place on the third day after the heart has ceased to beat, they seem to themselves to have a body exactly like the one they had while living in the former world. This is so much the case that they are quite unaware that they are not still living in the former world, but it is not in a material but a substantial body, which appears to their senses to be material, though it is not.

[2] (ii) After a few days they see that they are in a world where there are various communities established. This is called the world of spirits, and it lies midway between heaven and hell. All the communities there, though countless in number, are arranged in wonderful order, according to whether their natural affections are good or evil. Those communities which are arranged in accordance with good natural affections are in touch with heaven; those arranged in accordance with evil affections are in touch with hell.

[3] (iii) The newly arrived spirit, that is, the spiritual man, is taken and introduced to various communities, good as well as evil, and tested to see whether he responds to various kinds of good and truth, and in what way; or whether he responds to evils and falsities, and in what way.

[4] (iv) If he responds to various kinds of good and truth, he is taken away from evil communities, and brought into good ones. He visits various of these communities until he comes to one which answers to his natural affection. There he enjoys the good corresponding to that affection, and this continues until he puts off his natural affection and puts on a spiritual one, then he is raised to heaven. This is what happens to those who have lived in the world a life of charity, and thus also a life of faith; that is to say, they have believed in the Lord and shunned evils as sins.

[5] (v) Not so those who have used logical arguments and especially the Word in order to convince themselves of false ideas, thus living a purely natural, that is, evil life. For evils are the companions of false ideas and cling closely to them. Since these people do not respond to various kinds of good and truth, but only to evils and falsities, they are taken away from good communities and brought into evil ones. They visit various of these communities until they come to one which answers to the longings of their love.

[6] (vi) But because in the world they have made a show on the surface of good affections, although inwardly all their affections were evil or lustful, they are by turns kept in their outward character. Those who in the world had been in charge of groups, are here and there put in charge of communities in the world of spirits, either in general or in sections depending upon the seniority of the offices they had previously held. But since they have no love for truth or justice, and cannot even be sufficiently enlightened to know what truth and justice are, they are dismissed after a few days. I have seen such people moved from one community to another, and in each given administrative duties, but after a short while each time dismissed.

[7] (vii) After repeated dismissals some of them are too upset to want, and some are too afraid of losing their good name to dare, to take on any more posts. So they withdraw and sit looking sad. Then they are taken away to a wilderness where there are huts; they go into these, and are given some work to do. They receive rations proportionate to the work done; if they do none, they go hungry and get no food, so that their need forces them to work. The kinds of food there are like those in our world, but of spiritual origin. The food is provided for all from heaven by the Lord, in keeping with the useful work performed. The idle, being useless, receive none.

[8] (viii) After some time they get tired of the work, so they leave the huts. If they were formerly priests, they have a desire to build. At once there appear piles of shaped stones, bricks, beams and planks, and heaps of reeds and rushes, clay, lime and tar. On seeing these they are seized with a passionate desire to build. So they begin to make a house, taking up now a stone, now a piece of wood, now a reed and now mud, and placing one on top of the other without any orderly arrangement, though to their eyes it appears well arranged. What they build in the course of the day falls down during the night. The next day they collect the fallen pieces from the rubble, and start building again. This continues repeatedly, until they get tired of building. This is the result of correspondence, because they have heaped up passages from the Word with the intention of proving the false ideas of their faith, and their falsities cannot build any other sort of church.

[9] (ix) When they tire of this, they go away and sit by themselves, doing nothing. Since, as I said, the idle receive no food from heaven, they begin to feel hungry. Then they can think of nothing but how they can get some food and allay their hunger. While they are in this condition, people come to them, from whom they beg alms. But they are told: 'Why do you sit idle like this? Come home with us and we will give you work to do, and feed you.' Then they get up cheerfully and go home with them, where each is given work to do and food as a reward for work. But because all who have convinced themselves of false ideas of faith cannot do good and useful work, but only work with wicked purposes, they do not work fairly, but cheat and work only under compulsion. So they abandon their work, and only want to meet others, talk, stroll about and sleep. Since their masters can no longer make them work, they are sent away as useless.

[10] (x) When they are sent away, their eyes are opened so that they see a road leading to a sort of cavern. When they reach it, the door opens, and they go in to see whether there is any food there. On being told that there is, they ask permission to stay there. Permission is given and they are taken in, and the door shuts behind them. Then the overseer of the cavern comes and says to them: 'You cannot go out again. Look at your companions; they are all working, and in proportion to their work they receive food from heaven. I am telling you this so that you may know how it is.' Their companions also say: 'Our overseer knows what work each of us is fitted for, and he gives us a suitable task each day. Every day that you complete your task, you get food. If you do not, you get neither food nor clothing. If anyone hurts another, he is thrown into a corner of the cavern onto a sort of bed of hellish dust, where he undergoes wretched torments. This continues until the overseer sees some sign of repentance from him. Then he is taken out, and told to get on with his work. Each man is also told that, when he has done his work, he may stroll about and chat, and later go to sleep. He is taken still deeper into the cavern, where there are whores; each is allowed to pick one for himself and call her his woman, but promiscuity is forbidden under severe penalties.

[11] Hell is composed of such caverns, which are nothing less than eternal labour-camps. I have been allowed to enter some and look around, so that I could make this known. All the people there seemed to be of low status, nor did any of them know who he had been and what position he had held in the world. But the angel who accompanied me told me that this one had been a servant in the world, this one a soldier, this an officer, this a priest, this of high birth, this a wealthy man. Yet all of them know nothing but that they were servants or people of similar status. This is because they were inwardly alike, despite their outward dissimilarity. It is the inward character which brings people together in the spiritual world.

[12] The hells in general consist of nothing but such caverns and labour-camps, but there is a difference between those containing satans and those containing devils. Satans is the name given to those who are subject to false ideas and to the evils that arise from them; devils is the name given to those who are subject to evils and the false ideas that arise from them. In the light of heaven satans look livid like corpses, some of them dark like mummies. Devils in the light of heaven have a dark, fiery look, some of them pitch black like soot. All of them have monstrous faces and bodies. But in their own light, which resembles that from burning coals, they look not like monsters, but like human beings. This concession is made to them, so that they can associate with one another.

  
/ 853  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

True Christian Religion #79

Study this Passage

  
/ 853  
  

79. The fourth experience.

Once when I was thinking about the creation of the universe, some people from the Christian part of the world approached me, who in their time had been among the most famous philosophers and had a reputation for surpassing wisdom. 'We notice,' they said, 'that you are thinking about creation; tell us what is your opinion on that subject.'

'Tell me first,' I replied, 'what is yours.' 'My opinion,' said one of them, 'is that creation is the work of nature, and that nature therefore created itself, having existed from eternity. A vacuum does not and cannot exist. Yet what is it that we see with our eyes, hear with our ears, smell with our noses and breathe with our lungs, if not nature? Because nature is outside us, it is also within us.'

[2] Another person who heard this said: 'You speak of nature and regard it as the creator of the universe, but you do not know how nature made the universe; so I will tell you. It twisted itself into vortices which clashed together as clouds do, or like houses collapsing in an earthquake.' He explained that this collision caused the denser material to come together to form the earth; the more fluid parts separated out and came together to form the seas; and the lighter parts also separated out to form the ether and the air, the lightest of all formed the sun. 'Have you not seen how when oil, water and dust are mixed together, they spontaneously separate out and arrange themselves in order one above the other?'

[3] Then another listener said: 'What you say is mere imagination. Everyone knows that the first source of all things was chaos, which in size filled a quarter of the universe. In its midst was fire, with ether around that, and matter around the ether. This chaos split open and the fire burst forth through the cracks, as it does from Etna or Vesuvius, to form the sun. Next the ether expanded and spread around, to form an atmosphere. Finally the remaining matter condensed into a ball, to form the earth. As for the stars, they are merely lights in the expanse of the universe, which arose from the sun and its fire and light. For the sun was at first like an ocean of fire, which to avoid setting fire to the earth threw off from itself shining sparks; these took up their positions in the surroundings and so completed the universe by forming the sky.'

[4] But there was one of the by-standers who said: 'You are wrong. You think yourselves wise, and I seem to you simple. Yet in my simplicity I have believed, and still do, that the universe was created by God; and because nature is part of the universe, He created it at the same time as the whole of nature. If nature had created itself, would it not have existed from eternity? That is a fine piece of nonsense.'

Then one of the so-called wise men rushed up nearer and nearer to the speaker, and put his left ear to the other's mouth - his right ear was blocked with what looked like cotton-wool - and asked what he had said. He repeated the same statement, whereupon the man who had come up looked around him to see if any priest was present; he caught sight of one beside the speaker, and then twisted around saying: 'I too admit that the whole of nature comes from God, but -.' And he went off, whispering to his companions and saying: 'I said that because there was a priest present. You and I know that nature comes from nature, and because nature is therefore God, I said that the whole of nature comes from God, but - .'

[5] But the priest, hearing what they were whispering, said: 'Your wisdom is nothing but philosophy, which has led you astray and shut off the interiors of your minds so completely that no light from God and His heaven can penetrate and bring you enlightenment. You have put the light out. Consider therefore,' he went on, 'and decide among yourselves what is the origin of your souls, which are immortal. Do they come from nature, or were they at the same time in that mighty chaos?'

On hearing this the first man went off to his colleagues, to ask their help in solving this knotty problem. They came to the conclusion that the human soul is nothing but ether, and thought is merely a modification of the ether caused by sunlight; and ether is a part of nature. 'Surely everyone knows,' they said, 'that we talk by means of the air? And what is thought but speech in a purer sort of air, which is called ether? That is why thought and speech act as one. Anyone can observe this in children; a child first learns to talk, and then afterwards to talk to himself, and that is thinking. What then can thought be but a modification of the ether? Or what is the sound of speech but a modulation of it? From these considerations we deduce that the thinking soul is part of nature.'

[6] But some of them, while not disagreeing, cast light on the state of the question by saying that souls arose when the ether formed itself into a ball out of that mighty chaos, and then in the highest region divided itself into innumerable individual forms. These are infused into people, when they begin to think by that purer sort of air, and they are then called souls.

Another on hearing this said: 'I admit that the individual forms made from the ether in its highest region may have been innumerable, but still the number of human beings born from the creation of the world has exceeded the number of forms, so how could those ethereal forms be enough? This has led me to think that the souls which issue from people's mouths when they die return to the same people again after some thousands of years, so that they embark on and complete a life, similar to their previous one. It is well known that many wise men believe in the transmigration of souls and similar ideas.' In addition to these there were other guesses flung around, which I pass over as being crazy.

[7] After a short while the priest returned, and the one who had previously spoken about the creation of the universe by God told him their decisions concerning the soul. On hearing these the priest told them: 'You have spoken exactly as you thought in the world, unaware that you are not any longer in that world but another, which is called the spiritual world. All those who, by convincing themselves of the nature theory, have become immersed in the bodily senses, are not aware that they are no longer in the same world as that in which they were born and brought up. The reason is that there they had a material body, but here a substantial body; and a substantial person sees himself and his companions around him exactly as a material person sees himself and his companions around him, for the substantial is the starting-point of the material. Because you think, see, smell, taste, and speak just as you did in the natural world, you believe that nature here is the same. Yet the nature of this world is as different and remote from that of the former world as the substantial is from the material, or the spiritual from the natural, or what is prior from what is posterior. Because the nature of the world in which you previously lived is comparatively speaking lifeless, so by convincing yourselves of your belief in nature you too have become virtually dead as regards matters which relate to God, heaven and the church, as well as what concerns your souls. Still every person, bad as well as good, can have his understanding raised into the light enjoyed by the angels in heaven; and then he can see that God exists, that there is a life after death, that the human soul is not ethereal and thus of the nature of the material world, but spiritual, and so destined to live for ever. The understanding can enjoy that angelic light, so long as the natural loves are banished which came from the world, favouring it and its nature, and from the body, favouring it and the self 1 .

[8] At once those loves were banished by the Lord, and they were permitted to talk with angels. From their conversation in that state they perceived the existence of God and that after dying they were living in another world. This made them blush with shame and cry: 'We were mad, we were mad!' But since this state was not their own and after a few minutes became tiresome and unwelcome, they turned their backs on the priest and were unwilling to go on listening to him. Thus they reverted to their former loves, which were entirely natural, worldly and bodily. They went off to the left, from one community to another, and eventually reached a road where they caught a whiff of the delights of their own loves, and said: 'Let us take this road.' So they went along it, going down until they came to people who delighted in similar loves, and further still. Since their delight consisted in doing evil, and they harmed many on the way, they were thrown into prison and became demons. Then their delight was turned into misery, because they were restrained and prevented from enjoying what had previously delighted them, the behaviour which had formed their nature, by punishment and the fear of punishment.

They asked their companions in that prison whether they were to live like that for ever. Some of those there replied: 'We have been here for several centuries, and we are to remain for ever and ever, because the nature we acquired in the world cannot be changed or driven out by punishment. When it is driven out by this, it still comes back after a short interval.'

Footnotes:

1. Latin proprium, the term often used for the unregenerate self.

  
/ 853  
  

Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

©2024 New Christian Bible Study Corporation. All rights reserved. Printed from newchristianbiblestudy.org