1133# 启18:10.“因怕她所受的折磨，就远远地站着”表示当他们出于对地狱惩罚的恐惧而处于外在时。这从“远远地站着”和“怕折磨”的含义清楚可知：“远远地站着”是指处于外在（对此，我们稍后会提到）；“怕折磨”是指因地狱的惩罚而恐惧，因为“折磨”表示这些惩罚。“远远地站着”表示处于外在，因为当一个人处于内在时，他就在自己里面，因他的爱，因而他的真生命就住在那里。人的内在就是属于他灵的事物，在圣言中，在近处、旁边或手边的东西就是指这些内在；因此，远处的东西，和此处“远远地站着”是指他的外在，因为外在远离内在。此外，每一个恶人在处于外在时，都不同于他处于内在时的样子。那时，他不仅说话和行动不同，而且思考和意愿也不同，因为那时，他的思维和意愿是这样：他看起来可能是一个文明、道德的人，甚至是一个属灵人，这要么是因为法律及其惩罚，要么是为了名声，因而为了荣誉和利益，因而因为害怕丧失这些。这时，这人就离自己“远远地”，这一点从以下事实明显看出来：当他从外在回到他的内在时，如当他独处时所做的那样，他就会以完全不同的方式思考和意愿，当他与类似他自己的同伴在一起时，他还会以不同的方式说话。这清楚表明，“远远地站着”在灵义上表示处于外在。
一个恶人把自己从内在引入外在的主要原因是恐惧；因此，当他看见同伴所受的惩罚和折磨时，恐惧会关闭他的内在，当他的内在关闭时，他就进入外在，并且只要惩罚一直萦绕在他的脑海里，他就留在外在中。然而，他的内在不会因惩罚而变好，或得到纠正，而是跟以前完全一样；因此，一旦对惩罚的恐惧消失，他就会回到自己邪恶中，这些邪恶从内层在他里面，属于他的灵，因而属于他的生命。这一点可通过灵界的经历或例子来说明。在灵界，一个恶灵因惩罚而被迫不说恶言，不作恶事；只要留在惩罚出现的地方，他就继续处于这种状态；可一旦对惩罚的恐惧消失，他就和以前一样邪恶。在世上，情况也是如此。只要窃贼、强盗和其他罪犯在一个所有人都受到法律及其惩罚约束的城市中，他们就不会偷盗或抢劫；但他们一进入丛林，或来到他们不害怕法律惩罚的地方，或当他们能利用狡猾的手段扭曲法律，从而逃避惩罚时，他们就进入他们的内在并犯罪。
这一切清楚表明，外在远离内在，或说与内在是分离的，可以说远远地站着。这就是为何在圣言中，“远”表示外在，或远离内在之物，如在以下经文中。以赛亚书：
你们远方的人当听我所行的，你们近处的人当认识我的能力。（以赛亚书33:13）
“远方的人”在此是指诸民族，因为他们远离内在真理，“近处的人”是指那些属于教会，并处于来圣言的真理之人。同一先知书：
将我的众子从远方带来，将我的众女从地极领回。（以赛亚书43:6）
此处“众子和众女”也是指诸民族；由于这些民族远离真理和良善，也就是远离教会的内在，所以他们被称为“远方的众子和地极的众女”，“众子”是指那些处于真理的人，“众女”是指那些处于良善的人，“地极”表示教会的终端。
又：众海岛啊，听我吧！远方的众民哪，听从吧！看哪，这些人从远方来到你这里，看哪，这些人从北方从西方来。（以赛亚书49:1,12）
“众海岛”和“远方的众民”，以及“从北方从西方”，也是指教会将在其中建立的诸民族。耶利米书中的这句话具有相同的含义：把它传扬在远处的海岛。（耶利米书31:10）撒迦利亚书：远方的人要来建造耶和华的殿。（撒迦利亚书6:15）
此处“远方的人”也是指诸民族，他们要建造的“殿”是指教会。耶利米书：我岂为近处的神呢？不也为远处的神吗？（耶利米书23:23）这句话表示无论对教会之内的人来说，还是对教会之外的人来说，也无论对那些处于内在真理的人来说，还是对那些处于外在真理的人来说，主都是神。诗篇：
神啊，一切地极和海上远处之人的信靠。（诗篇65:5）
“地极和海上远处之人”表示教会的终端。在反面意义上，“远”表示邪恶，因为邪恶在外在人中；所有处于邪恶和由此而来的虚假之人都是外在人。在以下经文中，从“远方或远地”和“地极”来的列族和人民就是指这些人。以赛亚书：
远方和地极的列族。（以赛亚书5:26）
又：
从远地，从地极来的人民。（以赛亚书13:5）耶利米书：从远地来攻击耶路撒冷的列族。（耶利米书4:16）
又：
我必使一个民族从远方来攻击以色列家。（耶利米书5:15）
“巴比伦”因表示各种邪恶和对良善的亵渎，故被称为“远地”（以赛亚书39:3）。“远方的人”表示那些处于教会外在的人，这一点也可从灵界中那些处于外在的人和那些处于内在的人明显看出来；后者在南方，前者在北方，因此他们照着对真理和良善的接受程度而分离。“近处”是指内在之物（可参看AE16节）。
（关于《亚他那修信经》续，关于主）
神既是无限的，也是全能的，因为全能就是无限的能力。神的全能从宇宙，也就是可见的天和可居的星球中闪耀出来；这些，连同可见的天和可居星球上的一切事物都是全能造物主的伟大作品。对它们的创造和维持证明，它们来自神性全能，而它们的秩序和对目的的集体注视，从初至末，都证明它们来自神性智慧。神的全能也从在我们可见的天之上或之内的天，从那里天使所居住，就像我们的被世人所居住那样的星球或世界中闪耀出来。那里有神性全能的令人叹为观止的证据；由于它们被我看到了，并被揭示给我，所以我被允许提及它们。所有自第一次创世以来死去的人都在那里；这些人死后在形式上仍是人，但在本质上是灵。
灵是属于爱的情感，因而也是思维。天堂灵是对良善的爱之情感，地狱灵是对邪恶的爱之情感。良善的情感，也就是天使，住在被称为天堂的世界或星球上，邪恶的情感，也就是地狱灵，住在他们之下的一个深渊。这个世界或星球为一，但可以说被分成一个在另一个之下的穹苍。这些穹苍有六个；第三层天堂的天使住在最高的穹苍，第二层天堂的天使住在他们下面，第一层天堂的天使则住在这些天使下面，第一层地狱的灵住在第一层天堂的天使下面，第二层地狱的灵住在这些灵下面，第三层地狱的灵住在第二层地狱的灵下面。一切都以这种秩序被安排得如此完美，以至于邪恶的情感，也就是地狱灵，被良善的情感，也就是天堂天使约束；最低层地狱的灵被最高层天堂的天使约束，中间地狱的灵被中间天堂的天使约束，第一层地狱的灵被第一层天堂的天使约束。通过这种对立面的安排，情感就像在一架天平上那样得以保持平衡。
这些天堂和地狱是无数的，照着所有情感的属和种而被分成团体和社群；这些情感照着众社群或近或远的亲密关系而处于其秩序和联系之中。天堂和地狱也是这种情况。唯独主知道情感的这种秩序和联系，对自第一次创世以来和以后的人一样多的不同情感的这种有序安排属于无限的智慧，也属于无限的能力，或说是无限智慧的作品，同时是无限能力的作品。神性能力是无限的，或它是全能，这一点在来世从以下事实很清楚地看出来：无论天堂的天使，还是地狱的魔鬼，凭自己都没有丝毫能力。但凡他们有一丁点能力，天堂都会崩塌，地狱变成混沌，每个人都会与它们一道灭亡。
1133. Standing afar off for fear of her torment.- That this signifies, while they are in externals from dread of infernal punishments, is evident from the signification of standing afar off, which denotes to be in externals, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of the fear of torment, which denotes dread on account of infernal punishments, for these punishments are signified by torment. To stand afar off signifies to be in externals, because a man while he is in internals is in himself, for his love dwells there, and consequently his very life. The interior things of a man are those things which belong to his spirit, and these are meant in the Word by things near at hand, therefore exteriors, being remote from interiors, are meant by things afar off, here by standing afar off. Every evil man, also, while he is in externals, is unlike what he is when in internals, for not only does he then speak and act differently, but he also wills and thinks differently, his thought and desire then being that he may appear to be a civil, moral man, and also a spiritual man, and this is either on account of the law and its punishments, or for the sake of fame, and therefore for the sake of honour and gain, thus on account of the fear of losing these. That then a man is afar off from himself, is evident from this fact, that when he returns from externals into his internals, which he does when he is left alone, he then thinks and wills altogether differently, and also when he is with companions like himself he speaks differently. It is therefore evident, that to stand afar off in the spiritual sense, signifies to be in externals.
[2] The chief reason why an evil man from internals betakes himself to, or passes into externals, is fear. When therefore he sees the punishments and torments of his companions, fear closes his internals, and when these are closed, he comes into externals, and remains in them, so long as he mentally regards the punishment. Still his internal is not amended by punishments, but remains just as before, as soon therefore as the fear of punishment passes away, he returns into his own evils, which are in him interiorly, and which belong to his spirit, and consequently to his life. This may be illustrated by experience from the spiritual world. An evil spirit there is compelled by punishments not to speak or do evil, and in this state he continues so long as he remains in the place where the punishment is present, but as soon as the fear of punishment departs, he is evil as before. The case is similar in the world. So long as thieves, robbers, and other criminals, are in a city where all are restrained by the bonds of the law and its punishments, they do not steal or rob, but immediately they come into the woods, or into places where they do not stand in fear of the punishments of the law, or when they can pervert the law by cunning devices, and avoid its punishments by such means, they come into their internals and commit crimes.
[3] It is evident from these things, that externals are separated from internals, and stand as it were afar off. It is for this reason, that in the Word "afar off" signifies the external, or what is remote from the internal, as in the following passages.
In Isaiah:
"Hear, ye that are afar off, what I have done, and, ye that are near, know my power" (33:13).
Those who are afar off mean there the nations, because they are remote from internal truths, and those that are near mean those who are of the church, and in truths from the Word.
In the same:
Bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the end of the earth (43:6).
Here also sons and daughters mean the nations, which being remote from the truths and goods which are the internals of the church, are called sons from far, and daughters from the end of the earth. Sons mean those who are in truths, and daughters those who are in goods; the end of the earth signifies the ultimates of the church.
In the same:
"Attend, O islands, unto me, and the peoples from far. Behold they shall come to thee from far, and behold they shall come from the north and the west" (49:1, 12).
The islands, and the peoples from far, and from the north and from the west, also mean the nations, with whom the church would be established. These words in Jeremiah, "Tell to the isles afar off" (31:10), have a similar meaning.
In Zechariah:
"Those who are far off shall come, and shall build the temple of Jehovah" (6:15).
Here also those who are far off denote the nations, and the temple which they shall build is the church.
In Jeremiah:
"Am I a God at hand, and not a God far off" (23:23),
signifies that the Lord is God, to those who are within and also to those who are without the church, also to those who are in internal truths and to those who are in external truths.
In David:
"God, the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the sea of those who are far off" (Psalm 65:5).
The ends of the earth, and the sea of those who are far off, signify the ultimates of the church.
[4] In the opposite sense far off signifies evil, because this is in the external man; for all who are in evils and in falsities therefrom are external men. These are meant by nations and peoples afar off and from the end of the earth, in the following passages.
In Isaiah:
The nations "from afar, and from the end of the earth" (16).
[5] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed, and concerning the Lord.- Because God is infinite, He is, also omnipotent, for omnipotence is infinite power. The omnipotence of God shines forth from the universe, which is the visible heaven and habitable globe, and these together with all things in the visible heaven, and upon the habitable globe are the great works of the Omnipotent Creator. Their creation and preservation testify that they are from Divine Omnipotence, while their order and their collective reference to ends, from first to last, testify that they are from Divine Wisdom. The omnipotence of God shines forth also from the heaven that is above or within our visible heaven, and from the world (ab orbe) there, which is inhabited by angels, as ours is by men. There are there stupendous evidences of the Divine Omnipotence, which, because they have been seen by me, and revealed to me, I am permitted to mention. All the men who have died from the first creation of the world are there, being after death men as to form, but spirits as to essence.
[6] Spirits are affections which are of love, and thus also, thoughts; spirits of heaven affections of the love of good, and spirits of hell affections of the love of evil. The good affections, which are angels, dwell on a world (super orbe) which is called heaven, and the evil affections, which are spirits of hell, dwell at a great depth beneath them. The world is one, but divided as it were into expanses, one below another. The expanses are six; in the highest dwell the angels of the third heaven, and beneath these the angels of the second heaven, and beneath these the angels of the first. Below those dwell the spirits of the first hell, beneath them the spirits of the second hell, and beneath these the spirits of the third. All things are so perfectly arranged, that the evil affections, which are spirits of hell, are held in bonds by the good affections, which are angels of heaven - the spirits of the lowest hell by the angels of the highest heaven, the spirits of the middle hell by the angels of the middle heaven, and the spirits of the first hell by the angels of the first heaven. By such an arrangement of opposites the affections are held in equilibrium, as in the scale of a balance.
[7] Such heavens and hells are innumerable, being distinguished into companies and societies according to the genera and species of all affections, and these latter are in order and in connexion according to their nearer and remoter affinities. The case is the same in the heavens as in the hells. This order and connexion of the affections is known to the Lord alone, and the orderly arrangement of such variety of affections - as numerous as the men who have existed from the first creation, and who shall exist hereafter - belongs to infinite wisdom, and also to infinite power. That the Divine power is infinite, or that it is omnipotent, is very evident in the other world, from this circumstance, that neither the angels of heaven nor the devils of hell have the least power from themselves; if they had the least power heaven would fall to pieces, hell would become a chaos, and every man would perish with them.
1133. Verse 10. Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, signifies when they are in externals from a dread of infernal punishment. This is evident from the signification of "standing afar off," as meaning to be in externals (of which presently); also from the signification of "fear of torment," as being dread on account of infernal punishments, for "torment" signifies such punishments. "Standing afar off" signifies to be in externals because man is in himself when he is in internals, for there his love, and thus his very life, has its seat. The internals of man are the things that belong to his spirit, and are meant in the Word by "things near;" and therefore his externals, as being remote from internals, are meant by things "afar off," and here by "standing afar off." Moreover, every evil man when he is in externals is unlike what he is in internals. Not only does he then speak and act differently, he also thinks and wills differently, for his thought and will then are that he may appear as a civil, moral, and even as a spiritual man, and this either because of the law and its penalties or for the sake of reputation and consequent honor and gain, thus from fear of losing these. That the man is then "afar off" from himself is evident from the fact that when he returns from externals into his internals, as he does when alone, he thinks and wills in a wholly different way, and when he is with companions like himself he talks in a different way. This shows that "standing afar off" signifies in the spiritual sense to be in externals.
[2] The chief reason why an evil man introduces himself or comes from internals into externals is fear; for fear closes up his internals when he sees the punishments and torments of his companions, and when his internals are closed up he comes into externals, and remains in them as long as the punishment is kept before his mind. And yet his internal is not made better by punishments, but remains wholly as before; therefore as soon as the fear of punishment recedes he returns into his evils, which are interiorly with him, and which belong to his spirit, and thus to his life. This may be illustrated by examples from the spiritual world. An evil spirit there is compelled by punishments not to speak or do evil; and in such a state he remains as long as he is in the place where the punishment is kept before his mind; but as soon as the fear of the punishment recedes he is evil as before. It is the same in the world. So long as thieves, robbers, and other criminals are in a city where all are held in restraint by the law and its penalties they do not steal or rob; but as soon as they come into forests, or into places where they have no fear of the penalties of the law, or when they can pervert the law by crafty devices and thus escape the penalties, they come into their internals and commit crimes.
[3] All this makes clear that externals are remote from internals, and stand as it were afar off; and this is why in the Word "afar off" signifies the external or what is remote from the internal, as in the following passages. In Isaiah:
Hear, ye that are afar off, what I have done, and ye that are near know My power (Isaiah 33:13).
"Those that are afar off" here mean the nations, because they are remote from internal truths, and "those that are near" mean those who are of the church and who are in truths from the Word. In the same:
Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the end of the earth (Isaiah 43:6).
Here, too, "sons and daughters" mean the nations; and because these are remote from truths and goods, which are the internals of the church, they are called "sons from afar, and daughters from the end of the earth," "sons" meaning those who are in truths, and "daughters" those who are in goods, "the end of the earth" signifying the ultimates of the church.
[4] In the same:
Listen, O isles, unto Me, and ye peoples from afar. Lo, these shall come to thee from afar, and lo, these from the north and from the west (Isaiah 49:1, 12).
"Isles" and "peoples from afar," and "from the north and from the west," mean in like manner the nations with whom the church was to be established. The meaning is the same in Jeremiah:
Declare it in the isles afar off (Jeremiah 31:10).
In Zechariah:
They that are afar off shall come, and shall build the temple of Jehovah (Zechariah 6:15).
Here, too, "those afar off" mean the nations, and the "temple" that they shall build is the church. In Jeremiah:
Am I God that is near, and not God afar off? (Jeremiah 23:23).
This signifies that the Lord is God both to those who are within the church and to those who are outside of it, also to those who are in internal truths and to those who are in external truths. In David:
O God, the confidence of all the ends of the earth and of the sea, of those that are afar off (Psalms 65:5).
"The ends of the earth and of the sea, of those that are afar off," signify the ultimates of the church. In the contrary sense "afar off" signifies evil, because evil is in the external man; for all who are in evils and falsities therefrom are external men. Such are meant by "nations and peoples from afar" and "from the end of the earth" in the following passages. In Isaiah:
The nations from afar and from the end of the earth (Isaiah 5:26).
Peoples coming from a land afar off, from the end of the earth 1(16.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)
[5] Since God is infinite He is also omnipotent, for omnipotence is infinite power. God's omnipotence shines forth from the universe, which is the visible heaven and the habitable globe; these, with all things that are in the visible heavens and on the habitable globe, are the great works of the omnipotent Creator. The creation of these and their maintenance testify that they are from the Divine omnipotence, while their order and mutual regard to ends from first to last testify that they are from the Divine wisdom. God's omnipotence shines forth also from the heaven that is above or within our visible heaven, and from the globe there that is inhabited by angels, as ours is by men. There are wonderful testimonies there to the Divine omnipotence; and as these have been seen by me and revealed to me, I am permitted to mention them. All men that have died from the first creation of the world are there; and these after death continue to be men in form, but are spirits in essence.
[6] Spirits are affections that are of love, and thus also thoughts. The spirits of heaven are affections of the love of good, and the spirits of hell affections of the love of evil. Good affections, which are angels, dwell on a globe that is called heaven, and evil affections, which are spirits of hell, dwell at a great depth beneath them. The globe is one, but is divided into expanses as it were, one below another. There are six expanses; in the highest the angels of the third heaven dwell, and beneath them the angels of the second heaven, and beneath these the angels of the first heaven, below these dwell the spirits of the first hell, beneath these the spirits of the second hell, and beneath these the spirits of the third hell. All things are arranged in such order that the evil affections, which are spirits of hell, are held in bonds by the good affections, which are angels of heaven; the spirits of the lowest hell by the angels of the highest heaven, the spirits of the middle hell by the angels of the middle heaven, and the spirits of the first hell by the angels of the first heaven. By such opposition the affections are held in equilibrium as in the scales of a balance.
[7] Such heavens and hells are innumerable, divided into assemblies and societies according to the genera and species of all affections; and these affections in their order and connection are in accord with the nearer and more remote affinities of the societies. This is true both of the heavens and of the hells. This order and this connection of affections are known to the Lord alone, and the arrangement of so many different affections, as many as there have been men from the first creation and will be hereafter, is a work of infinite wisdom, and at the same time of infinite power. That the Divine power is infinite, or that it is omnipotence, is there clearly evident from the fact that neither the angels of heaven nor the devils of hell have any power whatever from themselves. If they had any at all heaven would fall to pieces, hell would become a chaos, and with these every man would perish.
Footnotes:
1. The photolithograph has "earth;" the Hebrew "heavens." See n. 331, where Swedenborg translates it "heavens."
1133. [Vers. 10.] "E longinquo stantes propter timorem cruciatus ejus." - Quod significet dum in externis sunt ex formidine poenarum infernalium, constat ex significatione "e longinquo stare", quod sit in externis esse (de qua sequitur); et ex significatione "timoris cruciatus", quod sit formido propter poenas infernales, "cruciatus" enim illas poenas significat.
Quod "e longinquo stare" significet in externis esse, est quia homo in se est dum in internis est, ibi enim residet amor ejus, inde ipsa vita ejus; interna hominis sunt quae ejus spiritus sunt, ac in Verbo intelliguntur per "propinqua"; externa itaque, quia ab internis remota sunt, intelliguntur per "longinqua", hic per "stare e longinquo": etiam omnis homo malus, dum in externis est, non sibi similis est, qualis est in internis; tunc [non] modo loquitur et facit aliter, sed etiam cogitat et vult aliter; cogitatio enim et voluntas ejus tunc est ut appareat homo civilis, moralis, et quoque ut homo spiritualis, et hoc vel propter legem et ejus poenas, vel propter famam et inde honorem et lucrum, ita propter timorem jacturae illorum; quod tunc e longinquo a semet fuerit, patet ex eo, quod dum ab externis in interna sua redit, quod fit dum solus est, tunc prorsus aliter cogitet et velit, et quoque cum sociis sui similibus aliter loquitur; inde patet quod "e longinquo stare", in spirituali sensu significet in externis esse.
[2] Quod homo malus ab internis in externa se immittat aut veniat, principalis causa est timor; quare dum videt poenas et cruciatus consociorum suorum, tunc timor claudit interna ejus; quibus clausis est in externis, ac in illis manet quamdiu poena obversatur animo: sed usque per poenas internum ejus non emendatur; id nihilo minus manet ut prius; quare ut primum timor poenae recedit, in sua mala, quae interius apud illum sunt, ac quae ejus spiritus et inde vitae sunt, redit. Hoc illustrari potest per experientiam e mundo spirituali; malus spiritus per poenas ibi adigitur ut non malum loquatur, nec malum faciat, et talis est quamdiu in loco est ubi poena obversatur animo ejus; ut primum autem timor poenae recedit, est malus sicut prius. Simile est in mundo; fures, latrones et alii scelesti, quamdiu sunt in urbe, ubi omnes in vinculis tenentur per legem et ejus poenas, non furantur nec latrocinantur; sed ut primum in silvas veniunt, aut in loca ubi non timent poenas legis, aut dum possunt legem per astutias pervertere, et inde poenas avertere, veniunt in interna sua et committunt scelera.
[3] Ex his patet quod externa ab internis distent, et sicut e longinquo stent. Ex eo est, quod in Verbo per "longinquum" significetur externum, seu quod remotum est ab interno, ut in sequentibus locis:
– Apud Esaiam,
"Audite, longinqui, quid fecerim; et cognoscite, propinqui, virtutem meam" ( 1
33:13):
per "longinquos" ibi intelliguntur gentes, quia remotae a veris internis; et per "propinquos" intelliguntur illi qui ab ecclesia sunt et ex Verbo in veris.
Apud eundem,
"Adduc filios meos e longinquo, et filias meas ab extremitate terrae" (43:6);
etiam hic per "filios" et "filias" intelliguntur gentes; quae quia remotae sunt a veris et bonis, quae interna ecclesiae sunt, vocantur "filii e longinquo, et filiae ab extremitate terrae"; per "filios" intelliguntur qui in veris, et per "filias" qui in bonis; "extremitas terrae" significat ultima ecclesiae.
[4] Apud eundem,
"Attendite, insulae, ad Me; et [auscultate,] populi e longinquo. .... Ecce" Tibi "e longinquo venient, et ecce isti e septentrione et ab occidente" (49:1, 12):
per "insulas" et per "populos e longinquo, et ex septentrione et ab occidente", similiter intelliguntur gentes, apud quas ecclesia instauraretur.
Apud Jeremiam,
"Annuntiate insulis e longinquo" (31:10);
similiter.
Apud Sachariam,
"Longinqui venient et aedificabunt templum Jehovae" (6:15):
"longinqui" etiam hic sunt gentes, et "templum" quod aedificabunt est ecclesia.
Apud Jeremiam,
"Num Deus e propinquo Ego, ...et non Deus e longinquo?" (23:23,)
significat quod Dominus sit Deus illis qui intra ecclesiam sunt, et quoque illis qui extra eam; tum illis qui in veris internis sunt, et illis qui in veris externis.
Apud Davidem,
"Deus...fiducia omnium finium terrae, et maris longinquorum" (Psalms 65:6, [B.A. 5]):
"fines terrae et mare longinquorum" significant ultima ecclesiae. In opposito sensu per "longinquum" significatur malum, quia hoc in externo homine est; sunt enim omnes qui in malis et inde falsis sunt, homines externi; hi per "gentes et populos e longinquo" et "ab extremitate terrae" in sequentibus locis intelliguntur:
– Apud Esaiam,
Gentes "e longinquo...et ab extremitate terrae" (5:26);
apud eundem,
Populi "venientes e terra longinquitatis, ab extremitate 2
caelorum" (13:5);
apud Jeremiam,
Gentes "venientes e terra longinquitatis" contra Hierosolymam (4:16);
apud eundem,
"Adducam" super domum Israelis "gentem e longinquo" (5:15):
quia per "Babelem" significatur malum omnis generis, et profanatio boni, ideo illa vocatur
"Terra longinquitatis" ([Esai.] 39:3).
Quod "longinqui significent illos qui in externis ecclesiae sunt constare etiam potest ex illis qui in spirituali mundo sunt in externis, et qui in internis; hi sunt in meridie, illi in septentrione, ita distant secundum gradus receptionis veri et boni. Quod per "propinquum" intelligatur internum, videatur supra (n. 16).
[5] (Continuatio de Fide Athanasiana, et de Domino.)
Quoniam Deus est infinitus, est etiam omnipotens, omnipotentia enim est infinita potentia. Omnipotentia Dei elucet ex universo, quod est caelum aspectabile et orbis habitabilis, quae sunt magna opera Creatoris omnipotentis; pariter omnia quae sunt in caelo aspectabili et super orbe habitabili: creatio eorum ac sustentatio eorum testantur quod sint ex Divina omnipotentia, ac ordo eorum et mutuus finium respectus a primo ad ultimum testantur quod sint ex Divina sapientia. Omnipotentia Dei elucet etiam ex caelo quod supra aut intra caelum nostrum aspectabile est, et ab orbe ibi qui habitatur ab angelis sicut noster ab hominibus; ibi sunt stupenda Divinae omnipotentiae testimonia, quae quia mihi visa et revelata sunt, illa memorare licet: sunt ibi omnes homines qui a prima mundi creatione obierunt, qui post obitum etiam sunt homines quoad formam, at sunt spiritus quoad essentiam.
[6] Spiritus sunt affectiones quae amoris, et sic etiam cogitationes; spiritus caeli affectiones amoris boni, et spiritus inferni affectiones amoris mali. Affectiones bonae, quae sunt angeli, habitant super orbe qui vocatur caelum; et affectiones malae, quae sunt spiritus inferni, habitant profunde sub illis; orbis est unus, sed sectus sicut in expansa, unum infra alterum. Expansa sunt sex; in supremo habitant angeli tertii caeli, et sub illis angeli secundi caeli, et sub his angeli primi; infra hos habitant spiritus primi inferni, sub illis spiritus secundi inferni, et sub his spiritus tertii: omnia ita disposite ordinata, ut affectiones malae, quae sunt spiritus inferni, in vinculis teneantur ab affectionibus bonis, quae sunt angeli caeli; spiritus infimi inferni ab angelis supremi caeli, spiritus medii inferni ab angelis medii caeli, et spiritus primi inferni ab angelis primi caeli; ex tali oppositione tenentur affectiones in aequilibrio sicut in trutina bilancis.
[7] Tales caeli et tales inferni sunt innumerabiles, distincti in coetus ac societates secundum genera et species omnium affectionum, et hae in ordine et in nexu sunt secundum affinitates propinquiores et remotiores illarum; quemadmodum in caelis, ita in infernis. Ille ordo et ille nexus affectionum est soli Domino notus, ac ordinatio tot variarum affectionum quot fuerunt homines a prima creatione, et quot futuri posthac, est infinitae sapientiae, et simul infinitae potentiae. Quod Divina potentia sit infinita, seu quod sit omnipotentia, ex eo ibi manifeste constat, quod non angelis caeli, nec diabolis inferni, sit hilum potentiae a se: si foret hilum, caderet caelum, fieret infernum chaos, ac periret cum iis omnis homo.
Footnotes:
1. The editors made a correction or note here.
2. The editors made a correction or note here.