5036.“把他下在监牢里”表涉及反对良善的谎言。这从“下在监牢，被囚在那里”的含义清楚可知，“下在监牢，被囚在那里”是指被引入涉及反对良善的谎言的试探中，如下文所述。不过，必须先先说说这试探。如今在基督教界，几乎没有人知道试探源于何处。经历试探的人只是以为它们是由人里面的邪恶所产生的痛苦的感觉，这种痛苦先是使他不安，然后使他充满焦虑，最后折磨他。但他完全没有意识到这一事实：它们其实是与他同在的恶灵所行的。他之所以没有意识这个事实，是因为他不相信他活在世上就在与灵人相伴，甚至几乎不相信有什么灵人与他同在；而事实上，就其内层而言，人始终在灵人和天使的社群。
至于试探本身，当人处在重生的实际过程中时，试探就在进行；因为若非经历试探，没有人能重生；那时，试探是由他周围的恶灵产生的。在试探中，此人被引入他所陷入，也就是他自己的本质自我所陷入的邪恶状态。一旦他进入这种状态，邪恶的地狱灵就会包围他；当他们发觉他从内在被天使保护时，这些恶灵就会激活他所曾思想的虚假，所曾犯下的邪恶；而天使则从内在保护他。这种争战就是此人感知为试探的东西；然而，这种感知如此模糊，以致他几乎不知道别的，只知道这仅仅是一种焦虑。因为一个人，尤其根本不相信流注的人便处于完全模糊的状态，就连恶灵与天使正在争竞之事的千分之一，他也几乎觉察不到。然而，就是在这样的时刻，一场涉及此人及其永恒救赎的大战正在进行；交战双方都在利用他里面的东西；因为这二者都是利用居于人里面的那些事物，并因它们而争战。我极其肯定地得以知道事实的确如此。我曾听见这种争战正在进行，感知过正在发生的流注，也曾见过灵人和天使，当时以及后来与他们谈论正在发生的事。
如前所述，试探主要发生在此人正变得属灵之时；因为那时，他正在获得对教义真理的属灵理解。此人自己常常意识不到这种事正在发生；但与他同在的天使仍在他的属世事物中看到属灵事物，因为那时他的内层向天堂开放。也正因如此，重生之人在结束世上的生活后，就进入天使当中，在那里既看见也感知到以前向他显为属世事物的属灵事物。因此，当人进入这种状态时，他在试探中受到攻击时，就能得到天使的保护；因为那时，天使便有了能进入其中进行运作的一个层面；也就是说，他们能流入建在他里面的属灵层面，并通过该层面进入属世层面。
不过，一旦最外层的真理被除去，导致此人没有任何保护自己免受属世之人攻击的事物（参看5006，5008，5009，5022，5028节），那么他就会进入试探，被恶灵（他们都是纯属世的）指控，尤其被指控说谎言反对良善。例如，他们会说，他曾思想并说过，当向邻舍行善，还拿他的行为来证明这一点；然而，他所说的邻舍仅仅是指那些处于良善与真理的人，而非那些陷入邪恶与虚假，无法被纠正的人。因此，由于他不再愿意向恶人行善，即使愿意，也是渴望惩罚他们，以便纠正他们，并保护邻舍免受邪恶之害，所以他们指控他曾思想并说过虚假，还指控他想的和说的不一样。
再举一例。由于人一旦变得属灵，就不再向富有大量财富的修道院或教会奉献是一种神圣而虔诚的行为；又由于他在变得属灵之前，曾认为这种奉献是神圣而虔诚的，所以这些灵人便以虚假来指控他。他们重新激活他之前所持关于这种奉献神圣而虔诚的想法，以及他出于这种想法所行的。这些灵人在无数其它例子上也作出类似的指控，这几个例子仅能给出一些说明。这些灵人尤其进入此人之前所拥有的情感，重新激活它们，还重新激活他所曾思想并犯下的虚假与邪恶，以这种方式使他充满焦虑，经常使他充满怀疑，甚至到了绝望的地步。
这就是属灵的焦虑，以及所谓的负疚感，或被称为良心折磨的痛苦的根源。这些事通过流注和交流向此人显现，仿佛它们就在他自己里面。知道并相信这一点的人好比一个人在一面镜子里看见自己，知道出现在镜中，或镜子背面的，不是他自己，只是他的形像；而不知道并相信这一点的人也好比一个人在镜中看见自己，却以为出现在那里的是他自己，而非他的形像。
Potts(1905-1910) 5036
5036. And put him into the prison house. That this signifies as to false-speaking against good, is evident from the signification of being "put into the prison house, and kept bound there," as being to be let into temptations as to false-speaking against good, of which in what follows; but something must first be said in regard to temptations. Scarcely anyone in the Christian world at this day knows whence temptations come. He who undergoes them has no other belief than that they are torments arising from the evils which are within man, and which at first make him uneasy, then anxious, and finally torment him; but he is altogether ignorant that they are effected by the evil spirits who are with him. The reason why he is ignorant of this, is that he does not believe that he is in company with spirits while he lives in the world, and scarcely believes that there is any spirit with him; when yet as to his interiors man is continually in the society of spirits and angels. [2] As regards temptations, they take place when the man is in the act of regeneration; for no one can be regenerated unless he undergoes temptations, and they then arise from evil spirits who are about him. For the man is then let into the state of evil in which he is, that is, in which is that very [life] which is his own; and when he comes into this state, evil or infernal spirits encompass him, and when they perceive that he is inwardly protected by angels, the evil spirits excite the falsities which he has thought, and the evils which he has done, but the angels defend him from within. It is this combat which is perceived in the man as temptation, but so obscurely that he scarcely knows otherwise than that it is merely an anxiety; for man-especially if he believes nothing about influx-is in a state that is wholly obscure, and he perceives scarcely a thousandth part of the things about which the evil spirits and angels are contending. And yet the battle is then being fought for the man and his eternal salvation, and it is fought from the man himself; for they fight from those things which are in man, and concerning them. That this is the case has been given me to know with the utmost certainty. I have heard the combat, I have perceived the influx, I have seen the spirits and angels, and at the time and afterward have conversed with them on the subject. [3] As before said, temptations take place chiefly at the time when the man is becoming spiritual; for he then apprehends spiritually the truths of doctrine. The man is often unaware of this, but still the angels with him see in his natural things the spiritual; for his interiors are then open toward heaven. For this reason also the man who has been regenerated is among angels after his life in the world, and there both sees and perceives the spiritual things which before appeared to him as natural. When therefore a man has come into such a state, then in temptation, when assaulted by evil spirits, he can be defended by angels, who then have a plane into which they can operate; for they flow into what is spiritual with him, and through this into what is natural. [4] But when ultimate truth has been withdrawn, and therefore the man has nothing by which to defend himself against those who are natural (see n. 5006, 5008, 5009, 5022, 5028), he then comes into temptations, and by evil spirits-who are all merely natural-he is accused especially of speaking falsely against good; as for example of having thought and said that the neighbor ought to be benefited, and having also approved this in act, and yet now meaning by the neighbor only those who are in good and truth, and not those who are in evil and falsity and cannot be amended; and consequently, because he is no longer willing to benefit the evil, or if he will benefit them, he desires them to be punished for the sake of their amendment, and for the purpose of averting evil from his neighbor, they charge him with thinking and speaking what is false, and with not thinking as he speaks. [5] Take another example. Because when a man becomes spiritual, he no longer believes it holy and for pious use to give to monasteries, or even to churches which abound in wealth; and because before he became spiritual he had thought that such giving was holy and pious, they charge him with falsehood, and stir up all his thoughts which he had before cherished as to its being holy and pious, and also the works which he had done from such thought. And so they do in numberless other cases, but let these few examples serve by way of illustration. These spirits enter principally into the affections which the man had before, and excite them, and also the false and evil things which he had thought and done; and thus they bring him into anxiety, and often into doubt even to despair. [6] Such then is the source of spiritual anxieties, and of the torments which are called torments of conscience. By influx and communication these things appear to the man as if they were in himself. One who knows and believes this may be compared to a man who sees himself in a mirror, and knows that it is not himself that appears in it, or on the other side of it, but only his image; whereas one who does not know and believe this, may be compared to a person who sees himself in a mirror, and supposes it is himself that appears there, and not his image.
Elliott(1983-1999) 5036
5036. 'And committed him to the prison-house' means involving false-speaking against good. This is clear from the meaning of 'being committed to the prison-house' and 'being kept bound there' as being subjected to temptations involving false-speaking against good, dealt with below. But first of all something must be said about temptations. At the present day scarcely anyone in the Christian world knows where temptations originate. Those who undergo them do not believe them to be anything more than the feelings of anguish which creep in because of the evils residing inwardly with a person, which first make him uneasy, then fill him with anxiety, and finally torment him. But he is totally unaware of the fact that they are the work of the evil spirits present with him. The reason he is unaware that this is so is that he does not believe he is in the company of spirits while he is living in the world; indeed he has scarcely any belief that any spirit at all is present with him, when in fact a person, so far as his interiors are concerned, exists in constant association with spirits and angels.
[2] As for temptations themselves, they are going on while a person is in the actual process of being regenerated, for no one can be regenerated unless he also undergoes temptations; and the evil spirits around him are the means through which those temptations are brought about. In temptation the person is brought into a state in which the evil that possesses him, that is, possesses his own essential self, is dominant. Once he enters this state evil and hellish spirits surround him, and when they realize that inwardly he is protected by angels those evil spirits reactivate the false ideas he has previously contemplated and the evil deeds he has committed. But the angels defend him from within. This conflict is what the person experiences as temptation, yet the experience is so vague that he is aware of it as scarcely anything more than a feeling of anxiety. For a person, especially one who has no belief at all in influx, dwells in a state of complete obscurity and discerns scarcely the smallest fraction of the things over which evil spirits and angels are engaged in conflict. Yet a battle is taking place at such a time over that person and his eternal salvation, with both sides using what is within him; for both draw on what resides with the person and engage in conflict over it. The truth of this I have been led most certainly to know. I have heard such conflict going on, I have perceived the influx taking place, and I have seen the spirits and the angels, to whom I spoke at the time and subsequently about what was happening.
[3] As stated, temptations arise primarily when a person is becoming spiritual, for at that time he is gaining a spiritual understanding of the truths of doctrine. The person himself is often unaware that this is happening; even so, the angels present with him see spiritual concerns within his natural ones since his interiors at this time are open towards heaven. (This also explains why, after living in the world, a person who has been regenerated is among angels, where he both sees and perceives the spiritual concerns which had previously appeared to him as natural ones.) When therefore a person is such as this, it is possible for the angels to defend him in temptation when he is assailed by evil spirits; for the angels then have a place that has been established in him into which they can operate; that is, they can flow into the spiritual level established in him, and through this into that which is natural.
[4] Once therefore outermost truth has been removed, with the result that the person does not possess anything to protect himself from those who are natural, dealt with in 5006, 5008, 5009, 5022, 5028, he enters into temptations in which evil spirits, all of whom are wholly natural, make accusations against him, especially that of false-speaking against good. They say, for example, that he has thought and said that good should be done to the neighbour and has also given proof of this in his actions, yet by the neighbour he now means only those with whom good and truth are present, not those with whom evil and falsity are present and who are incapable of receiving correction. Consequently, because he is no longer willing to do good to the evil, apart from punishing them so as to correct them and to protect his neighbour from what is evil, they accuse him of having thought and spoken what was false and of not thinking as he speaks.
[5] Take another example. Because a person, once he has become spiritual, no longer believes it to be a holy and godly act to give to monasteries or even churches where great wealth exists, and because prior to his becoming spiritual he had thought it a holy and godly thing to do, those spirits accuse him of falsity. They reactivate all the thoughts he had cherished previously about such holy and godly giving, as well as all his actual deeds resulting from that way of thinking. Those spirits make similar accusations in countless other instances which these examples serve merely to illustrate somewhat. In particular those spirits enter the affections which the person possessed previously and reactivate these, reactivating also the falsities and evils which he had thought and committed, and in this way they fill him with anxiety and quite often with doubt extending to the point of despair.
[6] Such then is the origin of spiritual kinds of anxiety and of those feelings called the pangs of conscience. What makes these appear to exist essentially within himself is influx and communication. Anyone who knows and believes this may be compared to a person who sees himself in a mirror but knows that it is not he himself who appears in the mirror or on the other side of it, only his image, whereas anyone who does not know and believe this may be compared to a person who sees himself in the mirror and supposes that he himself, not his image, appears there.
Latin(1748-1756) 5036
5036. `Et dedit eum in domum carceris': quod significet quoad falsiloquium contra bonum, constat ex significatione `dari in domum carceris et ibi vinctus teneri' quod sit mitti in tentationes quoad falsiloquium contra bonum, de qua sequitur; prius aliquid de tentationibus dicendum: vix aliquis hodie in orbe Christiano novit unde tentationes; qui illas subit, non aliter credit quam quod sint angores qui irrepunt ex malis quae intus apud hominem sunt, quae illum primo irrequietum faciunt, dein anxium, et denique cruciant;sed prorsus nescit quod fiant per spiritus malos qui apud eum sunt;
quod hoc nesciat, est quia non credit quod in consortio spirituum sit cum vivit in mundo, et vix quod aliquis spiritus apud illum sit; cum tamen homo quoad interiora continue in societate spirituum et angelorum est; [2] quod tentationes attinet, illae consistunt {1} quando homo in actu regenerationis est, nemo enim regenerari potest nisi quoque subeat tentationes; et tunc existunt per malos spiritus qui circum illum sunt; mittitur enim tunc homo in statum mali in quo ipse est, hoc est, (o)in quo ipsum illud quod ejus proprium est, in quem statum cum venit, spiritus mali seu infernales illum circumdant, et cum appercipiunt quod interius tutetur ab angelis, excitant mali spiritus falsa quae cogitaverat et mala quae egerat, sed angeli ab interiore defendunt illum; haec pugna est quae apud hominem percipitur ut tentatio, sed ita obscure ut vix aliter sciat quam quod solum anxietas sit; homo enim, imprimis qui nihil credit de influxu, in statu prorsus obscuro est, et vix millesimam partem appercipit de illis de quibus mali spiritus et angeli pugnant; agitur usque tunc de homine et ejus salute aeterna, et agitur ex homine, pugnant enim ex illis quae, apud hominem sunt, et de illis; quod res ita se habeat, pro certissimo scire datum est; pugnam audivi, influxum percepi, spiritus et angelos vidi, ac tunc et postea cum illis locutus sum, etiam de illa re. [3] Tentationes, ut dictum {2}, imprimis tunc existunt, quando homo spiritualis fit, tunc enim spiritualiter capit vera doctrinae; hoc saepe homo nescit, at usque angeli apud eum in naturalibus ejus spiritualia vident, sunt enim interiora ejus tunc aperta versus caelum; inde etiam est quod homo qui regeneratus est, post vitam in mundo inter angelos sit, et ibi spiritualia et videat et percipiat, quae prius ei sicut naturalia apparuerunt; cum itaque homo talis est, tunc in tentatione cum impugnatur a malis spiritibus, defendi potest ab angelis, angeli enim tunc planum habent in quod operentur, influunt enim in spirituale apud illum {3}, et per spirituale in naturale. [4] Cum itaque ultimum verum abstractum est, et sic non habeat per quod se contra naturales defendat, de qua (o)re n. 5006, 5008, 5009, 5022, 5028, tunc venit in tentationes, et accusatur a malis spiritibus, qui omnes mere naturales sunt, imprimis falsiloquii contra bonum {4}; ut pro exemplo, quod cogitaverit et dixerit quod proximo benefaciendum, et quoque actu comprobaverit, et tamen per proximum modo nunc intelligat illos qui in bono et vero sunt, non autem {5} qui in malo et falso, et emendari nequeunt; et consequenter quia malis (t)non amplius benefacere vult, et si benefacturus quod velit ut puniantur causa emendationis `eorum' et causa aversionis mali a suo proximo, incusant quod falsum cogitaverit et locutus sit, (o)et quod non cogitet sicut loquitur; [5] (m)sit quoque pro exemplo:
quia homo cum spiritualis factus, non amplius sanctum credit et ad pium usum quod dat monasteriis, ne quidem templis ubi opes abundant, et quia prius quam spiritualis factus est, cogitationem quod sanctum et pium esset, habuerat, incusant illum falsi, et excitant omnes ejus cogitationes quas prius de illo sancto et pio foverat, et quoque opera ex illa cogitatione {6}; similiter in innumerabilibus aliis; sed haec exempla sint modo alicui illustrationi; imprimis intrant in affectiones quas prius habuit, et excitant illas, et quoque falsa et mala quae cogitaverat et fecerat, et sic in anxietatem inducunt, et saepius in dubitationem usque ad desperationem; [6] inde (o)nunc sunt anxietates spirituales et inde sunt cruciatus qui conscientiae vocantur. (s)Apparent haec homini sicut in ipso per influxum et communicationem: qui hoc {7} novit et credit, comparari potest homini qui se videt in speculo et scit quod non ipse sit qui apparet in speculo seu ab altera ejus parte, sed modo imago ejus;
at qui hoc non novit et non credit, comparari potest illi qui se videt in speculo, et putat quod ipse sit qui apparet ibi, et non imago ejus.(s) @1 existunt$ @2 Praeterea tentationes$ @3 ejus$ @4 tunc a malis spiritibus, qui omnes mere naturales sunt, accusatur falsiloquii:$ @5 i illos$ @6 i praeter plura falsa tunc ei cogitationi adjuncta$ @7 illa I$