637、“我要把他们和这地一并毁灭”表示人类将与教会一道灭亡。原因如下：如果主的教会在地上完全灭绝，人类决不能存在，而是所有人，无一例外，都会灭亡。如前所述，教会如同心脏，只要心脏还活着，周围的器官和肢体也能存活；可心脏一死，其它一切也都会死。主在地上的教会如同心脏，人类，甚至教会之外的那部分人类由此而获得生命。原因则完全不为任何人所知；但为叫人们对此有所了解，可以这么说，地上的整个人类如同一副身体及其各个部位，其中，教会如同心脏。如果没有教会，使得主可以通过天堂和灵人界与之结合，如同与一种心脏结合，就会有分离；一旦与主分离，人类必立刻灭亡。这就是为何自人类最初被造以来一直有某个教会存在；每当教会开始灭亡时，它仍与某些人同在。
这也是主降世的原因。若非祂以其神性怜悯降临，地球上的整个人类都必灭亡，因为那时，教会即将走到尽头，几乎没有任何良善或真理幸存。人类之所以无法存活，除非主通过天堂和灵人界与人类结合，是因为就本身而言，人甚至比动物还低级。若由着他自己，他会急于毁灭自己和所有人，因为他只渴望毁灭自己和所有人。他的秩序原本是爱人如己；但现在人人都爱自己胜过别人，因而恨恶其他所有人。然而，不会说话的动物或野兽却迥然不同，因为它们的秩序是它们照之生活的秩序。因此，它们完全照它们所处的秩序生活，而人则完全违背自己的秩序。所以，若非主怜悯人，并通过天使与他结合，他决不能存活片刻；但他对此一无所知。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]637. To expand on the symbolism of the words I will destroy them together with the earth as the fact that the human race would meet its end along with the church: If the Lord's church were completely obliterated from the planet, the human race could never survive. Every last person would die.
The church resembles the heart, as noted earlier [468:2]. As long as the heart thrives, so can the surrounding organs and limbs. But as soon as the heart dies, everything else dies too. The Lord's church on earth is like the heart; from it the human race — including people outside the church — receives life. Since no one has the faintest idea why this is so, I wish to explain.
The situation of the earth's entire population resembles that of the human body with all its parts.{*1} In this body, the church plays the role of the heart. If there were no church supplying the heart's place — a church with which the Lord could be united by means of heaven and the world of spirits — a break would occur. And if there were a break between the human race and the Lord, we would be annihilated immediately.
For this reason, a church has always existed, ever since the first moment of humanity's creation. Even when the church has begun to die out, it has always remained alive in a few people.
[2] The Lord came into the world for the same reason. Had divine mercy not prompted him to come, the whole human race on this planet would have been destroyed, because at that time the church had reached its last stages and hardly any goodness or truth was left.
Because we humans, regarded in ourselves, are much lower than animals, we have no chance at survival unless we are intimately connected with the Lord through heaven and the world of spirits. Left on our own we would plunge headlong into destroying ourselves and everyone else, because the ruination of ourselves and everyone else is all we long for.
Our proper code of life is to love one another as we love ourselves, but what we actually do these days is to love ourselves more than others and thus hate everyone else. Now, with unreasoning animals the case is totally different. Their proper code is the one they live by, and so they live in thorough harmony with their destiny. We humans, though, live exactly opposite to the pattern ordained for us, so if the Lord did not take pity on us, if he did not bind us to him through angels, we could not possibly survive a single moment.
Of this fact humanity is unaware.
Footnotes:
{*1} In Swedenborg's system, the human figure has correspondences at many levels. Here he indicates that humanity on earth resembles a single individual. In Heaven and Hell 59-77, he says that all of heaven has this form (see note 5 in 0 above), as well as each community in heaven (compare note 1 in 318 above). Moreover, each community in heaven has its place in this body (see Heaven and Hell 65). Similarly, here on earth the church constitutes the heart of humanity, as this passage indicates. [RS]
Potts(1905-1910) 637
637. That "I will destroy them with the earth" signified that together with the church the human race would perish, is on this account: If the Lord's church should be entirely extinguished on the earth, the human race could by no means exist, but one and all would perish. The church, as before said, is as the heart: so long as the heart lives, the neighboring viscera and members can live; but as soon as the heart dies, they one and all die also. The Lord's church on earth is as the heart, whence the human race, even that part of it which is outside the church, has life. The reason is quite unknown to anyone, but in order that something of it may be known, it may be stated that the whole human race on earth is as a body with its parts, wherein the church is as the heart; and that unless there were a church with which as with a heart the Lord might be united through heaven and the world of spirits, there would be disjunction; and if there were disjunction of the human race from the Lord, it would instantly perish. This is the reason why from the first creation of man there has always been some church, and whenever the church has begun to perish it has yet remained with some. [2] This was also the reason of the Lord's coming into the world. If in His Divine mercy He had not come, the whole human race on this earth would have perished, for the church was then at its last extremity, and there was scarcely any good and truth surviving. The reason why the human race cannot live unless it is conjoined with the Lord through heaven and the world of spirits, is that in himself regarded man is much viler than the brutes. If left to himself he would rush into the ruin of himself and of all things; for he desires nothing else than what would be for the destruction of himself and of all. His order should be that one should love another as himself; but now everyone loves himself more than others, and thus hates all others. But with brute animals the case is quite different: their order is that according to which they live. Thus they live quite according to the order in which they are, and man entirely contrary to his order. Therefore unless the Lord should have compassion on him, and conjoin him with Himself through angels, he could not live a single moment; but this he does not know.
Elliott(1983-1999) 637
637. The implications of 'I will destroy them together with the earth' meaning that the human race would perish together with the Church are as follows: If the Lord's Church had been completely wiped out on earth, the human race could not have remained in being at all, for all without exception would have perished. As previously stated, the Church is as the heart. As long as the heart is alive, surrounding organs and limbs are able to live as well. But the moment the heart dies, everything else dies as well. The Lord's Church on earth is as the heart, and from it the human race, even that part of it lying outside of the Church, has life. The reason why is totally unknown to anybody. But so that something of this may be known, let it be said that the whole human race on earth is like the body and all its parts, with the Church resembling the heart. And if there were no Church, with which as a kind of heart the Lord might unite Himself by way of heaven and the world of spirits, there would be a severance; and once the human race was severed from the Lord it would perish instantly. This is the reason why since man was first created there has always been some Church in existence; and as often as the Church has begun to perish it has nevertheless remained with certain people.
[2] This was also the reason why the Lord came into the world. Unless, in His Divine mercy, He had come, the whole human race on this planet would have perished, for at that time the Church was nearing its end, and scarcely any good or truth was surviving. The reason the human race cannot possibly live unless it is joined to the Lord by way of heaven and the world of spirits is that regarded in himself man is even lower than animals. Left to himself he would rush to ruin himself and everybody else, for he has no other desire than to destroy himself and everybody else. His order ought to be as one person loving another as he does himself, but at present everyone loves himself more than others and so hates everybody else. Dumb animals are quite different however, for theirs is an order which they do live according to; and so they live wholly according to the order that is theirs, whereas man lives altogether contrary to order. Consequently unless the Lord had taken pity on man and by means of angels joined him to Himself he could not possibly live for a single moment. Of this man has no knowledge.
Latin(1748-1756) 637
637. Quod 'perdam eos cum terra' significet quod genus humanum periret cum Ecclesia, res se ita habet: si Ecclesia Domini prorsus exstingueretur in tellure, genus humanum nequaquam potuisset esse, sed omnes cum singulis perirent; se habet Ecclesia sicut cor, ut prius dictum; quamdiu cor vivit, circumjacentia viscera et membra possunt vivere; at ut primum cor moritur, omnia et singula quoque moriuntur: Ecclesia Domini in tellure est sicut cor, inde genus humanum, etiam illud quod extra Ecclesiam est, vitam habent; causa ignotissima unicuivis est; sed ut aliquid sciatur, se habet universum genus humanum in tellure, sicut corpus cum ejus partibus, in quo Ecclesia est instar cordis; et nisi Ecclesia foret, cum qua, sicut cum quodam corde, uniretur Dominus per caelum et mundum spirituum, foret disjunctio; et cum disjunctio humani generis a Domino, ilico periret: quae causa est quod a prima creatione hominis semper aliqua Ecclesia fuerit; et, quoties Ecclesia perire incepit, quod usque remanserit apud quosdam. [2] Haec quoque causa fuit Adventus Domini in mundum; nisi ex Divina Ipsius Misericordia venisset, universum genus humanum in hac tellure periisset; nam tunc Ecclesia in extremis fuit et vix aliquid bonum et verum superstes. Quod genus humanum nusquam vivere possit nisi conjunctum sit cum Domino per caelum et mundum spirituum, causa est quia homo in se spectatus multo vilius est brutis; si relinqueretur sibi, rueret in sui et omnium perniciem, nam nihil aliud quam sui et omnium destructionem cupit, ordo ejus foret ut unus alterum amaret sicut semet, sed nunc unusquisque semet amat prae aliis, ita omnes alios odit; at bruta animalia prorsus aliter; eorum ordo est, secundum quem vivunt; ita vivunt prorsus secundum ordinem in quo sunt, homo autem prorsus contra ordinem; quare nisi Dominus ejus misereretur et conjungeret eum Sibi per angelos, nusquam potuisset unum minutum vivere: hoc homo ignorat.