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796. And power to act was given unto him forty and two months. That this signifies destruction until nothing of truth and good remained, is evident from the signification of the power to act, as denoting actions destructive of goods and truths; for by the mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, as was explained just above, is signified doctrine, and thence instruction, preaching, and reasoning, utterly destroying the goods of the Word, and its truths. Therefore by the power to act which was given to him, is signified the process of destroying them; and from the signification of forty and two months, as denoting a full vastation and consummation (concerning which see above, n. 781).
[2] The subject treated of in this and the following verse is the destruction of the church, which is entirely destroyed when its truths are turned into falsities, and its goods into evils. That this is done by the doctrine of faith separated from life, is evident from this, that the doctrine of the church is a doctrine of faith, and that the doctrine of life, which is called moral theology, is a forensic doctrine, considered as serviceable to the church at pleasure; but having nothing of salvation in it, because nothing of faith. When, nevertheless, faith separated from life is not alive but dead, and, therefore, can save no one.
[3] It is supposed that man, from the doctrine of separate faith, can believe that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell and a life after death, that the Word is Divine, and, therefore, that the things therein declared are to be believed. These things man may indeed know, and also think, and in some measure understand from the light of reason, but still he cannot have that faith in them that will remain long after death. For the faith that pertains to life remains, but not faith apart from life. Every one has this life only as he abstains from evils, and shuns and is averse to them because they are contrary to the Word, and thus contrary to the Lord. Faith from such life remains after death, because it is from the Lord, and thus the Lord's with man.
From these things it is evident that man from faith alone cannot truly believe in the existence of God, and how then can he believe other things? It follows, therefore, that the doctrine of faith separated [from life] destroys the church as to all its goods and truths. That it is so has been made quite clear to me from such persons after death with whom I have spoken. The followers and defenders of that faith who have only cleansed the outside of the cup and platter, and not the inside, after a brief stay in the world of spirits, reject what they have said and believed in as part of their faith, and have acknowledged as gods, either themselves or others who excel in power by means of arts known in hell; in fact, they laugh at the truths of the Word which they called holy when they were in the world.
796. And there was given unto him authority to work forty-two months, signifies its destruction even until nothing of truth and good remained. This is evident from the signification of "authority to work," as being the act of destroying goods and truths; for "a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies," mentioned just above, signifies doctrine, and instruction, preaching, and reasoning therefrom, utterly destroying the goods of the Word and its truths; so the act of destroying these is signified by "there was given unto him authority to work." The above is evident also from the signification of "forty-two months," as being complete vastation and consummation (See above, n. 781).
[2] This and the following verse treat of the destruction of the church, which is altogether destroyed as its truths are turned into falsities and its goods into evils. That the doctrine of faith separated from the life does this can be seen from the fact that the doctrine of faith is the doctrine of the church, and the doctrine of life, which is called moral theology, is an outside doctrine, that is, serviceable to the church at its pleasure, but is regarded as having nothing of salvation in it because it has nothing of faith in it; yet faith when separated from life is not alive, and what is not alive, but is dead, can save no one.
[3] It is supposed that man from the doctrine of faith separate is able to believe that there is a God, that there is a heaven and a hell, that there is a life after death, that the Word is Divine, and therefore that what the Word contains is to be believed. These things man can indeed know and can think, and can even in some degree understand from the light of reason, and yet he cannot have such a faith in them as will remain long after death; for the faith that is of the life remains, but not faith separated from the life; and everyone has life to the extent that he abstains from evils, and shuns and turns away from them because they are contrary to the Word, thus contrary to the Lord. Faith from such a life awaits a man after death, because it is from the Lord, and thus is the Lord's with man. Thence it is clear that from faith alone man cannot even believe that there is a God; how then can he believe the rest? From this it follows that the doctrine of faith separated destroys the church in respect to all its goods and truths. That this is so has been made abundantly evident to me from the state of such persons after death with whom I have talked. The followers and defenders of faith separate, who have cleansed the outside only of the cup and the platter and not the inside, when they have fulfilled their time reject all things they have said and believed in the world to be of their faith; and they acknowledge as gods either themselves or others who excel in power and in the arts known in hell; and they even laugh at the truths of the Word which in the world they had called holy.
796. "Et data ei potestas faciendi menses quadraginta duos." Quod significet destructionem usque dum nihil veri et boni superesset, constat ex significatione "potestatis faciendi", quod sit actus destruendi bona et vera; nam per "os loquens magna et blasphemias", ut nunc supra, significatur doctrina, et inde instructio, praedicatio et ratiocinatio, destruens bona Verbi et penitus vera ejus; inde per "data ei potestas faciendi" significatur actus destruendi illa; et ex significatione "mensium quadraginta duorum", quod sit plenaria vastatio et consummatio (de qua supra, n. 633), ita destructio usque dum nihil veri et boni superest: simile etiam significatur per "quadraginta duo", 2 Regnum 2:24, ubi memoratur, quod "quadraginta duo pueri a binis ursis discerpti sint" (videatur supra, n. 781 [c]).
[2] Agitur in hoc versu et in sequente de destructione ecclesiae, quae destruitur prorsus sicut vera ejus vertuntur in falsa, et bona ejus in mala: quod hoc faciat doctrina fidei separatae a vita, constare potest ex eo, quod doctrina ecclesiae sit doctrina fidei, et quod doctrina vitae, quae vocatur theologia moralis, sit doctrina forinseca, inserviens ecclesiae, si libet; et spectatur sicut nihil salutis in ea, quia nihil fidei, cum tamen fides separata a vita non vivit; et non vivum, quod est mortuum, neminem salvat.
[3] Autumatur quod homo ex doctrina fidei separatae possit credere quod Deus sit, quod caelum et infernum sint, quod vita post mortem sit, quod Verbum Divinum sit, et quod ideo credenda sint quae ibi; haec quidem potest homo scire, potest cogitare, immo ex rationis lumine potest aliquatenus intelligere, sed usque non potest illorum habere fidem quae diu manet post mortem; fides enim vitae manet, sed non fides separata a vita; et vita unicuivis est sicut homo abstinet a malis, ac fugit et aversatur illa, quia contra Verbum sunt, ita contra Dominum; fides cx hac vita manet hominem post mortem, quia est a Domino, et inde Domini apud hominem: ex his constare potest quod homo ex sola fide ne quidem credere possit quod Deus sit; quid tunc credere potest reliqua? Inde nunc sequitur quod doctrina fidei separatae destruat ecclesiam quoad omnia bona et vera ejus. Quod ita sit, ex talibus post mortem, cum quibus locutus sum, abunde mihi patuit; sectatores et defensores fidei separatae, qui modo externum poculi et patinae purgarunt, et non internum, post exactum tempus, omnia quae in mundo dixerunt et crediderunt suae fidei esse rejecerunt; et vel se, vel alios, qui potentia et artibus in inferno notis praestant, pro diis agnoscunt; immo ad vera Verbi, quae sancta dixerunt in mundo, rident.