----中文待译----
950. Clothed in linen pure and glistening white. That this signifies by means of Divine truth, or the Word from the spiritual sense, is evident from the signification of linen, as denoting truth; and when said of the Lord or of the Word, as denoting Divine truth. This is called pure because of its being genuine; and glistening white from the light in heaven, which light is glistening; for all things that are there are glistening white from it.
The Divine truth proceeding from the Lord is that which appears before the eyes of the angels as light, because the Divine truth enlightens their understanding, and that which does this is light before their eyes. Such is the Divine truth in heaven, and such is the Word in its spiritual sense. Whereas the Divine truth on earth is such as the Word is in the sense of the letter. In this there are but few genuine truths, such as are those in heaven, but there are appearance's of truth. The natural man cannot receive any others. But still genuine truths, such as are those in heaven, lie stored up in the appearances of truth there; for they are those that are contained in the spiritual sense of the Word. From these things it is evident that by the angels going out of the temple, clothed in linen pure and glistening white, is signified that the evils and falsities that have devastated the church were made manifest by means of Divine truth, or the Word from its spiritual sense.
[2] There are many reasons why the spiritual sense of the Word is now disclosed. One is, that the churches in the Christian world have falsified all the sense of the letter of the Word, and this even to the destruction of the Divine truth in heaven, whereby heaven is closed. Therefore, in order that heaven may be opened, it has pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word, wherein is Divine truth such as it is in heaven. For by means of the Word there, conjunction of man with the Lord, and thence with heaven, takes place. When the Word is so far falsified as to destroy its genuine truth, then conjunction perishes, and man is separated from heaven. Therefore, in order that he may again be conjoined with heaven, Divine truth such as it is in heaven has been revealed; and this is confirmed by the spiritual sense of the Word wherein is that Divine truth.
A second reason is, that the falsities that have inundated the church, and devastated it, cannot be dissipated except by genuine truth in the Word opened. Falsities and the evils therefrom, and evils and the falsities therefrom, can by no means be seen except from truths themselves. For falsities and evils, so long as genuine truths are not present, appear as in a kind of light.
They have light from what they confirm by reasonings from the natural man, and the sense of the letter, explained and applied according to appearances before that man. But when genuine truths are present, then falsities and evils first appear; for the light of heaven, which is in genuine truths, dissipates the delusive light of falsities, and turns it into darkness.
A third reason is, that the New Church, meant by the holy Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, is conjoined with heaven by means of the Divine truths of the Word contained in its spiritual sense. For the Word is conjunction, but it is then conjunction, when a man perceives the Word in the same way as the angels do.
That linen signifies truth will be seen in the following article.
Continuation concerning the First Precept:-
[3] Thou shalt not make to thyself other gods, involves also that men should not love themselves and the world above all things; for what a man loves above all things is his god.
There are two entirely opposite loves, the love of self and love to God, also the love of the world and the love of heaven. He who loves himself loves his proprium; and a man's proprium is nothing but evil. Hence also he loves evil in its whole extent; and he who loves evil hates good, and thence also God. He who loves himself above all things immerses his affections and thoughts in the body, and, consequently, in his proprium, from which he cannot be raised by the Lord. And he who is immersed in the body and in his proprium is in bodily ideas, and in merely bodily pleasures, and, consequently, in thick darkness as to higher things. Whereas, he who is raised up by the Lord is in light. And he who is not in the light of heaven, but in thick darkness, since he sees nothing of God, he denies God, and acknowledges as God either nature, or some man, or idol, and also affects to be worshipped himself as a god. Consequently, it follows that he who loves himself above all things worships other gods. It is similar with him who loves the world, but in a less degree; for the world cannot be loved to such an extent as the proprium; therefore the world is loved from proprium and for the sake of proprium, because it is serviceable to it.
By the love of self is especially meant the love of ruling over others from the sole delight in ruling, and for the sake of position, and not from the delight of uses, and for the sake of the public good. And by the love of the world is especially meant the love of possessing worldly goods from the mere pleasure of possession, and for the sake of riches, and not from delight in the uses arising from them, and for the sake of good therefrom. Neither of these loves has any limit, and as far as scope is given, each rushes on endlessly.
950. Clothed in linen clean and bright, signifies by means of the Divine truth or the Word from the spiritual sense. This is evident from the signification of "linen," as being truth, and in reference to the Lord or the Word, as being the Divine truth. This is called "clean" because it is genuine, and is called "bright" from the light in heaven, which light is brightness, since from it all things there are bright. The Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord is what appears to the eyes of angels as light, for the reason that the Divine truth enlightens their understanding; and what enlightens the understanding of angels is light to their eyes. Such is the Divine truth in heaven, and such is the Word in its spiritual sense; while Divine truth on the earth is such as the Word is in the sense of the letter, in which there are few genuine truths like those in heaven, but there are appearances of truth; and these only can the natural man receive. Nevertheless in these appearances of truth genuine truths like those in heaven lie stored up; for these are what are contained in the spiritual sense of the Word. All this makes clear that the words "there came out of the temple angels clothed in linen clean and bright" signify that the evils and falsities that have devastated the church were made manifest by the Divine truth, or the Word from its spiritual sense.
[2] There are many reasons why the spiritual sense of the Word has now been disclosed. First, because the churches in the Christian world have falsified all the sense of the letter of the Word, and this even to the destruction of the Divine truth in heaven, by which heaven has been closed up. In order, therefore, that heaven may be opened it has pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word, in which sense is the Divine truth such as it is in heaven. For through the Word there is the conjunction of man with the Lord, and thus with heaven. When the Word is falsified even to the destruction of its genuine truth the conjunction perishes, and man is separated from heaven. In order, therefore, that he may again be conjoined with heaven, Divine truth such as it is in heaven has been revealed; and this has been confirmed by the spiritual sense of the Word, in which is that Divine truth. The second reason is that the falsities that have inundated and devastated the church can be dissipated only by means of the genuine truth laid open in the Word. Falsities and the evils therefrom and evils and the falsities therefrom can be seen in no other way than from truths themselves. For so long as genuine truths are not present, falsities and evils appear as in a kind of light. This light they have from confirmations by reasonings from the natural man, and by the sense of the letter explained and applied according to the appearances before that man. But when genuine truths are present, then first falsities and evils appear; for the light of heaven, which is in genuine truths, dissipates the delusive light of falsities and turns it into darkness. The third reason is, that, by means of the Divine truths of the Word that are in its spiritual sense, the New Church, which is meant by "the Holy Jerusalem" in Revelation, may be conjoined with heaven. For the Word is conjunction; but conjunction is effected only when man perceives the Word in a similar way as the angels perceive it. That "linen" signifies truth will be seen in the following article.
(Continuation: The First Commandment)
[3] "Thou shalt not make to thee other gods" includes not loving self and the world above all things; for that which one loves above all things is his god. There are two directly opposite loves, love of self and love to God, also love of the world and love of heaven. He who loves himself loves his own [proprium]; and as a man's own [proprium] is nothing but evil he also loves evil in its whole complex; and he who loves evil hates good, and thus hates God. He who loves himself above all things sinks his affections and thoughts in the body, and thus in his own [proprium], and from this he cannot be raised up by the Lord; and when one is sunk in the body and in his own [proprium] he is in corporeal ideas and in pleasures that pertain solely to the body, and thus in thick darkness as to higher things; while he who is raised up by the Lord is in light. He who is not in the light of heaven but in thick darkness, since he sees nothing of God, denies God and acknowledges as god either nature or some man, or some idol, and even aspires to be himself worshiped as a god. From this it follows that he who loves himself above all things worships other gods. The same is true, but in a less degree, of one who loves the world; for there cannot be so great a love of the world as of one's own [proprium]; therefore the world is loved because of one's own, and for the sake of one's own, because it is serviceable to it. The love of self means especially the love of domineering over others from the mere delight in ruling and for the sake of eminence, and not from the delight in uses and for the sake of the public good; while the love of the world means especially the love of possessing goods in the world from the mere delight in possession and for the sake of riches, and not from the delight in uses from these and for the sake of the good therefrom. These loves are both of them without limit, and rush on to infinity so far as opportunity is given.
950. "Induti lino mundo et splendido." - Quod significet per Divinum Verum seu Verbum ex sensu spirituali, constat ex significatione "lini", quod sit verum, et cum de Domino aut de Verbo quod sit Divinum Verum; hoc "mundum" dicitur ex eo quod genuinum sit, ac "splendidum" ex luce in caelo, quae lux est splendor, nam ex illa splendent omnia quae ibi sunt; Divinum Verum procedens a Domino est quod coram oculis angelorum apparet sicut lux, ex causa quia Divinum Verum illustrat intellectum illorum; et quod illustrat intellectum angelorum, hoc lucet coram oculis illorum: tale est Divinum Verum in caelo, ac tale est Verbum in sensu spirituali ejus; at Divinum Verum in terra est quale est Verbum in sensu litterae, in quo pauca genuina vera sunt, qualia in caelo, sed sunt apparentiae veri; naturalis homo non recipit alia: sed genuina vera, qualia sunt in caelo, latent usque recondita in apparentiis veri ibi, nam sunt quae in sensu spirituali Verbi. Ex his patet quod per quod "angeli exiverint e templo induti lino mundo et splendido", significetur quod manifestata sint mala et falsa quae devastarunt ecclesiam, per Divinum Verum seu Verbum ex sensu spirituali ejus.
[2] Quod sensus spiritualis Verbi nunc detectus sit, sunt plures causae. Una, quia ecclesiae in Christiano orbe falsificaverunt omnem sensum litterae Verbi, et hoc usque ad destructionem Divini Veri in caelo, per quod occlusum est caelum; quare ut caelum aperiatur, beneplacuit Domino sensum spiritualem Verbi revelare, in quo sensu est Divinum Verum quale est in caelo; per Verbum enim est conjunctio hominis cum Domino, et inde cum caelo: quando Verbum falsificatur usque addestructionem genuini veri ejus, tunc perit conjunctio, et separatur homo a caelo; ut itaque ille caelo iterum conjungatur, revelatum est Divinum Verum quale est in caelo, et hoc confirmatum est per sensum spiritualem Verbi, in quo est illud Divinum Verum. Altera causa fuit, quod falsa quae inundarunt ecclesiam, et devastarunt illam, non possent discuti nisi quam per genuinum verum in Verbo apertum; falsa et inde mala, ac mala et inde falsa, nullatenus possunt videri nisi ex ipsis veris: falsa enim etmala, quamdiu genuina vera non adsunt, apparent sicut in quadam luce; lux illis est ex confirmationibus per ratiocinia ex naturali homine, et per sensum litterae secundum apparentias coram illo homine explicatum et applicatum; at cum genuina vera adsunt, tunc primum apparent falsa et mala; lux enim caeli, quae est genuinis veris, dissipat lucem fatuam falsorum, et convertit in tenebras. Tertia causa est, ut Nova Ecclesia, quae per "Sanctam Hierosolymam" in Apocalypsi intelligitur, conjuncta caelo sit per Divina vera Verbi, quae in sensu ejus spirituali sunt; Verbum enim est conjunctio, at tunc est conjunctio cum homo Verbum similiter sicut angeli percipiunt.
Quod "linum" significet verum, in sequente articulo videbitur.
[3] (Continuatio.)
[DE PRAECEPTIS DECALOGI] DE PRIM0 PRAECEPTO [, "NON ALIOS DEOS TIBI FACIES"] .
"Non alios deos tibi facies", involvit etiam ne semet et mundum super omnia ament; nam quod supra omnia amatur, hoc deus est. Sunt bini amores sibi prorsus oppositi, amor sui et amor in Deum, tum amor mundi et amor caeli: qui amat semet, is amat suum proprium, ac proprium hominis non est nisi quam malum; inde etiam is amat malum in omni complexu; et qui amat malum, odio habet bonum, et inde etiam Deum. Qui amat semet super omnia, immergit affectiones et cogitationes suas corpori et sic proprio suo, a quo sic non potest a Domino elevari; et qui immersus est corpori et proprio suo, is in ideis corporeis est, et in voluptatibus quae mere corporis sunt, et inde in caligine quoad illa quae supra sunt; at qui elevatur a Domino, is in luce est; et qui non in luce caeli est, sed in caligine, is quia non videt aliquid Dei, negat Deum, et pro Deo agnoscit vel Naturam, vel aliquem hominem, vel aliquod idolum, et quoque affectat ut ipse sicut Deus colatur: inde nunc sequitur, quod qui semet super omnia amat, alios deos colat. Similiter qui mundum, sed in minori gradu; nam mundus non potest tantum amari quantum amatur proprium; quare mundus amatur ex proprio, ac propter proprium, quia ei inservit. Per amorem sui, intelligitur imprimis amor imperandi super alios ex solo jucundo dominii, et propter eminentiam, et non ex jucundo usuum, et propter bonum publicum: et per amorem mundi intelligitur imprimis amor possidendi bona in mundo ex solo jucundo possessionis et propter opulentiam, et non ex jucundo usuum ex illis, et propter bonum inde: uterque ille amor est absque limite; ruit, quantum datur copia, in infinitum.