463.对于这些事，我补充以下记事：
在灵界，我眺望海岸，看到一个壮观的港口。我过去一瞧，只见里面有大大小小的船只，载有各种货物。一些小男孩和小女孩正坐在船甲板上，将货物分发给想要的人。他们说：“我们正在等那些可爱的海龟。它们很快就会从海中浮上来。” 瞧，我看见大大小小的海龟，它们的背壳和鳞甲上还驼着幼龟，全都朝周边岛屿望去。父海龟有两个头，大的被壳覆盖，这壳如同其身体的外壳，这使它们看上去略带红色；而另一个小头是这类海龟通常有的那种，能缩进身体前部，它们还能将小头以看不见的方式插进大头。不过，我一直盯着那个大红头，发现这头长有一张仿佛人的脸。它们正和坐在甲板上的男孩女孩们聊天，还舔他们的手。而这些男孩女孩们则抚摸它们，给它们美味佳肴吃，以及贵重物品，如做衣服的丝绸、做桌子的柏木，装饰用的紫料，上色用的朱红染料等。
看到这些事物，我很想知道它们代表什么，因为我知道，出现在灵界中的一切事物都是对应，代表从天堂所流出的某种属灵事物。于是，天使从天上与我对话，说：“你自己清楚港口和船只，以及甲板上的男孩和女孩分别代表什么；只是你不知道这些海龟代表什么。”他们接着说：“海龟代表那里的神职人员，他们将信与仁及其善行完全分离，断言它们显然没有结合；但圣灵会为了圣子的功德、通过对父神的信而进入人里面，净化他的内层，直到他自己的意愿；他们将这意愿想象成一个椭圆形的平面。当圣灵的运作靠近这个平面时，它会沿着左边绕行它，根本就不触碰它。因此，人本性的内层或更高部分是为了神，外层或更低部分是为了人。所以，凡人所行的，无论善恶，都不会显现在神面前。善事不会显现，因为它是邀功的；恶事不会显现，因为它是邪恶的。若这些显现在神前面，此人就会因这二者而灭亡。既然如此，只要在世人面前小心谨慎，人就可以随心所欲地意愿、思想、谈论和行出任何事了。”
我询问他们是否还宣称人可以认为神并非全在和全知。天使从天上说：“他们在这方面也是自由的，因为对已经洁净，从而称义的人来说，神丝毫不看他的思想和意愿，他仍在心智的内在隐密处，或高层区域保留他在信的活动中所获得的信；并且若有必要，这信的活动能在人不知不觉的情况下回来。这些就是小头所代表的事，当与平信徒交谈时，他们就将小头缩进身体前部，插进大头。因为他们和平信徒说话时不用小头，而是用大头，大头前面带有一张仿佛人的脸。他们出于圣言与其谈论爱、仁、善行、十诫、悔改；从圣言引用论及这些主题的几乎所有经文。但与此同时，他们将小头插进大头中，他们由此从内心认为这些事都不是为了神、天堂和得救而做的，仅仅为了或公或私的利益。然而，由于他们出于圣言温文尔雅地谈论这些事，尤其谈论福音、圣灵作工、得救，所以他们在听众面前显得很英俊，智慧胜过全世界其他人。这就是为何你会看到坐在甲板上的男孩女孩将美食和贵重物品送给他们。
“因此，这些人就是你所看到的海龟所代表的人。在你们的世界，他们很难与其他人区分开来，除非凭以下事实：他们自认智慧超群并嘲笑他人，尤其嘲笑自己的同事，声称这些人不像他们那样有智慧，并蔑视他们。包括那些在信方面持类似观点，却不知道他们秘密的人。他们的衣服上带有一个小徽章，以此与其他人区别开来。”
与我交谈的天使说：“我不会告诉你他们在信的其它问题上所持的观点，如上帝的选民、自由意志、洗礼、圣餐等。因为这些都是他们不会公开的观点，但我们在天上知道。但由于他们在世时就是这种人，并且死后任何人都不许心口不一，所以他们只能出于其疯狂的思维说话，因而被视为疯子，于是便被逐出社群，最终被扔进无底坑，并变成肉体灵，看上去就像木乃伊。他们因在世时所设的障碍，已将一层硬皮置于其心智的内层之上。他们的地狱社群与马基雅维利主义者的地狱社群接壤，并且他们每当喜欢彼此并互称同仁时，就会互相造访。但他们对行为上的信具有某种宗教情感，而马基雅维利主义者则没有，由此产生的不和谐使得他们离开。”
目睹他们从社群被逐出，聚在一起准备被扔下去后，只见一艘七帆船在空中航行，船上的船长和水手身穿紫袍，帽子上饰有华丽的桂冠。他们大声叫喊：“看哪，我们在天上；我们是紫衣博士，最重要的是桂冠加身，因为我们是欧洲所有神职人员中最有智慧的人。”我想知道是怎么回事，被告知，它们是骄傲和被称为幻想的假想的形像，这幻想就源自那些之前看似海龟的人；他们因发疯而被逐出社群，故现在聚成一组站在同一个地方。这时，我想和他们谈谈，于是就靠近他们所站的那个地方。和他们打过招呼后，我说：“你们就是那些将人的内在与外在分开，还将圣灵在信之内的作工和圣灵与人在信之外的合作分开，从而将神与人分开之人吗？你们这样做，岂不是将仁本身及其行为从信那里除去了？就像很多其他神职博士所行的那样，并且还拿走信，以至于这信无法通过人在神面前显现。然而，请问你们是愿意通过理性与我谈论这个问题呢，还是愿意通过圣经来谈论？”他们说：“先通过理性谈谈吧。”
于是，我发言说：“人的内在与外在怎能分离呢？凭普遍感知，谁看不出，或不能看出，人内层的一切发出并延伸其外层，甚至直达最外层，以便它们能产生其结果，做出其行为？内在事物不是为外在事物的缘故而存在吗？以便内在事物能终止于外在事物，并继续存在于它们里面，从而拥有存在，如同柱子立于其基座之上。你们能明白，若不是有一个延伸，因而有一个结合，最外层的事物必像空中的肥皂泡那样崩塌和破裂。谁能否认，神在人里面的内在运作有无数，而人对此一无所知？知道它们又有何帮助呢？只要人知道最外层的事物，他以自己的思维和意愿而在这些事物中与神同在。
“我举例说明这一点：人知道他说话时的内在运作吗？如肺如何吸气，并将其充入肺泡、支气管和肺叶；他如何将气排到气管，在那里将它转变为声音；声音如何在喉咙的帮助下在声门中调节；然后舌头如何将它清晰地表达出来，嘴唇如何完成发音，从而使它变成言语。所有这些内在运作，人全然不知，它们岂不是为了最外层，也就是使人能说话而存在吗？若将这些内在运作中的任何一个环节拿走或分离出去，以致它不再与最外层相连续，此人岂不像一块木头那样无法说话了吗？
“再举一例：两只手形成人体末端。难道没有内层事物延伸到那里吗？它们从头经过脖子、然后到胸腔、肩胛骨、手臂和前臂；还有无数肌肉组织，无数运动纤维，无数神经和血管，众多骨关节及其韧带和隔膜。人对这些事物又了解多少呢？然而，他的手却靠它们的全部才能活动。假如这些内在部位在手腕这个区域偏向左边，而没有进入手，这手岂不会从前臂被切断，像被撕下来并失去生命的某种东西那样烂掉吗？事实上，你们愿意这样想也可以，这就像是此人被斩首后身体的情形。如果神性运作在抵达人的意愿和思维之前就停下来，而不是流入它们，那么人的意愿和思维的情形也完全一样。这些事都合乎理性。
“如果你们还愿意听，这些事同样与圣经相符。主岂不是说：
你们要常在我里面，我也常在你们里面。我是葡萄树，你们是枝子。常在我里面的，我也常在他里面，这人就多结果子。（约翰福音15:4，5）
果子岂不是主藉着人所做，并且人貌似凭自己所做的好行为吗？主还说：
祂站在门外叩门，若有开门的，祂要进到他那里去，主与他，他与主，一同坐席。（启示录3:20）
主不是赐金钱和才干给人，让他用来做买卖赚钱吗？祂岂不是照他的赢利赐给他永生吗（马太福音25:14-34；路加福音19:12-26）？还有：
祂不是照各人在祂的葡萄园里所做的工给各人工钱吗？（马太福音20:1-16）
这些只是几个例子而已。人当像树那样结果子，当照诫命而行，当爱神爱邻等等，圣言中与此相关的经文能填满好多页纸。不过，我知道，你们自己的聪明本质上与来自圣言的这些事物毫无共同之处。尽管你们引用它们，但你们的观念却败坏了它们。你们不得不如此，因为你们将关系到交流、因而结合的神的一切事物从人那里除去了。那么除了敬拜的一切事物外，还剩下什么呢？”
后来，我在天堂之光中看见他们，这光使每个人的真面目暴露无遗。这时，他们不再像之前那样看似乘船在空中航行，仿佛在天堂，也不再身穿紫袍、头戴桂冠，而是站在沙地上，衣衫褴褛，仿佛以渔网束腰；而他们的赤身则从网眼露出来。然后，他们被遣送到上述毗邻马基雅维利主义者的社群。
463. To this I will append the following account:
I looked out in the direction of the seashore in the spiritual world, and I saw there a magnificent harbor. I went over and inspected it; and lo, I saw there seagoing vessels, great and small, and in them all kinds of merchandise, with boys and girls sitting on the rowers' benches and handing it out to any who wanted it. Moreover they said, "We are waiting to see our beautiful turtles which will soon rise up for us out of the sea." And suddenly I saw turtles, great and small, on whose shells and carapaces sat baby turtles, which were looking about at the surrounding islands.
The parent turtles had two heads, a large one covered with a shell like the carapace of their bodies, which gave them a reddish glow; and a small one, like the usual one for turtles, which they would withdraw into the foreparts of their bodies and also insert invisibly into the larger head. I kept my eyes, however, on the large, reddish head, and I saw that it had a face like that of a human being, and that it would speak with the boys and girls on the rowers' benches and lick their hands. The boys and girls for their part would pet them then and give them food and treats to eat, and also valuable gifts, such as silk usable for garments, sandarac wood 1for tablets, purple for their ornamentation, and scarlet pigment as rouge.
[2] Seeing these things, I wished to know what they represented, as I knew that everything appearing in the world of spirits is a correspondent form and represents something spiritual descending from heaven.
Angels then spoke to me from heaven and said, "You yourself know what the harbor represents, and its vessels, and the boys and girls on the benches; but you do not know what the turtles represent."
So they said, "The turtles represent those members of the clergy there who divorce faith from charity and its good works totally, asserting to themselves that there is no conjunction whatever, but that the Holy Spirit enters into a person through faith in God the Father because of the merit of the Son, and purifies the person interiorly as far as to his native will. They make this will, then, into a kind of oval plane, and when the operation of the Holy Spirit approaches it, they say it goes around that plane on the left side and does not at all touch it. Thus the inner or higher part of a person's nature belongs to God, they say, while the outer or lower part belongs to the person, and thus nothing that a person does, whether good or evil, appears before God - not good because it is merit-seeking, and not evil because it is evil - since if these were to appear before God, they would both cause the person to perish.
"Moreover," they said, "because this is the case, a person is permitted to will, think, say and do whatever he pleases, provided he guards himself against the world."
[3] I asked whether they also declare that a person is permitted to think about God as being not omnipresent and not omniscient.
They said from heaven that this, too, is permitted them, because in the case of a person who has once been purified and thus justified, God does not look at anything pertaining to his thought or will, and yet in the inner recess or higher region of his mind or nature, he still retains the faith that he had previously received in its action upon him, and that the action can sometimes return without the person's knowing.
"This," the angels said, "is what the small head represents, which the turtles draw into the foreparts of their bodies and hide, and which they also insert in the large head when they speak with laymen. For they do not speak with them out of the small head, but out of the large one, which out front appears as though endowed with a human face. They speak with them from the Word about love, charity, good works, the Ten Commandments, and repentance, and they take from the Word almost everything that is found there on these subjects. But then they insert the small head into the large one, and this causes them to interpret within themselves that none of these things are to be done for God's sake, or for the sake of heaven and salvation, but only for the sake of the public good and personal good. Yet because they speak about these things from the Word, especially about the gospel, the operation of the Holy Spirit, and salvation, doing so agreeably and elegantly, therefore they appear to their listeners as beautiful human beings and wiser than any others in the entire world. That is why you saw the boys and girls sitting on the rowers' benches give them treats to eat and valuable gifts.
[4] "These, then, are the people you saw represented as turtles. In your world one can tell them apart from others to some small extent only by the fact that they believe themselves to be wiser than any others, and ridicule them, especially their colleagues, who they say are not as wise as themselves, and whom they scorn. They carry about with them a particular little seal on their clothing, to distinguish themselves from others."
[5] One of those speaking with me said, "I will not tell you their opinion regarding all the other tenets of faith, as for example, regarding election, free will, baptism, and Holy Supper, which are the kind of things they do not make public. But we in heaven know.
"However, because they are of such a character in the world, and because after death no one is permitted to speak otherwise than as he thinks, therefore - because they can speak then only in accord with the insanities of their thoughts - they are regarded as insane and expelled from one society after another, and at last are conveyed down into the bottomless pit and become carnal spirits having the appearance of mummies. For a callus was produced on the interiors of their minds, because in the world they had also interposed a wall.
"There is a hellish society of them bordering on a hellish society of Machiavellians, and they sometimes pass from the one into the other and call themselves comrades; but then they leave because of the difference between them, as they have among them some religion relating to faith in action, whereas among Machiavellians there is none."
[6] After I saw them expelled from one society after another and gathered together to be cast down, I saw a ship with seven sails flying in the air, and in it officers and sailors dressed in purple clothing, with magnificent laurel wreaths on their heads, and crying, "Look, we are now in heaven! We are professors robed in purple, and laureates greater than all others, because we are the foremost of the wise out of all the clergy in Europe."
I wondered what this was, and I was told that the figures were depictions of the conceit and the mental concepts termed fantasies emanating from the people who had appeared before as turtles, and who now, having been expelled from one society after another, appeared as insane and were gathered into a single group, standing together in one place.
At that I desired to speak with them, and I went over to the place where they were standing, and greeting them, said, "You are people who have divorced people's internals from their externals, and divorced the operation of the Holy Spirit as though in faith from its concomitant operation with a person as though apart from faith, thus divorcing God from man. Have you not by the same token removed not only charity and its works from faith, as many other learned of the clergy do, but also faith itself as regards its manifestation by a person in the sight of God?
"But if you please, do you wish me to speak to you on this subject in accord with reason, or in accord with the Holy Scripture?"
[7] They told me to speak first from reason, and so I spoke saying, "How can the internal and the external in a person be divorced? Who does not see, or cannot see, as a matter of common sense that a person's interiors all extend and are continued into the exteriors, and even into his outmosts, in order to produce their effects and accomplish their operations? Do the internals not exist for the sake of the externals, so as to terminate in them and subsist in them, and thus abide, much like a column upon its pedestal? Can you not see that if the continuity and thus conjunction did not exist, the outmost elements would disintegrate and drift away like bubbles in the air? Who can deny that there are millions of interior operations of God in people, of which a person knows nothing? And what help would it be for him to be aware of them, provided he is cognizant of the outmost ones, in which he, with his thought and will, act together with God?
[8] "But I will illustrate this with an example. Is a person aware of the inner operations of his speech, such as how the lungs draw in air and fill their alveoli, bronchia, and lobes with it? Or how they expel air into the trachea and there turn it into sound? Or how the sound is modified in the glottis with the aid of the larynx, and how the tongue then articulates it and the lips complete the articulation so that it becomes speech? All of these interior operations, of which the person knows nothing - do they not take place for the sake of the outmost effect, that the person be able to speak? Take away or divorce one of those internal processes from its continuity with the outmost effects - would a person be able to speak any more than a wooden post?
[9] "Take another example. A person's two hands are his terminal members. Do not the interior elements that extend into it come from the head through the neck, and then through the breast, shoulders, arms and forearms? And do these not involve countless muscular tissues, countless arrays of motor fibers, countless bundles of nerves and blood vessels, and a number of articulations of bones with their membranes and ligaments? Is a person at all aware of these? And yet his hands operate as a result of them. Suppose these inner processes took a wrong turn at the wrist and did not continue into the hands? Would the hands not fall off the forearms and decay like some inanimate object plucked away? In fact, if you are willing to believe it, it would be the same as with the body if the person were beheaded.
"It would be the altogether the same with a person's thought and will if the Divine operation should cease before reaching them and not flow into them.
"So much in accord with reason.
[10] "Now if you are willing to hear it, these arguments accord with the Holy Scripture as well. Does the Lord not say,
Abide in Me, and I in you... I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)
"Are not the fruits good works, which the Lord does through a person, and which a person does as though of himself?
"Does the Lord not also say that He stands at the door and knocks, and that if anyone opens the door, He will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Him (Revelation 3:20)?
"Does the Lord not give minas and talents, that a person may do business with them and make a profit, and that in the measure of the person's profit He gives eternal life (Matthew 25:14-30, Luke 19:13-26)? Moreover, that He rewards everyone in accordance with the person's labor in His vineyard (Matthew 20:1-17)?
"But these are just a few proofs. We could fill pages with citations from the Word to the effect that a person should be like a tree and produce fruits, that he should keep the commandments, love God and the neighbor, and more. But I know that it is not possible for your intellectual acumen to have any real common ground with passages from the Word. Even though you quote them, still your ideas pervert them. Nor can you do otherwise, because you take away from a person everything having to do with God as regards any communication and so conjunction. What remains then but only all the rituals of worship?"
[11] After that I saw these people in the light of heaven, which disclosed and exposed the character of each one, and they did not appear then as before, in a ship in the air, as though in heaven. Nor were there any purple-robed figures in it, or heads wreathed with laurel. I saw them instead in a sandy area, in ragged clothing, and girded about their loins with nets, like those used by fishermen, through which their nakedness was visible. And they were then conveyed down into the previously mentioned society bordering on the hellish society of Machiavellians.
Footnotes:
1. Literally, "thyine wood." See Revelation 18:12
463. To these things I will add this MEMORABLE OCCURRENCE. I had a distant view of a sea shore in the spiritual world, and there I saw a magnificent harbour. I approached and had a look at it, and ho! there were vessels great and small, and in them all kinds of merchandise, and upon the cross-beams were boys and girls distributing to those so wishing. And they said, 'We are waiting to see our beautiful turtles 1which are just going to rise up to us out of the sea.' And lo and behold, I saw large and small turtles upon whose shells and scales baby turtles were sitting, and these were looking at the surrounding islands. The father turtles had two heads, a large one covered over with shell like the shell of their body, whence they had a reddish glow, and the other a small one, such as turtles have, which was retractable into the foreparts of the body, and which they could also insert in some unseen way into the larger head. But I kept my eyes on the large reddish head, and saw that this had a face like a man, and was speaking with the boys and girls upon the cross-beams, and licking their hands. Whereupon the boys and girls were petting the turtles and giving them things to eat and dainties, and also things of value, such as silk for clothing, thyme wood for tablets, purple for their adornment, and scarlet to use as rouge.
[2] Having seen these things, I wanted to know what they were representing, because I knew that all the things that appear in the spiritual world are correspondences, and represent something spiritual flowing down out of heaven. Whereupon out of heaven [angels] were speaking with me and saying, 'You yourself are aware of what the harbour represents, also the vessels, and the boys and girls upon the cross-beams, but you do not know what the turtles represent.' And they said, 'The turtles represent those of the clergy there who entirely separate faith from charity and the good works thereof, affirming among themselves that plainly there is no conjunction, but that the Holy Spirit, by means of faith in God the Father for the sake of the Son's merit, enters in with a man and purifies his interiors even to the will of his proprium, of which they make as it were an oval plane. Also that when the operation of the Holy Spirit draws near to this plane it makes a detour around it on its left side and does not touch it at all; and thus that the interior or higher part of a man's nature is for God and the exterior or lower part is for the man, and that thus not a thing that the man does, neither good nor evil, appears before God. What is good does not appear because it is merit-seeking; nor what is evil because it is evil since if these should appear before God, the man would perish on both counts. This being so, a man is at liberty to will, think, speak and do whatever he pleases, provided he is careful before the world.'
[3] I asked whether they assert also that it is allowable to think of God as not being omnipresent and omniscient. [The angels] said out of heaven that 'they are at liberty in this respect also because, in the case of him who has once been purified and thus justified, God does not see anything of his thought and will, but that in the interior recess or higher region of the mind or nature he still retains the faith that he had acquired in the act thereof, and that that act can return when necessary without the man's being aware of it. These are the things that the small head represents, which they draw into the foreparts of the body and conceal, and also insert into the large head, when they are speaking with the laity. For they do not speak with them out of the small head but out of the large one, which appears in front as if provided with a human face, and they speak with them out of the Word, concerning love, charity and good works, the precepts of the Decalogue and repentance, quoting out of it almost all the passages the Word has on these subjects. But at the same time they insert the small head into the large one, and in consequence thereof they understand inwardly among themselves that all these things are not to be done for the sake of God, heaven and salvation, but only on behalf of public and private good. Because, however, they speak of these things out of the Word, especially concerning the Gospel, the operation of the Holy Spirit, and salvation, in a pleasing and elegant manner, they therefore appear before their hearers as handsome men wise beyond the rest in the whole wide world. This also is why you saw that dainties and things of value were given to them by the boys and girls sitting upon the cross-beams of the vessels.
[4] These therefore are they whom you have seen represented as turtles. In your world they are hardly recognised as different from others, except by this, that they suppose themselves to be wiser than others, and they laugh at others, especially at their colleagues whom they say are not wise like themselves, and whom they despise. They carry a little badge about with them on their clothing by which they mark their distinctness from them.'
[5] [The angel] speaking with me said, 'I shall not tell you what their opinion is on the other matters of faith, as on election, freedom of choice, Baptism, the Holy Supper; for these are such as they do not publish, but we in heaven know. But because they are such in the world, and after death no one is allowed to speak otherwise than he thinks, therefore, as they cannot then speak otherwise than out of their insane thoughts, they are reckoned as insane and cast out of the societies, and at length are sent down into the pit of the deep and become corporeal spirits looking like mummies; for they have put a hardness on the interiors of their minds because in the world also they have interposed a barrier. There is an infernal society of them bordering on the infernal society of the Machiavellians, and they enter from one to the other whenever they like and call each other comrades, but, because of the disagreement arising from the fact that with them there has been something religious concerning faith in act, but not with the Machiavellians, they depart.'
[6] Afterwards I saw them cast out of the societies, and gathered together to be cast down. A ship was seen flying in the air with seven sails, and on board were officers and sailors clothed in purple, having sumptuous wreaths upon their caps, calling out, 'See, we are in heaven, we are purple-robed doctors and are laurel-crowned above all because we are the chief wise ones out of all the clergy in Europe.' I wondered what this was, and it was told me that they were images of the pride and the mental thoughts that are called phantasies derived from those who had been seen before as turtles; and now they had been cast out of the societies as insane, and were gathered into a single group standing together in one place. Whereupon I was desirous of speaking with them, and I approached the place where they were standing. Having greeted them, I said, 'Is it you who have separated men's internals from their externals, and the operation of the Holy Spirit in faith from its co-operation with man as being outside of faith, and so have separated God from man? Have you not thus removed not only charity itself and its works from faith, as have many other clerical doctors, but also faith itself as to its manifestation by a man before God. I ask you, however, whether it is your wish that I speak with you concerning this matter from reason, or from Sacred Scripture?' They said, 'Speak first from reason.'
[7] And I spoke, saying, 'How can the internal and the external with a man be separated? Who does not see from common perception, or is not able to see, that all a man's interiors go on through and are continued into the exteriors and even into the outermosts, that they may produce their effects and work their works. Do not the internal things exist for the sake of the external, that they may terminate in them and continue in existence in them, and so have existence, scarcely otherwise than as a column does upon its own pedestal? You can see that if there were not a continuation and thus a conjunction, the outermost things would be dissolved and burst as bubbles in the air. Who can deny that the interior operations of God with a man are myriads of myriads, concerning which the man knows nothing? And what benefit would it be to know them, if only he may know the outermost things, in which with his own thought and will he is together with God?
[8] And this shall be illustrated by an example. Does a man know the interior operations of his speech, as how the lung draws in the air, and this fills the vesicles, the bronchia and the lobes; how it emits this air into the trachea and there turns it into sound; how that sound is modified in the glottis with the aid of the larynx; and how the tongue then articulates it, and the lips complete the articulation that it may become speech? All these interior operations, of which the man knows nothing, are they not for the sake of the outermost, that the man may be able to speak? Remove or separate one of these internal things from its continuity with the outermost things: would the man be able to speak any more than a stock?
[9] Take another example. The two hands are a man's ultimates. Are there not interior things that are continued thither? They are from the head through the neck, then by means of the breast, the shoulders, the arms and the forearms; and there are the innumerable muscular structures, the innumerable sets of motor fibres, the innumerable bundles of nerves and blood-vessels, and the many joints of the bones with the membranes and ligaments thereof. Does the man know anything of these, while yet his hands are being operated as a result of all of them? Suppose that those interior things should be deflected to the left in the region of the wrist and did not enter it, would not the hand be cut off from the forearm and decay like something dismembered and lifeless? Indeed, if you are willing to believe it, it would be as with the body if the man were beheaded. It would be entirely similar with a man's will and understanding if the Divine Operation should cease before reaching them and not inflow into them. These things are in accordance with reason.
[10] Now, if you are willing to hear, the same things are also in accordance with Sacred Scripture. Does not the Lord say:
Abide in Me, and I in you. I am the Vine, and you are the branches; he that abides in Me, and I in him, shall bear much fruit; for without Me you cannot do anything. John 15:4-5.
Are not the fruits the good works that the Lord does by means of the man, and that the man does as of himself? Does not the Lord also say:
That He stands at the door and knocks, and that to him who opens He will enter in, and will sup with him, and he with Him. Revelation 3:20.
Does not the Lord:
Give the pounds and talents, that man may trade with them, and get gain, and that as he gains, He will give eternal life. Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:13-26.
Also:
That He gives wages to each one in accordance with his labour so His vineyard. Matthew 20:1-16.
These, however, are but a few passages. Pages can be filled from the Word concerning this, that a man should be fruitful of works like a tree, should do the commandments, should love God and the neighbour, and more. I know, however, that your self-intelligence is not able to have anything in common with the things that are from the Word, such as it is in itself, and that although you quote them, yet your ideas pervert them; also, that you cannot do otherwise because you remove everything of God from man as regards communication and consequent conjunction. What is left then but to remove also all things of worship?'
[11] Afterwards those [clergy] were seen by me in the light of heaven, which uncovers and makes manifest what each one is. Then they were seen, not as before in a ship in the air as if in heaven, nor robed in purple there and laurel-crowned; but in a sandy place, and in tattered garments, and their loins girded with as it were fishing-nets through which their nakedness was visible; and then they were sent down into the society that bordered on the Machiavellians, of which above.
Footnotes:
1. The Original has 'Testudines, (Skillpadde).' 'Skillpadde' is old Swedish for turtle or tortoise.
463. To this I will add this Relation. I looked forth to the seacoast in the spiritual world, and saw there a magnificent dock. I drew near, and looked at it; and, behold, there were vessels there great and small, and merchandise in them of every kind; and upon the decks were boys and girls distributing it to those that wished. And they said, "We are waiting to see our beautiful tortoises, which now and then rise up to us out of the sea." And, behold, I saw tortoises great and small, upon whose shells and scales young tortoises were sitting, which were looking at the islands around. The father tortoises had two heads, the one large, covered over with a shell similar to the shell of their body, whence they had a reddish glow; and the other small, such as tortoises have, which they drew back into the front parts of the body, and also to insert in an unobserved manner in the larger head. But I kept my eyes on the great reddish head; and I saw that this had a face like a man, and spoke with the boys and girls upon the decks, and licked their hands. And the boys and girls then stroked them, and gave them eatables and dainties, and also costly things, as pure silk for garments, thyine wood for tablets, purple for decorations, and scarlet for paints.
[2] Seeing these things, I desired to know what they represented; as I knew that all the things that appear in the world of spirits are correspondences, and represent something spiritual coming down from heaven. And they then spoke with me out of heaven, and said, "You yourself know what the dock represents, also what the ships, and the boys and the girls upon the decks; but you do not know what the tortoises represent." And they said, "The tortoises represent those of the clergy there, who altogether separate faith from charity and its good works, affirming in themselves that there is plainly no conjunction between them; but that the Holy Spirit, through faith in God the Father for the sake of the Son's merit, enters into a man, and purifies his interiors even to his own will, out of which they make as it were an oval plane; and that when the operation of the Holy Spirit approaches this plane, it bends itself around it on the left side, and does not at all touch it: and thus that the interior or higher part of a man's nature is for God, and that the exterior or lower is for man; and that thus nothing that the man does, neither good nor evil, appears before God: not the good, because this is meritorious; and not the evil, because this is evil; since, if these appeared before God, the man would perish from both; and since it is so, that man is permitted to will, think, speak, and do whatever he pleases, provided he is careful before the world."
[3] I asked whether they also assert that it is permitted to think of God, that He is not omnipresent and omniscient? They said from heaven, that "this also is permitted them; because God, in him who has once been purified and so justified, does not look at anything of his thought and will; and that he still retains in the interior bosom or higher region of the mind or nature the faith which he had received in its first operation; and that that operation may sometimes return, when the man does not know it. These are the things which the small head represents, which they draw into the fore parts of the body, and conceal, and also insert in the great head, when they speak with the laity: for they do not speak with them from the small head, but from the large one, which appears in front as furnished with a human face. And they speak with them from the Word concerning love, charity, good works, the precepts of the Decalogue, repentance, and they quote from the Word almost all the things that are there on these subjects. But they then insert the small head into the large one, from which they understand inwardly in themselves, that all those things are not to be done for the sake of God, of heaven, and of salvation; but only on account of the public and private good. But because they speak concerning these things from the Word, especially concerning the Gospel, the operation of the Holy Spirit, and salvation, agreeably and elegantly, they therefore appear before their hearers as handsome men, and as wise above all others in the whole world. For which reason also you saw that rich and precious things were given to them by the boys and girls that sat upon the decks of the vessels.
[4] "It is these, therefore, whom you saw represented as tortoises. In your world they are little distinguished from others, only by this, that they believe themselves to be wiser than all, and laugh at others, especially at their companions who they say are not wise as themselves, and whom they despise. They carry a kind of small seal with them on their garments, by which they are known to one another."
[5] He that spoke with me said, "I shall not tell you what they think concerning other matters of faith; as election, free agency, Baptism, the Holy Supper; which are such things as they do not divulge, but we in heaven know. But because they are such in the world, and after death it is not permitted anyone to speak otherwise than he thinks, therefore because they cannot then do otherwise than speak from the insane things of their thoughts, they are reputed as insane, and are cast out of the societies, and are at length let down into the pit of the abyss, and become corporeal spirits, and appear like mummies: for a callousness is induced over the interiors of their minds, because in the world also they had interposed a barrier. There is an infernal society of them on the confines of the infernal society from the Machiavellists, and they sometimes enter from the one into the other, and call themselves companions; but they go away because there is a diversity, on this account, that there was with them something religious concerning faith in act, but none with the Machiavellists."
[6] Afterwards I saw them cast out of the societies, and gathered together to be cast down; there was seen a vessel in the air flying with seven sails, and therein officers and sailors clothed in a purple dress, having magnificent laurels upon their hats, crying, "Lo, we are in heaven; we are the purple-robed doctors, and crowned with laurel above all, because we are the chief of the wise from all the clergy in Europe." I wondered what this was; and it was said to me that they were images of the pride, and the ideal thoughts which are called fantasies, from those who were before seen as tortoises, and now as the insane ones cast out of the societies, and gathered together into one, and they stood together in one place. And I then desired to speak with them; and I approached the place where they were standing, and saluted them, and said, "Are you they who have separated men's internals from their externals, and the operation of the Holy Spirit as in faith from its cooperation with man outside of faith, and so have separated God from man? Have you not thus removed not only charity itself and its works, from faith, like many other doctors from the clergy, but also faith itself as to its manifestation before God, from man? But, I pray, do you wish that I should speak with you on this matter from reason, or from the Sacred Scripture?" They said, "Speak first from reason."
[7] And I spoke, saying, "How can the internal and the external with a man be separated? Who does not see, or cannot see, from common perception, that all of a man's interiors proceed and are continued into his exteriors and even into the outermosts, that they may produce their effects and do their works? Are not the internals for the sake of the externals, that they may terminate in them, and subsist in them, and so exist, scarcely otherwise than as a column does upon its pedestal? You can see that if there were not continuation, and so conjunction, the outermosts would be dissolved, and would disperse like bubbles in the air. Who can deny that the interior operations of God with men are myriads of myriads, of which man knows nothing. And what use is it to know them, provided he knows the outermosts, in which he is together with God in his thought and will.
[8] But this shall be illustrated by an example. Does a man know the interior operations of his speech? as how the lungs draw in the air, and fill the vesicles, the bronchia, and the lobes with it? how it emits this air into the trachea, and there turns it into sound? how that sound is modified in the glottis by the help of the larynx? and how the tongue then articulates it, and the lips complete the articulation, so that it becomes speech? All these interior operations, of which the man knows nothing, are they not for the sake of the outermost, that man may be able to speak? Remove or separate one of those internal things from its continuous connection with the outermosts, could the man speak any more than a stock?
[9] "Take another example. The two hands are the ultimates of man. Are there not interiors, which are continued thither? They are from the head through the neck, then through the breast, the shoulders, the arms, and the forearms; and there are the innumerable muscular textures, the numberless orders of the moving fibers, the innumerable bundles of the nerves and blood vessels, and the many connections of the bones with their membranes and ligaments. Does man know anything concerning these? and yet his hands are operated from all of them. Suppose that those interiors around the elbow were turned to the left, and did not enter the hand; would not the hand from the elbow pine away, and go to decay like something torn off without life? Indeed, if you are willing to believe it, it would be as with the body, if the man were beheaded. It would be altogether similar with the will and thought of man, if the Divine operation should cease before it reaches them, and not flow into them. These things are according to reason.
[10] "Now if you are willing to hear it, these same things are also according to the Sacred Scripture. Does not the Lord say:
Abide in me, and I in you; I am the Vine, and ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit; for without Me ye cannot do anything, (John 15:4-5)?
Is not the fruit the good works which the Lord does through the man, and which the man does as of himself? Does not the Lord also say that:
He stands at the door and knocks; and that to him who opens He will enter in, and will sup with him, and he with Him, (Revelation 3:20)?
Does not the Lord:
Give the pounds and the talents, that man may trade with them, and get gain; and as he gains, give him eternal life, (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:13-26)?
Also that:
He gives reward to everyone according to his labor in His vineyard, (Matthew 20:1-17).
These are but a few passages. Pages might be filled from the Word concerning this, that man ought to produce fruit as a tree; he should do the commandments, love God and the neighbor, and other like things. But I know that your own intelligence can hold no such principle, as it really is, in common with the Word, which although you quote, still your ideas pervert it. And you cannot do otherwise, because you remove all the things of God away from man as regards communication and thence conjunction. What then remains, except also all the things of worship?"
[11] They were afterwards seen by me in the light of heaven, which discloses and makes manifest what the quality of each one is; and then they were not seen as before in a vessel in the air as it were in heaven, nor in purple garments, nor with heads crowned with laurel; but in a sandy place, and in garments of rags, and girded with fishing nets as it were around the loins; through which their nakedness appeared; and they were then sent down into the society on the confines next the Machiavellists, spoken of above.
463. His adjiciam hoc MEMORABILE: -
Prospexi ad oram maritimam in mundo spirituali, et vidi ibi magnificum Navale Accessi et introspexi, et ecce ibi navigia magna et parva, et in illis merces omnis generis, et super transtris pueri et puellae distribuentes volentibus.
Et dixerunt, "Exspectamus videre pulchras nostras Testudines (skoldpadda), quae jamjam e mari ad nos exsurgent."
Et ecce vidi Testudines magnas et parvas, super quarum conchis et squamis sedebant Testudines infantes, quae spectabant ad insulas circum. Testudines patres habebant bina capita, unum magnum, circumductum concha simili conchae corporis illarum, unde rutilabant; et alterum parvum, quale est testudinibus, quod retrahebant in anteriora corporis, et quoque insertabant modo inconspicuo capiti majori.
Sed tenebam oculos in magno capite rutilo, et vidi quod hoc haberet faciem sicut homo, et loqueretur cum pueris et puellis super transtris, et lamberet manus eorum; et tunc pueri et puellae palpabant illos, et dabant illis edulia et opipara, et quoque pretiosa, ut holosericum ad vestes, lignum thyinum ad tabulas, purpuram ad decorationes, et coccinum ad infucationes.
His visis, desiderabam scire quid illa repraesentabant, quia novi quod omnia quae in Mundo spirituum apparent, sint correspondentiae, et repraesentant aliquod spirituale delabens e Caelo.
Et tunc loquebantur mecum e Caelo, et dicebant, "Nosti ipse quid repraesentat navale, tum quid navigia, et quid pueri et puellae super transtris, sed non scis quid Testudines." Et dixerunt, "Testudines repraesentant illos e Clero ibi, qui prorsus separant fidem a charitate et ejus bonis operibus, affirmantes apud se quod plane non sit aliqua conjunctio, sed quod Spiritus Sanctus per fidem in Deum Patrem propter meritum Filii, intret apud hominem, ac purificet interiora ejus usque ad propriam voluntatem ejus, ex qua faciunt sicut planum ovale; et quod cum operatio Spiritus Sancti ad illud planum appropinquat, a parte ejus sinistra circum id deflectat se, et prorsus illud non tangat: et quod ita pars interior seu superior ingenii hominis sit pro Deo, et quod pars exterior seu inferior sit pro homine; et quod sic non appareat coram Deo aliquid quod homo facit, neque bonum neque malum; non bonum quia hoc est meritorium, et non malum quia hoc est malum; quoniam si illa apparerent coram Deo homo ex utroque periret: et quia ita est, quod liceat homini velle, cogitare, loqui, et facere quicquid lubet, modo caveat sibi pro mundo.
Quaesivi num etiam asserant, quod liceat cogitare de Deo quod non omnipraesens et omnisciens sit.
Dixerunt e Caelo, quod (hoc) "Quoque illis liceat, quia Deus apud illum, qui semel purificatus et sic justificatus est, non videt ad aliquid cogitationis et voluntatis ejus, et quod usque retineat in sinu interiori aut regione superiore mentis seu ingenii fidem quam in Actu ejus acceperat, et quod ille Actus quandoque possit redire, homine nesciente. Haec sunt quae repraesentat caput parvum, quod in anteriora corporis intrahunt, et occultant, et quoque insertant capiti magno, dum loquuntur cum Laicis; nam ex parvo capite non loquuntur cum illis, sed ex magno, quod antrorsum apparet sicut facie humana praeditum; et loquuntur cum illis ex Verbo, de amore, de charitate, de bonis operibus de praeceptis Decalogi. de paenitentia, et ex Verbo desumunt paene omnia quae ibi sunt de illis: sed tunc insertant caput parvum in magnum, ex quo intus apud se intelligunt, quod omnia illa non facienda sint propter Deum, Caelum, et Salutem, sed modo propter bonum publicum et privatum: verum quia loquuntur de illis ex Verbo, imprimis de Evangelio. Operatione Spiritus Sancti et Salvatione, suaviter et eleganter, ideo apparent coram auditoribus sicut homines pulchri, et prae reliquis in universo terrarum orbe sapientes; quare etiam vidisti, quod data illis essent a pueris et puellis sedentibus super transtris navigiorum opipara et pretiosa. Hi ergo sunt, quos repraesentatos vidisti ut Testudines. In mundo tuo parvum dignoscuntur ab aliis; solum per id, quod credant se omnibus sapientiores esse, ac rideant alios, imprimis socios quos dicunt non sapientes esse sicut illi, quos aspernantur; sigillum quoddam secum in Veste ferunt, ex quo se faciunt a illis internosci."
Dixit loquens cum me, "Non dicam tibi quid sentiunt de caeteris rebus fidei, ut quid de Electione, de Libero Arbitrio, de Baptismo, de Sacra Caena, quae sunt talia quae non evulgant, sed nos in Caelo scimus. Verum quia tales sunt in mundo, et post mortem non licet alicui loqui aliter quam cogitat, ideo quia tunc non possunt aliter quam loqui ex insaniis cogitationum suarum, reputantur ut insani, ac ejiciuntur e societatibus, et tandem demittuntur in puteum abyssi, et fiunt spiritus corporei, et apparent sicut mumia; callus enim inductus est interioribus mentis eorum, quia in mundo etiam interposuerunt sepem. Societas infernalis ex illis est in confinio ad societatem infernalem ex Machiavellistis, ac intrant quandoque ab una in alteram, et vocant se sodales; sed exeunt quia diversitas est, ex eo, quod aliquod religiosum de fide Actu apud illos fuerit, sed non aliquod apud Machiavellistas."
Postquam vidi illos ejectos ex societatibus, et collectos ut dejicerentur; visum est navigium in aere cum septem velis volans, et inibi naucleros et nautas indutos veste purpurea, habentes super pileis magnificas laurus, clamantes, "En nos in Caelo; sumus doctores purpurati, et prae omnibus laureati, quia sumus Capita sapientum ex omni Clero in Europa. Miratus sum quid hoc: et dictum est mihi, quod essent imagines fastus, ac cogitationes ideales, quae vocantur phantasiae, ex illis qui prius Visi sunt ut Testudines, et nunc ut insani ejecti e societatibus, ac in unum collecti, ac starent simul in uno loco.
Et tunc desiderabam loqui cum illis, et accessi ad locum ubi stabant, ac salutabam illos, et dicebam, "Estis vos qui separavistis Interna hominum ab Externis illorum, ac operationem Spiritus Sancti sicut in fide a cooperatione Ejus cum homine sicut extra fidem, et sic separavistis Deum ab homine. Annon vos ita non modo removistis ipsam charitatem et ejus opera a fide, sicut multi alii doctores e Clero, sed etiam ipsam fidem quoad manifestationem ejus coram Deo ab homine. Sed quaeso, num velitis ut de illa re loquar vobiscum ex ratione, vel num ex Scriptura Sacra."
Dixerunt, "Loquere primum ex ratione."
Et locutus sum, dicens, "Quomodo potest Internum et Externum apud hominem separari. Quis non ex communi perceptione videt, aut videre potest, quod omnia Interiora hominis pergant et continuentur in Exteriora et usque in Extrema ejus, ut efficiant effectus suos, ac operentur opera sua. Suntne Interna propter Externa, ut desinant in illa, et subsistant in illis, et sic existant, vix aliter quam sicut columna super stylobata sua; potestis videre, quod si non continuatio foret, et sic conjunctio, Extrema dissolverentur, ac diffluerent sicut bullae in aere. Quis negare potest, quin interiores operationes Dei apud homines sint myriades myriadum, de quibus homo nihil scit; et quid juvat illa scire, modo sciat Extrema, in quibus cum sua cogitatione et voluntate cum Deo simul est. Sed hoc illustrabitur per exemplum. Num scit homo interiores operationes loquelae suae, ut quomodo pulmo attrahit aerem, et illo implet vesiculas, bronchias et lobos; quomodo illum aerem omittit in tracheam, et ibi vertit illum in sonum; quomodo sonus ille in glottide ope laryngis modificatur, et quomodo lingua dein articulat illum, et labia articulationem complent, ut fiat loquela. Nonne omnes illae interiores operationes, de quibus homo nihil scit, sunt propter Extremum, ut homo possit loqui. Remove aut separa unum ex Internis illis a suo continuo cum Extremis, num homo potuisset loqui plus quam stipes. Sit adhuc exemplum. Binae Manus sunt ultima hominis. Numne Interiora, quae illuc continuantur, sunt a capite per cervicem, tum per pectus, scapulas, brachia, et ulnas: suntque innumeri musculares textus, innumerae phalanges fibrarum motricium, in numeri manipuli nervorum et vasorum sanguineorum, ac plures ginglymi ossium cum suis membranis et ligamentis; num homo de illis aliquid scit, et tamen operantur manus ejus ex omnibus illis. Suppone quod Interiora illa circa poplitem manus se sinistrorsum deflecterent, et non intrarent; annon manus ab ulna decideret, ac sicut aliquod avulsum inanimatum putresceret; Imo, si velitis credere, foret sicut cum corpore, si homo decollaretur. Prorsus simile foret cum voluntate et cogitatione hominis, si Divina Operatio desineret ante illas, et non influeret in illas; haec sunt secundum rationem.
"Nunc si vultis audire, sunt eadem etiam secundum Scripturam Sacram. Annon Dominus dicit,
'Manete in Me et Ego in vobis: Ego sum Vitis et vos palmites; qui manet in Me et Ego in illo, hic fert fructum multum, quia sine Me non potestis facere quicquam,' (Johannes 15:4-5).
Numne fructus sunt bona opera, quae Dominus facit per hominem, et homo illa sicut a se. Annon Dominus etiam dicit, quod Stet ad ostium et pulset, et quod ad illum qui aperit, ingrediatur, ac caenet cum illo, et ille cum Ipso, (Apocalypsis 3:20).
Annon Dominus dat minas et talenta, ut homo negotietur cum illis et lucretur, et quod sicut lucratur, det vitam aeterna, (Matthaeus 25:14-30; 1Luca 19:13-26). Tum (annon Dominus dicit) quod Mercedem det cuivis secundum laborem in Vinea Ipsius, (Apocalypsis 20:1-17 [Matthaeus 20:1-17]).
Sed haec pauca sunt; possunt membranae impleri ex Verbo, de eo, quod homo operaturus sit fructus sicut arbor, facturus sit praecepta, amaturus Deum et proximum, et plura. Sed scio, quod propria intelligentia vestra cum illis quae ex Verbo sunt, non possit tale commune habere, quale est in se, quae tametsi loquimini, usque ideae Vestrae pervertunt illa et non potestis aliter, quia removetis omnia Dei ab homine quoad communicationem et inde conjunctionem: quid tunc superest nisi etiam omnia cultus." Postea illi mihi visi sunt in luce Caeli, quae detegit et manifestat qualis quisque est: et tunc non visi sunt sicut prius in navigio in aere quasi in Caelo, nec inibi purpurati quoad vestes, ac laureati quoad caput: sed in loco arenoso, inque vestibus ex frustis, ac cincti retibus quasi piscatoriis circum lumbos, trans quae nuditates eorum apparebant; et tunc demissi sunt in societatem quae in confinio ad Machiavellistas erat, de qua supra.
Footnotes:
1. 30 pro "34"