226、⑵如果一个人后来远离这些属灵事物，并转向对立面，他就会亵渎圣物。对圣物的亵渎有很多种，我将在下面的章节论述它们；但这种是最糟糕的，因这种亵渎者死后不再是人。诚然，他们活着，但不断陷入荒诞的幻觉，觉得自己似乎正在高空飞翔；当他们停在那里时，便玩弄被他们视为真实事物的幻想。他们因不再是人，故不能称为“他或她”，只能称为“它”。事实上，当他们暴露于天堂之光下时，看上去就像骷髅，有的像骨头颜色的骷髅，有的像火一般的骷髅，有的则像烧焦的骷髅。世人不知道这种亵渎者死后会变成这个样，之所以不知道，是因为他们不明白其中的原因。真正的原因是，当一个人一开始承认神性事物，也相信它们，后来却倒退并否认它们时，他就把神圣之物与亵渎之物混在了一起；当这些东西被混在一起时，它们无法分离，除非整个都毁坏。要澄清这一点，需按以下顺序阐明这几个要点：①凡一个人出于自己的意愿所思、所言、所行的，无论是善是恶，都会成为他的一部分，并保持不变。②但主通过祂的圣治不断作出预见和安排，以便邪恶是单独的，良善也是单独的，因而两者可以分离。③然而，如果人一开始承认信之真理，并照之生活，后来却倒退并否认它们，那么这一点就无法实现。④然后，他将良善与邪恶完全混在一起，以致它们无法分离。⑤由于良善与邪恶必须在每个人里面分离，但在这样的人里面无法分离，所以他在真正为人本性的一切事物上都被毁了。
226. (2) If the person afterward turns away from these and goes off in the opposite direction, he profanes things that are sacred. Of profanation of the sacred there is more than one kind, which we will take up in the following discussion, but this kind is the gravest of all, for profaners of this kind become after death no longer human. They have life, indeed, but are continually caught up in delirious hallucinations. They seem to themselves to be flying on high, and as long as they remain in that state they play with their hallucinations, which they see as being real entities. Moreover, because they are no longer human, they are not called he or she, but it. Indeed, when presented to view in the light of heaven, they look like skeletons - some of them bone-colored, some fiery, and some charred.
People in the world do not know that this is what becomes of profaners of this kind after death, and they do not know because the reason is unknown. The fundamental reason is that when a person first acknowledges Divine matters and believes in them and afterward turns away from them and denies them, he then mixes sacred things with profane ones, and when these are mixed together, they cannot be separated without destroying the whole.
For these points to be more clearly perceived, however, they must be disclosed in their proper order, as follows:
1. Whatever a person is impelled by his will to think, speak and do, whether good or evil, becomes attached to him and remains.
2. By His Divine providence the Lord nevertheless continually provides and disposes that evil may be by itself and good by itself, and thus that the two may be separated.
3. This cannot happen, however, if a person first acknowledges truths of faith and lives according to them, and afterward turns away and denies them.
4. In that case he mixes good and evil together, to the point that they cannot be separated.
5. And because good and evil must be separated in everyone, and in such a one they cannot be separated, therefore he is destroyed in regard to everything truly human in him.
226. 2. If we then backslide from wisdom and love and go against them, we profane what is holy. There are many kinds of profanation of what is holy, which will be discussed in the next section. This is the worst of all, though, because people who commit this kind of profanation are no longer human after death. They are alive, but they are trapped in their wild hallucinations. They seem to themselves to be flying around in the air; and when they come to rest they toy with their illusions, which they see as real. Since they are no longer human, they are not referred to as "he" or "she," but as "it." In fact, when they are exposed to view in heaven's light they look like skeletons, sometimes the color of bones, sometimes fiery, and sometimes charred.
In this world, people do not know that this is what happens after death to individuals who commit profanation; and they do not know this because they do not understand the reason for it. The real reason is that if we acknowledge divine things and believe them at first and then backslide and deny them, we mix what is holy with what is profane; and once they have been mixed together, the only way they can be separated results in complete destruction.
To clarify this, several things need to be set forth, as follows. (a) Everything we willingly think and say and do becomes part of us and remains so, whether it is good or evil. (b) The Lord is constantly using his divine providence to make provisions and arrangements so that what is evil will be by itself and what is good by itself, and so that they can be kept separate. (c) However, this cannot be accomplished if we first acknowledge the truths that faith discloses and live by them and afterwards backslide and deny them. (d) Then we mingle what is good and what is evil so completely that they cannot be separated. (e) Since what is good and what is evil need to be separated in each one of us, and since they cannot be separated in people like this, everything truly human about them is destroyed.
226. II. IF A MAN AFTERWARDS DEPARTS FROM THESE AND TURNS ASIDE INTO WHAT IS CONTRARY, HE PROFANES HOLY THINGS. There are many kinds of profanation of what is holy, and these will be treated in the following section; but this kind is the most grievous of all; for profaners of this kind after death come to be no longer men. They indeed live, but are continually subject to fantastic hallucinations, appearing to themselves to be flying on high; and while they remain there they sport with fantasies which they see as real things; and as they are no longer men they are not called "he and she" but "it". Indeed, when they are presented to view in the light of heaven they appear like skeletons, some like skeletons of the colour of bone, some as fiery skeletons and some as scorched. It is not known in the world that profaners of this kind become like this after death; and it is not known for the reason that the cause is not known. The real cause is that when a man at first acknowledges Divine things and believes in them and afterwards departs from them and denies them, he mingles what is holy with what is profane; and when these have been mingled together they cannot be separated without destroying the whole. However, in order that these things may be more clearly perceived they shall be explained in the following order:
1. Whatever a man thinks, speaks and does from his will, whether good or evil, is appropriated to him, and remains.
2. But the Lord by His Divine Providence continually foresees and disposes, that evil may be by itself and good by itself and thus that they may be separated.
3. This cannot be done if man first acknowledges the truths of faith and lives according to them, and afterwards departs from them and denies them.
4. He then mingles good and evil to such a degree that they cannot be separated.
5. And since the good and the evil in every man must be separated, and in such a person they cannot be separated, therefore he is destroyed as to everything that is truly human.
226. (2) If a man afterwards recedes from these spiritual things and passes over into the opposite he profanes holy things. There are several kinds of profanation of what is holy (which will be treated of under the following head), but this kind is the most grievous of all; for profaners of this kind after death come to be no longer men; they live, indeed, but are continually in fantastic hallucinations, seeming to themselves to be flying on high; and while they remain there they sport with fantasies, which are seen by them as real things; and being no longer men, they are not called "he" and "she," but "it." And when they are presented to view in the light of heaven they look like skeletons, some like skeletons of the color of bone, some as fiery skeletons, and others as charred. It is unknown in the world that profaners of this kind become such after death; and it is unknown because the cause is unknown. The essential cause is that when a man has first acknowledged Divine things and believed in them, and afterwards withdraws from and denies them, he mixes together what is holy and what is profane; and when these have been mixed together they cannot be separated without destroying the whole. But to make this more clear to the perception it shall be unfolded in order, as follows:
(1) Whatever a man thinks, says, and does from his will, whether good or evil, is appropriated to him, and remains.
(2) But the Lord, by His Divine providence, continually foresees and arranges, in order that evil may be by itself and good by itself, and thus the two may be separated.
(3) But this cannot be done when at first man acknowledges the truths of faith and lives according to them, and afterwards withdraws from and denies them.
(4) He then mixes together good and evil to such an extent that they cannot be separated.
(5) And since the good and the evil must be separated in every human being, and cannot be separated in such a one, he is therefore destroyed in respect to every thing truly human.
226. II. Quod si homo postea ab illis recedit, et in contrarium abit, prophanet sancta. Sunt plura genera prophanationis sancti, de quibus in sequenti Articulo, sed hoc genus est omnium gravissimum, nam qui prophanatores ex hoc genere sunt, post mortem fiunt non homines magis; vivunt quidem, sed continue in deliriis phantasticis; apparent sibi volare in alto, et cum manent, ludunt cum phantasiis, quas vident sicut res reales; et quia non amplius homines sunt, non vocantur ille et illa, sed illud: imo cum sistuntur videndi in luce coeli, apparent sicut sceleta, quaedam ut sceleta ossei coloris, quaedam ut ignea, et quaedam ut adusta. Quod hujus generis prophani post mortem tales fiant, ignoratur in mundo, et ignoratur quia causa ignoratur; ipsa causa est, quod cum homo primum agnoscit Divina et credit illa, et postea recedit et negat illa, tunc commisceat sancta prophanis; quae quando commixta sunt, non possunt aliter separari, quam per destructionem totius. Sed ut haec clarius percipiantur, in suo ordine detegenda sunt, qui erit, 11. Quod quicquid homo ex voluntate cogitat, loquitur et agit, approprietur ei, et remaneat, tam bonum quam malum. 2. Sed quod Dominus per Divinam suam Providentiam continue prospiciat et disponat, ut malum sit per se, et bonum per se, et sic quod separari possint. 3. Sed quod hoc non fieri possit, si homo primum agnoscit vera fidei et vivit secundum illa, et postea recedit et negat illa. 4. Quod tunc commisceat bonum et malum, usque adeo ut separari nequeant. 5. Et quia bonum et malum apud unumquemvis hominem separanda sunt, et apud talem separari nequeunt, quod ideo quoad omne vere humanum destruatur.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: erit.