274、④对圣治的怀疑因以下事实而产生：人们至今不知道，人死后会作为一个人活着；这一点以前没有披露过。这种无知是因为，那些不避恶如罪的人里面深深隐藏着这种信念：人死后不会继续活着；因此无论说人死后作为一个人活着，还是说他在最后审判之日会复活，对他们来说都无所谓。他若偶然想到复活的信念，就会对自己说：“我不会比别人更糟糕，上天堂也好，下地狱也罢，反正都有很多人陪着我。”然而，凡拥有某种宗教信仰的人都有一种本能的意识，即：死后他们会作为人活着。只有那些迷恋自己聪明的人，才会持守人死后作为灵魂，而非人活着的观念。以下观察表明，凡拥有某种宗教信仰的人都有这种本能的意识，就是人死后会作为一个人活着：
ⅰ.临死的时候，谁会想到别的？
ⅱ.当哀悼死者时，凡致悼词的人不都把他们举升天堂，置于天使之列，说他们与天使交谈，分享天使的喜乐吗？有时这些发言人甚至还神化死者。
ⅲ.普通百姓谁不相信人若生活良善，死后会去天堂乐园，穿上白袍，享受永生？
ⅳ.有哪个神职人员不向临终之人说类似的话？并且只要当时他不思想最后的审判，他这样说的时候，也是这样相信的。
ⅴ.谁不相信自己那死去的小孩在天堂，相信死后他会见到他所爱的妻子？谁会认为他们是鬼魂，更不用说他们是围绕宇宙飞来飞去的灵魂或心智了？
ⅵ.当有人谈论从时间进入永生之人的命运或状态时，谁会反对呢？我曾对许多人说，这是这些或那些人的状态或命运，从未听见有人说，他们的命运尚未决定，要等到审判之时才见分晓。
ⅶ.当有人看见天使的绘画或雕塑时，他难道不承认天使就是这样的吗？这时谁会认为他们是没有身体的灵，或空气、云，就像某些学者所认为的那样？
ⅷ.天主教徒相信他们的圣徒是天上的人，剩下的都在其它某个地方；伊斯兰教徒对他们死者的想法也是这样；非洲人比其他人更相信这一点，其它许多民族也有类似信念。为何从圣言知道这一点的归正基督徒反而就不信了呢？
ⅸ.此外，这种普遍的本能意识使得一些人渴望流芳百世；因为他们将自己的这种本能转化为这样的愿望，并使自己在战争中成为英雄或变得勇敢。
ⅹ.我在灵界作过一次调查，即：是不是每个人都拥有这种本能意识；然后发现，它被植入所有人，然而没有植入属于他们外在思维的属世观念，而是植入属于他们内在思维的属灵观念。由此可见，我们不该因以下事实就对圣治产生怀疑，即：直到现在才首次披露，人死后作为一个人活着。只有人的感官部分或感官自我才会为了相信而想去看见并触摸。凡无法在更高层次上进行思考的人都在其生命状态方面陷入完全的黑暗。
274. 1(4) That a doubt may arise against Divine providence from the fact that Christians have previously not known that a person lives as a person after death, and that this has not been disclosed before: They have not known this for the reason that people who do not refrain from evils as sins have inwardly present in them a belief that a person does not continue to live after death, and therefore they regard it as a matter of no consequence whether they are told that a person goes on living after death or that he will rise again on the day of the Last Judgment. And if by chance a belief in the resurrection should strike one of them, he says to himself, "It will be no worse for me than for others. If I go to hell, I will have plenty of company. So, too, if I go to heaven."
But still, implanted in everyone who has any religion is the concept that people go on living after death. The idea that they survive as souls and not as human beings exists only in those infatuated with their own intelligence, and not in others.
That everyone who has any religion has implanted in him the concept that a person goes on living after death can be seen from the following observations:
1. Who thinks otherwise when he is dying?
[2] 2. When lamenting over the deceased, what eulogizer does not raise them up into heaven and portray them as being among the angels, conversing with them and experiencing their joy? And in addition to this the canonization of some.
[3] 3. Who among the general public does not believe that, if he has lived well, when he dies he will come into a heavenly paradise clothed in a white garment, and enjoy eternal life?
[4] 4. What clergyman is there who does not say this and other like things to someone about to die? And when he says it, he himself also believes it, provided he does not think at the same time of the Last Judgment.
[5] 5. Who does not believe that his little children are in heaven, and that after death he will see his married partner whom he had loved? Who thinks that they are ghosts, still less that they are souls or minds flitting about in the universe?
[6] 6. Who denies it when something is said about the lot and state of those who have passed from a temporal existence into eternal life? I have told many people that the state and lot of this or that person is such and such, and I have still not heard anyone say that their fate is not possible yet, but awaits a future time of judgment.
[7] 7. Who, when he sees paintings or sculptures of angels, does not acknowledge them to be as depicted? Who thinks then that angels are incorporeal spirits - puffs of air or bits of mist - as some of the learned do?
[8] 8. Roman Catholics believe their saints to be people in heaven, and all others to be people somewhere else. Muslims believe their deceased to be people. So do Africans, more than others, and likewise many other nations. Why do Protestant Christians not believe, who know it from the Word?
[9] 9. It is owing to this concept implanted in everyone that some people also aspire to the immortality of fame, for the concept is turned in that direction in some, and causes them to be heroes and courageous in war.
[10] 10. Inquiry has been made in the spiritual world as to whether all people have this concept implanted in them, and it was found to be implanted in all, in the spiritual idea they had of such things in their internal thought, but not in the natural idea they had of them in their external thought.
It can be seen from this that no doubt ought to arise against Divine providence from supposing that it has only now for the first time been disclosed that a person lives as a person after death.
It is only the sensual level in a person that wishes to see and touch what is to be believed. Whoever does not think above that is in the darkness of night as regards the state of his life.
Footnotes:
1. The numbering here skips from 265 to 274. The intervening numbers are not found, and from the context almost certainly were never written.
274. 4. Doubts about divine providence may be raised by observing the widespread ignorance of the fact that we go on living as individuals after death, and also observing that this has not been disclosed before. The reason for this ignorance is that deep inside everyone who does not abstain from evils as sins there is a secret belief that we do not go on living after death and that therefore it does not matter whether you say that we go right on living after death or that we are resurrected on the day of the Last Judgment. If some belief in resurrection does occur, people say to themselves, "I am no worse than anyone else. Whether I go to hell or to heaven, I will have plenty of company."
But everyone who has any religion at all has an instinctive realization that we do live as individuals after death. The belief that we live as souls and not as individuals is not held by any people except those who have been deluded by their own intelligence. The following observations show that everyone who has any religion at all has this instinctive realization that we live as individuals after death.
1. Everyone thinks this when dying.
[2] 2. All who deliver eulogies over the dear departed raise them into heaven and describe them as among the angels, talking with them and sharing their joy; sometimes these speakers even deify the dead.
[3] 3. The common people all believe that if they have lived well, then when they die they will enter a heavenly paradise and be clothed with white robes and enjoy eternal life.
[4] 4. Clergy all say something like this to the dying; and they believe it while they are saying it--unless they happen to be thinking about the Last Judgment.
[5] 5. All believe that their [deceased] children are in heaven and that after their own death they will see the [deceased] spouse whom they love. No one believes that these dear ones are ghosts or, even worse, that they are disembodied minds floating around the universe.
[6] 6. No one raises any objections when something is said about the lot and state of people who have crossed from time to eternal life. I have told any number of people that this was the lot and state of one individual or another and I have never heard anyone reply that their state was nothing at this point and would not be anything until the Last Judgment.
[7] 7. When people see paintings or statues of angels, they believe that this is what they look like. No one then thinks that angels are bodiless spirits or breezes or clouds the way some scholars describe them.
[8] 8. Catholics believe that their saints are real people in heaven and that other people are somewhere else as well. Muslims believe this about their deceased; Africans especially do so; and so do most peoples. How can it be different for Protestants who know this from the Word?
[9] 9. This universal instinctive realization leads some people to strive for deathless fame, so that they translate their instinct into a form that makes them powerful heroes in times of war.
[10] 10. I have asked around in the spiritual world whether everyone has this instinctive realization and have discovered that it is there in the spiritual concepts of everyone's inner thinking, but not in the more material concepts of everyone's outer thinking.
We can tell from this that we need have no doubt about the Lord's divine providence because of the thought that it is only now being disclosed that we live after death. That is only our sensory self talking, the self that wants to see and touch in order to believe. People who cannot think on a higher level than that are in total darkness about the actual state of their lives.
274. 14. A doubt may be raised against the Divine Providence from the fact that hitherto it has not been known that a man lives as a man after death, and that this has not been disclosed before. This has not been known before because in those who do not shun evils as sins there lies interiorly concealed a belief that man does not live after death; and therefore it is a matter of no moment to them whether it is said that man lives after death or whether it is said that he will rise again at the day of the Last Judgment. If there happens to occur to anyone a belief in the resurrection he says to himself, The case is no worse for me than for others; if I go to hell I shall have many to accompany me, and also if I go to heaven. Yet all who have any religion have a rational conception implanted in them that after death they live as men. The idea that they live as souls and not as men is held only by those who have been obsessed with their own intelligence, and by no others.
It may be evident from the following considerations that in anyone who has any religion there is implanted a rational conception that he lives after death as a man:
(1) Does anyone think otherwise when he is dying?
(2) What panegyrist when lamenting the dead does not exalt them to heaven, and place them among the angels as conversing with them and partaking of their joy? Consider also the deification of some men.
(3) Who among the common people does not believe that when he dies, if he has lived well, he will go to a heavenly paradise, be clothed in white raiment, and enjoy life everlasting?
(4) What priest is there who does not say these or similar things to one about to die? And when he says so he believes it, provided he is not thinking at the same time of the Last Judgment.
(5) Who does not believe that his little children are in heaven, and that after death he will see his wife, whom he has loved? Who thinks that they are ghosts, still less that they are souls or minds hovering about in the universe?
(6) Who objects when anything is said about the lot or state of those who have passed from time into the life eternal? I have said to many that such and such is the state or lot of various persons, and I have never heard anyone affirm that the lot of these has not yet been decided but will be at the time of the Judgment.
(7) When one sees angels in paintings or in sculpture does he not recognise them to be such? Who then thinks that they are spirits without a body, or air, or clouds, as certain of the learned do?
(8) Roman Catholics believe that their saints are men in heaven, and that the rest are somewhere else; Mohammedans believe the same of their dead; Africans especially, and many other races, have a similar belief. Why then do not the Reformed Christians believe this, when they know it from the Word?
(9) Moreover, it is from this conception implanted in everyone that some aspire to immortal fame; for it is directed by some to this aspiration and rouses in them heroism and bravery in war.
(10) Inquiry was made in the spiritual world whether this conception is implanted in all; and it was learned that it is so implanted - in the spiritual idea, however, belonging to their internal thought, but not in the natural idea belonging to their external thought.
Hence it may be evident that doubt ought not to be raised against the Divine Providence because it is thought that now for the first time it has been revealed that man lives as a man after death. It is only the sensual mind of man that desires to see and touch what he is to believe; and he whose thought is not elevated above this is in the darkness of night regarding the state of his life.
Footnotes:
1. This numbering follows the Original Edition.
274. (4) A doubt may arise in opposition to Divine providence from the fact, that it has not hitherto been known that man lives as a man after death; also that this has not been disclosed before. This has not been known before for the reason that in those who do not shun evils as sins there is concealed interiorly a belief that man does not live after death; and therefore it is a matter of no consequence to them whether it is said that man lives as a man after death or whether it is said that he is to rise again at the day of the last judgment; and if by any chance a belief in the resurrection occurs to him he says to himself, "It will be no worse for me than for others; if I go to hell I shall have plenty of company, and the same is true if I go to heaven." And yet in all that have any religion there is implanted a knowledge that after death they live as men; while the idea that they will then live as souls and not as men exists only with those that have been infatuated by their own intelligence, and with no others. That in every one that has any religion there is implanted a knowledge that after death he will live as a man can be seen from the following considerations:-
(1) Does any one when dying think otherwise?
[2] (2) What eulogist, when lamenting the dead, does not exalt them to heaven, and place them among angels as talking with them and enjoying their happiness? Some, moreover, are deified.
[3] (3) Who among the common people does not believe that when he dies, if he has lived well, he will go to a heavenly paradise, be clothed in white raiment, and enjoy eternal life?
[4] (4) What clergyman is there who does not say the same or like things to one about to die? And when he says it he also believes it, unless he is at the same time thinking about the last judgment.
[5] (5) Who does not believe that his little children are in heaven, and that after death he will see his wife whom he has loved? Who thinks that they are ghosts, still less that they are souls or minds flitting about the universe?
[6] (6) Who objects when anything is said about the lot or state of those who have passed from time into the eternal life? I have said to many that such is the state and lot of these and of those, and I have never heard any one say that they have not yet had their lot, but will have it at the time of the judgment.
[7] (7) When one sees angels painted or sculptured does he not recognize them to be such? Who thinks at such a time that they are spirits without bodies, or are air or clouds, as some of the learned do?
[8] (8) The papists believe that their saints are human beings in heaven, and that the rest are somewhere else; the Mohammedans believe the same of their dead; the Africans believe this more than others, and many other nations believe it;-why do not Reformed Christians who know it from the Word?
[9] (9) From this knowledge implanted in every one there are some that aspire to immortality of fame; for this knowledge is turned into such an aspiration with some, and makes them heroes or brave in war.
[10] (10) Inquiry was made in the spiritual world whether this knowledge is implanted in all, and it was found to be implanted in all, not however in the natural ideas belonging to their external thought, but in the spiritual ideas belonging to their internal thought. From all this it can be seen that no doubt in opposition to a Divine providence ought to arise from the fact that it is supposed to be now first disclosed that man lives as a man after death. It is only man's sensual part that wishes to see and to touch what it is to believe; and whoever does not think above that is in the darkness of night regarding the state of his life.
274. 1IV. Quod contra Divinam Providentiam dubium possit inferri ex eo, quod huc usque nesciverint, quod homo vivat homo post mortem; et hoc non prius detectum sit. Causa quod hoc nesciverint, est quia interius apud illos qui non fugiunt mala ut peccata, latet fides, quod homo post mortem non vivat, et ideo non alicujus momenti faciunt, sive dicatur quod post mortem vivat homo, sive dicatur quod resurrecturus sit die Ultimi judicii; et si forte incidit fides resurrectionis, dicit secum, non mihi fit pejus quam aliis; si ad infernum, sum in comitatu cum pluribus; si ad coelum, etiam. Sed usque omnibus, in quibus aliqua religio est, insita est cognitio, quod vivant homines post mortem; quod vivant animae, et non homines, est solum apud illos, quos propria intelligentia infatuavit, non apud alios. Quod cuivis, in quo aliqua religio est, insita sit cognitio quod vivat homo post mortem, constare potest ex his. 1. Quis cogitat aliter cum moritur. [2] 2. Quis panegyricus qui super mortuos lamentatur, non illos in coelum evehit, ponit inter angelos, loquentes cum illis, ac fruentes gaudio: praeter apotheoses aliquorum. [3] 3. Quis e vulgo non credit, quod cum moritur, si bene vixit, se in paradisum coelestem venturum esse, indutum veste alba, et fruiturum vita aeterna. [4] 4. Quis antistes est, qui non talia aut similia dicit morituro; et cum id dicit, etiam ipse credit, modo non simul cogitet de Ultimo judicio. [5] 5. Quis non credit infantes suos esse in coelo, ac se visurum esse suam conjugem, quam amaverat, post mortem; quis cogitat quod larvae sint, minus quod sint animae seu mentes volitantes in universo. 2[6] 6. Quis contradicit, cum aliquid dicitur de sorte et statu illorum 3qui e tempore in vitam aeternam transiverunt; dixi multis quod talis status et sors sit illis et illis, et non adhuc aliquem audivi dicentem, quod sors illorum adhuc nulla sit, sed futura tempore judicii. [7] 7. Quis cum videt angelos pictos et sculptos, non agnoscit illos tales esse; quis cogitat tunc quod sint spiritus absque corpore, aeres aut nubes, sicut quidam docti. [8] 8. Pontificii credunt sanctos suos esse homines in coelo, ac reliquos alibi; Mahumedani suos defunctos; Africani prae reliquis, similiter plures gentes; quid non Christiani reformati qui ex Verbo id sciunt. [9] 9. Ex cognitione illa insita cuivis, est quoque quod quidam aspirent ad immortalitatem famae, cognitio enim illa vertitur in tale apud quosdam, ac facit illos heroes et fortes in bello. [10] 10. Inquisitum est in mundo spirituali, num omnibus illa cognitio insita sit, et compertum est, quod omnibus in idea illorum spirituali quae est internae cogitationis, non ita in idea illorum naturali quae est externae cogitationis. Ex his constare potest, quod contra Divinam Domini Providentiam non aliquod dubium debeat inferri ex eo, quod putet nunc primum detectum esse quod homo vivat homo post mortem. Est solum sensuale hominis, quod vult videre et tangere quod credet; qui non cogitat supra illud, est in tenebris noctis de statu vitae suae.
Footnotes:
1 274 per errorem pro 266 ut videtur. Nn. 266-273 non inveniuntur, et paene certe ex contextu numquam scripti sunt.
2 Prima editio: universo,
3 Prima editio: illorum