276、但当对邻之爱变为自我之爱，并且这爱逐渐增长时，人性的爱就变成动物的爱，人从一个人变成一个动物；唯一区别在于，他能思想他的肉体所感觉到的东西，并理性区分事物，能接受教导，成为一个文明道德的人，最终成为一个属灵人。因为如前所述（275节），人拥有一个属灵性质；这种性质把他与低级动物区分开来，因为他凭此能知道何为文明层面的邪恶和良善，也能知道何为道德层面的邪恶和良善，甚至若愿意，还能知道何为属灵层面的邪恶和良善。当对邻之爱变为自我之爱时，人就无法再生在知识和聪明之光中，而是生在无知的黑暗里，因为他生在被称为肉体-感官层的生命最低层；他由此能通过教导被引入属世心智的内层，并且始终伴随着属灵层。后面我们会看到，为何人生在被称为肉体-感官层的生命最低层，从而陷入无知的黑暗。
谁都能看出，对邻之爱和自我之爱是对立的爱。因为对邻之爱想向每个人行善，而自我之爱想让每个人唯独向它行善。对邻之爱想服务每个人，而自我之爱想让每个人服务它。对邻之爱视所有人为它的家人或兄弟和朋友，而自我之爱视所有人为它的仆人；视那些不服务它的人为仇敌。简言之，它只关注自己，几乎不把其他人当人看；在心里把他们看得不如它的马和狗。它因把他们看得一文不值，所以也不在乎向他们行恶；这就是仇恨和报复、通奸和淫乱、偷盗和欺诈、说谎和诽谤、暴行和残忍，以及其它类似邪恶的根源。这些就是人自出生起就倾向的邪恶。为了救赎的目的，它们也是被允许的；对此，我需要按以下顺序来解释：
⑴每个人都沉浸于邪恶，为了得以改造，他必须被引离邪恶。
⑵邪恶若不显露，就无法被移走。
⑶邪恶在被移走的程度内得以赦免。
⑷所以允许邪恶是为了救赎的目的。
276. However, when love of the neighbor was turned into love of self, and this love grew, that human love was then turned into an animal love, and from being human the human being became an animal, with the difference that he could think about what he felt with the body, could rationally distinguish one thing from another, and could be instructed and become a civil and moral person, and finally a spiritual one. For as we said, people have a spiritual component which distinguishes them from unreasoning animals. This in turn enables them to know what civil evil and civil good are, also what moral evil and moral good are, and further, if they are willing, what spiritual evil and spiritual good are.
When love of the neighbor was turned into love of self, people could no longer be born into the light of knowledge and intelligence, but into the darkness of ignorance, being born into the very lowest plane of life called the carnally sensual; and from that they could be introduced by education and instruction into more interior levels of the natural mind, always accompanied by the spiritual component.
The reason they are born into the lowest plane of life called the carnally sensual, and therefore into the darkness of ignorance, will be seen in subsequent discussions.
[2] Everyone can see that love of the neighbor and love of self are opposing loves. For love of the neighbor wishes well from self to everyone else, whereas love of self wishes well only to itself from everyone else. Love of the neighbor wishes to serve everyone else, while love of self wishes everyone else to serve self. Love of the neighbor regards everyone else as a brother and friend, whereas love of self regards everyone else as its servant, and if they do not serve, as its enemy. In a word, it has regard for itself alone, and for others scarcely as human beings, whom at heart it values less than it does its horses and dogs. Moreover, because it regards them as so inferior, it also makes it of no consequence to do evil to them. From it spring acts of hatred and revenge, of adultery and licentiousness, of theft and fraud, of lying and slander, of savagery and cruelty, and other like evils.
These are the evils to which a person is impelled from birth. That they are permitted for the sake of the end, which is salvation, we will demonstrate according to the following outline:
(1) Every person is impelled by evil, and must be led away from evil to be reformed.
(2) Evils cannot be removed unless they appear.
(3) Evils are forgiven to the extent that they are removed.
(4) Thus the permitting of evil occurs for the sake of the end, to make possible salvation.
276. However, when our love for our neighbor turned into love for ourselves and this love grew stronger, then our human love turned into an animal love and we became animals instead of humans. The only difference was that we could think about what our bodies were sensing and tell one thing from another rationally and could be taught and become civic and moral people and eventually spiritual people. That is, as already noted [275], we do have a spiritual nature that distinguishes us from the lower animals. That nature enables us to learn what is evil and good on the civic level, what is evil and good on the moral level, and even, if we are willing, what is evil and good on the spiritual level.
Once love for our neighbor had changed into love for ourselves, we could no longer be born into the light of knowledge and intelligence but only into the darkness of ignorance. This is because we were born into that lowest level of life that we call sensory and bodily. We are led from there into the deeper functions of our earthly mind by being taught, always with spirituality close at hand. We shall see later why we are born into that lowest level of life that we call sensory and bodily and therefore into the darkness of ignorance.
[2] Everyone can see that love for our neighbor and love for ourselves are opposing loves. Love for our neighbor wants to do good to everyone, while love for ourselves wants everyone to do good to us alone. Love for our neighbor wants to serve everyone, and love for ourselves wants everyone to be our servants. Love for our neighbor sees all people as our family and friends, while love for ourselves sees all people as our slaves, and if people are not subservient, it sees them as our enemies. In short, it focuses on ourselves alone and sees others as scarcely human. At heart it values them no more than our horses and dogs, and since it regards them as basically worthless, it thinks nothing of doing them harm. This leads to hatred and vengeance, adultery and promiscuity, theft and fraud, deceit and slander, brutality and cruelty, and other evils like that. These are the evils to which we are prone from birth.
To explain that they are permitted for the purpose of salvation, I need to proceed in the following sequence.
1. We are all involved in evil and need to be led away from it in order to be reformed.
2. Evils cannot be set aside unless they come to light.
3. To the extent that our evils are set aside, they are forgiven.
4. So evil is permitted for the purpose of salvation.
276. 1When, however, the love of the neighbour was turned into the love of self, and this love increased, then human love was turned into animal love; and man from being man became a beast, with this difference that what he perceived with the bodily senses he could make an object of thought, and could rationally distinguish one thing from another, and could be instructed, and could become a civil and a moral man, and finally a spiritual man. For as has been said, man has what is spiritual, and by this he is distinguished from a brute beast, because by this he is able to know what civil evil and civil good are, also what moral evil and moral good are, and also, if he will, what spiritual evil and spiritual good are.
When the love of the neighbour was turned into the love of self man could no longer be born into the light of knowledge and intelligence but only into the darkness of ignorance, because he was now born into the very ultimate plane of life which is called the corporeal sensual; and from this he could by means of instruction be introduced into the interiors of the natural mind, always accompanied by the spiritual. It will be seen in what follows why man is born into the ultimate plane of life, called the corporeal sensual, and consequently into the darkness of ignorance.
[2] Anyone may see that the love of the neighbour and the love of self are opposite loves; for the love of the neighbour wishes well to everyone from itself, while the love of self wishes well to itself alone from everyone. The love of the neighbour desires to serve everyone, while the love of self desires everyone to serve it. The love of the neighbour regards everyone as its brother and friend, while the love of self regards everyone as its servant and, if he does not serve it, as its enemy: in a word, it considers itself alone, and others scarcely as men, whom in heart it values less than its horses and dogs. Moreover, as it regards them as of so little value, it thinks nothing of doing evil to them; and this is the source of hatred and revenge, adultery and whoredom, theft and fraud, lying and defamation, rage, cruelty and other evils of a like nature. Such are the evils in which man is by birth; and that they are permitted for the sake of the end, which is salvation, will be shown in the following order:
I. Every man is in evil, and must be led away from evil that he may be reformed.
II. Evils cannot be removed unless they appear.
III. So far as evils are removed they are remitted.
IV. Thus the permission of evil is for the sake of the end, namely, salvation.
Footnotes:
1. Original Edition has "176" for "276."
276. But when love of the neighbor was turned into love of self, and this love increased, human love was turned into animal love, and man from being a man became a beast, with the difference that he was able to think about what he felt in the body, and could rationally discriminate one thing from another, and could be taught, and could become a civil and moral man, and finally a spiritual man. For, as has been said, a man has a spiritual, and by this he is distinguished from a brute; for by this he is able to know what civil evil and civil good are, also what moral evil and moral good are, and also if he will, what spiritual evil and spiritual good are. When love of the neighbor had been turned into love of self man could no longer be born into the light of knowledge and intelligence, but he was born into the darkness of ignorance, because he was born into the very outmost of life called the corporeal-sensual; and from that he could be led into the interiors of the natural mind by means of instruction, the spiritual always accompanying. Why man is born into the outmost of life which is called the corporeal-sensual, and consequently into the thick darkness of ignorance, will be seen in what follows.
[2] That love of the neighbor and love of self are opposite loves any one can see; for love of the neighbor wishes well to every one from itself, while love of self wishes well to itself alone from every one, love of the neighbor wishes to serve every one, while love of self wishes every one to serve it; love of the neighbor regards every one as its brother and friend, while love of self regards every one as its servant, or as its enemy if he does not serve it; in a word, it regards itself only, and others scarcely as men, holding them in heart in less estimation than its horses and dogs. And because it regards them as of so little account it thinks nothing of doing evil to them; and this is the source of hatred and revenge, adultery and whoredom, theft and fraud, lying and defamation, violence and cruelty, and other such evils. Such are the evils in which man is from birth. That they are permitted for the sake of the end, which is salvation, will be shown in the following order:-
(1) Every man is in evil, and must be led away from evil in order to be reformed.
(2) Evils cannot be removed unless they appear.
(3) So far as evils are removed they are remitted.
(4) Thus the permission of evil is for the sake of the end, that there may be salvation.
276. 1Sed cum amor proximi versus est in amorem sui, et hic amor increvit, tunc amor humanus versus est in amorem animalem, et homo ab homine factus est bestia, cum discrimine quod posset cogitare id quod corpore sentit, et rationaliter discernere unum ab altero, et quod posset instrui, ac fieri civilis et moralis homo, et tandem spiritualis; nam, ut dictum est, est homini spirituale, per quod distinguitur a bruto animali; per illud enim scire potest, quid malum et bonum civile, tum quid malum et bonum morale, et quoque, si vult, quid malum et bonum spirituale. Quando amor proximi versus est in amorem sui, homo non amplius potuit in lucem scientiae et intelligentiae nasci, sed in caliginem ignorantiae, quia in plane ultimum vitae, quod vocatur sensuale corporeum, et ab illo in interiora 2mentis 3naturalis per instructiones introduci, semper comitante spirituali. Causa quod nascatur in ultimum vitae, quod vocatur sensuale corporeum, et ideo in caliginem ignorantiae, videbitur in sequentibus.
[2] Quod amor proximi et amor sui sint amores oppositi, quisque potest videre; amor enim proximi vult omnibus bene a se, amor autem sui vult sibi soli bene ab omnibus; amor proximi vult servire omnibus, et amor sui vult ut omnes sibi serviant; amor proximi spectat omnes ut suos fratres et amicos, amor sui autem spectat omnes ut suos famulos, et si non famulantur, ut suos inimicos; verbo spectat se solum, et alios vix ut homines, quos corde minus aestimat quam suos equos et canes; et quia illos tam viles spectat, etiam nihili facit illis malefacere; inde odia et vindictae, adulteria et scortationes, 4furta et defraudationes, mendacia et blasphemationes, saevitiae et crudelitates, et similia alia. Haec sunt mala, in quibus homo a nativitate est. Quod illa permittantur propter finem, qui est salvatio, in hoc ordine demonstrandum est. 1. Quod omnis homo in malo sit, et quod abducendus a malo, ut reformetur. 2. Quod mala non possint removeri nisi appareant. 3. Quod quantum mala removentur, tantum remittantur. 4. Quod sic permissio mali sit propter finem ut salvatio.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: 176.
2 Prima editio: interiora mentis
3 Prima editio: mentis
4 Prima editio: fcortationes,