277、⑴每个人都沉浸于邪恶，为了得以改造，他必须被引离邪恶。在教会，众所周知，每个人都有遗传的邪恶，他由此陷入对许多邪恶的欲望之中。这也是为何人不能凭自己行善，因为邪恶只会行含有邪恶在里面的那种良善。在良善里面的邪恶就是他为了自己，因而只为了表现而行善。我们知道，这种邪恶是从父母遗传来的。有些人说它来自亚当和他的妻子，但这是一个错误；因为每个人生来都从他的父母获得邪恶，他的父母又从其父母获得它，其父母又从自己的父母获得它，就这样代代相传，变得越来越强大，并累积起来，传给后代。这就是为何人里面没有任何完好之物；相反，他全然是恶。谁会感觉爱自己胜过别人是错呢？那么，谁又知道它就是邪恶呢？然而，它却是众恶之首。
这种遗传来自父母、祖父母和曾祖父母，这一点从世上的大量常识可以看出来。如各家庭、宗族，乃至民族单单从脸上就能被区分开来，脸是心智或心灵的印记，心智与属于爱的情感是一致的。此外，有时祖先的特征会重现在孙子或曾孙身上。我仅从脸就能分辨出一个人是不是犹太人，也能分辨出其他人属于哪个种族。毫无疑问，其他人也能分辨。如果属于爱的情感就这样从父母那里衍生并传下来，那么可推知，邪恶也一样，因为它们属于情感。现在我需要解释一下这种相似性的根源。
每个人的灵魂都来自父亲，它只是从母亲那里披上一具身体。灵魂来自父亲，这一点不仅从刚才所提到的现象，还从其它大量迹象可推知。其中一个就是以下事实：如果一个孩子的父亲是黑人，或摩尔人，母亲是白人或欧洲人，那么他就是黑人，反之亦然。特别是，灵魂住在种子或精子里面，因为种子或精子带来受孕，种子或精子就是来自母亲的肉体所包裹的东西。这种子或精子是父亲特有的爱之本质或初始形式，是他的主导爱及其最近的衍生物，也就是那爱的至内在情感。
在每个人里面，这些情感被属于道德生活的诚实正直，以及部分属于文明生活，部分属于属灵生活的美德包围。这些构成生命的外在形式，甚至恶人也有。每个婴孩都生在这种生命的外在形式中，这就是为何他惹人喜爱。但随着孩子成长为青少年，他从外在形式进入内在性质，最终进入他父亲的主导爱；如果父亲是邪恶的，并且这种性质没有通过各种手段被他的教师软化并扭转过来，那么孩子的爱就会变得像父亲的爱。然而，邪恶无法被根除，只能被移走，如下文（279节）所看到的。显然，每个人都沉浸于邪恶。
277a.为了得以改造，人必须被引离邪恶，这是显而易见的，无须解释。因为人若在世上处于邪恶，离世后仍处于邪恶。这意味着邪恶若在世上没有被移走，以后就无法被移走了。树倒在何处，就躺在何处。所以，当一个人死亡时，他生命的基本品质保持不变。每个人都照他的行为受审判；并不是说详细列举这些行为，而是说他会转回去，行为一如从前。死亡是生命的一个延续，不同之处在于：这时，人无法被改造了。一切改造都在完整性中实现，也就是说，同时包括首先事物和末后事物。末后事物与首先事物一致在世上被改造，以后就无法被改造了，因为人死后要携带的生命的最外在事物会进入休眠状态，并与他的内层和谐一致，也就是说，它们行如一体。
277. (1) Every person is impelled by evil, and must be led away from evil to be reformed. People in the church know that every person possesses hereditary evil, and because of it is impelled by a lust for many, many evils. They know, too, that for this reason a person cannot do good of himself; for evil does not do good, except such good as has evil within it. The evil within it is the person's doing of good for the sake of himself, and doing it so that only good may appear.
People know that this hereditary evil is derived from parents. They say it comes from Adam and his wife, but this is an error. For everyone is born with it from his parents, and his parents from their parents, and their parents from their parents; and so it is transmitted from one generation to another in succession, being thus increased and growing as though into a mass and being passed on into offspring. So it is that a person has nothing sound in him, but is totally evil. Who feels that to love himself above others is evil? Who then knows that it is evil, even though it is at the head of all evils?
[2] The fact that one's heredity is derived from parents, grandparents and great-grandparents is apparent from many attestations known in the world, as from the distinction between families, clans, even nations, visible from their features alone - faces being images of dispositions, and dispositions according with affections springing from love. Sometimes the visage of a grandfather reappears in a grandson or great-grandson. I recognize from just the facial features whether a person is Jewish or not, and also of what lineage some people are. Others doubtless do the same.
If affections springing from love are thus derived from parents and transmitted by them, it follows that evils are too, because evils are matters of the affections.
[3] But we will now explain the reason for that resemblance. Everyone's soul comes from his father, and is only clothed with a body by the mother. The observation that the soul comes from the father follows not only from the phenomena mentioned just above, but also from many other indications, including the fact that the child of a black or Moorish father by a white or European woman is born black, and vice versa. It is especially the case that the sperm contains the soul, for that is what impregnates, and what is clothed with a body by the mother. The sperm is the first form of the love impelling the father. It is a form of his reigning love with its most immediate derivations, which are the inmost affections of that love.
[4] These affections in everyone are covered over with the honorable virtues connected with moral living, and with the good qualities connected partly with civil life, and partly with a spiritual life. These form the outward component of life, even in the case of evil people.
Every child is born into this outward component of life. That is what makes the child lovable. But as he grows into older childhood or adolescence, he comes from that outward component into more interior ones, and finally to the reigning love of his father. If that love was evil, and has not by various means been tempered or bent by his parents and teachers, his love becomes like that of his father.
In any case, however, evil is not eradicated, but only moved to the side, as described in subsequent discussions.
It can be seen from this that every person is impelled by evil.
277 [repeated]. That a person must be led away from evil to be reformed is apparent without explanation. For one who has been impelled by evil in the world is impelled by evil after his departure from the world. If evil is not removed in the world, therefore, it cannot be removed thereafter. Where the tree falls, there it lies. 1So, too, with a person's life. When he dies, it remains such as it was. Everyone is judged also in accordance with his deeds, not that they are enumerated, but because he goes back to them and behaves in the same way. For death is a continuation of life, with the difference, that a person cannot then be reformed.
All reformation takes place in fullness, that is to say, in first and last elements together, and the last elements are, in conformity with the first ones, reformed in the world, and cannot be thereafter, because the last elements of life that a person takes with him after death become quiescent, and harmonize with, that is, act in concert with, his interior elements.
Footnotes:
277a. 1. We are all involved in evil and need to be led away from it in order to be reformed. It is well known in the church that we all have an inherited evil nature and that this is the source of our obsession with many evils. This is also why we can do nothing good on our own. The only kind of good that evil can do is good with evil within it. The inner evil is the fact that we are doing it for selfish reasons, and solely for the sake of appearances.
We know that we get this inherited evil from our parents. Some do say that it comes from Adam and his wife, but this is wrong. We all get it by birth from our parents, who got it from their parents, who got it from theirs. So it is handed down from one to another, growing greater and stronger, piling up, and being inflicted on the offspring. That is why there is nothing sound within us, why everything in us is so evil. Does anyone feel that there is anything wrong with loving oneself more than others? If not, then who knows what evil is, since this is the head of all evils?
[2] We can see from much that is common knowledge in our world that our heredity comes from our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. For example, we can tell what household and larger family and even nation people belong to simply from their faces; the face bears the stamp of the spirit, and the spirit is determined by our desires of love. Sometimes the face of an ancestor crops up in a grandchild or great-grandchild. I can tell simply from their faces whether people are Jewish or not, and I can tell what family group others belong to. I have no doubt that others can do the same.
If our desires of love are derived and passed down from our parents in this way, then it follows that their evils are as well, since these are matters of desire.
I need now to state where this similarity comes from.
[3] For all of us, the soul comes from the father and simply puts on a body in the mother. The fact that the soul comes from the father follows not only from what has just been said but also from a number of other indications. One of these is the fact that the baby of a black or Moorish man by a white or European woman will be born black, and the reverse. In particular, the soul dwells in the semen, for this is what brings about impregnation, and this is what the mother clothes with a body. The semen is the elemental form of the father's characteristic love, the form of his dominant love and its immediate derivatives, the deepest desires of that love.
[4] In all of us, these desires are veiled by the decencies of moral life and the virtues that are partly matters of our civic life and partly matters of our spiritual life. These make up the outward form of life even for evil people. We are all born with this outer form of life. That is why little children are so lovable; but as they get older or grow up, they shift from this outer form toward their deeper natures and ultimately to the dominant love of their fathers. If the father was evil, and if this nature is not somehow softened and deflected by teachers, then the child's love becomes just like that of the father.
Still, evil is not uprooted, only set aside, as we shall see below [279]. We can tell, then, that we are all immersed in evil.
277b. No explanation is necessary to see that we need to be led away from our evils in order to be reformed, since if we are given to evil in this world, we will be given to evil after we leave this world. This means that if our evil is not set aside in this world, it cannot be set aside afterwards. The tree lies where it falls; and so too our life retains its basic quality when we die. We are all judged according to our deeds. It is not that these deeds are tallied up but that we return to them and behave the same. Death is a continuation of life, with the difference that then we cannot be reformed.
All our reformation is thorough--that is, it includes both things first and things last. The last things are reformed in this world in harmony with the first ones. They cannot be reformed afterwards, because the outermost things of our lives that we take with us after death become dormant and simply cooperate or act in unison with the inner ones.
277. I. EVERY MAN IS IN EVIL, AND MUST BE LED AWAY FROM EVIL THAT HE MAY BE REFORMED. It is well known in the Church that every man has hereditary evil, and that from this he is in the lust of many evils. The consequence is that man cannot do good of himself; for evil does not do good except such good as has evil within it. The evil that is within is, that he does good for the sake of self, and thus only in order that it may appear good. It is well known that this evil is inherited from parents. It is declared to be from Adam and his wife, but this is an error; for everyone is born into it from his own parent, and this parent from his parent, and he also from his. Thus it is successively transferred from one to another, and in this way it is increased and grows as it were to a great accumulation, and is transmitted to offspring. Hence it is that there is nothing sound in man, but he is altogether evil. Does anyone have a feeling that it is wrong to love oneself more than others? Who, then, knows that it is evil? and yet it is the head of all evils.
[2] That this evil is inherited from parents, grandparents and great-grandparents is clear from many circumstances that are well known in the world, as that households, families, and even nations are distinguished from each other merely by the face; and faces are types of minds (animus), and minds are in accord with the affections which belong to love. Moreover, sometimes the features of a forefather reappear in a grandchild or a great grandchild. From the features alone I know whether a person is a Jew or not; also, from what race others are derived; and I have no doubt there are others who have similar knowledge. If affections which belong to love are thus derived and handed down from parents, it follows that evils are also, for they pertain to the affections.
[3] The origin of this resemblance will now be explained. The soul of everyone is from the father, and it is only clothed with a body from the mother. That the soul is from the father follows not only from what has been mentioned above but also from many other indications; as from this circumstance, that a child born of a black father, for example an African, by a white mother, for example a European, is black, and vice versa; and especially from this, that the soul is in the seed, for impregnation is from the seed, and the seed is what is clothed with a body from the mother; the seed being the primal form of the love in which the father is, the form of his ruling love with its nearest derivations, which are the inmost affections of that love.
[4] In everyone these affections are clothed with the virtues that pertain to the moral life and with the goods that belong partly to the civil and partly to the spiritual life; and these constitute the external of life even with the wicked. Into this external of life every infant is born, and this is why it is lovable; but as the child reaches boyhood and youth he passes from that external to what is interior, and at length to the ruling love of his father. If this love has been evil, and has not by various means been modified and changed by his teachers, it becomes his love as it was his father's. Still [even if modified and changed] the evil is not eradicated, but only removed, as will be shown in what follows. Hence it may be evident that every man is in evil.
277a. 1That a man must be withdrawn from evil in order that he may be reformed is evident without explanation; for he that is in evil in the world is in evil after his departure from the world; and therefore if evil is not removed in the world it cannot be removed afterwards. Where the tree falls, there it lies. So also does a man's life when he dies remain such as it has been. Moreover, everyone is judged according to his deeds; not that these are mentioned in detail, but because he returns to them and acts as before; for death is a continuation of life, with this difference, that the man cannot then be reformed. All reformation is effected in fullness, that is, in first things and at the same time in last things; and in the world last things are reformed in harmony with first things, and cannot be reformed afterwards, because the last things of life that man carries with him after death become quiescent and act in harmony, that is, as one, with his interiors.
Footnotes:
1. Original Edition repeats number 277.
277. (1) Every man is in evil, and must be led away from evil in order to be reformed. It is admitted in the church that every man has hereditary evil, and that from this he is in the lust of many evils; and it is from this that man cannot do good of himself; for evil does not do good except such good as has evil within it. The evil that is within the good is his doing the good for the sake of self, and thus only for the sake of the appearance. It is admitted that this evil is inherited from parents. It is said to be from Adam and his wife, but this is an error; for every one is born into it from his parent, and the parent from his parent, and he from his, and thus it is successively transferred from one to another; so, too, it is increased, and grows as it were to an accumulated mass, and is transmitted to offspring. In consequence of this there is nothing sound in man, but he is altogether evil. Who has any feeling that it is wrong to love himself more than others? Who, then, knows that it is evil? And yet this is the head of all evils.
[2] That there is this inheritance from parents, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers, is evident from many things that are known in the world, as that households, families, and even nations, are distinguished from each other merely by the face, and the face is a type of the mind, and the mind is in accord with the affections which belong to the love. Sometimes, too, the features of a grandfather reappear in those of a grandson or a great-grandson. From the features alone I know whether a man is a Jew or not, and also from what stock some are; and others doubtless know the same. If affections, which belong to the love, are thus derived and handed down from parents, it follows that evils are, for they belong to the affections. But the origin of this resemblance shall now be explained.
[3] Every one's soul is from the father, and from the mother it is merely clothed with a body. That the soul is from the father follows not only from the things mentioned above, but also from many other indications; also from the fact that a child of a black or Moorish father by a white or European woman is black, and vice versa; also chiefly from this, that the soul is in the seed, for from the seed is impregnation, and the seed is what is clothed with a body by the mother. The seed is the primal form of the love in which the father is; it is the form of his ruling love with its nearest derivations, which are the inmost affections of that love.
[4] In every one these affections are encompassed with the honesties that belong to moral life and with the goodnesses that belong partly to the civil and partly to the spiritual life. These constitute the external of life even with the wicked. Into this external of life every infant is born, and consequently is loveable; but as the child grows to boyhood or to youth he passes from that external to what is interior, and finally to the ruling love of his father; and if this has been evil, and has not by various means been tempered and bent by his teachers, it becomes his love as it was the father's. And yet the evil is not eradicated but only removed; of which in what follows. Evidently, then, every man is in evil.
277b. That man must be led away from evil in order to be reformed is evident without explanation; for he that is in evil in the world is in evil after he has left the world; consequently if evil is not removed in the world it cannot be removed afterwards. Where the tree falls there it lies. So, too, does a man's life when he dies remain such as it has been. Every one is judged according to his deeds; not that these are enumerated, but because he returns to them and acts in the same way; for death is a continuation of life, with the difference that man cannot then be reformed. All reformation is effected in completeness, that is, simultaneously in first principles and in outmosts; and outmosts are reformed in agreement with first principles while man is in the world, and cannot be reformed afterwards, because the outmosts of life that man carries with him after death become quiescent, and are in agreement with his interiors, that is, they act as one.
277. I. Quod omnis homo in malo sit, et quod abducendus a malo ut reformetur. Quod cuivis homini sit malum haereditarium; 1et quod homo ex illo in concupiscentia plurium malorum sit, notum est in Ecclesia; et inde est, quod homo a se non possit bonum facere, malum enim non facit bonum, nisi tale in quo intus malum est; malum quod intus est, est quod faciat bonum propter se, et sic ut solum appareat. Quod malum illud haereditarium sit a parentibus, notum est; dicitur quod sit ab Adamo et ejus uxore, sed hoc est error; quisque enim nascitur in illud a suo parente, et hic in illud a suo, et hic quoque a suo, et sic successive transfertur ab uno in alterum, ita augetur et crescit sicut in cumulum, et infertur 2proli; inde est, quod apud hominem nihil integrum sit, sed quod totus quantus sit malum: quis sentit, quod amare se prae aliis sit malum; quis inde scit quod sit malum, cum tamen est caput malorum.
[2] Quod haereditarium sit a parentibus, avis et atavis, patet a multis in mundo notis, ut a distinctione domuum, familiarum, imo gentium a solis faciebus, ac facies sunt typi animorum, et animi sunt secundum affectiones quae amoris; quandoque etiam redit facies atavi in nepote et pronepote: cognosco ex solis faciebus num Judaeus sit vel non; tum etiam aliquos ex qua prosapia: quin etiam alii similiter cognoscant, non dubito. Si affectiones quae amoris sunt, a parentibus ita derivantur et traducuntur, sequitur quod 3etiam mala, quia haec sunt affectionum.
[3] Sed unde similitudo illa, nunc dicetur; anima cujusvis est a patre, ac solum induitur corpore a matre; quod anima sit a patre, sequitur non solum ex illis quae nunc supra memorata sunt, sed etiam a pluribus aliis indiciis, etiam ab hoc, quod infans nascatur niger ex nigro seu Moro per foeminam albam seu Europaeam, ac vicissim; imprimis quod semini insit anima, nam ex illo fit impraegnatio, ac id est quod induitur corpore a matre; semen est prima forma amoris in quo est pater; est forma amoris regnantis ejus cum proximis derivationibus, quae sunt intimae amoris istius affectiones.
[4] Hae apud unumquemvis circumvelantur honestis quae sunt vitae moralis, ac bonis quae partim sunt vitae civilis, partim vitae spiritualis; haec faciunt externum vitae, etiam apud malos: in hoc externum vitae nascitur omnis infans; inde est quod amabilis sit; sed sicut puerescit seu adolescit, ab externo illo ad interiora venit, et tandem ad amorem regnantem patris sui, qui si malus fuerit, et non temperatus et inflexus fuerit per media ab educatoribus, fit amor ejus sicut fuit patris ejus. At usque non exstirpatur malum, sed modo removetur, de quo in sequentibus. Ex his constare potest, quod omnis homo in malo sit.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: h�reditarium;
2 Prima editio: infertut
3 Prima editio: qued
277 [iteratum]. Quod homo abducendus sit a malo ut reformetur, absque explicatione patet: nam qui in malo est in mundo, ille in malo est post exitum e mundo; quare si malum non removetur in mundo, non removeri potest postea; arbor ubi cadit, ibi jacet; ita quoque vita hominis, qualis fuit cum moritur, talis manet; etiam quisque secundum facta sua judicatur, non quod enumerentur, 1sed quia in illa redit, et similiter agit; mors enim est continuatio vitae, cum discrimine, quod homo tunc non reformari possit. Omnis reformatio fit in pleno, hoc est, in primis et simul ultimis, et ultima in mundo convenienter primis reformantur, et non possunt postea, quia ultima vitae, quae homo post mortem secum fert, quiescunt, et cum interioribus ejus conspirant, hoc est, unum agunt.
1 Prima editio: enumereutur,