161、在世时曾作过牧师和传教士的那个灵人除了我们地球外，根本不相信任何其它星球的存在。因为他在世时以为主只出生在地球，没有主，没有人能得救。因此，他被带入灵人如世人那样出现在自己星球时所处的状态，如前所述。在这种状态下，他被送回那个星球，以便他不仅能看到它，还能与其居民交谈。这事过后，我也蒙允许与它交流，同样看见居民，以及这个星球上的某些场景(参看135节)。只见有四种人一个接一个依次出现。首先我看见的是穿着衣服的人，接着是一些有人肉色的赤身之人；后来看见一些赤身露体的人，但身体红肿；最后是一些黑人。
161. The spirit who had been a church leader and preacher in the world had absolutely refused to believe that other planets besides our own could be inhabited, because while in the world he had considered that the Lord was born only on our planet and that no one can be saved without the Lord. Therefore he was put into a state like that of the spirits when they become visible as ordinary individuals on that planet, as described just above. This made it possible for him not only to see their planet but also to talk with some people there. Once this began, his perspective was shared with me so that I likewise saw the inhabitants, and other features of that planet as well (see 135 above).
We saw four kinds of people there, one after another. At first we saw a kind that wore clothes; then a kind that was naked, whose skin was of a flesh color; 1then another kind that was naked, but whose bodies looked inflamed; and finally a kind whose skin was black.
Footnotes:
1. The Latin words here translated “flesh color” are colore humano carneo, literally, “the fleshy human color.” Here Swedenborg seems to make typically eighteenth-century European assumptions about the default color of skin; compare note 1 in Other Planets 93. A similar definition is used in the next section. [Editors]
161. The spirit who in the world had been a prelate and preacher did not at all believe in the existence of worlds other than ours, because he had thought in the world that this was the only world in which the Lord was born, and no one could be saved without the Lord. He was therefore brought into a state similar to that of the spirits when they appear in their own world like people, as mentioned above. In this state he was sent into that world, so that he could not only see it, but also talk with its inhabitants. After this I too was allowed to enter into communication with it, so that I likewise saw the inhabitants and some scenes upon that planet (see 135 above). Four kinds of people were displayed, each kind replacing the other in turn. First I saw people wearing clothes; then some who were naked and the colour of human flesh; then some naked, but with inflamed bodies; and finally some who were black.
161. The spirit who in the world had been a primate and a preacher, did not at all believe that there were any other earths than ours, because he had thought in the world that the Lord was born on this earth only, and that no one has salvation without the Lord. He was therefore reduced to such a state as the spirits are reduced when they appear on their earth as men (see just (Worlds in Space 160) above), and thus was sent to that earth, so as not only to see it, but also to speak with its inhabitants. When this was done, communication was also thereby granted me, so that I in like manner saw the inhabitants, and some things also upon that earth (see above, n. 135). There then appeared four kinds of men, but one kind after another in succession. First were seen men clothed; next men naked of the color of human flesh; afterward men naked, but with bodies inflamed; and lastly black men.
161. Spiritus qui in mundo fuerat Antistes et Praedicator, prorsus non credebat quod aliae Tellures darentur quam nostra, ex causa quia cogitaverat in mundo, quod Dominus solum in hac Tellure natus sit, et nulli absque Domino salus; quapropter redactus est in similem statum, in quem rediguntur spiritus quando apparent in Tellure sua sicut homines, de quo mox supra, et sic missus est in Tellurem illam, ut non modo videret eam, sed etiam loqueretur cum incolis ibi quo facto, dabatur etiam communicatio inde mecum, ut similiter viderem incolas, et quoque aliqua super Tellure illa (videatur supra 135). Apparebant tunc quatuor Genera hominum, sed unum genus post alterum successive; primum visi sunt homines vestiti; dein nudi colore humano carneo: postea nudi sed corpore inflammato: demum nigri.