577、天使的聪明智慧达到什么程度，地狱灵人的恶毒诡诈也达到什么程度。因为情况相同，人的灵魂一旦从身体中被释放出来，它就在自己的良善或邪恶中：如果是天使灵人，就在自己的良善中；如果是地狱灵人，就在自己的邪恶中。每个灵人都是自己的良善或是自己的邪恶，因为他就是自己的爱，如前文经常讲述和说明的。因此，正如天使灵人出于其良善思考、意愿、说话和行动一样，地狱灵人则出于其邪恶而行。出于邪恶本身思考、意愿、说话和行动，就是出于包含在这邪恶中的一切事物而思考、意愿、说话和行动。
[2]只要人活在肉体中，情况就不一样，因为那时灵魂的邪恶在每个人能感觉得到的约束之下，这些约束来自法律，也来自对金钱、地位和名声的渴望，以及对丧失这些事物的恐惧。所以，他们灵魂的邪恶在那时无法爆发出来、显露出它的本来面目，此外，人的灵魂的邪恶被包裹、掩藏在表面正派、诚实、公正和对真理和良善的情感中，这些都是这类人为了世俗的缘故而假冒伪善的。在这些假象之下，邪恶一直被如此阴藏和模糊着，以至于连他自己也几乎不知道他的灵魂竟然包含如此多的恶毒和诡诈，换句话说，他不知道自己本身就是在他死后要变成的那种魔鬼，因为死后，他的灵魂进入它自身，展现出自己的本性。
[3]这时，恶毒就会显现出来，超出一切想象，有成千上万的恶事从邪恶本身爆发出来，其中有些无法以任何语言来形容。我被允许通过大量的经历去了解甚至去感受它们是怎样的，因为蒙主的恩准，就我的灵魂而言，我在灵界，同时，就我的肉身而言，我在尘世。我能证实一点：他们的恶毒是如此之大，以至于连千分之一都难以形容；如此之大，以至于人若不蒙主保护，永远不可能逃脱地狱，因为每个人身边都有来自地狱的恶灵和来自天堂的天使（参看第292-293节）。然而，除非人承认上帝、过着信仰和仁爱生活，否则主不能保护他们，这些人转身离开主，转向地狱灵人，结果在灵里充满了像他们一样的恶毒。
[4]然而，主不断地将人引离他所粘附邪恶，这邪恶是因他与恶灵联合而自己吸引来的。如果人没有被内在的良心所束缚而退离（如果他否认上帝，他不会接受这种约束），他仍然会有外在的约束，即上文所说的，这些束缚就是对法律及其惩罚的恐惧，以及对失去金钱、被剥夺地位和名誉的恐惧。事实上，这种人，藉着他的爱之快乐，通过他对失去或被剥夺这些快乐的恐惧，可能会使他远离邪恶，但不能因此而将他引入属灵的良善中。因为这种人只要被引入这些良善中，他通过假冒良善、诚实、公正而将它们转变为诡计和狡诈，目的是说服并欺骗他人。这种狡诈被加添到他灵里的邪恶中，并使它成形，将它的本性增添到邪恶中。
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577. 天使聪明, 智慧的程度, 也正是地狱灵恶毒, 诡诈的程度. 情况之所以是一样的, 是因为当人的灵从身体当中得以释放时, 它便完全处于自己的良善或邪恶; 若为天使灵, 就处于自己的良善; 若为地狱灵, 就处于自己的邪恶. 每个灵人都是自己的良善或自己的邪恶, 因为他就是自己的爱, 如前面所频繁阐述和说明的. 因此, 正如天使灵出于其良善思考, 意愿, 说话和行动, 地狱灵出于其邪恶而如此行. 出于邪恶本身思考, 意愿, 说话和行动, 就是出于包含在这邪恶里的一切事物而思考, 意愿, 说话和行动.
只要人活在肉体中, 情况就不同, 因为那时, 灵的邪恶在每个人所感觉到的约束之下, 这些约束来自法律, 也来自金钱, 地位, 名声, 以及对丧失这些事物畏惧. 所以那时, 其灵的邪恶无法爆发出来, 显出它的本色. 此外, 那时人之灵的邪恶被包裹和掩藏在表面的正直, 诚实, 公正, 以及对真理与良善的情感之中; 这种人为了世界的缘故而伪装并模仿这些品质. 在这些假象之下, 邪恶一直被如此掩藏和遮盖, 以至于连他自己也几乎不知道他的灵竟然包含如此多的恶毒和诡诈; 也就是说, 他本身就是诸如他死后所要变成的那种魔鬼, 因为那时他的灵进入它自己, 展现出自己的本性.
那时, 这种恶毒就会显现, 简直超出一切想象. 有成千上万的恶事从邪恶本身爆发出来, 其中有些无法以任何语言来描述. 我被允许通过大量经历获知, 甚至发觉它们是什么样, 因为蒙主的恩准, 就我的灵而言, 我在灵界; 同时, 就我的肉体而言, 我在自然界. 我能证实这一点: 他们的恶毒如此之大, 以至于连它的千分之一都难以描述出来; 并且若非主保护人, 人永远不可能从地狱逃脱; 因为每个人身边都有来自地狱的灵人, 也有来自天堂的天使(参看292-293节). 然而, 若人不承认神性, 并过一种信与仁的生活, 主就无法保护人. 否则, 人就背离主, 转向地狱灵, 因而在灵里吸收这种恶毒.
尽管如此, 主不断将人引离他因与地狱灵交往而吸收, 可以说吸引到自己这里来的邪恶; 即便不能通过他因否认神性而不接受的良心内在约束, 也通过上述外在约束, 即对法律及其处罚, 以及丧失金钱, 地位, 名声的畏惧将他引离. 事实上, 这种人能通过他的爱之快乐, 以及对丧失或剥夺这些快乐的畏惧被引离邪恶; 但他无法被引入属灵的良善. 因为这种人一被引入这些良善, 就通过模仿或伪装良善, 诚实, 公正而将它们转变为诡计和狡诈, 以此来说服并欺骗他人. 这种诡计被加添到其灵的邪恶中, 并赋予它形式, 使得其邪恶的性质和它本身一样.
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577. 天人之聰明智慧的程度, 也正是地獄之靈惡毒詭詐的程度。因為當人的靈脫離肉體以後, 就徹底進入了自己的善或惡之中:天國之靈進入善之中, 地獄之靈進入惡之中。事實上, 每個靈就是他自己的善或惡, 因為他就是自己的愛或欲, 正如前面所常解釋的。所以, 天國之靈憑善生起思想和意志, 作出言語和行為。地獄之靈則憑惡生起思想和意志, 作出言語和行為。憑惡而行, 即是照惡所含的一切惡毒和詭詐而行。
尚在肉身之時, 其情況有所不同。因為彼時, 其靈裡的邪惡受到了法律, 金錢, 地位, 名聲等因素的約束, 沒有暴露出來, 同時也被表面的正直, 誠實, 公平和對善理的喜愛掩蓋了起來。他們如此偽裝, 完全是出於世俗的考慮。惡既被隱藏了起來, 那麼其靈裡藏有多少惡毒和詭詐, 也就連他們自己都不瞭解了。他們也不曾想到, 當其靈進入本性並顯露本相時, 自己竟然就是魔鬼。
彼時, 他們將湧出的惡毒, 多到令人難以置信。從罪惡本身將湧出千萬的惡事, 有的是語言無法描述的。我曾被允許瞭解甚至親眼觀察他們的行為。因為主許我進入靈裡, 同時也處於物質之身裡。我能證實, 他們惡毒的程度, 連千分之一也無法描述。若非得主保守, 人勢必無法逃脫地獄, 因為每個人都有地獄之靈和天國的天人與他同在。但是, 主無法保守那些不承認上帝, 不踐行信與仁的人, 因為他們背離主, 趨向地獄之靈, 在靈裡吸收他們的惡毒之性。主無時無刻不在引導我們出離罪惡(因與地獄之靈相通而吸收的罪惡), 倘若不能藉內在良心的約束引導我們, 至少也通過外在的約束(法律, 金錢, 地位, 名聲等因素的約束)引導我們。接受外在約束的人, 因著對相關因素的欲望或恐懼, 能被引離邪惡, 但不能被引入心靈之善。因為一接觸心靈之善, 他們就將其扭曲為偽善和詭詐, 喬裝成善良, 誠實, 公平的模樣, 欺騙他人。偽善與其靈裡的邪惡勾結起來, 朋比為奸。
577. The level of wisdom and intelligence for angels is also the level of malice and craft among hellish spirits. The issue is much the same because once the human spirit is freed from its body it devotes itself wholly to its virtue or to its vice. An angelic spirit devotes itself to its virtue and a hellish spirit to its vice. This is because every spirit actually is its own good or its own evil because it is its own love, as has often been stated and explained above. This means that just as angelic spirits think and intend and speak and act from their good, so hellish spirits do the same from their evil. Thinking and intending and speaking and acting from evil itself is doing so on the basis of everything implicit in evil.
[2] It was different while they were living in the flesh because then the evil of their spirits was under the restraints that apply to all because of the law, or because of money, position, reputation, and their fears of losing these things. So the evil of their spirits could not break out and show itself in its true colors. Further, the evil of their spirit then lurked hidden by veils of outward integrity, honesty, fairness, and affection for what is true and good, qualities that such people presented and simulated in their speech for worldly reasons. All the while, the evil remained so hidden and veiled that they themselves scarcely knew that there was so much malice and craft in their spirits, that they were therefore intrinsically the very devils they would become after death when their spirits would come into their own and display their own nature.
[3] The kind of malice that surfaces then defies all belief. There are thousands of things that burst forth from the evil itself then, including some that are beyond the words of any language to describe. I have been allowed to learn and even to observe what they are like by many experiences because the Lord has granted me to be in the spiritual world as to my spirit while I was in the natural world as to my body. This I can testify: their malice is so great that scarcely a thousandth part of it can be described. Further, if the Lord did not protect us we would never be able to escape from hell; for with each of us there are both spirits from hell and angels from heaven (see 292-293). Further, the Lord cannot protect us unless we acknowledge the Divine and live faithful, thoughtful lives. Otherwise, we are turning away from the Lord and toward hellish spirits and are therefore in spirit absorbing the same kind of malice.
[4] Still, the Lord is constantly leading us away from the evils that we assimilate and attract by associating with these spirits, leading us if not by the inner restraints of conscience (which we do not accept if we deny the Divine), then by the outer restraints already listed, the fears of the laws and their penalties, of the loss of money and the forfeiture of rank and reputation. People like this can be led away from evils through the delights of their love and the fear of losing and forfeiting these delights, but they cannot be led into spiritual virtues. To the extent that they are led into them, you see, they convert them into guile and craft by pretending to be good and honest and fair-minded with a view to persuading and deceiving others. This guile is added to the evil of their spirits and gives it form, lending its own nature to the evil.
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577. In the same degree in which angels have wisdom and intelligence, infernal spirits have malice and cunning; for the case is the same, since the spirit of man when released from the body is in his good or in his evil - if an angelic spirit, in his good, and if an infernal spirit, in his evil. Every spirit is his own good or his own evil because he is his own love, as has often been said and shown before. Therefore, as an angelic spirit thinks, wills, speaks, and acts from his good, so does an infernal spirit from his evil; and to think, will, speak, and act from evil itself; is to think, will, speak, and act from all things included in the evil. So long as man lived in the body it was different.
[2] Then the evil of the man's spirit was in the bonds that every man has from the law, from hope of gain, from honour, from reputation, and from the fear of losing these; and therefore the evil of his spirit could not then burst forth and show what it was in itself. Moreover, the evil of the man's spirit then lay wrapped up and veiled in outward probity, honesty, justice, and in the affection of truth and good, which such a man professes and counterfeits for the sake of the world; and under these semblances the evil has lain so concealed and obscured that he himself scarcely knew that his spirit contained so much malice and craftiness, that is, that in himself he was such a devil as he becomes after death, when his spirit comes into itself and into its own nature.
[3] Such malice then manifests itself as exceeds all belief. There are thousands of evils that then burst forth from evil itself; among which are such as cannot be described in the words of any language. What they are has been granted me to know and also to perceive by much experience, since it has been granted me by the Lord to be in the spiritual world as to my spirit and at the same time in the natural world as to my body. This I can testify, that their malice is so great that it is hardly possible to describe even a thousandth part of it; and so great that if man were not protected by the Lord he could never be rescued from hell; for with every man there are spirits from hell as well as angels from heaven (see above, 292-293); and the Lord cannot protect man unless he acknowledges the Divine and lives a life of faith and charity; for otherwise man turns himself away from the Lord and turns himself to infernal spirits, and thus his spirit becomes imbued with a malice like theirs.
[4] Nevertheless, man is continually led by the Lord away from the evils that he attaches and, as it were, attracts to himself by his association with infernal spirits. If this is not done by the internal bonds of conscience, which he fails to receive if he denies the Divine, he is nevertheless withdrawn by external bonds, which are, as said above, fears in respect of the law and its penalties, and fears of the loss of gain and the deprivation of honour and reputation. In fact, such a man may be led away from evils by means of the delights of his love and through fear of the loss or deprivation of those delights; but he cannot be led thereby into spiritual goods. For to the extent that he is led into these, to that extent he begins to give his thought to pretences and devices by simulating or counterfeiting what is good, honest, and just, for the purpose of persuading and thus deceiving. Such cunning adds itself to the evil of his spirit and forms it to be such evil as is his own nature.
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577. In the same degree in which angels have wisdom and intelligence infernal spirits have malice and cunning; for the case is the same, since the spirit of man when released from the body is in his good or in his evil - if an angelic spirit in his good, and if an infernal spirit in his evil. Every spirit is his own good or his own evil because he is his own love, as has been often said and shown above. Therefore as an angelic spirit thinks, wills, speaks, and acts, from his good, an infernal spirit does this from his evil; and to think, will, speak, and act from evil itself, is to think, will, speak, and act from all things included in the evil.
[2] So long as man lived in the body it was different, since the evil of the spirit was then under the restraints that every man feels from the law, from hope of gain, from honor, from reputation, and from the fear of losing these; and therefore the evil of his spirit could not then burst forth and show what it was in itself. Moreover, the evil of the spirit of man then lay wrapped up and veiled in outward probity, honesty, justice, and affection for truth and good, which such a man professes and counterfeits for the sake of the world; and under these semblances the evil has lain so concealed and obscured that he himself scarcely knew that his spirit contained so much malice and craftiness, that is, that in himself he was such a devil as he becomes after death, when his spirit comes into itself and into its own nature.
[3] Such malice then manifests itself as exceeds all belief. There are thousands of evils that then burst forth from evil itself, among which are such as cannot be described in the words of any language. What they are has been granted me to know and also to perceive by much experience, since it has been granted me by the Lord to be in the spiritual world in respect to my spirit and at the same time in the natural world in respect to my body. This I can testify, that their malice is so great that it is hardly possible to describe even a thousandth part of it; and so great that if man were not protected by the Lord he could never be rescued from hell; for with every man there are spirits from hell as well as angels from heaven (see above, 2 92, 293); and yet the Lord cannot protect man unless he acknowledges the Divine and lives a life of faith and charity; for otherwise man turns himself away from the Lord and turns himself to infernal spirits, and thus his spirit becomes imbued with a malice like theirs.
[4] Nevertheless, man is continually withdrawn by the Lord from the evils that he attaches and as it were attracts to himself by his affiliation with infernal spirits. If he is not withdrawn by the internal bonds of conscience, which he fails to receive if he denies a Divine, he is nevertheless withdrawn by external bonds, which are, as said above, fears in respect to the law and its penalties, and fears of the loss of gain and the deprivation of honor and reputation. In fact, such a man may be withdrawn from evils by means of the delights of his love and through fear of the loss or deprivation of those delights; but he cannot be led thereby into spiritual goods. For as soon as such a man is led into these he begins to give his thought to pretenses and devices by simulating or counterfeiting what is good, honest, and just, for the purpose of persuading and thus deceiving. Such cunning adjoins itself to the evil of his spirit and gives form to it, causing his evil to be of the same nature as itself.
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577. In illo gradu, in quo est sapientia et intelligentia apud angelos, in eo etiam est malitia et astutia apud spiritus infernales: similis enim res est quoniam spiritus hominis, cum solutus est a corpore, in suo bono aut in suo malo est; spiritus angelicus in suo bono, ac spiritus infernalis in suo malo nam unusquisque spiritus est suum bonum vel suum malum, quia est suus amor, prout saepius prius dictum et ostensum est. Quapropter sicut spiritus angelicus ex suo bono cogitat, vult, loquitur et agit, ita spiritus infernalis ex suo malo et ex ipso malo cogitare, velle, loqui, et agere, est ex cunctis quae in malo sunt. Aliter cum in corpore vixit; tunc malum spiritus hominis fuit in vinculis, quae unicuique homini sunt ex lege, ex lucro, ex honore, ex fama, et ex timoribus jacturae eorum; quapropter malum spiritus ejus tunc non potuit erumpere, ac se manifestare quale in se esset: praeterea etiam tunc malum spiritus hominis circumvelatum et obvolutum jacuit externa probitate, sinceritate, justitia, et affectione veri et boni, quas homo talis ore praetulit et simulavit propter mundum, sub quibus ita reconditum et in obscuro latuit, ut vix ipse sciverit quod in spiritu suo tanta malitia et astutia sit, ita quod in se talis diabolus sit qualis fit post mortem, cum ejus spiritus venit in se, ac in suam naturam. Tunc malitia talis se manifestat, ut excedat omnem fidem. Sunt millia quae ex ipso malo tunc erumpunt; inter quae etiam talia sunt, quae non vocibus alicujus linguae exprimi possunt qualia sunt, datum est mihi per plures experientias scire, et quoque appercipere quia mihi datum est a Domino in spirituali mundo quoad spiritum esse, et simul in naturali mundo quoad corpus. Hoc testari possum, quod malitia eorum tanta sit, ut vix unum ex millibus possit describi: et quoque nisi Dominus tutetur hominem, quod non possit usquam eximi inferno; nam apud unumquemvis hominem tam spiritus ab inferno sunt, quam angeli e caelo (videatur supra, 292, 293) et Dominus non tutari potest hominem, nisi homo agnoscat Divinum, et nisi vivat vitam fidei et charitatis alioqui enim avertit se a Domino, ac convertit se ad infernales spiritus, et sic imbuitur quoad spiritum suum simili malitia: homo usque a Domino continue abducitur a malis, quae ex consociatione cum illis spiritibus sibi applicat et quasi attrahit, si non per vincula interna quae sunt conscientiae, quae non recipit si negat Divinum, usque tamen per vincula externa, quae sunt, ut supra dictum est, timores pro lege et ejus poenis, proque jactura lucri, et privatione honoris et famae. Homo talis quidem abduci potest a malis per jucunda sui amoris, et per timorem jacturae et privationis eorum; sed non potest adduci in bona spiritualia nam quantum in haec adducitur, tantum apud se versat astutias et dolos, simulando et mentiendo bona, sincera, et justa, fine persuadendi et sic fallendi; haec astutia se addit malo ejus spiritus, ac format illud, et facit ut sit malum, quale est in sua natura.