1.那些不了解圣言灵义的人，只以为到最后审判之日，世界上的一切可见之物都要毁灭。因为经上说，那时，天地都要废去，神要造一个新天和一个新地。为强化这种信念，他们还指出，因为经上说，那时，所有人都从坟墓中起来，善人与恶人分开，等等。然而，圣言的字义之所以上如此说，是因为圣言的字义是属世的，处于神性秩序的最低层，其中一切细节都包含灵义。因此，人若仅照字义理解圣言，可能会被驱使接受各种观点，如基督教界所发生的情形；这就是为何有这么多的异端邪说，每一种都以圣言为证。
然而，由于迄今为止，没有人知道圣言的每个细节都包含一个灵义，甚至不知道有灵义这回事，所以那些对最后审判持有这种观点的人是值得原谅的。但现在他们可以知道，可见的天和可居的地都不会毁灭，相反，两者都将永存；“新天和新地”表示一个新教会，包括天上的和地上的。之所以说天上的一个新教会，是因为天上也有一个教会，和地上一样；也有圣言、讲道、神性敬拜，和地上一样；不同之处在于，那里的一切都处于更完美的状态，因为在那里，他们不是在自然界，而是在灵界；因此，那里的所有人都是属灵人，不像在世上那样是属世的。关于这个主题，可参看《天堂与地狱》一书，特别是该书对天堂如何通过圣言与人结合（303-310节），以及天上神性敬拜（221-227节）的描述。
1. THE LAST JUDGMENT AND BABYLON DESTROYED
The Last Judgment and Babylon Destroyed, Showing That at This Day All the Predictions of the Book of Revelation Have Been Fulfilled, Drawn from Things Heard and Seen
“Judgment Day” Does Not Mean the End of the World
1. If people have no knowledge of the Word's spiritual meaning, 1they cannot help but understand the Last Judgment to mean the end of everything visible to the eye in this world, since it says that at that time both heaven 2and earth will pass away and that God will create a new heaven and a new earth. 3They find further support for this interpretation in the fact that it says all people will then rise from their graves and that the good will then be separated from the evil, and so on [Matthew 25:31-46; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17; Revelation 20:11-15].
That, however, is what a literal reading of the Word says, because the literal meaning of the Word is earthly 4and resides on the lowest level of the divine design 5(though even there absolutely everything contains some spiritual meaning). As a result, people who understand the Word only in its literal meaning can be led to various conclusions, as has indeed happened throughout the Christian world 6-resulting in any number of heresies, for each of which people find biblical support.
[2] Still, since no one has as yet realized that there is spiritual meaning throughout the Word and in every detail, or has even realized what spiritual meaning is, people who have held this opinion of the Last Judgment are to be forgiven. However, let them now know that the heavens we see above us are not going to pass away, and neither is this earth that we are living on. No, both of them are going to survive. And let them now know that the “new heaven” and “new earth” mean a new church 7both in heaven and on earth. I speak of a new church in heaven since there is a church there just as there is on earth, because the Word and sermons exist in heaven as on earth and angels have a divine worship that is similar to ours. The difference, though, is that everything there is in a more perfected state because it exists in a spiritual world 8rather than an earthly one. So all the people there are spiritual people and not earthly, the way they were in this world. On this subject, see my book about heaven, 9especially where it discusses our union 10with heaven through the Word (Heaven and Hell 303-310) and deals with divine worship in heaven (Heaven and Hell 221-227).
Footnotes:
1. On Swedenborg's use of the term “the Word” for the books of the Bible that have an inner meaning, see note 7 in New Jerusalem 1. On the continuous and connected spiritual meaning that he sees as existing within the literal meaning of these books, see Last Judgment 40-42; Secrets of Heaven 1-5; New Jerusalem 1, 252, 258-261; White Horse 9-12; Sacred Scripture 5-26; True Christianity 193-209. [LSW]
2. Swedenborg is not implying that heaven is visible to the physical eye. The word for heaven in biblical Hebrew (שָׁמַיִם [šāmayim]) and Greek (οὐρανός [ouranós]), as well as in Swedenborg's original Latin (caelum), can mean either “sky” or “heaven,” and here his explanation of the term new heaven hinges on the ambiguity: “People . . . understand the Last Judgment to mean the end” of the physical sky, but instead it means, among other things, the end of a particular nonphysical heaven in the spiritual world, as initially described in Last Judgment 2 and in greater detail thereafter, especially in 65-72. [LSW, SS]
3. Swedenborg refers here to Revelation 21:1. For related discussion, see note 3 in Last Judgment 15 below. [RS]
4. The Latin word here translated “earthly” is naturalis, traditionally translated “natural.” For more on the concept behind this word, see note 6 in New Jerusalem 1. [Editors]
5. The Latin here translated “of the divine design” is ordinis divini, literally, “of the divine order.” On this term, see note 1 in New Jerusalem 11. [Editors]
6. By “the Christian world” here (Latin orbe Christiano), Swedenborg means the predominantly Christian regions of the world, which in his day were Europe and its colonies, or in nongeographical terms, the world's Christians themselves. [LSW, SS]
7. In this instance, as often elsewhere, Swedenborg is using the term “church” historically to mean the core religious approach of a given age or era through which heaven was connected with humankind, of which he asserts there have been five major instances, in the following sequence: the earliest (or “most ancient”) church, the early (or “ancient”) church, the Jewish church, the Christian church, and a new church represented by the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 and 22. For more discussion, see note 3 in New Jerusalem 4. [JSR]
8. On the term “spiritual world,” which includes heaven, hell, and the intermediate “world of spirits,” see note 2 in New Jerusalem 22. [Editors]
9. The reference here is to Heaven and Hell, apparently composed and probably also published at a time earlier in 1758 than Last Judgment. On the order of composition of Swedenborg's works of 1758, see the editors' preface, pages 29-33. [GFD, SS]
10. The Latin word here translated “union” is conjunctio, traditionally translated “conjunction.” For more on Swedenborg's use of this Latin term, see note 6 in New Jerusalem 2. [Editors]
1. THE DAY OF THE LAST JUDGMENT DOES NOT MEAN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD.
Those unfamiliar with the spiritual sense of the Word have understood only that on the day of the Last Judgment everything in the world we see around us will be destroyed. For it is said that then heaven together with the earth will perish, and God will create a new heaven and a new earth. To reinforce this belief it has been noted that it is said that all will then come up out of their graves, and then the good will be separated from the wicked, and so on. But this is said in the literal sense of the Word, a sense which is natural and at the lowest level in God's order, in which all the details contain a spiritual sense. As a result anyone who takes the Word only in its literal sense may be driven to accept various views, as has happened in the Christian world; this is the reason why there are so many heresies, every one of which is proved from the Word.
[2] Seeing, however, that no one has yet known that every detail of the Word contains a spiritual sense, nor even that there is such a thing as a spiritual sense, those who have taken this view of the Last Judgment should be forgiven. But they ought now to know that it is not the sky we see with our eyes which is to be destroyed nor is it the earth on which we live, both of which will remain in existence; but the 'new heaven and new earth' mean a new church, both in the heavens and upon earth. We say a new church in the heavens, because there is a church there just as much as on earth. There the Word is likewise to be found, there sermons are preached, and Divine worship takes place much as upon earth. The difference is that everything there is in a more perfect condition, because it is not in the natural but the spiritual world. So all the people there are spiritual, and not natural as they were in the world. On this subject see my HEAVEN AND HELL, in particular the description there of how heaven is linked with man by means of the Word (303-310) and of Divine worship in heaven (221-227).
1. I. THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD IS NOT MEANT BY THE DAY OF THE LAST JUDGMENT.
Those who have not known the spiritual sense of the Word, have understood that everything in the visible world will be destroyed in the day of the Last Judgment; for it is said, that heaven and earth are then to perish, and that God will create a New Heaven and a New Earth. In this opinion they have also confirmed themselves because it is said, that all are then to rise from their graves, and that the good are then to be separated from the evil, with more to the same purport. But it is thus said in the sense of the letter of the Word, because the sense of the letter of the Word is natural, and in the ultimate of Divine order, where each and every part contains a spiritual sense within it. For which reason, he who comprehends the Word only according to the sense of the letter, may be led into various opinions, as indeed has been the case in the Christian world, where so many heresies have thus arisen, and every one of them is confirmed from the Word. But since no one has hitherto known, that in the whole and in every part of the Word there is a spiritual sense, nor even what the spiritual sense is, therefore they who have embraced this opinion concerning the Last Judgment are excusable. But still they may now know, that neither the visible heaven nor the habitable earth will perish, but that both will endure; and that by "the New Heaven and the New Earth" is meant a New Church, both in the heavens and on the earth. It is said a New Church in the heavens, for there is a church in the heavens, as well as on the earth; for there also is the Word, and likewise preachings, and Divine worship as on the earth; but with a difference, that there all things are in a more perfect state, because there they are not in the natural world, but in the spiritual; hence all there are spiritual men, and not natural as they were in the world. That it is so, may be seen in the work on Heaven, in a special article there, on the Conjunction of Heaven with man by the Word (303-310); and on Divine Worship in Heaven (221-227).
1. DE ULTIMO JUDICIO ET BABYLONIA DESTRUCTA.
(I.) QUOD INTERITUS MUNDI NON INTELLECTUS SIT PER DIEM ULTIMI JUDICII.
Qui non noverunt sensum spiritualem Verbi, non aliud intellexerunt, quam quod die ultimi judicii interitura sint omnia quae in mundo coram oculis apparent; nam dicitur, quod tunc periturum cum dicitur, quod tunc caelum terra, et quod Deus novum caelum et novam terram creaturus: in hac opinione etiam se confirmaverunt per id, quod dicatur quod omnes tunc e sepulcris ascensuri sint, et quod tunc Separandi sint boni a malis, et sic porro: sed ita dicitur in Sensu litterae Verbi, quia sensus litterae Verbi est naturalis et in ultimo ordinis Divini, ubi omnia et singula sensum spiritualem in se continent; quapropter qui Verbum solum secundum sensum litterae comprehendit, is ferri potest in varias opiniones, ut quoque factum est in orbe Christiano, ubi inde tot haereses sunt, et unaquaevis confirmatur ex Verbo. Sed quia nemo adhuc noverat, quod omnibus et singulis Verbi insit sensus spiritualis, ne quidem quid sensus spiritualis, ideo ignoscendi sunt, qui hanc opinionem de ultimo judicio captaverunt; at usque nunc sciant, quod non caelum coram oculis aspectabile periturum sit, neque terra habitabilis, sed quod utrumque permansurum sit; et quod per "novum caelum et novam terram" intellecta sit nova ecclesia, tam in caelis quam in terris. Nova ecclesia in caelis dicitur, quia ibi aeque ecclesia est prout in terris; ibi namque aeque est Verbum, et aeque sunt praedicationes, et similis cultus Divinus sicut in terris; sed cum differentia, quod ibi omnia sint in perfectiori statu, quia ibi non sunt in mundo naturali sed in spirituali; inde omnes ibi sunt spirituales homines, et non naturales sicut fuerunt in mundo. Quod ita sit, videatur in opere De Caelo; et in specie ibi de Conjunctione Caeli cum homine per Verbum (303-310), et de Cultu Divino in Caelo (221-227), actum est.