56.⑵属巴比伦者在来世是什么样，这一点只有主允许在灵界与他们交往的人才知道。我有幸获此殊荣，故能凭亲身经历说话，因为我看见、听见了他们，并与他们交谈过。每个人死后都拥有类似他在世上所拥有的那种生活；除他的爱之快乐转化为相应的形式外，这种生活无法改变；这一点从《天堂与地狱》一书的两个章节（470-484；485-490节）明显看出来。现在所论述的这些人的生活也是如此，它完全和在世时一样；不同之处在于，那时他们心里所藏的秘密都暴露出来。因为那时，他们在灵里，思维和意图的内层都在灵里；他们在世上隐藏这些内层，并用一种神圣的外在表现来掩盖它们。
由于这些内层现在都可以看见，所以人能发觉，在那些声称有权柄打开和关闭天堂的神职人员当中，一半以上完全是无神论者。但由于他们的心智仍被他们在世时所行使的权柄困扰，并且这种权柄建立在这一原则的基础上，即：主被父赐予一切权柄，这权柄转交给彼得，又按继承顺序转交给教会的高级教士或领袖，所以他们仍有与其无神论相连的对主的一种口头承认。然而，这种承认只在能使他们拥有某种程度的权力的情况下才会持续下去。其余的，即不是无神论的神职人员则头脑如此简单，以至于完全不知道人的属灵生活、得救的方法和通往天堂的神性真理；他们对天上的信与爱一无所知，还以为教皇能随意将天堂授予任何人。
由于在灵界，只要尚未在天堂或地狱，每个人都过着类似于在尘世的生活（参看《天堂与地狱》，452-480节），还由于就外在表象而言，灵界完全就像自然界（参看《天堂与地狱》，170-176节），故他们仍过着那种道德文明的生活，尤其仍拥有那种敬拜，因为这一切会扎根于人的至内层，并牢牢固定在那里；死后，任何人都无法从中退出，除非他拥有来自真理的良善和来自良善的真理。然而，把现在所论述的人从他们的敬拜形式中解救出来，要比解救其他人难得多，因为他们缺乏来自真理的良善，更不用说来自良善的真理了。除了少数人外，他们所拥有的真理不是来自圣言，并且他们通过利用这些真理来巩固他们的权力而歪曲了它们。因此，他们没有良善，只有一种伪善，因为真理的性质决定了良善的性质。说这一切是为了叫人们知道，这些人在灵界的敬拜和在世时一样。
作为前言，我想就天主教徒在灵界的敬拜和生活讲述一些细节。他们有一个议会室，代替罗马的议会室或宗教会议室；他们的领袖或大主教们在此开会商议各种宗教问题，尤其商议如何让普通百姓继续盲目顺从，如何扩大掌控他们的权柄。这个议会室位于南部，靠近东部边界。但在世上实际做过教皇或红衣主教的人却一个也不敢进入。许多教皇和红衣主教头脑里仍有这种想法：他们拥有神性权威，因为他们在世时篡夺了主的权柄。因此，一到那里，他们就被带走，被赶到旷野，加入那里的同类灵人。然而，内心正直，不接受教会的信仰，即他们拥有神性权柄的教皇或红衣主教都坐在这个议会室后面的一个昏暗房间里。
他们在靠北的西部还有一个聚会的地方；他们在那里的任务是把轻信的信徒引入天堂，体验他们对天堂的概念。在那里，他们在这些信徒周围安排了大量享受外在快乐的社团；有的社团玩游戏；有的跳舞；有的开各种玩笑，脸上摆出各种欢笑的表情；有的进行友好交谈，一个地方谈论民政事务，一个地方谈论宗教问题，还有一个地方谈论猥亵的话题；等等。他们根据信徒的愿望把他们送到其中某个社团，称那就是天堂。但在那里度过几个小时之后，他们就都厌倦离开了，因为这些快乐纯粹是外在的，不是内在的。此外，许多人也因此不再相信他们所谓引入天堂的教导。
他们的敬拜在细节上和在世时差不多。它由如世上那样的庆祝弥撒构成；他们执行弥撒所用的语言不是灵人通用的那种语言，而是一种由听上去很崇高、很玄奥的词语构成的语言。这些词会引发一种外在的敬畏感，甚至让人们发抖，尽管他们一个词也听不懂。他们照样崇拜圣徒，展示他们的画像。然而，圣徒们自己却无处可寻，因为凡寻求被拜为神明的圣徒都在地狱；没有寻求获得崇拜的其他圣徒则在普通灵人之列。他们的高级教士知道这一切，因为他们搜寻并找到圣徒，找到之后又贬低他们。不过，他们向百姓隐瞒这一切，好叫圣徒仍作为守护神受到崇拜；而掌管百姓的高级教士们自己则可以被拜为天堂之主。
此外，他们同样和在世时那样建造大量圣殿和修道院，聚敛财富，搜集成堆的宝物并藏于地窖。灵界和自然界一样，也有宝物，并且丰富得多。他们在灵界还是派出修道士去勾引外邦人接受他们的宗教信仰，从而使他们受制于他们的管辖。他们通常在集会中间设立了望塔，以便监视周围所有的区域。此外，他们利用各种手段和伎俩与远近不同的人建立联系，加入他们的联盟，把他们拉拢到自己这一边。
这就是他们的总体状况。但就细节而言，天主教的许多主教否认主拥有任何权柄，并声称自己拥有这种权柄；他们因如此行，故根本不承认任何神性。即便如此，他们仍表面假装神圣；但这种神圣本身是亵渎，因为他们内在缺乏对神性的任何承认。正因如此，他们能通过一种外在的神圣与最低层天堂的一些社群接触，通过一种内在的亵渎与地狱接触，以至于同时在这两个地方。因此，他们能迷惑简单的善灵，在自己周围给这些善灵安排住处，还纠集恶灵，与他们一起包围会众。他们通过简单的善灵与天堂联结，通过恶灵与地狱联结。如此他们就能实施从地狱犯下的难以启齿的罪行。因为住在天堂的边界，就是最低层天堂的简单善灵看不透这些主教的外在神圣，只注意到他们表面对主的神圣敬拜。他们没有意识到主教们的罪行，还以为他们都很好。这种好感给主教们提供了最好、最大的保护。然而，随着时间推移，他们最终从他们的表面神圣中退出，然后与天堂分离，并被投入地狱。
从这些事在某种程度上可以知道属巴比伦者在来世是什么样。我知道，世人会疑惑这种事是否真在灵界发生，因为他们对人死后的状态，天堂和地狱只有一种模糊和空洞的概念。但《天堂与地狱》一书基于我的所见所闻来阐述并解释的事证实：人死后仍是一个人，过一种群体生活，住在房子里（HH183-190节）；在教会听讲道（HH221-227节）；履行职责，做工作（HH387-394节）；在灵界还会看到在他所离开的世界看到的那类事物（HH170-176节）。
56. 2. What the people of this Babylon are like in the other life. This cannot be clear to anyone who has not been granted by the Lord to be with people who are in the spiritual world. Since this has in fact been granted to me, I can speak of this from personal experience, for I have seen these people, I have heard them, and I have talked with them.
After death we all lead the same kind of life we led in the world. This life cannot be changed, except that the [inward] things that delighted our heart become corresponding [external circumstances] after death; 1there is evidence for this in two chapters in Heaven and Hell, 470-484 and 485-490. So the lives of the people we are talking about here are just like the lives they had led in the world, with the sole difference that now things hidden in their hearts are revealed. These people are now in the spirit, where the things dwell that lie behind their thoughts and intentions-things they kept concealed in the world underneath a covering of outward holiness. [2] Since their inner selves are now visible, it has become clear that more than half of the clergy who have claimed the power to open and close heaven are absolute atheists. 2Their minds are obsessed by the power they had in the world, and that power was based on the principle that the Lord was given all power by the Father and that this power was transferred to Peter, and by the order of succession, to the leaders of the church. 3Consequently, there is still an oral confession of the Lord linked to their atheism. However, this lasts only as long as it enables them to have some measure of power. The rest of them, the clergy who are not atheists, are so empty-headed that they do not know anything about people's spiritual life, the means of salvation, the divine truths that lead to heaven-anything about heavenly faith and love. They believe that heaven can be granted to anyone of any sort whatever at the whim of the pope.
[3] Since we all lead the same kind of life in the spiritual world as we led in this earthly world, with no difference as long as we are not yet in heaven or hell (see Heaven and Hell 452-480), and since to all outward appearances the spiritual world is just like the earthly world (see Heaven and Hell 170-176), these people have the same kind of moral and civic life and especially the same kind of worship, since this takes root and is firmly lodged in the deepest levels of our nature. None of us can be led out of it after death, either, except those who have been motivated by truth to do good and those who have been motivated by goodness to seek truth. The people we are talking about here, though, are harder to rescue from their form of worship than others are because these people have not been motivated by truth to do good and have certainly not been motivated by goodness to seek truth. Except in the case of a few points, their “truths” are not drawn from the Word, and the few that they do have from the Word have been distorted by being used to gain power. This means that any good they do is not genuinely good, since it is the quality of the truths we have that determines the quality of the good we do.
The reason for saying all this is to let it be known that the kind of worship these people practice is just the same in the spiritual world as it was in the earthly world.
[4] With this as a preface, I would like to relate something about their life in the spiritual world and also about the form of worship they practice there. They have a kind of supreme council that serves the function of the supreme council or consistory in Rome, where the leaders meet to confer about one or another of their religious concerns-especially how the common people can be kept in blind obedience and how their own power can be extended. This council meets in the eastern part of the southern region. However, no one who has actually been a pope or cardinal dares attend. The minds of [many] popes and cardinals are possessed with the idea that they have divine authority, because they claimed the Lord's power on earth for themselves. The moment they arrive, therefore, they are taken away and cast out to join kindred spirits in the wilderness. Any popes or cardinals who had an upright mind, however, and did not accept the church's belief that they had divine power, sit in a darkened room adjacent to where the council meets.
[5] There is another gathering in the northern part of the west. Its task is to allow lay believers to experience their idea of heaven. The leaders there set up a number of groups around themselves that enjoy various superficial pleasures. In some of these groups, people play games; in some they dance; in some they are entertained in various ways to put a smile on their face; and in some they carry on friendly conversations: over here there is a conversation about civil affairs; over there, about religious matters; and over there, about lewd subjects-and so on. Depending on the believers' wishes, the leaders send them to one or another of these communities, referring to them as “heaven”; but in every case, after being there a few hours the believers become completely bored and wander off, because these pleasures are only shallow and superficial. In this way, many individuals are led to rethink the beliefs they had been taught about what it is to be in heaven. 4
[6] As specifically concerns Catholic worship there, this is very much like their worship in the world. It consists of celebrating the mass as they did on earth; they conduct it in a language that is not a common language among spirits but is composed of words that sound profound. These engender an external sense of reverence and even cause people to tremble, although they do not understand a single word they are hearing.
People revere their saints in the same way as they had and display their images. The saints themselves, however, are nowhere to be seen, because the ones whose goal in life was to be worshiped as a demigod are in hell, and the others, who had no goal of being worshiped, are in the company of ordinary spirits. The leaders know this because they themselves have searched them out and have found them-and therefore now hold them in contempt. They keep this secret from the common people, however, so that the saints may still be worshiped as godly protectors, while the leaders themselves, as rulers of the people, will be revered as lords of heaven.
[7] They establish a great many monastic orders and cathedrals there, too, just as they did in the world; and they amass wealth and accumulate valuables that they hide away in their vaults. (There are valuables in the spiritual world just as there are in the earthly world-in fact, in that world there are many more of them.)
They send out monks there 5just as they do here, to lure non-Christians into their religion and subject them to their control. It is a common practice of theirs to have watchtowers erected in the middle of their congregations, from which they can keep all the surrounding neighborhoods under observation. They also create for themselves various methods and means of communication with others both near at hand and far away, making treaties with them and getting them on their side.
[8] That is their state in general. As for the bishops of that religion in particular, many of them deny that the Lord has any power and claim that power for themselves; and since they do this, they do not acknowledge the Divine at all. Even so, they assume a kind of outward holiness, but a holiness that is actually profane within because of their lack of any inner acknowledgment of the Divine. 6As a result, they are in touch with some communities of the lowest heaven by means of their outward holiness but with the hells by means of their inward profanation, so they face both ways. Therefore they are able to persuade simple but good-hearted spirits to join them and they set them up with places to live near themselves, and yet they also gather malicious spirits and surround the congregation with them. They join themselves to heaven through the simple but good-hearted spirits and to hell through the malicious spirits. This is how they are able to carry out unspeakable things perpetrated from hell. These simple but good-hearted spirits, though, who live at the boundaries of heaven, do not look beyond the outward holiness [of these bishops], and notice only the extreme holiness of their outward worship of the Lord. They are unaware of the bishops' crimes and therefore think well of them. This good opinion provides the bishops with their best form of protection. Eventually, though, with the passage of time, all these bishops lapse from their outward holiness, and are then separated from heaven and cast into hell.
[9] This may give you some idea of what the people of this Babylon are like in the other life.
I realize that some people are going to wonder whether things like this really happen in the spiritual world-people who have a worldly focus and whose only ideas of our state after death and of heaven and hell are meaningless and empty. But things stated and explained in Heaven and Hell on the basis of what I have heard and seen establish that we are still human after death, that we are in the company of other people there as we were in this world, and that we live in houses [183-190], hear sermons in church [221-227], do our work [387-394], and see the same kinds of things in that world as we did in the world we left behind [170-176].
Footnotes:
1. The augmentation of the translation in square brackets here is based on Heaven and Hell 485 (which is included in the chapters cited at the end of the sentence). From that passage it is clear that Swedenborg means that the inner things we love and find pleasurable on earth are changed after death into corresponding external, though of course still spiritual, surroundings and objects. For examples of such correspondences, see Heaven and Hell 488-489; Divine Love and Wisdom 322; Revelation Explained (= Swedenborg 1994-1997a) 659:5, 986:2. [JSR, LSW]
2. Swedenborg is far from alone in his criticism of the hypocrisy and the lack of belief that could be found among the clergy of the established churches in his day, both Roman Catholic and Protestant. For example, in 1734 Voltaire characterized the higher ranks of the French clergy as consisting of “young men who are known for their debauchery and who have been raised to the prelacy by the plots of women, make love in public, divert themselves with the composing of sentimental songs, entertain daily with long and exquisite supper parties, and go from there to beseech the light of the Holy Spirit, and boldly to call themselves the successors of the Apostles” (Voltaire [1734] 2003, 24). The French aphorist Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) said, “A vicar-general may permit himself a smile when religion is attacked, a bishop may laugh outright, and a cardinal may give his cordial assent” (quoted in Johnson 1987, 354). However, true atheists in the current sense of the term were fewer than contemporary critics supposed or pretended to suppose (Kors 1990, 6-13, 18-43); in fact, the word atheism then tended to refer more to heterodox religious beliefs than to outright disbelief in any God (compare notes in Last Judgment 15:3, 16). Writers from the Renaissance onward were aware that the term was applied in varying senses by different scholars (Allen 1964, 3-4, with notes 6-7), and it may be to avoid this ambiguity that Swedenborg specifies that these clerics were “absolute” atheists (prorsus athei). For illustrative discussions of the scope, nature, and causes of atheism in early modern times, see Kors 1990 and Kors 2016, which deal with France in the period 1650-1729. For a particularly forceful condemnation by Swedenborg of clerical hypocrisy and disbelief, see True Christianity 381:2-4. [RS, SS]
3. On the subject of the power of Christ on earth passing from Peter to the leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, see the notes in New Jerusalem 316 and Last Judgment 55:2. Compare also Swedenborg's experiences in the spiritual world with respect to Peter, as related in the next section (Last Judgment 57). [Editors]
4. For examples of individuals who discover their preconceptions about heaven are erroneous, see Marriage Love 2-10 (paralleled in True Christianity 731-739). [GFD]
5. For another mention of evangelizing monks, see Other Planets 169:1. On Enlightenment criticism of contemporary Christian evangelism, and particularly Catholic evangelism, see note 2 in Other Planets 169. [Editors]
6. By Swedenborg's account, the general rule in the spiritual world is that whatever is inside a person will be expressed outwardly. This is reflected earlier in this section where he says that “now things hidden in their hearts are revealed. These people are now in the spirit, where the things dwell that lie behind their thoughts and intentions.” This would ordinarily make it impossible for individuals to appear holy outwardly if they were not in a holy state inwardly. However, as Swedenborg explains in Heaven and Hell 491-498, the first state after death is one in which people live outwardly just as they have lived in the world. It is not until their second state after death, described in Heaven and Hell 499-511, that any outward appearances that do not correspond to their real inward character are stripped away, so that they can no longer appear outwardly to be anything they are not inwardly. As suggested by the remark in Last Judgment 56:3 that there is no difference in our life in the spiritual world “as long as we are not yet in heaven or hell,” and as made more explicit in a passage on the afterlife of Roman Catholics in True Christianity 817-821, the communities described here are located in the world of spirits (see the notes in New Jerusalem 22, 25:1), not in heaven or in hell. Though these communities do persist in the world of spirits, their inhabitants change as newcomers arrive from the material world, and current residents move on to their permanent homes either in heaven or in hell. See, for example, Swedenborg's statement at the end of this subsection about the corrupt officials described here: “Eventually, though, with the passage of time, all these bishops lapse from their outward holiness, and are then separated from heaven and cast into hell.” [LSW, SS]
56. What the people from Babylon are like in the other life is something which can only be known to one who has been allowed by the Lord to mix with them in the spiritual world. Since this has been granted to me, I can speak from experience, having seen and heard them and talked with them. Each person has after death a life similar to that he had in the world. This can only be changed as regards the delights of his love, which are turned into corresponding forms; this can be seen in two chapters of HEAVEN AND HELL 470-484, 485-490.
The life led by the people now under discussion is likewise exactly as it was in the world, but with the difference that the secrets of their hearts are then disclosed. For they are then in the spirit, which is where the more inward levels, those of thoughts and intentions, reside; and these they kept hidden in the world, covering them over with an outward show of holiness.
[2] Since these then were revealed, one could perceive that more than half of them, those who had usurped the power of opening and closing heaven, are completely godless. But because their minds cling to the power they exercised in the world, and this is based upon the principle that the Lord had all power given to Him by the Father, and this was then handed on to Peter, and in due succession to the prelates of the church, they still keep alongside their ungodliness the practice of confessing the Lord with the lips. But this only lasts so long as they can keep some power by its means. The rest, however, who are not godless, are so vacuous that they know nothing whatever about people's spiritual life, the means of salvation, the Divine truths which point the way to heaven, nor anything about heavenly faith and love, believing that by the Pope's favour heaven can be granted to anyone, no matter what sort of person he is.
[3] Each person has the same sort of life in the spiritual world as he had in the natural world, with no difference so long as he is not in heaven or in hell; this may be seen in HEAVEN AND HELL 453-480. In external appearance the spiritual world is exactly like the natural world (170-176). As a result their moral and civil lives are similar, and in particular their worship is similar, since it is rooted and clings to the inmost levels of a person; and no one can be diverted from it after death, unless he has the good which comes from truths and the truths which come from good. It is, however, more difficult to divert the people under discussion than other peoples from their form of worship, because they lack the good which comes from truths, not to mention the truths which come from good. The truths they have do not come from the Word with few exceptions, and these they have falsified by employing them to establish their power. As a result they have no good either, except a spurious kind of good; for the nature of truths determines the nature of good. These remarks are intended to convey the idea that the worship this group practises in the spiritual world is exactly the same as it was in the natural world.
[4] After this introduction I should like to report something about their worship and their life in the spiritual world. They have a Council chamber to replace the Council chamber or Consistory in Rome, where their leaders meet to deliberate about various ecclesiastical matters, above all how to keep the common people subject to blind obedience, and how to enlarge their power over them. This Council chamber is situated in the southern quarter near the eastern border. But no one who had been Pope in the world, nor any who had been a cardinal, dares to enter it, because by claiming for themselves in the world the Lord's power they have implanted in their minds an image of Divine authority. So as soon as they present themselves there, they are taken away and cast out to join their peers in the desert. Those of them, however, who were of upright character and had not so convinced themselves of that belief as to usurp such power, are in a dimly-lit room behind the Council chamber.
[5] They have another meeting-place in the western quarter near the north, where their business is the admission of the credulous common people into heaven. There they arrange around them a number of communities devoted to various outward pleasures. In some they go in for gaming, in some for dancing, in some for all kinds of jokes and amusements to make people smile, in some for friendly conversation, in one place talking about politics, in another about religious affairs, in another about indecent subjects, and so on. They admit their clients to one of these communities in response to their desire, calling that heaven. But after a few hours spent there they all become bored and go away because these are merely outward, not inward pleasures. Many are also thus led away from believing their teaching about being admitted to heaven.
[6] In detail their worship is almost the same as in the world. It consists, as in the world, of masses, which are held not in the ordinary language used by spirits, but in a concoction of high-sounding phrases which strikes terror into them by its outward sanctity, but remains unintelligible. They adore saints in the same way and display their statues. But the Roman Catholic saints are themselves nowhere to be seen, for all of them whose ambition was to be worshipped as deities are in hell, and the rest who had no such ambition are among the spirits of the common people. Their dignitaries are aware of this, for they seek out the saints and find them, and therefore come to disparage them. But they conceal this from the people, so that the saints can go on being worshipped as guardian deities, and the prelates themselves, who are in charge of the people, as lords of heaven.
[7] As in the world they similarly build numbers of churches and monasteries. They similarly amass wealth, collecting heaps of precious objects and hiding them in cellars. The spiritual world has precious objects just as much as the natural world, but many more of them. Similarly there they send out monks to induce peoples to adopt their religion, and thus make them subject to their rule. It is a widespread practice to have look-out towers constructed in the middle of their group, so that they can watch all the surrounding areas. By various tricks and devices they get in touch with people both near and far, and bind them with treaties to get them on their side.
[8] That is their general condition. But in detail most of the prelates of that religion rob the Lord of all power and claim it for themselves; and because they do this, they do not acknowledge the Divine. In outward show they put on a counterfeit appearance of holiness, holiness which is essentially a profanity, because it contains no inward acknowledgment of the Divine. As a result their outward holiness allows them to make contact with some communities of the lowest heaven and their inward profanity to make contact with the hells, so that they are in both places at once. For this reason they attract simple good spirits, giving them dwellings close to their own, and groups of malicious spirits, whom they arrange around their own group. In this way they are linked through the simple good with heaven and through the malicious with hell. Thus they devise unspeakable crimes which they commit under guidance from hell. For the simple good in the lowest heavens do not see beyond their external holiness, and their most devout adoration of the Lord in outward show, and so they are favourably disposed to them because they fail to see their crimes. This is their best protection; but still they all in course of time drop their outward show of holiness, and are then cut off from heaven and cast into hell.
[9] This will give some idea of what the people from Babylon are like in the other life. I know people in the world will be surprised at such things happening there, since they have only a vague and vacuous idea of people's condition after death and of heaven and hell. But a person is just as much a person after death, he lives in society as in the world, dwells in houses, listens to sermons in churches, performs duties and sees sights in that world similar to those in the one he has just left. All this can be proved from the reports in HEAVEN AND HELL of things seen and heard.
56. II. The quality of those in the other life who are Babylon can appear only to one to whom it has been given by the Lord to be together with those who are in the spiritual world. Since this has been granted to me, I am able to speak from experience, for I have seen them, I have heard them, and I have spoken with them. Every man after death is in a life similar to his life in the world; this cannot be changed, save only as regards the delights of the love, which are turned into correspondences, as may appear from the two articles in the work on Heaven and Hell (470-484; and 485-490). It is the same with the life of those now treated of, which is altogether such as it was in the world, with this difference, that the hidden things of their hearts are there uncovered, for they are in the spirit, in which reside the interior things of the thoughts and intentions, which they had concealed in the world, and had covered over with a holy external. And since these hidden things were then laid open, it was perceived that more than half of those who had usurped the power of opening and shutting heaven, were altogether atheists; but since dominion resides in their minds as in the world, and is based on this principle that all power was given by the Father to the Lord Himself, and that it was transferred to Peter, and by order of succession to the primates of the church, therefore an oral confession about the Lord remains adjoined to their atheism; but even this remains only so long as they enjoy some dominion by means of it. But the rest of them, who are not atheists, are so empty, as to be entirely ignorant of man's spiritual life, of the means of salvation, of the Divine truths which lead to heaven; and they know nothing at all of heavenly faith and love, believing that heaven may be granted of the Pope's favor to any one, whatever he be. Now since every one is in a life in the spiritual world, similar to his life in the natural world, without any difference, so long as he is neither in heaven nor in hell (as is shown, and may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell, 453-480), and since the spiritual world, as regards its external appearance, is altogether like the natural world (170-176), therefore they also live a similar moral and civil life, and above all have similar worship, for this is inrooted, and inheres to man in his inmost, nor can any one after death be withdrawn from it, except he be in good from truths, and in truths from good. But it is more difficult to withdraw the nation now treated of from its worship, than other nations, because it is not in good from truths, and still less in truths from good; for its truths are not from the Word, with the exception of some few, which they have falsified by applying them to dominion; and hence it has none other than spurious good, for such as the truths are, such does the good become. These things are said, in order that it may be known, that the worship of this nation, in the spiritual world, is altogether similar to its worship in the natural world. These things premised, I will now relate some particulars of the worship and life of the Papists in the spiritual world. They have a certain council, in place of the council or consistory at Rome, in which their primates meet, and consult on various matters of their religion, especially on the means of holding the common people in blind obedience, and of enlarging their dominion. This council is situated in the southern quarter, near the east; but no one who has been a Pope or a cardinal in the world dares to enter it, because the semblance of Divine authority possesses their minds, from their having in the world arrogated the Lord's power to themselves; wherefore, as soon as they present themselves there, they are carried out, and cast to their like in a desert. But those among them, who have been upright in mind, and have not from confirmed belief usurped such power, are in a certain obscure chamber behind this council. There is another assembly in the western quarter, near the north; the business there, is the intromission of the credulous common people into heaven. They there dispose around them a number of societies which live in various external delights; in some of the societies they play, in some they dance, in some they compose the face into the various expressions of hilarity and mirthfulness; in some they converse in a friendly manner; in some they discuss civil affairs, in others religious matters; in other societies again, they talk obscenities; and so on. They admit their dependents into one of these societies such as each may desire, and call it heaven; but all of them, after being there a few hours, are wearied and depart, because those joys are external, and not eternal. In this way, moreover, many are withdrawn from a belief in their doctrinal concerning intromission into heaven. As regards their worship in particular, it is almost like their worship in the world; as in the world, it consists in masses, not performed in the common language of spirits, but in one composed of lofty-sounding words, which induce an external holiness and awe, and are utterly unintelligible. In like manner they adore saints, and expose idols to view; but their saints are nowhere to be seen, for all those who have sought to be worshiped as deities, are in hell; the rest who did not seek to be worshiped, are among common spirits. This their prelates know, for they seek and find them, and when found they despise them; yet they conceal it from the people, that the saints may still be worshiped as tutelar deities, but that the primates themselves, who are set over the people, may be worshiped as the lords of heaven. In like manner, moreover, they multiply temples and monasteries as they did in the world; they scrape together riches, and accumulate costly things, which they hide in cellars; for costly things exist in the spiritual, as well as in the natural world, and far more abundantly. In like manner they send forth monks, to allure the Gentiles to their religious persuasion, in order that they may subject them to their rule. They commonly have watch towers erected in the middle of their assemblies, from which they are enabled to enjoy an extended view into all the surrounding region. And moreover, by various means and arts they establish for themselves communications with persons far and near, joining in league with them, and drawing them over to their own party. Such is their state in general; but as to particulars, many prelates of that religion take away all power from the Lord, and claim it for themselves, and because they do this, they do not acknowledge any Divine. They still counterfeit holiness in externals; yet this holiness in itself is profane, because in their internals there is no acknowledgment of the Divine. Hence it is that they communicate with certain societies of the lowest heaven by a holy external, and with the hells by a profane internal, so that they are in both; on which account, moreover, they allure simple good spirits, and give them habitations near themselves, and also congregate wicked spirits, and dispose them around the society in all directions, by the simple good conjoining themselves with heaven, and by the wicked with hell. Hence they are enabled to accomplish heinous things which they perpetrate from hell. For the simple good who are in the lowest heavens look only to their holy external, and their very holy adoration of the Lord in externals, but they do not see their wickedness, and therefore they favor them, and this is their greatest protection; yet in process of time they all recede from their holy external, and then, being separated from heaven, they are cast into hell. From these things it may be known in some degree, what is the quality of those in the other life who are from Babylon. But I am aware that they who are in this world, and have no idea of man's state after death, of heaven, or of hell, but an inane and empty one, will wonder at the existence of such things in the spiritual world. But, that man is equally a man after death, that he lives in fellowships as he did in the world, that he dwells in houses, hears preaching in temples, discharges duties, and sees things in that world, similar to those in the former world he has left, may appear from all that has been said and shown of the things I have heard and seen, in the work on Heaven and Hell.
56. ((ii.)) Quales sunt in altera vita illi qui ex Babylonia sunt, non constare alicui potest, quam cui datum est a Domino una esse cum illis qui in mundo spirituali sunt. Hoc quia mihi concessum est, possum ab experientia loqui, nam vidi illos, audivi illos, et locutus sum cum illis. Unusquisque homo post mortem in simili vita est in qua fuit in mundo; haec non mutari potest, solum quoad jucunda quae sunt amoris, quae vertuntur in correspondentia; ut constare potest ex binis articulis in opere De Caelo et Inferno (470-484, 485-490): vita horum, de quibus nunc agitur, similiter, quae prorsus talis est qualis in mundo, cum differentia, quod tunc retegantur abscondita cordis eorum; sunt enim in spiritu, in quo interiora, quae sunt cogitationum et intentionum, resident, quae in mundo celaverunt, et sancto externo obtexerunt; haec quia tunc patuerunt, apperceptum est quod ultra dimidiam partem ex illis, qui usurpaverunt potestatem aperiendi et claudendi caelum, prorsus athei sint: sed quia animo insidet dominatus qualis in mundo, et ille fundatur super eo principio, quod Domino fuerit omnis potestas Ipsi data a Patre, ac illa translata in Petrum, et per successionis ordinem in primores ecclesiae, ideo adjuncta atheismo eorum permanet confessio oralis de Domino; sed hoc usque non diutius, quam dum per id in aliquo dominio sunt. Reliqui autem, qui non athei sunt, tam vacui sunt, ut prorsus nihil sciant de vita spirituali hominis, de mediis salvationis, de Divinis veris quae ducunt ad caelum, nec aliquid de caelesti fide et amore; credentes caelum cuivis, qualiscunque est, donari posse ex gratia Pontificis. Quoniam unusquisque in simili vita est in mundo spirituali, in quali fuit in mundo naturali, cum nulla differentia quamdiu non sunt vel in caelo vel in inferno, ut ostensum videatur in opere De Caelo et Inferno (453-480), et quia mundus spiritualis quoad externam apparentiam prorsus similis est mundo naturali (170-176), ideo illis similis est vita moralis et vita civilis, imprimis similis cultus, quia ille irradicatur et inhaeret homini in ejus intimis, nec ab illo aliquis post mortem abduci potest, si non in bono ex veris est et in veris ex bono. Haec autem gens, de qua nunc agitur, aegrius quam reliquae gentes a suo cultu abduci potest, quia non in bono ex veris sunt, minus in veris ex bono; sunt enim vera illorum non ex Verbo, modo pauca, quae falsificaverunt per applicationem ad dominatum; inde nec illis bonum, nisi quam spurium; nam qualia sunt vera tale fit bonum. Haec dicta sunt, ut sciatur quod cultus hujus gentis prorsus similis sit in mundo spirituali, qualis fuit in mundo naturali. His praemissis, nunc aliquid de eorum cultu ibi, deque eorum vita, memorare velim. Synedrium quoddam habent, loco Synedrii seu Consistorii in Roma, ubi illorum primores conveniunt, et consultant de variis quae religionis eorum sunt, imprimis quomodo vulgus tenendum est in caeca obedientia, et quomodo dominatus eorum ampliandus. Locus hujus Synedrii est in plaga meridionali juxta orientalem: sed non audet aliquis, qui in mundo fuerat Pontifex, intrare, nec aliquis qui fuerat cardinalis, ob causam quia insidet animis eorum instar auctoritatis Divinae, ex eo quod arrogaverint sibi potestatem Domini in mundo; quapropter utprimum se sistunt ibi praesentes, auferuntur et ejiciuntur ad similes in deserto: qui autem ex illis animo probo fuerunt, et non usurpaverunt ex fide confirmata talem potestatem, illi post id Synedrium in camera quadam obscura sunt. Alius conventus est in plaga occidentali prope septentrionem: negotium ibi est credulum vulgus intromittere in caelum; disponunt ibi circum se plures societates, quae in variis jucundis externis sunt; in quibusdam ludunt, in quibusdam saltant, in quibusdam componunt faciem in varii generis hilaritates et laetitias, in quibusdam loquuntur amice, alicubi de rebus civilibus, alicubi de religiosis, alicubi de lasciviis, et sic porro; in aliquam ex his societatibus, secundum cujusvis desiderium, immittunt clientes, vocantes id caelum; sed omnes post paucas horas, cum ibi fuerunt, taedio afficiuntur et abscedunt, quia jucunda illa sunt externa, et non interna: ita quoque plures abducuntur a fide doctrinalis illorum de intromissione in caelum. Quod cultum eorum in specie attinet, ille est paene similis cultui eorum in mundo. Consistit ille in missis ut in mundo, quae fiunt in lingua non communi spirituum, sed conflata ex Vocibus alte sonantibus, quae sanctum externum et tremorem incutiunt, quae prorsus non intelliguntur. Similiter adorant sanctos, ac idola exponunt: sed illorum sancti nullibi apparent; nam omnes ex illis qui ambiverunt coli ut numina, in inferno sunt; reliqui qui non ambiverunt coli, inter vulgares spiritus sunt. Antistites eorum id sciunt, nam inquirunt illos et inveniuntur; quare vilipendunt eos; sed hoc occultant populo, ut usque colantur sicut dii tutelares, at ipsi primates, qui populo praefecti sunt, ut domini caeli. Similiter quoque sicut in mundo multiplicant templa et monasteria: similiter corradunt opes, et cumulunt pretiosa, ac in cellariis abscondunt; nam in mundo spirituali, aeque ut in mundo naturali, sunt pretiosa, ac in illo multo plura. Similiter ibi emittunt monachos ad pelliciendum gentes ad suum religiosum, et sic ad subjiciendum illos suo imperio. Commune est, quod turres speculatorias in medio congregationis exstructas habeant, ex quibus visum in omnes vicinias possunt extendere; communicationes etiam sibi faciunt variis modis et artibus cum propinquis et remotis, ac foedera cum illis ligant, et in suas partes trahunt. Talis est status eorum in genere: in specie autem plerique praesules illius religionis derogant omnem potestatem Domino, et sibi illam vindicant; et quia hoc faciunt, nec agnoscunt aliquod Divinum; mentiuntur usque in externis sanctum, quod sanctum tamen in se est profanum, quia in internis eorum non est aliqua agnitio Divini: inde est quod cum aliquibus societatibus caeli ultimi communicent per sanctum externum, et cum infernis per profanum internum, sic ut sint utrobivis: quapropter etiam allectant spiritus simplices bonos, et illis dant habitationes juxta se, et congregant malitiosos, quos disponunt circumcirca congregationem; sic etiam per simplices bonos se conjungunt caelo, et per malitiosos inferno; inde est quod moliri possint nefanda, quae patrant ab inferno; simplices enim boni, qui in ultimis caeli sunt non ultra spectant quam ad sanctum externum, et ad sanctissimam eorum adorationem Domini in externis, et non vident eorum flagitia, quapropter favent illis; inde est illorum maximum tutamen; sed usque omnes illi successu temporis recedunt a sancto externo, et tunc separati a caelo conjiciuntur in infernum. Ex his aliquantum sciri potest, quales in altera vita sunt illi qui ex Babylonia. Sed scio, quod miraturi sint, quod talia ibi existant, qui in mundo sunt, et non aliquam ideam de statu hominis post mortem, deque caelo et inferno, quam inanem et vacuam habent; sed quod homo aeque homo sit post mortem, vivat in consortiis ut in mundo, habitet in domibus, audiat praedicationes in templis, functiones obeat, ac similia videat in eo mundo quae in priori quem reliquerat, constare potest ex illis quae ex visis et auditis in opere De Caelo et Inferno dicta et ostensa sunt.