5049. They complained that they were treated in this way in the other life when they actually had lived civilly in the world. But the answer they got was that those who are motivated by an intense desire to command cannot be governed by the Lord through heaven because they cannot receive an inflow from this source, on which account they are governed by the hells and are treated in whatever way it pleases. Besides, their inner elements appear closed and as if black, a sign that not only were they closed but also that hatred, revenge, and the like ruled there. Also, such people in the world have no concern for the things that pertain to heaven and the Church; they only go to church out of habit, so that they can talk about these things.
5049. They complained that it should be so done to them in the other life, when yet in the world they have lived morally; but they got the reply, that those who are greatly affected with the frenzy and lust of ruling, cannot be ruled through heaven by the Lord, because they cannot receive influx thence; wherefore, they are ruled by the hells, and are treated in whatever way is agreeable [to the hells]. Their interiors also appeared closed, and as it were black - a sign not only that they were closed, but also that hatred, revenge, and similar things, reigned in them. Such characters, also, in the world, have no care for those things which belong to heaven and the Church: they merely frequent churches from habit; so that they are able to speak of those things with the mouth.
5049. Questi sunt, quod ita ageretur cum illis in altera vita, cum tamen morate vixerunt in mundo, sed responsum tulerunt, quod qui perciti sunt oestro et cupidine imperandi non possint regi per coelum a Domino, quia non possunt recipere influxum inde, quapropter reguntur ab infernis, et aguntur quocunque libet, etiam interiora eorum apparebant clausa, et sicut nigra, signum quod non solum clausa essent, sed etiam quod regnaret ibi odium, vindicta, et similia. Tales etiam in mundo, non curant illa quae coeli et Ecclesiae sunt, modo frequentant templa ex usu, ut ore loqui de illis possint.