4783. 'To comfort him' means to provide explanations based on the sense of the letter of the Word. This is clear from the meaning of 'comforting' as calming a turbulence of mind with a hope concerning some thing, dealt with in 3610, in this case a turbulence or mourning over lost good and truth. And because this mourning cannot be subdued except by means of explanations based on the Word, and because reference is being made at this point to Jacob's sons and daughters, who mean those governed by falsities and evils, 4781, 4782, 'comforting' means explanations based on the sense of the letter. For the sense of the letter of the Word contains general ideas which, being like vessels, can be filled with truths or else with falsities and so can be given whatever explanation suits one's own point of view. And because they are general ones they are also obscure compared with other ideas, receiving light from nowhere else than the internal sense. For the internal sense exists in the light of heaven because it is the Word as angels know it, whereas the sense of the letter exists in the light of the world because it is the Word as men know it before they come to the light of heaven received from the Lord, by which light they are then enlightened. From this it is evident that the sense of the letter serves to introduce the simple to the internal sense.

[2] This use of explanations when one is expounding the Word - explanations which are based on the sense of the letter and which fit in with one's own point of view - is quite evident from the fact that all religious ideas, including heretical ones, are substantiated by such explanations. For example, the accepted teaching about faith separated from charity is substantiated by the following words spoken by the Lord,

God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16.

From these words and other places people deduce that eternal life is acquired through faith alone without works. And once these people have become convinced of this they no longer pay any attention to what the Lord said so many times about love to Him, and about charity and works, 1017, 2373, 3934. Thus they pay no attention to the following in John,

As many as received Him, to them He gave power to be sons of God, to those believing in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13.

If they are told that no one can believe in the Lord except him who has charity, they instantly take refuge in explanations like these: The law has been abolished; people are born in sins and so cannot do good of themselves, and those who do do it cannot do other than claim merit for it. These explanations too they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word, for example from what is stated in the parable about the Pharisee and the tax collector, Luke 18:10-14, and from other things that are stated. But these statements have an altogether different meaning from the explanations they resort to.

[3] Also, the adherents to faith separated from charity can have no other belief than that everyone is able by grace to be admitted into heaven, no matter what kind of life he has been leading, so that it is not a person's life but his faith that awaits him after death. This too they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word. But from the spiritual sense of the Word it is clear that the Lord has mercy on everyone, so that if a person reached heaven by mercy or grace irrespective of whatever life he has led everyone would be saved. The reason the adherents to faith separated from charity believe the way they do is that they have no knowledge at all of what heaven is because they do not know what charity is. If they knew how much peace, joy, and happiness is present within charity they would know what heaven is; but this is entirely hidden from them.

[4] Nor can the adherents to faith separated from charity have any other belief than that they will rise again with the physical body, though not until judgement day. This too they substantiate from many places in the Word, explained according to the sense of the letter. They give no thought at all to what the Lord said - many times in addition to the following - about the rich man and Lazarus, Luke 16:22-31, or to what He told the robber,

Truly I say to you, Today you will be with Me in paradise. Luke 23:43.

The reason the adherents to faith separated from charity believe the way they do is that if they were told that the body is not going to rise again they would refuse to believe in any resurrection at all, for what the internal man is they neither know nor have any conception of. Indeed no one can know what the internal man is and the internal man's life after death is except him who has charity; for charity is an attribute of the internal man.

[5] The adherents to faith separated from charity can have no other belief than that the works of charity consist solely in giving to the poor and helping the distressed. This belief too they substantiate from the sense of the letter of the Word. But in fact the works of charity consist in each person doing what is right and fair in his employment, from a love of what is right and fair, and of what is good and true.

[6] The adherents to faith separated from charity do not see anything in the Word apart from what substantiates their own accepted teachings, for they have no real insight. Indeed people who are not moved by the affection belonging to charity have merely external sight, or an inferior insight. With this no one can possibly behold higher things, for higher things are seen by him as darkness. Consequently such people see falsities as truths, and truths as falsities, and so by explanations based on the sense of the letter they ruin the good pasture and pollute the pure waters of that sacred spring which is the Word, as accords with the following in Ezekiel,

Is it a small thing to you? You feed off the good pasture and tread down with your feet the rest of your pastures; you drink the water that has settled down ¹ and stir up the rest with your feet. You butt with your horns all the weak [sheep] till you have scattered them abroad. Ezekiel 34:17-18, 21.

Poznámky pod čarou:

4776. 'An evil wild animal has devoured him' means that desires for evil annihilated it. This is clear from the meaning of 'an evil wild animal' as a lie invented out of a life of evil desires, dealt with in 4729, and therefore as such desires; and from the meaning of 'devouring' as annihilating, because it has reference to the truth of the Church. The one great Truth the Church possesses is that love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour are first and foremost, Mark 12:29-31, a truth that evil desires annihilate. For those who lead a life of evil desires cannot lead a life of love and charity since these two kinds of life are complete opposites. A life of evil desires is one in which a person loves only himself and not his neighbour except out of self-interest or for his own sake. People like this therefore annihilate charity among themselves, and those who annihilate charity also annihilate love to the Lord; for charity is the only means through which anyone loves the Lord, and the Lord dwells within charity. An affection that belongs to charity is a genuine heavenly affection, which comes from the Lord alone. From this it may be seen that desires for evil annihilate the one great truth the Church possesses; and once it has been annihilated some other means is invented which is called the way to salvation; and this is faith. When faith moreover is separated from charity actual truths are defiled, for in that case no knowledge exists any longer of what charity is, or even of what the neighbour is. Nor as a consequence does any knowledge exist about the inner essence of a human being, nor indeed of what heaven is. For the essence of a human being, or heaven within him, is charity, which consists in goodwill to others, to his community, to his country, to the Church, to the Lord's kingdom, and so to the Lord Himself. From this one may deduce what truth possessed by the Church must be like when there is no knowledge of the essential truths and when evil desires reign, standing opposed to these essential truths. When a life of evil desires speaks about them, are not truths defiled to such an extent that they cease to be recognizable?

[2] The truth that no one can be saved unless he has led a good charitable life, and so has acquired affections for that life, which exist in him as goodwill shown to others and as good deeds done to them which are motivated by that goodwill; also, the truth that no one can possibly accept the truths of faith - that is to say, take them in and make them his own - except him who leads a charitable life, have been made perfectly plain to me from those in heaven to whom I have been allowed to speak. Everyone there is a form of charity, the beauty and goodness of that form depending on the nature of the charity. The pleasure, bliss, and happiness of those there flow from their being able - because they are motivated by goodwill - to do good to others. Anyone who has not been leading a charitable life cannot possibly know that heaven and heavenly joy consist in goodwill and in good deeds motivated by that goodwill. To one of his kind heaven consists in goodwill shown to himself, with any good deeds done to others being motivated by this selfish goodwill. But this is in fact hell; for as has been stated, heaven is distinguished from hell in that heaven consists in doing good because one is motivated by goodwill, and hell in doing ill because one is motivated by ill will. Those governed by love towards the neighbour are motivated by goodwill to do good deeds, but those governed by self-love are motivated to do ill ones by ill will. The reason the latter are like this is that they love no one but themselves, and others only insofar as they see themselves in others, and others in themselves. They also hate these others, that hatred revealing itself the moment these go away from them and are no longer part of them. They are like robbers who love one another while they are in league with one another; but at heart they long to kill one another if any spoils can be gained by doing so.

[3] From all this one may see what heaven is, namely love towards the neighbour, and what hell is, namely self-love. Those governed by love towards the neighbour are able to accept all truths of faith, to take them in and make them their own; for love towards the neighbour holds every truth of faith within it since it has heaven within it and the Lord within it. But those governed by self-love cannot possibly accept the truths of faith since hell lies within that love. In no way can they accept the truths of faith apart from doing so for the sake of improving their own positions and for the sake of material gain; thus they cannot possibly take them in and make them their own. What they do take in and make their own are denials of the truth. For in their hearts they do not believe in the existence of hell and heaven, or in the life after death. Nor therefore do they believe anything that is said about hell and heaven, or about the life after death, and so nothing whatever from the Word and from doctrine regarding faith and charity. They seem to themselves to be believers when they take part in worship, but they do so because that state has been instilled into them since early childhood. But as soon as they leave that worship behind them they also leave that state of belief behind them. At this point, now left to think for themselves, they do not have any belief at all; and what is more, the life that their love fires them to lead causes them to think up ideas to justify it. These ideas they call truths, and also back them up from the literal sense of the Word; but they are in fact falsities. This is what all are like who in life and doctrine are adherents to faith separated from charity.

[4] In addition it should be recognized that a person's love includes everything, for his love determines the life he leads, and therefore only into a person's love does the Lord enter with His life. As is people's love therefore, so is their life because so is their reception of it. Love towards the neighbour receives the life of heaven, while self-love receives the life of hell. Thus everything of heaven lies within love towards the neighbour, and everything of hell within self-love. The fact that love includes everything may be illustrated by many observations of nature. All living creatures, not only those that walk on dry land but also those which fly in the air or swim in water, move in response to their own love. Into their love comes whatever is of use to them in the life they lead, that is, to their feeding, housing, and reproducing themselves. Therefore every genus knows its own food, dwelling-places, and mating habits such as pairing off, building nests, laying eggs, and rearing chicks.

[5] Bees likewise know how to build cells, extract honey from flowers, fill honeycombs with it, and make provision for the winter. Indeed they know how to establish a system of government under a single ruler, besides many other remarkable activities. All this is a product of what is entering their love, it being merely the different forms their affections take that lead to the different results their life produces. Their love includes all this. So what would heavenly love include if the human being was governed by heavenly love? Would not the whole of wisdom and intelligence as these exist in heaven be included? From this too it is evident that those who have led charitable lives, these and no others, are accepted into heaven, and that because they have charity they have the ability to accept and take in all truths, that is, every truth of faith. The reverse however takes place with adherents to faith separated from charity, that is, to those who know some truths but have no charity. Their love accepts ideas such as are suited to itself; that is to say, self-love and love of the world accept ideas that are the reverse of truths, the kind that exist in hell.