65. III. That people whose faith is divorced from charity are meant in the Word by goats is something shown by the description of the combat between the ram and the goat in Daniel. Everything in the book of Daniel describes in the spiritual sense matters having to do with heaven and the church, as is the case throughout the Sacred Scripture, as we showed in . Such is the case also in Daniel 8 where we are told about the combat of the ram and the goat, from which we quote the following:

I saw in the vision…a ram which had two (high) horns; but… the higher one came up last…, and with the horn it struck to the west, to the north, and to the south…, and became great.

And (then I saw) a male goat come from the west, across the surface of the whole earth…, (which) had a…horn between its eyes. Then it ran at the ram…with savage force…and broke its two horns…and cast it to the ground and trampled it…. But…the (goat’s) large horn was broken, and in place of it four horns came up…. And out of one of them came a little horn which grew exceedingly great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the beautiful [land]. And it grew up to the host of heaven; and it cast down some of the host and some of the stars to the ground, and trampled them. He even exalted himself to the Prince of the host; and from Him the continual [sacrifice] was taken away, and the habitation of His sanctuary was cast down; because…it cast truth to the ground….

Then I heard a holy one speaking…, "How long will this vision be, the continual sacrifice and the ruinous transgression, so that the sanctuary and the host are given to be trampled on?"

And he said…, "Until evening [and] morning…; then the sanctuary shall be made right." (Daniel 8:2-14)