697. And to destroy them that are destroying the earth, signifies hell to those who destroy the church. This is evident from the signification of "to destroy," as being, in reference to those that destroy the church, damnation and hell; for as "to give the reward to His servants, the prophets and the saints," signifies salvation and heaven to those who are in truths from good, that is, who constitute the church, so "to destroy" the earth signifies damnation and hell. Also from the signification of the "earth," as meaning the church (of which above, n. 29, 304, 413, 417); therefore "to destroy the earth" signifies to destroy the church. That in the Word the "earth" means the church has been shown frequently above, also in the Arcana Coelestia. There are many reasons why in the Word the "earth" signifies the church; that is, when no land in particular is mentioned, as the land of Egypt, of Edom, of Moab, of Assyria, of Chaldea, of Babylon, and others, the "earth" (or land) means the land of Canaan, and that land, to those who are in spiritual thought, does not suggest the idea of a land which is earthly, not heavenly, but the idea of the quality of the nation there in respect to the church. So again, when the church, or religion, or worship, is in one's thought, and from this lands are mentioned, the land is not thought of, but the quality of the nation of the land in respect to the church, religion, or worship. For this reason when a man in reading the Word mentions a land, the angels, who are spiritual, think of the church; and what the angels think is the spiritual sense of the Word; for the spiritual sense of the Word is for the angels, and also for those men who are spiritual. For the Word in the letter is natural, and yet inwardly or in its bosom it is spiritual; and whenever the natural is withdrawn the spiritual that is within or in its bosom is disclosed.

[2] Moreover, there are lands in the spiritual world, that is, in the world where spirits and angels are, equally as in the natural world where men are, and these lands are altogether alike in external appearance; there are there plains, valleys, mountains, hills, and there are rivers, and seas, and also fields, meadows, forests, gardens, and paradises; and those lands are in appearance beautiful in exact accord with the state of the church with those who dwell upon them, and they undergo changes in accord with the changes of the church with the inhabitants; in a word, there is a full correspondence of the lands there with the reception of the good of love and the truth of faith with those who dwell there. It is for this reason also that "land" in the Word signifies the church, for in that world according to the quality of the land is the quality of the church there, and correspondence is what makes it be so. In that world the land itself makes one with the church, as a correspondent with its own thing to which it corresponds, just as an effect does with its effecting cause, as the eye with its sight, as speech with its understanding, as action with the will, as the expression of the face with the affection of the thought, in a word, as the instrumental with its principal, of which it is said that they make one thing; so in the spiritual world the quality of the land makes one with that of the church. From this it is clear why in the Word "land (or earth)" signifies the church, and "to destroy the earth" signifies here to destroy the church.

[3] So also in the following passages. In Isaiah:

Is this the man that maketh the earth to tremble, that maketh the kingdoms to quake, that made the world a wilderness, and threw down the cities thereof? Thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people (Isaiah 14:16, 17, 20.)

This is said of Lucifer, by whom Babylon is here meant, as is evident from what here precedes and follows; and "the earth that he maketh to tremble and that he destroyed" signifies the church; the "kingdoms that he maketh to quake" signify the churches into which the general church is divided; the "world that he made a wilderness" signifies the church in general; the "cities that he threw down" signify its truths of doctrine; and the "people that he slew" signify the men of the church whose spiritual life he destroyed.

[4] In Jeremiah:

Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, destroying the whole earth (Jeremiah 51:25).

This, too, is said of Babylon, which is called a destroying mountain, because a "mountain" signifies the love of ruling, here over heaven and earth, which the goods and truths of the church are made to serve as means; therefore "to destroy the whole earth" signifies to destroy the church.

[5] In Daniel:

The fourth beast coming up out of the sea shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down and break it in pieces (Daniel 7:23).

This beast, too, signifies the love of ruling over the whole heaven and the whole earth, which love those have who are of Babylon (See above, n. 316, 556); therefore "to devour," "to tread down," and "to break in pieces the earth," signifies to destroy the church utterly. Who does not see that no beast is to come up out of the sea and devour and tread down and break in pieces the whole earth, but that it is some evil and diabolical love that will do thus to the church? In Moses:

There shall not be anymore a flood to destroy the earth (Genesis 9:11).

Here again "the earth" also signifies the church that was destroyed by the antediluvians, but was not again to be destroyed.

[6] In Isaiah:

Jehovah maketh the earth void and maketh it empty, and He shall overturn the faces thereof. In emptying the earth shall be emptied, and in spoiling it shall be spoiled; the habitable earth shall mourn, shall be confounded; the world shall languish, shall be confounded; the earth itself shall be profaned because they have transgressed the laws, overstepped the statute, made void the covenant of eternity, therefore a malediction shall devour the earth. The floodgates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth quake; in breaking the earth is broken, in moving the earth is moved, in staggering the earth shall stagger as a drunkard, and it shall be moved to and fro as a balance (Isaiah 24:1, 3-6, 18-20).

Anyone can see that "the earth" here does not mean the earth, but the church. This is said of the church, because the earths (or lands) in the spiritual world, upon which angels and spirits dwell, undergo such changes as are here described according to the changes of state of the church with those who dwell there; they are even moved accordingly. It is said that "Jehovah maketh the earth void and maketh it empty," also that "in emptying it shall be emptied, and in spoiling it shall be spoiled," because the lands there, when the church is laid waste with those who dwell upon them, altogether change their appearance; the paradises, flower gardens, lawns, and the like, with which they before flourished disappear, and things that are unpleasant, such as sandy and rocky places, and plains full of brambles and briars, and like things corresponding to the falsities and evils that have devastated the church, spring up in their place. The devastation of the church in respect to the good of love and charity is signified by "making the earth void," and its desolation in respect to the truths of doctrine and faith is signified by "making it empty and spoiling it," and the change itself by "overturning its faces." "The habitable earth shall mourn, shall be confounded, the world shall languish, shall be confounded, a malediction shall devour the earth," signifies that nothing shall there grow and flourish, but that it shall become barren and filled with useless things, on account of which the earth is said "to mourn, to languish, and to be devoured with a malediction." Because this takes place when those that dwell there have no longer any regard for the holy things of the church, it is said, "because they have transgressed the laws, overstepped the statute, made void the covenant of eternity." Because there the lands are sometimes overflowed, sometimes shaken, and also here and there gape and open towards the hell that lies below and that lifts itself up, and this takes place according to the quality and quantity of the falsities and evils that are loved, and the consequent falsification and denial of the goods and truths of the church, therefore it is said that "the floodgates from on high shall be opened, the foundations of the earth shall quake, the earth shall be broken, and shall stagger like a drunkard," and these things actually take place in the spiritual world, when the state of the church there is changed into a contrary state. From this it can be seen why "the earth" here and elsewhere in the Word, means the church.

790. And they worshipped the beast, signifies acknowledgment of the reasonings by which the disagreement with the Word is seemingly cleared away. This is evident from the signification of "to worship," as being to acknowledge as certain, and thus to adore as Divine (as above, n. 789; also from the signification of "the beast," as being the reasonings from the natural man confirming the separation of faith from life (See above, n. 774). And as this beast was seen to have seven heads and ten horns, and moreover was like a leopard as to his body, a bear as to his feet, and a lion as to his mouth, by which various things are signified, so here also the same things are meant by "the beast," since it was on account of these that they worshipped the beast.

[2] As the preceding article treated of this, that faith alone, or faith separated from charity, cannot produce goods of life as a tree does fruits, it is important to now set forth how to acquire spiritual faith, which is faith from charity. But as the learned world has not heretofore known what is meant by the spiritual or what is the nature of the spiritual in its essence, and how it is distinguished from what is natural, so neither could it know what spiritual faith is, and how it is distinguished from natural faith. And yet natural faith apart from spiritual faith as its origin is no faith at all, but merely knowledge [scientia] and thought therefrom that a thing is so; and if this is called faith, it is historical faith, and when it is confirmed is a persuasive faith, and both of these kinds of faith are natural, and faith merely natural does not save, but spiritual faith; consequently it shall now be told in what follows how spiritual faith is formed by the Lord.

It is known in the world that there is a natural man and a spiritual man, as also that the natural man is worldly and the spiritual man heavenly; but still it is not known what spiritual faith is, and how it differs from natural faith.

[3] It is therefore to be known, 1. That every man has two minds, one natural and the other spiritual; and as it is the mind that wills and thinks, every man has also natural will and thought and spiritual will and thought. The natural mind wills and thinks like a man in the world, and the spiritual mind wills and thinks like an angel in heaven. From this it follows that as faith is in man, it, too, is natural or spiritual; and that natural faith is according to man's will and thought in the world, and spiritual faith is according to his will and thought in heaven. It is said the will and thought, because all things from which man is a man have relation to these two, for from the will he acts, and from the thought he speaks. And as a man acts and speaks either from self or from God, so he wills and thinks either from self or from God. From this it is clear, in the first place, that there is natural faith and spiritual faith; and that natural faith apart from spiritual faith is to think such things as are in the Word from self, while natural faith from spiritual faith is to think such things as are in the Word from God; although this also seems to the man to be from himself.

2.

[4] As every man has two minds, a natural and a spiritual, and the natural mind is opened and formed by such things as are in the world, while the spiritual mind is opened and formed by such things as are in heaven, and as the things that are in heaven are all spiritual, so a man's spiritual mind must needs be opened and formed by such things as are in the Word, in which all things are spiritual because they are Divine. In the Word there are truths that are to be known and thought, and goods that must be willed and done; therefore it is by these goods and these truths that man's spiritual mind is opened and formed. From this it follows, that unless the spiritual mind is opened and formed by truths and goods from the Word it remains closed; and when this is closed the natural mind only is opened and formed by such things as are in the world, from which man, indeed, derives a natural lumen, but such as has in it no wisdom from heaven. From this it is clear, in the second place, that faith is not faith so long as the natural mind only is opened, but that if the thought that a thing is so is called faith it is historical faith, which is nothing but knowledge from which the natural man thinks.

3.

[5] That the spiritual mind may be opened and formed it must have a storehouse from which it may draw its supplies; since unless man has such a storehouse he is empty, and in emptiness there can be no Divine operation. This storehouse is in the natural man and it is its memory, in which everything knowable can be stored up and can be drawn forth from it. In this storehouse for the formation of the spiritual man there must be truths that are to be believed and goods that are to be done, both of them from the Word and from doctrine and preaching from the Word. These man must learn even from infancy. But all these things, however abundant they may be, although they are from the Word, are natural until the spiritual mind is opened; for they are mere knowledge. Thought from this storehouse is what is called faith by those who separate faith from good works in doctrine and in life.

4.

[6] The spiritual mind is primarily opened by man's abstaining from doing evils because they are contrary to the Divine commandments in the Word. If man abstains from evils from any other fear than this the spiritual mind is not opened. The following are the reasons why this is what opens the spiritual mind: First, that the evils with man must be removed before communication and conjunction with heaven can be granted him; since evils, which are all in the natural man, keep heaven closed, and yet heaven must be opened, for otherwise man remains natural. The second reason is that the Word is from the Lord, and consequently the Lord is in the Word, even so that He is the Word; for the Word is Divine truth all of which is from the Lord. From this it follows that he who abstains from doing evils because they are contrary to the Divine commandments in the Word abstains from them from the Lord. The third reason is, that as far as evils are removed so far goods enter. That this is so can be seen by man from natural lumen alone, for when lasciviousness is removed chastity enters; when intemperance is removed temperance enters; when deceit is removed sincerity enters; when hatred and the delight of revenge are removed love and the delight of love and friendship enter; and so in other cases; and this for the reason that the Lord enters, and heaven with Him, so far as man from the Word abstains from doing evils, since he then abstains from them from the Lord.

5.

[7] But this shall be illustrated by examples. Take for illustration the four commandments of the Decalogue, "thou shalt not commit adultery," "thou shalt not steal," "thou shalt not kill," "thou shalt not bear false witness." These commandments are Divine, since they are in the Word. When anyone shuns and averts himself from adultery because of the fear that it is against the Lord, against heaven, and against the spiritual life, to be in accord with which is eternal felicity, he loves chastity and loves his consort, because true conjugial love is chastity itself. When anyone shuns and averts himself from theft because of a like fear as from adultery, he loves sincerity, and loves the good of the neighbor as his own good. When anyone shuns and averts himself from murders or from deadly hatred from a like fear he loves the neighbor and is in charity. When anyone shuns and averts himself from false testimony because of a like fear he loves justice and loves truthfulness, and this from the Lord, because from the Word; consequently when after death he becomes a spirit he is like an angel of heaven, and therefore becomes an angel of heaven. But when one does not shun adultery from such a holy fear, but from a fear for his reputation, and thus of the loss of honor and gain, or from a fear of the law, or of disease, or because of weakness, he is still unchaste, since he merely fears the world and the loss of his prosperity in the world, and does not fear the Lord, and thus does not fear the loss of heaven and of eternal life. In like manner when anyone abstains from thefts, from murders or deadly hatreds, and from false testimonies, from natural fear only and not from spiritual fear, he abstains from these from self and not from the Lord; and he who does this from self still remains in them; and no one can be withdrawn from these except by the Lord. From this it can be seen that the spiritual mind with man is opened by this, that from the Word he abstains from doing evils; and that it is opened in the same degree in which he abstains from them by shunning and turning away from them.

6.

[8] So much respecting the opening of the spiritual mind. Something shall now be said about its formation. The spiritual mind is formed from those things that are in man's memory from the Word; for the memory is the storehouse spoken of above, but these things are elevated therefrom in this manner: First, there is given to man the affection of truth, which is called the spiritual affection of truth, which is that man loves truth because it is truth. This affection of truth is then given because when evils are removed man is in goods from the Lord, and good loves truth and truth good, and the two will to be conjoined. This affection is given by the Lord alone, because the Lord in heaven is Divine truth; and it is given by the Word, because the Lord in the church is the Word. Secondly, those things that are from the Word in man's storehouse mentioned above, are drawn forth and purified by the Lord, and genuine truths are there discriminated and separated from falsities; for man's spiritual mind can be formed only out of genuine truths, since heaven is in no other. Thirdly, those truths are elevated by the Lord in a wonderful manner, and become spiritual; this is effected by the influx of heaven, and thus of spiritual things corresponding to natural; and these truths are there disposed into a heavenly form (what this is may be seen in the work on Heaven and Hell 200-212). Fourthly, the truths that are elevated into the spiritual mind are not in a natural but in a spiritual form. Truths in a spiritual form are such as are in the spiritual sense of the Word, but truths in a natural form are such as are in the natural sense of the Word; that these are distinct, and yet make one by correspondences, has been made clear in the work on Heaven and Hell 87-115. For this reason, when man after death becomes a spirit and his spiritual mind is opened, he no longer thinks and speaks naturally, but spiritually. Fifthly, so long as man is living in the world he is wholly ignorant of what he thinks in the spiritual mind; he knows only what he thinks from that mind in the natural; but after death the state is changed, and he then thinks from the spiritual mind, and not from the natural. Thus much respecting the opening of the spiritual mind and its formation.

7.

[9] When a man's spiritual mind has been opened and formed then the Lord forms the natural mind; for man's natural mind is formed by the Lord by means of the spiritual mind; and for the reason that man's spiritual mind is in heaven, and his natural mind is in the world; for it is only from heaven, and when communication and conjunction with heaven have been effected, that the natural can be formed to the idea of such things as are in heaven. This formation is effected by the Lord by an influx out of the spiritual mind into the natural, by means of which the things that are in the natural mind are so arranged as to correspond to those that are in the spiritual mind. (This correspondence is treated of in many places in the Arcana Coelestia, and also in the work on Heaven and Hell.) These things that are in the natural mind out of the spiritual are called rational truths, moral truths, natural truths, and in general, truths of knowledge [vera scientifica]; while the goods that are in the natural mind out of the spiritual are called affections and desires for those truths, and for thinking about, speaking about, and doing those truths from such affections, and these are in general called uses. All those things that are in the natural mind out of the spiritual mind come under man's intuition and into his perception.

8.

[10] It is to be known that this formation of the two minds with man goes on from his infancy to his old age, and afterwards to eternity; and sometimes from the middle age of man to his last age, and afterwards to eternity; but still in another way after the life in the world than during the life in the world. And as man is formed, so is he perfected in intelligence and wisdom, and becomes a man. For no man is a man from his natural mind; from that he is rather a beast; but he becomes a man through intelligence and wisdom from the Lord, and so far as he is intelligent and wise he is a beautiful man and an angel of heaven. But so far as he rejects, suffocates, and perverts the truths and goods of the Word, thus of heaven and the church, and therefore rejects intelligence and wisdom, so far he is a monster and not a man, because he is so far a devil. From this it can be seen that man is not a man from his parents, but from the Lord, of whom he is born and created anew. This, therefore, is regeneration and a new creation.

9.

[11] This being premised, something shall now be said about the will and understanding of the man who has been created anew or regenerated by the Lord; and afterwards about charity and faith. His will in the natural man is formed by the influx of the heat of heaven through his spiritual mind from the Lord. The heat of heaven in its essence is the Divine good proceeding from the Lord's Divine love. But the understanding in the natural man is formed by the influx of the light of heaven through his spiritual man from the Lord. The light of heaven in its essence is the Divine truth proceeding from the Lord's Divine love. From this it follows that the will is formed out of goods, and from these man has love and affection; and that the understanding is formed out of truths therefrom, and from these man has intelligence and wisdom. And as truths are nothing but forms of good it follows that the understanding is nothing but a form of its will. The only difference is that the understanding sees and the will feels. From this it is clear that such as man's will of good is, such is his understanding of truth, or what is the same, such as man's love is such is his intelligence. From this it is evident that although the will and the understanding are two faculties of life, still they act as one, and for this reason these two faculties of life are called one mind. This relates to the natural man. In the spiritual man also there are a will and an understanding, but much more perfect; and these are also called one mind. This therefore is the spiritual mind, and the other is the natural mind. But these are such with the man whose spiritual mind has been opened and formed; but it is altogether different with the man whose spiritual mind is closed, and only the natural mind opened.

10.

[12] The same can be said of charity and faith as has been said of the will and understanding; for the will is the subject and receptacle of charity as it is the subject and receptacle of good, and the understanding is the subject and receptacle of faith because it is the subject and receptacle of truth; for charity derives all that it is from good, and faith derives all that it is from truth; and this is why it is said the good of charity, and the truth of faith. From this it follows that charity and faith act as one, like will and understanding; and that such as the charity is such is the faith. But these are in the natural mind; but in the spiritual mind there is the love of good in place of charity, and the perception of truth in place of faith.

11.

[13] That spiritual love, which is charity, produces faith, can be seen merely from this, that man after death, who is then called a spirit, is nothing but an affection which is of love, and his thought is from that; consequently the whole angelic heaven is arranged into societies according to the varieties of affections; and everyone in heaven, in whatever society he may be, thinks from his affection; and therefore it is affection, which is love, that produces faith, and such faith as the affection is; for faith is nothing but thinking that a thing is so in truth, while affection means love in its continuation. But at the present day man in the world does not know that his thought is from affection and according to it, for the reason that he sees his thought but does not see his affection, and as his thought is his affection in a visible form therefore he knows no otherwise than that thought is the whole mind of man. It was otherwise of old with the ancients where the churches were. Because these knew that love produces all things of thought, therefore charity (which is the affection of knowing truths, of understanding them, and of willing them, and thus of becoming wise) was made by them the chief means of salvation. And as that affection makes one with faith they did not know what faith is.

[14] From this it is evident not only how faith is formed with man but also that faith never can produce charity; but charity, which is spiritual love, forms faith as an effigy of itself, and in it presents an image of itself; and for this reason the nature of faith is known from charity and its goods, which are good works, as the nature of a tree is known from its fruit. By a "tree," however, faith is not meant, but man in respect to his life; while its leaves signify the truths through which there is faith, and its fruits signify goods of life, which are the goods of charity. Besides these arcana respecting the formation of faith by the Lord by means of charity there are innumerable others; but still it is the Lord who works all these arcana, while man knows nothing about it; all that man needs to do is to learn truths from the Word and to live according to them.