8148. 'And he took six hundred chosen chariots' means each and every doctrinal teaching that upholds falsity belonging to separated faith, in their own order. This is clear from the meaning of the number 'six hundred' as each and every aspect of the truth and good of faith taken all together, and so in the contrary sense as each and every aspect of the falsity and evil of faith separated from charity (this meaning of 'six hundred' may become clear from what has been shown regarding the number 'six hundred thousand' in 7973); and from the meaning of 'chariots' as doctrinal teachings upholding faith, in this instance separated faith, dealt with just above in 8146. 'Chosen chariots' means the chief doctrinal teachings that uphold that faith, to which all other teachings are subordinate. Those that are subordinate to them or serve them are meant by 'the chariots of Egypt', referred to immediately after the six hundred chosen ones.

[2] It should be recognized that these falsities - the ones that are meant here by Pharaoh, his army and people, and also his chariots, horses, and horsemen - are chiefly falsities present with people whose faith is no more than persuasion, that is, people who persuade themselves that the teachings of the Church they are in are true and who nevertheless lead a life of evil. This kind of faith, unlike saving faith, goes together with evil in life, because it is a faith in which people persuade themselves that everything the Church teaches is true, yet do so not for the sake of truth, or for the sake of life, or even for the sake of salvation (since they have scarcely any belief in this), only for their own advantage, that is, to acquire important positions and wealth, and reputation because of these. It is to gain such advantages that they imbibe religious teachings. Thus they do not learn them to the end that they may be of service to the Church and the salvation of souls, but to themselves and their dependents. Therefore it makes no difference to them whether those teachings are true or false. They do not care which they are, much less do they bother to find out; for they have no affection for truth because it is the truth. They endorse those teachings regardless of the character of them; and when they have endorsed them they tell themselves that they are true, without stopping to think that falsities can be endorsed just as much as truths, 4741, 5033, 6865, 7012, 7680, 7950.

[3] This is how faith that is no more than persuasion arises. And since it does not see the neighbour and the good of the neighbour, or therefore the Lord, as the end in view, only self and the world, that is, important positions and material gain, that kind of faith is linked to evil in life, and not to good in life. For faith, when linked to this good, is saving faith. This kind of faith is imparted by the Lord, but the other has its origin in people themselves. Faith imparted by the Lord remains forever, the other kind melts away in the next life. It even melts away in the world if they can gain nothing by it. As long as they can gain anything they fight for it as if for heaven itself, though in fact they do so not for that faith but for themselves. For the things that belong to faith, which are religious teachings, are for those people simply the means to an end, which is high position and wealth. People in the world with this type of faith are scarcely distinguishable from those possessing saving faith, since they speak and proclaim in favour of religious teachings with an ardour that seemingly belongs to true zeal, but is an ardour fired by selfish and worldly love.

[4] These are the people who are meant in particular by 'Pharaoh' and 'the Egyptians', who in the next life undergo vastation of that kind of faith. When that vastation is completed they are steeped in utter falsities arising from evil, for falsities now burst out of evil. Falsities do so because all evil has falsity present with it, since the two have been joined together. Those falsities make their appearance when such people are left exposed to the evil in their life. That evil is then like fire, and the falsities are like the light coming from a fire. This kind of evil, and the falsity arising from it, is altogether different from other kinds of evil and derivative falsities. It is more loathsome than all the rest, because it is contrary to the forms of good and the truths of faith, and that kind of evil consequently holds profanation within it. Profanation consists in acknowledging truth and good and yet living contrary to them, 593, 1008, 1010, 1059, 2051, 3398, 3898, 4289, 4601, 6959, 6963, 6971.

3489. To those within the Church it is not apparent that this is the condition of the Church, that is to say, that they treat with contempt and loathe everything to do with goodness and truth, and also show hostility towards those things, especially towards the Lord Himself. They do indeed attend places of worship, listen to sermons with some kind of reverence while they are there, go to the Holy Supper, and sometimes discuss those things with one another in a seemly way. The evil accordingly do the same things as the good, even exercising common charity or friendship to one another, and as a consequence others do not see in them any contempt for the goods and truths of faith, or therefore any contempt for the Lord, still less any loathing of these, and least of all any hostility towards them. But those very actions are outward forms, by which one person leads another astray, whereas the inward forms existing with members of the Church are completely different and the complete reverse of those outward forms. It is the inward forms which are described here and which are of that nature. The essential nature of these inward forms is presented visually in heaven; for the angels pay no attention to anything else than the things that are internal - to ends in view, that is, to people's intentions and wills, and to their thoughts stemming from these. How different these are from external things becomes clear from members of the Christian world entering the next life, regarding whom see 2121-2126.

[2] Indeed in the next life it is solely in accordance with internal things that people think and speak, for external things have been left behind with the body. There it is evident that however peaceable such people seemed to be in the world they nevertheless hated one another, and hated everything belonging to faith, hating the Lord above all else; for at the mere mention of the Lord's name in their presence in the next life a sphere not only of contempt but also of loathing and hostility towards Him clearly emanates from them and envelops them, including those who to outward appearances spoke about Him with reverence and also preached about Him. It is similar when charity and faith are mentioned. As to their inward form which is disclosed there, these people are such as they would have been while living in the world if external restraints had been released and taken away from them. That is, if they had not in the world feared for their lives and feared the law, and in particular if they had not feared for their reputation on account of the positions they strove and worked for, and of the wealth they desired and avidly sought after, they would on account of their deadly hatred have laid into one another, as their intentions and thought directed them. And without any conscience they would have seized other people's goods and also without any conscience would have butchered them, no matter how utterly innocent their victims may have been. Such is the nature of Christians interiorly at the present day, apart from a few who remain unknown. From all this it is evident what the nature of the Church is essentially.