9255. When thou shalt meet thine enemy’s ox, or his ass, going astray. That hereby is signified good not genuine, and truth not genuine, with those who are outside the church, is evident from the signification of “an enemy,” as being those who are outside the church (of whom below); from the signification of “an ox,” as being the good of the external man; and from the signification of “an ass,” as being the truth of the external man (see n. 2781, 9134); but good and truth not genuine, such as are with those who are outside the church, who are signified by “an enemy.” That those who are outside the church are meant by “an enemy” is because they are at variance in respect to the good and truth of faith; for they have not the Word, and therefore they do not know anything about the Lord, nor about Christian faith and charity, which are from the Lord alone. Hence it is that neither their truth of faith, nor their good of charity, is genuine. Therefore in the other life also they do not live together with those who are of the church, but separate from them; for in the other life all are associated together in accordance with their good and the truth thence derived; for these are what make spiritual life and conjunction.

[2] Nevertheless those who are in heaven do not regard as enemies those who are outside the church, but they instruct them, and lead them to Christian good, which moreover is received by those who while in the world have lived together, from their religion, in subordination, in obedience, and in some kind of mutual charity. But in the sense of the letter they are called “enemies” from their spiritual variance, which, as before said, is a variance in respect to the truth of faith and the good of charity. (See what has already been shown from experience concerning the state of the nations outside the church, and their lot in the other life, n. 2589-2604, 2861, 2863, 4190, 4197.) That the same are to be regarded as friends, and are to be instructed and amended, is meant in the internal sense by “bringing back thou shalt bring it back to him,” of which in what follows.

[3] It only remains to say that in the Word by beasts of various kinds are signified affections and inclinations such as man has in common with beasts; and in the spiritual sense the affections of good and truth internal and external (n. 45, 46, 142, 143, 246, 714, 715, 776, 2179, 2180, 2781, 3218, 3519, 5198, 9090); and that for this reason beasts were employed in the sacrifices in accordance with their signification (n. 1823, 2180, 2805, 2807, 2830, 3519). From this it is that by this moral law concerning the bringing back of the stray oxen and asses of an enemy, are signified in the spiritual sense such things as are of the church, thus such things as are of mutual love or charity toward those who are at variance with the truths of the church.

4190. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar. That this signifies such truth and the derivative worship, is evident from the signification of a “stone,” as being truth (see n. 643, 1298, 3720); and from the signification of a “pillar,” as being the derivative worship, that is, the worship which is from truth (n. 3727). From this it is manifest that such truth and the derivative worship are signified by these words. It is said “such truth,” namely, such as exists with the Gentiles; for although the Gentiles know nothing about the Word, and accordingly nothing about the Lord, they nevertheless have external truths such as Christians have; as for instance that the Deity is to be worshiped in a holy manner, that festivals are to be observed, that parents are to be honored, that we must not steal, must not commit adultery, must not kill, and must not covet the neighbor’s goods; and thus such truths as those of the Decalogue; which also are for rules of life within the church. The wise among them observe these laws not only in the external form, but also in the internal. For they think that such things are contrary not only to their religious system, but also to the general good, and thus to the internal duty which they owe to man, and that consequently they are contrary to charity, although they do not so well know what faith is. They have in their obscurity somewhat of conscience, contrary to which they are not willing to act, and in fact some of them cannot do so. From this it is evident that the Lord rules their interiors, although they are in obscurity; and thus that He imparts to them the faculty of receiving interior truths, which they do also receive in the other life. (See what has been shown above respecting the Gentiles, n. 2589-2604.)

[2] It has at times been given me to speak with Christians in the other life concerning the state and lot of the Gentiles outside of the church, in that they receive the truths and goods of faith more easily than do Christians who have not lived according to the precepts of the Lord; and that Christians think cruelly about them, in assuming that all who are out of the church are damned, and this from the received canon that without the Lord there is no salvation. This indeed, as I have said to them, is true; but the Gentiles who have lived in mutual charity, and have done from a kind of conscience what is just and equitable, receive faith and acknowledge the Lord more easily in the other life than those within the church who have not lived in such charity. Moreover Christians are in what is false, in believing that heaven is for them alone, because they have the book of the Word, written on paper but not in their hearts; and because they know the Lord, and yet do not believe that He is Divine as to His Human; but acknowledge Him only as a common man in respect to His other essence, which they call His human nature, and therefore when left to themselves and their own thoughts, they do not even adore Him. Thus it is they who are out of the Lord, for whom there is no salvation.