3020. Who administered all that he had. That this signifies the offices of the natural man is evident from the signification of “administering,” and indeed of “administering all things,” as being to discharge offices or duties. (That the natural man in respect to the rational, or what is the same, the external man in respect to the internal, is like the administrator in a house, may be seen above, n. 1795.) All things that are in man are as one household (that is, as one family) in this respect, that there is one who fills the office of master of the house, and others who fill that of servants. The rational mind itself is that which disposes all things as master of the house, and arranges them in order by influx into the natural mind; but it is the natural mind that ministers and is the administrator.

[2] As the natural mind is distinct from the rational mind and is in a degree below it, and as it also acts as if from what is its own, it is called relatively a “servant the elder of the house,” and it is said to administer all the things in itself that belong to it. That the natural mind is distinct from the rational, and is in a lower degree, and is as if in what is its own, may be seen from the things within it, and from its offices. The things which are therein are all memory-knowledges, thus also all knowledges of every kind whatever; in a word, they are all things in both general and particular that belong to the outer or corporeal memory (concerning which see n. 2471, 2480). To this mind also belongs all the imaginative faculty, which is the interior sensuous with man, and which is in the greatest vigor with children; and in the first age of adolescence; to the same mind belong also all natural affections that man has in common with brute animals; all of which shows what its offices are.

[3] But the rational mind is more internal. The knowledges in it are not open before man, but while he lives in the body are imperceptible; for they are all things in both general and particular that belong to the interior memory (concerning which see n. 2470-2474, 2489, 2490). To this mind also belongs all the thinking faculty that is perceptive of what is equitable and just, and of what is true and good; also all spiritual affections, which are properly human, and by which man is distinguished from the brute animals. From these things this mind flows into the natural mind, and excites the things that are therein, and views them with a kind of sight, and in this manner judges and forms conclusions. That these two minds are distinct is clearly evident from the fact that with many persons the natural mind bears rule over the rational mind; or what is the same, the external man over the internal man; and that it does not bear rule but serves with those only who are in the good of charity, that is, who suffer themselves to be led by the Lord.

1795. And the steward of my house. That this signifies an external church, is evident from the signification of the “steward of a house,” in the internal sense, that is, in respect to the church. The external church is called “the steward of a house,” when the internal church itself is the house, and the father of the family is the Lord. The external church is circumstanced no otherwise, for all stewardship belongs to the external of the church; as the administration of rituals, and of many things that pertain to the place of worship and to the church itself, that is, to the House of Jehovah or of the Lord.

[2] The externals of the church without the internals are things of naught; they have their being from the internals, and are such as the internals are. The case herein is the same as it is with man: his external or corporeal is in itself a thing of no account unless there is an internal which gives it soul and life. Such therefore as is the internal, such is the external; or such as is the mind [animus et mens], such is the worth of all things which come forth by means of the external or corporeal. The things which are of the heart make the man; not those which are of the mouth and the gestures; and such is the case with the internals of the church. But still the externals of the church are like the externals of a man, in that they take charge of and administer; or what is the same, the external or corporeal man may in like manner be called the steward or administrator of the house, when the house means the interiors. From this it is evident what “childless” means, namely, the state in which there is no internal of the church, but only an external; as was the case at the time of which the Lord complained.