888. And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the lamb, signifies that their hell is from the love of evil and falsity, that is direful according to the falsification and consequent destruction of Divine truth and Divine good, thus of the Word. This is evident from the signification of "to be tormented," as being hell; for when heaven is mentioned its joy is at the same time meant, so when hell is mentioned its torment is also meant, and conversely; this is especially true of this expression "to be tormented with fire and brimstone." The above is evident also from the signification of "fire," as being love in both senses, namely, love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, which are the loves that prevail in heaven, and in the contrary sense love of self and love of the world, which are the loves that prevail in hell (See above, n. 504. And as all goods have their source in love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor, and all evils have their origin through love of self and love of the world, so "fire" signifies the love of all things of good, and in the contrary sense the love of all things of evil. Also from the signification of "brimstone," as being the love of falsity from evil, especially the lust of destroying the truths of the good of the church by the falsities of evil (See n. 578). Also from the signification of "the holy angels," as being Divine truths from the Lord (See n. 130, 200, 302, 800). Also from the signification of "the Lamb," as being the Lord's Divine Human; here the Divine proceeding from the Lord, which is the Divine good united to the Divine truth in the heavens; so again here the Divine good, since it is mentioned in connection with "the holy angels," which signify Divine truths from the Lord.

[2] "To be tormented before the holy angels and before the Lamb" signifies the direfulness of hell according to the falsification and consequent destruction of the Divine truth and the Divine good, thus of the Word, because the direfulness of hell, or the torment there is altogether according to that falsification and destruction; for so far as a man falsifies the Word so far he closes heaven to himself, and so far as he destroys interior Divine truths, which are Divine truths in the heavens, and from which the heavens exist, so far he is separated from the heavens and is cast down the more deeply into hell. This is "to be tormented before the angels and before the Lamb," because the Word in the letter communicates with heaven through the spiritual sense; consequently so far as that sense is destroyed by falsification so far is the falsifier cast out of heaven, and so far as anyone is cast out of heaven so far he is tormented. That this is the spiritual sense of these words can be seen from the fact that no one is tormented in hell by angels or by the Lord, thus neither before the angels nor before the Lord, but by himself through the falsification and consequent destruction of the Divine truth, which is signified by "the holy angels," and of the Divine good, which is, signified by "the Lamb."

[3] How infernal and thus how injurious it is to falsify the Word even to the destruction of the Divine truth and the Divine good in the heavens can be seen from the fact that all things of the sense of the letter of the Word, which are Divine truths for the natural man, communicate through the spiritual sense with the angels of heaven, to the extent that men and the angels of heaven are conjoined by means of the Word; consequently the sense of the letter of the Word, with the man who falsifies it, is perceived in heaven in a two-fold manner, namely as genuine truth and also as that truth destroyed; as genuine truth from the sense of the letter according to correspondences, and as destroyed according to falsifications. From this it comes that truth and falsity are presented together as conjoined, from which the angels of heaven are exasperated, and turn themselves entirely away. Thus heaven is closed up, and all communication of heaven with that man is destroyed; consequently he comes into conjunction with hell. And so far as anyone is conjoined with hell so far he is in the love of all evil and its falsity, and from that in a lust of destroying the truths and goods of the church, and at the same time he is in torment. This, then, is what is signified by "being tormented with fire and brimstone before the holy angels and before the Lamb."

[4] This is true especially of those who think from faith alone and at the same time live from faith alone, that is, who confirm that faith in themselves both in doctrine and life, as is done especially by those who have studied much to confirm that faith by writings and preachings. Such cannot do otherwise than falsify the Word, even to the destruction of its genuine truth; for the Word in the whole complex has respect to man's life, consequently to works; for the Lord says that the law and the prophets hang upon these two commandments, namely, to love God above all things and the neighbor as oneself. "The law and the prophets" signify the Word in the whole complex; and "to love God and the neighbor" means doing the commandments, and this is works (See above, n. 826), and works are what the defenders of faith separated shut out; and as a consequence they reject all the essentials of the Word when they read it; and when the essentials are rejected all that remains is dross, just as an animal's body when its life is taken away becomes putrid, since its love, which is the same as deeds, is its life. I have heard spirits who, when they lived as men in the world, had embraced faith alone, talking about the Word, that it contained Divine truths in abundance, and they said, "What are the knowledges of good and truth to me? What advantage is it to know anything about regeneration, remission of sins, free will, providence, love and charity, good works, and the rest, when the trust and confidence of this faith alone-that the Lord died for our sins-is the only thing that saves, and when all things of the Word must be explained to prove this, and can be so explained? For all things that are there said about love, good works, and doing, are included in that faith, and thus concealed like treasures under the ground." Evidently such can do no otherwise than falsify all the truths and goods of the Word when they read it and think more deeply about its meaning than about other things, and apply it to faith alone.