Verse 15. That if any one unknowingly violates the Divine law in internal worship, apparently, from love or good, still he shall acknowledge the Lord and worship Him from the good of innocence in the internal or spiritual degree, uncontaminated with evil, according to the quality of spiritual truths with him, to which good is conjoined, in order that guilt may be removed.

636. 'I will destroy them together with the earth' means that the human race would perish together with the Church. This is clear from the fact that here the phrase 'together with the earth' is used. In fact, as previously stated, 'earth' in a broad sense means love and so the celestial things of the Church. Here because no love, nor anything celestial, was left it means self-love and that which is contrary to the celestial aspect of the Church. Despite this the member of the Church still existed because he possessed doctrinal matters concerning faith. For as has been stated, love includes faith within itself, and faith includes cognitions of faith, just as the earth includes the ground, and the ground includes the field.