4171. “被野兽撕裂的, 我没有带来给你” 表那良善所具有的邪恶并非因祂的过错. 这从 “被野兽撕裂” 的含义清楚可知, “被野兽撕裂” 是指别人所造成的死亡, 因而是指非他过错的邪恶. 人所具有的邪恶有许多来源. 第一个来源在于遗传, 从祖父辈和曾祖父辈到父辈, 再从父辈传到他这里, 邪恶在父辈里面就已经堆积如山了. 第二个来源在于他自己实际造作的, 也就是说, 在于人通过邪恶的生活为自己所获得的. 这邪恶部分地由他从遗传, 如同从邪恶的海洋所得来并付诸实践的东西组成, 部分地由他在此之上为自己大量添加的东西组成. 这就是人给自己所获得的自我. 人将其变成自己的这种实际邪恶也有各种来源, 不过通常有两种: 第一种是他从别人那里, 但非因自己的过错而得来的东西; 第二种是他自愿, 因而通过自己的过错而得来的东西. 在圣言中, “被 (野兽) 撕裂的” 就表示人从别人那里, 非因自己的过错而得来的东西; 而 “(动物) 尸体或尸首” 则表示人自愿, 因而通过自己的过错而得来的东西.

正因如此, 无论在古教会还是犹太人当中, 他们都禁止吃自死的, 也就是动物尸体, 以及被 (野兽) 撒裂的. 以下经文就有这项禁令:

凡吃自死的, 或是被野兽撕裂的灵魂, 无论是本地人, 是寄居的, 必不洁净到晚上, 都要洗衣服, 用水洗身, 到了晚上, 才为洁净. 但他若不洗衣服, 也不洗身, 就必担当他的罪孽. (利未记 17:15-16)

又:

自死的或是被野兽撕裂的, 他不可吃, 因此污秽自己. 我是耶和华. (利未记 22:8)

“被 (野兽) 撕裂的” 表示出于虚假的邪恶, 是由林中撕裂的野兽所指的恶人造成的; 因为在圣言中, 凡在地狱者都好比野兽. 出埃及记:

你们要归我作圣洁的人; 因此, 田间被野兽撕裂的肉, 你们不可吃, 要丢给狗. (出埃及记 22:31)

以西结书:

先知对耶和华说, 我的灵魂素来未曾被玷污, 从幼年到如今没有吃过自死的, 或被野兽撕裂的, 那可憎的肉也未曾入我的口. (以西结书 4:14)

又:

无论是鸟是兽, 凡自死的或是撕裂的, 祭司都不可吃. (以西结书 44:31)

这论及主的国度, 新地就在那里.

从这些经文可以看出, “被 (野兽) 撕裂的” 在内义上是什么意思; 为了使这一点显得更清楚, 我们举个例子. 某人过着良善的生活, 也就是出于愿意别人好而向他行善. 假如这人允许自己被陷入邪恶的人说服, 从而相信良善的生活无助于救恩, 因为所有人都生在罪中, 没有人能凭自己意愿良善, 因而行出良善. 假如他由此允许自己被这一观念说服: 所提供的得救方法就是那被称为信的; 因此人凭着信得救, 无需过良善的生活, 即便在临终的那一刻接受信也可以. 如果过着良善生活的这个人允许自己被这样的观念说服, 然后不再关心生活, 甚至蔑视它, 就可以说他 “被 (野兽) 撕裂了”; 因为 “被撕裂” 论及虚假被引入的良善, 那良善由此就不再活着了.

再以婚姻为例, 如果有人一开始将婚姻视为天上的制度, 但后来他 (或许还有他的配偶) 允许自己被说服相信, 婚姻的设立纯粹是为了这个世界的秩序, 为了抚养和照料孩子, 以及继承财产. 另外, 他还允许自己被说服相信, 婚姻的纽带无非一种契约, 若对方同意, 任意一方都可终止或放宽这个契约. 一旦接受了这些观念, 对于婚姻, 他就不再视为天上的事了. 假如这一切导致放荡, 那么后果就是所谓的 “被撕裂”. 其它例子也一样.

恶人就是那 “撕裂” 者, 他们通过基于外在事物的推理而这样做, 而内在事物由于生活的邪恶而无法被引入外在事物. 这一事实从以下经文可以看出来, 耶利米书:

林中的狮子必害死尊大的人, 野地的豺狼必灭绝他们, 豹子要在城外窥伺他们, 凡出城的必被撕碎; 因为他们的罪过极多, 背道的事也加增了. (耶利米书 5:5-6)

阿摩司书:

以东拿剑追赶兄弟, 毁尽怜悯, 他的怒气不断撕裂, 他永怀忿怒. (阿摩司书 1:11)

1594. That 'they were separated, man from his brother' means that those things bring the separation about follows from what has just been stated. What 'a man, a brother' is has already been stated above at verse 8, namely unity, and therefore 'being separated, man from brother' means severance. What it is that severs the external man from the internal, the individual does not know; and there are a number of reasons for his not knowing. For one thing he does not know of - or if he has heard of, does not believe in - the existence of the internal man. And for another thing he does not know - or if he has heard, does not believe - that self-love and its desires are what cause the severance, also the love of the world and its desires, though not so much as self-love.

[2] The reason he does not know of - or if he has heard of, does not believe in - the existence of the internal man is that the life he leads is immersed in things of the body and the senses, which cannot possibly see what is interior. Interior things are able to see that which is exterior, but exterior things cannot possibly see what is interior. Take the power of sight; the internal sight can see what external sight is, but external sight cannot possibly see what internal sight is. Or take the power of understanding and of rationality; this is able to perceive what factual knowledge is, and the nature of it, but not vice versa. A further reason why the existence of the internal man is not known or believed in by the individual is that he does not believe in the existence of the spirit which is separated from the body at death, and scarcely in the existence of that internal life which people call the soul. For when the person whose mind is immersed in things of the body and the senses thinks of the spirit being separated from the body it strikes him as an impossibility because he regards the body as the place where life resides, and confirms himself in this view from the fact that animals have life as well and yet do not live on after death, in addition to many other considerations. All these ideas of his arise from the fact that the life he leads is immersed in things of the body and the senses, a life which regarded in itself is little different from the life of animals. The only difference is that man is able to think and to reason about whatever he encounters; but even then he does not reflect on this ability which places him above animals.

[3] But this is not the major cause of the severance of the external man from the internal man, for the greater number of people possess such unbelief, the highly learned more than the simple. That which causes the severance is chiefly self-love, and also love of the world, though not so much as self-love does. The reason a person does not know this is that his life is devoid of charity, and when his life is devoid of charity, how can he see that the life of self-love and its desires is so contrary to heavenly love? Also there is within self-love and its desires a kind of flame, and from it a feeling of delight which so affect a person's life that he can scarcely conceive of eternal happiness consisting of anything else. For this reason also many people suppose that eternal happiness means becoming great following the life of the body and being served by others, even by angels, while they themselves are not willing to serve anybody except for the concealed motive of being served themselves. When at such times they assert that they wish to serve the Lord alone, it is a lie, for people who are ruled by self-love wish that even the Lord should serve them. And to the extent this does not happen they depart, so strong is the desire in their hearts to become lords and rule the entire universe. What kind of government it would be when the majority, or indeed all, are like this, anyone can think out for himself. Would it not be a government like that exercised in hell where everyone loves himself more than anybody else? This is what lies hidden within self-love. From this it may become clear what the nature of self-love is, and also from the fact that it conceals within itself hatred of all who do not submit themselves to it as its slaves. And because it conceals hatred, it also conceals forms of revenge, cruelty, deceit, and further unspeakable things.

[4] Mutual love however, which alone is heavenly, consists in not only saying but also acknowledging and believing that one is utterly undeserving, and something worthless and filthy, which the Lord in His infinite mercy is constantly drawing away and holding back from the hell into which the person constantly tries, and indeed longs, to cast himself. He acknowledges and believes this because it is the truth. Not that the Lord or any angel wishes him to acknowledge and believe it just to gain his submission, but to prevent his vaunting himself when he is in fact such. This would be like excrement calling itself pure gold, or a dung-fly a bird of paradise. To the extent therefore that a person acknowledges and believes that he really is what he in fact is, he departs from self-love and its desires, and loathes himself. To the extent that this happens he receives from the Lord heavenly love, that is, mutual love, which is willing to serve all. These are the people meant by the least who become the greatest in the Lord's kingdom, Matthew 20:26-28; Luke 9:46-48.

[5] These considerations show what it is that severs the external man from the internal - chiefly self-love. And the chief thing that unites the external man to the internal is mutual love, which is in no way attainable until self-love departs, for they are complete opposites. The internal man is nothing else than mutual love. The human spirit itself, or soul, is the interior man which lives after death. It is organic, for it is joined to the body so long as the person lives in the world. This interior man - that is, his soul or spirit - is not the internal man, but the internal man is within the interior when the latter has mutual love within it. The things that belong to the internal man are the Lord's, so that one may say that the internal man is the Lord. Yet because the Lord grants an angel or man, so long as his life has mutual love in it, a heavenly proprium so that he has no idea but that he does good from himself, an internal man is therefore attributed to a person as though it were his own. The person in whom mutual love dwells however acknowledges and believes that everything good and true is not his own but the Lord's. He acknowledges and believes that his ability to love another as himself - and if he is like the angels, more than himself - is a gift from the Lord and that he ceases to enjoy that gift and its happiness to the extent he departs from acknowledging that it is the Lord's.