786. And the stroke of his death was healed, signifies the discordance apparently cleared away by means of devised conjunctions of works with faith. This is evident from the signification of "the stroke of death," as being discordance with the Word; for "stroke of death" has a like signification here as "the head wounded to death" just above. That "strokes" signify in the Word such things as destroy the church and the spiritual life of man may be seen above n. 584; and as doctrine from the Word constitutes the church, so when doctrine disagrees with the Word there is no longer a church, but only a religion that counterfeits the church. The above is evident also from the signification of "being healed," that is, of the "stroke," as being that this discordance was apparently cleared away by devised conjunctions of works with faith. That this is the signification of "being healed," when "the stroke of death" signifies disagreement with the Word, can be seen without further argument. Nevertheless, that this stroke was not healed, but only apparently cleared away, will be seen in what follows. In the first place something shall be said in passing about the conjunctions of good works with faith that are devised by those who have believed themselves to be keener and more sagacious than all others, and at the same time to be endowed with such gifts of genius as to be able by reasonings from fallacies to induce upon any falsity whatever an appearance of truth. But in order that this may be investigated, presented to the comprehension, and afterwards unfolded, I will here speak of those conjunctions of good works with faith, by means of which the disagreement with the Word is apparently cleared away, some of which are believed by the simple, and some devised by the learned.

[2] 1. The very simple know no otherwise than that faith alone consists in believing those things that are in the Word, and that are taught therefrom by the doctrine of the church.

2. The less simple do not know what faith alone is; they merely know that faith is to believe what must be done; and few of them make any distinction between believing and doing.

3. Others, however, suppose that faith produces good works, but do not consider how it produces them.

4. Others think that faith must always precede, and that goods are brought forth from it, or spring from it as fruit does from a tree.

5. Some believe that this is done by man's co-operation, others that it is done without his cooperation.

6. But as the doctrine declares that faith alone without good works is what saves, therefore some make no account of good works, saying in their heart that everything they do is good in God's sight, and that evils are not seen by God.

7. But as deeds and works, and doing and working, are so frequently mentioned in the Word, from the necessity of reconciling the Word with that dogma, they devise various modes of conjunctions that are not consistent, and yet are such that faith is kept by itself, and works by themselves, to the end that salvation may be in faith, and nothing of it in works.

8. Some conjoin faith with the endeavor to do good with those who have attained to the last stage of justification, yet with an endeavor that derives nothing from the voluntary part of man, but only from influx or inspiration, since the good that is from the voluntary part of man is in itself not good.

9. Some conjoin faith with the Lord's merit, saying that this works all things pertaining to man's life, while man does not know it.

10. Some conjoin faith with moral good and with civil good, which are goods that are to be done for the sake of life in the world, not for the sake of eternal life; and they contend that these are the goods that are meant by the "deeds" and "works," and "doing" and "working," mentioned in the Word; and that for the sake of the uses there, good works must be taught and preached before the laity, because they have no knowledge of the arcana respecting the conjunction of faith and works, and some cannot comprehend them.

11. Many of the learned suppose that in faith alone all are conjoined, that is, that love to God, charity towards the neighbor, the good of life, works, the Lord's merit, and God, are all included in faith alone, except that man thinks, wills, and does something from himself respecting these.

12. It is to be known that many other modes of conjunction have been devised, and that still more are devised by the same persons in the spiritual world; for spiritual thought can spread forth into innumerable things that natural thought cannot reach. I have seen a certain person in the spiritual world who had thought out hundreds of modes of conjunction, and in every one there was a progress in the train of thought from a beginning through means to an end; but when he had reached the end, and believed that he now saw the conjunction, he was enlightened and perceived that the more interiorly he thought upon the subject the more he separated faith from good works instead of conjoining them. From this it can be seen what the modes of conjunction are that have been devised especially by the learned, by which the disagreement of this dogma with the Word may appear like an agreement, which is what is meant by "the stroke of death of the beast was healed."

775. Having seven heads, signifies the knowledge [scientia] of the holy things of the Word which are falsified and adulterated. This is evident from the signification of "head," as being intelligence and wisdom, and in the contrary sense, insanity and folly (See above (Apocalypse Explained, n. 573, 577). And as intelligence and wisdom cannot be predicated of those who by reasonings from the natural man confirm the separation of faith and life, who are meant by "the beast coming up out of the sea," so "its head" signifies knowledge. It means the knowledge of the holy things of the Word, because there were "seven heads," and seven is predicated of things holy (See above, n. 257). The knowledge of the holy things of the Word is meant, because those meant by "the dragon" are not opposed to the Word; for they call the Word holy and Divine, because they collect from it the confirmations of their dogmas. But that they falsify and adulterate by these the holy things of the Word, of which they have knowledge, will be evident from what follows, and is evident in general from this, that those who separate faith from life cannot do otherwise, since such a separation is contrary to each and all things of the Word. For in all things of the Word and in every particular of it there is a marriage of good and truth, as is manifestly evident from the spiritual sense of the Word. This is why there are in so many passages two expressions that appear like repetitions of the same thing, but still one of them has reference to good and the other to truth; thus the two make as it were a marriage, which is called the Divine marriage, the celestial marriage, and the spiritual marriage, which regarded in itself is the marriage of good and truth. (Respecting this marriage see above, n. 238, 288, 484, 660) There must be a like marriage of faith and love, or of faith and good works; for faith pertains to truth, and truth to faith; and love pertains to good, and good to love. From this it is clear that those who separate faith from its life, or what is the same, from love, cannot do otherwise than falsify the Word, because they explain the sense of its letter in opposition to the marriage of good and truth which is in each and every thing of the Word.

[2] It has been said that the "head" signifies wisdom and intelligence, and that with those who are not in wisdom and intelligence it signifies knowledge [scientia]; therefore with those who falsify and pervert the Word it signifies insanity and folly, as above n. 715, where the signification of "the seven heads of the dragon" was explained; so "the head of this beast" has a similar signification, since this beast means the dragon in reference to reasonings from the natural man confirming the separation of faith from the life. The "head" signifies wisdom, intelligence, and the knowledge of truths, and in the contrary sense folly, insanity, and the knowledge of falsities, because these have their seat in the head, and are there in their beginnings. This is clearly evident from the fact that the origins of all fibers are in the head, and from it they proceed to all the organs of sense and motion belonging to the face and the whole body; and there, too, are substances in infinite number that look like little spheres and are called by anatomists the cortical and cineritious substances; and from these go forth small fibers, the first of which are undiscernible; afterwards these are bundled together, and make up the medullary substance of the whole cerebrum, cerebellum, and medulla oblongata. From this medullary substance discernible fibers extend, and these when conjoined are called nerves. By these the cerebrum, the cerebellum, and the spinal marrow form the entire body and each and all things pertaining to it; and from this it comes that each and all things of the body are ruled by the brains.

[3] From this it can be seen that the brains are the seat of the understanding and the will, which are called with one term, mind, and in consequence, of intelligence and wisdom, and that these are there in their first principles; also that the organs that are formed to receive sensations and to produce motions are derivations therefrom, precisely like streams from their fountains, or derivatives from their beginnings, or composite things from their substances; and these derivations are such that the brains are everywhere present, almost as the sun is present by its light and heat in each and all things of the earth. From this it follows that the whole body, and each and all things of it, are forms that are under the observation, auspices, and obedience, of the mind, which is in the brain; thus these forms are so constructed after the mind's direction that any part in which the mind is not present, or to which it does not communicate its life, is no part of man's life. From this it can be seen that when the mind is in its thought, which pertains to the understanding, and in its affection, which pertains to the will, it has an extension into every particular of the whole body, and there, by means of its forms, it spreads itself out as the thoughts and affections of the angels do into the societies of the universal heaven. The like is true here, since all things of the human body correspond to all things of heaven; consequently the form of the whole heaven before the Lord is the human form. (This is treated of at length in the Arcana Coelestia and in the work on Heaven and Hell.)

[4] This has been said to make known why the "head" signifies wisdom and intelligence, as also in the contrary sense folly and insanity. For such as man is in his beginnings such is he in the whole, for the body with each and every part of it is a derivation, as has just been said. If, therefore, the mind is in the belief of falsity and in the love of evil, its entire body, that is, the entire man, is in a like state. This is also clearly evident when man becomes a spirit, whether good or evil; then his whole spiritual body, from head to foot, is wholly such as his mind is. If the mind is heavenly, the whole spirit, even as to its body, is heavenly. If the mind is infernal, the whole spirit, even as to its body, is infernal; and in consequence such a spirit appears in a direful form like a devil, while the former spirit appears in a beautiful form like an angel of heaven. But on this more will be said elsewhere.