837. Having now treated at some length of faith and works, I propose to briefly summarise what has been said under the following observations.

1. That every man after death becomes his own love, and that the spirit of man is nothing but the affection of his love. Therefore, when a man becomes a spirit, he thinks and consequently speaks from his own affection; he also wills and thence acts from his own affection, and then he also desires and takes in the things belonging to his affection or love, and those which do not agree with it, he turns away from and rejects. In fact, his face becomes successively that of his affection or love, and he is afterwards known from this; so, too, is he known from his speech, the tone of which is the tone of his affection. In a word, a man after death becomes his own love, or his own affection, in form. Therefore when any one speaks against the affection of a man's love, or assaults it, his face changes, and he himself also goes away or vanishes suddenly.

Since all men after death are the substances and forms of their own love, therefore the whole heaven, which consists of angels who have been men, is divided into societies according to the classes and species of affections, thus according to all the differences and varieties thereof. In the same way hell, which also consists of spirits who have been men, is divided into societies according to affections the opposite of those that are heavenly, and according to all their differences and varieties in general and particular. That a man after death is his own love, or the affection of his love, has been hitherto unknown in the world; for men have believed that affection is of no account, while thought is; and this because man had not the power of reflecting upon the affections, and their variations in himself, but only upon the thoughts and their variations; for the latter he sees, as it were, inwardly in himself, but not his affections. And what is not seen in thought and made evident is not noticed. He, however, who is wise is able to know his affections from his thoughts; for the latter manifest themselves in the former, when a man is in the freedom of his spirit and with himself alone. For he then thinks from the affection of his love. Nor is thought anything else but affection made visible in various form by the influx of light. If, therefore, you were to take away affection, thought would immediately cease; just as light does if you take away flame. From these things it is evident how important it is to acquire for oneself heavenly love or affection; how this can be done will be shown in what follows. Let it be observed that by affection is meant love in its continuity.

[2] 2. That the whole life of man is the life of his love, and that the love and life in man make one, and are one, is evident from what has been said above - that every one appears in the spiritual world with a face like his love; that he speaks, thinks, wills, desires, lusts, rejoices, and is sad, in agreement with it, and that these constitute his life, and proceed from it. That this is the case is quite clear from spirits and angels, all of whom are men both in face and body. As soon as the love of any one is assaulted, he vanishes with his whole body, even although shut up in a chamber, as has been seen by me frequently. It was evident, therefore, that an angel and spirit is not only affection in a human form, but also that his whole life from the head to the sole of the foot, or from his hat to his shoe, is nothing but affection of love. Otherwise a spirit could not wholly disappear from the eyes of those sitting with him. Inquiry was made whether his bodily form and its members is also an affection of love; and this was found to be the case with every thing pertaining to them. The reason of this is, that the whole heaven, which, as was said above, is divided and formed into societies according to all the differences and varieties of affections, resembles one man, and all angels and spirits are consequently human forms. Therefore as heaven is the aggregate of all affections, so also is an angel and a spirit; these are the least forms of heaven.

Hence this mystery was made plain to me, and was also confirmed from heaven, that every thing in man, both mind and body, are forms of love in a wonderful series, and that the organs of the cerebrum and face, also the members and viscera of the body, are continuous structures corresponding to the affections of the societies of heaven. So also, another mystery was made known to me - that the affections, and thence the thoughts of the mind, extend and diffuse themselves into every thing belonging to the body, as into the field of their activity; this field is from the affection of the mind and its thought for uses, from which, in which, and according to which, the members and viscera of the body are formed. The case here is similar to that which happens with the affections and thoughts of the angels, which diffuse themselves in every direction into heaven and its societies. The wisdom of the angels is according to their extension. But upon this subject more may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell, namely, that all the angels are images of heaven, and thus, as it were, heavens in least forms (n. 41-58). That the whole heaven resembles one man, and that hence angels and spirits are human forms (n. 59-102). That all thought from affection, proceeding from the angels, has extension into the societies of heaven, according to the quality of their love and wisdom (n. 200-212).

[3] 3. Since love constitutes a man's life, and man will live to eternity, according to his life acquired in the world, either in heaven or in hell, it is a matter of the highest importance to know how heavenly love is acquired, so that his life, which is to have no end, may be blessed and happy.

[4] 4. There are two primary faculties of man's life, namely, the will and the understanding. The will is the receptacle of all things pertaining to good, and the understanding is the receptacle of all things pertaining to truth from that good. A man cannot be reformed but by means of these two faculties of his life, and by their being filled with goods and truths. Reformation is effected in the following order. First, a man must fill his memory with the knowledges and cognitions of truth and good, by means of which he will acquire the light (lumen) of reason; and especially he must learn that God is one, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, that there are a heaven and a hell, that there is a life after death, and that the Word is holy.

[5] 5. Then he must learn what evils are sins; first from the Decalogue, and afterwards from the Word throughout. And he must think that they are sins against God, and that therefore they keep back and separate man from heaven, and condemn and sentence him to hell. This is why the first thing in reformation is to desist from sins, to shun them, and at length to become averse to them; but in order to do this, he must ask the Lord for aid. He must also shun and hold them in aversion, because they are opposed to the Word, thus to the Lord, and consequently to heaven, and because they are in themselves infernal.

[6] 6. So far as a man shuns evils, and is averse to them because they are sins, and thinks of heaven, his salvation, and eternal life; so far is he adopted by the Lord, conjoined to heaven, and gifted, to the same extent, with spiritual affection; which is such that he not only desires to know truths, but also to understand them, also to will and to do them.

[7] 7. Thus is a man reformed by the Lord. And so far as a man then knows and understands truths, and also wills and does them, so far does he become a new man, in other words, a regenerate man, and he becomes an angel of heaven, who possesses heavenly love and life.

[8] 8. His love and life are altogether such as the works of his will are; and the works of the will are according to the truths that are applied to life. The knowledges of truth and good which man has acquired for himself from infancy, and with which he has filled his memory, do not live in him until he begins to be affected with truths because they are truths, and also to will and do them. Previous to this they only stand outside a man's life.

[9] 9. By good works are meant every thing that a man does after he has become averse to evils because they are sins against God; for then he no longer does them of himself but from the Lord. He then also learns every day what he is to do. He has also a clear discernment of goods and evils; he shuns the latter and does the former with prudence, intelligence, and wisdom. So far concerning love, which constitutes the life of man. Something shall now be said concerning faith.

[10] 10. The ancients did not know what faith is; but in place of faith they had truth. For truth, when perceived, or seen in the understanding, and thus acknowledged, is believed for its own sake. Therefore it cannot be said of it that one must have faith in it, for faith is in it. For example, suppose any one sees a tree and flower in a garden, and another were to say to him that he ought to believe, or have faith in the existence of the tree and flower, and that it is such and such a tree and flower; would not he answer, why do you want me to believe, or have faith in this, when I see it myself? This is why the angels of the third heaven, because they perceive truths from good, are not willing even to mention faith, nor indeed to know that it exists. Neither do the angels of the second heaven acknowledge the term faith, because they see truths from the light of truth, with which their understanding is enlightened. They wonder and smile, when they hear any one say, that the understanding is to be held captive in obedience to faith, and that one must have faith in things not perceived and not seen. They then say that in this way falsity might be believed, and be placed by confirmations, as it were, in light, and truth itself, as it were, in darkness; and thus truth might become the sport of falsity, as one plays with a ball.

[11] 11. When the world could no longer see truths from the love of them and from the light of them, owing to their becoming natural and external, then faith began to be spoken of; and everything connected with faith began to be called truth, although not perceived or seen, but merely affirmed by some leader of thought, and confirmed from passages of the Word not understood. This is the state in which the churches are at this day in the Christian world; in each of which it is believed that the doctrinals of their faith are true; and this for no other reason than that they are held by the church of their country. That nevertheless it is neither perceived nor seen whether they are true, is evident from the many discussions, disputations, opinions and heresies concerning them, in general and in particular, both at home and abroad.

[12] 12. So long as faith was conjoined to works, and charity was acknowledged as an equal with faith, or above it, so long was the church in truths from the Word, although they were few, because they did not see them. As soon, however, as faith was separated from charity, the church lapsed from truths into falsities, and at length into a faith that has destroyed all the truths of the church. This faith is that of justification and salvation by the merit of the Lord with the Father. For since this faith alone, and separated, moreover, from the goods of life, which are good works, saves, what need is there of truths that teach the way and lead to heaven? Live and believe however you like, and merely hold that faith, and you will be saved. But let me tell thee, my reader, that all who live that faith are in natural love separated from spiritual love; and such love is the love of self and the world, and thence the love of all evils, and from the evils the love of all falsities; and that all such are so empty, and at the same time so blind, that they do not know even a single genuine truth of the church, nor do they see one in the Word, although they have it and read it. Many of them also are such as to have no desire to know or see truth of any kind.

[13] 13. The reason is, that no truth, still less anything that can be called faith, can possibly exist with a man, unless he wills and does it; for previous to this it is not a truth of the life, but only a truth of the memory, which is extraneous to the man and not within him; and what is extraneous is dissipated. Hence it is evident, that faith without works is not faith, unless it is a faith of falsity from evil, which is a dead faith, such as reigns in hell.

298. The right hand, when said of the Lord, signifies both omnipotence and omniscience, because there the south is at the right in heaven, and the north is at the left; and by the south is signified Divine truth in light, and by the north Divine truth in shade. And because Divine good has all power by means of the Divine truth, therefore by the right hand, when said of the Lord, omnipotence is signified; and because as Divine good has all intelligence and wisdom by means of Divine truth, and to the right in heaven is Divine truth in light as has been said, therefore, by the right hand, when said of the Lord, is also signified omniscience. That the south is at the right in heaven and that there Divine truth is in light, and that those who are there are in intelligence and wisdom; and that the north is at the left there, and that there Divine truth is in shade, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell, where the four quarters in heaven are treated of (n. 141-153). That all power is from Divine good by means of Divine truth, may be seen in the same work, where the subject treated of is concerning the power of the angels of heaven (n. 228-235): also, that all intelligence and wisdom are from Divine good by means of Divine truth, may be seen in the same work, where the subject treated of is concerning the wisdom of the angels of heaven (n. 265-275): and concerning the wise and simple in heaven (n. 346-356).

[2] That the right hand, when said of the Lord, signifies both omnipotence and omniscience, and when said of men, power and wisdom, is evident from the following passage.

In David:

"The north and the right hand thou hast created them; Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name. Thou hast a mighty arm; strong is thy hand, and thy right hand shall be exalted. Justice and judgment are the support of thy throne; mercy and truth shall stand together before thy faces" (89:12-14).

That by the right hand is here meant the south, is evident, for it is said, the north and the right hand, thou hast created; and the south signifies the Divine truth in light, thus in the highest sense (in which the Lord is spoken of) the omnipotence and omniscience, which Divine good has by means of Divine truth, as has been said above. Because both, omnipotence as well as omniscience, are signified, it is therefore said, Tabor and Hermon, justice and judgment, mercy and truth. Tabor and Hermon here signify those who are in Divine good and in Divine truth: justice and judgment signify Divine good and Divine truth, and similarly mercy and truth; by both together, in the spiritual sense, is signified Divine good by Divine truth. Omnipotence and omniscience, which Divine good has by means of Divine truth, are signified by "Thou hast a mighty arm," and by "strong is Thy hand, and Thy right hand shall be exalted."

[3] Again:

"If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget" (Psalms 137:5).

Jerusalem signifies the church as to the doctrine of Divine truth; and the right hand of Jehovah, Divine truth in light, because those are at the right hand of the Lord in heaven who are in light and in wisdom from Divine truth, as was said above: hence it is evident why it is said, "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget."

[4] Again:

"I was foolish and ignorant. But I am always with thee; thou hast holden me by my right hand. Thou guidest me by thy counsel, and afterwards receivest me in glory" (Psalms 73:22-24).

Forasmuch as by the right hand, when said of man, is signified wisdom which is from Divine truth, it is therefore said, "I was foolish and ignorant; Thou guidest me in thy counsel, and afterwards receivest me in glory." To guide by counsel, is to lead by means of Divine truth: and to receive in glory, is to bless with intelligence: for glory, when said of the Lord, signifies Divine truth and Divine wisdom, but when said of man, it signifies intelligence therefrom.

[5] Again:

"Jehovah is thy keeper; Jehovah is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night" (Psalms 121:5, 6).

To be a shade on the right hand, signifies to be a defence against evil and falsity. Shade is used there for a shady place to preserve from hurt, and the right hand for power and wisdom from Divine truth, which would be hurt by evil and falsity unless the Lord defended. Because these things are signified, therefore it is said, "the sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night." By the sun is there signified the love of self, and thence all evil; and by the moon the falsity of evil. (That these things are signified by the sun and moon, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell 122, 123; and in the Arcana Coelestia 2441, 7078, 8487, 9755, 10130, 10189, 10420, 10702).

[6] Again:

"Let thy hand, Jehovah, be before the man of thy right hand, before the son of man whom thou hast made strong for thyself" (Psalms 80:17).

"Let thy hand, Jehovah," means for a guard from omnipotence and omniscience: "the man of the right hand" for whom there is a guard, signifies the wise; and "the son of man," the intelligent, both by means of Divine truth.

[7] Again:

"Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O mighty, in thy grace and in thine honour. In thine honour, mount up, ride on the Word of truth, of meekness, and of justice; thy right hand shall teach thee wonderful things. Kings' daughters are among thine excellent; at thy right hand shall stand the queen in the best gold of Ophir" (45:3, 4, 9).

These things are said concerning the Lord. To gird the sword upon the thigh, signifies Divine truth combating from Divine good; wherefore it is said, "O mighty, in thy grace and in thine honour": by grace is signified Divine truth; and by honour, Divine good (as may be seen above, n. 131, 288). It is also likewise said, "In thine honour, mount up, ride on the Word of truth." In honour to mount up, signifies to combat from Divine good, and to ride upon the Word of truth signifies to combat from Divine truth, thus from Divine good by means of Divine truth. The Lord's omnipotence and omniscience are signified by "Thy right hand shall teach thee wonderful things." "The kings' daughters among the excellent," signify affections of truth, and "the queen who is at the right hand in the best gold of Ophir," signifies heaven and the church, and those therein who are in truths from good, the right hand denoting truth in light, and gold of Ophir the good of love.

[8] Again:

"The saying of Jehovah unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet. The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his anger" (Psalms 110:1, 5; Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42, 43).

That these things are said concerning the Lord is well known. Thereby is described the Lord's combat in the world against the hells, and the subjugation which was effected from Divine good by means of Divine truth. The right hand there signifies Divine truth; wherefore it is said, "until I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet." By enemies are signified the hells: by making them the footstool of the feet is signified to subjugate entirely. The same is signified by "the Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of his anger": the day of anger denoting a state of combat, and kings those who are in falsities from evil. (That the Lord, when He was in the world, put on Divine truth from Divine good, and that He thereby subjugated the hells, and disposed all things in the heavens into order, may be seen in the small work concerning the Last Judgment 46: and in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem 293, 294, 301, 303.)

[9] In the Evangelists:

"Jesus said, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hands of power" (Matthew 26:63, 64; Mark 14:61, 62; Luke 22:69).

And in Mark:

"The Lord after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God" (16:19).

To sit at the right hands of power, and at the right hand of God, signifies the omnipotence and omniscience which belong to the Lord from Divine good by means of the Divine truth.

[10] In Isaiah:

"I have strengthened thee, I have also helped thee by the right hand of my justice. I, Jehovah God, strengthening thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I help thee" (41:10, 13).

"I have strengthened thee, I have also helped thee," signifies to give power and intelligence from the omnipotence and omniscience, which are from Divine good by means of Divine truth: hence it is said, "I have upheld thee by the right hand of my justice." By the right hand is signified Divine truth, and by justice Divine good. To strengthen the right hand signifies the power and wisdom which man has thence; because both omnipotence and omniscience, which belong to the Lord from Divine good by means of the Divine truth, are here meant, He is therefore called Jehovah God; for the Lord is called Jehovah from Divine good, and God from Divine truth. (As may be seen, n. 709, 732, 2586, 2769, 2807, 2822, 3921, 4287, 4402, 7010, 9167.)

[11] Again:

"Jehovah hath said to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings to open before him doors that the gates may not be shut" (45:1).

By Cyrus, in a representative sense, is meant the Lord. His omnipotence and omniscience from Divine good by means of Divine truth, from which in the world He subjugated all the hells, and afterwards keeps them subjugated for ever, is signified by "whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him, and I will loose the loins of kings": also, by "to open before him doors that the gates may not be shut." By the nations which should be subdued before Him, are signified the hells as to evils; and by the kings whose loins He should loose, are signified the hells as to falsities; by the doors which should be open before Him that the gates may not be shut, is signified that from omniscience all things are manifest to Him, and that from omnipotence He has the power of saving.

[12]By the right hand are signified the omniscience and omnipotence which belong to the Lord from Divine good by means of the Divine truth, also in the following passages:

In David:

"Jehovah continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved" (Psalm 16:8).

Again:

O God, "Thy right hand sustains me" (Psalm 18:35).

Again:

"O God, thy right hand is full of justice" (Psalm 48:10).

In Isaiah:

"My hand hath founded the earth and my right hand hath spanned the heavens" (Isaiah 47:13).

Again:

God "hath sworn by his right hand and by the arm of his strength" (62:8).

And in the Apocalypse,

The Son of man "having in his right hand seven stars" (1:16).

In David:

"The right hand of Jehovah doeth valour: the right hand of Jehovah [is] exalted" (118:15, 16).

[13] Because by the right hand, when said of angels and men, are meant the wisdom and the intelligence which they have from Divine good by means of Divine truth proceeding from the Lord, therefore

The angel of the Lord was seen by Zechariah standing at the right hand of the altar of incense (Luke 1:11).

And the angel was seen in the sepulchre where the Lord was laid, sitting on the right hand (Mark 16:5, 6).

And therefore also the sheep are said [to be] placed on the right hand, and the goats on the left (Matthew 25:33, 34).

By the sheep are here meant those who are in truths from good, or in the faith of truth from the good of charity: but by the goats are meant those who are in faith without charity, which faith is called faith alone, and, regarded in itself, is no faith.

[14] On account of this signification of the right hand, when Aaron and his sons were inaugurated into the priesthood, the blood was sprinkled upon their right ear and upon the thumb of their right hand, and upon the great toe of the right foot (Exodus 29:20). By the blood here is signified Divine truth from Divine good; by the right ear, the perceptive [faculty] of truth from good; by the right hand and the right foot are signified the intelligence and power of truth from good in the internal or spiritual man, and in the external or natural man; and by the thumb and great toe, what is full.

[15] Because as most things in the Word have also an opposite sense, so also has the right hand; and in that sense it signifies falsity from evil, and reasoning and combat thereof against truth from good.

As in David:

"Thou hast set up the right hand of his enemies" (Psalms 89:42).

Again:

"Whose mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood" (Psalms 144:8, 11)

In Isaiah:

"That he cannot deliver his soul, nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?" (44:20).

In the Apocalypse:

"They should receive a mark in the right hand or in the foreheads" (13:16:14:9).

The right hand, when said of the evil, signifies falsity, and the resulting reasoning and combat against truth, because the quarters with those who are in evil are opposite to the quarters which are with those who are in good; and so at the right hand of the former truths are in dense darkness, but falsities as it were in the greatest light. (That the quarters in the spiritual world, with those who are in evil, are opposite to the quarters that are with those who are in good, may be seen in the work concerning Heaven and Hell (n. 151, 152): and the reason thereof, n. 122, 123.)