435. As regards 'the man and his wife' here being used to mean the new Church which earlier on was meant by 'Adah and Zillah', this nobody can know or deduce from the sense of the letter, for previously 'the man (homo) and his wife' meant the Most Ancient Church and its descendants. The point is clear however from the internal sense, and also from the fact that a little further on, in verses 3-4 of the next chapter, reference is again made, though the wording is entirely different, to the man and his wife begetting Seth. At that point the first generation of the descendants of the Most Ancient Church is meant. Unless something different were meant at this point there would be no need to say the same thing again. A parallel to this exists in Chapter 1, where the subject is the creation of man, and also of the fruits of the earth, and of beasts; followed by Chapter 2, where similar events are described, the reason for the similarity being, as has been stated, that Chapter 1 deals with the creation of the spiritual man, Chapter 2 with the creation of the celestial man. When this kind of repetition of one and the same person or thing occurs, something different is meant on the first occasion from the second. But the exact meaning cannot possibly be known except from the internal sense. The actual train of thought in like manner establishes the meaning here. And there is the added consideration that 'man and wife' is a general expression meaning that Church, which is the subject here and from which the new Church was born.

4416. The character of spirits in the next life is apparent from the light in which they dwell, for, as has been stated, the light by which they see corresponds to the light by which they perceive. People who have been acquainted with truths and have also substantiated them, and yet have led a life of evil, are seen to dwell in light which is white as snow, yet cold like the light of winter. But when such people approach those who dwell in the light of heaven their own light becomes thoroughly darkened and turns into pitch darkness. And when they withdraw from the light of heaven an inferior yellow light like that from sulphur takes its place, in which they themselves look like ghosts and their truths like ethereal shapes. For their truths have accompanied a false faith, the nature of this faith being such that they believed truths, but only because they thereby earned position, gain, and reputation. It made no difference to them what the truth may have been; all that mattered was the acceptance of it.

[2] Those however who are under the influence of evil and consequently of falsities are seen dwelling in an inferior light like that of a charcoal fire. This becomes a thoroughly murky light when it comes near the light of heaven. But the light by which those people see varies according to the falsity and evil which govern them. From this one could also see why people who lead a life of evil cannot possibly have faith in Divine truths that springs from sincerity of heart, for they are dwelling in that smoke-filled light which, when heavenly light falls upon it, becomes dark to them, as a result of which they see neither with their eyes nor with their mind. At the same time they suffer intense pains and some sink into a kind of unconsciousness. Consequently the evil cannot possibly accept truth, only the good can.

[3] Someone who is leading a life of evil is incapable of believing that he dwells in an inferior light like that because he is not able to see the light in which his spirit dwells, only the light in which the sight of his eye and consequently his natural mind dwells. But if he could see the light of his spirit and could find out what it would then become if the light of truth and good from heaven were to flow into it, he would know full well how far away he was from receiving the things of light, that is, matters of faith, and how much farther away he was from assimilating the things of charity, and so how distant he was from heaven.