490. It is plain from the first chapter of Genesis that everything created by God was good. It says there that 'God saw that it was good' (verses 10, 12, 18, 21, 25), and at the end 'God saw everything that He made, and behold, it was very good' (verse 31). It is also plain from man's primeval state in paradise. Evil, however, arose from man, as is plain from Adam's second ¹ state, that is, after the fall, by his being expelled from paradise. It is clear from these facts that if free will in spiritual matters had not been given to man, God Himself, and not man, would have been the cause of evil; in this case God would have created both good and evil, and it is wicked even to think that God created evil too. The reason why God did not create evil, since He bestowed on man free will in spiritual matters, and never puts any evil into his mind, is that He is good itself, and in good God is omnipresent, continually urging and demanding to be received. Even if He is not received, still He does not go away. For if He did, man would instantly die, or rather dissolve into non-existence, since man gets his life, and the continued existence of all he consists of, from God.

[2] Evil was not created by God but introduced by man, because man turns the good which continually flows in from God into evil, by turning away from God and turning towards himself. When this happens, the pleasure given by good remains, but it now becomes the pleasure given by evil; for without an apparently similar pleasure being left man would cease to live, since it is pleasure which makes up the vital principle of his love. These two pleasures are still diametrically opposed, though a person is unaware of this so long as he lives in the world. After death, however, he will know this and indeed feel it plainly, for then the pleasure given by the love of good is turned into heavenly blessedness, but the pleasure given by the love of evil into the torments of hell. These arguments prove that everyone is predestined to heaven, and no one to hell; but it is the person who commits himself to hell by misusing his free will in spiritual matters. As a result he embraces the ideas wafted from hell, since, as was said above, everyone is held mid-way between heaven and hell, so that he can be in equilibrium between good and evil, and consequently have free will in spiritual matters.

Footnotes:

8971. THE INTERNAL SENSE

Everyone within the Church is well aware that the Word is holy, indeed extremely holy. This holiness is not merely acknowledged but also perceived by those people who are guided by the truths of faith and lead a life in keeping with them; for the idea of its holiness is preserved in them all the while that they read the Word. But people who are not guided by the truths of faith and do not lead a life in keeping with them do not even acknowledge, let alone perceive any holiness at all in the Word. When they read it they see nothing more outstanding there than in any other kind of writing. And those of them who in their hearts deny the holiness of the Word also say to themselves, when they read it, that the works of human authors are more elegant, since they have been written, so far as their literal meaning is concerned, in a more elegant style. This has been made plainly evident to me through my actual experience of those in the next life who in their hearts denied that the Word was inspired by God. When they were told that the Word was holy and Divine as to every jot there and as to the smallest tittle of all there, they stood skill and marvelled at how this could come about. And when they were told in addition, and also shown convincingly, that everything in the Word contains a spiritual level of meaning that is not apparent in the letter, and that the angels in heaven see the Word on this level when a person reads the Word, they acknowledged it, because they had been shown it. But they said that they had not known it in the world, and that since they had not known it, they were blameless. However examination of these same people revealed that they had lived just as they liked, totally unchecked by conscience, and that in their hearts therefore they had denied the existence of God, heaven and hell, life after death, and all other matters of faith, and that this was the reason for their failing to acknowledge the holiness of the Word. It was in addition made plainly evident that all those who were guided by the truths of faith and led a life in keeping with them considered the Word to be holy; indeed they could perceive its holiness for themselves when they read it. All this served to convince them that the cause lay not in the Word but in themselves; for the interiors of those who lead a life of goodness are opened towards heaven, from which the holiness of the Word flows from the angels, whereas the interiors of those who lead a life of evil are closed in the direction of heaven and opened towards hell, from which the opposite flows in.

[2] Take for example the judgements or laws in this chapter regarding male slaves, female slaves, and oxen. Those who deny the holiness of the Word because they lead a life of evil will say that they do not see anything Divine in those judgements or laws, such as the law that a male slave who does not wish to go out free should be brought to the door or doorpost, and his master should pierce his ear with an awl, so that the slave should serve him forever; or the law that if a slave who has been struck lives a day or two the master who struck him should not be punished, since he is his silver; or else the law that a slave should go free for an eye or for a tooth; or the law that an ox accustomed to gore should be stoned; or any of the other laws there. Those who in their hearts deny the holiness of the Word view these laws as being out of keeping with the Word, and especially out of keeping with a declaration made by Jehovah Himself on Mount Sinai. They view everything else in the Word, in both the historical section and the prophetical part, in the same way. But the reason why they view them in that way is that heaven is closed to them on account of their life of evil, as a result of which they have a contrary perception. It is altogether different with those who lead a life of goodness.

[3] Where the holiness of the Word which flows in from heaven begins is clear from all that has been stated and shown up to now regarding the internal sense of the Word. It has been shown that the Word alone has an internal sense and that this sense deals with such things as belong to heaven, with such as belong to eternal life; and that inmostly it deals with the Lord alone. Thus it deals with holy things, indeed with truly Divine subjects - the most holy of all. It has been shown too that angels, who are present with a person when the Word is being read, possess this sense, consequently that holiness flows out from them, which is also perceived by those who lead a life of faith and charity. So far as the judgements or laws in this chapter regarding male slaves, female slaves, and oxen are concerned, they contain in the internal sense such laws of Divine order as have regard to those who are guided by the truth of faith, and also to those who injure or destroy aspects of faith and charity, or aspects of love to the Lord. And in the inmost sense they contain [matters involving] the Lord Himself. From all this anyone may recognize how holy those laws are within themselves, however much they seem not to be so in the letter.