8093. 'That God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines' means that the Divine saw to it that they should not pass on to the truth of faith that does not spring from good. This is clear from the meaning of 'God did not lead them by the way' as the Divine saw to it that they should not pass on to, for 'leading', when done by God, means providence, and 'the way' means truth, 627, 2333, in this instance passing on to it; and from the representation of 'the Philistines' as those who have a knowledge of the cognitions of faith but do not lead a life of charity, dealt with in 1197, 1198, 3412, 3413, thus those who possess the truth of faith that does not spring from good. The fact that 'the Philistines' and 'the land of the Philistines' have this meaning may be recognized from places in the Word where they are mentioned, in particular in Jeremiah 47:1-end, where they are described, also in Joel 3:5-6, as well as from the historical accounts in the Word referring to wars between the children of Israel and the Philistines, to the subjection of the children of Israel by the Philistines and then of the Philistines by the children of Israel. By 'the Philistines' in these places those who champion separated faith are represented, that is, people for whom the knowledge of cognitions of faith is all-important but not a life led in accordance with that knowledge, consequently people who teach and believe that a person is saved by faith alone.

[2] This particular belief about faith alone or separated faith is not new or something that belongs solely to the present time. It had come to exist in the ancient Churches, growing ever stronger along with evil in life. It is also described in various places in the Word, but by means of names, by Cain' first, in that he killed his brother Abel, 337, 340, 1179. In the internal representative sense of that story 'Cain' is that kind of faith, while 'Abel' is charity. Such faith is also described by 'Ham', when cursed by his father, 1062, 1063; after that by 'Reuben', in that he went up to his father's bed, 3870, 4601, and by 'Simeon and Levi', in that they killed Hamor and the men of Shechem and were for that reason cursed by their father, 3870, 6352. That faith is also described by 'the Egyptians' and by 'their firstborn', in that the latter were killed, 7766, 7778, and the former drowned in the Sea Suph. It is described too by 'the Philistines', 3412, 3413, and also by 'Tyre and Sidon', in various places in the Prophets; there a knowledge of the cognitions of faith is meant by 'the Philistines', and the cognitions themselves, interior and exterior, by 'Tyre and Sidon'. Lastly such faith is represented by 'Peter' when he denied the Lord three times, 6000, 6073(end). But see what has been shown already regarding this faith, in 36, 379, 389, 916, 1017, 1076, 1077, 1162, 1176, 1798, 1799, 1834, 1844, 2049, 2116, 2228, 2231, 2261, 2343, 2349, 2364, 2383, 2385, 2401, 2435, 2982, 3146, 3242, 3325, 3412, 3413, 3416, 3427, 3773, 4663, 4672, 4673, 4683, 4721, 4730, 4766, 4783, 4925, 5351, 5820, 5826, 6269, 6272, 6273, 6348, 6353, 7039, 7097, 7127, 7317, 7502, 7545, 7623-7627, 7724, 7779, 7790, 7950.

1077. The reason the people who are here called 'Ham' and 'Canaan', that is, who separate faith from charity and who in so doing focus worship solely on external things, cannot know what conscience is and where it originates, must be discussed briefly. Conscience is formed by means of the truths of faith, for what a person has heard, acknowledged, and believed constitutes conscience with him. After that, acting contrary to those things is for him acting contrary to conscience, as may become quite clear to anyone. Consequently unless it is the truths of faith that he hears, acknowledges, and believes, he cannot possibly have a true conscience. For it is by means of the truths of faith, with the Lord working within charity, that a person is regenerated, and so by means of them receives conscience. Conscience is also the new person himself. From this it is clear that truths of faith are the means by which this is achieved, that is, by which a person lives according to the things faith teaches, its fundamental teaching being to love the Lord above all things and the neighbour as oneself. If he does not live according to those truths, what is faith but something hollow, and an audible sound, or something separated from heavenly life, in which, once separated, there is nothing saving? For to believe that a person can still be saved no matter how he lives, provided he has faith, is to say that he is saved even though he has no charity and even though he has no conscience. It amounts to saying that, provided he has faith, even though he does not have it until the last hour of life, he can be saved, despite spending his time hating, getting revenge, plundering, and committing adultery, in short, doing everything contrary to charity and conscience. Let such people, when governed by an assumption as false as this, ponder what truth of faith exists that can form their conscience. Will it not be that which is false? If they imagine that they have any conscience at all, it amounts to no more than external restraints - fear of the law, of loss of position, wealth, and reputation on account of these, which fears constitute with them what they call conscience, a conscience which says that they should do no harm to the neighbour but behave well towards him. Since however this is not conscience, because it is not charity, such persons consequently rush into the most wicked and disgusting actions as soon as those restraints have been loosed or done away with. But the situation is altogether different with people who, though asserting that faith alone saves, have nevertheless led charitable lives; for their faith has had charity from the Lord within it.