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Matthew 27:50-54 : The veil was torn

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50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,

53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.

54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Divine Providence #26

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26. These useful functions are provided by the Lord through the union of what is evil and false that prevails among people in hell, since the Lord's rule (which is not only over heaven but also over hell) is a functional rule and the Lord's providence intends that there should be no one and nothing there that does not do some service or enable some service to happen.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.

From Swedenborg's Works

 

Heaven and Hell #311

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311. HEAVEN AND HELL ARE FROM THE HUMAN RACE

In the Christian world it is wholly unknown that heaven and hell are from the human race, for it is believed that in the beginning angels were created and heaven was thence formed; also that the Devil or Satan was an angel of light, but having rebelled, he was cast down with his crew, and thus hell was formed. It is a matter of the greatest wonder to the angels that such is the belief in the Christian world, and still more that nothing is really known about heaven, when in fact that is the primary thing of doctrine in the Church. But since such ignorance reigns they rejoice in heart that it has pleased the Lord to reveal to those in the Christian world at this time many things about heaven and about hell, thereby dispelling as far as possible the darkness that is increasing from day to day because the Church come to its end.

[2] They wish for this reason that I should declare from their lips that in the entire heaven there is not a single angel who was created such in the beginning, nor in hell any devil who was created an angel of light and cast down; but that all, both in heaven and in hell, are from the human race; in heaven those who lived in the world in heavenly love and faith, in hell those who lived in infernal love and faith, also that it is hell taken as a whole that is called the Devil and Satan- the name Devil being given to the hell that is behind, where those are who are called evil genii, and the name Satan being given to the hell that is in front, where those are who are called evil spirits. 1

[3] The character of these hells will be described in the following pages. The angels said that the Christian world had gathered such a belief about those in heaven and those in hell from passages in the Word not understood in any other way than in accordance with the sense of the letter and not illustrated and explained by genuine doctrine derived from the Word; although the sense of the letter of the Word, unless genuine doctrine illuminates it, draws the mind in different directions, and this begets ignorant opinions, heresies, and errors. 2

Footnotes:

1. [Swedenborg's footnote] The hells taken together, or the infernals taken together, are called the Devil and Satan (Arcana Coelestia 694).

Those who have been devils in the world become devils after death (Arcana Coelestia 968).

2. [Swedenborg's footnote] The doctrine of the Church must be derived from the Word (Arcana Coelestia 3464, 5402, 6822, 6832, 10763, 10765).

Without doctrine the Word is not understood (Arcana Coelestia 9025, 9409, 9424, 9430, 10324, 10431, 10582).

True doctrine is a lamp to those who read the Word (Arcana Coelestia 10400).

Genuine doctrine must be from those who are enlightened by the Lord (Arcana Coelestia 2510, 2516, 2519, 9424, 10105).

Those who are in the sense of the letter without doctrine come into no understanding of Divine Truths (Arcana Coelestia 9409-9410, 10582).

And they are led away into many errors (Arcana Coelestia 10431).

The difference between those who teach and learn from the doctrine of the Church derived from the Word and those who teach and learn from the sense of the letter alone (Arcana Coelestia 9025).

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Society for the permission to use this translation.

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