2552. 'Abraham said' means a perception, which constituted a reply. This is clear from the meaning in historical narratives of the Word of 'saying', dealt with many times already, as in 1791, 1815, 1819, 1822, 1898, 1919, 2061, 2080, 2238, 2260, 2271, 2287. As regards the Lord's thought from the doctrine of faith being meant by the expression 'Abimelech said to Abraham' but a perception which constituted a reply, by the expression 'Abraham said', the position is that perception is something higher, which in the Lord's case was from the Divine itself, whereas thought is something lower, which in the Lord's case was from the understanding itself. And because it was perception from which His thought sprang, so was the reply possessed by His thought derived from perception. This may be illustrated by means of something similar with man. The celestial man is unable to think except from perception, and the spiritual is unable to do so except from conscience, 2515. The perception of the celestial man, like the conscience [of the spiritual], originates in the Lord, though to the individual himself it is not apparent where it comes from; but his thought springs from the rational and seems to him to originate in himself. Thus again when he thinks about any matter from the rational the conclusion within his thought, or the reply, comes either from perception or from conscience. Consequently any reply which he receives from the Lord is conditioned by his own state of life, by his affection, and by the truth of doctrine implanted or imprinted in conformity with these.
Heaven and Hell #311
311. Heaven and Hell Come from the Human Race
People in the Christian world are totally unaware that heaven and hell come from the human race. They actually believe that angels were created in the beginning and constitute heaven, and that the devil or Satan was an angel of light who became rebellious and was cast out together with his faction, and that this gave rise to hell.
Angels are utterly amazed that there can be this kind of belief in the Christian world, and even more so that people know absolutely nothing about heaven, even though this is a primary doctrine of the church. Knowing that this kind of ignorance is prevalent, they are profoundly delighted that it has now pleased the Lord to reveal to us so much about heaven - and about hell as well - and so as much as possible to dispel the darkness that is rising daily because this church is drawing to a close.
[2] So they want me to testify on their behalf that in all heaven there is not a single angel who was created as such in the beginning, nor is there in all hell a devil who was created as an angel of light and cast out. Rather, all the people in heaven and in hell are from the human race - in heaven the ones who have lived in heavenly love and faith, and in hell the ones who have lived in hellish love and faith. Hell as a whole is what is called the devil and Satan. The hell at the back, where the people called evil demons live, is the devil, and the hell that is in front, where the people live who are called evil spirits, is Satan. 1 We will describe later what each hell is like.
[3] They insisted that the reason the Christian world has adopted this kind of belief about people in heaven and people in hell is that they have taken a few passages of the Word, understanding them only in their literal meaning, with no enlightenment or instruction based on genuine doctrine from the Word. Yet the literal meaning of the Word, without the light of genuine doctrine, leads the mind astray in all directions, giving rise to ignorance, heresy, and error. 2
Footnotes:
1. [Swedenborg's footnote] The hells as a whole, or hellish people en masse, are called the devil and Satan: 694. People who were devils in the world are devils after death: 968.
2. [Swedenborg's footnote] The church's doctrine must be derived from the Word: 3464, 5402, 6832 [6822?], 10763, 10765 [10764?]. Without doctrine, the Word is not understood: 9021 [9025?], 9409, 9424, 9430, 10324, 10431, 10582. True doctrine is a lamp for people who read the Word: 10401 [10400?]. Genuine doctrine must be provided by people who have enlightenment from the Lord: 2510, 2516, 2519, 9424, 10105. People engaged in the literal meaning apart from any doctrine do not attain any understanding of divine truths: 9409-9410, 10582; and are carried off into many errors: 10431. The nature of the difference between people who teach and learn from the doctrine of the church derived from the Word and people who do so solely from the Word's literal meaning: 9025.
