563. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he hath the name Apollyon.- That this signifies its quality which is destructive of all truth and good, is evident from the signification of name, as denoting the quality of state and the quality of a thing; see above (n. 148); and from the signification of Abaddon in the Hebrew tongue as denoting destruction, and similarly Apollyon in the Greek tongue; consequently the destruction of truth and good, because this is the subject treated of. The reason why the Sensual of man, which is the ultimate of his intellectual life, is destructive of all spiritual truth and good, which is the truth and good of the church, is, that that Sensual lies nearest to the world, and adheres very closely to the body, therefore both from the world and the body it has affections, and thence thoughts, which, regarded in themselves, are diametrically opposed to spiritual affections and thoughts therefrom, which are from heaven. For man, from that Sensual, loves himself and the world above all things, and so far as these loves rule, so far evils and the falsities therefrom dominate, for evils and falsities spring up and go forth from these loves, as from their source. In these loves are all those who become utterly sensual through evils of life and the falsities thence. Any one, by virtue of the faculty of understanding which is given to every man, may see that this is the case. For if that which lies nearest to the world, and adheres very closely to the body dominates, it follows as a consequence, that the world itself and the body itself, with all their pleasures and lusts (concupiscentiae) which are called those of the eye and of the flesh, exercise dominion. And [every one may also see] that a man must be entirely withdrawn and elevated from these sensual things, in order that he may come into spiritual affections, and the thoughts thence. This withdrawing and elevation is effected by the Lord alone, when man suffers himself to be led of the Lord to Himself, and thus to heaven, by the laws of order, which are the truths and goods of the church; and when this is the case, man leaves this ultimate Sensual, as often as he is in a spiritual state, and is kept elevated above it. The reason also of this is, that this Sensual in men is altogether destroyed, for therein is the proprium, into which every one is born, which in itself is nothing but evil. It is evident from these considerations why this Sensual is called destruction, or Abaddon and Apollyon.
[2] It must be observed, that there are three degrees of life in every man, an inmost, a middle, and an ultimate; and that man becomes more perfect, that is more wise, in the measure that he becomes more interior, because by that means he comes more interiorly into the light of heaven; and that he becomes more imperfect, that is, less wise, in the measure that he becomes more exterior, because by that means he comes out of the light of heaven nearer to the light of the world. It is therefore evident what the quality of the merely sensual man is, who sees nothing from the light of heaven, but only from the light of the world, namely, that every thing pertaining to the world, is to him in light and splendour, while every thing pertaining to heaven, is in darkness and thick darkness; and when the latter are in darkness and thick darkness, and the former in light and splendour, it follows that the only fire of life, or the [only] love that enkindles and leads, is the love of self and consequently the love of all evils, and that the only light of life, which lays hold of and instructs the sight of the thought, is that which favours the evils that are loved, and these are falsities of evil. The quality of the utterly sensual man, hitherto treated of in this chapter, is also evident from the above considerations.
