1. I. THE LAST JUDGMENT HAS BEEN COMPLETED

My earlier work on THE LAST JUDGMENT dealt with the following subjects:

The day of the Last Judgment does not mean the destruction of the world (The Last Judgment 1-5).

The reproduction of the human race will never cease (6-13).

Heaven and Hell are from the human race (14-22).

All people who have ever been born since the beginning of creation and have died are in heaven or in hell (23-27).

The Last Judgment is to be where all are together, and so in the spiritual world, not on earth (28-32).

The Last Judgment takes place when a church comes to an end; and this happens when there is no faith because there is no charity (33-39).

All the predictions made in the Book of Revelation are today fulfilled (40-44).

The Last Judgment has taken place (45-52).

On Babylon and its destruction (53-64);

on the former heaven and its abolition (65-72);

on the future state of the world and the church (73-74).

14. ¹ III. HEAVEN AND HELL ARE FROM THE HUMAN RACE.

No one in the Christian world is aware that heaven and hell are from the human race. It is believed that angels were created from the beginning, and so heaven was formed; and that the Devil or Satan was an angel of light, but becoming a rebel was cast down together with his crew, and so hell was formed. The angels are exceedingly surprised that such is the belief of the Christian world; and even more so by the fact that people know nothing at all about heaven, when this is a leading point in what the church teaches. Because such ignorance abounds the angels were delighted that it has now pleased the Lord to make further revelations to Christians about heaven, and also about hell; and so as far as possible to dispel the darkness that deepens day by day, because the church has reached its end. The angels therefore wish me to assert as their own statement that the whole of heaven does not contain one angel who was created from the beginning, nor does hell contain any devil who was created an angel of light and then cast down; but that all the inhabitants of both heaven and hell are from the human race. Heaven contains those who lived in the world in a state of heavenly love and faith, hell those who lived in a state of hellish love and faith. They said that it is the whole of hell taken together which is called the Devil and Satan; the rear hell, the home of those called wicked genii, is called Devil, the front hell, the home of those called wicked spirits, is called Satan. ² On the nature of the two hells see the final part of my book HEAVEN AND HELL. The angels explained the reason for the Christian world's belief about the inhabitants of heaven and of hell as the result of a failure to understand certain passages in the Word as anything but literal accounts, instead of interpreting them and illustrating them in the light of the correct teaching from the Word. Yet the literal sense of the Word, unless previously illuminated by the church's correct teaching, causes people's minds to go astray in various directions; and this is the source of ignorance, heresy and error. ³

Footnotes:

4723. 'They saw him from a distance' means the Lord's Divine Human perceived remotely. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing' as perception, dealt with in 2150, 3764; from the meaning of 'from a distance' as remotely; and from the representation of 'Joseph' - the one they saw from a distance - as the Lord as regards Divine Truth, dealt with in 4669. The reason the Lord's Divine Human is what 'Joseph' is used to mean here is that His Divine Human is the highest aspect of Divine Truth. There are two essentials which constitute the Church and as a consequence it has two main teachings, the first being that the Lord's Human is Divine, the second that love to the Lord and charity towards the neighbour constitute the Church, not faith separated from these. Being the primary aspects of Divine Truth, these too are represented by 'Joseph'. Anyone who represents Divine Truth in general also represents the specific aspects of Divine Truth. But which specific aspect is represented at any point is evident from the train of thought.