1. Where the Lord, in the presence of His disciples, speaks about the consummation of the age, which is the last period of the Church, ¹ towards the end of the predictions regarding its successive states with respect to love and faith, ² He says this:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn; and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a trumpet and great voice, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. Matthew 24:29-31.

Those who understand these words in accordance with the sense of the letter have no other belief than that at the final period which is called the Last Judgment, all those events will occur as described in that sense. Therefore, they believe not only that the sun and moon will be darkened and the stars will fall from heaven, that the sign of the Lord will appear in the sky and that He Himself will be seen in the clouds as well as angels with trumpets, but also, as is foretold elsewhere, that the whole visible earth will be destroyed, after which a new heaven with a new earth will come into being. Such is the opinion of most men within the Church at the present day. But those who so believe do not know the arcana ³ which lie concealed in every particular of the Word. For, in every particular of the Word there is an internal sense in which are discerned, not the natural and worldly matters such as are in the sense of the letter, but spiritual and heavenly things. Moreover, this is true not only of the meaning of groups of words but it is also true of every single word. ⁴ For the Word has been written by means of pure correspondences ⁵ to the end that the internal sense may be in every particular. The nature of that sense can be confirmed from all that has been said and shown about it in ARCANA CAELESTIA, also from what has been summarized in the explanation of THE WHITE HORSE mentioned in the Revelation. It is in accordance with that sense that the words of the Lord, quoted above, concerning His coming in the clouds of heaven, are to be understood. In that passage, by the "sun" which is to be darkened is signified the Lord as to love, ⁶ by the "moon" the Lord as to faith, ⁷ by the "stars" cognitions ⁸ of good and truth or of love and faith, ⁹ by the "sign" of the Son of man in heaven the manifestation of Divine Truth, by the "tribes of the earth which shall mourn", all things relating to truth and good or to faith and love, ¹⁰ by "the coming of the Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and glory", His presence in the Word and revelation; ¹¹ by "clouds" is signified the sense of the letter of the Word, ¹² and by "glory" the internal sense of the Word, ¹³ by "angels with a trumpet and great voice" is signified heaven whence comes Divine Truth. ¹⁴ Thence it is evident that by those words of the Lord is meant that in the end of the Church when there is no longer any love and consequently no faith, the Lord will open the Word in its internal sense and reveal arcana of heaven. The arcana now revealed in the following pages treat of heaven and hell, and at the same time of man's life after death. The man of the Church at this day knows scarcely anything about heaven and hell or about his life after death, although they are all set forth and described in the Word. Indeed, many people born within the Church even deny them, saying in their hearts, "Who has come from that world and told us?" Lest, therefore, such a negative attitude, which prevails especially with those who have much worldly wisdom, should also infect and corrupt the simple in heart and the simple in faith, it has been granted to me to associate with angels and to talk with them as man with man, also to see the things in the heavens as well as in the hells, and this for thirteen years. Now, therefore, from what I have seen and heard I am permitted to describe these things, in the hope that thus, ignorance may be enlightened and unbelief dispelled. Such immediate revelation is now made because that is what is meant by the Coming of the Lord.

FROM ARCANA CAELESTIA

Footnotes:

51. The worldly knowledge and spiritual knowledge that serve for the opening of our inner spiritual self. "Worldly knowledge" refers to the knowledge we have in our outer or earthly self and its memory, but not to the knowledge we have in our inner or spiritual self: 3019, 3020, 3293, 3309, 4967, 9918, 9922. Since worldly knowledge belongs to the outer or earthly self it is relatively menial. This is because the outer or earthly self is made to serve the inner or spiritual self the way the world serves heaven: 5077, 5125, 5128, 5786, 5947, 10272, 10471. The outer self is like the world because the laws of the divine design that prevail in the world are written into it; and the inner self is like heaven because the laws of the divine design that prevail in heaven are written into it: 4523, 4524, 5368, 6013, 6057, 9278, 9279, 9283, 9709, 10156, 10472; [see also] Heaven and Hell 51-58.

[2] There are bodies of knowledge of an earthly nature that have to do with our civic condition and our civic life; there are bodies of knowledge that have to do with our moral condition and our moral life; and there are bodies of knowledge that have to do with our spiritual condition and our spiritual life: 5774, 5934. For clarity's sake, though, I refer to knowledge about our spiritual condition and our spiritual life as "spiritual knowledge," which mainly consists of theological teachings: 9945.

[3] It is important for us to become steeped in worldly and spiritual knowledge, because it is through this that we learn to think, then to understand what truth and goodness are, and eventually to be wise-that is, to live by what we have learned: 129, 1450, 1451, 1453, 1548, 1802. Worldly and spiritual knowledge are basic things on which our life is built and founded-both our civic and our moral life as well as our spiritual life; but they need to be learned with the goal of living a useful life: 1489, 3310. Spiritual knowledge opens a pathway to the inner self and then joins the inner and the outer self together according to our usefulness: 1563, 1616. Our rationality is born by means of worldly and spiritual knowledge (1895, 1900, 3086), yet it is not born through that knowledge itself, but through and according to our desire to put it to use (1895). The inner self is opened and gradually perfected through worldly and spiritual knowledge if we seek good and useful goals, especially goals related to eternal life: 3086. Then spiritual insights from the heavenly and spiritual self encounter the knowledge of worldly and spiritual things that is in the earthly self and adopt what is suitable: 1495. Then from the knowledge about worldly and spiritual things that is in our earthly self the Lord, by means of our inner self, draws out, refines, and raises up what is useful for heavenly life (1895, 1899, 1900, 1901, 1902, 5871, 5874, 5901), but information that is incompatible or conflicting is pushed aside and excluded (5871, 5886, 5889). The sight of our inner self calls forth from the worldly and spiritual knowledge in our outer self only those things that relate to what we love: 9394. Our worldly and spiritual knowledge is arranged in bundles and bound together according to the type of love that drove us to learn it: 5881. Then to the eye of our inner self the information that relates to what we love is at the center and in bright light, while the information that does not relate is off to the sides and in darkness: 6068, 6085. Worldly and spiritual knowledge is gradually sown in our loves and takes up residence there: 6323. If we were born loving the Lord and loving our neighbor we would be born into all knowledge and understanding, but since we are born loving ourselves and the world we are born into total ignorance: 6323. Knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom are the offspring that are born of love for the Lord and love for our neighbor: 1226, 2049, 2116.

[4] Since knowledge of worldly and spiritual things belongs to the outer or earthly self, it is in this world's light, but truths that have become matters of love and faith and therefore have been applied to life are in heaven's light: 5212. Even so, earthly concepts are needed to help us understand the truths that we are applying to life: 5510. There is a spiritual inflow through the inner self into the knowledge of worldly and spiritual things that is in the outer self: 1940, 8005. Knowledge of worldly and spiritual things is a container and vessel for the truth and goodness that belong to the inner self: 1469, 1496, 3068, 5489, 6004, 6023, 6052, 6071, 6077, 7770, 9922. That is why "vessels" in the Word, spiritually understood, means knowledge of worldly and spiritual things: 3068, 3069, 3079, 9394, 9544, 9723, 9724. Our worldly knowledge is like a mirror in which we can see and perceive in a kind of image things that are true and things that are good in the inner self (5201); all three meet together there on the outermost level (5373, 5874, 5886, 5901, 6004, 6023, 6052, 6071, 6077). Since worldly information is in this world's light, it is tangled and dark compared to things that are in heaven's light, which means that the same holds true for the contents of the outer self in comparison to those of the inner self: 2831. In fact, in the Word "a thicket" (2831) and "clouds" and "darkness" (8443, 10551) mean worldly knowledge.

[5] We need to make our start from the truths of a body of teaching from the Word and acknowledge them first, and then it is allowable to turn to worldly knowledge in order to find support for them and verify them: 6047. So if people have a positive attitude toward the truths that belong to religious faith, it is all right for them to look to worldly knowledge for intellectual support, but it is not all right for people who have a negative attitude to such truths, because a positive attitude as a starting point pulls everything in a positive direction, but a negative attitude as a starting point pulls everything in a negative direction: 2568, 2588, 3913, 4760, 6047. There is an affirmative way of doubting and a negative way of doubting, the former being characteristic of the good and the latter characteristic of the evil: 2568. Engagement with worldly knowledge on the basis of the truths that belong to religious faith accords with proper order; but the reverse, engaging on the basis of worldly knowledge with the truths that belong to religious faith, is contrary to proper order: 10236. Since inflow is spiritual and not physical or earthly it is a flow from the truths that belong to religious faith (because these are spiritual) into worldly knowledge (because this is earthly): 3219, 5119, 5259, 5427, 5428, 5479, 6322, 9109, 9110.

[6] People who doubt in a truly negative way, and say that they will not believe until they are convinced by objective evidence, will never believe: 2094, 2832. People who do this become insane in regard to matters of the church and heaven: 128, 129, 130. They fall prey to false beliefs and evil cravings (232, 233) in the other life when they think about spiritual matters they become like drunks (1072). More about what they are like: 196. Some examples illustrating the fact that spiritual matters cannot be grasped if they are approached from the wrong direction: 233, 2094, 2196, 2203, 2209. Many scholars are more insane in spiritual matters than ordinary people because they are resolutely negative and have an abundant supply of facts to support their denial: 4760. An example of a scholar who was incapable of understanding anything about spiritual life: 8629. People who use worldly knowledge to dispute the truths that belong to religious faith do so with vehemence, since their arguments are based on the deceptive impressions of the five senses. These impressions, being hard to dispel, are arresting and persuasive: 5700. People who understand nothing of what is true and who are also given to evil are able to reason about the truths and the good actions taught by faith, and yet they have no enlightenment: 4214. Simply confirming a dogma is not a sign of intelligence, because a dogma that is false is as easy to confirm as one that is true: 1017, 2477, 2490, 4741, 5033, 6865, 7012, 7680, 7950, 8521, 8780. People who reason about the truths of the church by asking whether something is so or not are completely in the dark about truths and have no spiritual light yet: ¹ 215, 1385, 3428.

[7] There are types of knowledge that support divine truths and types that do not: 5213. Empty facts have to be eliminated from our minds: 1489, 1492, 1499, 1500. Facts are empty if they intend and support our love for ourselves and the world and lead us away from loving the Lord and our neighbor, because this kind of thing closes the inner self so completely that we can then not accept anything from heaven: 1563, 1600. Worldly knowledge is a means to both wisdom and madness; by it the inner self is either opened or closed and our rational functioning is either developed or destroyed: 4156, 8628, 9922.

[8] Worldly learning means nothing after death except what we have gained through it for our understanding and life: 2480. Nevertheless, all our worldly knowledge remains intact after death, though it is dormant: 2476-2479, 2481-2486.

[9] The same facts that are false for evil people because they are used for evil purposes are true for good people because they are used for good purposes: 6917. The truths that evil people know are not actually true no matter how true they may seem when they say them, because there is something evil within those truths and they are falsified as a result; not even the knowledge they have deserves to be called knowledge, because it has no life within it: 10331.

[10] It is one thing to be wise, another to be intelligent, another to be knowledgeable, and another to act; all the same, for people engaged in a spiritual life, these follow in order and correspond to each other, and they are all present together in the doing and in the deeds: 10331. It is also one thing to know the truth, another to acknowledge it, and still another to believe it: 896.

[11] An example of the kind of craving for information that spirits have: 1973. Angels have an immense desire for knowledge and wisdom because knowledge, intelligence, and wisdom are spiritual food: 3114, 4459, 4792, 4976, 5147, 5293, 5340, 5342, 5410, 5426, 5576, 5582, 5588, 5655, 6277, 8562, 9003.

[12] Among the ancients the most important field of study was knowing correspondences, but nowadays that body of knowledge has been erased: 3021, 3419, 4280, 4844, 4964, 4965, 6004, 7729, 10252. There was a knowledge of correspondences among the people of the Near East and in Egypt: 5702, 6692, 7097, 7779, 9391, 10407. This was the source of their hieroglyphics: 6692, 7097. Through their knowledge of correspondences the ancients gained access to spiritual knowledge of various kinds: 4749, 4844, 4966. The Word was written in pure correspondences, and that is the source of its inner or spiritual meaning. Without a knowledge of correspondences we cannot know that this meaning exists or know what the nature of the Word is: 3131, 3472-3485, 8615, 10687. How superior a knowledge of correspondences is to other forms of knowledge: 4280.

Footnotes:

6004. 'Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt' means that natural truth and all that accompanies it must be introduced into the facts known to the Church. This is clear from the representation of Jacob, the one who is told that he should 'go down to Egypt', as natural truth, dealt with just above in 6001; from the meaning of 'going down' as being introduced into, for in order that the introduction might be represented Jacob went down into Egypt together with all who were his; and from the meaning of 'Egypt' as the facts known to the Church, dealt with in 1462, 4749, 4964, 4966.

[2] What an introduction of truth into the facts known to the Church implies is this: The Church's factual knowledge at that time consisted of representatives and meaningful signs contained in ritual observances, for all the ritual observances of the Church sprang from those representatives and signs, as also did the factual knowledge which helped members of the Church to understand teachings about charity. From that factual knowledge they knew who were really meant by the poor, the needy, the wretched, the afflicted, the oppressed, widows, orphans, strangers, those bound in prison, the naked, the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, the lame, the blind, the deaf, the maimed, and many others whom they identified as distinct kinds of the neighbour. By making such distinctions they taught how charity should be exercised. This was what their factual knowledge at that time was like. But at the present day that knowledge has been completely wiped out, as is evident from the consideration that where these deprived persons are mentioned in the Word scarcely anyone knows more than that those who are literally so deprived are meant, for example that those who are literally widows are meant when 'widows' are mentioned, those literally strangers when 'strangers' are mentioned, those literally in prison when they are mentioned, and so on. The kind of knowledge spoken of here flourished in Egypt, which is why 'Egypt' means factual knowledge. The need for natural truth, which is 'Jacob', to be introduced into such knowledge is represented by Jacob's going down into Egypt with all that was his.

[3] Truths are said to be introduced into factual knowledge when they are gathered together into it so as to exist within it. This is done to the end that when some fact comes to mind the truths that have been gathered into it may be recollected at the same time. When for example someone thinks of a stranger, then because 'a stranger' means people who are to receive instruction, all the ways of exercising charity towards such people instantly spring to mind, which is to say that truths spring to mind. The same thing happens when he thinks of any of the other kinds of deprived persons. Once known facts have been filled with those truths any thought based on those facts expands and spreads far and wide, reaching indeed into many communities in heaven simultaneously. For since such factual knowledge consists of so many truths contained within itself, it opens out in that way without the person's being aware of it. But they must be truths that are held within it. It is also an essential feature of Divine order that interior things should gather themselves into exterior ones, or what amounts to the same, prior things into posterior ones, so that finally everything prior should be gathered into what is last and lowest and coexist with it. This is what happens in the entire natural creation. If this were not true, no one could be fully regenerated; for such a gathering of truths within known facts enables interior things and exterior ones, which would otherwise be at variance, to exist in agreement and act as one. If they are at variance the person cannot be governed by good because he lacks sincerity. Besides, factual knowledge dwells in virtually the same inferior light as a person's physical sight. This inferior light is such that, unless it is brightened from within by the light received from truths, it leads to falsities, especially those that are a product of the illusions of the senses, and to evils that are a product of falsities. The truth of this will be seen from my experience presented at the ends of chapters under Influx.