302. I have talked with angels about the conjunction of heaven with the human race, and I said that, while the man of the Church declares that all good is from God, and that angels are with man, yet few believe that angels are conjoined to man, still less that they are in his thought and affection. To this the angels replied that they know that there is such a belief and even such a mode of speaking in the world, and especially, to their surprise, within the Church, where yet there is the Word to teach men about heaven and its conjunction with man. Nevertheless, there is such a conjunction that man is unable to think the least thing apart from the spirits adjoined to him, and on this his spiritual life depends. They said that the cause of ignorance of this matter is man's belief that he lives from himself, without a connection with the First Being (Esse) of life; and that he does not know that this connection exists by means of the heavens; and yet if that connection were broken man would instantly fall down dead. If man believed, as is really true, that all good is from the Lord and all evil from hell, he would not make the good in him a matter of merit nor would evil be imputed to him; for he would then look to the Lord in all the good he thinks and does, and all the evil that inflows would be cast down to hell whence it comes. But because man does not believe that there is any influx into him either from heaven or from hell, and so supposes that all the things that he thinks and wills are in himself, and therefore from himself, he appropriates the evil to himself, and the inflowing good he defiles with merit.

196. FROM THE ARCANA COELESTIA.

Before a summary is given of what is written in the Arcana Coelestia, respecting temptations, something shall first be said concerning them, in order that it may be known still more clearly from whence they proceed. It is called spiritual temptation when the truths of faith which a man believes in his heart, and according to which he loves to live, are assaulted within him, especially when the good of love, in which he places his spiritual life, is assaulted. Those assaults take place in various ways; as by influx of scandals against truths and goods into the thoughts and the will; also by a continual drawing forth, and bringing to remembrance, of the evils which one has committed, and of the falsities which he has thought, thus by inundation of such things; and at the same time by an apparent shutting up of the interiors of the mind, and, consequently, of communication with heaven, by which the capacity of thinking from his own faith, and of willing from his own love, are intercepted. These things are effected by the evil spirits who are present with man; and when they take place, they appear under the form of interior anxieties and pains of conscience; for they affect and torment man's spiritual life, because he supposes that they proceed, not from evil spirits, but from his own interiors. Man does not know that such assaults are ¹ from evil spirits because he does not know that spirits are present with him, evil spirits in his evils, and good spirits in his goods; and that they are in his thoughts and affections. These temptations are most grievous when they are accompanied with bodily pains; and still more so, when those pains are of long continuance, and no deliverance is granted, even although the Divine mercy is implored; hence results despair, which is the end.

Some particulars shall first be adduced from the Arcana Coelestia, concerning the spirits that are with man, because temptations proceed from them.

Spirits and angels are with every man (n. 697, 5846-5866). They are in his thoughts and affections (n. 2888, 5846, 5848). If spirits and angels were taken away, man could not live (n. 2887, 5849, 5854, 5993, 6321). Because by spirits and angels man has communication and conjunction with the spiritual world, without which he would have no life (n. 697, 2796, 2886-2887, 4047-4048, 5846-5866, 5976-5993). The spirits with man are changed according to the affections of his love (n. 5851). Spirits from hell are in the loves of man's proprium (n. 5852, 5979-5993). Spirits enter into all things of man's memory (n. 5853, 5857, 5859-5860, 6192-6193, 6198-6199). Angels are in the ends from which and for the sake of which man thinks, wills, and acts thus and not otherwise (n. 1317, 1645, 5844). Man does not appear to spirits, nor spirits to man (n. 5885). Thence spirits cannot see what is in our solar world through man (n. 1880). Although spirits and angels are with man, in his thoughts and affections, yet still he is in freedom of thinking, willing, and acting (n. 5982, 6477, 8209, 8307, 10777); and in the work on Heaven and Hell, where the Conjunction of Heaven with the Human Race is treated of (n. 291-302).

Footnotes:

2796. As regards the Lord's assumption of the various states which are the subject here, these are inevitably unknown to man since he never stops to reflect on his changes of state. Yet these are taking place all the time both as regards matters of the understanding, or thoughts, and as regards those of the will, or affections. The reason he does not stop to reflect on them is his belief that all things in him follow in natural order, and that nothing higher exists which directs them. But in actual fact every single thing is regulated by means of the spirits and angels residing with him, and all states and changes of state are brought about from this and so are being directed by the Lord for ever towards ends which the Lord alone foresees. The truth of this has been made fully known to me through experience that has now lasted for many years. I have also been given to know and to notice which spirits and angels were with me, and which states they were bringing about. This I can positively declare, that they are the source of all states, even to the least detail, and that they are directed by the Lord in the manner described. I have also been given to know and to notice how each state includes many other states which do not show themselves, and which, all of them together, are seen as one general state, and that those states have been arranged into states which follow in order within their own sequence. With man all this is effected by the Lord, but with the Lord Himself when He lived in the world, He effected it by Himself since He was Divine, and the very Being (Esse) of His life was Jehovah.

[2] Knowledge regarding the changes of state in matters of the understanding and in those of the will with man, regarding the order in which they follow, and also regarding the sequence through which they pass, and regarding the way in which they are bent by the Lord as far as possible towards what is good, exists with angels. For the wisdom of angels is such that they perceive such matters to the last detail. Consequently these matters which have been revealed in the internal sense concerning changes of state with the Lord are perceptible clearly and distinctly to angels because they dwell in the light of heaven flowing from the Lord. They are also intelligible to some extent to man if he leads a life of simple good. But they are obscure and as nothing to those steeped in evil and also to those whose wisdom consists of demented ideas, for these ideas darken and extinguish their natural and rational light by means of many things which bring darkness, however much those people themselves imagine they have greater light than any others.