171. Of Falsity.

There are innumerable kinds of falsity, namely, as many as there are evils, and evils and falsities are according to their origins, which are many (n. 1188, 1212, 4729, 4822, 7574). There is falsity from evil, or the falsity of evil; and there is evil from the falsity, or the evil of falsity; and falsity again from thence (n. 1679, 2243). From one falsity that is assumed as a principle, falsities flow in a long series (n. 1510-1511, 4717, 4721). There is falsity from the lusts of the love of self and of the world; and there is falsity from the fallacies of the senses (n. 1295, 4729). There are falsities of religion; and there are falsities of ignorance (n. 4729, 8318, 9258). There is falsity which contains good, and falsity which does not contain good (n. 2863, 9304, 10109, 10302). There is what is falsified (n. 7318-7319, 10648).

The quality of the falsity of evil (n. 6359, 7272, 9304, 10302). The quality of the evil of falsity (n. 2408, 4818, 7272, 8265, 8279). The falsities from evil appear like mists, and impure waters over the hells (n. 8138, 8146, 8210). Such waters signify falsities (n. 739, 790[1-4], 7307). They who are in hell speak falsities from evil (n. 1695, 7351-7352, 7357, 7392, 7699). They who are in evil cannot do otherwise than think what is false when they think from themselves (n. 7437).

There are falsities of religion which agree with good, and falsities which disagree (n. 9258). Falsities of religion, if they do not disagree with good, do not produce evil but with those who are in evil of life (n. 8318). Falsities of religion are not imputed to those who are in good, but to those who are in evil (n. 8051, 8149). Every falsity may be confirmed, and then it appears like truth (n. 5033, 6865, 8521, 8780). Care should be taken lest falsities of religion be confirmed, since the persuasion of falsity principally arises from thence (n. 845, 8780). How hurtful the persuasion of falsity is (n. 794, 806, 5096, 7686). A persuasion of falsity is perpetually exciting such things as confirm falsities (n. 1510-1511, 2477). They who are in the persuasion of falsity are interiorly bound (n. 5096). In the other life, they who are in a strong persuasion of falsity, when they approach others, close up their rational, and as it were suffocate it (n. 3895, 5128).

Truths which are not genuine, and also falsities, may be consociated with genuine truths; but falsities which contain good, and not falsities in which is evil (n. 3470-3471, 4551-4552, 7344, 8149, 9298). Falsities which contain good are received by the Lord as truths (n. 4736, 8149). The good which has its quality from falsity is accepted by the Lord, if there is ignorance, and therein is innocence and a good end (n. 7887).

Evil falsifies truth, because it draws aside and applies truth to evil (n. 8094, 8149). Truth is said to be falsified, when it is applied to evil by confirmations (n. 8602). Falsified truth is contrary to truth and good (n. 8602). For further particulars respecting the falsification of truth (see n. 7318-7319, 10648).

5033. 'Saying, This is what your slave did to me' means corroboration. This becomes clear from his firm belief that his wife had spoken the truth, and that as a result her accusation, so far as he was concerned, was corroborated. The wife who convinced him means unspiritual natural truth, though at this point falsity is meant; for unspiritual natural good easily allows itself to be convinced by falsity, see immediately above in 5032. It is Well known that falsities can be corroborated to look exactly like truths. This is evident from all heresies and from every aspect of any heresy. Though they are falsities, corroborations of them nevertheless cause people who adhere to a heresy to see them as truths. The same point is evident in people who are not religious. These people in their thinking set themselves firmly against things of the Church, so firmly that they see as the truth the idea that the Church exists merely to keep the common people down. They also see as the truth the idea that natural forces are the be-all and end-all and that the Divine is so remote as to be virtually nothing at all, as well as the idea that in death the human being is no different from any animal. People with whom unspiritual natural good resides allow themselves, more easily than others, to be persuaded and convinced of these and similar ideas, for they have no mirror so to speak within themselves, only one outside themselves which makes illusions look like realities.

2477. On one occasion I heard spirits talking to one another about the fact that whatever is made a basic assumption, no matter what, can be confirmed in countless ways, and with a person who has confirmed himself in it, it can at length be made to look altogether like the truth even though it is false, and that people can be persuaded more easily of falsity than of truth. To convince them of this it was suggested to them that they should think about and discuss among themselves whether it would be beneficial for spirits to use the exterior memory. (Spirits discuss such matters in far more excellent a fashion than man is capable of believing or indeed apprehending; but each spirit does so according to his own affection.) Spirits who were in favour of bodily and worldly things confirmed in many ways that it would be beneficial, for the following reasons: That they would then have lost nothing but would be just as much men after death as they had been before; that they would then be able by means of man to return into the world; that the exterior memory contains the joy of life; and that intelligence and wisdom reside in no other capability or gift. There were yet other considerations by which they confirmed themselves in the assumption they made, so that it appeared to them to be true. Other spirits at that time however thought and spoke from a contrary assumption. They knew that what they thought and said was true, because it stemmed from Divine order. They said that if spirits were allowed to use the exterior memory their condition would in that case be as imperfect as it had been previously when they were men. That being so, their ideas would be more gross and obscure than of those who employ the interior memory. They would accordingly not only grow more and more stupid, they would also decline and not progress, and so would not live for ever. Indeed to engross themselves once again in worldly and bodily things would be to surrender themselves once again to a mortal condition. Furthermore they said that if spirits were allowed to use the exterior memory the human race would perish since all men are governed by the Lord by means of spirits and angels, and that if from the exterior memory spirits were to flow into man, man would be unable to think from his own memory, only from that of a spirit. Thus man would no longer have any life and judgement of his own but would be a man possessed. Possession of people in the past was nothing else. There are further considerations besides these.