1143. And of fine linen and of purple, signifies truths and goods from a celestial origin that have been profaned. This is evident from the signification of "fine linen," as being truths from a celestial origin (of which presently); also from the signification of "purple," as being goods from a celestial origin (of which above, n.1042. But here such truths and goods profaned are meant, because the fine linen and purple are called "merchandise of Babylon," and "Babylon," as "a harlot and the mother of whoredoms and of the abominations of the earth," signifies profanations of truth and good. Truths and goods from a celestial origin are truths and goods with those who are in love to the Lord; these are called celestial, and are distinguished from the truths and goods from a spiritual origin, which are signified by "silk and scarlet," which will be spoken of presently. Truths and goods from a celestial origin are profaned by their transferring to themselves the Lord's Divine power of saving the human race, thus transferring their love to the Lord to the Pope as a vicar and to his ministers. And yet the Lord cannot be loved when He has no power to save; but the man is loved who is put in the Lord's place. They say that the Lord is loved because He has given that power to a man, and that He is loved and is held in holy respect by those who have received that power, and is worshipped by the rest. But love to the Lord cannot exist with them, because the love of having dominion over heaven and over the church is wholly contrary to it; for such love is love of self, which is a diabolical love, from which the Lord cannot be loved. Such love regarded in itself is rather hatred against the Lord, and it is turned into hatred when they become spirits and dominion is taken away from them. Then they persecute all who are in love to the Lord. All this makes clear how they profane truths and goods which are from a celestial origin.

[2] That "fine linen" signifies truths from a celestial origin can be seen from the following passages. In Ezekiel:

I clothed thee with embroidered work, I shod thee with the skin of the badger, and I girded thee with fine linen, and covered thee with silk. Thus wast thou adorned with gold and silver, and thy garments were fine linen, and silk, and embroidered work (Ezekiel 16:10, 13).

This is said of Jerusalem, which means the church, here in its first establishment. "Embroidered work and the skin of the badger" here signify the knowledges of truth and good from the Word; "fine linen and silk" signify truths from a celestial origin and truths from a spiritual origin. These are said to be "garments," because "garments" signify the truths with which good is clothed. In the same:

Fine linen in embroidered work was thy spreading forth, and purple from the isles of Elishah was thy covering (Ezekiel 27:7).

This is said of Tyre, which signifies the church as to the knowledges of good and truth. These knowledges are signified by "embroidered work from Egypt," truths by "fine linen," and good by "purple," both from a celestial origin. In Luke:

There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and indulged in luxuries every day splendidly (Luke 16:19).

The "rich man" means the Jewish nation, which is said to be "clothed in purple and fine linen," because they have the Word from which they might have goods and truths; goods are here meant by "purple," and truths by "fine linen," both from a celestial origin. "Lazarus lying at the rich man's porch" means the Gentiles that did not have the Word.

[3] Since "fine linen" [byssus] which is also called cotton [xylinum] signified truths from a celestial origin, and the garments of Aaron represented Divine truths, because he represented the Lord, therefore:

His miter and belt were woven of fine linen and cotton (Exodus 28:39; 39:27).

And because the curtains and hangings of the tabernacle represented those things of the church that cover, and these are truths, therefore:

These were woven of cotton or fine linen (Exodus 26:1; 27:9, 18; 36:8; 38:9, 16).

"Fine linen" has the same signification in the following passages of Revelation:

The time of the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready; and it was given to her that she should be clothed in fine linen, clean and bright (Revelation 19:7-8).

The armies of Him that sat upon the white horse followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean (Revelation 19:14).

"Fine linen" signifies truth from a celestial origin because fine linen was a kind of very shining flax of which garments were made; "flax," and also "whiteness," signify truth, and "a garment" made of it signifies truth that is clean and pure according to the shining.

(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith)

[4] The hell where those are who are called devils is the love of self; and the hell where those are who are called satans is the love of the world. The diabolical hell is the love of self because that love is the opposite of celestial love which is love to the Lord; and the satanic hell is the love of the world because that love is the opposite of spiritual love, which is love towards the neighbor. Now as the two loves of hell are opposites of the two loves of heaven, hell and the heavens are in opposition to each other; for all who are in the heavens look to the Lord and to the neighbor, but all who are in the hells look to self and the world. All who are in the heavens love the Lord and the neighbor, and all who are in the hells love self and the world, and consequently hate the Lord and the neighbor. All who are in the heavens think what is true and will what is good, because they think and will from the Lord; but all who are in the hells think what is false and will what is evil, because they think and will from self. From this it is that all who are in the hells appear turned backward, with the face turned away from the Lord; they also appear turned upside down, with the feet upwards and the head downwards. They so appear in accordance with their loves, which are opposite to the loves of heaven.

[5] As hell is the love of self it is also fire, for all love corresponds to fire, and in the spiritual world is so presented as to appear like a fire at a distance, although it is not fire but love; and thus the hells appear within to be on fire, and without like outbursts of fire in smoke from furnaces or from conflagrations; and sometimes the devils themselves appear like fires of coals. Their heat from that fire is like a boiling up from impurities, which is lust, and their light from that fire is only an appearance of light from fantasies and from confirmations of evil by falsities, but still it is not light, for when the light of heaven flows in it becomes to them thick darkness, and when the heat of heaven flows in it becomes to them cold; nevertheless, they see from their light, and live from their heat; but they see like owls, birds of night, and bats, whose eyes are blinded in the light of heaven, and they live half dead. The living principle in them is from the ability to think, to will, to speak, to do, and in consequence to see, to hear, to taste, to smell, and to feel; and this living principle is merely the ability arising from action upon them from without of the life which is God, according to order, and continually impelling them towards order. It is from that power that they live to eternity. Their dead principle is from the evils and falsities that spring from their loves. Consequently their life viewed from their loves is not life but death; and this is why in the Word hell is called "death," and those who are there are called "the dead."

1127. For strong is the Lord God who judgeth them, signifies through the Last Judgment. This is evident from the signification of "strong is the Lord God who judgeth her," as being the Last Judgment upon them. That the Last Judgment is meant by these words follows from what goes before, for it is said that "in one day her plagues shall come, death, mourning, and famine, and she shall be burned up in fire," which signifies that when they reach their last state, which is when there is no longer any good nor any truth but only evil and falsity from their diabolical love, they will then perish by the Last Judgment. That they did perish by the Last Judgment can he seen in the small work on The Last Judgment and on Babylon Destroyed.

(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith and respecting the Lord)

[2] That all things are from the life itself which is God and is Man, can be illustrated by man who was created, in that he is man as to his ultimates, as to his intermediates, and as to his inmosts; for a man who in the world has been merely corporeal and consequently stupid as to his life, appears nevertheless after the rejection of the material body as a man in the spiritual world. A man who as to his life in the world has been merely sensual or natural, thus who has known little about heaven although much about the world, nevertheless after death appears as a man. A man who as to his life in the world has been rational, and has thought rightly from natural light, when after death he becomes a spirit appears as a man. A man who as to his life in the world has been spiritual, when after death he becomes an angel appears as a man, perfect in the measure of his reception of life from the Lord. A man in whom the third degree of life has been opened, thus who as to his life in the world has been a celestial man, when after death he becomes an angel appears as a man in all perfection.

[3] The life itself that is in him is the man, whether it be sensual or natural, or rational, or spiritual, or celestial, for so the degrees of life are called. Man in whom these degrees exist is only a recipient. As it is in the least types so it is in the greatest. The whole angelic heaven in every complex is a man. Each heaven by itself, the first, the second, and the third, is a man. Each society in the heavens, greater or less, is a man. Even the church on the earth in general is a man; likewise all assemblages that are called churches are by themselves men. It is said the church, but it is meant all in whom the church is in the complex; thus does the church on the earth appear to the angels of heaven. It so appears because the life that is from the Lord is Man. Life from the Lord is love and wisdom; consequently such as the reception of love and wisdom from the Lord is, such is the man. This shows in the first place that all things have been created from the life that is God and that is Man.