34. Love and faith cannot possibly be separated for they constitute one and the same thing. This is why, when first the [great] lights are dealt with and they are taken to be one, it is said [using a singular verb with a plural noun], 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens'. Let some marvels relating to this be mentioned here. Since celestial angels possess from the Lord that kind of love, they possess by virtue of that love every cognition of faith, and by virtue of that love the kind of life and light of understanding that almost defies description altogether. On the other hand spirits who without love have a knowledge of the doctrinal matters concerning faith live such cold lives and are in such dull light that they cannot approach even the outer gateway to heaven before running off in the opposite direction. Some claim to have believed in the Lord, but they have not lived according to His teaching. The Lord refers to these people in Matthew as follows,

Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does My will. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? and so on. Matthew 7:21-22-end.

[2] From this is clear that those who have love have faith as well, and so heavenly life, whereas those who claim to have faith and yet have none of the life inherent in love do not. The life of faith devoid of love is like sunlight devoid of warmth, as is the case in wintertime when nothing grows and every single thing is inactive and dies off. But faith deriving from love is like the sunlight in springtime when everything grows and blossoms, for it is the warmth of the sun that brings it out. It is similar with spiritual and celestial things, which are normally represented in the Word by the things found in the world and on earth. An absence of faith, and faith devoid of love, are also compared by the Lord to winter where He foretold the close of the age in Mark,

Pray that your flight may not happen in winter, for those will be days of affliction. Mark 13:18-19.

'Flight' means the final period, also the time when a person dies; 'winter' is life which is destitute of love, 'days of affliction' his wretched condition in the next life.

803. 'Birds, beasts, wild animals, and every creeping thing that creeps over the earth' means their persuasions, among which 'birds' means affections for falsity, 'beasts' evil desires, wild animals' pleasures, 'creeping thing that creeps' bodily and earthly interests. This becomes clear from what has been shown already about the meaning of birds and beasts - about birds in 40, and above at verses 14-15, of this chapter, and about beasts as well in those same verses, and also in 45, 46, 142, 143, 246. Since birds mean intellectual concepts, rational concepts, and factual knowledge, they also mean things that are the contrary, such as perverted rational concepts, falsities, and affections for falsity. The persuasions of the people before the Flood are described fully here, that is to say, they had within them affections for falsity, evil desires, pleasures, and bodily and earthly interests. All of these things are present in persuasions, though a person is not directly conscious of this, for he imagines that a false assumption, or persuasion of falsity, is some uncomplicated or quite general entity. He is much mistaken however, for the situation is altogether different. Every one of a person's affections derives its existence and character from the things of his understanding and at the same time from those of his will. As a result the whole person as regards all things of his understanding and all those of his will is present in every one of his affections, indeed in the most individual or least parts of them.

[2] This has been made quite clear to me from many experiences. For example, to mention but one, a spirit in the next life is able to recognize a person's character from merely one idea in that person's thinking. Indeed angels have the ability from the Lord to know anyone's character in an instant by merely looking at him; and they never make a mistake. From this it is clear that every one of a person's ideas, every affection, indeed every least part of his affection, is an image and replica of himself. That is, it contains something, closely or remotely, of the whole of his understanding and of the whole of his will. This then is how the dreadful persuasions of the people before the Flood are described: They had within them affections for falsity, also affections for evil (which are evil desires), as well as pleasures, and last of all bodily and earthly interests. All of these are present within such persuasions; and not only within persuasions in general but also within the most individual or least parts of persuasions, in which bodily and earthly interests are predominant. If anyone knew how much one false assumption or one persuasion of falsity contained he would be horrified. It is in a way an image of hell. But if they are the product of innocence or of ignorance, those falsities in him are easily dispersed.