301. As regards the second arcanum, if they had been instructed in mysteries of faith they would have perished for ever, meant by the words 'Now by chance he will put out his hand and also take from the tree of life ¹ and eat, and live forever', the position is this: Once people have become reversed orders of life and are unwilling to rely on anything but self and the proprium as the source of their life and wisdom, they are given to reasoning as to whether any matter of faith which they hear about is so or not so. And because self, sensory evidence, and facts are the basis of their reasoning, they inevitably adopt a negative attitude. And when their attitude is negative they also speak blasphemy and practise profanation, and at length do not care whether or not they mingle together unholy things with holy. When man becomes such he stands so condemned in the next life that there is no hope of salvation for him, for the things that have been mingled through acts of profanation remain that way permanently. The moment some idea of what is holy enters in, so does the idea joined to it of what is unholy, and this makes it impossible for that person to live in any but a community of people who are condemned. Anything at all that has been joined to, and is present as, an idea within a person's thought is in the next life perceived very precisely even by spirits in the world of spirits, but more so by angelic spirits. It is perceived so precisely that from merely one idea they know his whole character. Getting rid of unholy things such as are joined on to those that are holy is not possible without hellish torment, which is so intense that if man knew about it he would beware of profanation as of hell itself.

脚注:

3241. 'And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim' means the derivatives from the second division. This becomes clear from the representation of 'Dedan' as those governed by the good of faith, or to be precise, those governed by the truth of faith derived from good, 3240 (end). The fact that they are derivatives from the second division is self-evident. These three sons mean in particular the truths of faith derived from good, though just what each one means can indeed be stated but not confirmed from elsewhere in the Word since they are not mentioned again.

[2] In the Lord's kingdom there are countless variations to goods and truths, yet all those countless variations make up one heaven. Indeed there are so many that one community is in no sense exactly like another, that is, governed by the same good and truth, see 684, 685, 690. One heaven there is made up of many varying parts arranged by the Lord in such a way that they all accord. This accordance or harmony of the many is effected by the Lord through the relationship which each of them has to Him, 551. It is like the organs, members, and viscera of the body. None is exactly like another. Yet although they are all different from one another they nevertheless make one, through the relatedness of them all to one soul, and through this soul to heaven and so to the Lord. For anything that has no connection with the Lord is in reality nothing. From this it may be seen that specific differences in truth and good are countless. But the kinds of these, indeed the most general kinds, which belong to the spiritual Church, are meant by these sons and grandsons of Abraham by Keturah.

[3] Because members of the spiritual Church do not have perception, as those of the celestial Church do, of what good and truth are, but instead acknowledge as truths things which they have had to learn, they are therefore constantly engaged in discussion about them and in reasoning whether they are true. Everybody adheres to the teaching which his own Church upholds and calls it the truth. This is what gives rise to so many differences. Furthermore the majority make their minds up about goods and truths from appearances and illusions - each one in a different way from another. But no one does so from any perception; indeed they do not know what perception is. Since their understanding is so darkened as regards goods and truths of faith, it is no wonder that disagreements exist about the most essential truth of all, that is to say, about the Lord's Divine, His Human, and His Holy proceeding from these. Those who are celestial perceive that these are not three but one, but in the case of those who are spiritual a mental image of three remains, though they are willing to think of them as one. Since therefore disagreements exist regarding this most essential truth, it may be seen that the variations and differences in matters of doctrine are countless. From this one may know the origin of the derivatives meant by the names of those mentioned at this point. But although there are so many variations and differences in matters of doctrine, or so many derivatives, nevertheless they all together form one Church when everyone acknowledges charity to be the essential thing of the Church, or what amounts to the same, when everyone regards life as the end in view of doctrine - that is, when everyone asks, How does a member of the Church live? rather than, What does he think? For in the next life everyone is allotted a place by the Lord that accords with the good constituting his life, not with the truth he knows from doctrine separated from that good.