474. And he said to me, These are they who come out of great tribulation.- That this signifies information that they are those who have been in temptations, is evident from the signification of, "he said to me," as denoting information; and from the signification of tribulation, or great affliction, as denoting temptations, of which we shall speak presently. Something shall first be said here concerning the temptations which those undergo in the spiritual world who are in falsities from ignorance, and who are here treated of. Only those undergo temptations there who have lived a good life in the world according to their religion, wherein were falsities of doctrine in which they believed. For by temptations falsities are shaken off, truths are implanted, and thus they are prepared for heaven; for all those who shall come into heaven must be in truths; wherefore so long as they are in falsities they cannot come into heaven. The reason is, that the Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord makes heaven, and makes the life of the angels there, therefore falsities, because they are opposed to truths, and because opposites destroy, must first be removed, and they cannot be removed except by temptations.

[2] That temptations perform this use, may be seen in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem, (n. 187-201), where temptations are treated of. The reason why they are let into temptations in the spiritual world after the life in the body, is, that they could not be tempted in the world on account of the falsities of religion in which they were, and which were everywhere dominant. It must be understood, that all those who are let into temptations are saved; but the evil, who are in falsities from evil, are not tempted, for with them truths cannot be implanted, because the evils of their lives offer a hindrance; but truths are taken away from them, and therefore they remain in pure falsities, and are then immersed deeply in hell, according to the quality of evil from which such falsity springs. In a word, those who are about to come into heaven are vastated in regard to their falsities, and those who are about to go into hell are vastated in regard to truths; that is, falsities are removed from those who are about to go to heaven, and truths are taken away from those who are about to go to hell. For no one can enter heaven with falsities, nor hell with truths, because truths from good make heaven, and falsities from evil make hell. The temptations of those whose falsities have to be removed are treated of in many passages in the Word, and especially in David, and are called afflictions, tribulations, and vastations; but there is no need to quote those passages here, since it can be seen without them that tribulations and afflictions, when spoken of in reference to good, mean, in the spiritual sense, temptations.

170. From Secrets of Heaven

Sin and evil. There are countless kinds of evil and falsity: 1188, 1212, 4818, 4822, 7574. There is evil that results from falsity and there is falsity that results from evil, and these lead to still more falsity and still more evil: 1679, 2243, 4818. The nature and characteristics of evil that results from falsity: 2408, 4818, 7272, 8265, 8279. The nature and characteristics of falsity that results from evil: 6359, 7272, 9304, 10302. Evils that are our own fault and evils that are not our fault: 4171, 4172. Evils that come from our understanding and evils that come from our will: 9009. The distinctions among transgression, wickedness, and sin: 6563, 9156.

[2] All our evils cling to us: 2116. Evils cannot be removed from us; we can only be held back from them and be kept focused on doing what is good: 865, 868, 887, 894, 1581, 4564, 8206, 8393, 9014, 9333, 9446, 9447, 9448, 9451, 10057, 10109. Our being held back from doing evil and kept focused on doing good is something accomplished by the Lord alone: 929, 2406, 8206, 10109. Evils and sins are only put aside, and this happens gradually: 9334, 9335, 9336. It happens through our being regenerated by the Lord: 9445, 9452, 9453, 9454, 9938. Our evils cut us off from the Lord: 5696. We need to abstain from evils in order to accept goodness from the Lord: 10109. Goodness and truth flow in to the extent that we abstain from evils: 2388, 2411, 10675. Being held back from doing evil and being kept focused on doing good is what is meant by forgiveness of sins: 8391, 8393, 9014, 9444-9450. Some signs indicating whether our sins have been forgiven or not: 9449, 9450. The forgiveness of our sins means that we are seen from the perspective of our goodness, not of our evil: 7697.

[3] Evil and sin are a separation and a turning away from the Lord; this is what evil and sin mean in the Word: 4997, 5229, 5474, 5746, 5841, 9346. Evil and sin also are, and mean, a separation and a turning away from goodness and truth: 7589. Evil and sin are, and mean, what is contrary to the divine design: 4839, 5076. Evil is hell and damnation: 3513, 6279, 7155. No one knows what hell is who does not know what evil is: 7181. Evils are heavy, so to speak, and naturally fall into hell, and the same holds true for falsities that result from evil: 8279, 8298. No one knows what evil is who does not know what love for ourselves and love for the world are: 4997, 7178, 8318. All evils come from these loves: 1307, 1308, 1321, 1594, 1691, 3413, 7255, 7376, 7488, 7489, 8318, 9335, 9348, 10038, 10742.

[4] All the people who exist are born with evils of all kinds, even to the point that their intrinsic characteristics are nothing but evil: 210, 215, 731, 874, 875, 876, 987, 1047, 2307, 2308, 3518, 3701, 3812, 8480, 8550, 10283, 10284, 10731. That is why we need to be reborn and regenerated in order to accept a life of goodness: 3701.

[5] We cast ourselves into hell when we do evil willingly, then deliberately, and finally with delight: 6203. When we are consumed with leading an evil life, we are also consumed, whether we realize it or not, with the false beliefs that go with that evil: 7577, 8094. If we believe what is actually the case, namely, that everything evil comes from hell and that everything good comes from the Lord, evil does not become part of us: 6206, 4151, 6324, 6325. In the other life, evil characteristics are put aside in good people and good characteristics are put aside in evil people: 2256. In the other life, all are brought into their inner nature, so evil people are brought into their evil nature: 8870.

In the other life, there is inherent in every evil its own punishment, and in every good its own reward: 696, 967, 1857, 6559, 8214, 8223, 8226, 9049. In the other life we are not punished for evils we inherited, because they are not our fault; but we are punished for evils that we ourselves have put into practice: 966, 2308. What lies within evil is filthy and foul, no matter how unlike that it may look in outward form: 7046.

In the Word, evil is attributed to the Lord, when in fact nothing but good comes from him: 2447, 6071, 6991, 6997, 7533, 7632, 7926, 8227, 8228, 8632, 9306. The same holds true for the anger that is attributed to him there: 5798, 6997, 8284, 8483, 9306, 10431. Why it says things like this in the Word: 6071, 6991, 6997, 7643, 7632, 7679, 7710, 7926, 8282, 9010. What "carrying iniquity" means when it is said of the Lord: 9937, 9965. ¹ When good people are being assailed and tested, the Lord turns that evil into a good thing for them: 8631. God's allowing us the freedom to do evil is called "permission": 10778. Evil and falsity are governed by the Lord according to the laws of permission; they are tolerated for the sake of the divine design as a whole: 7877, 8700, 10778. The Lord tolerates evil, but not because he wants it to happen; he does not want it to happen, but it cannot be remedied completely, because his overall goal takes precedence: 7877.

脚注: