E-text prepared by William J. Rotella
by
Extracted from the Apocalypse Explained
Contents
I. How Spiritual Life is Acquired
II. Goods of Charity
III. Shunning Evils
IV. Cleansing the Inside
V. What Religion Consists In
I. The First Commandment
II. The Second Commandment
III. The Third Commandment
IV. The Fourth Commandment
V. The Fifth Commandment
VI. The Sixth Commandment
VII. The Seventh Commandment
VIII. The Eighth Commandment
IX. The Ninth and Tenth Commandments
X. The Commandments in General
I. Goods and Truths and Their Opposites
II. The First Kind of Profanation
III. The Second Kind of Profanation
IV. The Third Kind of Profanation
V. The Fourth and Fifth Kinds of Profanation
I. The Holiness of the Word
II. The Lord is the Word
III. The Lord's Words Spirit and Life
IV. Influx and Correspondence
V. The Three Senses of the Word
VI. Conjunction by the Word
VII. The Sense of the Letter
I. How Spiritual Life is Acquired
Spiritual life is acquired solely by a life according to thecommandments in the Word. These commandments are given in summary inthe Decalogue, namely, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt notsteal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thoushalt not covet the goods of others. These commandments are thecommandments that are to be done, for when a man does these his worksare good and his life is spiritual, and for the reason that so far as aman shuns evils and hates them so far he wills and loves goods.
For there are two opposite spheres that surround man, one from hell, theother from heaven; from hell a sphere of evil and falsity therefrom,from heaven a sphere of good and of truth therefrom; and these spheresdo [not immediately] affect the body, but they affect the minds of men,for they are spiritual spheres, and thus are affections that belong tothe love. In the midst of these man is set; therefore so far as heapproaches the one, so far he withdraws from the other. This is why sofar as a man shuns evils and hates them, so far he wills and loves goodsand the truths therefrom; for no one can at the same time serve twomasters, for he will hate the one and will love the other. (Matt. vi.24).
But let it be noted, that man must do these commandments from religion,because they are commanded by the Lord; and if he does this from anyother consideration whatever, for instance, from regard merely to thecivil law or the moral law, he remains natural, and does not becomespiritual. For when a man acts from religion, he acknowledges in heartthat there is a God, a heaven and a hell, and a life after death. Butwhen he acts from regard merely to the civil and moral law, he may actin the same way, and yet in heart may deny that there is a God, a heavenand a hell, and a life after death. And if he shuns evils and doesgoods, it is merely in the external form, and not in the internal; thuswhile he is outwardly in respect to the life of the body like aChristian, inwardly in respect to