1. THE FAITH OF THE NEW HEAVEN AND THE NEW CHURCH

A statement of faith, set out in both universal and particular terms, is placed at the beginning to serve as a preface to the book which follows, to be like a doorway leading into a church, and a summary presenting in a short compass what follows at more length. It is called the faith of the new heaven and the new church, because heaven, where the angels are, and the church among men form a single unit, just as the internal and external sides of the personality make up a single individual. This is why a member of the church who possesses the good of love which arises from the truths of faith, and possesses the truths of faith which arise from the good of love, is, so far as the interiors of his mind are concerned, an angel of heaven. Therefore too after dying he comes into heaven, and there enjoys happiness depending upon how far the good and truth are linked. It should be known that in the new heaven, which is at the present time being established by the Lord, this statement of faith serves as its preface, doorway and summary.

179. (vii) THIS IS THE SOURCE OF THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION AND THE AFFLICTION SUCH AS HAS NEVER BEEN NOR SHALL BE, BOTH OF WHICH THE LORD PREDICTED IN DANIEL, THE GOSPELS AND REVELATION.

We read in Daniel:

Finally upon the bird of abominations desolation, to the point of ending and cutting off, shall be poured drop by drop upon devastation, Daniel 9:27.

In Matthew's gospel the Lord says:

Then many false prophets shall arise and lead many astray. When therefore you see the abomination of desolation predicted by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, let him who reads take due notice, Matthew 24:11, 15.

Later in the same chapter:

Then there shall be great affliction, such as never was from the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will be, Matthew 24:21.

This affliction and the abomination are dealt with in seven chapters of Revelation. These are what is meant by the black horse and the pale horse which came out of the book, when the Lamb opened its seals (Revelation 6:5-8); and by the beast coming up out of the abyss, which made war on the two witnesses, and killed them (Revelation 11:7ff.); as by the dragon which stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, to devour her child, and pursued her into the desert, and there ejected water from its mouth like a river, to drown her (chapter 12); also by the beasts of the dragon, one from the sea, the other from the land (chapter 13); also by the three spirits like frogs, who came out of the mouth of the dragon and the mouth of the beast and the mouth of the false prophet (Revelation 16:13); moreover by the fact that after the seven angels had poured out the bowls of the wrath of God, in which were the seven last plagues, upon the earth, the sea, the springs and streams, the sun, the throne of the beast, the Euphrates and finally the air, a great earthquake took place such as had never occurred since the creation of man (chapter 16). The earthquake means the overthrow of the church, the result of falsities and falsifications of truth, much as is meant by the great affliction such as never has been since the beginning of the world (Matthew 24:21). The following passage has a similar meaning:

The angel put in his sickle and reaped the grape-harvest of the earth, and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God; and the winepress was trodden, and blood came out up to the bridles of the horses at a distance of one thousand six hundred stades ¹ . Revelation 14:19-20.

Blood means falsified truth. There are many more such passages in those seven chapters.

Footnotes:

607. IX. A person who is regenerate is in touch with the angels of heaven, one who is not with the spirits of hell.

The reason why everyone on earth is in touch, that is, is associated with either the angels of heaven or the spirits of hell, is that he has by birth the ability to become spiritual. This would be impossible unless he were somehow linked with those who are spiritual. I showed in my book HEAVEN AND HELL that as regards his mind a person is in both the natural and spiritual worlds. This link is not known to men on earth, nor is it to angels or spirits because, so long as a person lives in the world, he is in the natural state, while an angel or spirit is in the spiritual state. The difference between the natural and the spiritual prevents the one from being seen by the other. There is a description of the nature of this difference in my book CONJUGIAL LOVE; see the account of an experience related there (326-329) ¹ . From this it is plain that what links them is not thoughts, but affections; and hardly anyone reflects on his affections, because they are not exposed to the light enjoyed by the understanding and consequently its thought-processes, but to the heat enjoyed by the will and consequently the affection of its love. The link between men and angels and spirits brought about by the affections of love is so close that if it were broken and angels and spirits were thus cut off, men would immediately fall unconscious; and if the link were not repaired and re-established, they would die.

[2] When we say that a person by regeneration becomes spiritual, this does not mean that he becomes spiritual in the way an angel is in himself. It means that he becomes spiritual-natural; that is to say, his natural has something spiritual within it. This is like the presence of thought in speech, and of will in action, for if one ceases, so does the other. Likewise a person's spirit is present in everything that happens in the body, and it is the spirit which impels the natural to do what it does. The natural regarded in itself is passive, a dead force, but the spiritual is active, a living force. What is passive or a dead force cannot act of its own accord, but must be impelled by what is active or a living force.

[3] Since a person lives constantly in touch with the inhabitants of the spiritual world, when he leaves the natural world, he is therefore at once brought into the company of those who resemble the companions he had while he was in the world. That is why everyone after death has the impression that he is still living in the world. For he then comes into the company of those who share similar affections of the will; he recognises such people, in much the same way as relations recognise those who are akin to them in the world. This is what is said in the Word about those who die, that they are collected and gathered to their own people. These considerations can now establish that a regenerate person is in touch with the angels of heaven, an unregenerate one with the spirits of hell.

Footnotes: