Adulteration and Profanation of the Word

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Adulteration and Profanation of The Word — From which comes Every Good and Truth of the Church

The Babylonians have subjected the truths of the Word and the holy things of the church to their judgment, jurisdiction, and dominion.  They persuade the people that the Word is understood by them alone and not by any who have not been inaugurated into the ministry; and by this means they subject all things of the Word and thus all things of the church to their dominion.

Moreover, the Word is such in the sense of its letter that it may be drawn aside to confirm any heresy whatever; for the sense of the letter consists of appearances of truth, which hold enclosed in them the genuine truths of heaven, which are called spiritual truths. Unless these truths are revealed and laid bare, that is, unless they are taught in the doctrines of the church, the appearances they present may be drawn over and perverted to favor any falsity whatever, and even to favor evil.

For the genuine truths of the Word are like a man, and the appearances of truth, of which the sense of the letter consists, are like his garments, from which alone no judgment can be formed respecting who the man is or what he is. 

If a man were judged from his garments alone, a king might be called a servant, and a servant a king, and a good man might be called an evil man, and an evil man a good man; and so on.

So those who arrogate to themselves dominion over all things of the church and heaven can apply the sense in its letter a thousand ways to favor their dominion. And this is an easy task, because all things of the church, which are called holy, they place above the human understanding, and when this is assented to and no genuine truth is taught, infernal falsities may be called truths, and devilish evils may be called goods; and the simple may even be persuaded that the edicts of the Pope are just as holy as the commandments of the Word, and even more holy; and yet these are from heaven, while those edicts are for the most part from hell.

For every edict respecting government, faith, and worship in the church, that has for an end dominion in the world, however it may appear in the external form, and may sound as if from the Word, is from hell; while every commandment from the Word, because it has for its end the salvation of souls by the Lord, is from heaven. 

From all this it can be seen that "sitting upon many waters," when predicated of Babylon as a harlot, signifies having dominion over all things of the Word, and thus over the holy things of the church.

(from Apocalypse Explained 1033)

Equilibrium ~ Freedom To Be Led By The Lord

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

As the heavens are divided into two kingdoms, namely, into a celestial kingdom and a spiritual kingdom, so are the hells divided into two dominions opposite to those kingdoms. The dominion opposite to the celestial kingdom is called devilish, and the dominion opposite to the spiritual kingdom is called infernal. These dominions are distinguished in the Word by the names Devil and Satan.

There are two dominions in the hells, because the heavens and the hells are opposite to each other; and opposite must fully correspond to opposite that there may be equilibrium. For the existence and subsistence of all things, both in the natural world and in the spiritual world, depend upon an exact equilibrium between two activities that are opposite; and when these act against each other manifestly, they act by forces, but when not manifestly they act by endeavors [conatus].

By means of equilibriums all things in both worlds are preserved - without this all things would perish. 

In the spiritual world the equilibrium is between good from heaven and evil from hell; and thus between truth from heaven and falsity from hell. For the Lord continually arranges that all kinds and species of good and truth in the heavens shall have opposite to them in the hells evils and falsities of kinds that correspond by opposition; thus goods and truths from a celestial origin have for their opposites evils and falsities that are called devilish; and in like manner goods and truths from a spiritual origin have for their opposites evils and falsities that are called infernal.

The cause of these equilibriums is to be found in the fact that the Divine goods and the Divine truths that the angels in the heavens receive from the Lord, the spirits in the hells turn into evils and falsities. All angels, spirits, and men are kept by the Lord in equilibrium between good and evil, and thus between truth and falsity, in order that they may be in freedom; and thus may be led from evil to good and from falsity to truth easily and as if by themselves, although in fact, they are led by the Lord. For the same reason they are led in freedom from good to evil, and from truth to falsity, and this, too, as if by themselves, although the leading is from hell.

(Apocalypse Explained 1043)

Mystery, Babylon the GreatThe Mother of the Whoredomsand Abominations of the Earth

Selection from Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Religious persuasion of those in whom
all the good and truth of the church has been adulterated and profaned.

Babylon is called "the great harlot" and "the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the earth," because a love of having dominion over all things of the world, and still further, over all things of heaven and the church, and finally over the Lord Himself, cannot do otherwise than wholly change Divine truths into falsities and Divine goods into evils, thus the church into a religious persuasion in which all its good and truth is adulterated and profaned. For by that love a man wholly turns himself away from the Lord, and turns only towards self; and thus he can no longer be led by the Lord, but is led by what is his own [proprium].

To be led by what is his own is to be led by hell. 

Man is either led from heaven or he is led from hell; he cannot be led by both at the same time. He is led from heaven when he is led by the Lord, and from hell when he is led by self. For man was so created as to be capable of being raised above what is his own [proprium] and of thinking in that elevated state. He is raised above what is his own [proprium] and thinks in that elevated state when he is raised up by the Lord. This is effected when he acknowledges the Lord and His Divine power over heaven and earth, and by that confession and faith of the heart, he has conjunction with the Lord. When conjunction is effected, the interiors, which belong to his mind, that is, to his understanding and will are held by the Lord under his view. This is effected by an elevation above what is his own [proprium]. When man thinks in that elevated state he thinks truth from the Lord and does good from Him.

The opposite comes to pass when a man strives to gain dominion over the world, over heaven, and over the Lord; for he then immerses the interiors of his mind which belong to his thought and will in what is his own [proprium]. When a man is immersed in what is his own, he thinks and wills from hell. Consequently, he thinks and wills falsities and evils, for the reason that what is man's own [proprium] is nothing but evil, for it is his inherited evil itself. Such then are the Babylonians; and therefore they have adulterated and profaned all the goods and truths of the church; and this is why Babylon is called a "harlot," and "the mother of the whoredoms and abominations of the earth."

(from Apocalypse Explained 1032)