Heinous Offenses Against Heaven and The Church

From Apocalypse Explained ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

14 But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.
15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.
16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
17 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it.

Rev 2:14-17

1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
3 And Israel joined himself unto Baal-peor: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. ...
9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.

Num 25:1-3, 9

The Lord protects those who are in truths and goods, that they may not be harmed by those who speak from seeming illustration, and yet have the disposition and intention to lead astray. He who believes that Balaam could harm the sons of Israel by enchantments is much deceived; for enchantments could have availed nothing against them; this Balaam himself confessed when he said: Divination avails not against Jacob, nor enchantments against Israel (Num. 23:23).

Balaam could lead that people astray by craft, because that people were such in heart; with the mouth only they worshiped Jehovah, but in heart they worshiped Baal-peor, and because they were such this was permitted.

It is to be noted, moreover, that a man can be in illustration in respect to the understanding, and yet in evil in respect to the will; for the intellectual faculty is separated from the voluntary with all who are not regenerated, and only with those who are regenerated do they act as one; for it is the office of the understanding to know, to think, and to speak truths, but of the will to will the things that are understood, and from the will, or from the love, to do them. The divorcement of the two is clearly manifest with evil spirits; when these turn themselves towards good spirits, they, too, understand truths, and also acknowledge them, almost as if they were illustrated; but as soon as they turn themselves away from good spirits, they return to the love of their will and see nothing of truth, and even deny the things they have heard.

To be able to have the understanding illustrated is granted to man, for the sake of reformation; for in man's will every evil resides, both that into which he is born and that into which he introduces himself; and the will cannot be corrected unless man knows, and by the understanding acknowledges, truths and goods, and also falsities and evils; in no other way can he turn away from the latter and love the former.

It was among the statutes where sacrifices were instituted that some part of the sacrifices, especially of the thank-offerings, should be burnt from the altar, and some part eaten in the holy place. The "sacrifices" themselves signified worship from love and faith, and the "eating" of them signified appropriation of the good thereof.  As the eating of things sanctified to Jehovah signified the appropriation of good, so the eating of the sacrifices offered to the gods of the nations, and which were called "idol-sacrifices," signified the appropriation of evil.

To "commit whoredom," in the spiritual sense, signifies to become imbued with falsities, so also to falsify truths, can be seen from many passages in the Word. The same was signified by the whoredoms of the sons of Israel with the daughters of Moab; for all historical parts of the Word involve spiritual things and signify them.  And as the eating of idol-sacrifices by the sons of Israel and their whoredoms with the daughters of Moab involved such things (for what things signify they involve), therefore it was commanded that the heads of the people should be hung up to Jehovah before the sun; and for the same reason Phinehas the son of Eleazar thrust through a man of Israel and a Midianitish woman in the place of their lust, and for doing that he also was blessed; and for the same reason there were slain of Israel twenty and four thousand (as may be seen, Num. 25:1 to the end).  Such punishments and such plagues merely because of the eating of idol-sacrifices, and committing whoredom with the women of another nation, would never have been commanded to be done, unless they had involved heinous offenses against heaven and the church, which do not appear in the literal sense of the Word, but only in its spiritual sense.  The heinous offenses involved were the profanation at once of the goods and of the truths of the church, and this, as has been said above, was the appropriation of evil and falsity.

Those who separate truth from good, or faith from charity, turn away from themselves all influx of heaven into the goods they do, in consequence of which their goods are not good; for heaven flows in, that is, the Lord through heaven, into the good of man's love; he, therefore, that rejects the good of charity from the doctrine of the church, and receives instead only those things that are called matters of faith, is shut out of heaven; truths with such have no life; and it is the life of truth, which is good, that conjoins, but not truth without life, or faith without charity.

Repent, signifies dissociation from these.  This is evident from the signification of "repent," as being in reference to the things signified by "the doctrine of Balaam," and by "the doctrine of the Nicolaitans," to be dissociated from them.  Nor is repentance anything else; for no one repents unless he actually separates himself from the things of which he has repented; and he separates himself from them only when he shuns them and turns away from them.

(from Apocalypse Explained 140 - 143)

The Presence of the Lord with Man; The Conjunction of the Lord with Man

Portions from passages in Conjugial Love ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

... man is born natural that he may become spiritual; and so long as he remains natural he is in night, and as in sleep, respecting spiritual things; and that then he does not even know the distinction between the external natural and the internal spiritual man. ...
...
the Lord ... alone opens the internals of human minds and makes them spiritual; and He puts these [spiritual] within things natural in order that they [natural] also may derive a spiritual essence, as in fact they do if He [the Lord] is approached, and if the life is according to His precepts; which are in brief, that one should believe in Him and shun evils because they are of the devil and from the devil; and do goods because they are of the Lord and from the Lord; and do both as if of one's self, and at the same time believe that they are done by the Lord through him. The very reason why the Lord alone opens the internal spiritual man, and brings this into the external natural man, is that every man thinks naturally and acts naturally, and for that reason could not perceive anything spiritual and receive it into his natural if God had not put on the natural human, and made also that Divine. ...
...
... [the interiors of the mind], which in themselves are spiritual ... can be opened only by the Lord .... The real reason why they are opened by the Lord when He is acknowledged, and is approached as God of heaven and earth, and with those who live according to His precepts is, that otherwise there is no conjunction, and without conjunction there is no reception. There is the presence of the Lord with man, and there is conjunction with Him.

To go to Him brings presence, and to live according to his precepts effects conjunction.

And His presence only is without reception; but presence and at the same time conjunction is with reception.

Concerning these matters I will relate this that is new from the spiritual world: There, every one is made present by thought about him; but no one is conjoined to another except from the affection of love, and the affection of love is insinuated by doing his words and his pleasure. This fact, familiar in the spiritual world, takes its origin from the Lord, in that He is thus present and is thus conjoined.

(from Conjugial Love 340, 341)

The Forming of a True Conscience

Selection from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

A church is said to be corrupted when it acknowledges the Word and has a certain worship like that of a true church, but yet separates faith from charity, thus from its essential and from its life, whereby faith becomes a kind of dead affair; the result of which necessarily is that the church is corrupted. What the men of the church then become, is evident from the consideration that they can have no conscience; for conscience that is really conscience cannot possibly exist except from charity. Charity is what makes conscience, that is, the Lord through charity. What else is conscience than not to do evil to anyone in anyway; that is, to do well to all in every way? Thus conscience belongs to charity, and never to faith separated from charity. If such persons have any conscience, it is a false conscience; and because they are without conscience, they rush into all wickedness, so far as outward bonds are relaxed. They do not even know what charity is, except that it is a word significant of something.  And as they are without charity, they do not know what faith is.  When questioned, they can only answer that it is a kind of thinking; some, that it is confidence; others, that it is the knowledges of faith; a few, that it is life according to these knowledges, and scarcely any that it is a life of charity or of mutual love.  And if this is said to them, and opportunity is given them for reflection, they answer only that all love begins from self, and that he is worse than a heathen who does not take care of himself and his own family.  They therefore study nothing but themselves and the world. Hence it comes to pass that they live in their Own....

That they who are ... those who separate faith from charity and hence make worship consist in externals alone, cannot know what and whence is conscience, needs to be briefly shown. Conscience is formed by means of the truths of faith, for that which a man has heard, acknowledged, and believed makes the conscience in him; and afterwards to act contrary to this is to him to act contrary to conscience, as may be sufficiently evident to everyone; so that unless it is the truths of faith that a man hears, acknowledges, and believes, he cannot possibly have a true conscience. For it is through the truths of faith (the Lord working in charity) that man is regenerated, and therefore it is through the truths of faith that he receives conscience, conscience being the new man himself. From this it is evident that the truths of faith are the means by which this may take place, that is, that the man may live according to what faith teaches, the principal of which is to love the Lord above all things, and the neighbor as himself.  If he does not so live, what is his faith but an empty affair, and a mere high-sounding word, or a thing that is separated from heavenly life, and in which when thus separated there is no possible salvation?

For to believe that no matter how a man lives, he may yet be saved provided he has faith, is to say that he may be saved if he has no charity, and no conscience (that is, if he passes his life in hatred, revenge, robbery, adultery, in a word, in all things contrary to charity and conscience) provided only that he has faith, even if it be but at the hour of death.  Let such persons consider, when they are in such a false principle, what truth of faith there is that can form their conscience, and whether it be not what is false.  If they suppose that they have anything of conscience, it must be only outward bonds - such as fear of the law, of loss of honor, of gain, or of reputation for the sake of these - that make, with them, what they call conscience, and which lead them not to injure the neighbor, but to do him good.  But as this is not conscience, because not charity, therefore when these restraints are loosened or taken away, such persons rush into most wicked and obscene things.  Very different is the case with those who, although they have declared that faith alone saves, have still lived a life of charity; for in their faith there has been charity from the Lord.

(Arcana Coelestia 1076-1077)

Concerning God, The Immortality of the Soul, Regeneration, Baptism and Holy Supper

Selection from Apocalypse Revealed ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
Memorable Relation

I saw an assembly of spirits, all upon their knees, praying to God to send angels to them, that they might converse with them face to face, and open to them the thoughts of their hearts. And when they arose, there appeared three angels in fine linen, standing before them, and they said, "The Lord Jesus Christ has heard your prayers, and has therefore sent us to you; open unto us the thoughts of your hearts."

And they answered, "We have been told by our priests, that in matters of a theological nature the understanding avails nothing, but only faith, and that in such things intellectual faith is of no service to anyone, because it is derived from man. We are Englishmen, and have heard many things from our sacred ministry, which we believed; but when we have conversed with others, who also called themselves the Reformed, and with others who called themselves the Roman Catholics, and likewise with sectaries, they all appeared to us learned, and yet, in many things, one did not agree with another, and still they all said, `Believe us;' and some of them, `We are God's ministers, and know.'  But as we know that the Divine truths, which are called truths of faith, and which appertain to the church, are not derived to anyone from his native soil, nor by inheritance, but out of heaven from God; and as these show the way to heaven, and enter into the life together with the good of charity, and so lead to eternal life, we became anxious, and prayed to God upon our knees."

Then the angels answered, "Read the Word, and believe in the Lord, and you will see the truths which should constitute your faith and life; for all in the Christian world draw their doctrinals from the Word as from the only fountain." But two of the company said, "We have read, but did not understand."

And the angels replied, "You did not approach the Lord, and you have also confirmed yourselves in falsities"; and the angels said further, "What is faith without light, and what signifies thinking without understanding? This is not human; even magpies and ravens can learn to speak without understanding. We can affirm to you, that every man whose soul desires it is capable of seeing the truths of the Word in the light; there does not exist an animal that does not know the food proper to its life when it sees it, and man is a rational and spiritual animal, who sees the food of his life, not that of his body, but of his soul, which is the truth of faith, provided indeed he hungers after it, and seeks it from the Lord; whatsoever is not received also in the understanding is not fixed in the memory in reality, but only verbally; therefore, when we have looked down out of heaven into the world, we have not seen anything, but have only heard sounds, that are for the most part dissonant.

"But we will enumerate some things which the learned among the clergy have removed from the understanding, not knowing that there are two ways to the understanding, one from the world, and the other from heaven, and that the Lord withdraws the understanding from the world when He enlightens it; but if the understanding be closed by religion, the way into it from heaven is closed, and then man sees no more in the Word than a blind person. We have seen many such fall into pits, out of which they have never risen again. Examples must serve for illustration: are you not able to understand what charity is, and what faith is; that charity consists in doing well by your neighbor, and that faith consists in thinking well of God and of the essentials of the church, and therefore that he who does well and thinks well, that is, who lives well and believes well, is saved?" They replied, that they understood these things.

The angels said further, "Do you not understand, that repentance from sins is to be performed, in order that man may be saved, and that, unless a man actually repents, he abides in the sins into which he was born, and that the work of repentance consists in not willing evils because they are against God, and in examining himself once or twice a year, in seeing his evils, in confessing them before the Lord, imploring assistance, desisting from them, and leading a new life, and as far as he does this, and believes in the Lord, so far his sins are remitted?" Then some of the company replied, "This we understand, and thence also what remission of sins is."

And then they solicited the angels to give them further information, and especially concerning God, the immortality of the soul, regeneration and baptism. To this the angels replied, "We will not say anything but what you can understand, otherwise our discourse will fall like rain upon sand, and upon seeds therein, which although watered from heaven, still wither and perish."

• Concerning God they said, "All who come into heaven have their place allotted them there, and thence eternal joy, according to their idea of God, because this idea reigns universally in every particular of worship. The idea of an invisible God is not determined to anyone, nor does it terminate in any, therefore it ceases and perishes. The idea of God as Spirit, when a spirit is believed to be like ether or wind, is an empty idea; but the idea of God as Man is a just idea, for God is the Divine love and the Divine wisdom, with every quality belonging thereto, and the subject of these is man, and not ether or wind. The idea of God in heaven is the idea of the Lord. He is the God of heaven and earth, as He Himself taught. Let your idea of God be like unto ours, and we shall be consociated together." On saying these words, their faces became resplendent.

• Concerning the Immortality of the Soul, they said, "Man lives to eternity, because he can be conjoined with God by love and faith, this indeed is possible with everyone. That this possibility constitutes the immortality of the soul you may understand, if you think of it a little more deeply."

• Concerning Regeneration; "Who does not see that everyone is at liberty to think of God, or not to think of Him, provided he be instructed that there is a God; so that everyone has liberty in spiritual things, equally as in things civil and moral; the Lord gives this liberty to all continually; for which reason he becomes guilty, if he does not think of God. Man is man from this ability; but a beast is a beast from not having this ability; therefore man can reform and regenerate himself as from himself, provided he acknowledges in heart that it is from the Lord. Everyone who does the work of repentance, and believes in the Lord, is reformed and regenerated. Man must do both as from himself, but this 'as from himself' is from the Lord. It is true that man cannot contribute anything thereto, no not in the least, nevertheless you were not created statues, but you were created men, that you might do that from the Lord as from yourselves. This is the only reciprocal of love and faith, that it is altogether the Lord's will that it should be done by man unto Him. In a word, do it from yourselves, and believe that you do it from the Lord, thus do it as from yourselves."
  
  But then the Englishmen inquired, Whether to act as from oneself, is a faculty implanted in man from creation? The angel answered, "It is not implanted, because to act from Himself is the Lord's alone, but it is communicated continually, that is, adjoined continually, and then so far as man does good and believes what is true, as from himself, so far he is an angel of heaven; but so far as he does evil and thence believes what is false, which is done also as from himself, so far he is an angel of hell. That this also is as from himself surprises you, but still you see that it is so, when you pray that you may be preserved from the devil, lest he should seduce you, and enter into you, as he did into Judas, fill you with all iniquity, and destroy you, soul and body. But everyone incurs guilt who believes that he acts from himself, whether it be good, or whether it be evil; but he does not incur guilt, who believes that he acts as from himself."

• Concerning Baptism, they said, "That it is spiritual washing, which is reformation and regeneration; and that an infant is reformed and regenerated, when, on becoming an adult, he does the things which his sponsors promised for him, which are two, repentance and faith in God; for they promise first that he shall renounce the devil and all his works; and second, that he shall believe in God. All infants in heaven are initiated into these two, but to them the devil is hell, and God is the Lord. Moreover baptism is a sign before the angels that a man is of the church.

On hearing these things, some of the assembly said, "This we understand." But a voice was heard from one side, exclaiming, "We do not understand;" and another voice, "We will not understand;" and inquiry was made from whence these voices proceeded, and it was found that they came from those who had confirmed themselves in falsities of faith, and who wished to be believed as oracles, and thus to be adored.

The angels said, "Be not surprised: there are very many such at this day; they appear to us from heaven like graven images, made with such art as to be able to move the lips, and utter sounds like organs, but without knowing whether the breath, by means of which they utter these sounds, comes from hell or from heaven, because they do not know whether a thing be false or true. They reason and reason; they confirm and confirm, nor do they ever see whether it is so. But know, that human ingenuity can confirm whatsoever one wishes, even until it appears to be so; therefore heretics and impious persons, yea atheists can confirm that there is no God, but nature only."

Afterwards the assembly of Englishmen, enkindled with the desire of being wise, said to the angels,

• "So many various opinions are spoken of the Holy Supper, tell us what is the truth." The angels replied, "The truth is that the man who looks to the Lord and performs repentance, is conjoined with the Lord by means of that most holy sacrament, and is introduced into heaven." But some of the company said, "This is a mystery." To which the angels replied, "It is a mystery, but still such that it can be understood. The bread and wine do not produce this effect, for there is nothing holy in them, but material bread and heavenly bread correspond mutually to each other, and so do material wine and heavenly wine; and heavenly bread is the holy of love, and heavenly wine is the holy of faith, both from the Lord, and both the Lord. Thence there is a conjunction of the Lord with man, and of man with the Lord, not with the bread and wine, but with the love and faith of the man who had done the work of repentance; and conjunction with the Lord is also introduction into heaven."

And after the angels had taught them something concerning correspondence and its effect, some of the company said, "Now for the first time we understand." And when they said, "We understand," behold a flame with light descending from heaven, consociated them with the angels, and they loved one another.

(Apocalypse Revealed 224)

Fig-Leaves That Wither Away

Excerpt from Arcana Coelestia ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, He came, if haply He might find any thing thereon: and when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.  And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.  And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves;  And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple.  And He taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.  And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy Him: for they feared Him, because all the people was astonished at His doctrine.  And when even was come, He went out of the city.  And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots.  Mark 11:13-20

"figs on the fig-tree" denote natural good; "leaf" truth, which in this case is "fallen." Likewise in Isaiah 34:4:  And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll: and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree.

The same is meant by the fig-tree which Jesus saw and found nothing thereon but leaves, and which therefore withered away (Matt. 21:19, 20; Mark 11:13-14, 20). Specifically, by this fig-tree there was meant the Jewish Church, in which there was no longer anything of natural good; and the religious teaching or truth that was preserved in it, are the "leaves;" for a vastated church is such that it knows truth, but is not willing to understand it. Similar are those who say that they know truth or the things of faith, yet have nothing of the good of charity: they are only fig-leaves, and they wither away.

(Arcana Coelestia 885)

When the Idea of God is Wrong

Selection from True Christian Religion ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

The belief that the passion of the cross was redemption itself is the fundamental error of the church; and this error, together with the error respecting three Divine persons from eternity, has perverted the whole church to such an extent that there is nothing spiritual left in it.

What at the present day more fills and crams the books of the orthodox, or what is more zealously taught and inculcated in the schools, or what is more frequently preached and proclaimed from the pulpit, than that God the Father, being angry with the human race, not only put it away from Himself, but also included it under a universal damnation, and thus excommunicated it; but being gracious, He persuaded or inspired His Son to descend and take upon Himself this determined damnation, and thus appease the anger of His Father; and that under no other conditions could the Father look with favor upon mankind?  And further, that this was actually done by the Son; in that by taking upon Himself the damnation of the human race He suffered Himself to be scourged, to be spit upon, and finally crucified by the Jews as one "accursed of God" (Deut. 21:23); and after this had been done the Father was propitiated, and from love for His Son canceled the damnation, but only on behalf of those for whom the Son might intercede, and that the Son thus became a Mediator perpetually before His Father.

The churches of the present day resound with these and like ideas; they are reverberated from the walls like echoes from the forests, and fill the ears of all there.  But cannot everyone whose reason has been enlightened and made sane by the Word see that God is mercy itself and pity itself, because He is love itself and good itself, and that these are His essence? It is therefore a contradiction to say that essential mercy or good can look upon man with anger and determine upon his damnation, and continue to be its own Divine Essence. Such things can hardly be ascribed to a good man, but only to a bad man, nor can they be ascribed to an angel of heaven, but only to a spirit of hell. It is therefore horrible to ascribe them to God.

But if it is asked why this has been done the answer is, that the passion of the cross has been taken for redemption itself; and from this these ideas have flowed forth, as from one falsity, falsities flow forth in a continuous series, or as from a cask of vinegar nothing but vinegar can flow, or from an insane mind nothing but insanity can flow.  For from a single conclusion kindred principles flow; these lie hidden in the conclusion, and grow out of it one after another; and from the doctrine that the passion of the cross was redemption there may proceed or be drawn many other things that are scandalous and dishonoring to God, until the saying in Isaiah comes to pass:

The priest and the prophet err through strong drink; they stumble in judgment; for all tables are full of the vomit of filthiness (Isa. 28:7-8).

From this idea of God and redemption, all theology from being spiritual has become in the lowest degree natural, and this because merely natural properties have been attributed to God; and yet on the idea of God and the idea of redemption, which makes one with salvation, everything pertaining to the church depends.  For this idea is like the head from which all parts of the body proceed; therefore when this is a spiritual idea everything pertaining to the church becomes spiritual, and when it is a natural idea everything pertaining to the church becomes natural; consequently, as the idea of God and redemption has become purely natural, that is, sensual and corporeal, so all things that have been taught and are taught by the heads and members of the church in their dogmatic theology are purely natural.  And nothing but falsities can be hatched from this theology, for the reason that the natural man acts constantly against the spiritual, and therefore regards what is spiritual as something spectral, or as an airy phantasm.  And in consequence it may be said that owing to this sensual idea of redemption, and thus of God, the ways to heaven, which are the ways to the Lord God the Savior, are beset by thieves and robbers (John 10:1, 8-9); and that the doors of the churches are thrown down, giving entrance to dragons, owls, and the wild beasts of the deserts and the islands, which sing together there in horrible discord.  It is known that this idea of redemption and of God pervades the faith of the present day, which is, that men should beseech God the Father to pardon their offenses for the sake of the cross and blood of His Son, and beseech God the Son to pray and intercede for them, and God the Holy Spirit to justify and sanctify them.  What is this but praying to three Gods in their order?  And wherein does this conception of the Divine government differ from that of an aristocracy or a hierarchy, or such a triumvirate as once existed at Rome, except that instead of a triumvirate it may be called a tri-personate?  And then what is easier than for the devil to "divide and rule," as the saying is, that is, to distract men's minds, and to excite rebellious movements, now against one God and now against another, as has been done from the time of Arius [256AD - 336AD] until now; which is equivalent to hurling from His throne the Lord God the Savior, who has all power in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18), and seating upon that throne some of the devil's own minions and offering worship to him; or because worship is taken from him, taking it away also from the Lord Himself?

(True Christian Religion 132 - 133)

External and Internal Thought

Selection from Divine Providence ~ Emanuel Swedenborg

Every man of mature age has an external and an internal of thought, and therefore an external [and an internal] of will and understanding, or an external and an internal of the spirit, which is the same as the external and the internal man; and this is evident to any one who observes carefully another's thoughts and intentions as exhibited in his words or acts, and also his own thoughts when in company and when he is alone. For one can talk with another in a friendly way from external thought, and yet be at enmity with him in internal thought. From external thought together with its affection a man can talk about love towards his neighbor and love to God, when in his internal thought he cares nothing for the neighbor and has no fear of God. From external thought together with its affection a man can talk about the justice of civil laws, the virtues of moral life, and matters of doctrine and spiritual life; and yet when alone by himself he may from internal thought and its affection speak against the civil laws, the virtues of moral life, and matters of doctrine and spiritual life; and this is done by those who are in the lusts of evil, but who wish it to appear before the world that they are not in them.

Moreover, many think to themselves, when they hear others talking, whether these are interiorly in themselves thinking in accord with the thoughts they are expressing, whether or not they are to be believed, and what their intentions are. It is well known that flatterers and hypocrites have a double thought; for they are able to keep things to themselves and to guard against disclosing their interior thought; and some can conceal it more and more deeply, and as it were block up the doors lest it appear. That both exterior and interior thought are possible to man is also clearly evident from his being able from his interior thought to look upon his exterior thought, and also to reflect upon it, and to judge of it whether it is evil or not evil. That the mind of man is such is due to the two faculties that man has from the Lord, called liberty and rationality. Unless man had from these an external and an internal of thought he would not be able to perceive and see any evil in himself and be reformed; in fact, he would not be able to speak, but only to utter sounds like a beast.

(Divine Providence 104)