world. They were of those who believe that one's own prudence is
everything and divine providence nothing. I remarked that man has no
proprium unless you want to call it his proprium that he is such or such
a subject or organ or form. This is not the proprium that is meant,
however, for it is only descriptive of the nature of man. No man, I said,
has any proprium as the word is commonly understood. At this those who
ascribed everything to their own prudence and who may be called the very
picture of proprietorship, flared up so that flames seemed to come from
their nostrils as they said, "You speak paradox and insanity! Would man
not be an empty nothing then? Or an idea or fancy? Or a graven image or
statue?"
[2] To this I could only reply that it is paradox and insanity to believe
that man has life of himself, and that wisdom and prudence, likewise the
good of charity and the truth of faith, do not flow in from God but are
in man. To attribute them to oneself every wise person calls insane and
also paradoxical. Those who attribute them to themselves are like tenants
of another's house and property who persuade themselves by living there
that it is their own; or like stewards and administrators who consider
all that their master owns to be theirs; or like servants in business to
whom their master gave talents and pounds to trade with, but who rendered
no account to him but kept all as theirs and thus behaved like robbers.
[3] It may be said of such that they are insane, indeed are nothing and
empty, likewise are idealists, since they do not have in them from the
Lord good which is the esse itself of life, thus do not have truth,
either. They are also called "dead" therefore and "nothing and empty"
(Isa 40:17, 23), and elsewhere "makers of images," "graven images" and
"statues." More about them in what follows, to be done in this order:
i. What one's own prudence is, and what prudence not one's own is.
ii. By his own prudence man persuades himself and confirms in himself
that all good and truth are from him and in him; similarly all evil and
falsity.
iii. All that a man is persuaded of and confirms remains with him as his
own.
iv. If man believed, as is the truth, that all good and truth are from
the Lord, and all evil and falsity from hell, he would not appropriate
good to himself and consider it merited, nor appropriate evil to himself
and make himself responsible for it.
310. (i) _What one's own prudence is, and what prudence not one's own
is._ Those are in prudence of their own who confirm appearances in
themselves and make them truths, especially the appearance that one's own
prudence is all and divine providence nothing--unless it is something
universal, which it cannot be without singulars to constitute it, as was
shown above. They are also in fallacies, for every appearance confirmed
as truth becomes a fallacy, and so far as they confirm themselves by
fallacies they become naturalists and to that extent believe nothing that
they cannot perceive by one of the bodily senses, particularly that of
sight, for this especially acts as one with thought. They finally become
sensuous. If they confirm themselves in favor of nature instead of God,
they close the interiors of their mind, interpose a veil as it were, and
then do their thinking below it and not at all above it. Such
sense-ridden men were called serpents of the tree of knowledge by the
ancients. It is also said of them in the spiritual world that as they
confirm themselves they at length close the interiors of their mind "to
the nose," for the nose signifies perception of truth, of which they have
none. What their nature is will be told now.
[2] They are more cunning and crafty than others and are ingenious
reasoners. They call cunning and craftiness intelligence and wisdom, nor
do they know otherwise. They look on those who are not like themselves as
simple and stupid, especially those who worship God and acknowledge
divine providence. In respect of the interior principles of their minds,
of which they know little, they are like those called Machiavellians, who
make murder, adultery, theft and false witness, viewed in themselves, of
no account; if they reason against them it is only out of prudence not to
appear to be of that nature.
[3] Of man's life in the world they think it is like that of a beast, and
of his life after death that it is like a vital vapor which, rising from
the body or the grave, sinks back again and dies. From this madness comes
the notion that spirits and angels are airy entities, and with those who
have been enjoined to believe in everlasting life that the souls of men
also are. They therefore do not see, hear or speak, but are blind, deaf
and dumb, and only cogitate in their particle of air. The sense-ridden
ask, "How can the soul be anything else? The external senses died with
the body, did they not? They cannot be resumed before the soul is
reunited with the body." Inasmuch as they could comprehend the state of
the soul after death only sensuously and not spiritually, they have fixed
upon the state described; otherwise their belief in everlasting life
would have perished. Above all, they confirm self-love in themselves,
calling it the fire of life and the incentive to various uses in the
kingdom. Being of this nature, they are their own idols, and their
thoughts, being fallacies and from fallacies, are images of falsity.
Indulging in the enjoyments of lusts, they are satans and devils; those
who confirm lusts of evil in themselves are satans, and those who live
them are called devils.
[4] It has also been granted me to know the nature of the most crafty
sensuous men. Their hell is deep down at the back, and they want to be
inconspicuous. Therefore they appear to hover about there like spectres,
which are their fantasies, and they are called _genii._ Some were sent
out from that hell once for me to learn what they are like. They
immediately addressed themselves to my neck below the occiput and thus
entered my affections, not wanting to enter my thoughts, which they
adroitly avoided. They altered my affections one by one with a mind to
bend them imperceptibly into their opposites, which are lusts of evil;
and as they did not touch my thought at all they would have bent and
inverted my affections without my knowledge, had not the Lord prevented
it.
[5] Such do they become who do not believe that there can be any divine
providence, and who search only for cupidities and cravings in others and
thus lead them along until they dominate them. They do this so secretly
and artfully that one does not know it, and they remain the same on
death; therefore they are cast down into that hell as soon as they enter
the spiritual world. Seen in heaven's light they appear to be without a
nose, and it is remarkable that although they are so crafty they are more
sense-ridden than others.
[6] The ancients called a sensuous man a serpent, and such a man is more
cunning and crafty and a more ingenious reasoner than others; therefore
it is said,
The serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field (Ge 3:1), and the
Lord said:
Be prudent as serpents and simple as doves (Mt 10:16).
The dragon, too, called "that old serpent" and the "devil" and "satin,"
is described as
Having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven crowns (Apoc
12:3, 9).
Craftiness is signified by the seven heads; the power to persuade by
fallacies is meant by the ten horns; and holy things of the Word and the
church which have been profaned are signified by the seven crowns.
311. From the description of one's own prudence and of those who are in
it, the nature of prudence not one's own and of those who are in it may
be seen. Those have prudence not their own who do not confirm in
themselves that intelligence and wisdom are from man. They ask, "How can
anyone be wise of himself or do good of himself?" When they speak so,
they see in themselves that it is so, for they think interiorly. They
also believe that others think similarly, especially the learned, for
they are unaware that any-one can think only exteriorly.
[2] They are not in fallacies by any confirmation of appearances. They
know and perceive, therefore, that murder, adultery, theft and false
witness are sins and accordingly shun them on that account. They also
know that wickedness is not wisdom and cunning is not intelligence. When
they hear ingenious reasoning from fallacies they wonder and smile to
themselves. This is because with them there is no veil between interiors
and exteriors, or between the spiritual and the natural things of the
mind, as there is with the sensuous. They therefore receive influx from
heaven by which they see these things.
[3] They speak more simply and sincerely than others and place wisdom in
life and not in talk. Relatively they are like lambs and sheep while
those who are in their own prudence are like wolves and foxes. Or they
are like those living in a house who see the sky through the windows
while those who are in prudence of their own are like persons living in
the basement of a house who can look out through the windows only on what
is down on the ground. Again they are like persons standing on a mountain
who see those who are in prudence of their own as wanderers in valleys
and forests.
[4] Hence it may be plain that prudence not one's own is prudence from
the Lord, in externals appearing similar to prudence of one's own, but
totally unlike it in internals. In internals prudence not one's own
appears in the spiritual world as man, while prudence which is one's own
appears like a statue, which seems living only because those who are in
such prudence still possess rationality and freedom or the capacity to
understand and to will, hence to speak and act, and by means of these
faculties can make it appear that they also are men. They are such
statues because evils and falsities have no life; only goods and truths
do. By their rationality they know this, for if they did not they would
not feign goods and truths; hence in their simulation of them they
possess a vital humanness.
[5] Who does not know that a man is what he is inwardly? Consequently
that he is a man who is inwardly what he wishes to appear to be
outwardly, while he is a copy who is a man outwardly only and not
inwardly. Think, as you speak, in favor of God and religion, of
righteousness and sincerity, and you will be a man, and divine providence
will be your prudence; you will perceive in others that one's own
prudence is insanity.
312. (ii) _By his own prudence man persuades himself and confirms in
himself that all good and truth are from him and in him; similarly all
evil and falsity._ Rest the argument on the parallel between natural good
and truth and spiritual good and truth. Ask what truth and good are to
the sight of the eye. Is not what is called beautiful truth to it, and
what is called enjoyable good to it? For enjoyment is felt in beholding
what is beautiful. What are truth and good to the hearing? Is not what is
called harmonious truth to it, and what is called pleasing good to it?
For pleasure is felt in hearing harmonies. It is the same with the other
senses. What natural good and truth are is plain, then. Consider now what
spiritual good and truth are. Is spiritual truth anything other than
beauty and harmony in spiritual matters and objects? And is spiritual
good anything other than the enjoyment and pleasure of perceiving the
beauty and harmony?
[2] Let us see now whether anything different is to be said of the one
from what is said of the other, that is, of the spiritual from what is
said of the natural. Of the natural we say that what is beautiful and
enjoyable to the eye flows in from objects, and what is harmonious and
pleasing to the ear flows in from musical instruments. Is something
different to be said in relation to the organic substances of the mind?
Of these it is said that the enjoyable and pleasing are in them, while it
is said of eye and ear that they flow in. If you inquire why it is said
that they flow in, the one answer possible is that distance appears
between the objects and the organs. But when one asks why it is said that
in the other case they are indwelling, the one possible answer is that no
distance appears between the two. Consequently, it is the appearance of
distance that results in believing one thing about what one thinks and
perceives, and another thing about what one sees and hears. But this
becomes baseless when one reflects that the spiritual is not in space as
the natural is. Think of sun or moon, or of Rome or Constantinople: do
you not think of them apart from distance (provided the thought is not
joined to the experience gained by sight or hearing)? Why then persuade
yourself that because there is no appearance of distance in thought, that
good and truth, as also evil and falsity, are indwelling, and do not flow
in?
[3] Let me add to this an experience which is common in the spiritual
world. One spirit can infuse his thoughts and affections into another,
and the other not know that it is not his own thinking and affection.
This is called in that world thinking from and in another. I have
witnessed it a thousand times and also done it a hundred times; and it
seemed to occur at a considerable distance. As soon as the spirits
learned that another was introducing the thoughts and affections, they
were indignant and turned away, recognizing then, however, that to the
internal thought or sight no distance is apparent unless it is disclosed,
as it may be, to the external sight or the eye; as a result it is
believed that there is influx.
[4] I will add to this experience an everyday experience of mine. Evil
spirits have often put into my thoughts evils and falsities which seemed
to me to be in me and to originate from me, or seemed to be my own
thought. Knowing them to be evils and falsities, I searched out the
spirits who had introduced them, and they were detected and driven off.
They were at a great distance from me.
It may be manifest from these things that all evil with its falsity flows
in from hell and all good with its truth flows in from the Lord, and that
both appear to be in man.
313. The nature of men who are in prudence of their own, and the nature
of those in prudence not their own and hence in the divine providence, is
depicted in the Word by Adam and his wife Eve in the Garden of Eden where
were two trees, one of life and the other of the knowledge of good and
evil, and by their eating of the latter tree. It may be seen above (n.
241) that in the internal or spiritual sense of the Word by Adam and Eve,
his wife, the Most Ancient Church of the Lord on this earth is meant and
described, which was more noble and heavenly than subsequent churches.
[2] Following is what is signified by other particulars. The wisdom of
the men of that church is signified by the Garden of Eden; the Lord in
respect to divine providence is signified by the tree of life, and man in
respect to his own prudence is meant by the tree of knowledge; his
sensuous life and his proprium, which in itself is self-love and pride in
one's own intelligence, and thus is the devil and satan, is signified by
the serpent; and the appropriation of good and truth with the thought
that they are not from the Lord and are not the Lord's, but are from man
and are his, is signified by eating of the tree of knowledge. Inasmuch as
good and truth are what is divine with man (for everything of love is
meant by good, and everything of wisdom by truth), if man claims them as
his, he cannot but believe that he is as God. Therefore the serpent said:
In the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be as
God, knowing good and evil (Ge 3:5).
So do those in hell believe, who are in self-love and thence in the pride
of their own intelligence.
[3] Condemnation of self-love and self-intelligence is meant by the
condemnation of the serpent; the condemnation of the volitional proprium
is meant by the condemnation of Eve and the condemnation of the
intellectual proprium by the condemnation of Adam; sheer falsity and evil
are signified by the thorn and thistle which the earth would produce for
Adam; the loss of wisdom is signified by the expulsion from the Garden;
the Lord's care lest holy things of the Word and the church be violated
is meant by guarding the way to the tree of life; moral truths, veiling
men's self-love and conceit, are signified by the fig leaves with which
Adam and Eve covered their nakedness; and appearances of truth, in which
alone they were, are signified by the coats of skin with which they were
later clothed. Such is the spiritual understanding of these particulars.
Let him who wishes remain in the sense of the letter, only let him know
that it is so understood in heaven.
314. The nature of those who are infatuated with their own intelligence
can be seen from their fancies in matters of interior judgment, as, for
example, about influx, thought and life. Their thinking about influx is
inverted. They think that the sight of the eye flows into the internal
sight of the mind or into the understanding, and that the hearing of the
ear flows into the internal hearing, which also is the understanding.
They do not perceive that the understanding from the will flows into the
eye and the ear, and not only constitutes those senses but also employs
them as its instruments in the natural world. As this is not according to
the appearance, they do not perceive even if it is only said that the
natural does not flow into the spiritual, but the spiritual into the
natural. They still think, "What is the spiritual except a finer
natural?" And again, "When the eye beholds something beautiful or the ear
hears something melodious, of course the mind, which is understanding and
will, is delighted." They do not know that the eye does not see of
itself, nor the tongue taste, nor the nose smell, nor the skin feel of
itself, but that it is the man's mind or spirit which has the perceptions
in the sensation and which is affected according to its nature by the
sensation. Indeed, the mind or spirit does not sense things of itself,
but does so from the Lord; to think otherwise is to think from
appearances, and if these are confirmed, from fallacies.
[2] Regarding thought, they say that it is something modified in the air,
varied according to topic, and widened by cultivation; thus that the
ideas in thoughts are images appearing, meteor-like, in the air; and that
the memory is a tablet on which they are imprinted. They do not know that
thought goes on in purely organic substances just as much as sight and
hearing do. Only let them examine the brain, and they will see that it is
full of such substances; injure them and you will become delirious;
destroy them and you will die. But what thought and memory are see above
at n. 279 end.
[3] Regarding life, they know it only as an activity of nature, which
makes itself felt in different ways, as a live body bestirs itself
organically. If it is remarked that nature is alive then, they deny this,
and say it enables to life. If one asks, "Is life not dissipated then on
the death of the body?" they reply that life remains in a particle of air
called the soul. Asked "What then is God? Is He not life itself?" they
keep silence and do not want to utter what they think. Asked, "Would you
grant that divine love and wisdom are life itself?" they answer, "What
are love and wisdom?" For in their fallacies they do not see what these
are or what God is.
These things have been adduced that it may be seen how man is infatuated
by prudence of his own because he draws all conclusions then from
appearances and thus from fallacies.
316.* By one's own prudence one is persuaded and confirmed that all good
and truth are from man and in man, because a man's own prudence is his
intellectual proprium, flowing in from self-love, which is his volitional
proprium; proprium inevitably makes everything its own; it cannot be
raised above doing so. All who are led by the Lord's divine providence
are raised above the proprium and then see that all good and truth are
from the Lord, indeed see that what in the human being is from the Lord
is always the Lord's and never man's. He who believes otherwise is like
one who has his master's goods in his care and claims them himself or
appropriates them--he is no steward, but a thief. As man's proprium is
nothing but evil, he also immerses the goods in his evil, by which they
are destroyed like pearls thrown into dung or into acid.
* So numbered in the Latin original.
317. ( iii) _All that a man is persuaded of and confirms remains with him
as his own._ Many believe that no truth can be seen by man without
confirmations of it, but this is false. In civic and economic matters in
a kingdom or republic what is useful and good can be seen only with some
knowledge of its numerous statutes and ordinances; in judicial matters
only with knowledge of the law; and in natural subjects, like physics,
chemistry, anatomy, mechanics and others, only on acquaintance with those
sciences. But in purely rational, moral and spiritual matters, truths
appear in light of their own, if man has become somewhat rational, moral
and spiritual through a suitable education. This is because everyone as
to his spirit, which is what thinks, is in the spiritual world and is one
among those there, consequently is in spiritual light, which enlightens
the interiors of his understanding and, as it were, dictates. For
spiritual light in essence is the divine truth of the Lord's divine
wisdom. Thence it is that man can think analytically, form conclusions
about what is just and right in matters of judgment, see what is
honorable in moral life and good in spiritual life, and see many truths,
which are darkened only by the confirmation of falsities. Man sees them
almost as readily as he sees another's disposition from his face or
perceives his affections from the sound of his voice, with no further
knowledge than is implanted in one. Why should not man in some measure
see from influx the interiors of his life, which are spiritual and moral,
when there is no animal that does not know by influx all things necessary
to it, which are natural? A bird knows how to build its nest, lay its
eggs, hatch its young and recognize its food, besides other wonders which
are named instinct.
318. How this state is changed, however, by confirmations and consequent
persuasions will be told now in this order:
1. There is nothing that cannot be confirmed, and falsity is confirmed
more readily than truth.
2. Truth does not appear when falsity has been confirmed, but falsity is
apparent from confirmed truth.
3. The ability to confirm whatever one pleases is not intelligence but
only ingenuity, to be found in the worst of men.
4. Confirmation may be mental and not at the same time volitional, but
all volitional confirmation is also mental.
5. Confirmation of evil both volitional and intellectual causes man to
believe that one's own prudence is everything and divine providence
nothing, but not confirmation solely intellectual.
6. Everything confirmed by the will and at the same time by the
understanding, remains to eternity, but not what has been confirmed only
by the understanding.
[2] Touching the first, that _there is nothing that cannot be confirmed,
and that falsity is confirmed more readily than truth._ What, indeed,
cannot be confirmed when atheists confirm that God is not the Creator of
the universe but that nature is her own creator; that religion is only a
restraint and is for simple and common folks; that man is like the beast
and dies like one; that adultery and secret theft, fraud and deceitful
schemes are allowable, and that cunning is intelligence and wickedness is
wisdom. Everyone confirms his heresy. Volumes are filled with
confirmations of the two heresies prevalent in Christendom. Assemble ten
heresies, however abstruse, ask an ingenious man to confirm them, and he
will confirm them all. If you regard them then solely from the
confirmations of them, will you not be seeing falsities as truth? Since
all that is false lights up in the natural man from its appearances and
fallacies, but truth lights up only in the spiritual man, plainly falsity
can be confirmed more readily than truth.