What eternal fire is, and what the gnashing of teeth is, which are
mentioned in the Word in reference to those who are in hell, scarcely
any one as yet has known, because the contents of the Word have been
thought about only in a material way, and nothing has been known
about its spiritual sense. So fire has been understood by some to
mean material fire, by others to mean torment in general, by others
remorse of conscience, and others have held that it is mentioned
merely to excite terror in the wicked. Likewise some have supposed
the gnashing of teeth to mean actual gnashing, and some only a
horror, such as is excited when such a collision of teeth is heard.
But any one who is acquainted with the spiritual meaning of the Word
may know what eternal fire is, and what the gnashing of teeth is; for
every expression and every meaning of the expressions in the Word
contains a spiritual meaning, since the Word in its bosom is
spiritual; and what is spiritual can be set before man only in
natural forms of expression, because man is in the natural world and
thinks from the things of that world. Therefore it shall now be told
what is meant by "eternal fire" and "the gnashing of teeth" into
which the spirits of evil men enter after death, or which their
spirits, then in the spiritual world, endure.
567. There are two origins of heat, one the sun of heaven which is
the Lord, and the other the sun of the world. The heat that is from
the sun of heaven, that is, the Lord, is spiritual heat; and this in
its essence is love (see above, n. 126-140); but the heat from the
sun of the world is natural heat, and this in its essence is not
love, but serves spiritual heat or love as a receptacle. Evidently
love in its essence is heat, since it is love, in accord with its
degree and quality, that gives heat to the mind, and thence to the
body; and this man experiences as well in the winter as in the
summer. The heating of the blood is from the same source. That the
natural heat that springs from the sun of the world serves spiritual
heat as a receptacle is evident from the heat of the body, which is
excited by the heat of its spirit, and is a kind of substitute for
that heat in the body. It is especially evident from the spring and
summer heat in animals of every kind which then annually renew their
loves. [2] It is not the natural heat that produces this effect, but
it disposes their bodies to receive the heat that flows into them
from the spiritual world; for the spiritual world flows into the
natural as cause into effect. Whoever believes that natural heat
produces these loves is much deceived, for influx is from the
spiritual world into the natural world, and not from the natural
world into the spiritual; and as all love belongs to the life itself
it is spiritual. [3] Again, he who believes that any thing comes
forth in the natural world without influx from the spiritual world is
deceived, for what is natural comes forth and continues to exist only
from what is spiritual. Furthermore, the subjects of the vegetable
kingdom derive their germinations from influx out of the spiritual
world. The natural heat of spring time and summer merely disposes the
seeds into their natural forms by expanding and opening them so that
influx from the spiritual world can there act as a cause. These
things are mentioned to make clear that there are two kinds of heat,
spiritual heat and natural heat; and that spiritual heat is from the
sun of heaven and natural heat from the sun of the world, and that
influx and consequent cooperation produce the effects that appear
before the eyes in the world.{1}
{Footnote 1} There is an influx from the spiritual world into
the natural world (n. 6053-6058, 6189-6215, 6307-6327,
6466-6495, 6598-6626). There is also an influx into the lives
of animals (n. 5850). And into the subjects of the vegetable
kingdom (n. 3648). This influx is a continual endeavor to act
in accordance with the Divine order (n. 6211 at the end).
568. Spiritual heat in man is the heat of his life, because, as was
said above, it is in its essence love. This heat is what is meant in
the Word by "fire," love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor by
"heavenly fire," and love of self and love of the world by "infernal
fire."
569. Infernal fire or love springs from a like origin as heavenly
fire or love, namely, the sun of heaven, or the Lord; but it is made
infernal by those who receive it. For all influx from the spiritual
world varies in accordance with reception, that is, in accordance
with the forms into which it flows, just as it is with the heat and
light from the sun of the world. The heat from that sun flowing into
shrubberies and beds of flowers produces vegetation, and draws forth
grateful and sweet odors; but the same heat flowing into
excrementitious and decaying substances produces putrefactions, and
draws forth rank and disgusting stenches. In like manner the light
from the same sun produces in one subject beautiful and pleasing
colors, in another unbeautiful and disagreeable colors. The same is
true of the heat and light from the sun of heaven, which is love.
When the heat, or love, from that sun flows into good, as it does in
good men and angels, it makes their good fruitful; but when it flows
into the evil it produces a contrary effect, for their evils either
suffocate it or pervert it. In like manner when the light of heaven
flows into the truths of good it imparts intelligence and wisdom; but
when it flows into the falsities of evil it is turned into insanities
and phantasies of various kinds. Thus in every instance the result is
in accordance with reception.
570. As infernal fire is the love of self and of the world it is also
every lust of these loves, since lust is love in its continuity, for
what a man loves he continually lusts after. Infernal fire is also
delight, since what a man loves and lusts after he perceives, when he
obtains it, to be delightful. Man's delight of heart is from no other
source. Infernal fire, therefore, is the lust and delight that spring
from these two loves as their origins. The evils flowing from these
loves are contempt of others, enmity, and hostility against those who
do not favor them, envy, hatred, and revenge, and from these
fierceness and cruelty; and in respect to the Divine they are denial
and consequent contempt, derision, and detraction of the holy things
of the church; and after death, when man becomes a spirit, these
evils are changed to anger and hatred against these holy things (see
above, n. 562). And as these evils breathe forth continually the
destruction and murder of those whom they account as enemies, and
against whom they burn with hatred and revenge, so it is the delight
of their life to will to destroy and kill, and so far as they are
unable to do this, to will to do mischief, to injure, and to exercise
cruelty. [2] Such is the meaning of "fire" in the Word, where the
evil and the hells are treated of, some passages from which I will
here quote in the way of proof:
Everyone is a hypocrite and an evil doer, and every mouth
speaketh folly. For wickedness burneth as the fire; it
devoureth the briers and thorns, and kindleth in the
thickets of the forests, and they roll upward in the
rising of smoke; and the people is become like food for
fire; no man spareth his brother (Isa. 9:17-19).
I will show wonders in the heavens, and in the earth blood
and fire, and pillars of smoke; the sun shall be turned
into darkness (Joel 2:30, 31).
The land shall become burning pitch; it shall not be
quenched night nor day; the smoke thereof shall go up
forever (Isa. 34:9, 10).
Behold the day cometh burning as a furnace, and all the
proud and every worker of wickedness shall be stubble; and
the day that cometh shall set them on fire (Mal. 4:1).
Babylon is become a habitation of demons. They cried out
as they saw the smoke of her burning. Her smoke goeth up
unto the ages of the ages (Apoc. 18:2, 18; 19:3).
He opened the pit of the abyss, and there went up a smoke
out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace; and the
sun was darkened, and the air, by the smoke of the pit
(Apoc. 9:2).
Out of the mouth of the horses went forth fire and smoke
and brimstone; by these was the third part of men killed,
by the fire and by the smoke and by the brimstone (Apoc.
4:17, 18).
If any one adores the beast he shall drink of the wine of
the wrath of God mixed with unmixed wine in the cup of His
anger, and shall be tormented with fire and brimstone
(Apoc. 16:9, 10).
The fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun; and it
was given unto it to scorch men with fire; therefore men
were scorched with great heat (Apoc. 16:8, 9).
They were cast into a lake burning with fire and brimstone
(Apoc. 19:20; 20:14, 15; 21:8).
Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be
hewn down and cast into the fire (Matt. 3:10; Luke 3:9).
The Son of man shall send His angels, and they shall
gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling
and them that do iniquity, and shall cast them into a
furnace of fire (Matt. 13:41, 42, 50).
The King shall say to them that are on the left hand,
Depart from Me, ye cursed, into eternal fire, prepared for
the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41).
They shall be sent into everlasting fire, into the hell of
fire, where their worm shall not die, and the fire shall
not be quenched (Matt. 18:8, 9; Mark 9:43-49).
The rich man in hell said to Abraham that he was tormented
in flame (Luke 16:24).
In these and in many other passages "fire" means the lust pertaining
to love of self and love of the world, and the "smoke" therefrom
means falsity from evil.
571. As the lust of doing the evils that are from the love of self
and of the world is meant by "infernal fire," and as such is the lust
of all in the hells (as shown in the foregoing chapter) so when the
hells are opened there is an appearance of fire with smoke, such as
is seen in conflagrations, a dense fire from the hells where the love
of self prevails, and a flaming fire from the hells where love of the
world prevails. But when the hells are closed this fiery appearance
is not seen, but in its place there is a kind of obscurity like a
condensation of smoke; although the fire still rages within, as can
be seen by the heat exhaling therefrom, which is like the heat from
the burnt ruins after a fire, and in some places like the heat from a
heated furnace, in others like the heat from a hot bath. When this
heat flows into man it excites lusts in him, and in evil men hatred
and revenge, and in the sick insanities. Such is the fire or such the
heat that affects those who are in the above-mentioned loves, because
in respect to their spirit they are attached to those hells, even
while living in the body. But it must be understood that those who
are in the hells are not in fire; the fire is an appearance; those
there are conscious of no burning, but only of a warmth like that
which they had felt when in the world. This appearance of fire is
from correspondence, since love corresponds to fire, and all things
seen in the spiritual world are seen in accordance with
correspondences.
572. It must be noted that this infernal fire or heat is changed into
intense cold when heat from heaven flows in; and those who are in it
then shiver like those seized with chills and fever, and are inwardly
distressed; and for the reason that they are in direct opposition to
the Divine; and the heat of heaven (which is Divine love)
extinguishes the heat of hell (which is the love of self), and with
it the fire of their life; and this is the cause of such cold and
consequent shivering and distress. This is accompanied by thick
darkness and by infatuation and mutual blindness therefrom. But this
rarely happens, and only when outbreaks that have increased beyond
measure need to be repressed.
573. Since infernal fire means every lust for doing evil that flows
forth from the love of self, this fire means also such torment as
exists in the hells. For the lust from that love is a lust for
injuring others who do not honor, venerate and worship oneself; and
in proportion to the anger thereby excited, and the hatred and
revenge from that anger, is there a lust for venting one's rage upon
them. When such lust is active in everyone in a society, and is
restrained by no external bond, such as the fear of the law, and of
the loss of reputation, honor, gain, and life, everyone from the
impulse of his own evil rushes upon another; and so far as he
prevails subjugates the rest and subjects them to his dominion, and
vents his rage with delight upon those who do not submit themselves.
This delight is so intimately united with the delight of bearing rule
that they exist in the same measure, since the delight of doing harm
is contained in all enmity, envy, hatred, and revenge, which as said
above, are the evils of that love. All the hells are such societies,
and in consequence everyone there bears hatred in his heart against
others, and from hatred bursts forth into cruelty so far as he has
power. These cruelties and their torments are also meant by infernal
fire, since they are the effects of lusts.
574. It has been shown above (n. 548) that an evil spirit casts
himself into hell of his own accord. It shall now be told in a few
words how this comes about, when yet there are in hell such torments.
From every hell there exhales a sphere of the lusts of those who are
in it. Whenever this sphere is perceived by one who is in a like lust
he is affected at heart and filled with delight, for lust and its
delight make one, since whatever one lusts after is delightful to
him; and because of this a spirit turns himself hellwards, and from
delight of heart lusts to go thither, since he does not yet know that
such torments exist there, although he who knows it still lusts to go
there. For no one in the spiritual world can resist his lust, because
his lust belongs to his love, and his love belongs to his will, and
his will belongs to his nature, and everyone there acts from his
nature. [2] When, therefore, a spirit of his own accord and from his
freedom drifts towards his hell and enters it, he is received at
first in a friendly manner, which makes him believe that he has come
among friends. But this continues for a few hours only. In the
meanwhile he is explored in respect to his astuteness and consequent
ability; and when this has been done they begin to infest him, and
this by various methods, and with gradually greater severity and
vehemence. This is accomplished by introducing him more interiorly
and deeply into hell; for the more interior and deeper the hell the
more malignant are the spirits. After these infestations they begin
to treat him cruelly by punishments, and this goes on until he is
reduced to the condition of a slave. [3] But rebellious movements are
continually springing up there, since everyone wishes to be greatest,
and burns with hatred against the others; and in consequence new
uprisings occur, and thus one scene is changed into another, and
those who are made slaves are delivered that they may assist some new
devil to subjugate others; and again those who refuse to submit and
render implicit obedience are tormented in various ways; and so on
continually. Such torments are the torments of hell, which are called
hell fire.
575. Gnashing of teeth is the continual contention and combat of
falsities with each other, consequently of those who are in
falsities, joined with contempt of others, with enmity, mockery,
ridicule, blaspheming; and these evils burst forth into lacerations
of various kinds; since everyone fights for his own falsity and calls
it truth. These contentions and combats are heard outside of these
hells like the gnashings of teeth; and are also turned into gnashings
of teeth when truths from heaven flow in among them. In these hells
are all who have acknowledged nature and have denied the Divine. In
the deeper of these hells are those that have confirmed themselves in
such denials. As such are unable to receive any thing of light from
heaven, and are thus unable to see any thing inwardly in themselves,
they are for the most part corporeal sensual spirits, who believe
nothing except what they see with their eyes and touch with their
hands. Therefore all the fallacies of the senses are truths to them;
and it is from these that they dispute. This is why their contentions
are heard as gnashings of teeth; for in the spiritual world all
falsities give a grating sound, and the teeth correspond to the
outmost things in nature and to the outmost things in man, which are
corporeal sensual.{1} (That there is gnashing of teeth in the hells
may be seen in Matthew 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 24:51; 25:30; Luke
13:28.)
{Footnote 1} The correspondence of the teeth (n. 5565-5568).
Those who are purely sensual and have scarcely anything of
spiritual light correspond to the teeth (n. 5565). In the Word
a tooth signifies the sensual, which is the outmost of the life
of man (n. 9052, 9062). Gnashing of teeth in the other life
comes from those who believe that nature is everything and the
Divine nothing (n. 5568).