256. Let us take an example to illustrate this point. In many passages of the Word anger, wrath and vengeance are attributed to God; and He is said to punish, cast into hell, tempt people and so forth. Anyone who believes this in his simplicity and like a child, and therefore fears God and takes care not to sin against Him, is not damned for holding that simple faith. But if anyone so convinces himself of these things as to believe that anger, wrath and vengeance, and so actions characteristic of a wicked person, can be attributed to God, and that He punishes people and casts them into hell, he is damned for destroying a genuine truth. This is that God is Love itself, Mercy itself and Good itself; and one who is all these cannot be angry or wrathful or demand vengeance. These things are ascribed to God in the Word, because this is how it appears; such things are appearances of truth.