Divine Providence (Dick and Pulsford) n. 299

Previous Number Next Number See Latin 

299. IV. THE LORD GOVERNS HELL BY MEANS OF OPPOSITES AND THE WICKED WHILE IN THE WORLD HE GOVERNS IN HELL AS TO THEIR INTERIORS BUT NOT AS TO THEIR EXTERIORS. He who does not know the nature of heaven and hell cannot at all know the nature of man's mind. His mind is his spirit which lives after death. The reason of this is that the mind or spirit of man is in, every detail in the same form as heaven or hell. There is no difference except that one is very great and the other very small, or that one is the type and the other an effigy; therefore, man with respect to his mind or spirit is either a heaven or a hell in its least form. He that is led by the Lord is a heaven, and he that is led by his proprium is a hell. Now as it has been granted me to know the nature of heaven and of hell, and as it is important to know the nature of man with respect to his mind or spirit, I will briefly describe both.


This page is part of the Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg

© 2000-2001 The Academy of the New Church