5034. That his anger flared up' means an aversion to spiritual truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'anger' as a departure from the good of charity, dealt with in 357, and so an aversion, in this case an aversion to spiritual truth since that truth is the subject here. The reason 'anger' means an aversion is that as long as a person is angry with another he feels averse to him; for anger arises or is aroused in someone when the love linking him to some other person, or to some particular object, is offended by that person or object. When the link is broken, that person flares up or becomes angry, as though something in his life that gives him delight, and thus something of his own life, has been lost. This sorrow turns into grief, and the grief into anger.