Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8087

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8087. 'From the firstborn of man even to the firstborn of beast' means the falsity, interior and exterior, belonging to separated faith. This is clear from the meaning of 'the firstborn of Egypt' as faith separated from charity, as immediately above in 8086, and so falsity belonging to faith, for those who separate faith from charity both in doctrine and in life are inescapably subject to falsity since the evil that pervades their life is constantly active, pressing falsity into agreement with itself (or if truth presents itself that evil then misapplies it and thereby brings it into agreement with itself, thus falsifies it); and from the meaning of 'man and beast' as what is interior and what is exterior, dealt with in 4724, 7523.


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