Last Judgment (Post) (Rogers) n. 197

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197. [199.] 59. Below to the left are people who have convinced themselves of faith alone as a matter of doctrine, but yet have lived a life of charity in accordance with the principle that faith produces works of charity. Because they have lived well they are nevertheless accepted. They also have some conjunction with heaven, but still not a direct one, because they cling to the principle that it is faith that produces the works, even though faith is a matter of thought, and thought produces nothing but only teaches what ought to be done. Even if a person then does those works, it is not as a result of any faith, since concepts of truth do not become articles of faith until a person has put them into practice. To suppose otherwise is like believing that the sight operates into the hands to cause a person to perform tasks, or into the feet to cause him to walk without stumbling or tripping, when in fact the sight does not do any of this but only informs and shows. They were shown that the contrary is the case by its being given one of them to walk along a path and at the same time believe that his intellect was leading him. He then traveled a path from east to west or from south to north, thus moving from truths to falsities, and into a state of darkness. But then the state in him was changed so that he was led by his will or love. He then walked from west to east and from north to south, thus entering into good and into truth, in a state of light. They were also told that in the case of people who have believed as they do, their state is gradually reversed, and that then for the first time they are regenerated and enter into an angelic life.


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