179. CONCERNING THE END OF THE WORLD How easy it would be for Jehovah God to destroy the whole human race and every living thing on the earth, even in a moment, and this by means of fire or infernal sufferings! For there are evil spirits who most nearly surround the natural man and excite his life, and as soon as they are given the power of acting, man is immediately tormented by a kind of spiritual fire, and he dies. He would also perish in a moment did not God Messiah from mercy hold each and all things together in order. This I can confirm as being so true and so certain that it is allowable most emphatically to attest it, for I have observed it so very often, and indeed by such living experience, that not even the least doubt is possible. This is the "terror" and the "fire" by which the world is to be destroyed unless it repent. This also is what is meant by the "sea being tumultuous" and the "sun and moon losing their light", etc. 1747, Aug. 27, o.s.* * This paragraph is thus entered in the Index (s.v. Cruciare):