It is the common opinion that they who are born out of the church, and who are called Pagans and Gentiles,
cannot be saved, because they have not the Word, and thus are
ignorant of the Lord, without whom there is no salvation. But that
these also are saved, may be known from the following
considerations: that the Lord's mercy is universal, that is, toward
everyone; that these are born men equally with those who are within
the church, who are comparatively few; and that it is not their
fault that they are ignorant of the Lord. Consequently, their state
and lot in the other life, have of the Lord's Divine mercy been
shown me.
I have been instructed in many ways
that Gentiles who have led a moral life, and have been obedient, and
have lived in mutual charity, and have received some sort of
conscience according to their religion, are accepted in the other
life, and are there instructed by angels with anxious care in the
goods and truths of faith. While receiving instruction they conduct
themselves modestly, intelligently, and wisely, and easily receive
and become imbued with the instruction; for they have formed for
themselves no principles contrary to the truths of faith that have
to be dispersed, still less stumbling-blocks against the Lord; as
have many Christians who have led a life of evil. Moreover such do
not hate others, nor avenge injuries, nor plot artifices and
deceits. Nay, they wish well to Christians; although on the other
hand Christians despise them and even do them violence so far as
they can; but they are withdrawn by the Lord from their
unmercifulness, and are protected.
[2] For the case of Christians and Gentiles in the other life is
such that Christians who have acknowledged the truths of faith, and
have at the same time led a life of good, are received in preference
to Gentiles; although at the present day such are few; but Gentiles
who have lived in obedience and mutual charity are received in
preference to Christians who have not led so good a life. For in the
wide world all those who have lived in good are of the Lord's mercy
received and saved; for good is that which receives truth. The good
of life is the very ground for the seed, that is, for the truth.
Evil of life cannot possibly receive it, for although such as are in
evil be instructed in a thousand ways, nay, even if they become most
fully instructed, nevertheless the truths of faith enter no further
with them than into the memory, and do not penetrate to the
affection which is of the heart; and therefore in the other life
their truths of memory are dissipated, and become null and void.
Among the Gentiles however, just as
among Christians, there are both the wise and the simple. In order
that I might be instructed as to the quality of these, it has been
granted me to speak with both wise and simple, sometimes for hours
and days. But of the wise there are scarcely any at this day,
whereas in ancient times there were very many, especially in the
Ancient Church, from which wisdom emanated to many nations. In order
that I might know of what quality these were, I have been allowed to
hold familiar converse with some of them; so that the nature of
their wisdom, and its superiority to that of the present day may be
seen from what follows.
There was present with me a certain
person* who was formerly among the more wise, and was thereby well
known in the learned world. I conversed with him on various
subjects, and as I knew that he had been a wise man, I spoke with
him concerning wisdom, intelligence, order, the Word, and finally
concerning the Lord. Concerning wisdom he said that there is no
other wisdom than that which is of life, and that wisdom can be
predicated of nothing else. Concerning intelligence he said that it
was from wisdom. Concerning order he said that it is from the
Supreme God, and that to live in that order is to be wise and
intelligent.
* Probably Cicero; see Heaven and Hell,
n. 322. [REVISER.]
[2] As regards the Word, when I read to him something from the
prophecies, he was very greatly delighted, especially from the fact
that each of the names and each of the words signified interior
things, wondering greatly that the learned of this day are not
delighted with such a study. I plainly perceived that the interiors
of his thought or mind had been opened, and at the same time that
those of certain Christians who were present had been closed; for
ill will against him prevailed with them, and also unbelief that the
Word is of this nature. Nay, when I went on reading the Word he said
that he could not be present, because he perceived it to be too holy
for him to endure, so interiorly was he affected. The Christians on
the other hand said aloud that they could be present; and this was
because their interiors had been closed, and therefore the holy
things did not affect them.
[3] At length I talked with him about the Lord; that He was born a
man, but was conceived of God; that He had put off the human and had
put on the Divine; and that it is He who governs the universe. To
this he made answer that he knew many things about the Lord, and had
perceived in his own way that it could not have been done otherwise
if the human race was to be saved. Meantime certain wicked
Christians injected various difficulties, for which he did not care,
saying that it was not surprising, because they had become imbued in
the life of the body with unbecoming ideas respecting these things,
and that until such ideas were dispersed they could not admit things
confirmatory, as could those who are ignorant. This man was a
Gentile.
I have also been permitted to speak
with others who lived in ancient times and who were then among the
more wise. They were at first seen in front at a distance, and were
there able to perceive the interiors of my thoughts, thus many
things in a thorough manner. From one idea of the thought they could
know the entire series, and fill it with delightful things of wisdom
together with pleasing representations, which showed me that they
were among the more wise, and I was told that they were from the
Ancients. So they drew nearer, and when I read to them something
from the Word they were most highly delighted. It was granted me to
perceive their very delight and enjoyment, which arose chiefly from
the fact that all the things they heard from the Word were both in
general and in particular representative and significative of
heavenly and spiritual things. They said that in their time when
they lived in the world their mode of thinking and speaking, and
also of writing, was of this nature, and that this was their
wisdom's study.
But as regards the Gentiles who are on
earth at this day, they are not so wise, but are for the most part
simple in heart; and yet those of them who have lived in mutual
charity receive wisdom in the other life-concerning whom I may
relate what follows.
I heard the sound of a certain gyre,*
but coarser than usual, and from the sound I at once knew that they
were from the Gentiles. I was told by the angels that they were
Gentiles who had been raised up three or four days before. The gyre
or choir was heard for several hours, and it was perceived that even
during the short time in which it was heard they were being
perfected more and more. When I wondered at this I was told that
these can be initiated into choirs, and thus into harmony, in one
night; while most Christians barely can in thirty years. Gyres or
choirs exist when many speak together, all as one, and each as all;
but concerning gyres or choirs, of the Lord's Divine mercy
elsewhere.
* That is, a revolving circle, or
gyration. See Arcana Coelestia, n. 4041, 5182, etc. [REVISER.]
One morning there was a choir at a
distance from me, and it was given me to know from the
representations of the choir that they were Chinese; for they
presented a kind of woolly goat, a cake of millet, and an ivory
spoon, as also the idea of a floating city. They desired to come
nearer to me; and when they had applied themselves they said that
they desired to be alone with me, that they might open their
thoughts. But they were told that they were not alone, and that
there were others who were indignant at their desiring to be alone,
when yet they were guests. When they perceived the indignation of
the others, they began to think whether they had trespassed against
the neighbor, and whether they had claimed anything for themselves
that belonged to others. (In the other life all thoughts are
communicated.) I was permitted to perceive their trouble: it was
that of an acknowledgment that perhaps they had wronged the others,
and of shame on that account, and of other good affections at the
same time, from which it was known that they were endued with
charity. Presently I spoke with them, and at length about the Lord.
When I called Him Christ, a kind of repugnance was perceived in
them; but the cause was discovered to be that they brought this
repugnance from the world, from their having known Christians to
live worse than they did themselves, and in no charity. But when I
simply called Him the Lord, they were inwardly moved. They were
afterwards instructed by the angels that beyond every other doctrine
in the whole world the Christian doctrine prescribes love and
charity, but that there are but few persons who live in accordance
with it.
There are Gentiles who when they lived
in the world had known from social interaction and report that
Christians lead the very worst life-in adulteries, in hatreds and
quarrels, in drunkenness, and the like things-at which they are
affected with horror, because such things are contrary to their
laws, their morals, and their religion. In the other life these are
more timid than others in receiving the truths of faith; but they
are instructed by the angels that the Christian doctrine, and the
faith itself, teach the very opposite, but that Christians live less
in accordance with their doctrine than do the Gentiles. When they
perceive this they receive the truths of faith and adore the Lord,
but more tardily.
When I read the 17th and 18th chapters
of Judges, concerning Micah, how the sons of Dan took away his
graven image, the teraphim, and the Levite, there was present a
spirit from the Gentiles, who in the life of the body had adored a
carved image. While he listened attentively to what was done to
Micah, and in what grief he was on account of his graven image that
the Danites took away, he too was overcome with grief, and was
affected to such a degree that he scarcely knew what to think for
inward grief. I perceived his grief, and at the same time perceived
the innocence in each of his affections. Christian spirits were also
present and observed it, and wondered that a worshiper of a graven
image should be moved by so strong an affection of mercy and
innocence. Afterwards good spirits spoke to him, saying that a
graven image ought not to be adored, and that he could understand
this because he was a human being; but that he ought to think beyond
the graven image of God the Creator and Governor of the universal
heaven and earth; and that this God is the Lord. When these things
were said I was permitted to perceive the interior emotion of his
adoration, which was communicated to me, and was much more holy than
that with Christians; from which it could be seen that Gentiles come
into heaven more easily than Christians at this day who are not so
affected (according to the Lord's words in Luke 13:29, 30); for in
the state in which he was he could be imbued with all things of
faith, and could receive them with interior affection. There was in
him the mercy that is of love, and in his ignorance there was
innocence; and when these are present, all things of faith are
received as it were spontaneously, and with joy. He was afterwards
received among the angels.
There was also another among the
Gentiles, who had lived in the good of charity. When he heard
Christian spirits reasoning about things to be believed (spirits
reason with one another much more fully and much more acutely than
men, especially about goods and truths, because these belong to the
other life), he marveled that they should dispute so, and said that
he did not want to hear such things, because they were reasoning
from fallacies, and he gave them the following instruction: If I am
good, I can know from good itself what is true, and what I do not
know, I can receive.
Well-disposed Gentiles are instructed
in the other life, for the most part, and so far as possible, in
accordance with their states of life and in accordance with their
religion, thus in various ways. I may here describe only three.
This is the
aspect which our Lord's human nature outwardly presented. Distinct
from the Father who dwelt within it seemed like another person. Yea,
it had the sense of separateness from God, and of dependence on Him,
which is common to mankind. Thus is explained the fact of Jesus
praying to the Father, and receiving from Him responses. He had the
same need of Divine help that pertains to us all. There were times
when He felt the Father's presence in Him more strongly than He did
at others. Accordingly, we find Him saying, "Thou, Father, art in
Me, and I in Thee." But again He utters the despairing cry, "My God,
My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Between these two states He is
constantly alternating. From the feeling of emptiness and desolation
He is repeatedly exalted to the consciousness of Divine joy and
peace, or the reverse; until, at last, His oneness with the Father
becomes the permanent condition of His life, the great overwhelming
fact of His experience.
Some are reduced into a state of
tranquillity, as it were a kind of sleep; and they then seem to
themselves to be building small cities, and in the midst of them to
hide some secret thing which they wish to preserve from violence.
They give these cities to others, with entreaties not to do violence
to the secret thing in the midst of them. Innocence is thus
insinuated into them, and also charity, together with the idea that
the secret thing is concerning the Lord. They are kept in this state
a considerable time. It is a state of ignorance in which there is
innocence. They are guarded by little children, lest anyone should
do them harm. I have spoken with them, and have been much affected
by their state of innocence and charity, and also by the solicitude
with which they hide the secret, and by the holy fear lest it should
be violated.
In the little
baby form cradled at Bethlehem the indwelling Divine life was but
faintly manifest. Yet the germs of that life were there. We see it
gaining in power and fullness more and more as time goes on. The boy
of twelve years astonishes the doctors in the Temple by His
understanding and answers. He also shows a growing consciousness
that he is not like other men. His question, "Wist ye not that I
must be about My Father's business?" addressed to Joseph and Mary at
that early age, betrays His perception of a paternity that was more
than human. He felt the movement of those deeper springs of being
which, with ever-increasing force, welled up within Him to the
close. Continuing always was the process known as His
glorification, then in its feeble beginnings, but at last fully
consummated.
There is one nation (I was told that
it is from the Indies) which makes it their religion to worship the
Greatest God with the following rite. When they are adoring Him they
first magnify themselves, but soon prostrate themselves as worms;
and at the same time they hold, that above the universe, which they
believe to be whirling around, is that Greatest God, looking down on
what they are doing. As they have had such religious observances, in
the other life they are brought back into them; and I have spoken
with them while they imagined such things. They are for the most
part modest, obedient, and simple in heart. They are by successive
steps freed by the angels from this phantasy; for they are
instructed, in accordance with their religion, that the Greatest God
is the Lord; and that they can indeed magnify themselves on account
of their being able to adore Him; and that nevertheless they are
like little worms; and that the Lord from on high sees each and all
things. In this manner, by means of their own religion, they are
brought into the knowledges of good and truth.
There are some Gentiles from those
regions where they are black, who bring with them from their life in
the world a wish to be treated severely; believing that no one can
come into heaven except through punishments and afflictions, and
that they will afterwards receive more gladsome things, which they
call paradisal. As they have such ideas from their religion they are
at first treated severely in the other life by some whom they call
devils, and are afterwards taken to the paradises already described
(n. 1622). But they are instructed by the angels that their
punishments and afflictions are turned by the Lord into what is good
for them, as with those who are in temptations; also that paradisal
things are not heaven, but that heaven is the affection of the
celestial and spiritual things that are in them; and that they have
been in a certain way of truth, although in the shade of ignorance.
They spoke with me a long time. While in their state of affliction
their speech was attended with a kind of collision; thus was
distinct from that of others; but after their afflictions were over,
and they were taken up to the paradises, they no longer had such a
speech, but one that was almost angelic. From their religion they
have that they believe, and desire to have interior things. They
said that whenever they are treated severely they are black; but
that they shortly put off the blackness, and put on whiteness;
knowing that their souls are white, but their bodies black.
It is usual for Gentiles who adore any
god under an image or statue, or any carved thing, to be introduced,
on coming into the other life, to certain ones who are in the place
of their gods or idols, in order that they may put away their
phantasies; and when they have been with these for some days, they
are taken away from such persons. They who have adored men are also
sometimes introduced to them, or to others in their stead; as many
of the Jews are to Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and David; but when they
perceive that these have the same kind of human nature as others
have, and can afford them no help, they become ashamed, and are
taken to their own places in accordance with their life. Among the
Gentiles in the other life the Africans are the most beloved,
because they receive the goods and truths of heaven more easily than
others. They especially desire to be called the obedient, but not
the faithful. They say that Christians can be called faithful,
because they have the doctrine of faith; but not they, unless they
receive it, or as they say, are able to receive it.
I have spoken with some who were in
the Ancient Church, and who then knew concerning the Lord that He
was to come, and who had been imbued with the goods of faith, but
yet fell away and became idolaters. They were in front, toward the
left, in a darksome place, and in a miserable state. Their speech
was like the sound of a fife, of one tone, almost devoid of
rationality of thought. They said that they had been there for many
ages, and that they are sometimes taken out thence to serve others
for some uses, which are vile. From these it was given me to think
about many Christians, who are idolaters not exteriorly but
interiorly, and who at heart deny the Lord, and thereby also the
truths of faith; and to reflect upon what kind of a lot must await
them in the other life.
