THE IMPUTATION OF THE
TWO LOVES:
SCORTATORY AND CONJUGIAL
Selection from Conjugial Love #523 - 535 ~ Emanuel Swedenborg
V. THAT SCORTATORY LOVE IS IMPUTED TO EACH MAN
IN THE SAME WAY
That scortatory love is imputed to each man in the same way being
imputed, not according to the deeds as they appear outwardly before
men, nor even as they appear before a judge, but as they appear
inwardly before the Lord and from Him before angels; that is to say,
according to the nature of the man's will and understanding in them.
In the world there are various circumstances which mitigate and
excuse crimes, and also which aggravate them and make them more
blameworthy; but after death, imputations are not made according to
the external circumstances of the deed but according to the internal
circumstances of the mind, and these are regarded according to the
state of the Church with each individual. Take, for example, a man
impious in will and understanding, one who has no fear of God nor
love of the neighbor, and so no reverence for any holy thing of the
church. After death he is found guilty of all the crimes which he
had committed in the body, and there is no recording of his good
deeds; for the heart from which they issued as from a fountain was
turned away from heaven and turned towards hell, and deeds flow from
the place where one's heart has its abode.
That this may be understood, I will
relate an arcanum. Heaven is distinguished into innumerable
societies, and so likewise hell by reason of its opposition; and
according to his will and to his understanding therefrom, every
man's mind is actually dwelling in some one society, and in
intention and thought he is one with those who are there. If his
mind is in some society of heaven, then in intention and thought he
is one with those who are there. If it is in some society of hell,
then, in intention and thought he is one with those who are there.
So long as man is living in the world, however, he migrates from one
society to another according to the changes of the affections of his
will and thence of the thoughts of his mind; but after death his
journeyings are gathered together, and on the basis of these
gatherings into a one, a place is appointed him, if evil, in hell,
if good, in heaven.
Now since all in hell have a will of
evil, all there are regarded from that will; and since all in heaven
have a will of good, all there are regarded from that will. After
death, therefore, imputations are made according to the nature of
the individual's will and understanding. It is the same with
scortation, whether it be fornication or keeping a mistress, or
concubinage, or adultery, these being imputed to the individual, not
according to his deeds but according to the state of his mind in the
deeds. The deeds follow the body into the tomb, but the mind rises
again.
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