...(Continuation
respecting the Third Kind of Profanation) [2] Those who are in
this kind of profanation, which is hypocritical, differ in this respect,
that there are those who have less ability and those who have more
ability to conceal the interiors of their mind, that they may not be
disclosed, and to shape the exteriors, which pertain to the face and
mouth, into an expression of sanctity. When such after death become
spirits they appear encompassed with a cloud, in the midst of which is
something black, like an Egyptian mummy. But as they are raised up as it
were into the light of heaven, that bright cloud changes to a
diabolical duskiness, not from any shining through it, but from a
breathing through it, and the consequent darkening. In hell, therefore,
these are black devils. The differences in this kind of profanation are
known from the blackness, as being more or less foul and horrid.
...those
who are in worship according to that religious persuasion and are not
in dominion. When such live according to the statutes of the Pope, and
acknowledge him to be the Lord's vicar, and observe the holy things of
worship as they have been instituted, they are not dissimilar to upright
pagans, who know not otherwise than that they are truths, goods and
holy things which their ministers and monks teach; and this the more
because they do not read the Word, some because it has been taken away
from them, and some because under persuasion they depend upon the mouth
of their monks, and believe that these alone and no others understand
the Word. [2] But those of their people who look to the Lord, and to the
Pope only as to the head of the church, and who are in some affection
for truth, are indeed in... [the Roman Catholic Church,] but are not of
it; for after death these can be drawn away from the vanities of that
religious persuasion and from idolatries, and can be led to worship and
adore the Lord; and they also receive truths from the Lord through the
Word or through those who teach it. For this reason, after the Last
Judgment many societies, which are so many churches, were instituted
from these by the Lord (of which in what follows). In regard to "the
seven mountains" upon which the woman was seen to sit, it is believed
that they are the seven mountains of Rome, where the Papal throne is.
But admitting that Rome is meant, still "the seven mountains" signify
the goods of the Word adulterated and profaned; for the Word is
spiritual in every part, and this is the spiritual of it. That "the
seven mountains" signify the goods of the Word adulterated and profaned
is evident also from what immediately follows, where it is said that
"the seven heads of the beast" mean also "seven kings;" and "seven
kings" signify in the spiritual sense the truths of the Word falsified
and profaned...
...(Continuation
respecting the Fourth Kind of Profanation) [3] In this kind of
profanation [not initiated into the inner mysteries] are those
especially who read the Word and know about the Lord; because from the
Lord through the Word are all things holy that can be profaned... Those
who belong to this kind of profanation appear after death at first with a
face of human color, around which float many wandering stars; and those
of them that had been leaders sometimes appear shining about the mouth.
But as they are brought into the light of heaven, the stars and the
shining of the mouth vanish, and the color of the face is changed to
black, and likewise their garments. But the blackness of these profaners
draws something from blue, as the blackness... draws something from
red, for the reason that the latter profane the goods of the Word and of
the church, while the others profane the truths of the Word and of the
church. For red derives from the sun its signification of good, while
blue derives from the sky its signification of truth.
...(Continuation
respecting the Fifth Kind of Profanation) [3] This kind is not
like the others that have been treated of, for it consists in jesting
from the Word and about the Word. For those who make jokes from the Word
do not regard it as holy, and those who joke about it hold it in no
esteem. And yet the Word is the very Divine truth of the Lord with men,
and the Lord is present in the Word, and heaven also; for every
particular of the Word communicates with heaven, and through heaven with
the Lord; therefore to jest from the Word and about the Word is to
bespatter [soil] the holy things of heaven with the dust of the earth.
King Albert II of Belgium kneels before the Pope in 2009
...[2]
In respect to the matter itself, namely, that they [the Roman Catholic
Ministers] have transferred the Lord's authority over heaven and earth,
thus over men to save them, to their head and from him to the others who
are under him, this is well known; and it is evident from this that
with all the heart and mind they aspire to be gods over the earth,
consequently to be adored with Divine worship. That their head is adored
as a god in place of the Lord is evident from their venerating him upon
the knees, from the holy kissing of his shoes, also of his footsteps.
This veneration or rather adoration follows from this, that he is able
to open heaven by the keys of Peter, and thus to give heaven to
whomsoever he pleases; also by the same means to close heaven, thus to
cast into hell whomsoever he pleases... For they know that he who
possesses the souls of men and also their wealth, possesses men as God
does, and can transfer to himself a kind of Divine worship. From this it
is clear that those who belong to the... [the Roman Catholic Church] of
the present day, [1757-9] aspire with the whole heart and mind to be
gods, and to be adored with Divine worship. But although they aspire to
this they deny that they have transferred anything Divine to
themselves...
1066.
...The
Lord's authority over heaven and earth, which they have transferred to
themselves, is said not to be Divine, and yet it is Divine... [2] In
respect to the thing itself it is well known that they claim that the
authority over heaven, and over the souls of men to save them, is not
Divine, since it was the authority of the Lord's Human transferred to
Him from God the Father, and from the Lord to Peter. But this is said
from a fear that the common people may withdraw from them. Nevertheless,
that authority is Divine... Man is not saved in a single moment, since
he is reformed and regenerated by the Lord by successive steps... That
man is thus reformed and regenerated by the Lord they do not know,
because they do not wish to know it; consequently they persuade
themselves that salvation is instantaneous, and is simply an admission
into heaven, which is a huge falsity...
1067.
...It
[the Word] has been received and acknowledged as Divine chiefly because
their religion is founded on the keys given to Peter, as described in
the Word. Nevertheless, that it has been rejected is well known, for it
is taken away from the common people [Swedenborg wrote this in
1757-9,] it is not read in the temples, and the same holiness and
inspiration are attributed to the decrees of the Pope as to the Word;
but as these are not in harmony with the Word, the Word in general is
invalidated, and even blasphemed, by the claim that it is allowable to
change it according to the state of the church. From this it is clear
that the truth that the Word is Divine has been profaned [not initiated into the inner mysteries] by them...
1069.
...those
Divine truths that the... [Roman Catholic Church] has profaned, ...are
especially, that the Lord has authority over heaven and earth, and that
the Word alone is holy and Divine; for these two truths make the church
itself of the Lord on earth, for the church is a church from this that
the Lord is adored and that the Word is read. For the Lord reforms man,
and the Word teaches how man must live that he may be reformed by the
Lord; therefore if these two truths are not acknowledged and received
the church itself perishes, for upon these two truths the church is
founded. It was for this reason that it came to pass through the
Divine Providence of the Lord that certain churches separated themselves
from the... [Roman Catholic Church,] and these acknowledge the Lord's
Divine power over heaven and earth to be equal to the power of God the
Father, and also attribute Divine holiness to the Word alone. This was
provided by the Lord in order that the Christian Church in the European
world might not be utterly overthrown...
1070.
...those
who have not thus acknowledged that the Lord's authority over heaven
and earth has been transferred to man, but have ascribed Divine holiness
to the Word and not to the decrees of the Pope... have not... profaned... Divine holiness must be attributed to the Word; also that... they
will acknowledge that the Lord has power to save, thus that He, and not
the Pope, has dominion over heaven, the church, and the souls of men.
[2] It has been said above that there are two things that constitute the
church, namely, the acknowledgment and belief that the Lord has the
power to save, and that the Word is Divine... But that the church in the
European world might not wholly perish, it has been provided by the
Lord that not only within the... [Roman Catholic Church,] but also
outside of it, there should be societies that should not make one with
the... [Roman Catholic Church,] in these two primary truths, which are
the pillars and the foundations of the church itself. Within... [the
Roman Catholic Church] there are those in the kingdom of France, and
many in Holland, England, Scotland, and Ireland, who have not taken away
from the Lord the power to save men, nor from the Word Divine holiness,
and ascribed these to some vicar; as may appear from the contest
between the Gallican Church [the Catholic Church in France] and the
Roman [Catholic Church,] which has so long continued and still
continues... Outside
of the... [Roman Catholic Churches] there are churches that ascribe all
power to save to the Lord, and none to the Pope, and acknowledge the
Word alone to be Divine, and have wholly withdrawn from the papal
dominion, and are consequently called Protestants and Reformed
[Churches.]...
1071.
...It
has been said above that the Gallican Church [the Catholic Church in
France] acknowledges the Word to be the Divine truth, and ascribes a
Divine inspiration to all the particulars of the Word, and not an equal
Divine inspiration to the decrees of the Pope as to those things which
are means of salvation; and the same is true of others in the European
world; and this has come to pass from the Divine Providence of the Lord,
that the Christian Church might not be wholly destroyed, because by
means of the Word man has communication and conjunction with heaven, and
through heaven with the Lord; and communication and conjunction with
heaven and with the Lord cannot possibly be given through the
declarations and decrees of the Pope, since these have not for their end
the salvation of souls, but dominion; and all edicts and statutes that
have dominion as their end, especially over the things of heaven and the
church, have communication with hell, and effect conjunction with
hell...
1074.
...those
that are in love to the Lord, in love towards the neighbor, and in the
faith of charity, have the truth respecting the Lord's Divine authority
and the Divine holiness of the Word... The angels of the third heaven,
who are in love to the Lord, are called the "called," the angels of the
second heaven, who are in love towards the neighbor, are called the
"chosen," and the angels of the first heaven, who are in the faith of
charity, are called the "faithful." And since in the Lord's church on
earth there are those who belong to the third, the second, and the first
heaven, and who therefore become after death angels of those heavens,
so "the called, the chosen, and the faithful," mean all those in the
kingdoms under the dominion of the Pope who ascribe to the Lord the
power of saving men, and ascribe to the Word alone Divine holiness and
inspiration, and in these two doctrines recede from the vicarship of the
Pope...
1079.
...the Reformed [Christian Churches,]... have
altogether rejected all the statutes and decrees of the Pope, thus his
falsifications and profanations, especially the two treated of above,
namely, respecting his authority over the holy things of the church and
over the souls of men to save them, which is called the authority to
open and shut heaven, also respecting the authority to interpret the
Word, and to change things in it to favor his own dominion; these being
the two [doctrinal] heads of their religion which the Reformed have
wholly rejected...
...the
Reformed [Christian Churches,] who have rejected the works... [of the
Roman Catholic Church,] which consist especially in gifts to the idols
of their saints, to their sepulchres [a small room or monument, cut in
rock or built of stone, in which a dead person is laid or buried,] also
to monasteries, and to the monks themselves, given as offerings for
various expiations [the act of making amends or reparation for guilt or
wrongdoing; atonement.]...
...the
Reformed, who are divided into three churches, one of which has
embraced the doctrine of Luther, another that of Calvin, and the third
that of Melancthon; nevertheless all three have wholly withdrawn from
the profane things of... [the Roman Catholic Church.]...
...There is domination over the truths of the church because their chief, who is called Pope and Pontiff [who was,
in Roman antiquity, a member of the most illustrious of the colleges of
priests of the Roman religion, the College of Pontiffs,]
ascribes to his own decrees an equal holiness and a like inspiration
with the truths of the Word. It is also a part of this doctrine that it
is lawful for him to change the truths of the Word according to the
changes of the state of the church, and thus to turn them into such
things as may be means of domination, and these are falsities; for all
things that have regard to domination are falsities, or truths
falsified, since the end chooses the means and applies them to itself;
and means that are applied to an end which is domination over the souls
of men, over all things of the church and over heaven, cannot be truths,
and if they are truths the end falsifies them, but with those only who
are in dominion...
...after the Last Judgment [which took place in the spiritual world in the year 1757] upon these... [of the Roman Catholic Church] their
religious persuasion would be wholly condemned, nor would it ever rise
again to eternity. But this must be thus understood, that this religious
persuasion will continue in the world, because the love of ruling is so
implanted in everyone that it cannot be rooted out, and so long as that
love is present it is impossible for that religious persuasion to come
to an end in the world; and yet in the spiritual world, into which
everyone comes after death, it will come to an end, for then all who are
of that religion and have exercised dominion from the delight of the
love of ruling, do not as they previously did, make for themselves
seeming heavens in the world of spirits, which is in the midst between
heaven and hell, and dwell there for a time, but as soon as they arrive
there they are sent away and cast into their hells. This is what is
meant by the destruction of Babylon, as predicted both... in Revelation,
and in many passages in the prophets. Since the... [Roman Catholic Church have
transferred the Lord's authority over heaven and the church to their
chief pontiff [or Pope,] whom they call the successor of Peter, and thus
the vicar of the Lord, declaring that the authority over heaven and
hell was transferred by the Lord to Peter, and that it was not the
Lord's Divine authority but His human authority given Him from God the
Father, I will show at the end of the articles of this chapter that the
Lord even as to His Human was God, that is, that His Human was Divine;
and from this it follows that the... [Roman Catholic Church] did
transfer His Divine authority to him whom they call the Lord's vicar
[or the Pope,] and thus they have made him God upon earth, and that he
has made his ministers deities, which can be nothing else than
horrible...
...[2] ...it shall now be told whence it is that the Babylonish nation [or the Roman Catholic Church]has
falsified the Word [or Bible] and weakened its Divine holiness. It has
been known in the whole Christian world that the Word is Divine, and
consequently that all things contained in the Word are Divine truths.
Now as the Babylonians have claimed for themselves and have actually
assumed dominion over all things of the church and also over heaven, and
as they thus let themselves into all evils that spring up from the love
of self, it was necessary for them to confirm those evils by means of
the Word, and this could be done only by falsifying it, for the Word can
in no wise confirm evil; consequently when a man confirms evil by means
of the Word he falsifies its truths. This was done by the Babylonians;
but as they still saw truths in the Word that they could not falsify, as
for instance, all that is said in it about Babylon [or the Roman Catholic Church,] so
by their craft they weakened the Divine holiness of the Word, and
forbade the reading of it by the people; and their leaders and
presbyters, who are called monks, also refrained from reading it, saying
that the decrees of the Pope were just as holy as the contents of the
Word, and that all things of the church must be adapted to its state,
and consequently must be changed as its state requires, and that such
adaptation and changes must be made from the inspiration of the Pope.
All this makes clear how it is that the truths of the Word have been
falsified and rejected by them, and in place of these such things as
pander to their love of ruling and wholly favor it, and which are in
themselves falsities, have been accepted, and have been endorsed by
their Pope...
Spiritual Diary, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1758], tr. by Bush, Smithson and Buss [1883-9] at sacred-texts.com
Pope Benedict XIV (31 March 1675 – 3 May 1758), was Pope from 17 August 1740 to his death in 1758
THE POPE: ALSO SIXTUS V. I spoke with the Pope who was recently dead. [Pope Benedict
XIV.] He was in the west towards the north, where there is ordinarily a
council. He was instructed in detail about Babylon [or the Roman
Catholic Church,] what and how impious [showing a lack of respect for
God or religion] they are. He was exceedingly astonished, that so many
even of the inferior monks made themselves Christ, and with so great a
persuasion, - supposing that himself only [was that]. He spoke about
Sixtus V., saying that he had been [Pope] in the world for five years.
[Pope Sixtus
V. died 1590, after a Pontificate lasting for five years.] He wished to
see him: wherefore he was summoned from the hell where he was, which
was not far off slightly backwards towards the north. Having prepared
himself, he [Pope Sixtus] appeared before him; and he recognized him
from his portrait in the world. But Sixtus V. scarcely spoke. He
earnestly desired to get away, and was borne down to his own hell,
where, sometimes, he is set over those who are there, in order that he
may hold the impious crews of the Babylonish race [or the Roman Catholic
Church,] in check; and it was said, that, if he does not observe the
prescribed laws, he is punished...
Pope Sixtus V (13 December 1521 – 27 August 1590), was
Pope from 24 April 1585 to his death in 1590.
THE LAST POPE, BENEDICT XIV. After
three weeks from death, it was permitted me to speak with the Pope, and
at that time for four days, about many things in the spiritual world,
especially about the Lord, that He is the God of heaven, and has not
given any power to any man, because power belongs solely to the Divine.
He was also instructed about the remission of sins, about heaven and
hell, about man - that it falls out to him according to the life in the
world, and very many similar matters; and, at the time, he seemed to
understand them all, and also as it were to believe them; for he so
spoke. For this reason, some cherished the hope, respecting him, that in
the world he may have been a worshipper of the Lord and in the
affection of truth, and thus that he might have been able to be of use
with the people of that religion. But he was of such disposition, that
he spoke in accordance with the affection of another, and very politely
and adroitly. [An adroit leader will be able to persuade people
to go with his ideas.] When it was supposed that he accepted the
instruction, he was left to his own love and its derivative principles;
and, when he was so left, he acted in unison with the most crafty of his
religion, countenancing and instigating the destruction of those who
were of the Reformed religion [or Reformed Christian Churches,] but
clandestinely [or executed with secrecy or concealment, especially for purposes of subversion or deception.] And,
inasmuch as he was allied with the most wicked, he also endeavored, and
this in many different ways, to totally destroy those who ascribed all
power to the Lord; and he was told to desist, because he is now in a
world where there is no respect of persons, but whoever does evil is
punished. Still, however, he persisted, believing that nobody can do
anything to him. But, when he persisted, he was punished like the rest
and indeed grievously, in a cavern where was a rigorous punisher; and,
because he still continued such, he was cast towards the west.
Inquiry
was made as to what he had been in the world, even according to his own
confession: (1) that he esteemed the Word as of no account, and, when
he read it, ridiculed many things in it, as not at all Divine. Many
passages also were recited by him, in regard to which he spoke with
derision, saying, that it was only so written according to the style of
the time: in a word, that nothing of Divinity is to be found in it; (2)
that he, in Consistory, speaks more from the Divine than is spoken in
the Word; so that he extolled his own utterances in Consistory above the
Word; (3) that, for this reason, he confirmed the Bull Unigenitus, and
persuaded people to accept... (4)
that, for this reason, he loved and honored Jesuits more than others;
of which matter, also, some things were said [as to] how [he did so].
When he was told that a large part of them were devils, and was likewise
shown this by many being gathered together to him, so that he might see
them as they were, yet, he still loved them as before; (5) he also
said, that, as regards the Saints, he thought that they had more power
than the Lord, because they are inspired by God the Father in what they
do, but that the Lord abdicated all power and conferred it on the Popes;
also, that, although without power, He still ought to be worshipped.
Thus was ascertained of what quality he had been, and therefore that
heaven was entirely closed to him, and that he acted in union with hell;
for, to him who destroys the Word, places a Papal decree above the Word
and denies all power to the Lord, heaven is fast closed, and hell is
open.
Pope Clement XII (7 April 1652 – 6 February 1740), was Pope from 12 July 1730 to his death in 1740.
With the former Pope, however, or the predecessor [That is, Clement XII. He reigned from 1790 to 1740] of this one, all is well; for he was not of such a character.
That last Pope [Benedict XIV,]
who has been described, associated himself with the worst of his
religion, who were sorcerers, and he likewise, three times, sent forth
the worst sorcerers of them: one, to destroy a spirit who was in favor
of the Lord; two, to the Reformed [Christians,] to seduce them; and,
likewise, he himself wished to learn more about magical arts. He also
sent forth other exceedingly bad sorcerers, to work evil; and, when he
was discovered to be such, he was reduced to his interiors,
consequently, into phantasies; for the interiors of such ones are
phantasies, since they think nothing about God, but about themselves
alone, and about the worship of themselves and about intrigues [make
secret plans to do something illicit or detrimental to someone.] It was
then still more clearly seen what he had been, namely, that he at first
reverenced the Word, but afterwards despised it utterly, and accounted
his own decrees Divine; that he believed himself to be wiser than all
others, because he was more crafty, as also was shown; that he was able
to enter into the interior affections of others and to see them; also,
that he reverenced the Saints more than the Lord and made them deities,
and that he dearly loved the maliciously cunning, and, for that reason,
the Jesuits.
Afterwards,
he was led down towards the western sea, [See, for further information
about this "Western Sea," nos. 5296, 5300, 5303, 5638] at the part
facing the south, and as far as to its extremity, where he stopped and
said that he wished to be in that place, because the most crafty were
there; but, still, he was brought down from thence into the west, and
from there towards those who were in the remotest mountains, [See, in
reference to these "mountains" and those who dwell on them, nos. 5648,
5652, of the present work] who
were the Neapolitans [Province of Naples, a province in the Campania
region of southern Italy that includes the city] and the worst ones of
Italy. When he was there, he also said that he wished to be there
because they are the most crafty of all, asserting that he was more
cunning than they. There he discovered a certain saint [or Roman
Catholic Pope,] who was a most powerful sorcerer, and who was then
brought out from hell in order that he might speak with him. That saint,
who was the powerful sorcerer, declared himself to be a Pope. He spoke
with the other, and wanted to determine, by competition, which was the
more cunning and it was ascertained that this one was equally cunning.
He was afterwards brought farther down, as far as somewhat into the
north, and was brought back, for a long while, through various zigzag
ways - thus, - to a part where were the worst hells of the Babylonish
[or Roman Catholic] people; for the reason that he loved such things,
and also in order to attract and imbibe [absorb or assimilate ideas or
knowledge] [them], thus, that he might apply himself to hells suited to
his interiors. Thus he was brought back to the remotest boundary, or to
the extremity, of the western sea, and there, of his own accord, plunged
himself down amongst the worst of those who were in the western sea.
Last Judgment Continued, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1758], tr. by John Whitehead [1892] at sacred-texts.com
VII.
THE PAPISTS IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. The Papists [Roman Catholics,] and
the Last Judgment upon them, were treated of in the small work on The
Last Judgment (n. 53-64). The Papists in the spiritual world appear
around the Reformed [Protestant Church members,] and are separated from
them by an interval, which they are not permitted to pass. Nevertheless,
those who are of the order of Jesuits [members of the Society of Jesus,
a Roman Catholic order of priests founded by St Ignatius Loyola, St
Francis Xavier, and others in 1534, to do missionary work. The order was
zealous in opposing the Reformation,] by clandestine [kept secret or
done secretively, especially because unlawful] arts procure for
themselves communications, and also send out emissaries, by unknown
paths, for the purpose of seducing them. But they are discovered, and
after being punished, they are either sent back to their companions, or
are cast into hell.
57.
After
the Last Judgment [in 1757,] their state was so changed, that they were
not allowed to gather together in companies, as before; but ways were
appointed to every love, both good and evil, which those who come from
the world immediately enter, and go to a society corresponding to their
love. Thus the wicked are borne away to a society which is in
conjunction with the hells, and the good to a society which is in
conjunction with the heavens; thus precaution is taken that they may not
form artificial heavens for themselves as before. Such societies in the
world of spirits, which is midway between heaven and hell, are
innumerable; being as many as there are genera and species of good and
evil affections. And in the meantime, before spirits are either elevated
into heaven, or cast down into hell, they are in spiritual conjunction
with men in the world, because they too are in the midst between heaven
and hell.
58.
All
those of the Papists, who have not been wholly idolaters, and who, from
their religious persuasion, have done goods [good works] out of a
sincere heart, and have also looked to the Lord, are led to societies
which are instituted in the confines nearest to the Reformed, and are
instructed there, the Word being read, and the Lord preached to them;
and they who receive truths and apply them to life, are elevated into
heaven and become angels. There are many such societies of them in every
quarter, and they are guarded on all sides from the treacheries and
cunning devices of the monks, and from the Babylonish [Roman Catholic
Church] leaven. [Leaven signifies
the falsity of the natural man.] Moreover, all their infants are in
heaven, because, being educated by the angels under the guidance of the
Lord, they know nothing of the falsities of the religion of their
parents.
All
who come from the earth into the spiritual world, are at first kept in
the confession of faith, and in the religion of their country; and so
therefore are the Papists. On this account, they always have some
representative Pontiff [Pope] set over them, whom they also adore with
the same ceremony as in the world. Rarely does any Pope from the world
act the Pontiff there; yet he who was Pope at Rome twenty years ago,
[This was published in 1763] was appointed over the Papists, because he
cherished in heart that the Word is more holy than is believed, and that
the Lord ought to be worshiped. But, after filling the office of Pope
for some years, he abdicated it, and betook himself to the Reformed
Christians, among whom he still is, and enjoys a happy life. It was
granted me to speak with him, and he said, that he adored the Lord
alone, because He is God, who has power over heaven and earth, and that
the invocations of saints, and also their masses, are trifles; [a thing
of little value or importance] and that when he was in the world, he
intended to restore that church, but that for reasons, which he
mentioned, he found it impossible to do so. When the great northern city
of the Papists was destroyed, on the day of the Last Judgment, I saw
him carried out of it on a couch, and taken to a place of safety. Quite a
different thing happened to his successor.
Here
I am allowed to add something memorable. It was granted me to speak
with Louis XIV., grandfather of the reigning king of France, who while
he was in the world, worshiped the Lord, read the Word, and acknowledged
the Pope only as the highest one of the church; in consequence of
which, he has great dignity in the spiritual world, and rules the best
society of the French nation. Once I saw him as it were descending by
ladders, and after he descended I heard him saying, that he seemed to
himself as if at Versailles, and then there was silence round about for
half an hour; at the end of that time, he said, that he had spoken with
the king of France, his grandson, concerning the Bull Unigenitus,
advising him to desist from his former design, and not to accept it,
because it was detrimental to the French nation, he said that he
insinuated this into his thought profoundly. This took place in the year
1759, on the 13th day of December, about eight o'clock in the evening.
VIII.
THE POPISH SAINTS IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD. It is known that man has from
his parents implanted or hereditary evil, but in what it consists is
known to few. It consists in the love of ruling, which is such, that as
far as the reins are given it, so far it bursts forth, until it even
burns with the lust of ruling over all, and at length of wishing to be
invoked and worshiped as God. This love is the serpent, which deceived
Eve and Adam, for it said to the woman: God knows, that in the day ye
eat of the fruit of the tree, your eyes shall be opened, and then ye
shall be as God (Gen. 3:4, 5). As far therefore as man rushes with
loosened reins into this love, so far he turns himself away from God,
and turns towards himself, and becomes an atheist; and then the Divine
truths which are of the Word, may serve as means, but because dominion
is the end, the means are in the heart only as they serve him. This is
the reason why those who are in the mediate [middle level] and in the
ultimate [lowest or outer most] degree of the love of ruling, are all in
hell, for that love is the devil there; and in hell there are some of
such a nature, that they cannot bear to hear any one speaking of God.
62.
Those
of the Papal nation have this love who have had dominion from the
frenzy of its delight, and have despised the Word, and preferred the
dictates of the Pope to it. They are utterly devastated [destroyed] as
to externals, until they no longer know anything of the church, and then
they are cast down into hell and become devils. There is a certain
separate hell for those who wish to be invoked as gods, where such is
their fantasy, that they do not see what is, but what is not. Their
delirium is such as affects persons in a malignant [deadly] fever, who see things floating in the air and in the chamber, and on the covering of the bed, which do not exist...
Because
man from heredity is such, that he wishes to rule, and as the reins are
loosened, successively over more, and at length over all, and because
the wish to be invoked and worshiped as God, is the inmost of this love
of ruling, therefore all who have been made saints by the Papal bulls,
are removed from the sight of others and hidden, and are deprived of all
interaction with their worshipers. This is done, lest that worst root
of evils should be excited in them, and they should be hurried into such
fantastic deliriums as prevail in the above mentioned hell. In such
deliriums are those who, when they lived in the world, have eagerly
sought to be made saints after death, for the purpose of being invoked.
[Call on a deity or spirit in prayer.]
Many
of the Papal nation, especially the monks, when they come into the
spiritual world, seek the saints, each the saint of his own order; yet
they do not find them, and therefore they wonder. But afterwards they
are instructed by others, that they [the Roman Catholic saints] are
either intermingled with those who are in the heavens, or with those who
are in the hells, every one according to his life in the world; and
that in whichsoever they are, they know nothing of the worship and
invocation of themselves; and that they who know it, and wished to be
invoked, are in that separate and delirious hell. The worship of saints
is such an abomination in heaven, that whenever they hear of it they are
horrified, because as far as worship is paid to any man, in so far it
is withheld from the Lord, for thus He alone cannot be worshiped; and if
the Lord is not alone worshiped, a discrimination is made, which
destroys communion, and the felicity [joy] of life which flows from it.
Saint Francis Xavier
[Saint
Francis Xavier, (7 April 1506 – 3 December 1552), was a Navarrese
Basque Roman Catholic missionary, born in Xavier, Kingdom of Navarre
(now part of Spain), and a co-founder of the Society of Jesus... and one
of the first seven Jesuits who took vows of poverty and chastity at
Montmartre, Paris in 1534. -Wikipedia]
That
I might know, for the sake of informing others, what kind of men the
Popish saints are, as many as a hundred of them, who knew of their
canonization, were brought up from the lower earth [which is between
heaven and hell.] The greater part ascended from behind, and only a few
in front, and I spoke with one of them, who they said was Xavier. While
he talked with me, he was quite foolish, yet he was able to tell me,
that in his place, where he remains confined, he is not so; but that he
becomes foolish as often as he thinks that he is a saint. I heard a like
murmur from those who were behind.
Mary mother of Jesus
It
is otherwise with the so-called saints who are in heaven; they know
nothing at all of what is doing upon earth, nor have I spoken with them,
lest any idea of this should enter their minds. Only once Mary, the
mother of the Lord, passed by, and appeared over head in white raiment,
and then, stopping awhile, she said that she had been the mother of the
Lord, and that He was indeed born of her, but that He became God, and
put off all the human from her, and that therefore she now adores Him as
her God, and is unwilling that any one should acknowledge Him as her
Son, because in Him all is Divine.
Life of St. Genevieve by Pierre Puvis de Chavannes
[Saint Genevieve (c. 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD), is the patron saint of Paris in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. -Wikipedia]
...A
certain woman in splendid [shining] raiment and with saint-like
countenance, occasionally appears in a middle altitude, to the Parisians
who are in a society in the spiritual world, and tells them she is
Genevieve. But as soon as any of them begin to adore her, then instantly
her countenance is changed, and her raiment too, and she becomes like
an ordinary woman, and chides them for wishing to adore a woman, who,
among her companions, is in no more repute than a maid servant;
wondering that men in the world are caught by such trifles. The angels
said that she appears for the purpose of separating those there who
worship man from those who worship the Lord.
True Christian Religion, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1771], tr. by John C. Ager [1906] at sacred-texts.com
...It
is said by those who serve them in the world, that the [Roman Catholic]
saints reign in heaven in company with the Lord Jesus Christ; but this
is a fiction and fabrication...
