Friday 23 September 2011

Matthew 11:12 Heaven suffereth violence!

12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

True Christian Religion, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1771], tr. by John C. Ager [1906] at sacred-texts.com 
74 
...[5] From His omnipotence and omniscience God searches every man after death, and prepares the righteous, or the sheep, for their places in heaven, and establishes a heaven from them; while He prepares the unrighteous, or the goats, for their places in hell, and establishes a hell from them. Both of these He arranges into societies or congregated bodies in accordance with all the varieties of their love, which in heaven are as many as the stars in the natural firmament; and He joins in one the societies of heaven that they may be as one man before Him. In like manner He brings together the congregated bodies of hell that they may be as one devil; and He separates the latter from the former by a gulf, that hell may not do violence to heaven or heaven torment hell; for those who are in hell are tormented in the degree that heaven flows in. If God from His omnipotence did not do this every instant, a savage nature would enter into men to such an extent that they could no longer be restrained by the laws of any order; and thus the human race would perish. These and other such things would happen unless God were order, and omnipotent in order."

Arcana Coelestia, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1749-56], tr. by John F. Potts [1905-10], at sacred-texts.com 
7926 
...[2] ...the hells continually desire to infest the good, and also continually strive to ascend into heaven and disturb those who are there, but they cannot force their way higher than to those who are in the lowest limits of heaven; for there is in them a spirit of enmity which continually breathes hostility and violence. But the Lord constantly provides that they who are in the uttermost borders of heaven may be kept in safety and quiet; this is effected by His presence among them. Accordingly, when the infernals [or hellish spirits] introduce themselves where the Lord is present, that is, into His presence, they cast themselves into the evils of vastation,

[All who come into the other life are vastated. Those who have been in good, in the world, are vastated as to evils and the falses thence arising... But those who have been in evil, are vastated as to truths and goods, if they have any... The latter are, thus, cast down into hell; the former are raised up to heaven. Vastations last, with some, a long time, according to the quantity and quality of the good or evil. They are wont to continue for several years... (Spiritual Experiences #5071)]

and finally into damnation; for the presence of the Lord into which they rush occasions such effects, as has already been shown in various places. From this it is evident that the Lord does not render Himself present among them in order to bring on them the evils of punishment, but that they cast themselves into them. From all this it is evident that nothing but good comes from the Lord, and that all evil is from those who are in evil, thus that the evil bring themselves into vastations, damnation, and hell...



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