Arcana Coelestia volume 7 - Swedenborg Foundation

ARCANA COELESTIA 3644anything of evil in them, are not among the righteous, but amongthe unrighteous; for they attribute good to themselves, and also feelself-merit on account of it, and such can never adore the Lord fromtrue humiliation; so that those who in the Word are called the“righteous” and the “saints” are those who know and acknowledgethat all good is from the Lord, and that all evil is from themselves,that is, is theirs from hell.5070. The “eternal life” which is given to the righteous is lifefrom good. Good has life in itself, because it is from the Lord, whois life itself. In the life which is from the Lord there are wisdom andintelligence; for to receive good from the Lord and thence to willgood is wisdom; and to receive truth from the Lord and thence tobelieve truth is intelligence; and they who have this wisdom andintelligence have life; and as happiness is joined to such life, eternalhappiness also is signified by “life.” The contrary is the case withthose who are in evil. These do indeed appear—especially tothemselves—as if they had life, but it is such life as in the Word iscalled “death,” and also is spiritual death; for they are not wise inany good, nor intelligent in any truth. This may be seen byeveryone who takes the matter into consideration, for as there is lifein good and in its truth, there cannot be life in evil and in itsfalsity, because these are opposite and extinguish life. Therefore thepersons in question have no other life than such as belongs to theinsane.5071. That they on the left hand are called “cursed,” and theirpunishment “eternal fire,” as where it is said:Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from meye cursed into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels;These shall go away into eternal punishment;is because they have averted themselves from good and truth, andhave turned to evil and falsity. A “curse” in the internal sense of theWord, signifies a turning away (n. 245, 379, 1423, 3530, 3584).The “eternal fire” into which they must depart is not natural fire,