the Word, hate the church, and hate all its holy things; and they come into such hatred because their dominion is taken away from them, and thus their state is changed into its opposite. They appear like something fiery, and their hell appears like a conflagration; for infernal fire is nothing else than a lust for ruling from love of self. These are among the worst, and are called devils; while the others are called satans.

1056. "And they that dwell upon the earth shall wonder" signifies those of that religion who reject the Word. This is evident from the signification of "they that dwell upon the earth," as meaning those who are of that religion; for the "earth" signifies the church, but here a religion, because there is no church, since there is a church only where the Lord is worshipped and the Word is read. That those who reject the Word are meant is clear from what follows, namely, that they are those "whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world," and are those "who saw the beast that was and is not, and yet is,' ," "beast" signifying the Word (as above); therefore they wonder that the Word still is, although it was and is not.

(Continuation respecting the Second kind of Profanation.)

[2.] The love of ruling by the holy things of the church as means wholly shuts up the interiors of the human mind from the inmosts towards the outmosts, according to the kind and strength of that love. But to make clear that they are shut up, something shall first be said about the interiors belonging to the human mind. Man has a spiritual mind, a rational mind, a natural mind, and a sensual mind. By means of the spiritual mind man is in heaven and is a heaven in its least form. By means of the natural mind he is in the world and is a world in its least form. Heaven in man communicates with the world in him by means of the rational mind, and with the body by means of the sensual mind. The sensual mind is the first to be opened in man after his birth; after that the natural mind, and as he seeks to become intelligent the rational mind, and as he seeks to become wise the spiritual mind. And at length, as man becomes wise the spiritual mind becomes to him as the head, and the natural mind as the body, and the rational mind serves as a neck to join this to the head, and then the sensual mind becomes like the sole of the foot. [3.] In little children the Lord so arranges all these minds by means of the inflow of innocence from heaven that they can be opened. But with those who begin from childhood to be inflamed with the lust of ruling by means of the holy things of the church as means, the spiritual mind is wholly shut; so, too, is the rational mind, and finally the natural mind, even to the sensual mind, or as it is said in heaven, even to the nose. And thus men become merely sensual, and are the most stupid of all in things spiritual and thus in things rational, and the most crafty of all in worldly and thus in civil matters. That they are so stupid in spiritual things they do not themselves know, because in heart they do not believe these things, and because they believe craft to be prudence and cunning to be wisdom. And yet all of this kind differ according to the kind and strength of their lust for ruling and for exercising rule, also according to the kind and strength of the persuasion that they are holy, and according to the kind of good and truth from the Word that they profane.

1057. "Whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world" signifies that there are those who do not acknowledge the Divine authority of the Lord over heaven and earth, but regard it as transferred to a certain vicar, and from him to his vicars.-This is evident from the signification of "names not written in the book of life," as meaning those who are not received in heaven (see n. 199, 222[a], 299) ; and as those who do not acknowledge the Lord's Divine power over heaven and earth are not received into heaven, such are here

Also from the signification of "from the foundation of the world," as meaning from the establishment of the church. In the sense of the letter or the natural sense "the foundation of the world" means the creation of the world; but in the internal spiritual sense it means the establishment of the church; for the spiritual sense treats of spiritual things, while the natural sense treats of natural things which pertain to the world. For this reason the creation of the heaven and the earth in the first chapter of Genesis depicts in the spiritual sense the new creation or establishment of the first and Most Ancient church on this earth. (That this is depicted by the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis may be seen in the Arcana Caelestia, where the contents of that chapter are explained.) Moreover, “to create” signifies in the Word to reform; and "the Creator" means the Lord as Reformer and Saviour. (That "to create" signifies to reform, and that the creation of heaven and earth in the first chapter of Genesis depicts in the spiritual sense the establishment of the Most Ancient church can be seen above, n. 294. 739) [2.] The establishment of the church is meant by "the foundation of the world" in these passages in the Word:

"The king shall say to them on the right hand, Come....and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matt. xxv. 34).

Jesus praying said, “Father, . . . for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world" (John xvii 24).

Jesus said, "The blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world shall be required of this generation" (Luke xi. 50).

That the establishment of the church is meant by "the foundation of the world" is evident from passages in the Word where mention is made of "founding the earth," "the founding of the earth," and "the foundation of the earth," which do not mean the founding or creating of the earth, but the establishment or creation of the church upon the earth. As in Zechariah:

"Jehovah spreadeth abroad the heavens, and foundeth the earth, and formeth the spirit of man in the midst of him" (xii. 1).

Here "spreading abroad the heaven and founding the earth"

means not the spreading abroad of the visible heaven and the founding of the habitable earth, but the church in respect to its internals, which are called spiritual, and in respect to its externals, which are called natural. "To found" this and "to spread abroad" that means to establish; and therefore it is added, “and formeth the spirit of man in the midst of him," which signifies his reformation and regeneration. [3.] In Isaiah:

"Hearken unto Me, O Jacob and Israel,....My hand hath founded the earth, and My right hand hath spanned the heavens” (xlviii. 12, 13). "Founding the earth with the hand, and spanning the heavens with the right hand," has the same signification here as above, as can be seen from what precedes and what follows in this chapter where the establishment of a new church by the Lord is treated of. In the same,

"Thou hast forgotten Jehovah thy Maker, that stretcheth forth the heavens and foundeth the earth" (li. 13).

Here again, "the heavens and the earth" signify the church in respect to its internal or spiritual things and its external or natural things; and "to stretch forth and found" signifies to establish. [4.] In the same,

"I will put My words in thy mouth, and will cover thee with the shadow of My hand, to plant the heavens and to found the earth, and to say unto Zion, Thou art My people. Awake, awake, arise, O Jerusalem" (li. 16, 17).

Here "to plant the heavens and to found the earth" evidently stands for the establishment of the church; for this is said to the prophet, that "the word should be put in his mouth, and that he should be covered with the shadow of the hand, to plant the heavens and to found the earth;" and a prophet cannot found the earth, but he can found a church; therefore it is added, "to say unto Zion, Thou art My people. Awake, awake, arise, O Jerusalem," "Zion and Jerusalem," in the Word, meaning the church. In David:

"The heaven is Thine and the earth is Thine; the world and the fulness thereof Thou hast founded them" (Psalm lxxxix. 11).

Here too, "heaven and earth" signify the church; "the world" signifies the church in respect to good, and "the fulness thereof" signifies all goods and truths of the church. [5.] In the same,

The earth and the world Jehovah "hath founded upon the seas, and established upon the rivers. Who shall ascend into the mountain of Jehovah, and who shall stand in the place of His holiness?" (Psalm xxiv. 2. 3.)

The establishment of the church is described by "founding the earth and the world upon the seas, and establishing them upon the rivers," as can be seen above (n. 304[c], 518[d], 741[6]). That the establishment of the church is signified is evident from what here follows, namely, "Who shall ascend into. the mountain of Jehovah, and who shall stand in the place of His holiness?" "The mountain of Jehovah" means Zion, which signifies where the Lord reigns by means of Divine truth, and "the place of His holiness" means Jerusalem, where the temple was, which signifies the church in respect to doctrine. All this makes clear that "the founding of the world" signifies the establishment of the church. For the "world" means the same as "heaven and earth;" and the expression "to found the earth" is used because the "earth" signifies the church on earth, and upon this heaven in respect to its holy things is founded. This also makes clear the signification of "the foundations of the earth" in the following passages. In Isaiah:

"Do ye not know, do ye not hear, hath it not been declared to you from the beginning, do ye not understand the foundations of the earth?" (xl. 21.)

In the same,

"The foundations of the earth are corrupted" (xxiv. 18).

(Likewise Isa. lxiii. 12; Jer. xxxi. 37; Micah vi. 2; Psalm xviii. 7, 15; lxxxii. 5; and elsewhere.)

(Continuation respelling the Second kind of Profanation.)

[6.] Profaners of this kind are stupid and foolish in spiritual things, but are crafty and keen in worldly things, because they make one with the devils in hell, and because, as has been said above, they are merely sensual, and are therefore in what is their own (proprium), which draws its delight of life from the unclean effluvia that exhale from waste matters in the body, and that are emitted from dunghills; and these cause a swelling of their breasts when their pride is active and the titillation of these causes delight. [7.] That such is the source of their delight is made evident by their delights after death when they are living as spirits; for then more than the sweetest odors do they love the rank stenches arising from the gases of the belly and from outhouses, which to their smell are more fragrant than thyme. The approach and touch of these close up the interiors of their mind, and open the exteriors pertaining to the body, from which comes their quickness in worldly things, and their dullness in spiritual things. In a word, the love of ruling by means of the holy things of the church corresponds to filth, and its delight to a stench indescrible by words, and at which angels shudder. Such is the exhalation from their hells when they are opened; but they are kept closed because of the oppression and occasional swooning which they produce.

1058. "Seeing the beast that was and is not" signifies knowledge that the Word has been received, and yet is rejected.— This is evident from the signification of "seeing," as meaning to know (scire et cognoscere) (see n. 260, 529); also from the signification

of the "beast," as meaning the Word (see n. 1038); also from the signification of "that was and is not," as meaning that it has been received, and yet rejected (see n. 1054-1056).

(Continuation: The Third kind of Profanation.,

[2.] In this kind of profanation are those who with devout gestures and a pious utterance worship Divine things, and yet in heart and spirit deny them; thus who venerate the holy things of the Word and of the church and of worship outwardly or before the world, and yet at home or in secret deride them. When those of this class are in a holy external, and are teaching in a church or conversing with the common people, they do not know otherwise than that what they say is true; but as soon as they return into themselves their thought is reversed. Because these are such they can counterfeit angels of light, although they are angels of darkness. From this it is clear that this kind of profanation is a hypocritical kind. They are not unlike images made of filth and gilded, or like fruits rotten within but with a beautiful skin, or like nuts eaten by worms within but with a whole shell. From all this it is evident that their internal is diabolical, and therefore that their holy external is profane. [3.] Such are some of the rulers in the Babylon of the present day, and many of a certain society in Babylon, as those of them know who claim to themselves dominion over the souls of men and over heaven. For to believe as they do, that power has been given them to save and to admit into heaven, is the very opposite of acknowledging in heart that there is a God, and for the reason that man, in order to be saved and admitted into heaven must look to the Lord and pray to Him. But a man who believes that such power has been given him looks to himself, and believes the things that are the Lord's to be in himself; and to believe this, and at the same time to believe that there is a God or that God is in him, is impossible. For a man to believe that God is in him when he thinks himself to be above the holy things of the church, and heaven to be in his power, is like ascribing that belief to Lucifer, who burns with the fire of ruling over all things. If such a man thinks that God is in him he cannot think this otherwise than from himself; and thinking from himself that God is in him is thinking not that God is in him, but that he himself is God, as is said of Lucifer in Isaiah (xiv. 13, 14), by whom is there meant Babylon, as is evident from the fourth and twentysecond verses of the same chapter. [4.] Moreover, such a man, of himself, when power is given him, shows forth what he is of himself, and this by degrees according to his elevation. From this it is clear that such are atheists, some avowedly, some clandestinely, and some ignorantly. And as they regard dominion as an end, and the holy things of heaven and the church as means, they counterfeit angels of light in face, gesture, and speech, and thus profane holy things.

1059. “And yet is" signifies that it still is, because it is Divine, and has been rejected only by profanation.-This is evident from the signification of the "beast" of which this is said, as meaning the Word. That this still is, and that it is commonly acknowledged to be Divine, and its sanctity to be equal to that of the decrees and bulls of the Pope is known; and that it is nevertheless rejected by those who deny Divine truths in heart, and thus profane the holy things of the church, has been shown above. The expression "and yet is" is a hidden saying, that has