same reason also the Jewish nation was called by the Lord" an adulterous generation,” Matt. xii. 39, chap. xvi. 4, Mark viii. 38.

X. THAT SO FAR AS ANY ONE SHUNS THEFTts of every KIND AS SINS, SO FAR HE LOVES SINCERITY.

80. By stealing, in a natural sense, is not only meant to steal and to rob, but also to defraud, and under any pretence to take away the goods of another: but by stealing, in a spiritual sense, is meant, to deprive another of the truths of his faith, and of the goods of his charity: whereas by stealing, in a supreme sense, is meant, to take away from the Lord what is his, and to attribute it to one's self, and thus to claim righteousness and merit. These are thefts of every kind; and they also make a one, as do adulteries of every kind, and murders of every kind, spoken of above: the reason why they make a one is, because one kind is involved in the other.

81. The evil of theft enters deeper into man than any other evil, because it is conjoined with deceit and cunning, and deceit and cunning insinuate themselves even into the spiritual mind of man, which is the seat of his thought as grounded in understanding. That man has a spiritual mind and a natural mind, will be seen below.

82. The reason why man loves sincerity so far as he shuns theft as sin, is, because theft is also fraud, and fraud and sincerity are two opposites; wherefore so far as any one is not in fraud, so far he is in sincerity.

83. By sincerity is also meant integrity, justice, fidelity, and uprightness: man cannot be principled in these virtues from himself, so as to love them by and for the sake of them; but whosoever shuns fraud, deceit, and cunning, as sins, thereby becomes principled in those virtues, not from himself, but from the Lord, as was shown above, n. 18 to 32. This is true in regard to every one in his station and office; as in regard to a priest, to a magistrate, to a judge, to a trader, and to a laborer.

84. The same appears from many passages of the Word; as from the following: "Whosoever walketh in righteousness, and speaketh uprightnesses; whosoever hateth oppressions for gain, and shaketh his hands from holding bribes; who stoppeth his ears from hearing of bloods, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; he shall dwell in heights," Isaiah xxxiii. 15, 16. Jehovah, who shall dwell-in thy tent, who shall inhabit in the mountain of thy holiness? He that walketh upright and doeth

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righteousness, he doth not backbite with his tongue, nor do evil to his companion," Psalm xv. 1, 2, 3. "Mine eyes are upon the faithful of the earth, that they may sit with me: he that walketh in the way of the upright, he shall minister unto me. There shall not sit in the midst of my house he that doeth deceit; he that speaketh lies shall not stand in my sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, to cut off from the city all that work iniquity," Psalm ci. 6, 7, 8.

That he who is not inwardly sincere, just, faithful, and upright, remains in reality insincere, unjust, unfaithful, and devoid of uprightness, the Lord teaches in these words:" Except your righteousness shall exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of the heavens,” Matt. v. 20: by the righteousness which exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, is meant interior righteousness, in which the man is principled who is in the Lord. That man ought to be in the Lord, he himself teaches in John: "The glory which thou hast given me I have given them, that they may be one as we are one, I in them, and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one; and that the love with which thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them,” xvii. 22, 23, 26; from whence it is evident, that they are perfect when the Lord is in them. These are they who are called "the pure in heart, who shall see God; and the perfect as their Father in the heavens,” Matt. v. 8, 48.

85. It was said above, n. 81, that the evil of theft enters deeper with man than any other evil, because it is conjoined with deceit and cunning, and deceit and cunning insinuate themselves even into the mind of the spiritual man, where his thought is grounded in understanding; wherefore it may be expedient here to say something concerning the MIND of man. That the mind of man is his understanding and will together, may be seen above, n. 43.

86. Man has a natural mind and a spiritual mind; the natural mind is beneath, and the spiritual mind is above: the natural mind is the mind of his world, and the spiritual mind is the mind of his heaven.* The natural mind may be called

* It was a doctrine amongst the ancient philosophers, that man is a MICROCOSM, or little world, in which the great world is portrayed in miniature. Thus, as in the great world there is an inward or spiritual world, and an outward or natural world, so it is with the little world of man; his inward or spiritual part is what is here called his heaven, and his outward or natural part is what our author calls his world: each of these parts has its respective mind, or ruling spirit; and it is according to this idea, that man's natural mind is here called by the author the mind of his world, or outward part, and his spiritual mind, the mind of his heaven, or of his inward part.

the animal mind, but the spiritual mind the human mind Man is also distinguished from a mere animal by this, that he has a spiritual mind, whereby he has a capacity of being in heaven during his abode in the world: it is likewise by virtue of this mind that man lives after death.

Man, as to his understanding, can be in his spiritual mind, and thence in heaven; but he cannot be as to his will in his spiritual mind, and thence in heaven, unless he shuns evils as sins and unless he be also as to his will in heaven, still he is not in heaven; for the will draws the understanding downwards, and causes it to be alike animal and natural as itself.

Man may be compared to a garden, the understanding to light, and the will to heat: a garden is in light and not at the same time in heat, during winter, but it is in light and heat together during summer: the man, therefore, who is in the light of the understanding alone, is as a garden in the time of winter; but he who is in the light of the understanding, and at the same time in the warmth of the will, is as a garden in the time of summer. The understanding also is wise by virtue of spiritual light, and the will loves by virtue of spiritual heat; for spiritual light is the divine wisdom, and spiritual heat is the divine love.

So long as man does not shun evils as sins, the concupiscences of evils close up the interiors of the natural mind on the part of the will, being like a dense veil there, and as a dark cloud beneath the spiritual mind, and preventing it from being opened: but as soon as man shuns evils as sins, then the Lord flows in out of heaven, and removes the veil, and disperses the cloud, and opens the spiritual mind, and thereby introduces him into heaven.

So long as the concupiscences of evils close up the interiors of the natural mind, as just observed, so long man is in hell; but as soon as those concupiscences are dispersed by the Lord, man is in heaven. Further; so long as the concupiscences of evils close up the interiors of the natural mind, so long he is merely a natural man; but as soon as those concupiscences are dispersed by the Lord, he becomes a spiritual man. Again; so long as the concupiscences of evils close up the interiors of the natural mind, so long man is a mere animal, differing only in this, that he has power to think and speak, even concerning such things as he does not see with his eyes, which is a consequence of the faculty he enjoys of elevating his understanding into the light of heaven; but as

soon as those concupiscences are dispersed by the Lord, man becomes truly a man, because he then thinks what is true, in the understanding, by virtue of what is good in the will. Lastly; so long as the concupiscences of evils close up the interiors of the natural mind, so long man is as a garden in the time of winter; but as soon as those concupiscences are dispersed by the Lord, he is like a garden in the time of sum

mer.

The conjunction of the will and the understanding with man is meant in the Word by the heart and soul, and by the heart and spirit; as where it is said, that "God should be loved with the whole heart, and with the whole soul," Matt. xxii. 35; and that "God would give a new heart, and a new spirit," Ezek. xi, 19, chap. xxxvi. 26, 27; by the heart is meant the will and its love, and by soul, and by the spirit, the understanding and its wisdom.

XI. THAT SO FAR AS ANY ONE SHUNS FALSE WITNESS OF EVEry Kind as Sins, so far he loves Truth.

87. By bearing false witness, in a natural sense, is not only meant to act in the character of a false witness, but also to lie and to defame. By bearing false witness in a spiritual sense is meant, to assert, and to persuade others, that what is false is true, and that what is evil is good, and vice versa: but in a supreme sense, by bearing false witness, is meant to blaspheme the Lord and the Word: these are what constitute the bearing false witness in a threefold sense. That these several kinds of false witness, make a one with every man who acts as a false witress, who tells a lie, and defames his neighbor, may appear from what was shown in the DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, in relation to the threefold sense of all that is contained in the Word, n. 5, 6, 7, and 57.

88. Inasmuch as a lie and truth are two opposites, it follows, that so far as any one shuns a lie as sin, so far he loves truth.

89. So far as any one loves truth, so far he is desirous of knowing it, and so far he is affected in heart when he finds it; nor can any other attain unto wisdom; and so far as he loves to do the truth, so far he is made sensible of the pleasantness of the light in which the truth is. The case is similar in respect to the subjects spoken of above; as in respect to sincerity and justice with him who shuns thefts of every kind; in respect to chastity and purity with him who shuns

adulteries of every kind; and in respect to love and charity with him who shuns murders of every kind, &c. But he who is in the opposites, knows not any thing concerning these virtues; when yet they contain in them every thing that is any thing.

90. It is truth which is meant by the seed in the field, concerning which the Lord speaks in these words: "A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some fell by the way-side, which was trodden under foot, and the fowls of heaven devoured it; and some fell upon stony ground, but as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture; and some fell into the midst of thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it; and other fell upon good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit, a hundred fold," Luke viii. 5 to 8, Matt. xiii. 3 to 8, Mark iv. 3 to 8. The sower here is the Lord, and the seed is his Word, consequently truth; the seed by the way-side is with those who take no concern about truths; the seed on stony ground is with those who take concern about truth, but not for its own sake, and thus not inwardly; the seed in the midst of thorns is with those who are in the concupiscences of evil; but the seed in the good ground is with those who love the truths which are in the Word from the Lord, and practise them in dependence on him, and thus bring forth fruit. That this is the meaning of the parable appears from the Lord's explication of it, Matt. xiii. 19 to 23, Mark iv. 14 to 20, Luke viii. 11 to 15. Hence it is evident, that the truth of the Word cannot take root with those who take no concern about truth; nor with those who love truth outwardly and not inwardly; nor with those who are in the concupiscences of evil; but with those in whom the concupiscences of evil are dispersed by the Lord. In these last, the seed, that is, truth, is rooted in their spiritual mind; concerning which, see above, n. 86.

91. It is a prevailing notion at this day, that salvation consists in believing this or that doctrine of the church, and has no connexion with doing the commandments of the decalogue, (which are, not to kill, not to commit adultery, not to steal, not to bear false witness, both in a confined and extended sense,) for it is urged, that works are not regarded, but faith from God; when nevertheless the truth is, that so far as any one is in those evils, so far he is without faith, as was shown above, n. 42 to 52. For consult your reason, and consider well, whether any murderer, adulterer, thief, and false witness, so long as he is in the concupiscence of such evils, can have faith;