separated from goodwill is, and what faith united to goodwill is? I will
express it in visual terms for you.”
“Please do!” I answered.
The angel said, “Instead of faith and goodwill, think of light and
heat, and you will see them clearly. Faith in its essence is truth that
relates to wisdom. Goodwill in its essence is affection that relates to
love. In heaven, truth related to wisdom is light and affection related
to love is heat. The light and heat that angels live in are, in essence,
exactly this. As a result, you can clearly see what faith is when it is sep-
arated from goodwill and what it is when it is united to goodwill.
“When faith is separated from goodwill, it is like the light in winter.
When faith is united to goodwill, it is like the light in spring. The light
in winter, which is a light separated from heat, is united to coldness;
therefore it completely strips trees of their leaves, kills grass, makes
ground as hard as rock, and freezes water. Light in spring, which is a light
united to heat, causes trees to grow, first producing leaves, then flowers,
and finally fruit; it also unlocks and softens the ground so that it pro-
duces grass, plants, flowers, and shrubs; and it melts ice, so that water
flows from its sources again.
[ 2 ] “The situation with faith and goodwill is absolutely identical.
Faith separated from goodwill kills everything. Faith united to goodwill
brings everything to life. This killing and this bringing to life are vividly
visible in this spiritual world of ours, because here faith islight and good-
will isheat. Where faith has been united to goodwill there is a paradise of
gardens, flower beds, and lawns; the more united faith and goodwill are,
the more pleasing the gardens are. Where faith has been separated from
goodwill, there is not even grass; the only greenness comes from thorns
and brambles.”
At that point there were some members of the clergy not far away.
The angel called them “justifiers and sanctifiers of people through faith
alone” and also “arcanists.” We said the same things to the members of
the clergy and added enough proof that they could see that what we said
was true. But when we asked them, “Isn’t that so?” they turned away and
said, “We didn’t hear you.” So we cried out to them and said, “Then keep
listening to us,” but they put both hands over their ears and shouted,
“We don’t wantto hear you!”
[ 3 ] Afterward I spoke to the angel about faith alone. I said that living
experience had led me to understand that faith alone is like the light in
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