§329 children 181
d. The fi rst or earliest church on this planet was the one described in the opening chapters of
Genesis, and this church was above all heavenly: 607 , 895 , 920 , 1121 , 1122 , 1123 , 1124 , 2896 , 4493 ,
8891 , 9942 , 10545. What those people are like in heaven: 1114 – 1125. There were various churches
after the Flood, referred to as the early church; together with some description: 1125 , 1126 , 1127 ,
1327 , 10355. What the people of the early church were like: 609 [ 607 ], 895. The early churches
were symbolic churches: 519 , 521 , 2896. There was a Word in the early church, but it has been
lost: 2897. What the early church was like as it began to decline: 1128. The difference between the
earliest church and the early church: 597 , 607 , 640 , 641 , 765 , 784 , 895 , 4493. The statutes, judg-
ments, and laws that were obligatory in the Jewish church were to some extent like those of the
early church: 4288 , 4449 , 10149. The Lord was the God of the earliest church and of the early
church, and was known as Jehovah: 1343 , 6846.
Ethiopia, Arabia, Libya, Egypt, Philistia as far as Tyre and Sidon, and the
land of Canaan on both sides of the Jordan.)d People then knew about
the Lord who was going to come, and they absorbed the good qualities of
faith; but nevertheless they did fall away and become idolaters. They are
in the front toward the left in a dark area, and are in a sorry state. They
have piping, monotone voices, and practically no rational thought. They
said they had been there for centuries and that sometimes they were let
out in order to be of some menial service to others.
This led me to refl ect on the many Christians who are not idolaters
outwardly, but are inwardly because they actually worship themselves
and the world, and at heart deny the Lord. This is the kind of lot that
awaits them in the other life.
It has been explained in § 308 above that the Lord’s church is spread 328
throughout the whole world. It is universal, then, and consists of all indi-
viduals who have lived in the virtue of thoughtfulness according to the
principles of their religions. In relation to the people outside it, the church
where the Word is and the Lord is known through it is like the heart and
lungs of the human body, which give life to all the organs and members
of the body according to their forms, locations, and connections.
Children in Heaven
329
S
OME people believe that only children born in the church get into
heaven, not children born outside the church. They say this is becausechildren born in the church are baptized and are introduced into the faith