340 HEAVEN and HELL §558b
c. People who do not know what loving their neighbor is think that everyone is their neighbor
and that everyone who is in need ought to be helped: 6704. They also believe that we are our own
neighbor, and that love toward our neighbor therefore begins with us: 6933. People who love
themselves above all, who therefore are ruled by love for themselves, also begin their love for their
neighbor with themselves: 8120 [ 6710 ]. An explanation of the way in which we are our own neigh-
bors: 6933 – 6938. However, people who are Christians and who love God above all begin their
love toward their neighbor with the Lord, because he is to be loved above all: 6706 , 6711 , 6819 ,
6824. There are as many different kinds of neighbor as there are different kinds of good from the
Lord, and good is to be done differently toward each individual depending on the quality of that
individual’s state, which is a matter of Christian prudence: 6707 , 6709 , 6710 [ 6711 ], 6818. There
are countless such differences; so the pre-Christian people, who knew what the neighbor is, sorted
thoughtful acts into classes and gave them names that enabled them to know in what way one or
another person was their neighbor and how they were to be helped prudently: 2417 , 6629 [ 6628 ],
6705 , 7259 – 7262. The doctrine in the pre-Christian churches was a doctrine of thoughtfulness
toward one’s neighbor, which was the source of their wisdom: 2417 , 2385 , 3419 , 3420 , 4844 , 6628
[ 6629 ].they reach out to all who ally with them, with progressively less intensity
depending on the love that unites the others with them. They regard peo-
ple outside this group as worthless, and people who offer opposition to
them and their evildoing they regard as enemies. It does not matter what
they are actually like, whether they are wise or upright or honest or fair.
A spiritual love of their neighbor, though, begins with the Lord, and
spreads out from him as its center to all who are united to him by love
and faith. Its spread depends on the quality of their love and faith.c
We can see from this that a love of our neighbor that begins with
ourselves is the opposite of a love of our neighbor that begins with the
Lord. The former comes from evil because it comes from what we claim
as our own; while the latter comes from what is good because it comes
from the Lord, who is good itself. We can also see that a love of our
neighbor that comes from us and from our self-image is a physical love,
while a love of our neighbor that comes from the Lord is heavenly.
In a word, when we are absorbed in love for ourselves it constitutes
our head, and heavenly love constitutes the feet we stand on. If heavenly
love does not serve us, we trample it underfoot. This is why people who
are being thrown into hell look as though they are diving in headfi rst,
with their heads down and their feet toward heaven (see above, § 548 ).559 By nature, self-love runs wild to the extent that its reins are loosened,
that is, to the extent that the outward restraints constituted by fears of
the law and its penalties, fears of losing reputation, esteem, profi t, posi-
tion, and life are taken away. It runs wild even to the extent of wanting