rich are not; some
that the rich and the poor are equally received; some that the rich
can be received only by giving up their wealth and becoming like the
poor; and proofs are found in the Word for all of these opinions. But
those who make a distinction in regard to heaven between the rich and
the poor do not understand the Word. In its interiors the Word is
spiritual, but in the letter it is natural; consequently those who
understand the Word only in accordance with its literal sense, and
not according to any spiritual sense, err in many respects,
especially about the rich and the poor; for example, that it is as
difficult for the rich to enter into heaven as for a camel to pass
through the eye of a needle; and that it is easy for the poor because
they are poor, since it is said,

Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of the
heavens (Matt. 5:3; Luke 6:20, 21).

But those who know anything of the spiritual sense of the Word think
otherwise; they know that heaven is for all who live a life of faith
and love, whether rich or poor. But who are meant in the Word by "the
rich" and who by "the poor" will be told in what follows. From much
conversation and interaction with angels it has been granted me to
know with certainty that the rich enter heaven just as easily as the
poor, and that no man is shut out of heaven on account of his wealth,
or received into heaven on account of his poverty. Both the rich and
the poor are in heaven, and many of the rich in greater glory and
happiness than the poor.

358. It should be said to begin with that a man may acquire riches
and accumulate wealth as far as opportunity is given, if it is not
done by craft or fraud; that he may enjoy the delicacies of food and
drink if he does not place his life therein; that he may have a
palatial dwelling in accord with his condition, have interaction with
others in like condition, frequent places of amusement, talk about
the affairs of the world, and need not go about like a devotee with a
sad and sorrowful countenance and drooping head, but may be joyful
and cheerful; nor need he give his goods to the poor except so far as
affection leads him; in a word, he may live outwardly precisely like
a man of the world; and all this will be no obstacle to his entering
heaven, provided that inwardly in himself he thinks about God as he
ought, and acts sincerely and justly in respect to his neighbor. For
a man is such as his affection a