tes hell in man, just as love constitutes heaven in
him, so the Lord teaches,
"If thou shalt offer thy gift upon the altar, and shalt there remember
that thy brother hath aught against thee, leave there thy gift before
the altar, and go; first be reconciled to they brother, and then coming
offer thy gift. Be well disposed toward thine adversary whiles thou art
in the way with him; lest haply the adversary deliver thee to the judge,
and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
Verily, I say unto thee, Thou shalt not come out thence till thou hast
paid the uttermost farthing" (Matt. v. 23-26).
To be delivered to the judge, and by the judge to the officer, and by
him to be cast into prison, depicts the state of the man who is in
hatred after death from his having been in hatred against his brother in
the world, "prison" meaning hell, and "paying the uttermost farthing"
signifying the punishment that is called the fire everlasting. (A.E.,
n. 1015.)
Since hatred is infernal fire it is clear that it must be put away
before love, which is heavenly fire, can flow in, and by light from
itself give life to man; and this infernal fire can in no wise be put
away unless man knows whence hatred is and what it is, and afterward
turns away from it and shuns it. There is in every man by inheritance a
hatred against the neighbor; for every man is born into a love of self
and of the world, and in consequence conceives hatred, and from it is
inflamed against all who do not make one with him and favor his love,
especially against those who oppose his lusts. For no one can love
himself above all things and love the Lord at the same time; neither can
anyone love the world above all things and love the neighbor at the same
time; since no one can serve two masters at the same time without
despising and hating the one while he honors and loves the other.
Hatred is especially in those who are in a love of ruling over all; with
others it is unfriendliness.
It shall be told what hatred is. Hatred has in itself a fire which is
an endeavor to kill man. That fire is manifested in anger. There is a
seeming hatred and consequent anger in the good against evil; but this
is not hatred, but an aversion to evil; neither is it anger, but a zeal
for good in which heavenly fire inwardly lies concealed. For the good
turn away from what is evil, and are seemingly angry at the neighbor, in
order that they may remove the
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