mpany with angels, and also to
talk with those who are in hell, and this now for some years,
sometimes continuously from morning until evening, and thus be
informed about heaven and hell. This has been permitted that the man
of the church may no longer continue in his erroneous belief about
the resurrection at the time of judgment, and about the state of the
soul in the meanwhile, also about angels and the devil. As this
belief is a belief in what is false it involves the mind in darkness,
and with those who think about these things from their own
intelligence it induces doubt and at length denial, for they say in
heart, "How can so vast a heaven, with so many constellations and
with the sun and moon, be destroyed and dissipated; and how can the
stars which are larger than the earth fall from heaven to the earth;
and can bodies eaten up by worms, consumed by corruption, and
scattered to all the winds, be gathered together again to their
souls; and where in the meantime is the soul, and what is it when
deprived of the senses it had in the body?" [3] With many other like
things, which being incomprehensible cannot be believed, and which
destroy the belief of many in the life of the soul after death, and
their belief in heaven and hell, and with these other matters
pertaining to the faith of the church. That this belief has been
destroyed is evident from its being said, "Who has ever come to us
from heaven and told us that there is a heaven? What is hell? is
there any? What is this about man's being tormented with fire to
eternity? What is the day of judgment? has it not been expected in
vain for ages?" with other things that involve a denial of
everything. [4] Therefore lest those who think in this way-as many do
who from their worldly wisdom are regarded as erudite and
learned-should any longer confound and mislead the simple in faith
and heart, and induce infernal darkness respecting God and heaven and
eternal life, and all else that depends on these, the interiors of my
spirit have been opened by the Lord, and I have thus been permitted
to talk with all after their decease with whom I was ever acquainted
in the life of the body-with some for days, with some for months, and
with some for a year, and also with so many others that I should not
exaggerate if I should say a hundred thousand; many of whom were in
heaven, and many in hell. I have also talked with some two days after
their decease, and have told them that thei