SPIRITUAL LIFE AND THE WORD OF GOD by EMANUEL SWEDENBORG (1688-1772) Extracted from the Apocalypse Explained Contents Part First--THE SPIRITUAL LIFE I. How Spiritual Life is Acquired II. Goods of Charity III. Shunning Evils IV. Cleansing the Inside V. What Religion Consists In Part Second--THE COMMANDMENTS I. The First Commandment II. The Second Commandment III. The Third Commandment IV. The Fourth Commandment V. The Fifth Commandment VI. The Sixth Commandment VII. The Seventh Commandment VIII. The Eighth Commandment IX. The Ninth and Tenth Commandments X. The Commandments in General Part Third--PROFANATIONS OF GOOD AND TRUTH I. Goods and Truths and Their Opposites II. The First Kind of Profanation III. The Second Kind of Profanation IV. The Third Kind of Profanation V. The Fourth and Fifth Kinds of Profanation Part Fourth--THE DIVINE WORD I. The Holiness of the Word II. The Lord is the Word III. The Lord's Words Spirit and Life IV. Influx and Correspondence V. The Three Senses of the Word VI. Conjunction by the Word VII. The Sense of the Letter Part First--THE SPIRITUAL LIFE I. How Spiritual Life is Acquired Spiritual life is acquired solely by a life according to the commandments in the Word. These commandments are given in summary in the Decalogue, namely, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet the goods of others. These commandments are the commandments that are to be done, for when a man does these his works are good and his life is spiritual, and for the reason that so far as a man shuns evils and hates them so far he wills and loves goods. For there are two opposite spheres that surround man, one from hell, the other from heaven; from hell a sphere of evil and falsity therefrom, from heaven a sphere of good and of truth therefrom; and these spheres do [not immediately] affect the body, but they affect the minds of men, for they are spiritual spheres, and thus are affections that belong to the love. In the midst of these man is set; therefore so far as he approaches the one, so far he withdraws from the other. This is why so far as a man shuns evils and hates them, so far he wills and loves goods and the truths therefrom; for no one can at the same time serve two masters, for he will hate the one and will love the other. (Matt. vi. 24).