Spiritual Life and the Word of God

is, "Thou shalt not p

means every quality by which God is worshipped. For God is in His own quality, and is His own quality. His essence is Divine love, an

h God, and the Wo

uine truth and good from the Word;

," "Redeemer," "Creator," "Former," "Maker," "King," and "the Holy One of Israel," "the Rock" and "the Stone of Israel," "Shiloh," "Almighty," "David," "Prophet," "Son of God," and "Son of Man," and so on. All these names are names of the one God, who is the Lord; and yet where they occur in th

ed according to his quality; and the quality of God or the Lord is everything that is from Him by which He is worshipped. For this reason, since no Divine quality of the Lord is acknowledged in hell the Lord cannot be n

is profaned when its holiness is denied, which is done when it is despised, rejected, and treated contemptuously. When this is done heaven is closed and man is left to hell. For as the Word is the only me

ich is the Word in the spiritual sense, is what makes heaven; which makes clear that he who denies the one or the other denies that which is the all of heaven and from which heaven is and exists, and thus deprives himself of communication and consequen

that is outer and not at the same time inner. Inner profanation is wrought by the life, outer by the speech. Inner profanation, which is wrought by the life, becomes outer also, or of the speech, after death. For then everyone thinks and wills, and so far as it can be permitted, speaks and acts, according to his life; thus not as he did in the world. In the world man is wont [accustomed], for the world's sake and to gain reputation, to speak and

lation is the Word. Abstinence from profaning the holiness of the Word must be from the heart, and not merely from the mouth. Those who abstain from the heart live from religion; but those who abstain merely from the mouth do not live from religion, for t