heaven, having no heaven, and no love for the things which constitute heaven, in their hearts. Whatever truths they have ever known, they now reject and turn away from, because such truths condemn their evil loves. And so they immerse themselves altogether in falsities, for these are in agreement with their evils. Hence there are endless strifes and bickerings among them; for each one fights for his own falsity, and calls it truth. And the jarring discord and angry disputes among those who are in falsities, joined also with mutual hatred, derision and contempt, are what the gnashing of teeth corresponds to, and what it, therefore, spiritually denotes.
GEHENNA AND THE LAKE OF FIRE.
But the Bible speaks of a fire in the great Hereafter—of the fire of hell, the everlasting fire, a furnace of fire; a lake burning with fire and brimstone, etc. And in this hell-fire, or lake of fire, it is said that the wicked will have their part. And the rich man in the parable is represented as saying, "I am tormented in this flame;"—and this, after he had died and was buried.
I presume few intelligent Christians now-a-days think of interpreting such language according to the strict sense of the letter—as it was interpreted a hundred years ago. They will tell you that this language is figurative, though none of them may be able to tell precisely what was meant to be conveyed by it. But Swedenborg, in his great doctrine of Correspondence, has furnished the
