V
HELL—THE CHOSEN HOME OF ALL WHO GO THERE.
THAT the reasonableness and truth of the New doctrine of hell may be more apparent, and the sharp contrast between it and the Old be more clearly seen—as well as its consistency with the perfect wisdom and love of God, something more must be said about that essential element of our humanity—freedom.
We have seen that the Old doctrine is based upon the literal teaching of Scripture wholly divorced from its living spirit; and that it is in harmony with the sensuous conceptions and sensuous philosophy of a by-gone Age; while the New is eminently spiritual, in strict accord with the spirit of the Word, and with the highest spiritual conceptions of the most enlightened minds of this New Age. The Old makes hell a place, and the casting into it a purely arbitrary and willful act of Omnipotence; the New declares it to be a certain state of life which each individual forms or develops for himself through the voluntary abuse of his own freedom and rationality.
Every one, therefore, who goes to hell, goes there as freely as the tippler goes to the gin-shop, or the profligate to the brothel.
Here is one born, we will suppose, and living in a miserable, barren, dreary region, where there is little to delight the eye or regale the senses. Yonder is a rich and fertile country, charming to look upon, abounding in fruits and flowers, singing birds and running brooks, splendid habitations and magnificent gardens, with everything therein that can charm or gratify the senses. But the way to that beautiful country is over a rough road—across deep ravines and miry places—and sometimes through turbulent waters and up steep and slippery acclivities. But there is no other road to that delightful region. Whoever would take up his abode there, must encounter all the difficulties of the way. He must climb the precipices, and wade the bogs, and wallow through the miry places, and ford the swiftly running streams.
And the dweller in the desert, we will suppose, knows all this. Now he may have his choice:—he may remain in the dreary region where he was born, or, if he is willing to endure the hardships of the journey, he may go to yonder region so rich and fair, and snuff its balmy breezes for the remainder of his life, and gaze upon its beautiful scenery, and inhale its sweet perfumes and taste its delicious fruits. The choice is offered him and he is free to choose. He may stay where he is, or go to the land of beauty and promise. But if he goes, he must endure all the fatigues and hardships of the journey. He must accept the conditions, else he can never reach there. The proprietor of the country uses no compulsion. He simply says: There it lies; and this is the way to it; and there is no other. Go or stay, as you please. But remember, the going involves labor and hardship. If you are willing to endure these, that beautiful country, or as much of it as you desire, shall be yours forever.
Let this desert region represent man's natural state, and the beautiful country yonder, the state which he is made capable of attaining through spiritual labor and conflict with the foes of his own household, and the illustration is complete. By rising out of or migrating from that state of life denoted by hell, we come into the state denoted by heaven. It is not by any change of place, nor through any exercise of immediate Divine mercy that this is effected. It is a purely spiritual migration. It is a passing out of a low or exterior spiritual condition, into a higher or more interior one.
And though this change of state is as much a matter of the individual's own volition as an act of natural migration, or a change of natural locality, and cannot, indeed, take place without the exercise of his own free choice, yet it has its laws or conditions; and without the observance of these the change cannot be effected. And no one can be forced to comply with the conditions. He is left to his own free choice. He may remain in Egypt, and delve there under the lash of his old task-masters, and get what comfort he can from the flesh-pots; or he may (if he choose) leave that country, and go to the land of promise—"a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley and vines and fig-trees and pomegranates; a land of oil, olive and honey."
But if he choose the latter course, he voluntarily places himself under the Lord's government and guidance, and may expect at times the chastening hand of paternal love to keep him in the right way. "Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the Lord thy God chasteneth thee." He must endure all the perils and hardships of the journey. He must go "through that terrible wilderness, wherein are fiery serpents and scorpions and drought—where there is no water."
But multitudes choose to remain and do remain in Egypt. They are not willing to accept the conditions on which alone they can rise out of their natural into a heavenly state of life. They are not willing to deny self, take up the cross, and follow the Lord in the regeneration. They are not willing to deny themselves the indulgence of their selfish and inordinately greedy propensities. They have no desire and make no effort to overcome these propensities, or to bring them into due subjection to higher and nobler loves. They prefer to follow the bent of their inclinations, and to do as their pride and love of self and greed of gain and lust of power prompt.
Multitudes of this class pass from the natural into the spiritual world every year. Some of them ultimate their supreme selfishness here, in words and deeds befitting devils—in falsehood, fraud, theft, blasphemy, adultery, murder and other abominations. But some of them are, outwardly, quite respectable people. Some of them are members of churches—professedly very religious; and at times, when they have some selfish end to serve, they are (on the outside, at least) kind and benevolent. But inwardly, at heart, they are supremely selfish. It is this class (and they are to be found among Christians today, as certainly as they were among the Jews eighteen hundred years ago) whom our Lord addresses when He says: "For ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also, outwardly, appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity." Every one's real character depends on the quality of his heart—on the nature, that is, of his ruling love. All whose ruling love is the love of self, are devils at heart, though they may be saints to outward appearance.
Now the Lord does not desire to punish these people in anyway—either in this world or in the world to come. He does not desire that they should suffer, nor permit them to suffer, except for their own ultimate good. He forever desires to improve their condition, and perpetually works toward this end. But He cannot overcome their inordinate self-love without their willing co-operation. Before He can do this, they must recognize this love as essential evil when it is allowed the mastery, and must compel themselves to deny its cravings and to obey the laws of neighborly love. So far is the Lord from hating these people, or from any desire that they should suffer one atom beyond what He knows will be for their own good. He pursues them with his infinitely wise and pitying love, in the other world as He had previously pursued them in this.
On their first entrance into the spiritual world, they find themselves attended and cared for by wise and loving angels. And the angels remain with them and perform for them every kind office in their power, so long as their company is agreeable, or so long as the new-comers are willing that they should remain. But soon their interior selfishness becomes active. Their internals come forth into their externals. Their devilish dispositions and feelings manifest themselves in corresponding looks, words and actions. Their interior and real character throws off whatever mask it had previously worn on earth, and reveals itself as it really is. The previously hidden or concealed quality of their hearts comes out there, and is openly and fully revealed. Agreeably to these words of the Lord: "For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid that shall not be known." Their externals are brought into perfect agreement with their internals; and they show by their looks, tones, words and actions, just what they are. They no longer have a divided mind; but they appear outwardly just what they are inwardly. The avenues in their souls through which they had previously held some communication with heaven, or retained some perception of heavenly things, are all closed—closed in tender mercy to them.
Is it not infinitely better for a wolf, that he be wolf all through, from inmosts to outmosts? Suppose the wolf possessed a kind of human internal, which enabled him to see the dreadful ferocity and cruelty of his nature, and filled him with keenest self-reproach every time he invaded the sheep-fold. Suppose he were human inside, but wolf outside; yet the wolfish propensities were so strong and overmastering that they could not be held in check. Can we not see what unutterable misery that poor creature would endure?
It is from tenderest mercy to the selfish and inwardly evil, therefore, that, in the great Hereafter the heavens of their minds are closed; that their moral sense, or their perception of right and wrong, is completely benumbed or lost; and that their externals are reduced to a state of perfect agreement with their internals. When this takes place, they no longer desire to remain in company with the angels. The angelic sphere becomes extremely disagreeable to them—painfully so; and they withdraw from it as instinctively as owls and bats withdraw from the light of day. And then they gravitate each one to the society of spirits whose character is nearest like his own. For in the hells as in the heavens there are innumerable societies, some in one kind of evil and some in another; and some more desperately wicked than others—for there are various kinds and degrees of wickedness in the other world, as there are in this. And the great law of spiritual affinity, which is as universal and constant in the spiritual world as the law of gravitation is in this, tends to bring those of like character together, and to hold them together.
Every evil spirit, therefore, soon as his interior character is fully developed, gravitates with unfailing certainty toward those who are most like himself. Nor does he go reluctantly among his like; he goes there willingly, gladly, joyfully, as thieves and profligates on earth go among those of like character. He seeks their society in perfect freedom, because he finds it congenial; because he prefers it to the society of the good and wise; and he prefers it, because they are like himself. With them he feels more at home, more free, more contented, more happy than any where else;—and it is the Lord's ceaseless desire and effort to make every one as happy as possible. He does not force a single individual to go where he does not wish to go in the Hereafter. And those who go into any of the societies of hell, go in freedom and from choice. They go there because they find such society more congenial than that of the angels. If forced to live in heaven, or in the society of the wise and good, they would be out of their proper element; nay, they would be unspeakably miserable. It would be far more cruel than it would be to compel persons whose eyes are diseased, to dwell in the bright blaze of the noon-day sun. Accordingly Swedenborg says:
"Spirits who come from the world into the other life, desire nothing more than to be admitted into heaven. Almost all seek to gain admittance, imagining that heaven consists only in being introduced and received. Therefore also, because they desire it, they are conveyed to some society of the lowest heaven; but when they who are in the love of self and the world approach the threshold of that heaven, they begin to be so distressed and tormented interiorly, that they feel hell in themselves rather than heaven. Therefore they cast themselves down headlong thence; nor do they find rest until they come into hell among their like.
"It has often happened also that such spirits desired to know what heavenly joy is; and when they heard that it is in the interiors of the angels, they have wished to have it communicated to themselves. Therefore this also was granted,—for whatever a spirit desires, who is not yet in heaven or in hell, is granted him if it be beneficial. But when the communication was made, they began to be tortured to such a degree that they knew not into what posture to screw their bodies on account of the pain. I saw them force their heads down even to their feet, cast themselves upon the ground, and there twist themselves into folds, in the manner of a serpent; and this by reason of the inward agony. Such was the effect which heavenly delight produced upon those who were in delights from the love of self and the world." (Heaven and Hell n. 400.)
Again he says:
"Most of those who go from the Christian world into the other life, carry with them the belief that they are to be saved by immediate mercy. But when they are examined, they are found to believe that to come into heaven is merely to be admitted; and that those who are admitted are in heavenly joy,—being totally unacquainted with the nature of heaven and of heavenly joy. Wherefore they are told that heaven is not denied to any one by the Lord; and that they can be admitted if they wish, and tarry there as long as they please. They who have desired this, have also been admitted; but when they reached the first threshold, they were seized with such anguish of heart, from the breathing upon them of heavenly heat which is the love in which the angels are, and from the influx of heavenly light which is divine truth, that they experienced infernal torment instead of heavenly joy; and in consequence of the shock they cast themselves headlong thence. Thus were they instructed by living experience, that heaven cannot be given to any one from immediate mercy."—Ibid. 525.
We see this great law of affinity exemplified here on earth—among animals as well as the human race. Those of the same species or general characteristics, always prefer the society of each other. Beavers love to be with beavers, bears with bears, wolves with wolves, mice with mice. None of these creatures feel quite contented or at home in the society of animals of a totally different nature.
And so with the members of the human family. Not only do the evil, when left to act in perfect freedom, shun the society of the good, but they group themselves together according to the kinds and degrees of wickedness in which they are. Pirates choose the society of pirates; thieves the society of thieves; counterfeiters the society of counterfeiters; tipplers, gamblers, burglars, profligates, the society of persons of their own profession—persons most like themselves. So obvious is this truth, that it has passed into the proverbs, universally accepted, "Birds of a feather flock together;" and "A man is known by the company he keeps."
There can be no doubt, then, that this law of affinity is one of the unchangeable laws of the moral universe; and it must, therefore, govern in the arrangements of all in the spiritual world—the evil as well as the good. It must group congenial spirits into innumerable associations. And a most wise and beneficent provision it is, too;—a provision whereby every human being, whatever be his character, shall have a home in the Hereafter among just that class of persons whose society he prefers and finds congenial to his tastes.
But the societies of the hells, selfish and wicked as they are, are under a government as well as those of the heavens. And this government, too, is provided by the Lord, and is most wisely and mercifully adapted to their condition and wants. It is provided for the best good of the devils themselves, as well as for the good of all other parts of the moral universe. It is precisely such a government as they require; the only one, indeed, that is suited to their state—a government not of love, but of fear and force; for there is no love of the neighbor in their hearts, and therefore no desire to promote the common good. Hence their violent and malignant passions can only be restrained by fear of punishment. Says Swedenborg:
"All the inhabitants of hell are governed by fears; some by fears implanted in the world, which still retain their influence but because these fears are not sufficient, and likewise lose their force by degrees, they are governed by fear of punishments, and this fear is the principal means of deterring them from doing evil. The punishments in hell are various, more gentle or more severe according to the nature of the evils to be restrained. For the most part, the more malignant who excel in cunning and artifice, and are able to keep the rest in a state of submission and slavery by punishments and the terror thereby inspired, are set over the others; but these governors dare not go beyond the limits prescribed to them. It is to be observed that the fear of punishment is the only means of restraining the violence and fury of those in the hells. There is no other." (Heaven and Hell, n. 543.)
Who cannot see that this is the very best kind of government for those in hell—the only kind, indeed, that is suited to their state and needs? We see that punishment there has a beneficent design and a beneficent tendency. It is not directly from the Lord, though it results from the unfailing operation of laws that He has established.
"Wherefore," says Swedenborg, "when evil is done from an evil heart, then, because it casts away from itself all protection from the Lord, infernal spirits rush upon him who does the evil, and punish him. This may be illustrated in some measure by crimes and their punishments in the world, where also they are linked together; for the laws prescribe some punishment for every crime, so that whoever rushes into crime, rushes also into the punishment thereof. The only difference is, that in the world crime may be concealed; but in the other life concealment is impossible. From these considerations it may be seen that the Lord does evil to no one; and that the case herein is similar to what we find in the world, where not the king, nor the judge, nor the law, is the cause of punishment to the guilty, since neither of them is the cause of the crime committed by the evildoer." (Ibid, n. 550.)
Look, now, at the intrinsic reasonableness of this New doctrine of hell; and compare, or rather contrast it with that believed and taught a hundred years ago. While our reason protests against the Old as utterly absurd, it freely and cordially accepts the New. The Old is a purely sensuous doctrine, in accordance with a sensuous age, a sensuous philosophy, and a sensuous interpretation of holy Scripture; while the New is eminently spiritual, in harmony with the conceptions of spiritually minded men, with the higher spiritual philosophy, and the spiritual interpretation of the Divine Word. The Old is arbitrary—lying quite outside of the domain of law and order; while the New is seen to be in perfect accord with the known laws of the human soul—the inevitable result, indeed, of the violation of these laws. The Old presents God as a very monster of cruelty; while the New exhibits Him as a wise and tender and loving Father, forever pursuing his rebellious children into the lowest depths of sin and suffering; clasping his arms around even the devils in hell; providing a congenial home for all in the great Hereafter; and just such a home as each one, by the life that he has voluntarily formed, strengthened and confirmed, is fitted to enjoy, and will himself freely choose.
Who, that is not utterly blinded by prejudice, can fail to see that this New doctrine, as compared with the Old and once generally accepted view, is as the light of noon-day compared with the darkness of midnight!