232.
The reverse befalls those who follow a doctrine of false religion in their reading of the Word, and the more so in the case of those who prove that doctrine from the Word, having in view then their own
glory and worldly wealth. For these people the truths of the Word are as if plunged in the shades of night, while falsities are as if in daylight. They read the truths, but do not see them; and if
they see their shadow, they falsify them. These are those of whom the Lord says that they have eyes and do not see, they have ears and do not understand (Matt. 13:14, 15). Thus their enlightenment in
spiritual matters, which concern the church, becomes purely natural, and their mental vision like that of one in bed who on waking sees ghosts, or like a sleepwalker, who believes he is awake when he
is really asleep.