134. II. NO ONE IS REFORMED BY VISIONS AND BY CONVERSATIONS WITH THE DEAD, BECAUSE THEY COMPEL. Visions are of two kinds, Divine and diabolical. Divine visions are produced by means of representatives in heaven, and diabolical visions by means of magic in hell. There are also fantastic visions, which are the delusions of a distracted mind. Divine visions, which as has been said, are produced by representatives in heaven, are such as the prophets had, who were not in the body but in the spirit when they were in them; for visions cannot appear to anyone in a state of bodily wakefulness. When, therefore, they appeared to the prophets it is said also that they were then in the spirit, as is evident from the following passages:
Ezekiel says: The spirit took me up, and brought me in a vision (of God), in the Spirit of God, into Chaldea, to them of the captivity. So the vision that I had seen went up from me. Ezek. xi. 1, 24. Again: That the spirit lifted him up between the earth and the heaven, and brought him in the visions of God to Jerusalem, viii. 3. In like manner he was in a vision of God or in the spirit when he saw four living creatures, which were cherubim, i; x. As also when he saw the new temple and the new earth, and the angel measuring them, xl.-xlviii. He says: That he was then in the visions of God, xl. 2, 26. And, That he was in the spirit, xliii. 5. [2] Zechariah was in a similar state, When he saw a man riding among the myrtle trees. Zech. i. 8. When he saw the four horns [i. 18]; and a man in whose hand was a measuring line, ii. 1, 3. When he saw a candlestick and two olive trees, iv. 1. When he saw a flying roll and an ephah, v. 1-6. When he saw four chariots coming out from between four (A.V. two) mountains and horses, vi. i. Daniel was in a similar state, When he saw four beasts coming up from the sea. Dan. vi. (A.V. vii.) 1. And when he saw the combat between the ram and the he-goat, viii. 1. That he saw these things in a vision of his spirit is stated, vii. 5, 2, 7, 13; viii. 2; x. 1, 7, 8. And that the angel Gabriel was seen by him in a vision, ix. 21. [3] John also was in a vision of the spirit when he saw the things which he has described in the Revelation:
As when he saw seven candlesticks and in the midst of them the Son of Man. Rev. i. 12-16. When he saw a throne in heaven, and One sitting on the throne, and four animals which were cherubim round about it, iv. When he saw the book of life taken by the Lamb, v. When he saw horses going out from the book, vi. When he saw seven angels with trumpets, viii. When he saw the bottomless pit opened, and locusts going out of it, ix. When he saw the dragon, and his combat with Michael, xii. When he saw two beasts, one rising up out of the sea, and the other out of the earth, xiii. When he saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet coloured beast, xviii. And Babylon destroyed, xviii. When he saw a white horse and Him that sat upon it, xviii. (A.V. xix.). When he saw a new heaven and a new earth, and the Holy Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, xxi. And when he saw the river of the water of life, xxii. It is stated that he saw these things in a vision of the spirit, i. 11 (A.V. 10); iv. 2; v. 1; vi. 1; xxi. 12 (A.V. 10). [4] Such were the visions that appeared from heaven, before the sight of their spirit and not before the sight of their body. Such visions do not appear at the present day; for if they did they would not be understood, because they are produced by means of representatives, the particulars of which signify internal things of the Church and spiritual truths of heaven. It is also foretold by Daniel xi. (A.V. ix) 24, that these visions would cease when the Lord came into the world. However, infernal visions have sometimes appeared, induced by fanatical and visionary spirits who, from the madness which possessed them, called themselves the Holy Spirit. But these spirits have now been gathered together by the Lord and cast into a hell separate from the hells of others. From these things it is clear that no one can be reformed by any other visions than those which are recorded in the Word. There are also fantastic visions, but these are mere illusions of a distracted mind.
134a.* That no one is reformed by conversations with the dead is evident from the words of the Lord concerning the rich man in hell and Lazarus in Abraham's bosom; for the rich man said:
I pray thee father Abraham, that thou wouldest send Lazarus (A.V. him) to my father's house:
For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him: They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. And he said: Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. And he said unto him: If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rose from the dead. Luke xvi. 27-31. Conversation with the dead would have the same effect as miracles, about which something has just been said above, namely, that a man might indeed be persuaded and driven to worship for a short time. But as this deprives him of rationality and at the same time shuts in his evils, as was said above, this spell or internal restraint is loosed, and the evils that have been shut in break out with blasphemy and profanation. This happens, however, only when spirits induce upon the mind some religious dogma; and this is never done by any good spirit, still less by any angel of heaven. * This section is numbered "134" in the Original Edition.