AC 7367, 7369 - Love of Self; AC 7378 - Exodus 8 - More on the Vastation of Falsities

AC 7367, 7369

The love of self reigns with a person,

that is, he is in the love of self,

when in what he thinks and does,
he does not regard his neighbor,
thus not the public,
still less the Lord,
but only himself and those who belong to him . . ..
 

In so far as a person is in the love of self,
so far he removes himself from the love of the neighbor;
consequently in so far as a person is in the love of self,

so far he removes himself from heaven,
for in heaven there is the love of the neighbor.
from this it also follows
that in so far a a person is in the love of self,
so far he is in hell,
for in hell there is the love of self.

AC 7378

In this chapter, in the internal sense,
the subject is continued of the vastation
of those who are in falsities,
and who infest the upright in the other life.
The first two degrees of vastation were described
in the preceding chapter,
also the third degree in part,
which was that they reasoned only from falsities.
Reasonings from mere falsities
are signified by "the frogs;"
which subject is continued in this chapter;
and then the fourth and fifth degrees of the vastation
of those who are in falsities
and infest the upright in the other life are treated of.
The fourth degree is
that they were in evils
which destroyed every good with them,
also whatever they had from natural good;
these are signified by the lice from the dust of the land.
The fifth degree is
that they were in falsities from these evils,
whereby every truth would be destroyed;
these are signified by the noisome fly.