AC 8002 - "Lodgers"; AC 8020 - When We Read His Word

AC 8002 [1-2]

That a "lodger" denotes what is good
from mere natural disposition,
is because lodgers were those
who came from other peoples, and were inhabitants,
and dwelt with the Israelites and the Jews in one house;
and "to dwell together" signifies to be together in good.
But because, as before said,
they were from peoples out of the church,
the good which is signified
is not the good of the church,
but is a good not of the church.
This good is called "natural good,"
because it is hereditary from birth.
Moreover, some have such good
in consequence of ill health and feebleness.
This good is meant by the good
which they do who are signified by "lodgers."

This good is utterly different from the good of the church,
for by means of the good of the church
conscience is formed in a person,
which is the plane into which the angels flow,
and through which there is fellowship with them;
whereas by natural good
no plane for the angels can be formed.
Those who are in this good
do good in the dark from blind instinct;
not in the light of truth by virtue of influx from heaven;
and therefore in the other life they are carried away,
like chaff by the wind . . ..

AC 8020

If there were not something spiritual
in the whole and in each detail,
the angels who are with a person
when he reads the Word
would comprehend but little,
indeed scarcely anything,
from the Word;
for the angels comprehend spiritually
all things that have been described in the Word
in a natural manner.