AR 784 [2]
As regards purgatory,
. . . it is nothing but a Roman Catholic fiction
invented for the sake of material gains,
and that it neither exists nor can exist.
Every person comes first after death
into the world of spirits,
which is midway between heaven and hell,
and there he is prepared either for heaven or for hell,
each according to his life in the world.
Moreover, no one suffers any torment in that world,
but an evil person first meets with torment when,
after being prepared, he enters hell.
The world of spirits contains countless societies,
and found in them are joys like those on earth,
because the inhabitants there
are associated with people on earth,
who also are in between heaven and hell.
In the world of spirits their outward facades
are gradually stripped away
and their inner characters thus exposed,
and this until their reigning love is revealed,
which, being their life's love,
is the inmost one and predominant over
more external ones.
When this is revealed,
the person's real character becomes apparent,
and he is sent according to
the character of that love from the world of spirits
to his own place,
a good person to a place in heaven,
and an evil one to a place in hell.
AR 790
. . . the apostles and prophets meant here
are all in the Lord's church
who possess goods and truths from the Word,
as are meant also by the twelve tribes of Israel . . ..
The apostle Peter means the church's truth or faith;
the apostle James the church's charity;
and the apostle John the charitable works
of the people in the church.
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