The First State of Man After Death
The State of Exteriors
Introduction
There are three states that man passes through after death before he enters either heaven or hell.
The first state is the state of his exteriors, the second state the state of his interiors, and the third his state of preparation. These states man passes through in the world of spirits*.
There are some, however, that do not pass through them; but immediately after death are either taken up into heaven or cast into hell.
Those that are immediately taken up into heaven are those that have been regenerated in the world and thereby prepared for heaven. Those that have been so regenerated and prepared that they need simply to cast off natural impurities with the body are at once taken up by the angels into heaven. I have seen them so taken up soon after the hour of death.
On the other hand, those that have been inwardly wicked while maintaining an outward appearance of goodness, and have thus filled up the measure of their wickedness by artifices, using goodness as a means of deceiving—these are at once cast into hell.
I have seen some such cast into hell immediately after death, one of the most deceitful with his head downward and feet upward, and others in other ways.
But all these are few in comparison with those that are retained in the world of spirits, and are there prepared in accordance with Divine order for heaven or for hell.
Homework:
1. Take some time to reflect after each lesson (you may wish to write these down):
- note the thoughts and feelings that come up
- write these down in a diary and meditate on the intent behind them
- reflect on passages of scripture that come up
- consider how this may change your approach to spiritual life
*) Swedenborg describes a ‘world of spirits’, an intermediary ‘world’ which lies between Heaven and Hell. It is this part of the spiritual world through which we make our way to our eventual spiritual home.
This can be thought of as the ‘gulf’ referred to by the Lord in Luke:
“And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.” – Luke 12:26