Spiritual Experiences (Odhner) n. 860

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860. Later I said to him, "Do you believe you are a human being, dressed in clothes, and thus a person on earth?" And he touched what seemed to be his clothing he thought he had on, he touched his hands, which he believed he had, and I asked where he stood, whether he had feet; he said that he did. But when he was asked what ground it was that he was standing on, whether it was not in a realm above the earth, he acknowledged that it was, so I brought him to realize whether these things are only fallacies of the senses, and illusion, because he was a spirit. Being thus convinced, he wanted to flee away, and said that he had been persuaded by the others to behave in this way. So he was able to recognize that they were mere sensory fallacies, of which there are thousands, all false; so that if we only believed what we understand, we would believe only things that are false, to speak only of worldly and bodily matters. How then could anyone say that he wants to believe nothing in regard to spiritual and heavenly matters, which he does not understand, when they are very far, in fact the farthest removed from the senses - [knowing] also that unless a person believes those things which are true, and is thus in the way of truth, he can by no means be admitted into heaven? 1748, 18 February.


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