456. [verse 20] 'And the rest of the men who were not slain in these plagues' signifies those in the Church of the Reformed who are not in this manner spiritually dead as a result of visionary reasonings and the love of self, the pride of self-intelligence and the consequent lusts, like those before mentioned, and yet have made faith alone the head of their religion. By 'the rest of the men' are understood those who are not such, but yet make faith alone the head of their religion; by 'who were not slain' are signified those who are not in this manner spiritually dead; and by the 'plagues' in which [they were not slain] are understood the love of self, the pride of self-intelligence, and the lusts of evil and untruth therefrom, which three are signified by the 'fire' smoke' and 'sulphur' treated of above (n. 452, 453). That 'plagues' signify such things will be seen below. But first something shall be said concerning this [group of persons]. [2] * It has been given me to see them also, and to speak with them. They live in the northern quarter towards the west, where some of them have huts with roofs, and some without roofs. Their beds are of rushes, their garments of goats' hair. In the light inflowing out of heaven there is a leaden and also a numb appearance in their faces. This is because they know nothing derived from religion, except that there is a God, that there are three Persons, that Christ endured the cross for them, and that it is faith alone by means of which they are saved, as well as by means of the worship in church buildings, and prayers at appointed times. To the rest of the things that are of religion and the doctrine thereof they pay no attention; for the worldly and corporeal things with which their minds have been crammed and choked stop up their ears to them. Among them are many of the presbyters, whom I asked, 'When you are reading in the Word of works, of love and charity, of fruits, of precepts of life, of repentance, in a word, of things to be done, what are you thinking?' They replied that they did indeed read them and so saw them, but yet they did not see because they kept their minds on faith alone, and consequently that all these things are faith, and that they did not think them to be effects of faith. That there is such ignorance and stupidity with those who have once embraced faith alone and made it everything of their religion is scarcely credible; nevertheless it has been granted [me] to know it by much experience. [3] That by 'plagues' are signified the spiritual plagues by means of which a man dies in spirit or soul is plain from these passages:-