160. Afterwards I talked with those spirits about their world. All spirits have this knowledge, when their natural or outer memory is laid open by the Lord; for they bring this with them from the world, but it is only laid open at the Lord's good pleasure. Then the spirits reported about the world they came from, saying that when they receive permission they appear to the inhabitants of their world, and talk with them as if they were living people. This comes about by their being allowed into their natural or outer memory, so that they can recall what they thought while living in the world. The inhabitants then have their inner sight, the sight of their spirits, opened, so that the spirits become visible to them. They added that the inhabitants are unaware that they are not people in their world, and it only dawns on them they are not, when the spirits suddenly disappear from view.
I told them that the same thing happened in our world in ancient times, in front, for instance of Abraham, Sarah, Lot, the inhabitants of Sodom, Manoah and his wife, Joshua, Mary, Elizabeth and the Prophets as a class. The Lord also appeared in the same way, and those who saw Him did not know that He was not a man in the world, until He revealed Himself. This, I said, rarely happened at the present time, because people should not be forced to believe by such means. For a forced belief, such as is induced by miracles, does not stick, and could also be damaging to those who might have belief established in them by means of the Word without any coercion.
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