39. I once saw some spirits from our world in company with spirits from Mercury, and heard them conversing. The spirits of our world asked them among other things, in whom they believed. They replied that they believed in God, but when asked further about the God they believed in, they were unwilling to answer, since it was not their habit to answer questions directly. Then the spirits from Mercury in their turn asked the spirits from our world in whom they believed. They said, in the Lord God. The spirits of Mercury then said that they could perceive that the others did not believe in any God, but were in the habit of saying they believed, while still not believing. (The spirits of Mercury have highly developed powers of perception, due to their continually using these powers to seek out what others know.) The spirits from our world belonged to those who in the world made a profession of faith in accordance with the teaching of the church, but still did not live by their faith. In the next life those who do not live by their faith lose it, because it is not a part of the person.# On hearing this they fell silent, because the dawning of perception then granted to them made them acknowledge that this was so. # Those who make a profession of faith as the result of teaching, without living the life of faith, have no faith at all (AC 3865, 7766, 7778, 7790, 7950, 8094). Their inner levels are opposed to the truths of faith, though in the world they are unaware of this (AC 7790. 7950).