Arcana Coelestia (Potts) n. 5841

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5841. I shall sin to my father all the days. That this signifies a turning away, and thus that there would be no good of the church, is evident from the signification of "sinning," as being disjunction (see n. 5229, 5474), thus a turning away; and if the good of the external church which Judah represents, averts itself from the good of the internal church represented by Israel, there is no longer any good of the church. The conjunction itself causes that there is good from which is the church. With these two goods, of the internal church and of the external, the case is this. The good of the internal church, or internal good, produces the good of the external church, or external good, by influx; and because it is so, internal good elevates to itself external good in order that this may look to it, and through it upward toward the Lord. This takes place when there is conjunction; but if there is disjunction, external good turns itself away, and looks downward, and thus perishes. It is this turning away which is signified by "I shall sin to my father all the days."


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