Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 8051

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8051. 'And nothing made with yeast shall be eaten' means that they shall not make anything that has been falsified their own. This is clear from the meaning of 'eating' as making one's own, dealt with in 3168, 3513 (end), 3596, 4745; and from the meaning of 'yeast' as falsity, dealt with in 2342, 7906, so that 'something made with yeast' is something falsified. So far as making falsity and making something falsified one's own are concerned, it should be recognized that no falsity as such or anything falsified as such can be made his own by anyone who is governed by good and therefore wishes to know the truth, only by someone who is ruled by evil and therefore has no wish to know the truth. The reason why one who is governed by good and therefore wishes to know the truth cannot make falsity as such his own is that he thinks in a proper way about God, about God's kingdom, and about spiritual life, and therefore uses falsity in such a way that it is not at odds with them but somehow in agreement. Thus he softens it, and none of its harshness or hardness enters his ideas. If this were not so scarcely anyone could be saved, for falsities are more prevalent than truths. Yet it should be recognized that people governed by good also have a love of truth, and therefore in the next life, when instructed by angels, they cast falsities aside and embrace truths. They do this according to the degree of the love of truth they had in the world.


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