6098. AN ENGLISH BISHOP. A Bishop wished to see me for the purpose of refuting those things which have been written concerning faith separated; and he saw me. He said, that, in England, they would, indeed, receive the first work,* concerning the Lord, and also the position that a New Church is meant by the New Jerusalem; the second* work, too, concerning the Sanctity of the Word, and likewise the third,* concerning the Doctrine of Life; but that they would utterly reject the fourth,* concerning Faith. And then I began to reason with him about justification by that faith; and at length, being convinced he acknowledged that unless the fourth work, concerning Faith, were received, the three former would come to naught, besides many other things. But that Bishop, who died three years before, disclosed what art he employed to nullify those things which were written previously concerning Heaven and Hell,** and the rest, both in the House of Lords [apud Mylords] and by the priests at Oxford; also, that he accomplished this, so that nothing is now heard of them. Moreover, that Bishop, inasmuch as he had confirmed himself in faith alone, and, consequently, possessed nothing of spiritual faith, because nothing of charity, was conjoined with societies of hell; wherefore, also, he became a magician, and abused correspondences there, - by which means, such ones are able to appear as if spiritual. I saw him ascending towards heaven with a bundle of wood on his back, and, afterwards, with an infant in his arms which he adorned with many beautiful representatives of good and truth. He changed the bundle of wood into the infant, and, by means of phantasies, caused it to shine; and thus it seemed no otherwise than that it was that. But at the entrance to heaven he was recognized, and sent back to his own; who were all priests, and had confirmed themselves in the same thing. Wood corresponds to good. - But they were all immediately separated, according to life, and according to confirmation of faith separate. I asked them whether they would permit me to recite to them the words which are read in the exhortation before the Communion, that if they do not abstain from sin and repent of the sins there mentioned, the devil would enter into them as into Judas; but they besought me not to recite those words to them: it is enough that they repeat them in church, and believe them at the time. That bishop said that there is no sin. He said that not even adultery was sin, - which, also, he persuaded a wife. Many others said the like, [namely,] that sins did not exist, because the Lord had taken them away, and because there is not any condemnation to those who are justified by that faith. He afterwards appeared like a viper, and was cast into hell. They were in the west quarter of London; and many were sent forth. * The full titles of these works, all of which were published in the same year - 1763 - are 1. The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord; 2. The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Sacred Scripture; 3. The Doctrine of Life for the New Jerusalem, from the Precepts of the Decalog; and 4. The Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning Faith. These works are sometimes published, in English, in a collected form, under the general title, The Four Leading Doctrines of the New Church in which form the "Doctrine of Faith" is given the third place, and the "Doctrine of Life" the forth. The text, here, shows that this is a wrong arrangement. Properly, the "Doctrine of Life" is the third, and that of "Faith" the forth. The reader should understand that Swedenborg himself did not publish these treatises collectively, but as four separate works. -TR. ** The contents, that is, of the work entitled Heaven and Hell and "The Four Doctrines" mentioned in the text; copies of all of which were presented by Swedenborg to the Bench of Bishops of the Church of England and the Protestant peers in the House of Lords (see n. 6101:2 below), and to the clergy at the University of Oxford. -TR