countries, so likewise do the best of the angels. Those from among Christians who go to heaven, rise to a higher state than do the good from among Gentiles, while those who are lost sink to a deeper hell. How can it be otherwise? Tor Christians, being in possession of the Word, have a greater amount of truth than the Gentiles, and truth of a higher order and a purer quality. And the higher and purer the truth, the higher the state to which those will rise who receive and live according to it. The truths of the Christian religion are deeper and more heart-searching than those of any other religion. Therefore strict obedience to these truths must bring the richest reward—must develop the highest and noblest life. And on the other hand they who know but disobey these truths, commit greater sin than those can who are ignorant of them. They sin against greater light. They become more wicked; therefore they sink to a deeper hell,—are beaten with more stripes. This is in accordance with the universal law, that the better a thing is, the worse are the consequences resulting from its abuse. What Swedenborg says, therefore, about the worst of the devils being from Christian countries, is altogether reasonable.
His statement on this point, too, is corroborated by well-established historical facts. For it is matter of history that scenes of the most dismal horror which the sun ever shone upon, have been enacted in Christian lands; that the blackest crimes which the page of history records, have been perpetrated within the bounds of Christendom. Can there be any doubt, then, that the very worst spirits in the other world, are from Christian lands?
