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(46) But the Angels and the Devils, as also the Soul of Man, are merely and purely out of the same Spirit. The Devils and the Angels, in the Time of their Corporization, continued therein; and the Soul of Man, in the Time of the creating of the Body, [is] breathed in from the Spirit of God, in the Root of the third Principle, and now continues therein, in Eternity, inseparately and immoveably in the eternal Substance or Essence of GOD. And as little as the pure eternal Birth and the indissoluble Band of the Father ends or vanishes, so little also will such a Spirit have an End.

(42) And so now the Angels and blessed Men [will] remain in the Birth of the Light; and the Spirits of Alteration out of Light into the Source [or Torment,] together with the Spirits of the wicked Men [will remain] in the eternal Darkness, where no Recalling is to be found; for the Spirits cannot go into the Corruptibility [or Transitoriness] again. They are created out of the aLimbus of God, out of the harsh Matrix, out of which the Light of God exists from Eternity; and not like the Beasts out of the Out-Birth, which went forth out of the Limbus of the conceived Purpose of God, which is finite [or takes an End,] and has been [or appeared] here, only that it might be an eternal Shadow and Figure.

(74) Seeing then that they stood in Heaven in the Time of their Creation, therefore their Quality was also manifold; and all should have been and continued Angels, if the great Fountain Lucifer (from whence they proceeded) had not destroyed them. And so now also every one in his Fall continues in his own Essences, only the second Principle is extinguished in them; and so it is also with the Soul of Man, when the Light of God goes out in it; but so long as that shines therein, it is in Paradise, and eats of the Word of the Lord, of which shall be clearly spoken in its due Place.

(43) The eternal Will is incorruptible [or intransitory,] and unchangeable [or unalterable;] for the Heart of God is generated out of it, which is the End of the Nature and of the Willing. If the Spirits of the Source [or Torment] had put their imagination, and their desiring Will a forward into the Light of Meekness, into the End of Nature, they should have continued Angels; but seeing they out of Pride would fain be above the Meekness, and above the End of Nature, and awakened the Center, they found nothing more; for from Eternity there had been nothing more [than the End of Nature;] and therefore they awakened the Center of the Source [or Torment] in themselves. The same they now have, and they were thrust out of the Light into the Darkness.

(37) Now behold, thou Child of Man, (seeing thou art an eternal Spirit) thou hast this to expect after the Breaking [or Deceasing] of thy Body; thou wilt be either an Angel of God in Paradise, or a hellish ugly diabolical Worm, Beast, or Dragon; all according as thou hast tbeen inclined [or given to] here in this Life; that Image which thou hast borne here in thy Mind, with that thou shalt appear; for there can no other Image go forth out of thy Body at the Breaking [or Deceasing of it;] but even that which thou hast borne here, that shall appear in Eternity.

(41) Therefore in this World all Things are given into Man's Power, because he is an eternal Spirit, and all other Creatures [are] no other than a Figure in the Wonders of God; and therefore Man ought well to consider himself, what he speaks, does, and purposes, in this World; for all his Works follow after him, and he has them eternally before his Eyes, and lives in them. Except it be, that he is again new regenerated out of Evil and Falshood, through the Blood and Death of Christ, in the Water and the Holy Spirit, and then he breaks forth out of the hellish and earthly Image, into an angelical [Image,] and comes into another Kingdom, into which its Untowardness [or Vices] cannot follow, and that [Untowardness, Contrariety, or Vice] is drowned in the Blood of Christ, and the Image of God is renewed out of the earthly and hellish.

(20) Thus now even unto this very Day all Things are yet in the Fiat, or Creating, and the Creation has no End until the Judgment of God, where that which has grown on the holy Tree shall be separated from the unholy Thistles and Thorns; and we Men are these innumerable Aspects (or Ideas) in the Fiat of the great princely Throne; and we, who are holy, shall be created in the Body of this Prince in God; but we that degenerate, or perish, shall be cast out as naughty Apples unto the Swine of the Devil.

(65) Behold, O Child of Man! All the Angels were created in the first Principle, and by the outflowing Spirit were formed, and made a Body in a true angelical and spiritual Manner, and enlightened from the Light of God, that they might increase the paradisical Joy, and abide [therein] eternally. But seeing they were to abide eternally, they must be figured [or formed] out of the indissoluble Band, out of the first Principle, which is an indissoluble Band; and they ought to look upon the Heart of God, and feed upon the Word of God, and this Food would be their holy Preservation, and would make their Image clear and light; as the Heart of God, in the Beginning of the second Principle, enlightens the Father, (that is, the first Principle;) and there the divine Power, Paradise, and the Kingdom of Heaven spring up.

(69) For men were created exactly like the angels, to the intent that they should continue pure and righteous, and death, which destroys everything, could not have taken hold of them, but through this their knowledge they are perishing, and through this power it is consuming me†.

(4) The last Judgment is appointed for that End; and as we know that all Things [in this World] have had a Beginning, so they shall also have an End; for before the Time of this World there was nothing but the Band of Eternity, which makes itself, and in the Band of the Spirit, and the Spirit in God, who is the highest Good, which was always from Eternity, and never had any Beginning; but this World has had a Beginning from the eternal Band in the Time.

(1) WE know Christ has taught us, that a Judgment shall be kept, not only for the Punishment of the Despisers of God, and for a Reward to the Good, but also for the Sake of the Creature, and of Nature, that they may once be delivered from Vanity; and we know that the Substance of this World, and the Property thereof, must pass away; the Sun and the Stars, and also the four Elements, must pass away as to their Source [or Property,] and all must be restored again; and then the Life will spring forth through Death, and the Figure of every Thing shall stand eternally before God, for which End it was created; also we know that our Souls are immortal, generated out of the eternal Band; and when this World passes away, then also all its Essences pass away, which are generated out of it, and the Tincture remains still in the Spirit.

(23) But, neither are the demons evil by nature; for, if they are evil by nature, neither are they from the Good, nor amongst things existing; nor, in fact, did they change from good, being by nature, and always, evil. Then, are they evil to themselves or to others? If to themselves, they also destroy themselves; but if to others, how destroying, or what destroying?--Essence, or power, or energy? If indeed Essence, in the first place, it is not contrary to nature; for they do not destroy things indestructible by nature, but things receptive of destruction. Then, neither is this an evil for every one, and in every case; but, not even any existing thing is destroyed, in so far as it is essence and nature, but by the defect of nature's order, the principle of harmony and proportion lacks the power to remain as it was. But the lack of strength is not complete, for the complete lack of power takes away even the disease and the subject; and such a disease will be even a destruction of itself; so that, such a thing is not an evil, but a defective good, for that which has no part of the Good will not be amongst things which exist. And with regard to the destruction of power and energy the principle is the same. Then, how are the demons, seeing they come into being from God, evil? For the Good brings forth and sustains good things. Yet they are called evil, some one may say. But not as they are (for they are from the Good, and obtained a good being), but, as they are not, by not having had strength, as the Oracles affirm, "to keep their first estate." For in what, tell me, do we affirm that the demons become evil, except in the ceasing in the habit and energy for good things Divine? Otherwise, if the demons are evil by nature, they are always evil; yet evil is unstable. Therefore, if they are always in the same condition, they are not evil; for to be ever the same is a characteristic of the Good. But, if they are not always evil, they are not evil by nature, but by wavering from the angelic good qualities. And they are not altogether without part in the good, in so far as they both are, and live and think, and in one word--as there is a sort of movement of aspiration in them. But they are said to be evil, by reason of their weakness as regards their action according to nature. The evil then, in them, is a turning aside and a stepping out of things befitting themselves, and a missing of aim, and imperfection and impotence, and a weakness and departure, and falling away from the power which preserves their integrity in them. Otherwise, what is evil in demons? An irrational anger--a senseless desire--a headlong fancy.--But these, even if they are in demons, are not altogether, nor in every respect, nor in themselves alone, evils. For even with regard to other living creatures, not the possession of these, but the loss, is both destruction to the creature, and an evil. But the possession saves, and makes to be, the nature of the living creature which possesses them. The tribe of demons then is not evil, so far as it is according to nature, but so far as it is not; and the whole good which was given to them was not changed, but themselves fell from the whole good given. And the angelic gifts which were given to them, we by no means affirm that they were changed, but they exist, and are complete, and all luminous, although the demons themselves do not see, through having blunted their powers of seeing good. So far as they are, they are both from the Good, and are good, and aspire to the Beautiful and the Good, by aspiring to the realities, Being, and Life, and Thought; and by the privation and departure and declension from the good things befitting them, they are called evil, and are evil as regards what they are not: and by aspiring to the non-existent, they aspire to the Evil.

(3) All angels and all souls, although they be confirmed and adorned with grace and with virtues, for the which they be above thee in cleanness, nevertheless, yet they be but even with thee in nature.

(43) Or dost thou suppose, that I write of the Fall of Man without Light and Understanding? Or that I do not look and see into the Holy Scripture, what that says of it, [when I say] that Man before his Fall was angelical in his Mind and Body? Then hear and see what Christ says of it, tin the Resurrection of the Dead, they will neither marry, nor be given in Marriage, but they are as the Angels of God. And such an Image God created in the Beginning, [according] to his Similitude.

(72) Thus he is an eternal Enemy to the Heart of God, and all the holy Angels; and he cannot frame any other Will in himself. His Angels and Devils are of very many several Sorts, all according to the eternal Birth. For at the Time of his Creation he stood (in the Kingdom of Heaven) in the Point, Locus, or Place, (where the Holy Ghost in the Birth of the Heart of God, in Paradise, did open infinite and innumerable Centers,) in the eternal Birth; in this Seat or Place, he was pcorporised, and has his Beginning in the Opening of the Centers in the eternal Nature.