62.
Those who have perceived that merely human properties are unworthy of God, though these are attributed to Him, have said, in order to defend the system of justification, once it was conceived, and to
cover it over with an appearance of rectitude, that anger, revenge, damnation and the like are predicated of His justice, and are therefore mentioned in several places in the Word, and so are thus appropriated
to God. But in the Word, the anger of God signifies evil in man which is called the anger of God because it is contrary to God. Thus, it is not that God is angry with man, but that man, from
the evil in him, is angry with God; and, as evil carries with it its own punishment, as good does its own reward, therefore, while evil punishes the evil-doer, it appears to him as though he were being
punished by God. The case is like that of a criminal who attributes his punishment to the law, or like a person who blames the fire for burning him when he puts his hand into it, or like one who blames
a drawn sword in the hand of a man who is defending himself for wounding him when he rushes upon its point. Such is the justice of God. But more of this may be seen in THE APOCALYPSE REVEALED,
where it treats of justice and judgment in God and from God, n. 668. That anger is ascribed to Him may be seen in n. 635; likewise revenge, n. 658. But this is only in the literal sense, because that
sense is written according to appearances and correspondences; it is not so in the spiritual sense where truth is in its own light. I can affirm that whenever the angels hear anyone say that God determined
in anger the damnation of the human race, and, as an enemy, was reconciled by His Son, as by another God begotten from Himself, they are affected in a manner similar to those who, from a disturbance
in their bowels and stomach, are reduced to vomiting; and they exclaim: "What insanity to be able to say such things about God!"
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