Conjugial Love

"...call together those inhabitants of this part of the spiritual world who have come here from the various kingdoms of Christendom, and who have been most distinguished for their learning, their ingenuity original: "ingenuity"; here meaning intellectual cleverness or talent, and their wisdom, to assemble on this little hill where you are now standing, and to declare their real sentiments as to what they had thought, understood, and inwardly perceived while in the natural world respecting HEAVENLY JOY and ETERNAL HAPPINESS. The reason for my mission is this: several people who have lately come from the natural world and have been admitted into our heavenly society, which is in the east, have informed us that there is not a single person throughout the whole Christian world who is acquainted with the true nature of heavenly joy and eternal happiness; consequently, they say that not a single person is acquainted with the nature of heaven. This information greatly surprised my brethren and companions, and they said to me, 'Go down, call together and assemble those who are most eminent for wisdom in the world of spirits (where all people are first gathered after their departure from the natural world), so that we may know for certain, from the testimony of many, whether it is true that such thick darkness, or dense ignorance, regarding a future life prevails among Christians.'"

The angel then said to me, "Wait a moment, and you will see several groups of these wise ones flocking together to this place, and the Lord will prepare a house of assembly for them." I waited, and look! Within half an hour, I saw two groups from the north, two from the west, and two from the south; and as they came near, they were introduced by the angel who blew the trumpet into the house of assembly prepared for them, where they took their places according to the directions from which they came. There were six groups or companies, and a seventh from the east, which, because of its superior light, was not visible to the rest. When they were all assembled, the angel explained to them the reason for their meeting and requested that each company, in order, declare their sentiments respecting HEAVENLY JOY and ETERNAL HAPPINESS. Then each company formed themselves into a circle, with their faces turned toward one another, so that they might recall the ideas they had entertained on the subject in the natural world, and after examination and deliberation, might declare their sentiments.

3. After some deliberation, the FIRST COMPANY, which was from the north, declared their opinion that heavenly joy and eternal happiness constitute the very life of heaven; so much so that whoever enters heaven enters, in regard to his life, into its festivities—just as a person admitted to a wedding enters into all the festivities of a marriage. "Is not heaven," they argued, "before our eyes in a particular place above us? And is there not there, and nowhere else, a constant succession of satisfactions...