The Last Judgment
Emanuel Swedenborg

The Last Judgment has been accomplished
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(45) It was shown above, in an article for the purpose, that the Last Judgment does not exist on the earth, but in the spiritual world, where all from the beginning of creation are together; and since it is so, it is impossible for any man to know when the Last Judgment is accomplished, for everyone expects it to exist on earth, accompanied by a change of all things in the visible heaven, and on the earth and in the human race there. Lest therefore the man of the church from ignorance should live in such a belief, and lest they who think of the Last Judgment should expect it forever, whence at length the belief in those things which are said of it in the literal sense of the Word must perish, and lest perchance therefore many should recede from a belief in the Word, it has been granted me to see with my own eyes that the Last Judgment is now accomplished; that the evil are cast into the hells, and the good elevated into heaven, and thus that all things are reduced into order, the spiritual equilibrium between good and evil, or between heaven and hell, being thence restored.

It was granted me to see from beginning to end how the Last Judgment was accomplished; and also how Babylon was destroyed, also how those who are meant by "the dragon" were cast into the abyss, and how the New Heaven was formed, and the New Church instituted in the heavens, which is meant by "the New Jerusalem." It was granted me to see all these things with my own eyes, in order that I might be able to testify of them. This Last Judgment was commenced in the beginning of the year 1757, and was fully accomplished at the end of that year.

(46) But it is to be known that the Last Judgment was effected upon those who had lived from the Lord's time to this day, but not upon those who had lived before. For a Last Judgment had twice before existed on this earth; one which is described in the Word by "the flood," the other was effected by the Lord Himself when He was in the world, which is also meant by the Lord's words:

and in another place:

and also by these words in Isaiah:

and in many other places.

(47) How this Last Judgment was effected cannot be described in all its details in this little work, for they are many, but shall be described in the Explanation of the Apocalypse. For the judgment was accomplished not only upon all the men of the Christian church, but also upon all who are called Mohammedans, and, moreover, upon all the Gentiles in the whole world. And it was effected in this order: first upon those of the Papal religion; then upon the Mohammedans; afterwards upon the Gentiles; and lastly upon the Reformed. The judgment upon those who were of the Papal religion shall be shown in the following article, on Babylon which has been destroyed; the judgment upon the Reformed in the article, on the first heaven which passed away; but something shall be said in this article, on the judgment upon the Mohammedans and Gentiles.

(48) The following was seen to be the arrangement in the spiritual world of all the nations and people to be judged Collected in the middle, appeared those who are called the Reformed, where they were also distinct according to their countries; the Germans there towards the north; the Swedes there towards the west; the Danes in the west; the Dutch towards the east and the south; the English in the centre. Surrounding this whole mid-region in which were the Reformed, appeared collected those of the Papal religion, the greater part of them in the western, some part in the southern quarter. Beyond them were the Mohammedans, also distinct according to their countries, who all appeared in the south-west. Beyond these, the Gentiles were congregated in vast numbers, constituting the very circumference. Beyond these appeared as it were a sea, which was the boundary. This arrangement of the nations in the various quarters, was an arrangement according to each nation's common faculty of receiving Divine truths; for in the spiritual world everyone is known from the quarter, and the part of it, in which he dwells; and, moreover, in a society with many, he is known from his tarryings with reference to the quarters.

(49) In the Word, the four quarters are called "the four winds," and a gathering is called "a gathering from the four winds"; as where the Last Judgment is the subject treated of in Matthew:

and elsewhere:

This signifies that the Lord will then separate those who are in truths and at the same time in good, from those who are in truths and not in good; for in the spiritual sense of the Word, "the right" signifies good, and "the left" truth, and "sheep" and "goats" the same. The judgment was effected upon these alone; the evil who were in no truths being in the hells already; for all the evil in heart who have denied the Divine, and have rejected the truths of the church from their belief are cast thither alter death, and therefore before the judgment. "The first heaven" which passed away, consisted of those who were in truths, and not in good, and "the new heaven" was formed of those who were in truths, and at the same time in good.

(50) As regards the judgment upon the Mohammedans and Gentiles, which is treated of in this article, it was thus effected. The Mohammedans were led forth from their places, where they were gathered together in the south-west, by a way round the Christians, from the west, through the north, to the east, as far as its southern boundary ; and the good were separated from the evil in the way. The evil were cast into marshes and lakes, many too being scattered about in a certain far desert. But the good were led through the east to a land of great extent near the south, and habitations were there given them. They who were led thither had in the world acknowledged the Lord as the greatest Prophet, and as the Son of God, and had believed that He was sent by the Father to instruct the human race, and at the same time had lived a moral spiritual life according to their religious principles.

Most of these, when instructed, receive faith in the Lord, and acknowledge Him to be one with the Father. communication is also granted them with the Christian heaven, by influx from the Lord; but they are not commingled with it, because religion separates them. All of that religion, as soon as they come into the other life among their own, first seek Mohammed, yet he does not appear, but in his place there are two others, who call themselves Mohammeds, and who have obtained seats in the middle, under the Christian heaven, towards the left part of it. These two are in the place of Mohammed, because all after death, whatever be their religion, are first led to those they had worshiped in the world, for everyone's religion adheres to him, but they recede on perceiving that these can render them no assistance. They are thus yielded up into their own religion at first, as the only possible means of effecting their withdrawal from it. Where Mohammed himself is, and what he is, and whence come those two who fill his place, shall be told in the book in which the Apocalypse is explained.

(51) The judgment was effected upon the Gentiles in nearly the same manner as upon the Mohammedans; but they were not led like them in a circuit, but only a short way in the west, where the evil were separated from the good, the evil being there cast into two great gulfs, which stretched obliquely into the deep, but the good were conducted above the middle, where the Christians were, towards the land of the Mohammedans in the eastern quarter, and dwellings were given them behind, and beyond the Mohammedans, to a great extent in the southern quarter.

But those of the Gentiles who in the world had worshiped God under the Human form, and had led lives of charity according to their religious principles, were conjoined with Christians in heaven, for they acknowledge and adore the Lord more than others; the most intelligent of them are from Africa The multitude of the Gentiles and Mohammedans who appeared, was so great, that it could be numbered only by myriads. The judgment on this vast multitude was effected in a few days, for everyone after being yielded up into his own love and into his own faith, is immediately assigned and carried to his like.

(52) From all these particulars appears the truth of the Lord's prediction concerning the Last Judgment, that:

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