In The Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal Lecter represents evil hermaphroditic Jews.
Emanuel Swedenborg declared that there have been four churches since the Earth was created, one succeeding another. The first church, called the Most Ancient, existed before the flood, and was consumed by it. The second church, which he called the Ancient, was in Asia and part of Africa; it was destroyed by idolatry. The third church was the Israelitish, which began when the Ten Commandments were given, and was ended by the profanation of the Word and the crucifixion of Jesus. The fourth is the Christian, which in its progress was divided into three parts: the Greek, the Roman Catholic, and the Reformed. Swedenborg discusses the stages of the Israelitish Church in his Coronis ('Cor.'):
The Israelitish and Jewish Church. In order that the states of this church may be thoroughly laid open and distinctly exhibited, it is of importance that we survey them in the following order: I. The first state of this church was the appearing of the Lord Jehovih, and the calling and covenanting, and then its rise and morning. II. The second state of this church was instruction, and at length introduction into the land of Canaan, and then its progression into light and day. III. The third state of this church was the turning aside from true representative into idolatrous worship and then its vastation or evening. IV. The fourth state of this church was the profanation of sanctities, and then its consummation or night. V. Before this state and after it, a promise was made of the coming of the Lord Jehovih into the world, and respecting a new church in which justice and judgment should reign. VI. The fifth state of this church was the separation of the good from the evil, and then the judgment upon those who were from it; but this was in the spiritual world. (--from Cor. n. 46.)
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The works of Emanuel Swedenborg from the Internet Sacred Texts Archive
Coronis, by Emanuel Swedenborg, [1771], tr. by John Whitehead [1914] at sacred-texts.com. Web. 1 Jun. 2010.
