[2] From all this no other conclusion can follow than that everything a man thinks and wills flows into him; and since all speech flows from thought, as an effect from its cause, and since all action flows in like manner from the will, it follows that everything a man says and does also flows in, although derivatively, that is, mediately. It cannot be denied that everything a man sees, hears, smells, tastes and feels flows in; why not then what he thinks and wills? Can there be any other difference than that such things as are in the natural world flow into the organs of the external senses or those of the body, while such things as are in the spiritual world flow into the organic substances of the internal senses or those of the mind? Therefore, as the organs of the external senses or those of the body are receptacles of natural objects so the organic substances of the internal senses or those of the mind are receptacles of spiritual objects. Since this is the state of man, what then is his proprium? His proprium does not consist in being a receptacle of this or that kind, because such a proprium is merely what he is with regard to reception and is not a living proprium; for by proprium no one understands anything else than that he lives from himself, and consequently thinks and wills from himself; but that such a proprium does not exist in man, indeed cannot exist in anyone, follows from what has been said above.
DP 309
. I will here relate what I heard from some in the spiritual world. They were among those who believe their own prudence to be everything and the Divine Providence nothing. I said that man has not any proprium of his own, unless you choose to call that his proprium which consists in being this or that kind of subject, or this or that kind of organ, or this or that kind of form. This, however, is not the proprium that is meant, but is merely a description of its quality. No man in fact has any proprium in the sense in which this is commonly understood. Those who ascribed all things to their own prudence, and who may be called examples of self-ownership (proprietarii in imagine sua), so flared up at this that flames appeared to issue from their nostrils as they declared, "You are uttering absurd and insane words. Would not a man in such a case be an empty nonentity? Would he not be a mere phantasmal figment of the mind, or a graven image or a statue?"
[2] To this I could only answer that it is absurd and insane to believe that man is life from himself, and that wisdom and prudence do not flow in from God but are in man, consequently also the good that belongs to charity and the truth that belongs to faith. To attribute these to oneself is called insanity by every wise man, and thus it is absurd. Moreover, persons doing so are like those who occupy the house and property of another, and being in possession persuade themselves that these are their own; or they are like stewards and estate managers who believe all their master’s property to be their own; or like serving men to whom their master gave large and small sums to trade with, but who rendered no account of them and kept them as their own, and so acted as thieves.
[3] Of such it may be said that they are spiritually insane, indeed that they are empty nonentities and also idealists, since they have not in themselves from the Lord any good which is the being (esse) itself of life, nor consequently any truth. Therefore, such are even called dead, and also nothing and vanity (Isaiah 40:17-23); and elsewhere, image-makers, graven images and statues. However, more will be said concerning these in what follows, and will be considered in this order:
I. -What one’s own prudence is, and what prudence not one’s own is.
II. -Man from his own prudence persuades himself and confirms in himself that all good and truth originate from himself and are in himself; and in like manner all evil and falsity.
III. -Everything of which man has persuaded himself and which he has confirmed in himself remains with him as his own.
IV. -If man believed, as is the truth, that all good and truth originate from the Lord, and all evil and falsity from hell, he would not appropriate good to himself and account it meritorious, nor would he appropriate evil to himself and account himself responsible for it.
DP 310
. I. WHAT ONE’S OWN PRUDENCE IS, AND WHAT PRUDENCE NOT ONE’S OWN IS. They are in their own prudence who confirm appearances in themselves and make them truths, especially the appearance that one’s own prudence is everything and the Divine Providence nothing, unless it is something universal; and yet this is impossible without the individual things of which it must consist, as was shown above. They are, moreover, in fallacies, for every appearance confirmed as a truth becomes a fallacy; and so far as they confirm themselves by fallacies they become materialists; and to that extent they believe nothing but what they can at the same time perceive by one of the bodily senses, principally by the sense of sight, for this especially acts as one with thought. Such persons finally become sensual; and if they confirm themselves in favour of nature against God, they close the interiors of their mind and interpose as it were a veil, and make the object of their thought what is under the veil but not what is above it. The ancients called such men serpents of the tree of knowledge; and of them in the spiritual world it is said that as they confirm themselves they close the interiors of their minds, at length even to the nose; for the nose signifies perception of truth, and this means that they have no such perception.
[2] What their character is will now be described. They are more cunning and crafty than others, and are more ingenious reasoners; and cunning and craftiness they call intelligence and wisdom, nor do they know otherwise. Those who are not of this nature they regard as simple and stupid, especially those who worship God and acknowledge the Divine Providence. With respect to the interior principles of their minds, of which they themselves know very little, they resemble those called Machiavellians, who regard murder, adultery, theft and false witness, viewed in themselves, as of no account; and if they reason against these, it is only from prudence that they may not appear to be of this nature.
[3] Concerning man’s life in this world they think it is like the life of a beast; and concerning his life after death, that it is like a vital vapour which, rising from the body or from the grave, sinks back again and so dies. From this arises the foolish idea that spirits and angels are formed of air, and in the case of those who have been enjoined to believe in life everlasting, that the souls of men are the same, and therefore that they do not see, hear or speak, and thus are blind, deaf and dumb, and that they merely think in their own small portion of air. They say, How can the soul be anything else? Did not the external senses die together with the body? These cannot be resumed until the soul is reunited with the body; and because they could have only a sensual and not a spiritual idea of the state of the soul after death they confirmed this state; otherwise belief in eternal life would have perished. Especially do they confirm themselves in the love of self, calling it the fire of life and the incentive to various uses in the state. As this is their nature they are the idols of themselves, and since their thoughts are fallacies formed from fallacies, these are images of falsity. Moreover, as they indulge the delights of lusts they are satans and devils, those being called satans who confirm in themselves the lusts of evil, and those devils who live according to them.
[4] It has also been granted me to know the nature of the most crafty sensual men. Their hell is deep down, and behind, and they do not desire to be conspicuous. Therefore, they appear hovering about there like spectres, which are their fantasies; and they are called genii. Some of them were once sent out from that hell that I might know their character. They at once directed their influence to my neck beneath the occiput and from there they entered my affections, not wishing to enter my thoughts, which they dexterously avoided. They then kept changing my affections one after another with the design of bending them imperceptibly into their opposites, which are lusts of evil; and as they did not in the least touch my thoughts they would have bent and inverted my affections without my knowledge had not the Lord prevented this.
[5] Such do those become who in the world do not believe there is a Divine Providence, and who search out in others nothing but their cupidities and desires, and so lead them on till they acquire an ascendency over them. As they do this so secretly and craftily that others do not know it, and as these after death become like themselves, therefore immediately after their arrival in the spiritual world they are sent down into that hell. When seen in the light of heaven they appear without any nose; and what is wonderful, although they are so crafty yet they are more sensual than the rest.
[6] As the ancients called a sensual man a serpent, and as such a man is more cunning and crafty and is a more ingenious reasoner than others, therefore it is said,
The serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field (Gen. 3:1);
and the Lord says:
Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matt. 10:16);
and also the dragon, which is likewise called the old serpent, the devil and satan, is described as
Having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads (Rev. 12:3, 9).
By the seven heads is signified craftiness, by the ten horns the power of persuading by means of fallacies, and by the seven crowns the holy things of the Word and of the Church when these are profaned.
DP 311
. From this description of one’s own prudence, and of those who are in it, may be seen what is the nature of prudence that is not one’s own, and what is the nature of those who are in it; namely, that prudence not one’s own is the prudence with those who do not confirm in themselves the idea that intelligence and wisdom are from man, but who say, How can one be wise from himself, and how can one do good from himself? When they say this they see in themselves that it is so, for they think interiorly; and they also believe that others think in the same way, especially the learned, because they do not know that it is possible for anyone to think only exteriorly.
[2] They are not in fallacies resulting from any confirmation of appearances, and therefore they know and perceive that murder, adultery, theft and false witness are sins, and they shun them accordingly. They also know that wickedness is not wisdom, and that craftiness is not intelligence; and when they hear ingenious reasoning from fallacies they wonder and smile to themselves. This is because with them there is no veil between interiors and exteriors, or between the spiritual and the natural things of the mind, as there is with the sensual; and therefore they receive influx from heaven by which they see these things.
[3] They speak with more simplicity and sincerity than others, and place wisdom in the life and not in mere talk. They are, to use the language of comparison, like lambs and sheep, while those who are in their own prudence are like wolves and foxes; and they are like those who live in a house and view the sky through the windows, while those who are in their own prudence are like those who live in the basement of a house and through their windows see nothing but what is below the ground level; and they are like those who stand upon a mountain and see those who are in their own prudence like persons wandering in the valleys and forests.
[4] Hence it may be evident that prudence which is not one’s own is prudence from the Lord, having in externals an appearance similar to one’s own prudence but in internals an appearance totally different. In internals prudence which is not one’s own appears in the spiritual world as a man, while prudence which is one’s own appears as an effigy, appearing to be alive from this circumstance only, that those who are in it still have rationality and liberty, or the faculty of understanding and willing, and consequently of speaking and acting, and that by means of these faculties they can assume the appearance of being men. They are such effigies because evils and falsities have no life, goods and truths only having life; and because they know this from their rationality, for if they did not know it they would not counterfeit them; therefore in their semblances they still possess the human life principle.
[5] Everyone may know that the character of a man is determined by what he is interiorly; and consequently that he is a man who is interiorly what he wishes to appear to be exteriorly, while he is an effigy who is a man only exteriorly and not interiorly. If you think, as you speak, in favour of God and of religion, of righteousness and of sincerity, you will be a man, and the Divine Providence will then be your prudence, and you will see in others that one’s own prudence is insanity.
DP 312
. II. MAN FROM HIS OWN PRUDENCE PERSUADES HIMSELF AND CONFIRMS THAT ALL GOOD AND TRUTH ORIGINATE FROM HIMSELF AND ARE IN HIMSELF AND IN LIKE MANNER ALL EVIL AND FALSITY. Suppose an argument instituted from the analogy between natural good and truth and spiritual good and truth. The question is asked: What are truth and good in the sight of the eye? Is not the truth there what is called beautiful and the good there what is called delightful?-for delight is felt in seeing beautiful things. Again, what are truth and good in the sense of hearing? Is not the truth there what is called harmonious, and the good there what is called pleasing?-for pleasure is felt in hearing harmonious sounds. It is the same with the other senses. Hence it is evident what natural truth and good are. Consider now what spiritual truth and good are. Is spiritual truth anything but the beauty and harmony of spiritual things and objects? Is spiritual good anything but the delight and pleasure derived from the perception of their beauty or their harmony?
[2] See now whether anything can be said of the one different from what may be said of the other, that is, of the spiritual different from what may be said of the natural. Of the natural it is said that the beauty and delight in the eye flow in from objects and that harmony and pleasure in the ear flow in from musical instruments. What is there different in the organic substances of the mind? It is said of the organic substances of the mind that beauty and delight are in them, but of the organs of the body that they flow into them; and if it is asked why it is said that they flow in, no other answer can be given than that there appears to be a distance between them, i.e., between the organs and what flows in. In the other case, if it is asked why it is said that they are in them, no other answer can be given than that there does not appear to be any distance between them. Consequently it is the appearance of distance that causes one kind of belief about what man thinks and perceives and another about what he sees and hears. This falls to the ground, however, when it is known that distance does not exist in the spiritual as it does in the natural. Think of the sun and moon, or of Rome and Constantinople: are they not in thought without distance between them, provided the thought is not united with experience acquired by sight or by hearing? Why then do you persuade yourself because distance does not appear in thought that good and truth, likewise evil and falsity, are there and do not flow in?
[3] To this I will add an experience common in the spiritual world. One spirit can infuse his thoughts and affections into another who is not aware that this is not an activity of his own thought and affection. This is called in that world thinking from and in another. I have seen it a thousand times and have also practised it a hundred times myself, and yet there was an appearance of considerable distance. As soon, however, as they learned that it was another who introduced those thoughts and affections they were angry and turned themselves away, thus confirming nevertheless that there is no appearance of distance in the internal thought or sight unless it is made manifest as it is to the external sight or the eye; and consequently it is believed that there is influx.
[4] To this I will add my own daily experience. Evil spirits have often introduced into my thoughts evils and falsities which seemed to me as if they were in myself and originating from myself, or as if I myself thought them. But knowing them to be evils and falsities I endeavoured to find out who had introduced them, and when these spirits were detected they were driven away; and they were at a considerable distance from me. Hence it may be evident that all evil with its falsity flows in from hell and that all good with its truth flows in from the Lord, and that they both appear as if they were in man.
DP 313
. The character of those who are in their own prudence, and of those who are in prudence not their own and who are thus in the Divine Providence, is described in the Word by Adam and his wife Eve in the Garden of Eden, where there were two trees, the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and by their eating of the latter tree. It may be seen above (n. 241), that by Adam and his wife Eve, in the internal or spiritual sense, is meant and described the Most Ancient Church of the Lord upon this earth, which was more noble and heavenly than the succeeding Churches.
[2] The signification of the other particulars in the narrative is as follows. By the Garden of Eden is signified the wisdom of the men of that Church; by the tree of life, the Lord as to the Divine Providence; and by the tree of knowledge, man as to his own prudence. By the serpent is signified the sensual of man and his proprium, which in itself is the love of self and the pride of his own intelligence, thus the devil and satan; and by eating of the tree of knowledge, the appropriation of good and truth, on the assumption that these do not originate from the Lord and consequently are the Lord’s, but that they originate from man and consequently are man’s. Moreover, since good and truth are the Divine things themselves with man, for by good is meant everything of love and by truth everything of wisdom, therefore if man claims these for himself as his own he cannot but believe that he is as God. Thus the serpent said,
In the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God (A.V. as gods), knowing good and evil (Gen. 3:5).
So also do those in hell who are in the love of self and thence in the pride of their own intelligence.
[3] By the condemnation of the serpent is signified the condemnation of one’s own love and one’s own intelligence; by the condemnation of Eve is signified the condemnation of the voluntary proprium, and by Adam’s condemnation that of the intellectual proprium; by the thorn and the thistle that the earth would bring forth to him are signified mere falsity and evil; by the expulsion from the Garden is signified the deprivation of wisdom; by the guarding of the way to the tree of life, the Lord’s protecting care lest the holy things of the Word and of the Church should be violated; by the fig leaves with which they covered their nakedness are signified moral truths by which were veiled the things that pertained to their love and pride; and by the coats of skin by which they were afterwards clothed are signified the appearances of truth in which alone they were principled. This is the spiritual meaning of those things. He who wishes may remain in the sense of the Letter; only he should know that it is so understood in heaven.
DP 318
. But how man’s state is changed by the confirmations of falsities and persuasions derived from them will now be explained in the following order:
1. There is nothing that cannot be confirmed, and falsity more readily than truth.
2. Truth does not appear when falsity is confirmed, but falsity appears from confirmed truth.
3. To be able to confirm whatever one pleases is not intelligence but only ingenuity, which may exist even with the worst of men.
4. There is confirmation that is intellectual and not at the same time voluntary; but all voluntary confirmation is also intellectual.
5. The confirmation of evil that is both voluntary and intellectual causes man to believe that his own prudence is everything and the Divine Providence nothing, but not the confirmation that is only intellectual.
6. Everything confirmed by both the will and the understanding remains to eternity; but not what has been confirmed only by the understanding.
[2] With respect to the First: There is nothing that cannot be confirmed, and falsity more readily than truth. What may not be confirmed, when it is confirmed by atheists that God is not the Creator of the universe, but that nature is the creator of herself; that religion is only a restraining bond, and for the simple and the common people; that man is as a beast, and dies like one; and when it is confirmed that adulteries are allowable, likewise secret theft, fraud and treacherous devices; that cunning is intelligence and wickedness is wisdom? Everyone confirms his own heresy. Are there not volumes filled with confirmations of the two heresies prevailing in the Christian world? Formulate ten heresies even of an abstruse nature, and tell an ingenious person to confirm them, and he will confirm them all. If you then regard them only from their confirmations will you not see falsities as truths? As every falsity shines clearly in the natural man from appearances and fallacies, and truth shines only in the spiritual man, it is evident that falsity can be confirmed more readily than truth.
[3] In order that it may be known that every falsity and every evil can be confirmed even to the point that falsity appears as truth and evil as good, take this as an example: let it be confirmed that light is darkness and darkness light. May it not be urged, What is light itself? Is it not only something that appears in the eye according to its state? What is light when the eye is closed? Have not bats and owls such eyes that they see light as darkness and darkness as light? I have heard it said of some persons that they see in this way; and that infernal spirits, although they are in darkness, still see one another. Has not man light in his dreams in the middle of the night? Is not darkness therefore light, and light darkness? But it may be answered, What of this? Light is light as truth is truth; and darkness is darkness as falsity is falsity.
[4] Take another example: let it be confirmed that a crow is white. May it not be said that its blackness is only a shade which is not the reality? Its feathers are white within, and so is its body; and these are the substances of which the bird is formed. As its blackness is only a shade, therefore, the crow becomes white when it grows old, and some such have been seen. What is black in itself but white? Grind down black glass and you will see that the powder is white. Therefore, when you call a crow black you speak from the shadow and not from the reality. But it may be answered, What of this? At this rate it might be said that all birds are white. These examples, although they are contrary to sound reason, are set forth to show that it is possible to confirm falsity that is directly opposite to the truth, and to confirm evil that is directly opposite to good.
[5] Second: Truth does not appear when falsity is confirmed, but falsity appears from confirmed truth. All falsity is in darkness and all truth in light; and in darkness nothing is seen, nor indeed is it known what anything is unless by touching it; but it is not so in the light. For this reason in the Word falsities are called darkness; and consequently those who are in falsities are said to walk in darkness and in the shadow of death. On the other hand, truths are there called light, and consequently those who are in truths are said to walk in the light, and are called the children of light.
[6] From many things it is evident that when falsity is confirmed, truth does not appear, and that from confirmed truth falsity appears. For example, who would see any spiritual truth if the Word did not teach it? Would there not be merely darkness which could not be dispelled, unless by means of the light in which the Word is, and only with him who desires to be enlightened? What heretic can see his falsities unless he accepts the genuine truth of the Church? He does not see them before. I have conversed with some who have confirmed themselves in faith separated from charity, and who were asked whether they saw the many things in the Word concerning love and charity, about works and deeds, and about keeping the Commandments, and that he is blessed and wise who keeps them but foolish who does not. They replied that when they read those things they only saw them as matters of faith and so passed them by as it were with their eyes shut.
[7] Those who have confirmed themselves in falsities are like those who see streaks on an inner wall in a house; and in the shades of evening they see in their fancy the marked part like a man on horse-back or simply as a man, a visionary image which is dispelled by the light of day when it pours in. Who can perceive the spiritual defilement of adultery but one who is in the spiritual purity of chastity? Who can feel the cruelty of revenge but one who is in good arising from love of the neighbour? Who that is an adulterer, or who is revengeful, does not sneer at those who call the delights of such things infernal, and who, on the other hand, call the delights of marriage love and the love of the neighbour heavenly? and so on.
[8] Third: To be able to confirm whatever one pleases is not intelligence but only ingenuity, which may exist even with the worst of men. There are some very skilful in confirming who know no truth and yet can confirm both truth and falsity. Some of them say, What is truth? Does it exist? Is not that true which I make true? Yet these are considered intelligent in the world, although they are only plasterers of the wall. None are intelligent but those who perceive truth to be truth, and confirm truth by individual truths continually perceived. These two classes of men are not easily distinguished, because it is not possible to distinguish between the light of confirmation and the light of the perception of truth. There is the appearance that those who are in the light of confirmation are also in the light of the perception of truth, when nevertheless the difference between them is like that between illusive light and genuine light; and in the spiritual world illusive light is such that it is turned into darkness when genuine light flows in. There is such illusive light with many in hell; and when these are brought into genuine light they see nothing at all. Hence it is evident that to be able to confirm whatever one pleases is only, ingenuity which may exist even with the worst of men.
[9] Fourth: There is confirmation that is intellectual and not at the same time voluntary, but all voluntary confirmation is also intellectual. Take these examples by way of illustration. Those who confirm faith separate from charity and yet live the life of charity, who in general confirm falsity of doctrine and yet do not live according to it, are those that are in intellectual confirmation and not at the same time in voluntary confirmation. On the other hand, those who confirm falsity of doctrine and who live according to it are those that are in voluntary confirmation and at the same time in intellectual confirmation. This is because the understanding does not flow into the will, but the will flows into the understanding. Hence it is also evident what the falsity of evil is, and what the falsity which is not of evil. Falsity which is not of evil can be conjoined with good, but falsity of evil cannot; because falsity which is not of evil is falsity in the understanding and not in the will, while falsity of evil is falsity in the understanding arising from evil in the will.
[10] Fifth: The confirmation of evil that is both voluntary and intellectual causes man to believe that his own prudence is everything and the Divine Providence nothing, but not the confirmation that is only intellectual. There are many who confirm in themselves their own prudence from appearances in the world but yet do not deny the Divine Providence; and theirs is only intellectual confirmation. With others, however, who at the same time deny the Divine Providence there also exists voluntary confirmation; but this, together with persuasion, is chiefly to be found with those who are worshippers of nature and also worshippers of self.
[11] Sixth: Everything confirmed by both the will and the understanding remains to eternity, but not what has been confirmed only by the understanding. For that which pertains to the understanding alone is not within the man but outside him: it is only in the thought. Moreover, nothing enters into man and is appropriated to him but what is received by the will, for it then comes to be of his life’s love. It will now be shown in the following number that this remains to eternity.
DP 319
. Everything confirmed by both the will and the understanding remains to eternity because everyone is his own love, and love belongs to the will; also because every man is his own good or his own evil, for everything is called good, and likewise evil, that belongs to the love. Since a man is his own love he is also the form of his love, and may be called the organ of his life’s love. It was stated above (n. 279) that the affections of a man’s love and his consequent thoughts are changes and variations of the state and form of the organic substances of his mind, and what these changes and variations are and their nature will now be explained. Some idea of these may be obtained from the heart and lungs, where there are alternate expansions and compressions, or dilations and contractions, called in the heart systole and diastole, and in the lungs respirations; these are reciprocal extensions and retractions, or expansions and contractions of their lobes; such are the changes and variations of the state of the heart and lungs. There are similar changes and variations in the other viscera of the body and also in their parts, by which the blood and the animal juices are received and passed on.
[2] There are also similar changes and variations in the organic forms of the mind, which are the subjects of man’s affections and thoughts, as was shown above; with this difference, that their expansions and compressions, or reciprocal actions, are respectively in such greater perfection that they cannot be expressed in words of natural language, but only in words of spiritual language which indicate by their sound that these changes and variations are vortex-like inward and outward gyrations, after the manner of perpetually circling spirals wonderfully combined into forms receptive of life.
[3] The nature of those purely organic substances and forms in the wicked and in the good will now be stated. In the good those spiral forms are moved forward but in the wicked backward, and those that are moved forward are turned towards the Lord and receive influx from Him; while those that are moved backward are turned towards hell and receive influx from hell. It should be known that in the degree that they are turned backward, they are open behind and closed in front; and, on the other hand, in the degree that they are turned forward, they are open in front and closed behind.
[4] Hence it may be evident what kind of a form or organ a wicked man is, and what kind of a form or organ a good man is, and that they are turned in opposite directions; and as the turning once established cannot be reversed it is clear that such as a man is when he dies such he remains to eternity. It is the love of man’s will that makes this turning, or which converts and inverts; for, as was said above, every man is his own love. Hence it is that after death everyone goes the way of his love: he who is in a good love goes to heaven, and he who is in an evil love goes to hell; nor does man rest but in that society where his ruling love is; and what is wonderful, everyone knows the way, as though he scented it with his nostrils.
DP 320
. IV. IF MAN BELIEVED, AS IS THE TRUTH, THAT ALL GOOD AND TRUTH ORIGINATE FROM THE LORD, AND ALL EVIL AND FALSITY FROM HELL, HE WOULD NOT APPROPRIATE GOOD TO HIMSELF AND ACCOUNT IT MERITORIOUS, NOR WOULD HE APPROPRIATE EVIL TO HIMSELF AND ACCOUNT HIMSELF RESPONSIBLE FOR IT. As this, however, is contrary to the belief of those who have confirmed in themselves the appearance that wisdom and prudence originate from man, and do not flow in according to the state of the organisation of men’s minds, treated of above (n. 319), it must now be demonstrated; and in order that this may be done clearly, the following order will be observed:
1. He who confirms in himself the appearance that wisdom and prudence originate from man and consequently are in him as his own, must needs see that if this were not so he would not be a man, but either a beast or a statue; when yet the contrary is true.
2. To believe and think, as is the truth, that all good and truth originate from the Lord and all evil and falsity from hell, appears as if it were impossible, when yet it is truly human and consequently angelic.
3. To believe and think thus is impossible to those who do not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord, and who do not acknowledge evils to be sins; but it is possible to those who acknowledge these two things.
4. Those who are in the acknowledgment of these two things reflect only upon the evils in themselves and, so far as they shun them as sins and turn away from them, they cast them out from themselves to the hell from which they come.
5. In this way the Divine Providence does not appropriate either evil or good to anyone, but one’s own prudence appropriates both.
DP 321
. These things will now be explained in the order proposed. First: He who confirms in himself the appearance that wisdom and prudence originate from man and are in man as his own must needs see that if this were not so he would not be a man, but either a beast or a statue, when yet the contrary is true. It is in accordance with a law of the Divine Providence that man should think as of himself and should act prudently as of himself, but yet should acknowledge that he does so from the Lord. Hence it follows that he who thinks and acts prudently as of himself and at the same time acknowledges that he does so from the Lord is a man. On the other hand, he is not a man who confirms in himself the idea that all he thinks and does is from himself; neither is he a man who, because he knows that wisdom and prudence originate from God, still waits for influx; for the latter becomes like a statue, and the former like a beast. It is clear that he who waits for influx is like a statue; for he must stand or sit motionless, with hands hanging down and eyes either shut or open without winking, neither thinking nor breathing. What life then has he?
[2] It is also clear that he who believes that everything he thinks and does is from himself is not unlike a beast, for he thinks only from the natural mind which man has in common with the beasts, and not from the spiritual rational mind which is the truly human mind; for this mind acknowledges that God alone thinks from Himself, and that man thinks from God. Therefore, one who thinks only from the natural mind knows no difference between a man and a beast except that a man speaks and a beast makes sounds, and he believes that they both die in a similar manner.
[3] Of those who wait for influx this further may be said. They receive none, except the few who from their heart desire it; and they occasionally receive some response by a vivid perception, or by tacit speech in the response, in their thought but rarely by any manifest speech. It is then to this effect that they should think and act as they wish and as they can, and that he who acts wisely is wise and he who acts foolishly is foolish. They are never instructed what to believe and what to do, and this in order that the human rational principle and human freedom may not perish; that is, that everyone may act from freedom according to reason, to all appearance as from himself. Those who are instructed by influx what to believe or what to do are not instructed by the Lord or by any angel of heaven but by some Enthusiast, Quaker, or Moravian spirit and are led astray. All influx from the Lord is effected by enlightenment of the understanding, and by the affection for truth, and through the latter passing into the former.
[4] Second: To believe and think, as is the truth, that all good and truth originate from the Lord and all evil and falsity from hell, appears as if it were impossible, when yet it is truly human and consequently angelic. To believe and think that all good and truth are from God appears possible, provided nothing further is said, because it is according to theological faith, and it is not allowable to think contrary to this. On the other hand, to believe and think that all evil and falsity are from hell appears to be impossible, because one would then believe that man could not think at all. Yet man does think as from himself even though from hell, because the Lord grants to everyone that thought, whatever its origin, should appear in him as his own. Otherwise a man would not live as a man, nor could he be led out of hell and introduced into heaven, that is, be reformed, as has been frequently shown above.
[5] Therefore also the Lord grants to man to know and consequently to think that he is in hell when he is in evil, and that he thinks from hell if he thinks from evil. He also grants to him to think of the means by which he may escape out of hell and not think from it, but may enter heaven and there think from the Lord; and He further grants to man freedom of choice. From these considerations it may be seen that man is able to think evil and falsity as if from himself, and also to think that this or that is evil or false; consequently that it is only an appearance that he does so of himself, for without this appearance he would not be a man. To think from truth is the human and consequently the angelic principle itself; and it is a truth that man does not think from himself, but that it is granted him by the Lord to think, to all appearance as from himself.
[6] Third: To believe and think thus is impossible to those who do not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord, and who do not acknowledge evils to be sins, but it is possible to those who acknowledge these two things. It is impossible to those who do not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord because it is the Lord alone who grants to man to think and to will; and those who do not acknowledge the Divinity of the Lord, being separated from Him, believe that they think from themselves. It is impossible also to those who do not acknowledge evils to be sins, because they think from hell; and in hell everyone imagines that he thinks from himself. However, that it is possible to those who acknowledge these two things may be evident from what has been fully set forth above (n. 288-294).
[7] Fourth: Those who are in the acknowledgment of these two things reflect only upon the evils in themselves; and, so far as they shun them as sins and turn away from them, they cast them out from themselves to the hell from which they come. Everyone knows, or may know, that evil originates from hell and that good is from heaven. Consequently, everyone may know that so far as man shuns evil and turns away from it so far he shuns and turns away from hell. So, too, he may know that so far as anyone shuns evil and turns away from it so far he wills and loves good; and consequently so far is he brought out of hell by the Lord and led to heaven. These things every rational man may see, provided he knows that there is a heaven and a hell and that evil and good are from their own respective sources. Now if a man reflects upon the evils in himself, which is the same thing as examining himself, and shuns them, he then frees himself from hell and casts it behind him, and introduces himself into heaven where he sees the Lord face to face. It is stated that man does this, but he does it as of himself, and then from the Lord. When a man from a good heart and a pious faith acknowledges this truth, it lies inwardly concealed in everything that he afterwards thinks and does as from himself. It is like the prolific principle in a seed which inwardly remains with it even until the production of new seed; and like the pleasure in the appetite for food which a man has once recognised to be wholesome for him; in a word, it is like the heart and soul in everything that he thinks and does.
[8] Fifth: In this way the Divine Providence does not appropriate either evil or good to anyone, but one’s own prudence appropriates both. This follows from all that has now been said. The end in view of the Divine Providence is good; accordingly it purposes good in every operation. Therefore it does not appropriate good to anyone, for such good would thereby become meritorious; nor does it appropriate evil to anyone, for it would thereby make him answerable for the evil. Yet man does both from his proprium because this is nothing but evil. The proprium of his will is the love of self, and the proprium of his understanding is the pride of his own intelligence, and from this arises man’s own prudence.
