DLW 162
People who have confirmed themselves
on the side of nature
have
induced in themselves a state of mind so set
that they are no longer
willing
to raise their minds above nature.
Consequently their minds are
closed upwardly
and opened downwardly,
so that they become sensually
natural people
who are spiritually lifeless.
Moreover, because they then
think only in accord
with ideas they have gained from their bodily
senses,
or by means of them from the world,
they also at heart deny God.
Because
any conjunction with heaven is then broken,
a conjunction with hell is
formed,
leaving them only the faculties of thinking and willing -
the
faculty of thinking in accord with rationality,
and the faculty of
willing in freedom -
two faculties which every person has from the Lord
and which are not taken away.
These two faculties exist in devils
and angels alike,
but devils devote them to
thinking insanely and doing
evil,
whereas angels devote them to
thinking wisely and doing good.
No comments:
Post a Comment