AC 1911 - The Rational and Intellectual Truth and the New Born Rational

 AC 1911 [1-5]

The rational first conceived cannot acknowledge
intellectual or spiritual truth as truth,
because there adhere to this rational
many fallacies from the memory-knowledges
drawn from the world and from nature,
and many appearances from the knowledges
taken from the literal sense of the Word,
and these are not truths.

For example:
it is an intellectual truth that all life is from the Lord;
but the rational first conceived
does not understand this,
and supposes that if it did not live from itself
it would have no life;
indeed, it is indignant if the contrary is said,
as has been many times perceived from the spirits
who still cling to the fallacies of the senses.

It is an intellectual truth
that all good and truth are from the Lord;
but the rational first conceived
does not understand this,
because it has the feeling that they are as from itself;
and it also supposes
that if good and truth were not from itself,
it could have no thought of good and truth,
and still less do anything good and true;
 and that if they are from another
it should let itself go,
and wait all the time for influx.

It is an intellectual truth
that nothing but good is from the Lord,
and not even the least of evil;
and this too the rational first conceived
does not believe,
but supposes that
because the Lord governs everything,
evil also is from Him;
and that because He is omnipotent and omnipresent,
and is good itself,
and does not take away
the punishments of the evil in hell,
He wills the evil of punishment;
when yet He does evil to no one,
nor does He will that anyone should be punished.

It is an intellectual truth
that the celestial person has from the Lord
a perception of good and truth;
but the first rational
either denies the existence of perception altogether,
or supposes that
if a person were to perceive from another,
and not from himself,
he would be as if inanimate, or devoid of life.
In fact the more the rational thinks
from memory-knowledges that originate
from sensuous things
and from philosophical reasonings,
the less does it understand
the foregoing and all other intellectual truths,
for the fallacies therefrom
are involved in so much the darker shades.
So it is that the learned believe less than others.