ISB 14
Light
which makes the understanding
is first received there,
and love which constitutes the will
is received gradually.
This also is of providence,
because every person is to be created anew,
that is, reformed,
and this is effected through the understanding;
for from infancy he must acquire
the knowledges of truth and good,
which will teach him to live well,
that is, to will and act rightly.
Thus the will is formed through the understanding.
For
the sake of this end,
there is given to a person
the faculty of elevating his understanding
almost into the light
in which the angels of heaven are,
that he may see what he ought to will and so to do,
in order that he may be prosperous
in the world for a time,
and be happy after death to eternity.
He becomes prosperous and happy
if he procures for himself wisdom,
and keeps his will under obedience to it;
but unprosperous and unhappy
if he subjects his understanding
under obedience to his will.
The reason is,
because the will from birth inclines to evils,
even to enormous ones;
wherefore unless it were curbed
by the understanding,
a person would rush into heinous things,
indeed, from his inborn savage nature,
he would depopulate and slaughter
for the sake of himself
all those who do not favor and indulge him.
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