If man only believed, as is really true, that all good is from the
Lord and all evil from hell, he would neither make the good in him a
matter of merit nor would evil be imputed to him; for he would then
look to the Lord in all the good he thinks and does, and all the evil
that flows in would be cast down to hell from which it comes. But
because man does not believe that anything flows into him either from
heaven or from hell, and therefore supposes that all things that he
thinks and wills are in himself and therefore from himself, he
appropriates the evil to himself, and the good that flows in he
defiles with merit.
303. XXXIV. CONJUNCTION OF HEAVEN WITH MAN BY MEANS OF THE WORD.
Those who think from interior reason can see that there is a
connection of all things through intermediates with the First, and
that whatever is not in connection is dissipated. For they know, when
they think about it, that nothing can have permanent existence from
itself, but only from what is prior to itself, thus all things from a
First; also that the connection with what is prior is like the
connection of an effect with its effecting cause; for when the
effecting cause is taken away from its effect the effect is dissolved
and dispersed.
Pages:
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343