Evidently, then, man is loved by the Lord just to
the extent that his will is formed from good and his understanding
from truth. Also to be loved by the Lord is to love the Lord, since
love is reciprocal; for upon him who is loved the Lord bestows
ability to love.
351. It is believed in the world that those who have much knowledge,
whether it be knowledge of the teachings of the church and the Word
or of the sciences, have a more interior and keen vision of truth
than others, that is, are more intelligent and wise; and such have
this opinion of themselves. But what true intelligence and wisdom
are, and what spurious and false intelligence and wisdom are, shall
be told in what now follows. [2] True intelligence and wisdom is
seeing and perceiving what is true and good, and thereby what is
false and evil, and clearly distinguishing between them, and this
from an interior intuition and perception. With every man there are
interior faculties and exterior faculties; interior faculties
belonging to the internal or spiritual man, and exterior faculties
belonging to the exterior or natural man. Accordingly as man's
interiors are formed and made one with his exteriors man sees and
perceives.
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