298、为将这些事显明给理性人，无论他是恶人还是善人，因而无论他处于冬光还是夏光，因为两种光的颜色看上去是一样的，有必要按顺序解释它们。
①当意愿专注于邪恶时，人自己的聪明只看见虚假，既不想也不能看见其它任何东西。这一点在灵界经常被指给我看。每个人死后成为灵人时，都会脱下肉体，披上灵体。然后，他被交替引入其生命的两种状态，就是外在状态和内在状态。当处于外在状态时，他说话和行事既理性又明智，正如一个理性和智慧之人在世上所行的；他还能教导其他人属于道德文明生活的许多事，若曾为牧师，能教导属于属灵生活的事。但当他从这种外在状态被引入内在状态，并且外在状态进入休眠状态，内在状态被唤醒时，如果他是个恶人，那么场景就会发生改变。他从理性变得感官化，从智慧变得疯狂，因为这时，他从其意愿的邪恶及其快乐，因而从他自己的聪明进行思考，只看见虚假，也只会作恶，并以为城府就是智慧，狡猾就是谨慎；他自己的聪明使他确信自己是半神，并全身心地渴求骇人的恶毒诡计。
我经常目睹这类疯狂，还看见一些灵人在一个小时之内两三次被引入这些交替状态，这能使他们看见并承认自己的疯狂；然而，他们仍不愿留在一种理性道德的状态，反而自动回到他们那内在感官化和疯狂的状态。他们喜欢这种状态胜过那种，因为其生命之爱的快乐就在这种状态中。谁能相信恶人表面之下会是这个样？谁能相信当他进到里面时，会经历如此的转变？单从这个经历就能看出，当人出于其意愿的邪恶思考和行动时，他自己的聪明是什么样。善人则不然：当这些人从外在状态转到内在状态时，他们甚至变得更智慧，更正派。
②这时，人自己的聪明若看见真理，就要么远离，要么歪曲这真理。
人有一个情绪自我和一个认知自我，情绪自我是邪恶，认知自我是由此而来的虚假。后者由“人意”（the will of man）来表示，前者由“情欲或肉欲”（the will of the flesh）来表示（约翰福音1:13）。情绪自我本质上就是自我之爱，认知自我本质上是由这爱所生的骄傲；这两者就像两个配偶，它们的婚姻被称为邪恶和虚假的婚姻。每个恶灵在进入地狱之前，都被扔进这种婚姻；一旦处于这种婚姻，他就不知道何为良善，因为他将自己的邪恶称为良善，并感觉它令人快乐。那时，他也厌恶真理，不愿看见它，因为他看见与其邪恶一致的虚假，如同眼睛看见美丽的东西，他听见虚假，如同耳朵听见和声。
③圣治不断使人看见真理，还赐下对感知并接受它的一种情感。这种情况之所以发生，是因为圣治从内在行动，并通过内在流入外在，也就是从属灵层流入属世人中的事物，然后通过天堂之光光照理解力，通过天堂之热赋予意愿以生命。天堂之光本质上是神性智慧，天堂之热本质上是神性之爱；从神性智慧流入的，只能是真理，不是别的，从神性之爱流入的，只能是良善，也不是别的。主由此在理解力中赐下对看见真理，以及感知并接受它的情感；人就这样在外在和内在方面都成为一个人。谁不想表现得像个理性和属灵之人？谁不知道他想要如此表现，是为了让别人相信他是一个真正的人。因此，他若仅外在形式上是理性和属灵的，内在形式上却不是，算是个人吗？他不就是舞台上的一个演员，或几乎有一张人脸的类人猿吗？这一切不是在表明，只有当人内心就像别人眼里的样子时，他才是一个人吗？承认这种人性的，必承认那种人性。人自己的聪明只能从外在取得人的形式，而圣治能从内在取得人的形式，并通过内在赋予人一个外在形式。当这一切完成时，人不仅看上去是一个人，而且就是一个人。
④以这种方式人从恶中被引离，但不是凭他自己，而是靠着主。当圣治能使人看见真理，同时赋予他对真理的一种情感时，他就能从恶中被引离，因为真理进行教导和指示。当意愿相应地作出行动时，它就与真理结合，并在自己里面将真理转化为良善。因为真理属于它的爱，凡属于爱的，都是良善。一切改造都是通过真理实现的，没有真理，无法实现。因为没有真理，意愿不断在自己的邪恶中，即便请教理解力，也得不到指教；相反，它的邪恶却被虚假证实。
至于聪明，无论在善人还是恶人看来，它似乎都是他的，甚至是他自己的。此外，善人被保持在出于自己的聪明行事的一种状态，仿佛这聪明就是他自己的，和恶人一样。但他若相信圣治，就会从恶中退出，若不相信，则不会退出。凡承认邪恶就是罪，想要从中退出的人都相信，而凡不承认，也不想退出的人都不相信。这两种聪明之间的区别就像我们以为本身是真实的某种东西和以为本身不是真实的，但仍看似真实的某种东西之间的区别；或像没有一个与之关联的内在的一个外在和有一个与之关联的内在的一个外在之间的区别；因而像扮演国王，王子和将军言行举止的模仿者和演员，与国王，王子和将军本人之间的区别；后者内在和外在都是这样，而前者仅外在是这样；当脱去这外在时，他们就被称为喜剧演员、表演者和演员。
298. But for these observations to be apparent to a rational person whether he be evil or good, thus whether he possesses a wintry light or a summery light, since colors are visible alike in each, they must be explained in turn.
FIRST, that when the will is caught up in evil, one's own intelligence sees nothing but falsity, and is both unwilling and unable to see anything else: I have had this demonstrated quite often in the spiritual world. When a person becomes a spirit, which happens to everyone after death - for he then puts off his material body and puts on a spiritual one - he is conveyed alternately into the two states of his life, the outer one and the inner one. When he is in the outer state, he both speaks and behaves rationally and wisely, altogether as a rational and wise person in the world, and he can also teach others very many matters relating to a moral and civic life. Moreover, if he had been a preacher, he is able also to teach matters relating to a spiritual life. But when he is conveyed from this outer state into his inner one, and the outer one is made quiescent and the inner one awakened, then, if he is evil, the scene changes. From being rational he becomes sensual, and from being wise, insane. For his thinking is then governed by the evil of his will and its delight, thus by his own intelligence, and he sees nothing but falsity and does nothing but evil, believing that maliciousness is wisdom, and that cunning is prudence; and in the light of his own intelligence he believes himself a deity, and with his whole mind embraces nefarious schemes.
[2] I have seen such insanities quite often. I have also seen spirits conveyed into these alternating states two or three times within an hour, and it has been granted them then to see their insanities and moreover to acknowledge them. But still they did not wish to remain in a rational and moral state, but of their own accord returned into their inner sensual and insane state, as they preferred this to the other, because in it lay the delight of their life's love.
Who can believe that behind his outward visage an evil person is of such a character, and that he undergoes such a metamorphosis when he withdraws within it?
From this empirical evidence alone one can see the nature of a person's own intelligence when his thinking and behavior is governed by evil in his will.
The case is otherwise with good people. When they are conveyed from their outer state into the inner one, they become still wiser and still more moral.
[3] SECOND, that if in that case one's own intelligence does see truth, either it turns its back on it or it falsifies it: Everyone has a volitional character and an intellectual character. The volitional character is evil, and the intellectual character is the resulting falsity. The first is meant by "the will of the flesh," and the second by "the will of man" in John 1:13. 1
The native character of the will is, in its essence, a love of self, and the native character of the intellect is a conceit arising from that love. The two loves are like two married partners, and we call their marriage the marriage of evil and falsity. Every evil spirit is brought into this marriage before he is sent into hell, and when he is there, he does not know then what is good, for he calls his evil good, as he experiences it as delightful. Moreover, he also then turns himself away from truth, nor is he willing to see it, because he looks upon any falsity that accords with his evil in the way that the eye looks upon beauty, and hears it as the ear hears harmony.
[4] THIRD, that Divine providence continually causes a person to see truth, and gives him moreover a disposition to perceive it and accept it: This is the case because Divine providence acts from within and flows through the interior component into the outer ones, or from the spiritual component into the components in the natural self, and with the light of heaven illumines the intellect, and with the warmth of heaven animates the will. The light of heaven in its essence is Divine wisdom, and the warmth of heaven in its essence is Divine love; and from Divine wisdom nothing can flow in but truth, and from Divine love nothing can flow in but good. It is in consequence of this that the Lord grants in the intellect a disposition to see truth, and also to perceive and accept it. This is what makes a person human, not only in respect to his outward appearance, but also in respect to his inward one.
Who does not wish to appear to be a rational and spiritual person? And who does not know that he wishes to appear as such in order that others may believe him to be truly human? Therefore, if he is only rational and spiritual in outward form, and not at the same time in his inward form, is he human? Is he anything other than a kind of actor upon a stage, or a kind of ape with an almost human face? Can he not know from this that only that person is human who inwardly is such as he wishes to be seen by others? He who acknowledges the one point must acknowledge the other.
One's own intelligence can produce the human form only in his external constituents, but Divine providence can produce that form in his internal constituents and through them in his external ones; and when it has been produced, the person not only appears to be human, but is human.
[5] FOURTH, that by this means a person is turned away from evil, not of himself, but by the Lord: We say that when Divine providence grants a person to see truth and gives him at the same time an affection for it, a person can be turned away from evil; and the reason is that truth points the way and enjoins it, and when the will puts it into practice, it unites itself with the truth and within itself turns the truth into good. For it becomes then a matter of his love, and that which is a matter of love is good.
All reformation is effected by means of truth and not apart from it, for without truth the will is continually intent on its evil, and if it consults the intellect, it is not instructed, but the evil is justified by falsities.
[6] As regards intelligence, it appears to be one's own and inherently so, both in the case of a good person and in the case of an evil one, and a good person is bound to act in accord with his intelligence as though it were his own just as much as an evil person. But someone who trusts in Divine providence is turned away from evil, while someone who does not trust in it is not turned away. Moreover, the person who trusts in it is someone who acknowledges evil to be a sin and wishes to be turned away from it, while someone who does not have that acknowledgment and wish does not trust in it.
The difference between these two types of intelligence is like the difference between something believed to exist in itself and something believed not to exist in itself, but yet to exist apparently in itself. And it is also like the difference between something external without a similar internal of the same character and something external with a similar internal. Thus it is like the difference between the words and actions of mimics and comic actors who play the parts of kings, princes and dukes, and the words and actions of actual kings, princes, and dukes. The latter are what they are both inwardly and outwardly, while the former are what they are only outwardly, and when the appearance is put off, are called comedians, performers, and entertainers.
Footnotes:
1. "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:12-13)
298. These items need to be explained in sequence, though, so that whether rational people are evil or good, whether their light is winter sunlight or summer sunlight, they will see them in the same colors.
(a) When our volition is devoted to evil, our own intelligence sees nothing but falsity. It neither wants to nor is able to see anything else. I have often been shown this in the spiritual world. When we become spirits, which happens after death, all of us take off our physical bodies and put on spiritual ones. We are then led alternately into our two basic states of life, the outer one and the inner one. When we are in the outer state we talk and act rationally and wisely just like any rational and wise individual in this world. We can tell others a tremendous number of things about moral and civic living. If we were ministers, we can teach about spiritual living as well. However, when we leave that outer state and come into the inner one, when the outer one becomes dormant and the inner one is awakened, then if we are evil people it is a different scene. We become sense-centered instead of rational, and insane instead of wise. Our thinking is prompted by the evil of our volition and its pleasure, which means that we are thinking with our own intelligence. We cannot see anything except what is false or do anything except what is evil. We believe that malice is wisdom and that craft is prudence. Our own intelligence convinces us that we are demigods, and our whole mind is thirsty for appalling skills.
[2] I have seen this kind of insanity any number of times. I have also seen people shift back and forth between these two states two or three times in a single hour, which enabled them to see and recognize their insanity; but they still did not want to stay in their rational and moral state. Of their own accord they turned back to their inner sensory and insane state. They loved it more than the other because that was where they found the pleasure of their life's love.
Who would think that evil people are like this under the surface and that they experience such a metamorphosis when they go within? This experience alone shows what our own intelligence is like when its evil intent is in control of our thinking and actions.
It is different for good people. When they shift from their outer to their inner state, they become even wiser and more decent.
[3] (b) If our own intelligence does see anything true at such times, it either turns away or falsifies it. We have both an emotional and a cognitive sense of identity. Our emotional sense of identity is evil and our cognitive sense of identity is the falsity that it prompts. The first is what is meant by "the will of man" and the second by "the will of the flesh" in John 1:13.
Essentially, our voluntary side is a love for ourselves and our cognitive side is a pride born of that love. They are like two married partners, and their marriage is called the marriage of what is evil and what is false. Every evil spirit is consigned to this marriage before entering hell; and once people are there they do not know what is good, since they call their evil good and experience it as pleasant. They turn away from truth as well and do not want to see it. This is because they see the falsity that agrees with their evil the way the eye sees beauty, and they hear it the way the ear hears harmony.
[4] (c) Divine providence is constantly making sure we see what is true and giving us a desire to both appreciate it and accept it. This happens because divine providence is acting from the inside and flowing through to the outside, from the spiritual level into things in our lower self. Then it enlightens our discernment with heaven's light and gives life to our volition with heaven's warmth. Essentially, heaven's light is divine wisdom and heaven's warmth is divine love; and nothing can flow in from divine wisdom except what is true, and nothing can flow in from divine love except what is good. This is how the Lord gives our discernment a desire to see what is true and to appreciate and accept it; and this is how we become human not only as to our outer face but as to our inner one as well.
Is there anyone who does not want to seem like a rational and spiritual individual? Is anyone not aware of the desire to be regarded by others as truly human? If we are rational and spiritual only in outward form, then, and not inwardly as well, are we human? Are we anything but an actor on the stage or an ape with an almost human face? Does this not show that we are human only when we are inwardly as human as we seem to others? If we recognize the one kind of humanity, we must recognize the other.
The only thing our own intelligence can do is adopt a human form outwardly, but divine providence can adopt one inwardly and give us an outward form through the inner. When this is done, then we not only look human, we are human.
[5] (d) In this way we are led away from evil not by ourselves but by the Lord. The reason we can be led away from evil when divine providence enables us to see what is true and gives us a desire for it as well is that truth points out and indicates things. When our volition does these things, it unites with truth and transforms it to something good within itself. It becomes a matter of its love, and whatever is a matter of love is good. All our reformation is accomplished by means of truth and not apart from it, since in the absence of truth our volition stays dedicated to evil. If it does look to our discernment it is not taught anything. Instead, its evil is justified by falsities.
[6] As for our intelligence, it seems to be ours, really to belong to us, whether we are good or evil. Good people are kept in a state of acting from their intelligence as though it belonged to them, just as evil people are. If we believe in divine providence, though, we are kept from evil; but if we do not believe, we are not kept from it. When we recognize that an evil is a sin and want to be kept from it, we believe; when we do not recognize and want this, we do not believe. The difference between the two kinds of intelligence is like the difference between something we believe to be inherently real and something we believe is not inherently real but which still seems to be. It is like an outer surface that does not have an inner substance consistent with it, and an outer surface that does have such an inner substance. So it is like the speech and actions of mimes and actors who play the parts of royal and noble persons on the one hand, and the royals and nobles themselves on the other. The latter are the same inwardly as they are outwardly. The others have only the outward guise, and when they lay that aside we call them comics, actors, and impersonators.
298. In order that these things may be made apparent to the rational man, whether he be a wicked man or a good man, thus whether he be in the light of winter or in the light of summer, for colours appear alike in both, they must be explained in their order.
First: One's own intelligence, when the will is in evil, sees nothing but falsity, and has neither the desire nor the ability to see anything else. This has often been shown in the spiritual world. Every man when he becomes a spirit, which takes place after death, for he then puts off the material body and puts on the spiritual, is introduced alternately into the two states of his life, the external and the internal. While he is in the external state he speaks and acts rationally, just as a rational and wise man does in the world; and he can also teach others many things that pertain to moral and civil life; and if he has been a preacher he can also teach things pertaining to spiritual life. But when from this external state he is introduced into his internal state, and the external is put to sleep and the internal awakes, if he is wicked the scene is changed. From being rational he becomes sensual, and from being wise he becomes spiritually insane; for he then thinks from the evil of his will and its delights, thus from his own intelligence, and he sees falsity only and does nothing but evil, believing that wickedness is wisdom and that cunning is prudence; and from his own intelligence he believes himself to be a deity and with his whole mind revels in wicked practices.
[2] I have frequently seen instances of such insanity; and I have also seen spirits introduced into these alternate states two or three times within an hour, and then it was granted them to see their insanities and also to acknowledge them. Nevertheless, they were unwilling to remain in a rational and moral state, but of their own accord they returned to their internal sensual and insane state; for they loved this more than the other because in it was the delight of their life's love. Who can believe that a wicked man is such beneath his outward appearance and that he undergoes such a transformation when he comes into his internal state? From this one experience may be evident what the nature of one's own intelligence is when he thinks and acts from the evil of his will. It is otherwise with the good; for when these are admitted into their internal state from their external they become still more wise and moral.
[3] Second: If one's own intelligence then sees the truth, it either turns itself away or falsifies it. Man has a voluntary proprium and an intellectual proprium; the voluntary proprium is evil and the intellectual proprium is falsity derived from it; the latter is meant by the will of man (vir) and the former by the will of the flesh (John 1:13). The voluntary proprium is in its essence the love of self, and the intellectual proprium is pride from that love. These are like two married partners, and their union is called the marriage of evil and falsity. Into this union every wicked spirit is admitted before he enters into hell; and when he is there he does not know what good is, for he calls his evil good because he feels it as a delight. He then also turns away from the truth and has no desire to see it, because he sees the falsity that accords with his evil as the eye sees what is beautiful, and he hears it as the ear hears what is harmonious.
[4] Third: The Divine Providence continually causes man to see truth and also gives him the affection of perceiving it and of receiving it. This is done because the Divine Providence acts from the interior, and through this it flows into the exteriors, that is, from the spiritual into the things that are in the natural man; and by the light of heaven enlightens his understanding and by the heat of heaven vivifies his will. The light of heaven in its essence is Divine Wisdom, and the heat of heaven in its essence is Divine Love; and from the Divine Wisdom nothing can flow in but truth, and from the Divine Love nothing can flow in but good, from which the Lord bestows in the understanding an affection for seeing truth and also for perceiving and receiving it. Thus a man becomes a man not only in external but also in internal aspect. Everyone wishes to appear a rational and a spiritual man, and everyone knows that he desires to appear so, in order that others may believe him to be a true man. If, therefore, he is rational and spiritual in his external form only, and not at the same time in his internal, is he a man? Is he other than as a player upon the stage or as an ape with a face almost human? May it not be known from this that he only is a man who is interiorly such as he desires others to suppose him to be? He who acknowledges the one must acknowledge the other. One's own intelligence can induce the human form on the externals only, but the Divine Providence induces that form on the internals and through these on the externals; and when it has been so induced a man does not only appear as a man but he is one.
[5] Fourth: By this means man is withdrawn from evil, not of himself but by the Lord. When the Divine Providence grants the perception of truth and at the same time the affection of it, man can be withdrawn from evil because truth points out and dictates; and when the will performs what truth dictates it unites itself with the truth and within itself it converts the truth into good; and the truth becomes the truth of its love, and what belongs to the love is good. All reformation is effected by means of truth, and not without it; for without truth the will is continually in its evil, and if it consults the understanding it is not instructed, but the evil is confirmed by falsities.
[6] With regard to intelligence, it appears both to the good man and to the wicked man to be his own and peculiar to him. Moreover, a good man just as much as a wicked man is bound to act from intelligence as if it were his own; but he who believes in the Divine Providence is withdrawn from evil, while he who does not believe is not withdrawn: and he believes who acknowledges evil to be sin and desires to be withdrawn from it, while he does not believe who does not acknowledge and desire this. The difference between these two kinds of intelligence is like the difference between that which is believed to exist in itself and that which is believed not to exist in itself but yet as in itself. It is also like the difference between an external without an internal which is similar in every respect and an external with a similar internal. Thus it is like the difference between mimics 1and actors who by speech and gesture personate kings, princes and generals, and the kings, princes and generals themselves. The latter are such interiorly and at the same time exteriorly, but the former are such only exteriorly; and when this exterior is put off they are only comedians, actors and players.
Footnotes:
1. In the Original Edition the text reads "ita sicut inter loquelas et gestus mimorum et hariolorum, qui agunt personas regum, principum et ducum, et inter ipsos reges, principes et duces." Here the elements of the comparison are mixed.
298. But that these things may be made evident to the rational man, whether he be an evil or a good man, thus whether he be in the light of winter or of summer (for colors appear the same in both), they shall be explained in their order. First: One's own intelligence, when the will is in evil, sees nothing but falsity, and has no desire or ability to see any thing else. This has often been shown in the spiritual world. Every man when he becomes a spirit, which takes place after death (for he then puts off the material body and puts on the spiritual), is admitted by turns into the two states of his life, the external and the internal. While he is in the external state he speaks and acts rationally and wisely, just as a rational and wise man does in the world; he can also teach others many things that pertain to moral and civil life; and if he has been a preacher he can teach things pertaining to spiritual life. But when from this external state he is let into his internal, and the external is put to sleep and the internal is awakened, if he is an evil man the scene is changed; from being rational he becomes sensual, and from being wise he becomes insane, for he then thinks from the evil of his will and its delight, thus from his own intelligence, and he sees nothing but falsity and does nothing but evil, believing that shrewdness is wisdom and that cunning is prudence; and from his own intelligence he believes himself to be a deity, and with his whole mind drinks in nefarious schemes.
[2] Such insanities I have often seen; I have also seen spirits let into these alternate states two or three times within an hour; and they were then permitted to see their insanities and to acknowledge them; nevertheless they were unwilling to remain in a rational and moral state, but turned themselves back of their own accord into their internal state, which was sensual and insane, for they loved this more than the other, because the delight of their life's love was in it. Who can believe that an evil man is such behind his outward appearance, and that he undergoes such a transformation when he enters into what is within? From this experience alone it can be seen what one's own intelligence is when he thinks and acts from the evil of his will. It is otherwise with the good: when these from the external state are admitted into the internal they become still wiser and better behaved.
[3] Secondly: If one's own intelligence then sees truth it either turns itself away or it falsifies the truth. Man has a voluntary self (proprium) and an intellectual self; the voluntary self is evil, and the intellectual self is falsity therefrom; the latter is meant by "the will of man," and the former by "the will of the flesh" (John 1:13). The voluntary self in its essence is love of self, and the intellectual is conceit from that love; these two are like two consorts, and their marriage is called the marriage of evil and falsity. Every evil spirit is admitted into this marriage before he comes into hell, and when he is in it he does not know what good is, for he calls his evil good because he feels it to be delightful; and he then also turns away from the truth and is unwilling to see it, because he sees the falsity that is in harmony with his evil as the eye sees what is beautiful, and he hears it as the ear hears what is harmonious.
[4] Thirdly: The Divine providence continually causes man to see truth, and also gives an affection for perceiving it and receiving it. This is done because the Divine providence acts from the interior, and through it flows into exteriors, that is, from the spiritual into the things that are in the natural man; and by the light of heaven enlightens the understanding, and by the heat of heaven vivifies the will. The light of heaven in its essence is Divine wisdom, and the heat of heaven in its essence is Divine love, and from the Divine wisdom nothing else can flow in but truth, and from the Divine love nothing else can flow in but good; and from this the Lord gives in the understanding an affection for seeing truth and also for perceiving and receiving it. Thus man becomes a man both in external and in internal aspect. Does not every one wish to appear a rational and spiritual man? And does not every one know that he wishes so to appear, that he may be believed by others to be a true man? If, therefore, he is rational and spiritual in external form only, and not also in internal form, is he a man? Is he anything but as a player upon the stage or as an ape with a face almost human? From this can it not be known that he alone is a man who is interiorly what he wishes to seem to others to be? He who acknowledges the one must acknowledge the other. One's own intelligence can induce the human form on externals only; but the Divine providence induces that form on the internals, and through these in the externals; and when it has been so induced man does not merely appear to be a man but he is a man.
[5] Fourthly: By this means man is withdrawn from evil, not by himself but by the Lord. When the Divine providence enables man to see truth, and at the same time gives him an affection for it, man can be withdrawn from evil, because truth instructs and prescribes, and when the will does accordingly it conjoins itself with the truth, and in itself it turns the truth into good; for the truth comes to be of its love, and what is of the love is good. All reformation is effected by means of truth, and not without it; for without truth the will is continually in its own evil, and if it consults the understanding it is not instructed, but the evil is confirmed by falsities.
[6] In respect to intelligence, it appears both to the good man and to the evil man to be his, even his own; moreover, a good man is bound to act from intelligence as if it were his own just as much as an evil man; but he that believes in the Divine providence is withdrawn from evil, while he that does not believe is not withdrawn; and he believes who acknowledges evil to be sin and wishes to be withdrawn from it, while he does not believe who does not so acknowledge and wish. The difference between these two kinds of intelligence is like the difference between that which is believed to be in itself, and that which is believed not to be in itself and yet as if in itself; or it is like the difference between an external without a correlative internal and an external with a correlative internal; thus it is like the difference between the words and gestures of mimics and actors who personate kings, princes, and generals, and the kings, princes, and generals themselves; the latter are such both inwardly and outwardly, while the others are such only outwardly, and when this outward is put off they are called comedians, performers, and players.
298. Sed ut haec coram rationali homine, sive malus sit sive bonus, ita sive sit in luce hyemali sive in luce aestiva, [appareant,] in utraque enim colores similiter apparent, explicanda sunt in suo ordine. PRIMUM. Quod propria intelligentia, cum voluntas 1in malo est, non videat nisi quam falsum, et quod non videre velit nec possit aliud: hoc saepius in Mundo spirituali ostensum est: Unusquisque homo, dum fit spiritus, quod fit post mortem, tunc enim exuit materiale corpus, ac induit spirituale, immittitur alternis in binos suae vitae status, externum ac internum; dum in statu externo est, loquitur et quoque agit rationaliter et sapienter, prorsus sicut homo rationalis et sapiens in Mundo, et quoque potest docere alios plura quae vitae moralis et civilis sunt; et si praedicator fuerat, potest etiam docere quae vitae spiritualis sunt: at cum ab externo hoc statu in internum suum mittitur, ac externus sopitur et internus expergiscitur, tunc, si malus est, mutatur scena; fit a rationali sensualis et a sapiente insanus; cogitat enim tunc a voluntatis suae malo et ejus jucundo, ita ex propria intelligentia, ac non videt nisi quam falsum, et non agit nisi quam malum, credendo quod malitia sit sapientia, et quod astutia sit prudentia, et ex propria intelligentia credit se numen, et haurit tota mente artes nefandas:
[2] tales insanias vidi pluries; et quoque quod in alternos illos status intra horae tempus bis aut ter missi sint, et tunc datum est illis videre suas insanias, et quoque agnoscere illas, at usque non voluerunt in statu rationali et morali manere, sed seipsos sponte converterunt in statum internum sensualem et insanum, hunc enim amabant prae altero, quia in illo erat jucundum amoris vitae illorum. Quis potest credere, quod homo malus intra faciem suam talis 2sit, et quod talem metamorphosin subeat, cum intra illum venit. Ex sola hac experientia constare potest, qualis est propria intelligentia, quando ex malo voluntatis suae cogitat et agit. Aliter fit cum bonis; hi cum a statu externo in internum mittuntur, fiunt adhuc sapientiores et moratiores.
[3] SECUNDUM. Quod si propria intelligentia tunc videt verum, vel avertat se, vel falsificet illud. Est homini proprium voluntarium, et est proprium intellectuale; proprium voluntarium est malum, et proprium intellectuale est falsum inde; hoc intelligitur per voluntatem viri, et illud per voluntatem carnis, Johannes 1:13. Proprium voluntarium est in sua essentia amor sui, et proprium intellectuale est fastus ex illo amore; sunt hi bini sicut duo conjuges, et conjugium eorum vocatur conjugium mali et falsi; in hoc conjugium mittitur unusquisque malus spiritus, antequam in infernum, et cum ibi est, tunc non scit quid bonum, nam malum suum vocat bonum, sentit enim illud ut jucundum; et quoque tunc avertit se a vero, nec vult videre illud, quia falsum concordans cum suo malo videt sicut oculus pulchrum, et audit sicut auris harmonicum.
[4] TERTIUM. Quod Divina Providentia continue faciat hominem videre verum, et quod etiam det affectionem percipiendi illud et recipiendi illud. Hoc fit, quia Divina Providentia agit ab interiori, et per id influit in exteriora, seu a spirituali in illa quae sunt in naturali homine, ac per lucem coeli illuminat intellectum, et per calorem coeli vivificat voluntatem; lux coeli in sua essentia est Divina Sapientia, et calor coeli in sua essentia est Divinus Amor, et ex Divina Sapientia non aliud influere potest quam verum, et ex Divino amore non aliud influere potest quam bonum, et ex hoc dat Dominus in intellectu affectionem videndi verum, et quoque percipiendi et recipiendi illud: sic fit homo non solum quoad externam faciem homo, sed etiam quoad internam. Quis non vult videri ut homo rationalis et spiritualis; et quis non scit, quod velit videri ut ab aliis credatur quod sit verus homo; si itaque solum est rationalis et spiritualis in externa forma, et non simul in interna, num ille est homo; num est aliud quam sicut histrio super theatro, 3aut sicut simia cui facies paene humana; annon inde nosse potest, quod ille solum sit homo, qui interius est, sicut ab aliis vult videri; qui agnoscit unum, agnoscet alterum. Propria intelligentia solum potest externis inducere formam humanam, sed Divina Providentia inducit internis, et per interna externis illam formam, quae quando inducta est, homo non apparet ut homo, sed est homo.
[5] QUARTUM. Quod homo per id abducatur a malo, non a se sed a Domino. Quod cum Divina Providentia dat videre verum, et simul affectionem ejus, homo possit abduci a malo, est quia verum monstrat et dictat, et cum voluntas facit id, conjungit se cum illo, ac in se vertit verum in bonum, fit enim amoris ejus, et quod amoris est, hoc est bonum: omnis reformatio fit per verum, et non absque illo, nam absque vero est voluntas continue in suo malo, et si consulit intellectum, non instruitur, sed confirmatur malum per falsa.
[6] Quod Intelligentiam attinet, illa apparet ut sua atque propria tam apud hominem bonum quam apud hominem malum, et quoque tenetur bonus aeque agere ex intelligentia sicut propria, quemadmodum malus; sed qui credit Divinam Providentiam, ille abducitur a malo, at qui non credit, non abducitur; et ille credit, qui agnoscit malum esse peccatum, et ab illo vult abduci, et ille non credit qui non agnoscit et vult: differentia inter binas illas intelligentias, est sicut inter id quod creditur esse in se, et inter id quod creditur non esse in se sed usque sicut in se; et est quoque sicut inter externum absque tali consimili interno, et inter externum cum consimili interno; ita sicut inter loquelas et gestus mimorum et hariolorum, qui agunt personas regum, principum et ducum, et inter ipsos reges, principes et duces; hi interius et simul exterius tales sunt, illi autem modo exterius, quod cum exuitur, vocantur comoedi, 4histriones et ludiones.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: voluntas
2 Prima editio: talis
3 Prima editio: theathro,
4 Prima editio: commedi,