16、⑺主不让任何事物分裂。这意味着事物必须要么专注于良善和真理，要么专注于邪恶和虚假。主的圣治作工的首要目标是，人要处于良善，同时处于真理。这样一个人才是他自己的良善和自己的爱，也是他自己的真理和自己的智慧，因为人由此而为人，自此以后，他就是主的一个形像。然而，由于一个人活在世上时，能处于良善，同时处于虚假，也能处于邪恶，同时处于真理，甚至还能处于良善，同时处于邪恶，因而可以说是一个双面人；还由于这种分裂会摧毁这种形像，从而摧毁这个人，所以主的圣治在其一切运作中，无论总体还是细节，都试图消除这种分裂。此外，对一个人来说，处于邪恶，同时处于虚假要好过处于良善，同时处于邪恶，所以主允许第一对出现，不是祂愿意这样，而是由于拯救人类的目的，祂不能阻止。
之所以一个人能处于邪恶，同时处于真理，并且主由于拯救人类的目的而不能阻止这一点，是因为人的理解力能被提升到智慧之光，当听见真理时也能看见或承认它们，而他的爱仍留在下面。这意味着按他的理解力，他能在天堂，但按他的爱，他在地狱；他无法否认这种可能性，因为理性与自由这两种官能不能从人那里被取走；事实上，正是凭借这些官能，他才是一个人，有别于动物，也只能凭借这些官能重生并因此得救。凭借这些官能，人能照着智慧行动，也能照着不属于智慧的爱行动。他能从在上的智慧审视在下的爱，并能以这种方式审视他的思维、意图和情感，从而审视他在生活和教义上的邪恶和虚假，以及良善和真理。他若无法认识并承认自己身上的这些东西，就不能被改造。我将在下文详细论述刚才所说的这两种官能。这就是为何人能处于良善，同时也处于真理，能处于邪恶，同时也处于虚假，还能处于这些的交替中。
16. (7) The Lord does not allow anything to be divided. Consequently either something must be impelled by good and at the same time by truth, or it must be impelled by evil and at the same time by falsity. The Lord's Divine providence primarily has as its end and operates to the end that a person be impelled by good and at the same time by truth, for the person is then an embodiment of his own proper good and own proper love, and also of his own proper truth and own proper wisdom. For this is what makes a person human, since he is then an image of the Lord.
However, as long as a person lives in the world, it is possible for him to be impelled by good and at the same time by falsity, or to be impelled by evil and at the same time by truth. Indeed, it is possible for him to be impelled by evil and at the same time by good, so as to be, so to speak, two people, and this division into two destroys the image of the Lord and thus the person's humanity. Because of this, the Lord's Divine providence therefore has as its objective in each and everything it does that this division not exist.
Moreover, because it is better for a person to be impelled by evil and at the same time by falsity than to be impelled by good and at the same time by evil, therefore the Lord permits this, not as one who wills it, but as one powerless to prevent it, owing to the end, which is salvation.
A person may be impelled by evil and at the same time by truth, and the Lord is powerless to prevent this owing to the end, which is salvation, because a person's intellect can be elevated into the light of wisdom and see truths, or acknowledge them when he hears them, while his love remains below. For a person may thus be with his intellect in heaven, but with his love in hell; and to be in such a state cannot be denied a person, because he cannot have taken from him the two faculties which make him human and distinguish him from animals, and which are the only means by which he can be regenerated and thus saved, namely, rationality and freedom. For owing to these a person can act in accordance with wisdom, and also act in accordance with a love devoid of wisdom, and can from the wisdom above look upon the love below, and so see his thoughts, intentions, and affections, and thus the evils and falsities and goods and truths of his life and doctrine, without a knowledge and acknowledgement of which in himself he cannot be reformed.
We have mentioned these two faculties before, and we are going to say more about them in subsequent discussions.
This then is the reason that a person may be impelled by good and at the same time by truth, or by evil and at the same time by falsity, and also by alternations of these.
16. 7. The Lord does not let anything remain divided. This means that things must be focused either on what is both good and true or on what is both evil and false. The first of the goals toward which the Lord's divine providence works is that we should be engaged in what is good and what is true together. That is our "good" and our love and that is our truth and our wisdom, because that is what makes us human and images of the Lord. However, since while we are living in this world we can be engaged simultaneously in what is good and what is false, or in what is evil and what is true--even in what is at once evil and good, and therefore double--and since this division destroys that image and therefore our very humanity, the Lord's divine providence is trying to get rid of this division in everything it does.
Further, since it is better for us to be engaged in something evil and something false than in something good and something evil at the same time, the Lord lets the first of these pairings occur. He does so not from intent but from an inability to prevent it because of the ultimate goal, which is our salvation. It is because of these two factors--our ability to be engaged in something evil and something true at the same time, and the Lord's inability to prevent this because of the goal, which is our salvation--that our discernment can be lifted up into heaven's light and see what is true or recognize it when we hear it even while our love remains down below. This means that we can be in heaven in our discernment and in hell in our love; and we cannot be denied this possibility because we cannot be deprived of the two abilities that make us human and distinguish us from the beasts, the two abilities that alone make our rebirth and salvation possible, namely, our rationality and our freedom. These two abilities, that is, are what enable us to act in keeping with wisdom or to act in keeping with a love that has no wisdom. These are what enable us to look down from wisdom on our love below and therefore see our thoughts, intentions, and feelings, to see what is evil and false and what is good and true in our life and our beliefs. If we could not recognize and admit these things in ourselves, we could not be remade. I have already discussed these abilities [15] and will have more to say about them later [71-99].
This is how we can be engaged in what is good and what is true together and in what is evil and what is false together, and do this alternately.
16. VII. THE LORD DOES NOT SUFFER THAT ANYTHING SHOULD BE DIVIDED; THEREFORE IT MUST BE EITHER IN GOOD AND AT THE SAME TIME IN TRUTH, OR IN EVIL AND AT THE SAME TIME IN FALSITY. The Divine Providence of the Lord has especially for its end that a man should be in good and at the same time in truth, and for this it works; for thus a man is his own good and his own love, and also his own truth and his own wisdom; for thereby a man is man, since then he is an image of the Lord. However, because a man, while he lives in the world, can be in good and at the same time in falsity, and also in evil and at the same time in truth, and even in evil and at the same time in good, and thus as it were a double man; and because this division destroys that image, and so destroys the man; therefore the Divine Providence of the Lord, in all its operations both in general and in particular, has in view that this division shall not be. Moreover, since it is better for a man to be in evil and at the same time in falsity than to be in good and at the same time in evil, the Lord permits this, not as if He willed it, but as if He were unable to prevent it, on account of the end in view, which is man's salvation.
[2] The reason why a man can be in evil and at the same time in truth, and why the Lord cannot prevent this on account of the end, which is salvation, is that man's understanding can be raised up into the light of wisdom and see truths or acknowledge them when he hears them, while his love remains below. Thus he can be in heaven with his understanding but with his love in hell; and this cannot be denied to him, because the two faculties, rationality and liberty, cannot be taken from him; for by virtue of these he is a man, and is distinguished from the beasts; and only by means of these faculties can he be regenerated and consequently saved. By means of these a man is able to act according to wisdom, and is also able to act according to a love that is not of wisdom. He can from wisdom above view the love that is below, and in this way can view his thoughts, intentions, affections, and therefore the evils and falsities as well as the goods and truths of his life and doctrine; and without a knowledge and acknowledgment of these in himself he cannot be reformed. These two faculties which have just been spoken of will be treated at greater length in what follows. What has been said explains why man can be in good and at the same time in truth, and in evil and at the same time in falsity, and also in alternations of these.
16. (7) The Lord does not suffer any thing to be divided; consequently it must be in good and also in truth, or it must be in evil and also in falsity. The Lord's Divine providence chiefly has for its end that man should be in good and also in truth, and for this it works; for thereby man is his own good and his own love, and also his own truth and his own wisdom; for thereby man is man, since he is then an image of the Lord. But inasmuch as man can be, while he is living in the world, in good and in falsity at the same time, also in evil and in truth at the same time, and even in evil and in good at the same time, and thus be as it were a double man, and inasmuch as this division destroys that image, and thereby destroys the man, the Lord's Divine providence, in each and every particular of it, has as its end that this division shall not be. And since it is better for a man to be in evil and in falsity at the same time than to be in good amid in evil at the same time, the Lord permits this, not as being what He wills, but because, in view of the end which is salvation, He cannot prevent it. That it is possible for a man to be in evil and in truth at the same time, and that the Lord in view of the end, which is salvation, cannot prevent this, comes from man's ability to have his understanding raised up into the light of wisdom, and to see truths or acknowledge them when he hears them, while his love remains below. For man is thus able to be in heaven with the understanding, while with the love he is in hell; and this cannot be denied to man, because the two capacities, rationality and liberty, cannot be taken from him; for these are what make him to be a man, and differentiate him from the beasts, and only by means of these can he be regenerated and thus saved. For by means of these a man is able to act according to wisdom, and is also able to act according to a love that is not of wisdom; by means of these he is able also from wisdom above to view the love below, and thus to view his thoughts, intentions, affections, and in consequence the evils and falsities and the goods and truths of his life and doctrine; and without a knowledge and recognition of these in himself he cannot be reformed. These two capacities have been treated of above, and more will be said about them in what follows. This is why man can be in good and also in truth, and in evil and also in falsity, and in alternations of these.
16. VII. Quod Dominus non patiatur ut aliquid divisum sit, quare vel erit in bono et simul vero, vel erit in malo et simul falso. Divina Providentia Domini praecipue pro fine habet et operatur, ut homo sit in bono et simul vero, sic enim est suum bonum et suus amor, et quoque suum verum et sua sapientia; nam per id homo est homo, est enim tunc imago Domini: at quia homo, dum in mundo vivit, potest in bono esse et simul in falso, tum in malo esse et simul in vero, imo in malo esse et simul in bono, ita sicut duplus, et haec divisio destruit imaginem illam et sic hominem, ideo Divina Providentia Domini spectat in omnibus et singulis suis, ut haec divisio non sit: et quia plus conducit homini, ut in malo et simul falso sit, quam ut in bono et simul malo, ideo Dominus illud permittit, non sicut volens, sed sicut 1non potens resistere propter finem, qui est salvatio. Quod homo possit in malo et simul vero esse, et quod Dominus non possit resistere propter finem qui est salvatio, est causa, quia intellectus hominis potest elevari in lucem sapientiae, et videre vera, vel agnoscere illa dum audit, amore ejus remanente infra, sic enim potest homo intellectu esse in coelo, sed amore in inferno, ac talis esse non potest negari homini, quia non ei tolli possunt binae facultates, per quas est homo, et distinguitur a bestiis, et per quas unice regenerari et sic salvari potest, quae sunt Rationalitas et Libertas, nam per illas potest homo agere secundum sapientiam, et quoque agere secundum amorem non sapientiae, et potest ex sapientia supra videre amorem infra, et sic cogitationes, intentiones, affectiones, ita mala et falsa, tum bona et vera vitae et doctrinae suae, sine quorum cognitione et agnitione in se, non potest reformari. De binis his facultatibus supra dictum est, et in sequentibus plura dicenda sunt. Haec causa est quod homo possit in bono et simul vero esse, tum in malo et simul falso, et quoque in alternis eorum.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: sicut