279、⑶邪恶在被移走的程度内得以赦免。当今流行的一个错误观点是：当邪恶被赦免时，它们就会与人分离，甚至被逐出；人的生命状态能瞬间改变，甚至转到对立面，因此一个人能从邪恶变成良善，从而被领出地狱，直接转入天堂，这一切全凭主的怜悯，无需方法。然而，持守这种信仰和观念的人，对何为邪恶，何为良善一无所知；对人的生命状态也一无所知，完全不知道这一事实：属于意愿的情感无非是心智的纯器官物质的状态变化和转换；属于理解力的思维无非是这些物质形式中的变化和转换，而记忆是这些变化的永久状态。这一切能使我们清楚看到，邪恶只能被逐渐移走，赦免邪恶不等于移走它。不过，这些都是概述性的陈述，它们若得不到论证，可能被承认，但无法被理解；不被理解的东西就像手里转动的轮子。所以我需要按刚才所给出的顺序逐一解释这些要点。
①当今流行的一个错误观点是：当邪恶被赦免时，它们就会与人分离，甚至被逐出。我从天堂得知：人生来所进入、自己实际所吸收的邪恶，无一与他分离，而是被移走，以至于不再出现。以前，和大多数世人一样，我也认为当邪恶被赦免时，它们就被逐出并冲洗干净，就像脸上的污垢被水洗净一样。但邪恶或罪不是这样，它们依然存在；悔改之后得到赦免时，它们就从中心移到边缘；凡在中心的，都直接在视线之下，或就在眼前，似乎在白昼之光中；凡在边缘的，则在阴影中，有时可以说在夜晚的黑暗中。由于邪恶不是被分离出去，只是被移走，也就是说，被推到边缘，并且人能从中心转到边缘，所以他有可能回到他以为被逐出的邪恶。因为人具有这样的性质：他能从一种情感进入另一种情感，有时进入一种相反的情感，因而从一个中心进入另一个中心。只要他在他的情感中，这情感就构成中心，因为此时，他在该情感的快乐和光明中。
有些人因生活良善，死后被主提入天堂，但他们仍具有这种观念：他们已经从罪中洁净了，因而完全没有了罪。一开始，这些人照着他们的这种观念穿上白衣，因为白衣表示从恶中洁净的状态。但后来他们开始像在世时那样思想，认为他们已经从一切恶中洁净了；因此，他们夸口说自己不再像其他人那样是个罪人；这种想法几乎无法与某种得意的心态，以及与自己相比对他人的蔑视分开。所以在这一点上，为让他们摆脱这种虚妄的观念，他们从天上被打发下来，回到他们在世上所粘染的邪恶，同时被指示，他们还有以前所不知道的遗传之恶。这使得他们承认：他们的邪恶并未与他们分离，只是被移走；他们凭自己仍是不洁的，事实上无非是邪恶；是主保护他们免受邪恶伤害，并将他们保持在良善中，尽管这一切看似他们自己所行的。一旦这种情况发生，他们就被主带回天堂。
②当今流行的第二个错误观点是：人的生命状态能瞬间改变，甚至转到对立面，因此一个人能从邪恶变成良善，从而被领出地狱，直接转入天堂，这一切全凭主的怜悯，无需方法。持守这个错误观点的，是那些把仁与信分离，并将拯救归于唯信的人。因为他们以为，仅仅思想这信，并发表关于它的言论，而且带着信靠和信心如此行，就会使人称义并得救。其中许多人还以为，这一切瞬间就能发生，即便以前没有发生，在人生命的最后一刻也能发生。这种人不可避免地以为，一个人的生命状态能瞬间改变，并凭怜悯得救，无需方法。但主的怜悯离不开方法，并不是直接的；人不可能瞬间从邪恶变为良善，只能通过圣治从他幼年直到生命结束的不断运作而被领出地狱，并转入天堂，这一点可见于本书最后一章。在此只需说明，圣治的一切律法都以人的改造和随之的拯救，因而以他生命的翻转为目的；这意味着他的生命状态从生来的地狱状态转变为天堂状态。这一切只能随着人远离邪恶及其快乐，并进入良善及其快乐而逐渐完成。
③那些如此相信的人，对何为邪恶，何为良善一无所知。因为他们不知道，邪恶就是违背神序行动和思想的欲望的快乐，而良善是照着神序行动和思想的情感的快乐；有无数欲望进入并构成每一个邪恶，同样有无数情感进入并构成每一个良善；这些无数元素在人的内层里面处于这种秩序和关联之中，以致它们若不同时都改变，就一个也不能改变。人们若意识不到这一点，就会以为在他们看来似乎是一个单一事物的邪恶很容易被移走；同样看似一个单一事物的良善能被带进来以取代之。他们因不知道何为良善和邪恶，故必以为脱离方法的瞬间得救和怜悯是可能的。本书最后一节将说明：这是不可能的。
④那些相信脱离方法的瞬间得救和怜悯的人不知道，属于意愿的情感无非是心智的纯器官物质的状态变化和转换；属于理解力的思维无非是这些物质形式中的变化和转换，而记忆是这些变化的永久状态。当有人说，情感和思维只可能在作为主体的物质及其形式中时，谁不承认呢？由于这些存在于充满物质和形式的脑部中，所以这些形式被称为纯器官形式。理性思考的人都忍不住取笑这种疯狂观念：情感和思维不存在于物质主体中，而是被热和光调节的发散物，就像出现在空气和以太中的形像或幻觉。事实上，思维离开一个物质形式是无法存在的，就像视觉离开它的形式，即眼睛，或听觉离开它的形式，即耳朵，或味觉离开它的形式，即舌头，无法存在一样。仔细观察脑部，你就会看见无数物质和纤维，那里没有任何无组织的东西。只这一个可见证据就足矣了，还用得着其它证据吗？
但有人要问了，心智的情感和思维到底是什么呢？从总体和细节上观察一下人体就能明白这个问题。人体里面有许多内脏，它们各自固定在自己的位置上，都通过其状态和形式的变化和转换而发挥各自的功能。众所周知，它们都在进行各自的运作，如胃、肠、肾、肝、胰、脾、心和肺。它们都从内部被激活作工，从内部被激活就是通过状态和形式的变化和转换被激活。这一切清楚表明，心智的纯器官物质的运作必与此类似，不同之处在于：身体的器官物质的运作是属世的，而心智的器官物质的运作是属灵的；两者通过对应构成一体。
没有任何方法可以提供可见的证据来证明，心智的器官物质的状态和形式的变化和转换，也就是构成情感和思维的变化和转换是何性质。然而，我们可以在说话和唱歌时肺部状态的变化和转换中，如在一面镜子里那样看见它们。两者之间也有一种对应关系；因为说话和唱歌的声音，以及构成说话的言语和歌曲旋律的声音的不同是由肺产生的。声音本身对应于情感，言语对应于思维。它们也由情感和思维产生，这一切是由肺里面的器官物质的状态和形式的变化和转换，从肺进入喉部和声门，然后舌头，最后嘴唇中的气管实现的。声音的状态和形式的第一次变化和转换发生在肺部，第二次变化和转换发生在气管和喉部，第三次通过声孔的各种开口而发生在声门，第四次通过舌头对上颚和牙齿的种种适应而发生在舌部，第五次通过唇部的各种形式而发生在唇部。这一切清楚表明，构成说话和唱歌的声音及其清晰度，唯独是由这些器官形式的连续不断的变化和转换产生的。既然声音和言语的唯一源头是心智的情感和思维，因为它们从情感和思维存在，从不与之分离，那么显而易见，意愿的情感就是心智的纯器官物质的状态变化和转换，理解力的思维则是这些物质形式中的变化和转换，就像肺部所发生的那样。
由于情感和思维纯粹是心智形式的状态变化，所以可推知，记忆无非是这些变化的永久状态。器官物质的一切状态变化和转换具有这种性质：一旦形成习惯，它们就恒久不变。因此，肺习惯在气管发出各种声音，在声门调节它们，用舌头清晰发音，用口唇塑造它们；这些器官活动一旦形成习惯，就在器官中根深蒂固，并能反复再现。这些变化和转换在心智的器官中，比在身体的器官中无限完美得多，这一点从《圣爱与圣智》一书（199-204节）的说明清楚看出来，那里解释了，一切完美都通过并按着层级增长和上升。关于这个主题的详情，可参看下文（319节）。
279. (3) Evils are forgiven to the extent that they are removed. It is an error of the age to believe that when evils are forgiven, they are separated from a person, indeed cast out. It is an error also to believe that the state of a person's life can be changed in an instant, even into an opposite one, that a person from being evil can thus be made good, and that he can in consequence be withdrawn from hell and transported at once into heaven, and this owing to the Lord's mercy apart from means.
People who hold this belief and opinion do not know at all what evil and good are, and nothing at all about the state of a person's life. Moreover, they are completely unaware that affections belonging to the will are simply changes and variations in the state of the purely organic substances of the mind, that thoughts belonging to the intellect are simply changes and variations in the forms of these substances, and that memory is the state of these changes and variations that remains permanent.
When all these things are known, it can be clearly seen from them that an evil can be removed only gradually, and that the forgiving of an evil does not mean its removal.
These observations, however, we have made in summary form, and unless they are demonstrated, they may indeed be acknowledged, but still not comprehended, and what is not comprehended is like the blur of a wheel spun by the hand. Therefore we must demonstrate the preceding observations one by one in the order in which they were presented.
[2] FIRST, that it is an error of the age to believe that when evils are forgiven, they are separated from a person, indeed cast out: I have been given to know from heaven that every evil into which a person is born and which he himself actually embraces is not separated from him, but is moved to the side so as not to appear. Before that I held the same belief as most people in the world, that when evils are forgiven they are cast off and are washed and wiped away, like dirt from the face with water. But the same is not the case with evils or sins. They all remain, and when, after repentance, they are forgiven, they are moved from the center to the sides. Then what is at the center, being directly in view, appears as though in the light of day, while that which is at the sides is in the shadows, and sometimes as though in the darkness of night.
Moreover, because evils are not separated but only set aside, or rather banished to the sides, and a person can be conveyed round about the center, it is also possible for him to go back to his evils that he had believed to be cast off. For a person is so constituted that he can go from one affection to another, and sometimes into the opposite, so as to pass from one focus to another. The person's affection forms the focus when he is impelled by it, for he is then prompted by its delight and its light.
[3] There are some people who, after death, are raised by the Lord into heaven because they have lived rightly, but who still have carried with them the belief that they are cleansed and purified of sins and are therefore free of any guilt. They are dressed at first in white garments in accordance with their belief, as white garments symbolize a state purified of evils. But later they begin to think as they did in the world, that they have been washed clean, so to speak, of every evil, and they start to exult, therefore, that they are no longer sinners like others, an exultation which can only with difficulty be divorced from some haughtiness of attitude and from some contempt for others in comparison to oneself. Consequently, to purge their belief of its illusions, they are expelled from heaven and conveyed back into their evils which they had acquired in the world, and they are shown at the same time that they possess as well hereditary evils, of which they had been previously unaware.
Then, after they have been thus compelled to acknowledge that their evils have not been separated from them, but only set aside, consequently that of themselves they are impure, indeed nothing but evil, that they are withheld from evils and kept in good endeavors by the Lord, and this apparently to themselves as though of themselves, they are again raised by the Lord into heaven.
[4] SECOND, that it is an error of the age to believe that the state of a person's life can be changed in an instant, that a person from being evil can thus be made good, and that he can in consequence be withdrawn from hell and transported at once into heaven, and this owing to the Lord's mercy apart from means: People caught up in this error are those who separate charity from faith and place salvation in faith alone, for they think that thought alone and the utterance of phrases expressive of that faith justify and save, if done with trust and confidence. Many also suppose this justification to be instantaneous - if not before, then sometime in the last hour of a person's life. These cannot help but believe that the state of a person's life can be changed in an instant and the person be saved out of mercy apart from means.
The Lord's mercy, however, does not operate apart from means. A person from being evil cannot be made good in an instant, and he cannot be withdrawn from hell and transported into heaven except by the unceasing operations of Divine providence, from the person's infancy to the end of his life, as we will see in the last chapter of this treatise. We state it here only because the laws of Divine providence all have as their end a person's reformation and so salvation, thus the inversion of his state, which at birth is hellish, into its opposite, which is heavenly; and this can be achieved only gradually, as the person turns away from evil and its delight and enters into good and its delight.
[5] THIRD, that people who hold this belief do not know at all what evil and good are: They do not know because they are unaware that evil is the delight of a lust to act and think contrary to Divine order, while good is the delight of an affection for acting and thinking in accordance with Divine order; that there are thousands of lusts which enter into and compose each evil, and thousands of affections which enter into and compose each good; and that these thousands of lusts exist in such an order and connection in a person's interior constituents that not one can be changed unless they are all changed together.
People who do not know this may believe or suppose that evil, appearing as it does to the eye as a single entity, can easily be removed, and that good, appearing as it does also as a single entity, can be introduced in its place.
Because they do not know what evil and good are, they cannot help but suppose that instantaneous salvation and mercy apart from means are possible. But we will see in the last chapter of this treatise that they are not possible.
[6] FOURTH, that people who believe in instantaneous salvation and mercy apart from means are unaware that affections belonging to the will are simply changes and variations in the state of the purely organic substances of the mind, that thoughts belonging to the intellect are simply changes and variations in the forms of these substances, and that memory is the state of these changes and variations that remains permanent: Who does not acknowledge it when he hears it said that affections and thoughts exist only in substances and their forms as vessels, and that as these exist in the brain, which is full of substances and forms, the forms are called purely organic?
No one who thinks rationally can help but laugh at some people's fancies that affections and thoughts do not exist in substantial vessels, but are exhalations modified by heat and light, like mirages appearing in the air and ether, when in fact thought can be no more divorced from a substantial form than sight from its vessel the eye, hearing from its vessel the ear, and taste from its vessel the tongue. Look at the brain, and you will see countless substances, and likewise fibers, and nothing there that is not organized. What need is there for any further confirmation beyond that of the eye?
[7] But the question is, what are affection and thought there? This we can conclude from each and all the organs in the body. Found in it are many viscera, each seated in its own fixed place and performing its functions by changes and variations in its state and form. It is a known fact that each is engaged in its own functions, the stomach in its, the intestines in theirs, the kidneys in theirs, the liver, pancreas and spleen in theirs, and the heart and lungs in theirs, all of these activities being actuated solely from within, and to be actuated from within is to be actuated by changes and variations in the state and form.
It can be seen from this that the operations of the purely organic substances of the mind are no different, excepting that the operations of the organic substances of the body are natural, while those of the mind are spiritual; and that the two are united by correspondences.
[8] One cannot demonstrate to the eye the nature of the changes and variations in the state and form of the organic substances of the mind, which affections and thoughts are, but still they can be seen as though in a mirror from the changes and variations in the state of the lungs in speaking and singing. There is also a correspondence. For the sound in speaking and singing, and also the articulations of the sound, which are what the words in speaking and the melodies in singing are, are produced by means of the lungs, and the sound corresponds to affection, and the words to thought. The sound and words are, moreover, the product of the affection and thought, and are produced through changes and variations in the state and form of the organic substances of the lungs, and from the lungs through the trachea or windpipe in the larynx and glottis, and after that in the tongue, and finally in the mouth and lips. The first changes and variations in the state and form of the sound occur in the lungs; the second in the trachea and larynx; the third in the glottis through varying openings of its orifice; the fourth in the tongue through varying applications of it to the palate and teeth; and the fifth in the mouth and lips through varying configurations of them.
It can be seen from this that mere changes and variations in the state of organic forms, successively continued, produce the sounds and their articulations which constitute speaking and singing.
Now because sound and speech are the product of nothing else than the mind's affections and thoughts, for they spring from these and never occur apart from them, it is apparent that the affections of the will are changes and variations in the state of the purely organic substances of the mind, and that the thoughts of the intellect are changes and variations in the form of those substances, in like manner as in the substances of the lungs.
[9] Since affections and thoughts are simply changes in the state of the forms of the mind, it follows that memory is nothing else than a permanent state of these. For all changes and variations of state in organic substances are such that once assimilated, they remain. Thus the lungs are trained to produce various sounds in the trachea and to vary them in the glottis, articulate them in the tongue, and modify them in the mouth; and when those organic activities have once been assimilated, they remain in those organs and can be produced again.
The fact that these changes and variations are infinitely more perfect in the organic constituents of the mind than in the organic constituents of the body follows from what we said in our treatise Divine Love and Wisdom 199-204, where we showed that all perfections increase and ascend concomitantly with degrees and in accordance with them.
More on this subject may be seen below in no. 319.
279. 3. To the extent that our evils are set aside, they are forgiven. One currently popular misconception is that our evils are taken from us and discarded when they are forgiven, and that the state of our life can be changed instantly, even totally reversed, so that we become good instead of evil. This would be leading us out of hell and transporting us instantly into heaven, all by some direct mercy of the Lord.
However, people who hold this kind of belief or thought have no idea whatever of what evil and good really are or what the state of our own life is. They are utterly unaware that the feelings of our volition are simply shifts and changes of state of the purely organic substances of our minds, that the thoughts of our discernment are simply shifts and changes of their forms, and that memory is the ongoing effect of these changes. This enables us to see clearly that evil can be taken away only gradually and that the forgiveness of evil is not the same as its removal. This, though, is presenting the ideas in condensed form. If they are not explained at greater length, they can be recognized but not grasped; and if they are not grasped, that is like a wheel that we turn by hand. I need to explain these propositions, then, one at a time in the order just given.
[2] (a) One currently popular misconception is that our evils are taken from us and discarded when they are forgiven. I have been taught in heaven that no evil that we are born with or that we ourselves adopt by our behavior is taken completely away from us. Evils are set aside so that they are no longer visible. Like so many other people in this world, I used to believe that when our evils are forgiven they are thrown away just as dirt is rinsed and washed away from our faces by water. That is not what it is like with our evils or sins, though. They are all still there, and when they are forgiven after we have repented, they are moved from the center to the sides. Whatever is in the middle is right in front of our eyes and seems to be out in broad daylight. What is off to the sides seems to be in the shade, or at times, even in the dark of night. Since our evils are not taken completely away, then, but are only displaced or put off to the side, and since we can be transported from the center to the boundaries, it can happen that we once again get involved in evils we thought we had left behind. It is part of our own nature that we can move from one desire to another, and sometimes into an opposite one. This means that we can move from one center to another. A desire determines our center as long as we are caught up in it. Then we are absorbed in its pleasure and its light.
[3] There are some people who are raised into heaven by the Lord after death because they have lived good lives but who bring with them a belief that they are free and clean from sins and therefore wholly without guilt. At first they are given white robes that reflect this belief, since white robes portray a state of having been purified from evils. Later, though, they begin to think the way they did in the world, to think that they have been washed clean from all evil; so they boast that they are no longer sinners like everyone else. It is almost impossible to separate this from a kind of mental "high" that includes a measure of looking down on others. So at this point, in order to free them from the faith they imagine they have, they are sent down from heaven and back into the evils they had fallen prey to in the world. This shows them that they have inherited evils that they had not known about before. This brings them to admit that their evils have not been taken away from them but only set aside, and that they themselves are still unclean, and in fact nothing but evil; that it is the Lord who is protecting them from their evils and keeping them focused on those good qualities; and that all this seems to be their own doing. Once this has happened, the Lord brings them back up into heaven.
[4] (b) A second popular misconception is that the state of our life can be changed instantly, so that we become good instead of evil. This would be leading us out of hell and transporting us instantly into heaven, all by some direct mercy of the Lord. This is the misconception of people who separate charity from faith and attribute salvation to faith alone. That is, they think that the mere thought and utterance of a statement of that faith, performed with trust and confidence, will justify and save them. Many of them also think that this can happen instantaneously, either before the hour of death or as it approaches. They cannot avoid believing that the state of our life can be changed in an instant and that we can be saved by direct mercy. We shall see in the last section of this book, though, that the Lord's mercy does not operate in this direct way, that we cannot become good instead of evil in an instant and be led out of hell and transported into heaven except by the ongoing efforts of divine providence from our infancy to the end of our lives.
At this point we may rest the case simply on the fact that all the laws of divine providence are aimed at our reformation, and therefore at our salvation, which means inverting the hellish state into which we are born into its opposite, a heavenly state. This can be done only gradually as we move away from evil and its pleasure and move into what is good and its pleasure.
[5] (c) People who hold this kind of belief have no idea whatever of what evil and good really are. They do not really know that evil is the pleasure we find in the urge to act and think in violation of the divine pattern, and that goodness is the pleasure we feel when we act and think in harmony with the divine pattern. They do not realize that there are thousands of individual impulses that go to make up any particular evil, and that there are thousands of individual impulses that go to make up any particular good tendency. These thousands of impulses are so precisely structured and so intimately interconnected within us that no single one of them can be changed without changing all the rest at the same time.
If people are unaware of this, they can entertain the belief or the thought that an evil that seems to be all by itself can be set aside easily and that something good that also seems to be all by itself can be brought in to replace it. Since they do not know what good and evil are, they cannot help thinking that there are such things as instantaneous salvation and direct mercy. The last section of this book will show that this is not possible.
[6] (d) People who believe in instantaneous salvation and direct mercy are utterly unaware that the feelings of our volition are simply changes of state of the purely organic substances of our minds, that the thoughts of our discernment are simply changes and shifts of their forms, and that memory is the ongoing effect of those changes and shifts. Once someone mentions it, everyone will realize that feelings and thoughts can happen only with substances and their forms as subjects. Since they happen in our brains, which are full of substances and forms, we say that these forms are purely organic. If we think rationally, we cannot help laughing at the wild idea that feelings and thoughts do not happen in substantial subjects but are breezes affected by warmth and light, like illusions seen in the air or the ether. In fact, thought can no more happen apart from its substantial form than sight can happen apart from its substantial form, the eye, or hearing from its ear, or taste from its tongue. Look at the brain and you will see countless substances and fibers, and nothing there that is not structured. What need is there of more proof than this visual one?
[7] Just what is this "feeling," though, and just what is this "thought"? We can figure this out by looking at the body overall and in detail. There are many internal organs there, all set in their own places, all carrying out their functions by shifts and changes in their states and forms. We know that they are occupied with their tasks. The stomach has its task, the intestines have theirs, the kidneys have theirs, the liver, pancreas, and spleen have theirs, and the heart and lungs have theirs. All of them are inwardly activated solely for their tasks, and this inward activation happens by shifts and changes of their states and forms.
This leads us to the conclusion that the workings of the purely organic substances of the mind are no different, except that the workings of the organic substances of the body are physical and the workings of the organic substances of the mind are spiritual. The two act as a unity by means of responsiveness [to each other].
[8] There is no way to offer visual evidence of the nature of the shifts and changes of state and form of the organic substances of the mind, the shifts and changes that constitute our feelings and thoughts. We can see them in a kind of mirror, though, if we look at the shifts and changes of state of our lungs in the acts of speech and singing. There is a parallelism, since the sounds of speech and song as well as the differentiations of sound that make the words of speech and the melodies of song are produced by the lungs. The sound itself answers to our feeling and the language to our thought. That is what causes them; and it is accomplished by shifts and changes of the state and form of the organic substances in our lungs, from the lungs into the trachea or windpipe in the larynx and glottis, then in the tongue, and finally in our lips.
The first shifts and changes of state and form of sound happen in the lungs, the second in the trachea and larynx, the third in the glottis by opening its aperture in various ways, the fourth by the tongue by touching the palate and teeth in various places, and the fifth by our lips through taking different shapes. We can see from this that both the sound and its modifications that constitute speech and song are produced solely by sequential and constant shifts and changes in the states of these organic forms.
Since the only source of sound and speech is our mental feelings and thoughts--that is where they come from, and there is no other source--we can see that the feelings of our volition are shifts and changes of state of the purely organic substances of our minds, and that the thoughts of our discernment are shifts and changes of the forms of those substances, just the way it happens in our lungs.
[9] Further, since our feelings and thoughts are simply changes of state of the forms of our minds, it follows that our memory is nothing but their ongoing effect. It is characteristic of all the shifts and changes of state in organic substances that once they have been learned they do not disappear. So the lungs are trained to produce various sounds in the trachea and to modify them in the glottis, articulate them with the tongue, and shape them with the mouth; and once these organs have been trained to do these things, the actions are ingrained and can be repeated.
Material presented in Divine Love and Wisdom 119-204 [Divine Love and Wisdom 199-204] shows that the shifts and changes in the organic substances of the mind are infinitely more perfect than those in the body. There it is explained that all processes of perfection increase and rise by and according to levels. There is more on the subject in 319 below.
279. III. SO FAR AS EVILS ARE REMOVED THEY ARE REMITTED. It is an error of the present age to believe
1. That evils are separated from man and indeed cast out when they are remitted; and
2. That the state of man's life can be changed in a moment, even to its opposite, so that from being wicked he can become good, and consequently can be brought out of hell and straightway transferred to heaven, and this by the immediate mercy of the Lord.
3. Those, however, who entertain this belief and opinion do not in the least know what evil is and what good is; and they know nothing whatever of the state of man's life.
4. Moreover, they are totally unaware that affections, which belong to the will, are nothing but changes and variations in state of the purely organic substances of the mind; and that thoughts, which belong to the understanding, are nothing but changes and variations in the form of these substances; and that memory is a permanent state of these changes.
From a knowledge of these things it may be clearly seen that no evil can be removed except by successive stages, and that the remission of evil is not its removal. These things are stated here in a summarised form; and unless they are demonstrated they may indeed by recognised but they cannot be comprehended; and what is not comprehended is vaguely defined like a wheel which is kept spinning round by the hand. Therefore, the propositions just stated must now be demonstrated one by one in the order in which they are set forth.
[2] First: It is an error of the present age to believe that evils are separated and indeed cast out when they are remitted. It has been granted me to know from heaven that no evil into which man is born and to which he has actually habituated himself is separated from him, but is only so far removed that it does not appear. Before that, I held the belief entertained by most people in the world, that when evils are remitted they are cast out, and are washed and wiped away as dirt from the face by water. This, however, is not the case with evils or sins. They all remain, and when after repentance they are remitted, they are moved from the centre to the outskirts; and then what is in the centre, because it is directly under view, appears as in the light of day, and what is at the outskirts is in the shade, and sometimes as it were in the darkness of night. As evils are not separated but only removed, that is, relegated to the outskirts, and as a man may pass from the centre to the parts round about, it may also happen that he can return to his evils which he supposed had been cast out. For man is of such a nature that he can pass from one affection into another, and sometimes into an opposite one, and thus from one centre to another, that affection in which he is for the time being constituting the centre, for he is then in its joy and in its light.
[3] There are some who after death are raised up by the Lord into heaven because they have lived well, but who yet have carried with them the belief that they are clean and pure from sins and therefore are not in a state of guilt. These are at first clothed in white garments in accordance with their belief; for white garments signify a state purified from evils. Later, however, they begin to think as they did in the world that they are as it were washed from all evil, and so to boast that they are no longer sinners like other men. Now this can hardly be separated from a certain elation of mind (animus) and a measure of contempt for others compared with themselves. Therefore, in order that they may be removed from their ill-founded belief they are sent down from heaven and permitted to enter upon the evils which they practised in the world; and at the same time they are shown that they are in hereditary evils, of which they were ignorant before. When they have thus been induced to recognise that their evils have not been separated from them but only removed, and consequently that of themselves they are impure, and indeed that they are nothing but evil, and that they are withheld from evil and kept in good by the Lord, and that this only appears to them as of themselves, they are again raised up by the Lord into heaven.
[4] Second: It is an error of the present age to believe that the state of man's life can be changed in a moment, so that from being wicked he can become good, and consequently can be brought out of hell and straightway transferred to heaven, and this by the immediate mercy of the Lord. Those are in this error who separate charity and faith, and place salvation in faith alone; for they suppose that merely thinking and uttering the words which state their faith, if it is done with assurance and confidence, is what justifies and saves. Moreover, many suppose that this is effected instantaneously, and, if not before, about the last hour of a man's life. These cannot but believe that the state of a man's life can be changed in a moment, and that he can be saved by the exercise of immediate or direct mercy. That the mercy of the Lord, however, is not immediate, and that a man cannot from being wicked become good in a moment, and can only be brought out of hell and transferred to heaven by the continual operation of the Divine Providence from infancy right on to the end of his life, will be seen in the last chapter of this treatise. At this point this only need be observed, that all the laws of the Divine Providence have for their end the reformation and thus the salvation of man; and consequently the reversal of his state, which by birth is infernal, to the opposite state, which is heavenly. This can only be effected step by step as man, withdrawing from evil and its delight, enters into good and its delight.
[5] Third: Those who entertain this belief do not in the least know what evil is and what good is. They do not know that evil is the delight of the lust of acting and thinking contrary to Divine order, while good is the delight of the affection of acting and thinking according to Divine order; nor do they know that there are myriads of lusts entering into and composing every individual evil, and myriads of affections entering into and composing every individual good, and that these myriads are in such connected order in man's interiors that it is not possible to change one without at the same time changing all. Those who do not know this may believe or suppose that evil, which to them appears to be one single entity, can easily be removed; and that good, which also appears to be one single entity, can be introduced into its place. As these do not know what evil is and what good is they cannot but suppose that there is such a thing as instantaneous salvation and also immediate mercy; but it will be seen in the last chapter of this treatise that these are not possible.
[6] Fourth: Those who believe in instantaneous salvation and immediate mercy do not know that affections, which belong to the will, are nothing but changes of state of the purely organic substances of the mind, and that thoughts, which belong to the understanding, are nothing but changes and variations in the form of these substances, and that memory is a permanent state of these changes and variations. Everyone acknowledges, when it is stated, that affections and thoughts exist only in substances and their forms, which are subjects; and as these exist in the brain, 1which is full of substances and forms, they are said to be purely organic forms. No one who thinks rationally can help laughing at the fanciful notions of some that affections and thoughts do not exist in forms that are substantiated, but that they are exhalations formed into shapes by heat and light like images appearing in the atmosphere. For thought can no more exist apart from a substantial form than sight apart from its form which is the eye, hearing apart from its form which is the ear, and taste apart from its form which is the tongue. If you examine the brain you will see innumerable substances, and likewise fibres; you will also see that everything in it is organised. What need is there of any other than this ocular proof?
[7] The question arises, What is affection and what is thought in the mind? This may be inferred from all the things in general and in particular in the body where there are many viscera, each fixed in its own place and all performing their own functions by changes and variations of state and form. It is well known that they are engaged in their own operations - the stomach, the intestines, the kidneys, the liver, the pancreas, and the spleen, the heart and the lungs, each organ in its respective operation. All these operations are kept in motion from within, and to be moved from within is to be moved by means of changes and variations of state and form. Hence it may be evident that the operations of the purely organic substances of the mind are of a similar nature, with this difference, that the operations of the organic substances of the body are natural, while those of the mind are spiritual, and that both act together as one by correspondences.
[8] The nature of the changes and variations of state and form in the organic substances of the mind, which are affections and thoughts, cannot be shown to the eye; but still they may be seen as in a mirror from the changes and variations in the state of the lungs in speaking and in singing. There is, moreover, a correspondence; for the sound of the voice in speaking and singing, and also the articulations of sound, which are the words of speech, and the modulations of singing, are caused by means of the lungs, and sound corresponds to affection and speech to thought. Further, sound and speech are produced by affection and thought; and this is effected by changes and variations in the state and form of the organic substances in the lungs, and from the lungs through the trachea or windpipe, in the larynx and glottis, then in the tongue and finally in the lips. The first changes and variations of the state and form of sound take place in the lungs, the second in the trachea and larynx, the third in the glottis by the various openings of its orifice, the fourth in the tongue by its various adaptations to the palate and teeth, and the fifth in the lips by their various modifications of form. Hence it may be evident that the mere changes and variations, successively continued, in the state of organic forms produce sounds and their articulations, which are speech and singing. Now, since sound and speech are produced from no other source than the affections and thoughts of the mind, for they exist from these and are never apart from them, it is clear that the affections of the will are changes and variations in the state of the purely organic substances of the mind, and that the thoughts of the understanding are changes and variations in the form of those substances, as is the case in the pulmonary substances.
[9] As affections and thoughts are simply changes in the state of the forms of the mind, it follows that memory is nothing else than a permanent state of these changes. For all changes and variations of state in organic substances are such that once they have become habitual they are permanent. Thus the lungs are habituated to produce various sounds in the trachea, to vary them in the glottis, to articulate them in the tongue, and to modify them in the mouth; and when once these organic activities have become habitual such sounds are in the organs and can be reproduced. That these changes and variations are infinitely more perfect in the organs of the mind than in those of the body is evident from what has been said in the treatise THE DIVINE LOVE AND WISDOM (n. 199-204), 2where it is shown that all perfections increase and ascend with degrees and according to them. On this subject more may be seen below (n. 319).
Footnotes:
1. Original Edition and Tafel Latin edition (1855) have "incerebris;" Worcester Latin edition (1899) changes to "in cerebro."
2. Original Edition has "n. 119-204."
279. (3) So far as evils are removed they are remitted. It is an error of the age to believe that evils have been separated from man, and even cast out, when they have been remitted; and that the state of a man's life can be changed instantly, even to its opposite, and thus from being evil a man can become good, and in consequence be led out of hell and transferred straightway into heaven, and this by the Lord's mercy apart from means. But those who hold this belief and opinion know nothing whatever about what evil is or what good is, and nothing whatever about the state of man's life, and are wholly ignorant of the fact that affections, which belong to the will, are nothing but changes and variations of state of the purely organic substances of the mind, and that thoughts, which belong to the understanding, are nothing but changes and variations in the form of these substances, and that memory is the state of those changes that remains permanent. When all this is known it can be clearly seen that no evil can be removed except by successive steps, and that the remission of evil is not its removal. But these are summary statements, and unless they are demonstrated may be acknowledged but can not be comprehended; and what is not comprehended is [seen indistinctly] like a wheel turned round by the hand; therefore these statements must be demonstrated one by one, in the order in which they are presented.
[2] First: It is an error of the age to believe that evils have been separated, and even cast out, when they have been remitted. It has been granted me to know from heaven that no evil into which man is born and that he himself actually imbibes is separated from him, but is so removed as not to appear. I formerly held the belief that is held by most in the world, that when evils are remitted they are cast out, and are washed and wiped away, as dirt is washed from the face by water. But this is not true of evils or sins, they all remain; and when after repentance they are remitted they are moved from the center to the sides; and then what is in the center, because it is directly under view, appears as in the light of day, and what is at the sides is in the shade, and sometimes as it were in the darkness of night. And as evils are not separated but only removed, that is, dismissed to the sides, and as man can pass from the center to the parts round about, it is possible for him to return into his evils which he supposed had been cast out. For man is such that he can pass from one affection into another, and sometimes into an opposite one, thus from one center to another, his affection, so long as he is in it, making the center, for then he is in its delight and in its light.
[3] There are some who are raised up by the Lord after death into heaven because they have lived well, but who have carried with them a belief that they are clean and pure from sins, and therefore are free from all guilt. These at first are clothed in white garments, in accordance with their belief, for white garments signify a state cleansed from evil. But afterwards they begin to think as they did in the world that they are as it were washed from all evil, and to glory therefore in the idea that they are no longer sinners like others, which can hardly be separated from a kind of elation of mind and a kind of contempt of others compared with themselves. Then, in order to remove them from their imaginary belief they are sent away from heaven and let down into their evils which they contracted in the world; and at the same time they are shown that they are also in hereditary evils, of which they had been ignorant before. When they have thus been compelled to acknowledge that their evils have not been separated from them but only removed, consequently that of themselves they are impure and in fact nothing but evil, and that they are withheld from evils and kept in goods by the Lord, although there is an appearance that this is from themselves, they are again raised up by the Lord into heaven.
[4] Secondly: It is an error of the age to believe that the state of man's life can be changed instantly, and thus from being evil man can become good, and in consequence can be led out of hell, and transferred straightway into heaven, and this by the Lord's mercy apart from means. Those are in this error who separate charity from faith, and place salvation in faith alone; for they imagine that merely thinking about and uttering the statements of that faith, if it is done with trust and confidence, is what justifies and saves; and many imagine that this may be done instantly, and, if not before, at about the last hour of man's life. Such must needs believe that the state of a man's life can be changed instantly, and man be saved by mercy apart from means. But that the Lord's mercy is not apart from means, and that man cannot from being evil become good in a moment, and can be led out of hell and transferred into heaven only by the unceasing operations of the Divine providence from infancy even to the end of his life, will be seen in the last chapter of this work. Here this only need be said, that all the laws of the Divine providence have for their end the reformation and consequent salvation of man, thus the reversal of his state, which by birth is infernal, into the opposite state which is heavenly; and that this can be done only step by step, as man withdraws from evil and its delight and enters into good and its delight.
[5] Thirdly: Those who so believe know nothing whatever about what evil is or what good is. For they do not know that evil is the delight of the lust of acting and thinking contrary to Divine order, and that good is the delight of the affection of acting and thinking in accordance with Divine order, and that there are myriads of lusts that enter into and compose every single evil, and myriads of affections in like manner that enter into and compose every single good, and that these myriads are in such order and connection in man's interiors that no one can be changed unless at the same time all are changed. Those who do not know this may hold the belief or opinion that evil, which seems also to them to be a single thing, can easily be removed; and good, which also appears to be a single thing, can be brought in in its place. As such do not know what evil is and what good is they must needs be of the opinion that instant salvation and mercy apart from means are possible; but that they are not will be seen in the last chapter of this work.
[6] Fourthly: Those who believe in instant salvation and mercy apart from means do not know that affections, which belong to the will, are nothing but changes of the state of the purely organic substances of the mind; and that thoughts, which belong to the understanding, are nothing but changes and variations in the form of these substances; and that memory is the state of these changes and variations that remains permanent. Who does not acknowledge, when it is stated, that affections and thoughts are possible only in substances and their forms, which are subjects? And as these exist in the brains, which are full of substances and forms, the forms are called purely organic. No one who thinks rationally can help laughing at the fancies of some that affections and thoughts do not exist in substantiated subjects, but are exhalations modified by heat and light, like images appearing in the air and ether; and yet thought can no more exist apart from a substantial form than sight apart from its form which is the eye, or hearing apart from its form which is the ear, or taste apart from its form which is the tongue. Examine the brain, and you will see innumerable substances, and fibers likewise, and that there is nothing there that is not organized. What other evidence than this ocular proof is needed?
[7] But it is asked, What is affection there, and what is thought there? This may be inferred from all things and each thing in the body; in it are many viscera, each fixed in its place, and these perform their functions by changes and variations of state and form. That each is engaged in its own operations is known-the stomach in its own, the intestines in theirs, the kidneys in theirs, the liver, pancreas, and spleen in theirs, and the heart and lungs in theirs; and all of these are moved to their work solely from within, and to be moved from within is to be moved by changes and variations of state and form. All this makes clear that the operations of the purely organic substances of the mind must resemble these, with the difference that the operations of the organic substances of the body are natural, while those of the mind are spiritual; and that the two make one by correspondences.
[8] The nature of the changes and variations of state and form in the organic substances of the mind, which are affections and thoughts, cannot be shown to the eye; nevertheless they may be seen as in a mirror in the changes and variations in the state of the lungs in speaking and singing. There is also a correspondence; for the tone of the voice in speaking and singing, and also its articulations, which are the words of speech and the modulations of singing, are made by the lungs, and tone corresponds to affection and speech to thought. They are also produced therefrom; and this is done by changes and variations in the state and form of the organic substances in the lungs, and from the lungs through the trachea or windpipe in the larynx and glottis, and then in the tongue, and finally in the lips. The first changes and variations of the state and form of the tone take place in the lungs, the second in the trachea and larynx, the third in the glottis by the varied openings of its orifices, the fourth in the tongue by its various adaptations to the palate and the teeth, the fifth in the lips by their varied forms. All this makes clear that mere changes and variations, successively continued, in the state of organic forms, produce tones and their articulations, which are speech and singing. Inasmuch, then, as tone and speech are produced from no other source than the affections and thoughts of the mind (for they exist from these, and never apart from them), it is evident that the affections of the will are changes and variations in the state of the purely organic substances of the mind, and that the thoughts of the understanding are changes and variations in the form of those substances, the same as in the pulmonary substances.
[9] As affections and thoughts are mere changes in the state of the forms of the mind it follows that memory is nothing else than the state of these changes that is permanent. For all changes and variations of state in organic substances are such that having once become habitual they are permanent. Thus the lungs are habituated to produce various sounds in the trachea, and to vary them in the glottis, to articulate them with the tongue, and to modify them with the mouth; and these organic activities, having once become habitual, are in the organs and can be reproduced. That these changes and variations are infinitely more perfect in the organic structures of the mind than in those of the body is evident from what has been said in The Divine Love and the Divine Wisdom (199-204), where it has been shown that all perfections increase and ascend with degrees and according to degrees. More about this may be seen below (319).
279. III. Quod quantum mala removentur, tantum remittantur. Error saeculi est, quod credatur, quod mala ab homine separata sint, imo ejecta, quando sunt remissa: et quod status vitae hominis momento mutari possit, etiam in oppositum, et sic homo a malo fieri bonus, consequenter ab inferno educi et illico in coelum transferri, hoc ex immediata Domini misericordia: sed illi qui ita credunt et opinantur, nihil quicquam sciunt quid malum et quid bonum, et nihil quicquam de statu vitae hominis; et prorsus non, quod affectiones, quae sunt voluntatis, sint merae mutationes et variationes status substantiarum pure organicarum mentis; et quod cogitationes, quae sunt intellectus, sint merae mutationes et variationes formae illarum; et quod memoria sit status illarum mutationum [et variationum] 1permanens. Ex his et illis cognitis clare videri potest, quod aliquod malum non possit removeri nisi successive; et quod 2remissio mali non sit remotio ejus. Sed haec in compendio dicta sunt, 3quae nisi demonstrentur, quidem agnosci possunt, sed usque non comprehendi; et quod non comprehenditur, est sicut rota quae manu circum agitur; quare supradicta singillatim demonstranda sunt in ordine quo adducta.
[2] PRIMUM. Quod error saeculi sit, quod 4credatur quod mala separata, imo ejecta sint, quando sunt remissa. Quod omne malum, in quod homo nascitur, et quod ipse actualiter imbuit, non separetur ab homine, sed removeatur, usque ut non appareat, mihi datum est scire e Coelo; antea in fide fui, in qua plerique in mundo, quod mala, quando remittuntur, rejiciantur, et sicut sordes a facie per aquam, abluantur et abstergantur: sed simile non est cum malis seu peccatis; omnia remanent, et cum post poenitentiam remittuntur, e medio ad latera promoventur, et tunc quod in medio est, quia directe sub intuitu, in luce quasi diei apparet, et quod ad latera, in umbra, et quandoque sicut in tenebris noctis: et quia mala non separantur, sed modo removentur, hoc est, ad latera ablegantur, et homo potest transferri e medio circumcirca, fieri etiam potest, quod in mala sua, quae credidit rejecta esse, redire possit: homo enim talis est, ut possit ab una affectione in alteram venire, et quandoque in oppositam, et sic ab uno medio in alterum; affectio hominis facit medium dum in illa est, est enim tunc in jucundo ejus et in luce ejus.
[3] Sunt quidam homines post mortem, qui a Domino in Coelum elevantur, quia bene vixerunt, sed usque secum tulerunt fidem, quod mundi et puri sint a peccatis, et quod ideo non in aliquo reatu sint; hi primum induuntur vestibus albis secundum fidem eorum, vestes albae enim significant statum purificatum a malis; sed postea incipiunt cogitare sicut in mundo, quod ab omni malo sicut abluti sint, et inde gloriari quod non amplius peccatores sint sicut alii, quod aegre potest separari a quadam elatione animi, et a quodam contemtu aliorum prae se; ideo tunc, ut a fide sua imaginaria removeantur, delegantur e Coelo, et remittuntur in sua mala, quae in mundo contraxerunt, et simul monstratur illis, quod etiam sint in malis haereditariis, de quibus non prius sciverunt: et postquam sic acti sunt ad agnoscendum, quod mala eorum non sint ab illis separata, sed solum remota, et quod sic ex se impuri sint, imo non nisi quam malum, et quod a Domino detineantur a malis, ac teneantur in bonis, et quod hoc appareat illis sicut a se, denuo in coelum a Domino elevantur.
[4] SECUNDUM. Quod error saeculi sit, quod credatur, quod status vitae hominis possit momento immutari, et sic homo a malo fieri bonus, consequenter ab inferno educi, et illico in coelum transferri, et hoc ex immediata Domini misericordia: in hoc errore sunt illi qui separant charitatem a fide, et in sola fide ponunt salvationem, nam putant quod sola cogitatio et enuntiatio vocum, quae istius fidei sunt, si fiat cum fiducia et confidentia, justificet et salvet; quod etiam a multis ponitur momentaneum, et si non prius, circa ultimam horam vitae 5hominis; hi non possunt aliter credere, quam quod status vitae hominis possit momento mutari, et homo ex immediata Misericordia salvari: sed quod misericordia Domini non sit immediata, et quod homo non possit a malo momento fieri bonus, et ex inferno educi et in Coelum transferri, nisi per operationes Divinae Providentiae continuas ab infantia usque ad extremum vitae hominis, videbitur in ultimo Paragrapho hujus Transactionis: hic solum ex eo, quod omnes leges Divinae Providentiae pro fine habeant reformationem et sic salvationem hominis, ita inversionem status ejus, qui a nativitate est infernalis, in oppositum, qui est coelestis: quod non fieri potest nisi progressive, sicut homo recedit a malo et ejus jucundo, ac intrat in bonum et ejus jucundum.
[5] TERTIUM. Quod illi qui ita credunt, nihil quicquam sciant quid malum et quid bonum: non enim sciunt, quod malum sit jucundum concupiscentiae agendi et cogitandi contra Divinum ordinem, et quod bonum sit jucundum affectionis agendi et cogitandi secundum Divinum ordinem, et quod myriades concupiscentiarum sint, quae unumquodvis malum ingrediuntur et componunt, et quod myriades affectionum sint, quae similiter unumquodvis bonum, et quod myriades illae in tali ordine et nexu sint in interioribus hominis, ut non unum possit mutari, nisi simul omnia. Illi, qui hoc non sciunt, credere seu opinari possunt, quod malum, quod ut unicum coram illis apparet, possit facile removeri, et bonum, quod etiam ut unicum apparet, possit loco ejus inferri. Hi quia non sciunt quid malum et quid bonum, non possunt aliter quam opinari, quod detur momentanea salvatio et immediata misericordia, sed quod non dabiles sint, videbitur in ultimo Paragrapho hujus Transactionis.
[6] QUARTUM. Quod illi qui credunt momentaneam salvationem et immediatam misericordiam, non sciant quod affectiones, quae sunt voluntatis, sint merae mutationes [et variationes] 6status substantiarum pure organicarum mentis; et quod cogitationes, quae sunt intellectus, sint merae mutationes et variationes formae illarum; et quod Memoria sit status istarum mutationum et variationum permanens. Quis non agnoscit, quando dicitur, quod affectiones et cogitationes non dentur nisi in substantiis et earum formis, quae sunt subjecta, et quia dantur in cerebris, quod plenum est substantiis et formis, vocantur formae pure organicae: nemo, qui rationaliter cogitat, non potest non ridere ad quorundam phantasias, quod affectiones et cogitationes non sint in subjectis substantiatis, sed quod sint halitus modificati a calore et luce, sicut apparentes imagines in aere et aethere, cum tamen cogitatio non plus dari potest separata a forma substantiali, quam visus a sua quae est oculus, auditus a sua quae auris, et gustus a sua quae est lingua; specta cerebrum, et videbis substantias innumerabiles, et similiter fibras, et quod nihil non ibi organizatum sit; quid opus est alia confirmatione, quam oculari illa.
[7] Sed quaeritur, quid ibi affectio et quid cogitatio; hoc concludi potest ab omnibus et singulis quae in corpore; ibi sunt plura viscera, singula in sua sede fixa, et suas functiones per mutationes et variationes status et formae operantur; quod in operationibus suis sint, notum est, ventriculus in suis, intestina in suis, renes in suis, hepar, pancreas et lien in suis, ac cor et pulmo in suis, et omnes illae operae solum intrinsecus moventur, ac intrinsecus moveri est per mutationes et variationes status et formae. Inde constare potest, quod substantiarum pure organicarum mentis operationes non aliud sint, cum differentia quod operationes substantiarum organicarum corporis sint naturales, at mentis spirituales, et quod hae et illae unum faciant per correspondentias.
[8] Non potest ad oculum monstrari, quales sunt status et formae mutationes et variationes substantiarum organicarum mentis, quae sunt affectiones et cogitationes, sed usque possunt sicut in speculo videri a mutationibus et variationibus status pulmonis in loquela et cantu; est etiam correspondentia; nam sonus loquelae et cantus, et quoque articulationes soni, quae sunt voces loquelae et modulamina cantus, fiunt per pulmonem, ac sonus correspondet affectioni, et loquela cogitationi; producuntur etiam ex illis, et hoc fit per mutationes et variationes status et formae substantiarum organicarum in pulmone, et ex pulmone per tracheam seu asperam arteriam in larynge et glottide, et postea in lingua, et demum in labris oris; mutationes et variationes status et formae soni primae fiunt in pulmone, alterae in trachea et larynge, tertiae in glottide per varias aperturas ejus orificii, quartae in lingua per varias ejus applicationes ad palatum et dentes, 7quintae in labris oris per varias formas: ex his constare potest, quod merae mutationes et variationes status formarum organicarum successive continuatae, producant sonos et illorum articulationes, quae sunt loquelae et cantus. Nunc quia sonus et loquela non aliunde producuntur quam ab affectionibus et cogitationibus mentis, nam ex his illa existunt, et nusquam absque illis, patet quod affectiones voluntatis sint mutationes et variationes status substantiarum pure organicarum mentis, et quod cogitationes intellectus sint mutationes et variationes formae illarum substantiarum; similiter ut in pulmonariis.
[9] Quoniam affectiones et cogitationes sunt merae mutationes status formarum mentis, sequitur quod Memoria non aliud sit, quam status illarum permanens; nam omnes mutationes et variationes status in substantiis organicis tales sunt, ut semel imbutae permaneant; ita imbuitur pulmo producere varios sonos in trachea, ac variare illos in glottide, articulare illos in lingua, et modificare illos in ore, et quando organica illa semel imbuta sunt, in illis sunt, et reproduci possunt. Quod mutationes et variationes illae infinite perfectiores sint in organicis mentis quam in organicis corporis, constat ex illis, quae in Transactione de DIVINO AMORE ET DIVINA SAPIENTIA 199-204 8, dicta sunt, ubi ostensum est, quod omnes perfectiones crescant et ascendant cum gradibus et secundum illos: de his plura videantur infra 319.
Footnotes:
1 Cf. voces similes ad QUARTUM infra.
2 Prima editio: qvod
3 Prima editio: snnt,
4 Prima editio: quad
5 Prima editio: virae
6 Cf. voces similes supra.
7 Prima editio: dentes;
8 Prima editio: 119