297、⑶只要恶人以为自己的聪明是一切，圣治什么都不是，主就无法把他们完全引离邪恶，并引入良善。表面上看，人似乎有能力把自己从恶中引离，只要他思想这样或那样违反公众利益，不切实际，并违反国内和国际法。恶人和善人一样能做到这一点，只要他天生或通过训练具有这种性质：他能清楚、分析和理性地思考。然而，他仍不能把自己从恶中引离。原因在于，主将理解和感知事物，甚至抽象理解和感知的能力赐予每个人，无论善恶，如前面多处所示（86，96，99，223，285节）；然而，人不能凭理解力把自己从恶中引离，因为邪恶属于意愿，理解力不会流入意愿，只能赋予它光明，光照并教导它。意愿之热，也就是人的生命之爱若因对邪恶的痴迷或欲望而发热，在对良善的情感上就会寒冷。这意味着他不接受这光，而是要么弃绝它或说把它反射回去，要么扼杀它，要么通过某种人为的虚假把它变为邪恶。冬天里的阳光和夏天里的阳光一样明亮，但当流入冻僵的树木时，所做的事也一样。不过，这一点按下列顺序可能看得更清楚：
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。
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。
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。
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。
297. (3) Evil people cannot be altogether turned away from evil and led into good by the Lord as long as they believe their own intelligence to be everything and Divine providence nothing. It appears as though a person could turn himself away from evil, provided he thinks that this or that is contrary to the common good, contrary to utility, or contrary to national and international law. An evil person can do this as well as a good one, provided his character is such by birth or by practice that he can think within himself clearly, analytically and rationally. But even so, he still cannot turn himself away from evil. The reason is that the Lord has given a faculty for understanding and perceiving things, even abstractly, to everyone, to an evil person as well as to a good one, as we have shown here and there above. And yet no one can extricate himself from evil by virtue of it. For evil is a matter of the will, and the intellect does not flow into the will except to shed light and enlighten and inform; and if the warmth of the will, namely the person's life's love, is burning with a lust for evil, it is in that case cold as regards an affection for good. Consequently it does not welcome the light, but either rejects it or extinguishes it, or by hatching some falsity turns it into evil. The case is like that with sunlight in winter, which is just as bright as sunlight in summer, and which operates no differently when flowing into frozen trees.
But these observations may be seen more fully according to the following outline:
1. 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.
2. If in that case one's own intelligence does see truth, it turns its back on it or falsifies it.
3. Divine providence continually causes a person to see truth, and gives him moreover a disposition to perceive it and also to accept it.
4. By this means a person is turned away from evil, not of himself, but by the Lord.
297. 3. The Lord cannot fully lead evil people away from their evils and guide them in what is good as long as they believe that their own intelligence is everything and that divine providence is nothing. It seems as though we can lead ourselves away from evil if we only think that it is against the common good, impractical, and against national and international law. Evil people can do this just as well as good people if by birth or by training they are the kind of people who can think to themselves with analytic and rational clarity. However, we still cannot lead ourselves away from evil.
This is because while the Lord gives the ability to understand and appreciate things abstractly to everyone, evil and good alike (as already noted any number of times [86, 96, 99, 223, 285]), such understanding still does not enable us to lead ourselves away from evil. Evil is a matter of our volition, and our discernment does not flow into our volition except to give it light, to illuminate it, and to instruct it. If the warmth of our volition (that is, our life's love) is hot because of obsessions with evil, it is cold toward any desire for what is good. This means that it does not accept the light, but reflects it back, or stifles it, or turns it into evil by inventing some distortion. Winter sunlight, which is just as bright as summer sunlight, does the same thing when it flows into frozen trees.
However, it will be easier to see this in the following sequence. (a) When our volition is devoted to evil, our own intelligence sees nothing but falsity. It neither wants to see anything else nor is able to. (b) If our own intelligence does see anything true at such times, it either turns away or falsifies it. (c) Divine providence is constantly making sure we see what is true and giving us a desire to both appreciate it and accept it. (d) In this way we are led away from evil not by ourselves but by the Lord.
297. III. THE WICKED CANNOT BE WHOLLY WITHDRAWN BY THE LORD FROM EVIL AND LED IN GOOD SO LONG AS THEY BELIEVE THEIR OWN INTELLIGENCE TO BE EVERYTHING, AND THE DIVINE PROVIDENCE NOTHING. It would appear to be the case that man can withdraw himself from evil, provided he thinks that this or that is contrary to the common good, contrary to what is useful and contrary to national and international law. This a wicked man can do as well as a good man, provided that, by birth or by practice, he is able analytically and rationally to exercise thought in a clear manner inwardly within himself. However, man is not able to withdraw himself from evil; because the faculty of understanding and perceiving things, even abstractly, is given by the Lord to everyone, the wicked as well as the good, as has been shown above in many places, and yet man cannot by means of this faculty deliver himself from evil; for evil pertains to the will, and the understanding flows into the will with light only, enlightening and teaching. If then the heat of the will, that is, man's love, is glowing from the lust of evil it is cold as to the affection of good, and therefore does not receive the light, but either reflects it or extinguishes it, or by some falsity devised for the purpose turns it into evil. In this it resembles the light of winter, which is as clear as the light of summer and continues so even when flowing into the frozen trees. However, this can be seen more fully in the following order:
1. One's own intelligence, when the will is in evil, sees falsity only, and has neither the desire nor the ability to see anything else.
2. If one's own intelligence then sees the truth, it either turns itself away or falsifies it.
3. The Divine Providence continually causes man to see truth, and also gives him the affection of perceiving it and of receiving it.
4. By this means man is withdrawn from evil, not of himself but by the Lord.
297. (3) The evil cannot be wholly led by the Lord away from evil and into good so long as they believe their own intelligence to be everything, and the Divine providence nothing. The appearance is that man has the ability to withdraw himself from evil, provided he thinks this or that to be contrary to the common good, contrary to what is useful, and contrary to the law of the nation and of nations. This an evil man can do as well as a good man, provided he is such by birth or by practice as to be able inwardly in himself to think clearly, analytically and rationally. Nevertheless he is not able to withdraw himself from evil. And the reason of this is that while the Lord gives to every man, the good and the evil alike, the capacity to understand and perceive things, even abstractly, as has been shown above throughout, yet man from that capacity is not able to deliver himself from evil, because evil belongs to the will, and the understanding flows into the will only as with light, enlightening and teaching; and if the heat of the will, that is, man's life's love, is glowing with a lust of evil it is frigid in affection for good; and in consequence, he does not receive [that light], but either rejects or extinguishes it, or by some contrived falsity turns it into evil. It is in this as with the light of winter, which is equally clear with the summer's light, and acts in a like manner as it flows in upon the frozen trees. But this can be seen more fully in the following order: (1) One's own intelligence, when the will is in evil, sees nothing but falsity, and has no desire or ability to see anything else. (2) If one's own intelligence then sees truth it either turns itself away or it falsifies the truth. (3) The Divine providence continually causes man to see truth, and also gives an affection for perceiving it and for receiving it. (4) By this means man is withdrawn from evil, not by himself, but by the Lord.
297. III. Quod mali non possint a Domino prorsus abduci a malis, et duci in bonis, quamdiu credunt propriam intelligentiam esse omne, et Divinam Providentiam non aliquid. Apparet sicut homo possit semet abducere a malo, modo cogitet quod hoc aut illud sit contra commune bonum, contra utile, et contra jus gentis et gentium; hoc potest tam malus, quam bonus, modo a nativitate aut ab exercitio talis est, ut intus in se analytice et rationaliter distincte possit cogitare; sed usque tamen non potest semet abducere a malo; causa est, quia facultas intelligendi et percipiendi res etiam abstracte data est unicuivis, tam malo quam bono, a Domino, ut supra passim ostensum est; at usque homo ex illa non potest se educere a malo; malum enim est voluntatis, ac intellectus non influit in voluntatem, nisi solum cum luce, ac illustrat et docet, et si calor voluntatis, hoc est, amor vitae hominis est fervidus ex concupiscentia mali, est tunc frigidus quoad affectionem boni, quare non recipit, sed vel rejicit vel exstinguit, vel per quoddam excogitatum falsum vertit in malum; hoc fit sicut cum luce hyemis, quae aeque clara est qualis est lux aestatis, quae influens in arbores frigidas similiter facit: sed haec plenius videri possunt in hoc ordine. 1. Quod propria intelligentia, cum voluntas in malo est, non videat nisi quam falsum, et quod non videre velit nec possit aliud. 2. Quod si propria intelligentia tunc videt verum, avertat se, aut falsificet illud. 3. Quod Divina Providentia continue faciat hominem videre verum, et quod etiam det affectionem percipiendi illud, et quoque recipiendi illud. 4. Quod homo per id abducatur a malo, non a se, sed a Domino.