(TCR) - True Christian Religion: Containing the Whole Theology of the New Church Predicted by the Lord in Daniel 7:13-14 and Revelation 21:1-2

TCR 593

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593. As to the division of the natural man into two forms, it is an actual division both of will and of thought therein; for every action of man goes forth from his will, and every word from his thought; consequently another will is formed by man beneath the first, and likewise another thought; but the two still constitute the natural man. This will which is being formed by the man, may be called a bodily will, because it impels the body to make a show of moral activities, and that thought may be called pulmonary thought, because it impels the tongue and lips to utter such things as belong to the understanding. This outer thought and will taken together may be likened to the inner bark that adheres to the outer bark of a tree, or to the membrane that adheres to the shell of an egg. Within these is the internal natural man, who, if evil, may be likened to a tree the wood of which is rotten, but about which the aforesaid outer and inner barks seem sound; as also to a rotten egg in a white shell. But something shall also be said about what the internal natural man is by birth. Its will inclines to evils of every kind and the thought therefrom is inclined to falsities of every kind. This then is the internal man that is to be regenerated, for unless it is regenerated it is nothing but hatred against everything that belongs to charity, and consequent rage against all things belonging to faith. From this it follows that this natural internal man must first be regenerated, and by means of it the external; for this is according to order; while to regenerate the internal by means of the external would be contrary to order; for the internal is like a soul in the external, not only in general but also in every particular, consequently it is in every least word one speaks; it is present in these beyond what man knows. Because of this the angels, from a single action of a man, can perceive what his will is, and from a single word what his thought is, whether infernal or heavenly. Thus they know the entire man; from the tone of his voice they have a perception of his thought's affection, and from the gesture or the form of his action they have a perception of his will's love. And this they have, however he may simulate a Christian or a moral citizen.

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