593. As for the division of the natural man into two forms, there is a real division there both of the will and of the thought-process. For every action a person does starts from his will, and everything he says starts from his thinking. A second will is therefore formed by the person at a lower level than the first; and likewise a second thought-process, but still both of them constitute the natural man. This will, formed by the person himself, can be termed the bodily will, because it impels the body to behave in a moral fashion. That second thought-process can be termed the lung thought-process, because it impels the tongue and lips to speak what is in the understanding. This second thought-process and will together can be compared to the bast which adheres to the inner surface of the bark of a tree, or to the membrane adhering to the shell of an egg. The internal natural man is inside these, and if wicked, that man can be compared to the wood of a rotten tree, around which the bark just mentioned and the bast look whole, or to a rotten egg inside a white shell.
[2] However, I must describe what the internal natural man is like from birth. His will is prone to evils of every kind, and so his thinking is prone to falsities too of every kind. This then is the internal man which needs to be regenerated. For unless this is regenerated, there is nothing but hatred for everything to do with charity, and so rage against everything to do with faith. It follows from this that the natural internal man must be regenerated first, and the external by means of the internal, for this is the proper order. To regenerate the internal by means of the external is contrary to proper order, for the internal resembles a soul in the external, not only in general, but also in every detail. Consequently it is contained in each thing a person says without his being aware of it. That is why angels perceive from a single act by a person what his will is like, and from a single utterance what his thought-process is like, whether it is hellish or heavenly. Thus they get to know the whole person. From a sound they can judge the affection of his thinking and from a gesture or type of action the love of his will. These things they perceive, however much he pretends to be a Christian and a respectable citizen.
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