96. VII. THE LORD PRESERVES THESE TWO FACULTIES IN MAN UNIMPAIRED AND AS SACRED IN EVERY STEP OF HIS DIVINE PROVIDENCE. This is because without these two faculties man would not have understanding and will and thus be would not be man; and because without these two faculties man could not have been conjoined to the Lord, and thus could not have been reformed and regenerated; and also because without these two faculties man would not have immortality and eternal life. That this is so can indeed be seen from a knowledge of what liberty and rationality are, which are these two faculties, as given in the preceding pages; but it cannot be seen clearly, unless the propositions just stated as reasons are presented to view as conclusions; they must therefore be explained. [2] Without these two faculties man would not have will and understanding, and thus he would not be man. For man has will from no other source than from being able to will freely as from himself; and to will freely as from himself is from the faculty continually given him by the Lord which is called liberty; and man has understanding from no other source than from being able to understand as from himself whether a thing is in harmony with reason or not; and to understand whether a thing is in harmony with reason or not is from the other faculty continually given him by the Lord which is called rationality. [3] These faculties unite together in man, like the will and the understanding; and obviously because a man can will he can also understand. For willing is not possible without understanding: understanding is its married partner or companion without which it cannot exist; and therefore together with the faculty called liberty the faculty called rationality is given. Moreover, if you take away willing from understanding you understand nothing; and as far as you will, so far you can understand, provided there are present, and at the same time opened, the aids called knowledges, for these are like tools to the workman. It is said, as far as you will, so far you can understand, that is, as far as you love to understand, for the will and the love act as one. This, indeed, appears as absurd; but it appears so to those who do not love and therefore do not wish to understand; and those who do not wish to understand say that they cannot. It will be shown, however, in a subsequent article who they are who cannot understand and who they are who can understand with difficulty. [4] It needs no proof to show that unless man had will from the faculty called liberty, and understanding from the faculty called rationality, he would not be man. Beasts do not have these faculties. It appears as if beasts also were able to will and to understand; but they cannot. Natural affection, in itself desire, with its companion knowledge, alone leads and moves beasts to do what they do. There is indeed something of the civil and moral in their knowledge; but this is not on a higher plane than their knowledge, for they have not the spiritual which gives the capacity to perceive the moral and consequently to think analytically about it. They can indeed be taught to do something, but only something natural that adds itself to their knowledge and at the same time to their affection, and is reproduced either through the sight or the hearing; but in no wise does it become a matter of thought, still less of reason in them. But something concerning this may be seen above (n. 74). [5] Without these two faculties man could not have been conjoined to the Lord, and thus could not have been reformed and regenerated. This has been shown above. For the Lord abides with men, with the evil as well as with the good, in these two faculties, and by means of them He conjoins Himself to every man. It is from this that an evil man as well as a good man can understand, and consequently he has in potency the will of good and the understanding of truth; that he does not have them in actuality is owing to his abuse of these faculties. The Lord abides with every man in these faculties from the influx of His will, in that He wills to be received by man, to have His abode with him and to give him the felicities of eternal life. These things are of the Lord's will, for they are of the Divine Love itself. It is this will of the Lord that causes the appearance in man that what he thinks, speaks, wills and does is his own. [6] It may be confirmed by many illustrations from the spiritual world that the influx of the Lord's will produces this result. For sometimes the Lord so fills an angel with His Divine that the angel does not know that he is not the Lord. The angels seen by Abraham, Hagar and Gideon were so filled, and therefore they called themselves Jehovah, as recorded in the Word. Again, one spirit can be so filled by another as not to know but that he is the other; and this I have often seen. Moreover, it is well known in heaven that the Lord does all things by willing, and that whatever He wills is done. Hence it is clear that these two faculties are the means by which the Lord conjoins Himself to man and causes man to be reciprocally conjoined to Him. But how man is reciprocally conjoined by means of these faculties and how he is consequently reformed and regenerated by means of them, has been stated above, and more will be said on this matter later. [7] Without these two faculties man would not have immortality and eternal life. This follows from what has just been said, that by means of them there is conjunction with the Lord and also reformation and regeneration: by conjunction man has immortality and by reformation and regeneration he has eternal life. Since by means of these faculties there is conjunction of the Lord with every man, with the evil as well as with the good, as has been said, therefore every man has immortality. But eternal life, that is, the life of heaven, is given to that man in whom there is reciprocal conjunction ranging from inmost things to ultimates. From these considerations may be evident the reasons why the Lord preserves these two faculties in man unimpaired and as sacred in every step of His Divine Providence.