61. VIII THE SAINTS OF THE ROMAN CATHOLICS IN THE SPIRITUAL WORLD It is well known that a person has inborn or hereditary evil from his parents, but few people know in what it consists. It consists in the love of power over others, which is so strong that to the extent it is given rein it bursts out so violently as to burn with the desire of controlling all, and finally of wishing to be invoked and worshipped as God. This love is the serpent which deceived Eve and Adam, for it said to the woman:

To the extent, then, that a person lets go the reins and plunges into this love, he turns his back on God, and turns to himself, becoming an atheist. Then the Divine truths of the Word can serve him as means to an end; but because the end is power over others, he does not like the means except in so far as they serve his purposes. This is why those who have this love in a moderate or in the ultimate degree are all in hell, for there that love is the devil. There are some there who cannot bear to hear anyone talking about God.