15. Man is unwilling to believe, and even to know, that he does not live, i.e. think and will, from himself; and because of this refusal evils and falsities become his own. They cling to him because he clasps them to himself, and as long as he is in this state no good or truth can be imputed to him. How different it would be if he would believe, what is actually the case, that all evil is from hell, and all good from the Lord. Evil would not then become his own, because it belongs to hell; nor would he claim good as his own, because it is the Lord's; so, in the other life, he would not be punished on account of evil, and yet he would be rewarded on account of good, not from merit, but from mercy.