ord that makes heaven (n. 7-12), nothing but good
flows into man from the Lord, and nothing but evil from hell; thus
the Lord is continually withdrawing man from evil and leading him to
good, while hell is continually leading man into evil. Unless man
were between these two, he could have no thought nor any will, still
less any freedom or any choice; for all these man has by virtue of
the equilibrium between good and evil; consequently if the Lord
should turn Himself away, leaving man to evil alone, man would cease
to be man. All this shows that the Lord flows into every man with
good, into the evil man as well as the good; but with the difference
that the Lord is continually withdrawing the evil man from evil and
is continually leading the good man to good; and this difference lies
in the man himself, because he is the recipient.

547. From this it is clear that it is from hell that man does evil,
and from the Lord that he does good. But man believes that whatever
he does he does from himself, and in consequence of this the evil
that he does sticks to him as his own; and for this reason man is the
cause of his own evil, and in no way the Lord. Evil in man is hell in
him, for it is the same thing whether you say evil or hell. And since
man is the cause of his own evil he is led into hell, not by the Lord
but by himself. For so far is the Lord from leading man into hell
that it is He who delivers man from hell, and this He does so far as
man does not will and love to be in his own evil. All of man's will
and love continues with him after death (n. 470-484). He who wills
and loves evil in the world wills and loves the same evil in the
other life, but he no longer suffers himself to be withdrawn from it.
If, therefore, a man is in evil he is tied to hell, and in respect to
his spirit is actually there, and after death desires nothing so much
as to be where his evil is; consequently it is man who casts himself
into hell after death, and not the Lord.

548. How this comes about shall also be explained. When man enters
the other life he is received first by angels, who perform for him
all good offices, and talk with him about the Lord, heaven, and the
angelic life, and instruct him in things that are true and good. But
if the man, now a spirit, be one who knew about these things in the
world, but in heart denied or despised them, after some conversation
he desires and seeks to get away from these angels. As soon as the