y virtue of that
conjunction lives to eternity; that man by means of these capacities
can be reformed and regenerated, but not without them; finally, that by
them man is distinguished from beasts.

265. That the origin of evil is from the abuse of these capacities will
be explained in the following order:

(1) A bad man equally with a good man enjoys these two capacities.

(2) A bad man abuses these capacities to confirm evils and falsities,
but a good man uses them to confirm goods and truths.

(3) Evils and falsities confirmed in man are permanent, and come to be
of his love, consequently of his life.

(4) Such things as have come to be of the love and life are engendered
in offspring.

(5) All evils, both engendered and acquired, have their seat in the
natural mind.

266. (1) A bad man, equally with a good man enjoys these two capacities.
It was shown in the preceding chapter that the natural mind, as regards
the understanding, can be elevated even to the light in which angels of
the third heaven are, and can see truths, acknowledge them, and then give
expression to them. From this it is plain that since the natural mind can
be elevated, a bad man equally with a good man enjoys the capacity called
rationality; and because the natural mind can be elevated to such an
extent, it follows that a bad man can also think and speak about heavenly
truths. Moreover, that he is able to will and to do them, even though he
does not will and do them, both reason and experience affirm. Reason
affirms it: for who cannot will and do what he thinks? His not willing
and doing it is because he does not love to will and do it. This ability
to will and to do is the freedom which every man has from the Lord; but
his not willing and doing good when he can, is from a love of evil, which
opposes; but this love he is able to resist, and many do resist it.
Experience in the spiritual world has often corroborated this. I have
listened to evil spirits who inwardly were devils, and who in the world
had rejected the truths of heaven and the church. When the affection for
knowing, in which every man is from childhood, was excited in them by
the glory that, like the brightness of fire, surrounds each love, they
perceived the arcana of angelic wisdom just as clearly as good spirits
do who inwardly were angels. Those diabolical spirits even declared that
they were able to will and act according to those arcana, but did not
wish to. When told tha