, after they have been prepared, are let
into the interior delights of good, and then there is opened to them a
way into heaven, to the society where its homogeneous delights are: this
is effected by the Lord.

525. II. THE TRANSFERENCE OF THE GOOD OF ONE PERSON TO ANOTHER IS
IMPOSSIBLE. The evidence of this proposition may also be seen from the
following points: 1. That every man is born in evil. 2. That he is led
into good by regeneration from the Lord. 3. That this is effected by a
life according to his precepts. 4. Wherefore good, when it is thus
implanted, cannot be transferred. The FIRST point,--that every man is
born in evil, is well known in the church. It is generally said that
this evil is derived hereditarily from Adam; but it is from a man's
parents. Every one derives from his parents his peculiar temper, which
is his inclination. That this is the case, is evinced both by reason and
experience; for the likenesses of parents as to face, genius, and
manners, appear extant in their immediate offspring and in their
posterity; hence families are known by many, and a judgement is also
formed concerning their minds (_animi_); wherefore the evils which
parents themselves have contracted, and which they have transmitted to
their offspring, are the evils in which men are born. The reason why it
is believed that the guilt of Adam is inscribed on all the human race,
is, because few reflect upon any evil with themselves, and thence know
it; wherefore they suppose that it is so deeply hid as to appear only in
the sight of God. In regard to the SECOND point,--that a man is led into
good by regeneration from the Lord, it is to be observed that there is
such a thing as regeneration, and that unless a person be regenerated,
he cannot enter into heaven, as appears clearly from the Lord's words in
John iii. 3, 5. The regeneration consists in purification from evils,
and thereby renovation of life, cannot be unknown in the Christian
world; for reason also sees this when it acknowledges that every one is
born in evil, and that evil cannot be washed and wiped away like filth
by soap and water, but by repentance. As to the THIRD point,--that a man
is led into good by the Lord, by a life according to his precepts, it is
plain from this consideration, that there are live precepts of
regeneration; see above, n. 82; among which are these,--that evils are
to be shunned, because they are of and from the devil, and that goods
are to be do