A Compendium of the Chief Doctrines of the True Christian Religion/Chapter 16
XVI. The Will and the Understanding.
MAN possesses two faculties, which constitute his life; one is called will, the other understanding. They are indeed distinct from each other, but yet so formed that they may become one; and when they are united, they are called the mind. The human mind, therefore, consists of these two faculties; and in it resides all the life of man.
As all things in the universe, which exist according to divine order, have relation to good and truth, so all things in man have relation to his will and understanding. Whatever is good in him, belongs to, or is received by, his will; and whatever is true in him, belongs to, or is received by, his understanding. In like manner love and wisdom, charity and faith, have their proper residence in the will and understanding: for love and charity have relation to good, and wisdom and faith have relation to truth. All affections likewise belong to the will, and all thoughts to the understanding.
The union of the will and the understanding is like that of good and truth; they being joined together in a similar kind of marriage. As therefore good constitutes the interior essence of a thing, and truth it's exterior form, so the will in man may be considered as the very essence of his life, and his understanding the existence derived from that essence, or the form whereby the will renders itself visible and apparent.
These remarks, however, apply only to those, with whom the will is receptive of good, and the understanding receptive of truth. With all such the celestial marriage has place. But with those, whose will and understanding are under the influence of evil and falsehood, the infernal marriage is already formed; which will sooner or later be the case also with those who have a divided mind, or who receiving truth in their understanding, yet in their hearts continue in the delights of evil.
By nature indeed the will of every man inclines to evil, and his understanding to what is false. But he is so constituted, that his understanding is capable of being elevated above his will, and of perceiving truth, even while the affections of his will are immersed in evil. By this faculty or power, which is peculiar to man, and distinguishes him from the brute animals, he is enabled to see what is right, and just, and good; and if he then submit himself to the dictates of divine truth, and put a check to the disorderly appetites of his corrupt nature, he will gradually acquire a new will, together with a new understanding, and will thereby be prepared for the enjoyment of eternal happiness.
