of reformation, regeneration and eternal life, and thus distinguish him from the beasts that perish. But he may abuse these faculties, by turning the goodness and truth which the Lord gives him, into evil and falsity, for the sake of selfish gratifications and delights; and this is the way that evil originates and hell is formed.
Is it asked then, how all things can exist from the Lord, and yet hell not exist from him: We reply, he is the source of that goodness and truth, which in a perverted form, make the evil and falsity of hell. But the perversion which turns the good into evil and the truth into falsity, comes from the abuse of man's freedom, and not from the Lord. It will thus be seen, that while in strict truth, the Lord is the source of all things, yet evil does not come from him. Nor is it of his divine providence, but only of his permission. He cannot prevent it without destroying the life of man's spirit, and thus rendering it impossible for him to be either good or evil, either happy or miserable. So entirely does the awful responsibility of the existence of evil, rest upon those who suffer its misery. For the good the Lord provides "many mansions," but the wicked provide their own miserable abodes.
Having given this brief statement in regard to the origin of heaven and hell, we will now turn our attention more directly and fully to the internal nature of these spiritual states. It has already been remarked that the essential principle and life of heaven, is love for the Lord and our neighbor. This is in accordance with what Divine Truth teaches us, in the word of the Lord;—"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.—This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it.—Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Mat. xxii, 37–40.) By the Law and the Prophets is meant the whole divine word, and hence, the whole requirements of divine truth. It is manifest therefore, that the affections of love to the Lord and the neighbor, when they reign sole
