268. (3) Confirmed evils and falsities remain in a person and become matters of his love and so of his life. Arguments in defense of evil and falsity are nothing other than dismissals of good and truth, and if they escalate, are rejections of them. For evil dismisses and rejects good, while falsity dismisses and rejects truth. Consequently arguments in defense of evil and falsity are also closures of heaven; for every good and truth flows in from the Lord through heaven. And when heaven has been closed, the person is then in hell, and in a society there where a like evil and falsity reign, from which he cannot afterward be withdrawn. [2] I have been granted to speak with some who centuries ago had confirmed themselves in the falsities of their religion, and I saw that they continued to be caught up in the same falsities in the same way that they had been caught up in them in the world. The reason is that everything a person confirms himself in becomes a matter of his love and life. It becomes a matter of his love because it becomes a matter of his will and intellect, and the will and intellect constitute everyone's life. And when something becomes a matter of a person's life, it becomes a matter not only of his whole mind but also of his entire material being. It is apparent from this that a person who has confirmed himself in evils and falsities is of the same character from head to toe. And when he has become of such character, he cannot by any inversion or reversal of state be forcibly returned into a state contrary to it and so be withdrawn from hell. It can be seen from these and previous observations in this discussion where the origin of evil lies.