255. I have spoken with people in the spiritual world who lived many centuries ago and convinced themselves of the falsities taught by their religion; and I learned that they still steadfastly remain convinced of them. I have also spoken with some there who belonged to the same religion and thought just as the others, but had not confirmed the falsities in their minds; and I learned that these under instruction by angels have rejected the falsities and accepted truths. These people have been saved, but not the others.
After death everyone is instructed by angels, and those are accepted who see truths, and falsities in the light of truths. But the only ones to see truths are those who have not convinced themselves of falsities; those who have are unwilling to see truths, and if they do, they turn away, and then either laugh at them or turn them into falsities. The real cause of this is that confirmation enters into the will, and the will is the very essence of the person, and has the understanding at its beck and call. But bare knowledge only enters the understanding, and this has no control over the will; so it is no more inside the person than someone who stands in the forecourt or at the door, and has not yet been admitted to the house.
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