3569. THAT IN THE OTHER LIFE SPIRITS ARE PREPARED, THAT THEY MAY BE KEPT IN A STATE OF PERSUASION. I perceived that certain spirits thought - which is a remarkable thing - why, in the other life, they should not immediately come into a state of faith in the Lord, inasmuch as they there knew and believed that the Lord governs the universe; as also some in the world may possibly believe. But they were informed that the reason why they could not believe in the Lord, although they knew all this, was because their nature was repugnant to such belief, and although they should hear, see, and know a thousand times that it is so, they would, nevertheless, return to their own nature. Wherefore, their nature, because it is repugnant, must first be castigated or corrected; and thus by degrees be led into faith, so that they can be kept by the Lord in a state of persuasion,* which can only be done by slow degrees. It was, moreover, said that if they, who do not believe that there is a heaven, because they did not believe it [in the world], were carried up into heaven, and were compelled to acknowledge and confess that there is a heaven; nevertheless, when remitted into their own state and nature, they would immediately deny, as before, that there is a heaven. Which fact has been proved by experience, from which it was seen, that such persuasions and phantasies cling to such persons as have confirmed themselves in unbelief; wherefore it is necessary that faith be implanted in some other way than by mere science, or knowledge, and experience. * Here the term "persuasion" would appear to be employed in a good sense, namely, that of faith, or belief, in which sense it is also used in the title of this article. -Tr.