§27 two kingdoms 17
h. The Lord’s infl ow is into the good and through the good into the true, and not vice versa. So it
is into volition and through it into discernment, and not vice versa: 5482 , 5649 , 6027 , 8685 , 8701 ,
10153.
i. Our volition is the substance of our life and is what receives the good of love, while our cogni-
tive ability is the consequent manifestation of life and is what receives true and good elements of
faith: 3619 , 5002 , 9282. Therefore our volitional life is our primary life, and our cognitive life
issues from it: 585 , 590 , 3619 , 7342 , 8885 , 9285 [ 9282 ], 10076 , 10109 , 10110. It is the things that are
accepted into our volition that become matters of life and are assimilated to us: 3161 , 9386 , 9393.
A person is a person by virtue of volition, and secondarily by virtue of cognitive abilities: 8911 ,
9069 , 9071 , 10076 , 10106 , 10110. People who intend good and think well are loved and valued by
others, while people who think well but do not intend good are rejected and disparaged: 8911 ,
10076. After death, we continue to have the character of our volition and of the discernment that
follows from it. Whatever is a matter of cognition only, and not of volition, disappears because it
is not really within us: 9069 , 9071 , 9282 , 9386 , 10153.
j. There is a communication and union between the two kingdoms by means of angelic commu-
nities called “heavenly-spiritual”: 4047 , 6435 , 8787 [ 8796 ], 8881 [ 8802 ]. On the infl ow of the Lord
through the heavenly kingdom into the spiritual: 3969 , 6366.
We have stated that they have more wisdom and splendor than oth- 26
ers because they have accepted divine truths directly into their lives and
continue to do so. The moment they hear them, they intend them and
live them out. They do not refer them to memory and consider whether
they are true. People like this know instantly, from an inflow from the
Lord, whether the truth they are hearing is actually true. The Lord flows
directly into our intentions, and indirectly, through our intentions, into
our thinking. In other words, the Lord flows directly into what is good
within us, and indirectly, through that good, into what is true.h That
is, we call “good” whatever is a matter of intent and therefore of action,
while we call “true” whatever is a matter of memory and therefore of
thought. However, as long as any truth is in memory and therefore
in thought, it is neither good nor living. It is not assimilated into the
person, because a person is a person by virtue of intent primarily and
cognitive abilities secondarily—not by virtue of cognitive abilities apart
from volition.i
Since there is such a difference between angels of the heavenly kingdom 27
and angels of the spiritual kingdom, they do not live together or associate
with each other. They are granted communication only through intermedi-
ate angelic communities, communities called “heavenly-spiritual”: it is
through them that the heavenly kingdom fl ows into the spiritual kingdom.j
The result of this is that while heaven is divided into two kingdoms, they
still make a single whole. The Lord always provides intermediate angels like
these through whom there can be communication and union.