425. (xx) The faculty of understanding, called rationality, and the faculty of acting, called freedom, still remain. These two faculties belonging to man were discussed above (n. 264-267). Man possesses these two faculties in order that he may, from being natural, become spiritual, that is, may be regenerated. For, as was said above, it is man's love that becomes spiritual and is regenerated; and this cannot become spiritual or be regenerated unless he knows by means of his understanding what evil is and what good is, and therefore what truth is and what falsity is. When he knows these things, he can choose one or the other; and if he chooses good, he can by means of his understanding be informed of the means by which to attain to good. All the means are provided by which man can attain to good. The ability to know and understand these means comes from rationality, and the ability to do them from freedom. Freedom is also the will to know, to understand, and to think them. Those who believe from the teaching of the Church, that spiritual or theological things transcend the understanding, and must therefore he believed without understanding, know nothing about these faculties. Such people can only deny that there is a faculty of rationality. And those who believe from the teachings of the Church that no one can do good of himself, and therefore no good must be done with any hope of salvation as its cause, can only deny from a principle of their religion the existence of both faculties belonging to man. Therefore, those who have become confirmed in these beliefs, are deprived after death of both faculties in accordance with their faith, and instead of the heavenly freedom which might have been theirs, have infernal freedom, and instead of the angelic wisdom they might have had from rationality, they come into infernal insanity. The wonderful thing is that they perceive the existence of both these faculties in doing what is evil and thinking what is false, not knowing that the freedom to do evil is slavery, and that the reason for thinking what is false is irrational. But it must be clearly recognized that both these faculties of freedom and rationality are not man's, but are the Lord's with man, and that they cannot be appropriated to man as his own; therefore, they cannot be given to man as his own, but remain continually the Lord's with him; and yet they are never taken away from man, for this reason, that without them he cannot be saved; for regeneration is not possible without them, as was said above. Wherefore man is taught by the Church that he cannot think what is true nor do what is good from himself. But since man is only conscious that this thought and act come from himself, it is perfectly clear that he ought to believe that he thinks what is true and does what is good as if from himself. For, if he does not believe this, either he does not think and act in this way and so has no religion, or he thinks and acts from himself, and then he ascribes to himself what is Divine. That man ought to think what is true and do what is good as if from himself may be seen in the DOCTRINE OF LIFE FOR THE NEW JERUSALEM, from beginning to end.