2184. CONTINUATION CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL IDEA. (Certain spirits who were incredulous that spiritual ideas are given, from which may be seen and perceived very many things, and more than they supposed, were raised up to a region somewhat above, and it was granted them to see many things in the separate ideas of my thought, so that by a spiritual idea they saw causes, and more things than ever could be credited, as if some things were displayed to them [as objects] objectively. And they greatly wondered, and acknowledged that they observed in a spiritual idea more things than anyone would ever believe; for instance, what is in ideas, what is the intellectual principle, what proceeds from affection, of what quality is the intellectual principle, whether that which anyone thought proceeded only from the intellectual principle, or from affection, and from what affection, as well as how one thing [agrees] with another, thus what can be operated by intellectual faith when truth is what is believed, and many such things. Moreover that intellectual faith inflows from the Lord through heaven, and that man can by no means catch up faith or aught of true faith, but that it is the gift of the Lord alone.) Yea, a fact which I also perceived in spiritual idea, that man cannot ever by the intellectuals of faith penetrate into the heavens, and that the idea must be broken before from a man's own strength [propria vi] he can attain to heaven, and that the Lord alone causes that such things as belong to the persuasion of the true, and the perception of the good, or faith, are elevated towards heaven, and only so far as suits the Lord's good pleasure. - 1748 June 4.