6273. 'For Manasseh was the firstborn' means since good does indeed occupy the first place. This is clear from the representation of 'Manasseh' as good belonging to the will, dealt with before; and from the meaning of 'the birthright' as the prior and higher position, dealt with in 3325, so that 'the firstborn' is the one who occupies the first place. Is anyone incapable of seeing from natural light alone, provided a superior light brightens it a little, that good occupies the first place, as also do the intentions in a person's will, and that truth occupies the second, as also do the thoughts in his mind? Is anyone also incapable of seeing that the intentions in a person's will cause him to think in one particular way and no other, consequently that the good he possesses causes him to think that this or that is true; so that truth occupies the second place and good the first? Think and reflect on whether truth that composes faith can take root anywhere else than in good, or whether faith other than that which has taken root there is faith. From this you will be able to decide which is the primary or essential element for the Church, that is, for the person in whom the Church exists.

1255. That 'according to their generations' means insofar as they were capable of being reformed is clear from the meaning of 'a generation' as reformation. When someone is born again or regenerated by the Lord, every single thing he receives anew is in that case a generation. So also here, since the Ancient Church is the subject, 'generations' means insofar as they were capable of being reformed. As for the reformations of these nations, the latter did not all have the same form of worship, nor did they all have the same doctrine, the reasons being that they were not all of the same disposition, and had not all been brought up in the same ways and from early childhood been taught the same things. The Lord in no way destroys the basic attitudes a person acquires from early childhood, but modifies them. And if these are held sacred by the person and are such as do not stand contrary to Divine and natural order but are in themselves of little importance, the Lord lets them alone and allows them to remain with that person, as He did with many things in the second Ancient Church, which things will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with later on.