Verse 21. On account of the reception of these false doctrines in the mind, the Lord is compelled for the sake of the ultimate safety of the soul to act vigorously against the unregenerate will; by reason of its perversion and love of empty vanities which lead to no real happiness, He seems to the mind in this state to be against its welfare; and the will becomes zealous about doctrines that are not true; and eager after things that are not really good.

694. Just as heaven, deriving as it does from the Lord, constitutes through mutual love one human being and one soul so to speak, and consequently has one end in view, which is to preserve and save all men eternally, so conversely does hell, deriving as it does from the proprium, constitute through self-love and love of the world, that is, through hatred, one devil and one frame of mind (animus), and consequently has one end in view, which is to destroy and condemn all men eternally. That this is the nature of their endeavours I have perceived thousands and thousands of times. Unless therefore the Lord were preserving everybody in every fraction of a moment, man would perish.