35. Man has two inherent powers of will and understanding. When the understanding is governed by the will they then constitute one mind and so one life; for what a person in that case wills and does he also thinks and intends. But when the understanding is at variance with the will, as it is with people who claim to have faith and yet live otherwise, then a mind previously one is split in two. One half seeks to transport itself into heaven, while the other inclines towards hell. And because the will is what accomplishes everything, the whole man would rush straight into hell unless the Lord took pity on him.

3051. 'And went to Aram Naharaim' means resulting cognitions of truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'Aram' or Syria as cognitions of good, dealt with in 1232, 1234. 'Aram Naharaim' - or Syria of the [Two] Rivers - means cognitions of truth. This is because 'Naharaim', or 'rivers', means intelligence which consists of cognitions of truth, as may be seen from the places quoted from the Word in 108, 109, 2702, and from many others, which will in the Lord's Divine mercy be presented elsewhere.