871. 'He sent out a dove from himself to see' means a state of receiving the truths and good of faith. This becomes clear from the train of thought and also from what follows, where the subject is the three states following temptations in the regeneration of this man, states meant by his sending out the dove three times. Taken almost literally these words imply that he made investigations, for it is said that he sent out the dove from himself 'to see', that is to say, as the phrase following shows, to see 'whether the waters had abated', which was seeing whether the falsities were still so great that goods and truths of faith could not be received. With the Lord however, because He knows every single thing, no such investigation is necessary. Consequently these words in the internal sense do not mean an investigation but a state, here a first state when falsities were still a hindrance. Such falsities are meant by the words 'whether the waters had abated'.

9114. So it is that when people who have conscience speak they speak from the heart, and when they act they act from the heart. They also have an undivided mind, since they act in accordance with what they believe to be true and good, indeed in accordance with what they understand to be so. Consequently those who are more enlightened than others in the truths of faith and whose perception is clearer can be endowed with a more perfect conscience than those who are less enlightened and whose perception is dim.