2
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
2
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
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.
3664. 'Go to Paddan Aram' means the cognitions of such truth. This is clear from the meaning of 'Aram' or Syria as cognitions, dealt with in 1232, 1234, 3249. The reason 'Paddan Aram' means cognitions of truth is that it was situated in Syria of the [Two] Rivers, where Nahor, Bethuel, and Laban lived; for 'Syria' means the cognitions of truth, see 3051. Paddan Aram has also been referred to previously in 25:20, and is mentioned again in 31:18 below; and in those places too it means cognitions of truth.