a course of acts or
thoughts is commenced, then both have power, and each acts in direct
opposition to the other, causing the mind to waver and alternate between
good and evil, embracing sometimes the one and sometimes the other, as
the respective angels obtain the mastery. If a man's thoughts and
actions be good, his good angel endeavors to encourage him to persevere
in them, while his evil one wars against them; and if his thoughts and
actions be evil, his evil spirit urges him on, while his good one tries
to restrain him. Hence the life of man is one continued warfare, the two
spirits for ever battling against each other, and each in its turn
exulting in victory and mourning over defeat. But, let which may be
vanquished, it does not easily abandon the contest. The human will can
always decide the strife with regard to any particular thing, and cast
the victory on either side it pleases, and, with traitorous fickleness,
it fights sometimes on the one side and sometimes on the other.

Man, in general, is not sunk to that depth of depravity in which he is
frequently represented--a depth so low, so dark, and so wretched as to
be wholly incapable, with his own human nature, unaided and left to
himself, to think a holy thought or perform a righteous act. If this
were the case, the evil angel would ever prove victorious, and the good
one would retire in despair, and leave the poor human being the prey of
the powers of darkness. Men have much to say about the foreknowledge of
God, the predestination and election of the human race, or of a portion
of it, and such like. These are fruitful themes of controversy, as
unavailing as they are absurd. God does not reckon time, for it is
finite and he is infinite. He knows only eternity, in which there is
neither past nor future, but an ever-abiding present, without beginning
or end. Without freedom of will it would be impossible for man to be an
accountable being. If the angels which attend him through life had the
power to prompt him to action, then they would have the entire rule over
him, and they alone would be held accountable for his course. True, it
is possible that either spirit may be subdued, and the mind reduced
entirely under the control of the other; this can only take place where
the mind concurs with the victorious spirit, and continues to concur
with it, and willingly yields to its control, and therefore the mortal
is still the accountable one, and the one with whom G