by
confirmations he has made to be his reasoning. For evil can be confirmed
as well as good, but is confirmed by fallacies and appearances which then
become falsities; evil so confirmed seems to accord with reason.

88. Anyone thinking from interior understanding can see that the power to
will and the power to understand are not from man, but from Him who has
power itself, that is, power in its essence. Only think whence power is.
Is it not from Him who has it in its full might, that is, who possesses
it in and from Himself? Power in itself, therefore, is divine. All power
must have a supply on which to draw and direction from an interior or
higher self. Of itself the eye cannot see, nor the ear hear, nor the
mouth speak, nor the hand do; there must be supply and direction from the
mind. Nor can the mind of itself think or will this or that unless
something more interior or higher determines the mind to it. The same is
true of the power to understand and the power to will. These are possible
only from Him who has in Himself the power of willing and understanding.

[2] It is plain, then, that the two faculties called rationality and
liberty are from the Lord and not from man. Man can therefore will or
understand something only as if of himself, and not of himself. Anyone
can confirm the truth of this for himself who knows and believes that the
will to good and the understanding of truth are wholly from the Lord, and
not from man. The Word teaches that man can take nothing of himself and
do nothing of himself (Jn 3:27; 15:5).

89. As all willing is from love and all understanding is from wisdom, the
ability to will is from divine love, and the ability to understand is
from divine wisdom; thus both are from the Lord who is divine love itself
and divine wisdom itself. Hence to act in freedom according to reason has
no other source. Everyone acts in freedom because, like love, freedom
cannot be separated from willing. But there is interior and exterior
willing, and a man can act upon the exterior without acting at the same
time on the interior willing; so hypocrite and flatterer act. Exterior
willing, however, is still from freedom, being from a love of appearing
other than one is, or from love of an evil which the person intends in
the love of his inner will. An evil man, however, as has been said,
cannot in freedom according to reason do anything but evil; he cannot do
good in freedom according to reason; he can do good,