122. How can spirits possess freedom of choice between good and bad at their origin when they have not yet acquired self-awareness? Is there any principle leading them to either one road over the other?
“Free will is developed as spirits acquire consciousness. Freedom would not exist for them if they made choices by any means other than use of their will. The causes that determine their choices are not within, but outside of them, via the infuences to which they voluntarily yield because of their free will. This choice is represented by the ‘fall of humanity’ and the concept of ‘original sin.’ Some spirits yield to temptation, while others resist it successfully.”
a) From where do the infuences that act upon them originate?
“From imperfect spirits who seek to dominate them, and take pleasure in watching their failures. This temptation is represented metaphorically as ‘Satan.”
b) Does this infuence only act upon a spirit at its inception?
“It follows the spirit through all the phases of existence, until it has acquired such absolute self-control that vile spirits abandon the attempt to tempt him or her.”
