1153# “细面、麦子”表示被亵渎的出于来自一个属灵源头的真理和良善的敬拜。这从“细面”和“麦子”的含义清楚可知：“细面”是指来自一个属灵源头的真理（对此，我们稍后会提到）；“麦子”是指来自一个属灵源头的良善（对此，参看AE374a,d;375a,b节）。这些事物也表示敬拜，因为素祭是由它们制成的，素祭和祭牲一起被献在祭坛上，酒和油也一样；因为素祭是用油来制备的，奠祭是用酒来制备的。因这些庄稼的收成，他们在为庆祝他们的丰收而设立的节日里欢喜快乐。“细面”表示来自属灵良善的真理，因为它是从表示属灵良善的小麦中制成的，正如真理来自良善。
由于教会的这一真理由“细面”来表示，所以在制作被称为素祭，并与祭牲一起被献在祭坛上的烙饼时，经上规定了使用细面的量（对此，参看出埃及记29;利未记5–7,23;民数记18,28–29）；还规定了陈设饼中所用细面的量（利未记23:17;24:5）；因为经上吩咐，献在祭坛上的素祭要用细面浇上油，加上乳香来制备（利未记2:1）。由于“细面”的这种含义，当亚伯拉罕与天使交谈时，他对他的妻子撒拉说：
快准备三斗细面粉，作些烙饼。（创世记18:6）在以西结书，“细面”也表示来自一个属灵源头的良善之真理：你吃的是细面、蜂蜜并油；你也极其美貌，发达到一个王国。你把我赐给你的食物，就是我给你吃的细面、油和蜂蜜，都摆在偶像面前作安息之气。（以西结书16:13,19）
这些话论及耶路撒冷，耶路撒冷表示教义方面的教会，这一章描述了它在起初时是什么样，或是何品质，以及它后来变成什么样。“细面和油”表示来自一个属灵源头的真理和良善，而“蜂蜜”表示来自一个属世源头的良善。“你也极其美貌”表示变得聪明和智慧；“发达到一个王国”表示甚至成为一个教会，“王国”是指教会；“把这些摆在偶像面前作安息之气”表示教会的真正敬拜后来变成偶像崇拜。
但大麦“面粉”表示来自一个属世源头的真理，因为“大麦”表示属世良善，正如“小麦”表示属灵良善。因此，在以赛亚书：要拿磨磨面，使自己裸露。（以赛亚书47:2）
这话论及巴比伦。“拿磨磨面”表示歪曲圣言的真理，“使自己裸露”表示玷污圣言的良善。何西阿书：
他们所种的是风，所收的是旋风或暴风；他没有站着的禾稼，穗子必不出面粉；即使磨得出，外邦人必吞吃。（何西阿书8:7）
此处“面粉”也表示来自一个属世源头的真理。（关于《亚他那修信经》续）（5）圣治的第五条律法是，人出于自己里面的感觉和感知，并不知道良善和真理是如何从主流入的，或说通过流注从主进入的，邪恶和虚假是如何从地狱流入的，或说通过流注从地狱进入的；他看不见圣治是如何运作，以支持良善反对邪恶的；他若知道，就不会出于自由照着理性貌似出于自己行动。对他来说，知道并承认来自圣言和教会教义的这些事物就足够了。这就是主在约翰福音和马可福音中的这些话的意思：
风随着意思吹，你听见风的响声，却不晓得它从哪里来，往哪里去；凡从灵生的，也是如此。（约翰福音3:8）
马可福音：神的国，如同人把种撒在地上，然后睡觉，黑夜白日起来；这种就发芽渐长，那人却不晓得如何这样，因为地生自己的果实，先发苗，后长穗，最后穗上结成饱满的谷子；但当果实产生时，他就伸出镰刀，因为收割的时候到了。（马可福音4:26,29）
人之所以感知不到圣治在他里面的运作，是因为这种感知会夺走他的自由，从而夺走他貌似凭自己思考的能力，与这种能力一同被夺走的，还有生活的一切快乐或享受；因此，人就会像机器，其中没有作为手段用来实现结合的互动能力；他也将是一个奴隶，而不是一个自由人。
圣治的运行如此隐秘，以至于几乎看不见它的一丝痕迹，尽管它在人的思维和意愿的最微小事物上运作，这些事物都关注他的永恒状态，主要因为主不断渴望将祂的爱铭刻在人身上，并通过这爱将祂的智慧也铭刻在他身上，从而把他创造为自己的形像。因此，主的运作进入人的爱，并从这爱进入他的理解力，而不是反过来，或说不是从他的理解力进入他的爱。爱及其多种多样的无数情感只被人感知为一种总体的感觉；因此，这种感知如此轻微，以至于它几乎什么都没有；然而，为叫人可以被改造并得救，他必须照着他的爱之情感出于秩序所在的联系而从一种情感被引入另一种情感，这种事是根本无法理解的，不仅世人无法理解，甚至连天使也无法理解。
人若知道这些秘密运作的任何事，就不能从自我引导中退出，即便自我引导就是不断从天堂进入地狱，而主的引导是不断从地狱到天堂。因为人出于自己不断违背秩序行事，而主不断照着秩序行事。事实上，由于从父母所获得的本性，人处于自我之爱和世界之爱，因而出于一种快乐的感觉而觉得属于这些爱的一切都是良善；然而，作为目的的这些爱必须被移除。这种移除是由主以无限的方法实现的，这些方法看上去就像迷宫，甚至在第三层天堂天使面前也像迷宫。
这一切清楚表明，出于感觉和感知了解圣治的运作对人来说没有任何益处，反而会对他造成伤害，并将永远摧毁他。对人来说，知道真理，通过真理知道何为良善、何为邪恶，承认主及其神性治理在每一件最小的事上，就足够了。他知道真理，通过真理知道何为良善和邪恶，并貌似出于自己实行良善和真理到何等程度，主就在何等程度上把他从爱引入智慧，将爱与智慧，并智慧与爱结合起来，使它们合而为一，因为它们在祂自己里面就是一。主引导人所使用的方法可比作人的血液流动和循环的血管，也可比作身体脏腑的内外、尤其大脑中的纤维及其折叠，动物灵通过大脑流动并赋予生命。
人对这一切如何流入并流过他一无所知；然而，只要他知道他需要做什么，并且去做它，或说知道并去做有利于他幸福的事，他就会活着。但主引导人的方法要错综复杂得多，并且无法解释，既有祂引导人穿越并离开地狱社群的方法，也有祂引导人穿越天堂社群，并从内层把他引入这些社群的方法。因此，这就是这些话的意思：风随着意思吹，你却不晓得它从哪里来，往哪里去（约翰福音3:8），这种就发芽渐长，那人却不晓得如何这样（马可福音4:27）。只要人知道如何耕种、耙地、播种，以及在收割时祝福神，那么对他来说，知道种子如何生长又有什么重要的呢？
1153. And fine flour and wheat.- That these signify worship from truths and goods that are from a spiritual origin, profaned, is evident from the signification of fine flour, which denotes truth from a spiritual origin, of which we shall speak presently; and from the signification of wheat, which denotes good from a spiritual origin (concerning which see above, n. 374, 375). The reason why these things also signify worship is, that the meat offering, which, together with the sacrifices, was offered up upon the altar, was composed of them, similarly the wine and oil; for the meat offerings were prepared with oil, and the drink offerings with wine. On account of the gathering in of these things, festivals also were instituted in which they rejoiced on account of their produce. Fine flour signifies truth from spiritual good, because it is prepared from wheat, which signifies spiritual good, as truth is derived from good.
[2] Since this truth of the church was signified by fine flour, therefore the quantity to be used in the cakes that were called the meat offerings and were offered with the sacrifices upon the altar, was prescribed (concerning which see Exodus 29; Levit. 5-7, 13; Numbers 18, 28, 29). Similarly the quantity of fine flour in the cakes of proposition, or shew-bread, was prescribed (Leviticus 23:17; chap. 24:5), for it was commanded, that "the meat offering which was to be offered upon the altar should be prepared from fine flour, and oil and frankincense poured thereon" (Leviticus 2:1). On account of this signification of fine flour, when Abraham spoke with the three angels, he said to Sarah his wife, "Hasten and knead three measures of fine flour, and make cakes" (Genesis 18:6).
[3] Fine flour also signifies the truth of good from a spiritual origin in Ezekiel:
"Fine flour, honey, and oil hast thou eaten, whence thou art become exceeding beautiful, and hast prospered unto a kingdom. My bread which I gave thee, fine flour, honey, and oil, wherewith I fed thee, thou hast set before" idols "for an odour of rest" (16:13, 19).
This treats of Jerusalem, by which the church as to doctrine is signified; and in that chapter its quality at its beginning is described, and what it became afterwards. Fine flour and oil signify truth and good from a spiritual origin, while honey signifies good from a natural origin. By becoming exceedingly beautiful is signified to become intelligent and wise; by prospering unto a kingdom is signified even to become a church, a kingdom signifying a church. By setting those things before idols for an odour of rest, is signified the idolatrous worship into which the true worship of the church was afterwards converted.
[4] By the meal of barley, however, truth from a natural origin is signified, for barley signifies natural good just as wheat signifies spiritual good.
Thus in Isaiah,
"Take thee a mill-stone and grind flour, make thyself bare" (47:2).
This refers to Babel. By taking a millstone and grinding flour is signified to falsify the truths of the Word, and by making herself bare or naked is signified to adulterate the goods of the Word.
In Hosea,
"They sow the wind, and they reap the whirlwind; he hath no standing corn, the blade shall yield no meal, and if it do yield, strangers shall devour it" (8:7).
Here also meal (farina) signifies truth from a natural origin.
[5] Continuation concerning the Athanasian Creed.- The fifth law of the Divine Providence is, That man should not know from feeling and perception in himself how good and truth from the Lord enter by influx, and how evil and falsity enter by influx from hell; nor see how the Divine Providence operates in favour of good against evil; for in such case man would not act as of himself from freedom according to reason. It is sufficient for him to know and acknowledge these things from the Word, and from the doctrine of the church. This is meant by the Lord's words in John:
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, or whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (3:8);
and also by these words in Mark:
"The kingdom of God is as if a man should cast seed upon the earth, and should sleep and rise night and day; but the seed springeth up and groweth he knoweth not how; for the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, at length the full corn in the ear; and when the fruit is brought forth, he putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come" (4:26-29).
The reason why man does not perceive the operation of the Divine Providence in himself is, that such perception would take away his freedom, and consequently the power of thinking as if from himself, and with it also all the enjoyment of life, so that a man would be like, an automaton, in which there is no power of reciprocation as means by which conjunction is effected; and he would also be a slave, and not a free man.
[6] The reason why Divine Providence moves so secretly, that scarcely any vestige of it appears, although it operates in the most minute things of man's thought and will that regard his eternal state, is, that the Lord continually desires to impress His love on him, and His wisdom by means of it, and thus to create him into His image. The Lord, therefore, acts upon man's love, and from it upon his understanding, and not from his understanding upon his love. Love together with its affections, which are manifold and innumerable, is not perceived by man except by a most general feeling, and consequently in so small a degree as scarcely to amount to anything; and yet man is to be led from one affection of his loves into another, according to the connection in which they are from order, so that he may be reformed and saved, which is incomprehensible, not only to men, but also to the angels.
[7] If man knew any thing of these secret operations (arcana) he could not be withdrawn from leading himself, even though it were continually from heaven into hell, notwithstanding that he is constantly led by the Lord from hell towards heaven; for from himself he constantly acts in opposition to order, but the Lord constantly acts according to it. For, in consequence of the nature derived from his parents, man is in the love of himself, and in the love of the world, and consequently from a feeling of delight he perceives the whole of these loves as good; and still those loves as ends must be removed. This is effected by the Lord by an infinity of ways which appear like labyrinths, even before the angels of the third heaven.
[8] From these considerations it is evident, that it would be of no advantage to a man to know any thing of this from feeling and perception, but that on the contrary it would be hurtful to him, and would destroy him for ever. It is sufficient for him to be acquainted with truths, and by means of them with the nature of good and evil, and to acknowledge the Lord and His Divine government in every thing; then so far as he knows truths, and by means of them sees what good and evil are, and does truths as if from himself, so far the Lord, by love, introduces him into wisdom and the love of wisdom, conjoining wisdom with love, and making them one because they are one in Himself. The ways by which the Lord leads man may be compared with the vessels through which his blood flows and circulates; and also with the fibres and their foldings within and without the viscera of the body, especially in the brain, through which the animal spirit (spiritus animalis) flows and imparts life.
[9] Man is not aware how all these things enter by influx and flow through him; and yet he lives, provided he knows and does what is conducive to his well being. But the ways by which the Lord leads him are much more complicated and intricate, both those by which He leads man through the societies of hell, and away from them, and those by which He leads man through the societies of heaven, and interiorly into them. This, therefore, is what is meant by the words: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth" (John iii.), also, by the seed springing up and growing, a man knowing not how (Mark 4:27). Of what importance is it for a man to know how the seed grows, provided he knows how to plough the earth, to harrow it, to sow the seed, and when he reaps the harvest, to bless God?
1153. And fine flour and wheat signifies profaned worship from truths and goods that are from a spiritual origin. This is evident from the signification of "fine flour," as being truth from a spiritual origin (of which presently); also from the signification of "wheat," as being good from a spiritual origin (See n. 374, 375). These also signify worship because the meal offering was composed of them, which was offered with the sacrifices upon the altar the same as the wine and the oil; for the meal offerings were prepared with oil and the drink offerings with wine. And because of the crops of these they had rejoicings in festivals which were instituted to celebrate their harvests. "Fine flour" signifies truth from spiritual good because it is prepared from wheat, which signifies spiritual good, as truth comes from good.
[2] As this truth of the church was signified by "fine flour," it was prescribed what quantity of it should be used in the cakes that were called the meal offerings, which were offered with the sacrifices upon the altar (respecting which see Exodus 29; Leviticus 5 - Leviticus 7, 23; Numbers 18, 28, 29); also the quantity of fine flour in the show bread (Leviticus 23:17; 24:5); for it was commanded that the meal offering that was to be offered on the altar should be prepared from fine flour, and oil and frankincense poured thereon (Leviticus 2:1). Because of this signification of "fine flour," when Abraham talked with the three angels he said to Sarah his wife:
Hasten, knead three measures of flour, of fine flour, and make cakes (Genesis 18:6).
[3] "Fine flour" also signifies the truth of good from a spiritual origin in Ezekiel:
Thou didst eat fine flour, honey, and oil, whence thou didst become exceeding; beautiful, and didst prosper even to a kingdom. My bread which I gave thee, fine flour, honey, and oil, with which I fed thee, thou didst offer before idols as an odor of rest (Ezekiel 16:13, 19).
This is said of Jerusalem, which signifies the church as to doctrine, and in that chapter is described what it had been in its beginning and what it became afterwards. "Fine flour and oil" signify truth and good from a spiritual origin, and "honey" good from a natural origin. "Thou didst become exceeding beautiful" signifies to be intelligent and wise; "to prosper even to a kingdom" signifies even to becoming a church, "kingdom" being the church; "to offer these to idols as an odor of rest" signifies the idolatrous worship into which the true worship of the church was afterwards changed.
[4] But "flour" from barley signifies truth from a natural origin, for "barley" signifies natural good, as "wheat" signifies spiritual good. Thus in Isaiah:
Take the millstone and grind flour, make thyself bare (Isaiah 47:2).
This is said of Babylon. "To take a millstone and grind flour" signifies to falsify the truths of the Word, and "to make oneself bare" signifies to adulterate the goods of the Word. In Hosea:
They sow the wind and they reap the whirlwind; he hath no standing corn, the blade shall yield no flour; and if perchance it do, strangers shall devour it (Hosea 8:7).
Here, too, "flour" signifies truth from a natural origin.
(Continuation respecting the Athanasian Faith)
[5] 5. The fifth law of the Divine providence is, That from sense and perception in himself man cannot know how good and truth flow in from the Lord, and how evil and falsity flow in from hell; nor can he see how the Divine providence operates in favor of good against evil; if he did he could not act from freedom according to reason as if from himself. It is sufficient for him to know and acknowledge this from the Word and from the doctrine of the church. This is what is meant by the Lord's words in John:
The wind bloweth where it willeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh or whither it goeth; so is everyone that is born of the spirit (John 3:8).
Also by these words in Mark:
The kingdom of God is like a man that casteth seed upon the earth and then sleepeth and riseth night and day; but the seed springeth up and groweth up when he knows it not, for the earth beareth fruit of herself, first the blade, then the ear, at length the full corn in the ear; and when the fruit is produced, he putteth in the sickle because the harvest is at hand (Mark 4:26, 29).
[6] Man does not perceive the operation of the Divine providence within him, because that would take away his freedom, and thus his ability to think as if of himself, and with it every delight of life; thus man would be like an automaton, in which there is no reciprocal, and by that, conjunction; also he would be a slave and not free. The Divine providence moves so secretly that scarcely a trace of it is seen, although it acts upon the most minute things of man's thought and will, which regard his eternal state, chiefly for the reason that the Lord continually wills to impress His love on man, and through it his wisdom, and thus create him into His image. Consequently the operation of the Lord is into man's love and from that into his understanding, and not the reverse. Love with its affections, which are manifold and innumerable, is perceived by man only by a most general feeling, and thus so slightly that there is scarcely anything of it; and yet that man may be reformed and saved he must be led from one affection of love into another according to their connection from order, a thing that no man and even no angel can at all comprehend.
[7] If a man should learn anything of these arcana, he could not be withheld from leading himself; and in this he would be continually led from heaven into hell, while the Lord's leading is continually from hell towards heaven. For from himself man constantly acts against order, while the Lord acts constantly according to order; for man, from the nature derived from his parents, is in the love of self and the love of the world, and consequently perceives from a feeling of delight everything belonging to those loves as good; nevertheless, those loves as ends must be removed; and this is done by the Lord in infinite ways, that appear like a labyrinth even before the angels of the third heaven.
[8] All this makes clear that man would find no help at all in knowing anything about this from sense or perception, but it would do him harm instead, and would destroy him forever. It is sufficient for man to know truths, and by means of truths to know what is good and what is evil, and to acknowledge the Lord and His Divine auspices in every least thing. Then so far as he knows truths, and by means of them what is good and evil, and does what is good as if from himself, so far the Lord leads him from love into wisdom, conjoining love to wisdom and wisdom to love, and making them to be one, because they are one in Himself. These ways by which the Lord leads man may be compared to the vessels through which the blood in man courses and circulates, also the fibers and their foldings within and without the viscera of the body, especially in the brain, through which the animal spirit flows and gives life.
[9] How all these things flow in and flow through, man knows nothing; and yet he lives if only he knows what he needs to do and does it. But the ways by which the Lord leads man are far more complicated and inexplicable, both those by which the Lord leads man through the societies of hell and away from them, and also those by which he leads him through the societies of heaven and interiorly into them. This, therefore, is what is meant by "the wind bloweth where it willeth, and thou knowest not whence it cometh and whither it goeth" (John 3:8), also by "the seed springeth up and groweth up, the man knoweth not how" (Mark 4:27). Moreover, of what consequence is it for a man to know how seed grows up, provided he knows how to plow and harrow the land, to sow the seed, and when he reaps his harvest to bless God?
1153. "Et similam et triticum." - Quod significet cultum ex veris et bonis quae ex origine spirituali sunt, profanatum, constat ex significatione "similae", quod sit verum ex origine spirituali (de qua sequitur); et ex significatione "tritici", quod sit bonum ex origine spirituali (de qua [supra] , n. 374 [a-d] 375 [a, b]); quod haec quoque significent cultum, est quia ex illis conficiebatur minchah, quae una cum sacrificiis super altari adolebatur, similiter vinum et oleum: minchae enim cum oleo conficiebantur, et libamina cum vino; et quoque ex proventu illorum laetabantur in festis, quae propter collectiones eorum instituta sunt.
Quod "simila" seu "similago" significet verum ex bono spirituali, est quia illa fit ex tritico, per quod significatur bonum spirituale, sicut verum fit ex bono.
[2] Quoniam id verum ecclesiae significatum est per "similam, "
Ideo ordinabatur quantum ex illa sumeretur in placentis, quae vocabantur minchae, quae una cum sacrificiis super altari offerebantur (de quo 29; Levit. 5, 6, 7, 23; Num. 18, 28, 29);
Tum quantum similae in panibus propositionis (Leviticus 23:17; 24:5):
Mandatum enim est quod minchah, quae super altari offerenda erat, conficeretur ex similagine, super qua oleum et thus (Leviticus 2:1).
Quia id per "similam" significabatur, ideo Abrahamus, quando locutus est cum tribus angelis, dixit Sarae uxori suae,
"Festina, tria sata farinae similaginis pinse, et fac placentas" (Genesis 18:6).
[3] Per "similam" etiam significatur verum boni ex origine spirituali apud Ezechielem,
"Similam, mel et oleum comedisti, unde pulchra facta es valde admodum, et prosperata es usque ad regnum. .... Panem meum, quem dedi tibi, similam, mel et oleum, quibus cibavi te, tu dedisti coram idolis "in odorem quietationis" (16:13, 19):
haec de Hierosolyma, per quam significatur ecclesia quoad doctrinam, et in eo capite describitur qualis fuerat in principio, et qualis facta est postea; per "similam et oleum" significatur verum et bonum ex origine spirituali, et per "mel" bonum ex origine naturali; per quod "pulchra facta sit valde admodum" significatur quod intelligens et sapiens; per quod "prosperata sit ad regnum" significatur usque ut fieret ecclesia ("regnum" est ecclesia); per "dare illa idolis in odorem quietationis significatur cultus idololatricus, in quem cultus ecclesiae verus postea conversus est.
[4] Per "farinam" autem ex hordeo significatur verum ex origine naturali, "hordeum" enim significat bonum naturale, sicut "triticum" bonum spirituale:
– Ut apud Esaiam,
"Sume molam, et mole farinam, ...denuda te" (47:2):
haec de Babele; et per "sumere molam et molere farinam" significatur falsificare vera Verbi; et per "denudare se" significatur adulterare bona Verbi.
Apud Hoscheam,
"Ventum serunt et procellam metunt, seges stans non illi, germen non faciet farinam; et si forte fecerit, alieni comedent" (8:7);
etiam hic per "farinam" significatur verum ex origine naturali.
[5] (Continuatio de Fide Athanasiana, et de Domino.)
(5) Lex Quinta Providentiae Divinae est, Ut homo ex sensu et perceptione in se, non sciat quomodo influit bonum et verum a Domino, et quomodo influit malum et falsum ab inferno: nec ut videat quomodo providentia Divina operatur pro bono contra malum, sic enim homo non ex libero secundum rationem ageret sicut ex se: satis est ut sciat et agnoscat illa ex Verbo et ex doctrina ecclesiae. – Hoc intelligitur per Domini verba apud Johannem,
"Spiritus ubi vult spirat, et vocem ejus audis, atque non scis unde venit aut quo abit: sic est omnis qui generatus est a spiritu" (3:8);
et quoque per haec apud Marcum,
"Regnum Dei est quemadmodum homo qui projicit semen super terram, dormit dein, et surgit nocte et die; semen vero germinat et crescit dum nescit ipse; ultronea enim terra fructum fert, primum gramen, dein spicam, tandem plenum frumentum in spica; et cum productus est fructus, immittit falcem, quia institit messis" (4:26-29).
[6] Quod homo non percipiat operationem Divinae providentiae in se, est quia id tollit liberum ejus, et inde facultatem cogitandi sicut a se, et cum illa etiam omne vitae jucundum; ita foret homo sicut automaton, in quo non reciprocum, et per quod conjunctio; et quoque foret servus et non liber. Quod providentia Divina tam occulte vadat ut vix aliquod vestigium ejus appareat, tametsi singularissima cogitationis et voluntatis hominis, quae spectant ejus statum aeternum, operatur, est principalis causa quia Dominus continue vult indere homini suum amorem, et per illum suam sapientiam, et sic illum creare in Sui imaginem; idcirco operatio Domini est in amorem hominis, 1
ac ab illo in intellectum ejus, et non vicissim: amor cum ejus affectionibus, quae sunt multiplices et innumerabiles, ab homine non percipitur nisi quam communissimo sensu, et inde tam parum ut ejus vix aliquid; et tamen homo ducendus est ab una amorum affectione in alteram secundum nexum in quo ex ordine sunt, ut reformari et salvari possit, quod incomprehensibile est non modo homini sed etiam angelo:
[7] si homo aliquid de illis arcanis resciret, non potuisset retrahi a ducendo se Ipsum etiam in eo, quod foret continue a caelo in infernum, cum tamen ille a Domino continue ducitur ab inferno ad caelum; homo enim a se constanter agit contra ordinem, Dominus autem constanter agit secundum ordinem; est enim homo in amore sui et in amore mundi ex natura a parentibus, et inde omne illorum amorum ex sensu jucundi percipit sicut bonum; et usque illi amores ut fines removendi sunt, quod a Domino fit per infinitas vias, quae apparent sicut labyrintheae etiam coram angelis tertii caeli.
[8] Ex his patet quod prorsus nihil juvet hominem, ut aliquid de eo ex sensu et perceptione sciat, sed quod ei noceret, et illum destrueret in aeternum. Satis est ut homo sciat vera, et per illa quid bonum et quid malum, et agnoscat Dominum, ac Ipsius Divinum auspicium in singulis; tunc quantum scit vera, et per illa quid bonum et malum, et facit illa sicut a se, tantum Dominus per amorem introducit illum in sapientiam, ac amorem sapientiae et sapientiam amori conjungit, ac facit ut unum sint, quia in Ipso unum sunt. Illae viae, per quas Dominus ducit hominem, comparari possunt cum vasis per quae sanguis apud hominem vadit et circulat; tum etiam cum fibris et earum plexibus intra et extra viscera corporis, imprimis in cerebro, per quas fluit spiritus animalis, et animat.
[9] Quomodo omnia illa influunt et perfluunt, nescit homo; et tamen vivit, modo scit et facit quid sibi conducit. Viae autem, per quas Dominus ducit hominem, sunt multo plus implexae et inextricabiles, tam illae per quas Dominus ducit hominem per societates inferni, et ab illis, quam illae per quas ducit hominem per societates caeli et in illas interius. Hoc itaque est quod intelligitur per quod
"spiritus quo vult spiret, et non scis unde venit, et quo vadit" (Joh. 3 2
);
tum etiam, per quod
"semen germinet et crescat, dum nescit homo" (Marc. 4
[27]);
quid etiam refert ut sciat homo quomodo semen crescit dummodo scit terram arare, occare, serere, et dum metit, benedicere Deo?
Footnotes:
1. The editors made a correction or note here.
2. The editors made a correction or note here.