八、不承认独一上帝而承认多神者，其信仰不能有一致性
15# 人若不承认独一的上帝，反而承认多位神明，其信仰便不可能有任何一致性。
凡在信仰中承认独一上帝、并从心里敬拜祂的人，在地上便与圣徒有交通，在天堂便与天使有交通。这交通之所以被称为交通，且真实不虚，是因为他们住在独一上帝里面，独一上帝也住在他们里面。这样的人还与整个天使的天堂联合 —— 我甚至敢说，与天堂中的每一个个体都联合。因为众人都如同一位父亲的儿女与后裔，心思、性情、面貌皆有相似之处，彼此能互相辨识。
天使的天堂照着爱之良善的各样差异，划分为不同的群体。这一切差异都归向一个最普遍的爱，就是对上帝的爱。凡在信仰中承认独一上帝 —— 祂是宇宙的创造者，也是救赎者与（使人）重生者 —— 并从心里敬拜祂的人，都是从这爱而生的。
【2】然而，那些不敬拜独一上帝、反敬拜多位上帝的人，光景全然不同。这也包括那些口称一位、心念三位的人 —— 正如今日教会中那些将上帝割裂为三个位格的人，他们声称每个位格本身就是上帝，且各有专属的属性与特质，不相统属。其结果便是：不仅上帝的独一性在实质上被割裂，就连神学本身，以及承载神学的人心智，也一同被割裂。如此一来，教会之中除了混乱与分裂，还能生出什么呢？
今日教会的光景正是如此，这一点将在本书附录中详加说明。事实是：将上帝或神性本质割裂为三个位格，且声称每一位格单独、各别都是上帝，本质上就是对上帝的否认。
这就好比有人进入圣殿敬拜，见祭坛上方的画像上，一位上帝形如亘古常在者，一位形如大祭司，第三位形如飞翔的风之灵，下方写着：“这三位是一位上帝。” 又或者，所谓的 “合一与三一” 被画成一身三头，或是一头三身的模样 —— 全然是怪异的畸形。带着这样的观念进入天堂，他必被驱逐，即便他辩解称头对应本质、身体对应不同属性，也全然无用。
15# （8）对承认数位神，而不是一位神的人来说，教会根本无法凝聚起来，或与教会有关的事物没有连贯性，又或说教会的原则不复存在。在信仰上承认，并从心里敬拜一位神的人既在地上圣徒的团契中，也在天堂天使的团契中。这些人被称为“团契”，也的确是团契，因为他们在一位神里面，这一位神也在他们里面。此外，他们与整个天使天堂结合，我敢说，与那里的所有人和每一个人结合，因为他们都像一位父亲的孩子和后代，在性情或心智、举止和特征上都很相似，他们由此互相认识。天使天堂照着对良善之爱的所有不同种类而被和谐地排列为各个社群，这些不同种类都指向一种普遍的爱，即对神的爱。所有在信仰上承认，并从心里敬拜一位神，也就是宇宙的创造者，救赎主和重生者的人，都从这爱中出生。
但对那些靠近并敬拜数位神，而不是一位神的人来说，或对那些嘴上宣称一位神，想的却是三位神的人来说，如当今教会中那些将神分成三个位格，声称每个位格都独自为神，并将不属于其他位格的不同品质或属性归给每个位格的人所行的那样，情况就截然不同了。由此不仅导致神的一体性的瓦解，还导致神学本身的瓦解，并进一步导致神学所属的人类心智的瓦解。除了在教会事物上的困惑和不连贯之外，由此还能导致什么结果呢？这就是当今教会的状态，这一点将在本书附录中说明。事实是，将神或神性本质分为三个位格，其中每个位格都独自为神，导致了对神的否认。这就像有人要进入圣殿去敬拜，却在祭坛上看到被描绘为亘古常在者的一位神，被描绘为大祭司的另一位神，和被描绘为飞行风神的第三位神，上面刻着：“这三位是一位神。”或像在那里看到被描绘为一个身体上有三个头，或一个头下面有三个身体之人的一体三位，这将是怪物。如果有人带着这种观念进入天堂，那么他肯定会被速速赶出去，即便他声称这个头或这些头表示本质，这个身体或这些身体表示它不同的属性。
15. 8. Nothing about the church is integrated in people who acknowledge many gods rather than one. People who acknowledge one God in their belief and worship one God in their heart are in the communion of saints on earth and the communion of angels in the heavens. Each of these groups or communions is called a partnership, and is a partnership, because there is one God among its people, and they are in the one God. These same people also have a partnership with the entire angelic heaven. I would even go so far as to say they have a partnership with each and every one in heaven. For they are all like children and descendants of one parent, with such similar minds, mannerisms, and looks that they recognize each other as relatives. The angelic heaven is laid out in communities on the basis of all the varieties of love for what is good. All these kinds of love aim at one most universal love: love for God. All people who direct the acknowledgment of their faith and the worship of their heart to one God who is the Creator of the universe and also the Redeemer and the Regenerator are descended from that love.
[2] Exactly the opposite is true of people who adore, and seek help from, many gods instead of one. The opposite is also true of those who say one God but think three. This is the practice of people in the church today who divide God into three persons and hail each person as a God in his own right, and who attribute different qualities or properties to each one that the others do not have. This leads to actual divisions not only in the unity of God but also in [Christian] theology itself, and even in the human mind in which that theology has to live. What other result could there be except confusion and discontinuity in the teachings of the church? In the appendix at the end of this work I will show that this is the state of the church today.
The truth is that dividing God or the divine essence into three persons, each of whom is individually a god in his own right, causes denial of God. It is like someone entering a church for worship and seeing a triptych above the altar with one god portrayed as the ancient of days, another god as a high priest, and a third god as Aeolus flying in the air, with an inscription reading, These Three Are One God. Or perhaps it is like the same person seeing a painting above the altar that portrays God's unity and trinity as a deformed person with three heads protruding from one body or three bodies sharing a single head. If people enter heaven with this as their picture of God, they will definitely be thrown out headfirst, even if they plead that the head or heads stand for God's essence and the body or bodies stand for God's distinctly different properties.
15. (viii) THE CHURCH CANNOT HOLD TOGETHER AT ALL IN THE CASE OF A PERSON WHO ACKNOWLEDGES NOT ONE GOD, BUT SEVERAL.
The man who acknowledges in his belief one God and worships Him in his heart is in the communion of saints on earth, and of angels in the heavens. These are called communions, and they really are, because they are in the one God, and the one God is in them. The same people are also linked with the whole of the heaven of angels, and, I dare assert, with each and every one there. For they are all like sons and descendants of a single father, whose minds, manners and faces are similar, so that they can recognise one another. The heaven of angels is organised into communities in accordance with the varieties of the love for good, but all these varieties aim at a single most general love, that is, love to God. From this love are descended all who acknowledge in their belief, and worship in their heart, one God the Creator of the universe, and at the same time the Redeemer and the Regenerator.
[2] But far different is the case of those who approach and adore not one God, but several; or if it happens that they worship one God with their lips but three in their thinking, as those do in the church to-day who divide God into three persons, and declare each person by himself to be God, and attribute to each person different, qualities or peculiarities not shared with another. This produces an actual division not only in the oneness of God, but also in their theology, and likewise human minds that are devoted to it. What can be the result but a tangle of incoherent ideas about church matters? It will be proved in an Appendix to this book that this is the state of the church to-day. The truth is that to divide God or the Divine Essence into three persons, each of which severally or by itself is God, is tantamount to denying God. It is as if someone goes into a church to worship, and sees represented in a painting over the altar one God as the Ancient of Days, another as High Priest, and a third flying like Aeolus, and a label underneath saying 'These three are one God.' Or perhaps it is as if he were to see the Oneness and the Trinity represented as a man with three heads on one body or with three bodies topped by a single head; that is a monstrous idea, and if anyone were to enter heaven with that in his mind, he would certainly be flung out head first, even if he said that the head or heads stand for the essence, and the body or bodies separate properties.
15. (8) With men who acknowledge several Gods instead of one there is no coherence in the things relating to the church. He who in his belief acknowledges and in his heart worships one God is both in the communion of the saints on earth and in the communion of the angels in heaven. These are called "communions," and are communions, because such are in the one God and the one God is in them. Moreover, they are in conjunction with the entire angelic heaven, and, I might venture to say, with all and each of its inhabitants, for they are all like the children and descendants of one father, whose dispositions, manners, and features are similar, whereby they recognize each other. The angelic heaven is harmoniously arranged in societies in accordance with all the varieties of the love of good, and these varieties center in one universal love, which is love to God; from which love all are born who in belief acknowledge and in heart worship the one God, who is both the Creator of the universe and the Redeemer and Regenerator.
[2] But it is a wholly different matter with those who approach and worship several gods instead of one, and with those who talk of one and think of three, as do those in the church at this day who divide God into three persons, and declare that each person by himself is God, and attribute to each one special qualities or properties that do not belong to the others. From this arises a disintegration not only of the unity of God but of theology itself, and still further of human thought, to which theology belongs. And what can follow from this but perplexity and incoherency in things of the church? That such is the state of the church at this day will be shown in the Appendix to this work. The truth is that the division of God, or of the Divine essence, into three persons, each one of whom by Himself or singly is God, induces a denial of God. It is as if a man should enter a temple to worship, and see painted on a tablet over the altar one God as the Ancient of days, another as the great High Priest, and the third as a flying Aeolus, with the inscription: "These three are one God;" or like seeing there the unity and trinity depicted as a man with three heads on one body, of three bodies under one head, which would be monstrosities. If anyone should enter heaven with such an idea he would certainly be cast out headlong, even if he should declare that the head or heads mean the essence, and the body or bodies its different properties.
15. (8) WITH THE MAN WHO DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ONE GOD, BUT SEVERAL, NO PRINCIPLE OF THE CHURCH REMAINS.
He who in faith acknowledges, and in heart worships, one God is in the communion of saints on earth, and in the communion of angels in heaven. These are called communions, and in reality they are so; because they are in one God, and one God is in them. They are also in conjunction with the whole angelic heaven, and, I venture to say, with all and every one there; for they are all like the children and offspring of one father, similar in mind, character and features, so that they mutually recognize each other. The angelic heaven is arranged into societies according to all the varieties of the love of good, which are directed towards one universal love, the love of God. From this love all derive their origin who in faith acknowledge and in heart worship one God, the Creator of the universe, and at the same time the Redeemer and Regenerator.
[2] It is quite otherwise with those who approach and worship not one God but several, or who profess one with the lips and yet think of three; as do those in the Church to-day who divide God into three Persons, and declare each Person by Himself to be God, and attribute to each Person separate qualities or properties not possessed by another. Thus it happens that not only is the unity of God actually divided, but also theology itself, and likewise the human mind in which it should reside. What can result from this but perplexity and incoherence in the things of the Church? That such is the state of the Church to-day will be shown in the Appendix to this work. The truth is that the division of God, or of the Divine Essence, into three Persons, each of whom by Himself or singly is God, leads to a denial of God. It is as though a man were to enter a temple to worship, and should see over the altar one God depicted as the Ancient of Days, another as the High Priest and a third as a flying Aeolus, 1 with this inscription: "These three are one God," or as if he were to see the Unity and the Trinity depicted as a man with three heads, or with three bodies under one head, which is the form of a monster. If any one should enter heaven with such an idea he would assuredly be cast out headlong, even though he were to say that the head or heads signified Essence, and the body or bodies distinct properties.
Footnotes:
1. Aeolus, god of the winds.
15. VIII. QUOD APUD HOMINES, QUI NON AGNOSCUNT UNUM DEUM, SED PLURES, NIHIL ECCLESIAE COHAEREAT. Qui unum Deum fide agnoscit et corde colit, ille in communione Sanctorum in terris est, et in communione Angelorum in coelis; illae dicuntur communiones, et sunt, quia in uno Deo sunt et unus Deus in illis: iidem etiam in conjunctione sunt cum Universo Coelo Angelico, et ausim dicere, cum omnibus et singulis ibi, sunt enim omnes sicut filii et posteri ex uno Patre, quorum animi, mores et facies similares sunt, a quibus se mutuo cognoscunt. Coelum Angelicum coordinatum est in Societates secundum omnes varietates amoris boni, quae varietates ad universalissimum unum Amorem collimant, qui est in Deum; ex hoc Amore propagati sunt omnes, qui Deum unum Creatorem universi, et simul Redemptorem, et Regeneratorem, fide agnoscunt et corde colunt.
[2] Sed aliter prorsus illi, qui non unum, sed plures Deos adeunt et adorant, sive hoc fiat, quod unum ore et tres cogitatione, ut faciunt illi in hodierna Ecclesia, qui Deum in tres personas distinguunt, et unamquamque Personam declarant Deum per se, et cuique separatas qualitates, seu proprietates quae non alterius sunt, attribuunt; inde fit, quod unitas Dei non modo actualiter dividatur, sed etiam ipsa Theologia, et quoque Mens humana in qua illa erit, similiter; quid inde nisi perplexum et non cohaerens in rebus Ecclesiae resultat; quod talis sit status Ecclesiae hodiernae in Appendice post hoc Opus, demonstrabitur: hoc veritas est, quod divisio Dei, aut Essentiae Divinae in tres Personas, quarum quaelibet per se aut singulatim est Deus, inducat negationem Dei; est sicut quis in Templum ad adorandum intrat, et in Tabula super Altari videt pictum unum Deum sicut Antiquum dierum, Alterum sicut Pontificem maximum, et Tertium sicut Aeolum volantem, et subscriptum, hi tres sunt Unus Deus: aut forsan sicut ibi videret Unitatem et Trinitatem pictas sicut hominem cum tribus Capitibus super uno corpore, aut cum tribus corporibus sub uno Capite, quae forma monstrosa est, cum qua idea si quis intraret Coelum, certe praeceps dejiceretur, tametsi diceret, quod Caput aut Capita significarent Essentiam, et Corpus aut Corpora Proprietates distinctas.