229# 二、教义须从圣言字义汲取，并须由字义加以确认。其原因在于，主在那里临在，并教导人、光照人；因为主若不在圆满之中，就绝不作任何事，而圣言在字义中处于其圆满，如前所示。因此，教义必须从字义汲取。纯正真理的教义，也完全可以从圣言的字义汲取出来；因为圣言在此义中，如同一个穿着衣服的人，其面容裸露，双手也裸露。凡属于人的信仰与生活、因而属于其得救的一切事物，在那里都是裸露的；其余则是穿着衣服的；并且在许多地方，凡穿着衣服的，也透显出来，如同妇人面前薄纱之后所呈现之物。圣言的真理也是如此：它们随着人因爱而使之增多，并且藉着这种爱而被排列有序，就越发清楚、越发明亮地透显并显现出来。
229# （2）教义必须取自圣言的字义，并被字义证实。这是因为主在字义上同在、教导和光照；主从来不会行动或运作，除非在完全中，字义上的圣言就在它的完全中，如前所示。这就是为何教义必须取自字义。此外，真正真理的教义可以完全取自圣言的字义；因为字义上的圣言就像一个穿着衣服的人，他的脸和手是裸露的；在圣言中，与人的信仰和生命，因而与他的得救有关的一切，都是赤裸的，或未被遮掩；而其余的都被遮掩了，或说穿上了衣服；但在它们被遮掩或穿上衣服的许多地方，它们仍是可见的，就像一个女人透过脸前薄薄的面纱看到物体一样。此外，随着圣言的真理因对它们的爱可以说成倍增加，并被这爱按次序排列，它们越来越清晰地闪耀出来，并被看到，或说它们变得越来越透明和明显。
229. 2. A body of teaching has to be drawn from the Word's literal meaning and supported by it. The reason for this is that the Lord is present, teaching and enlightening, in the Word's literal meaning. The Lord never works in an incomplete or partial way, and the literal meaning is where the Word is complete, as I have shown before. As a result, a body of teaching has to be drawn from the Word's literal meaning.
You can draw a complete body of genuinely true teaching from the Word's literal meaning. In that meaning the Word is like a clothed person whose face, forearms, and hands are exposed. All the teachings that relate to our faith and life and therefore our salvation are exposed there. The other teachings are clothed. Even then, in many passages where the teachings are clothed they are still visible, as a woman with a thin piece of silk over her face can still see objects in front of her. In fact, as the truths in the Word are multiplied and organized by our love for them, they shine out and become more and more clearly evident.
229. (ii) DOCTRINE IS TO BE DRAWN FROM THE LITERAL SENSE OF THE WORD, AND PROVED BY MEANS OF IT.
This is because the Lord is present in that sense, and He teaches and enlightens us. For the Lord never performs any act except in fulness, and the Word is in its fulness in the literal sense, as was shown above. This is why doctrine is to be drawn from the literal sense. The doctrine of genuine truth can even fully be drawn from the literal sense of the Word, for the Word in that sense resembles a person wearing clothes, but whose face and hands are bare. Everything needed for a person's faith and life, and so everything needed for his salvation, is there uncovered, though the remainder is clothed. In many passages where it is clothed it still shows through, like a woman's features through a thin silk veil over her face. Moreover, since the truths of the Word increase in number as they are loved and this love gives them shape, so they show through and become visible more and more clearly.
229. (2) Doctrine should be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and confirmed by it. This is because in it the Lord is present, and teaches and enlightens; for the Lord never operates except in fullness, and in the sense of the letter the Word is in its fullness, as has been shown above. This is why doctrine should be drawn from the sense of the letter. Moreover, the doctrine of genuine truth may be fully drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word; since the Word in that sense is like a man clothed, with his face bare and his hands bare; and all things pertaining to man's faith and life and thus his salvation are there naked; while the rest are clothed; but in many places where they are clothed, they show through, as objects are seen by a woman through a thin silk veil before her face. Furthermore, as the truths of the Word are multiplied as it were, by love for them, and by this love are arranged in order, they more and more clearly shine forth and are seen.
229. (2) DOCTRINE MUST BE TAKEN FROM THE SENSE OF THE LETTER OF THE WORD, AND BE CONFIRMED BY IT.
This is because the Lord is present in that sense, teaching and enlightening the mind; for the Lord never acts except in fulness, and the Word in the sense of the Letter is in its fulness, as was said above; therefore doctrine must be taken from the sense of the Letter. The doctrine of genuine truth may also be fully drawn from the literal sense of the Word; for the Word in that sense is like a person clothed, but whose face and hands are uncovered. Everything in the Word pertaining to man's faith and life, and thus to his salvation, is there unveiled. The rest is veiled; and in many places where it is veiled it is nevertheless visible, as things appear to a woman when they are seen through a thin veil of silk over her face. Moreover, as the truths of the Word increase from the love of them, and are co-ordinated by love, they become more and more translucent and obvious.
229. II. QUOD DOCTRINA EX SENSU LITERAE VERBI HAURIENDA SIT, ET PER ILLUM CONFIRMANDA; causa est, quia Dominus ibi est praesens, ac docet et illustrat, nam Dominus nusquam operatur aliquid nisi in pleno, et Verbum in Sensu literae est in suo pleno, ut supra ostensum est; inde est, quod Doctrina e Sensu literae haurienda sit. Doctrina genuini Veri ex Sensu literali 1 Verbi etiam plene potest hauriri, nam Verbum in illo Sensu est tanquam homo vestitus, cui facies est nuda, et quoque manus sunt nudae; omnia quae ad fidem et vitam hominis, ita quae ad salutem ejus pertinent, sunt ibi nuda; reliqua autem vestita; et in multis locis, ubi vestita sunt, transparent, sicut obvia mulieri per tenue sericum ante faciem: etiam vera Verbi, sicut multiplicantur ex amore illorum, et sicut per hunc ordinantur, ita clarius et clarius pellucent et apparent.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: liserali.