380# 二、伪谬的信仰，乃凡背离真实而唯一之信仰者；此信仰存在于那些从别处上去，并且不视主为上帝、而仅视祂为人的人里面。
所谓伪谬的信仰，乃凡背离那真实而唯一之信仰者；此事自明。因为真实既为唯一，则凡背离它者，即非真实。教会一切善与真，皆由主与教会的婚姻而繁衍；故一切本质上为仁义、本质上为信仰者，皆出于此婚姻。反之，凡此二者中任何一者不出于此婚姻者，便非出于合法婚床，而是出于非法婚床；也就是说，或出于多妻的婚床或婚姻，或出于奸淫。凡承认主而又采纳异端虚假的信仰，皆出于多妻的婚姻；凡承认一个教会有三位主的信仰，则出于奸淫；因为它或如娼妓，或如嫁于一夫的妇人，却将夜晚租给另外二人，并且与他们同寝时，称每一个为自己的丈夫。因此，这些人的信仰被称为伪谬的信仰。主在多处称此等人为“淫乱的人”；在约翰福音中，祂也以“贼和强盗”指称他们：
“我实实在在地告诉你们，人进羊圈，不从门进去，倒从别处爬进去，那人就是贼，就是强盗。……我就是门；凡从我进来的，必然得救。”（约10:1，9）
进入羊圈，即进入教会，也即进入天堂；之所以也指进入天堂，是因为教会与天堂合而为一，且除了那里的教会之外，别无构成天堂者。因此，主怎样是教会的新郎和丈夫，也照样是天堂的新郎和丈夫。信仰究竟是合法的子嗣，还是伪谬的子嗣，可由前文所述信仰的三个标志加以察验并认识，即：承认主为上帝的儿子，承认祂为天地的上帝，承认祂与父为一。因此，某一信仰背离这些本质要素多少，它便伪谬多少。伪谬并且奸淫的信仰，存在于那些不视主为上帝、而仅视祂为人的人里面。此事从两个可憎的异端，即亚流派与索齐尼派，可以清楚看出；二者在基督教会中均被咒诅，并被逐出教会；其原因正在于它们否认主的神性，并从别处上去。然而，我所忧惧者，是这些可憎之事今日已潜藏于教会之人的共同精神中。奇异的是，人越以为自己在学识与判断上胜过他人，便越容易抓住并据为己有关于主的这些观念：祂是人而不是上帝；并且因祂是人，便不能为上帝。凡将这些观念据为己有者，即把自己带入亚流派与索齐尼派的群体；他们在属灵世界中乃在地狱里。
【3】今日教会之人的共同精神之所以如此，是因为每个人都有一个与自己相联的灵；若无此灵，人便不能以分析的、理性的、属灵的方式思考，因而也就不是人，而是兽。并且每个人都会招来一个与自己意志之情感、以及由此而来的理智之知觉相似的灵。凡藉由圣言中的真理，并照这些真理生活，而将自己引入良善情感者，就有一位来自天堂的天使与他相联；但凡藉由确认虚假并过邪恶生活，而将自己引入邪恶情感者，就有一个来自地狱的灵与他相联。一经如此相联，人便愈来愈与撒但进入一种弟兄关系；于是，他也愈来愈在反对圣言真理的伪谬中，以及在亚流派与索齐尼派那反对主的可憎观念中，坚固自己。其原因在于，所有撒但都不能忍受听见圣言中的任何真理，也不能忍受听见耶稣之名；若听见这些，他们便如狂怒者，奔走并亵渎。那时，若有来自天堂的光流入，他们便急速投进洞穴，投入自己的幽暗中；在那幽暗里，他们所有的光，正如猫头鹰在黑暗中所有的光，又如猫在地窖里追捕老鼠时所有的光。凡在心里和信仰上否认主的神性与圣言之神圣者，死后都成为这样；他们的内在人就是如此，无论其外在人如何表演，如何假称自己为基督徒。此事确是如此，我知道，因为我见过，也听过。
【4】凡只以口舌与嘴唇尊主为救赎主和救主，而在心与灵中却视祂为纯粹之人的人，当他们如此言说、如此教导时，其口如蜜袋，其心却如胆袋；其言语如糖饼，其思想却如含有乌头毒草的蜜酒；他们又如卷起的饼卷，其中藏着乌头。若他们是祭司，便如海上的海盗，悬挂和平王国的旗帜；但当附近的船只把他们当作朋友而靠近时，他们便放下先前的旗帜，升起海盗旗，把船和船上的人掳去为俘。他们又如分别善恶树上的蛇，像光明的天使前来，手中拿着从那树上来的果子，涂以金黄之色，仿佛摘自生命树，并递给人说：“因为上帝知道，你们吃的日子眼睛就明亮了，你们便如上帝能知道善恶。”（创3:5）
人一吃了，便跟随蛇进入阴间，并与之同住。在那阴间周围，是吃过亚流和索齐尼之果的撒但。以下所说的那人，也是指他们：那没有穿礼服进来，后来被丢在外边黑暗里的人。（太22:11-13）“礼服”就是在主里面的信仰，即信祂为上帝的儿子、天地的上帝，并与父为一。凡只以口舌与嘴唇尊主，而在心与灵中却视祂为纯粹之人的人，若他们敞开自己的思想并劝服他人，便是属灵的杀人者；其中最恶者，则是属灵的食人者。因为人的生命来自对主的爱与信仰；但若除去信仰与爱的这一本质要素，即主既是成为人的上帝，也是人性已完全神性化的人，则人的生命便成为死亡；因此，人就这样被杀害，并如羊羔被狼吞吃。
380# （2）虚假的信仰是指偏离真实的信仰，即唯一信仰的一切信仰，这是那些“从别处爬上来”，不把主看作神，只看作一个人的人持有的信仰。虚假的信仰是指偏离真实的信仰，即唯一信仰的一切信仰，这是不言而喻的；因为如果唯一的信仰是真理，那么可推知，凡偏离它的，都不是真理。主与教会的婚姻生出了教会的一切良善与真理，因而生出了本质上是仁爱与信仰的一切。而另一方面，任何仁爱和信仰若不源于该婚姻，都不是合法出生的，而是一夫多妻或通奸的非婚生子女或私生子。所有承认主，却采用异端虚假的信仰，都是一夫多妻的产物；承认一个教会有三个主的信仰，是通奸的产物。因为这种信仰要么像妓女，要么像一个女人嫁给一个男人，却与另外两个男人过夜，在与每个男人同床共枕时，都称他为丈夫。因此，这种信仰被称为虚假的；在许多地方，主都称那些持有这种信仰的人为“通奸者”，约翰福音中的“贼和强盗”也是指他们：
我实实在在地告诉你们，不从门进羊圈，倒从别处爬进去的，那人就是贼，就是强盗；我就是门，凡从我进来的，必然得救。（约翰福音10:1，9）
进羊圈就是进教会，也是进天堂。进羊圈也是进天堂，因为天堂与教会构成一体，构成天堂的，只是它里面的教会。因此，正如主是教会的新郎和丈夫，祂也是天堂的新郎和丈夫。
信仰的合法性和非法性可通过上述三个标志来检验和确定，即：承认主是神的儿子，承认祂是天地之神，承认祂与父为一。因此，任何信仰越偏离这些基本要素，就越是虚假的。对那些不把主看作神，只看作一个人的人来说，信仰既是虚假的，同时也是通奸的。这一事实从两种可憎的异端，即阿里乌派和苏西尼派很清楚地看出来，这两种异端已经受到绝罚，并被逐出基督教会，因为他们否认主的神性，从别处爬上来。然而，我担心如今这些可憎的东西隐藏在教会之人的思想或普遍的灵中。值得注意的是，一个人越认为自己在学问和判断上优先于他人，就越倾向于抓住并采用这些观念，即：主是一个人，不是神，因为祂是一个人，所以祂不能是神；凡采用这些观念的人都会与阿里乌派和苏西尼派建立友谊，而在灵界，他们都在地狱里。
这就是当今教会之人普遍的灵，或说这些观念在当今教会之人中间广泛存在，因为每个人都有一个交往的灵人；没有这个交往的灵人，人将不能分析、理性、属灵地思考，因而将不是一个人，而是一个畜生。此外，每个人都会吸引一个与他自己意愿的情感和随之而来的理解力的感知和谐一致的灵人。一个通过来自圣言的真理和照之的生活而进入良善情感的人，就与一位来自天堂的天使联系在一起。而一个通过对虚假的确认和邪恶的生活而进入邪恶情感的人，却与一个来自地狱的灵人联系在一起；由于这种联系，他可以说越来越与撒但建立情谊，或说与他们为伴，然后越来越确认反对圣言真理的虚假，并确认反对主的阿里乌派和苏西尼派的可憎之事。这是因为撒但无法忍受听到来自圣言的任何真理，甚至无法忍受提到耶稣这个名字。他们若听到了，就会变得像复仇女神，来回奔跑，说亵渎的话。这时，如果来自天堂的光流入，照在他们身上，他们就会一头冲进洞穴，冲进自己的幽暗中；在那里，他们的光就像猫头鹰在黑暗中看到的光，或猫在地窖里抓老鼠的光。这就是所有在内心和信仰上否认主的神性和圣言神圣性的人死后的命运。他们的内在人就具有这种性质，无论外在人如何模仿并假装是基督徒。我知道这是真的，因为我已经看到并听到了。
所有只用嘴唇尊主为救赎主和救主，却在心里和灵里只把祂看作是一个人的人，当如此说话和教导时，就像那些嘴巴满了蜜，心里却满了苦胆的人。他们的话语就像糖，而他们的思维却像毒药；他们就像夹着蛇的成卷的糕点，或层层潜伏着蝰蛇的烤肉。他们若是牧师，就像在海上升起和平国家旗帜的海盗，当一艘船当作朋友靠近他们时，他们就升起海盗旗，换下另一面旗，扣押船只并俘虏船员。他们也像善恶知识树上的蛇；他们像光明天使一样靠近，手里拿着那棵树上的苹果，但涂得像生命树上的金苹果；他们献上这些苹果，说：
神知道，你们吃它的日子，你们的眼睛就开了，你们便如神一样知道善恶。（创世记3:5）
等那些接受这果子的人吃了后，他们就跟着这蛇到了阴间，或更低的世界，与他同住。在这较低地区或阴间周围住着的，都是吃了阿里乌斯和苏西尼的苹果的撒但。那个来参加婚礼，却没有穿婚筵的礼服，被丢在外边黑暗里的人（马太福音22:11-13）也是指他们。“婚筵的礼服”是指对主是神的儿子，天地之神，与父为一的信仰。那些只用嘴唇尊敬主，但在心里和灵里却只把祂看作一个人的人，若说出自己的想法，并说服其他人相信这些想法，就是属灵的杀人犯；在他们当中，最坏的是属灵的食人者。因为人的生命来自对主的爱和对主的信仰；如果信仰和爱的这一基本要素，即主是神-人和人-神，被夺走，那么人的生命就变成死亡。因此，通过这种方式，人被杀死和吞食，就像羔羊被狼杀死和吞食一样。
380. (b) Illegitimate faith is all faith that departs from the one and only true faith. Illegitimate faith exists in people who climb up some other way and view the Lord not as God but only as a human being. All faith that departs from the one true faith is illegitimate. This is self-evident. Given that only one faith is true, it follows that any faith that departs from it is not true. The marriage between the Lord and the church generates everything that is good and that is true in the church. Everything that is essentially goodwill and essentially faith comes from that marriage. Any goodwill and faith that are not from that marriage come from an illegitimate bed, not a legitimate one. They come from either a polygamous marriage bed or an adulterous one. Every faith that acknowledges the Lord and yet adopts false and heretical beliefs comes from a polygamous bed.
A faith that acknowledges three lords over one church comes from an adulterous bed. It is like a single woman who is promiscuous; or like a married woman who has a husband but rents herself out overnight to two other men, and when she sleeps with them she calls each of them her husband. Therefore these types of faith are called illegitimate.
In many passages the Lord calls people with these types of belief "adulterers. " He also means people like this when he mentions thieves and robbers in John:
Truly I say to you, those who do not enter through the door to the sheepfold but instead climb up some other way are thieves and robbers. I am the door. Anyone who enters through me will be saved. (John 10:1, 9)
Coming into "the sheepfold" is coming into the church and also coming into heaven. It means coming into heaven because heaven and the church are one. Nothing else constitutes heaven except the church in the spiritual world. Therefore just as the Lord is the bridegroom and husband of the church, he is also the bridegroom and husband of heaven.
[2] To test and find out whether a given faith is a legitimate or an illegitimate offspring, one can use the three indications presented just above: acknowledgment that the Lord is the Son of God; acknowledgment that he is the God of heaven and earth; and acknowledgment that he is one with the Father. The more a given faith departs from these essentials, the more illegitimate it is.
People who view the Lord not as God but only as a human being have a faith that is both illegitimate and adulterous. This is obvious from two atrocious heresies, the Arian heresy and the Socinian heresy, which have been anathematized by and cut off from the Christian church because they deny the Lord's divinity and climb up another way. I am afraid that these abominations lie hidden in the general spirit of people in the church.
Astounding to say, the more that people believe they have better scholarship and judgment than others, the more readily they latch onto, and adopt as their own, ideas that the Lord is human but not divine and that because he is human he could not be divine. When people adopt these ideas as their own, they join the club of Arians and Socinians who in the spiritual world are in hell.
[3] The reason for this general spirit among people in the church today is that all of us have a spirit who is allied with us. Without that spirit we could not think analytically, rationally, or spiritually. Without those types of thinking we would be brute animals, not human beings. We all invite to ourselves a spirit who is similar to the desire in our will and the consequent perception in our intellect. If we develop good desires through truths from the Word and through living by those truths, we connect an angel from heaven to ourselves. On the other hand, if we develop evil desires through convincing ourselves of false beliefs and through living an evil life, we connect spirits from hell to ourselves. Once these evil spirits are connected to us, we increasingly develop a kind of sibling relationship with satans. Then we become more and more convinced of falsities that are against the truths in the Word and more and more hardened in an Arian and Socinian loathing for the Lord, because no satan can stand to hear any truth from the Word or to say the name Jesus. If satans hear these things, they turn into furies running around and uttering blasphemy. Then if light from heaven flows in they throw themselves headfirst into caves, into their own pitch darkness. In those places they have a light like that of night birds in the dark or like that of cats in basements when they are chasing mice. This is how all people who deny the Lord's divinity and the Word's holiness in their heart and in their faith turn out after death. Their inner self has this nature no matter how well their outer self does impressions and pretends to be Christian. I know this is true, because I have seen it and heard it.
[4] There are people who honor the Lord as their Redeemer and Savior with their mouth and lips alone but view him in their heart and spirit as a mere human being. In every case, when these people speak and teach, their mouth is like a jar full of honey but their heart is like a jar full of bile. Their words are like pastries but their thoughts are like poisoned wine. They themselves are like cake rolls with little worms inside. If they are priests, they are like pirates at sea who fly the flag of a peaceful country, but when a nearby ship signals to them as allies, they replace that flag with a pirate flag and capture the ship and its passengers.
They are also like serpents of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil who approach you as if they were angels of light. They hold apples in their hand from that tree that have been painted with deep red colors as if they were plucked from the tree of life. They offer them and say, "God knows that on the day you eat these, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:5). When you eat, you follow the serpent into some underworld and you make your home with it. All around that underworld there are satans who ate the apples of Arius and Socinus.
People like this are also meant by the person who came [to the wedding] but was not dressed in a wedding garment and was thrown into outer darkness (Matthew 22:11-13). The wedding garment is faith that the Lord is the Son of God, is the God of heaven and earth, and is one with the Father.
People who honor the Lord with only their mouth and their lips, while in heart and spirit they regard him as a mere human being, and who reveal their thoughts and convince others to believe those thoughts are spiritual murderers. The worst of them are spiritual cannibals. Human life comes from love and faith in the Lord. If this essential ingredient of faith and love is removed - the recognition that the Lord is the human God and the divine Human - our life becomes death; its removal kills and devours us the way a wolf kills and devours a lamb.
380. (ii) Spurious faith is any faith which departs from the true and only faith, and is possessed by those who climb up another way and look upon the Lord not as God, but merely as a human being.
It is self-evident that spurious faith is any faith which departs from the true and only faith; for when one faith is the truth, it follows that anything that departs from it is not the truth. All good and truth in the church spring from the marriage between the Lord and the church. Thus everything which is in essence charity, or which is in essence faith, is the product of that marriage. But anything in charity and faith which is not the product of that marriage is not from a legitimate union but an illegitimate one. Thus it is the product either of a polygamous marriage or union, or of adultery. Any faith is the product of polygamy, if it acknowledges the Lord and espouses the falsities contained in heresies; a faith is the product of adultery, if it acknowledges three Lords in one church. For it is like a woman who is a prostitute, or one married to one man, but hiring herself out for the night to two others, each of whom she calls her husband when she sleeps with him. This is the reason their faiths are called spurious.
The Lord calls these people in many passages 'adulterers', and this too is what He means by 'thieves and robbers' in John:
Truly I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up another way, is a thief and robber. I am the door; if anyone enters by me, he will be saved, John 10:1, 9.
Entering the sheepfold is entering the church, and also heaven. It entails entering heaven too, because they make one, and it is nothing but the presence of the church in it which makes heaven. Therefore just as the Lord is the bridegroom and husband of the church, so too is He the bridegroom and husband of heaven.
[2] It is possible to investigate and recognise whether a faith is a legitimate offspring or an illegitimate one by using the three indicators described above. These are the acknowledgment of the Lord as the Son of God, the acknowledgment of Him as the God of heaven and earth, and the acknowledgment that He is one with the Father. Therefore in so far as any faith departs from these essentials, so far is it a spurious faith. There is a spurious and adulterous faith with those who look on the Lord not as God, but as merely a man. The truth of this is evident from the two unspeakable heresies, those of the Arians and the Socinians, which were made anathema in the Christian church and excommunicated from it. This was because they deny the divinity of the Lord, and climb up another way. But I am afraid that these abominations lurk hidden in the general attitude of the people in the church to-day. It is an astonishing fact that the more anyone believes himself to excel others in learning and judgment, the more prone he is to seize on and make his own ideas about the Lord being a human being and not God, arguing that because He is a human being He cannot be God. Anyone who makes those ideas his own betakes himself to the company of the Arians and Socinians, who in the spiritual world are in hell.
[3] The reason why this is the general attitude of people in the church today is that every person possesses a companion spirit. Without him the person could not think analytically, rationally and spiritually, so that he would not be a human being, but an animal. And each person attracts a spirit who resembles him in the affection of his will and thus the perception of his understanding. If someone brings himself into good affections by means of truths taken from the Word and by living in accordance with them, the companion assigned him is an angel from heaven. But if someone brings himself into evil affections by proving falsities to himself and living a wicked life, the companion assigned to him is a spirit from hell. Once so assigned, the person enters more and more into a kind of brotherhood with satans, and then strengthens more and more his belief in falsities in opposition to the truths in the Word, and in the abominable Arian and Socinian attacks on the Lord. The reason is that all satans cannot bear to hear any truth from the Word, or even the name of Jesus; if they do hear them, they become like furies, running about blaspheming. Then if light floods in from heaven, they throw themselves headlong into caves and the thick darkness they love; in this they enjoy the kind of light that owls do in the dark, and like that enjoyed by cats hunting mice in cellars. This is the fate after death of all who in their heart and faith deny the divinity of the Lord and the holiness of the Word; and this is the nature of their internal man, however much the external puts on an act and plays the role of a Christian. I know this is the case, because of what I have seen and heard.
[4] All who honour the Lord as Redeemer and Saviour merely with their mouth and lips, while in their heart and spirit they look upon Him as purely a human being, when they utter and teach such ideas have a mouth like a skinful of honey, but a heart like a skinful of gall. Their words are like sugared loaves, but their thoughts are like poisoned draughts of wine, or like curlicues of cake containing flying serpents. 1 If they are priests, they are like pirates at sea who fly the flag of a country which is not hostile, but when a passing ship approaches them as friends, they hoist the pirate flag instead of the former one, and seize the ship and make prisoners those on board. They are also like the serpents of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, who come up to one in the guise of angels of light, holding in their hand apples from it coloured with golden tints as if they had been plucked from the tree of life, offering them with the words:
God knows that on the day you eat of them, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil, Genesis 3:5.
When they have eaten, they follow the serpent down to the underworld and live with him. Around that underworld are the satans who have eaten the apples of Arius and Socinus. It is they too who are meant by the man who went in not wearing a wedding garment, and who was cast into outer darkness (Matthew 22:11-13). The wedding garment is faith in the Lord as the Son of God, the God of heaven and earth, and one with the Father. Those who honour the Lord merely with their mouth and lips, but in their heart and spirit look upon Him purely as a human being, if they reveal their thoughts and persuade others, are spiritual murderers, and the worst of them are spiritual cannibals. A person's life comes from his love and faith in the Lord; but if this essential of faith and love, the belief that the Lord is God-man and Man-god, is taken away, his life is turned into death. So in this way the person is killed and devoured like a lamb by a wolf.
Footnotes:
1. This and the previous sentence are given rhetorical point by verbal assonances in Latin, which cannot be reproduced in English.
380. (2) Spurious faith is all faith that departs from the true faith, which is the one only faith, and this is the faith that is held by those who climb up some other way, and regard the Lord not as God but as a mere man. That spurious faith is all faith that departs from the true faith, which is the one only faith, is self evident; for if the one only faith is the truth, it follows that what departs from it is not truth. Every good and truth of the church is propagated by the marriage of the Lord and the church; thus everything that is essentially charity and that is essentially faith is from that marriage; and on the other hand, whatever of charity and faith is not from that marriage, is not from a legitimate but an illegitimate bed, thus from a polygamic bed or marriage, or from adultery. All faith that acknowledges the Lord but adopts the falsities of heresy is from a polygamic bed, and the faith that acknowledges three Lords of one church is from adultery. For this may be likened to a harlot or a woman married to one man and spending her nights with two others, calling each one her husband while sleeping with him. Therefore such faith is called spurious; and in many places the Lord calls those holding such a faith "adulterers," and they are also meant by "thieves and robbers" in John:
Verily I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber; I am the door; by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved (10:1, 9).
Entering into the sheepfold is entering into the church, and also into heaven. It is entering also into heaven because heaven and the church make one, and nothing makes heaven except the church that is in it; consequently as the Lord is the bridegroom and husband of the church, so is He also the bridegroom and husband of heaven.
[2] It may be inquired into and may be known whether faith is a legitimate or a spurious offspring by the three indications mentioned above, namely, acknowledgment of the Lord as the Son of God, acknowledgment of Him as the God of heaven and earth, and acknowledgment that He is one with the Father. Therefore, so far as any faith departs from these its essentials, it is spurious. Faith is both spurious and adulterous with those who regard the Lord not as God but merely as a man. The truth of this is very evident from the two abominable heresies, Arianism and Socinianism, which have been anathematized in and excommunicated from the Christian church, and this because they deny the Lord's Divinity, and climb up some other way. But I fear that those abominations lie concealed at this day in the general spirit of the men of the church. It is remarkable that the more anyone deems himself to be superior to others in learning and judgment, the more prone he is to seize upon and appropriate to himself the idea that the Lord is a man and not God, and that because He is a man He cannot be God; and whoever appropriates to himself these ideas, introduces himself into companionship with Arians and Socinians, who in the spiritual world are in hell.
[3] Such is the general spirit of the men of the church at the present day, because with every man there is an associate spirit; for without this man would be unable to think analytically, rationally, and spiritually, and thus would not be a man but a brute. Moreover, every man attaches to himself a spirit in harmony with the affection of his own will and consequent perception of his understanding. To the man who introduces himself into good affections by means of truths from the Word and a life according to them, an angel from heaven is adjoined; while he who introduces himself into evil affections by the confirmation of falsities and a wicked life adjoins himself to a spirit from hell, and when this is done the man enters more and more, as it were, into fraternity with satans, and confirms himself more and more in falsities contrary to the truths in the Word, and in Arian and Socinian abominations against the Lord. This is because no satan can bear to hear any truth from the Word or to hear Jesus named; and if they hear these they become like furies, and run about and blaspheme; and then if light from heaven flows in they throw themselves headlong into caverns and into their own thick darkness, in which there is light to them, as there is to owls in the dark, or to cats in cellars watching for mice. Such do all those become after death, who in heart and faith deny the Divinity of the Lord and the holiness of the Word. Their internal man is of this nature, however much the external may play the mimic and feign to be Christian. That this is true I know, because I have seen and heard it.
[4] Of all who honor the Lord as the Redeemer and Savior with the mouth and lips only, while in heart and spirit they regard Him as a mere man, it may be said, when they are speaking of these things and teaching them, that their cheeks are like a bag of honey, and their heart like a bag of gall; their words are like cakes of sugar, while their thoughts are like emulsions of aconite; they are also like rolls of pastry containing snakes. If such persons are priests, they are like pirates on the sea who hoist the flag of a peaceful nation, but when a ship sailing near hails them as friends, they raise a piratical flag in place of the other, seize the ship, and carry away those on board into captivity. They are also like serpents of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that approach like angels of light, carrying in their hands apples from that tree painted with golden colors, as if plucked from the tree of life; and they offer them, saying:
God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:5).
And when these have eaten, they follow the serpent into the lower world, and there they dwell together. Round about that world are the satans who have eaten of the apples of Arius and Socinus. Such as these are meant also by the man,
Who came to the marriage without a wedding garment, and was cast into outer darkness (Matthew 22:11-13);
"the wedding garment" meaning faith in the Lord as the Son of God, the God of heaven and earth, and one with the Father. Those who honor the Lord with the mouth and lips only, but in heart and spirit regard Him as a mere man, if they declare their thoughts and persuade others, are spiritual murderers, and the worst of them are spiritual cannibals; for a man's life is from love to the Lord and faith in Him; and if this essential element of faith and love, that the Lord is God-Man and Man-God, is taken away, man's life becomes death; thus in this way man is killed and devoured as a kid by a wolf.
380. (2) Spurious faith is every faith that departs from the one true faith, and is held by those who "climb up some other way," and regard the Lord not as God, but as a mere man. Every faith is spurious that departs from the one true faith. This is self-evident, for when it follows that what departs from it is not the truth. The marriage of the Lord and the Church gives birth to all good and truth of the Church, and therefore to all that is essentially charity and faith. Any charity and faith, however, not having their origin from that marriage, are not lawfully begotten, but are the illegitimate offspring of polygamy or adultery. All faith that acknowledges the Lord, and yet adopts heretical falsities, is the offspring of polygamy; and faith that acknowledges three lords of one Church is the offspring of adultery. For it is either like a courtesan, or like a woman married to one husband, who spends her nights with two others, and whilst favoring those, calls each of them by turns her husband. Such faith is therefore called spurious.
The Lord in many places calls those who profess such faith adulterers, and they are also meant by thieves and robbers in John:
"Verily I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheep-fold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber... I am the door: by me if any man shall enter in, he shall be saved" 10:1, 9.
To enter into the sheepfold is to enter into the Church, and also into heaven. This is because heaven and the Church make one, and nothing constitutes heaven but the Church there. As the Lord, therefore, is the Bridegroom and Husband of the Church, so also is He the Bridegroom and Husband of heaven. The legitimacy or illegitimacy of faith may be examined and determined by the three signs mentioned above, namely, the acknowledgment of the Lord as the Son of God, the acknowledgment of Him as the God of heaven and earth, and the acknowledgment that He is one with the Father; so far as any faith departs from these essentials, it is spurious.
[2] A spurious faith and, at the same time, an adulterous faith, is held by those who regard the Lord, not as God, but merely as a man. That this belief is entertained is clearly evident from the two impious heresies, Arianism 1 and Socinianism, 2 anathematized and banned from the Christian Church, because they deny the Lord's Divinity, and their followers "climb up some other way." I am afraid, however, that those abominations lie concealed widely diffused in the thought of men of the Church to-day. It is a remarkable circumstance that the more one considers himself superior to others in learning and judgment the more prone is he to seize upon and adopt these ideas concerning the Lord, namely, that He is a man and not God, and that, because He is a Man, He cannot be God; yet every one who adopts these ideas enters into fellowship with Arians and Socinians, who in the spiritual world are in hell.
[3] These ideas are widespread among men of the Church to-day because there is with every man an associate spirit; otherwise a man would be incapable of thinking analytically, rationally, and spiritually; and consequently he would not be a man but a brute; and every man attracts to himself a spirit in harmony with the affection of his own will and consequent perception of understanding. He who enters into good affections, by means of truths from the Word and by a life according to them, has associated with him an angel from heaven. He, however, who enters into evil affections, by confirming falsities and by an evil life, has associated with him a spirit from hell; and as a result of this association he enters more and more into companionship with satans. He then confirms himself more and more in falsities against the truths of the Word, and in the Arian and Socinian abominations against the Lord. This is because satans cannot bear to hear any truth from the Word, or even the name Jesus to be mentioned. Should they do so, they become like furies, running to and fro and uttering blasphemies. Then if light from heaven shines down upon them, they rush headlong into caverns and into their own darkness, where their light resembles that by which owls see in the dark and cats hunt mice in cellars. Such is the lot after death of all who, in heart and faith, deny the Divinity of the Lord and the holiness of the Word. This is the nature of their internal man, however the external may play the hypocrite and pretend to be Christian. I know that this is true from what I have seen and heard.
[4] All who honor the Lord as the Redeemer and Savior with the lips only, but who in heart and spirit regard Him as a mere man, when they speak and teach thus, are like those whose mouth is full of honey but whose heart is full of gall. Their words are like sugar but their thoughts like poison; they are like baked meats with adders lurking in the layers. If they are priests, they are like pirates at sea, flying the flag of a state at peace; but when a ship approaches them as friends, they hoist the pirates' flag in place of the other, seize the ship and make captive its crew. They are also like serpents of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They draw near as angels of light, holding in their hand apples from that tree, but painted to resemble the golden apples of the tree of life. They offer these, saying,
"God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God (A.V. gods), knowing good and evil" Genesis 3:5.
When those who accept the fruit have eaten, they follow the serpent to the lower world, and make their abode with him. All around that lower region dwell satans who have eaten of the apples of Arius 1 and Socinius. 2
They are likewise meant by the man who came to the wedding; but who, not being clothed with a wedding garment, was cast into outer darkness. Matthew 22:11-13.
The wedding garment is faith in the Lord as the Son of God, as the God of heaven and earth and one with the Father. If those who honor the Lord with the lips only, but who in heart and spirit regard Him as a mere man, reveal their thoughts and convert others to their belief, they are spiritual murderers, and the worst of them are spiritual cannibals. For the life of man is from love of the Lord and faith in Him; but if this essential of faith and love, namely, that the Lord is God Man and Man God, is taken away, his life is turned to death. Thus the man is slain, and devoured as a lamb by a wolf.
Footnotes:
1. Arius, theologian of Alexandria, A.D. 256-336; founder of Arianism, affirming that Christ was an originated Being. Excommunicated by bishops of Egypt for denying that Christ was made of the same substance (homo-ousion) of any previously existing substance. To settle the consequent dispute Constantine called the Council of Nicaea, A.D. 325. Athanasius successfully led the opposition to Arius; and Arius, with Eusebius, who also refused to accept the Athanasian position, was banished.
2. Socinians, members of a religious sect taking their name from Faustus Socinus, A.D. 1539-1604, and his uncle Laelius Socinus. They are antitrinitarians, denying the personality of the Holy Ghost and the Divinity of Christ. Early Socians believed in the miraculous conception and that Christ was entitled to Divine worship; but modern Socinians, chiefly Unitarians, deny both.
380. II. QUOD FIDES SPURIA SIT OMNIS FIDES, QUAE RECEDIT A VERA QUAE EST UNICA, ET QUOD SIT APUD ILLOS, QUI ALIUNDE ASCENDUNT, ET DOMINUM NON UT DEUM SED SOLUMMODO UT HOMINEM SPECTANT. Quod Fides spuria sit omnis fides, quae a vera quae est unica, recedit, ex se patet, nam dum unica est verum, sequitur quod id quod recedit, non sit verum; omne bonum et verum Ecclesiae propagantur a Conjugio Domini et Ecclesiae, ita omne id quod essentialiter est charitas, et essentialiter fides, est ex illo conjugio, at vero quicquid duarum illarum non ex illo est, non est ex toro legitimo, sed illegitimo, ita vel ex toro seu conjugio polygamico, vel ex adulterio; ex polygamico est omnis fides, quae agnoscit Dominum, et adoptat falsa haeresium; et fides ex adulterio est, qui agnoscit tres Dominos unius Ecclesiae, est enim vel sicut foemina meretrix, aut sicut mulier nupta 1 uni viro, et locat noctes duobus aliis, et dum cubat cum illis, vocat quemlibet suum virum; inde est, quod fides illarum dicantur spuriae; hos Dominus multis in locis vocat adulteros, et quoque hos intelligit per fures et latrones apud Johannem, Amen dico vobis, qui non ingreditur per Januam in Ovile, SED ASCENDIT ALIUNDE, is est fur et latro: Ego sum Janua, per Me si quis introiverit, salvabitur, Cap. 10:1, 9; ingredi in Ovile est in Ecclesiam, et quoque est ingredi in Coelum; quod etiam sit in Coelum, est quia unum faciunt, et non aliud 2 facit Coelum quam Ecclesia ibi; quapropter quemadmodum Dominus est Sponsus et Maritus Ecclesiae, ita quoque est Sponsus et Maritus Coeli.
[2] Explorari et cognosci potest, num Fides sit proles legitima, vel num proles spuria, ex tribus illius indiciis, de quibus supra, quae sunt, Agnitio Domini pro Filio Dei, agnitio Ipsius pro Deo Coeli et Terrae, et agnitio quod unus sit cum Patre, quantum itaque Fides aliqua recedit ab his essentialibus suis, tantum est spuria. Fides spuria et simul adultera 3 est apud illos, qui Dominum non ut Deum, sed solummodo ut hominem spectant: Quod ita sit, manifeste patet a binis nefandis Haeresibus, ARIANA et SOCINIANA, quae in Ecclesia Christiana anathematizatae et ex illa excommunicatae sunt, et hoc ideo quia Divinitatem Domini negant, et aliunde ascendunt: sed vereor, quod abominationes illae in communi spiritu hominum Ecclesiae hodie lateant occultatae. Hoc mirabile est, quod quo quis credit se eruditione et judicio praestantiorem aliis, eo pronius arripiat et appropriet sibi ideas de Domino, quod sit Homo et non Deus, et quod quia est Homo non possit esse Deus, et qui illas ideas sibi appropriat, is in sodalitium Arianorum et Socinianorum, qui in Mundo spirituali in Inferno sunt, se infert.
[3] Quod communis spiritus hominem Ecclesiae hodie talis sit, est causa, quia apud unumquemvis hominem est spiritus consocius, nam homo absque eo non potest analytice, rationaliter et spiritualiter cogitare, ita non esset homo sed brutum; et quisque homo adsciscit sibi spiritum similem suae voluntatis affectioni et inde intellectus perceptioni; ille qui inducit se in affectiones bonas per veritates ex Verbo et per vitam secundum illas, huic adjungitur Angelus e Coelo, at qui se inducit in affectiones malas per confirmationes falsitatum et per vitam malam, huic se adjungit Spiritus ex Inferno, quo adjuncto, homo plus et plus init sicut fraternitatem cum Satanis, et tunc plus et plus se confirmat in falsis contra vera in Verbo, et in abominatione Ariana et Sociniana contra Dominum; causa est, quia omnes Satanae non sustinent audire aliquod verum ex Verbo, nec nominari Jesum; quae si audiunt, fiunt sicut furiae, discurrunt et blasphemant; et tunc si lux e Coelo influit, praecipites se conjiciunt in cavernas, et in caliginem suam, in qua illis est lux sicut est Noctuis in tenebris, et qualis Felibus in cellis dum insectantur mures: tales fiunt omnes post mortem qui Divinitatem Domini et Sanctitatem Verbi corde et fide negant: Internus illorum homo talis est, utcunque Externus agit Mimum, et mentitur Christianum; quod ita sit, scio, quia vidi et audivi.
[4] Omnes qui Dominum ut Redemptorem et Salvatorem honorant solum ore et labiis, at corde et spiritu Ipsum ut merum hominem aspiciunt, illi dum illa loquuntur et docent, bucca illorum est sicut uter mellis, at cor sicut uter fellis; verba eorum sunt sicut panes saccharini, at cogitationes sicut 4 mulsa ex aconitis; et sunt sicut volvuli placentarum, in quibus sunt acontiae; si sunt sacerdotes, sunt sicut piratae in mari, qui appendunt vexillum regni pacis, at dum propinqua Navis ad illos ut amicos appellit, vexillum piraticum loco prioris attollunt, et navem cum populo ejus abducunt in captivitatem; illi etiam sunt sicut Serpentes arboris scientiae boni et mali, qui accedunt sicut Angeli lucis, tenentes in manu poma inde picta coloribus fulvis, sicut desumta ex Arbore vitae, ac porrigunt et dicunt, scit Deus quo die comederitis ex illis, aperientur oculi vestri, et eritis sicut Deus, scientes bonum et malum, Genesis 3:5, et cum comederunt, sequuntur Serpentem in Orcum, 5 et cohabitant; circum Orcum illum sunt Satanae, qui ex pomis Arii et Socini comederunt: Intelliguntur etiam per illum, qui non indutus veste nuptiarum intravit, qui conjectus est in tenebras exteriores, Matthaeus 22:11-13; vestis nuptiarum est Fides in Dominum ut Filium Dei, Deum Coeli et Terrae, ac unum cum Patre. Illi qui Dominum solum ore et labiis honorant, at corde et spiritu Ipsum ut merum hominem aspiciunt, si aperiunt sua cogitata et persuadent aliis, sunt Spirituales homicidae, ac pessimi illorum spirituales anthropophagi, vita enim homini est ex amore et fide in Dominum, at si removetur hoc essentiale fidei et amoris, quod Dominus sit Deus Homo et Homo Deus, fit vita ejus mors; sic itaque occiditur homo, ac devoratur sicut agnus a lupo.
Footnotes:
1. Sic Errores Typographici.
2. Prima editio: aliad.
3. Prima editio: adultem.
4. Prima editio: ficut.
5. Prima editio: Oreum.