920、本节描述了古教会总体上的敬拜，并且是以“祭坛和燔祭”来描述的，“祭坛和燔祭”是一切代表性敬拜的主要元素。然而，我们首先要描述一下上古教会的敬拜是何性质，由此表明通过代表敬拜主是如何兴起的。上古教会成员只有内在敬拜，就是天上所献的那种，因为在他们当中，天堂与人交流，以至于他们成为一体。这种交流就是感知，前面频繁提到过这种感知。因此，他们因是天使般的人，故是内在人。他们的确感觉到属肉体和世界的外在事物，但却不关心它们。他们在每个感官对象中都感知到某种神性和天堂之物。例如，当看到一座高山时，他们感知到的不是一座山的概念，而是高的概念，并从高而感知天堂和主。这就是为何经上说主住在至高处，并被称为“至高至上者”（MostHighandLoftyOne）；又为何后来对主的敬拜在山上举行。这同样适用于其它一切对象。如，当观察早晨时，他们不会感知一天的早晨，而是感知天堂之物；它就像人们心智中的早晨和黎明，主由此被称为“早晨”、“东方”和“黎明”。同样，当看到一棵树及其果和叶时，他们并不关心这些，而是仿佛看到以它们来代表的人。他们在果实中看到爱和仁，在叶子中看到信。教会成员由此不仅被比作一棵树、一个园林，他里面的东西则被比作果和叶，甚至还被如此称呼。这就是那些拥有天堂和天使般的观念之人的性质。
谁都能知道，一个总体观念掌管一切细节，因而掌管一切感官对象，无论是看到的还是听到的，以至于人不会注意到这些对象，除非它们流入他的总体观念。因此，对内心快乐的人来说，他所听到和看到的一切似乎都洋溢着欢声笑语；而对内心悲伤的人来说，他所看到和听到的一切似乎都是忧伤难过。这同样适用于其它情况，因为总体情感就存在于一切细节里面，并使细节在总体情感中被看到和听到；而其它一切事物甚至都不显现，仿佛不存在或微不足道。上古教会成员就是这种情况。他眼中看到的一切对他来说都如天堂一般；因此，对他来说，一切事物可以说都是活的。由此清楚可知上古教会的神性敬拜是何性质，即：它是内在的，决不是外在的。
然而，当教会衰落，如在其后代当中的情形，这种感知或与天堂的交流开始消失时，一种不同的情况开始出现。人们不再像以前那样在感官对象中感知到任何天堂之物，只感知到世俗之物。他们对世俗之物的感知越多，他们的感知就越少。最终，大洪水来临之前的最后一代在这些物体中只看到世俗、肉体和尘世之物。天堂就这样与人类分离，并且只能以一种极其遥远的方式与人类交流。现在与地狱的交流向人打开，他从地狱获得其总体观念；如前所述，一切细节观念都源于这总体观念。在这种情况下，当有天堂观念临到他们时，这观念对他们来说一文不值。最后，他们甚至不愿承认任何属灵或属天之物的存在。人的状态就这样被改变和颠倒。
主因预见人类的状态会变成这样，故规定信之教义事物要得以保存并可获得，好叫人们能知道属天之物和属灵之物。前面提到的那些被称为“该隐”的人和那些被称为“以诺”的人从上古教会成员那里搜集了这些教义事物。这就是为何经上论到该隐说，给他立一个记号，免得人杀他（参看创世记4:15，393，394节）；论到以诺说，神将他取去（创世记5:24）。这些教义事物完全由符号语言，因而由看似神秘之物构成。也就是说，它们由地面上各种具有属灵意义的物体构成，如：山，它们表示天上的事物和主；早晨和东方，它们也表示天上的事物和主；各种树及其果实，它们表示人及其天堂事物；等等。诸如此类的事物构成他们的教义事物，这一切都是从上古教会的符号和象征中搜集而来的。因此，他们的著作也具有这种性质。由于他们仰慕这些代表或教义事物中的神性和天堂之物，并且觉得自己似乎看到了它们，还由于这些教义事物的古老性，所以他们开始并被允许将这类事物作为其敬拜的基础。这就是他们在山上、小树林和各树木中间举行敬拜的起源，也是他们露天的柱子或雕像，以及后来祭坛和燔祭的起源；祭坛和燔祭最终成为一切敬拜的主要特征。这种敬拜始于古教会，又从古教会传给他们的后代和周边所有民族。蒙主的神性怜悯，这些和其它许多事容后再述（1238，1241，2180:4节）。
New Century Edition
Cooper(2008,2013)
[NCE]920. This verse depicts the worship of the ancient church in general, using the images of an altar and a burnt offering, which were the main elements in all representative worship. First, however, I need to tell what the worship of the earliest church was like and how people came to worship the Lord in a representative manner.
The people of the earliest church had no other kind of worship than internal worship — the kind of worship in heaven. In that church, heaven communicated with humankind in such a way as to form a single unit with it. The method of communication was perception, which is discussed frequently above.{*1} So because the people of that church were angelic and had depth, they did not care about superficial bodily or worldly things, although they were, of course, aware of them. In the individual objects of the senses, rather, they perceived something divine and heavenly.
When they saw a tall mountain, for example, they did not picture a mountain but perceived the idea of height, and the idea of height led them to the idea of heaven and the Lord. This is how it came about that the Lord was said to live on the heights, that he was called the Highest One and Most Exalted, and that worship of him was later held on mountains.
It was the same with all other phenomena. When they thought of morning, for instance, they did not think of the early hours of the day but of the quality of heaven, which is like the morning or dawn in a person's mind. So they called the Lord the morning, the east, and the dawn. Likewise when they perceived a tree with its fruit and leaves, they ignored these details, seeing in them instead the representation of a human being — love and charity being the fruit, and faith, the leaves. As a result they not only compared members of the church to a tree (and to a whole paradise), and character traits to the fruit and leaves, but also called them such.
This is what people who have a heavenly, angelic way of thinking are like.
[2] Everyone is capable of realizing that our general viewpoint governs all our specific perceptions, including, of course, all our sense impressions, whether acquired through our eyes or ears. In fact we lack any interest in the objects of our senses unless they make part of that overall picture. To those whose hearts are glad, for instance, everything they hear or see appears cheerful and smiling. But to the depressed, everything they see or hear seems grim and melancholy. The same is true in all other cases as well, because our general mood pervades everything and causes us to see and hear everything within the context of our overall mood. Nothing outside that context is even visible but is virtually absent or irrelevant.
The situation was the same with the people of the earliest church. Whatever they saw with their eyes had a heavenly character for them. So for them, absolutely everything seemed alive. This indicates what their worship of God was like: internal and not at all external.
[3] When the church deteriorated, as it did in succeeding generations, and that perception, that communication with heaven, began to die out, the situation started to change. People were no longer perceiving anything of heaven in the objects of their senses as earlier generations had, but only things of the world, and the less perception they had left, the more this tendency increased. At last their final inheritors, who lived just before the Flood, saw nothing but what was worldly, physical, and earthly in those objects.
By this means, heaven was separated from humankind and ceased to communicate with it, except in a very remote way. A line of contact with hell then opened for humanity, and this became the source of their general perspective, which in turn is the source of all particular notions, as has been noted. After that, when the suggestion of something heavenly came up, they discounted it, until finally they did not even want to admit that anything spiritual or heavenly existed. So humankind's condition turned upside down.
[4] Since the Lord foresaw that this was what the human condition would become, he arranged for religious teachings to remain preserved and available, so that from them people could learn what was heavenly and what was spiritual. Those teachings, obtained from the people of the earliest church, were gathered by the individuals known as Cain and as Enoch, who have already been discussed. This is why it is said of Cain that a mark was put on him to prevent his murder, and of Enoch that God took him. See the treatment of these details at Genesis 4:15, 392, 394, and at Genesis 5:24 [521].
These doctrinal formulations consisted exclusively in symbolic language and so in what seem to be enigmatic sayings, telling what was meant by things found on earth, such as mountains (symbolizing heavenly attributes and the Lord), the morning and the east (again heavenly attributes and the Lord), different kinds of trees and their fruits (people and their heavenly qualities), and so on.
In such things did their articles of doctrine consist, and they were gathered together out of the signs and symbols of the earliest church. In consequence, their writing exhibited the same character. Since what they admired for its antiquity (and felt they could discern) in that literature was the divine and heavenly component, they were allowed to establish for themselves a form of worship based on similar features. That was the inspiration for their worship on mountains, in groves, and among the trees; for their open-air sculpture; and for the altars and burnt offerings that eventually became the main features of all worship.
The people of the ancient church initiated this worship, and from them it spread to their descendants and to all the surrounding nations, as did many other aspects of their worship. This will be discussed later [1238, 1241, 2180:4], the Lord in his divine mercy willing.
Footnotes:
{*1} On the topic of perception, see, for example, 104, 125, 202-203, 371, 483, 502-503, 521, 597. [LHC]
Potts(1905-1910) 920
920. In this verse there is described the worship of the Ancient Church in general, and this by the "altar" and the "burnt- offering" which were the principal things in all representative worship. In the first place, however, we will describe the worship that existed in the Most Ancient Church, and from that show how there originated the worship of the Lord by means of representatives. The men of the Most Ancient Church had no other than internal worship, such as there is in heaven; for with them heaven was in communication with man, so that they made a one; and this communication was perception, of which we have often spoken before. Thus being angelic they were internal men, and although they sensated the external things of the body and the world, they cared not for them; for in each object of sense they perceived something Divine and heavenly. For example, when they saw a high mountain, they perceived an idea, not of a mountain, but of elevation, and from elevation, of heaven and the Lord, from which it came to pass that the Lord was said to dwell in the highest, He himself being called the "Most High and Lofty One;" and that afterwards the worship of the Lord was held on mountains. So with other things; as when they observed the morning, they did not then perceive the morning of the day, but that which is heavenly, and which is like a morning and a dawn in human minds, and from which the Lord is called the "Morning" the "East" and the "Dawn" or "Day-spring." So when they looked at a tree and its leaves and fruit, they cared not for these, but saw man as it were represented in them; in the fruit, love and charity, in the leaves faith; and from this the man of the church was not only compared to a tree, and to a paradise, and what is in him to leaves and fruit, but he was even called so. Such are they who are in a heavenly and angelic idea. [2] Everyone may know that a general idea rules all the particulars, thus all the objects of the senses, as well those seen as those heard, so much so that the objects are not cared for except so far as they flow into the man's general idea. Thus to him who is glad at heart, all things that he hears and sees appear smiling and joyful; but to him who is sad at heart, all things that he sees and hears appear sad and sorrowful; and so in other cases. For the general affection is in all the particulars, and causes them to be seen in the general affection; while all other things do not even appear, but are as if absent or of no account. And so it was with the man of the Most Ancient Church: whatever he saw with his eyes was heavenly to him; and thus with him everything seemed to be alive. And this shows the character of his Divine worship, that it was internal, and by no means external. [3] But when the church declined, as in his posterity, and that perception or communication with heaven began to be lost, another state of things commenced. Then no longer did men perceive anything heavenly in the objects of the senses, as they had done before, but merely what is worldly, and this to an increasing extent in proportion to the loss of their perception; and at last, in the closing posterity which existed just before the flood, they apprehended in objects nothing but what is worldly, corporeal, and earthly. Thus was heaven separated from man, nor did they communicate except very remotely; and communication was then opened to man with hell, and from thence came his general idea, from which flow the ideas of all the particulars, as has been shown. Then when any heavenly idea presented itself, it was as nothing to them, so that at last they were not even willing to acknowledge that anything spiritual and celestial existed. Thus did the state of man become changed and inverted. [4] As the Lord foresaw that such would be the state of man, He provided for the preservation of the doctrinal things of faith, in order that men might know what is celestial and what is spiritual. These doctrinal things were collected from the men of the Most Ancient Church by those called "Cain" and also by those called "Enoch" concerning whom above. Wherefore it is said of Cain that a mark was set upon him lest anyone should kill him (see Gen. 4:15, n. 393, 394); and of Enoch that he was taken by God (Gen. 5:24). These doctrinal things consisted only in significative, and thus as it were enigmatical things, that is, in the significations of various objects on the face of the earth; such as that mountains signify celestial things, and the Lord; that morning and the east have this same signification; that trees of various kinds and their fruits signify man and his heavenly things, and so on. In such things as these consisted their doctrinal things, all of which were collected from the significatives of the Most Ancient Church; and consequently their writings also were of the same nature. And as in these representatives they admired, and seemed to themselves even to behold, what is Divine and heavenly, and also because of the antiquity of the same, their worship from things like these was begun and was permitted, and this was the origin of their worship upon mountains, and in groves in the midst of trees, and also of their pillars or statues in the open air, and at last of the altars and burnt-offerings which afterwards became the principal things of all worship. This worship was begun by the Ancient Church, and passed thence to their posterity and to all nations round about, besides many other things, concerning which of the Lord's Divine mercy hereafter.
Elliott(1983-1999) 920
920. In this verse the worship of the Ancient Church in general is described, that is, by 'the altar and its burnt offerings', which were the chief features of all representative worship. First of all however the nature of the worship of the Most Ancient Church must be mentioned, and from that how worship of the Lord by means of representatives arose. For the member of the Most Ancient Church there was no other worship than internal such as is offered in heaven, for among those people heaven so communicated with man that they made one. That communication was perception, which has been frequently spoken of already. Thus, being angelic people, they were internal men. They did indeed apprehend with their senses the external things that belonged to the body and to the world, but they paid no attention to them. In each object apprehended by the senses they used to perceive something Divine and heavenly. For example, when they saw any high mountain they did not perceive the idea of a mountain but that of height, and from height they perceived heaven and the Lord. That is how it came about that the Lord was said to 'live in the highest', and was called 'the Most High and Lofty One', and how worship of the Lord came at a later time to be celebrated on mountains. The same applies to all other objects. For example, when they perceived the morning they did not perceive morning time itself that starts the day but that which is heavenly and is a likeness of the morning and of the dawn in people's minds. This was why the Lord was called the Morning, the East, and the Dawn. Similarly when they perceived a tree and its fruit and leaves they paid no attention to these objects themselves but so to speak saw man represented in them. In the fruit they saw love and charity, and in the leaves faith. Consequently the member of the Church was not only compared to a tree, and also to a tree-garden, and what resided with him to fruit and leaves, but was even called such.
[2] Such is the character of people whose ideas are heavenly and angelic. Everyone may know that a general idea governs all the particular aspects, and this applies to all objects apprehended by the senses, both those which people see and those they hear. Indeed they pay no attention to such objects except insofar as these enter into the general idea a person has. Take the person who has a cheerful disposition; everything he hears and sees seems to him to contain joy and laughter. But for one who has a sad disposition everything he sees and hears seems to be sad and dismal. The same applies to every other kind of person, for their general affection is present within each individual part and causes each individual part to be seen and heard in the general affection. Other features do not even show themselves but are so to speak absent or insignificant. This was so with the member of the Most Ancient Church. Whatever he saw with his eyes was for him heavenly, and so with him every single thing was so to speak alive.
[3] From this the nature of that Church's Divine worship becomes clear, namely that it was internal and not at all external. When however the Church went into decline, as it did among its descendants, and that perception, or communication with heaven, began to die out, a different situation started to emerge. In objects apprehended by the senses they no longer perceived, as they had done previously, that which is heavenly, but that which is worldly. And the more they perceived that which is worldly the less perception remained with them. At length among their final descendants, who came immediately before the Flood, they apprehended nothing at all in such objects except that which was worldly, bodily, and earthly. Thus heaven became separated from mankind and communicated with it in none but an extremely remote way. Man's communication now changed to a communication with hell, and from there he obtained his general idea from which, as has been stated, stem the ideas belonging to every individual part. In this situation, when any heavenly idea came to them, it had no value for them. At length they were not even willing to acknowledge the existence of anything spiritual or celestial. Thus man's state came to be altered and turned upside down.
[4] Because the Lord foresaw that the state of mankind was to become such as this, He also provided for the preservation of doctrinal matters concerning faith so that from them people might know what was celestial and what was spiritual. These matters of doctrine were gathered together from the members of the Most Ancient Church by the people dealt with already called Cain and those called Enoch. This is why it is said of Cain that a sign was placed upon him to prevent anyone killing him, and of Enoch that he was taken by God. Concerning these two, see Chapter 4:15 - in 393, 394 - and 5:24. These matters of doctrine consisted exclusively in things that were meaningful signs and so things of a seemingly enigmatic nature. That is to say, they consisted in earthly objects which carried spiritual meanings, such as mountains, which meant heavenly things and the Lord; the morning and the east, which also meant heavenly things and the Lord; various kinds of trees and their fruits, which meant man and the heavenly things that are his; and so on. These were the things that their matters of doctrine consisted in, which had been gathered together from the meaningful signs of the Most Ancient Church. Their writings too were consequently of this nature. Now because they wondered at, and to themselves seemed to detect, that which was Divine and heavenly in such matters of doctrine, and also because of the antiquity of these, they began and were allowed to make such things the basis of their worship. This was the origin of their worship on mountains, in groves, and among trees, also of their pillars in the open air, and later on of altars and burnt offerings which ended up as the chief features of all worship. Such worship was begun by the Ancient Church, and from there spread to their descendants and to all the nations round about. These and many other matters as well will in the Lord's Divine mercy be dealt with later on.
Latin(1748-1756) 920
920. In hoc versu describitur cultus Antiquae Ecclesiae in genere, et quidem per 'altare et holocaustum,' quae fuerunt principalia omnis cultus repraesentativi: sed hic primum dicendum qualis fuit cultus Antiquissimae Ecclesiae, et inde quomodo ortus est cultus Domini per repraesentativa. Antiquissimae Ecclesiae homini non fui alius cultus quam internus qualis est in caelo, nam communicabat apud eos caelum cum homine ut unum facerent; communicatio illa erat perceptio, de qua prius saepe dictum; ita quia angelici, interni homines erant; externa quae erant corporis et mundi quidem sentiebant sed non curabant; in objectis singulis sensuum aliquid Divinum e caeleste percipiebant; ut pro exemplo, cum altum quendam montem viderent, non montis ideam percipiebant, sed altitudinis, et ex altitudine caelum et Dominum; inde factum quod Dominus dictus 'habitare in altissimis,' et Ipse 'Altissimus et Excelsissimus' appellatus, et postea cultus Domini super montibus habitus; similiter in ceteris; ut cum perciperent mane, tunc non ipsum mane diei percipiebant, sed caeleste quod est instar mane et aurorae in mentibus; inde Dominus appellata 'Mane, Oriens et Aurora'; similiter cum arborem et ejus fructum e folia; haec nihil curabant, sed in illis videbant quasi repraesentatum hominem, in 'fructum amorem et charitatem, in 'foliis' fidem; inde quoque non solum comparatus est homo Ecclesiae arbori, ut et paradiso et quae apud eum fructui et foliis, sed etiam ita appellatus: [2] tales sunt qui in caelesti et angelica idea sunt: notum cuique esse potest quod idea communis regat omnia particularia, ita omnia objecta sensuum, tam illa quae vident quam quae audiunt; et quidem ita ut objecta nihil curent nisi quatenus ea influunt in ejus ideam communem; ut qui animo laetus est, omnia quae audit et videt, apparent ei sicut laeta e ridentia; qui autem animo tristis est, ei apparent omnia quae vide et audit, sicut tristia et dolorifica; ita in omnibus ceteris; nam affectio communis est in singulis, et facit ut videat et audiat singula in affectione communi; cetera ne quidem apparent sed sunt tanquam forent absentia aut nihili: ita se habuit cum Antiquissimae Ecclesiae homine; quicquid oculis vidit, hoc ei caeleste fuit; ac ita apud illum omnia et singula quasi vivebant. [3] Exinde constare Potest qualis ejus cultus Divinus fuit, quod fuerit internus, et nullatenus externus. Cum vero declinabat Ecclesia, ut in posteris, et perceptio illa, seu communicatio cum caelo, perire inciperet, aliter se res habere coepit; in objectis sensuum non amplius percipiebant caeleste, ut prius, sed mundanum, et tantum magis quantum minus perceptionis residuum haberent; et tandem in posteritate ultima, quae erat proxime ante diluvium, in objectis nihil aliud quam mundanum, corporeum et terrestre capiebant: ita separabatur caelum ab homine, nec communicabat nisi admodum remote; communicatio tunc homini facta cum inferno, et inde idea communis e qua ideae omnium particularium, ut dictum; tunc cum aliqua idea caelestis obveniebat, ea nihili apud eos erat, usque tandem ut ne quidem agnoscere vellent quod daretur aliquid spirituale et caeleste; ita status hominis mutatus et inversus factus est. [4] Quia a Domino praevisum quod talis fieret status hominis, etiam provisum fuit quod doctrinalia fidei haberent conservata ut inde scirent quid caeleste et quid spirituale. Doctrinalia illa ex Antiquissimae Ecclesiae homine collegerunt illi qui Cain dicti et qui Hanoch, de quibus actum; quare de Caino dicitur, quod signum ei impositum ne quis eum occideret; et de Hanoch, quod sumptus a Deo, de quibus videantur cap. iv ad vers. 15, n. 393, 394; et cap. v ad vers. 24. Doctrinalia haec constabant solum in significativis, et sic quasi in aenigmaticis, quid nempe significarent illa quae super terra; ut quid montes, quod caelestia et Dominum; quid mane et oriens, quod quoque caelestia et Dominum; quid diversi generis arbores et earum fructus, quod hominem et ejus caelestia; et sic quid cetera: in talibus constabant doctrinalia eorum quae collecta fuerunt a significativis Antiquissimae Ecclesiae; exinde eorum scripta quoque talia fuerunt: et quia in talibus Divinum et caeleste, quia etiam antiquum, admirabantur et conspicere sibi videbantur, cultus eorum ex similibus inceptus et permissus est; inde eorum cultus super montibus, inque lucis, in medio arborum; inde eorum statuae subdiales; et tandem altaria et holocausta, quae principalia omnis cultus postea facta sunt. Hic cultus inceptus est ab Antiqua Ecclesia et inde emanabat ad posteros adque omnes gentes circumcirca; praeter alia plura, de quibus, ex Divina Domini Misericordia, in sequentibus.