24、每个人都会下意识地将一群人视为一个个体；因此，一说国王是头，臣民是身体，而某人在这总身体，也就是王国中有一个位置，他当即就能明白是什么意思。政治体是这样，属灵的身体也是这样。属灵的身体就是教会；它的头就是神-人；由此明显可知，被视为一个人的教会若不将宇宙的创造者和维护者思想为一位神，而是思想为数位，将是何模样？这样的教会看上去就像一个身子数个头，因而不像一个人，而像一个怪物。即便有人说这些头有一个本质，因而一起构成一个头，由此唯一能想像到的，要么是一个头、数张脸；要么数个头、一张脸。如此构成的教会从整体来看，就显得奇形怪状了。而事实上，一神是头，教会是身体，它按照头的指令，而非凭自己行动，这和人的情形一样。正因如此，一个王国只能有一位王，数个王会使王国四分五裂，而一位王就能将它凝聚起来。
24. We may not be aware of it, but we all think of an aggregation of people as a single individual. So we understand right away when someone says that monarchs are the head and that their subjects are the body, or when someone says that this or that individual has some particular role in the body politic, that is, in the realm. It is the same with the spiritual body as with the civil. The spiritual body is the church, whose head is the Divine-Human One. We can see from this what kind of person a church would look like under this construct if we were to think not of one God as creator and sustainer of the universe but of many gods instead. We would apparently be envisioning a single body with many heads on it--not a human being, then, but a monster.
If we were to claim that these heads have a single essence that made them all one head, then the only possible image would be either of a single head with many faces or of many heads with one face. In our perception, then, the church would look grotesque. In fact, one God is the head, and the church is the body that acts at the bidding of the head and not on its own, as is true of us as well.
This is also why there is only one monarch per realm. More than one would pull it apart; one holds it together.
24. Even without being aware of it, everyone thinks of an association of people as being like a single individual. Consequently everyone also immediately perceives the meaning when he hears it said that the king of a nation is its head, and his subjects the body, or that this or that person serves this or that function in the general body, meaning, in the kingdom.
The same is the case with a spiritual body of people as with a civil one. The church is a spiritual body. Its head is the human God. It is apparent therefore how the church would appear in this perception of it as a single individual if one were to think not of one God as the creator and sustainer of the universe, but of more than one instead. It would appear, in this perception of it, as a single body having upon it several heads, thus not as a human entity, but as a monster.
If someone were to say that the several heads possessed one essence, and that by virtue of that they together formed one head, no other idea could result from it but that either the one head had several faces, or that the several heads had one face. Thus the church would be presented to the perception as grotesque. Yet in fact one God is the head, and the body is the church, which does what it does at the bidding of the head and not on its own, as is also the case in the human individual.
So it is, too, that in any one kingdom there is only one king. For more than one king would divide it, whereas one is able to hold it together.
24. Every man, although unaware of it, thinks of a company of men as a man. Therefore he at once perceives the meaning when it is said that a king is the head and the subjects the body, and also when it is said that this or that person is of such a quality in the general body, that is, in the kingdom. As it is with the body politic, so it is with the body spiritual. The body spiritual is the Church, its head is God-Man. From this it is clear how the Church as a man would appear in this perception if the One God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, were not thought of, but instead of one, several gods. Understood in that way, the Church would appear as one body with many heads, thus not as a man but as a monster. If it be said that these heads have one essence, by which means they together make one head, no other idea could result from this except of one head with several faces or of one face with several heads. Thus, in that perception, the Church would be presented as deformed, when yet the One God is the head and the Church is the body which acts, not from itself, but under command of the head, as is also the case in man. Hence it is also that there is only one king in one kingdom. For several kings would rend it asunder while one king can hold it together.
24. Every man, even if unconsciously, thinks of a body of men as of one man; therefore he instantly perceives what is meant when it is said that a king is the head, and the subjects are the body, also that this or that person has such a place in the general body, that is, in the kingdom. As it is with the body politic, so is it with the body spiritual. The body spiritual is the church; its head is God-Man; and from this it is plain how the church thus viewed as a man would appear if instead of one God, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, several were thought of. The church thus viewed would appear as one body with several heads; thus not as a man, but as a monster. If it be said that these heads have one essence, and that thus together they make one head, the only conception possible is either that of one head with several faces or of several heads with one face; thus making the church, viewed as a whole, appear deformed. But in truth, the one God is the head, and the church is the body, which acts under the command of the head, and not from itself; as is also the case in man; and from this it is that there can be only one king in a kingdom, for several kings would rend it asunder, but one is able to preserve its unity.
24. Omnis homo, tametsi nescit, cogitat de Caetu sicut de homine, quare etiam percipit illico cum dicitur, quod Rex sit Caput et subditi Corpus, tum cum dicitur quod is et ille talis sit in communi Corpore, hoc est, in Regno. Simile est cum Spirituali Corpore sicut cum Civili; spirituale Corpus est Ecclesia; ejus Caput est Deus Homo; inde patet qualis in hac perceptione appareret Ecclesia ut Homo, si non Unus Deus Creator et Sustentator universi cogitaretur, sed pro Uno Plures; appareret in perceptione illa sicut unum Corpus super quo plura Capita, ita non sicut Homo, sed sicut Monstrum. Si diceretur, quod Capitibus illis una Essentia sit, et quod per id simul faciant unum Caput, non potest alia idea inde resultare, quam quod vel uni Capiti plures facies sint, vel quod pluribus Capitibus una facies sit; ita Ecclesia in perceptione sisteretur deformis: cum tamen Deus unus est Caput, et Ecclesia est Corpus, quod a nutu Capitis, et non a se, agit, ut quoque fit in homine. Inde quoque est, quod non nisi quam unus Rex in uno Regno sit; plures enim distraherent, at unus potest continere.