319、古人称人为小世界或小宇宙，因为他类似大世界，也就是整体上的宇宙。然而，今天的人们不知道为何古人如此称谓人，因为宇宙或大世界在人里面只体现在这一事实：他从动物界和植物界中获取滋养和肉体生命，并靠它的热被保持在延续生命的状态，靠它的光看见，靠它的大气听见和呼吸。然而，这些事并不能像宇宙及其万物成为大世界那样使人成为一个小世界。相反，古人称人为小世界，或小宇宙，是由于他们从上古之人所拥有的对应知识中所获得的真理，以及他们与天上天使的交流。因为天上的天使从周围所看到的事物知道，从功用的角度看，受造宇宙类似一个人的形像。
319. From a functional point of view, everything in the created universe is in our image; and this testifies that God is human. The ancients called the individual person a microcosm because each of us reflects the macrocosm, that is, the universe in its entirety. Nowadays, though, people do not know why the ancients gave us this name. Nothing of the universe or the macrocosm is visible in us except that we are nourished by its animal and plant kingdoms and are physically alive, that we are kept alive by its warmth, see by its light, and hear and breathe by its atmospheres. These things, though, do not make us a microcosm the way the universe and everything in it is a macrocosm.
Rather, the ancients learned to call us a microcosm or little universe from the knowledge of correspondences that the earliest people enjoyed and from their communication with angels of heaven. Heaven's angels actually know from what they see around themselves that if we focus on functions, we can see an image of a person in everything in the universe.
319. Regarded from the perspective of their uses, all constituents of the created universe resemble in an image the human being, and this attests to the fact that God is human. People in ancient times called the human being a microcosm, because he resembled the macrocosm, which is the universe in its entirety. People today, however, do not know why it is that the ancients called him that, for no more of the universe or macrocosm is apparent in him than the fact that he is nourished and his physical life sustained by its animal kingdom and plant kingdom, and the fact that he is kept in a state of continued life by its warmth, that he sees by means of its light, and that he hears and breathes in consequence of its atmospheres. Yet it is not these which cause the human being to be a microcosm, as the universe with all its constituents is the macrocosm.
Rather the fact that people in ancient times called the human being a microcosm or little universe is something they drew from the knowledge of correspondences which people in most ancient times possessed, and from communication with angels in heaven. For angels in heaven know from the visible phenomena surrounding them that, regarded in terms of their uses, all constituents of the created universe resemble in an image the human being.
319. ALL THINGS OF THE CREATED UNIVERSE, VIEWED FROM USES, REPRESENT MAN IN AN IMAGE; AND THIS PROVES THAT GOD IS MAN
Man was called a microcosm by the ancients from the fact that he represents the macrocosm which is the universe in its whole complex. But today it is not known why man was so called by the ancients, for no more of the universe or macrocosm appears in him than that he derives nourishment and bodily life from its animal and vegetable kingdoms, and that he is maintained in a living condition by its heat, sees by its light, and hears and breathes by means of its atmosphere. Yet these things do not make man a microcosm, as the universe with all things in it is a macrocosm. But the ancients called man a microcosm, or little universe, and this they derived from the knowledge of correspondences in which the most ancient people were, and from communication with the angels of heaven. For angels of heaven know from the things which they see about them that all the things of the universe, regarded as to uses, represent man in an image.
319. ALL THINGS OF THE CREATED UNIVERSE, VIEWED IN REFERENCE TO USES REPRESENT MAN IN AN IMAGE, AND THIS TESTIFIES THAT GOD IS A MAN
By the ancients man was called a microcosm, from his representing the macrocosm, that is, the universe in its whole complex; but it is not known at the present day why man was so called by the ancients, for no more of the universe or macrocosm is manifest in him than that he derives nourishment and bodily life from its animal and vegetable kingdoms, and that he is kept in a living condition by its heat, sees by its light, and hears and breathes by its atmospheres. Yet these things do not make man a microcosm, as the universe with all things thereof is a macrocosm. The ancients called man a microcosm, or little universe, from truth which they derived from the knowledge of correspondences, in which the most ancient people were, and from their communication with angels of heaven; for angels of heaven know from the things which they see about them that all things of the universe, viewed as to uses, represent man as an image.
319. QUOD OMNIA UNIVERSI CREATI EX USIBUS SPECTATA REFERANT IN IMAGINE HOMINEM; ET QUOD ID TESTETUR QUOD DEUS SIT HOMO. Homo ab Antiquis vocatus est Microcosmus, ex eo quod referat Macrocosmum, qui est Universum in toto complexu: sed hodie non scitur, unde est quod homo ab Antiquis ita vocatus sit, in illo enim non plus ex Universo seu Macrocosmo apparet, quam quod ex Regno ejus animali et ex Regno ejus vegetabili nutriatur et quoad corpus vivat, et quod ex calore ejus in statu vivendi teneatur, per lucem ejus videat, et per athmosphaeras ejus 1 audiat et respiret: sed haec non faciunt, quod homo sit microcosmus, sicut universum cum omnibus ejus est Macrocosmus. Verum quod Antiqui Hominem vocaverint Microcosmum seu parvum Universum, hauserunt ex scientia correspondentiarum, in qua Antiquissimi fuerunt, et ex communicatione cum angelis Coeli; Angeli Coeli enim sciunt a visibilibus circum se, quod omnia universi quoad usus spectata, referant in imagine hominem.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: ejns fortasse