76、凡不知道神无关时间，不能出于任何感知思想祂的人除了想象时间的永恒外，完全不能以任何其它方式想象永恒。在这种情况下，当思想神来自永恒时，他必茫然无措，因为他会想到一个开始，而开始唯独指向时间。他的茫然无措是由以下观念产生的：神起源于祂自己，他据此冲动地以为自然界也起源于它自己。他只能通过永恒的属灵或天使观念从这一观念中解脱出来，因为永恒的属灵或天使观念是一种无关时间的观念；当时间被分离出去时，永恒和神性是同一个，神性就是神性本身，而非来自它自己。天使声称，他们能想象神来自永恒，但绝不能想象自然界来自永恒，更想象不出自然界起源于它自己，根本想象不出自然界是自然界本身。因为本身存在者就是存在本身，一切事物的起源；存在本身就是生命本身，也就是神性智慧的神性之爱和神性之爱的神性智慧。对天使来说，这就是永恒，而永恒无关时间，正如非受造者无关受造者，无限者无关有限者；事实上，它们之间没有任何比率关系。
76. If people do not know about God beyond time, if they cannot think about such a God with some insight, then they are totally incapable of seeing eternity as anything but an eternity of time. They cannot help getting caught in crazy thoughts about God from eternity, thinking about some beginning; and a beginning has to do with nothing but time. This leads to the fantasy that God emerged from himself, and promptly degenerates into nature originating from itself. The only way out of this notion is through a spiritual or angelic concept of eternity, one that does not involve time. Once time is excluded, eternity and Divinity are one and the same; Divinity is Divinity in and of itself, and not from itself. Angels say that while they can conceive of God from eternity, there is no way they can conceive of nature from eternity, let alone nature from itself; by no means whatever can they conceive of nature that is intrinsically nature. This is because anything that has intrinsic existence is the reality itself that is the source of everything else. That intrinsic reality is the "life itself" that is the divine love that belongs to divine wisdom and the divine wisdom that belongs to divine love.
This, for angels, is eternity, which transcends time the way the Uncreated transcends the creature or the Infinite one transcends the finite. There is no ratio whatever between them.
76. Anyone who does not know this, and who cannot from any perception think of God independently of time, is utterly incapable of conceiving of eternity other than as an eternity of time. In that case he also cannot help but think irrationally of God's being from eternity, for he thinks in terms of a beginning, and a beginning is characteristic solely of time. His irrational thinking continues to the point of judging that God originated from Himself, and from that it slips headlong into supposing the origin of nature to be from itself. From this idea he can be extricated only by a spiritual or angelic concept of eternity, which is one independent of time; and when thought of independently of time, eternity and Divinity are one and the same, the Divine being Divine in itself, and not from itself.
Angels say that they can indeed conceive of God's being from eternity, but not in any way of nature's being from eternity, still less of nature's originating from itself, and not at all of nature's being nature in itself. For what exists in itself is being itself, the origin of all else, and being in itself is life itself, which is the Divine love belonging to Divine wisdom and the Divine wisdom belonging to Divine love.
This to angels is eternity, being thus independent of time, as the uncreated is independent of the created, or the infinite independent of the finite, which do not have even a mathematical relation.
76. He who has no knowledge of, and cannot think of God from any perception apart from time is completely unable to perceive Eternity in any other way than as an eternity of time. And then he inevitably becomes bewildered in the thought of God from eternity, for he thinks from a beginning, and a beginning belongs exclusively to time. His folly then becomes that God has existed from Himself, from which he falls headlong into [the idea of] the origin of Nature from herself, from which idea he can be extricated only by a spiritual or angelic idea of eternity which is apart from time. And when apart from time, the Eternal and the Divine are the same, the Divine is Divine in Itself and not from Itself. The angels say that they can indeed think of God from eternity, but by no means of Nature from eternity, still less of Nature from herself, and certainly not of Nature as Nature in herself. For that which is in itself is very Esse from which all things are. Esse in Itself is Very Life, which is the Divine Love of Divine Wisdom, and the Divine Wisdom of Divine Love. This for the angels is the Eternal, thus abstracted from time as is the Uncreate from the created, or the Infinite from the finite, between which indeed there is no ratio.
76. He who has no knowledge of God apart from time and is unable from any perception to think of Him, is thus utterly unable to conceive of eternity in any other way than as an eternity of time; in which case, in thinking of God from eternity he must needs become bewildered; for he thinks with regard to a beginning, and beginning has exclusive reference to time. His bewilderment arises from the idea that God had existence from Himself, from which he rushes headlong into an origin of nature from herself; and from this idea he can be extricated only by a spiritual or angelic idea of eternity, which is an idea apart from time; and when time is separated, the Eternal and the Divine are the same, and the Divine is the Divine in itself, not from itself. The angels declare that while they can conceive of God from eternity, they can in no way conceive of nature from eternity, still less of nature from herself and not at all of nature as nature in herself. For that which is in itself is the very Esse, from which all things are; Esse in itself is very life, which is the Divine Love of Divine Wisdom and the Divine Wisdom of Divine Love. For the angels this is the Eternal, an Eternal as removed from time as the uncreated is from the created, or the infinite from the finite, between which, in fact, there is no ratio.
76. Qui [id] non scit, et ex aliqua perceptione potest cogitare de Deo absque tempore, prorsus non potest percipere Aeternum aliter quam aeternum temporis; et tunc non potest quam delirare in cogitatione de Deo ab aeterno, cogitat enim ex initio, ac initium unice est temporis: delirium ejus fit tunc, quod Deus a se exstiterit, ex quo prone labitur in originem naturae a se; ex qua idea non exsolvi potest, nisi quam per spiritualem seu angelicam ideam de aeterno, quae est absque tempore, et dum absque tempore est, est Aeternum et Divinum idem; Divinum est Divinum in se, et non a se; Angeli dicunt, quod quidem percipere possint Deum ab aeterno, at nullo modo naturam ab aeterno, et minus naturam a se, et prorsus non naturam in se naturam; nam quod in se est, hoc est ipsum Esse, a quo omnia, et Esse in se est ipsa vita, quae est Divinus Amor Divinae Sapientiae ac Divina Sapientia Divini Amoris. Hoc est Angelis Aeternum, ita abstractum a tempore, sicut Increatum est a creato, seu Infinitum a finito, quorum ne quidem ratio datur.