259、⑥纯属世人或严格的唯物主义者会因以下事实确认反对圣治：基督教界过去，并且如今仍有如此多的异端邪说，如贵格会、摩拉维亚教派和再洗礼派等等。因为他可能会想，圣治若普遍存在于每个最小细节，并以拯救所有人为目的，就会确保全世界有一个真正的宗教，一个不分裂，至少不被异端撕裂的宗教。但你若能，请用理性深入思考一下，人未经改造，能得救吗？毕竟他就生在自我之爱和尘世之爱中；由于这些爱没有一丝对神之爱和对邻之爱在自己里面，除非为了自己，所以他也生在各种邪恶中。这些爱里面有一丝爱或仁的痕迹吗？出于这些爱，他有没有想过欺骗别人，诽谤他，恨他至死，与他的妻子通奸，在报复欲的驱使下残忍对待他，而心里又怀有一种渴望，想要成为至高无上的人，占有所有人的财富，因而与自己相比，视他人为微不足道或一文不值呢？这种人若要得救，不得先被引离这些邪恶，从而被改造吗？这一切只能照着许多律法，就是圣治的律法实现，如前面多处所示。这些律法大部分不为人知；然而，它们是神性智慧，同时神性之爱的律法，主不可能违背这些律法，因为如此行只会毁灭人，不会拯救他。回顾并对比一下所阐述的这些律法，你就会明白。
既然按照这些律法，没有来自天堂的直接流注，只有经由圣言、教义和讲道而来的间接流注；并且圣言若要成为神性，必须完全通过对应写成，那么可推知，分歧和异端是不可避免的，对它们的许可也符合圣治的律法。此外，当教会本身将诸如唯独属于理解力，也就是教义，而非属于意愿，也就是生命或生活的那类事物作为它的基本信条，并且属于生命或生活的事物没有变成教会的基本信条时，人因他的理解力就会陷入纯粹的黑暗，像一个瞎子那样晃来晃去，四处碰壁，掉入坑中。因为意愿必须在理解力中看见，而不是理解力在意愿中看见；或也可说，人的生命及其爱必须引导理解力思考、说话和行动，反过来不行。如果反过来也行，那么来自一种邪恶，甚至一种魔鬼之爱的理解力可能会紧紧抓住凡通过感官冲击它的东西，并指挥意愿去行。由此可以看出分歧和异端的源头。
然而，圣治规定，每个人，无论他在理解力方面陷入什么样的异端，都能被改造并得救，只要他避恶如罪，没有确认异端虚假。因为意愿通过避恶如罪被改造，理解力通过意愿被改造；那时，它第一次从黑暗进入光明。教会有三个基本原则：对主之神性的承认，对圣言神圣性的承认，被称为仁爱的生活。每个人的信仰都取决于生活，也就是仁爱；对何为这种生活的认识必须来自圣言，改造和拯救来自主。如果教会将这三个原则作为基本原则，思想上的分歧就不会分裂它，只是使它变得多样化，就像光使美丽物体的色彩变得多样化，不同的宝石构成一顶王冠的美丽一样。
259. (6) That the merely natural person confirms himself against Divine providence for the reason that there have been and still are in the Christian world so many heresies, such as those of the Quakers, Moravians, Anabaptists, and many others: For he may think to himself, "If Divine providence were universal in every single particular, having as its end the salvation of all people, it would have caused one true religion to exist throughout the whole world, and one not divided into sects, still less torn apart into heretical sects."
But use your reason, and think more deeply if you can. Is it possible for a person to be saved without first being reformed? For the human being is born into a love of self and love of the world, and as these loves do not carry in them any love toward God or any love for the neighbor except for the sake of self, he is born also into evils of every kind. What measure of love or mercy is found in these loves? Does either make it of any account to defraud another, to slander him, to hate him even to the point of desiring his death, to commit adultery with his wife, or to rage against him when consumed with vengeance, seeing that each is so disposed as to wish to be supreme over all people and to possess the goods of all others, thus to regard others as inferior and as insignificant in comparison to self?
For such a person to be saved, must he not first be withdrawn from those evils and so be reformed? This cannot be accomplished except in accordance with many laws, laws that are laws of Divine providence, as we have shown several times above. These laws are for the most part unknown, and yet they are ones of Divine wisdom and at the same time Divine love, which the Lord cannot act in opposition to, for to act in opposition to them would be to destroy a person and not save him. Go over the laws that we have presented, compare them, and you will see.
[2] So then, since it is also according to those laws that there be no direct influx from heaven, but an indirect one through the Word, doctrinal instruction, and preaching, and that the Word, to be Divine, had to be written solely in terms of things that correspond, it follows that disagreements and heresies are inevitable, and that the permittings of these take place also according to laws of Divine providence.
And furthermore there is this: When a church has itself taken as its essential tenets such beliefs as pertain to the intellect alone, consequently which are matters of doctrine and not of the will, thus not of a person's life, and when concerns affecting a person's life are not essential concerns of the church, then a person with his intellect is in nothing but darkness, and he wanders about like a blind man, everywhere stumbling and falling into pits. For the will must see in the intellect, and not the intellect in the will; or to say the same thing, one's life and its love must lead the intellect to think, speak and act, and not the reverse. If the reverse were to occur, the intellect could be led by an evil love, even a diabolical one, to seize on whatever strikes it through the senses and direct the will to do it.
One can see from this the reasons for disagreements and heresies.
[3] But still it has been provided that no matter what heresy a person is caught up in as regards his intellect, everyone can still be reformed and saved provided he refrains from evils as sins and does not defend in himself the heresy's falsities. For by refraining from evils as sins the will is reformed, and through the will the intellect, which comes for the first time then from darkness into light.
There are three essential components of the church: acknowledgment of the Lord's Divinity; acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word; and living the life called charity. Everyone has faith according as he lives a life of charity; from the Word he has a concept of what that life must be; and from the Lord he gains reformation and salvation.
If these three had been regarded as the church's essential components, intellectual disagreements would not have divided it, but only varied it, as light varies colors in beautiful objects, or as various jewels produce the beauty in a king's crown.
259. 6. Strict materialists justify their rejection of divine providence by noting that there have been many heresies in Christendom and that there still are--those of the Quakers, for example, and the Moravians and the Anabaptists, among many others. The thought may occur that if divine providence were over every least detail and did have as its goal the salvation of everyone, it would have made sure that there was one true religion throughout the whole world, one religion undivided, and certainly not torn apart by heresies. Use your reason, though, and think as deeply as you can. Can we be saved if we are not first reformed? After all, we are born immersed in love for ourselves and the world; and since these loves have within themselves no trace of love for God or love for our neighbor except for selfish reasons, we are also born involved in all kinds of evil. What trace of love or mercy is there in these loves? Does it matter to them if we cheat others, or slander them, or harbor murderous hatred toward them, or seduce their spouses, or torture them in order to get even? Our basic agenda is to be the greatest of all and to take possession of everyone's wealth. This means that we see others as insignificant in comparison to ourselves, as worthless. Can people like this be saved? First they need to be led out of their evils and thereby reformed. I have already offered abundant evidence that that this can be done only within the limits of the many laws of divine providence. For the most part, these laws are unknown even though they are matters of divine love and divine wisdom alike, laws the Lord cannot violate because to do so would be to destroy us rather than to save us.
[2] Review the laws already presented and compare them, and you will see.
Consider, then, that according to these laws there can be no inflow directly from heaven, only indirectly through the Word, through teaching, and through sermons. Add the fact that in order to be divine the Word had to be composed entirely of correspondential imagery. It then follows that disagreements and heresies are inevitable. Permitting them is quite within the laws of divine providence. Not only that, once the church itself has taken matters of intellect alone to be essential to it--matters of belief, that is, and not matters of volition and therefore of life--and once these matters of life are not essential to the church, then our discernment leads us into utter darkness. We wander around like blind people, bumping into everything and falling into pits. It is our volition that must see in our discernment and not our discernment in our volition, which is the same as saying that our life and its love must lead our discernment to think, speak, and act, and not the reverse. If it were the other way around, then a discernment motivated by evil love, actually by diabolical love, would seize on anything our senses offered and demand that our volition do it. This shows where dissent and heresy come from.
[3] However, provision is still made that all of us can be reformed and saved no matter what heresy we may adopt intellectually, as long as we abstain from evils as sins and do not justify our heretical distortions. This is because our volition is reformed by our abstaining from evils as sins, and through our volition our discernment is reformed. Then for the first time it emerges from darkness into light.
There are three essential principles of the church: belief in the divine nature of the Lord, belief in the holiness of the Word, and the life that we call "charity." For each of us, our faith is determined by that life that is charity; our recognition of what that life must be comes from the Word, and reformation and salvation come from the Lord.
If these three principles had functioned as the essential principles of the church, then intellectual dissent would not have divided it. It would only have varied it the way light varies the colors of beautiful things, and the way different gems make up the beauty of a royal crown.
259. 6. The merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine Providence by the fact that there have been and still are so many heresies in the Christian world, such as Quakerism, Moravianism, Anabaptism, and others. For he may think to himself, If the Divine Providence were universal in the most individual things, and had as its end the salvation of all, it would have brought it about that there should be one true religion throughout the whole world, and that one not divided, still less torn into heresies. However, reason the matter out and, if you can, give it closer consideration. Can a man be saved unless he be first reformed? For he is born into the love of self and of the world; and as these loves do not bear within themselves any love to God and towards the neighbour, except for the sake of self, he is born also into evils of every kind. Is there any love or mercy in these loves? Does he regard it of any moment to defraud another, to defame him, to hate him even to death, to commit adultery with his wife, to act cruelly to him when moved by revenge, while he cherishes in his mind (animus) the desire to be supreme over all, thus regarding others compared with himself as insignificant and worthless? In order that such a man may be saved must he not first be led away from these evils, and so be reformed? It has been shown above in many places that this can only be effected in accordance with several laws, which are laws of the Divine Providence. These laws are for the most part unknown; and yet they are laws of the Divine Wisdom and at the same time of the Divine Love; and the Lord cannot act contrary to them, for to do so would be to destroy man, not to save him.
[2] You will see this if you read through and compare the laws that have been set forth. Since, then, it is in accordance with these laws that there is no immediate influx from heaven, but only mediate influx through the Word, doctrine and preaching; and since the Word to be Divine could only have been written throughout wholly by correspondences, it follows that dissensions and heresies are inevitable, and that the permission of these is also in accordance with the laws of the Divine Providence. Moreover, when the Church itself has assumed as its essentials things which belong to the understanding only, that is, to doctrine, and not things which belong to the will, that is, to the life; and when those things which belong to the life are not made essentials of the Church, then man from his understanding is in complete darkness and wanders about like a blind man, everywhere running up against things and falling into pits. For the will must see in the understanding, and not the understanding in the will; or what is the same, the life and its love must lead the understanding to think, speak and act, and not the reverse. If the reverse were the case the understanding, from an evil, indeed a diabolical love, might seize upon whatever presents itself through the senses and insist upon the will doing it. From these considerations it may be seen how dissensions and heresies arise.
[3] Yet it has been provided that everyone, no matter in what heresy he may be with respect to his understanding, may still be reformed and saved, if only he shuns evils as sins and does not confirm heretical falsities in himself. For by shunning evils as sins the will is reformed, and through the will the understanding, which then first emerges out of darkness into light. There are three essentials of the Church: an acknowledgment of the Divinity of the Lord, an acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life that is called charity. According to the life which is charity is every man's faith; from the Word he has a rational perception of what the life should be; and from the Lord he has reformation and salvation. Had these three been held as essentials of the Church intellectual dissensions would not have divided but would have merely varied it, as light varies colours in beautiful objects, and as the various emblems of royalty constitute the beauty of a kingly crown.
259. (6) The merely natural man confirms himself against the Divine providence by the fact that there have been and still are so many heresies in the Christian world, such as Quakerism, Moravianism, Anabaptism, and others. For he may think to himself, If the Divine providence were universal in its least particulars, and had the salvation of all as its end, it would have caused one true religion to exist throughout the world, and that one not divided, still less torn into heresies. But make use of your reason, and think more deeply, if you can, whether a man can be saved unless he is previously reformed. For he is born into the love of self and love of the world; and as these loves do not carry in them anything of love to God or of love towards the neighbor except for the sake of self, he has been born also into evils of every kind. What is there of love or mercy in these loves? Does he [from these loves] think anything of defrauding another, defaming him, hating him even to the death, committing adultery with his wife, being cruel to him when moved by revenge, while cherishing in his mind a wish to be highest of all, and to possess the goods of all others, and while regarding others as insignificant and worthless compared with himself? If such a man is to be saved must he not first be led away from these evils, and thus reformed? This can be done only in accordance with many laws which are laws of the Divine providence, as has been shown above in many places. These laws are for the most part unknown; nevertheless, they are laws of the Divine wisdom and at the same time of the Divine love, and the Lord cannot act contrary to them, because to do so would be to destroy man, not to save him.
[2] Let the laws that have been set forth be reviewed and compared, and you will see. And since, then, it is in accordance with these laws that there is no immediate influx from heaven, but only mediate influx through the Word, doctrines, and preaching; also, for the Word to be Divine it must needs be written wholly by correspondences; it follows that discussions and heresies are inevitable, and that permissions of these are also in accord with the laws of the Divine providence. Furthermore, when the church itself has taken as its essentials such things as belong to the understanding alone, that is, to doctrine, and not such as belong to the will, that is, to the life, and the things that belong to the life are not made the essentials of the church, man from his understanding is then in mere darkness, and wanders about like a blind man, everywhere running against something and falling into pits. For the will must see in the understanding, and not the understanding in the will; or what is the same, the life and its love must lead the understanding to think, speak, and act, and not the reverse. If the reverse were true, the understanding, from an evil and even a diabolical love, might seize upon whatever presents itself through the senses, and enjoin the will to do it. From all this the source of dissensions and heresies can be seen.
[3] And yet it has been provided that every one, in whatever heresies he may be in respect to the understanding, can be reformed and saved, if only he shuns evils as sins, and does not confirm heretical falsities in himself; for by shunning evils as sins the will is reformed, and through the will the understanding, which then first emerges from darkness into light. There are three essentials of the church, an acknowledgment of the Divine of the Lord, an acknowledgment of the holiness of the Word, and the life that is called charity. According to the life which is charity is every one's faith; from the Word comes the knowledge of what the life must be, and from the Lord are reformation and salvation. If the church had held these three as essentials it would not have been divided, but only varied, by intellectual dissensions, as light varies the color in beautiful objects, and as various circlets give beauty in the crown of a king.
259. VI. Quod mere naturalis homo contra Divinam Providentiam se confirmet ex eo, quod in Christiano Orbe tot Haereses fuerint, et adhuc sint, ut Quaquerismus, Moravianismus, Anabaptismus, et plures; potest enim secum cogitare, si Divina Providentia in singularissimis universalis foret, et pro fine haberet omnium salutem, fecisset ut una vera Religio foret in universo terrarum orbe, et illa non divisa, et minus discerpta in haereses: sed utere ratione, et cogita altius si potes; num potest homo salvari nisi prius reformetur; est enim in amorem sui et mundi natus, et quia illi amores in se non aliquid amoris in Deum et aliquid amoris erga proximum, nisi propter se, ferunt, est ille quoque natus in omnis generis mala; quid amoris seu misericordiae in illis amoribus est; num aliquid facit defraudare alium, blasphemare illum, odio habere illum usque ad necem, adulterari cum uxore ejus, saevire in 1illum cum in vindicta est, quum animo fert quod velit supremus omnium esse, ac possidere omnium aliorum bona, ita cum spectat alios respective ad se ut viles ac ut nauci; annon ut talis salvetur, ab illis malis primum abducendus est, et sic reformandus; quod hoc non fieri possit, nisi secundum plures leges, quae sunt leges Divinae Providentiae, multis supra ostensum est; quae leges quoad maximam partem ignotae sunt, et tamen sunt Divinae Sapientiae et simul Divini Amoris, contra quas Dominus non potest agere, nam agere contra illas, foret perdere hominem, et non salvare illum; percurrantur Leges quae allatae sunt, conferantur, et videbis.
[2] Cum itaque secundum leges illas etiam sit, ut non aliquis immediatus influxus sit e Coelo, sed mediatus per Verbum, doctrinas et praedicationes; ac Verbum, ut esset Divinum, non potuit nisi quam per meras correspondentias esse conscriptum, sequitur quod dissensiones et haereses inevitabiles sint, et quod harum permissiones etiam secundum leges Divinae Providentiae sint: et adhuc plus; cum ipsa Ecclesia pro essentialibus suis assumserat talia quae solius intellectus sunt, ita quae doctrinae, et non quae voluntatis sunt, ita quae vitae, 2et cum illa quae vitae sunt non essentialia Ecclesiae sunt, tunc homo ex intellectu est in meris tenebris, ac errat sicut caecus, qui ubivis impingit, et cadit in foveas: voluntas enim videbit in intellectu, et non intellectus in voluntate, seu quod idem, vita et ejus amor ducet intellectum ad cogitandum, loquendum et agendum, et non vicissim; si vicissim, posset intellectus ex amore malo, imo diabolico, arripere quicquid per sensus incidit, et injungere voluntati id facere. Ex his videri potest, unde sunt dissensiones et haereses.
[3] Sed usque provisum est, ut quisque in quacunque haeresi quoad intellectum sit, usque reformari et salvari possit, modo mala ut peccata fugiat, et non falsa haeretica apud se confirmet; nam per fugere mala ut peccata reformatur voluntas, et per voluntatem 3intellectus, qui tunc primum e tenebris in lucem venit. Sunt tria essentialia Ecclesiae, agnitio Divini Domini, agnitio sanctitatis Verbi, et vita quae vocatur charitas; secundum vitam, quae est charitas, est cuivis homini fides, ex Verbo est cognitio qualis vita erit, et a Domino est reformatio et salvatio. Si haec tria ut essentialia Ecclesiae fuissent, dissensiones intellectuales non divissent illam, sed solum variassent, sicut lux variat colores in objectis pulchris, et sicut varia diademata faciunt pulchritudinem in corona Regis.
Footnotes:
1 Prima editio: in in
2 Prima editio: vitae;
3 Prima editio: voluntatem