Life13.一个拥有属灵良善的人也是一个道德人和一个文明人；但一个没有属灵良善的人可能看上去像一个道德人和一个文明人，然而却不是。一个拥有属灵良善的人之所以也是一个道德人和一个文明人，是因为属灵良善拥有良善的本质在里面，而道德和文明的良善则从属灵良善拥有这种本质。良善的本质只源自为良善本身的那一位。从各个角度全方位地思想这个问题，试着查明是什么使得良善成为良善，你就会发现是它的本质；善行若拥有良善的本质在里面，就是良善。这意味着一个行为若源于良善本身，因而源于神，就是良善。所以，某种善行若非源于神，而是源于人，就不是良善。
13. If we have spiritual goodness we are moral and civic individuals as well; but if we do not have spiritual goodness we may seem to be moral and civic individuals but in fact we are not.
The reason we are moral and civic if we have spiritual goodness is that spiritual goodness contains within itself the essence of what is good and is the source of moral and civic goodness. The only possible source of the real essence of goodness is the one who is goodness itself. Cast the net of your thinking as wide as you will, concentrate, and ask what makes good good, and you will see that it is its essence; a good deed is good if it has the essence of goodness within it. This means that a deed is good if it originates in goodness itself - in God. So if some good deed originates not in God but in ourselves, it is not good.
13. A person possessing spiritual goodness is a moral person and also a civic one. On the other hand, a person without any spiritual goodness may appear to be a moral and civic person, but in fact he is not.
A person possessing spiritual goodness is a moral and civic person because spiritual goodness has in it the essence of goodness, and moral and civic goodness are derived from it.
The essence of goodness can only originate from Him who is goodness itself. Cast your thought in every direction, think hard, and ask yourself what makes goodness good, and you will see that it is what it has at its core, that something is good which has in it the essence of goodness, consequently that that goodness is good which originates from goodness itself, thus from God. And therefore that any goodness not originating from God, but from man, is not good.
13. The man who is principled in spiritual good is a moral man and also a civil man; while the man who is not principled in spiritual good, appears as if he were a moral and civil man, but still he is not so. The man who is principled in spiritual good is a moral and civil man, because spiritual good has in itself the essence of good, and from this it has moral and civil good. The essence of good cannot come from any other source than from Him who is Good itself. Give to thought its freest range, exert it to the utmost and inquire whence it is that good is good, and you will see that it is from its esse (that is, its very being), and that this is good which has in it the very being of good; consequently that this is good which is from Good itself, that is, from God; and consequently that good, which is not from God, but from man, is not good.
13. A man who possesses spiritual good is also a moral man and a civic man; but a man who does not possess spiritual good may appear to be a moral man and a civic man, yet is not so. The reason why a man who possesses spiritual good is also a moral man and a civic man, is that spiritual good has the essence of good within it, and moral and civic good have this essence from spiritual good. The essence of good can be from no other source than Him who is good itself. Think the matter over from every point of view, and try to find out from what it is that good is good, and you will see that it is so from its inmost being [esse], and that that is good which has within it the esse of good; consequently that that is good which is from good itself, thus from God; and therefore that good which is not from God, but from man, is not good.
13. Homo cui est bonum spirituale, est homo moralis et quoque homo civilis; at homo cui non est bonum spirituale, apparet sicut sit homo moralis et civilis, sed usque non est. Quod homo cui est bonum spirituale, sit homo moralis et civilis, est quia bonum spirituale essentiam boni in se habet, et ex illo bonum morale et civile. Essentia boni non potest dari aliunde, quam ab Ipso qui est ipsum Bonum. Effunde cogitationem quaquaversum, intende, et inquire, unde bonum est bonum, et videbis quod sit a suo esse, et quod id sit bonum quod esse boni in se habet, consequenter quod id sit bonum, quod est ab ipso Bono, ita a Deo; consequenter quod bonum non a Deo, sed ab homine, non bonum sit.