1335. About those who defile the blood
There are certain spirits who love to scurry around, constantly wanting to mock what they do not understand, just as spirits mock inward and very inward [truths]. There was in fact one who continually declared, "That is not right," that is, the Word of the Lord does not mean that, but something else. Thus he could disclaim almost anything said by the Lord and elsewhere in the Word, because he had heard that the meaning of the letter was nothing, as said above about the 12 thrones, and about persecutions and miseries [1321-1328]. Therefore, he maintained that nothing must be taken literally, thus ridiculing it and saying it was not right. He did this most consistently, distorting and stretching the words, and thus convincing people.
About him I was told that he related to those elements in the body that defile the blood. For if something bad and noxious flows into the blood, it then pervades the venal and arterial systems and thus defiles the blood stream. So do those who as it were cast insults upon the Word of the Lord for the reason that they do not understand its contents, loving only bodily and material things.
1335. CONCERNING THOSE SPIRITS WHO VITIATE THE BLOOD
There are some spirits who love to go about and continually desire to ridicule what they do not perceive, as spirits ridicule interior and more interior things. There was a certain one, indeed, who continually asserted that it is not so, that is to say, that the Word of the Lord is not to be understood in this but in another manner. Thus he could re-state almost everything said by the Lord, and said elsewhere in the Word, because he had heard that the sense of the letter was nothing, as was said above concerning the twelve thrones and concerning persecutions and miseries [see n. 1321. Therefore such spirits wanted nothing to be understood according to the sound of the letter, thus deriding and saying that it is not so, and this over and over again. They bear towards the left at a distance, and thus persuade others. It was said of that spirit that he referred to those things in the body which vitiate the blood, for if anything vitiated and noxious inflows into the blood, it then pervades the veins and arteries and thus vitiates the entire mass. The case is the same with those who treat the Lord's Word as if with contempt, because they do not perceive its interiors, loving only those things that are corporeal and material.
1335. De iis qui vitiant sanguinem
Sunt quidam, qui amant discurrere, et continue cupiunt subsannare, ea quae non percipiunt, sicut spiritus interiora ac intimiora, et quidem erat quidam qui continue id dictabat, quod non ita sit, nempe quod non Verbum Domini ita intelligendum, sed in alio sensu, sic potuit repetere, quicquid fere a Domino dictum, et alibi in Verbo, quia audivit, quod sensus literae nihil esset, ut prius dictum, de 12 thronis, et de persecutionibus ac miseriis [1321-1328], ideo voluit 1
, quod nihil ita intelligendum, ut literae sonant, sic subsannando, quod ita non sit, et hoc quam creberrime, ferendo ad sinistrum, in longum, et sic iis persuadendo, de eo 2
dicebatur, quod referret ea in corpore, quae vitiant sanguinem, si enim vitiosum quid et noxium in sanguinem influit, id tunc pervadit venas et arterias, et massam ita vitiat, ita qui Verbum Domini idcirco quasi contumeliis afficiunt, quia ii illa non percipiunt; amantes solum ea, quae sunt corporea et materialia.
Footnotes:
1. The Manuscript has voluerunt sed vide annotationem sequentem
2. The Manuscript has eo