SS21.我被指教，大洪水之前的上古教会之人具有一种如此属天的天赋，以至于与天堂天使交谈，他们能通过对应与天使交谈。这意味着他们的智慧已经发展到这种程度：凡在世上所看到的东西，他们不仅以一种属世的方式来思想它，同时还以一种属灵的方式来思想，所以他们的思维与天使相联。我还被指教，以诺（创世记5:21-24曾提到他）和他的同伴从上古教会的那些人口中搜集对应，并把关于它们的知识传给后代。因此，对应学不仅为人所知，还在亚洲许多国家，尤其在迦南地、埃及、亚述、迦勒底、亚兰或叙利亚、阿拉伯，以及推罗、西顿和尼尼微得到大力发展；它从沿海地区传到希腊。然而，在那里，对应学却变成了寓言故事，这从希腊最早的作家作品明显看出来。
21. I have been taught that the people of the earliest church, the one that existed before the Flood, were so heavenly in nature that they talked with angels of heaven, and that they were able to talk with them in correspondences. This meant that their wisdom developed to the point that when they saw anything on earth, they not only thought of it in earthly terms but thought of it in spiritual terms at the same time, and therefore their thoughts joined those of angels.
I have also been taught that Enoch (mentioned in Genesis 5:21-24) and others who joined him collected correspondences from the mouth of these [sages] and passed their knowledge on to their descendants. As a result of this, the knowledge of correspondences was not only familiar but was devotedly practiced in many Middle Eastern countries, especially in the land of Canaan, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Syria, and Arabia; and in Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh. From coastal locations it was transmitted to Greece. There, however, the knowledge was changed into fables, as we can tell from the writings of the earliest people there.
21. I have been informed that people of the Most Ancient Church, which existed before the Flood, were of such a celestial nature that they spoke with angels in heaven, and that they were able to speak with them through correspondences. As a result, the state of their wisdom became such that whatever they saw on earth, they thought of it not only naturally, but at the same time spiritually too, thus thinking as well in conjunction with angels.
Moreover, I have been informed that Enoch, mentioned in Genesis 5:21-24, with his contemporaries, made a collection of correspondences from those earlier people’s utterances and transmitted a knowledge of them to their posterity. It came about as a consequence that a knowledge of correspondences was not only known in many Asiatic kingdoms, but also cultivated, especially in the land of Canaan, in Assyria, Chaldea, Syria, and Arabia, and in Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh; and that it subsequently spread from the coastal areas into Greece —only in Greece it was turned into fables, as can be seen from the writings of the earliest peoples there.
21. 1 have been informed that the men of the Most Ancient Church, which existed before the Flood, were of so heavenly a genius that they conversed with the angels of heaven; and that they had the power to do so by correspondences. Consequently, their wisdom became such that, whatever they saw on earth they thought of not only naturally but also spiritually, thus also in conjunction with the angels. I was further informed that Enoch, who is mentioned in Genesis 5:21-24, and his associates collected correspondences from their speech, and transmitted this knowledge to posterity. As a result of this the science of correspondences was not only known but was also cultivated in many kingdoms of Asia, particularly in the Land of Canaan, Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Syria, Arabia and in Tyre. Sidon and Nineveh. It was thence communicated from places on the coast to Greece; but it was there changed into fable, as may be seen from the literature of the oldest Greek writers.
21. I have been instructed that the men of the Most Ancient Church (the church before the flood) were of a genius so heavenly that they spoke with angels of heaven, and that they were able to speak with them by means of correspondences. From this the state of their wisdom was rendered such that whatever they saw in this world they thought about not only in a natural way, but spiritually also at the same time, so that they thought unitedly with angels. I have been instructed besides that Enoch (of whom mention is made in Genesis 5:21-24) together with his associates, collected correspondences from the lips of those men of the Most Ancient Church, and transmitted the knowledge of them to posterity, and that in consequence of this the science of correspondences was not only known but was also much cultivated in many kingdoms of Asia, especially in the land of Canaan, in Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Syria, Arabia, and also in Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh; and that it was carried over from places on the seacoast there into Greece; but there it was turned into fabulous stories, as is evident from the earliest writers of that country.
21. Instructus sum quod homines Antiquissimae Ecclesiae, quae fuit ante diluvium, tam caelesti genio fuerint, ut locuti sint cum angelis caeli, et quod loqui potuerint cum illis per correspondentias; inde status sapientiae illorum factus est talis, ut quicquid viderent in tellure, non modo cogitarent de illo naturaliter, sed etiam simul, spiritualiter, ita quoque conjunctim cum angelis. Insuper instructus sum quod Chanoch (de quo memoratur in Genesi 5:21-24), cum consociis suis, ex ore illorum collegerit correspondentias, ac scientiam illarum propagaverit ad posteros; ex quo factum est, quod scientia correspondentiarum in multis regnis Asiae non modo nota fuerit, sed etiam exculta, imprimis in terra Canaane, Aegypto, Assyria, Chaldaea, Syria, Arabia, in Tyro, Zidone, Ninive; et quod inde e locis maritimis translata sit in Graeciam; sed ibi versa in fabulosa, ut constare potest ex vetustissimorum scriptis ibi.