11.⑷至于这一位神的性质，由于种种原因，各民族和人民持有不同观念，并仍继续持不同观念。第一个原因是，没有启示，对神的认识、因而对神的承认是不可能的。对主的认识、因而对“神性一切的丰富都有形有体地住在祂里面”的承认只能出自圣言，圣言是启示的王冠。人因着被恩赐的启示而能靠近神，接受流注，从而由属世的变成属灵的。早期的启示遍及全世界，却被属世人以种种方式扭曲了。这就是宗教争端、纷争、异端邪说和分裂的根源。第二个原因是，属世人对神没有直觉，只对这个世界有感觉，并使它适应自己。所以，基督教会的教规有这样一条：属世人反对属灵人，他们彼此争战。这也解释了为何那些通过圣言或其它启示得知神的存在之人对神的性质及其一体性持不同观念，并仍继续持不同观念的原因。
因此，那些精神视觉依赖肉体感官、然而仍渴望见到神的人为自己制造了各种金银石木的形像，从而以这些可见物体来敬拜神；这也是为何因宗教而放弃这些形像的其他人从日月星辰，以及地上各样物体中为自己制造神的形像。但那些自认为比普通人聪明、却仍旧属世的人因着神创造这个世界的浩瀚无垠和无所不在，居然承认自然界为神；其中有些人视自然的至内在为神，有些人则视自然的最表层为神；而有些人为了将神与自然分开，就设想出某种最普遍之物，他们称之为“宇宙本原（Being of the universe [Ens universi]）”；由于这些人对神没有进一步的认识，所以这种本原对他们来说，就成了毫无意义的纯粹抽象概念。
谁都能明白，人对神的认识就是他对神的一面镜子，那些对神一无所知的人不是对着镜子看神，而对着镜子的背面去看。而镜子的背面则涂上了水银或黑涂料，不仅不能反映神的形像，反而会熄灭它。对神的信仰通过在先的路径进入人里面，它从灵魂进入理解力的高层区域；而关于神的知识则通过在后的路径进入。因为理解力须借助身体感官通过圣言的启示吸收它们。这两条路径在理解力中间相遇；在那里，属世之信从纯粹的说服变成属灵的，也就是说，变成真正的承认。所以，人的理解力就象一个精炼炉，在这里产生转化的效应。
11. (4)因著種種緣由, 不同的民族和不同的百姓對這位上帝的屬性曾經持有不同見解, 至今仍舊如此。
若非啟示, 人們無法知道關於上帝的知識並因此接受上帝。除非來自各樣啟示的王冠——聖言, 人們無法知道關於主的知識, 並因此接受這位"神性一切的豐富都有形有體地住在祂裡面"的主。通過賜給人類的啟示, 人類方可接觸上帝, 並接受從上帝而來的流注, 因而從屬世變為屬靈。原始的啟示漫延至全世界, 卻被屬世之人以各種方式歪曲濫用, 就成了各樣宗教紛爭,異端,分裂的根源。
另外, 屬世之人(或屬物質之人)無法認識上帝, 只會去認識世界並使其適應自己。這些事情同樣發生在基督徒的教會當中, 產生於屬世之人與屬靈之人的對抗。這就是為何人們原本從聖言或其它啟示中認識到有一位上帝, 卻在上帝的屬性和唯一性的認識上各有分別。
[2]因為這個原因, 有些人的思想認識開始依賴於肉體感官。不過他們仍想認識上帝, 於是就為自己造了各樣金銀石木的形像, 拜這些可見物體, 認為這算是敬拜上帝。而其它人從他們的宗教中捨棄這些偶像, 卻把日月星辰和地上各樣物體作為上帝的代表來拜。而那些自認為比平民們更有智慧,卻仍停在屬世層面的人, 見到上帝創造的大自然如此浩瀚, 居然接受自然為上帝。還有其他的, 他們會將上帝與自然分開(不視自然為上帝), 卻構思出某種籠統的概念, 他們稱之為"萬物本源"。因為再沒有更進一步關於上帝的知識, 這個"本源"就變為沒有任何意義的抽象概念而已。
[3]每個人都能看出, 對上帝的概念就是上帝的鏡子。那些對上帝一無所知的人對著鏡子看不到上帝, 仿似鏡子背面對著他們; 這背面塗有一層水銀或某種黑色糊狀物, 映不出影像。對上帝的信仰, 由靈魂進到認知的更高層面。而對上帝的認識, 經過身體的感官, 藉著認知從啟示的聖言中汲取。這二者如同從前後兩條路在中途會後, 相會在認知之中。屬世的相信, 在這裡成為屬靈, 成為真正的忠信。因此人的認知如同一個精煉爐, 在這裡產生轉化的效應。
11. 4. For various reasons, different nations and peoples have had and still have a diversity of opinions on the nature of that one God. The first reason for this is that knowledge about God and therefore acknowledgment of God is not possible without revelation; and knowledge of the Lord and therefore acknowledgment that all the fullness of divinity dwells physically in him is not possible without the Word, which is a garland of revelations. From the revelation they have been given, people are able to meet God, receive an inflow, and thus be made spiritual instead of earthly.
Early revelation spread throughout the whole world, and the earthly self distorted it in many different ways, giving rise to divergences, disagreements, heresies, and schisms among religions.
The second reason [for the diversity of opinions on God] is that the earthly self cannot comprehend anything about God; it can comprehend only the world, and conform it to itself. This is why it is among the axioms of the Christian church that the earthly self is against the spiritual self, and that they battle each other. People then have come to acknowledge from the Word [or] from some other revelation that there is a God, and yet in both the past and the present they have had a diversity of opinions on the nature and the oneness of God.
[2] Therefore people whose mental sight was dependent on their physical senses and who nevertheless wished to see God made idols for themselves out of gold, silver, stone, and wood. They intended to adore God in those forms as objects of sight. Others with the same desires but with religious principles that forbade idols pictured the sun and moon, the stars, and various things on earth as images of God. Those who believed themselves to be wiser than most but who remained earthly were led by the immensity and omnipresence God displayed in creating the world to acknowledge nature as God, in some cases in its innermost, in others in its outermost aspects. And some who wished to see God as separate from nature thought up some thing that was as all-encompassing as possible and that they called the Entity of All; but because they know nothing more of God than this, this "Entity of All" turns out to be an entity of their minds alone, utterly without any real meaning.
[3] As anyone can see, concepts of God are mirrors of God, and people who know nothing about God do not see God in a mirror facing their eyes, but in a mirror that is facing the wrong way, the back of which is covered with quicksilver or some black, sticky substance that absorbs rather than reflects the light.
Faith in God enters us on a pathway that comes down from above, from the soul into the higher reaches of the intellect. Concepts of God enter us on a pathway that comes up from below, because the intellect takes them in from the revealed Word through our bodily senses. In mid-intellect the different inflows come together. There an earthly faith, which is mere belief, becomes a spiritual faith, which is actual acknowledgment. The human intellect, then, is a kind of trading floor on which exchanges occur.
11. (iv) THERE ARE MANY REASONS WHY NATIONS AND PEOPLES HAVE FORMED VARYING IDEAS OF THE NATURE OF THAT ONE GOD, AND CONTINUE TO DO SO.
The first reason is that knowledge about God, and consequently acknowledgment of God, is impossible without revelation, and that knowledge about the Lord and consequently the acknowledgment that 'in Him all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily' can only come from the Word, which is the crown of revelations. Because revelation has been granted, a person is able to go to meet God and be acted upon by Him, and so from being natural become spiritual. The revelation of early ages spread throughout the world, and was perverted by natural men in many ways. This is the origin of the divisions, dissensions, heresies and schisms which have affected religions.
The second reason is that a natural man cannot form and apply to himself any perception of God, but only of the world. This is why it is one of the principles of the Christian Church that the natural man is opposed to the spiritual and they fight each other. This too is why those who have learned the existence of God from the Word [or] another revelation have differed and still do concerning the nature of God and His oneness.
[2] For this reason those whose mental vision has been dependent upon the bodily senses, and have none the less wished to see God, have made for themselves images of gold, silver, stone and wood, so that in these forms as visible objects they could worship God. This is why also others whose religion led them to reject such images, made themselves images of God out of the sun, the moon and the stars and various terrestrial objects. But those who thought their intelligence above the common herd, yet remained natural men, were led by the immensity of God and His omnipresence in creating the world to acknowledge nature as God, in some cases in its inmost, in others in its outermost forms. Some, in order to maintain a distinction between God and nature, thought up some extremely universal principle, which they called 'the Being of the Universe'; and because they know nothing more about God, this Being becomes for them a mere concept, which is meaningless.
[3] Is there anyone who cannot grasp that things known about God are mirrors held up to God? Those who know nothing of God see Him not in a mirror held up to their eyes, but in a mirror turned back to front, which is covered with quicksilver or a black composition that does not reflect an image but blots it out. Belief in God comes into man by the front door, that is, from the soul into the higher regions of the understanding. But knowledge about God comes in by the back door, because it is absorbed by the understanding from the revelation of the Word by means of the bodily senses. The two paths leading in meet in the midst of the understanding; there, natural belief, which is merely a strongly held opinion, becomes spiritual, that is to say, a real acknowledgment. So the human understanding is like an exchange where currencies are changed.
11. (4) Respecting what the one God is, nations and peoples have differed and still differ, from many causes. The first cause is that knowledge and consequent acknowledgment of God are not possible without revelation; nor are a knowledge of the Lord, and a consequent acknowledgment that "in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" possible except from the Word, which is the crown of revelations; for it is by the revelation given to man that he is able to approach God and to receive influx, and thereby from being natural to become spiritual. The primeval revelation extended throughout the world; but it was perverted by the natural man in many ways, which was the origin of religious disputes, dissensions, heresies, and schisms. The second cause is that the natural man is not capable of any perception of God, but only of the world and adapting this to himself. Consequently it is among the canons of the Christian Church that the natural man is opposed to the spiritual, and that they contend against each other. This explains why those who have learned from the Word or other revelation that there is a God have differed and still differ respecting the nature and the unity of God.
[2] For this reason those whose mental sight depended on the bodily senses, but who nevertheless had a desire to see God, formed for themselves images of gold, silver, stone, and wood, under which as visible objects they might worship God; while others who discarded idols from their religion found for themselves representations of God in the sun and moon, in the stars, and in various objects on the earth. But those who thought themselves wiser than the common people, and yet remained natural, from the immensity and omnipresence of God in creating the world acknowledged nature as God, some of them nature in its inmosts, some in its outmosts; while others, that they might separate God from nature, conceived an idea of something most universal, which they called the Being of the universe [Ens universi]; and because such have no further knowledge of God this Being becomes to them mere rational abstraction [ens rationis] which has no meaning.
[3] Everyone can see that a man's knowledge of God is his mirror of God, and that those who know nothing about God do not see God in a mirror with its face toward them, but in a mirror with its back toward them; and as this is covered with quicksilver, or some dark paste, it does not reflect the image but extinguishes it. Faith in God enters into man through a prior way, which is from the soul into the higher parts of the understanding; while knowledges about God enter through a posterior way, because they are drawn from the revealed Word by the understanding, through the bodily senses; and these inflowings meet midway in the understanding; and there natural faith, which is merely persuasion, becomes spiritual, which is real acknowledgment. Thus the human understanding is like a refining vessel, in which this transmutation is effected.
11. (4) AS TO THE NATURE OF THIS ONE GOD, NATIONS AND PEOPLES HAVE DIFFERED AND STILL DIFFER, FROM SEVERAL CAUSES.
The first cause is that a rational conception of God, and a consequent acknowledgment of Him, are not attainable without revelation. Such a conception, with the consequent acknowledgment that "in Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," is not attainable, except from the Word, which is the crown of revelations. For by the revelation there given man can approach God and receive influx from Him, and thereby, from being natural can become spiritual. In the earliest ages of the world revelation existed everywhere, but natural men perverted it in many ways, with the result that there arose disputes, dissensions, heresies and schisms in religion.
The second cause is that the natural man cannot perceive and apply to himself the things of God, but only the things of the world. It is therefore one of the doctrines of the Christian Church that the natural man is opposed to the spiritual, and that they war against each other. Hence it is that those who have learned from the Word, or other revelation, that there is a God, have differed and still differ, concerning His nature and unity.
[2] Those whose mental vision depended upon the senses of the body, but who still wished to see God, made for themselves images of gold, silver, stone and wood, in order that under the guise of visible objects they might worship God. Others, rejecting this form of worship, formed their idea of God from the sun, moon and stars and other objects of nature. Others, again, who thought themselves wiser than the common people, but who yet remained natural, from the immensity of God and His omnipresence in creating the world, acknowledged nature as God, some recognizing Him in her inner operation and some in her outer manifestations. Some, on the other hand, in order to distinguish between God and nature, formed a conception of something most universal, which they termed the Being (Ens) of the universe. As, however, they know nothing more of God, this Being is merely a creature of their own reason, and has no meaning at all.
[3] Conceptions of God are like mirrors in which He may be seen. Those who know nothing of God look for Him, as it were, on the back of a mirror; but this, being covered with quicksilver or some black preparation, does not reflect any image. Faith in God enters into a man by an inner way, from the soul into the higher parts of the understanding. Knowledge concerning God, from which are formed conceptions of Him, enters by an outer way, because it is derived from the revealed Word by the understanding through the senses of the body. Both these forms of influx meet midway in the understanding. There natural faith, which is merely persuasion, becomes spiritual faith, which is real acknowledgment: the human understanding therefore, is, as it were, a place of exchange, or a refining vessel, in which the change takes place.
11. IV. QUOD QUALIS ILLE DEUS UNUS EST, GENTES ET POPULI ABIVERINT ET ABEANT IN DIVERSUM, EX PLURIBUS CAUSIS. Causa prima est, quod cognitio de Deo, et inde agnitio Dei, non dabilis sit absque Revelatione, et non cognitio de Domino et inde agnitio, quod in Ipso omnis plenitudo Divinitatis habitet corporaliter, quam ex Verbo, quod est Revelationum Corona; nam homo ex data Revelatione potest obviam ire Deo, et influxum recipere, et sic a naturali fieri spiritualis: et primaeva Revelatio pervagata est universum Orbem, et illam naturalis homo perverterat multis modis, unde divaricationes, dissensus, haereses, et schismata religionum. Secunda causa est, quod Naturalis homo non possit percipere aliquid de Deo, sed solum de Mundo, et hoc applicare ad se, quare inter canones Ecclesiae Christianae est, quod Naturalis homo sit contra Spiritualem, et quod pugnent inter se; inde est, quod illi, qui ex Verbo [aut] ex alia Revelatione 1 cognoverunt quod Deus sit, abiverint et abeant in diversum de Qualitate Dei, et de Unitate Ipsius.
[2] Quapropter illi, quorum mentis visus pependit a sensibus corporis, et tamen voluerunt videre Deum, formaverunt sibi Simulacra ex auro, argento, lapide et ligno, ut sub illis, ut visus objectis, adorarent Deum: et alii, 2 qui simulacra ex religione rejecerunt, sibi de Deo finxerunt 3 Imagines ex Sole et Luna, ex Astris, et ex variis super terra: at illi, qui crediderunt se supra vulgus sapere, et tamen naturales permanserunt, ex Dei immensitate et omnipraesentia in creando Mundum, Naturam, quidam illam in intimis, et quidam illam in ultimis, pro Deo agnoverunt: et quidam ut separarent Deum a natura, excogitaverunt quoddam universalissimum, quod vocaverunt Ens universi; et quia nihil plus de Deo sciunt, fit 4 hoc Ens apud illos ens rationis, quod significat non aliquid.
[3] Quis non comprehendere potest, quod cognitiones de Deo sint specula Dei, et quod illi, qui nihil sciunt de Deo, non videant Deum in aliquo speculo oculis obverso, sed in speculo inverso seu a tergo, quod argentum vivum aut nigrum gluten obtegit, ac imaginem non reflectit, sed suffocat. Fides Dei intrat in hominem per Viam priorem, quae est ab anima in superiora intellectus; at cognitiones de Deo intrant per Viam posteriorem, quia ex revelato Verbo ab Intellectu per sensus corporis hauriuntur, et in medio Intellectu fit conventus influxuum, et ibi naturalis fides, quae modo est persuasio, fit spiritualis, quae est ipsa agnitio; quare Intellectus humanus est sicut cambium, in quo fit permutatio.
Footnotes:
1. ex Verbo [aut] ex alia Revelatione ubi in prima editione ex Verbo ex alia Revelatione; (sic Worcester et Rose.).
2. et alii ubi in prima editione et quod alii; cf. Worcester: et [inde est] quod alii.
3. Prima editio: finxerint.
4. Prima editio: flt.