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《真实的基督教》 第137节

（一滴水译，2017）

　　137.记事四：
　　我听说要举行一个宗教会议，参会的是那些在当今之信和因唯信称义而被选方面以着述和学问闻名的人。该会议在灵人界举行，我被允许在灵里出席。我看见神职人员济济一堂，既有赞成者，也有反对者。站在右边的，是在世时被称为使徒后教父的人，他们生活在尼西亚公会之前的时代。站在左边的，是自尼西亚公会之后那些因或印刷或写在手稿上的作品而闻名的人。后者当中有很多人没有胡须，头戴女人头发制成的假卷发。其中有些人着卷领，有些人则着翅领。而前者既有胡须，也有自己的自然发。在这两组人面前站着一个人，他是世俗着作的审判员和评论家，手里拿着一根杖。他用手里的杖敲了敲地面，使会场保持安静，然后走上台阶，来到讲坛前，叹了一口气。他原想大吼一声，但叹息声将他这口气憋到了喉咙里。
　　最后，他开口说：“我的弟兄们，这是什么时代啊！平信徒中居然出这么一个人，他无袍、无帽、无冕，却将我们的信从天上拔下来，扔进冥河中。太可怕了！然而，唯独这信才是指引我们的启明星，它就像夜间闪烁的猎户星、像早晨的路西弗。那个人，虽然一把年纪了，却完全无视我们信的秘密，因为他还没有打开，在它里面看到我们主救主的公义，以及祂的调解和劝慰；既看不到这些，也就看不到祂使我们成为公义，也就是使罪得赦、重生、成圣和救恩的奇妙。这人夺走了我们的信和它杰出的拯救力量，因为这信是信三个神性位格，因而信全神。他将这信集中到第二个位格上，甚至也没有归给祂，而是归给了祂的人身。的确，我们因永恒之子道成肉身而称这人身为神性，不过，人们仅仅视其为纯粹的人，而非别的什么。那么，除了如同源泉那样喷涌自然主义的信外，由此还能得出什么？这样的信不是属灵的，和信教皇、信圣徒差不多。你们都知道加尔文在他那个时代针对基于这种信仰的敬拜说了些什么。你们当中谁能告诉我信的源头是什么？它岂不是直接来自神？而我们救恩所需的一切都在祂里面。”
　　闻听此言，他左边的同伴，就是没有胡须、头戴假发，脖子上有衣领的那一方鼓掌叫喊：“最有智慧的发言！我们就知道，若不是从天上赐的，我们就不能得什么。如果这都不是信，那么请那位先知告诉我们，信打哪来，信又是什么。它不可能是别的信，或来自其它源头。提出为正信的任何其它信，就像骑马到天上某个星座摘星星，然后把它揣在口袋里带回来一样不可能。”这番话旨在让他们的同伴嘲笑新的信仰，无论是什么。
　　听到这里，右边这一方，也就是有胡须和自然发的人都很愤慨。其中一个人（是一位老人，虽然他后来看似年轻人，因为他是天堂的天使，那里上了年纪的人都会变年轻）。他开口说：“我已经听出你们的信是什么了，讲坛上的那个人把它捧得如此之高。但这样的信不就是主复活后被彼拉多的士兵再度封上的坟墓吗？我打开它，结果什么也没看到，只有几根魔法师的魔杖，埃及的巫师们用来炮制奇迹。确切地说，从表面上看，你们的信在你们眼里，犹如镶有宝石的纯金书柜，但打开后空空如也。或许它的角落里会有教皇遗体掉落的一点灰尘，因为他们的信和你们的一样，只是如今披上了圣洁的外衣。若再打个比方，你们的信就像古代的维斯塔贞女，因圣火熄灭而被活埋。我可以向你们保证，在我眼里，你们的信就像金牛犊，当摩西离开，上到西乃山耶和华那里时，以色列人便围着它跳舞（出埃及记32:1－20）。
　　“不要惊讶我用这样的比喻来形容你们的信仰，因为我们在天上就是这么谈论它的。另一方面，我们的信仰现在是，过去是，并且永远都是：信主神救主，祂的人性就是神性，祂的神性就是人性；因此，它适合接受，并且凭着它，神性属灵层与人的属世层结合起来，属灵之信在属世层形成，并且属世层由于照亮我们信的属灵之光而变得仿佛透明一般。构成我们信的真理和圣经里的经文一样多；它的所有真理就像凭自己的光使它显现并赋予它形式的众星。人凭自己的属世之光从圣言获得这信，在属世之光中，这信是知识、思维和说服。但在那些信的人里面，主会将这信变成信念、信靠和信心。信就这样变得属灵－属世，并凭仁爱变成活的。在我们看来，这信就像一位女王，饰有和圣城耶路撒冷的城墙一样多的宝石（启示录21:17－20）。
　　“不过，为防止你们视我的话为夸夸其谈，从而漫不经心，我就将神圣的圣言经文读给你们，这些经文将清楚表明，我们的信并非象你们想的那样信一个人，而是信真神，神性的全部都在祂里面。约翰说：
　　耶稣基督是真神，也是永生。（约翰一书5:20）
　　保罗说：
　　神本性一切的丰盛，都有形有体地居住在耶稣基督里面。（歌罗西书2:9）
　　使徒行传：
他向犹太人和希腊人传讲当向神悔改，信靠我们的主耶稣基督。（使徒行传20:21）
　　主自己说：
　　天上地下所有的权柄都赐给我了。（马太福音28:18）
　　这些只是其中的一小部分而已。”
　　此后，这位天使看着我说：“你了解那些自称福音派的人对于主救主信的是什么，或预计信什么。请列举他们的一些信条，好让我们看看他们是否愚蠢到以为主的人身纯粹是人的地步，或者他们有没有将某些神性归给祂，以及如何归给。”于是，当着全体会众的面，我从1756年出版于莱比锡、被称为《协和信条》的正统手册大声读了以下声明：神性和人性在基督里合一，组成一个位格（606，762页）；基督在一个不分裂的位格里永远是真神真人（609，673，762页）；在基督里，神是人，人是神（607，765页）；基督的人性被完全提升到神的威严，这也是很多神父所说的（844－852，860－865，869－878页）；基督的人性无所不在，充满一切空间（768，783－785页）；基督的人性拥有天上地下一切的权柄（775，776，780页）；基督的人性坐在父的右手边（608，764页）；要求告基督的人性，这一点还援引圣经来证明（226页）。《奥格斯堡信纲》尤为推崇这种敬拜模式（19页）。”
　　读完这些声明，我转向那个为首的，说：“我知道，这里的每个人都与世间类似他的某个人相联。请告诉我，你知道与你相联的是谁吗？”他严肃地回答：“当然，我与一个名人相联，他是教会领军人物中的首领。”由于他说话的语气如此严肃，于是我说：“恕我冒昧，你知不知道这位着名领袖现住何处？”他回答：“他离路德的坟墓不远。”对此，我笑了笑说：“你为何提及坟墓？难道你不知道路德已经复活了吗？他现在已经放弃了因信永恒的三个神性位格而称义的谬念，并因此置身于新天堂蒙福者之列，还看见并笑话那些疯狂追随他的人。”他回答：“这一切我都知道，但和我有什么关系？”于是，我以同样严肃的口吻对他说：“请把这个想法放到与你相联的那个名人的脑海里：当他着书反对敬拜主我们的救主时，恐怕他违背了自己教会的正统信仰，同时将主的神性从祂那里夺走，或让他的笔犁出一道深沟，无意中在里面播下自然主义的种子。”对此，他回答：“我做不到，因为在这个问题上，他和我几乎是一个心思。不过，我说的，他不理解；而他说的，我全都明白。”这是因为灵界流入尘世，并察觉世人的思想，反过来不行。这就是灵人与世人之间关系的性质。
　　由于我已经开始与那个为首的展开对话，所以我继续说：“如果可以的话，我想再问一两个问题。难道你不知道，正如名为《协和信条》的教会手册所声明的，正统福音派教导说，在基督里，神为人，人为神，祂的神性和祂的人性永远在一个不可分裂的位格里？那么，他和你怎能用自然主义来玷污对主的敬拜呢？”对此，他回答说：“这一点我知道，也不知道。”于是，我又说：“我来问问他，或你代他回答，因为他不在场。主我们救主的灵魂从哪来？若说来自母亲，那你疯了；若说来自约瑟，那你就亵渎了圣言；若说来自圣灵，那你就对了，前提是，你所说的圣灵指的是发出并作工的神性，因此祂就是耶和华神的儿子。
　　“我再问你，什么是位格合一？若回答说它就象两个人之间的结合，其中一个在上，一个在下，那你疯了；因为这样你就将神救主分成两个人，就象你将神一分为三一样。不过，若说它就是在一个位格里面的合一，正如灵魂与肉体的合一，那你就对了。这也符合你的教义和神父们的教义。查阅一下《协和信条》（765－768页），以及亚他尼修信经，那里声明：按纯正的信仰，我们相信并承认我们的主耶稣基督，是神，又是人；祂虽然是神，也是人，但不是两个位格，而是一位基督；（圣子的神人二性）合而为一，不是因为这二性相混合，而是因为位格只有一个；正如灵魂和身体成为一个人，神与人成为一基督。
　　“我还请问，致使君士坦丁大帝召开尼西亚公会的可憎的阿里乌斯异端邪说，除了否认主人性的神性外，还会是什么？请再告诉我，你认为耶利米书中的这些话说的是谁：
　　看哪，日子将到，我要给大卫兴起一个公义的苗裔，祂必掌王权；这是祂的名：耶和华我们的义。（耶利米书23:5，6；33:15，16）
　　若说自永恒所生的儿子，那你疯了，那不是救世主；若说生在时间中的儿子，祂是神的独生子（约翰福音1:18；3:16），那你就对了。祂凭自己的救赎行为而成为公义，你们的信就建立在这公义之上。也请读一下以赛亚书9章6节，以及其它经文，这些经文预言了耶和华将亲自降世。这个为首的对此保持沉默，然后别过脸去。
　　当这一切结束时，为首的想以祷告结束这次会议。但就在这时，有一个人从左边那一方跳了出来，他头上包着头巾，头巾上戴着一顶帽子。他用手指扶了扶帽子说：“我也和你们世上的一个人相联，他在那里身居高位。我知道这一点，是因为我通过他说话，犹如通过我自己说话。”“这位显赫人物住在哪？”我问道。“在歌德堡”，他答道，“我有时从他的思想总结出，你的新教义有点伊斯兰教的意味。”听见这话，我发现右边，就是使徒后教父们所站之处的所有人都大吃一惊，脸色也变了。我听见从他们心底升起、从口中发出的感叹：“多么可憎的事！这是什么世代！”为了平息他们的义愤，我举手请他们听下去。经同意后，我说：“我知道你所说的那位显赫人物在一封信中写过类似东西，这封信后来被印刷出来。但他若知道这是何等侮辱神，必把它撕得粉碎，然后付之一炬。象这样的侮辱，就是当犹太人说基督行神迹不是靠神的大能，而是靠别的力量时，主对犹太说的话（马太福音12:22－32）所表示的。此外，在那里主还说：不与我相合的，就是敌我的；不同我收聚的，就是分散的（马太福音12:30）。”我说完这些话，相联的这个灵人目光下垂，但马上抬头说：“我现在从你这里听到的事，比以前的还要糟糕。”我继续说：“原因有两个：自然主义和伊斯兰教。它们就是恶毒的谎言和狡诈的捏造。这两个致命打击旨在误导人们的意志，使他们远离对主的神圣敬拜。”然后，我转向后一个相联的灵人，说：“若可以，你告诉哥德堡的那个人，读一下主在启示录（3:18；2:16）中说的话吧。”
　　这些话引起一阵骚动，但从天上降下来的光将它平息了。这光使得左边那一方的很多人转投到右边那些人当中。左边只剩下那些思想肤浅，因而仰赖某个大师所说的话之人，以及那些将主视为纯粹的人之人。从天上降下来的光似乎被这两类人反射回来，但却流入到那些从左边转投到右边的人里面。

真实的基督教 #137 （火能翻译，2015）

137. 第四個經歷:

我聽說有一個宗教會議要舉行, 在關於當今信仰以及唯信稱義方面, 寫過不少名作和作過這方面研究的名人們會參加。

會議是在靈界舉行, 於是我被允許在靈裡去參會。我見到有神職人員參加, 有些持相同信念, 有些各不相同。右邊站著的, 是那些被稱為使徒時代的眾教父們, 他們生活在尼西亞會議之前。左邊則是生活在隨後年代的, 因發表印刷作品或手寫作品(被跟從者複寫)而聞名之人。後者之中, 許多沒有鬍鬚, 戴著女人頭髮製成的假髮。有些人的衣服有飛邊的皺領, 有的是扁平領子。然而之前那幫人, 有鬍鬚, 沒戴假髮。

在兩組人前站有一人(類似現今時代各種著作的審判員與評論家), 手上有杖。他敲擊地面, 讓全體肅靜。然後, 他登臺階走上講臺, 哼了一哼, 原想接下來高聲發言, 卻不料接不氣, 聲音卡在喉嚨裡。

[2]最後, 他開口說:"哦, 這是什麼世代, 我的弟兄們哪！平信徒中居然有個人起來, 他無袍,無帽,無冕, 卻將我們的信仰從天拽進冥河。太可怕了！然而這信仰是我們唯一的明星, 像晚間閃爍的獵戶星,像早晨的路西弗。那個人雖然年紀不小, 但對我們信仰的奧秘完全無知。因為他未曾打開我們的信仰, 並看到有主我們拯救者的義在其中, 也看不到主的調解和勸慰之義。因為他未曾看到這些, 也就看不到因如此信而被稱義的奇妙。這些奇妙之處就是罪得赦免,更新重生,走向成聖,獲得救恩。

"這個人不接受我們的信仰, 這讓人得救的信仰, 就是信三個神性的位格,因而信完整的上帝。他卻將信仰的目標引向第二個位格。實際上, 甚至不是完整的第二個位格, 僅僅是祂的人身顯現。那個人身顯現, 我們確實稱為神性, 因為祂是永恆之子上帝的道成肉身。但除了僅僅是人以外, 有人會視之為其他什麼嗎？這樣的信仰, 除了像湧泉迸發那樣, 讓自然主義湧向我們, 還能有什麼呢？因為這樣的信仰並非屬靈, 幾乎與信仰教皇或聖人沒什麼區別。你們都知道加爾文說過, 在他那個年代, 有這種類似的信仰出現。你們其中任何一位, 請告訴我, 信從哪裡來？不是直接來自於上帝嗎？這就是為何其中包含了救恩的一切事情。"

[3]在他左邊的同伴中, 就是沒鬍鬚,戴假髮和穿皺領的那些人, 鼓起掌來, 大聲叫:"說得太好了！我們深知, 除了從天上來的, 我們什麼也得不到！"

於是那人繼續說:"如果這不是信, 就請那位'先知'告訴我們, 信從哪裡來, 什麼是信？不可能有別樣不同的信, 也不可能有其它的來源。除此之外, 再想揭示出另外的真信仰, 那是不可能的, 就像騎馬奔向空中的星座, 摘下一顆星星, 揣在口袋中帶回地上。"

他這樣說, 使他的同伴們都笑話另外還有什麼新的信仰。

[4]然而, 在右邊的人們(就是有鬍鬚, 不戴假髮的)聽到這些後, 憤憤不平。其中有一位站起來(是位老人, 不過後來看起來像個年青人, 因為他是天國的天人, 在那裡的老人都變得年經), 他開口說:"我聽出來你們的信是什麼, 正如剛才講臺之人所說那樣。但是, 那樣的信什麼都不是, 就像主復活後剩下的空墳墓, 又被彼拉多的士兵關上。我打開那個信仰, 什麼都沒有, 除了幾根魔杖, 就是埃及術士用來行神跡的。在你們的眼中, 這樣的信從外表看來, 如同金子鑄造,外鑲寶石的寶箱, 但打開後, 裡面空無一物, 只是角落裡有教皇遺骸落下的一點灰塵。教皇信奉者們也有同樣的信仰, 到如今, 除此之外, 就只剩包裝這信仰的虔誠外表了。

"你們的信仰, 如果讓我再作比方, 就像古時候為了熄滅聖火而被活著埋葬的維斯塔貞女。事實上, 我可以明說:在我眼中, 你們的信仰看起來就像在摩西上西乃山見耶和華後, 以色列人圍繞跳舞的金牛犢(Exodus 32:1-20)。[5]不要奇怪我用這樣的比方來形容你們的信仰, 因為我們在天上就是這樣談論它的。

"另一方面, 我們的信仰是,曾是,永遠是:信主上帝拯救者, 其人是神性,其神性亦是人。這是適合去接受的信仰, 是神性與人性相互聯合的信仰, 也是屬靈與屬世相互聯合的信仰, 成為屬世平臺之上的屬靈信仰。從我們信仰的屬靈之光照射下, 屬世之物就變得透明了。

"構成我們信仰的真理, 多得如同眾多大部頭聖著的字數。這些真理如同星星, 星光照亮使信仰顯現,並顯出形狀。人們可以藉著自然之光從聖言中獲得這樣的信仰, 就是藉著他的知識,思想和信念。如果人們信主, 祂就會使他的信仰轉為確定,信靠和信心。通過這樣的過程, 信仰就成了屬靈與屬世的連通(或稱屬靈之屬世), 因著義, 就變成活信仰了。對我們來說, 這樣的信仰就像一位女王,以各樣寶石裝飾, 就是聖耶路撒冷城牆根基上的寶石(啟示錄21:17-20)。

[6]"為了不讓你們以為我剛才所說的太過誇張,因而貶低它們, 我將從神聖之聖言中讀些內容給你們聽。讓你們看清楚, 我們所信的, 並非如你們所想的只是個人, 而是真上帝, 神性之全部都在祂之中。約翰說:'耶穌基督是真上帝, 是永生'(約翰一書5:20)。保羅說:'神性一切的豐富都有形有體地住在基督裡'(歌羅西書2:9)。『使徒行傳』中還說:'他向猶太人和希臘人所傳的:向上帝悔改, 並信我們的主耶穌基督'(使徒行傳20:21)。主自己說天地所有的權柄都給祂了(馬太福音28:18)。這些只是其中一小部分而已。"

[7]之後, 這天人看著我, 說:"你知道那些被稱為福音派的人們對主拯救者的信仰如何。列舉其中一些內容吧, 這樣我們就能看出他們是否愚蠢地相信主的人身顯現僅僅是個人, 又或他們是否將一些神性歸屬給祂。如果是, 那是怎樣。"

於是, 我當著他們的面, 大聲誦讀摘自《協同信條》(福音派正統信仰, 1756年發行於里斯本)的以下內容:在基督裡, 神性和人性如此聯合而成為一人(p.606, 762)。在這個不可分割的人裡, 基督是真上帝和人, 並保持到永遠(p.609, 673, 762)。在基督裡, 上帝是人,人是上帝(p.607, 765)。基督的人性上升到全然神性的威嚴(從眾多使徒教會的教父們引述, p.844-852, 860-865, 869-878)。相對祂的人性, 基督是全能, 充滿于萬有(p.768, 783-785)。相對祂的人性, 天地的所有權柄居於基督之中(p.775-776, 780)。相對祂的人性, 基督坐在父的右手邊(p.608, 764)。基督當被求告(p.226; 在此引用了經文來證明這個立場)。『奧格斯堡信條』完全支持這樣的敬拜(p.19)。

[8]我大聲讀完後, 轉向臺上那個領頭的, 說:"我知道, 所有這裡的人都與世間類似之人相互聯繫, 如果你知道, 請告訴我, 你與誰相聯呢？"他以一種嚴肅的聲調回答:"我當然知道, 我與一個名人相連, 是教會眾傑中的一位帶領人。"

由於他回答得如此嚴肅, 因此我問:"請允許我問一問, 你知不知道這位名人現住何處？"

"我當然知道, "他說:"他住在離路德的所葬之地不遠處。"

對此, 我笑了笑, 說:"為何你說路德的葬處呢？你不知道路德已經復活, 他現在已放棄他的錯誤觀念——就是靠著信永恆之三個神性位格而稱義？並且因此他已置身于天國受祝福之列, 還笑話那些瘋狂的跟隨者們。"

"我知道, "他頂嘴說:"對我來說, 那有怎樣呢？"

然後, 我用他那種嚴肅的口吻, 對他說:"看看與你相連的那個名人, 我注意到在最近一個場合, 他著書反對向主我們的拯救者敬拜,並同時奪走祂的神性, 與他教會的正統背向而行, 並且允許他的筆犁了溝,草率播下自然主義的種子。"

"我不會那樣做, "對此他回答說:"儘管在這個立場上, 他和我或多或少相同。但我所說的, 他並不認知; 而他所講的, 我完全明白。因為心靈世界流入物質世界,並感知物質世界中人的思想; 但反過來不行。這就是靈與人相聯繫的情形。"

[9]他與我之間開始對話, 於是我繼續說:"如果允許, 我還想問幾個問題。你知道印在『協同信條上』福音派的正統信仰中, 有沒有教導:在基督裡, 上帝是人,人是上帝, 並且祂的神性和人性存在於不可分的這位基督裡, 並保持到永遠？如果是這樣, 他怎麼可以,你又怎能用唯物主義來玷污對主的敬拜？"他回答:"這個我知道, 不過又不知道。"

因此我繼續說:"讓我問問他, 可他不在場, 或者你代他回答, 因為你與他相連:主我們的拯救者, 祂的靈魂從哪裡來？如果你說來自瑪利亞, 那你毫無理性; 如果說來自約瑟, 你褻瀆聖言。不過, 你若說從聖靈而來, 就答對了。前提是你所指的聖靈表示發出並產生果效的神性, 以表示主是耶和華上帝的兒子。

[10]"還有, 請問什麼是神性的聯合？如果你認為是兩個實體之間的聯合, 一個在上,一個在下, 你們就荒唐了。因為那樣你就視上帝我們的拯救者為兩個實體, 就像你們視上帝為三個實體一樣。如果你說, 神性聯合如同一個人的靈魂與身體的聯合, 那就對了。遵循了你們的教義以及教父們的教導, 請看『協同信條』第765至768頁。

"還可參閱『亞他尼修信經』, 那裡說:'我們正確的信仰, 既相信並承認我們的主耶穌基督是上帝又是人。即使祂同時是上帝和人, 然而並非二位, 而是一位; 並不是神性和人性的本質混合, 卻是兩性聯合而為一個位格。 就如理性的靈魂和肉體合成一個人, 神性與人性合成一位基督。'

[11]"我還請問, 除了亞流主義否定主之人身的神性, 還有其它什麼, 令到康士坦丁帝王召集尼西亞會議來對付亞流主義異端呢？

"還有, 請告訴我, 看看『耶利米書』中的這些話講的是誰:'看哪, 日子將到, 我要給大衛興起一個公義的苗裔, 祂必掌王權; 這是祂的名字:耶和華我們的義'(耶利米書23:5-6; 33:15-16)。如果你說:是'從永遠生出的子上帝', 那你們就愚蠢了, 那並非救贖者。如果你說, 是那位在時間內出生的'上帝的獨生子'(約翰福音1:18; 3:16), 那就對了。祂通過救贖而成為義,你們的信仰藉此建立。再看以賽亞書9:6及其它章節, 在那裡預言耶和華自己將會降世。"

對此, 這位領頭人一言不發, 轉過頭去。

[12]發生完這些之後, 他想以禱告來結束這次聚會, 但突然被左邊那組的一個人打斷了。他頭上有塊頭巾, 上面蓋著個帽子, 他用手指扶了扶帽子, 說:"我也與你們世界的一個人相聯, 這人享有極高的榮譽。我之所以知道, 因為我通過他發言,猶如我自己講話。"

我問他, 這個名人住在哪裡。他回答:"在哥德堡。從他那裡, 我得到一個印象, 你的新教義有點伊斯蘭教味道。"

我看見右邊所有的靈, 還有站著的使徒教父們, 被這些話震驚了, 臉色瞬間變了。我聽到他們由衷地感歎:"哎, 太可怕了！什麼世代啊！"

怒氣平息後, 我舉手請他們繼續聽下去, 他們同意了。於是我說:"我知道你說的這個名人, 他寫過類似的書信, 還出版了。不過, 倘若他明白過來, 知道自己怎樣的褻瀆上帝。會迫不及待地親手撒掉自己那信,並扔進火裡。當猶太人說基督並非依靠神性大能來行神跡時(馬太福音12:22-32), 主對他們所說的, 就如同這類的誹謗。主還說了這些話, 可作為回應:'不與我相合的, 就是敵我的。不同我收集的, 就是分散的'(馬太福音12:30)。"

聽到這些, 那帶領人(他的同盟), 低下頭。不過, 他很快就抬起頭, 說:"我現在從你那聽到比先前更糟糕的事了。"

我繼續說:"這些控訴中, 隱含著兩個意思——自然主義和伊斯蘭化, 詭詐地隱藏著,並悄然入侵。這兩個致命的利器, 旨在轉變人的意志和阻止對主的神聖敬拜。"

我轉向左邊那組中後來發言的那人, 說:"如果可以, 告訴哥德堡那個人, 讓他讀主在啟示錄3:18和2:16說的話吧。"

[13]說完這些, 人群又一陣騷動。這時天上射下亮光, 他們就平靜下來。因著這些光芒, 左邊有很多人跨過來,加入到右邊這組。左邊剩下的, 只是那些只看表面,依賴權威之人, 還有那些認為主只是一個人而已的。這些人排斥從天射下的亮光, 而右邊那組卻歡喜這光。

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True Christianity #137 (Rose, 2010)

137. The fourth memorable occurrence. I heard that a council had been summoned that was made up of those who were famous for writing and research on the modern-day faith and on the justification of the elect by that faith.

This was in the world of spirits. I was allowed to attend in spirit. I saw that the participants were from the clergy. There were some who agreed and some who disagreed. To the right stood people who in the world had been called the apostolic fathers, who had lived in the centuries before the Council of Nicaea. To the left stood men from after those centuries who were well known for their printed works or works their followers had copied in manuscript form. Many in the latter group had clean-shaven faces and wore curled wigs of women's hair. Some of them had collars with ruffs; some had collars with bands. The former group, however, were bearded and wore no wigs.

Before both groups stood a man who had been a judge and critic of the writers of this century. With the staff in his hand, this chairman banged on the floor and brought about silence. He stepped up onto the dais where the central chair was and uttered a groan. After groaning he intended to shout out loud, but the breath expended in groaning made the shout catch in his throat.

[2] Finally, when he was able to speak, he said, "Friends, what times we live in! Someone has risen out of the herd of the laity. He has no gown, no cap, no laurel. Yet he has pulled our faith down from heaven and thrown it into the river Styx. What a crime! Yet that faith is our only star. It shines like Orion during the night and like Lucifer in the morning. That man, although well advanced in years, remains completely blind to the mysteries of our faith because he has not opened our faith and seen in it the justice of the Lord our Savior, as well as the Lord's mediation and appeasement. And since he hasn't seen these aspects of our faith, he has also missed the wonders of justification by that faith. These wonders are the forgiving of sins, regeneration, sanctification, and salvation.

"Instead of accepting our faith, which is supremely effective for one's salvation because it is a faith in three divine persons and therefore in the whole of God, this man has redirected belief toward the second Person - in fact, not even the whole second Person, but just his human manifestation. That human manifestation we do indeed call divine, because it was the incarnation of the Son from eternity; but who thinks of it as anything other than something merely human? What faith can we have in that except one that gushes materialist philosophy like a fountain? Since that kind of faith is not spiritual, it is virtually the same as faith in a substitute or a saint. You all know what Calvin said in his day about worship from a faith like that. Any one of you, tell us, please, where faith comes from. Doesn't it come directly from God? That is why it contains all the means of salvation. "

[3] At that the chairman's colleagues on the left side (the men with clean-shaven faces, curly wigs, and ruffs around their necks) burst into applause and shouted, 'Very wisely said! We know that we cannot receive anything that is not given us from heaven!"

[Then the chairman continued,] "That prophet should tell us where faith comes from and what faith is if it isn't this. It is impossible for faith to be different or to come from any other source. Revealing another true faith besides this one is as impossible as riding a horse to some constellation in the sky, grabbing one of its stars, hiding it in your coat pocket, and bringing it back with you!"

He included this last comment to make his friends laugh at any new faith.

[4] The men on the right side, though, who were bearded and wore no wigs, were upset when they heard this. One of them, an old man, stood up. (Later, however, he looked like a young adult, because he was an angel from heaven, where people of every stage of life become young adults.)

The old man said, "I have heard the nature of the faith you all have - the faith the chairman praised just now. But that faith is nothing but the tomb of our Lord after the resurrection, locked up again by Pilates soldiers. I have opened that faith but found nothing inside it except magicians' wands used by the sorcerers in Egypt for doing miracles. To your eyes, your faith looks like a treasure chest made of gold and encrusted with precious stones; but when it is opened, the chest is empty, except perhaps for some dust from papal relics left in the corners. Papists have the same faith, you see, except that they are hiding it now behind external acts of piety.

"To use a simile, your faith is also like the Vestal virgin in ancient times who was buried alive for extinguishing the sacred fire. In fact, I can state it directly: to my eyes your faith looks just like the golden calf around which the children of Israel danced after Moses had left to go up to Jehovah on Mount Sinai [].

[5] Don't be surprised that I have spoken about your faith in these analogies - this is the way we who are in heaven speak about it.

"Our faith, on the other hand, is, was, and will be to eternity a belief in the Lord God the Savior, whose humanity is divine and whose divinity is human. It is a faith, then, that is adapted for reception. It is a faith that unites what is divine and spiritual to what is human and earthly. It becomes a spiritual faith on an earthly plane. What is earthly then becomes transparent from the spiritual light of our faith.

"The truths that constitute our faith are as many as the verses in the sacred tome. These truths are all like stars, whose light reveals, and shows the shape of, our faith. People acquire this faith from the Word by means of their earthly light - the light of knowledge, thought, and persuasion; but if people believe in the Lord, he turns this faith into conviction, trust, and confidence. Through this process their faith comes to be spiritual as well as earthly, and enlivened by goodwill. To us this faith is like a queen decorated with as many precious stones as could be seen in the wall of the Holy Jerusalem (Revelation 21:17-20).

[6] "So that you won't think the words I am saying are exaggerated and discount them as a result, I will read you something from the Holy Word that will make it clear that our faith is not faith in a human being, as you think it is; it is faith in the true God in whom everything divine exists. John says, 'Jesus Christ is the true God and eternal life' (1 John 5:20). Paul says, 'All the fullness of divinity dwells physically in Christ' (Colossians 2:9). In the Acts of the Apostles it says of Paul, 'To both Jews and Greeks he preached repentance before God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ' (Acts of the Apostles 20:21). The Lord himself says that all power in heaven and on earth has been given to him (Matthew 28:18); but these are just a few passages. "

[7] After that the angel looked at me and said, "You know what the beliefs of the so-called Evangelicals are or should be about the Lord the Savior. Recite a few of them so that we may know whether they foolishly believe that the Lord's human manifestation is merely human, or whether they ascribe anything of divinity to that human manifestation, and if so, how. "

I then read out loud excerpts from the book of Evangelical orthodoxy called the Formula of Concord, printed in Leipzig in 1756. I read the following: "In Christ the divine nature and the human nature are so united that they are one Person" (pages 606, 762). "Christ is truly God and a human being in an individual Person; he remains so to eternity" (pages 609, 673, 762). "In Christ God is human and a human is God" (pages 607, 765). "Christ's human nature has been exalted to all divine majesty" (with quotes from many of the apostolic fathers, pages 844-852, 860-865, 869-878). "In his human nature Christ is omnipresent and fills all things" (pages 768, 783, 784, 785). "In his human nature Christ has been given all power in heaven and on earth" (pages 775, 776, 780). "In his human nature Christ sits at the right hand of the Father" (pages 608, 764). "We are to call on Christ in his human nature" (page 226; this statement is supported there by Scriptural passages). The Augsberg Confession completely supports this worship (page 19).

[8] After I read these things out loud, I turned to the chairman and said, "I know that all who are here are associated with people on earth who are like them. Tell me, if you would: do you know whom you are associated with?"

He answered in a solemn tone, "I do know. I am associated with a famous man, a commander of battalions in the church's army of the enlightened. "

Because he answered in such a solemn tone, I said, "Forgive my asking if you know where that famous commander lives. "

"I do know," he said. "He lives not far from where Luther is buried. "

Smiling at this I said, "Why do you say where Luther is buried? Don't you know that Luther has risen, and that he has now recanted his errors regarding justification by faith in three divine Persons from eternity? Surely you know that because of this he has been transferred to join the blessed in the new heaven, and that he laughs when he looks upon his insane followers. "

"I know," he retorted, "but what difference does that make to me?"

Then in the same tone he had used, I addressed him and said, "Pass on to the famous person you are associated with that I am concerned that on a recent occasion he went against the orthodoxy of his own church and took away the Lord's divinity. He let his pen plow a furrow and carelessly sowed materialist philosophy in it when he wrote against the worship of our Lord the Savior. "

"I can't do that," the chairman replied, "because on this topic he and I are more or less of one mind. Besides, he doesn't understand the things I tell him, although all the things he tells me I understand very clearly. The spiritual world enters the material world and perceives the thoughts of people there, but it doesn't work the other way around. These are the present conditions of interaction between spirits and people. "

[9] Since the chairman and I were already conversing, I added: "If possible I'd like to digress to some other questions. Do you know that the orthodoxy of the Evangelicals, presented in their church handbook called the Formula of Concord, teaches that in Christ, God is human and a human is God and that his divinity and humanity exist in one individual person and remain so to eternity? If so, how then could he, and how can you, befoul the worship of the Lord with materialist philosophy?"

To that he replied, "Do I know that? Yes and no. "

Therefore I went on to say, "I ask your associate, although he is absent, or else you in his place: where did the soul of the Lord our Savior come from? If you say it came from Mary, you are insane. If you say it came from Joseph, you desecrate the Word. But if you say it came from the Holy Spirit you have the right answer, provided that by the Holy Spirit you mean the Divinity emanating and having an effect, which means that the Lord is the Son of Jehovah God.

[10] "Again I ask, what is the hypostatic union [in the Lord our Savior]? If you reply that it is a union between two entities, one above and the other below, you are insane, because in that case you could view God our Savior as two entities just as you have viewed the Godhead as three entities. If you say that it is a personal union like the partnership between the soul and the body, you have the right answer. This follows your doctrine and the doctrine of the church fathers. See the Formula of Concord pages 765 to 768.

"Also check the Athanasian Creed where it says, 'Proper faith is for us to believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is both God and a human being. Yet although he is both God and a human being, still he is one Christ, not two. He is one in every way, not by a mixing of substance but by a oneness of person. For as the rational soul and the flesh is one human being, so God and a human being is one Christ. '

[11] "Still further I ask, what was the damnable heresy of Arius that caused Emperor Constantine the Great to call the Council of Nicaea? Wasn't it the denial of the divinity of the Lord's human manifestation?

"For another thing, tell me whom you see as the subject of the following words in Jeremiah: 'Behold, the days are coming when I will raise up for David a righteous offshoot who will rule as king; and this is his name: Jehovah is our Justice' (Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16). If you say 'the Son from eternity,' you are insane. He was not the Redeemer. If you say 'the Son born in time, who was the only begotten Son of God' (John 1:18; 3:16), you have the right answer. By redeeming us, he became the justice on which you base your faith. Also read Isaiah 9:6 and the other passages predicting that Jehovah himself was going to come into the world. "

At this the chairman looked away in silence.

[12] The presiding officer then wanted to end the council with a prayer but suddenly a man in the left-hand group interrupted. He had a cloth head-covering on with a hat on top of it. He touched his hat with one finger and said, "I too am associated with a man in your world. He has been appointed to a highly exalted position. I know this because I speak on his behalf as on my own. "

I asked him where that eminent man lives. He answered, "In Goteborg. From him I once got the impression that your new doctrine smacks of Muhammadanism. "

I saw that all the spirits on the right where the apostolic fathers were standing were shocked when they heard that word, and their faces fell. I heard them crying, both in thought and out loud, "What an outrage! What times we live in!"

To calm their understandable wrath I lifted my hand and asked for their attention. When they gave it to me, I said, "I am aware that a man of stature wrote some such accusation in a letter; later the letter was printed. If he had known at that point, however, what blasphemy it was, he would surely have torn it to pieces with his own fingers and given it to Vulcan to consume. The Lord responded to a similar attack when the Jews said that Christ was doing miracles with something other than divine power (Matthew 12:22-32). Among other things, the Lord says in that response, 'Whoever is not with me is against me. Whoever is not gathering with me is scattering' (Matthew 12:30). "

At this, the chairman, his ally, lowered his face. Soon, however, he lifted it again and said, "Now I have heard harder things than ever from you!"

I countered, "There are two doctrines behind these proceedings: materialist philosophy and Muhammadanism - lies invented by treachery, two deadly stabs aimed at turning and deterring the human will from the holy worship of the Lord. "

I turned to the man from the left-hand group and said, "Tell your man in Goteborg, if you can, to read what the Lord has said in Revelation 3:18 and also in Revelation 2:16. "

[13] When I said that, a riot broke out, but it was calmed by light sent down from heaven. As a result of the light, many on the left crossed over to join those on the right. Two groups who stayed on the left were those spirits whose thoughts were without purpose and who would therefore hang on the sayings of any authority, and those spirits who saw the Lord as only a human being. The light sent down from heaven seemed to be repelled by these latter two groups, but it seemed to flow into the spirits who crossed from left to right.

True Christian Religion #137 (Chadwick, 1988)

137. The fourth experience.

I was told that a council had been summoned, made up of people famous for their books and learning, to discuss the present state of faith, and how the chosen are made righteous by it. This took place in the world of spirits, and I was allowed to be present at it in the spirit. I saw a gathering of clergy, composed of both those who agreed and those who disagreed with this. On the right stood those who in the world were called the Apostolic Fathers, and lived in the period before the Council of Nicaea ¹ . On the left stood men who since that time had been famous for their books, either, printed or copied in manuscript by apprentices. Many of these were clean-shaven and wore wigs made of curly women's hair; some of them had rolled collars, some winged collars. The other party, however, had beards and their own hair.

In front of the two parties stood a man who was a judge and reviewer of worldly writings. He rapped for silence on the ground with a staff he held in his hand. Then he went up the steps to his chair of office, and uttered a groan; he intended to follow it with a loud cry, but the groan choked his breath back in his throat.

[2] At length he was able to speak as follows: 'Brothers, what an age is this we live in! A person has arisen from the throng of laymen, one without the cap and gown of learning nor honoured with academic laurels, and has dislodged our faith from its place in heaven, and hurled it into the river Styx. What a dreadful crime! Yet that faith alone is our guiding star, shining like Orion by night, and like the Morning Star at dawn. For all his years that man is totally blind to the mysteries of our faith, because he has not opened it up to see in it the righteousness of our Lord and Saviour, and His mediation and propitiation; and not seeing these, he has failed too to see the wonders of how He makes us righteous, the remission of sins, regeneration, sanctifying and salvation. This man has taken away our faith with its outstanding saving power, because it is directed to three Divine Persons, and so to God in His totality, and concentrated it upon the Second Person - and not even all of that, but upon His Human. We do of course call this Divine as the result of the incarnation of the Son from eternity, but no one thinks of it as anything but purely human. And what then can come from this but a faith which is a plentiful source of nature-worship? That sort of faith, lacking spirituality, is little different from faith in the Vicar of Christ, or in a Saint. You know what Calvin in his time said about worship founded on that sort of faith. Will one of you please tell me, what is the source of faith? Surely it comes directly from God, in whom lies everything needed for our salvation?'

[3] At this his companions on the left, the party without beards, who wore curly wigs and a rolled collar about their necks, clapped their hands and shouted: 'Most wisely spoken! We know that we cannot receive anything which is not given to us from heaven. Let that prophet tell us the source of faith, and what else faith is. It is impossible for it to be other or of other origin. It is as impossible to present any other faith, which truly is a faith, as it is to ride to some constellation in the sky, catch a star, and bring it back stored in one's coat pocket.' This speech was designed to make his companions laugh at any new sort of faith whatever.

[4] On hearing this the party on the right, who wore beards and had their own hair, became angry. One of them got up, an old man, though afterwards he appeared young, because he was an angel from heaven, where people of any age grow young again. He spoke and said: 'I have heard what sort of faith you have, the faith that was so highly praised by the man who holds the chair of office. But what is that faith but our Lord's tomb after the resurrection, when it was sealed again by Pilate's troops? I opened it up and I could see nothing in it but some conjurers' wands, which the wise men of Egypt used to perform their miracles. Rather, your faith is outwardly in your eyes like a bookcase of solid gold, set with precious stones, which when opened is empty, except perhaps for a little dust from the relics of Roman Catholics in its corners. For they have the same faith as you, only it is nowadays wrapped up in outward displays of holiness. To go on with comparisons, it is like the Vestal Virgin of antiquity, who allowed the sacred fire to go out, and was buried alive. I can assure you that in my eyes your faith is like the golden calf around which the Children of Israel danced, when Moses had gone away to climb Mount Sinai to Jehovah.

[5] 'You need not be surprised at my using such comparisons to speak of your faith, because that is how we speak of it in heaven. On the other hand, our faith is, has been, and ever will be in the Lord God the Saviour, whose Human is Divine and whose Divine is Human. This makes it easy for us to accept, as uniting the Divine spiritual to the natural of men. So it becomes a spiritual faith at the natural level, and this makes the natural as it were translucent, as the result of the spiritual light which illuminates our faith. The truths of which it is made up are as numerous as the verses in Holy Writ; all its truths are like stars, which by their light show it forth and give it form. A person acquires faith from the Word by means of his own natural powers of enlightenment, which are based upon knowledge, thought and false belief. But with those who believe in the Lord, He turns these into conviction, trust and confidence. This makes the natural faith spiritual, and charity gives it life. This faith appears to us like a queen decked out with as many jewels as the wall of the Holy Jerusalem (Revelation 21:17-20).

[6] 'But to prevent you believing that my words are mere exaggeration and consequently not to be taken seriously, I will read you some passages from the Holy Word, which will show plainly that our faith is not in a man, as you think, but in the true God, in whom is all that is Divine. John says:

Jesus Christ is the true God and everlasting life. 1 John 5:20.

Paul says:

In Christ all the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily, Colossians 2:9.

In the Acts of the Apostles:

Paul preached both to Jews and Greeks repentance toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, Acts of the Apostles 20:21.

The Lord Himself said that to Him was given "all power in heaven and upon earth" (Matthew 28:18). These are but a few quotations.'

[7] After this the angel looked at me and said: 'You know what those who call themselves Evangelical believe, or should believe, about the Lord the Saviour. Recite some of their tenets, so that we can know whether they are so foolish as to believe that His Human is purely human, or whether they attribute any Divinity to it, and, if so, how.'

Then in front of the whole assembly I read out the following statements from the handbook of orthodoxy called 'The Formula of Concord,' published in Leipzig in 1756:

In Christ the Divine and the Human natures are so united as to make one Person. (pp. 606 762). Christ is truly God and Man in one undivided Person, and remains so for ever. (pp. 609 673, 762). In Christ God is Man and Man is God. (pp. 607, 765).

Christ's human nature was raised to fully Divine majesty; this is also said by many of the Fathers. (pp. 844-852, 860-865, 869-878).

Christ as to His human nature is omnipresent and fills all space. (pp. 768, 783-5.)

Christ as to His human nature has all power in heaven and on earth. (pp. 775-776, 780).

Christ as to His human nature sits at the right hand of the Father. (pp. 608, 764).

Christ as to His human nature is to be invoked; this is proved by quotations from Scripture (p. 226).

The 'Confession of Augsburg' gives the highest degree of approval to that mode of worship (p. 19).

[8] After reading these statements I turned to the man in the chair of office and said: 'I know that everyone here is paired with someone like him in the natural world; please tell me whether you know who your colleague is.'

He answered in a solemn tone: 'Yes. I am paired with a famous man ² who is a leader of the noble troops of the church militant.'

Since he spoke in such a solemn tone, I said: 'Forgive my asking, but do you know where this famous leader lives?'

'Yes,' he said, 'not far from Luther's tomb.'

I smiled at this and said: 'Why do you say "his tomb"? Do you not know that Luther has risen again, and has now renounced his erroneous doctrines about justification by faith in three Divine Persons from eternity, and has therefore been transferred to live with the blessed of the new heaven, where he sees and laughs at those who follow him in this madness?'

'I know this,' he replied, 'but how does it concern me?'

So then I addressed him in equally solemn tones: 'Put the idea,' I said, 'into the mind of your famous man who is paired with you, that I am afraid that contrary to the orthodoxy of his own church, he then for the moment took His divinity away from the Lord, or allowed his pen to plough a furrow, in which he unwittingly planted the seeds of nature-worship, when he wrote an attack on the worship of the Lord our Saviour.'

To this he answered: 'I cannot do this, because he and I are of almost one mind on this subject; but he does not understand what I say, while I have a clear understanding of everything he says.' This was because the spiritual world enters into the natural world and perceives the thoughts of people there, but not the reverse. This is the nature of the association between spirits and men.

[9] Since I had now begun a dialogue with the holder of the chair, I said: 'If I may, I should like to put in another question or two. Do you not know that Evangelical orthodoxy, as stated in their church's handbook called 'The Formula of Concord', teaches that in Christ God is Man and Man is God, and that His Divine and His Human are in one undivided Person, and so remain for ever? How then could he, and how can you, defile the worship of the Lord with nature-worship?'

To this he answered: 'This I know, and yet I do not know.'

So I went on and said: 'I put the question to him, absent as he is, or to you in his place, what was the source of the soul of the Lord our Saviour? If you answer that it was from His mother, you are mad; if that it was from Joseph, you are doing violence to the Word; but if that it was from the Holy Spirit, you are right, so long as by the Holy Spirit you understand the Divine coming forth and working, so that He is the Son of Jehovah God.

[10] 'I ask you again, what is the meaning of hypostatic union? If you answer that it is like a union between two, one of whom is above and the other below, you are mad, for in this way you could have made God the Saviour into two, just as you make God into three. But if you say that it is a union in one person, as between the soul and the body, you are right. This too is in accordance with your doctrine and that of the Fathers: see The Formula of Concord, pp. 765-768. See also the Athanasian Creed, which contains these words:

The correct belief is that we should believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is God and Man; and though He is God and Man, there are not two, but there is one Christ. He is in every way one, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of Person. For just as the reasoning soul and the flesh make one man, so God and Man make one Christ.

[11] I ask yet further, what else was the abominable heresy of Arius, which led to the calling of the Council of Nicaea by the Emperor Constantine the Great, but a denial of the divinity of the Lord's Human? Tell me further, whom you understand by these words in Jeremiah:

Behold, the days will come, when I shall raise up for David a righteous shoot, who will reign as King, and this will be his name, Jehovah our righteousness, Jeremiah 23:5-6; 33:15-16.

If you say the Son from eternity, you are mad; He was not the Redeemer. But if you say the Son born in time, who was the only-begotten Son of God (John 1:18; 3:16), you are right. He by His redeeming act became righteousness, on which you base your faith. Read too Isaiah 9:6 and other passages, which predict that Jehovah Himself was to come into the world.'

The holder of the chair kept silence at this and turned away his face.

[12] When this was over, the presiding officer intended to close the meeting with prayer, but from the party on the left there suddenly sprang out a man, who had a cap on his head and a hat on top of it. He put his finger to his hat and said: 'I too am paired with a man in your world, who occupies a high position there. ³ I know this because I can speak his mind like my own.'

'Where,' I asked, 'does this eminent person live?'

'At Goteborg,' he replied. 'I have on occasion gathered from his thoughts that your new doctrine smacks of Mohammedanism.'

At this I saw all the party on the right, where the Apostolic Fathers were standing, amazed and crestfallen, and heard exclamations rising from their minds to their lips: 'What an abominable thing! What an age we live in!'

To allay their righteous anger I held up my hand and requested to be heard. When permission was given, I said: 'I know that a man of the eminence you describe has written something of the sort in a letter, which was subsequently printed. But if he had then known what a grave slander it is, he would surely have torn it in pieces, and consigned it to the flames. That is the same sort of insult as was meant by the Lord's words to the Jews, when they said that Christ performed His miracles by some other power than God's (Matthew 12:22-32). In addition, the Lord also says there:

Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me, scatters, Matthew 12:30.

When I said this, his colleague lowered his gaze, but after a little raised it again to say: 'I have never heard you speak so harshly.'

'The reason,' I replied, 'is the two dogmas of nature-worship and Mohammedanism, which are criminal lies cunningly invented, and two lethal blows designed to lead men's wills astray and repel them from the holy worship of the Lord.' I then turned to the second colleague and said: 'Tell the man in Goteborg if you can, to read the Lord's words in Revelation 3:18, and also the passage at Revelation 2:16 of that book.'

[13] When I said that, uproar broke out; but it was quelled by a light which shone down from heaven. This induced many of the party on the left to cross over to those on the right. But those remained on the left whose thoughts were entirely vacuous, and who therefore hang on the lips of any teacher, as well as those who think of the Lord as wholly human. The light streaming down from heaven seemed to be reflected off both these last two groups, but to flow into those who crossed over from left to right.

Footnotes:

True Christian Religion #137 (Ager, 1970)

137. Fourth Memorable Relation:

I heard that a synod had been convoked of those celebrated for their writings and learning in respect to the faith of the present day and the justification of the elect thereby. This was in the world of spirits; and it was granted me to be present in spirit; and I saw an assembly of the clergy, both those of like belief and those of differing beliefs. On the right stood those who were called in the world the Apostolic Fathers, who had lived in the centuries preceding the Nicene Council; on the left stood men renowned in the succeeding centuries for their printed or manuscript works. Many of these latter had no beards, and wore curled wigs made of women's hair; and some of them wore ruffled collars with points; while the former had beards and wore their natural hair.

In front of them all stood a man (a judge and a critic of the writings of the present century), with a staff in his hand. He struck the floor and caused silence. He then ascended the upper step of the pulpit and breathed out a sigh, and wished to follow it up by a loud exclamation; but the sighing breath kept back the sound in his throat.

[2] At length he spoke and said, "O what an age, my brethren! There has risen up from the herd of the laity one having neither gown, tiara, nor laurel, who has plucked our faith from heaven and hurled it into the Styx. O horrible! And yet that faith alone is our star, shining like Orion in the night, and like Lucifer in the morning. That man, though advanced in years, is wholly blind to the mysteries of our faith, because he has not investigated it and seen in it the righteousness of the Lord our Savior and His mediation and propitiation; and as he has not seen these neither has he seen the wonders of its justification, which are the remission of sins, regeneration, sanctification, and salvation. This man, in place of our faith-which, being a faith in three Divine persons and therefore in the whole Deity, is saving to the utmost has transferred faith to the second person; yet not even to Him, but to His Human which we call Divine because of the incarnation of the Son from eternity; but is there anyone who thinks of it as any thing more than merely human? From this what else can result but a faith from which naturalism flows as from a fountain? And such a faith, not being spiritual, differs but little from faith in a pope or in a saint. You know what Calvin said in his time about worship from that kind of faith. And pray tell me, anyone of you, whence comes faith. Must it not be directly from God to thus have in it all things of salvation?"

[3] At this his companions on the left, who had shaven faces, curly wigs, and collars about their necks, clapped their hands and shouted, "You have spoken most wisely. We know that we can take nothing that is not given us from heaven. If this is not faith, let that prophet tell us where faith comes from, and what it is. It cannot be any thing else or from any other source. To set forth any faith that is a faith, other than this, is as impossible as for one to ride on horseback to some constellation in heaven, and to take a star from it and hide it in his pocket and bring it down." This they said to make their companions laugh at any new belief.

[4] Hearing this, the men on the right, who had bearded chins and wore their natural hair, were indignant. And one of them rose up (an old man, although he afterwards looked like a young man, for he was an angel from heaven, where those of all ages become youthful); and he spoke and said, "I have heard what your faith is, which the man in the pulpit has so magnified; but what is such a faith but our Lord's sepulchre after the resurrection, when it had been closed again by Pilate's soldiers? I have explored it and have seen nothing in it but the juggler's rods with which the magicians in Egypt wrought miracles. Indeed, externally your faith in your eyes is like a shrine of molten gold set with precious stones, but when opened it is found empty, except, perhaps, for a little dust in the corners from Papal relics, since that church has the same faith; only with them at the present day it is overlaid with external sanctities. Your faith, if I may indulge in further comparisons, is like a vestal virgin among the ancients who has been buried alive for letting the sacred fire go out. And I can assure you that in my eyes it is like the golden calf around which the children of Israel danced when Moses had gone away, and had ascended Mount Sinai to Jehovah.

[5] Be not surprised that I use such comparisons in speaking of your faith; for so we speak of it in heaven. Our faith on the other hand is, was, and for ever will be, a faith in the Lord God the Savior, whose Human is Divine and whose Divine is Human; thus it is adapted to reception, and by it the Divine spiritual is united to the natural of man, and a spiritual faith is formed in the natural, and from the spiritual light in which our faith is the natural becomes as it were transparent. The truths of which our faith consists are as many as the verses in the sacred Volume; thee truths are all like stars, which by their light make the faith manifest and give it form. Man acquires this faith from the Word by means of his natural light, in which light it is knowledge, thought, and persuasion; but the Lord causes it, in those who believe in Him, to become conviction, trust, and confidence; thus faith becomes spiritual-natural, and by means of charity becomes living. With us this faith is like a queen adorned with precious stones, as numerous as those in the wall of the holy Jerusalem (Revelation 21:17-20).

[6] But lest you may look upon what I have said as mere boasting, and worthy of little regard, I will read to you some passages from the Holy Word, from which it will be evident that our faith is not faith in a man, as you suppose, but in the true God, in whom is the entire Divine. John says that:

Jesus Christ is the true God, and eternal life (1 John 5:20). Paul says that:

In Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Divinity bodily (Colossians 2:9); and in the Acts of the Apostles:

That he preached both to Jews and to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (20:21). And the Lord Himself says:

That there was given to Him all power in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18).

These are but a few of such passages."

[7] After this the angel looked at me and said, "You know what those who are called Evangelical believe, or are expected to believe, about the Lord the Savior. Recite some of these things, that we may see whether they are so foolish as to believe that His Human is merely human, or whether they attribute to Him something of the Divine, and how."

And then, in the presence of those assembled, I read the following passages from their standard work called the Formula Concordioe, published at Leipsic in 1756: In Christ the Divine and the Human Natures are so united as to make one person (pp. 606, 762). Christ is truly God and Man in one undivided person, and so remains for ever (pp. 609, 673, 762). In Christ God is Man, and Man is God (pp. 607, 765). Christ's Human Nature is exalted to all Divine Majesty; this also from many of the Fathers (pp. 844-852, 860-865, 869-878). As to His Human nature Christ is omnipresent, and fills all things (pp. 768, 783-785). In Christ, as to His Human nature, resides all power in heaven and on earth (pp. 775-776, 780). As to His Human nature Christ sits at the right hand of the Father (pp. 608, 764). Christ, as to His Human nature, is to be invoked; there proved by quotations from the Scriptures (p. 226). The Augustan Confession especially endorses this doctrine (p. 19).

[8] When I had read these passages I turned to the president and said, "I know that all here present are associated with their like in the natural world; tell me, I pray, do you know with whom you are associated?"

He answered in a grave tone, "I do; I am associated with a celebrated man, a leader of a host in the army of illustrious men in the church."

As he answered in so grave a tone I said, "Pardon me if I ask whether you know where that celebrated leader lives."

He answered, "I do; he lives not far from the tomb of Luther."

At this I smiled and said, "Why do you mention the tomb? Do you not know that Luther has risen, and has now renounced his erroneous ideas of justification by faith in three Divine persons from eternity, and therefore has been placed among the blessed in the new heaven, and sees and laughs at those who run mad after him?"

He replied, "I know, but what is that to me?"

I then addressed him in a grave tone like his own, saying, "Inspire your celebrated man with whom you are associated with this, Whether there is not reason to fear that in writing as he did against the worship of our Lord and Savior, he at the same time robbed the Lord of His Divinity, contrary to the orthodoxy of his church, or allowed his pen to plough a furrow in which he thoughtlessly sowed naturalism."

To this he replied, "That I cannot do, because he and I in that matter are almost of one mind; but what I say he does not understand, while all that he says I understand clearly." This is because the spiritual world enters into the natural and perceives the thoughts of men there, but not the reverse; such is the condition of association of spirits and men.

[9] As I had begun to talk with the president I continued, "If I may be permitted I will throw in still another query, Whether you are aware that the orthodoxy of the Evangelicals, in the manual of their church called the Formula Concordioe, teaches that in Christ God is Man, and Man is God, and that His Divine and Human are and will for ever remain one undivided Person? How then could he and how can you defile the worship of the Lord with naturalism?"

To this he replied, "I know that, and yet I do not know it." I therefore continued, "Let me ask him, or you in his place, since he is absent, from whom did the Lord our Savior derive His soul? If you say from the mother, you are irrational; if from Joseph, you profane the Word; if from the Holy Spirit, you say truly, provided that by the Holy Spirit you mean the proceeding and operating Divine, thus that He is the Son of Jehovah God.

[10] Again, I ask, What is the hypostatic union? If you reply that it is a union as between two persons, a superior and an inferior, you are irrational; for thus you might make God the Savior two persons, as you make God three; but if you say that it is a personal union like that of soul and body, you say rightly: and this is in harmony with your doctrine, also with that of the Fathers. Consult the Formula Concordioe (pp. 765-768), also the Athanasian creed, where this is said, 'The correct faith is that we believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is God and Man; who although He be God and Man, yet is not two, but is one Christ, one altogether, not by confusion of substance but by unity of Person; for as the reasonable soul and flesh are one man, so God and Man is one Christ. '

[11] I ask still further, What else was the damnable heresy of Arius, on account of whom the Nicene Council was convened by the Emperor Constantine the Great, than his denial of the Divinity of the Lord's Human? Tell me, moreover, whom you understand by these words in Jeremiah:

Behold, the days come that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and He shall reign as King, and this is His name, Jehovah our Righteousness (23:5, 6; 33:15, 16). If you say a Son born from eternity, you are irrational; that was not the Redeemer; but if you say the Son born in time, who was the only-begotten Son of God (John 1:18; 3:16), you say rightly; He through redemption became the righteousness upon which you build your faith. Read also Isaiah 9:6, besides other passages in which it is foretold that Jehovah Himself would come into the world."

At this the president was silent, and turned away.

[12] When all this had occurred the president wished to dismiss the synod with a prayer; but just then a man started up from the company on the left, with a turban on his head and a cap over the turban; and he touched his cap with his finger, and said, "I also am associated with a man in your world, who there occupies a position of great honor; this I know because I speak from him as from myself."

I asked where that eminent man lived.

He answered, "At Gottenburg; and from him I at one time thought that your new doctrines favored of Mohammedanism."

I saw that on hearing this all those on the right, where the Apostolic Fathers stood, were thunderstruck, and their countenances changed, and I heard such exclamations as these issuing from their minds through their mouths, "O horrible!" "O what an age!"

But to calm their just indignation I stretched forth my hand begged a hearing; which being granted I said, "I know that a man of that eminence wrote something of the kind in a letter which was afterwards printed; but if he had then known what blasphemy it was he would certainly have torn the letter to pieces and thrown it into the fire. A slander like that is meant by the Lord's words to the Jews, when they said that Christ wrought miracles by other than Divine power (Matthew 12:22-32); and in addition to this the Lord there says:

He that is not with Me is against Me, and be that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad" (verse30).

At these words the countenance of the associate spirit fell; but presently he looked up and said, "I have now heard worse things from you than ever."

But I continued, "There are two items in this charge-naturalism and Mohammedanism-Which are wicked lies and crafty inventions; and two deadly stigmas, designed to turn aside the wills of men and to deter them from the holy worship of the Lord." And I turned to the latter associate spirit and said, "Tell the man at Gottenburg, if you can, to read what is said by the Lord in Revelation 3:18 and also in 2:16."

[13] At these remarks a tumult arose; but it was quieted by light sent down from heaven, in consequence of which many of those on the left passed over to those on the right, those only remaining who thought superficially, and therefore depended on the word of some master, also those who thought of the Word as merely human. From both of these classes the light went down from heaven appeared to be thrown back, but to fall upon those who had passed over from the left to the right.

True Christian Religion #137 (Dick, 1950)

137. ¹ The fourth experience. I heard that a council had been convened of those celebrated for their writings and learning in the faith of the present day, and the consequent justification of the Elect. This was in the world of spirits, and I was permitted to be present in the spirit. I saw assembled there members of the clergy from both established and dissenting Churches. On the right stood those who in the world were called Apostolic Fathers, and who lived before the time of the Council of Nice; and on the left stood those renowned in succeeding ages for their works printed or still in manuscript. Many of the latter were beardless, and wore curled wigs of women's hair, some being in fluted and some in pointed collars; while the former were bearded, and wore their own hair. In front of both parties stood one who was judge and critic of the writings of this period, having a staff in his hand, with which he struck the ground and imposed silence. Mounting the highest step of the pulpit he uttered a deep groan, and then proceeded to speak in a loud voice, but the groan choked his voice in his throat.

[2] At length, regaining his voice, he said: "O my brethren, what an age is this! There has risen up from the company of the laity one having neither gown, mitre, nor laurel wreath, who has dragged down our faith from heaven and cast it into the infernal regions. What a crime is this! and yet that faith alone is our star which shines like Orion in the night and like Lucifer ² in the morning. That man, although advanced in years, is utterly blind to the mysteries of our faith, because he has not examined it, and seen in it the righteousness of the Lord the Savior, His mediation and His propitiation. Since he has not seen these neither has he seen the wonders of His justification, which are, the remission of sins, regeneration, sanctification and salvation. This man, instead of acknowledging faith as we hold it, which is saving to the utmost, because it is a faith in three Divine Persons, and thus in the whole Deity, has transferred it to the second Person, and not even to Him, but to His Human, which we indeed call Divine because of the incarnation of the Son from eternity; but no one considers that as anything more than merely human. What then can proceed from such a source but a faith which gives rise to naturalism? and such a faith, because it is not spiritual, differs little from a faith in a Pope or a saint. You know what Calvin ³ in his time used to say of worship from this faith; and, pray, will some one of you declare whence faith comes? Is it not directly from God, and so has in it all that belongs to salvation?"

[3] At this his companions on the left, who were beardless and wore curled wigs and had ruffled collars round their necks, clapped their hands and called out: "You have spoken most wisely. We know that we cannot receive anything which is not given us from heaven. Let that prophet tell us whence faith comes, and what else faith means; it is impossible that there should be any other, or have any other source. To produce any other faith, which really is faith, than this is as impossible as it is to ride to one of the constellations in the heavens, take a star from it, pocket it and carry it off." This he said in order that he might bring into ridicule among his companions every new faith.

[4] On hearing this the men on the right, who were bearded and wore their own hair, were indignant. Then one of them stood up, an old man, but who later appeared to be young: for he was an angel from heaven, where to grow old is to grow young, and he said: "I have heard the nature of your faith which your leader in the pulpit has so extolled. What is that faith, however, but the tomb of our Lord after His resurrection, closed again by the soldiers of Pilate? I have opened it, and seen nothing but jugglers' rods, with which the magicians in Egypt performed miracles. Truly that faith of yours is to all outward appearance like a chest constructed of gold, and set with precious stones; but when opened it is empty, unless perchance there is in its corners the dust of relics of pontifical dignitaries; for these have the same faith, only by them at the present day it is overlaid with external sanctities. Moreover, to use comparisons, it is like a vestal virgin among the ancients who was buried alive for having let the sacred fire go out; and I can assure you that in my eyes it is like the golden calf, around which the Children of Israel danced after the departure of Moses when he ascended Mount Sinai to Jehovah.

[5] Do not be surprised that I have used such comparisons in speaking of your faith, for so we speak of it in heaven. But our faith is, was, and ever shall be, in the Lord God the Savior, whose Human is Divine and whose Divine is Human. It is a faith accommodated to man's reception, and by it the spiritual Divine is united to what is natural in man; and it becomes a spiritual faith in the natural, in consequence of which the natural becomes as it were illuminated from the spiritual light in which our faith is. The truths which constitute this faith are as numerous as the several verses in the sacred Volume; and all those truths are like stars which by their own peculiar lights give manifestation and form to the faith. A man acquires this faith from the Word by the light (lumen) of his own natural intelligence, in which, however, it is only knowledge, thought, and persuasion. But the Lord, with those who believe on Him, causes this faith to become conviction, trust and confidence; thus natural faith becomes spiritual, and is made living by means of charity. Amongst us this faith is like a queen adorned with as many precious stones as the wall of the holy Jerusalem, Revelation 21:17-20.

[6] Do not suppose, however, that what I have said is mere boasting; and, that it may not be thus lightly regarded, I will read out some passages from the Holy Word, from which it will be evident that our faith is not, as you suppose, in a man, but in the true God, in whom resides all Divinity. John says,

that Jesus Christ is the true God, and eternal life. 1_John 5:20;

Paul says,

that in Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.Colossians 2:9;

and in the Acts of the Apostles it is written,

that he testified both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ Acts 20:21;

and the Lord Himself says,

All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Matthew 28:18.

But these are only a few passages."

[7] Thereupon the angel looked towards me and said: "You know what the Evangelical Protestants, so called, believe, or are likely to believe, concerning the Lord the Savior. Read out some passages from their creed that we may know whether they are so foolish as to believe that His Human is merely human, or whether they ascribe any Divinity to Him, and in what manner." Then in the presence of all the assembly I read the following passages from several collected from their standard orthodox work, called the Formula Concordia, ⁴ published at Leipzig, ⁵ in the year 1758:

In Christ the Divine and Human Natures are so united as to make one Person, pp. 806, 762.

Christ is truly God and Man in one indivisible Person, and remains so for ever, pp. 609, 673, 762.

In Christ God is Man, and Man is God, pp. 607, 765.

Christ's Human Nature is exalted to all Divine Majesty, proved also from many of the Fathers, pp. 844-852, 860-865, 869-878.

Christ as to His Human Nature is omnipresent, and fills all things, pp. 768, 783-785.

Christ as to His Human Nature has all power in heaven and in earth, pp. 775-776, 780.

Christ as to His Human Nature sits on the right hand of the Father, pp. 608, 764.

Christ as to His Human Nature is to be invoked, proved by many quotations from Scripture, p. 226.

The Augustan Confession very highly approves of that worship, p. 19. ⁶

[8] After reading these passages I turned to the President and said: "I know that all here present are associated with their like in the natural world; tell me, I pray, do you know with whom you are associated?" He replied in a solemn tone of voice: "I do. I am associated with a famous man, ⁷ a leader of battalions in the army of the Church's famous men." As he replied in a tone of such solemnity I said: "Pardon me, if I ask whether you know where that famous man lives," and he said: "I do. He lives not far from Luther's ⁷ tomb." Upon this I said, with a smile, "Why do you speak of his tomb? Do you not know that Luther has risen, and has now renounced his errors concerning justification by a faith in three Divine Persons from eternity? He has, therefore, been transferred to the company of the blessed in the new heaven, and he smiles as he sees his followers still holding these absurd views." He replied: "I know it; but what is that to me?" Thereupon, speaking in the same solemn tone in which he had addressed me, I said: "Please convey to the celebrated person with whom you are associated my fear that contrary to the orthodoxy of his own Church he has incontinently robbed the Lord of His Divinity; or he has suffered his pen to plough a furrow in which he has thoughtlessly planted the seed of naturalism, by writing against the worship of the Lord our Savior." To this he replied: "I cannot do this. While he and I are almost of one mind on this matter, what I say he does not understand, but all that he says I understand perfectly. For the spiritual world penetrates the natural world, and perceives the thoughts of men there; but this is not reciprocal: such is the nature of the association between spirits and men."

[9] As I had now entered into conversation with the President, I said: "If I may be permitted, I will ask another question. Do you know that the orthodoxy of the Evangelicals, in the manual of their Church called the Formula Concordiae, teaches that in Christ God is Man and Man God, and that His Divine and His Human are, and will remain for ever, in one indivisible Person? How then could you and he defile the worship of the Lord with naturalism?" To this he replied: "I know it, and yet I do not know it." I therefore continued: "I ask your friend, although he is absent, or you in his place, from whom had the Lord our Savior His soul? If you answer, from His mother, you talk foolishly; if from Joseph, you profane the Word; but if from the Holy Spirit, you speak truly, provided that by the Holy Spirit you mean the Divine, proceeding and operating; and therefore that the Lord is the Son of Jehovah God.

[10] Again I ask, what is meant by hypostatic union? If you say it is like that between two persons, one superior and one inferior, you talk foolishly; for thus you could make God the Savior two Persons as you make God three. If, however, you say it is a personal union, like that of soul and body, you say rightly; and this is in agreement with your own doctrine and also with that of the Fathers, as you may see by consulting the Formula Concordiae, pp. 765-768; and also the Athanasian Creed, ⁸ where it is said:

The right faith is, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ is God and Man; who, although He is God and Man, yet He is not two, but one Christ: one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of Person; for as the reasonable soul and flesh is one man, so God and Man is one Christ.

[11] I ask, moreover, what was the damnable heresy of Arius, ⁹ on account of whom the Council of Nice was summoned by the Emperor Constantine the Great, ¹⁰ but that he denied the Divinity of the Lord's Human? Further, tell me who do you suppose is meant by these words in Jeremiah:

"Behold, the days come... that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign... and this is His name... JEHOVAH our Righteousness" 23:5, 8; 33:13, 16.

If you say, the Son from eternity, you talk foolishly, for He was not the Redeemer; but if you say, the Son born in time, who was the only-begotten Son of God, John 1:18; 3:16, you say rightly, for He by redemption became the righteousness of which you make your faith consist. Read also Isaiah 9:6, as well as other passages, where it is foretold that Jehovah Himself would come into the world." At these words the President was silent, and turned away.

[12] After these proceedings the President was about to close the council with prayer, when suddenly a man started up from the company on the left, having on his head a mitre and over that a cap. He touched the cap with his finger, and said: "I also am associated with a man in your world, who is held in high honor there. This I know, for I speak from him as from myself." I then inquired where that eminent person ¹¹ lived. He replied: "At Gottenburg; and from him I once got the idea that this new doctrine of yours savors of Mohammedanism." ¹²

On hearing this, I observed that all those on the right, where the Apostolic Fathers stood, were astounded, and their countenances changed; and I heard them expressing what was in their minds by their exclamations: "What a crime is this! What an age!" However, to appease their just indignation, I stretched forth my hand, and begged for a hearing. This was granted, and I said: "I know that a person of that eminence wrote something of the kind in a letter which he afterwards published; but if he had known at the time what a blasphemous charge this is, he would certainly have torn the letter up with his fingers, and thrown it into the fire. Such a slander as that is meant by the Lord's words to the Jews, when they said that Christ wrought miracles by some other than Divine power, Matthew 12:22-32; to which the Lord adds in the same place:

"He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad" Matthew 5:30.

At these words the associated spirit looked down, but soon looked up again and said: "I have heard things from you harder than ever." But I continued: "In the case against me there are two charges, Naturalism and Mohammedanism. These are wicked lies, craftily devised, and two deadly stigmas, designed to prejudice the desires of men, and deter them from the holy worship of the Lord." I then turned to the associated spirit who had just spoken, and I said: "Tell your friend at Gottenburg, if you can, to read what the Lord says in Revelation 3:18, and also in Revelation 2:16.

[13] When I said this an uproar arose; but it was calmed by a light sent down from heaven, which caused many of those on the left to cross over to those on the right, those only remaining who did not think deeply, and who therefore relied on the word of some teacher; as well as those who believed that the Lord is merely human. From both of these the light sent down from heaven appeared as it were to be thrown back, and to fall upon those who passed over from the left to the right.

Footnotes:

Vera Christiana Religio #137 (original Latin,1770)

137. Quartum Memorabile. ¹ "Audivi quod convocatum sit Synedrium ex famigeratis in Scriptis et eruditione de Fide hodierna et de justificatione electorum per illam; hoc erat in Mundo spirituum, et dabatur mihi in spiritu adesse praesens, et vidi convocatos ex Clero consentientes et dissentientes; a parte dextra stabant illi, qui in Mundo vocati sunt Patres Apostolici, et vixerunt in saeculis ante Concilium Nicaenum; et a sinistra parte stabant viri post illa saecula incluti ex membranis typo impressis aut exscriptis a tironibus; multi ex his erant mento calvo et tecti capillitiis ex crine muliebri cincinnatis, et quidam horum in collariis ex volvulis, et quidam in collariis ex alis; illi autem erant mento barbato, et in capillis nativis; ante hos et illos stetit Vir Judex et Arbiter scriptorum hujus saeculi cum scipione in manu, qui pulsavit solum, et induxit silentium; hic ascendit ² gradum superiorem Cathedrae et exspiravit gemitum, et ex illo voluit clamare alte, sed halitus gemens retraxit clamorem retro in guttur, at tandem loquutus dixit;

[2] Fratres, oh quale saeculum, surrexit ex caterva Laicorum unus, cui non pallium, tiara, et laurus, et fidem nostram detraxit e Coelo, et projecit in Stygem; ³ oh facinus, et tamen illa sola est Stella nostra, quae lucet sicut Orion in noctibus, et sicut Lucifer in matutis; ille vir tametsi annosus, prorsus caecutit in mysteriis Fidei nostrae, quia non aperuit illam, et vidit in illa justitiam Domini Salvatoris, et ejus mediationem et propitiationem, et cum haec non vidit, nec vidit justificationis ejus mirabilia, quae sunt remissio peccatorum, regeneratio, sanctificatio et salvatio; hic vir loco nostrae Fidei summe salvificae, quia in tres Personas Divinas, ita in totum Deum, transtulit in Secundam Personam, nec in illam, sed in Humanum illius, quod quidem dicimus Divinum ex incarnatione Filii ab aeterno, sed quis de illo cogitat aliud quam mere Humanum, et quid tunc inde aliud quam fides, ex qua ut ex fonte scaturit Naturalismus; et talis fides, quia non est spiritualis, parum differt a fide in Vicarium, aut in Sanctum; nostis quid Calvinus suo tempore de Cultu ex hac fide dixerat: et, quaeso, dic unus ex vobis, unde est Fides; numne immediate a Deo, cui sic omnia salutis insunt.

[3] Ad haec sodales sinistri lateris, qui mento calvo, in capillitiis ⁴ cincinnatis, et in cinctura coronali circum collum erant, comploserunt palmas, et vociferati, sapientissime fatus es, nos scimus quod non possimus quicquam sumere, quod non datur e Coelo; dicat nobis ille propheta, unde fides, et quid fides nisi illa; impossibile est, ut alia et aliunde sit; aliam fidem, quae fides, quam hanc expromere, tam impossibile est, ut est equitare ad quendam asterismum in Coelo, et inde captare stellam, ac illam recondere in bursa togae, et deportare; hoc dixit, ut consocii ad omnem novam fidem riderent.

[4] His auditis, indignati sunt Viri lateris dextri, qui mento barbato et in capillis nativis erant; et surrexit unus ex illis, Senex, sed usque visus ut juvenis postea, erat enim Angelus e Coelo, ubi omnis aetas juvenescit; ille loquens dixit, audivi qualis est vestra fides, quam Vir cathedralis ita magnificavit; sed quid illa fides, nisi sepulchrum Domini nostri post resurrectionem, iterum clausum a militibus Pilati; aperui illam, nec vidi quicquam quam baculos praestigiatorum, per quos magi in Aegypto fecerunt miracula; imo est fides vestra extrinsecus in oculis vestris sicut scrinium conflatum ex auro, et obsitum lapidibus pretiosis, quod dum aperitur, est vacuum, nisi forte in angulis ejus sit pulvis ex reliquiis Pontificiorum, nam his illa eadem est, modo quod hodie ab his obtecta sit sanctitatibus externis; est quoque, ut similitudinibus utar, sicut Vesta antiquorum, quae exstinxit ignem sacrum, infossa terrae; et asseverare possum, quod illa coram meis oculis sit sicut vitulus aureus, circum quem filii Israelis, postquam Moses abivit et ascendit in montem Sinai ad Jehovam, saltaverunt:

[5] ne miremini quod loquutus sim de Fide vestra per tales comparationes, quia ita loquimur de illa nos in Coelo. Nostra ⁵ autem Fides est, fuit ⁶ et erit in aeternum, in Dominum Deum Salvatorem, cujus Humanum est Divinum et Divinum est Humanum, ita accommodata receptioni, et ex qua Divinum spirituale unitur hominis naturali, et fit fides spiritualis in naturali, unde naturale fit sicut diaphanum ex luce spirituali in qua nostra fides est; veritates ex quibus consistit, sunt totidem quot versiculi in sacro Codice; veritates illae sunt omnes sicut stellae, quae lucibus suis manifestant et conformant illam; homo assumit illam ex Verbo medio naturali suo lumine, in quo est scientia, cogitatio et persuasio, sed Dominus apud illos qui in Ipsum credunt, facit ut fiat convictio, fiducia, et confidentia, ita fit spiritualis naturalis, et per charitatem viva; Fides haec apud nos est sicut Regina ornata lapidibus pretiosis, quot murus sanctae Hierosolymae, Apocalypsi 21:17-20.

[6] Sed ne credatis, quod haec, quae dixi, sint solum verba exaltationis, quae ne ideo floccipendantur praelegam aliqua ex sancto Verbo, ex quibus patebit, quod Fides nostra non sit in Hominem, ut vos creditis, sed in verum Deum, in quo est omne Divinum; Johannes dicit, Jesus Christus est verus Deus, et Vita aeterna, I Epist. 5:20. ⁷ Paulus, In Christo habitat omnis plenitudo Divinitatis corporaliter, Colossenses 2:9 et in actis Apostolorum, Quod praedicaverit et Judaeis et Graecis poenitentiam in Deum, et fidem in Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, ⁸ 20:21 et Ipse Dominus, quod Ipsi data sit omnis potestas in Coelo et in Terra, ⁹ Matthaeus 28:18 sed haec pauca sunt.

[7] Post haec, Angelus me inspexit, et dixit, tu scis quid Evangelici ita dicti credunt aut credituri sunt de Domino Salvatore, recita aliqua ut sciamus Numeri in illa fatuitate sint, ut credant quod Humanum Ipsius sit mere Humanum, et num aliquid Divini Illi adscribunt, aut quomodo; et tunc coram Caetibus, ex collectis e Libro Orthodoxiae eorum, FORMULA CONCORDIAE vocato, et Lipsiae An. 1756 excuso, praelegi haec sequentia; Quod in Christo Divina et Humana Natura ita unitae sint, ut faciant unam Personam, pag. ¹⁰ 606, 762. Quod Christus vere Deus et Homo in indivisa Persona sit, et maneat in aeternum, pag. 609, 673, 762. Quod in Christo Deus sit Homo, et Homo Deus, pag. 607, 765. Quod Humana Natura Christi ad omnem Majestatem Divinam exaltata sit, hoc etiam ex multis Patribus, pag. 844-852, 860-865, 869-878. Quod Christus quoad Humanam Naturam Omnipraesens sit et impleat omnia, p. 768, 783-785. Quod Christo quoad Humanam Naturam omnis potestas sit in Coelo et in Terra, pag. 775-776, 780. Quod Christus quoad Humanam Naturam ad dextram Patris sedeat, pag. 608, 764. Quod Christus quoad Humanam Naturam invocandus sit, confirmatum ex dictis Scripturae ibi, pag. 226. Quod Augustana Confessio illum Cultum maxime probet, pag. 19.

[8] Postquam haec praelecta sunt, converti me ad Virum cathedrae, et dixi, scio quod omnes hic consociati sint cum similibus sui in Mundo naturali; dic, precor, num scis cum quo tu es; respondit tono gravi, scio, consociatus sum cum Viro incluto, Praetore phalangum ab Exercitu illustrium Ecclesiae; et quia tono tam gravi respondit, dixi, ignosce quod interrogem, num scis ubi Praetor ille inclutus habitat, et dixit, scio, habitat non procul a busto Lutheri; ad haec subridens dixi, cur dicis bustum; scisne quod Lutherus resurrexerit, et quod hodie abdicaverit sua erronea de justificatione per fidem in tres Personas Divinas ab aeterno, et ideo translatus sit inter Novi Coeli felices, et quod videat et rideat insanientes post se; et regessit, scio, sed quid hoc ad me: et tunc tono simili, quo ille, alloquutus sum, dicens, inspira tuo Incluto cum quo consociatus es, quod verear quod contra Orthodoxiam Ecclesiae suae illo instanti subtraxerit Domino Divinum Ipsius, aut passus sit calamum suum arare sulcum, in quem improvise inseminavit Naturalismum, quando contra cultum Domini Salvatoris nostri scripsit: ad haec respondit, hoc non possum, quia ego et ille quoad hanc rem paene unam mentem facimus, sed illa quae ego dico, ille non intelligit, sed omnia quae ille, perspicue intelligo; Mundus enim spiritualis intrat in Mundum naturalem, et percipit cogitata hominum ibi, sed non vicissim, hic status consociationis ¹¹ spirituum et hominum est.

[9] Nunc quia incepi loqui cum Viro cathedrae, dixi, interpolabo, si licet, adhuc aliqua interrogatione, num scis, quod Orthodoxia Evangelicorum in Libro manuali Ecclesiae eorum FORMULA CONCORDIAE appellato, doceat, quod in Christo Deus sit Homo et Homo Deus, et quod Divinum et Humanum Ipsius in indivisa Persona sit et maneat ¹² in aeternum; quomodo tunc ille potuit ac tu potes foedare cultum Domini naturalismo; ad quae respondit, illud scio et tamen non scio, quare continuavi dicendo; illum, tametsi ¹³ absens est, aut te loco ejus, interrogo, unde Anima Domini Salvatoris nostri; si respondetis ¹⁴ quod a Matre, insanitis; si a Josepho, profanatis Verbum; si vero a Spiritu sancto, recte dicitis, modo per Spiritum Sanctum intelligitis Divinum procedens et operans, ita quod sit Filius Jehovae Dei.

[10] Iterum interrogo, quid Unio hypostatica; si respondetis ¹⁵ quod sit sicut inter duos, unum supra et alterum infra, insanitis, sic etenim potuissetis facere Deum Salvatorem duos, sicut Deum tres; at si dixeritis, quod sit unio personalis, sicut est Animae et Corporis, recte dicitis; hoc quoque est secundum Doctrinam vestram, tum etiam Patrum; consule FORMULAM CONCORDIAE, pag. 765-768. Et consule SYMBOLUM ATHANASII, ubi haec, Est Fides recta, ut credamus et confiteamur, quod Dominus noster Jesus Christus, Deus et Homo sit; Qui licet Deus est et Homo, non duo tamen, sed unus est Christus, unus omnino, non confusione substantiae, sed unitate Personae: nam sicut anima rationalis et caro unus est homo, ita Deus et Homo est unus Christus.

[11] Interrogo adhuc, quae fuit damnabilis Haeresis ARII, propter quem Concilium Nicaenum ab Imperatore Constantino Magno convocatum est, aliud quam quod negaverit Divinitatem Humani Domini. Porro dicite, Quem intelligitis per haec apud Jeremiam, Ecce dies venient, cum suscitabo Davidi Germen justum, qui regnabit Rex, et hoc Nomen Ipsius JEHOVAH JUSTITIA NOSTRA, Jeremias 23:5-6; 33:15-16; si dicitis Filium ab aeterno, insanitis; ille non fuit Redemptor, si autem dicitis Filium natum in tempore, qui Unigenitus Filius Dei fuit, Johannes 1:18; 3:16, recte dicitis; Hic per redemptionem factus est Justitia, ex qua facitis Fidem vestram. Legite etiam Esaias 9:5, ¹⁶ praeter alia loca, in quibus praedicitur, quod Ipse Jehovah in mundum venturus esset. Ad haec Vir cathedrae siluit et avertit se.

[12] Postquam haec peracta sunt, voluit Praeses oratione finire Synedrium, sed subito tunc Vir e sinistro Caetu erupit, cui tiara super capite, et pileus super illa, et tetigit digito pileum, et loquutus dixit, ego etiam consociatus sum Viro in Mundo tuo, qui ibi in eminente honore constitutus est; hoc scio, quia loquor ex illo sicut ex me; et quaesivi, ubi Eminens ille commoratur; respondit, Gothoburgi, et ex illo quondam cogitavi, quod nova tua Doctrina sapiat Mahumedismum; ex qua voce audita vidi omnes a dextris, ubi stabant Patres Apostolici, attonitos et mutatos facies, ¹⁷ et audivi ex mentibus illorum per ora illorum exclamatas voces, oh facinus, o quale saeculum; sed ad sedandum justam excandescentiam illorum, exporrexi manum, et petivi auscultationem, qua data, dixi, scio quod vir istius eminentiae tale quid impinxerit Epistolae, quae postea typo impressa est, sed si tunc scivisset, qualis illa blasphemia est, sane discerpsisset illam digitis, et tradidisset Vulcano ad comburendum; talis contumelia illa est, quae intelligitur per Domini verba ad Judaeos dicentes, quod Christus ex alia potestate quam ex Divina fecerit miracula, Matthaeus 12:22-32; praeter illa ibi etiam dicit Dominus, Quisquis non est Mecum, contra Me est; et quisquis non congregat Mecum, dispergit, Vers. 30: his edictis, consociatus ejus demisit vultum, sed mox sustulit illum, et dixit, duriora a te audivi quam usquam; sed regessi, in causa sunt duae formulae, Naturalismus et Mahumedismus, quae sunt Mendacia nefaria astu inventa, et duo stigmata mortifera ad avertendum voluntates et deterrendum a Sancto Cultu Domini: et converti me ad posteriorem consociatum, et dixi, dic illi in Gothoburgo, si potes, ut legat illa quae a Domino dicta sunt in Apocalypsi 3:18, et quoque illa, quae Cap. 2:16, ibi.

[13] His dictis, factus est strepitus; sed hic sedatus est per lucem e Coelo demissam, ex qua plures ex illis qui a sinistris erant, transiverunt ad illos qui a dextris, remanentibus illis, qui non cogitant nisi vana, et ideo pendent ab ore cujusvis magistri, et quoque illis, qui non nisi quam Humanum de Domino credunt; ab his et illis Lux e Coelo demissa, visa est sicut repercuti, ac influere in illos qui transiverunt a parte sinistra ad partem dextram.

Footnotes:

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