173.三位神的观念无法通过口头承认一位神而被抹掉，因为这种观念从小就被植入到记忆中，并且人皆通过存在于记忆中的事物进行思考。人的记忆就像鸟兽反刍的胃，它们将食物咽到胃里，逐渐从中汲取营养，并不时地将食物从胃里返回，然后吞进真胃中，在那里将食物消化并输送出去，以满足身体需要。人的理解力就是后面这个胃，犹如记忆是前一个胃。永恒的三神性位格的观念和三神观是一样的，这种观念无法通过口头承认一位神而被抹掉。单单从以下事实，谁都能看出这一点：这种观念至今没有被逐出，还流行在不想逐出它的名人当中。因为他们坚持认为三神性位格是一位神，并且如此固执以至于否认了神由于是一，故而是一位格。但可以肯定的是，凡智者都发自内心认为，“位格”不能被理解为位格，而应理解为它论及某种品质，尽管人们不知道是何品质。由于不知道是何品质，故这种观念从小就被植入在记忆中，就像扎在地里的树根，哪怕树被砍掉，树根仍会发出苗芽。
但是，我的朋友啊，不要只是把树砍掉，还要把根挖出来，然后在你的园子里种上结好果子的树。所以，要当心，免得你脑子里潜伏着三神观，而嘴上由于没有任何概念，故只发出“一神”的声音。果如此，那么，记忆之上的理解力思想三神，而记忆之下的理解力则能使口唇说出“一神”这个词。这两种理解力合起来，就像舞台上的小丑，能窜到两边扮演两种角色，在这一边说一件事，在那一边又说相反的事，以至于自相矛盾，从而一边扮演智者的角色，一边扮演愚者的角色。由此导致的后果，岂不是他站在中间看向两边，然后得出结论：这两边什么都不是，恐怕既没有一神，也没有三神，因而根本没有神？当今自然主义的盛行唯源于此。
在天堂，没人能说出“三位格的三一体，其中每一位都单独为神”这样的话来。这会遭到天堂氛围的强烈抵制，因为其思维的波浪通过天堂氛围这个媒介来传播，如同声音通过空气传播。只有伪君子才能说出这种话来，在天堂的氛围中，他的声音非常刺耳，就像磨牙声，或像试图模仿鸣鸟唱歌的乌鸦发出的叫声。我还从天上得知，三神三一体的信仰一旦通过寻求证据支持而扎根在脑中，那么仅仅通过口头承认一神来逐出它，就像让一棵树穿过自己的种子，或一个人的下巴穿过自己的胡须一样不可能。
173. 三位上帝的想法不能僅憑口頭承認一位上帝就可抹掉, 因為從小開始就被植入到記憶之中, 每個人都是以記憶之事物為基礎來思考, 人的記憶如同反芻鳥獸的瘤胃。它們將食物吃進那裡, 然後一點一點以這些為食, 不時地取出來吞進主胃, 在那裡食物被消化併發送給身體所需。人的認知有如主胃, 記憶有如第一胃——瘤胃。
任何人都看得出, 從永遠就有三個神性位格的想法其實與三位上帝的想法是一回事, 無法僅憑口頭上承認只有一位上帝就可以抹除。只要看到這個想法並未被驅除的事實就能明白, 現今仍舊流行於在那些著名人物之中。他們並不想驅除它, 堅持三個神性位格是一位上帝。但卻頑固地否認:因為上帝只有一個, 祂也是一個位格。儘管, 確實每個明達之人心中不會把這個"位"真的認知成一個人, 而是某些特性的歸屬。只是無人知道什麼特性, 因為不知道, 所以三個上帝的概念從孩童開始至今仍紮根在人的記憶之中, 就像土中的樹根。即使樹砍倒了, 根還是會發出新芽。
[2]我的朋友啊, 不要只是把樹砍掉, 要把根挖出來, 然後在你的園子裡種上結果子的樹。因此要確定你的思想沒有粘著任何三位上帝的想法, 當你口中說出"一位上帝"時, 不會伴隨出現任何三位的形像。如果你的記憶之上的理解在思想三位上帝的同時,記憶之下的理解令你口中冒出"一位上帝", 你的理解就如同舞臺上的小丑能同時扮演兩個角色。他能在兩個角色間遊刃有餘, 一個角色說些什麼,另一角色來反駁, 自己與自己爭論, 要鼓吹一個角色聰明,另一個愚蠢。結果就是, 當他站在中間,看看兩邊, 他想想兩邊什麼都不是。同樣地, 倘若不是"一位上帝", 也不是"三位上帝", 於是就根本沒有上帝。現今自然崇拜如此盛行, 這是唯一起因。
[3]天國之中, 沒有哪個能說出"三位一體, 每位各自是上帝"之類的話。因為在天國之氣氛本身——思想通過這氣氛傳播, 如同自然界中,聲音通過空氣傳播——強烈抵制這類的想法。唯一能這樣做的就是假冒偽善者, 但他說出的聲音在這氣氛中就像磨牙那樣難聽的聲響, 或者像烏鴉學黃鶯,發出難聽的刺耳之音。
事實上, 我從天國得知, 利用口頭上承認一位上帝, 來消除三位一體的概念(一旦這個概念因著找各樣證據來支持而紮根在腦中), 是不可能的, 就如同一棵樹穿過自己的種子,一個人的下巴穿過他的一根鬍鬚。
173. The idea of three gods is impossible to wipe out just by orally confessing one God, because it has been planted in our memory since childhood. We all think on the basis of what is in our memory.
The human memory is like the rumen that some birds and animals have. As these creatures go through the process of getting nourishment from their food, they first put their food in the rumen. They take it back out several times, and then put it in the main area of their stomach, where the food is digested and dispensed to serve all their body's functions. The human intellect is like the main area of the stomach; the human memory is like the rumen.
Anyone can see that the idea of three divine persons who existed from eternity, which is the same as the idea of three gods, cannot be wiped out just by orally confessing one God. Just look at the following piece of evidence: it has not been wiped out yet. There are famous people who do not want it to be wiped out, who insist that the three divine persons are one God but stubbornly deny that because God is one, he is also one person. Surely all wise people, though, think to themselves that "person" here does not mean person at all. It means the attribution of some quality. Which quality exactly, we do not know. Because we do not know, the concept of three gods stays sown in our memory from childhood like the root of a tree in the ground. If the tree is cut down, a new shoot appears.
[2] My friend, do not just cut down that tree; dig out the root as well. Then plant your garden with trees that bear good fruit. Make sure the idea of three gods is not stuck in your mind as your mouth says "one God" without any accompanying mental picture. If the intellect above your memory is thinking three gods at the same time as the intellect below your memory is making your mouth say one God, your intellect is like some clown on a stage who can play two parts at once. He switches from one part to the other, saying something in one role and contradicting it in the other, and in the argument calling his one self wise and his other self demented. Eventually he will stand in the middle looking both ways and thinking neither of them is anything. Likewise, if there is not one God and there are not three, then there is no God. This is the sole source of the materialist philosophy predominant today.
In heaven no one can even mention a trinity of persons, each of whom is individually God. The heavenly atmosphere itself in which thoughts travel in waves, as sound travels through air, works against it. Only hypocrites there can get away with it, but in the atmosphere of heaven their speaking has a bad sound like grinding teeth, or it squawks like a crow trying to sing like a songbird.
In fact, I have heard from heaven that using oral confession of one God to wipe out a belief in a trinity of gods (when that belief has been planted in the mind with supporting evidence) is as impossible as it would be to pass a whole tree through its own seed or to pass a man's whole chin through a single hair of his beard.
173. The reason why the idea of three Gods cannot be banished by a verbal confession of belief in one God is that this idea has been planted in the memory from childhood up, and what the memory contains is the source of everyone's thought. The memory with human beings resembles the ruminatory stomach of birds and animals. They put food into it, and then they live on it bit by bit, taking it out from time to time and swallowing it into the stomach proper, where the food is digested and circulated to provide for the body's needs. The human understanding is the stomach proper, as the memory is the first stomach. Anyone can see that the idea of three Divine persons from eternity, being the same as the idea of three Gods, cannot be banished by the verbal confession of belief in one God, merely from the fact that it has still not been banished, and is still current with famous people who resist its banishment. For they insist that the three Divine persons are one God, but are so obstinate as to deny that, because God is one, He is also one person. But surely everyone who is wise thinks in his heart that 'person' cannot really be understood as person, but as a predication of some quality? But no one knows what quality, and because of this ignorance the idea remains implanted in the memory from childhood up, like the root of a tree in the ground, which even if the tree is cut down will still send up a shoot.
[2] Do not, my friend, just cut down the tree, but dig up the root, and then plant your garden with trees that bear good fruit. Take care therefore that your mind is not beset by the idea of three Gods, while your mouth, being totally devoid of ideas, rings with the sound of 'one God.' If so, then the understanding up above the memory thinking of three Gods, and the understanding underneath the memory which enables the mouth to say the words 'one God', are, taken together, like a clown on the stage, who can play two parts scuttling from one side to the other, saying one thing on one side and the opposite on the other, so that he has a quarrel with himself, calling himself wise on one side and crazy on the other. The result of this must surely be that, when he stands in the middle and looks in either direction, he thinks neither to be of any consequence, and so perhaps that, since there is neither one God nor three Gods, there cannot be a God at all. The nature-worship so prevalent to-day comes from no other source.
[3] No one in heaven can utter the words 'A Trinity of persons, each of whom singly is God.' For the very aura of heaven, the medium through which the waves of their thoughts are transmitted, as sounds are through air, offers strong resistance. The only person who can do this in heaven is a hypocrite; but the sound of his voice grates in the aura of heaven like teeth grinding together, or screeches like a crow trying to sing like a song-bird. I have also been told from heaven that it is as impossible to banish a belief in a Trinity of Gods, once it is implanted in the mind by finding proofs of it, by merely making oral confession of one God, as it is to pass a tree through its own seed, or a man's chin through a hair of his beard.
173. The idea of three Gods cannot be effaced by a lip-confession of one God, for the reason that from childhood this idea has been implanted in the memory, and it is from the things contained in the memory that everyone thinks. The memory in man is like the ruminatory stomach in birds and beasts; into which they thrust the food from which they gradually derive nourishment; and from time to time they draw the food from it and convey it to the true stomach, where it is digested and meted out to the various uses of the body. The human understanding is this latter stomach, as the memory is the former. That the idea of three Divine persons from eternity, which is the same as the idea of three Gods, cannot be effaced by a lip confession of one God, can be seen by anybody from this fact alone, that it has not yet been effaced, and that among the notable there are some who do not wish it to be effaced; for while they insist that the three Divine persons are of one God, they obstinately deny that God, on account of being one, is one person. But what wise man does not think within himself that the term person can not in this case mean person but that it predicates some quality, though what quality is not known? And this not being known, what has been implanted in the memory from childhood remains, as the roots of a tree remain in the ground, and from them, even if the tree be cut down, a shoot will spring forth.
[2] But, my friend, not only cut down the tree, but also dig up the root, and then plant in your garden trees bearing good fruit. Thus beware, lest in your mind there should lurk the idea of three Gods, while your mouth utters the words one God, with no idea in them. In that case is not the understanding (which above the memory is thinking of three Gods, and at the same time below the memory is causing the mouth to utter one God), like a player on the stage able to act two roles by running from one side to the other, at one side saying one thing and at the other just the opposite, and by such contradiction playing on the one side the wise man and on the other the fool? What else can result from this but that when the understanding stands in the center and looks both ways it will conclude that neither this nor that amounts to anything, and so, perhaps, that there is neither one God nor three, thus that there is no God? The prevailing naturalism of the day is from no other source. In heaven no one can utter the words, A trinity of persons each one of whom singly is God; for it is resisted by the very aura of heaven, in which the thoughts of those there fly and undulate, as sounds do in our air. Such words can be uttered only by a hypocrite, and the sound of his speech grates in the heavenly aura like the gnashing of teeth, or is like the croak of a raven trying to imitate a bird of song. Moreover, I have heard from heaven that to efface a belief established in the mind by confirmations favoring a trinity of Gods, by means of a lip-confession of one God, is as impossible as it is to draw a tree back through its seed, or a man's chin through a hair growing out of it.
173. The idea of three gods cannot be removed by the oral confession of one God because it has been implanted in the memory from childhood, and every man thinks from the contents of his memory. The memory in men is like the ruminatory stomach in birds and beasts. In this they deposit food by which they are from time to time nourished for they draw it forth at intervals and convey it to the true stomach where it is digested and distributed for all the uses of the body. The human understanding answers to the latter stomach, as the memory does to the former. Every one may see that the idea of three Persons from eternity, which is the same as the idea of three gods, cannot be destroyed by the oral confession of one God, from this consideration alone, that it has not yet been destroyed, and that there are many among the Church's distinguished men who are not willing that it should be destroyed. These vehemently insist that the three Divine Persons are one God, but obstinately deny that God, because He is one, is also one Person. Every wise man, however, thinks in his own mind that by Person is not at all meant "a person," but is indicative of some duality. What this is he does not know, and therefore what has been implanted in his memory from childhood remains, like the root of a tree in the earth, from which, even if the tree is cut down, a fresh shoot is sure to spring up.
[2] But do you, my friend, not only cut down that tree, but also dig up its root, and then plant in your garden trees yielding good fruit. Take heed, therefore, lest the idea of three gods becomes fixed in your mind, while your mouth, which is void of idea, says "one God." What then is the understanding above the memory, which thinks of three Gods, and the understanding below the memory, from which the mouth at the same time says "one God," but like a conjurer on the stage, who can impersonate two characters by crossing from one side to the other? He can say something on one side and contradict it on the other, and by thus expressing opposing sentiments, can call himself a wise man on one side and a fool on the other. The result is that should he stand in the middle and look in each direction he must think there is no reality in the one or in the other. Thus perchance the understanding must conclude that there is neither one God nor three, and consequently that there is no God at all. This is the source of the naturalism that is prevalent at the present day.
In heaven no one can utter the words "a trinity of Persons," each of whom separately is God, for the heavenly aura itself, through which the thoughts of angels travel in waves like sounds in our air, offers resistance. Only a hypocrite can do this; but the sound of his speech grates in that aura like the gnashing of teeth, or croaks like a raven trying to emulate a song-bird. I have heard from heaven, moreover, that to destroy a belief, implanted in the mind and confirmed in favor of a trinity of gods, by the oral confession of one God is as impossible as to draw a tree through its seed, or a man's chin through a hair of his beard.
173. Quod idea trium Deorum non aboleri possit per Confessionem oralem unius Dei, est quia illa a pueritia inseminata est memoriae, et omnis homo ex illis quae ibi sunt, cogitat; Memoria apud homines est sicut Ventriculus ruminatorius apud aves et bestias; hae in illum ingerunt cibos, quibus successive alantur, et per vices illos inde depromunt, et demittunt in ipsum Ventriculum, in quo cibi illi digeruntur, et ad omnes usus corporis dispensantur; Intellectus humanus est hic Ventriculus, sicut Memoria est prior. Quisque videre potest, quod idea trium Personarum Divinarum ab aeterno, quae eadem est cum idea trium Deorum, per oralem confessionem unius Dei non aboleri possit, solum ex eo, quod nondum abolita sit, et quod sint inter Celebres, qui non volunt ut aboleatur, nam instant quod tres Personae Divinae Deus unus sint, sed refractarie negant, quod Deus, quia unus est, etiam sit una Persona; sed quis Sapiens non secum cogitat, quod omnino per Personam non intelligatur persona, sed praedicatio alicujus qualitatis, at quaenam non scitur, et quia non scitur, manet inseminatum memoriae a pueritia, sicut radix arboris in terra, e qua, si exscinditur, usque enascitur surculus:
[2] sed mi amice, non modo abscinde illam arborem, sed etiam exstirpa radicem ejus, et tunc horto tuo implanta arbores boni fructus; cave itaque ne menti tuae insideat idea trium Deorum, et os, cui nulla idea inest, sonet unum Deum; quid [aliud] 1 tunc Intellectus supra memoriam, qui cogitat tres Deos, ac Intellectus infra illam, ex quo os eloquitur unum Deum, simul, quam sicut hariolus super theatro, qui potest duas personas agere, transcurrendo ab una parte in alteram, et ab una parte aliquid dicere, et ab altera contradicere, et sic altercando se vocare hic sapientem et se illic dementem; quid inde resultat aliud, quam ut dum stat in medio, et spectat utrinque, cogitet, quod unum et alterum non sit aliquid, et sic forsitan, quod non sit unus Deus, nec quod sint tres, ita nullus; naturalismus hodie regnans non ex alia origine est.
[3] In Coelo nemo potest edicere Trinitatem Personarum quarum unaquaevis singulatim est Deus, ipsa enim aura coelestis, in qua cogitationes illorum, sicut soni in nostro aere, volant et undulant, contranititur; sed solus hypocrita ibi id potest; verum sonus loquelae ejus in aura coelesti stridet sicut dens collisus denti, aut strepit sicut corvus volens canere sicut oscinis. Audivi etiam e Coelo, quod abolere fidem per confirmationes menti insatam pro Trinitate deorum per confessionem oralem unius Dei, tam impossibile sit, sicut est traducere arborem per semen ejus, aut mentum hominis per capillum barbae ejus.
Footnotes:
1. Sic Rose.