189. 第四章 聖言 主之道
聖言是圣理之本
人人皆知, 聖言由上帝而來, 是神性的啟示, 因而是神聖的。不過至今為止, 人們並不知道聖言的神聖之處在哪裡。因為從文字來看, 聖言只是一本體裁特別點而已的普通著作而已, 也沒當今各大名作的華麗措詞與傑出文風。
這就是為何人敬拜自然為上帝,甚至將自然置於上帝之上, 以致于依賴於自己和自身品性來思考,而非尋求由主從天上來的啟示; 這樣就極易誤解聖言,甚至藐視聖言。因此, 當他讀聖言時, 會自言自語:"這是什麼啊？那些講什麼呢？這也算是神聖？有無限智慧的上帝會像這樣講話？神聖之處在哪裡呢？除非是讀者的宗教信仰態度和自以為是, 哪還有什麼神聖可言？"
189. Chapter 4: Sacred Scripture, the Word of the Lord{1}
Sacred Scripture, the Word, Is Divine Truth Itself
IT is on everyone's lips that the Word comes from God, is divinely inspired, and is therefore holy. Nonetheless, until now we have not known where the divinity is in the Word. At the literal level the Word seems like poor writing in a strange style, lacking the sublime and lucid quality that modern works seem to have.
There are people who can easily fall into the wrong perspective on the Word and into contempt for it - people who respect nature more than God or as God and who therefore think under the influence of themselves and their own identity rather than the influence of heaven from the Lord. When people like this read the Word they are prone to say to themselves, "What is this? What is that? Is this divine? Would a God who had infinite wisdom be capable of talking this way? Where is its holiness? Where else could the holiness come from except [the reader's] religious attitudes and convictions?"
189. CHAPTER FOUR
THE SACRED SCRIPTURE OR THE WORD OF THE LORD 1
I. The sacred scripture, that is the Word, is Divine truth itself.
Everyone professes the Word to be from God, divinely inspired and therefore holy, but up to the present no one has known where in it the Divine is. For taken literally the Word looks like any ordinary book, written in a strange style, neither high-flown nor brilliant as many secular books appear to be. This is why if a person worships nature as God or in preference to God, so that his thought comes from himself and his own personality (proprium) rather than from heaven inspired by the Lord, he can easily fall into error about the Word and come to despise it. Thus he may say to himself when he reads it: 'What does this or that mean? Can this be divine? Can God, whose wisdom is infinite, talk like this? Where is there anything holy in it, and where does this holiness come from, except from religious belief and the conviction it carries?'
Footnotes:
1. The whole of this chapter is closely modelled on THE DOCTRINE OF THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, published in Amsterdam in 1763.
189. CHAPTER 4. THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, OR WORD OF THE LORD
I. THE SACRED SCRIPTURE OR THE WORD IS DIVINE TRUTH ITSELF.
It is on everyone's lips that the Word is from God, is Divinely inspired, and is therefore holy; and yet it has not been known heretofore where in the Word its Divinity resides. For in its letter the Word appears like ordinary writing, foreign in style, neither lofty nor brilliant as the writings of the present time are in appearance. For this reason the man who worships nature instead of God or more than God, and whose thought therefore is from himself and his selfhood and not from the Lord out of heaven, may easily fall into error respecting the Word, and into contempt for it, and when reading it may say to himself, What does this and that mean? Is this Divine? Can God, whose wisdom is infinite speak thus? Wherein and wherefrom is its holiness, except from some religious notion and consequent persuasion?
189. CHAPTER IV
THE SACRED SCRIPTURE OR THE WORD OF THE LORD
I. THE SACRED SCRIPTURE, OR THE WORD, IS THE DIVINE TRUTH ITSELF.
It is generally agreed that the Word is from God, is divinely inspired, and therefore holy; but hitherto it has remained unknown wherein its divinity resides; for the Word in the Letter appears like common writing in a strange style, lacking the sublimity and brilliance which are apparently features of the literature of the world. For this reason the man who worships nature instead of God, and who consequently thinks from himself and his own proprium 1 and not from heaven from the Lord, may easily fall into error respecting the Word and into contempt for it, and say within himself as he reads it "What does this mean? What does that mean? Is this Divine? Can God, to whom belongs infinite wisdom, speak in this way? Where is its sanctity, or whence is it derived but from man's religious credulity?"
Footnotes:
1. The Latin word proprium, used as a substantive, means "what is one's own." Swedenborg uses it in a special sense, involving "what is of the self."
189. CAPUT QUARTUM
DE SCRIPTURA SACRA SEU VERBO DOMINI.
I. Quod Scriptura Sacra seu Verbum sit ipsum Divinum Verum.
In omnium ore est, quod Verbum sit a Deo, Divinitus inspiratum, et inde Sanctum; sed usque hactenus nescitum est, ubinam in illo Divinum est, nam Verbum in litera apparet sicut Scriptum vulgare, stylo peregrino, non sublimi nec lucente, sicut ad apparentiam sunt Scripta saeculi. Ex eo est, quod homo, qui Naturam pro Deo, aut qui illam prae Deo colit, et inde ex se et suo proprio, et non e Coelo a Domino, cogitat, facile in errorem de Verbo, et in contemtum ejus possit cadere, et secum dicere, cum id legit, quid hoc, quid illud, an hoc est Divinum, an Deus, Cui infinita Sapientia est, ita loqui potest; ubi et unde Sanctum ejus, nisi ex Religioso, et inde persuasione.