316.有很多因素使得一个人看似挺贞洁的，不仅在别人眼里是这样，就是连他自己也这么认为。然而事实上，他全然不贞。因为他不知道，当一个淫念占据意愿时，它就是一个行为了，并且无法被除去，除非悔改后被主除掉。人无法通过不去行淫变得贞洁，而是当有行淫的机会，但因为它是罪恶而不去意愿时，人才会变得贞洁。并不是控制自己不去做某事而使人纯洁，使人纯洁的是不想去做那些事，因为做这些事情有罪。例如，某人不去通奸和行淫，只是因为害怕法律及其制裁，或担心有损名声，因而失去声誉；或害怕由此染上性病；或家中妻子吵闹，从而不得安宁；或害怕被奸妇丈夫和亲戚报复，或被其仆人殴打；或因为贪婪，或由疾病、恶习、上了年纪或性无能导致的虚弱。即使他基于属世或道德的法律避免了，但若未同时基于属灵的法律避免，他的内在仍是一个奸淫者和私通者。因为尽管如此，他仍相信这些行为不是罪，所以在他的灵里，他不认为它们在神眼里是非法的。结果，他会在灵里犯下这些行为，即便他在世人眼里没有从身体上犯下它们。因此，死后，当他变成一个灵时，就会公开支持它们。而且，行淫者好比不信守承诺的背约者，或古代的萨梯（希腊及罗马神话中半人半兽的森林之神，好色之徒，性欲极强的男人）和普里阿普斯（男性生殖神），他们在森林中四处游荡，大声叫嚷：“哪里有女孩，少妇和妇人供我们玩乐？”在灵界，行淫者的确看似萨梯和普里阿普斯。他们还好比散发恶臭的公羊，或满街乱跑、到处寻找母狗交配的野狗等等。当他们成为丈夫后，其性能力会如同春天的郁金香，不到一个月就会凋谢枯萎。
316. 人們看起來挺純潔——不僅別人看起來如此, 甚至自己也這麼看自己, 然而事實上卻是全然不貞。這是因為人們不知道淫欲呈現于意志時, 其實就形成了行為。這樣的淫欲只能在此人悔改後由主來除掉。並不是控制自己不去做某事而使人純潔, 使人純潔的是不想去做那些事, 因為做這些事情有罪。
例如, 某人節制自己不去行邪淫和通姦, 僅僅是出於對民法及其法律制裁的害怕, 又或出於擔心失去聲譽和尊重; 或者害怕性行為帶來疾病; 又或礙于妻子作難導致家庭不和, 或害怕與其通姦者丈夫和親屬的報復, 挨其家僕們的打罵; 又或出於有病,年紀大或其它原因而擔心無能, 實際上, 只要是屈於從任何世間或民間的法律而非同時服從屬靈法律, 哪怕再控制自己不行邪淫, 其內在仍舊是個行淫者與通姦者。只要他相信這些行為並非犯罪, 在他的靈裡就不會視這些行為在上帝面前是非法的。於是, 他會在靈裡觸犯這些行為, 哪怕肉身在世上未做此類行徑。然而當他們死後, 會成為靈, 就會公然支持這些行徑。
而且, 行淫者就好比毀約者, 又或古時傳說中的好色森林之神與生殖之神, 在森林中四處漫遊, 並大聲吼叫:"哪裡有姑娘, 新娘和婦女供我們玩樂？"行淫者在靈界的確看起來像這樣的人。他們也好比發出臭味的山羊, 又或野狗滿街跑,到處尋找其它狗只胡亂交配。等等。
當行淫者結婚後, 他們的性能力會如同春季花海中的鬱金香, 一個月不到就花落凋謝。
316. People can seem chaste not only to others but even to themselves and yet be completely unchaste. There are various causes that produce this effect. People do not know that a sexual craving in their will is a deed, and it cannot be removed except by the Lord after they have practiced repentance. Abstaining from doing something does not make us chaste. What makes us chaste is abstaining from wanting to do something that we could in fact do, because doing it would be sinful.
For example, if a man abstains from adultery and promiscuity solely out of fear of civil law and its penalties; or out of fear that he will lose his reputation and respect; or out of fear of sexually transmitted disease; or out of fear of being harassed by his wife and having no peace at home; or out of a fear that the other woman's husband and relatives will avenge themselves on him, or that their servants will whip him; or out of miserliness; or out of lack of ability caused by disease, misuse, old age, or some other cause of impotence - in fact, if he abstains from adultery and promiscuity in obedience to any earthly or moral law but not at the same time to spiritual law, he nevertheless remains inwardly an adulterer and a promiscuous person. He still believes that adultery and promiscuity are not sins. In his spirit he does not make them unlawful before God. Therefore in his spirit he commits them, even if he does not commit them before the world in the flesh. As a result, when he becomes a spirit after death, he openly speaks in favor of such acts.
Adulterers could be compared to treaty breakers who violate agreements, or to the satyrs and priapuses of old who would wander in the woods and shout, "Where are virgins, brides, and wives to play with?" In fact, in the spiritual world, adulterers actually look like satyrs and priapuses. Adulterers could also be compared to goats that sniff for other goats, and dogs that run around in the streets looking and smelling for other dogs with which to have sex. And so on.
When adulterers get married, their sexual potency could be compared to the blooming of tulips in spring - in a month tulips lose their blossoms and wither away.
316. There are a number of reasons why a person may appear chaste, not only to others, but even to himself, when in fact he is utterly unchaste. For he is unaware that when lust is present in the will it constitutes a deed, and this lust can only be removed by the Lord after the person has repented. It is not abstaining from the act which makes a person chaste, but abstaining from willing it, when the opportunity is there, because it is a sin. Suppose for example someone abstains from adultery and fornication simply out of fear of the civil law and its penalties; from fear of losing his reputation and respectability; from fear of catching diseases by this means; from fear of quarrelling with his wife at home and thus upsetting his life; from fear of a husband or relatives taking revenge, and of being beaten by their servants; or from greed; or from weakness due to disease, abuse or age, or impotence for any other reason; even if he abstains from these actions as the result of any natural or moral law, and not at the same time as the result of spiritual law, yet that person is inwardly an adulterer and fornicator. For in spite of this he believes these actions not to be sins, and so in his spirit does not treat them as unlawful in the sight of God. Consequently he commits them in spirit, even if he does not do so bodily in the sight of the world. After death therefore, when he becomes a spirit, he openly speaks in favour of them.
Moreover, adulterers can be compared with the forsworn, who break their promises, or with the satyrs and priapi 1 of the ancients, who roamed the woods shouting, 'Where are the girls, the brides and wives for us to have fun with?' Adulterers actually look like satyrs and priapi in the spiritual world. They can also be likened to stinking he-goats; or to dogs which run about the streets, looking around to sniff out bitches with whom to wanton, and so forth. Their virility, when they become husbands, can be likened to the flowering of tulips in spring-time, which within a month wither and droop.
Footnotes:
1. Priapus, a Roman god of lechery.
316. There are many causes which make a man to seem chaste, not only to others but also to himself, when, in fact, he is wholly unchaste; since he does not know that when a lust occupies the will it is a deed and cannot be removed except by the Lord after repentance. A man is not made chaste by abstaining from doing, but by abstaining from willing because it is a sin when the doing is possible. Just so far as anyone abstains from adulteries and whoredoms, solely from fear of the civil law and its penalties; from fear of the loss of reputation and thus of honor; from fear of the diseases arising from them; from fear of the wife's upbraidings at home, and the consequent intranquillity of life; from fear of the vengeance of the husband and relatives, or of being beaten by their servants; or because of avarice, or any infirmity caused by disease or abuse or age or any other cause of impotence; even if he abstains on account of any natural or moral law, and not at the same time on account of spiritual law; he is nevertheless inwardly an adulterer and a fornicator. For he nonetheless believes that adulteries and whoredoms are not sins, and therefore he does not in his spirit make them unlawful before God; and thus in spirit he commits them, even if he does not commit them in the body before the world; and in consequence, when after death he becomes a spirit he speaks openly in favor of them. Furthermore, adulterers may be compared to covenant-breakers who violate compacts; also to the satyrs and priapi of the ancients, who roamed in forests, crying out, "Where are there virgins, betrothed maidens, and wives, to sport with?" Moreover, in the spiritual world adulterers actually appear like satyrs and priapi. They may also be compared to rank he-goats, or to dogs that run about the streets, looking about and smelling for female dogs to satiate their lasciviousness; and so on. When they become husbands their virility may be likened to the blossoming of tulips in spring, which in a month lose their flowers and wither.
316. There are various reasons why a man should appear chaste not only to others but also to himself, although he may be wholly unchaste. For he does not know that lust in the will acquires the nature of an act, and that it can only be removed by the Lord after repentance. Abstinence from the act does not make a man chaste, but abstinence from willing does when the act is possible, because it is a sin. For instance, if a man abstains from adultery and fornication only from fear of the civil law and its penalties; from fear of the loss of reputation, and therefore of honor; from fear of consequent disease; from fear of domestic quarrels with his wife, and the troubled state of life which might ensue; from fear of the vengeance of husband and relatives, and chastisement at the hands of their servants; or from avarice; from infirmity arising from disease, abuse, age, or any other cause of impotence; in short, if he abstains on account of any natural or moral law, and not at the same time from any spiritual law, he is still inwardly an adulterer and fornicator. For he none the less believes that adultery and fornication are not sins, and therefore he does not regard them in spirit as unlawful in the sight of God. Thus he commits them in spirit but not in actual deed before the world; and when after death he becomes a spirit, he openly declares in their favor.
Moreover, adulterers may be compared to covenant-breakers, who violate their engagements; and also to the satyrs and lewd spirits of the ancients, that wandered about the woods, crying out, "Where are there virgins, betrothed maidens, and wives, with whom we may sport?" In the spiritual world adulterers actually appear like satyrs and Priapi. 1 They may also be compared to rank-smelling goats, and to dogs that run about the streets, looking about and smelling for other dogs to satisfy their lust. Their virility when they do become husbands, may be compared to the blossoming of tulips in spring, which after a few weeks drop their flowers and wither away.
Footnotes:
1. Priapus, god of procreation, lewd spirit or god.
316. Sunt variae causae, quae faciunt, quod homo appareat non modo aliis sed etiam sibi ipsi castus, et tamen totus incastus est, nescit enim, quod concupiscentia, dum in voluntate est, sit factum, et quod illa non removeri possit nisi a Domino post poenitentiam; abstinentia a faciendo, non facit castum, sed abstinentia a volendo, dum potest, quia peccatum est, facit; quemadmodum si quis abstinet ab Adulteriis et Scortationibus solum ex timore legis civilis et ejus poenarum; ex timore jacturae famae et inde honoris; ex timore morborum ex illis; ex timore jurgiorum domi ab uxore, et inde intranquillitatis vitae; ex timore vindictae a marito et affinibus, et verberum ab illorum famulis; aut ex avaritia; aut ex imbecillitate 1 oriunda vel ex morbo, vel ex abusu, vel ex aetate, vel ex alia causa impotentiae: imo si abstinet ab illis ex lege aliqua naturali aut morali, et non simul ex lege spirituali, is usque tamen interius adulter et scortator est, nihilominus enim credit, quod non peccata sint, et inde illa coram Deo non illicita facit in suo spiritu, et sic in spiritu committit illa, tametsi non coram Mundo in corpore, quare post mortem cum fit spiritus, aperte loquitur pro illis. Praeterea adulteri comparari possunt cum foedifragis, qui violant pacta: tum cum Veterum Satyris et Priapis, qui vagabantur in Sylvis, et vociferabantur, ubi virgines, sponsae et uxores, cum quibus ludamus; adulteri etiam in Mundo Spirituali actualiter apparent ut Satyri et Priapi. Comparari etiam possunt cum hircis qui olent, ut et cum canibus, qui discurrunt per plateas, ac circumspiciunt et odorant ubi sunt canes, cum quibus lasciviant, et sic porro. Virilis illorum potentia, quando mariti fiunt, comparari potest efflorescentiae Tuliparum tempore veris, quae post mensem dierum deflorantur et emarcescunt.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: imbecilitate.