466. 第1节 在伊甸园种上两棵树, 即生命树和善恶知识树, 表示人类已被赐予在属灵事物上的选择自由
很多人认为, 摩西五经中的亚当和夏娃并非最先被造的人类。 为证明这一观点, 他们举出证据来证明亚当之前就有人类存在, 这些证据来自一些异教徒民族的年代推演, 和亚当头生子该隐对耶和华所说的话:
我必在地上为逃亡者和流浪者, 凡遇见我的必杀我。 耶和华就给该隐立一个记号, 免得人遇见他就杀他。 (创世记4:14-15)
于是该隐离开耶和华的面, 去住在伊甸东边挪得之地, 并建造了一座城。 (创世记4:16-17)
他们由此断定, 亚当时代之前, 地球上就有人类居住。 但我于伦敦出版的《属天奥秘》一书详细说明了, 亚当及其妻子是指地球上的上古教会。 我在此书还说明了, “伊甸园”表上古教会之人的智慧; “生命树”表主在人内, 人在主内; “善恶知识树”表人不在主内, 而在他的自我中 (因为他就是那个相信凭自己做一切事, 甚至行善之人) ; “吃”那树则表邪恶的归给。
466. The Fact That Two Trees - the Tree of Life, and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil [Genesis 2:9] - Were Placed in the Garden of Eden Means That Free Choice in Spiritual Matters Has Been Granted to Humankind
Many have come to believe that Adam and Eve in the Book of Moses do not mean the first created people. They support their position with evidence that people existed before Adam, which is based on calculations and the chronologies of various peoples. They also point to what Cain, the firstborn of Adam, said to Jehovah:
"I will be a wanderer and an itinerant on the earth - whoever encounters me will kill me. " Therefore Jehovah placed a mark on Cain so that whoever encountered him would not kill him. (Genesis 4:14-15)
And after he left the presence of Jehovah, he lived in the land of Nod and built a city. (Genesis 4:16-17)
Therefore the land was inhabited before Adam.
But Adam and his wife mean the earliest church on this planet. This is demonstrated in a number of ways in Secrets of Heaven, which I published in London. That work also indicates that the Garden of Eden means the wisdom of the people of that church; the tree of life means the Lord is in us and we are in the Lord; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil means we are not in the Lord but in a sense of our own autonomy instead, like people who believe that they do everything, even what is good, on their own; and eating from this tree means incorporating evil into ourselves.
466. I. The fact that two trees, one of life and one of the knowledge of good and evil, were put in the Garden of Eden, means that man was given free will in spiritual matters.
Many people have believed that by Adam and Eve in the book of Moses are not meant the first human beings to be created, and in support of this view they have employed proofs that there were people before Adam, drawn from computations and chronologies preserved by some peoples. It is also supported by what Cain, Adam's firstborn, said to Jehovah:
I shall be a wanderer, driven to and fro on the earth, so that anyone meeting me will kill me. For which reason Jehovah set a mark on Cain, that anyone meeting him should not kill him, Genesis 4:14-15.
And after he went from before the face of Jehovah, he dwelt in the land of Nod, and built a city, Genesis 4:16-17.
It follows from this that the earth was inhabited before Adam.
I proved at length in the work called ARCANA CAELESTIA, which I published in London, that Adam and his wife mean the most ancient church on this earth. I also proved there that the Garden of Eden means the wisdom of the people in that church, the tree of life means the Lord being in man and man being in the Lord, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil means man not being in the Lord but immersed in his own self (proprium), as is everyone who believes that he does everything, even good, of himself. Eating from this tree means making evil one's own.
466. II. THE PLACING OF TWO TREES IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, ONE OF LIFE, AND THE OTHER OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, SIGNIFIES THAT FREEDOM OF CHOICE IN THINGS SPIRITUAL HAS BEEN GIVEN TO MAN.
It is believed by many that by Adam and Eve in the book of Moses the first created persons are not meant, and in proof of this, arguments respecting Pre-adamites have been brought forward, drawn from the computations and chronologies of some heathen nations, and from the saying of Cain, Adam's firstborn, to Jehovah:
I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth, so that whosoever findeth me shall slay me. Therefore Jehovah set a sign upon Cain, lest any finding him should slay him (Genesis 4:14, 15).
Afterwards Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, and builded a city (Genesis 4:16, 17).
From this it is claimed that the earth was inhabited before the time of Adam. But that by Adam and his wife the Most Ancient church on this earth is meant has been abundantly shown in the Arcana Coelestia published by me at London; and in that work it is also shown that "the garden of Eden" means the wisdom of the men of that church; "the tree of life," the Lord in man and man in the Lord; "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," man not in the Lord but in what is his own (as he is who believes that he does everything, even good, of himself); and that "eating" from that tree means the appropriation of evil.
466. I. THAT TWO TREES WERE PLACED IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, ONE OF LIFE AND THE OTHER OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL, SIGNIFIES THAT FREE WILL IN SPIRITUAL THINGS WAS GIVEN TO MAN.
It has been believed by many that Adam and Eve mentioned in the Book of Genesis do not mean the first of the human race that were created. In support of this opinion they have adduced arguments concerning the pre-Adamites from chronological computations found among certain nations, and also from the saying of Cain, Adam's first-born, to Jehovah:
"I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me... And Jehovah set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him" Genesis 4:14-15.
And Cain "went out from the presence of JEHOVAH, and dwelt in the land of Nod... and he builded a city," verses 16-17.
From this they have concluded that the earth was inhabited before the time of Adam. That by Adam and his wife, however, is meant the Most Ancient Church on this earth has been fully demonstrated in the Arcana Caelestia published by me in London. In that book it is also shown that the Garden of Eden means the wisdom of the men of that Church, that the tree of life means the Lord in man and man in the Lord, that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil means man not in the Lord but in his own proprium, as when he believes that he does all things, even what is good, from himself, and that the eating of this tree means the appropriation of evil.
466. Quod in Horto Edenis positae sint duae Arbores, una vitae et altera scientiae boni et mali, significet quod homini Liberum Arbitrium in spiritualibus datum sit.
Quod per Adamum et Chaivam in Libro Mosis non intelligantur homines primum creati, a multis creditum est, et ad confirmandum adduxerunt argumenta de Praeadamitis ex computis et Chronologiis apud aliquas Gentes; tum etiam ex effato Caini Primogeniti Adami ad Jehovam, Vagus et agitatus ero in terra, ut quisquis offenderit me, occidat me; quare posuit Jehovah Caino signum, quod non occisurus sit illum quisquis offenderit eum, Genesis 4:14-15, et postquam exiverat e faciebus Jehovae, habitaverit in terra Nod, et aedificaverit urbem, Vers. 16-17, consequenter quod Terra ante Adamum fuerit inhabitata. Quod autem per Adamum et ejus Uxorem intelligatur Antiquissima Ecclesia in hac Tellure, in ARCANIS COELESTIBUS, a me Londini editis, pluribus demonstratum est, et ibi etiam, quod per Hortum Edenis intelligatur Sapientia hominum illius Ecclesiae, et per Arborem vitae Dominus in homine et homo in Domino, et per Arborem scientiae boni et mali, homo non in Domino sed in suo proprio, qualis est qui credit quod omnia faciat a se, etiam bonum; et quod per esum ex hac Arbore intelligatur appropriatio mali.