600.若内在人重生，外在人却没有和它一起重生，就好比天上的飞鸟找不到可以停歇的干地，只发现会受到毒蛇和青蛙攻击的一片沼泽地，以致它飞走并死亡。也好比在大海中央游泳的天鹅，无法靠岸筑巢，导致她产的蛋沉入水中，被鱼吞吃。还好比士兵站在一面墙上，当这墙被推倒时，他便一头栽倒下来，死于废墟当中。又好比一棵美丽的树被移植到污泥中，泥中成群的虫子啃光了它的根，致使它枯萎死亡。同样好比没有地基的房子，没有基座的柱子。若唯独内在人重生，外在人没有和它一起重生，这就是内在人的样子，因为他缺乏行善的所有决心。
600. 若内在人重生, 外在人却没有和它一起重生, 就好比天上的飞鸟找不到可以停歇的干地, 只发现会受到毒蛇和青蛙攻击的一片沼泽地, 以致它飞走并死亡。 也好比在大海中央游泳的天鹅, 无法靠岸筑巢, 导致她产的蛋沉入水中, 被鱼吞吃。 还好比士兵站在一面墙上, 当这墙被推倒时, 他便一头栽倒下来, 死于废墟当中。 又好比一棵美丽的树被移植到污泥中, 泥中成群的虫子啃光了它的根, 致使它枯萎死亡。 同样好比没有地基的房子, 没有基座的柱子。 若唯独内在人重生, 外在人没有和它一起重生, 这就是内在人的样子, 因为他缺乏行善的所有决心。
第8节 重生者会获得一个新的意愿和一个新的觉知
600. If our inner self alone were regenerated and not our outer self at the same time, we could be compared to a bird flying in the air that can find no place to rest on dry ground but only in a swamp, where it is attacked by snakes and frogs, and it flies away and dies.
Under that circumstance we could be compared to a swan swimming in the middle of the ocean, too far from shore to create a nest, so the eggs it lays sink into the water and are devoured by fish.
We could also be compared to a soldier who is standing on a wall that crumbles beneath his feet, causing him to fall and die in the rubble.
We could also be compared to a healthy tree transplanted into unhealthy ground, where an army of grubs consumes the root, causing the tree to wither and fade away.
We could also be compared to a house without a foundation, or a column without a footing to support it.
This is what we would be like if our inner self alone were reformed but not our outer self at the same time. We would have no outlet through which to do what is good.
600. If the internal man is regenerated without the external being regenerated along with it, this can be compared to a bird flying through the air with no dry land to rest on, but only a marsh where it is worried by snakes and frogs, so that it flies off and dies. It can also be compared to a swan swimming in the middle of the sea, unable to reach the shore and make its nest, so that the eggs it lays sink into the water and are eaten by fish. It can also be compared to a soldier standing on a wall, who, when this is undermined beneath his feet, falls down and is killed in the collapse. It can also be compared to a lovely tree transplanted into rotten soil, where hordes of worms eat up its roots, so that it withers and dies. It can also be compared to a house without foundations, or to a column with no base to stand on. That is what a person is like if the internal man alone is reformed, and not the external along with it; for he lacks all resolution to do good.
600. A regenerated internal man without a regenerated external also, may be likened to a bird flying in the air with no resting place on dry land except in a marsh, where it is attacked by serpents and frogs, so that it flies away and dies. It may be likened also to a swan swimming in mid-ocean, which cannot reach the shore and make her nest, so that the eggs she lays sink in the water, where they are eaten by fishes. It may be likened also to a soldier on a wall which is pulled down under him, so that he falls headlong and dies amid the ruins. Again it may be likened to a beautiful tree transplanted into filthy soil where troops of worms eat up its roots, so that it withers and dies. It may also be likened to a house without a foundation, or to a column without a pedestal. Such is the internal man when it alone is reformed and not the external also; for it then has no means of determining itself to doing good.
600. The internal man undergoing regeneration while the external remains unregenerate, may be compared to a bird hovering in the air, having no place to rest on dry ground but only in a swamp, infested by serpents and frogs; so it flies away and dies. It may also be compared to a swan swimming in the midst of the ocean, which cannot reach the shore and build a nest; so that she lays her eggs in the water, where they are devoured by fish; and to a soldier standing upon a wall, who, when this is undermined, falls headlong and perishes in the ruins; and to a beautiful tree transplanted to poor soil, where swarms of worms devour its root, so that it withers and dies; and also to a house without a foundation, and to a pillar without a pedestal. Such is the internal man when it alone is reformed without the external; for then it has no basis on which to rest its good deeds.
600. Internus homo regeneratus et non simul externus, comparari potest avi volanti in aere absque sede in terra sicca, sed solum in palude, ubi a serpentibus et ranis infestatur, quare avolat et moritur. Comparari etiam potest olori in medio mari natanti, qui non potest attingere litus, et nidum ponere, quare ova quae parit, immergit aquis, ubi a piscibus devorantur. Comparari etiam potest militi super muro, qui hoc sub pedibus ejus subruto cadit deorsum, et in ruina exspirat. Comparari etiam potest cum Arbore pulchra translata in terram putidam, ubi vermes in caterva exedunt radicem, ex quo illa emarcescit et perit. Comparari etiam potest domui absque fundamento, et quoque columnae absque stylobata: Talis est Internus homo solum reformatus, et non simul externus, nam nulla est ei determinatio ad faciendum bonum.