5. 圣经的灵义与物义 1。
我有时与一些不想了解圣经任何灵义的灵们交谈，他们说，物义或字面的意义是圣经的唯一意义，因为来自主，所以是神圣的。他们断言，倘若灵义被接受，圣经的字义就会没有价值。他们很多人坚持这一点，不过他们收到从天上这样的回复：缺乏灵义的圣经并无神性可言，因为灵义是圣经的灵魂，所以才具神性；事实上，圣经因灵义而有生命，若没有灵义，字义是死的。因此，圣经好比一个神性之人——也就是主，祂的神性不仅存在于属世层面，而且存在于属灵和属天层面；正因如此，主称自己为圣经 2。此外，天使还说，圣经真正的神圣居于它的字义中，字义比其它意义——内在的意义——更神圣，因为它包含并承载着其它意义，正如身体的生命来自灵魂。因此，字义或物义的圣经不仅在于它的完整性，还在于其权能；世人借此与诸天堂相连，若无字义，诸天堂势必与人类分离。谁不知道并承认圣经的核心是其灵性呢？只是灵性存于何处，至今仍处于隐蔽之中。
[2] 然而，一贯坚持圣经只有字义的这些灵们拒绝相信上述观点，天使们于是从圣经中引用大量若撇开灵义单从字义无从理解的经文。例如先知书中一串串仅是名字的列举；各样动物的名称，诸如狮子、熊，牛、牛犊、狗、狼、猫头鹰、iyyim 3、龙；还有诸多山脉和森林；以及其他许多事物，若无灵义就没有任何意义。
例如，一条被描述为七个头、各头戴着珠宝 4的大红龙，用它的尾巴从天上拖拉下来三分之一的星辰，还想要吞下那个妇人要生下的孩子；有鹰的翅膀赐给那妇人飞进旷野，从龙口中喷出像河流一样的水来，若只是字面意义，能讲什么呢？
再者，如果没有灵义，就无从知道龙的两只兽是什么意思，一只从海里出来，像豹子，有熊一样的脚，狮子一样的嘴；另一只从地里上来的兽，如《启示录》第12章和第13章所描述的那样，也是如此。还有，羔羊揭开那书卷的封印，然后有马出来，第一匹是白马，之后是红马，再是黑马，最后是灰白色的马，《启示录》第6章中描述的这些内容以及那本书中的其他内容，若没有灵义，那到底讲什么呢？
再者，在《撒迦利亚书》中，以下描述到底讲什么呢？四个角和四个铁匠（第1章18-21节）；灯台和旁边的两棵橄榄树（第4章）；在两座山之间出现的四辆战车，套上红、黑、白和有斑点的马（第6章），是什么意思呢？
再者，《但以理书》中，公绵羊和公山羊用角争斗（第8章）；从海中出来的四只兽（第7章）；还有大量类似的事物，到底在说什么呢？
为了进一步使这些灵信服，天使还引用了主在《马太福音》第24章中对众门徒所说的关于世代的终结和祂再来的一些经文，倘或其中没有灵义，那么无人能明白这些话。
[3] 灵义存在于圣经的每个细节中，还可从主说的一些话得到证实，这些话除非从灵义上来理解，否则无从领会。例如，人不许称其世上之父为“父亲”，也不能称在世的老师为“夫子”或“师尊”，因为他们只有一位父亲、一位夫子或师尊（马太福音23:7-10）；还让他们不要论断人，免得自己被论断（马太福音7:1,2）；还说丈夫和妻子不是两个，而是一体（马太福音19:5,6）。事实上，不是说他们是物性意义上的一体，而是灵性上的一体。
并未禁止人的物质生活中来论断同伴或邻居，因为这符合社会利益；所禁止的是论断他的属灵生命，因为除了主以外没有人知道。再者，主并没有禁止谁在物质意义上称呼一个人的父亲为父，夫子为夫子，老师为师尊，而是灵性意义上不要如此称呼；就灵义而言，只有一位父亲、夫子和师尊。其他情形也是如此。
[4] 他们倒是信服这一点：圣经的物义（或字义）中藏有灵义（或内义），然而圣经真正的神圣仍居于文字意义中，因为圣经一切内义于字义中得以完全。此外，字义还清晰地教导了得救之道的各方面，以及人当如何生活和信仰；并且，教会的教导全部取自圣经的字义，并可以被字义所证实，而不只是单单藉着灵义才可以。仅仅藉着灵义并不能与天堂建立联结、并进而与主相连，而需要通过字义成就。这是因为主的神性效能从圣经发出，从起始扩展直至终端。
Footnotes:
1. 附注：灵性的意义，简称灵义，也是内在意义或内义；物性上的意义，简称物义，也就是文字意义或字义。
2. Word，直译为“话语”，表示主的话，也就是圣经；《约翰福音》婚姻之爱264:4）或其它夜鸟。准确定义无从知晓，或许是个特定词。
4. 拉丁原文是diademata，和《启示录》希腊文本一样，应为“冠冕”之义，但从作者在著作中各处所表达的意思，很明显表示珠宝或宝石。
5. The Spiritual Meaning of the Word and its Natural Meaning
I have spoken several times with spirits who did not want to know anything about the spiritual meaning of the Word, saying that the natural meaning is the Word's only meaning and that it is holy simply because it is from God. They said that if a spiritual meaning were to be accepted, the Word in its letter would become worthless.
Many of them kept insisting on this point, but they received a reply from heaven that without a spiritual meaning in it, the Word would not be Divine. It is because it has a spiritual meaning as its soul that the Word is Divine, and, in fact, living, for without that meaning the letter would be as though dead. The very holiness of the Word consists in its having a spiritual meaning. Thus the Word may be likened to a Divine Man, who is the Lord, in whom there is not only a Divinity on the natural plane, but a Divinity on the spiritual and celestial planes as well. It is because of this that the Lord calls Himself the Word. The angels said, moreover, that the real holiness of the Word resides in its literal meaning, and that the literal meaning is holier than the other meanings, which are internal, because it embraces and contains the others, being like a body alive from its soul. Thus the Word in its literal or natural meaning is in its fullness and also in its power, and by it a person has conjunction with the heavens, which without the literal meaning would be separated from mankind. Who does not know and acknowledge that the Word at its heart is spiritual? But where that spiritual nature lies hidden has so far gone undiscovered.
[2] But because the spirits who kept insisting on the literal meaning alone refused to be convinced by these arguments, the angels therefore presented many, many passages taken according to the natural meaning which could not possibly be understood apart from a spiritual meaning.
For example, the angels took passages in the Prophets where there are simply collections of names, where many kinds of animals are mentioned, such as lions, bears, bulls, calves, dogs, foxes, owls, iyyim, 1dragons, and also mountains and forests, besides many other things, which would be meaningless apart from a spiritual sense.
The angels also asked, for instance, what was meant by the dragon, which is described as red, having seven heads and upon its heads seven jewels, 2and what was meant by its drawing down a third part of the stars of heaven with its tail, by its wanting to devour the child which the woman was ready to deliver, and by the woman's being given two wings of a great eagle that she might fly into the wilderness, where the dragon spewed water out of its mouth like a flood after her. The angels said further that without the spiritual meaning it would not be known what was meant by the dragon's two beasts-by the one that rose up out of the sea, which was like a leopard, whose feet were like the feet of a bear and its mouth like the mouth of a lion, or by its other beast, which came up out of the earth. (All of which is described in Revelation, chapters 12, 13.)
Again the angels asked, what is meant by the statement that, when the Lamb opened the seals of the book, horses went forth, first a white one, then a red one, next a black one, and finally a pale one (as described in Revelation, chapter 6)- besides what is meant by everything else in the same book. Again, what is meant in Zechariah by the four horns and the four craftsmen (chapter 1), by the lampstand and the two olive trees beside it (chapter 4), by the four chariots coming from between two mountains, which had red, black, white and dappled horses (chapter 6)? Or again, what is meant by the ram and the he-goat, and by their horns with which they fought together, as described in Daniel (chapter 8)? And what about the four beasts that came up from the sea in the previous chapter (chapter 7)? So the angels went on, taking passage after passage like these in place after place. To convince the spirits even more, the angels cited in addition the things the Lord said to His disciples in Matthew concerning the end of the age and His coming (chapter 24), nothing of which would be understood by anyone apart from a spiritual meaning.
[3] That there is a spiritual meaning in every single thing in the Word the angels further supported by certain other things the Lord said, things which would not be understood unless interpreted spiritually-such as that no one should call his father on earth father, or anyone teacher or master, because one is their Father, Teacher and Master (Matthew 23:8-10). Or again, that they were not to judge, that they be not judged (Matthew 7:1-2). Or that husband and wife are not two but one flesh (Matthew 19:5-6)-when in fact they are in a natural sense not one flesh. Nor is anyone forbidden to make judgments about his fellow man or neighbor in regard to his natural life, as this is important to human society. But what is forbidden is to make judgments about another in regard to his spiritual life, for this is known to the Lord alone. The Lord also did not forbid anyone's calling his father father, or a teacher teacher, or a master master in a natural sense, but in a spiritual sense. It is in this sense that there is but one Father, Teacher and Master. So it is with everything else in the Word.
[4] By these arguments the spirits were convinced that there is a spiritual meaning in the natural meaning of the Word, and yet that the real holiness of the Word still resides in its literal meaning, because all the inner meanings of the Word are there in their fullness. Moreover, they were led to see that the literal meaning clearly presents as well everything that teaches the way to salvation, thus everything that teaches how one is to live and believe; also that the doctrine of the church in its entirely is to be drawn from the literal meaning of the Word and verified by it, and not simply by the spiritual meaning alone. For conjunction with heaven and through heaven With the Lord is effected not by the spiritual meaning alone, but by the meaning of the letter. The reason is that the Lord's Divine influx through the Word takes place from first things through last things.
Footnotes:
1. A Hebrew word appearing only three times in the Old Testament (Isaiah 13:22; 34:14; Jeremiah 50:39). The term seems to refer to howling or screeching creatures, perhaps bats (cf. Conjugial Love, no. 264:4), but the actual identity is unknown. It may not be a precise term.
2. The Latin word here, as also the Greek one in Revelation, is diademata, which normally has the meaning of "crowns," but which the writer, from his usage of the term elsewhere, clearly took to mean jewels, gems, or precious stones.
5. V. The spiritual sense of the Word and its natural sense.
I have sometimes talked with spirits who were unwilling to know anything about the spiritual sense of the Word, saying that its natural sense is the only meaning the Word has, and this is holy because it comes from God. They asserted that if a spiritual sense were to be accepted, the literal form of the Word would be worthless. Many of them insisted on this, but they received a reply from heaven, that the Word without a spiritual sense in it would not be Divine, and because the spiritual sense is its soul, it is consequently Divine, in fact alive; for without this the literal sense would be as if dead. The real holiness of the Word consists in this. Thus the Word can be compared to the Divine Man, who is the Lord; in Him there is not only a natural Divine, but also a spiritual Divine and a celestial Divine. This is why the Lord calls Himself the Word. It was also said that the real holiness of the Word lies in its literal sense, and that this is more holy than the others, the internal senses, because it is the wrapping and container of the others, and it is like the body which is made alive by the soul. So the Word in its literal or natural sense possesses its fullness and also its power; and by its means a person is linked with the heavens, which would be separated from mankind but for the literal sense. Everyone knows and acknowledges that the Word is in its depths spiritual, but up to now it has been obscure where this spirituality was hidden.
[2] But since the spirits who took a stand on behalf of the literal sense alone were unwilling to be convinced by these arguments, there was produced countless passages from the natural sense, which could never be understood without the spiritual sense. For instance there are in the Prophets lists of nothing but names; many kinds of animals are named, such as lions, bears, oxen, calves, dogs, wolves, owls, ojim, 1dragons; also mountains and forests, and many other things besides, which would mean nothing without a spiritual sense.
For instance, what might be the meaning of a dragon described as red with seven heads and seven diadems on its heads, pulling down with its tail a third of the stars of heaven, and wanting to swallow the baby to which the woman was about to give birth; the woman being given the two wings of the great eagle to fly into the desert, where the dragon ejected water from its mouth after her like a river? Again, without the spiritual sense it would not be known what was the meaning of the dragon's two beasts; by the one which came up out of the sea, resembling a leopard, with feet like a bear's and a mouth like a lion's; and by its other beast which came up out of the ground, as described in Revelation Chapters 12 and 13. Again, what is the meaning there of the Lamb opening the seal of the book, horses coming out, first a white one, then a red, then a black and then a pale one, described in Revelation 6, as well as the other things in that book? Again, in Zechariah, what is the meaning of the four horns and the four smiths (Chapter 1:18-21); the lamp-stand and the two olive trees next to it (Chapter 4); the four chariots coming out between the two mountains, attached to which were horses, red, black, white and dappled (Chapter 6)? Again, the ram and the he-goat and their horns, with which they fought each other in Daniel (Chapter 8); and the four beasts coming up out of the sea (Chapter 7); not to mention vast quantities of similar things? To convince them further it was cited what the Lord said to the disciples in Matthew (Chapter 24) about the ending of the age and His coming again, which no one could understand without the spiritual sense.
[3] The existence of a spiritual sense in every detail of the Word can also be confirmed by some of the Lord's sayings, which could not be grasped unless understood spiritually. For instance, no one would be allowed to call his father on earth 'father', nor 'teacher' or 'master', because they have one Father, Teacher and Master (Matthew 23:7-10); or that they should not judge for fear of being judged (Matthew 7:1-2); or that a husband and wife are not two, but one flesh (Matthew 19:5-6), although they are not one flesh in the natural sense. Nor is there any prohibition of judging one's companion or neighbour as regards his natural life, for this is in society's interest; but the prohibition is on judging him as regards his spiritual life, for this is known to none but the Lord. Again, the Lord did not forbid calling one's father 'father', nor a teacher 'teacher', nor a master 'master' in the natural sense, but He did in the spiritual sense. In this there is only one Father, Teacher and Master. And the same is true in other cases.
[4] They were convinced by this that there is a spiritual sense contained in the natural sense of the Word, and that still the real holiness of the Word resides in its literal sense, because all the inner meanings of the Word are fully present in it. In addition it was proved that the literal sense also exhibits clearly everything which teaches the way to salvation, and so how to live and what to believe. Also, every teaching of the church is to be drawn from the literal sense of the Word, and proved by it; not purely by the spiritual sense, since this does not permit linking with heaven and through heaven with the Lord, but this must take place by means of the literal sense. For the Lord's Divine influence coming through the Word extends from first to last.
Footnotes:
1. Possibly to be emended to ochim, which are mentioned along with ziim and ijim, apparently nocturnal birds: see Isaiah 13:21-22. -Translator
5. V. THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE WORD AND ITS NATURAL SENSE.
I have spoken at times with spirits who did not wish to know anything about the spiritual sense of the Word, saying that its natural sense is the only sense of the Word, and that this is holy because it is from God; and they asserted that if the spiritual sense were to be accepted, the Word in the letter would become nothing. There were many who insisted upon this, but they were answered from heaven that the Word without the spiritual sense within it would not be Divine; and because the spiritual sense is its soul, it is thence Divine, yea, living, for without it the letter would be as it were dead; the very holiness of the Word consists in this. The Word may thus be compared to the Divine Man who is the Lord, in whom there is not only the Divine natural, but also the Divine spiritual and the Divine celestial; it is on this account that the Lord calls Himself the Word. And the angels said that the very holiness of the Word is in the sense of its letter, and that this is more holy than the other senses, which are internal, because it is the complex and containant of the rest, and is like the body living from the soul. Thus the Word in the sense of the letter, or the natural, is in its fullness, and also in its power; and by means of it man is in conjunction with the heavens, which, without the sense of the letter, would be separated from man. Who does not know and acknowledge that the Word in its bosom is spiritual? But where the spiritual is stored up, has hitherto lain concealed.
[2] But because the spirits who stood for the sense of the letter alone, were not willing to be convinced by these reasons, the angels brought forward innumerable passages from the natural sense which could never be comprehended without the spiritual sense. As in the Prophets, where mere names are heaped up; where many kinds of animals are mentioned such as lions, bears, oxen, bullocks, dogs, foxes, owls, ijim, dragons; as also mountains and forests, besides many other things which would have no meaning without the spiritual sense. What, for instance, should be understood by the dragon who is described as red, having seven heads, and upon the heads seven diadems, and who by his tail drew down the third part of the stars of heaven and who sought to devour the offspring which the woman was about to bring forth; and that two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, that she might fly into the desert, where the dragon cast after her water as a river out of his mouth. Again, without the spiritual sense it could not be known what should be understood by the two beasts of the dragon: the one ascending out of the sea, like a leopard, with feet as of a bear, and a mouth as of a lion, and the other beast ascending from the earth, of which it is spoken in the Apocalypse (12 and 13). Again, what is there meant in the sixth chapter of the Apocalypse, by the horses which went forth when the Lamb opened the seals of the book: first a white horse, afterwards a red one, then a black, and finally a pale horse; besides all the other things in that book? Also what is meant in Zachariah by the four horns and the four artificers (Chapter 2); by the lampstand and the two olive trees near it (Chapter 4); by the four chariots going forth between two mountains to which were horses, red, black, white, and grizzled (Chapter 6)? Or, again, in Daniel 8, what is meant by the ram and the he-goat, and by their horns with which they fought each other; and by the four beasts ascending from the sea (Chap. 7), besides similar things elsewhere in great abundance? In order that they might still further be convinced, the angels quoted what the Lord said to His disciples, in Matthew (Chap. 24), about the consummation of the age and His coming, which could be understood by no one without the spiritual sense.
[3] That the spiritual sense is in each and all of the things or the Word, was also confirmed by certain things said by the Lord which could not be comprehended unless they were understood spiritually, as that no one should call his father on earth, father, nor any one, teacher, or master, because one is their Father, Teacher, and Master (Matt. 23:7-10); also that they should not judge, lest they be judged (Matt. 7:1, 2); and that a husband and wife are not two, but one flesh (Matt. 19:5, 6), when yet in the natural sense they are not one flesh; neither is it forbidden to judge concerning a companion and neighbor as to his natural life, for this is of importance in society; but it is forbidden to judge of him as to his spiritual life, for this is known to the Lord alone. So too the Lord did not forbid calling a father, father, neither a teacher, teacher, nor a master, master, in the natural sense, but in the spiritual sense, in which there is only one Father, Teacher, and Master: so in other cases.
[4] From these illustrations the spirits were convinced that there is a spiritual sense within the natural sense of the Word, and that still the very holiness of the Word is in the sense of its letter, because all the interior senses of the Word are in that in their fullness. Moreover it was confirmed that in the sense of the letter all things which teach the way to salvation, thus to life and faith, stand forth clearly, also that every doctrine of the church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word and confirmed thereby, and not by the pure spiritual sense; for conjunction with heaven, and through heaven with the Lord, is not given by this sense alone, but by the sense of the letter; and the Divine influx of the Lord through the Word is from firsts through ultimates.
5. De Sensu Spirituali Verbi et de sensu naturali ejus
[1] Loquutus sum aliquoties cum spiritibus, qui nihil de sensu spirituali Verbi scire volebant, dicentes quod sensus naturalis ejus sit solus sensus Verbi, et quod ille sanctus sit ex causa quia a Deo, et ajebant, quod si sensus spiritualis acceptaretur, Verbum in litera nihili foret; hoc plures instabant, sed responsum illis est e coelo, quod Verbum absque sensu spirituali in illo non foret Divinum, et quia sensus spiritualis est ejus anima, inde est Divinum, imo vivum, nam absque illo foret litera sicut mortua; ipsum sanctum Verbi in eo consistit; sic comparari potest Verbum Divino Homini, qui est Dominus, in quo non modo Divinum naturale est, sed etiam Divinum spirituale, et Divinum coeleste, propter quam causam Dominus se vocat Verbum; et dixerunt [angeli] quod ipsum sanctum Verbi sit in ejus sensu literae, et quod hic prae reliquis sensibus, qui interni sunt, sit sanctus, ex causa quia ille est complexus et continens reliquorum, et est sicut corpus vivum ex anima; ita est Verbum in sensu literae seu naturali in sua plenitudine, et quoque in sua potentia, et homo per illud in conjunctione cum coelis, qui absque sensu literae ab homine separati forent: quis non scit et agnoscit, quod Verbum in suo sinu sit spirituale; sed ubinam id reconditum sit, hactenus latuit.
[2] At quia spiritus qui pro solo sensu literae stabant, ex his rationibus non convinci voluerunt, ideo innumerabilia loca ex sensu naturali desumpserunt, quae nusquam potuerunt absque sensu spirituali comprehendi, ut apud Prophetas ubi mera nomina congesta sunt, ubi nominata plura genera animalium, ut leones, ursi, boves, juvenci, canes, vulpes, ululae, iim, dracones, tum montes et sylvae, praeter plura alia, quae absque spirituali sensu non forent aliquid; ut quoque quid intelligeretur per draconem, qui describitur rufus habens capita septem, et super capitibus diademata septem, et quod per caudam detraxerit tertiam partem stellarum coeli, et quod devorare vellet foetum quem mulier paritura esset, et quod mulieri datae sint duae alae aquilae magnae ut volaret in desertum, ubi draco post illam jecit ex ore suo aquam sicut fluvium; tum absque sensu spirituali nesciretur quid intelligeretur per duas bestias draconis; per unam quae ascendit ex mari, quae similis pardo, cujus pedes quasi ursi, et os sicut leonis, et quid per alteram ejus bestiam quae ascendebat ex terra, de quibus in Apocalypsi Cap. XII et XIII: tum quid ibi intelligitur, per quod, cum Agnus aperiret sigilla Libri, exirent equi, primum albus, posthac rufus, dein niger, et demum pallidus, de quibus in Apocalypsi Cap. VI, praeter reliqua in illo Libro; tum quid apud Sachariam per quatuor cornua et quatuor fabros, Cap. II, per candelabrum et duas oleas juxta illud, Cap. IV, per quatuor currus exeuntes inter duos montes, ad quos erant equi rubri, nigri, albi, grandinati, Cap. VI; tum quid per arietem et hircum, et per illorum cornua cum quibus inter se pugnabant, apud Danielem, Cap. VIII: et de quatuor bestiis ex mari ascendentibus, de quibus ibi Cap. VII; praeter similia alibi in magna copia. Ut adhuc convincerentur, adducebant illa quae Dominus ad discipulos loquutus est apud Matthaeum, Cap. XXIV, de consummatione saeculi et de adventu suo, quae absque sensu spirituali a nullo intelligerentur.
[3] Quod sensus spiritualis sit in omnibus et singulis Verbi etiam confirmabatur per quaedam a Domino dicta, quae nisi spiritualiter intelligerentur, non comprehenderentur, sicut quod nemini liceret vocare Patrem suum Patrem in terra, nec doctorem nec magistrum, quia unus est illorum Pater, doctor et magister, Matth. 23:7-10, tum quod non judicarent ne judicentur, Matth. 7:1-2, tum quod maritus et uxor non sint duo, sed una caro, Matth. 19:5-6, cum tamen non sunt in naturali sensu una caro: nec interdicitur judicare de socio et proximo quoad naturalem ejus vitam, hoc enim interest in societates, sed interdicitur judicare de illo quoad spiritualem vitam, haec enim soli Domino nota est. Tum non vetuit Dominus nominari patrem suum patrem, nec doctorem doctorem, neque magistrum magistrum, in naturali sensu, sed in spirituali; in hoc est modo unus Pater, doctor et magister; ita in reliquis.
[4] Ex his convicti sunt, quod sensus spiritualis insit sensui naturali Verbi, et quod usque ipsa sanctitas Verbi insit sensui literae ejus, quia omnes sensus interiores Verbi sunt in illo in suo pleno. Insuper confirmatum est, quod exstent in sensu literae etiam clare omnia, quae docent viam ad salutem, ita vitam et fidem, tum quod omne doctrinae Ecclesiae ex sensu literae Verbi extrahendum sit, et per illum confirmandum, et non per purum sensum spiritualem, nam per hunc sensum solum non datur conjunctio cum coelo et per coelum cum Domino, sed per sensum literae; influxus enim Divinus Domini per Verbum est a primis per ultima.