Concerning the Three Principles of the Divine Essence
1. "\~\T^ know Christ hath taught us, that aP60?16V V judgment shall be kept, not only for the punishment of the despisers of God, and for a reward to the good, but also for the sake of the creature, and of 2 nature, that they may once be 2 the outward delivered from vanity; and we know that the substance of this world, and the property thereof, must pass away ; the sun and the stars, and also the four elements, must pass away as to their source [or property], and all must be restored again ; and then the life will spring forth through death, and the figure of everything shall stand eternally before God, for which end it was created ; also we know that our souls are immortal, generated out of the eternal band ; and when this world passeth away, then also all its essences pass away, which are generated out of it, and the 3 tincture » Or the remaineth still in the spirit. e^nces°or '
2. Therefore, 0 man ! consider thyself here in snbstance745p. 746 this world, in which them standest in the birth, them art sown as a seed or grain, and a tree groweth 1 field or sou. out of thee ; therefore now see in what * ground thou standest, that thou mayest be found to be timber for the great building of God in his love, and not for a threshold [or footstool] to be trodden under-foot, or that is fit for nothing but for the fire, whereof nothing will remain but dust and ashes.
3. It is said to thee, that the wood [or fuel] of thy soul shall burn in the last fire, and that thy soul shall remain to be ashes in the fire, and thy body shall appear like black soot. Why wilt thou then stand in a wilderness, yea in a rock where there is no water ? How then will thy tree grow again ? 0 ! what great misery it is that we are
•grounder ignorant in what 2soil we grow, and what kind of field.
8 sap, juice, s essences we draw to us, seeing our fruit shall or substance. appear an(j ^ tasted, and that which is pleasant shall stand upon God's table ; and the other shall be cast to the devil's swine. Therefore let it move you, to look that you grow in the ground or soil of Christ, and bring forth fruit that may be set upon God's table, which fruit never perisheth, but continually springeth, and the more it is eaten of, the pleasanter it is. How wilt thou rejoice in the Lord !
4. The Last Judgment is appointed for that end ; and as we know that all things [in this world] have had a beginning, so they shall alsop. 747 have an end ; for before the time of this world there was nothing but the band of eternity, which maketh itself, and in the band the spirit, and the spirit in God, who is the highest good, which was always from eternity, and never had any beginning ; but this world hath had a beginning from the eternal band in the time.
5. For this world maketh a time, therefore it must perish ; and as it hath been nothing, so it will be nothing again ; for the spirit moveth in the l ether; and therein the zlimbus (which is 1 Or upholder.
corruptible) is generated, from whence all things 2 the seed> proceed ; and yet there was no fashioner but the spirit (or the vulcan) in the essences, and so also there were no essences ; they were generated in the will of the spirit, and in that will is the
3 fashioner, which hath fashioned all things out ofsfranier, nothing, but merely out of the will. or former.
6. Seeing then it is fashioned out of the eternal will, therefore it is eternal, not in substance, but in the will ; and after the breaking of the substance this world standeth wholly and altogether (like a figure) in the will for [a 4 glass of] God's works of < figure, or wonder. And so we know now, that where there *"
is a will, it must comprehend itself so that it be a will, and that comprehension maketh an attraction, and that which is attracted is in the will, and it is thicker than the will, and is the darkness of the will, and a source in the darkness ; for the will desireth to be free, and yet cannot be free, exceptp. 748 it go again in itself out of the darkness, and if it do, then the darkness continueth in the first will, and the reconceived will remaineth in itself
1 liberty or in the l light.
1. "\~\T^ know Christ has taught us, that aP60?16V V judgment shall be kept, not only for the punishment of the despisers of God, and for a reward to the good, but also for the sake of the creature, and of 2 nature, that they may once be 2 the outward delivered from vanity; and we know that the substance of this world, and the property thereof, must pass away ; the sun and the stars, and also the four elements, must pass away as to their source [or property], and all must be restored again ; and then the life will spring forth through death, and the figure of everything shall stand eternally before God, for which end it was created ; also we know that our souls are immortal, generated out of the eternal band ; and when this world passes away, then also all its essences pass away, which are generated out of it, and the 3 tincture » Or the remains still in the spirit. e^nces°or '
2. Therefore, 0 man ! consider yourself here in snbstance745
746 THE THREE PRINCIPLES [Ch. 27 this world, in which them stand in the birth, them art sown as a seed or grain, and a tree grows 1 field or sou. out of you ; therefore now see in what * ground you stand, that you may be found to be timber for the great building of God in his love, and not for a threshold [or footstool] to be trodden under-foot, or that is fit for nothing but for the fire, whereof nothing will remain but dust and ashes.
3. It is said to you, that the wood [or fuel] of your soul shall burn in the last fire, and that your soul shall remain to be ashes in the fire, and your body shall appear like black soot. Why will you then stand in a wilderness, yea in a rock where there is no water ? How then will your tree grow again ? 0 ! what great misery it is that we are
•grounder ignorant in what 2soil we grow, and what kind of field.
8 sap, juice, s essences we draw to us, seeing our fruit shall or substance. appear an(j ^ tasted, and that which is pleasant shall stand upon God's table ; and the other shall be cast to the devil's swine. Therefore let it move you, to look that you grow in the ground or soil of Christ, and bring forth fruit that may be set upon God's table, which fruit never perishes, but continually springs, and the more it is eaten of, the pleasanter it is. How will you rejoice in the Lord !
4. The Last Judgment is appointed for that end ; and as we know that all things [in this world] have had a beginning, so they shall alsop. 747 have an end ; for before the time of this world there was nothing but the band of eternity, which makes itself, and in the band the spirit, and the spirit in God, who is the highest good, which was always from eternity, and never had any beginning ; but this world has had a beginning from the eternal band in the time.
5. For this world makes a time, therefore it must perish ; and as it has been nothing, so it will be nothing again ; for the spirit moves in the l ether; and therein the zlimbus (which is 1 Or upholder.
corruptible) is generated, from whence all things 2 the seed> proceed ; and yet there was no fashioner but the spirit (or the vulcan) in the essences, and so also there were no essences ; they were generated in the will of the spirit, and in that will is the
3 fashioner, which has fashioned all things out ofsfranier, nothing, but merely out of the will. or former.
6. Seeing then it is fashioned out of the eternal will, therefore it is eternal, not in substance, but in the will ; and after the breaking of the substance this world stands wholly and altogether (like a figure) in the will for [a 4 glass of] God's works of < figure, or wonder. And so we know now, that where there *"
is a will, it must comprehend itself so that it be a will, and that comprehension makes an attraction, and that which is attracted is in the will, and it is thicker than the will, and is the darkness of the will, and a source in the darkness ; for the will desires to be free, and yet cannot be free, except
748 THE THREE PRINCIPLES [Ch. 27 it go again in itself out of the darkness, and if it do, then the darkness continues in the first will, and the reconceived will remains in itself
1 liberty or in the l light.