55. So also it is with the souls of men if they do not attain the light of God; which yet with great longing standeth before the soul, and it is hidden in the very ground of the soul. And the soul is to do no more but put its will (as a sprout out of the four forms) again into the light of God, where then it is regenerated anew in the will, and in the life of God.
56. We give the courteous Reader to understand: that the [hellish] creatures, which are the devils and the damned souls, have not only four forms in the band of their life; but their forms are infinite, like the thoughts of men: and they can turn themselves into the forms of all creatures: but there are only four forms manifest to them, as also in the abyss of hell: they may bring forth every form out of the matrix, except the light, the fire is their right life, and the sour astringency of the darkness is their right food.
57. For one essence nourisheth another, so that it is an eternal band: and so the devils and damned souls are only living spirits in the essences
[Or essential powers] of the eternal original: out of which they are also created: for the matrix is the original genetrix, which continually generateth itself out of the eternal will.
58. And in that respect [or according to this form or property] God calleth himself a zealous [or jealous] angry God, and a consuming fire;
for the fire of this original is consuming, for it is the centre of the eternal band. Therefore if it be kindled in the sour sharpness, it consumeth all whatsoever appeareth essentially in the four forms (you must understand, all that which is not generated out of their source [or property], for the devils are from the same source or property, it cannot consume them, for they are crude [that is] without a body), as may be seen by the sacrifices of Moses and the Children of Israel, which the fire devoured; as also by Elias and the two captains over fifties, in that the fire of God twice devoured fifty, when Israel was led in the source of the Father by the Word: [that is, when Israel was disobedient to the light and Word, and thereby were given up to the wrath of God].
59. And now I will farther shew you the form of the Deity, that you may search through the ground of the eternal life, and learn to understand what the eternal good, and what the eternal evil is; as also that which is mortal in this world:
and that you may learn to search and know the Will of the highest good: as also what God, heaven, hell, the devil, and this world are, and what is to be done therein.
60. John the Evangelist writeth very well, also deeply and clearly, that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and all things were made by it: for the Word revealeth the Deity, and generateth the angelical world [which is] a
Principle in itself: which is to be understood as followeth:
61. The first eternal will is God the Father, and it is, to generate his Son, viz. his Word; not out of anything else but out of himself: and we have already informed you about the essences, which are generated in the will, and also how the will in the essences is set in darkness, and how the darkness (in the wheel of the anxiety) is broken asunder by the flash of fire, and how the will cometh to be in four forms, whereas in the original all four are but one, but in the flash of fire appear in four forms: as also how the flash of fire doth exist, in that the first will doth sharpen itself in the eager hardness, so that the liberty of the will shineth in the flash. Whereby we have given you to understand, that the first will shineth in the flash of the fire, and is consuming by reason of the anxious sharpness, where the will continueth in the sharpness, and comprehendeth the other will in itself (understand in the centre of the sharpness), which [other will] is, to go out from the sharpness and to dwell in itself in the eternal liberty without pain or source.
62. Therefore we now also give you to understand; that the other re-comprehended will, to go out from the sharpness, is free from nature, viz. from its wrathfulness: for it stands in the centre, in itself, and retaineth all the virtue and form of the [first] centre, out of all essences, in itself: for
55. So also it is with the souls of men if they do not attain the light of God; which yet with great longing stands before the soul, and it is hidden in the very ground of the soul. And the soul is to do no more but put its will (as a sprout out of the four forms) again into the light of God, where then it is regenerated anew in the will, and in the life of God.
56. We give the courteous Reader to understand: that the [hellish] creatures, which are the devils and the damned souls, have not only four forms in the band of their life; but their forms are infinite, like the thoughts of men: and they can turn themselves into the forms of all creatures: but there are only four forms manifest to them, as also in the abyss of hell: they may bring forth every form out of the matrix, except the light, the fire is their right life, and the sour astringency of the darkness is their right food.
57. For one essence nourishes another, so that it is an eternal band: and so the devils and damned souls are only living spirits in the essences
[Or essential powers] of the eternal original: out of which they are also created: for the matrix is the original genetrix, which continually generats itself out of the eternal will.
58. And in that respect [or according to this form or property] God calls himself a zealous [or jealous] angry God, and a consuming fire;
for the fire of this original is consuming, for it is the centre of the eternal band. Therefore if it be kindled in the sour sharpness, it consums all whatsoever appears essentially in the four forms (you must understand, all that which is not generated out of their source [or property], for the devils are from the same source or property, it cannot consume them, for they are crude [that is] without a body), as may be seen by the sacrifices of Moses and the Children of Israel, which the fire devoured; as also by Elias and the two captains over fifties, in that the fire of God twice devoured fifty, when Israel was led in the source of the Father by the Word: [that is, when Israel was disobedient to the light and Word, and thereby were given up to the wrath of God].
59. And now I will farther show you the form of the Deity, that you may search through the ground of the eternal life, and learn to understand what the eternal good, and what the eternal evil is; as also that which is mortal in this world:
and that you may learn to search and know the Will of the highest good: as also what God, heaven, hell, the devil, and this world are, and what is to be done therein.
60. John the Evangelist writes very well, also deeply and clearly, that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and all things were made by it: for the Word reveals the Deity, and generats the angelical world [which is] a
Principle in itself: which is to be understood as follows:
61. The first eternal will is God the Father, and it is, to generate his Son, viz. his Word; not out of anything else but out of himself: and we have already informed you about the essences, which are generated in the will, and also how the will in the essences is set in darkness, and how the darkness (in the wheel of the anxiety) is broken asunder by the flash of fire, and how the will comes to be in four forms, whereas in the original all four are but one, but in the flash of fire appear in four forms: as also how the flash of fire does exist, in that the first will does sharpen itself in the eager hardness, so that the liberty of the will shines in the flash. Whereby we have given you to understand, that the first will shines in the flash of the fire, and is consuming by reason of the anxious sharpness, where the will continues in the sharpness, and comprehends the other will in itself (understand in the centre of the sharpness), which [other will] is, to go out from the sharpness and to dwell in itself in the eternal liberty without pain or source.
62. Therefore we now also give you to understand; that the other re-comprehended will, to go out from the sharpness, is free from nature, viz. from its wrathfulness: for it stands in the centre, in itself, and retains all the virtue and form of the [first] centre, out of all essences, in itself: for
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