Chapter 9 Title VII-1

Title VII 370-300 (425) 590-447 part two.It is said that without faith, one cannot know the true beauty, nor can one know justice. —All without exception seek happiness; however different their means may be, they all tend towards this end.What makes some go to war and what keeps others from going to war is the same desire; it is shared by both, but each is accompanied by a different point of view.The will never takes the slightest step forward but towards this end. This is the motive of all the actions of all men, even those who hang themselves. And yet, after all those ages, never has an unbeliever reached the point to which every one is constantly looking.Everyone is complaining:

Monarchs, subjects, nobles, commoners, old and young, strong and weak, wise and foolish, healthy and sick, regardless of country, era, age and situation. A test so long, so continuous, and so consistent, should well convince us that we are powerless to make good by our own efforts; yet precedent teaches us nothing.There is never such a complete resemblance that some slight differences do not exist; and therefore we expect that our expectations will not be so deceived on this occasion as on others. .Thus, since the present can never satisfy us, experience plays tricks on us and leads us from wretchedness to wretchedness to death which constitutes its eternal summit.

But what is it that this longing, this inability, announces to us? —If it were not for the fact that there was once a true happiness in man, he now retains only utterly empty marks and traces of it, and strives in vain to fill it with everything around him, Seeks in what does not exist that support which he cannot find in what exists.But all this is impossible, because the infinite abyss can only be filled with an infinite and unchanging object, that is to say, only with God himself. God alone is the true good of man; and since man has forsaken God, that is a rare thing; nothing in nature can take the place of God: stars, sky, earth, elements, plants, Cabbages, leeks, animals, insects, calves, snakes, fevers, plagues, wars, famines, crimes, prostitution, incest.

And since men have lost their true goodness, everything may appear equally good to them, even their own ruin, though so against God, against reason, and against all nature. Some seek it from authority, others from curiosity or science, still others from lust.Others have actually come nearer to it, thinking that the universal goodness to which all men desire must not exist in any particular thing; When shared, it makes its possessor suffer more from wanting that part of himself that he does not have than it satisfies his possessor by giving him that part of pleasure. .They have learned that true goodness should be that which is available to all at the same time, which neither diminishes nor envies, and which no one loses against his will.And their reason is that, since this desire is innate to man—because it must be present in every man, and it is impossible for him to be without it—they conclude from this that . . .

368-301 (426) 780-433 When true nature is lost, all becomes its true nature; just as true goodness is lost, all becomes its true goodness. 275-312 (427) 450-443 Man does not know where to place himself.They have evidently gone astray, and have fallen from their true position and never found it again.Here and there they searched for it restlessly and fruitlessly in the unfathomable darkness. 7-456 (428) 798-442 If God is proved by nature to be a sign of weakness, then the Holy Book should not be despised; if these opposites are recognized as a sign of strength, then the Holy Book should be respected.

369-101 (429) 615-448 The humbleness of human beings is so low that it yields to the beasts and even worships the beasts. 483-309, 437 (430) 570-487 For Poirot (beginning after incomprehensibility has been explained)— The greatness and wretchedness of man are so evident that true religion must teach us that man has at the same time a great principle of greatness and a great principle of woe.It must therefore explain to us the cause of these astonishing opposites. In order to make man happy it must reveal to man that God exists; that it is our duty to love God; What is filled with darkness, darkness prevents us from knowing God and loving God; thus our duty compels us to love God, while our desires drive us away from God, and we are filled with injustice.It must explain to us the reason for our opposition to God and to our own goodness.

It must teach us how to remedy these incapacities and the means to obtain them.Let us therefore examine the religions of the world, and see if there is any other religion than Christianity which can satisfy these. Is this the philosopher who proposes the good within ourselves as all good?Is the real beauty here?Have they found a remedy for our misery?Does putting people on an equal footing with God cure people of their vanity?Do not those Mohammedans who equate us with beasts, and who give us earthly pleasures as all good, even good in eternal life, bring a remedy to our lusts?But what religion can teach us to heal pride and lust?What religion, after all, can teach us our goodness, our duties, the frailties which turn us from religion, the causes of these frailties, the remedies which can heal them, and the means of obtaining them? ?

All other religions fail to do this.Let's see what God's wisdom can do! It says, "Don't expect the truth, nor the consolation of men. I am the one who made you, and I alone can teach you who you are. And yet you are not what I made you The man I created is holy, innocent, and perfect; I fill him with light and wisdom; I transmit to him my glory and my miracles. Then the eyes of man had seen the majesty of God, and he had not then fallen into the darkness that blinded him, nor the death and the tragedies that pained him.Yet he could not bear such great glory without being reduced to vanity.

He wants to make himself the center without my help.He eludes my dominion; and, as he desires to find his own good in himself, so that he may be equal to me, I abandon him to himself; All things revolted, and made them all his enemies: Thus man today has become like a brute, and is so remote from me that he has almost no longer the dim light of his Maker; all his knowledge is extinguished and confused to the point that point!The senses, which are independent of reason and often become its master, lead him to the pursuit of pleasure.All created things either sting him or seduce him, and either subject him with their strength or enchant him with their sweetness, and thus rule him; a dominion more terrible and more brutal.

"This is the state of human beings today. They also retain some of the feeble instincts of happiness that were part of their first nature, but they have given themselves up to the blindness and lust that has become their second nature." in a deplorable state. "From this principle which I have shown you, you may recognize the causes of so many opposites which once astonished everyone, and divided them into so divergent sentiments. Now the Come and observe the whole movement of that greatness and glory which so many sad trials cannot suffocate, and see if the cause must not lie in another nature."

Writing for Tomorrow's Polo (anthropomorphic)—"O people! In vain do you seek in yourselves a remedy for your misery. All your light can reach no more than It is the realization that you will never find truth or goodness within yourself. The philosophers have promised you this and they have not. They neither know what your true goodness is nor your true goodness. What is the real state. How can they provide a remedy for your woe, which they do not even recognize? Your great woe is that which leads you from the pride of God and the lust which binds you to the earth; and what they do but nothing but the cultivation of at least one of these two great evils. If they propose to you God as an end, it is only to arouse your pride; they make you think that by your nature you are like and agrees with God. And those who see the vanity of this formulation throw you over another precipice; they make you understand that your nature is like the nature of the beast, and lead You seek your beauty in desires that animals share. The cure for your iniquity is not here, it is unknown to these wise men. Only I can make you understand what you are, and... ..." Adam, Jesus Christ. If you are one with God, it is by grace, not by nature.If you humble yourself, it is from repentance, not from nature. Thus, this dual ability... You are not in the state in which you were created. Since both states are public, it is impossible for you not to recognize them.Follow your actions; observe yourselves, and see if you cannot discover the living features of these two natures.Can so many contradictions be found in a single subject? Incomprehensible. —The incomprehensible does not cease to exist. infinite number.Infinite space equals finite. - It is unbelievable that God is one with us. —This idea comes only from our humble point of view.But if you are true to it, follow it as far as I have; and admit that we are so low indeed that we cannot know by ourselves whether God's mercy would make us worthy. on him.For I would like to know how such animals—so weak they admit themselves—have a right to measure God's benevolence and to impose upon it the limits suggested by their own fantasies.He knows so little of what God is that he does not know what he himself is; and his conception of his own state is so utterly confused that he dares not say that God cannot enable him to communicate with God. . But I would ask him, whether God requires anything else from him than to know God and therefore to love him; why, if he is naturally capable of loving and knowledge ?There is no doubt that he at least knows that he exists and loves something. If, therefore, he had glimpsed something in the darkness in which he was, if he had found some lovely theme in the things of the earth; If there is some light,—why should he not know God and love God in such a way that it pleases God to communicate with us? There is, therefore, undoubtedly involved in such reasoning a flimsy assumption, though it may seem to rest on an outwardly humble foundation, which, if it does not make We confess that we know not ourselves what we are, and therefore can only learn this from God, and it is neither sincere nor reasonable. "I do not mean that you submit your beliefs to me without reason, nor do I mean to overwhelm you by tyranny. Nor do I pretend to be able to explain everything to you. In order to reconcile these opposites, I To make you see clearly the divine signs in me with convincing proofs that will convince you of what I am, and give me authority with miracles and proofs that you cannot deny; so you can Believe nothing in the things I teach you, when you have no reason to reject them except on the basis of your own inability to know them. "God is willing to redeem mankind and open the door of salvation to those who pursue it. Yet men make themselves so unworthy that God, on account of the obstinacy of some, withholds from them the gift of the kindness which he has given to them out of a kindness which was not due to them. Something to give to someone else; that's perfectly legitimate. If he had been willing to overcome the obstinacy of the most obstinate, he could have done so only by revealing himself to them so clearly that they could not doubt the reality of his essence; As the end of the world will come, it will be filled with thunderous bangs and the upside-down chaos of nature, so that the dead will rise and the blindest will see. "He wants to appear in the coming of his mercy, but not in this way; for since there are so many who have made themselves unworthy of his mercy, he is willing to have them deprived of what they do not want. Therefore, it would be inappropriate for him to appear in a way that is clearly divine and absolutely convincing to all; however, if he appears in such a covert way It would not have been right that he should have come in such a way that he should not be known to those who sincerely pursued him, to whom he did wish to make himself fully known; Appearing to those who wholeheartedly pursue him, and concealing himself from those who wholeheartedly shun him, he restrains his knowledge, so that he makes his mark visible to those who pursue him, and And because those who do not seek him do not see. For those who desire to see, there is enough light; for those who have the opposite intention, there is enough darkness." 388-394 (431) 816-489 No other religion has ever recognized man as the superior creature. Some religions, well aware of the reality of man's superiority, regard as baseness and ingratitude man's natural baseness towards himself; How effective it is to treat with a haughty irony those great sentiments which are also natural to men. Some religions say: "Lift your eyes to God; look at God, you are like him, and he created you to worship him. You can make yourself like him; as long as you are willing to follow Wisdom, and wisdom will make you like him."Epictetus said: "Liberal people, lift up your heads." Other religions say to people: "Low your eyes and look down on the ground, you are just some poor insects, look at the beasts Well, you are their comrades." So what will become of human beings?Will they be equal to God, or to beasts?What a terrible distance!Then what shall we become?Who can fail to see in all this that man has gone astray, man has fallen from his place, that he seeks it restlessly, but can never find it again.Who, then, will lead them there?The greatest men have not been able to do this. 384-295 (432) 789-491 The skepticism is real.Because after all, human beings do not know where they are in front of Jesus Christ, nor do they know whether they are great or small.And those who have said it was the former or the latter know nothing of it, but guess unreasonably and by chance; and they are always erroneous in excluding the former or the latter. Quod ergo ignorantis quaeritis, religio anuntiat vobis. [Religion will tell you whatever you are seeking without knowledge or understanding]. "Acts" chapter 17, verse 23: "I now tell you what you worship without knowing."The meaning of the quotation is obviously different from the original text. 426-409 (433) 523-479 Having understood all of humanity - for a religion to be true it must know our humanity.It should recognize the greatness and smallness of human nature, and the reasons for both.Who but Christians ever knew this? 438-246 (434) 223-492 The chief strength of the skeptic—and I will leave aside the secondary—is that, apart from faith and revelation, we have no way of ascertaining whether the principles are truth or not, except from what we naturally feel in ourselves.Yet such natural feelings are not a convincing proof of their truth; for since nothing but faith can be sure whether man was created by a good God, or by an evil devil, or merely Fortuitously, it is therefore doubtful whether (as far as our origins are concerned) the principles we accept are true or false or uncertain.Also, no one but faith can be sure whether he is awake or asleep; this is due to the fact that in our sleep we believe we are awake, just as when we are really awake we believe in seeing When it comes to space, number, and motion, we feel the flow of time, we count it; and at last we act as if we were awake; Whatever it may appear to us at the time, we have no real idea of ​​any; and since all our sensations at this moment are illusions, who knows if the half of our lives we think we are awake is not another battle with What about the slightly different dream from the previous time (from which we woke up when we thought we were asleep)? [If we dreamed of being together, and the dreams coincided by chance--which is often the case--and we woke up alone, who could doubt that we should not believe that things were reversed What about?Finally, since we often dream that we are dreaming, dream upon dream, is it not possible that the half of our lives which we think we are awake is itself nothing more than a dream?All other dreams are grafted onto this dream, from which we do not wake until we die, and in this dream we have the principles of truth and goodness, just as in natural dreams Equally rare; perhaps these various thoughts that agitate us are mere illusions, like the passage of time or the visions of our dreams? ] The above are the main arguments of both sides. I will put aside minor points, such as those raised by skeptics against custom, education, manners, the influence of nations, and the like; ordinary people, who are easily overthrown by skeptics.If this is not enough to convince us, we have only to look at their books, and we will be convinced at once, perhaps too much. I would like to speak of the unique strength of the dogmatists, which is that when we speak with confidence and sincerity, we cannot doubt the principles of nature.Skeptics use our origin (which includes our nature) The unreliability of these words to refute this; and dogmatists have been replying to it since the world existed. It is an open war among men, in which every man must take part, and must take part either in the ranks of dogmatism or in the ranks of skepticism.For anyone who wants to be neutral is first of all a skeptic; and this neutrality is the essence of Jewish mysticism: whoever does not oppose them is brilliantly supporting them. [Their advantages are shown here. ] They do not advocate for themselves, they are neutral, apathetic, outsiders of everything, including themselves. So, what should a person do in this situation?Will he doubt everything? Will he doubt that he is awake?Was someone stabbing him?Is someone setting him on fire?Was he to doubt whether he was doubting?Will he doubt his existence?We cannot get to this point; and I would also like to point out that in fact there have never been complete and complete skeptics.Nature supports impotent reason, and forbids it to exaggerate to that extent. But on the contrary, will he say that he has indeed grasped the truth?But he couldn't resist being held accountable, so he had no choice but to show that he didn't have any qualifications to say so, and he had to give up his stronghold. What an illusion, then, is man!What a strange, strange, chaotic, contradictory subject, and spectacle!Judge of all things and fool of the earth; repository of truth and well of uncertainty and error; glory and rubbish of the universe. Who can resolve this dispute?Nature defeats the skeptic, and reason defeats the dogmatist.People, you are exploring with your gifted intellect what your real situation is, but what will become of yourselves?You can neither avoid one of these two factions nor support either. Know, you proud people, a paradox of how contradictory you are about yourself!Humble yourself, impotent reason; silence yourself, stupid nature; understand that man is infinitely beyond himself, and understand from your master what is true of you of which you yourself are ignorant. Listen to God. For after all, if man had never been corrupt, he would surely enjoy both truth and happiness in his innocence; Nor will there be any idea of ​​blessing.Yet, wretched as we are—more so than if there were no greatness at all in our condition—we have notions of happiness, but cannot attain them; we feel the shadow of truth, and we only master lies; we can neither be absolutely ignorant nor know for sure, so that it is all too obvious that we have been in a state of perfection and have unfortunately fallen from it. And yet the most astonishing thing is that the mystery most remote from our knowledge—the mystery of the transmission of evil—is such a thing without which we cannot have any knowledge of ourselves!For there is no doubt that nothing shocks our reason more than to say that the sin of the first man makes guilty those who are so remote from the source and seem impossible to share in it.Such a transmission seems to us not only impossible, but even terribly unjust; for it seems so irrelevant an evil for an infant who cannot have will— That was committed six thousand years before he was born—and to punish an infant for eternity; what could be more contrary to our poor codes of justice?Nothing, indeed, can offend us more violently than this doctrine; yet, without the most incomprehensible mystery of all, we are incomprehensible to ourselves. The crux of our condition twists and turns in this abyss; and thus man is more inconceivable without this mystery than it is incomprehensible to man. [From this point of view, it seems that God wants to make the problem of our existence beyond our own comprehension, so that he hides it so high, or better, so deep that we completely It is impossible to attain it; and thus it is not by the haughty activity of our intellect but by the naive submission of the intellect that we really know ourselves. These foundations, solidly laid on the inviolable authority of religion, lead us to recognize two equally immutable truths of faith: the one, that man, in his state of Genesis, or of divine grace, was That which rises above the whole of nature, they were created like God and share in his divinity; the other is that when man is in a state of corruption and sin, they fall from the former state and are reduced to the likeness of the beasts. . These two propositions are equally firm and certain.They are plainly announced to us by the Holy Book, which says in some places: Deliciaemeaeessecum eiliis hominum [My joy is with the world].Chapter 8, Verse 31: "Joy dwells among men. Effundamspiritummeum superomnem carnem [I will pour out my spirit on all flesh.] "Isaiah" Chapter 44, Verse 3: "I will pour my soul into your offspring". Chapter 2, verse 28 of the Book of Jomi: "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh". Diiestis [You are gods]. "Psalm" 82nd, verse 6: "You are gods", etc.; and in other places it says: Omniscaro foenum [All flesh and blood are rotten grass. ] Isaiah 40 Chapter 6: "All flesh is like grass". Homoassimilatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis  factus stillis [Man without thought can be likened to beasts and become their kind]. "Psalm" 49th, verse 20: "A person who is in dignity and not awakened is like a dead animal." Dixiin corde de meode  fili ish minum. "Biography" Chapter 3. From this it is evident that man was created by grace to be like God and to share in his divinity, but without grace man would be like a naked beast. 〕 439-402 (435) 751-493 Without this divine knowledge, there is nothing else but to elevate themselves in that inner sentiment which their former greatness bequeathed them, or to degenerate in their present frailty. What else can humans do?Because they cannot see the whole truth, they cannot attain perfection of virtue.Some regard nature as perfect, others as incorrigible, so that they cannot escape these two great sources of all evil: That is, either pride or sloth; for [they] can only [can] either commit themselves to it through cowardice, or leave it through pride.For if they recognized man's excellence, they would overlook man's corruption, and thus, though well avoid laziness, they would fall into arrogance; and if they acknowledged nature's unsteadiness, they would neglect its dignity, and thus they would, though It is quite possible to avoid vanity, but this again descends into despair.From this came the Stoics and the Epicureans, the Dogmatics and the Academics, and so on. The religion of Christ alone can cure both evils, not by expelling the one with worldly wisdom but by expelling both with the simplicity of the Gospel.For it teaches the just that it elevates them till they share in Divinity itself; but in this exalted state they still carry with them the roots of all corruption which subject them all their lives to error, misery, death, and sin.And it declares to the most impious that they, too, can receive the grace of their Saviour.Thus, trembling those it sanctioned, and comforting those it punished, it so justly cushioned them with hope, with that double power of grace and sin common to all. fear. It is thus infinitely more humble than reason alone can do, without despair; From this it is well seen that, since it alone is free from error and evil, it alone can both instruct and correct mankind. Who, therefore, can deny the heavenly light which makes them believe in them and adore them?For is it not clearer than in the day that we feel in ourselves the indelible character of superiority?And is it not equally true that we experience the effects of our deplorable circumstances all the time? What, then, is this chaos and terrible confusion, but proclaiming to us the truth of these two states with a voice so powerful that it is impossible to resist? 197-65, 97 (436) 444-494 Vulnerability—All occupations of men are to acquire wealth; but they will not be entitled to show that they enjoy it according to justice, because they have but human illusions, and they have no power to enjoy wealth safely .The same is true of knowledge.Because disease can take it away.We can get neither truth nor riches. 270-125 (437) 430-424 We want truth and find in ourselves nothing but uncertainty. We seek happiness, and all we find is misery and death. It is impossible for us not to desire truth and happiness, and it is impossible for us to be sure or happy.This desire is left to us as much to punish us as to make us feel where we have fallen from. 415-247 (438) 511-434 If man is not born for God, why should he be happy only in God?If man was born for God, why does he disobey God so much? 422-132 (439) 566-435 Corrupted Nature—Man does not act according to the reason which constitutes his life. 423-609 (440) 796-263 The corruption of reason is manifested by so many different and strange fashions.In order for man not to remain in himself, the truth must come. 421-130 (441) 581-246 For my part, I confess that when Christianity once showed this truth, that human nature is corrupt and has fallen from God, it opened my eyes to see the character of this truth everywhere: because human nature is Thus it marks everywhere a lost God and a corrupted nature, both within and without the human body. 428-37 (442) 771-247 True humanity, the true beauty and true virtue of man, and true religion are inseparable from knowledge. 427-252 (443) 578-469 The great, the pathetic—the more light we have, the more greatness and baseness of man we discover.Ordinary people - those who are more advanced: Philosophers, they astonish ordinary people; Christians, they astonish philosophers. Religion, then, is nothing but to make us aware of what the brighter we are, the more we will know; and who would be surprised to see that? 833-436 (444) 795-231 This religion taught its children what man in his brightest light can know. 448-323 (445) 645-232 Original sin is stupid in front of people, yet it is given as such.You should not therefore accuse me of being unreasonable in this doctrine, because I have given it to be unreasonable.But this stupidity is wiser than all human wisdom, sapien-tius est hominibus [wiser than man. ] "1 Corinthians" Chapter 1, verse 25: "For the foolishness of God is wiser than man."For without this, what shall we say of man? His whole state depends on this imperceptible point.既然它是一件违反理智的东西，并且既然人的理智远不能以自己的办法创造它，而当使它向理智呈现的时候，理智也会远离它；那末它又怎么能被人的理智所察觉呢？ 421—537（446）510—559 论原罪。犹太人关于原罪的大量传说。 关于《创世记》第八章中的话。人从幼时起心性就是恶。 摩西哈达尔商说：这种恶的酵素是从人一形成的时候，就被置诸人身之中的。 马色赛苏迦说：这种恶的酵素在圣书中有七个名字，叫作恶、阳皮、不洁、敌人、诽谤、石头的心、北风，这一切都指隐藏并烙印在人心之中的恶意。 米斯德拉蒂里姆说过同样的话，并且说上帝将从恶的人性中解救出善良的人性来。 这种恶意每天都不断翻新地在反对着人类，就像《诗篇》第三十七篇所写的：“不虔信者窥伺着义人，乘机杀害他；但上帝绝不会抛弃他。”这种恶意在今生诱惑人心，而在来生则将控诉他。这一切都见于塔尔穆德。 米斯德拉.蒂里姆论《诗篇》第四篇“你们应当战战兢兢，不可犯罪”说：你们应当战战兢兢并戒惧自己的欲念，这样它就不会引你们犯罪了。又论《诗篇》第三十六篇“不虔信者在自己的心里说，但愿我面前不存在什么怕上帝”；这就是说，人的天赋的恶意已经把这一点告诉给不虔信者了。 米斯德拉.柯艾勒。“贫穷而有智慧的孩子，胜于年老、愚昧而不能预见未来的国王”。 孩子便是德行，而国王便是人类的恶意。它之所以被称为国王，是因为全部的肢体都服从他；之所以被称为年老，是因为它自幼至老都在人心里面；之所以被称为愚昧，是因为它引人陷入人所没有预见的〔毁灭〕的道路。 米斯德拉.蒂里姆经也有同样的话。 贝莱希.拉比论《诗篇》第三十五篇“主啊，我的每根骨头都向你感恩，因为你解救穷困者脱离暴君”；难道还有比恶的酵素更大的暴君吗？又论第二十五章“如果你仇敌饿了，就给他吃的”；这就是说，恶的酵素如果饿了，就给它吃第九章所说到的智慧的面包；如果它渴了，就给它喝《以赛亚书》第五十五章所说到的水。 米斯拉德.蒂里姆说过同样的话；并说圣书在这个地方谈到我们的敌人时，就是指恶的酵素：并说在〔给〕它以这种面包和水的时候，我们就把煤炭堆在了他的头上。 米斯德拉.柯艾勒论《传道书》第九章“一位大王围攻一座小城”。那个大王就是恶的酵素，他所用以包围它的那些大营垒便是诱惑，但他却发见有一个贫穷而有智慧的人，——也就是说德行。 又论《诗篇》第四十一篇：“眷顾穷人的人有福了。” 又论《诗篇》第七十八篇：“精神是一去不复返的”；有人据此就抓住错误的题目来反对灵魂不朽；然而其意义却是： 这种精神就是恶的酵素，它伴随着人直到死，而在复活时也不会再回来。 又论《诗篇》第一百零三篇有同样的话。 又论《诗篇》第十六篇。 425—717（447）705—230 我们能说，由于人们说过正义已经离开了大地，所以人们就已经认识了原罪吗？——Nemo ante obitum beatH us est〔没有人在死前是幸福的〕。语出奥维德（公元前4 3—公元17）《变形集》第3篇：135；这是说，他们已经认识到永恒而真正的福祉是从死亡开始的吗？ 417—145（448）765—445 〔米东〕很好地看出了天性是腐化的，而人类又是与诚实背道相驰的；不过他却不知道他们何以不能飞得更高。 418—42（449）585—89 顺序——在论腐化以后，要说：“要所有处于这种状态的人，无论是喜欢它的人还是不喜欢它的人，都认识它，这是公正的；但是要人人都看到得救，那就是不公正的了”。 419—427（450）601—490 如果我们并不认识自己充满着高傲、野心、欲念、脆弱、可悲与不义，那末我们就的确是瞎子。但如果我们虽认识它却并不想要得救，那末我们又该说一个人……什么呢？ 因此，除了尊重一种对人类的缺点认识得是那么透澈的宗教而外，除了渴望一种能允诺那么值得愿望的补救之道的宗教真理而外；我们还能做什么呢？ 134—404（451）228—233 人人都是天然彼此为仇的。我们在尽可能地运用欲念，好使它为公共福利而服务；但这只不过是伪装，是仁爱的假象，因为它归根结底只不外是仇恨。 133—199（452）565—234 怜悯不幸的人并不违反欲念。相反地，我们可以很容易拿出这种友好的证据来获得温厚的名声而不必付出任何代价。 135—405（453）559—236 我们根据欲念而奠定了并籀绎出种种值得赞美的政治的、道德的与正义的准则；然而归根结底这一人类的邪恶根源，这一fig－mentum malum〔罪恶的创造〕语出《诗篇》 第102篇第14节，只不过是被遮掩起来而已，它并没有被消除。 137—122（454）201—237 不正义——他们并没有发见别的办法可以满足欲念而又不伤害别人。 136—141（455）863—238 自我是可恨的：而你，米东，你却在掩饰它，你并没有因此而取消它；因而你就永远是可恨的。——不然，因为像我们这样在尽义务为所有的人效劳的时候，我们就不再有借口可以恨我们自己了。——的确如此，假如我们所仇恨于自我的只不过是由此而产生的不愉快的话。然而，如果我仇恨它，是因为它是不正义的，是因为它使自己成为一切的中心，那末我就永远都要仇恨它了。 总之，自我有两重性质：就它使自己成为一切的中心而言，它本身就是不义的；就它想奴役别人而言，它对于别人就是不利的，因为每一个自我都是其他一切人的敌人并且都想成为其他一切人的暴君。你可以取消它的不利，却不能取消它的不义；因此你并不能使它对那些恨它不义的人变得可爱，你只能使它对那些在其中不再发见有自己的敌人的不义之人变得可爱。因此你始终是不义的，并且只能讨不义的人的喜欢。 138—150（456）428—239 没有一个人不是把自己置于世上其余一切人之上的，没有一个人是不爱自己的财富、自己的幸福以及自己生命的延续，有甚于世上其余一切人的财富、幸福与生命的；这是出于怎样一种颠倒的判断啊！ 139—164（457）577—240 每个人对于他自己就是一切，因为自己一死，一切对于自己就都死去了。由此而来的是，每个人都相信自己对于所有的人就是一切。所以我们绝不可根据我们自己来判断天性，而是必须根据天性。 696—696（458）622—241 “凡是属于世界上的一切，都是肉体的欲念，或眼睛的欲念，或今生的骄傲：libido sentienti，libido sciendi，libido dominandi”〔肉体的欲念、眼睛的欲念、骄傲的欲念。〕《约翰一书》第2章第16节： “凡世界上的事，就象肉体的情欲、眼目的情欲，并今生的骄傲，都不是从父来的，乃是从世界来的”。被这三条火流所燃烧而非被它们所灌溉的这个可咒诅的大地是不幸的！那些站在它们岸边但没有被淹没、没有被冲走而是矻立不动的人有福了，他们不是站着而是坐在一个低稳可靠的座位上，他们不是在光明面前站起身来，而是安安稳稳地向那个会提高他们好使他们在耶路撒冷的神圣的大门上能够坚强地站立起来的人伸出手去，那时候骄傲将不再能攻击他们或打倒他们；然而他们却在哭泣，并不是由于看到为洪流所冲走的这一切可毁灭的事物消逝了，而是由于怀念着他们可爱的故土，亦即在他们漫长的流亡中他们所不断回忆着的那个天上的耶路撒冷！ 697—720（459）289—265 巴比仑的河水在奔流，它冲刷而下，席卷而去。啊，圣锡安山，在那里一切都是稳固的，在那里没有什么会冲走。 必须坐在岸边，不是在其下或在其中而是在其上；不是站着而是坐着；是坐着才能谦卑，在其上才能稳固。然而我们将站立在耶路撒冷的大门上。 让我们看看这种欢乐是稳固的还是流逝的吧；假如它消逝，那它就是一条巴比仑的河水。 698—721（460）567—266 肉体的欲念、眼睛的欲念、骄傲，等等——事物有三等： 肉体、精神、意志。肉欲的人是富人、君主：他们以肉体为目的。好奇者和学者： 他们以精神为目的。智者：他们以正义为目的。 上帝应该统御一切，一切都复归于上帝。在肉体事物方面，当然由欲念统御着；在精神方面，当然由好奇心；在智慧方面，当然由骄傲。并非我们不能以财富或者以知识为荣，但那不是骄傲的地方；因为承认了一个人有学问，我们就不会使他信服他的高傲乃是错误的。高傲的当然地点乃是智慧： 因为我们不能承认一个人使自己有智慧并引以为荣乃是错误的；因为这是正义的。 唯有上帝才能赐给智慧；而这就是何以Qui gloriatur，in Domino glorietur。 〔凡以自己为荣的，就在上帝之中以自己为荣〕。《哥林多前书》第1章第31节： “夸口的当指着主夸口”；又可参见《耶利米书》第9章、第23—24节。关于本段内容，可参见本书第793段。 373—283（461）576—268 三种欲念就形成了三种派别，而哲学家所做的事无非就是追随三种欲念之中的一种罢了。 378—305（462）862—270 探求真正的美好——普通人都把美好寄托在幸运上，在身外的财富上，或者至少是在开心上。哲学家已经指出了这一切的虚幻，而把它寄托在自己力所能及的地方。 379—280（463）583—269 〔反对只要上帝而不要耶稣基督的那种哲学家〕。 哲学家——他们相信唯有上帝才配为人爱慕，却又愿望自己为人爱慕；他们并不认识自己的腐化。如果他们觉得自己充满了爱慕的感情，并发见了自己主要的快乐就在其中，并且自认为美好；那也很好。然而假如他们发见自己与之格格不入，假如〔他们〕 没〔有〕任何别的意图，一心只要树立别人对自己的尊敬；并且他们为了全部完美而做的事就只是虽不强迫别人但却使别人发见自己的幸福就在于爱慕他们；那末我就要说，这种完美是可怕的。what!他们认识上帝，而并不是一心愿望人们爱上帝，反倒愿望人们停止在他们的面前！他们愿意成为别人自愿的幸福目标！ 390—281（464）568—271 哲学家——我们充满着种种要把我们投向自身以外的东西。 我们的本能让我们感到，我们的幸福必须求之于自身之外。我们的感情把我们推向身外，即使并没有什么对象来刺激它们。身外的对象其本身就在引诱我们，召唤我们，即使我们并没有想到它们。所以哲学家尽管高谈：“返求你自己吧，你将在其中找到自己的美好”；我们却不相信他们，那些相信他们的人乃是最空虚而又最愚蠢的人。 391—286（465）899—272 斯多噶派说：“返求你们自身之内吧！正是在这里面你们将会找到你们的安宁”。 但这并不是真的。 又有人说：“走出自身之外吧！向你们的欢乐中去寻求幸福吧”。但这也不是真的。 祸害会临头的。 幸福既不在我们的身外，也不在我们的身内；它在上帝之中，既在我们身外，又在我们身内。 692—278（466）737—267 假如艾比克泰德确乎是完全看出了道路，他就该向人说： “你在遵循一条错误的道路”；他指出了还有另一条道路，可是他并没有引到那条道路。那就是愿望上帝之所愿望那条道路；唯有耶稣基督才能引到那条道路：Via，veritas。 芝诺本人的罪恶。〔道路，真理〕。《约翰福音》第14章、第6节：“耶稣说，我就是道路、真理、生命”。 691—190（467）741—249 作用的原因——艾比克泰德。那些人说：“你的头有病”，但这并不是一回事。我们对健康有把握，而对正义却没有；事实上他自己的话纯属毫无意义。 " 然而在他说：“它要末是我们的能力所及，要末便不是”的时候，他是相信那是可以证明的。但他却没有察觉到调节内心并不在我们的权力之内，他从基督徒存在的这一事实中所得出的这个结论乃是错误的。 700—414（468）217—923 没有别的宗教曾经提出过人要恨自己。因此也就没有别的宗教能够使那些恨自己并在追求一个真正可爱的上帝的人感到喜悦。而正是那些人，即使他们从不曾听说过一个谦卑的上帝的宗教，也会马上拥抱住它的。 443—268（469）588—250 我觉得我可以并不存在，因为这个我就在于我的思想；因此这些思想着的我可以并不存在，假如我的母亲在我出生以前就被人杀害了的话；因而我就不是一个必然的存在者。我也同样既不是永恒的，也不是无限的；然而我却确实看到了自然界中有着一个必然的、永恒的与无限的存在者。