Desires of the Flesh should be Subdued.
Nbsp; The Book of Recognitions CHAPTER SIXTY TWO Divisions 1786-1815 Book 5 RECOGNITIONS 5 Peter's Salutation. 1786. Yet on the following day, Peter rising a little earlier than usual, found us asleep; and when he saw it, he gave orders that silence should be kept for him, as though he himself wished to sleep longer, that we might not be disturbed in our rest. 1787. Yet when we rose refreshed with sleep, we found him, having finished his prayer, waiting for us in his bed-chamber. 1788. And as it was already dawn, he addressed us shortly, saluting us according to his custom, and immediately proceeded to the usual place for the purpose of teaching; 1789. and when he saw that many had assembled there, having invoked peace upon them according to the first religious form, he began to speak as follows.
Suffering the Effect of Sin.
1790.
God, the Creator of all, at the beginning made man after His own image,
and gave him dominion over the earth and sea, and over the air;
as the true Prophet has told us, and as the very reason of things instructs us:
for man alone is rational, and it is fitting that reason should rule over the irrational.
1791.
At first, therefore, while he was still righteous, he was superior to all disorders and all frailty;
but when he sinned, as we taught you yesterday,
and became the servant of sin, he became at the same time liable to frailty.
1792.
This therefore is written, that men may know that,
as by impiety they have been made liable to suffer, so by piety they may be made free from suffering;
and not only free from suffering,
yet by even a little faith in God be able to cure the sufferings of others.
1793.
For thus the true Prophet promised us, saying,
'Verily I say to you, that if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed,
you shall say to this mountain,
Remove hence, and it shall remove.' Matthew 17:20
1794.
Of this saving you have yourselves also had proofs;
for you saw yesterday how at our presence the demons removed and were put to flight,
with those sufferings which they had brought upon men.
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Faith and Unbelief.
1795.
Whereas therefore some men suffer, and others cure those who suffer, it is necessary to know the cause at once of the suffering and the cure; and this is proved to be nought else than unbelief on the part of the sufferers, and faith on the part of those who cure them.
1796.
For unbelief, while it does not believe that there is to be a judgment by God,
affords licence to sin, and sin makes men liable to sufferings;
1797.
yet faith, believing that there is to be a judgment of God, restrains men from sin;
and those who do not sin are not only free from demons and sufferings,
yet can also put to flight the demons and sufferings of others.
Ignorance the Mother of Evils.
1798.
From all these things, therefore, it is concluded that all evilsprings from ignorance;
and ignorance herself, the mother of all evils, is sprung from carelessness and sloth, and is nourished, and increased, and rooted in the senses of men by negligence;
and if any one teach that she is to be put to flight, she is with difficulty and indignantly torn away, as from an ancient and hereditary abode.
1799.
And therefore we must labour for a little, that we may search out the presumptions of ignorance, and cut them off by means of knowledge, especially in those who are preoccupied with some erroneous opinions, by means of which ignorance is the more firmly rooted in them, as under the appearance of a certain kind of knowledge;
1800.
for nothing is worse than for one to believe that he knows what he is ignorant of, and to maintain that to be true which is false.
1801.
This is as if a drunk man should think himself to be sober, and should act indeed in all respects as a drunk man, and yet think himself to be sober, and should wish to be called so by others.
1802.
Thus, therefore, are those also who do not know what is true, yet hold some appearance of knowledge, and do many evil things as if they were good, and hasten destruction as if it were to salvation.
Advantages of Knowledge.
1803.
Wherefore we must, above all things, hasten to the knowledge of the truth,
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that, as with a light kindled thereat, we may be able to dispel the darkness of errors:
for ignorance, as we have said, is a great evil;
yet because it has no substance, it is easily dispelled by those who are in earnest.
1804.
For ignorance is nothing else than not knowing what is good for us;
once know this, and ignorance perishes.
1805.
Therefore the knowledge of truth ought to be eagerly sought after;
and no one can confer it except the trueProphet.
1806.
For this is the gate of life to those who will enter,
and the road of good works to those going to the city of salvation.
Free-Will.
1807.
Whether any one, truly hearing the word of of the true Prophet;
is willing or unwilling to receive it, and to embrace His burden, that is, the laws of life,
he has either in his power, for we are free in will.
1808.
For if it were so, that those who hear had it not in their power to do otherwise than they had heard,
there were some power of nature in virtue of which it were not free to him to pass over to another opinion.
1809.
Or if, again, no one of the hearers could at all receive it,
this also were a power of nature which should compel the doing of some one thing,
and should leave no place for the other course.
1810.
Yet now, since it is free for the mind to turn its judgment to which side it pleases,
and to choose the way which it approves, it is clearly manifest that there is in men a liberty of choice.
Responsibility of Knowledge.
1811.
Therefore, before any one hears what is good for him, it is certain that he is ignorant;
and being ignorant, he wishes and desires to do what is not good for him;
wherefore he is not judged for that.
1812.
Yet when once he has heard the causes of his error, and has received the method of truth,
then, if he remain in those errors with which he had been long ago preoccupied, he shall rightly be called into judgment, to suffer punishment, because he has spent in the sport of errors that portion of life which was given him to be spent in living well.
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1813.
Yet he who, hearing those things, willingly receives them, and is thankful that the teaching of good things has been brought to him, inquires more eagerly, and does not cease to learn, until he ascertains whether there be truly another world, in which rewards are prepared for the good.
1814.
And when he is assured of this, he gives thanks to God because He has shown him the light of truth; and for the future directs his actions in all good works, for which he is assured that there is a reward prepared in the world to come; while he constantly wonders and is astonished at the errors of other men, and that no one sees the truth which is placed before his eyes.
1815.
Yet he himself, rejoicing in the riches of wisdom which he has found, desires insatiably to enjoy them, and is delighted with the practice of good works; hastening to attain, with a clean heart and a pure conscience, the world to come, when he shall be able even to see God, the king of all.
The Book of Recognitions CHAPTER SIXTY THREE
Divisions 1816-1845
Book 5
RECOGNITIONS 5
Desires of the Flesh should be Subdued.
1816.
Yet the sole cause of our wanting and being deprived of all these things is ignorance.
1817.
For while men do not know how much goodthere is in knowledge,
they do not suffer the evil of ignorance to be removed from them;
for they know not how great a difference is involved in the change of one of these things for the other.
1818.
Wherefore I counsel every learner willingly to lend his ear to the word of God, and to hear with love of the truth what we say, that his mind, receiving the best seed, may bring forth joyful fruits by good deeds.
1819.
For if, while I teach the things which pertain to salvation, any one refuses to receive them, and strives to resist them with a mind occupied by evil opinions, he shall have the cause of his perishing, not from us, but from himself.
1820.
For it is his duty to examine with just judgment the things which we say, and to understand that we speak the words of truth, that, knowing how things are, and directing his life in good actions, he may be found a partaker of the kingdom of heaven, subjecting to himself the desires of the flesh, and becoming lord of them, that so at length he himself also may become the pleasant possession of the Ruler of all.
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The Two Kingdoms.
1821.
For he who persists in evil, and is the servant of evil, cannot be made a portion of good so long as he persists in evil, because from the beginning, as we have said, God instituted two kingdoms, and has given to each man the power of becoming a portion of that kingdom to which he shall yield himself to obey.
1822.
And since it is decreed by God that no one man can be a servant of both kingdoms, therefore endeavour with all earnestness to betake yourselves to the covenant and laws of the good King.
1823.
Wherefore also the true Prophet, when He was present with us, and saw some rich men negligent with respect to the worship of God, thus unfolded the truth of this matter:
1824.
'No one,' said He, 'can serve two masters;
ye cannot serve God and mammon;' Matthew 6:24
calling riches, in the language of His country, mammon.
Jesus the True Prophet.
1825.
He therefore is the true Prophet, who appeared to us, as you have heard, in Judæa,
who, standing in public places, by a simple command made the blind see, the deaf hear,
cast out demons, restored health to the sick, and life to the dead;
and since nothing was impossible to Him, He even perceived the thoughts of men,
which is possible for none except God only.
1824.
He proclaimed the kingdom of God; and we believed Him as a true Prophet in all that He spoke, deriving the confirmation of our faith not only from His words, yet also from His works;
and also because the sayings of the law, which many generations before had set forth His coming, were fulfilled in Him;
and the figures of the doings of Moses, and of the patriarch Jacob before him, bore in all respects a type of Him.
1825.
It is evident also that the time of His advent, that is, the very time at which He came, was foretold by them; and, above all, it was contained in the sacred writings, that He was to be waited for by the Gentiles.
1826.
And all these things were equally fulfilled in Him.
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