524.我通过对比说明这一点：不知悔改者紧抓不放的罪恶，可比作他身上的各样疾病，除非通过治疗除去毒素，否则他会因此死亡。它们尤其类似所谓坏疽的疾病，若不及时治疗，就会扩散，不可避免地死亡；同样好比疖子和脓肿，除非它们发出来或被打开；否则由于积液或脓包由此扩散到周边部位，再从这些部位扩散到邻近脏腑，最后进入心脏，也会导致死亡。
这些罪还好比老虎、豹子、狮子、狼和狐狸，除非把它们关到笼子里，或用铁链、绳子拴起来，否则就会攻击牛羊群，残害它们，如同狐狸咬死家禽；又好比毒蛇，若不用叉子叉牢，或拔掉它们的牙齿，它们就会对人造成致命伤害。群羊若呆在有毒草的田野，而不是被牧羊人赶到安全的牧场，就会丧命；蚕及其所有丝也会这样灭亡，除非幼蚕远离田野的树叶。
这些罪同样好比谷仓或牲口棚里的饲料，如果不自由通风，除去有害物，就会发霉腐烂，没法再吃。火星如果不在一开始就被扑灭，就有可能焚毁整个城市或森林。棘刺、荆棘和蒺藜若不连根拔除，就会长满花园。园丁们都知道，树从坏种子发出，树根会将有害的树液输送给芽接或嫁接的好枝子，而输送上来的有害树液可被转化为好树液，并结出有用的果子。当邪恶借助悔改被移走时，同样的情形发生在人身上；因为人由此被嫁接到主那里，就象枝子嫁接到葡萄树上，并结出好果子（约翰福音15:4－6）。
524. 我通过对比说明这一点:不知悔改者紧抓不放的罪恶, 可比作他身上的各样疾病, 除非通过治疗除去毒素, 否则他会因此死亡。 它们尤其类似所谓坏疽的疾病, 若不及时治疗, 就会扩散, 不可避免地死亡; 同样好比疖子和脓肿, 除非它们发出来或被打开; 否则由于积液或脓包由此扩散到周边部位, 再从这些部位扩散到邻近脏腑, 最后进入心脏, 也会导致死亡。
这些罪还好比老虎, 豹子, 狮子, 狼和狐狸, 除非把它们关到笼子里, 或用铁链, 绳子拴起来, 否则就会攻击牛羊群, 残害它们, 如同狐狸咬死家禽; 又好比毒蛇, 若不用叉子叉牢, 或拔掉它们的牙齿, 它们就会对人造成致命伤害。 群羊若呆在有毒草的田野, 而不是被牧羊人赶到安全的牧场, 就会丧命; 蚕及其所有丝也会这样灭亡, 除非幼蚕远离田野的树叶。
这些罪同样好比谷仓或牲口棚里的饲料, 如果不自由通风, 除去有害物, 就会发霉腐烂, 没法再吃。 火星如果不在一开始就被扑灭, 就有可能焚毁整个城市或森林。 棘刺, 荆棘和蒺藜若不连根拔除, 就会长满花园。 园丁们都知道, 树从坏种子发出, 树根会将有害的树液输送给芽接或嫁接的好枝子, 而输送上来的有害树液可被转化为好树液, 并结出有用的果子。 当邪恶借助悔改被移走时, 同样的情形发生在人身上; 因为人由此被嫁接到主那里, 就象枝子嫁接到葡萄树上, 并结出好果子 (约翰福音15:4-6)。
524. These points may be illustrated with comparisons. The sins that we retain when we do not practice repentance are like various diseases we suffer that are fatal unless we are given medicine that takes away what is causing harm. Such sins are especially like gangrene, which spreads (if not caught in time) and inevitably leads to death. They are like boils and abscesses that have not been lanced and opened - the accumulation of pus will press into surrounding tissues, then into nearby internal organs, and finally into the heart, causing death.
[2] Sins that remain can also be compared with tigers, leopards, lions, wolves, and foxes. Unless these animals are kept in caves or are bound with ropes or chains, they will attack our flocks and herds, like a fox among the hens, and slaughter them. Such sins are like poisonous snakes - if the snakes are not held down with pegs and their fangs removed, they will inflict their deadly bite on us. If a whole flock of sheep is left in fields that have poisonous plants, they will die unless the shepherd moves them to safe pasture. A silkworm and therefore its silk will be destroyed if other grubs are not shaken from the leaves of its tree.
[3] Sins that remain can also be compared to grains kept in barns or houses, which become moldy, rancid, and therefore useless if they do not have enough air circulating around them to take away the harmful elements. If a fire is not extinguished when it first breaks out, it will destroy the whole city or the entire forest. If thistles and thornbushes are not uprooted, they will completely overrun a garden.
As experienced gardeners know, a trunk that comes from bad seed or a bad root sends its noxious sap into the branch of a good tree that has been grafted onto it, and the bad sap that creeps up that branch is then turned into good sap and produces useful fruit. Something similar occurs in us when evil is laid aside through the process of repentance; through repentance we are grafted onto the Lord like a branch onto a vine and we bear good fruit (John 15:4-6).
524 .I shall use comparisons to illustrate this. The sins which are retained in an unrepentant person may be compared with the various illnesses he suffers, and unless cures are applied to get rid of the harmful element, he may die of them; in particular with the condition called gangrene, which, if not cured in time, spreads around and leads inevitably to a fatal outcome. Likewise they may be compared with boils and abscesses, unless they are resolved and opened up, for they lead to empyema or gatherings of pus which invade neighbouring parts, then attacking the adjacent viscera, and finally the heart, so causing death.
[2] I may also compare them with tigers, leopards, lions, wolves and foxes, which, unless kept in cages or secured with chains or ropes, would attack flocks and herds and slaughter them, as a fox does hens. Or with poisonous snakes, which unless pinned down with forks or deprived of their teeth, would inflict fatal injuries on a person. A whole flock of sheep, if left in fields where noxious plants grow, would perish if the shepherd did not lead them away into harmless pastures. The silk-worm, and thus all silk, would perish if other grubs were not shaken out of the leaves of the tree it lives on.
[3] Another comparison might be with grain in barns 1 or houses, which would turn mouldy and rotten and become unfit for use, if air were not allowed to circulate around and prevent this damage. A fire, if not put out at its outset, might devastate a whole town or a whole forest. A garden would become completely overgrown with caltrops, thistles and briars, if these were not uprooted. Expert gardeners know that if a tree springs from a poor seed or a poor root, it introduces its poor juices into the trunk of a good tree which is grafted or inoculated into it, and the poor juices which rise into it are turned into good juices and produce useful fruit. Much the same happens to a person when evil is removed by means of repentance, for by this a person is grafted onto the Lord like a branch onto a vine, and produces good fruit (John 15:4-6).
Footnotes:
1. Reading horreis 'barns' for hordeis 'barley'.
524. But these statements shall be illustrated by comparisons: The sins an impenitent man holds fast to may be compared to various diseases in him, from which, he dies unless remedies are applied and the malignities thereby removed. They may be compared especially to the disease called gangrene, which unless healed in time, spreads, and causes inevitable death; in like manner to boils and abscesses, unless they break out or are opened; for from them empyemata or collections of pus will be diffused into the neighboring parts, from these into adjoining viscera, and finally into the heart, from which comes death.
[2] These sins may also be compared to tigers, leopards, lions, wolves, and foxes, which unless kept in dens or bound with chains or ropes, would attack the flocks and herds and kill them as the fox does poultry; also to poisonous serpents, which unless held tight with sticks, or deprived of their teeth, would inflict deadly wounds upon man. A whole flock, if left in fields where there are poisonous herbs, instead of being led by the shepherd to safe pastures; would perish. So the silk-worm would perish, and all silk with it, unless other worms were kept from the leaves of its tree.
[3] These sins may also be compared to grain in granaries or barns, which would be rendered musty and rotten and thus useless, if the air were not permitted to pass freely through it, and remove whatever is injurious. If a fire were not quenched at the very outset, it might lay waste a whole city or forest. Thorns, briars, and thistles would take full possession of a garden unless rooted out. Gardeners know that a tree sprung from a bad seed and root conveys its bad sap to the branch of a good tree budded or engrafted upon it, and that the bad sap which comes up is turned into good sap, and produces useful fruit. And the like takes place in man through the removal of evil by means of repentance; for man is thereby engrafted into the Lord as a branch into a vine, and bears good fruit (John 15:4-6).
524. Some comparisons will serve to illustrate these things. When sins remain in an impenitent man they are like various diseases which prove fatal unless their danger is removed by the administration of proper medicines. They especially resemble gangrene which, unless it is cured in time, spreads and causes inevitable death. They also resemble purulent abscesses which, unless they are opened and cleared, will discharge pus into neighboring parts and thence into adjacent viscera, and finally into the heart, and so cause death.
[2] Such unremoved sins may also be compared to tigers, leopards, lions, wolves and foxes which, unless they are confined in dens or bound with chains or ropes, would attack flocks and herds, as a fox does poultry, and kill them. They may also be compared to venomous serpents which, unless pressed down and held by forked stakes, or deprived of their teeth, would inflict deadly wounds on men. The whole flock would perish if it were left in fields where there are poisonous plants, unless the shepherd led it away to wholesome pastures. The silk-worm too would die, and with it all silk would disappear, unless destructive insects were shaken from the tree on which it feeds.
[3] Corn kept in barns or store houses would become musty and rancid, and thus unfit for use, unless air were allowed to pass freely through it and remove all impurities. A fire that is not extinguished when it first breaks out will destroy a whole city or forest. A garden that is not kept clear of weeds will soon be entirely overgrown with brambles, thistles and thorns. Gardeners know that an inferior tree sends its own sap from its seed and root into the branch or bud of a good tree engrafted or inoculated upon it, and that the inferior sap which enters from beneath is transformed, and produces useful fruits. Something similar happens with a man when his evils are removed by means of repentance, for by this he is engrafted in the Lord as a branch in a vine, and bears good fruit, John 15:4-5, 8.
524. Sed haec illustrabuntur per Comparationes; cum peccatis retentis apud hominem impoenitentem, cum variis morbis apud illum, quibus nisi applicantur medicinae, et per has auferuntur maligna, homo moritur; imprimis cum morbo gangraena vocato qui nisi in tempore sanatur, circum spargit se, et lethum non evitabilem 1 inducit: similiter cum apostematibus et abscessibus, nisi solvuntur et aperiuntur, inde enim empyemata seu collectiones puris se effusurae in vicina, et inde in annexa viscera, et demum in cor, unde mors.
[2] Comparari etiam potest cum tigribus, pardis, leonibus, lupis et vulpibus, quae nisi teneantur in caveis, aut vinciantur catenis vel funibus, invaderent gregem et armentum, ut 2 vulpis gallinas, ac trucidarent: et quoque cum serpentibus venenatis, qui nisi compressi tenerentur paxillis, aut illis dentes auferrentur, homini lethiferos ictus infligerent; totus grex, si relinqueretur in campis, ubi sunt toxicatae herbae, periret, nisi a pastore in pascua innocua abduceretur: periret etiam bombyx, et sic omne sericum, nisi alieni vermes ex foliis ejus arboris excuterentur.
[3] Comparari etiam potest cum frumentis in horreis 3 aut domibus, quae mucilenta et rancida et sic inutilia redderentur, si aeri non daretur copia intermeandi, et damna tollendi. Ignis nisi in primo limine extingueretur, totam urbem aut silvam depopularetur. Hortus tribulis, carduis et sentibus totus occuparetur, nisi eradicantur. Hortorum magistri sciunt, quod 4 arbor a semine et radice mala inferat succos suos malos in caudicem arboris bonae insitae aut inoculatae, et quod succi mali, qui subintrant, vertantur in succos bonos, et producant fructus utiles; simile fit homini per remotionem mali media poenitentia, per hanc enim homo inseritur Domino sicut ramus Viti, et fert fructus bonos, Johannes 15:4-6.
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