三、凡具宗教与健全理性的民族皆承认独一上帝
9# 因此，普天之下凡拥有宗教与健全理性的民族，无不承认有上帝，且上帝是独一的。
从前文所述、进入人灵魂的神性流注可知，每个人内心深处都有一个内在的催促，告诉他有上帝存在，且上帝是独一的。然而仍有人否认上帝，有人以自然为上帝，有人崇拜多神甚至偶像，其原因在于：他们用世俗与肉体之物堵塞了自己理性或理智的内在部分，借此抹去了幼年时期那原始的上帝观念，也将宗教从心中彻底抛却。至于基督徒承认独一的上帝，但他们承认的方式如何，从他们的信经中可以看出，信经的内容如下：
大公教会信仰即：我等敬拜在三一中的独一上帝，以及在独一上帝中的三一。其位不乱，其体不分。父一位，子一位，圣灵亦一位。然而父、子、圣灵同一神性，同一荣耀，亦同一永恒之尊严。如是，父是上帝，子是上帝，圣灵亦是上帝。然而非三上帝，乃一上帝。依基督真道，我等不得不认三位均为上帝，均为主。依大公教，我等说不得谓上帝有三，亦不得谓主有三。[ 取自《亚他那修信经》第一部分（第3-20条）。]
至于这信经中上帝的三位与独一性看似矛盾之处，将在 “论神性的三一” 一章中详细论述。
【2】世界上其余拥有宗教与健全理性的民族，也一致承认上帝是独一的：包括整个穆斯林世界、众多非洲王国、多数亚洲民族，以及今日的犹太人。
黄金时代[ “黄金时代”：瑞登堡以此指最远古教会时期，那时人类能与天使直接相通，活在爱与信仰的纯真状态中（参《天堂的奥秘》1551节，《天堂与地狱》115节） ]的古人，凡有宗教者皆敬拜独一上帝，称祂为雅威。此后君主帝国建立之前的世代，亦是如此。及至君主帝国兴起，世俗之爱、最终肉体之爱堵塞了理智的上层区域 —— 这些原本敞开的区域，本是敬拜独一上帝的圣殿与内室。为重新开启这些区域、恢复对独一上帝的敬拜，主上帝在雅各后裔中设立了教会，并将以下诫命置于一切宗教诫命之首：
除了我以外，你不可有别的上帝。（出20:3）
【3】雅威这个祂在他们面前重新启示的名字，本身表明祂是至高独一的存在，宇宙万物的存在与显现皆源于祂。
古代异教徒奉朱庇特（拉丁语Jovem）为至高神——这名字与“雅威”（Jehovah）在拉丁语中形音相近，很可能由此演变而来。他们还赋予组成朱庇特宫廷的众多其他神祇以神性。但后世智者如柏拉图、亚里士多德，皆承认这些并非真神，只是独一上帝的诸多属性、特质与品质；它们之所以被称为 “神”，是因为每一个里面都含有神性。
9# （3）因此，在全世界，凡拥有宗教信仰和健全理性的民族，没有不承认一位神和神是一的。从刚才所论述的进入人们灵魂的神性流注可以推知，每个人里面都有一种内在指示，即：有一位神，祂是一。然而，仍有些人否认有一位神，有些人承认自然为神，有些人承认不止一位神，有些人拜偶像为神；这可能是因为这些人用世俗和肉体事物堵塞或关闭了其理性或理解力的内层，从而抹去了他们对神的最初或孩童般的观念，同时从心里弃绝一切宗教，并将其抛在脑后。基督徒承认一位神；至于以哪种方式承认，这从他们已确立的信经或普遍承认的信仰明显看出来，信经如下：天主教的信仰是这样：我等敬拜一体三位，而三位一体之神；神性位格有三，即父，子、圣灵，然而，非三神，乃一神。父一位，子一位，圣灵亦一位，然而父子圣灵同一神性，同一荣耀，亦同一永恒之尊严。如是，父是神，子是神，圣灵亦是神。依基督真道，我等不得不认每位独为神，独为主，依大公教，我等不得谓神有三，亦不得谓主有三。这就是关于神的一体性的基督教信仰。但在这个信经中，神的三位一体和神的一体性是彼此冲突、相互矛盾的，这一点将在神性三位一体那一章说明。
世界上其他拥有宗教信仰和健全理性的民族都一致承认神是一，包括在其帝国或领土上的所有伊斯兰教徒，非洲大陆上许多国家的非洲人，以及许多国家的亚洲人，更不用说现代的犹太人了。在黄金时代，拥有某种宗教的大多数上古之人都拜一位神，他们称这位神为耶和华。在接下来的时代，直到当世俗之爱和后来的肉体之爱开始关闭理解力的高层区域（这个区域以前是敞开的，就像敬拜一位神的圣殿和圣所）时，君主政府建立之前的古人也是如此。但为了重新打开它们，从而恢复对一位神的敬拜，主神在雅各的后代中间建立了一个教会，并将下面这一条置于其宗教的一切诫命之首：
在我面前你不可有别的神。（出埃及记20:3）
此外，这时祂所恢复的耶和华这个名，表示至高无上和独一无二的存在，在宇宙中，或存在于宇宙中的一切的源头。朱庇特，一个可能源于耶和华的名字，被古代异教徒当作至高无上的神来敬拜；他们也给构成他宫廷的其他许多神明披上神性，或说将神性归于他们；而在随后的时代，一些智者，像柏拉图和亚里士多德，承认这些不是神，而是一位神的众多特性、品质和属性，它们被称为神是因为它们每一个里面都有某种神性事物。
9. 3. As a result, every nation in the whole world that possesses religion and sound reason acknowledges that God exists and that there is one God. From the divine inflow into human souls, discussed just above, it follows that in everyone there is an inner voice saying that God exists and that there is one God. Nevertheless there are people who deny God, people who worship nature as God, people who worship many gods, and people who worship idols as gods. The reason for this is that they have let worldly and bodily perspectives block off the inner reaches of their reason or intellect and obliterate their first childhood idea of God; they have rejected religion from their heart and have put it behind them.
The Christian confessional creed shows that Christians acknowledge one God and shows how they view the unity of God:
The catholic faith is this, that we venerate one God in a trinity, and the Trinity in unity. There are three divine persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and yet there are not three gods; there is one God. The Father is a person, the Son another, and the Holy Spirit another, and yet they have one divinity, equal glory, and coeternal majesty. The Father, then, is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; but just as Christian truth compels us to confess each person individually as God and Lord, so the catholic religion forbids us to say that there are three gods or three lords.
This is the Christian faith regarding the unity of God. (In the chapter that discusses the divine Trinity [163-184] you will see that the trinity of God and the unity of God presented in this confession are incompatible.)
[2] The other nations in the world that possess religion and sound reason agree that there is one God: all Muslims in their countries; the Africans in the many countries on their continent; and the Asians as well, in the many countries on theirs. So too do modern-day Jews. In the Golden Age, the most ancient people who were religious worshiped one God, whom they named Jehovah. So did the ancient people in the following age, up to the time when monarchies were created. In the time of the monarchies, upper levels of the intellect that had previously been open, and had been like sanctuaries and temples of worship to the one God, were increasingly closed off by worldly loves, and then by bodily loves. The Lord God, in order to unblock those upper levels of the intellect and restore worship of one God, instituted a church among the descendants of Jacob and set the following precept above all the other precepts in their religion: "There is to be no other God before my face" (Exodus 20:3).
[3] "Jehovah," which he named himself anew for the Jews, means the highest and only Being, and the origin of everything that exists and occurs in the universe. People in the preclassical period acknowledged Jove as the highest God (perhaps so named from Jehovah), and deified many others who made up his court. In the age that followed, however, sages like Plato and Aristotle admitted that the other [Olympians] were not gods but different properties, qualities, and attributes of the one God, called gods because there was divinity in each of them.
9. (iii) THAT IS WHY THERE IS NO NATION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD POSSESSED OF RELIGION AND SOUND REASON WHICH DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE GOD AND THE FACT THAT HE IS ONE.
The consequence of the Divine influence operating on the souls of men as described above is that every man has an inward voice telling him that there is a God, and that He is one. None the less there are those who deny the existence of God, those who recognise nature as a god, and those who worship several gods and also statues as gods. The reason is that these have choked the interiors of their reason or understanding with worldly and bodily thoughts, thus blotting out their original or child-like idea of God, and at the same time throwing religion away over their shoulders. The confession of the creed shows plainly that Christians acknowledge one God, but it also shows how they see Him. It runs:
The catholic faith is that we reverence one God in the Trinity and the Trinity in unity. There are three Divine persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and yet there are not three gods, but one God. There is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit. They have one Divinity, equal glory and co-eternal majesty. So the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God. But as Christian verity compels us to confess each person severally to be God and Lord, so does the catholic religion forbid us to speak of three Gods and three Lords.
Such is the Christian faith on the oneness of God; but it will be seen in the chapter on the Divine Trinity [163-188] that there is a conflict in that confession between the ideas of a Trinity and the oneness of God.
[2] The rest of the nations in the world, who are possessed of religion and sound reason, insist that God is one: all the Mohammedans in their empires, the Africans in many kingdoms of their continent, and the peoples of Asia in several of theirs, not to mention the present-day Jews. The most ancient people of the Golden Age, those who had any religion, worshipped one God whom they named Jehovah. So did the ancients of the following age, before the establishment of empires under a sole monarch. For at this time worldly, and finally bodily, loves began to close up the higher regions of the understanding, which had previously been open; then they had been like temples and shrines for the worship of one God. But the Lord God, in order to re-open them and thus restore the worship of one God, founded a church among the descendants of Jacob, and set at the head of all the commandments of their religion this:
There is to be no other God before my face, Exodus 20:3
[3] Jehovah too, the new name which He gave Himself for them, means the supreme and single Entity from which everything comes which is and comes into being anywhere in the universe. The early gentiles acknowledged as their supreme God Jupiter, 1 perhaps so called from Jehovah; and they endowed with divinity many of the other members of his court. But the philosophers of the following age, such as Plato and Aristotle, admitted that these were not gods, but so many properties, qualities and attributes of the one God, which were called gods on account of the divinity immanent in each of them.
9. (3) For this reason, there is in all the world no nation possessing religion and sound reason that does not acknowledge a God, and that God is one. As a consequence of the Divine influx into the souls of men, treated of just above, there is in every man an internal dictate that there is a God and that He is one. And yet there are some who deny God, and some who acknowledge nature as god, and some who acknowledge more gods than one, and some who worship images as gods; which is possible because such have blocked up the interiors of their reason or understanding with worldly and corporeal things. thereby obliterating their first or childhood idea respecting God, and at the same time rejecting religion from their breasts and casting it behind their backs. Christians acknowledge one God; but in what manner is evident from their established creed, which is as follows:
The Catholic faith is this: That we worship one God in trinity, and trinity in unity. There are three Divine persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and yet there are not three Gods, but there is one God. There is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit, and their divinity is one, their glory equal, and their majesty coeternal. Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. But like as we are compelled by Christian verity to confess each person singly to be God and Lord, so we are forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there be three Gods or three Lords.
Such is the Christian faith respecting the unity of God. But that the trinity of God and the unity of God in that creed are inconsistent with each other will be shown in the chapter on the Divine trinity.
[2] The other nations in the world possessing a religion and sound reason agree in acknowledging that God is one; all the Mohammedans in their empires; the Africans in many kingdoms of that continent; the Asiatics in their many kingdoms; and finally the Jews to this day. Of the most ancient people in the golden age, such as had any religion worshiped one God, whom they called Jehovah. The same is true of the ancient people in the succeeding age, until monarchical governments were established, when worldly and afterwards corporeal loves began to close up the higher regions of the understanding, which previously had been open, and had been like temples and sacred recesses for the worship of one God. In order to reopen these and thus restore the worship of one God, the Lord God instituted a church among the posterity of Jacob, and made this the first of all the commandments of their religion:
Thou shalt have no other gods before Me (Exodus 20:3).
[3] Moreover, the name Jehovah, which He at this time restored, signifies the supreme and only Being, the Source of everything that is or exists in the universe. Jove, a name derived possibly from Jehovah, was worshiped as a supreme god by the ancient heathen; and many other gods who composed his court they also clothed with divinity; while in the following age wise men, like Plato and Aristotle, confessed that these were not gods, but were so many properties, qualities, and attributes of the one God, being called gods because there was something Divine in each of them.
9. (3) THERE IS NO NATION IN THE WHOLE WORLD, POSSESSING RELIGION AND SOUND REASON, WHICH DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THERE IS A GOD, AND THAT HE IS ONE.
From the Divine influx into the souls of men, which has just been treated of, it follows that there is an internal dictate with every man that there is a God and that He is one. Still there are some who deny that there is a God, and who acknowledge nature as God. There are, moreover, those who worship several gods, and those also who set up images for gods. The reason for this is that they have closed up the interiors of their reason or understanding with worldly and corporeal things, and have thereby obliterated the primitive idea of God which was theirs in infancy, banishing at the same time all religion from their hearts. That Christians do acknowledge one God is evident from the general Confession of their faith, which is as follows:
The Catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in a trinity, the trinity in unity. There three Divine Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and yet there are not three Gods, but One God: there is one Person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit, and their Divinity is one, their glory equal, and their majesty co-eternal. Thus the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; but, although we are compelled by Christian verity to confess each Person to be God and Lord, yet we are forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there are three Gods and three Lords.
Such is the Christian faith concerning the unity of God; but that the trinity and the unity of God in that Confession are inconsistent with each other, will be seen in the chapter on the Divine Trinity.
[2] The other nations in the world who possess religion and sound reason agree in acknowledging that God is one: all the Mohammedans 1 in their several dominions, the Africans in many kingdoms of their continent, the Asiatics in many of theirs, and also the modern Jews. In the golden age the most ancient people, who had any religion, worshiped one God, whom they called Jehovah. The same was the case with the ancient people in the age which followed, before monarchical governments were formed, when the lusts of the world and also of the flesh began to close the more interior parts of their understanding which, previously opened, were like temples and shrines for the worship of one God. It was to open again those inner recesses of the human mind, and so restore the worship of one God, that the Lord God established a Church among the posterity of Jacob, and set at the head of all the precepts of their religion the command:
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me" Exodus 20:3.
[3] The name Jehovah also which He assumed anew before them signifies the supreme and only Being (Ens), from whom everything is, that is and exists in the universe. The ancient Gentiles acknowledged Jove as the supreme God, probably so called from Jehovah, and they attributed Divinity to many others who composed his court. Wise men, however, in later times, as Plato 2 and Aristotle, 3 declared that these mere not gods, but were so many properties, qualities, and attributes of the one God, and were called gods because something of the Divine entered into them.
Footnotes:
1. Mohammad, the founder of Mohammedanism or Islam, A.D. 571-632, was born at Mecca, where his father was spiritual and temporal head. He married a wealthy and devout widow, and owed much to her influence. In the visions to which he was subject he received confirmations of his Divine mission. He also received messages from Gabriel which were incorporated in the KORAN, the sacred book of Mohammedanism. Early persecution drove him from Mecca and in the year A.D. 622 he fled to Medina, where he was cordially welcomed. This flight, or Hejira, marks the beginning of the Mohammedan year, and from Medina he set out on his conquest of Arabia. Mohammedanism proclaims the unity of the God-head, and condemns idolatry; but the peaceful methods of propaganda soon gave place to ruthless persecution of infidels and merciless extermination of idolators.
2. Plato, greatest of Greek philosophers, 427-347 B.C. His theory of ideas places the attainment of an exalted and spiritual yearning for a supersensible beauty only in an ideal world.
3. Aristotle, Greek philosopher, 384-322 B.C.; born at Stagiros, so called The Stagirite. He took all knowledge for his province, but had little appreciation of mathematics. He created the science of logic.
9. III. INDE EST, QUOD IN UNIVERSO MUNDO NON DETUR GENS, CUI RELIGIO ET SANA RATIO EST, QUAE NON AGNOSCIT DEUM, ET DEUM UNUM ESSE. Ex Influxu Divino in animas hominum, de quo mox supra, sequitur, quod sit internum dictamen apud unumquemvis hominem, quod Deus sit, et quod unus sit: quod usque dentur, qui Deum negant, et qui Naturam pro Deo agnoscunt, quique plures Deos, et quoque Simulachra pro diis colunt, est causa, quia interiora rationis suae seu intellectus sui obstipaverunt mundanis et corporeis, et per haec primitivam seu infantiae ideam de Deo obliteraverunt, et simul tunc Religionem a pectore in tergum rejecerunt. Quod Christiani agnoscant unum Deum, sed quomodo, ex Symbolica illorum Confessione patet, quae talis est, "Fides Catholica haec est, ut unum Deum in Trinitate, et Trinitatem in Unitate veneremur: sunt tres 1 Personae Divinae, Pater, Filius, et Spiritus Sanctus, et tamen non sunt tres dii, sed unus est Deus: atque alia est Persona Patris, alia Filii, et alia Spiritus Sancti, et illarum est una Divinitas, aequalis Gloria, et coaeterna Majestas; ita Deus est Pater, Deus est Filius, et Deus est Spiritus Sanctus: at quia singulatim unamquamque Personam Deum et Dominum confiteri Christiana veritate compellimur, ita tres Deos et tres Dominos dicere, Catholica Religione prohibemur:" talis est fides Christiana de Unitate Dei; sed quod Trinitas Dei et Unitas Dei in illa confessione inter se dissideant, in Capite de DIVINA TRINITATE videbitur.
[2] Gentes reliquae in Mundo, quibus Religio et sana ratio est, adstipulantur, quod Deus unus sit: omnes Mahumedani in suis Imperiis; Africani in multis sui Orbis Regnis; et quoque Asiatici in pluribus suis; et insuper Judaei hodie. Antiquissimi in Saeculo aureo, illi, apud quos Religio fuit, coluerunt Deum Unum, quem nominaverunt JEHOVAM; similiter Antiqui in Saeculo sequente, antequam Imperia monarchica facta sunt, cum quibus inceperunt amores mundani, et demum corporei, occludere superiora intellectus, quae prius fuerunt aperta, et tunc sicut Templa et Adyta pro cultu unius Dei: at Dominus Deus ut recluderet illa, et sic restauraret cultum unius Dei, Ecclesiam apud Jacobi posteros instituit, et praefecit omnibus praeceptis religionis illorum hoc, Non erit Deus alius ante faciem meam, Exodus 20:3.
[3] Jehovah etiam, quem se e novo coram illis nominavit, significat supremum et unicum Ens, ex quo omne est, quod in universo est et existit. Prisci Gentiles pro supremo Deo agnoverunt Jovem, ita forte vocatum a Jehovah, et plures alios, qui componebant Aulam ejus, etiam Divinitate donaverunt; at Sapientes in sequenti aevo, ut Plato et Aristoteles, fassi sunt, quod hi non Dii, sed totidem proprietates, qualitates, et attributa unius Dei essent, quae dii vocati sunt, quia singulis illis divinitas inerat.
Footnotes:
1. Prima editio: sunt tres (absque italicis).