94# 在今日的基督教会中，人们通常称我们的救主为主，唤作 “马利亚之子”，却甚少称祂为 “上帝之子”；即便提及 “上帝之子”，心中所认知的也是自永恒而生的子。这般风气源自罗马天主教将马利亚抬举在一切圣者之上，视她如同女神、君王一般。但主得荣耀、全然彰显神性之时，已然脱去一切源自母亲的特质，全然披上出自父的一切，此理将于本书后文详加证立。
世人常以 “马利亚之子” 称呼主，诸多悖理谬论便随之渗入教会，未曾以圣言对主的记载作为判断根基之人，受此误导尤深。圣言多处写明：父与祂原为一体，祂居于父内，父亦居于祂内；父所有的一切皆归属于祂；祂称雅威为自己的父，父雅威也称祂为自己的子，这些真理皆被人轻忽遗忘。
世人只重 “马利亚之子”、轻忽 “上帝之子” 的名号，诸多错谬一并流入教会：人对主神性的认知渐渐消散，圣言中一切论及祂身为上帝之子的经文也一并遭人漠视。犹太主义、阿里乌主义、索齐尼主义、原始形态的加尔文主义，乃至最终的自然主义皆趁隙侵入；更衍生出虚妄论调，或是妄言马利亚之子乃是约瑟血脉，或是主张祂的灵魂源自母亲，即便名号称作上帝之子，实则不配此称。
无论圣职人员还是普通信徒，皆当自省：自己心中看待身为马利亚之子的主，是否只将祂视作纯粹凡人？这般偏颇认知自三世纪阿里乌派兴起后，便在信徒间广为流传。尼西亚会议为护持主的神性，便造出 “自永恒而生的上帝之子” 一说。借由这一虚构说法，当时虽将主的人性抬高至神性层面，如今不少人依旧持守此见；但在那些将位格联合理解为一高一低两种存在彼此结合之人心中，却并非如此。
这般错谬认知最终只会引向何种结局？只会致使基督教会全然倾覆。基督教会唯一的根基，乃是敬寓于人性之中的雅威，也就是敬神人二性合一的救主。人若非借着主的人性，便无从看见父、认识父、亲近父、信靠父，主于多处经文早已亲口宣告此事。
若是偏离此道，教会一切贵重属灵种子皆会沦为卑贱凡物：橄榄种子变为松籽，橙、柠檬、苹果、梨树的种子化作柳、榆、椴、冬青的种子；葡萄藤沦为沼泽芦苇，小麦大麦只剩糠秕。一切属灵滋养尽皆化为尘土，供蛇吞噬；人心中的灵性之光，会逐层沦为自然世界的世俗之光，最终只剩依附肉体感官的微光，这般光亮本质不过飘忽鬼火。
彼时人便如同折翼飞鸟，原本翱翔高空，翅膀遭剪便坠落地面，行走之时目光短浅，仅能看见脚前方寸之地。面对教会关乎永生的灵性事理，心中所思所想，不过如同占卜者虚妄揣测。
凡将主上帝、救赎者、救世主仅视作马利亚之子、单纯凡人之人，以上种种衰败虚妄，必然一一临到其身。
94# 在当今基督教会，人们习惯称主为我们的救主，马利亚的儿子，很少称祂为神的儿子，除非这是指自永恒所生的神的儿子。这是因为罗马天主教认为圣母马利亚比其他所有人都更神圣，并将她尊为女神或女王，高于所有圣徒。然而，当主荣耀了祂的人身时，祂就脱去了属于祂母亲的一切，并披上了属于祂父亲的一切。本书随后的章节（TCR 102，103节）将充分说明这一点。当“主是马利亚的儿子”这句话成为挂在每个人舌头上的一种常见说法时，大量骇人的恶意观念就涌入教会，那些没有充分考虑圣言中论到主的话之人尤其如此；如父与祂为一，祂在父里面，父在祂里面，凡父所有的都是祂的，主称耶和华为祂的父，耶和华父称主为祂的儿子。由于主被称为马利亚的儿子，而不是神的儿子而造成的涌入教会的这些可怕后果是，在主方面的神性的观念，或说主的神性的观念丧失了，随之丧失的还有圣言中论到主是神的儿子所说的一切。这也给犹太教、阿里乌派、苏西尼派和最初的加尔文主义，最终给自然主义提供了一个入口；自然主义还带来以下疯狂观念或极端立场：主是马利亚给约瑟生的儿子，祂的灵魂来自母亲；因此，祂不是神的儿子，尽管祂被称为神的儿子。让每个人，无论是神职人员还是平信徒，都问问自己，关于主是马利亚的儿子，他是否只形成并持有祂只是一个人的观念。
由于早在第三世纪，当阿里乌派兴起时，这种观念就开始在基督徒中间盛行，所以尼西亚议会为了维护主的神性，就虚构了一个自永恒所生的神的儿子。当时，通过这种虚构，主的人身的确被提升为神性，并且现在对许多人来说，仍被提升为神性；然而，对那些视随之而来的合一为位格合一，就像两个人之间的合一一样，其中一个人比另一个人优越，或说一个是上级，一个是下级的人来说，它并没有被如此提升。由此导致的结果，除了整个基督教会的毁灭外，还有什么呢？而整个基督教会只建立在对处于人身的耶和华的敬拜之上，因而建立在神-人之上。主在许多地方声明，没有人能看见父，也没有人认识祂，或来到祂面前，或相信祂，除非通过祂的人身。如果不这样靠近祂，那么教会一切珍贵的种子都会变成价值不大的种子：橄榄树的种子会变成松树的种子；橘子树、柠檬树或香橼树、苹果树和梨树的种子变成柳树、榆树、菩提树和橡树的种子；葡萄树变成沼泽里的芦苇，小麦和大麦变成谷糠。事实上，一切属灵食物都变得像蛇所吃的尘土，因为那时，人里面的属灵之光变成了属世的，最终变成了感官-肉体的；就其本身而言，这样的光就是一种幻光。事实上，人变得像一只被剪掉翅膀的鸟，它试图飞翅，却掉到地上，在地上四处走动，只看到它脚前的东西；然后，当他思想有益于永生，或永生所必需的教会属灵事物时，他关于它们的想法，就像占卜者或小丑的想法一样毫无价值。当人认为主神、救赎主和救主只是马利亚的儿子，也就是说，只是一个人时，这就是结果。
94. In the Christian churches of today it is common to call the Lord our Savior "the Son of Mary;" it is rare for people to call him "the Son of God" unless they mean the eternally begotten Son of God. This is a result of Roman Catholics putting Mother Mary's sainthood above the rest and setting her up as the goddess or queen of all their saints.
Yet in fact, in the process of being glorified the Lord put off everything from his mother and put on everything from his Father, as we will fully demonstrate later on in this work [102-103]. Because the phrase "the Son of Mary" has become a common expression on everyone's lips, many horrendous things have poured into the church. This is especially true of those who have not taken into consideration things said in the Word about the Lord - for example, that the Father and he are one, that he is in the Father and the Father is in him, that all things belonging to the Father are his, that he called Jehovah his Father, and that Jehovah the Father called him his Son.
The horrendous things that have poured into the church from our calling him "the Son of Mary" instead of "the Son of God" are that we lose the idea of the Lord's divinity and we lose everything in the Word that is said about him as the Son of God. Furthermore, this concept lets in Judaism, Arianism, Socinianism, Calvinism in its original form, and finally materialist philosophy. Materialist philosophy brings with it the extreme position that the Son of Mary was Josephs child, or that his soul came from his mother, and as a result he is called "the Son of God," but truly he is not. All people, both clergy and laity, should check to see whether the idea they have spawned and nurtured of the Lord as "the Son of Mary" is any different from the idea of him as a mere human being.
Already by the third century a concept like this was becoming prevalent among Christians, as the Arians were on the rise. To salvage divinity for the Lord, the Council of Nicaea made up "the eternally begotten Son of God. " Although it was a fiction, this concept did succeed at the time in elevating the Lord's human nature to something divine; and it still works for many even today. It does not work, however, for those who see the hypostatic union as a union of two separate entities, one of whom is superior to the other.
What other outcome could this concept have but the destruction of the entire Christian church? The church is based entirely on worshiping Jehovah in human form; it is based on the Human God. The Lord states in many places that no one can see the Father, recognize him, come to him, or believe in him except through his human manifestation.
If people do not do this, all the church's precious seeds turn into seeds of little value. Olive seeds turn into pine seeds; seeds from an orange, a lemon, an apple, and a pear turn into seeds from a willow, an elm, a linden, and a holly; seeds from a grapevine turn into seeds from a swamp rush; and wheat and barley turn into chaff. In fact, all forms of spiritual food become like the dust that snakes eat. Our spiritual light then becomes nature's light; and in the long run it becomes the light of our physical senses, which is in reality a faint, deceptive light. Then we become like a bird that used to fly high but then its wings were cut off and it fell to earth; now as it walks around it does not see more than what lies at its own feet. Then when we think about the church's spiritual teachings that are necessary for our eternal life, our thoughts about them are no more than the thoughts of a jester. All this is what happens when we regard the Lord God, the Redeemer and Savior, as no more than the Son of Mary, a mere human being.
94. It is common practice in to-day's Christian churches to call the Lord our Saviour the Son of Mary, but only rarely the Son of God, unless that is, they mean the Son of God born from eternity. This is because the Roman Catholics have made Mary, His mother, greater than all the other saints, and set her above all their saints as if she were a goddess or a queen. The truth is that when the Lord glorified His Human, He put off everything of His mother's, and put on everything of His Father's, as will be fully proved in the following sections of this book. This common practice, when His title as Son of Mary is on everyone's tongue, has been responsible for introducing many erroneous notions into the church, especially with those who have not allowed their judgment to be swayed by what the Word says about the Lord; for instance, that the Father and He are one, that He is in the Father and the Father in Him; that all things of the Father's are His; that He called Jehovah His Father, and Jehovah the Father called Him His Son. The erroneous notions, which have invaded the church as the result of calling Him the Son of Mary instead of the Son of God, are that the idea of divinity is destroyed when thinking of the Lord, and this leads to the loss of all the statements in the Word about Him as the Son of God. Also, this leads to the introduction of Judaism, Arianism, Socinianism, and the original form of Calvinism; and finally to nature-worship, accompanied by the fantastic idea that He was the Son of Mary by Joseph, and that His soul came from His mother, so that He is called the Son of God without being so. Everyone, clergy as well as layman, ought to ask himself whether he has formed and fosters any other idea about the Lord as the Son of Mary except as an ordinary man.
[2] Since an idea of this sort had already become prevalent among Christians in the fourth century with the rise of the Arian heresy, the Council of Nicaea, in order to claim divinity for the Lord, invented the dogma of the Son of God born from eternity. This invention at the time raised the Lord's Human to the Divine level, and this still has the same effect for many to-day. It did not, however, have this result for those who understand by hypostatic union a union between two, one of whom is above and the other below. What else can result from such a belief but the destruction of the whole Christian church, the sole foundation of which is the worship of Jehovah in the Human, that is to say, it is based on God-Man? The Lord states in many passages that no one can see the Father, nor know Him, nor come to Him, nor believe in Him, except through His Human. If this is not so, all the noble seed of the church is turned into worthless seed, the seed of the olive into the seed of the pine, the seed of the orange, citron, apple and pear into the seed of the willow, elm, lime and holm-oak, the vine into a marsh reed, wheat and barley into chaff. All spiritual food in fact becomes like the dust that snakes eat. In the case of man, spiritual light becomes first natural, and finally sensual and bodily, a light which regarded in itself is delusive. A person then in fact becomes like a bird which has its wings clipped while flying high, and falls to the ground; once on the ground it can only walk and see around it what lies before its feet. Then a person's thoughts about the spiritual side of the church, all the things that favour everlasting life, resemble the ravings of a clown. All this is the result of a person regarding the Lord God, the Redeemer and Saviour, as only the Son of Mary, that is, nothing but a man.
94. In the Christian churches of the present day it is customary to call the Lord our Savior the son of Mary, and rarely the Son of God, except when a Son of God born from eternity is meant. This is because the Roman Catholics have made Mary the mother more holy than all others, and have exalted her as a goddess or queen over all their saints. When, however, the Lord glorified His Human He put off everything belonging to His mother, and put on everything belonging to His Father. This shall be fully shown in subsequent pages of this work. From this saying, so common with all, that the Lord is the son of Mary, many enormities have flowed into the church; especially with those who have not taken into consideration what is said of the Lord in the Word; as that the Father and He are one, that He is in the Father and the Father in Him, that all things of the Father are His, that He called Jehovah His Father, and that Jehovah the Father called Him His Son. These enormities that have flowed into the church as a result of His being called the son of Mary, and not the Son of God, are, that the idea of Divinity in respect to the Lord perishes, and with it all that is said of Him in the Word as the Son of God; also that through this, Judaism, Arianism, Socinianism, Calvinism, as it was at its beginning, gain entrance, and at length Naturalism, and with it the insane notion that He was the son of Mary by Joseph, and that His soul was from the mother; and therefore that He is not the Son of God, although He is so called. Let everyone, whether clergyman or layman, question himself whether he has conceived and cherishes any other idea of the Lord as the son of Mary than that He was merely man. Because even in the third century, when Arianism arose, such an idea had begun to prevail among Christians, the Nicene Council, for the purpose of maintaining the Divinity of the Lord, fabricated a Son of God born from eternity. By this fiction the Human of the Lord was then exalted, and with many is still exalted, to Divinity; but it is not so exalted with those who by the hypostatic union understand a union like that between two beings, one of whom is superior and the other inferior. Yet what else results from this than the destruction of the entire Christian church, which was founded solely upon the worship of Jehovah in the Human, consequently upon the God-Man? That no one can see the Father, or can know Him, or come to Him, or believe in Him, except through His Human, the Lord declares in many places. If He is not thus approached all the noble seed of the church is changed into ignoble, the seed of the olive into the seed of the pine, the seed of the orange, lemon, apple, and pear, into the seed of the willow, the elm, the linden, and the oak; the vine into the bulrush of the swamp, wheat and barley into chaff; in fact, all spiritual food becomes like dust on which serpents feed; for the spiritual light in man then becomes natural, and at length sensual-corporeal, which viewed in itself is a delusive light; man then becomes even like a bird that while flying on high, being deprived of its wings, falls to the ground, and walking there sees around it only what lies at its feet; and he then thinks about the spiritual things of the church, which should make for life eternal, no otherwise than as a soothsayer thinks. Such are the results, when man regards the Lord God, the Redeemer and Savior, as a mere son of Mary, that is, as a mere man.
94. It is customary in the Christian Churches at the present time to call the Lord our Savior the Son of Mary, and seldom the Son of God, unless by this is meant the Son of God born from eternity. The reason of this is that the Roman Catholic Church has regarded the mother Mary as above all others in sanctity, and has exalted her above all its saints as a goddess or queen; notwithstanding the fact that the Lord, when He glorified His Human, put off everything derived from the mother, and put on everything belonging to the Father, as will be clearly shown in the following pages of this work. From this common mode of speaking of the Lord as the Son of Mary many baleful opinions have entered the Church, especially with those who have not given due consideration to what is said in the Word about the Lord; as that the Father and He are one, that He is in the Father and the Father in Him, that all things belonging to the Father are His, that He called Jehovah His Father and Jehovah the Father called Him His Son. Some of the pernicious consequences to the Church resulting from the Lord being called the Son of Mary and not the Son of God are that the idea of His Divinity is lost, and with it all that is said of Him in the Lord as the Son of God. This gave entry to Judaism, Arianism, Socinianism, 1 Calvinism, 2 such as it was at first, and at length Naturalism, with the delusion that He was the Son of Mary to Joseph, and that His soul was from the mother, and consequently that He is called the Son of God when in reality He is not so. Let each one, clergyman and layman alike, seriously consider whether he has formed and continues to maintain any opinion of the Lord as the Son of Mary other than as of a mere man. As this idea began to prevail among Christians as early as the third century, when Arianism arose, the Nicene Council, in order to vindicate the Divinity of the Lord, invented the dogma of a Son born from eternity. By this means indeed the Human of the Lord was exalted to Divinity at that time, and still is with many, but it is not so exalted with those who regard the consequent union as hypostatic, like that between two persons, one of whom is superior to the other. What results from this but that the whole Christian Church should perish, which was founded solely upon the worship of Jehovah in His Human, consequently upon God-Man?
The Lord declares in many places that no one can see the Father, or know Him, or come to Him, or believe on Him, except through His Human. If this declaration is disregarded, all the precious seed of the Church is changed into what is of less esteem: the seed of the olive becomes that of the pine; the seeds of the orange, the citron, the apple and the pear become those of the willow, the elm, the linden, and the oak; the vine becomes a marsh reed, and wheat and barley become mere chaff. Indeed all spiritual food becomes like dust, or food such as serpents eat, for spiritual light in man becomes natural (the light of his natural intelligence), and at length becomes sensual corporeal, which regarded in itself is a delusive light. Man in fact becomes like a bird which, attempting to fly when its wings are clipped, falls to the ground, and walking about sees nothing more around it than what lies at its feet. Then with respect to the spiritual things of the Church which would benefit his eternal life, his ideas are as worthless as the forecasts of a soothsayer. Such are the results when man regards the Lord God, the Redeemer and Savior, as merely the Son of Mary, that is, as a mere man.
Footnotes:
1. Socinians, members of a religious sect taking their name from Faustus Socinus, A.D. 1539-1604, and his uncle Laelius Socinus. They are antitrinitarians, denying the personality of the Holy Ghost and the Divinity of Christ. Early Socians believed in the miraculous conception and that Christ was entitled to Divine worship; but modern Socinians, chiefly Unitarians, deny both.
2. Calvin, John, A.D. 1509-1564, was called by Melanchthon "The theologian of the sixteenth century." He studied law as well as theology, became a Protestant and induced the authorities of Geneva to renounce Popery. The friend of John Knox, he exercised a powerful influence on Scottish Protestantism. His views may be summarized thus: particular election; particular redemption; moral inability in a fallen state; free grace; and ultimate salvation for the elect, notwithstanding many failings and aberrations on the part of the believer. In its leading features his theology is that of Augustine.
94. In hodiernis Ecclesiis Christianis commune est vocare Dominum Salvatorem nostrum Filium Mariae, et raro Filium Dei, nisi tunc intelligant Filium Dei natum ab aeterno; hoc inde est, quia Romano-Catholici Mariam Matrem super reliquos sanctificaverunt, 1 et illam sicut Deam seu Reginam omnibus Sanctis suis praefecerunt; 2 cum tamen Dominus, cum glorificavit Humanum suum, omne Matris suae exuit, et omne Patris induit, quod in sequentibus hujus Operis plene demonstrabitur. Ex communi hoc in omnium Ore, quod dicatur Filius Mariae, plures enormitates influxerunt in Ecclesiam, imprimis apud illos, qui non in judicium suum admiserunt illa, quae in Verbo de Domino dicta sunt, ut quod Pater et Ipse unum sint, quod Ipse in Patre, et Pater in Ipso sit, quod omnia Patris sint Ipsius, quod Ipse Jehovam vocaverit Patrem suum, et Jehovah Pater Ipsum Filium suum. Enormitates, quae in Ecclesiam influxerunt ex eo quod nominent Ipsum Filium Mariae et non Filium Dei, sunt, quod de Domino pereat idea Divinitatis, et cum hac omne id quod in Verbo de Ipso ut Filio Dei dictum est; 3 tum quod per id intret Judaismus, Arianismus, Socinianismus, Calvinismus qualis hic fuit in principio, et tandem Naturalismus, et cum hoc Fanatismus, quod Filius Mariae ex Josepho fuerit, tum quod Anima ei fuerit ex Matre, et inde quod dicatur Filius Dei et non sit; consulat se quisque, tam Clericus quam Laicus, num aliam ideam de Domino ut Filio Mariae, quam ut de mero homine, conceperit et foveat.
[2] Quoniam talis idea jamdum Saeculo tertio, quando surrexerunt Ariani, inter Christianos incepit praevalere, ideo Concilium Nicaenum ad vindicandum Divinitatem Domino, finxerunt Filium Dei natum ab aeterno, sed per hoc figmentum elevabatur quidem tunc, et apud plures etiam hodie elevatur Humanum Domini ad Divinum; verum non apud illos, qui per Unionem hypostaticam intelligunt unionem sicut inter duos, quorum unus est supra et alter est infra. Sed quid aliud inde resultat, quam quod Universa Ecclesia Christiana pereat, quae unice super cultu Jehovae in Humano fundata est, proinde super Deo Homine; quod nemo possit videre Patrem, nec cognoscere Ipsum, nec venire ad Ipsum, nec credere in Ipsum, nisi per Humanum Ipsius, Dominus multis in locis declarat; si hoc non fit, vertitur omne semen Ecclesiae nobile in semen ignobile, semen oleae in semen pinus, semen aurantii, citri, pomi, pyri, in semen salicis, ulmi, tiliae, ilicis, vitis in juncum palustrem, triticum et hordeum in paleas, imo omnis cibus spiritualis fit sicut pulvis, quo serpentes vescuntur; nam in homine lux spiritualis fit naturalis, et tandem sensualis corporea, quae in se spectata est lux fatua; imo fit homo tunc sicut avis, quae dum volat in alto, abscissis alis decidit in terram, ubi gradiens non plus videt circum se, quam quod ante pedes jacet; et tunc de spiritualibus Ecclesiae, quae erunt pro vita aeterna, non aliter ac quam hariolus cogitat; haec fiunt, dum homo Dominum Deum Redemptorem et Salvatorem spectat ut merum Filium Mariae, ita ut merum hominem.
Footnotes: