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shoulders at liberty and their hair loose; they fixed their desires upon them, being tempted with their beauty;
and were clothed with their power, and cast off the clothing of the virgins:
131 Therefore were they cast off from the house of God, and delivered to those women. But they that were
not corrupted with their beauty, remained in the house of God. This, said he, is the signification of those
stones which were rejected.
132 And I said, sir, what if any of these men shall repent, and cast away their desire of those women, and be
converted, and return to these virgins, and put on again their virtue; shall they not enter into the house of God?
133 They shall enter, said he, if they shall lay aside all the works of those women, and shall resume the power
of these virgins, and shall walk in their works.
134 And for this cause there is a stop in the building, that if they shall repent, they may be added to the
building of this tower; but if they shall not repent, that others may be built in their places, and so they may be
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utterly cast away.
135 For all these things I gave thanks unto the Lord, that being moved with mercy towards all those upon
whom his name is carried, he sent to us the angel of repentance to preside over us who have sinned against
him; and that he has refreshed our spirits which were almost gone, and who had no hope of salvation, but are
now refreshed to the renewal of life.
136 Then I said, Show me now sir, why this tower is not built upon the ground, but upon a rock, and upon the
gate? He replied, Thou art foolish, and without un- derstanding, therefore thou asketh this.
137 And I said, sir, I must needs ask all things of you because I understand nothing at all. For all your
answers are great and excellent; and which a man can hardly understand.
138 Hear, said he: The name of the Son of God is great and without bounds, and the whole world is supported
by it. If therefore, said I, every creature of God be sustained by his Son, why should he not support those also
who have been invited by him, and who carry his name, and walk in his commandments?
139 Seest thou not, said he, that he doth support them, who with all their heart, bear his name? He therefore is
their foundation, and gladly supports those who do not deny his name, but willingly bear it.
140 And I said: Sir, tell me the names of these virgins; and of those women that were clothed with the black
garment.
141 Hear, said he, the names of those virgins which are the more powerful, and stand at the corners of the
gate. These are their names:
142 The first is called Faith; the second Continence; the third Power; the fourth Patience; the rest which stand
beneath these are, Simplicity, Innocence, Chastity, Cheerfulness, Truth, Understanding, Concord, Charity.
143 Whosoever therefore bear these names, and the name of the Son of God, shall enter into the kingdom of
God.
144 Hear now, said he, the names of those women, which were clothed with the black garment. Of these, four
are the principal: the first is Perfidiousness; the second, Incontinence; the third, Infidelity; the fourth, Pleasure.
145 And the rest which follow are called thus, Sadness, Malice, Lust, Anger, Lying, Foolishness, Pride, and
Hatred. The servant of God, which carries these spirits, shall see indeed the kingdom of God, but he shall not
enter into it.
146 But, sir, what are those stones which were taken out of the deep and fitted into the building? The ten, said
he, which were placed at the foundation, are the first age; the following five-and- twenty, are the second, of
righteous men.
147 The next thirty-five, are the prophets and ministers of the Lord. And the forty, are the Apostles and
doctors of the preaching of the Son of God.
148 And I said, sir, why did the virgins put even those stones into the building after they were carried through
the gate? And he said, Because these first carried those spirits, and they departed not one from the other,
neither the men from the spirits, nor the spirits from the men:
149 But the spirits were joined to those men even to the day of their death; who if they had not had these
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spirits with them, they could not have been useful to the building of this tower.
150 And I said, sir, show me this farther. He answered, What dost then ask? Why did these stones come out
of the deep, and were placed into the building of this tower, seeing that they long ago carried those holy
spirits?
151 It was necessary, said he, for them to ascend by water, that they might be at rest. For they could not
otherwise enter into the kingdom of God, but by laying aside the mortality of their former life.
152 They therefore being dead, were nevertheless sealed with the seal of the Son of God, and so entered into
the kingdom of God.
153 For before a man receives the name of the Son of God, he is ordained unto death; but when he receives
that seal, he is freed from death, and assigned unto life. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]