No. III: Concerning Holy Writ

No. III.

CONCERNING HOLY WRIT 1

ALL Scriptures which are the true Word of God, have a dual interpretation, the intellectual and the intuitional, the apparent and the hidden.

2. For nothing can come forth from God save that which is fruitful..

3. As is the nature of God, so is the Word of God's mouth.

4. The letter alone is barren; the spirit and the letter give life.

5. But that Scripture is the more excellent which is exceeding fruitful and brings forth abundant signification.

6. For God is able to say many things in one, as the perfect ovary contains many seeds in its chalice.

7. Therefore there are in the Scriptures of God's Word certain writings, which, as richly yielding trees, bear more abundantly than others in the self-same holy garden.

8. And one of the most excellent is the history of the generation of the heavens and the earth.

9. For therein is contained in order a genealogy, which has four heads, as a stream divided into four branches, a word exceeding rich.

10. And the first of these generations is that of the Gods.

11. The second is that of the kingdom of heaven.

12. The third is that of the visible world.

13. And the fourth is that of the Church of Christ.