620. 若没有形成信的真理, 重生是不可能的, 这一点可通过下面的对比来说明: 这跟没有觉知的人类心智一样, 是不可能的, 因为觉知通过真理形成, 因此能教导我们当信什么, 做什么, 何为重生以及如何实现它。 没有真理的重生就象没有阳光却让动物存活, 植物生长一样, 是不可能的, 因为若太阳不发光, 同时却给予热, 那它会变得“象毛布” (如启示录6:12描述的), 它也变暗 (约珥书2:10, 31), 因而地上只有黑暗 (约珥书3:15)。 若没有发光的真理, 同样的情形会发生在人身上, 因为发出真理之光的太阳就是灵界的主。 如果来自这源头的属灵之光不流入人类心智, 那么教会将处于完全的黑暗, 或永久的日蚀阴影中。 必须经由信和仁进行的重生, 若没有真理的教导和引领, 就象没有方向舵, 或指南针和航海图而在大海中航行, 还如同夜里在漆黑的森林里骑行。 那些拥有的不是真理, 而是他们以之为真理的虚假之人, 其心智的内在视觉好比那些视神经受阻, 而眼睛仍看似正常 (尽管它什么也看不见) 之人的视觉, 医生把这种失明叫做黑朦症。 他们的理性或智力向上受阻, 仅向下打开, 结果, 理性之光变得象眼睛的光, 以至于他们所有的观念都只是想像, 由纯粹的谬论构成。 在这种情况下, 人就象拿着长筒望远镜的占星家站在街市上, 说一些毫无意义的预言。 除非主揭示圣言的真正真理, 否则所有神学的学生都会变成这个样子。

Like so many common verbs, the meaning of "know" in the Bible is varied and dependent on context. And in some cases -- when it is connected to ideas or objects -- its spiritual meaning and natural meaning are essentially the same. When the Bible talks about people knowing each other and especially when it talks about the Lord knowing people, the meaning has more to do with the states of love within people than it does with any factual knowledge. This makes sense if you think about it. When we really "know" somebody, what we mean is that we know what kind of person they are, what their motivations are, what they love, what they hate, what makes them tick. Those things are far more important than knowing their parents' names, where they were born or what year they graduated from school. Most often then, especially applied to people, "knowing" has to do with the perceptions we have about other people's loves and the conjunction that can exist between those with similar loves, not just a collection of facts.