35. Daß die gesamte christliche Theologie heutzutage auf die Vorstellung dreier Götter gegründet ist, erhellt deutlich aus der Lehre von der Rechtfertigung, welche der Hauptpunkt der Lehren der Kirche bei den Christen, sowohl den Römisch-Katholischen, als den Protestanten ist. Diese Lehre setzt fest, daß Gott der Vater Seinen Sohn gesandt habe, die Menschen zu erlösen und selig zu machen, und daß Er den Heiligen Geist gebe, dies zu wirken.

Jeder Mensch, der dies hört, liest, oder ausspricht, muß notwendig in seinem Denken, das heißt, in seiner Vorstellung, Gott in Drei zerteilen, und sich denken, daß der eine Gott den anderen gesandt habe, und durch den dritten wirke. Daß derselbe Gedanke einer göttlichen Dreieinigkeit, welche in drei Personen geteilt ist, deren jede einzelne Gott ist, auch in die übrigen Lehrbestimmungen der heutigen Kirche eindringe, wie vom Haupt aus in seinen Leib, soll an den gehörigen Stellen gezeigt werden. Inzwischen befrage das über die Rechtfertigung Vorausgeschickte, befrage die theologischen Sätze im allgemeinen und im besonderen, und frage zugleich dich selbst, wenn du in den Kirchen die Predigten anhörst, oder zu Hause betest, ob du etwas anderes in der Vorstellung und aus dieser im Denken hast, als drei Götter, und ganz besonders, wenn du zu einem derselben besonders betest oder singst, und besonders zu den zwei anderen, wie dies öfter geschieht? Hiermit ist die Wahrheit des Satzes bestätigt, daß die gesamte Theologie in der Christenheit heutzutage auf die Vorstellung dreier Götter gegründet ist.

2807. 'Abraham said, God will see for Himself to the animal for a burnt offering, my son' means the reply: The Divine Human will provide those who are to be sanctified. This is clear from the meaning of 'seeing to for oneself', when used in reference to God, as foreseeing and providing - for 'to see' in the internal sense nearest to the literal means to understand, 2150, 2325, whereas in the sense yet more interior it means having faith, 897, 2325, while in the highest sense it means foreseeing and providing; and also from the meaning of 'the animal for a burnt offering' as those members of the human race who are to be sanctified, dealt with just above in 2805. That 'the animal for a burnt offering' is here used to mean those who are spiritual is evident from what follows. The kinds of animals used for burnt offering and sacrifice each had a different meaning. That is to say, a lamb meant one thing, a sheep another, a kid and she-goat another, a ram and he-goat another, an ox yet another, as did a young bull and a calf. And young pigeons and turtle doves had meanings different again. It is quite clear that each kind of animal had its own meaning from the fact that it was laid down explicitly which kind were to be sacrificed on each particular day, at each particular religious festival, when atonement was being made, cleansing effected, inauguration carried out, and all other occasions. Which kinds were to be used on which occasions would never have been laid down so explicitly unless each one had possessed some specific meaning.

[2] Clearly all the religious observances or forms of external worship which existed in the Ancient Church, and subsequently in the Jewish, represented the Lord, so that the burnt offerings and sacrifices in particular represented Him since these were the chief forms of worship among the Hebrew nation. And because they represented the Lord they also at the same time represented among men those things that are the Lord's, that is to say, the celestial things of love, and the spiritual things of faith, and as a consequence of this represented the people themselves who were celestial and spiritual or who ought to have been so. This is why 'the animal' here means those who are spiritual, that is, those who belong to the Lord's spiritual Church. As regards 'God will see for Himself to the animal for a burnt offering, my son' meaning that the Divine Human will provide them, this is clear from the fact that here it is not said that 'Jehovah' will see to it but that 'God' will do so. When both of these names occur, as they do in this chapter, Jehovah is used to mean the same as 'the Father', and God the same as 'the Son', so that here the Divine Human is meant; and a further reason for the usage is that the spiritual man, whose salvation comes from the Divine Human, is the subject, see 2661, 2716.