52. (2)我們無法明白上帝的全能,全知和全在, 除非我們知道什麼是聖規(神性所定之規則), 並且除非我們認可上帝就是聖規, 當上帝創世時就將這些定規放置於宇宙的總體和細微之中。

由於不明白上帝建於宇宙及其萬物中的定規, 令人驚駭的數量與種類的荒唐事悄然潛入人類的思想, 並通過教會的創建者們溜進了教會。列在56-58節中的一些荒唐的見解, 會清楚說明。

現在我們開始談談聖規, 先給聖規一個總體概念:"定規"是在各部分間的排列,界定,相互作用的特性, 使實質產生形式, 這種特性叫"定規"。這樣的特性會產生一種狀態, 當它是藉著智慧(基於仁愛而起作用)產生, 其狀態就是完全。當它是藉著偽謬(基於純粹的欲望而起作用)產生, 其狀態就不完全。

這個定義中運用了實質,形式和狀態等術語。我們也會以實質來表示形式, 因為所有的實質都是一種形式。某種形式的性質如何, 也就是它的狀態如何。狀態是否完全, 要看其擁有的定規如何。

然而, 因為這些觀點的形而上學與抽象, 它們不可避免地被掩蓋在迷霧之中。但接下來的討論, 以直觀例證來運用這些術語, 將會驅散迷霧。

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.