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Jude 1

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1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James: to them that are beloved in God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called.

2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and charity be fulfilled.

3 Dearly beloved, taking all care to write unto you concerning your common salvation, I was under a necessity to write unto you: to beseech you to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.

4 For certain men are secretly entered in, (who were written of long ago unto this judgment,) ungodly men, turning the grace of our Lord God into riotousness, and denying the only sovereign Ruler, and our Lord Jesus Christ.

5 I will therefore admonish you, though ye once knew all things, that Jesus, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, did afterwards destroy them that believed not:

6 And the angels who kept not their principality, but forsook their own habitation, he hath reserved under darkness in everlasting chains, unto the judgment of the great day.

7 As Sodom and Gomorrha, and the neighbouring cities, in like manner, having given themselves to fornication, and going after other flesh, were made an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

8 In like manner these men also defile the flesh, and despise dominion, and blaspheme majesty.

9 When Michael the archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses, he durst not bring against him the judgment of railing speech, but said: The Lord command thee.

10 But these men blaspheme whatever things they know not: and what things soever they naturally know, like dumb beasts, in these they are corrupted.

11 Woe unto them, for they have gone in the way of Cain: and after the error of Balaam they have for reward poured out themselves, and have perished in the contradiction of Core.

12 These are spots in their banquets, feasting together without fear, feeding themselves, clouds without water, which are carried about by winds, trees of the autumn, unfruitful, twice dead, plucked up by the roots,

13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own confusion; wandering stars, to whom the storm of darkness is reserved for ever.

14 Now of these Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying: Behold, the Lord cometh with thousands of his saints,

15 To execute judgment upon all, and to reprove all the ungodly for all the works of their ungodliness, whereby they have done ungodly, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against God.

16 These are murmurers, full of complaints, walking according to their own desires, and their mouth speaketh proud things, admiring persons for gain's sake.

17 But you, my dearly beloved, be mindful of the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,

18 Who told you, that in the last time there should come mockers, walking according to their own desires in ungodlinesses.

19 These are they, who separate themselves, sensual men, having not the Spirit.

20 But you, my beloved, building yourselves upon you most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,

21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, unto life everlasting.

22 And some indeed reprove, being judged:

23 But others save, pulling them out of the fire. And on others have mercy, in fear, hating also the spotted garment which is carnal.

24 Now to him who is able to preserve you without sin, and to present you spotless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, in the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,

25 To the only God our Saviour through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory and magnificence, empire and power, before all ages, and now, and for all ages of ages. Amen.

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Adam

  
The Creation of Adam, by Jan Breughel (II)

In a general sense, then, Adam represents the Most Ancient Church. In specific, when named as an individual, he represents that church as it first began turning away from the Lord. In both senses, though, his story is spiritual history, not natural history. Adam is a figurative character, not an actual individual human being.

The word "adam" is Hebrew for "man" or "humankind," and it is consistently translated that way in the first chapter of Genesis. In fact, in that chapter "adam" is plural, and includes men and women: "So God created man (adam) in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them" (Genesis 1:27, quoted from the King James Version of the Bible). Yet in later chapters – even including the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3:38 – "Adam" is used as a name, and seems to refer to a specific person.

The first ripple in the relationship between God and humanity came as people began wanting a greater sense of life as their own, as they began to want to feel their love and wisdom as their own instead of things flowing in from God. The Lord gave them the power to feel as they wanted to, which is represented by the rib taken from the "man" Adam and formed into the "woman" Eve. This would, of course, lead to the downfall of humanity; because of that sense of self, people were drawn to the power of their own senses and their own minds – the serpent – instead of trusting the Lord. The Writings say the switch from "man" to "Adam" represents the change made in people when the Lord allowed them to have that sense of self. So what does this mean? The Writings tell us that the "man" created in Genesis represents the Most Ancient Church, which was the first church among early humans and was the purest ever to grace the earth. People of the church were motivated purely by the love of the Lord, and lived in peace, harmony, mutual love and inexpressible wisdom. This follows from the idea that the Lord is the one true human – and is, in fact, humanity itself. Since the Most Ancients were so close to the Lord, they are represented by "adam" in its meaning of "man" or "humankind." The common interpretation is that Genesis 1:26-28 is a general statement of the creation of people, and that the specifics of that creation are laid out in the next chapter when God first creates the man Adam and the woman Eve. But linguistically "adam" in the second chapter is the same as "adam" in the first chapter. In fact, while the King James Version of the Bible switches from "man" to "Adam" midway through the second chapter (Genesis 2:19), Young's Literal Translation – created to be as close to the original language as possible – does not use "Adam" as a named person until Genesis 4:25, long after the Garden of Eden. Eve, meanwhile, is simply "the woman" in all translations until Genesis 3:20, which is after she and Adam have eaten the forbidden fruit and been expelled from the Garden. Adam is one of the most crucial and most controversial figures in the Bible, dividing even the faithful into camps: those who believe he literally existed, created by God as the first human; and those who believe he is a figurative character, embodying spiritual and moral lessons but not an actual person.

In Genesis 2:19, Also that man was made from the ground, or from the non-man, by regeneration. (Arcana Coelestia 478, Arcana Coelestia 64, 313)

In Genesis 3:17, Adam's expulsion from Eden signifies the condemnation of those called Adam and Eve, the former of their intellectual part, the latter of their voluntary or will: in short of both degrees of their selfhood or proprium. Proprium is defined as "the love of self, and the derivative conceit of self-intelligence." (Doctrine Regarding Sacred Scripture 60, Divine Providence 313)