Chapter 1I1/204:
Thereupon the Lord answers: [1] "By no means! The
good and true remains the same regardless of whether a man
discovers it through his active searching or whether it was
directly revealed to him by God. For the spontaneous finding of
a truth is also a revelation from above, but an indirect one,
with the active searching as the means to gain it.
[2] Through this
searching the soul becomes freer from the coarse ties of matter
and thereby momentarily awakens the divine spirit within, or it
penetrates more into the life centre of its heart, where always
and incessantly God's light and mercy I are flowing, giving the
soul life and spiritual growth in the same manner as the sun's
light and warmth penetrate into the furrows of the soil, there
awakening, preserving and encouraging the life and development
of the plants until a free, independent and, therefore, fully
ripe fruit comes into being out of the plant, whose life is no
longer dependent upon the plant, but which exists independently!
[3] Whenever the soul
in the true, alive and active moments enters this life centre in
the heart, it has at the same time - attained to the revelation
of God's Spirit in every man's heart. Therein it cannot find
anything else but the same eternal truth out of God. This is an
indirect revelation which differs from the direct revelation in
which God, during times when people live in great darkness,
awakens suitable men without their asking for it, leading their
souls into their life centre, so that from there the other blind
may obtain the eye-opening light.
[4] There is another
difference between the indirect and the direct revelation.
namely: The indirect revelation properly enlightens the
searching man only on that on which he especially wishes to be
enlightened, and it is like a good lamplight which can light up
a dark room quite brightly. But the direct revelation is like
the sun at the brightest noon, whose mighty light illumines the
whole world with all its large and small furrows.
[5] This direct
revelation which can be likened to the sun is not only
applicable to the man to whom it is given, but to all men and
first of all to the nation to whom the prophet belongs. However,
because there are genuine and true, God-ordained prophets, it is
easy to imagine that there will be also false ones, for the
following easily comprehensible and understandable reasons.
[6] A true prophet
must enjoy a kind of respect with his fellowmen, for his
prophecies, and sometimes also his deeds by which he proves the
divine origin of his calling, must instill a certain respect
into the ordinary fellow, - no matter whether or not he likes
the prophecies and whether or not they agree with his worldly
interests.
[7] In the sight of
men of better inclination a prophet grows into an immense giant
against his will, never able to defend himself against a certain
pious veneration and respect, no matter now humble he otherwise
is and must be.
[8] Well, this is
seen by other worldly people whose mind is often very inventive;
for the children of the world have never lacked the cunning of
the serpent. These worldly people also want respect and with the
respect an obvious worldly gain.
[9] They begin to
study and often with the aid of Satan invent things and make
apparently wise-seeming speeches, so that the uninformed people
can in the end no longer discern between what is true and
genuine and what is false and bad.
[10] How can one,
then, tell a false from a true prophet? Quite easily: by the
fruits!
[11] For one does not
gather grapes and figs from thorns and thistles.
[12] The true prophet
will never be selfish, and pride will be far from him. He will
certainly accept with gratitude what good and noble hearts give
him; but he will never demand a fixed rate from anyone, knowing
that this is an abomination before God and also that God can
surely provide for His servants.
[13] But the false
prophet will take payment for every step he takes and for every
so-called sacral duty performed, pretending it is for the
benefit of mankind. The false prophet will thunder about God's
judgments, and he will himself judge with fire and sword in
God's name. Yet the true prophet will judge no one, but will
quite impartially admonish the sinners to repent, making no
distinction between high and low and between respected and not
respected. For to him God alone and His word mean everything, -
all else to him is idle folly.
[14] The true prophet
will never contradict himself in his speech; but if you examine
the speech of the false prophet, it will be full of
contradictions. The true prophet can never be offended by
anyone; he will bear everything like a lamb, no matter what the
world does to him. But he will rage against falsehood and pride
and will at all times defeat both.
[15] The false
prophet is at all times a deadly enemy of all truth and of all
progress for the better, both in thinking and in acting. No one,
except he, is supposed to know anything or have any experience,
so that everybody would always and in all matters have to seek
his expensive counsel in return for money.
[16] The false
prophet thinks only of himself. He regards God and His order as
burdensome and ridiculous things in which he does not have the
least bit of faith, wherefore he can with the easiest conscience
of the world fashion for himself a god from wood or stone, just
as he likes. It is certainly easy to see how such a god can in
the hands of the false prophet easily work wonders for the
thoroughly blinded people."
