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| Chapter XXIII
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Chapter
XXIII.
If one wished to obtain means for a profounder
contemplation of the entrance of souls into divine things, not from the
statements of that very insignificant sect from which he quoted, but
from books—partly those of the Jews, which are read in their
synagogues, and adopted by Christians, and partly from those of
Christians alone—let him peruse, at the end of Ezekiel’s
prophecies, the visions beheld by the prophet, in which gates of
different kinds are enumerated,4405
which
obscurely refer to the different modes in which divine souls enter into
a better world;4406
and let him peruse
also, from the Apocalypse of John, what is related of the city of God,
the heavenly Jerusalem, and of its foundations and gates.4407
And if he is capable of finding out
also the road, which is indicated by symbols, of those who will march
on to divine things, let him read the book of Moses entitled Numbers, and
let him seek the help of one who is capable of initiating him into the
meaning of the narratives concerning the encampments of the children of
Israel; viz., of what sort those were which were arranged towards the
east, as was the case with the first; and what those towards the
south-west and south; and what towards the sea; and what the last were,
which were stationed towards the north. For he will see that
there is in the respective places a meaning4408
not to be lightly treated, nor, as Celsus imagines, such as calls only
for silly and servile listeners: but he will distinguish in the
encampments certain things relating to the numbers that are enumerated,
and which are specially adapted to each tribe, of which the present
does not appear to us to be the proper time to speak. Let Celsus
know, moreover, as well as those who read his book, that in no part of
the genuine and divinely accredited Scriptures are “seven”
heavens mentioned; neither do our prophets, nor the apostles of Jesus,
nor the Son of God Himself, repeat anything which they borrowed from
the Persians or the Cabiri.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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