176. How can one trust Councils, when they do not directly approach the God of the church? Is not the church the Lord's body, and is He not its head? What use is a body without a head? And what sort of body is it that has three heads on it, under the guidance of which they debate and pass decrees? Surely then enlightenment, which, coming from the Lord alone, who is God of heaven and the church and at the same time God of the Word, is spiritual, becomes more and more natural until it finally reaches the level of the senses. Then it cannot scent out any real theological truth in its inward form without it being instantly expelled from the thinking of the rational understanding, like chaff being scattered to the winds from a winnowing shovel. In that state fallacies then take the place of truths and darkness the place of light rays. Then these people stand as it were in a cavern with spectacles on their noses, candle in hand, and keep their eyelids shut against spiritual truths illuminated by heavenly light, and open them to sense impressions illuminated by the deceptive light of the bodily senses. What happens when the Word is read is much the same; the mind then goes to sleep confronted with truths, and is wide awake confronted with falsities, becoming like the description of the beast from the sea, 'its mouth like a lion's, its body like a leopard's, and its feet like a bear's' (Rev. 13:2).
[2] It is said in heaven that when the Council of Nicaea finished its work, there took place simultaneously the things the Lord foretold to the disciples:
The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Matt. 24:29.
In fact the Apostolic church was like a new star appearing in the starry sky; but the church after the two Nicene Councils became like the same star later dimming and vanishing, an event recorded a number of times in the natural world according to astronomical observations. We read in the Word that 'Jehovah God dwells in inaccessible light' [1 Tim. 6:16]. So who could approach Him, did He not dwell in accessible light, that is, had He not come down, taken upon Himself human form, and in this become the Light of the World (John 1:9; 12:46)? Can anyone fail to see that approaching God the Father in His light is as impossible as taking the wings of the morning and using them to fly to the sun? Or living on sunlight rather than material food? Or for a bird to fly in the ether, or a stag to run through the air?
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