The Word and natural theology, as being nothing but the Word and derived from it; the excellence of the style of the Word.

I heard a serious argument between spirits who in the world had been learned, in some cases from the Word, in others as the result of natural illumination. The latter insisted that natural theology is sufficient, and is able to teach, in fact enlighten, a person without the Word. One could see that God exists, there is a heaven and a hell, and that the soul is immortal and life is everlasting. The other party, however, said it is only the Word which teaches these things and gives enlightenment. The spirits who took the part of natural theology alone made a violent attack on the supporters of the Word, and kept it up for several days, thinking in their hearts and eventually saying that the Word is of no value. It was written in a style so simple and at the same time so obscure in very many places that no one could be taught, much less enlightened, by it. They said that the writings of learned people were far superior, such as the writings of Cicero, Seneca and a number of modern scholars. The reply they were given was that the style of the Word excels that of all the learned people in the whole world, because there is in it not a single phrase, or rather not a single word or letter, which does not contain something of the Lord, and so something of heaven and the church, since it comes from God, and is consequently at its inmost level spiritual. This Divine quality lies hidden within it, like the soul in the body. When a person reads it, this is unfolded in sequence to the eyes of angels. They are affected by the holiness in it as its spirituality is unfolded, and this is communicated to the person. From this it is clear that its very style, however simple it appears, is infinitely superior to any style used by the most learned people in the world. Although their style may be polished,* elegant and sublime, it still does not communicate with heaven, so that compared to the style of the Word it is utterly worthless. [2] Although the spirits who supported natural theology listened to this, they still rejected it, because it was plain that in the world they had despised the Word. Those who in the world despise the Word, and support this attitude by quoting passages from it, go on perpetually despising it after death. For any principle adopted in the world about God and the Word, and then confirmed, after death remains rooted too deeply to be eradicated. So since they were communicating not with heaven, but with hell, they began to establish links with some satans there, to such an extent that they ended up by talking together with the satans, and gnashing their teeth they breathed slaughter against the souls of the supporters of the Word. Still they were unable to do anything at all to them, for they had the Lord on their side, and the others had Satan on theirs. One group therefore was received into heaven, and the others were thrown into hell. [3] Afterwards the angels talked about natural theology, saying that without the Word it reveals nothing, but merely confirms the points of the church's teaching known from the Word. Proofs from nature, gathered by means of the illumination of the reason, strengthen spiritual truths, because everyone has some natural idea of spiritual matters. This allows him to keep these things in his memory, and he can take them out to think about them, and use his reason to turn them over and debate them. If therefore proofs are adduced from nature, this strengthens the truth. But care must still be taken that falsity is not seized upon in place of truth, since clever people are just as able to prove falsity as truth. Consequently a heresy can be so strengthened that it destroys the real truth. [4] They went on to say that no one can approach spiritual theology from natural theology, though anyone can approach natural theology from spiritual, since this is in accordance with Divine order, but the other is contrary to it. For the natural is gross and impure, the spiritual is subtle and pure. It is impossible to approach the subtle and pure from the gross and impure, but the reverse is possible; the angels can look below them and see all that is there. But no one from lower down can see what is in the heavens. In fact an angel can see a spirit, who is more gross, but this spirit cannot see an angel, who is more pure. When therefore such spirits go up into a heaven inhabited by angels, as often happens, they see no one, not even their houses; so they go away saying it is empty and waste space. [5] It is the same with the Word. Those who do not believe in the Word on the evidence of the Word are quite unable to believe in anything Divine on the evidence of nature. For the Lord teaches:

They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them. If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone comes back from the dead. Luke 16:29, 31.

The same is true, if anyone rejects the Word and wants to believe solely on the evidence of nature. As for certain of the ancients, who were pagans, such as Aristotle and Cicero and others, writing about the existence of God and the immortality of the soul, they did not acquire this knowledge first from their own natural illumination, but from the religion of the ancients. They had received a Divine revelation, which was spread successively to other heathens. * Reading tersus as proposed by B. Rogers.