From these
considerations the conclusion is obvious, that those are not gifted by
the Lord with love truly conjugial, who merely know the truths of the
church, but those who know them and practise their good.
73. VIII. THIS LOVE WAS THE LOVE OF LOVES WITH THE ANCIENTS, WHO LIVED
IN THE GOLDEN, SILVER, AND COPPER AGES. That conjugial love was the love
of loves with the most ancient and the ancient people, who lived in the
ages thus named, cannot be known from historical records, because their
writings are not extant; and there is no account given of them except by
writers in succeeding ages, who mention them, and describe the purity
and integrity of their lives, and also the successive decrease of such
purity and integrity, resembling the debasement of gold to iron: but an
account of the last or iron age, which commenced from the time of those
writers, may in some measure be gathered from the historical records of
the lives of some of their kings, judges, and wise men, who were called
_sophi_ in Greece and other countries. That this age however should not
endure, as iron endures in itself, but that it should be like iron mixed
with clay, which do not cohere, is foretold by Daniel, chap.
Pages:
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158