next to both of them on a throne of dazzling crystal and holds a dove in
his hand. Surrounding them are three tiers of hanging lamps glittering
with precious stones. At quite a distance from this inner circle stand
countless angels, all adoring and glorifying them.
“Furthermore, God the Father is continually discussing with his Son
which people should be granted justification. Between the two they
arrive at a decision and they decree which people on earth are worthy to
be accepted by them among the angels and crowned with eternal life.
God the Holy Spirit hears the names and immediately rushes across the
world to those people, bringing gifts of justice as proof of salvation for
those granted justification. As soon as he arrives and breathes on them,
he blows away their sins like someone with a fan blowing the smoke out
of a furnace and then whitewashing it. He also takes from their hearts the
hardness of stone and gives them instead the softness of flesh. At the same
time he renews their spirits or minds and makes them born again, giving
them the face of a child. Finally, he marks their foreheads with the sign of
the cross and calls them the chosen ones and children of God.”
When his lecture came to an end, the leader said to me, “When I was
in the world that is how I untangled this great mystery. And because
many of our priests there applauded the views I have expressed to you, I
am convinced that you as a layman will likewise put your faith in them.”
[ 2 ] After the leader said this I observed him and the ministers with
him, and I perceived that they were all in complete agreement. So,
launching into a reply, I said, “I have considered the beliefs you just
uttered, and from them I gather that you are attached to, and you cher-
ish, an utterly physical and sensory picture of the triune God; in fact I
would even call your view materialistic. The idea of three gods inevitably
flows from your picture. Isn’t it a sensory idea of God the Father to think
of him sitting on a throne with a scepter in his hand? And to think of the
Son as sitting on his own throne with a crown on his head? And to think
of the Holy Spirit sitting on his own throne with a dove in his hand and
then rushing all over the world following the orders he has heard? Since
your depiction leads to a physical picture of God, I cannot put my faith
in what you said. Ever since I was a little child I have not been able to
allow any other idea of God into my mind except the idea of one God.
And because I have allowed this idea and it is the only one I hold, noth-
ing you have said has any effect on me.
“Later I came to see that the throne on which Jehovah sits, according
to Scripture, means his kingdom. His scepter and his crown mean his
§16 god the creator & creation 23