stones mean the truths that constitute faith. One could also draw a com-
parison with the beauty of a rainbow, and with the beauty of a field full
of flowers or a garden in bloom during early spring.
Faith that is composed of a quantity of truths takes on a light and a
glory that are like the lighting of church buildings with more and more
candles, of homes with more and more lamps, and of streets with more and
more streetlamps.
The elevation of faith through a quantity of truths can be compared
to the increase in volume and the heightened musical effect that occurs
when many instruments play together; also, the increase in fragrance that
comes from putting together a whole garland of sweet-smelling flowers;
and so on.
The power that faith acquires from a plurality of truths assembled to
combat things that are false and evil can be compared to the solidity that
a church building gains from well-crafted stonework and from columns
that buttress its walls and support its vaulted ceilings. That power can
also be compared to a squadron in a square formation in which the sol-
diers stand side to side and thus form, and move as, a single force. That
power can also be compared to the muscles all over our body: although
there are many of them and some are far apart, they still make one power
in our actions; and so on.354 [d] However numerous these truths of faith are and however divergent
they appear, they are united by the Lord who is the Word; the God of heaven
and earth; the God of all flesh; the God of the vineyard, or the church; the
God of faith; the light itself; the truth itself; and eternal life.The truths of
faith are various, and appear divergent to us. For example, some are
about God the Creator, some are about the Lord the Redeemer, some
are about the Holy Spirit and the divine action, some are about faith
and about goodwill, some are about free choice, repentance, reforma-
tion, regeneration, the assignment of spiritual credit and blame, and so
on. Yet they are united in the Lord, and the Lord unites them in us, the
way one vine unites many branches (John 5 : 1 and following). The Lord
connects scattered and divided truths into one form so that they present
one picture and form one action.
This can be illustrated by a comparison with the limbs, internal
organs, and other organs in one body. Although they are different from
each other and appear to our sight to be distinct, the human being
composed of them does not feel like more than one entity. When a
human being uses them all to act, he or she performs that action as if all
these components constituted a single entity.