Memoirs of the life, death, burial, and wonderful writings, of Jacob Behmen

and his blessed Apostles have in no way been lacking in giving us frequent, explicit, and sufficient warnings to avoid the deceptive snare of HUMAN WISDOM in spiritual concerns. It is through this very means that the Abomination of Desolation A biblical term (Daniel 12:11, Matthew 24:15) referring to a sacrilegious presence in a holy place; here, the author uses it to describe human reason usurping divine authority in the church. is now standing in the Holy Place; and the great Dragon, that ancient serpent called the Devil and Satan, continues to deceive the whole world (Revelation 12:9; 1 Corinthians 2:14–15; compared with Chapter 15:45–46).

Yet if this authority, known from reasoning original: a priori, is not thought sufficient to convince us how backwards and dangerous it is to put our confidence in such a false and treacherous counselor; let the unhappy fruits of this now deeply rooted custom and general way of proceeding prove the nature of the tree they grow from. Has not the influence and operations of LEARNED REASON in the sanctuary split all of the Christian world into countless parties? Each is as sure of its own correctness, and of its neighbor's failings, as anyone can be sure of a mistake. Now, is this not a proof from experience original: a posteriori—or in actual fact—that all of them must, from this perspective, be necessarily wrong? It is as certain as the fact that two direct contradictions cannot both be true at the same time and in the same respect. "They are all fallen, as surely as they are divided."

But this is not the worst part: The attachment of the soul to earthly possessions original: "propriety," here meaning the sense of "owning" something or self-interest is admittedly very great; but that which may in one sense be called spiritual attachment, if once fixed and established, is much greater still. History can provide a long list of its dreadful and tragic effects. The pretext, indeed, has been all along THE CAUSE OF GOD AND TRUTH; when in reality, at its core, it has been too much the SYMBOL and EXALTATION of some particular denomination or community that has been so biasedly, unfairly, and cruelly fought for.

This is perfectly clear to the Translator from the observations he has been forced to make in various ways, for years and years, upon his own heart and the