Since it has been given me by the Lord to see the wonderful things that are in the heavens and below the heavens, I must by command speak of what has been seen. A magnificent palace was seen, and in the inmost part of it a temple. In the middle of this there was a table of gold upon which was the Word with two angels standing by. There were seats around the table arranged in three rows. The seats of the first row were covered with a material all silk of a purple colour, the seats of the second row with an all silk material of a sky-blue colour, and the seats of the third row with a white material. Beneath the roof, high above the table, there appeared an extended canopy glittering with precious stones, from the brightness of which there shone forth as it were a rainbow when the sky is clearing after rain. Then suddenly a number of the clergy were seen occupying all the seats, every one clothed with a garment of priestly ministry (veste Ministerii Sacerdotalis). At one side was a treasure chamber where a guardian angel stood, and in it there were shining garments lying in a beautiful order. [2] It was a COUNCIL called together by the Lord; and I heard a voice out of heaven saying, 'Deliberate.' But they were saying, 'What about?' It was said, 'Concerning THE LORD and concerning THE HOLY SPIRIT.' But while thinking about those they were not in enlightenment and therefore were praying for it. And then a light came down out of heaven, and this at first was lighting up the backs of their heads, and afterwards their temples and lastly their faces; and then they began [the deliberation]; and, as was commanded, first concerning THE LORD. And the question first proposed and discussed was 'Who assumed the Human in the virgin Mary?' And an angel standing at the table upon which was the Word read out to them these words in Luke:-

The angel said unto Mary, Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and shalt bring forth a Son; and thou shalt call His Name JESUS. He shall be great and shall be called the Son of the Most High. And Mary said to the angel, How shall this come to pass since I have no knowledge of a man? and the angel answering said, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the Vigour of the Most High shall overshadow thee, whence what is born of thee Holy shall be called the Son of God Luke i 31, 32, 34, 35;

then also those in Matthew 20-25, and he read those in verse 25 there with emphasis. Besides these he read many passages out of the Evangelists, where the Lord as to His Human is called THE SON OF GOD, and where He Himself from (ex) His Human calls Jehovah HIS FATHER; and also out of the Prophets, where it is foretold that Jehovah Himself was going to come into the world, among which also these two in Isaiah:-

It shall be said in that day, Behold, This is our God for Whom we have waited so that He might set us free; This is Jehovah for Whom we have waited, let us exult and rejoice in His Salvation Isa. xxv 9.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare a way for Jehovah, level out in the desert a path for our God; for the glory of Jehovah shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see together. Behold, the Lord Jehovih is coming in strength; as a Shepherd He shall feed His flock Isa. xl 3, 5, 10, 11.

[3] And the angel said, 'Since Jehovah Himself came into the world and assumed the Human, and by that means has saved and redeemed men, therefore in the Prophets He Himself is called Saviour and Redeemer.' And then he read out to them the following passages:-

Surely God is in thee, and there is no God besides, truly Thou art a hidden God, O God of Israel, the Saviour Isa. xlv 14, 15.

Am not I Jehovah? and there is no God else besides Me, there is no just God and Saviour besides Me Isa. xlv 21, 22.

I am Jehovah, and besides Me there is no Saviour Isa. xliii 11.

I am Jehovah thy God, and thou shalt acknowledge no God besides Me, and there is no Saviour besides Me Hosea xiii 4.

That all flesh may know that I Jehovah am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer Isa. xlix 26; lx 16.

As for our Redeemer, Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name Isa. xlvii 4.

Their Redeemer is strong, Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name Jer. 1 34.

O Jehovah, my Rock and my Redeemer Ps. xix 14 [H.B. 15].

Thus has said Jehovah thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, I am Jehovah thy God Isa. xlviii 17; xliii 14; xlix 7; liv 8.

Thou O Jehovah art our Father, our Redeemer, from an age is Thy Name Isa. lxiii 16.

Thus has said Jehovah, thy Redeemer, I am Jehovah making all things, and by Myself Only Isa. xliv 24.

Thus has said Jehovah, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer Jehovah Zebaoth, I am the First and the Last, and besides Me there is no God Isa. xliv 6.

Jehovah Zebaoth is His Name, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole land shall He be called Isa. liv 5.

Behold, the days shall come when I will raise up unto David a just Branch Who shall reign King, and this is His Name, Jehovah our Justice Jer. xxiii 5, 6; xxxiii l5, 16.

In that day shall Jehovah be King over the whole land; in that day there shall be one Jehovah, and His Name one Zech. xiv 9.

[4] Being confirmed by all these passages (ex his et illis), those sitting upon the seats declared unanimously that Jehovah Himself assumed the Human to save and redeem men. But then a voice was heard from some Roman Catholics who had hidden themselves in a corner of the temple, saying, 'How can Jehovah the Father become Man? Is He not the Creator of the universe?' And one of those sitting upon the seats of the second row turned and said, 'Who then?' And he from the corner answered 'The Son from eternity.' But he got the answer, 'Is not the Son from eternity according to your confession also the Creator of the universe? And what is a Son or a God born from eternity? And how can the Divine Essence, which is One and Indivisible, be separated, and some of It come down and take on the Human, and not at the same time the Whole?'

[5] The second discussion was concerning THE LORD, whether God the Father and He Himself thus were one as the soul and body are one. They said that this was a consequence, because the soul was from the Father. And then one of those who were sitting upon the seats in the third row was reading from the Creed that is called 'Athanasian', these words:-

Although our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is God and Man, yet there are not two, but there is One Christ, indeed, altogether One, He is One Person; since just as the soul and body make one man, so God and Man is the One Christ.

The one reading said that this Faith was received throughout Christendom, even by the Roman Catholics. And then they said, 'What need is there of more? God the Father and He Himself are One, as the soul and body are one.' And they said, 'Because it is so, we see that the Lord's Human is Divine, for it is the Human of Jehovah'; also [they said] that the Lord ought to be approached as to the Divine Human, and that thus and not otherwise can the Divine that is called the Father be approached. [6] The angel confirmed this conclusion of theirs by still more passages out of the Word, among which were these; in Isaiah:-

Unto us a Boy is born, unto us a Son is given, Whose Name is Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero, the Father of eternity, the Prince of peace Isa. ix 6 [H.B. 5];

in the same:-

Thou art our Father, Abraham has not recognised us, and Israel has not acknowledged us, Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father, our Redeemer, from an age is Thy Name Isa. lxiii 16

and in John:-

Jesus said, He who believes in Me believes in Him Who sent Me, and he who sees Me is seeing Him Who sent Me John xii 44, 45.

Philip said unto Jesus, Show us the Father. Jesus says unto him, He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in Me? Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me John xiv 8-11;

and finally this:-

Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth (veritas) and the Life, no one comes to the Father but by Me John xiv 6.

When they had heard these things, with one voice and heart they all said that the Lord's Human is Divine, and that This must be approached that the Father may be approached, since Jehovah God, Who is the Lord from eternity, sent Himself into the world by means of It and made Himself visible to the eyes of men, and thus accessible. In like manner He made Himself visible and accessible in a Human Form before the ancients, but then it was by means of an angel.

[7] Afterwards there followed a deliberation concerning THE HOLY SPIRIT. And first the idea of many concerning God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit was disclosed, and this was as if God the Father were sitting on high, and the Son at His right hand, and they were sending forth from themselves the Holy Spirit to enlighten and teach men. But then a voice was heard out of heaven saying, 'We do not support that idea of thought. Who does not know that Jehovah God is Omnipresent? He who knows and acknowledges this also acknowledges that He Himself enlightens and teaches, and that there is not an intermediate God distinct from Him, and still less one distinct from the two, as person from person. Therefore let the former idea, which is devoid of meaning, be removed, and let this, which is just, be received, and you will see this clearly.' [8] But then again a voice was heard from the Roman Catholics who had hidden themselves in the corner of the temple, saying, 'What then is the Holy Spirit named in the Evangelists and in Paul, by which so many of the learned of the clergy, especially from ours, say they are led? Who in Christendom at this day denies the Holy Spirit and His operation?' Whereupon one of those who were sitting upon the seats of the second row turned and said, 'The Holy Spirit is the Divine proceeding from Jehovah the Lord. You are saying that the Holy Spirit is a Person by Himself and a God by Himself; but what is a Person going forth and proceeding from a Person except operation going forth and proceeding? One person cannot go forth and proceed out of another by means of [yet] another, but operation can. Or what is a God going forth and proceeding from a God unless it is the Divine going forth and proceeding? One God cannot go forth and proceed from another by means of [yet] another, but what is Divine can. Is not the Divine Essence One and Indivisible? And because the Divine Essence or the Divine Esse (Being) is God, is not God One and Indivisible?' [9] When they had heard these things, those sitting upon the seats concluded unanimously that the Holy Spirit is not a Person by Himself, nor a God by Himself, but that it is the Holy Divine going forth and proceeding out of the One and Only Omnipresent God, Who is the Lord. Whereupon the angels standing by the golden table upon which was the Word said, 'Well done! We do not read anywhere in the Old Testament that the prophets spoke the Word from (ex) the Holy Spirit, but from (ex) Jehovah the Lord; and in the New Testament where "the Holy Spirit" is said there is understood the Divine proceeding, which is the Divine enlightening, teaching, enlivening, reforming and regenerating.'

[10] After this there followed a second discussion concerning THE HOLY SPIRIT, which was: From Whom does the Divine that is called the Holy Spirit proceed? Is it derived from the Divine that is called the Father or from the Divine Human that is the Son? And when they were discussing this a light out of heaven shone upon them, by virtue of which they saw that the Holy Divine that is understood by the Holy Spirit proceeds out of the Divine in the Lord by means of His glorified Human, which is the Divine Human, comparatively as in the case of a man everything active proceeds out of the soul by means of the body. This the angel standing at the table confirmed out of the Word by these passages:-

He Whom the Father has sent speaks the words of God; He has not given the Spirit by measure unto Him; the Father loves the Son, and has given all things into His hand John iii 34, 35.

There shall go forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse; there shall rest upon Him the Spirit of Jehovah, the Spirit of Wisdom and Intelligence, the Spirit of counsel and vigour (virtus) Isa. xi 1, 2.

That the Spirit of Jehovah was given upon Him, and that it was in Him Isa. xlii 1; lix 19, 20; lxi 1; Luke iv 18.

When the Holy Spirit comes, which I am going to send unto you from the Father John xv 26.

He shall glorify Me, because He shall take of Mine and announce it unto you: all things whatsoever the Father has are Mine, on account of this I have said that He is going to take of Mine and announce it unto you John xvi 14, 15.

If I go away, I shall send the Comforter unto you John xvi 7.

The Comforter is the Holy Spirit John xiv 26.

The Holy Spirit was not yet , because Jesus was not yet glorified John vii 39.

After the glorification, Jesus breathed upon them and said to the disciples, Accept the Holy Spirit John xx 22.

[11] Since the Lord's Divine Operation out of His Divine Omnipresence by means of the Holy Spirit is understood, therefore when He spoke to the disciples concerning the Holy Spirit Which He was going to send from God the Father, He also said:-

I will not leave you orphans, I am going away and coming unto you: and in that day you shall recognise that I am in the Father, and you in Me and I in you John xiv 18, 20, 28;

and just before He went away out of the world, He said:-

Behold, I am with you all the days until the consummation of the age Matt. xxviii 20.

Having read these statements out to them, the angel said, 'From these and many other passages out of the Word it is plain that the Divine that is called the Holy Spirit proceeds out of the Divine in the Lord by means of His Divine Human.' Whereupon those sitting upon the seats said, 'This is Divine Truth (veritas).'

[12] Finally this decree was made: 'That from the deliberations in this Council we have clearly seen, and in consequence acknowledge as Holy Truth (veritas),that in our Lord Jesus Christ there is a Divine Trinity, which is: the Divine from Which [all things are], Which is called the Father, the Divine Human Which is called the Son, and the Divine proceeding Which is the Holy Spirit. Thus there is One God in the Church.'

[13] After these things were concluded in that magnificent Council they rose up, and the guardian angel came out of the treasure chamber bringing to each one of those who sat upon the seats shining garments interwoven here and there with golden threads, and he said, 'Take the WEDDING GARMENTS.' And they were conducted in glory into the Christian New Heaven, with which the Lord's Church on earth, which is the New Jerusalem, is to be conjoined.

Apoc. xxii 21.