64. That the first and primary thing of the church is to know its God, thus the Lord, and so the one God, is because the other things of the church, both doctrine and perceptions, depend thereon. Man cannot otherwise understand the Word; as may be manifest from the case of the ancients who were Gentiles, although they likewise had altars and offered sacrifices, and had other things also that belonged to the rites of the church, but who still did not worship Jehovah, but some of them Shaddai, and others some other God; nevertheless they were extirpated, because they had nothing of doctrine and of worship that was then accepted in heaven. It was from this cause that the Lord inquired of those with whom He did miracles whether they had faith, and said that it was done according to their faith, in order that it might be acknowledged that He was the Son of God and had power over all things, and thus that He was God descending out of heaven. This was the first and primary thing in the conjunction of God with man.