About Paradise, where it is, and how one can contemplate it [from Part II]
![About Paradise, where it is, and how one can contemplate it [from Part II]](/woodcuts/1704Luik1/00033352.jpg)
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: About Paradise, where it is, and how one can contemplate it [from Part II]
Scripture Reference:
- 1 Corinthians 2 (further images / scripture text)
Description: The Soul and the Flesh encounter a blind man walking his dog. The Dutch artist and poet, Jan Luiken (1649-1712) was responsible for drawing and etching this emblem and composing the poem that accompanies it.
Poem: The Soul refutes the old Adam.
The old man, that coarse beast,
Possessed with the spirit of stars,
Who never impinged on a deeper ground,
Than in his mother who created him,
Addressed my heart with brashness,
Where then is that beautiful heaven,
For which thou willt be deprived of all joy,
And dost sink in a continuous dying,
So asks a man, who is blind.
Where is the Sun: where is the day?
Thou art it thyself, oh man of sins,
Who keeps a blindfold on our eyes;
If thou wert pure, away with all thy mire,
We would see God and the Kingdom of Heaven,
And all Angels around us.
That is no delusion; that he knows,
Who once through the grace of the eternal good,
Opened an eye in his heart.
Therefore I desire to leave thee,
As long as I live I will hate thee,
And cut off all thy lusts,
Till thou dost slip away from me in the grave.
God's Answer:
"Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding" (Psalm 32:9). "Fools say in their hearts, “There is no God” (Psalm 53:1). "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isaiah 1:3).
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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