634. But the truth must be told. When a belief in three Gods was introduced into Christian churches, which was done at the time of the Nicene Council, they banished every good of charity and every truth of faith, because these two are wholly inconsistent with a mental worship of three Gods and a simultaneous oral worship of one God; for the mind then denies what the mouth utters, and the mouth denies what the mind thinks; and the result is that there is neither a belief in three Gods nor a belief in one God. From this it is clear that since that time the Christian temple has not only cracked open but has fallen to ruins; and since that time the mouth of the abyss, from which ascends a smoke like that of a great furnace, has been opened, the sun and air have been darkened, and locusts have gone out therefrom upon the earth (Rev. 9:2, 3). (See the explanation of these things in the Apocalypse Revealed.) And from that time also has the desolation foretold by Daniel commenced and increased (Matt. 24:15), and to that faith and the imputation thereof the eagles have gathered together (Matt. 24:28, "eagles" there meaning the lynx-eyed leaders of the church). It may be said that a council in which so many bishops and learned men sat together, established this faith by a unanimous vote; but what confidence can be placed in councils, when Roman Catholic councils have also by a unanimous vote established the vicarship of the pope, the invocation of saints, the worship of images and bones, the division of the holy eucharist, purgatory, indulgences, and the like? And what confidence can be placed in councils when the council of Dort has also by a unanimous vote established a detestable predestination, and set it forth as the palladium of religion? But, my reader, believe not in councils, but in the Holy Word; and go to the Lord, and you will be enlightened; for He is the Word, that is, the Divine Truth in the Word.