CAPUT LXXXI. Quam suspecta debeat esse omnis revelatio, quam non comitatur Scripturarum attestatio
The Two Witnesses of Christ's Transfiguration
Do not trust any revelation, even of Christ's glory, unless it is confirmed by the twofold witness of Scripture, both in plain and figurative sense, and clear reason.
But if you already think you've climbed to a high heart and taken hold of that lofty and great mountain—if you already believe you see Christ transfigured—don't easily trust whatever you see in him or hear from him, unless Moses and Elijah come to meet him. We know that every testimony stands by the mouth of two or three. Any truth that the authority of Scripture doesn't confirm is suspect to me, and I won't accept Christ in his glorification if Moses and Elijah aren't standing with him.1 Both in the valley and on the climb up the mountain, I often receive Christ without a witness—but never at the mountain's summit, or in his glorification. If Christ teaches me about outward things or my own inner life, I readily accept it, since these are things I can test by my own experience. But when the mind is led to the heights—because the question being weighed concerns heavenly things and deep matters are at stake—at such a peak of sublimity I don't accept Christ without a witness. No revelation, however plausible, can stand confirmed without the attestation of Moses and Elijah, or the authority of Scripture. So let Christ bring two witnesses with him in his transfiguration if he wants that light of his glory—so great and so uncommon—not to be suspect to me. Therefore, according to this teaching, let him confirm his testimony by the mouth of two or three; and to establish the truth of his revelation, let him present not only figurative authority but also the authority of clear Scripture.2 It's a beautiful and deeply delightful sight when, in the revelation of truth, clear reason comes forward from one side, and from the other, speech both plain and figurative comes to meet it to confirm that revelation.
The Danger of Deception Without Witnesses
Without the twofold witness of Moses and Elijah, the soul risks being deceived by the noonday demon and the spirit of error, which masquerades as an angel of light.
Otherwise, I'll fear the height of the day, afraid I might be led astray by the noonday demon.3 For where do so many heresies come from, where so many errors, if not because the spirit of error transforms itself into an angel of light? You see clearly that both transform themselves—Christ, of course, and the devil—but Christ confirms the truth of his light in two witnesses. So Moses and Elijah appear with the Lord on this mountain; and they appear in majesty—not in the obscurity of the letter, but in the brightness of spiritual understanding.4
Read the original Latin
Sed si jam te existimas ascendisse ad cor altum, et apprehendisse montem illum excelsum et magnum, si jam te credis Christum videre transfiguratum, quidquid in illo videas, quidquid ab illo audias non ei facile credas, nisi occurrant ei Moyses et Elias. Scimus quia in ore duorum vel trium stat omne testimonium. Suspecta est mihi omnis veritas quam non confirmat Scripturarum auctoritas nec Christum in sua clarificatione recipio, si non assistant ei Moyses et Elias. Et in valle, et in montis ascensione Christum saepe recipio sine teste, nunquam autem in montis vertice, vel in sua clarificatione. Si Christus docet me de rebus exterioribus, vel de intimis meis facile recipio, utpote in his quae comprobare possum proprio experimento, verum ubi ad alta mens ducitur, quoniam de coelestibus quaestio ventilatur, ubi de profundis rebus agitur, in tantae sublimitatis vertice non recipio Christum sine teste, nec rata poterit esse quamlibet verisimilis revelatio sine attestatione Moysis et Eliae, sine Scripturarum auctoritate. Adhibeat igitur sibi Christus duo testimonia in transfiguratione sua, si vult ut non sit mihi suspecta claritatis suae lux illa tam magna, et tam insolita. Ut ergo secundum hujus rei documentum, in ore duorum vel trium suum confirmet testimonium, ad comprobandam revelationis suae veritatem, non solum figurative, sed etiam apertae Scripturae exhibeat auctoritatem. Pulchrum spectaculum, valdeque jucundum, cum in revelatione veritatis, hinc procedit manifesta ratio, et ad confirmationem revelationis illinc occurrit tam aperta, quam figurata locutio.
Alioquin ab altitudine diei timebo, verens ne forte seducar a doemonio meridiano. Unde enim tot haereses, unde tot errores, nisi quia spiritus erroris transfigurat se in angelum lucis? Vides certe, quia uterque se transfigurat, Christus videlicet, et diabolus, sed Christus lucis suae veritatem confirmat in duobus testibus. Apparent itaque Moyses et Elias cum Domino in hoc monte; apparent autem in majestate, non in obscuritate litterae, sed in claritate spiritualis intelligentiae.
Notes
- 1 ↩clarificatione rendered as 'glorification' (Christ's shining/transfigured brightness), not modern 'clarification'.
- 2 ↩figurative may be adverbial ('figuratively') or elliptical for figurative authority; English follows the parallel in s8 between aperta and figurata locutio.
- 3 ↩ab altitudine diei: the ablative marks the source of fear—the bright, elevated peak of day (spiritual exaltation/illumination), not merely chronological noon.
- 4 ↩obscuritate litterae vs. claritate spiritualis intelligentiae continues the chapter’s rule: Scripture must attest high revelation, and that attestation is spiritual sense, not bare letter alone.
Benjamin Minor (The Twelve Patriarchs / Preparation of the Mind for Contemplation) companion
A daily portion of stillness
Chosen Portion delivers one short contemplative reading and a guided moment of silence each day — the ascent, one step at a time.
Chosen Portion is the paced doorway into this collection: it portions the dense mystical treatises into one daily reading plus guided silence, exactly as the 14-day plan teaches.
- Daily bite-sized excerpts from the contemplative classics, never a wall of text
- A built-in timed stillness practice that grows from 2 minutes to 10
- Gentle progression through the tradition — the app remembers where you are on the ascent