| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: talent we possess.
Take the talents of wisdom and integrity. Without Christ, wisdom is double
foolishness and integrity double sin, because they not only fail to perceive
the wisdom and righteousness of Christ, but hinder and blaspheme the salvation
of Christ. Paul justly calls it the evil or wicked world, for when the world
is at its best the world is at its worst. The grossest vices are small faults
in comparison with the wisdom and righteousness of the world. These prevent
men from accepting the Gospel of the righteousness of Christ. The white devil
of spiritual sin is far more dangerous than the black devil of carnal sin
because the wiser, the better men are without Christ, the more they are likely
to ignore and oppose the Gospel.
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The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from A Voyage to Abyssinia by Father Lobo: and set fire to a neighbouring house, in order to consume us; their
measures were so well laid, that the house was in ashes in an
instant, and three of our beds were burnt which the violence of the
flame would not allow us to carry away. We spent the rest of the
night in the most dismal apprehensions, and found next morning that
we had justly charged the inhabitants with the design of destroying
us, for the place was entirely abandoned, and those that were
conscious of the crime had fled from the punishment. We continued
our journey, and came to Gorgora, where we found the fathers met,
and the Emperor with them.
Chapter XII
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| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from An Open Letter on Translating by Dr. Martin Luther: proper understanding of the divine Scriptures towards the
improvement and increase of our common Christendom. Amen.
Nuremberg Sept. 15, 1530.
To the Honorable and Worthy N., my favorite lord and friend.
Grace and peace in Christ, honorable, worthy and dear Lord and
friend. I received your writing with the two questions or queries
requesting my response. In the first place, you ask why I, in the
3rd chapter of Romans, translated the words of St. Paul:
"Arbitramur hominem iustificari ex fide absque operibus" as "We
hold that the human will be justified without the works of the law
but only by faith." You also tell me that the Papists are causing
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The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from La Grenadiere by Honore de Balzac: her grave. These were the only mourners. Yet this was a woman whose
wit and beauty and charm had won a European reputation, a woman whose
funeral, if it had taken place in London, would have been recorded in
pompous newspaper paragraphs, as a sort of aristocratic rite, if she
had not committed the sweetest of crimes, a crime always expiated in
this world, so that the pardoned spirit may enter heaven. Marie cried
when they threw the earth on his mother's coffin; he understood that
he should see her no more.
A simple, wooden cross, set up to mark her grave, bore this
inscription, due to the cure of Saint-Cyr:--
HERE LIES
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