| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from Of The Nature of Things by Lucretius: And sheer abandon in the zest of battle:
With the remainder of his frame he seeks
Anew the battle and the slaughter, nor marks
How the swift wheels and scythes of ravin have dragged
Off with the horses his left arm and shield;
Nor other how his right has dropped away,
Mounting again and on. A third attempts
With leg dismembered to arise and stand,
Whilst, on the ground hard by, the dying foot
Twitches its spreading toes. And even the head,
When from the warm and living trunk lopped off,
 Of The Nature of Things |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians by Martin Luther: meats, Paul calls them elsewhere the doctrines of devils. You would not call
such laws elements of heaven.
The Law of Moses deals with mundane matters. It holds the mirror to the evil
which is in the world. By revealing the evil that is in us it creates a longing
in the heart for the better things of God. The Law forces us into the arms of
Christ, "who is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that
believeth." (Romans 1:4.) Christ relieves the conscience of the Law. In so far
as the Law impels us to Christ it renders excellent service.
I do not mean to give the impression that the Law should be despised. Neither
does Paul intend to leave that impression. The Law ought to be honored. But
when it is a matter of justification before God, Paul had to speak
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