22. That man cannot discover a single Divine truth, except by approaching the Lord immediately, is due to this, that the Lord alone is the Word, and that He is the Light and the Truth itself; and man does not become spiritual except from the Lord alone, but remains natural; and the natural man, in spiritual things, sees everything in inverted order; that this is so, is known from Paul. This is the reason why not a single truth has remained in the church, so that now is the consummation, the desolation, the decision, and the fullness [of time]. But still because the Lord is not dead, therefore, according to Daniel, there still remains "a root in the earth"; while, according to Revelation, "man indeed is willing to die, but yet he cannot." That which "remains" is the faculty of being able to understand the truth, and of being able to will good. This is "the root that remains."
