[34F-TDI: p. 231]
“ ‘A modest wish’:
Should we be Christians? It would be better to be healthy;
Only medicine and chemistry can still give us health.” [34F-TDI: p. 231]
[35F-TDI: p. 246-247]
[P. 246] “ ‘Prelude’:
Your attention please! I will reach a conclusion in your best interests:
Eve was reason, Adam was faith.
‘The Curtain Rises on the Lost Paradise of Faith’:
In the beginning faith was alone and in a condition of innocence,
But, sadly, this innocence was of short duration.
Adam had a normal growth as long as he was alone;
Thus he developed a strong yearning for a female companion.
God pitied his plight, took a rib out of the body of faith,
And created for him Eve, that is, reason.
(…)
At first they were naked but not ashamed in front of one another;
For Adam had not yet known Eve.
But, alas, Eve! Unhappy Eve!
But, alas, Eve! Lustful reason!
But, alas, Eve! She seduced upright faith
Into plucking the fruit from the tree of knowledge.
And an angry God now drove the pathetic pair
[P. 247] Out of Paradise, the land of simple innocence.
Now a cherub watches at the gates of Eden
With a fiery sword and never lets the little pair in.
So the lovely Eden of belief is lost forever!
(…)
You must now work, bring forth in pain; you must no longer merely believe,
But must earn on your own what you need for life and salvation.” [35F-TDI: p. 246-247]
[36F-TDI: p. 249]
“ ‘To a pietist maiden’:
Young maiden, when you sacrificed nature for belief, you committed
Your only sin; otherwise, you still would be pure.” [36F-TDI: p. 249]
