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 THE SCRIPTURAL SENSE OF THE 
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 • PKETATION AND THE DlVINK " PuKSON '' OK 
 
 OUR Saviour. ' / 
 
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 ^THE SPIRITUAL SENSE OF THE 
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 MONTJREAJ,: (\ VV, eOATP:s.- I HALIFAX: S. F. HUESTIS. 
 
 1889. 
 
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 SwEDENMOHGiANiHM, aiid Plymouth ntethieiiisin. an' the 
 two extreiiios of iiUKleni r«(li^iou8 HpccUlatioii. 
 
 Swedoubori^ianisiu is an <ixliil)itioii of leligiouH optiiniwin^ 
 and Plyinoutkism of roIi^iouH pcssiiiiiKin. ~ 
 
 Thoy both posseHs an extensive literature, and each en- 
 deavors to establish from Floly Scripture the exact opposite 
 to the other. The world, and all that therein is, is as bad 
 as it can l)e in the eyes of Plymouthism. On the contrary, 
 the world is materially, moially, and spiritually improving 
 at such a rate such li^'ht^Hp speed that Swedenborgian. 
 ism tells us the New Jerusalem has descended, and the judg- 
 ment passed. With every respect for the conscientiousness 
 of the advocates of these two extremes, may we not hun»bly 
 "believe that, in all probability, the truth lies somewliere 
 between thenl. Having examined the ' pessimism of Ply 
 modthism, in a short tract on "The Coming of Our Lord/' 
 I propose, in the following pages, to Examine the optinnsm 
 of Swedenborgianism. 
 
 Our age is an age of extrenies ; some wdlknowil truth of 
 Christianity is seized upon by zealous people, placed undei*- 
 a spiritual microscope, and exaggerated into a peifecC cari- 
 cature of its true self. ' , 
 
 W«sT Flamburu', \5th Fthnieiry, 1889. \ I 
 
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 8\VKI)MNIU)K(i ON TIIK; SIIIMTrAL 
 SKNSK OF llOLV SCIUI^'ITKK. 
 
 Tin: wljolt' svNtiMii of Swi'th-nliorn^is Ituilt up ou tlu« iiuulw 
 of Hoiiptun' iMt»M|M<'lntioii wliich lie y|>||ol(lH, Tlu? founda- ' 
 tion of all hJH woikrt Im tlic Hpiritiml iiitcrpntiitioii of Hcrip. 
 turn nc'cordiiij^ to tln^Iaw of i'oiT»»Kpoiv»l<Mic«;;*;, wliicli liu uhi-h. 
 TluH is <niit«' c|»'ar, on hii o.saiiiination of his workH. Tlu» 
 •',Arcaim Cu'h'stiii" in t\w kihikI moiuiiiMMit of hm lalnoii* in 
 this <>Kp(<ftial dintt'tioii. • .'' ■ \: ' 
 
 Wo havo in»t uiidoi'takon an exaiiiiiiation of tlii!*-*HuI»ject; 
 iweauHu wt! iiltoo:otl»of ditihv (mut Sw'«»lci»bor;< in all 
 hig dtHJuctions from Holy .Scripture. ila«l Swrdmljorj,' 
 olainic'd that he had, by an ordinary (i,n contradistinction to 
 an extraordinary) inspiration, >»h«ain'<l the iiuuM- nieaninji^of 
 Holy Striptun', l»y the aid of (Jod, and that he wa.H fully 
 convinccal of the j^eneri^l oorreetness of his interpretation, 
 we should then have been at liberty to go to his works, 
 take that which conuiiended itself to our own Hpii'itual per- 
 ception, and leave the rest. \ 
 
 But for those who believe that the nnssion of Swedenlwrg 
 was divine in an extraordinary sense, this mode of treating 
 his writings is quite impossible. 
 
 He makes a stupendous claim in tho^follbwing words : 
 "Hiiiee the Lord cannot nianifest Himself in person to the 
 world, which has Just been shown to be impossible, and yet 
 He, has foretold He would come and establish a new Church, 
 which is the New Jerusalem, it follows He; will effect this 
 by thejnstrumentality of a man, who is al)le, hot only to 
 
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■ ■ : ^- : ■ ■ , <♦ 
 
 SWEDENBORQ ON THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 me o>. tl. . office, and after»rards opened the sight of „,y 
 «p..^, »,.d so let ,„e into the spiritual world, pennitting „,I 
 ■to.'see the heavens* and the hells, and to converse w h 
 angels and spirits, and this n„^' continually for . alyea^'' 
 I at,*st the truth ; and, further, f,.n. the first day Z y 
 cairto lus office, I have never received- anythin.-Lati^! 
 . to the doctrines of that eh„,^h from any artge/ but fom 
 
 ci? .rT' ?"^ I -A-ding thrw'orci- ('.t;: 
 
 a^rsfau Uel,g,on,"sec,779), "After this work was finished 
 the I^r, leaned together His twelve disciples, who fo owed 
 
 -^^^T T '"^^^^^ Gospel, ll.at the 
 >ord Gel, Jesus Chnst, reigneth; whose kingdom shall 
 
 blessed a:';i^^;™^:,«n^';|-Mxi. .5). and that 
 
 fi.^T 1 /« ^*"^" *o the inarria're siipDer of 
 
 the Lamb (Rev/xix Hh Tk;„ j supper or 
 
 r.fj /'7^' ^>^- ^•^)v Ihis was done on the 19th d-iv 
 of June, in the year 7 770 " /m«. j 1 -^ 
 
 tian Keligicv s^c 791) (*''"»»™'"<'""'-" Tme Chris- 
 
 _ Any one firn.ly convinced of the liteml truth of this «„r 
 1 r? 7 "T "°*-'.'"-«y to give a spiritual ^Jai" 
 
 tte Hots f '""* """"* ""' *"■•''' <" SwedenW.rg on 
 
 the Holy .^enpture as a divine revelation of the innermlT 
 
 «g of .Scnpture, from which there can'be i,o nZ"pZ| 
 
 hanhere would 1« for a devout Roman CatlX tema 
 
 supernatural vision of Swedenbore, although doctrine nvw 
 n^ be deduced from it. becomes,' neverth^rthi:: 
 ordinary seal of the truth of his doctrinal system! 
 
 As this claim is sostupendous a one. let us pass on to an . 
 
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 nderstanding, 
 rhat the Lord 
 that HjB sent 
 sight of my 
 permitting me 
 >n verse with 
 •many years, 
 it day of my 
 ling relating 
 el, but from 
 ►rd" ("True 
 was finished, 
 ho followed 
 em throuffh- 
 el, that the 
 Jgdom shall 
 )ropheGy in 
 '), and that 
 B supper of 
 B IDth day 
 l^rue Chris- 
 
 )f this (for 
 il meaning 
 lenl»org on 
 mermean- 
 >re appeal 
 He from a 
 *• Every 
 trine may 
 'he extra- 
 
 I on to an . 
 
 examination of chapter 
 Christian lioli^ion." 
 
 SENSE OF KOLV SCRIPXURE. 
 
 V^ii. in his work. "' 
 
 It is 
 
 lie '1 
 
 -„ -.... .rue 
 headed, "The Sacred St^yiptu re, 
 or the Word of the Lord,' and contains the germ of tiie 
 whole body of doctrine of 'jThe New Church : " 
 
 I. "That the Sacred Scripture or the Word is the divine 
 truth itself. It is universally confessed that the Word is 
 from God, is divinely in^ired,®id of consecjuence holy, 
 and still it has, to this day, remained a seonit in what pait 
 of the Word its divinity i|esides, for in the letter it appears, 
 like common writings^ c(^hiposed in a strange style" (Sec. 
 189). • ■ _S/-' " ■-' " ■/ 
 
 ,_ II. "Thttt in the Wo^-d th^re is a spiritual seiise hereto- 
 fore unknown. The Word has a spiritual sense'^ivhiclwis 
 within the natural sense, just as the soul is within the body 
 
 . • • • but that such a spiritual sense is contained 
 within the natural sense, has never, heretofore, entered 
 into the conception of any person on earth " (Sec. 103). 
 
 " It is owing to the spiritual sense that the Word is 
 divinely inspired, and holy in every syllabl©.?\(^ec. 200). 
 
 " That the spiritual sense of the .Word lias, heretofore, 
 remained'unknowi^ " (Sec. 201). 
 
 We are, indeed^ afterwards told that the knowledge of 
 " correspondences " was well known to many in very ancient 
 times — to Enoch, to the inhabitants of "Canaan'^ E«'ypt, 
 Assyria, Chaldea, Syria, Arabia, Tyre, Sidon and Nineveh, 
 and from thence it was conveyed into Greece, where it was 
 changed into fable, as may appear from the works of the 
 oldest writers of that country" (Sec. 202). 
 
 Swedenborg is quite clear that, in his opinion, no such 
 knowledge ever existed among members of the early (Jhurch. 
 " The reason why the science of correspondences, which is 
 the key to the spiritual sense of the Word, is now revealed 
 is because the divine truths of the Church are now coming 
 
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 fWEDElNBORG ON THE SKIRlTUAL 
 
 ' ^^'5s:f^r""" TrituaUeaseof the Word con, 
 
 .''Tlrere are three heavens, the highest, the middle, and 
 «ie lowest. . . J , In like ,„a„„er as there are three 
 heavens, so there are three senses of the Word, the celestial, 
 . the spiritual, and the natural. . . , . Henee appea™ 
 the true nature and-quality of/the WoM, vi.., that in its 
 hteral sense which is natural, there is contained an interior 
 sense which is spiritual, and in this an innennost sense, 
 which .scelesfal" (Sec. 212). AH this, when p«>olai„,ed 
 by Swedenborg, was of the nature of a divine revelation, as 
 although the key to all this kind of knowledge, the " liw of < 
 correspondences "had once been possessed hy man, it had- 
 been lost long ages before .Sweitenborg wrote, and had never 
 -been possessed by the Christian Church at all. However, ' 
 the Lord having come, the new dispensation w,« inaugur. 
 ated by moans of this .spiritual knowledge ' 
 
 It is bit right th.at the a.,seitions of any one clain.in,. to 
 maugurate a new <lispens.ttion should be jealously examined. 
 We shall make an attempt in the following chapters to 
 sketch out our own line of tEbught, after an honest ex-- 
 amma^n of that which lies at the foundation of the whole 
 Swedenborgian system, vi..,,"Swedenborg>s mode of Scrip- 
 ture interpretation." • «^rip 
 
 . *■ . ■ V . ■■ ■ 
 
 *. . '.■■•■.■'"' . ^ '.-^ -■■■.'•■ 
 
 Modes ok Allegorical Interpretation 
 After an examination of Swedenborg's mode of Scripture 
 nte pretauon, itwas but natural that our mind reverted to 
 similar modes m vogue long ago, the spirit of which lives in 
 many schools of thought' iH the Christian Church of to-day 
 
 First there IS the most extensive of the Jewish modes, con- . 
 ^m^m the "Midrash Rabba,«an old .Jewish ^po it":, 
 of the greater part of the Old Testament. It give/a four- 
 fold interpretatiou of the Divine Word : , 
 
he Word con 
 
 B rniddle, and 
 liere are three 
 , the celestial, 
 lerice appears 
 !., that in its 
 id an interior 
 Brniost sense, 
 ti proclaimed 
 revelation, as 
 , the " I&,w of 
 man, it had- 
 nd had never 
 L Ilowiever, 
 kVHs inaugurr 
 
 e claiminff to 
 ly examined, 
 chapters to 
 honest ex- 
 3f the whole 
 ide of Scrip- 
 
 TION, 
 
 of Scripture 
 reverted to 
 
 lich lives in 
 
 h of to-day. 
 
 raodes^ con- 
 ■exposition ^ 
 
 ;ives a four- 
 
 y 
 
 A ■ 
 
 ■ N •*; 
 
 SENSE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE. » Q 
 
 Peahaty or, T^^he Literal Sense. ,» 
 ^em««, or. The Latent Meaning. 
 . Darush,o\\ Allegorical Meaning. / 
 
 Sod, ov, Mysterious Meainu<r, 
 
 The Jewish Mishnic doctors distinguished between the letter . 
 of Holy Scripture, which they called the " Imdy," and thp 
 mystic or celestial sense, which they called the " soul " (See 
 Parrar's "Bampton Lectures," 1885, pp. !);■), i:3D). ^ 
 
 At the time of our Lord's life on e^rth, lived one of tKe 
 .most celebrated of Jews, Philo of Alexandria, in Egypt. 
 He was of the priestly family, and one of the great ex- 
 positors of the meaning of the Holy Scriptures. We have 
 several volumes of his writings. HL<i mode of interpreting 
 them he lays down over and over again.' " It ia worth 
 while," he says, "having thus explained the literal account 
 given to us of these events, to proceed to explain also the 
 inner meaning concealed under this account"' (Phifo, "On 
 Joseph," sec. vi.). He then proceeds to give the spiritual 
 sense of the history of Joseph— we will have occasion to 
 examine a few samples of his style later on. Philo, like 
 Swedenborg, claims to- have been stipernaturally inspired 
 (See Philo, " De Cherubim,", sec. 0). When we examine the 
 writings we still possess of the early Christians, we find many ■ 
 of them advocating .the same mode of Scripture interpreta- 
 tion as Swedenborg. 
 
 First, we will take Barnabas, who wrote an epistle during 
 (or within a year or two of) 100 A.I). He says : " Now, 
 wherefore did Moses say : 'Thou shalt not eat of tll^swine, 
 nor the eagle, nor the hawk, nor the raven ; nor of any fish 
 that is not possessed of scales?'" He embraced three 
 doctrines jn his mind fn doing so. Moreover, the Lord said 
 unto them in Deuteronomy : " And I will establish My 
 
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 10 
 
 SWEDENBORO ON^ THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 ordinances among this people." Is there not a command of 
 God that they should not eat of these things? That is, 
 "But Moses spoke with a spiritual referencfe?" (Epistle Of 
 Barnabas, ch. x.). He then ^oes on to give the spiritual 
 meaning, which we shall nifer to again. 
 
 We next turn to W two great Christian writers, who 
 belonged to the Alexandrian school of thought. The pfeu- 
 liarity of this schoor was, that they carried the spiritual 
 interpretation of Holy Scripture to the furthest extreme. 
 Their motto was : " Unless you believe, ye shall iiot under- 
 . <stand." 
 
 We will tirstglance'at Clement of Alexandria, who wrote 
 his "Stroniata '/ about 193 A.D. He says : 
 
 " The sense of the law is to be taken in three ways . . , 
 but I well Irtibw it belongs to a perfect man to distinguish 
 and declare these things. For" the whole Scripture is not 
 in its meaning, a single Myconos as the proverbial expres- 
 sion has it " (Clement of Alexandria, "Stromata," B. I., ch. 
 xxviii.). "For many reasons, the Scriptures hides the sense 
 ... some look at the /body' of Scripture— the expression'^ 
 and the names— as to the body of Moses; while others look 
 through to the inner thoughts and what i^ signified by 
 the names, seeking the Moses that 'is with the angels^' 
 (Clement of Alexandria, "Stromata," BJc. VI., ch. *xv.). 
 This last quotation occurs in a chapter headed, 'Reasons 
 for tl^e meanings of Scripture being veiled.' " 
 
 NoW we may turn to the celebrated Origen of Alexandria 
 Hej wrote from 230-254 A.D. He was a pupil Of Clement, 
 just (|(uoted, and was the first man in the Christian Church 
 who formulated this m!»de of interpretation into a regular 
 system. His writings embrace immense quantities of matter. 
 His "Commentaries on gpripture," of wl^ich we still possess 
 considerable portions, givW the spiritual sense, and is the 
 
 Ui 
 
 I 
 
a command of 
 gs 1 That is, 
 I?" (Epistle of 
 e the spiritual 
 
 I writers, who 
 lit. The picu- 
 the spiritual 
 best extreme, 
 all iiot under- 
 
 ria, who wrote 
 
 'ee Ways . . , 
 ^o distinguisi) . 
 •ipture is not 
 erbial expres- 
 ita," B. I., ch. 
 ides the sense; 
 he expressioTi 
 le others look 
 signified by 
 the angels ■' 
 ''I., ch. XV.). 
 )d, * Reasons 
 
 "Alexandria. 
 1 (if Clement,, 
 jtian Church 
 ito a regular 
 es of matter. 
 J still possess 
 , and is the 
 
 SBN8E OF HPUY SCRIITURE. 
 
 U 
 
 great storehouse from which the great iiiajority agreeing 
 with hini as to the true mode of interpretation have drawn. 
 His enormous work, called the " Hexapla," or six-colunined 
 Bible, in nearly sixty huge volumes, was one of the gn^atest 
 works of ancient, or modern, times, undertaken for the 
 preservation of a correct text of the Sacred Scriptures. It 
 was placed in the (Jreat Library at Ca'sarea, and was, in 
 all probability, burned by the Mohannnedan Arabs when 
 they captured the place in G53 A.l\, 
 
 In one of his many works, " De Principiis," Bk. IV., he 
 treats of Holy Scripture and the proper njode of understand- 
 ing it. He begins th6 first chapte^ by proving " That the 
 Scriptures are divinely inspired,/* a;iijl. then continues: 
 " Having spoken thus briefly on tlie subject of th^ divine 
 inspiration 6i the Holy Scriptures, it is necessary to proceed; 
 to the consideration of the manner in which they arc to be 
 read, and understood; seeing numerous errors /liaVe been 
 committed in consequence of the method in whibh the holy 
 documents ought to be examined, not having been under- 
 stood by the multitude " (Bk. IV., ch. 8). / " Now, , the 
 cause in all the points previously enumerated^ of the false 
 opinions and impious statements, or ignorant assertions 
 about God, appears to* be nothing else than the not under- 
 standing the Scriptures according to its spiritual sense ; but, 
 the interpretation of it according to the mei'e letter " (Bk. 
 IV., ch. 9). "The individual, then, ought/to portray the 
 ideas of Holy Scripture in a threefold n>ianner upon his 
 own soul, in order that the simple man riiay be edified by 
 the 'flesh,' as it were, of Scripture, fo^ so we n^me the 
 obvious sense ; while he who has ascended a certain/way may 
 be edified by the 'soul,' as it Were. Th4 perfect /man, again 
 ... may receive edification from the 'spiritual ' law . . ; 
 fgr, as st man consists of ' body,' ' soul ' and * spirit/ so, in 
 
 '% 
 
 i-..".^V - 
 

 12 
 
 ^wepe;jbor« on trk spiritual 
 
 "If 
 
 H-'^i 
 
 M 
 
 the same way, does Scripture, which has boen arranged to 
 be given by Oocl for the salvation of man*" (Bk.lV.,ch. 
 1 1). " This \mi\g the case, wo have to sketch what appears 
 to us to be the niair'ks of the true understandin«j of Scripture. 
 And, in the first phice, this must be pointed, out, that the 
 object of the Spirit, by the Providence of (iod, through the 
 Word, who was in the beginning with (lod,iIhiniinated the 
 servants of truth, the prophets' nnd apostles, was especially 
 the communication* of ineffable inysteries regarding the 
 affairs of m^n (na#,^by men, I mean those 'souls who make 
 use of bodies), iij order that he who is capable of instruction 
 may, by investigation, and by devottng^rimlself to the study 
 of the profundities of meanings contained in the words, 
 become a sharer in all the doctrines of his council-'* (Bk. 
 IV., ch. 1,4). Having inj^de an examination of the Old 
 Testamerit, he begins with the New, as follows r "And, if 
 we go tp the Gospels and institute a siniilai' examination, 
 what ^ould be more irratiOftaiVthan to take literally the 
 injunction : ' Salute no man by tfi^ way,' which simple 
 people imagine the Saviour enjoined oii the Apostles. The " 
 command, moreover, that the nr//t^ cheek should be smitten, 
 is most incredible, since everyone who strikes, unless he 
 happen to have some bodily defect, smites the /e/if cheek 
 with the ri^A^liand." (Bk. IV,, ph. .18). 
 
 Much, very much, more might be quoted; but enough 
 has now been brought forward to show that Philo, the Jew, 
 and in the early ehutch, at least three men (there were 
 really many more) were not quite so "simple," in this 
 matter, as Swedenborg wou^ appear to have represented 
 them. 
 
 This knowledge was, of course, the first blow to any 
 advance, on our part, toward belief in Swedenborg's tre- 
 mendous claim, as under, God, the inaugurator of a new 
 
 ;: ■ 
 
 ■4 '- ■ 
 
 ••« 
 
 I, 
 
^fef- 
 
 :^:i 
 
 jn arranged to 
 (Bk. lV.,ch 
 1 what appears 
 ijLjoiF Scripture. 
 . out^ that the 
 (\, through the 
 Uuiiiinated the 
 was especially 
 regarding the 
 wis who make 
 o^ instruction 
 If to the study 
 in the words, 
 council-'* (Bk. 
 n of the Old 
 wsr "And, if 
 ' examination, 
 e literally the 
 which simple 
 Lpostles. The" 
 lid be smitten, 
 Itfs, unless he 
 the /e/if cheek 
 
 ; but enough 
 *hilo, the Jew, 
 » (there were 
 nple," in this 
 e represented 
 
 blow to any 
 denborg's tre- 
 tor of a new 
 
 SKNSK OF HOU' KrRIITrRK. 
 
 13 
 
 dispensation, however ready we may lie to acknowledge the 
 great beauty and truth of very much that Swedenhorg W 
 
 written. 
 
 . • • ■ ■ , ■ ■ » 
 
 The fact that Hrst pre.sented its<'lf to us tluMi, \va}< thai ' 
 Swedenborg undoubtedly brings forward an idea as to the 
 way Scripture should be inteijin'ted, as soihcthing al- 
 together new, unknown before, or if known (for Ji»| is not 
 (juite clear heie) ages before, yet entirely li^t long, long 
 l)efbre he wrote; but we tind t^iat tile knowledge of this 
 same idea existed in the early Church, and we knoW from 
 experience, that among readers of early ('hristrnn writers, 
 it has never been lost. This \ of course was an iiisuperable 
 obstacle across the road toward l>elief in the supernatural 
 mission of Swedenborg. . ' ' : v 
 
 The KteY of- (;ouRESPONi)KNrEs. 
 
 . If we find differences between these men (viz.: Philo, 
 Barnabas, Clement, Origen and Swedenborg) in their in- 
 terpretation of any passage, whose version are we to take? 
 Can we use bur own judgment? Certainly we lan, if we sit 
 in judgment upon their conclusion.s. But if we believe any 
 one of them , to have been infallibly guided by (iod, we must 
 pocket our private judcJiMhl. For myself, believing that 
 all men who write th/tpth, are (in a certain sense) in- 
 spired while writin^truih, and also believing that* these 
 five men, were Jat^s^sed only of this kind of inspiration, 1 
 approach thei/ conclusions with a perfectly free judgment, 
 prepared to examine their writings, taking what 'commends 
 
 "itself to me, and leaving the rest. - v. 
 
 Let us now tUrn again to^Biilo for a few exampl(^ of his 
 interpretation. Philo says oiiJhe eighth verse of the second 
 chapter of Genesis, " The woj^tt^^adtse, taken literally, has 
 hb need Of any particular explanation, for it means a place 
 
 '■»'*' 'X'*, 
 
 ^w,,^/- 
 
 7-..: 
 
 
lfi^-^j,*^fprV-f3>^A<£i^[*m:'^P^'P ^"Sf 
 
 
 
 14 
 
 SWEDENnOKO ON THE HPFRITUAL 
 
 • I 
 ■ i 
 
 H'. 
 
 \ 
 
 tliickly crowded with trtjes of ovory kind ; hut Hyiiiholically 
 tukou it iiioHns wisdom and knowledge, hoth divine 
 and human, and the proper qomprehenHion of all the oausoK 
 of things, and since it was not possihie for man to iM^ioId 
 nature herself, nor properly to praise the Creator of the 
 universe without wisdom, therefore the Cn»/itor planted 
 an outline of it in the rational soul of the first and prin 
 cipal guide of man, namely, the niiw/, as He is said to have* 
 planted trees in the garden "(" Questions and SolutionR," 
 No. 6). On this account he assigned a most ftuitahlr phicr 
 for Parfklise, called Eden, an emblem of the soul which sees 
 right things, Oind rejoices in them ("About the planting of 
 Noah," scfc. 9). " And the statement is, that the Paradise 
 was in the east, for folly is. a thing of darkness arid setting, 
 and which brings in the night, but wisdom is a most 
 l)rilliant thing, radiant all around, and in the truest sense 
 of the word rising" (Sec. 10 of the sanie). "By the tree 
 of life is irkdicated the best of all tlrtues of man, pii^ty " 
 (" Questions and Solutions," No. 10): " What is meant 
 under this figure (the tree of ^le knowledge of good and 
 evil) is prudence, which is the comprehension of science 
 by wliich all things are known, and distinguished one from 
 the other." By comparing all this with " Arcana Cu^lestia " 
 on the same texts, and making allowance for the fact that 
 Philo has beeii translated from the Greek, and Swedenborg 
 from the Latin, and, therefore, that the virtues and vices 
 may not appear under exactly the same names, it will be 
 found that in the main they agree. 
 
 Let us again turn to Philp. " ' God is in the heaven 
 above and in the earth beneath.' Jjet no One suppose that 
 God is here spoken of according to His essence, for the 
 living God containis everything ; but what is meant is that 
 His power, according to which He made, and arranged, and 
 
 thi 
 
 of 
 
 *A 
 
 th< 
 
 I Ja 
 
 Sh 
 
 is 
 
 des 
 
 ~ fro 
 
 r tel 
 
 hill 
 
 ani 
 
 tak 
 
 Ktn 
 
 bol 
 
 ord 
 
 niai 
 
 :«xc 
 
 alw 
 
 the 
 
 «( 
 
 ing 
 and 
 the 
 the 
 cres 
 -Scri 
 she 
 real 
 thej 
 Out^ 
 nati 
 the 
 
 established the universe, is° both in heaven and earth, and 
 
 
' Ills,,,;:,, 
 
 ., ■#. 
 
 .t^'J- 
 
 ^Vft."^ 'Uf fg f 
 
 **iS^^^«^>*|fs^'^p|g«^P^^*^^|f|p^Bjr^ 
 
 UAL 
 
 »ut Hyiiiholioally 
 0, hoth (liviiu- 
 if all tlio causes 
 man to In^ioM 
 Creator of tlio 
 L-roator planted 
 I first an<l prin 
 e is said to liav(^ 
 and SolutioiiR, " 
 it ftuitahlc placci 
 I Soul which sees 
 the planting of 
 it the Paradise 
 less and setting, 
 Join is a most 
 tlie truest sense 
 "By the tree 
 of man, pii^ty " 
 What is meant 
 Ige of good and 
 ision of science 
 jished one from 
 rcana Cu»lestia '' 
 >r the fact that 
 md Swedenborg 
 rtues and vices 
 ames, it will be 
 
 3 in the heaven 
 ne suppose that 
 essence, for the 
 is meant is that 
 d arranged, and 
 
 SKNHK OF HOLY HCIUITUKE. 
 
 15 
 
 this, to speak correctly, is gooiinesK " (On "The Migration 
 of Abraham," ch. xxxii.). "And Mnses spmks " thus, 
 f 'And they gave to Jacob the foreign go<ls which Nyere in 
 '' their hands, and the earrings which w«!re in tluir ears, and 
 Jacob liid them under the turpentine tree which wuh in 
 Shechem.' These were the gotls of the wicked, but Jacob 
 is not said to have taken them, but to have hid and 
 destroyed them, fov the virtuous man will take nothing 
 from wickedness for his own i>dvantage, just as Abraham 
 tells the King of Sodom, when he was proposing to give, 
 him things of irrational nature in exchange for rational 
 animals, namely, horses in exchang<i for men, tluit he wouhl 
 take nothing that l)elonged to him, but that Ik? would 
 stretch out 'the action of his soul,' which, speaking sym- 
 bolically, he calls 'his hand,' to the most high Uod,'^ ' in 
 order that the king might never say he made the discerning 
 man' (the man of perception), namely, Abraham, rich, 
 exchanging poverty for wealthy virtue." The passions are 
 always concealed and guarded in Hhechem (" Allegories of 
 the Sacred liaws," ch. yiii.). ^^ 
 
 " Each individual .then among us is the son of life, accord- 
 ihg to the outward sense, «which is called Meshech, honoring 
 and admiring (Deut. xxi. 15) the foster-mother and nurse of 
 the mortal race, namely, the outward sense, whom also, when 
 the earthly mind, by name Adam, saw after it had been 
 created^ he named her life, his own death ; for, says th0* 
 -Scripture, 'Adam called his wife'? name Eve (^wy), because ' 
 •she was the mother of all living, 'JBfet is- to say, oithose in 
 real truth, dead as to the life^^^^he natural "mfetr; but 
 they who really live have wisdom for ^iheir mother, and the 
 outward senses for their slave, which has been given by 
 nature for the purpose of ministering to knowledge ; aiid 
 the name of the man who was bom of n^ wh om we h ave 
 
 
 »x 
 
 ''^S^ 
 
 and earth, and 
 
^'-^^Sj^ 
 
 Sj^o^Fn^t^'sfSft's?" 
 
 16 
 
 HWEDKNHOHCJ ON THE HVlHirVM. 
 
 ■< 
 
 7 
 
 ^ 
 
 recognized by ,i kiss, Ih, cuIU Dnumsvm, wind, .wimo beinir 
 intorpr«t<-(l uwnm n\w hUnnl of a Hnrk,' l,y this fi^uro, oiill 
 inff tho body a nac^k, with gn-at |xmoi' and f^^Iioity ; and by 
 blood. \w nimnH th.. lif.. '• (<>„ M Who is tho Ifri, „f |)ivi„e 
 Things," di. xi.). -(;<„! has in.plant.'d in th,. n.ind a power 
 ot conipreherulinK that wo, Id whi(,h i.s app.eoiablo only by 
 the intelloca, by its own power, I.Ht tht, inviHiblo world by 
 inmnK of the external Hen-ses. And if any nu.n be able in 
 all his parts to live kX^kI ratlier than to hin.s(.|f, h,okinK 
 by means of the ex term^J^ senses into those things which are' 
 their proper objijc^for the sakA of Jindin;; ouf tho truth • 
 and through the n.ediuih of the soid, investigating inVpljilo 
 sophicai spirit tjie proper objects of intelligence, and those 
 things which have a real existence, and by means of the 
 voice smging hyn.ns in praise of the >6ild and its Creator 
 he will have a happy life ((>,» '« Who is Htur of Divine 
 Things," chxxii.). 
 
 " Oiner is the tenth part of three measures" (Ex. xvi 
 30) "In mert there are three measures: the outward senses' 
 and spAjch/and mind. The out ward sense Ueing the meas-'t 
 > ui^of -tlw objects of .the out^^ard s^.se; speech being the 
 measure of nouns, ierbs, and whatever- is uttered ; and the 
 mind being the measure of those things which can be per- 
 ceived by the intellect. We must, therefore, offer lirst-fruits 
 'Of each, of these three measures as a saci-ed tentji " (On 
 
 '< Seeking Instruction," eh. xviii.), 
 , ^^ I will only give one more quotation fr..m Philo; I would 
 It were possilJe to give an idea of the subject without so 
 many lengthy qu^Utions, but it would \,e impossible. "Now 
 at the beginning of- our (existence, our soiil dwelt anion^r the^' 
 ^ssions alone, and had as its foster-brethren, griefs, plins, 
 fea^^, desires, and pleasures, whicli reach us through the 
 medium of tlie outer senses, befc^r-e reason was as yet able to 
 
icli luiiDP beinp: 
 tliiH n^iiro, cftll 
 <'Ii<!ity; and hy 
 Uvit of |)ivine 
 I' initid n power 
 i!('ial)I«« only hy 
 isil)Io world by 
 niiin l)f> nblo in 
 liniHcIf, looking 
 'in>;s which are 
 n\f tho truth . 
 ting in»5>pbilo 
 nee, and those 
 ' nuians of the 
 id its Creator, 
 tfeir of Divine , 
 
 res"(Ex. xvi. 
 utward senses, 
 *ing the niea8-| 
 Jech being the 
 en'd; and the 
 h can be per- 
 9er lirst-fruits 
 I tentjiv (On 
 
 In'Io; I would 
 ct without so 
 isible. *,<Now 
 ^It among the^ 
 griefs, pains, 
 through the 
 ts yet able to 
 
 ' 1 ^?^ Wr'^'-i^jp'^sis'' 
 
 HKNHK OK inn.v wmirruliK, 
 
 17 
 
 M)€i gopd and evil, and to dJAtinguish aotMirately the pninta 
 in which thew things diflor, the one from the other, l»ut it 
 was. still wavering and hesitating, and as it were closing 
 its eyes in profound sleep; l)ut as tin* time advances, when 
 advancing out of the age of infancy, we are on the p(Mnt of 
 l»ecoming young men, then, without delay, the double trunk' 
 of Virtue and wickedness springH up within us out of one 
 i root, and we attain to the comprehension of them both ; but 
 still we choose one of the two, those who are well disposed 
 dioosing virtue, and those of the contrary character cboos 
 ing wickedness. These things now, being previously skett'hed 
 <»ut in this manner, we must then be aware that ICgypt is 
 the sjiJftlH)! of the passions'" (external man) ••and the land 
 of Canaan (here) the emblem of wickedness, . . 
 for man at his earliest birth had the Kgyptian passions " 
 /(perceptions of 'sense) ''to dwell among,ybeing deeply rooted 
 ';jn mere plejisures and pains," etc., et«^ ("On S<»eking In- 
 struction," ch. XV.). Of course, to show that Swedonborg 
 ■ and Philo are both alike in the main wards of their keys of 
 •correspondences it would be necessary to «juote the whole 
 "Voluminous works of Philo, but I have now mven enoujrh 
 » for the inquiring mind to see the similarity. One thing 
 niay be said, Philo is Hwedenborg's superior in ability (or 
 willingness) to give the substance of what he has to say in 
 few words, in striking contrast to Swedenborg's lengthy 
 reiterations of the same things throughout huge volumes. 
 
 '1 
 
 Three Allegorkjal Wuiteus ok the PuiMrriyB 
 Church— Barnabas, Clement of Alexandria, 
 
 AND Orioen. 
 
 I shall simply, as far as Barnabas is concerned, give a 
 few quotations, as samples of hi^ mode of treating Holy 
 
 -j^Scripture. We have seen his views in the matter of Scrip- 
 
18 
 
 SWKDRNIIOmJ ON TIIK HPriUTUAL 
 
 M 
 
 M^ 
 
 t 
 
 •ir^ 
 
 '"if.,. 
 
 :'u. 
 
 i: 
 
 V -.1 
 
 turn int<irpr..tatioii ; it only wnminH to«Xfiniln« in a pMnng^r 
 or tw«) how \w u«0M hiH key. '• ' Neither nhalt them oat^ h,W' 
 iMoH«H, 'the eiiKlo, nor the hawk, nor the kite, fxof'W 
 niven." Tho.i Hhult not join thynelf, he nieanH, to nmh men 
 iM know not how to prmMire fwHl for thtMUHelvfii by hilior 
 and «weat, but Kei/,e upon that of others in their iniquity ; 
 and, althouKh wearing an liMjwjot of Hitnplicity, are on IIh»' 
 watch to phinder otherH in their ini<|uity. Ho thewe birdH, 
 whih, they iit idle, iiujuire how they may devour the fleith 
 of others, proving thems^veH pestH to all in their wicked 
 •"'«H'V(Kp. of HarmK,, ch. x.). " M«8e« then inHued 
 three doctrines confterning nieatH, with a gpiritual signiH 
 eance, but they received them according to fleshly deni re 
 as if they were spoken of literal meats. David, however' 
 comprehends the knowledge of the three doctrines, and' 
 Bpeaks in like manner : ' Bles.sed is tiie man who hath not 
 walked in the counsel of the ungmfly,' even as the fishes 
 referro/lto (the lamprey, polypus ,pul c uAfiaL ). >vhich go 
 in darkness to the dept|j|^,f the Hea, ^inffljBWtstood.L^ 
 the way of sinijers,' even as they go mttg/flmL ; ' aiSf 
 hath not sat in the seat of the scorners,' even as those birds 
 ^^leh lie in wait for prey » (Kp. Barnabas, ch. x.). Speak- 
 " - 2^e command to eat animals which chew the'^cud, as 
 * ^^ >psa|s: "What, then, does it, mean 1 Thftt , 
 }oin^umilveB to those who fear the Lord, who 
 Wfi^miy'^ thlpbTfimandnient in their hearts, who utter 
 t^e^3uc%ments of the Lord, and obey them, and who know 
 that meditation is a work of gladness, and who ruminate 
 upon the word of the Lord " (Barnab/is Ep., ch. x.). 
 
 We may now turn and examine the style of Clement 
 of Alexandria. He is largely employed in trying to prove 
 that Greek mythology, in its "inner" meaning, taught 
 many of those truths which we have in the "inner'' 
 
 S- 
 
JAl 
 
 •no in li pM 
 I thou oiit^ 
 » kiU\ muf 
 
 IIH, to NUrll IIMMI 
 
 tlioir iniquity ; 
 ity, iiro on ||h«' 
 So tItuHo hirdH, 
 nour th« fl(>Nli 
 » tlioir wicked 
 « then iNMued 
 piritual signiH 
 
 H«'8hly deHire, 
 avid, however, 
 doctiinoa, and 
 
 who hath not 
 I (is the HshoH 
 
 HEN8E or HOLY RrRrPTITRE, 
 
 S«!Hpture. !(«, «,m'm niuih further 
 »recieni.orK. Hw.>ili,nlN,r« telln um the " law .,f c.orn'Hp.n. 
 'I dfij^*«M» " found itH way into (Jreeoe, and there <U^Kenonit#iI 
 I into fahle, "an we may nee in the earlient writ^M-M of tln^ 
 ' country" (Hee paHsu^e ipioted from "TrJie Chrintian liM 
 I gion," /ibove). Clement ^oeH to «reat painn in exantlhinf 
 
 ie- 
 
 I many of the (J reek writerw, ami trieM to Kh'un the innei 
 I meanings of the fahle* ; he is thuR oceupi.id in the greater 
 part of his great work, the •'Stromat^u" 
 
 Clement borrowH largely from IMnl(» ; fi,r instance, hd 
 repeats Philo's explanation of Ahrahum's change of jwune, 
 hut do<'H not notice Harah's change of name also, as Philo 
 does: "Abraham prosecuting the loft^ philosophy of aeriel 
 J phenomena, and the sublime philosophy of the niQvenients 
 iof the heavenly bodies, wjw called Abram, wliTch is inter- 
 preted 'sublime father.' Hut afterwards, on looking up 
 
 I which sd 4^ *'*''''^"' '^''*'"^ *'® '*"''*' ^''® """ '" ^^^'''•*' "*" «°'"^ 
 itstood ^ik* 'y *l*^"' '* K'""''''^ '"'gel, or in some way recogni/e<l (Jod to 
 be superior to the creation, and all the order iii it ; he receives 
 in addition the letter * Alpha,' the knowledge of the one 
 and only (;od, and is called 'Abraham,' having instead 
 iOf a natural philosopher l»ecome wise, and a lover of (Jod. 
 For it is interpreted, ' Elect father of sound.' For by 
 -sound is the ttttewd word: the mind is its father, and the 
 mind of the good nian is elect" (Clement, Alex., "Stromata," 
 Bk. v., eh. i.). Swedenborg, after telling us a piece of paper 
 was sent down from heaven to him, says the angels explained 
 the spiritual meaning of the Hebrew letters upon it : "They 
 explained their signification both separately and conjointly, 
 : telling me the letter H, which was added to the names of -^ 
 Abraham and Sarai, signified the Infinite and Eternal" 
 (" True Christian Religion," sec. 27*). 
 
 m 
 
 H^which I 
 nij^stood. 
 ^MR« ; ' * ai 
 
 an( 
 as those birds 
 I. X.). Speak- 
 •w the "^cud, as 
 ueani Thftt 
 ;he Lord, who 
 rts, who utter 
 nd who know 
 i^ho ruminate 
 h. X.), 
 
 3 of Clement 
 King to prove 
 ning, taught 
 
 r 
 
 inner 
 
 I'hilo and Clement, who both used the Greek (tXX.) 
 
 
 W' 
 
 ^ 
 
■|: 
 
 ■■' ('■ ■.■■ ■ 
 
 n} 
 
 Vii 
 
 SWEDENBORG ON THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 version of the Old Testament, speak of the added letter as 
 " Alpha," we find it H (I suppose for English readers) in 
 "true Christian Religion." 
 
 By all three, Philo, Clement and Swedenborg, it is made 
 to mean God, or the knowledge of God,- the Infinite and 
 Eternal. We will now take a quotation from Clement, in 
 which he is speaking of Baptism, andsee how he treats it 
 "Wherefore, thus saith the Lord, every alien son is 
 _ uncircumcised in heart and flesh (that is unclean in body 
 and soul), there shall not enter one of the strangers into 
 the midst of the house of Israel but the Levites (Ex. xliv. 
 9, 1 0). He calls those who wpuld not believe, but disbelieve, 
 strangers. Only those who live purely are the priests of 
 God. Wherefore, of all the circumcised tribes, those 
 anointed to be high priests, and kings, and prophets, were 
 reckoned holy. Whence He commands them not to toucli 
 dead bodies or approach the dead, not that the bodi/ wns 
 polluted, Hutlihatsinand disobedience were incarnate and 
 embodied and dead, and therefore abominable. It was only, 
 then, Wlien a father or mother, a son or daughter died, that 
 the pries^^s aUowea to enter, because these were related 
 -"Only by flesii and seed, to whom the priest was indebted for 
 the immediate cause of his entrance into life. . . . ' Naked 
 came I but of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return ^^ 
 there' says Job ; not naked of possessions, for tli^rtrwere a 
 trivial and common thing ; but as a just man, he departs 
 naked of evil and sin, an^ of the unsightly shape of thcS 
 who lead bad lives. For this was what was said : « Unl^s 
 ye be con^rted and become as children,' pure in flesh and 
 holy i^ soul, by abstinence from evil deeds, showing that 
 He >fould have us to be such as also He generated us^ifron. 
 our mother- the water (baptism). For the intent of one 
 generation (baptism) succeeding anbther (birth), is to 
 
 i 
 
 •I 
 
 f 
 
 t 
 
 k Th 
 

 TUAL 
 
 e added letter as 
 glish readers) in 
 
 nborg, it is made 
 the Infinite and 
 from Clement, in 
 low he treats it; 
 ny alien son is 
 
 unclean in body 
 e strangers into 
 evites (Ex. xliv. 
 e^ but disbelie^•l', 
 fe the priests of 
 d tribesj thosf 
 i prophets, weiv 
 em not to toucli 
 t the body was 
 e incarnate and 
 le. It was only, 
 ghter died, that 
 se were related 
 ms indebted for 
 3. . . . 'Naked ' 
 i shall I return 
 for tli^rtrwere a 
 lan, he departs 
 
 shape of thdjj^ 
 isaid: 'Unless > 
 ire in flesh and 
 .showing that 
 erated us ifroni 
 
 intent of one 
 (birth), is to 
 
 8ENHE OP HOLY SGRIPTURE. 
 
 21 
 
 immortalize by progress. * But the lamp of the wicked 
 shall be put out.' That purity of body and .soul which the 
 wise roan partakes of, the wise Moses indicated by employ- 
 ing repetition in describing the incorruptibility of lM>dy and 
 soul in the person of Reliecca thus : 'Now the virgin was 
 fair, and man had not known her.' Antl Rebecca, inter- 
 preted, means 'Glory of God,' and the^(ilory of God' is 
 immortality. This is in reality righteousness, not to desire 
 other things; but to be entirely the consecrated temple of 
 the Lord. Righteousness is peace of life and well-con- 
 ditioned state, to which the Lord dismissed her when he 
 said, ' Depapft^in peUce/ ^^ . . But; we nmst pass fr6m ' 
 physics to ethics, which^ all-e clearer. . . . The Saviour 
 r. Himself tliQp plainly initiates us into mysteries, according 
 no the words of the tragedy (Euripides, Bacclue): 
 
 " ' Seeing those who see, He also gives the orgies. ' ^ 
 ^ Rut if you ask : 
 
 f "' Those orgies, wliat is theirnatUre?' 
 
 Y6u will hear again : • 
 
 I '*. * ^'/» forbidden to mortals uninitiated into the Bacchic 
 
 rites to Icnow,' ' / 
 
 .-'".-,£. i' ■■■ ■ ■.■■ 
 
 -■ • ' . -■ 
 
 But if any one will inquire curiously what tluy are, let him 
 ri hear : 
 
 ; •• 'It is not lawfnl for thee to hear, hut they are worth the knowiuff 
 .. The rites of the Gml detest him who practidcs impiety. ' 
 
 Now, God is without beginning, is the perfect, begin- 
 ning of the universe, and the producer of the begimiL'. 
 As then He is Being, He is the First Principle of fL 
 
 ,4 
 
 
.ti-'V^^^-^^f W'ttpl '^ 
 
 ^^^mm^m^mif 
 
 :ifo-^! ^■■ 
 
 m-rK 
 
 ■ , -tn 
 
 lit 
 
 -M!i 
 
 -*^- 
 
 
 22 
 
 SWEDENBORG ON THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 / 
 
 departn«3uMf^l|^ion; a. h4 is Good, of morals ; as He is 
 
 Mmd, He^ th. First PrincipFe of reason and Judgm^ 
 
 Whence He is abne the .Teacher, who is the only Son of 
 
 .Most High F^uhe, the Instructor of .nen" (CW^ 
 
 of Alexandria, " Stromata," Bk. V., ch.- xxv ) 
 
 t^^^Z '^^t''"' ''-"''*' Purification ; second, Regenen 
 tion ; third. Initiation into the knowledge of God '-^ 
 
 ^Swedenborg's order is in « True Christian Reli^' 
 
 II. ;*^^hat the washing which is called Baptism signifies 
 
 n-: td^hf "'' ^^^^'^^^H-t- ^ro,n'viland2;: 
 ness, and thus regeneration./ 
 
 the Chr,st,an Churc ,,. and at the same time insertion amon,. 
 Chnstians m the spiritual world. . 
 
 ' v. "That the second use of Baptism is that the Christian 
 
 S "'"'/"''»-'«'«« *e Lord Je^s Chris r 
 
 Redeemer and Sj/viour, and may follow Him » 
 -■ _ Here we Imv^-first, Purification, and thence Reiener-i 
 
 knt'lT"'^ rf^'^' ■"'" """'' AdmissionllTo «; 
 
 very little difftrencein the order. - 
 
 We „,»y n^w quote a short sentence fron. Clement t„ 
 
 in lit jj *''^*,*" S-" enjoyment to those who believe . 
 Srd'.^ T'"T '"*■**«"«« when we say that • 
 n * / blood ,s figuratively repri^nted as milk For 
 «yt not ^gurafvely reprfesented as wine ? 'Who washes 
 
 |rt:s^^-™"--'^:»:;»^His™^^ 
 
 L * .« 1 , ■ • • ^"" *^»a<^ the blood is the Word 
 
 Atesf^ed by the bl«,d of Abel, the righteom, interc^":;!; • 
 
 '-lfl 
 
 ~t^ 
 
 
 /■■-.■ 
 
TUAL 
 
 / 
 
 / 
 
 SBKSE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE* 
 
 23 
 
 morals; as He is 
 n and judgment, 
 the only Son of 
 ' men" (Clement 
 v.). 
 
 3cond, Regenei-} 
 3f God. 
 stian Reli 
 
 Iwith Ood. For the blood had never^uttered a .voice, luul it 
 
 ■Hi' 
 
 iJaptism signifies 
 ?u evil arid foul - 
 
 itroduction into 
 insertion anion'' 
 
 it the Christian 
 s'us Christ the 
 
 ence Regenenii- 
 ssion into the 
 rist. There is 
 
 tn Clehient, to 
 )f meats, etc. ; 
 / described, as 
 ►od, and milk, 
 se who belie v«> • 
 1 we say that 
 IS milk.' For 
 Who washes" 
 3 in the blood 
 is the Word, 
 s, ihtercedin-' ' 
 
 not been regarded as the Word, for the rigliteous man of 
 [old (Abel) is a type of the new righteous n»an(ClMi8t); and 
 ,the blood, which of old interceded, Intercedes in place of the 
 .new blood. The blood, that is, the Word^ cries to (iod," 
 "'etc;, etc. (Clement, Alex., "The Instructor," Bk. I., ch. vi.). 
 According to Swedenborg, flesh and blood signify spiritual 
 good and truth (Sees. 705, 709), blood signifies the divine 
 truth of the Lord, which is also divine truth of the Word, 
 (Sees. 706, 730). '"When men think of the Lord's blood, 
 .- the angels perceive the divinie truth of .the Word" (Sec. 
 "706). The quotations are from "The Tirue Christian Ke- 
 ' ligion." fluking allowance for mere differences of words, 
 Swedenborg and Clement use the same | key. By-the-by, 
 'the point made* by Clement about the bloJDdf of Abel utter- 
 ing a voice, and so proving itself the type ojf '^ The Word," is 
 a point I have not come across yet in SWcsdeiiborg. 
 ,»| It»is about time we now turned to Origeri. From his 
 voluminous writings we will only tal/^ a ffew passagjes, 
 merely to illustrate our subject, and to show t^re is vlry 
 
 little really " new " under heaven. ^"^~— -~~-l^ 
 
 " The outer darkness is^ in my judgment, to be- under- 
 stood not so much of some dark atmosphere without aiyy 
 light, as of those persons who, being plunged in the dark- 
 ness of profound ignorance, have been pla,ced beyond the 
 reach of the light of the understanding ; , . . . .^: tlTe 
 wicked also who, in this life, have loved the darkness of 
 error, and the nighl^ of ignorance, may be clothed wi^th 
 I som'e dark bodies after the resurrection, that the very mist 
 ,| of ignorance "which had, in this life, taken possession of 
 -§ their minds within, maty appear in the future as the ex-- 
 J ternal covering of the body " (Origen, " De Principiis," 
 f Bk. I., ch. X.). "Certain persons, then refusing the labor 
 
 k 
 
 1 
 
\ i 
 
 4 ' 
 
 24 
 
 8WEDi:NB0RG ON THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 of thinking, and adopting a superficial view of the letter of 
 the law, and yielding rather^ in some measure, to the^ in- 
 dulgence of their own desires and lusts, being disciples of 
 the letter alone, are of opinion that the fulfilment of the 
 promises of the future are to be looked for in boilily pleas- 
 ures and luxury. ;;apd, therefore, they especially desire to 
 have again, after the resurrection, such bodily structures as 
 maynerver be without the power of eating and drinking, 
 and performing all the functions <ii flesh and blood, not 
 following the opinions of the Apostle Paul regarding the 
 resurrection of a spiritual body; . ... those, there- 
 fore, who receive the I'epresentations of Scripture, according 
 to the understanding of the apostles, entertain the hope 
 that the saints wil] eat indeed ; but that it will be the bread 
 of life, which will nourish the soul with the food of truth 
 and wisdom, and enlighten the nund, and cause it to drink 
 from the cup of wisdom. ; . . . . By this food of wis- 
 dom, the understanding being nourished to an entire and 
 perfect condition like that in which man was made at the 
 begiiming, he is restored to the image and likeness of God • 
 so thaMthough an individual may flepart from this lifj 
 less perfebtly instructed, but has done works approved of 
 he will be cabbie of receiving instruction in Jerusalem, the 
 . City of Saints ; i.e., he will be educated and m/ulded, and 
 made a living stone, a stone elect and precious, because he 
 has undergone with firm'ness and constancy the struggles of 
 life and trials of piety, and will there come to a truer and 
 dearer knowledge. . . . , And they also are to be 
 understood as princes and rulers, who both govern them of 
 lower rank, and instruct them, and teach them, and train 
 them to divine things. .... If any one, indeed, pure 
 m heart, and holy in mind, and more practised in percep- 
 tion, he will, by making more rapid progress, quickly 
 
SlNSi or HOLY 8CBIPTURE. 
 
 26 
 
 ^, 
 
 ascend, ancj/ reach the kingdom of heaven through those 
 mansions, so to speak, in various places, which the Greeks 
 callTspheres, i.e., gldbes, but which Holy Scripture has called 
 heavens, in which each will clearly see what is done there, 
 and, in the second place, will discover the reason why 
 things are done ; and he will pass through all gradations. 
 
 ;. . . When, then, the saints have reached the eele^ial 
 abode, they will clearly see the nature of the stars. . . . 
 And in all things this food is to be understood as the con- 
 templation and understanding of God, , . . and this, 
 it is proper, should - be observe^l by every one of those who 
 are beginning to see God, i.e., to understand Him through 
 purity of heart" (Origen, " De Principiis," Bk. II., chs. 
 
 u.-vu.). 
 
 It would be impossible to give the whole of Origen on thiS/ 
 matter; he did the best he could from the astrononiieal 
 aspect, with the knowledge possessed about it in M«^ay. 
 Had knowledge of astronomy advanced in his day to the 
 point it had in Swedenborg's time, he miglij/nave done 
 better. Two new planets have been discov^d during the 
 last hundred yeare, of which Swederibor^never speaks, so 
 we may have further revelation a^riegards them now 
 modern science has discovered thei 
 
 Swedenborg tells us Saturn is Jfehe outermost planet of the 
 solar system ; modern science lias discovered two beyond, 
 Herschel and Neptune ; it ;will now be iii order for some one 
 to converse with spirits from these worlds. 
 
 * We have now completed our examination of ancient 
 ' writers, iar it would be quite beyond our space to quote 
 from tjhe countless numbers of records of supernatural and 
 spiritiial visions of trhe first few centuries. We see in 
 Swedelnborg's works an elaborate, formulated system (quitte 
 different in style from that of Holy Scripture itself), ai>d 
 
 1- 
 
 ./• 
 
26 
 
 SWEDENBOHa ON THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 l> ■;!■ 
 
 when we first read it, our mind reverted (as each idea was 
 ' unfolded) to some andient writer who had propounded the 
 same thing. 'By our quotations from Philo, Barnabas, 
 Clement, and Origeft^ we- by no means intend it to be infer- 
 red that the conceptions of these men agree in .every par- 
 ticular with those of Swedenborg, but that there is so great' \ 
 ,• a aimilarity between them and Swedenborg, especially in 
 leading ideas, that to us, Swedenborg seems to have formu- 
 ~ 7 la*ed into a vast and complicated system, badlced and sup- 
 ported (if not by miracles) by what he calls "memorable 
 relations,'^ many of the ideas found floating about, just be- 
 fore, during, and for some time after, the birth of our Lord ; -^ 
 . Alexandria being the home of these interesting systems. 
 
 Other Uses OF* the; Allegorical MpHOD. 
 
 ; We may all thank Ood that the great cardinal truths of 
 -Holy Scripture are easily grasped by the man of spirj 
 perceptions, and a mind actually guided in daily life by 
 y faith, hope, and charity, is, in true spiritual wisdom, far in 
 advance of the mind filled- to the brim with allegorical 
 ^meanings, the grasping of which is, after all, a matter of 
 mental acuteness to a great extent; and it by no tneans 
 follows that the man mentally acute enough to grasp a system 
 of allegorical interpretation i& a good man. After wading 
 V through the huge allegorical systems of ancient: Judaism, of 
 
 > Aristobulus (from whom Phil>largely borrows, without 
 
 ; \ .giving him any creflit), of Philo, Barnabas, Cleiftent, and 
 Origen, then tracing the same thing in Hilary, Ambrose, 
 ^ and Augustine, -we come at last to the whole thing run riot, 
 in the huge dictionary of the spiritual sense, by Eucherius! 
 With this book before him, a man may read the letter of 
 
 Ills Bible and get three or four Bibles but of it 
 
 ^ Early Christians did not feel compelled to fgrnanTiJil^b 
 
 "the key 6f.corr*pondences," used by Clement or Origen, 
 
 ^ 
 
 v> 
 
 
8EN3B OF HOLY SCRJITURE. 
 
 27 
 
 Jl 
 
 undevelQped ; (if t\^» system l)e not kept within very strict 
 hounds, it always shows a fatal tendency to run to seed.) It 
 is, .indeed, a progressive system. If .the so called new 
 Ghurch is to be built up on the allegorical systenj, the old 
 ecclesiastical system of the Middle Ages was built up by the 
 same method also. / \ 
 
 Let us see how this wtw done, by a quotation frohV 
 Farrar's "Bampton Lectures " (1885). 
 
 "The allegorical methods," he says, "tilteiwl down, doWn ' 
 to the schoolmen ^(t.«.^ theologians of the Middle Ages), 
 through the Alexandrians and the Fathers, and were, un- 
 fortunately, perpetuated by the authority of Jerome and 
 Augustine. Origen was, as we have seen, the earliest to 
 develop the conception that the Scripture was written with 
 a triple meaning: the Latin Fathers had separated his 
 * spiritual sense ' into allegoric and anagogic. A favorite 
 illustration of this fourfold sense was the word 'Jerusalem,' 
 wh|ch might stand for a city, for a faithful soul, for the 
 Church militant, or for the Church triumphant. Another 
 was "the word .' water,' which literally means an element; 
 tropologically, may stand for sorrow, or wisdom, or heresies, 
 or prosperity ; allegorically, may refer to baptism, nations, 
 or grace ; anagogically, to eternal happiness. ' Light,' again, 
 was another illustrative word. Thomas Aquinas tells us 
 that 'Let there be light ' may mean, historically, an act of 
 creation; allegorically, 'let Christ be love;' anagogically, 
 'may we be led by Christ to glory ; * and tropologically, 
 'may we be mentally illumined by Christ.' . . . Hugh 
 of St. Cher, and othei^, compare these four meanings to the 
 four coverings of the tabernacle y the four colors of the veil 
 of the tabernacle, to the four, winds ; to the fourfold cheru- 
 bim, the four rivers of Paradise. . . . . Not content 
 even with a foiirfold sense, Bonaventura and others con- 
 tended for sevenfold, or even eightfold, senses. .^ . . . 
 
•■'v-^: -. 
 
 18 
 
 SWEDEN BORO ON THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 But the system, besides saving trouble of much study, was 
 advantageous to hierarchic usurpations" (Pages 294-296). 
 
 By reading the few following pages of this lecture of 
 Farrar's, it >^11 be seen how, with this system, the whole 
 fabric oi error was built up during the Middle Ages. Swe- 
 den borg's " True Christian Religion " was published in 1770, 
 A.D. In 1777, a book was published called "Samson's 
 Hair, an Eminent Representation of the Church of God." 
 " Some (says the writer) may oVyect that the hair of a man's 
 head is a mean thing to represent so great and glorious a 
 thing as the Church of Christ To which I answer, * Glory 
 over me, thou infidelity, thou first-born of the devil, if thou 
 canst.'" (Page 299.) 
 
 ;■,;-■;. .y ;,. :; A Note on •:,. /'; •..■■:' '^. ' .: 
 
 SWEDENBORGJANISM SINCE THE t)EATH OF ITS E*OUNDER. 
 
 Thte title of a book written by an evidently sincere advo- 
 cate for the supernaJJW and extraordinary mission of 
 Swedenborg, is " SwecRborg verified by th« progress of 
 the past hundred years." This book may be taken as an 
 outline of what is being said for the system by its modern 
 advocates. The writer dwells only upon the darkest spots 
 in the centuries from 325 A. D. (the year of the Council of 
 Nice) to the advent of Swedenborg, contrasting them With 
 the progress and enlightenment of the last hifhdred years, 
 which, of course, he portrays in the brightest colors. He 
 carefully notes the beginning of Negro slavery before the 
 bright era, but he does not mention that during thfese very 
 dark ages one of the^ most wonderful and beneficial social 
 reformations took place (gradually), which has ever hpeii 
 effected by religion.' ,It was during these very dark cen- 
 turiea the huge system of- Europ e an slavery was grd,dually 
 abolished by the influence of the spirit of Christianity. ^ 
 
8EN8E OF HQI.Y SCRIITURE. 
 
 19 
 
 He also forgets to mention that the two eggs from which 
 all our modern liberty and progress have been hatched, were 
 laid during these dark times— the Magna Chaita of Knglish 
 Political Liberty and the Habeas Corpus Act, tiio guarantee 
 of British Personal Liberty. Of course, having made up 
 his mind as to the mission'^of HwedenlMirg, he has a case to' 
 substantifite, so he (probably unconsciuuKly) avoids all truth 
 which woiild conflict with the tinal triumph of his a;:gun)ent. 
 The Book of Revelation8(xx, and xxl. ) presents a lively picture' 
 by means of grand symbols. The outlines are <]uite clear. 
 " An angel descends from heaven having the keys of the 
 abyss, anq a chain on his hand; he lays hold on Satan,' casts, 
 him into the abyss, locks and seals the mouth; a lengthy 
 period then ensues (called a thousand years), during which 
 Christ ahd His saints reign ; then the nations will make a 
 final attack on the kingdom of righteousness, when they 
 will be defeated, after which the New Jerusalem will 
 descend." The state of the world to-day does not seem to 
 warrant us in supposing that the New Jerusalem has de- 
 scended, but many devout Christians 'imagin|; the period 
 generally called the Millennium to have commenced. How- 
 ever this may be, the duty of every Christian is clear, viz., 
 to make this world a better, happier and purer place by the 
 grace of God. / 
 
 Another point he touches upon is marriage. Under this 
 head he attacks ordinary Christian ideas on the x subject as 
 represented in the Church of England Marriage Service, of 
 which he says : "The Church of England has a very coarse 
 tone in its service." Knowing how that service begins with 
 a plainly worded warning against a carnal or coarse estimate 
 of marriage, we were at first astonished at the charge, but 
 remembering how Swedenborg's " Conjugial Love " has been 
 accused of the same thing, w e saw at once it was simply the 
 " So are you *' kind of argument. Considering that the fact 
 
 \. 
 
"^•S^ps^^^'S^*'! 
 
 4'. 
 
 » 
 
 L -f .'^. 
 
 't.:' 
 
 SWEDBNHOWi ON TIIK HPIRlTU4rL; 
 
 that what Swodonlwrg bo often dwellfct upon, namely, that 
 fiarriaKo Ih th« sy^nlwl of the union Iwtweon Chri8t and the 
 
 )ul, and Hi8 spouso tlio Church, is bo clearly stated in that 
 
 ilervice, no one knowing Hwedonborg's workH could honestly 
 
 imagine Hwedenborg himself writing in this mannyr. The 
 
 Ifact is tliat the soOtarian spirit is getting the better of 
 
 'Swedenborg's followers, as the above charge clearly proves. 
 
 lOneof tiie uwftt «triking proofs of our Ix>rds divinity, is 
 the infinite superiority of Hu^. moral teaching, over the state 
 of the world at its best ;in His ^ay. The moral co<r^| our 
 Lord is unique in its grand and unconip«o"i>«>«g per^t^iouv 
 But in Swedenlwrg's " Conjugial , Love," we find the asser- 
 tion of such a code of niorals as wrts in vogue in" 1770 AD. 
 among well-disposed men, with a dash of what tlie world 
 esteems ho^or. His observations on the spiritual aspect of 
 marriage are some of them beautiful and excellent, but 
 when he begins to deal with practice, he is exceedingly 
 accommodating. X -: 
 
 For instance, he allows of concu^iage for the following 
 reasons, of which the man himself is to be the judge : 
 Having no natural affection towards the children, intem- 
 perance, a desire of/ divulging family secrets, of doing evil, 
 stealing, internal dissimilitude, advanced age on the part of 
 the wife ("Corijugilal Love," sees. 472, 473). With this 
 list to choose from/ a wealthy man woulcl never be at a loss; 
 so we are not at all surprised to find him telling us that in 
 conversation with kings in the spiritual world, he found out 
 concubinage was in some case excusable, (" Oonjugial Love," 
 sec. 475). Charles II. of England would be good authority 
 on sitch a subject ! ! 
 
 !! 
 
 SWEDENBORG ON THE PERSON OF OUR LORD. 
 
 
 — The re is only one more point in Sntfidenborg's works which 
 we ishall touch upon, and that is the idea of the^perspn of 
 
 N 
 
•/ 
 
 HESSE OK IIOI.Y'HtMlllTrUE. 
 
 81 
 
 18 
 
 
 our I^onl. VV»» approach thin holtHiiii «ul»j«ft, with all rovor- 
 ennt.'i, quit<; i-utisciouH of thi; many diMicultitis that HUirniinil 
 it. rtwi)U^iih(M^ v«ry rij^htly ohwivt^M, that tin* hiviim 
 Boiii}^ or KHNe, 'Vraiiiiot hi* (leHinilitMl in human laMjL^uii^o, 
 
 (h 
 
 iMi 
 
 th 
 
 rht, tor 1i 
 
 N 
 
 nine*' it transceiKiH ♦•vt^i 
 thou<^ht can comprehend nothin;^ hut what in created and 
 Uniti', and not what iH uuuiH'attHl and iiiliniti;, ((iiimfiiuuntly 
 it can form no conception of the Divini' Kssu." ("True 
 Jl»<Iigion," Hcc. lS)r Kext, when We turn tfj! the lasHt expo-" 
 sition oi Hwedonborj^H syntcm, viz.; •' Noble's Appeal," wc 
 find the sanu! acknowledgment ; i^wakinj^ of tlut Trinity he 
 Hays ; *' It must then be a Trinity of Kssential Principles - 
 of Constituent Klemeiits (so to speak for want of better 
 terms) forming toj^ether One Person" (p. ^554). We lind, 
 unfortunately, even after tin- above admission a great 
 amount of covert sarcasm in Swedenborg's works regarding 
 the use by the (Jhristian Church of the word "Mystery" as 
 applied to the Trinity. Here is a practical acknowledg- 
 ment that any attempt to explain the Divine lieing nmst 
 end in "mystery." The Western Church has used the woixl 
 "Persons," but all her l)est divines have said about the use 
 of this word just what Mr. Nolde says al)out the usfe of 
 ^he words " Constituent Elements •'„ and " Kssential Prin- 
 oipies," viz., that it is used " for want of a better term." We 
 now pass on to the consideration of the insuperable barrier 
 which prevents us acceptfng Swedenborg's (loctrine of the 
 Person of Christ. ^ ' 
 
 Swedenborg has cleared his ground for the statement of his 
 doctrine, by propounding Philo's doctrine as to the origin of 
 soul in man. According to 'Ph\ilo, man is the internal prin- 
 ciple, and woman is the external principle, the father then 
 is the exclusive origin of the soul of man, the mother con- 
 tributin g nothing but the "body," or tabernacle, of the soul 
 
 
"'^■RT^^y 
 
 j^J «»^ ^Jf ^-f^^—'Bl^^^^r— .^.-"ir.T. - .' 
 
 81 
 
 gWRDENBORO ON THF SPIRITITAL 
 
 .§■■■■ 
 
 (se« Philo. Vol. I., p. 92). Hwjklenlwrg applies this (iui^ 
 posed) universal law to the ii><SArnatioii of our Txjrd a« M- 
 |owi : " That thPHo three ealieiitiHlB soul, »»o(ly, and opera- 
 tion—did and do exist in the Ijord <»wl, the Saviour, is uni> 
 vernally acknowledged. That houI wan from Jehovah the 
 Father, can l»e denied only by antiChriHt ; for in the word 
 of both the/<)ld and Semv Testaments He is called the 8on 
 of Jehov^the Son of the Most High 0<>d 
 ten, therefore the divine of the Father answering Id th« 
 
 V soul in man, is his HrHt essential.* That the Son who was 
 born of the mother Mary is the body of that divine soul, in 
 consequence of its conception ; for nothing is provided in 
 the womb of the mother except a body, conceived and de- 
 rived from the soul ; this, therefore, is the second essential. 
 That operations constitute the third esKential, is a conse- 
 quence of their proceeding from the soul and body together, 
 for such things as proceed are of the same essence with 
 those who produce them " ("True Christian Religion," sec. 
 167). Fearing we may have misunderstood this passage, 
 we have compared it with other parts of Swedenborg's 
 works, and have turned to " Noble's Appeal," and we 6nd 
 
 . our first impression of its meaning the correct one. 
 
 Noble says: "Now be it observed that there is this 
 difference between the Lord Jesus Christ, while in the iKJBy 
 of flesh on earth, and all ordinary men ; that, whereak 
 they take their soul, or spiritual part, from a human father 
 as well as their body, or natural part, from a human 
 mother, and thus are finite human beings as to both ; Jesus 
 Christ having no father but the Divine Father, has hissoul, 
 or internal part, from the Divine essence, and as th« 
 Divine Essence i^ obviously incap^le of division ; the 
 Divine Essence itself, or the Father, was in fact His 
 
 — soul, or int e rnal part, while Hi s body, or e xt e rnal part, 
 
■'; > "n 
 
 HENHE OF MOI.Y MC'HirriTUE. 
 
 including th« nffoctionR, etc., of the nntural 
 
 H8 
 
 man, wiw all 
 
 that Ho took from IIih inothor" (" Appoal," p, 372). 
 
 Mr. NobU) luiH KotiG lM7on(l Swod^iborg liuro ; for H^wloii 
 berg has laid down the prinoiph? tliat mind, t<Mn|)er, dUpo^ 
 •ition, affection and lovo are Hoattnl and K<Mi»'rat«<l in tho hOuI, 
 and derived from the father ; th^y an* not generated in the 
 •mere tal>ernacle or bwly. in fact, Swedetiborg haH ho, low 
 Mt iMtimal« of tlie " IxKiy " that iie^ dislteHevoH in the 
 resurrection of tiio actual "botly" Hpirituali/e<l, and he 
 clearly, in many places, »*ayH that a "body" in incapable of 
 mental states and sensations, otlierwisi; than as acted 
 upon by the soul. '<■' . '^ '> 
 
 The true dootrifio of Swedenb«)rjf is, that the |p(lrHon of 
 our Lord is a humait body, animated by the Deity, in place 
 of a hunmn soul. I^earinj< in mind then that a " hutuan 
 body" is incapable of mental states, let Us examine this 
 theory in the lii;lit of the Sacred Word. 
 
 Mr. Noble says he is astonisl^ied that Christians us a 
 mass have not acceptc'd this theory; wo shall now see the 
 reason. why it was impossible that the (Jhurch should over 
 have done so. In the first place, a mere human body, 
 animated by Deity in place of a human soul, would not be 
 a man ,• it would bo a unique and glorious beini;,^ but not a 
 man. if our Lord Jesus Christ were not a real man, the 
 link between (lod -and nian in Christ is broken. A man 
 consists of a human body and soul united, as Swodenborg 
 has clearly shown elsewhere ; but in Christ?, (we are told) 
 we have the indivisible Divine FIssence in the place of a 
 human soul, seated in a body derived. from His mother. 
 The awful agony in the Garden of Gethsemane was a mental 
 agony, affecting the body indeed, but certainly not gener- 
 ated in it. 
 
 
 ".'*" 
 
^M^: 
 
 34 
 
 SWKDENBORO ON THE SHRITIFAL 
 
 doubt (if the letter of Scripture is to be relied upon), that 
 
 our Saviour experienced when upon earth mental states 
 
 which it would be aV>sui^ to say the Deity could experience, 
 
 and a mere human body is incapable of ; let us examine 
 
 but three passages of Holy VV^rit. ••Arid when Jesus had 
 
 thus said, He was troubled in spirit" (John xiii. 21). 
 
 "Now is My soql troubled, and what shall I say" (John 
 
 xii. 27). '^ When Jesus therefore saw hei' weepinj:^, and the 
 
 Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the 
 
 spirit, and was troubled;" '^* Jesus wept " (Jolm xi. 33-^.5). 
 
 It is, of course, impossible to explain these passages as 
 
 merely figurative, as we do tbos* which appear according to 
 
 the letter to speak the language of anthropomorphism, such 
 
 as the "arm," or the "eye," or the ••hand," or the "anger" of 
 
 God. Here we have the body of Jesus bearing evidence to 
 
 . intense, real msntal anguish, as when •■He sweat as it were 
 
 great tfrops of blood." ••He weeps.'" These passages 
 
 describe real mental conditions.- The Greek of. the above 
 
 passages expresses more than the English. "JN^ehenient 
 
 sorrow'* is generated in the soul; it was not bodily jpain 
 
 He experienced ; indeed how He could experience the latter 
 
 without a human soul is incomprehensible. 
 
 But again, the above .passages do not speak i)f our Lord's 
 body as , experiencing this agony, but the words ••spirit," 
 
 ' , sv/zar'), and "soul," (V^Af'^h are used. *• Spirit," or ••soul," 
 
 p ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ • . ■ 
 
 cannot refer to the body. Then to what do these words 
 refer, if our Lord had no human ••spirit," :30r.*'souil," but 
 was a human body, animated by Deity i It were impious 
 to imagine the Deity is meant ; and, therefore,'the Church of 
 God has always maintained that our Lord had a human 
 "body "and a human">o^il," or "spirit," and that in this 
 J)ody and soul dwelt the ivhole Pleroma (fulness) - of the 
 Godhead, bodily. The Church's doctrine is, of course, a 
 
 ^^^ifl^i^T'' 
 
•^KfiVA .i-e; 
 
 SENSE OK IrttJiLY S0Rll>TtTR1i;. 
 
 as 
 
 " mystery," and abovo mem buuitin ima<m .; but the doctrine 
 of SwedenlforR involves either a contradiction, or the a(»surd- 
 ity that the Deity fiattefed. His f ol lowers "drmy. the Intter, 
 therefore 4hoy are involved in t|»» t'onuei-. Thet\ the ''will" 
 is a "function, of the ftotil, himI we are distinctly told our 
 
 .Lord Gonsciously submits His human '* will " to His Divine 
 "will/* see Luke »xii. +2). Those two wilts wcie hx perfect 
 
 .accord, of course, tn Christ ; but a mere bocly has no power 
 "to will/' ^ , . 
 
 '% Mr Nol'le .has^ said in the Appendix to hiw work : '• A 
 very common way of attempting to throw odium on the 
 
 * doctrines of the New Church is,<^ivin!jj them the name, of 
 Sabellianism or some lon;j;-explode{l error, " and he contends 
 that in Section VII. of his *' Appeal." he has shown that he 
 ho.ldathe Father (Deity) did H(tt sufl'er, for the followers of 
 Praxeas, Noetus and Sabellius were called Patripassians, 
 because their doctrine made the Father, or(Jodhead, sufier. 
 Of course, all these men protested the same thing, viz., 
 that they did not mean to imply by their doctrine that the 
 Deity suffered, and so does Mr. Noble in ^section vii. ; but 
 neither in section vii. nor anywhere else do we find this 
 
 ■^ point in the system, viz., that the person of our Ijord con- 
 sisted of a human body, in which dwelt the Deity in place 
 
 ■ of a human soul, reconciled with the fact that in the Gospels 
 
 . We;jj,re told, that the ''.soul " of our Lord vrembled with 
 " vehement sorrow," 
 
 If we tf^ke Swedenborgs doctrine of our Lord's person, 
 the only possible explanation of it, when placed alongside 
 of these passages of Holy Scripture, which tell us the 
 "spirit," or "soul," of Christ "trembled with vehement 
 sorrow," is that that which stood in the place of a human 
 "spipit," or "soul," in Christ, viz., Deity, suffered. This is 
 Patripassianisra. After reading Tertullian's refutation of 
 
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 0^7 ■'-•■ • ^ ' ■ ■ '' ." " ' ■/■■ y-' ■ ■ 
 
 86/ SWEDENBORO ON THE SPIRITUAL 
 
 ' 7 ■■.'■.■'. ■ ■■.■■- - . ■..■•■■■■-,/ '•■; ■ ■ 
 Pritxeas, written about 254 A.I>., we are firmly convinced 
 that the doctrine he (Praxeas) propounded was identical 
 'ith that of Swedenborg as regarding, the Trinity. Thisi 
 loctrine was </ten acknowledged as something q|iitj^ "new" 
 n the Church; so the idea that the Church invj^nted the 
 /doctrine of The Trinity about 325 A.D., at or jibput the 
 time of the Council of Nice, mui^t be a mistake ; for nearly 
 a hundred years before a great Christian writer had made 
 an elaborate reply to the error of Swendborg /on its first 
 appearance. ' ! . 7 
 
 Mr: Npble has clearly told 'us "a human, body separate 
 from the soul would be a mass of dead m^ttter '* (p. 376)^, 
 and Swedenborg has told us that it was 6nlv the body of 
 Christ which was human; but Mr. Noble,~having the charge 
 of Patripassianism before his eyes, contradicts all this on 
 page 375; in the quotation we have made above he has added 
 after body, " or external part, including tli^ affections, etc., 
 of thci natural man."' ' 
 
 We have seen that lovej aflTection, etc., are/attributes of the 
 
 soulj; therefore (and -we say it with all lovfe and reverence), 
 
 this doctrine of Swedenborg is not merely /above reason, and 
 
 therefore a "mystery,?' but it is an actlial contradiction, 
 
 and therefore far more mysterious than the doctrine of the 
 
 Church ; for nl logical mind "could frfee itself frijm the 
 
 logical conclusion of the doctrine. It niust also be Umem- 
 
 bered that all the scientific leaders of/ to-day, outade the^ 
 
 influence of Christianity, have followied "Mill/' and say 
 
 that for them the conception of a " pe/sonal God " at all is 
 
 impossible. In Swedenbor^days, ihe word "persons " 
 
 was the stumbling-block, now it is the *ord "person " as 
 
 applied to the Deity at all. We ate now told that the 
 
 " personality " of God is the exploded fancy of man during 
 
 his intellectual infancy. Is our next new r^elation to give 
 
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 SENSE OF HOLY SCRlPTUilE. 3J 
 
 uaan impersonal God to satisfy the present staie of pro- 
 gressive thought 1 
 
 ^ Origen, like Swedenborg, tells us we must a?,cend the 
 Mount of Transfiguration if we would seo the "Word" 
 glorified, shining with celestial splendor, and that'cliuibing 
 the mountain is attaining to the spiritual sense. And this 
 is indeed (in a sense) true; we must ascend to the true wis- 
 dom of the child-like spirit, ftnd so believe in the doctrine of 
 the Divine Trinity as not to believe that there arecthree 
 
 Gods. . :' , ^ ; ■„-■■.■■ -■"''' ' : ^'^ ■' ; ■ 
 
 "And the Catholic faith is this : That we/ worship one 
 God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity ; neithe^ confounding 
 the Persons, nor dividing the 'substance,'" j^'zlj the "Deity" 
 or "Esse" (*^Oreed Quicun<iue>ult»).. ■ 
 
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