INMRY OF PRINCETON 
 
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VINDICATION 
 
 SWEDENBORG 
 
 THE SLANDERS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS 
 OF J. G. PIKE AND OTHERS. 
 
 'i THE REV. ROBERT HINDMARSH. 
 
 A n R I D O K D . 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION OF 
 THE NEW JERUSALEM, 
 a O COOPER. UNION. 
 
JAN 18 mi 
 
 VINDICATION 
 
 SWEDENBORG 
 
 THE SLANDERS AND MISREPRESENTATIONS OP 
 J. G. PIKE AND OTHERS. 
 
 THE REV. ROBERT HINDMARSH. 
 
 A. B R, I D G- E X) . 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE GENERAL CONVENTION OF 
 THE NEW JERUSALEM, 
 20 COOfKR, UNION. 
 
 1868. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 IfO. FAOE 
 
 I. — Refutation of the False Eeports Propagated by Mr. 
 
 Wesley 7 
 
 II. — Performance of Miracles 11 
 
 III. — A New Revelation 13 
 
 IV. — Fornication and Adultery 15 
 
 V. — A Distinct Heaven for Mahometans 17 
 
 VI. — Devils and Angels once Men 19 
 
 VII.— The Spiritual Sense of the Word 23 
 
 VIII.— The Books of the Word 27 
 
 IX.— The Apostolic Writings 30 
 
 X. — The Lord's Coming in the Clouds of Heaven 33 
 
 XI. — The Lord in Man, and Man in the Lord 36 
 
 XII. — The Lord as a Sun above the Angelic Heavens 37 
 
 XIII. — A Divine Trinity, not of Persons, but of Essentials in 
 
 One Person 39 
 
 XIV. — The Lord became the Word even in its Ultimates 52 
 
 XV. — God is not an Angry, Vindictive, and Relentless Being. 55 
 
 XVI. — Comparison between Mr. Pike's God, and the God of 
 
 Emanuel Swedenborg 56 
 
 XVII. — Redemption, how Understood 58 
 
 XVIIL— Angels Redeemed as well as Men 67 
 
 XIX. — Heaven and the Church as One Man 73 
 
 XX. — Bearing Iniquities 75 
 
 XXI. — The Resurrection, how Understood 77 
 
 XXII. — Difficulties and Absurdities respecting the Identity of 
 
 the Material Body 83 
 
 XXni. — The Doctrine of Paul concerning the Resurrection 85 
 
 XXIV. — Prevailing Errors concerning the Last Judgment 92 
 
 XXV.— The State of Man after Death 94 
 
 3 
 
4 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 NO. JAOB 
 
 XXVI.— The True Scriptural Doctrine of the Last Judg- 
 ment 96 
 
 XXVII. — The Particular Judgment of Individuals after 
 
 Death 100 
 
 XXVIII. — The supposed Destruction of the Heavens and the 
 
 Earth by Fire, a Gross Error 100 
 
 XXIX. — The Second Coming of the Lord not in Person, but 
 
 in Spirit 105 
 
 XXX. — The Lord's Second Coming effected through the 
 
 Instrumentality of Emanuel Swedenborg 109 
 
 XXXI. — Swedenborg falsely charged with being an En- 
 
 courager of Vice, etc 113 
 
 XXXIL— Female Prostitution 121 
 
 XXXIII. — Indelicacies of Language and Idea 123 
 
 XXXIV. — To the Pure all Things are Pure 126 
 
 XXXV. — The Divine Providence exemplified in the Per- 
 mission of Mahometanism 129 
 
 XXXVI. — The difference between mere Sensual Gratifications, 
 
 and the Pure Joys of Heaven 132 
 
 XXXVII.— Purgatory 135 
 
 XXXVIII.— Vastation in the Other Life 137 
 
 XXXIX.— The Intermediate State, or World of Spirits 141 
 
 XL.— The Place of Punishment, or Hell 146 
 
 XLI. — The Inhabitants of Heaven, as well as of Hell, are 
 
 all of the Human Eace 148 
 
 XLII. — Evil Spirits Disturbing Heaven 150 
 
 XLIIL— The Wicked go Voluntarily to Hell, and Infernal 
 
 Spirits have their Delights 152 
 
 XLIV. — Some are in Hell, and do not Know it 160 
 
 XLV. — Heavenly Joy supposed to consist in Perpetual 
 
 Worship 1G2 
 
 XLVI. — What is meant by Praying always, and Incessant 
 
 Glorification 163 
 
 XLVIL— Angels not Perfectly Pure 165 
 
 XLVIII. — Administrations, Offices, Employments, and Trades 
 
 in Heaven 167 
 
 XLIX. — Marriages in Heaven 171 
 
 L. — Chief Articles of the Faith of the New Church, 
 
 called the New Jerusalem 178 
 
TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 A PAMPHLET by J. G. Pike, entitled Sivedenborgianism 
 Depicted in its True Colors, which first appeared about fifty 
 years ago, and was soon consigned by a discerning public to 
 that oblivion befitting its slanderous nature, having been re- 
 cently republished by private enterprise and put into secret 
 circulation by clergymen and others of the various sects, 
 with a view to bringing the New Church into disrepute, the 
 occasion has seemed a fitting one for setting forth, in a 
 tract, a few statements in refutation of this and other simi- 
 lar slanders which from time to time have been placed be- 
 fore the public. Our private inclination would lead us to 
 treat all such assaults upon the New Church with silent 
 disregard ; it is alone a sense of duty to the public in the 
 cause of truth that urges us to oflTer in this case a few 
 words in reply. From the abundant materials at hand in 
 the able vindications of our doctrines which have appeared 
 from time to time in answer to similar charges, we have 
 chosen to present an abridgment of the Reply to the above- 
 named pamphlet, published in England by the Rev. Robert 
 Hindmarsh in 1822. But we would cordially recommend 
 all candid and sincere inquirers to go, if practicable, to 
 
6 
 
 TO THE PUBLIC. 
 
 tlie "Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg himself, and particu- 
 larly, in this instance, to read the work entitled Conjugial 
 Love, and also his noble treatise on the True Christian E&- 
 ligion, or Universal Theology of The New Church, which, 
 with all the other doctrinal writings of the New Church, 
 may easily be obtained from the Publishing House of the 
 General Convention, No. 20 Cooper Union, New York. We 
 need desire no better vindication of our religion against 
 the vile and slanderous aspersions of Mr. Pike than is con- 
 tained in these works of our author, when fairly examined 
 in their integrity and in their manifest import, rather than 
 in the garbled and misconstrued passages presented by the 
 pamphlet under our notice. 
 
 F. S. 
 
A VINDICATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 
 
 I. — Refutation op the Faxse Reports peopagated 
 BY Mr. Wesley.* 
 
 Mr.Wesley asserts in his Arminian Magazine for August, 
 1783, p. 438, that he was informed by one Mr. Brockmer, of 
 London, and also by Mr. Mathesius, a Swedish clergyman, 
 that Swedenborg, while he lodged at the house of the former, 
 " had a violent fever, in the height of which, being totally 
 delirious, he broke from Mr. Brockmer, ran into the street 
 stark naked, proclaimed himself the Messiah, and rolled 
 himself in the mire." Being desirous of ascertaining the 
 truth or falsehood of this story from Mr. Brockmer's own 
 mouth, I made it my business, in company with three other 
 gentlemen now deceased, to wait upon him at his apart- 
 ments in Fetter Lane, and to ask him whether he had ever 
 communicated to Mr. Wesley, or to any other person, such 
 information as above stated, at the same time showing him 
 the different numbers of the magazine in which the re- 
 ports published by Mr. Wesley were contained. After 
 
 * We have in our abridgment of the original left out occasionally 
 passages treating of such objections as are too trifling to deserve 
 consideration at the present time. The section headings are re- 
 tained, but newly numbered. — Ed. 
 
 7 
 
8 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 hearing the passages read, Mr. Brockmer without hesitation 
 denied the fact, positively declaring, " that he had never 
 opened his mouth on the subject to Mr. \V'esley, nor had he 
 ever given such an account to any other person ; " and he 
 seemed much displeased, that Mr. Wesley should have 
 taken the liberty to make use of his name in public print, 
 without his knowledge or consent. " Swedenborg (said he) 
 was never afflicted with any illness, much less with a violent 
 fever, while at my house : nor did he ever break from me 
 in a delirious state, and run into the street stark naked, 
 and there proclaim himself the Messiah, as Mr. Wesley has 
 unjustly represented. But perhaps he may have heard a 
 report to that effect from some other person ; and it is 
 well known, that Mr. Wesley is a very credulous man, and 
 easily to be imposed upon by any idle tale, from whatever 
 quarter it may come." 
 
 Mr. Brockmer died a few months after he made the dec- 
 laration above recited : but the peruke-maker alluded to by 
 Mr. Wesley, namely, Mr. Richard Shearsmith, who lived 
 in Cold Bath Fields, Clerkenwell, and at whose house 
 Swedenborg afterwards lodged and died, survived Mr. 
 Brockmer many years. Him also I well knew, and have 
 often had occasion to speak to him of the character, habits, 
 and manners of Swedenborg : and he uniformly gave the 
 most unequivocal and honorable testimony concerning him, 
 both with respect to the goodness of his heart, and the 
 soundness of his understanding. He declared himself 
 ready to attest (upon oath if required) that " from the first 
 day of his coming to reside at his house, to the last day of 
 his life, he always conducted himself in the most rational, 
 prudent, pious, and Christian-like manner: and he was 
 firmly of opinion, that every report injurious to his charac- 
 ter had been raised merely from malice, or disaffection to 
 his writings, by persons of a bigoted and contracted spirit." 
 
■WRiriNGS OF EMANUEL, SWEDENBORG. 
 
 9 
 
 Mr. Shearsmith has been dead now for some years. I saw 
 him not long before his deatli ; and he continued to bear 
 the same testimony, which he had so often repeated in my 
 hearing during the course of the thirty years that I had 
 known him. 
 
 The other person whom Mr. Wesley names as having 
 given him the same information as Mr. Brockmer had 
 done, was Mr. Mathesius, a Swedish clergyman. Of the 
 credit due to this Mathesius, the following extract of a 
 letter from Christopher Springer, Esq., a Swedish gentle- 
 man of distinction then resident in London, and the inti- 
 mate friend of Swedenborg, will enable the reader to form 
 a just and correct estimate. Speaking of Swedenborg's 
 death, he observes, " When the deceased found his end ap- 
 proaching, and expressed a wish to have the communion 
 administered to him, somebody present at the time proposed 
 sending for Mr. Mathesius, the officiating minister of the 
 Swedish church. This person was known to be a professed 
 enemy of Swedenborg, and had set his face against his wri- 
 tings. It was he that had raised and spread the false ac- 
 count of Swedenborg's having been deprived of his senses, 
 Swedenborg therefore declined taking the sacrament from 
 him, and actually received it from the hands of another eccle- 
 siastic of his own country, named Ferelius, who at that time 
 was a reader of Swedenborg's writings, and is said to have 
 continued to do so ever since, at Stockholm, where he is now 
 living (in 1786); and I have been assured, that, on this 
 occasion, Swedenborg expressly exhorted him ' to continue 
 steadfast in the truth.' Mr. Mathesius is said to have become 
 insane himself, a short time after this ; and becoming thereby 
 incapable of his function, has existed ever since, in that 
 melancholy state, upon the bounty of the King of Sweden." 
 
 What now are we to say of the report first invented by 
 Mr. Mathesius the Lutheran divine, afterwards propagated 
 
10 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 by Mr. Wesley the Arminian divine, and lastly by Mr. 
 Pike the Baptist divine, but that they each found it the 
 easiest and most convenient argument to be drawn against 
 the heavenly doctrines contained in the writings of Eman- 
 uel Swedenborg? When the theologians of former days 
 found themselves unable to withstand the new but powerful 
 doctrines of divine truth delivered by the Saviour of the 
 world, some said, " He is a good man ; others said, Nay ; 
 but he deceiveth the people," John vii. 12. "He is beside 
 himself" Mark iii. 21. " And many of them said. He 
 hath a devil, and is mad ; why hear ye him ? But others 
 said. These are not the words of him that hath a devil : 
 can a devil open the eyes of the blind ?" John x. 20, 21. 
 Now we know the truth of our Lord's words, when he 
 saith, " The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant 
 above his lord. It is enough for the disciple to be as his 
 master, and the servant as his lord : if they have called the 
 master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they 
 call them of his household ?" Matt. x. 24, 25. And again, 
 " The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have 
 persecuted me, they will also persecute you," John xv. 20. 
 
 In all ages of the church divine truth has been persecuted 
 in the persons of those who have been its most strenuous 
 asserters and advocates ; and in general according to the 
 degree in which they have manifested their sincerity, in- 
 tegrity, and faithfulness in the discharge of their duty, in 
 the same degree have they been subjected to the derision 
 and scorn of the world. It was not therefore to be expected, 
 that Emanuel Swedenborg, the distinguished and devoted 
 servant of his Lord, would escape the malevolent and bitter 
 attacks of his enemies, who either through ignorance of 
 the doctrines he taught, or through envy at their success, 
 are disposed to treat the disciple in the same ungenerous 
 manner as their predecessors of old had treated his Divine 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORO. 
 
 11 
 
 Master. But as Michael the archangel, in disputing with 
 the devil about the body of Moses (the historical sense of 
 the Word), durst not bring against him a railing accusation, 
 so it is the duty of those, who are engaged in the defence 
 of a good cause, to imitate so illustrious an example, and 
 to leave all judgment to Him who cannot err. 
 
 Having made these observations on Mr. Pike's personal 
 attack on Swedenborg, I shall now proceed to the examina- 
 tion of his charges against the testimony as well as the doc- 
 trines contained in his writings. These are arranged under 
 distinct heads ; and though the greater part of them have 
 been repeatedly answered and refuted by difi'erent writers 
 in defence of the New Jerusalem, yet, as they are again 
 brought forward under the specious pretext of vindicating 
 the cause of Christianity, and supporting the interests of 
 its professors, whether they be Churchmen or Dissenters, 
 Arminians or Calvinists, it may be advisable to meet those 
 charges on the present occasion, and to demonstrate, that 
 they are in general founded in error, and a total misappre- 
 hension both of the language and the true sense of divine 
 revelation. 
 
 II. — Performance of Miracles. 
 
 The first objection or charge, which Mr. Pike brings 
 against the authority and credibility of Swedenborg, is, 
 " that he "has given no proofs that he was a divine messen- 
 ger, either by working miracles, or by predicting any con- 
 siderable events that have since taken place in the world." 
 
 What miracle did John the Baptist perform to convince 
 the Jews that he was charged with a divine commission? 
 that he was vested with the authority of a prophet ? yea, as 
 our Lord himself expresses it, of more than a prophet ? It 
 is expressly written, "John did no miracle; but all things" 
 that John spake of this man (Jesus) were true. And many 
 
12 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 believed on him there," John x. 41, 42. Miracles, then, in 
 the case of John the Baptist, were not necessary to justify 
 his pretensions; neither was his testimony concerning the 
 Messiah less effectual by reason of their absence; for by 
 virtue of the truth alone it produced conviction in the 
 minds of many of his hearers, and caused them to believe 
 on the name of the Lord: a proof this that rational evi- 
 dence is superior to the most miraculous displays of power. 
 
 Our Lord says, " There shall arise fahe christs and false 
 prophets, who shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch 
 that (if it were possible) they shall deceive the very elect," 
 Matt. xxiv. 24; Mark xiii. 22. If so, then signs and 
 wonders, or miraculous performances, are no certain proofs 
 of a divine mission, because they are within the power of 
 impostors and false teachers, and by no means the peculiar 
 characteristics of a divinely authorized prophet. Nay, the 
 power of working miracles is expressly attributed to devib, 
 in Apoc. xvL 14: and the very wish or desire to see a sign, 
 in proof of a divine commission, is charged on the Jews as 
 a mark of their being a wicked and adulterous generation, 
 Matt. xvi. 4. 
 
 Then why, it may be asked, were miracles performed 
 among the Jews in ancient times, and not among Christians 
 in the present day? The answer is, Because the former 
 were so immersed in natural and corporeal affections that 
 they were incapable of discerning the interior spiritual 
 truths of revelation; neither could these be laid before 
 them without danger of profanation : on which account the 
 Lord spake to that people in parables, that "seeing they 
 might see, and not perceive, and hearing they might hear, 
 and not understand,^' Mark iv. 12. Whereas now, since the 
 introduction of Christianity into the world, the rational 
 faculties of the human mind are more capable than before 
 of being exercised on subjects of a divine nature, especially 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDEXBORG. 13 
 
 in respect to the Lord, his AVord, the Church and a state 
 of immortality in another life. 
 
 Henceforth, therefore, no other miracle is required in the 
 Church than the opening of the eyes of the understanding, 
 the renovation of the heart and affections, a conformity of 
 the life to the holy and divine precepts of the "Word, and 
 the actual descent of the New Jerusalem from heaven to 
 earth. Effects like these, wheresoever or with whomsoever 
 they take place, are truly miraculous, because they are su- 
 pernatural, and plainly bespeak a divine power, which is 
 alone capable of producing them. 
 
 III. — A New Kevelation. 
 
 It is asserted by Mr. Pike that " the Scriptures give us 
 no warrant for expecting any new revelation." Now, in 
 opposition to this, our Lord expressly says to his disciples, 
 "I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot 
 bear them now. Howbeit, when he the Spirit of truth is 
 come, he will guide you into all truth," John xvi. 12, 13. 
 Here he evidently declares that the revelation, which in 
 his divine wisdom he saw was best suited and adapted to 
 their imperfect comprehension at that time, would in some 
 future day be succeeded by one more distinct and full, when 
 the Spirit of truth would enlighten their understandings 
 with new discoveries of his Word and will, which they were 
 then incapable of receiving. In another verse of the same 
 chapter he adds, " These things have I spoken unto you in 
 proverbs: the time cometh when I shall no more speak uiito 
 you in proverbs, but I shall show you plainly of the 
 Father," ver. 25. Here again a new and plainer revela- 
 tion concerning the Father, in addition to that which they 
 were then favored with, is distinctly promised: and we 
 know that this promise was never fulfilled until the publi- 
 cation of the heavenly doctrines of the New Jerusalem, 
 
 2 
 
14 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 which teach that Jesus Christ, the Redeemer and Saviour 
 of the world, is at the same time its Creator and Preserver, 
 and consequently the only God of heaven and earth, the 
 Everlasting Father himself: see Isa. ix. 6. Chap. xl. 3, 9, 
 10. Chap, xliii. 1, 11. Chap. Ixiii. 16. John xiv. 9. 
 Apoc. i. 8, 11, 17. Chap. xxii. 13. 
 
 From a variety of other passages it appears that the 
 Lord was, in some future day, to come in the clouds of 
 heaven with power and great glory. Matt. xxiv. 30 ; that 
 is, in his Holy Word, unloosing the seals of its letter, Isa. 
 xxix. 11; and revealing its spiritual sense, Apoc. v. 1 to 9. 
 The prophet Isaiah, speaking of this same, saith, "The 
 glory of Jehovah shall he revealed, and all flesh shall see it 
 together" Isa. xl. 5. "Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and 
 his glory shall be seen upon thee," chap. Ix. 2. And in the 
 Apocalypse it is written, "The Lord God of the holy 
 prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things 
 which must shortly be done. Behold, / come quickly, and 
 my reward is with me," Apoc. xxii. 6, 12. "Write the 
 things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and 
 the things which shall be hereafter," Apoc. i. 19. "The tem- 
 ple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his 
 temple the ark of his testament," Apoc. xi. 19. "And after 
 that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of 
 the testimony in heaven was opened," Apoc. xv. 5. And 
 again, "I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; 
 and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true. 
 And he was clothed with a vesture dipt in blood ; and his 
 name is called The Word of God," Apoc. xix. 11, 13. These 
 and many other passages, both in the Old and the New 
 Testament, clearly show that some further manifestation of 
 divine truth, beyond the mere literal expressions contained 
 in the AVord, was to be communicated to the church on 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 15 
 
 earth, and that such manifestation would, in fact, be a new 
 revelation of the glory of the Lord. 
 
 The apostle Paul likewise says that "the Lord Jesus 
 shall be revealed from heaven ; that he shall come to be glo- 
 rified iu his saints, and to be admired in all them that be- 
 lieve in that day," 2 Thess. i. 7, 10. But that " the day of 
 Christ shall be preceded by a general falling away from the 
 true faith," 2 Thess. ii. 2, 3. Which agrees with our Lord's 
 words, where he saith, " When the Son of Man cometh, 
 shall he find faith on the earth?" Luke xviii. 8. In like 
 manner the apostle Peter speaks of "the grace that is to be 
 brought into the church at the revelation of Jesus Christ," 
 1 Pet. i. 13. In all these cases a future revelation is clearly 
 announced; and we are fully warranted in expecting it, 
 notwithstanding Mr. Pike's assertion to the contrary. It is 
 called the revelation of Jesus Christ, not because he will 
 then manifest himself to the world in person, or in an open 
 and visible manner, as some are led to expect, but because 
 he will open the interior sense of his Word, which indeed 
 is himself, John i. 1, 14, and thereby communicate new light 
 and new life to those who heretofore were sitting in the 
 shade and obscurity of its letter. 
 
 IV. — Fornication and Adultery. 
 
 The next charge against Swedenborg is, that with him 
 " fornication is allowable, and adultery, in many cases, no 
 crime." This is a most unjust charge, and can only be 
 made by those, who either willfully or ignorantly misrepre- 
 sent the author. So far from countenancing and encour- 
 aging the evils of fornication and adultery, he expressly 
 condemns them ; but at the same time, with that wisdom 
 and discrimination to which his opponent appears to be an 
 entire stranger, he distinguishes between the several kinds 
 and degrees of evil in both the one and the other. On the 
 
16 
 
 A VINDICATION OP THE 
 
 subject of fornication he Avrites thus : " There are degrees 
 of the qualities of evil, as there are degrees of the quali- 
 ties of good : wherefore every evil is lighter and heavier, as 
 every good is better and more excellent. The case is the 
 same with fornication, which, as being a lust, and a lust of 
 the natural man not yet purified, is an evil : but inasmuch 
 as every man is capable of being purified, therefore so far 
 as it accedes or approaches to a purified state, so far that 
 evil becomes a lighter evil, for so far it is wiped away ; but 
 so far as it accedes or approaches to the love of adultery, 
 so far it is more grievous." Conjugial Love, 452. He 
 afterwards, n. 453, explains what he means by the lust of 
 fornication acceding or approaching to adultery : "All for- 
 nicators (says he) look to adultery, M'ho do not believe 
 adulteries to be sins, and who entertain like thoughts of 
 marriages and of adulteries, only with the discrimination 
 of what is allowed and what is disallowed" by the laws of 
 human society. 
 
 On the subject of adultery perhaps no author has ever 
 written so amply, so ably, and so expressly in condemna- 
 tion of that vice, as Swedenborg has done throughout his 
 voluminous works, particularly in his treatise on Heaven 
 and Hell, 384; Conjugial Love, 464, 500 ; Arcana Calestia, 
 8904 ; where he observes, that " whenever man commits 
 adultery, and feels a delight therein, heaven is closed against 
 him." But he also discriminates between the degrees of 
 guilt even in acts of adultery, according to the circum- 
 stances attending them, justly remarking, that some cases 
 are less aggravated than others : and for this he is shame- 
 fully accused of encouraging vice, and giving his sanction 
 to adultery, by the Rev. J. G. Pike, of Derby, a professed 
 minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ ; by Mr. Pike, who 
 knows no difference in guilt between simple fornication and 
 the infernal lust of adultery, but confounding together all 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 17 
 
 the shades of crime, the lightest with the most grievous and 
 pernicious, pronounces the same judgment on every kind 
 and degree of exil ! To reason with such a man is obvi- 
 ously a waste of time, which might be employed to a much 
 better purpose. If he cannot of himself comprehend so 
 plain a doctrine as that of the equitable distribution of 
 rewards and punishments, according to the degree of merit 
 or demerit in human actions, no arguments will avail so as 
 to produce a conviction of the truth and justice of our 
 Lord's words in the Gospel, where he saith, " That servant, 
 who knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither 
 did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 
 But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of 
 stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes," Luke xii. 47, 48. 
 Let these observations suffice for the present, as we shall 
 have occasion to return to this subject again in the course 
 of the work. 
 
 V. — A Distinct Heaven for Mahometans. 
 
 Another charge against Swedenborg is, that he assigns 
 "a distinct heaven for Mahometans, where they have 
 a plurality of wives." It is generally supposed, that 
 there is only one heaven, one spacious receptacle, into 
 which all good men are admitted after death, •without any 
 regard to the different degrees and qualities of the charity 
 and faith, which constitute their spiiitual life. And this 
 crude, indigested notion of a future state and place of hap- 
 piness appears to be entertained by Mr. Pike, as if it were 
 a matter of undoubted certainty. That there are, however, 
 at least three heavens, cannot be denied by those who admit 
 the authority of the apostle Paul ; for he expressly states, 
 that he knew a man (probably himself), who was " caught 
 up into the third heaven," 2 Cor. xii. 2. And if we appeal 
 to still higher authority, we shall find, that the kingdom of 
 2 » 
 
18 
 
 A VINDICATION OP THE 
 
 heaven is diversified by numerous habitations, or distinct 
 places of abode, all of them being doubtless accommodated 
 to the temper, taste, and spiritual state of their respective 
 inhabitants. Our Lord in the Gospel says to his disciples, 
 " In my Father's house are many mansions : if it were not 
 so, I would have told you," John xiv. 2. Nothing there- 
 fore can be conceived of as more consistent with divine 
 order, and the true sense of Holy Writ, than such an 
 arrangement in the mansions of bliss, as may be best suited 
 to the various dispositions and habits of life, which have 
 been previously formed in good and pious men, according 
 to their several professions of religion, whether they have 
 been Christians, Mahometans, Jews, or Pagans. For to 
 suppose, that none but Christians can hereafter become the 
 subjects of eternal happiness, and that all others are neces- 
 sarily excluded from heaven, is the height of cruelty, wick- 
 edness, and insanity : it is an aspersion of the character of 
 Him " whose tender mercies are over all his works," Ps. 
 0x1 V. 9 ; and who declares, that " many shall come from the 
 east, and /rom the west, and from the north, and from the 
 south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God," Luke 
 xiii. 29 ; Matt. viii. 11. 
 
 With respect to the Mahometans being allowed " a plu- 
 rality of wives in heaven," this is not correctly stated. Swe- 
 denborg's words are as follows : " The Mahometans, like all 
 other people who acl«iowledge God, and love what is just, 
 and do good from religious motives, have their particular 
 heaven, but out of the limits of the Christian heaven. 
 The Mahometan heaven is divided into two : the inhabit- 
 ants of the inferior heaven live virtuously with several 
 wives, but none are raised thence into the superior heaven, 
 except such as renounce a plurality of wives, and acknow- 
 ledge the Lord our Saviour, and at the same time his 
 dominion over heaven and hell. I have been informed. 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 19 
 
 that it is impossible for them to conceive God the Father 
 aud our Lord to be one ; but that it is possible for them to 
 believe, that the Lord hath dominion over the heavens and 
 the hells, because he is the Son of God the Father. It is 
 this faith \yhereby the Lord effecteth their ascent into the 
 superior heaven." True Christ. Belief., 832. We leave 
 this passage without comment for two reasons ; first, because 
 it is not contrary to the Scriptures, though it may sound 
 strange in the ears of a person, whose charity is contracted 
 to the span of his o^vn narrow circle ; secondly, because 
 every man of sound understanding, who believes in divine 
 revelation, may know, that the life which is confirmed by 
 habit in this world, especially if derived from the religious 
 instruction received from infancy, cannot easily be changed 
 after death ; but that each individual, whatever may have 
 been the dispensation under which the Divine Providence 
 had placed him, will be dealt with and rewarded hereafter 
 according to the quality of his works, which are expressly 
 said to "follow with him" Apoc. xiv. 13. 
 
 VI. — Devils and Angels once Men. 
 
 The doctrine maintained by Swedenborg, "that devils 
 and angels were once men," is also brought as a charge 
 against him, in all probability merely because it is new to 
 Mr. Pike, and to those who in reading the Scriptures, as 
 he must have done, with half-closed eyes, have not been 
 able to discover its truth, though to an impartial eye it is 
 very evident. It is indeed the general opinion, that angels 
 were originally created such, and immediately placed in 
 heaven, without having first lived as men in the natural 
 world, and that many of them afterwards rebelled, and 
 were cast down from heaven, together with Lucifer, the in- 
 stigator and leader of the insurrection. This idea, how- 
 ever, has no foundation in the Sacred Scriptures either of 
 
20 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 the Old Testament, or of the New ; but has arisen in the 
 church from a misapprehension of the true sense of those 
 passages, wherein mention is made of angels, of the song 
 of God, and of Lucifer the son of the morning ; and has 
 been further confirmed by the representations of poets and 
 other fanciful writers. 
 
 But to come to more direct proofs from the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures, that angels and men are of one and the same species 
 of intelligent beings, it is written, that " in the beginning 
 (that is, at the commencement of all things) God created 
 the heavens and the earth," Gen. i. 1. And after describ- 
 ing the process introductory to the formation of man, it is 
 then added, "So God created man in his own image, in the 
 image of God created he him ; male and female created he 
 them," ver. 27. The inspired penman concludes this part 
 of the subject by saying, "Thus the heavens and the earth 
 were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh 
 day God ended his work which he had made ; and he rested 
 on the seventh day from all his work which he had made," 
 Gen. ii. 1, 2. If now this be regarded as an account of the 
 first act of creation, it is plain that men were formed before 
 angels, and not contrariwise : for it would be the height of 
 absurdity to suppose, that angels or any other beings were 
 created before the beginning, or before the Divine Agent 
 began his work. 
 
 The order of creation is also worthy of being noticed ; 
 because it shows, that the less perfect production preceded 
 the more perfect : first of all, inanimate matter was created, 
 as earth and water on the first day ; then vegetables, as 
 grass, herbs, and fruit trees, on the third day ; afterwards 
 animals, as fishes fowls, and beasts, on the fifth day ; lastly 
 men, male and female, on the sixth day. But man at his 
 first formation was not in so high a state of perfection as 
 he afterwards arrived at, when " the Lord God breathed 
 
WEITINOS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 
 
 21 
 
 into his nostrils the breath of lives, and he became a living 
 soul," Gen. ii. 7. With this new name lie acquired a new 
 quality, and became in effect a man-angel while living in 
 the body, each successive stage of his existence introducing 
 him to a still more exalted degree of wisdom and intelli- 
 gence, until at length, by putting off the material body, he 
 became a pure spirit or an angel. In this last state the 
 term angel is not unfrequently applied to him in the Word: 
 and reciprocally also an angel is called a mail. 
 
 The first place, in which mention is made of an angel, is 
 Gen. xvi. 7 to 11, where the angel of Jehovah appeared to 
 Hagar. But as this passage does not furnish so clear a 
 proof of the identity of angels and men, as the argument 
 requires, we proceed to others more decisive of the ques- 
 tion. In Gen. xviii. we read, that three angels appeared 
 to Abraham, who are expressly called men, ver. 2, 16, 22. 
 And in like manner the two angels that appeared to Lot, 
 Gen. xix. 5, 8, 10, 12, 16. We also read, that "when 
 Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, 
 and behold, there stood a man over against him with his 
 drawn sword in his hand :" and that the same man was an 
 angel, is plain from his calling himself " t/ie captain of the 
 Lord's host," Josh. v. 13 to 15. An angel likewise ap- 
 peared to Manoah's wife, and afterwards to Manoah him- 
 self, as a man, being repeatedly so called, Judg. xiii. 3, 6, 8, 
 10, 11. The priest and prophet Ezekiel constantly de- 
 scribes the angels, whom he saw, as men: see chap. ix. 2, 8, 
 11; chap. X. 2, 3, 6, 7; chap. xl. 3, 4; chap, xliii. 6; chap, 
 xlvii. 3. Daniel and Zechariah do the same : see Dan. viii. 
 15, 16; chap. ix. 21, where the angel Gabriel is called the 
 man Gabriel. Chap. x. 5, 16, 18 ; chap. xii. 6, 7 ; Zech. i. 
 8, 10 ; chap. ii. 1. 
 
 The same doctrine of tiie identity of angels and men 
 is equally demonstrable from the writings of the New 
 
22 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 Testament. In Mark xvi. 5, the angel that was seen " sit- 
 ting on the right side of the Lord's sepulchre, clothed in a 
 long white garment," is called " a young man." And in 
 Luke xxiv. 4, when the women went to the sepulchre, to 
 look for the body of the Lord Jesus, it is said, that " two 
 men (meaning two angels) stood by them in shining gar- 
 ments." Our Lord also in the same Evangelist says, that 
 deceased men, who have departed in a regenerate state, 
 " are equal unto the angels," Luke xx. 36. 
 
 But the doctrine here maintained is inculcated more 
 plainly still by the apostle John in the book of Revelation. 
 The angel, who accompanied John, and showed him the 
 great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down from God out 
 of heaven, measured the wall thereof, and found it to be an 
 hundred and forty and four cubits, which are said to be 
 " according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel," 
 Apoc. xxi. 17 ; thus identifying a man and an angel as one 
 and the same, because they are of the same family by crea- 
 tion, and acknowledge the same Lord as their common 
 Parent. 
 
 It is further written, that after the angel had showed 
 John the wonderful things relating to heaven, he was about 
 to fall at his feet in profound adoration : but the angel im- 
 mediately stopped him, and said, " See thou do it not ; for 
 I am thy jellotv-servant, and of thy brethren that have the 
 testimony of Jesus : worship God," Apoc. xix. 10. And 
 again the apostle continues, " When I had heard and seen, 
 I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who 
 showed me these things. Then saith he unto me. See thou 
 do it not ; for I am thy felloiv-servant, and of thy brethren 
 the prophets, and of them who keep the sayings of this 
 book : worship God," Apoc. xxii. 8, 9. Here the angel 
 avows himself to be only a man, a prophet, the brother and 
 Jellow-servant of John, and of no higher consideration than 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 23 
 
 other pious and good men, who, having kept the sayings or 
 commandments of their Saviour, are after death admitted 
 to share in the glory and happiness of heaven. 
 
 Having made these observations, I now ask, Why should 
 it be thought a strange or unscriptural doctrine, that all the 
 angels of heaven were once men upon earth ; and by 
 parity of reason, that all the devils in hell were once equally 
 men? since the most satisfactory testimony, drawn from 
 prophets, evangelists, and apostles, establishes the fact, that 
 at the very beginning of creation men were formed, and not 
 angels ; but that in due process of time men became angels, 
 and were thenceforth distinguished as such, though they 
 still retained their original and primitive name of men. 
 
 VII. — The Spiritual Sense of the Word. 
 
 It is objected that the view which Swedenborg gives of 
 the Scriptures is absolutely contrary to the account of their 
 design and efficacy, which is presented in that holy volume. 
 And as a proof of this, the objector endeavors to form a 
 contrast between what the apostle Paul says of the Scrip- 
 tures, taken in a natural or general sense, and what Sweden- 
 borg says of them as to their spiritual or particular sense. 
 The apostle justly observes that "all Scripture (meaning all 
 Divine Scripture) is given by inspiration of God ; and is 
 profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for in- 
 struction in righteousness; that the man of God may be 
 perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," 2 Tim. 
 iii. 16, 17. This is nowhere denied by Emanuel Sweden- 
 borg, but is rather demonstrated and confirmed by the 
 whole tenor of his writings. Yet Mr. Pike, no doubt under 
 the influence of a strong desire to bring him into discredit 
 with the public, fancies and persuades himself that he has 
 discovered a contradiction to the apostle in the following 
 words of Swedenborg : " In the Word there is a spiritual 
 
24 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 sense heretofore unknown : owing to this sense the Word is 
 divinely inspired, and holy in every syllable." Tr. Chr. 
 Eel., 193. "Its holiness doth not appear in its literal sense. 
 That the "Word of God should not be rejected as a common 
 trivial writing, the Lord hath revealed its spiritual sense." 
 Tr. Chr. Bel., 200. "No one heretofore hath had the least 
 idea that there is in the Word any spiritual sense." Tr. 
 Chr. Rel., 776. These are detached and unconnected quo- 
 tations : but the last is mutilated, and Mr. Pike appears 
 willfully to have suppressed the qualification which imme- 
 diately follows, viz: "according to the truth and reality in 
 which it existeth." 
 
 Many pious writers have, indeed, supposed that there is 
 some kind of a spiritual sense in the Sacred Scriptures ; but 
 they were not apprised of the real nature of that sense, 
 and therefore Swedenborg has well observed that heretofore 
 it was unknown according to the truth and reality in which it 
 exists. He also explains the nature of this spiritual sense, 
 and in a great variety of examples shows that the literal 
 sense is unintelligible without recourse to another sense, 
 which lies concealed within it, comparatively as the sotil of 
 a man is concealed within his body. Thus, when it is said 
 that the Lord will come in the clouds of heaven with power 
 and great glory, Matt. xxiv. 30, he proves, by numerous 
 passages from the Word itself, that by the clouds of heaven 
 is meant its literal sense, and by power and glory its spi- 
 ritual sense. Also when mention is made of the sun being 
 darkened, the moon turned into blood and the stars falling 
 from heaven, Joel ii. 31 ; Matt. xxiv. 29, he clearly demon- 
 strates that by such language we are not literally to under- 
 stand the sun, moon and stars of the visible firmament, but 
 spiritual things corresponding thereto. So again, when it 
 is written that God rode upon horses, and walked through 
 the sea with his horses, Hab, iii. 3, 8, 16; that he will smite 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 25 
 
 every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness, 
 and will smite every horse of the people with blindness, 
 Zech. xii. 4 ; that the tribe of Judah is a lion ; Issachar, a 
 strong ass ; Dan, a serpent by the way, an adder in the 
 path, biting the horse's heels, so that his rider falls back- 
 ward ; Naphtali, a hind let loose; Joseph, a fruitful bough 
 near a well, with branches running over the wall ; while 
 Benjamin is said to ravin as a wolf, Gen. xlix. 9, 14, 17, 21, 
 22, 27; that Ephraim is a cake not turned, a silly dove 
 without heart, and an heifer that is taught, Hosea vii. 8, 
 11 ; chap. X. 11; that the Jews in general are serpents and 
 a generation of vipers. Matt, xxiii. 33 ; that all the feath- 
 ered fowl and beasts of the field are invited to the table of 
 the Lord God, where they are to be filled with horses and 
 chariots, with mighty men, and with all men of war, to eat 
 fot till they are full, and drink blood till they are drunken, 
 Ezek. xxxix. 17 to 20; Apoc. xix. 17, 18; that Jehovah 
 shall hiss for the fly of Egypt, and for the bee of Assyria ; 
 that he shall also shave with a hired razor, by the king of 
 Assyria, the head and the hair of the feet, Isa. vii. 18, 20; 
 that a man must hate his father and mother, his wife and 
 children, brethren and sisters, in order to become a disciple 
 of Jesus Christ, Luke xiv. 26; although he is elsewhere 
 commanded to honour and love them, Exod. xx. 12 ; John 
 xiii. 34, 35;* that the city New Jerusalem, descending from 
 heaven, is twelve thousand furlongs in length, breadth and 
 height ; that is, fifteen hundred miles each way, Apoc. xxi. 
 16; in all th&se cases, and a hundred others which cannot 
 possibly be understood according to the literal expressions, 
 the same author proves, and every intelligent person who 
 reveres "the Divine Word must admit, that things of a 
 spiritual or heavenly nature arc intended to be represented 
 and signified by them ; things which do not manifestly ap- 
 pear ill the language made use of, but which are concealed 
 
 3 
 
26 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 therein, like jewels within a casket, and discoverable only 
 by the science of correspondences, which unfolds the true 
 spiritual sense and presents every part of the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures as worthy of their Divine Author, who himself says, 
 " The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they 
 are life," John vi. 63. 
 
 Mr. Pike, however, has no idea of the necessity of any 
 spiritual sense, and seems disposed to rest contented with 
 the mere letter. He must consequently believe that God 
 literally rides upon a horse, and upon the clouds ; that some 
 of the sons of Jacob were lions, asses, calves and serpents ; 
 that Joseph was the branch of a tree; that Benjamin acted 
 the part of a wolf; that Ephraim was a cake, a silly dove 
 and an heifer ; that the Jews were a nation of serpents and 
 vipers ; that birds and beasts are to dine at the table of the 
 great God ; that Jehovah is to hiss for flies and bees, and 
 to shave men with a razor hired for the purpose; that 
 Christians are bound to treat their parents, wives, children, 
 brothers and sisters with hatred and contempt, and at the 
 same time to love them as themselves ; that they are on 
 certain occasions to cut off their right hands, and to pluck 
 out their right eyes ; that they are to call no man upon 
 earth either father or master ; that paupers are saved in 
 preference to men of property ; and that a city, fifteen hun- 
 dred miles in length, in breadth, and in licight will actually 
 descend from heaven and light upon the earth, according 
 to the description given in the book of Revelation. Judg- 
 ing, likewise, that the apostles entertained the same gross 
 ideas with himself concerning the Scriptures, he exultingly 
 exclaims, " Is not that sense of the Word, with which apos- 
 tles and martyrs were acquainted, and in which they re- 
 joiced, sufficient for us?" Allowing it to be sufficient 
 for Mr. Pike and his friends, does it follow that no higher 
 and more interior discoveries of divine truth were ever to 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 27 
 
 he communicated to the churcli than those which accompa- 
 nied the first dawning of Christianity? The apostle him- 
 self says, "We know in part, and we prophesy in part: 
 but when that Avhich is perfect is come, then that which is 
 in part shall be done away : for now we see through a glass 
 darkly," 1 Cor. xiii. 9, 10, 12. 
 
 VIII. — The Books of the "Word. 
 
 Swedenborg is next charged with " denying the inspira- 
 tion of a great part of the Divine Word," because he dis- 
 tinguishes' between those books which have an internal 
 sense, and those which have not, pronouncing the former, 
 and not the latter, to be of divine authority. On this sub- 
 ject I would ask. By what rule of evidence does Mr. Pike 
 form his judgment of a divine writing? Has he any other 
 to appeal to, than the uncertain and fluctuating decisions 
 of the Romish Church ? What foundation has he for his 
 belief in the sanctity and divinity of any particular books, 
 except the opinions of fallible men, sitting to debate the 
 question among themselves, and deciding by a majority of 
 votes at one time that such and such a book is divine, and 
 at another time that the very same book is destitute of that 
 character ; thus extending or diminishing the number of 
 inspired writings, not by a reference to any internal evi- 
 dence, like that of the spiritual sense contained within 
 them, nor to the w^ords of the Lord in Luke xxiv. 44, 
 which form the rule of judgment in this case, but by the 
 caprice of the moment, or the influence of a prevailing 
 party in the Church ?* Even in the Established Church 
 
 * It does not appear, that even the Jews were always agreed in 
 opinion concerning the books generally received by them ; some, 
 wliich are now regarded as canonical, being once deemed apocryphal 
 or of doubtful authority. Rabbi Nathan, speaking of the Proverbs, 
 Solomon's Song, and Ecclesiastes, observes, "In former times it was 
 
28 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 of this country are not the apocryphal books, at least seven 
 of them, recommended and read in the national churches 
 equally with those which are ackuowleged to be canoni- 
 cal ?* And with respect to the New Testament in partic- 
 
 said of these books, tliat they are apocryphal." See Michcelis, Introd. 
 vol. i. p. 71. 
 
 * Tliese books are Tohit, Judith, the book of Wisdom, Ecdesiasiicus 
 Buruch, Histoi-y of Susanna, History of Bel and the Dragon. The 
 lessons appointed for the 30th day of September, and the Ist of 
 October, in every year, are the 6th and 8th chapters of the apocry- 
 phal book, called Tobit, wherein is detailed the mode how a devil or, 
 an evil spirit is to be driven away from a man or a woman, namely, 
 by burning the heart and liver of a fish, and making a smoke there- 
 with, so that the devil may smell it; and as he cannot endure the 
 scent, this instructive lesson, given as from the mouth of an angel, 
 asserts, that the devil will instantly depart, and " the party," whom 
 he before troubled with his presence, "shall be no more vexed." Is 
 this suitable doctrine for a Christian congregation ? 
 
 The book of Judith is supposed by Grotius to be entirely a para- 
 bolical fiction, written in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes, when he 
 came into Judea to raise a persecution against the Jewish Church, 
 and that the design of it was to confirm the Jews under that persecu- 
 tion in their hopes, that God would send them a deliverance. And 
 he says, "That therein by Judith is meant Judea; by Bethulia, the 
 temple, or house of God ; and by the sword, which went out from 
 thence, the prayers of the saints : That Nabuchodonosor doth there 
 denote the devil, and the kingdom of Assyria the devil's kingdom, 
 pride : That by Holofcrnes is tliere meant the instrument or agent of 
 the devil in that persecution, Antiochus Epiphanes, who made him- 
 self master of Judea, that fair widow, so called, because destitute of 
 relief. That Eliakim signifies God, who would arise in her defence, 
 and at length cut off that instrument of the devil, who would have 
 corrupted her." 
 
 There are many other learned writer.'!, who agree with Grotius in 
 the general, that this book is rather a parabolical, than a real history, 
 made for the instructing and comforting of the people of the Jews 
 under that figure, and not to give them a narrative of anything 
 really done. And their reason for it is, that they think it utterly 
 
WRITINGS OP EMANTTEI. SWEDEXBORG. 
 
 29 
 
 ular, what reason is assigned by the Church of England for 
 admitting the Letters or Epistles of the different apostles 
 among the books of divine inspiration ? None whatever, 
 except that of general custom, which in itself is no reason 
 at all. 
 
 The truth appears to be, that neither the Romish noi" 
 Protestant Churches have to this day clearly understood 
 what it is that constitutes a divine book ; they have not 
 sufficiently considered the purport of our Lord's words to 
 his disciples, when he told them, that "all the Scrijytnres 
 were written concerning himself;" and that the books, which 
 he acknowledged as the Scriptures of divine truth, to be 
 fulfilled in his own person, were those comprehended under 
 the titles of "the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the 
 Psalms :" see Luke xxiv. 27, 44. Thus our Lord has him- 
 self laid down the rule,'by which we are to judge of those 
 books and writings, which alone deserve to be honored by 
 the Church as divine, viz., That in their inmost sense they 
 treat solely of him. Now in many parts of the books of 
 Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms, no allusion whatever 
 is made, in the literal sense of the expressions used, either 
 to the Lord incarnate, or to his sufferings, death, and resur- 
 rection ; and yet he came into the world to fulfill in his 
 own person the whole and every particular part of the 
 Sacred Scriptures, as it is written, " The Word, which in 
 the beginning was with God, and was God, was made flesh, 
 and dwelt among us," John i. 1, 14. And again, "All 
 things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of 
 IMoses, and in the Prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning 
 
 inconsistent with all times, where it ha.s been endeavored to be 
 placed, either before or after the captivity of the Jews. 
 
 Grotiiis and others also think, that the book called Banirh is a 
 mere fiction by some Ilellenistical .Jew, and contains nothing of a 
 real history. See Prideaux's Connection, &c. vol. i, p. 52. 
 3* 
 
30 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 me," Luke xxiv. 44. There must therefore be an internal 
 spiritual sense belouging to the AVord, uot apparent iu the 
 letter; and without a doubt the Lord must have opened 
 tlie understanding of his disciples to discern that sense, 
 according to their measure, when, "beginning at Moses, 
 and all the Prophets, he expounded unto them in all the 
 ScrljAures the things concerning himself," Luke xxiv. 27. 
 
 The same rule, which so well applies to the Old Testa- 
 ment, may also be applied to the New ; and by it we are 
 enabled to distinguish those books, which are absolutely 
 divine to the very letter, in consequence of being dictated 
 by God himself, from those which, though excellent in 
 their kind, are yet only the productions of good and pious 
 men. Of the former description are the four Gospels and 
 the Apocalypse ; of the latter, are the Acts of the Apostles, 
 and the Letters which they wrote to the different churches, 
 to encourage and confirm them in the cause of Christianity. 
 
 The reader may now see the true scriptural ground and 
 reason why the New Church discriminates between those 
 books which are divine, and those which are merely human, 
 tliougli in many respects deservedly to be esteemed ; while 
 neither Mr. Pike, nor his Dissenting brethren, nor the 
 Church of England, nor the Church of Rome, nor any 
 other body of professing Christians so called, can give any 
 reason whatever, beyond that of blind custom, for placing 
 on a level with each other productions so widely different 
 in their character and complexion, as those are which form 
 what is usually called the Bible, 
 
 IX. — The Apostolic Writings. 
 
 But says Mr. Pike, " One of Swedenborg's followers, and 
 if I do not much mistake Hindmarsh's Compendium, the 
 same gentleman asserts, that Swendenborg valued the 
 Apostolic Writings as highly as any other person ; but 
 
WRITINGS OF EMAXUEL SWEDENBOEG. 31 
 
 in this he differed from others, that he valued the "Word 
 of God unspeakably higlier." And he goes on to declare, 
 " that this passage contains an assertion that is absolutely 
 false : Christians value the Apostolic Writings as one of 
 the most precious parts of the Word of God : with what 
 truth then can he, who asserts that they are a mere human 
 composure, be said to value them as highly as those who 
 esteem them divine ?" In answer to this I would observe, 
 that it is one thing to say, that certain books are divine, 
 while their internal spirituality is expressly denied ; and 
 another thing to believe them to be such in reality, by as- 
 cribing to them that which is alone constituent both of 
 their sanctity and divinity, namely, an internal sense, 
 treating of heavenly and spiritual things, through the me- 
 dium of earthly and natural images. Now this is exactly 
 the case with ]Mr. Pike, and those whose cause he has under- 
 taken to advocate ; they profess with their lips, and say, that 
 the books of Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, and the Gos- 
 pels, are divine ; but at the same time they deny, that either 
 of those books has an internal spiritual sense different from 
 that of the letter. So again they say, that the Acts and 
 Epistles of the Apostles are divine; and yet they ao- 
 knoivledge they have no higher, more interior, or other 
 sense, than that which appears on the face of them. Thus 
 they place all the books, which usually go under the names 
 of the Old and New Testament, on the same level ; and 
 that level they comparatively fix in the dust, because, by 
 denying the spiritual sense of the Word, they will not allow, 
 that it is in heaven, as well as upon earth, though the 
 Psalmist expressly says, " For ever, O Jehovah, thy Word 
 is settled in heaven," Ps. cxix. 89, Those books, which are 
 really divine, they strip of their brightest glory, their 
 spiritual part ; and those, which are merely human, they 
 recommend with the same earnestness, nay with much more 
 
32 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 zeal and industry than they do the former, grounding 
 almost all their doctrines upon, writing almost all their es- 
 says from, and preaching almost all their sermons according 
 to, the maxims laid down by Paul, instead of deriving 
 them immediately from the divine sayings of his Lord and 
 Master Jesus Christ. 
 
 On the other hand, the members of the New Church, 
 being in all cases desirous of " rendering to Csesar the 
 things which are Ctesar's, and to God the things that are 
 God's," Matt. xxii. 21, and being furnished with the most 
 decisive and satisfactory evidence of the eternal distinction 
 between those writings which constitute the Word made 
 flesh, full of grace and truth, and those of mere human 
 authority, however excellent in their kind, and beneficial to 
 society, acknowledge with their hearts, and profess with 
 their mouths, their full conviction of the superior excellence 
 of those books, which, according to the Lord's own words, 
 in their inmost sense treat of him alone, and in their in- 
 ternal sense of the things appertaining to his kingdom both 
 in heaven and on earth. Other books, such as the Apos- 
 tolic Acts and Epistles, are not rejected, but highly esteemed 
 by the New Church, their authority being frequently quoted 
 in confirmation of the truth of the Divine Records. They 
 are not indeed considered as books of the Word, because 
 they are not written by correspondences, or according to the 
 rules of that science, which teaches that strict analogy sub- 
 sisting between spii-itual and natural things, and conse- 
 quently have not the genuine internal sense, as every book 
 written by Divine inspiration must have. But when we 
 say this of the Acts, Epistles, and various other writings, 
 do we assert anything more, then what is • expressly de- 
 clared by the members of the Old Church, concerning evei-y 
 book of the Word ? They deny, that the Word possesses 
 any internal or spiritual sense difierent from that of the 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL, SWEDENBORG. 
 
 33 
 
 letter; while we on the other hand maintain, that it has 
 three senses, absolutely distinct from each other, though 
 conjoined by correspondences ; and that it ought by no 
 means to be confounded, or placed on a level, with any 
 human productions whatever, merely because they happen 
 to be bound up with it in the same volume. If our denial 
 of a spiritual sense in the books above named be called a 
 rejection of them, we can with equal propriety retort the 
 argument, and say, that the Old Church rejects the Word 
 altogether ; for it denies, that any otich spiritual sense as 
 that already described exists at all. Until therefore the 
 opposers of the New Jerusalem acknowledge an internal 
 sense, at least in some of the books of the Word, it must be 
 with a very ill grace that they bring against us the charge 
 of rejecting the Acts, Epistles, and other writings ; since 
 the New Church allows the same authority and weight to 
 those books, which have no internal sense, as the Old 
 Church does to the whole Word. 
 
 X. — The Lord's Coiming in the Clouds of Heaven. 
 
 " By the clouds of heaven, in which the Lord is to come 
 a second time, is meant the Word in its literal sense ; and 
 by the power and glory, which will accompany him, its 
 spiritual sense." Mr. Pike, like many others, who confine 
 their views of the great events predicted in the Word to 
 the literal expressions made use of, without the least idea 
 of any higher or more interior sense belonging to them, 
 seems to entertain an opinion, that at the time of the last 
 judgment the Lord will personally appear in the clouds of 
 the atmosphere with extraordinary pomp and splendor, 
 accompanied by an innumerable host of angels ; that he 
 will then raise out of their graves all, who had ever 
 lived since the creation of the world ; that he will again 
 
34 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 clothe their souls with their former bodies ; and, when col- 
 lected together to one place, that he will pass judgment 
 upon them, sentencing the good to eternal life or heaven, 
 and the wicked to eternal death or hell. He also appears 
 to believe, that the visible heavens and the habitable earth, 
 though so well adapted to answer all the ends of creation 
 in perpetuity, will at the same time be destroyed, and that 
 a nfew heaven and a new earth will be created in their 
 stead. Such are the gross and childish notions, which have 
 arisen in the Church, and are still cherished even by its pro- 
 fessed ministers, from a total misapprehension of the literal 
 sense of the Word, and from an entire ignorance of the ex- 
 istence of a spiritual sense, now at length happily revealed for 
 the use and benefit of the New Jerusalem. By this sense we 
 arc distinctly taught, that the coming of the Lord in the 
 clouds of heaven denotes, not his personal appearance in 
 the air, but his appearance in the Word, which is one with 
 himself: for as natural clouds obscure the direct light of 
 the sun, so the literal sense of the Word in a great degree 
 obscures its spiritual sense, which latter constitutes the 
 power and glory of divine truth. The coming of the Lord, 
 therefore, is not to destroy the visible things of creation, 
 but to build up and to establish a new spiritual church, in the 
 room of that which is fallen ; thus to open his Word to the 
 understanding of mankind, to make manifest its interior 
 treasures of wisdom, and to demonstrate its astonishing per- 
 fection in the sanctity and divinity of its contents. 
 
 That the clouds spoken of in the Sacred Scriptures are to 
 be referred to the obscurity of divine truth, as it appears in 
 many parts of the letter, rather than to any natural exha- 
 lations or vapors arising from the earth, and that the term 
 f/lory, brightness, or splendor, is predicated of the spiritual 
 sense, requires no further confirmation, than an attentive con- 
 
WUITIXGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBOKO. 
 
 35 
 
 sidcration of the following passages : " Jehovah will create 
 upon every dwelling-place of mount Zion, and upon her as- 
 semblies, a cloud, and smoke by day, and the shining of a 
 flaming fire by night : for upon all the gloi-y shall be a de- 
 fence (or covering)," Isa. iv. 5. " Behold, Jehovah rideth 
 upon a s^vifl cloud," Isa. xix. 1. "He bowed the heavens, 
 and came down ; and darkness was under his feet. He 
 made darkness his secret place : his pavilion round about 
 him were dark waters, and thick clouds of the skies. At 
 the brightness that was before him, his thick clouds passed," 
 Ps. xviii. 9 to 12. " Thy mercy, O Jehovah, is in the 
 heavens; and thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds," 
 Ps. xxxvi. 5. " Thy mercy is great unto the heavens, and 
 thy truth unto the clouds," Ps. Ivii. 10; Ps. cviii. 4. "As- 
 cribe ye strength unto God : his excellency is over Israel, 
 and his strength is in the clouds," Ps. Ixviii. 34. " Jehovah 
 covereth himself with light, as with a garment ; he maketh 
 the clouds his chariot, and walketh upon the wings of the 
 wind," Ps. civ. 2, 3. In the book of Job also it is written, 
 " He holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth his 
 cloud upon it," Job. xxvi. 9. 
 
 In these and many other passages clouds denote the 
 literal sense of the Word ; glory, brightness, and light, its 
 spiritual sense; and riding upon a cloud, instruction in 
 divine truth. The thick cloud and smoke, which appeared 
 upon mount Sinai, when Jehovah descended upon it in fire, 
 and gave the law to Moses, in like manner signified the 
 litei-al or external sense of that law, as the first fruits of 
 the Word ; as did the cloud that covered the tent of the 
 congregation, when the tabernacle was completed, and the 
 glory of Jehovah filled it. From all which circumstances 
 it is evident, that the Lord's second coming in the clouds 
 of heaven with power and great glory, can have no other 
 meaning, than his more immediate presence in the literal 
 
36 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 sense of his Word, in consequence of the revelation of its 
 spiritual sense. 
 
 XI. — The Lord in Man, and Man in the Lord. 
 
 The next quotation, in the form which Mr. Pike gives it, 
 I have not been able to discover in the writings of Sweden- 
 borg, though great pains have been taken, in searching for 
 it. He represents Swedenborg as saying, "The Lord is 
 man : man is the Lord ;" intending it, no doubt, to be un- 
 derstood, that Swedenborg confounds the Creator and the 
 creature as one and the same. But this insidious attempt 
 cannot succeed in the estimation of any truly candid mind. 
 Speaking of the reciprocal conjunction of the Lord with 
 man, and of man with the Lord, he very frequently indeed 
 says, " The Lord is in man, and man is in the Lord, which 
 is no more than what the Lord himself declares in the 
 Gospel, in these words, " At that day ye shall know, that I 
 am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you," John xiv. 
 20. And again, "Abide in me, and I in you: he that 
 abideth in me, and I in Mm, the same bringeth forth much 
 fruit," John XV. 4, 5. But it is probable that the quotation 
 may have been grounded upon a passage in the Tnie Chris- 
 tian Religion, n. 101, etc., where the author observes, and 
 clearly proves, that in Jesus Christ " God was made man, 
 and Man God, in one person ;" and in consequence of his 
 Humanity being Divine, in him " God is Man, and Man is 
 God," n. 102. The proofs, which he furnishes from the 
 Sacred Scriptures in support of this great truth, are too 
 abundant to be repeated in this place : suffice it to observe, 
 that he who was born in time, and became the Saviour and 
 Redeemer of mankind, is called hmnanuel, or God with us, 
 Isa. vii. 14 ; Matt. i. 23 : the Mighty God, the Everlasting 
 Father, Isa. ix. 6 : Jehovah our God, was expected and 
 waited for, Isa. xxv. 9 ; and whose way was prepared by 
 
AVRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 37 
 
 John the Baptist, Isa. xl. 3 ; John i. 23 : the Lord Jehovah, 
 who was to come with strong hand, and to feed his flock 
 like a shepherd, Isa. xl. 10, 11 : the Branch, whose name is 
 also Jehovah our Righteousness, Jer. xxiii. 5, 6 : the Word 
 Incarnate, which in the beginning was with God, and was 
 God, and by whom all things were made, John i. 1, 3, 14: 
 the very Father, whom Philip was so desirous of seeing, not 
 knowing that he then stood before him, clothed with Hu- 
 manity, John xiv. 8, 9 : " the Alpha and Omega, the Be- 
 ginning and the Ending, the First and the Last, who Is, 
 who Was, and who is to Come, the Almighty," Apoc. i. 8, 
 11, 17. 
 
 If now Jesus Christ be really and truly that very Jeho- 
 vah whom the Scriptures of the Old Testament so uniformly 
 describe as the only Saviour and the only Redeemer, Isa. 
 xliii. 11 ; chap. xlix. 26 ; Jer. 1. 34 ; Hos. xiii. 4 ; Ps. 
 xix. 14; then it follows, in the words of an apostle, that he 
 alone is "the true God and eternal life," 1 John v. 20; that 
 " in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," 
 Coloss. ii. 9; and consequently that in him "God is Man, 
 and Man is God." 
 
 XII. — The Lord as a Sun above the Angelic 
 Heavens. 
 
 The first point which Mr. Pike notices under this head is 
 the declaration which Swedenborg makes in his True Chris- 
 tian Religion, 25, and elscAvhere, that " the Lord apjiears as 
 a sun above the angelic heavens, being manifested, with re- 
 spect to his wisdom, in the proceeding light thereof ; and, 
 Avith respect to his love, in the proceeding heat. He him- 
 self is not that sun ; but divine love and divine wisdom, in 
 their proximate emanation from him and round about him, 
 appear as a sun before the angels. Himself in the sun is a 
 Man, our Lord Jesus Christ, both with respect to the all- 
 4 
 
38 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 begetting Divinity, and with respect to tlie Divine Hu- 
 manity." This account of the Lord as a sun is called by 
 Mr. Pike a glaring and awful contradiction of the Holy 
 Word ; and in proof of his assertion, he quotes a few pas- 
 sages from the book of Job, one from Isaiah and another 
 from the Psalms, which speak of the incomprehensible 
 greatness of the Divine Being, and do not at all bear upon 
 the subject he pretends to discuss. It will be sufficient, 
 therefore, to answer this objection by producing the follow- 
 ing passages, which clearly authorize the description given 
 by Swedenborg. 
 
 "The Lord God is a sun and shield," Ps. Ixxxiv. 11. 
 " Unto you that fear my name shall the sun of righteousness 
 arise with healing in his wings," Mai. iv. 2. " The light 
 of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of 
 the sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of seven days, in the 
 day that Jehovah bindeth up the breach of his people, and 
 healeth the stroke of their wound," Isa. xxx. 26. "Thy 
 sun shall no more go down, neither shall thy moon with- 
 draw itself: but Jehovah shall be thine everlasting light," Isa. 
 Ix. 20. " When Jesus was transfigured, his face did shine 
 as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light," Matt, 
 xvii. 2. " The countenance of the Son of Man was as the 
 sun shineth in his strength," Apoc. i. 16. " I saw an angel 
 standing in the sun," Apoc. xix. 17. This was a view of 
 the Lord, who is frequently in the Word called an angel, 
 in the midst of the sun of heaven ; for John was then in 
 spiritual, and not in natural vision. The apostle Paul says 
 that " the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings 
 and Lord of lords, who only hath immortality, dwelleth in 
 the light which no man can approach unto," 1 Tim. vi. 15, 16. 
 This inaccessible light, in which the Lord dwells, can surely 
 be no other than the sun of the spiritual world. Wherein, 
 then, consists the "daring impiety" which Mr. Pike ascribes 
 
wraTrxGS of emanuel swedenboro. 39 
 
 to Swedenborg, in giving such a representation of the Most 
 High, as is warranted by the Sacred Scriptures themselves, 
 as well as by the Apostolic Writings ? 
 
 XIII. — A Divine Trinity, not op Persons, but op 
 Essentials in One Person. 
 It is next objected that Swedenborg denies a trinity of 
 persons in the Godhead, and instead thereof maintains a 
 trinity of essentials in one divine person, teaching that the 
 tvhole trinity, or as the apostle Paul expresses it, all the full- 
 ness of the Godhead, is in Jesus Christ, the invisible Divinity 
 being what is called the Father, the visible Humanity the 
 Son, and the proceeding influence or operation the Holy 
 Spirit. This doctrine, though manifestly the true doctrine 
 of the Sacred Sci-iptures throughout, is violently opposed 
 by ]\Ir. Pike, who quotes a few passages to show that there 
 is a distinction in the divine nature pointed out by the terms 
 Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and then ignorantly con- 
 cludes that he has proved a trinity of persons. He knows 
 there is no such expression as a trinity of persons in any 
 part of the Scriptures ; and he ought to know that such a 
 trinity is incompatible with the divine unity: for if each 
 person, separately considered, be God and Lord, then there 
 must of necessity be three Gods and tliree Lords ; and it 
 avails nothing to say that the three persons are still only 
 one God, when the whole tenor of the doctrine, as well as 
 its plain language, labors to incidcate the idea of three Gods. 
 If the Father be not the Son, nor any part of the Son, and 
 yet is a whole and complete God in himself; and if the Son 
 be not the Fatlier, nor any part of the Father, and yet is a 
 whole and complete God also in himself ; and if again the 
 same may be said of the Holy Spirit in respect to the other 
 two ; then how, in the name of wonder and common sense, 
 can the whole three together constitute only one God? 
 
40 
 
 A VINDICATION OP THE 
 
 The fact is, Mr. Pike believes in three Gods ; and so does 
 every tripersonalist, who, by false reasonings and perverse 
 interpretations of the Sacred Scriptures, confirms himself 
 in the idea that there is one divine jierson or being called 
 God the Father, another called God the Son, and a third 
 called God the Holy Ghost, and who then worships them 
 one after another, but for the most part one for the sake of 
 another. 
 
 Well (Mr. Pike may exclaim), but is it not expressly 
 written, " God said, Let us make man in our image, after 
 our likeness?" Gen. i. 26. "The Lord God said. Behold, 
 the man is become (Heb. was) as one of us," Gen. iii. 22. 
 From these two passages he reasons in favour of a trin 'dy 
 of persons, just as if the expressions us and our necessarily 
 implied three, and no more; when yet everybody knows, 
 that the terms will equally embrace three, three hundred or 
 three thousand. Tliis part of the argument therefore falls 
 to the ground, and is lost in the dust of a mere quibble. 
 
 What is really meant by the term iis, when used by the 
 one only God, the Creator and Regenerator of man, is well 
 explained by Emanuel Swedenborg in his illustrations of 
 the first and third chapters of Genesis; where he clearly 
 proves, that the subject treated of in the passages alluded 
 to is not the first creation or first birth of man as to his 
 natural body, but his new birth, or the regeneration of his 
 spirit, and the decline of the Most Ancient Church. With 
 this view he describes the nature of the communication, 
 which subsists between the regenerate man and the angels 
 of heaven, who in the Word are frequently called Gods. 
 On the first passage. Gen. i. 26, he observes, that the Lord 
 governs and regenerates man through the ministry of 
 angels and spirits, and for this reason it is at first said in 
 the plural, "Let %is make man in our image;" but as it is 
 the Lord alone who actually governs and disposes accord- 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 41 
 
 ing to the dictates of his own divine wisdom, therefore in 
 tlie following verse it is said in the singular, "80 God 
 created man in his own image ; in the image of God created 
 he him ; male and female created he them." The Lord 
 also declares in Isaiah, " I Jehovah make all things, stretch- 
 ing forth the heavens alone, and spreading abroad the earth 
 by myself," chap. xliv. 24. Mr. Pike, however, insists, 
 that Jehovah did 7iot create man by his oum wisdom, judg- 
 ment, and power, but was assisted in the work by hvo others 
 equal to himself, whose advice he craved ; which again is a 
 manifest avowal of the existence of three Gods ; a dilemma, 
 into which he is continually falling, and from which he 
 cannot possibly extricate himself, while he maintains a 
 trinity of divine beings or persons : and I defy him to stir 
 a single step in the controversy Avithout showing this cloven 
 foot. Well may the prophet exclaim, with indignation at 
 the very thought of such impiety and insanity, "Who hath 
 directed the spirit of Jehovah, or being his counselor taught 
 him ? With wJwm took he counsel, and who instructed 
 him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught 
 him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understand- 
 ing?" Isa. xl. 13, 14. 
 
 On the next passage. Gen. iii. 22, where Jehovah God 
 says, " Behold, the man was as one of us, in knowing good 
 and evil," it may be remarked (still keeping in mind, as 
 before observed, that the subject treated of is the decline 
 of the Most Ancient Church) that it does not at all allude 
 to any second or third person in the divine trinity, but to 
 the angels of heaven, who by reason of their great power, 
 in consequence of their reception of divine truths, are fre- 
 quently called Gods, as in the Psalms, "Give unto Jehovah, 
 0 ye mighty (Heb. 0 ye sons of the Gods), give unto 
 Jehovah glory and strength," Ps. xxix. 1. "God standeth 
 in the congregation of God : he judgeth among the Gods," 
 4 * 
 
42 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 Ps. Ixxxii. 1. Again, "Who in the heaven can be com- 
 pared unto Jehovah ? who among the sons of the Gods can 
 be likened unto Jehovah ?" Ps. Ixxxix. 6. "Oh give thanks 
 unto the God of Gods ; oh give thanks unto the Lord of 
 Lords," Ps. cxxxvi. 2, 3. And in another place, "I will 
 praise thee with my whole heart, before the Gods will I 
 sing praise unto thee," Ps. cxxxviii. 1. Even men, so far 
 as they are possessed of power, are likewise called Gods, as 
 in Ps. Ixxxii. 6 ; John x. 34, 35. Hence Moses is called 
 a God to Pharaoh, Ex. vii. 1 ; the term God in this place, 
 as well as in those which immediately refer to the Divine 
 Being himself, being in the plural number, Elohim. Since 
 then angels are regarded as Gods, when any thing is said 
 to be effected by their ministry, the plural number is used, 
 to show that the Lord acts through the medium of subordi- 
 nate agents or instruments, as in the first chapter of Genesis, 
 where the regeneration of man, or the formation of him 
 into a new creature, is the subject treated of. And again 
 in the third chapter, where allusion is made to the state of 
 the celestial man, who as a man, a mere finite creature, 
 cannot justly be compared with the Lord, but may with 
 the angels, who were themselves once men, it is with great 
 propriety said, that man "was as one of us in knowing good 
 and evil ;" in other words, that he was once wise and intel- 
 ligent, like an angel. 
 
 In order to prove a trinity of persons, Mr. Pike quotes a 
 variety of passages from the Word, and from the Apostolic 
 Epistles, all of which, it is true, announce a distinction be- 
 tween the Father and the Son, and some of them extend it 
 to tlie Holy Spirit ; but not one of them makes the least 
 mention of a trinity of persons, which yet is the very point 
 he is aiming at, and for which purpose he ransacks as it 
 were the whole volume of the New Testament, yet without 
 succeeding to his wish. The first he selects is this, "Go ye, 
 
AVniTIXGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORO. 
 
 43 
 
 teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, 
 and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," Matt, xxviii. 20; 
 evidently pointing out a distinction in the divine nature, 
 not of pertions, as Mr. Pike and others would have it, to the 
 destruction of the divine unity, but of essentials in the 
 single person of the Lord, as the verse immediately follow- 
 ing clearly proclaims, and as Swedenborg with every truly 
 rational man most cheerfully affirms. Go, says our Lord, 
 and baptize all nations, "teaching them to observe all 
 things whatsoever I have commanded rjou ; and lo, I am with 
 you always even unto the end of the world," or consumma- 
 tion of the age, ver. 21 : being as much as to say, that he 
 himself their omnipresent Lefjislator was all that was meant 
 by the terras Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in whose name 
 they were to baptize and teach. Accordingly his disciples 
 went forth agreeably to his Word, and baptized in the name 
 of Jesus only, Acts ii. 38; chap. viii. 16 ; chap. x. 48 ; chap, 
 xix. 5. In his name only they healed the lame man. Acts 
 iii. 6, 16; chap. iv. 10 to 12: in his name only a spirit of 
 divination was cast out of a young woman, Acts xvi. 18: 
 and in his name only all their wonderful acts were per- 
 formed. 
 
 That there is a divine trinity is plainly declared in the 
 Sacred Scriptures. But in what sense this trinity is to be 
 understood, whether as consisting of three divine persons, 
 each of whom singly and separately is God, which is mani- 
 festly the same thing as an acknowledgment of three Gods ; 
 or whether it is to be viewed in some other way more con- 
 sistent with the Scriptures, with the divine unity, and with 
 sound reason, is the point at issue between the Kew Church 
 and the Old, between the angels of IMichael and the angels 
 of the dragon, Apoc. xii. 7. It is asserted by the Old 
 Church, that the trinity consists of three persons, as so 
 many distinct beings ; and that these three are nevertheless 
 
44 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 one. To tlie question, How can three be one ? the answer 
 is, that it is not a matter of reason, but of revelation ; that 
 it is a mystery not to be unfolded, nor even examined by a 
 curious eye ; and that the understanding ought to be kept 
 in a state of blind obedience to faith. On the other hand, 
 it is maintained by the New Church, that the Father, Son, 
 and Holy Spirit, are three essentials of One God, like soul, 
 body, and operation in man ; also that the Saviour Jesus 
 Christ is that One God ; and that this view of the divine 
 trinity is alike scriptural, rational, and competent to ex- 
 plain, in the most satisfactory manner, all that is written 
 concerning the intercourse and union subsisting between 
 the Father and the Son, and concerning the mission or pro- 
 ceeding of the Holy Spirit from both. 
 
 For the sake of illustration, let us for a few moments at- 
 tend to the striking analogy and resemblance, which are 
 discoverable in the divine and in the human trinity. The 
 Father is represented in the Word as invisible, and inacces- 
 sible except through the medium of the Son : so the human 
 soul is invisible, and inaccessible except through the medium 
 of its body. The Son is described as the manifestation, 
 form, and image of the Father, by whom the will of the 
 Father is made known, and who doeth the works of the 
 Father : so the body is in like manner the manifestation, 
 form, and image of the soul, by which the will of the soul 
 is made known, and which doeth the works of the soul. 
 And the Holy Spirit is said to proceed from the Father and 
 the Son jointly : so the operations of the soul and the body 
 together may be said to proceed from both, and to be as it 
 were sent forth from them into outward nature. Again, 
 the Father is said to dwell in the Son, just as the soul dwells 
 in the body : and the Son is said to possess all th ings be- 
 longing to the Father, to have received and to exercise all 
 his power, and in short to be the very habitation of all the 
 
WRITINGS or EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 45 
 
 fullness of the Godhead bodily ; just as the body may be 
 said to possess, to have received, and to exercise all the 
 powers and energies of the soul, and in a similar manner 
 to be the very seat, abode, or habitation of the whole soul. 
 The Son is said to have been sent into the world by the 
 Father, because the humanity was conceived by the power 
 of the Divinity. He is also said to have life in himself, just 
 as the Father hath, because the Divinity and Humanity 
 are united in one person, as the soul and body are united in 
 one man, whatsoever is done by the one being at the same 
 time done by the other also. Hence, when the prophet 
 Isaiah predicted the birth of the Son, he declared that very 
 offspring of the Father to be, in a certain respect, the ever- 
 lasting Father himself, Isa. ix. 6, because they are insepara- 
 bly one, like the soul and body of a man, though still capa- 
 ble of being distinguished, as the soul is distinguishable 
 from the body. Hence, also, when Philip desired to see 
 the Father, supposing him to be a different Being from the 
 Lord, whom he then addressed, he received for answer, 
 " He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father," John xiv. 
 9 : as much as to say, " He that hath seen the Humanity, 
 hath seen all that can be seen of the Divinity." And hence 
 again the Son of Man, when seen by John in the midst of 
 the seven golden candlesticks, saith, "I am Alpha and 
 Omega, the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the 
 Last, who Was, who Is, and who Is To Come, the Almighty," 
 Apoc, i. 8, 11, 17. 
 
 That the Holy Spirit is the virtue or operation proceed- 
 ing immediately from the Lord, that is, from the Humanity 
 and Divinity united, is plain from this circumstance, that 
 after his resurrection, " he breathed on his disciples, and 
 saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit," John xx. 22: 
 from which it evidently follows, that the breath or divine 
 truth proceeding from him is what is properly called the 
 
46 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 Hohj Spirit. This divine truth proceeding from his Hu- 
 manity, wJieii glorified, is in certain respects distinguisliable 
 from that divine truth, which he uttered, and which he him- 
 self was, before his glorification, that is, before his crucifixion 
 and resurrection : on which account it is written, after he 
 liad given a general invitation to the people to come unto 
 him, and to drink living water, " But this spake he of the 
 S])irit, which they that believe on him should receive : for 
 the Holy Spirit was not yet, because that Jesus was not yet 
 glorified," John vii. 39. And further, as everything pro- 
 ceeding from the Lord must partake of his divine quality, 
 and thus be in a manner identified with him, Ave therefore 
 find, that when in one place, John xvi. 7, he promises to 
 send the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, after his departure 
 from the world, and in another place, John xiv. 16, 17, en- 
 gages that the Father shall send him, he at length plainly 
 declares, that he himself, as the fountain and source of all 
 divine truth, is that very Comforter, that same Holy Spirit, 
 of whom he was speaking : " I will not leave you comfort- 
 less (says he) ; I will come to you," John xiv. 18. And 
 lastly, as the most undeniable testimony, that both the 
 Father and the Son, together with the Holy Spirit, are 
 identified as one and the same Comforter, that was promised 
 to visit and to dwell with and in his people, our Lord in 
 answer to Judas, says, " If a man love me, he will keep my 
 words ; and my Father will love him, and we will come unto 
 him, and make our abode ivith him," John xiv. 23. 
 
 All this Mr. Pike flatly denies, p. 11, because he cannot 
 comprehend how "the Father can be at once Father, 
 Son, and Holy Spirit," or how the three essentials of Di- 
 vinity and Humanity, and Operation, can be constituent 
 of one God, as the soul, body, and operation are of one 
 man. But he finds no difficulty in admitting, that three 
 persons, each of whom is a separate and distinct God, form 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 47 
 
 altogether only one God ; as if the multijdication of Gods had 
 the effect of dmiiiifhing their number! a mystery well 
 Avorthy of such a faith, which shuns the light of truth, and 
 closes the eye of the understanding in worse than Egyptian 
 darkness. V 
 
 Because the Scriptures, according to the Eastern manner 
 of personifying and embodying things, principles, and es- 
 sences, declare, that God sent his Son into the world, and 
 that Jesus came down from heaven to do the will of him 
 that sent him, it is inferred, that they must of necessity be 
 two jiersons : * for were it otherwise, says Mr. Pike, and 
 were Jesus absolutely God the Father himself, then he 
 would have come unsent, and he should have said, " Sent by 
 no one, I came from heaven to do my own will." However 
 strange it may appear to those, who are unacquainted with 
 the true nature of divine language, which is infinitely supe- 
 rior to the petty rules of grammar, on which I observe Mr. 
 Pike, Mr. Roby, wli^)m he has pressed into his service, Mr. 
 Grundy, Dr. Priestly, Dr. Bayley, and other opposers of 
 the New Church, have built their respective systems, it is a 
 fact equally founded upon the Old Testament, and testified 
 by our Lord himself in the New, that the sender and the per- 
 son sent are in this case one and the same Divine Being. It 
 is acknowledged on all hands, that Jehovah the Father is the 
 sender, and that the Saviour and Redeemer of the world is 
 the person se7it. Now Jehovah saith of himself, " I am Je- 
 hovah, and beside me there is no Saviour," Isa. xliii. 11. 
 " I Jehovah am thy Saviour and Redeemer," Isa. xlix. 26. 
 
 *The objection, which is here noticed, was long ago urged by Dr. 
 Priestly, and has been repeated by others since his time. Indeed tlie 
 greater part of Mr. Pike's objections have been answered over and 
 over again. See the Rev. J. Clowe's Letters to the Rev. J. Grundy, 
 and to the Eev. W. Roby ; also the Author's Letters to Dr. Priestly, 
 and his Seal upon the lips of Unitarians and 'Trinitarians, etc. 
 
48 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 The prophet also, addressing Jehovah, saith, "Doubtless 
 thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, 
 and Israel acknowledge us not .- thou, 0 Jehovah, art our 
 Father, our Redeemer ; thy name is from everlasting," Isa. 
 Ixiii. 16. Again, Jesus said unto the Jejfs, " He that sent 
 me, is "with r)ie : the Father hath not left me alone," John 
 viii. 29. " The Father is in me, and I m him," John x. 38. 
 " He that believeth on me, believeth not on me (separately 
 from the Father), but on /lim that sent me : and he that 
 seeth me, seeth him that sent me," John xii. 44, 45. " I 
 and the Father are 07ie," John x. 30. Here the very doc- 
 trine objected to is plainly asserted by our Lord, viz., that 
 he and the Father, who sent him, are one and the same. 
 Not that the Humanity was in all respects the same as the 
 Divinity ; for the former was visible, while the latter was 
 invisible ; but both together constituted one divine person, 
 of which the Divinity or Father was the soul, and the Hu- 
 manity or Son was the body ; and we have already seen, 
 that these two, though distinguished by name, are regarded 
 in the Sacred Scriptures as One God, manifested in the 
 flesh, for the redemption and salvation of his creatures. 
 
 It is further insisted upon, by those who deny the Father 
 and the Son to be one person, like the soul and body in 
 man, that it is a "palpable absurdity" to suppose, that these 
 two, the soul and the body, can address each other, and 
 speak of each other, as the Father and the Son are known 
 to do. The answer to this is short and plain. It is the 
 usual language of divine inspiration, which, as before ob- 
 served, personifies things, principles, and states of life, giv- 
 ing to each the appearance of a separate existence, when 
 at the same time it is only intended to show, in a sensible 
 manner, the nature of the intercourse and communication 
 between things internal and things external, belonging to 
 one and the same individual. Hence David with his ex- 
 
WRITINGS OP EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 
 
 49 
 
 ternal addresses his internal in the following manner: 
 "Ble«s Jehovah, 0 my soul; and all that is within me, bless 
 his holy name. Bless Jeliovah, 0 my soul, and forget not 
 all his benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who 
 healeth all thy diseases; who redeemeth thy life from de- 
 struction ; who crowneth thee with loving-kindness and 
 tender mercies ; who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, 
 so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles," Ps. ciii. 1 to 
 5. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art 
 thou disquieted within mef Ps. xlii. 5, 11; Ps. xliii. 5. 
 "Eeturn to thy rest, 0 my soul; for Jehovah hath dealt 
 bountifully with thee," Ps. cxvi. 7. "Praise Jehovah, 0 
 my soul," Ps. cxlvi. 1. Deborah also, in her song after the 
 death of Sisera, addresses her own soul, saying, " 0 my soul, 
 thou hast trodden down strength," Judg. v. 21. And old 
 Jacob, in his prophetic denunciation of Simeon and Levi, 
 whose conduct had sorely grieved him, says, " 0 my soul, 
 come not thou into their secret ; unto their assembly, mine 
 honor, be not thou united," Gen. xlix. 6. The same mode 
 of speech is adopted in the parable of the rich man, who 
 was covetous, and desirous of enlarging his barns : after 
 resolving on this measure, he adds, " I will say to my soul, 
 Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take 
 thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry," Luke xii. 19. 
 
 In these passages David, Deborah, Jacob, and the rich 
 man, address theii- oivn souls in the plainest terms ; yet who, 
 besides Mr. Pike and his friends, ever supposed, that their 
 souls were different and distinct persons from their bodies, 
 or from themselves? If there be any "palpable absurdity" 
 in the case, it must lie on the side of those gentlemen, who, 
 having these examples before their eyes, still ignorantly 
 and obstinately assert, that it is foreign to the nature of 
 divine language to represent the soul and body of a man 
 as conversing with and addi-cssing each other, in all re- 
 5 
 
50 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 spects as if they were two distinct beings, when at the same 
 time it is well known, that both together constitute only 
 one individual. In like manner, when the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures represent the Son as introducing to the Father, as 
 mediating and interceding with him for the human race, 
 and also as sitting at his right hand, they conceive it im- 
 possible, that any other idea can be attached to the terms, 
 than what they usually and literally import, namely, a 
 personal distinction between the Father and the Son : and 
 hence they reason, as Mr. Pike has done, "If Jesus were 
 the Father, with whom would he intercede? To what 
 God would he introduce those he saves ? On the throne 
 of what Father would he have sat down ?" Such vain and 
 idle questions in the first place betray ignorance of the 
 true scriptural sense of mediation and intercession, which 
 are terms expressive of the divine mercy, clemency, and 
 grace of One God in his Humanity ; in reference to which 
 circumstance the Son is called a Mediator and Intercessor 
 with the Father, because the Humanity is the only Medium 
 whereby man has access to the divine nature, and by which 
 he receives the blessings of redemption and salvation. 
 Intercession is perpetual mediation in the way thus de- 
 scribed. In the next place, the questions above quoted are 
 grounded on the false supposition, that there is some God 
 greater than Jesus Christ, to whom men are to be intro- 
 duced by him, in order that they may be completely happy ; 
 as if the Saviour himself had not a sufiiciency of Divinity 
 for his share, when portioned out by these tri personal ists, 
 to bless with final and eternal salvation those who had 
 worshiped him as their God ! A shameful indignity this 
 offered to the person and character of that Lord, who came 
 into the world to effect the redemption and salvation of his 
 own people, by his own divine arm, Isa. Ixiii, 5, 8 ; whom 
 Peter addressed, saying, " Lord, to whom shall we go ? thou 
 
WRITINGS OF EMAJiTCEL SWEDEJTBOEG. 51 
 
 hast the words of eternal life," John vi. 68 : and who him- 
 self says in the Gospel, " Come unto me, all ve that labour, 
 and are heavy-laden, and 1 will give you rent," Matt. xi. 2;^ ; 
 "I am the way, and the truth, and the life," John xiv. 6 ; 
 "I and my Father are one," John x. 30. "I am Alpha 
 and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Fird and the 
 Last," Apoc. xxii. 13. 
 
 This doctrine concerning the person of the Lord, and 
 his identity with Jehovah the Father himself, from whom 
 proceeds the Holy Spirit of truth, is the only scriptural 
 and rational view that can be taken of the divine trinity, 
 the only one also that is consistent with the divine unity, 
 being free from those manifold contradictions and absurdi- 
 ties, which necessarily attend the tripersonal scheme. Yet 
 excellent as it is, and worthy of universal reception, it has 
 to sustain the attacks of many enemies, though it can never 
 be combated with any reasonable hope of success. Romish 
 priests, ministers of the Church of England, Methodists, 
 Arminians, Calvinists, Unitarians, and Baptists, have all 
 concurred in assailing the doctrines of the ]!few Church, 
 and especially that of the divine trinity in one person ; but 
 hitherto their united efforts have in vain been exerted to 
 rob the Saviour of his exclusive Divinity, and to remove 
 from his head that crown of glory, which the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures have awarded him, not as a Joint pomemm in common 
 with two others, but as his own sole right, in quality of 
 Creator, Redeemer, and Regenerator of mankind. These 
 kings of the earth, these rulers of the Church, have in their 
 rage imagined a vain thing ; they have set themselves in 
 array, they have taken counsel together, against Jehovah, 
 and against his Anointed, that is, against the Divine 
 Essence and the Divine Form, the Divinity and the Hu- 
 manity, united as they are in the person of Jesus Christ. 
 But their bands have been broken asunder, their cords 
 
52 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 have been cast away, and the lawful Sovereign of the 
 Church has been placed upon the holy hill of Zion, where 
 he sliall continue to reign, until the heathen become his 
 inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth his pos- 
 session. Ps. ii. 1 to 8.* 
 
 XIV. — The Lord became the Wokd even in its 
 Ultimates. 
 
 Another gross misrepresentation, which Mr. Pike has 
 been guilty of, in mutilating the language of Swedenborg 
 and omitting those very expressions on which his argument 
 hinges, occurs where speaking of Swedenborg. Mr. Pike 
 says, " This man contradicts the Scriptures again by assert- 
 ing that Christ became the Word by fulfilling what was 
 written there." But a . fraud of this kind, committed on 
 the unsuspecting reader apparently for the purpose of bias- 
 ing his mind against the author in question, and against 
 doctrines which can never be overthrown, must, when de- 
 tected, like every ungenerous act, return without a blessing 
 
 * The translators of the Bible, by adding the word saying at the 
 end of verse 2 of the 2d Psalm, have put the language contained in 
 the 3d verse into the mouth of the Lord's enemies, and made them to 
 say, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords 
 from us." But this is a plain perversion of the original text, and 
 generates an idea that was never intended to be excited by the in- 
 spired penman. And it may well be asked, What bands, what cords 
 have Jehovah and his Anointed prepared for any of the children of 
 men, that require to be burst asunder? The truth is, that the false 
 and evil principles, represented by the kings of the earth, and the 
 rulers of the people, do actually combine together to overthrow the 
 genuine doctrine of the Divinity of the Lord's Humanity, and thus 
 to deprive his real worshipers of that spiritual liberty and happi- 
 ness, which result from the acknowledgment and possession of the 
 truth, John viii. 32. It is therefore against those spiritual enemies, 
 that the Psalmist, in the name of the Church, exclaims, "Let us break 
 their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us," 
 
"WRITINGS OF KMAMTKT. RWKDEXnORG. 
 
 53 
 
 to him who gave it birth. Tlien, to sliow wherein the con- 
 tradiction consists, he makes the following quotations: 
 
 " SwEDENBORG. — " The Lord, during his abode in the . 
 world, fulfilled all things contained in the Word, and 
 thei-eby was made the Word." Tr. Chr. Rei, 261. 
 
 " The Holy Scriptures. — " In the beginning was the 
 Word. All things were made by him. And the Word ivas 
 made fieah." John i. 1, 3, 14." 
 
 The injustice comj)lained of in the preceding quotation 
 from Swedenborg consists in the omission of certain words, 
 on which the true sense of the author depends. He ob- 
 serves that the Lord was made the Word, and immediately 
 adds, "that is, divine truth, even in its ultimates." But 
 these last words are willfully omitted by Mr. Pike, in order 
 to make it appear that he contradicts the Scriptures, which 
 say that the Lord was the Word in the beginning, or before 
 the incarnation. The doctrine intended to be inculcated 
 by Swedenborg is, that by the Lord's accomplishing or ful- 
 filling the Scriptures in his own person, while in the world, 
 he thereby became the Word in ultimates or last prineipks, 
 as he was before the incarnation the same Word in Jird 
 principles; and thus, as he was from all eternity the Alpha, 
 so he became in time the Omega also. Mr. Pike's design, 
 however, is evidently to represent Swedenborg as asserting 
 that the Lord was not the Word originally, but only became 
 such after his incarnation, in the same sense and in the same 
 respect as the Scriptures declare him to have been from the 
 beginning. Accordingly he attempts to form a contrast be- 
 tween Swedenborg and the Scriptures : but as he could not 
 do this with any show of plausil)ility in any other way than 
 by omitting that part of the sentence which defines the 
 sense in which Swedenborg says the Lord became the 
 Word, namely, a,? to ultimates, he therefore hesitates not to 
 mutilate the author in the most essential 2>ai't of his sub- 
 6 « 
 
54 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 ject, and then to hold him up to unmerited contempt. But 
 let the noble Swedenborg speak for himself. 
 
 " That the Lord, during his abode in the world, fulfilled 
 all things contained in the Word, and that he was thereby- 
 made divine truth, or the Word, even in its ultimates, is un- 
 derstood by these words in John, "And the Word was made 
 flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the 
 glory as of the Only-begotten of the Father, full of grace 
 and truth," chap. i. 14: to be made fle^h is to be made the 
 Word in its ultimates, A representation of the Lord, as 
 the Word in its ultimates, was exhibited before his disci- 
 ples at his transfiguration," Matt. xvii. 2, &c. ; Mark ix. 
 2, &c. ; Luke ix. 28, &c. ; and it is there said that Moses 
 and Elias appeared in glory. By Moses is meant the Word 
 which was written by him, and in general the Historical 
 Word ; and by Elias the Prophetical Word. The Lord, as 
 the Word in its ultimates, was also represented before John 
 in the Revelation, chap. i. 13 to 16; where all parts of the 
 description given of him signify the ultimates of divine 
 truth, or of the Word. The Lord indeed, before his incar- 
 nation, was the Word, or divine truth ; but then it was in 
 its first or most pure essence, for it is said, " In the beginning 
 was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the 
 Word," John i. 1 : but when the Word was made flesh, then 
 the Lord was made the Word in its ultimates also ; and it 
 is from this circumstance that he is called the First and the 
 Last, Apoc. i. 8, 11, 17; chap. ii. 8; chap. xxi. 6; chap, 
 xxii. 13 ; Isa. xliv. 6." Tr. Chr. Eel., 261. 
 
 The author then, in confirmation of the doctrine here ad- 
 vanced, brings forward a great variety of passages, to show 
 that the Lord came into the world to fulfill the Scriptures, 
 and that they were actually fulfilled in, upon, and in refer- 
 ence to his person, agreeably to his own words, " All things 
 must be fulfilled ivhich were written in the law of Moses, and 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 55 
 
 ill the Prophets, and in the Psahns concerning me," Luke 
 xxiv. 44, 45. Wlieu upon the cross, " Jesus, knowing that 
 all things were now accomplished, said, I thirst ; " and after- 
 ward, " It is finished, or fulfilled," John xix. 28, 30. 
 
 XV. — God is not an Angry, Vindictive, and Re- 
 lentless Being. 
 
 It is again objected to Swedenborg, that he vindicates the 
 Divine Being from the aspersions so continually cast upon 
 him by those who read without understanding his Word. 
 Mr. Pike, asserts, and endeavors to prove by a variety of 
 quotations from the Sacred Scriptures, that God is "an 
 angry, fierce, vindictive, and relentless Being ; that he is 
 ready, on the slightest offence, to take vengeance on his 
 enemies ; to rain snares, fire and brimstone, and a hor- 
 rible tempest, upon every one of them ; and that, as he is 
 able to punish, so he will on all proper occasions distribute 
 sorrows in his anger, and inflict miseries in his indignation." 
 "While, on the contrary, Swedenborg, proclaims, in the 
 true spirit of that religion, which descended from on high, 
 that " the Lord, who delights in mercy and forgiveness, im- 
 putes good to man whenever it is to be found in him, and 
 not the least sort or degree of evil, this latter being the part 
 or office of the accuser of the brethren ; that God in himself 
 is never angry, that he never avengeth, hateth, condemneth, 
 punisheth, casteth into hell, or causeth evil to anyone;" 
 but that it is man, instigated by the devil, or hell, who, by 
 his acts of wickedness and disobedience to the divine law, 
 brings on himself all the evils of punishment ; and that 
 such evils, together with wrath, anger, and fury, are in the 
 letter of the Word ascribed to the Lord, only because they 
 appear to the wicked and to the uninstructed as if they pro- 
 ceeded from him, and that they might further operate as a 
 terror to evil-doers. 
 
56 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 XVI. — Comparison between Mr. Pike's God, and 
 THE God op Emanuel Swedenborg. 
 
 As Mr. Pike is fond of comparing Gods, let the reader 
 now follow his example, and mark in the preceding contrast 
 the difference of character between Mr. Pike's God and 
 the God of Emanuel Swedenborg. The former is represented 
 as a God of wrath, vengeance, and fierce anger, kind only 
 to his friends, hating and punishing his enemies, instead of 
 forgiving them, as he directs others to do ; "a hard and au- 
 stere man," Matt. xxv. 24 ; Luke xix. 21 ; highly suscept- 
 ible of offence, and when irritated, to be appeased only by 
 blood, not the blood of the guilty, and rebellious alone, but 
 a sweeter potion, the blood of the innocent. The latter, or 
 the God of Emanuel Swedenborg, is described by him as a 
 God of infinite and universal love, mercy, and compassion ; 
 a tender Parent to all his offspring Avithout exception ; as 
 it were " deaf and blind to the infirmities of his children," 
 Isa. xlii. 19, 20; "long-suffering, and abundant in goodness 
 and truth," Exod. xxxiv. 7 ; " pardoning iniquity, passing 
 by transgression, delighting in mercy," Micah vii. 18 ; in- 
 capable of revenge, requiring no sacrifice or burnt-offering 
 to render him propitious, much less the shedding of inno- 
 cent blood as an atonement and satisfaction for the sins of 
 the guilty, Ps. xl. 6 ; Ps. li. 16, 17 ; Hos. vi. 6 ; ready on 
 the first sign of repentance, while the sinner " is yet a great 
 way off, to run, and fall on his neck, and kiss him," Luke 
 XV. 20 ; and stipulating as the only condition, which man 
 is expected to observe, in order to his being qualified for 
 the enjoyment of eternal happiness, that he " do justly, 
 love mercy, and walk humbly with his God," Micah vi. 8 ; 
 and at the same time that he believe in the Lord as God 
 manifested in the flesh, John i. 14 ; chap. iii. 36 ; chap. vi. 
 40, 47. Such is the immense difference between the cha- 
 
WHITINGS OF EMANUEL S"nn>ENBORG. 
 
 57 
 
 racter of the God, whom ]\Ir. Pike professes to worship, the 
 character of a Moloch, a Juggernaut, a tyraut, whose heavy 
 chariot is the signal of death and despair ; and that of the 
 true God of heaven and earth, whom Emanuel Swenborg 
 proclaims to the world ; a God, " who is good to all, whose 
 tender mercies are over all his works," Ps. clxv. 9 ; and 
 who has proved himself to be the mild Parent, Protector, 
 and Benefactor of his people. 
 
 The sentiments of Swedenborg, and the doctrine which 
 he inculcates on this most important subject, are so appro- 
 priate, and so interesting, that the reader cannot fail to de- 
 rive both instruction and benefit from them. His own 
 words are as follow : " Even reason assents to the truth of 
 this proposition, viz., That the Lord cannot do evil to any 
 man, consequently cannot impute evil to any, inasmuch as 
 he is essential love and essential mercy, and thus essen- 
 tial goodnes-s, these being properties of his divine essence : 
 wherefore to attribute evil, or anything connected with 
 evil, to the Lord, would be contradictory to his divine es- 
 sence, and as wicked a thing as to join the Lord and the 
 devil together, or to unite heaven and hell, when yet " be- 
 tween them there is a great gulf fix^d, so that they rcho would 
 pass from one to the other cannot," Luke xvi. 26. It is not 
 possible even for an angel of heaven to do evil to any one, 
 because the essence of good from the Lord is in him ; and 
 on the other hand, it is impossible for a spirit of hell not to 
 do evil to another, because the nature of evil from the 
 devil is in him : the essence or nature, which any one hath 
 appropriated to himself during his abode in the world, can- 
 not be changed after death. Consider, I beseech you, what 
 sort of a Being would the Lord be, supposing him to regard 
 the wicked with an eye of wrath, and the good with an eye 
 of mercy? The wicked are millions upon millions in num- 
 ber, and so also are the good : supposing then the Lord to 
 
58 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 save the latter by an act of grace, and to condemn the 
 former by an act of vengeance, and to look upon these with 
 a fierce and implacable countenance, and upon those with a 
 countenance of mildness and mercy, what sort of a Being 
 must you, in such case, suppose the Lord God to be, who 
 could assume two such different countenances and cha- 
 racters? It is a common doctrine delivered from every 
 pulpit, that all good, truly and properly so-called, is from 
 God ; and on the contrary, that all evil, truly and properly 
 so-called, is from the devil. In case then any one should 
 receive both good and evil, good from the Lord, and evil 
 from the devil, and embrace both with his will-desires, must 
 he not needs fall under that description of persons, who are 
 neither cold nor hot, but luke-worm, and who are spewed 
 out of the Lord's mouth, according to his words in the 
 Kevelation, chap. iii. 15, 16?" Tr. Chr. Rel, 651, 
 
 The fact is, that the Sacred Scriptures are written in some 
 places according to the appearances of truth, and thus adapted 
 to the capacities of children, the ignorant, and the wicked ; 
 and in other places according to the genuine truth, for the 
 more immediate use and benefit of those who are better in- 
 structed. An individual, or a church consisting of many 
 individuals, may draw his doctrine either from the one set 
 of truths, or from the other : he cannot from both at the 
 same time, without confounding all the distinctions of good 
 and evil, of truth and falsehood, and thus produce the luke- 
 warm state above described. 
 
 XVII. — Redemption, how Understood. 
 
 The next subject, on which Mr. Pike takes occasion to 
 quarrel with Swedenborg, is that of redemption — a subject 
 which appears to have been totally misunderstood by 
 Christians in general, who have supposed that it consisted 
 merely in the passion of the cross, as an act of atonement 
 
WUITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 59 
 
 for the sins of mankind ; and therefore it is no wonder that 
 Mr. Pike, like the rest of his brethren of ahnost all sects, 
 should take tire on finding this his favorite scheme most 
 effectually overthrown both by reason and by a sound in- 
 terpretation of the Sacred Scriptures. A short view of the 
 faith now so prevalent in the Church will be sufficient to 
 show its absurdity, and even its wickedness. But as this 
 cannot be given more clearly than in the words of Swe- 
 denborg, the attention of the reader is called to the follow- 
 ing extract fi'om his work, entitled True Christian Religion: 
 " ^yhat doctrine doth more abound in the books of the 
 orthodox at this day, or what is more zealously taught and 
 insisted on in the schools of divinity, or more constantly 
 preached and cried up in the pulpit, than this, viz., that 
 God the Father, being full of wrath against mankind, not 
 only separated them from himself, but also sentenced them 
 to universal damnation, and thereby excommunicated them? 
 But because he was gracious and merciful, that he per- 
 suaded or excited his Son to descend and take upon him- 
 self the determined curse, and thus expiate the wrath of 
 his Father, who might thus be prevailed upon to look with 
 an eye of mercy again upon mankind ; and likewise that 
 this was effected by the Son, who, in taking upon himself 
 the curse pronounced against men, suffered himself to be 
 scourged by the Jews, to be spit upon, and lastly to be cru- 
 cified as the accursed of God, Deut, xxi. 23 ; and that the 
 Father was by this means appeased, and out of love toward 
 his Son canceled the sentence of damnation, but yet only 
 in favor of those for whom the Son would intercede, who 
 was in this respect to be a perpetual Mediator in the pres- 
 ence of the Father. These and the like doctrines are at 
 this day trumpeted forth from the pulpit, and re-echoed 
 from the walls of the temple, as sound is re-echoed in a 
 wood, so that the ears of all present are filled with it. 
 
60 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 But who, that hath his reason enlightened and purified by 
 the Word, cannot see that God is mercy and clemency 
 itself, because he is love and goodness itself, and that 
 they are his essence; and consequently that it is a con- 
 tradiction to say, that mercy itself, or goodness itself, can 
 behold man with an angry eye, and sentence him to 
 damnation, and still abide in its divine essence? Such 
 dispositions are never ascribed to a good man, or an an- 
 gel of heaven, but only to a wicked man and a spirit of 
 hell ; wherefore it is blasphemy to ascribe them to God. 
 But if we inquire into the cause of this false judgment, we 
 shall find it to be this, that men have taken it for granted 
 that the passion of the cross was true redemption ; and 
 hence have flowed those other opinions, like so many falses 
 flowing in a continued series from one single false princi- 
 ple, or as from a cask of vinegar nothing but vinegar can 
 come forth, or as from an insane mind we can exjiect noth- 
 ing but insanity. For one point being taken for granted, 
 the conclusions that are made thereupon must have rela- 
 tion to it, because they originate in it, and are severally 
 and successively produced from it ; and from this one point 
 concerning the passion of the cross, as constituting the sum 
 of redemption, many shocking and impious opinions about 
 God may still take rise, and go forth into the world, until 
 that prophecy of Isaiah comes to be fulfilled, viz. : ' TJie 
 priest and the prophet have erred through strong drink, they 
 stumble in judgment : all tables are full of vomit and filthi- 
 ness,' chap, xxviii. 7, 8. 
 
 " That this idea concerning God, and concerning redemp- 
 tion, pervades the faith which prevails at this day through- 
 out all Christendom, is an acknowledged truth ; for that 
 faith requires that men pray to God the Father to remit 
 their sins for the sake of the cross and blood of his Son, 
 and to God the Son that he would pray and intercede for 
 
WRITINGS OP EMANUEI^ SWEDENBORG. 
 
 61 
 
 them, and to God the Holy Ghost that he would justify and 
 sanctify them ; and what is all tliis but to supplicate three 
 distinct Gods one after another ? And, in such a case, how 
 can the notion which the mind forms of the divine govern- 
 ment differ from that of an aristocratical or hierarchical 
 government? or from that of the triumvirate which once 
 existed at Rome, if only instead of triumvirate it be called 
 a triumpersonate ? And in such a government what is 
 easier than for the devil to put in practice the old proverb, 
 Divide and rule, that is, to distract men's minds, and excite 
 rebellious motions, sometimes against one God, and some- 
 times against another, as hath been his practice since the 
 time of Arius to this day, and thereby to dethrone the 
 Lord God and Saviour, 'who hath all power in heaven and, 
 in earth,' Matt, xxviii. 18 ; and to exalt some client of his 
 own in the Lord's place, and to worship him, or refuse wor- 
 shij) both to him and to the Lord?" Tr. Chr. Rel. 132, 133. 
 
 Against such a system of redemption as that above de- 
 scribed, every truly rational man must surely lift up his 
 voice; for, in the first place, it supposes there are more Divine 
 Beings than one, when yet reason as well as revelation 
 spurns the idea; in the next place it ascribes wrath and 
 a vindictive spirit to one of those Beings, and not to the 
 other, though both are said to possess the same essence or 
 nature, which is contradictory and absurd ; and in the 
 third place it represents one of those Beings, called the 
 Son, as offering himself a sacrifice in the room of man- 
 kind, to pacify his Father's wrath, when yet it is contrary 
 to every principle of justice, both human and divine, that 
 the innocent should suffer for the crimes of the guilty. 
 Nor is it less repugnant to the true sense of Sacred Scrip- 
 tures than to enlightened reason, for in them it is distinctly 
 declared that there is only one Divine Being, only one God, 
 of pure unbounded love, besides whom there is neither Cre- 
 6 
 
62 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 ator, Redeemer, nor Saviour, Isa. xliii. 1, 3, 11, 14, 15 ; 
 chap. xliv. 6, 24 ; who never did desire sacrifice and burnt- 
 offering, but mercy and obedience, the only sacrifice accept- 
 able to him being a broken heart. Ps. xl. 6 ; Ps. 11. 16, 
 17 ; Hos. vi. 6 ; Jer. vii. 22, 23. 
 
 Redemption then did not, as is too generally supposed, 
 consist in the mere passion of the cross, nor in the pacifica- 
 tion of divine wrath ; neither is it any where so asserted by 
 our Lord, when he speaks of his sufferings and crucifixion. 
 But being a work purely divine, and effected by the omnipo- 
 tence of the Saviour while in Humanity, it consisted in the 
 deliverance of man from spiritual captivity by the actual 
 subjugation of the powers of darkness, in the orderly arrange- 
 ment of the heavens, and in the consequent foundation of 
 a new Church on earth. The subjugation of the powers of 
 darkness is described in these words of the prophet, " I have 
 trodden the wine-press alone, and of the people there was 
 none with me : for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample 
 them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my 
 garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the day 
 of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed 
 is come," Isa. Ixiii. 3, 4. Similar is the description given 
 in many other parts of the Old Testament; and in the 
 New we read as follows, " iVbw is the judgment of this world ; 
 now shall the prince of this world be cast out," John xii. 31. 
 "The prince of this world is judged," John xvi. 11. "I 
 beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven," Luke x. 18. 
 At the same time new heavens were formed above, and a 
 new earth below, that is, a new Church both in the spiritual 
 and in the natural world, wherein, according to prophecy, 
 should dwell righteousness and peace ; see Isa. Ixv. 18, etc. ; 
 chap. Ixvi. 22, etc. Thus the Lord, when on earth, by acts 
 of redemption, restored that order which had been dis- 
 turbed by the overwhelming power of evil, and put man 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDEXBORG. 63 
 
 again into the capacity of being reformed, regenerated and 
 finally saved. 
 
 Mr. Pike, after quoting a variety of passages from 
 Swedenborg to the effect above stated, which he ignorantly 
 supposes to be in opposition to the Sacred Scriptures 
 and the writings of the apostles, says, that according to 
 these latter " Christ died /or us ;" and that we have " for- 
 giveness of sins through his blood;" by which expressions 
 he understands, that Christ died instead of vian, or in his 
 room; and that, in consideration of the natural blood shed 
 upon the cross, God was induced to be merciful to man, and 
 to forgive his transgressions. This erroneous view of the 
 nature of the Lord's sufferings and death arises, in part, 
 from a complete misapprehension of the terms used, and 
 applying them in a sense never contemplated by the in- 
 spired writers. That the Lord laid down his life for the 
 sheep, John x. 15, is indeed true ; but not that he did so in 
 their stead, in the way of a vicarious sacrifice, and for the 
 purpose of appeasing the wrath of the Father. And again, 
 that man is purified and saved through the blood of the 
 Lamb, is equally true ; but not according to the vulgar 
 notion, that the natural blood of an innocent person, shed 
 more than eighteen hundred years ago, or a belief in the 
 history which records that transaction, procured or procures 
 for man the blessings of redemption and salvation. 
 
 Let us examine the subject with candor and impartial- 
 ity. To die for or in the room of man, is one thing ; and to 
 die for, on account of, or for the sake of him, is another. 
 The former sense is that which Mr. Pike and others attach 
 to the word for : the latter is the true scriptural sense of 
 the same expression. "When a soldier, who is a true 
 patriot, yields up his life in the field of battle, he is said to 
 die for his country, because he dies in defence of, for the 
 sake of, or for the benefit of his country, but surely not in- 
 
64 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 stead or in the room of his country. So when the Lord 
 submitted to be crucified, the Scriptures represent him as 
 laying down his life /or his people, that is, /or their sake, for 
 their benefit and advantage, that entering through sufferings 
 and death into his glory, Luke xxiv. 26, he might be for 
 ever in the act of communicating to them all those spiritual 
 blessings, which his mercy in becoming incarnate ha<l ren- 
 dered them capable of enjoying. Hence he says, "I tell 
 you the truth, it is exjjedient for you that I go away (by 
 death and resurrection) : for if I go not away, the Com- 
 forter will not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send 
 him unto you," John xvi. 7. 
 
 Again, when the prophet says, "He was wounded for 
 our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; for 
 the transgression of my people was he stricken ; thou shalt 
 make his soul an offering for sin," Isa. liii. 5, 8, 10, we are 
 not to understand, that he was wounded, bruised, and 
 stricken, instead of our transgressions and iniquities, still 
 less that he made his soul an offering in behalf of sin, or in 
 its favor and support, as the word for in one of its senses 
 literally implies, but that he suffered such things by reason 
 of our transgressions, and on account of our sin. This dis- 
 tinction should be well attended to ; otherwise the most in- 
 coherent, irrational, and unscriptural conclusions may be 
 formed respecting the great work of redemption, which was 
 effected by the Lord solely for the sake of benefiting man- 
 kind, and not for the purpose of inducing any change in 
 some other Being superior to himself, or of extorting as it 
 were from him an act of grace and mercy toward the 
 human race by the intensity of his suffering, and the 
 urgency of his intercession. 
 
 With respect to the blood of Christ, or the blood of the 
 0 Lamb, which has also been so much dwelt upon by soli- 
 fidians of every name and sect, it is of importance to ob- 
 
WRITINGS or EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 65 
 
 serve, that the genuine scriptural idea intended to be sug- 
 gested by these expressions is, not natural or material blood, 
 but the divine truth proceeding from the Lord, and con- 
 tained in his Holy Word. For as " blood is the life of all 
 flesh," Levit. xvii. 14, and flesh as such "profiteth nothing," 
 John vi. 63 ; so the blood of Christ, the blood of the Lamb, 
 and the blood of the Son of Man, are expressions used to 
 denote the spiritual and divine life of the Lord, con- 
 sequently of his Word also, since the words of the Lord, 
 like the Lord himself, "are spirit, truth, and life," John vi. 
 63 ; chap. xiv. 6. It is this spiritual blood, and this 
 alone, that cleanses, purifies, sanctifies, and regenerates. 
 "Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. And 
 for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be 
 sanctified through the truth," John xvii. 17, 19. It is the 
 same spiritual blood, in conjunction with the flesh of the 
 Son of Man, which gives eternal life to all who eat and 
 drink thei-eof " Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of ]\Ian, 
 and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth 
 my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life: for my 
 flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed," John 
 vi. 53 to 55. It is again the same spiritual blood, by 
 which redemption and salvation are effected: "Thou hast 
 redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, 
 and tongue, and people, and nation," Apoc. v. 9. "These 
 are they who came out of great tribulation, and have 
 washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the 
 Lamb," Apoc. vii. 14. "And they overcame the great 
 dragon, that old serpent, called the devil and satan, by the 
 blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony," 
 Apoc. xii. 11. 
 
 Will Mr. Pike now insist, that the Lord's natural flesh 
 is to be eaten, and his natural blood to be drunk, in order 
 that man may receive eternal life? or that the robes of 
 6* 
 
66 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 the saints are literally washed in blood, and that by such a 
 process they are made white f As well may he argue in 
 this childish and trifling way, as contend, when the Scrip- 
 tures speak of the blood of Christ, or the blood of the Lamb, 
 whereby man was redeemed and rescued from the power of 
 evil, and by virtue of which he receives the forgiveness of 
 his sins, that they mean the material blood which was shed 
 upon the cross, and, in consequence of that circumstance, 
 the pacification of divine wrath. But the whole system of 
 these literalists, materialists, and tri-personalists, is of a 
 piece : it is rotten in its foundation, and its superstructure 
 already totters to the fall. How any man of common 
 understanding can for a moment give countenance to such 
 manifest inconsistencies and absurdities, as are necessarily 
 attendant on the doctrine of a trinity of persons, is indeed 
 matter of astonishment. Three Divine Beings, or three 
 Gods, co-eval and co-equal with each other, and at the same 
 time subordinate in rank one under another ; of the same 
 essence, majesty, and glory, yet possessing different and 
 discordant attributes ; the first furious and vindictive, re- 
 quiring satisfaction for his offended honor by no less a 
 penalty than the death of his own Son, in the room of the 
 guilty ; the second merciful, and willing to pay tliat penalty 
 by the sacrifice of himself ; and the third standing by the 
 two former in the character of neutrality, or as a mere 
 cipher in the supposed consultation, yet ready to under- 
 take whatever office may be assigned him by the others his 
 companions ; are positions so monstrous, so disgraceful to 
 the professors of modern Christianity, that it is no wonder 
 the intelligent and wise of all nations, who are exempt 
 from the shackles of a blind and preposterous faith, should 
 treat the bare mention of such paradoxes with all the con- 
 tempt and scorn which they so richly deserve. Chris- 
 tianity itself, however, when rightly understood, is by no 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANTJEl, SWEDEXBORO. 
 
 67 
 
 means chargeable with these insanities, but, on the con- 
 trary, is the most rational, consistent, and benign system 
 of religion, that has ever yet appeared among men, requir- 
 ing only to be fairly represented, and candidly heard, to 
 gain the admiration of every good and virtuous mind. 
 
 XVIII. — Angels Redeemed as well as Men. 
 
 It is further objected that " Swedenborg asserts, in defi- 
 ance of the Holy Scriptures, that the Lord not only re- 
 deemed men, but angels also." When a writer is charged 
 with holding a doctrine in defiance of the Holy Scriptures, 
 it must reasonably be expected that abundant and incon- 
 trovertible proof would be adduced from those Scriptures 
 in support of the accusation. But in this respect Mr. 
 Pike has completely failed ; he has not brought forward 
 even a single passage from any one of those books, 
 which have been proved, alone to constitute the Word of 
 God ; but has made three quotations from the Apostolic 
 Epistles which still leave the real question at issue un- 
 touched. The first is Heb. ii. 16, where the apostle speak- 
 ing of the Lord's assumption of the natural Humanity, 
 says, " Verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but 
 he took on him the seed of Abraham," by which is clearly 
 luiderstood, that, when the Lord came into the world for the 
 purpose of redemption, he made his appearance, not as here- 
 tofore in the person of an angel, or of a spirit separated from 
 the material body, or, which is still the same, of a deceased 
 man, Judg. xiii. 3, 6, 8 to 21 ; Dan. viii. 15, 16 ; chap. ix. 21 ; 
 chap. X. 5, 16, 18 ; but in a body of natural flesh and blood, 
 similar to those of the seed of Abraham and tribe of Judah. 
 The passage quoted by Mr. Pike, therefore, refers only to 
 the nature of that Humanity which was assumed by the 
 Lord, and not to the extent of the redemption wrought by 
 him, much less to the exclusion of deceased men, spirits, or 
 
68 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 angels, from all participation in the benefit thereof. For, 
 as already demonstrated beyond the shadow of a reasonable 
 doubt, it is the unequivocal testimony of the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures that angels and men are of one and the same race. 
 And hence it follows that if redemption were designed as 
 a blessing to all the families of mankind, it must have 
 extended to angels as well as men. This will appear the 
 more evident if it be considered that the true nature and 
 effect of redemption are not only to deliver from the power 
 of evil, but also to preserve in a state of integrity ; and as 
 neither man nor angel of himself possesses the least degree 
 of good, but derives it wholly from the Lord, and is from 
 moment to moment withheld from evil by him alone, it is 
 plain that the highest angel in heaven, as well as the hum- 
 blest individual in the Church on earth, is and will for ever 
 be in arrears of gratitude to the Saviour and Redeemer of 
 the world for security from danger, and the full assurance 
 of uninterrupted happiness. Why otherwise would it be 
 written, that " the angels, consisting of ten thousand times 
 ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, together with 
 the four beasts and the four and twenty elders of the supe- 
 rior heavens, fell down before the throne and ascribed to 
 the Lamb that was slain power, and riches, and wisdom, and 
 strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing?" Apoc. v. 
 11, 12; chap. vii. 11, 12. And why again, on a supposi- 
 tion that redemption was not in the true sense of the word 
 universal, are the angels of Michael, who fought against the 
 dragon and his angels, represented as overcoming him by 
 the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, 
 Apoc. xii. 7 to 11, if they did not know and feel that they 
 were indebted to the Lamb, that is, to the Incarnate God, 
 for all the blessings of redemption, salvation, and eter- 
 nal life? 
 
 The two next quotations are from Peter and Jude, and 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, 69 
 
 as they both contain the same sentiments they may be 
 regarded as one : " God spared not the angels that sinned, 
 but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains 
 of darkness to be reserved unto judgment," 2 Pet. ii. 4. 
 " The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their 
 own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains 
 under dai-kuess unto the judgment of the great day," Jude 6. 
 These two passages have already been considered, and 
 proved to relate, not to angels originally created such and 
 afterward cast out of heaven, according to the common 
 interpretation, but to the men of the Adamic or Most An- 
 cient Church on this earth, who being at one time in high 
 states of intelligence and wisdom, are described in the 
 Word as having within them the breath of lives, as being 
 living sotils, and dwelling in the garden of Eden, as in a 
 heavenly paradise, and thus living a kind of angelic life, 
 Gen. ii. 7, 8 ; but afterward lapsing into every kind of 
 wickedness, violence, and abomination, Gen. vi. 5, 12, 13. 
 In allusion to their state of integrity and perfection before 
 their fall they are also compared to angels in these words : 
 " The Lord God said. Behold, the man was* as one of us, 
 in knowing good and evil," Gen. iii. 22. The term us in 
 
 * In the common Bible version this passage is differently rendered, 
 the English translators probably thinking that the words referred to 
 the tlien fallen state of man, and not to his prior state of wisdom and 
 integrity; instead therefore of saying, "the man loas or has been na 
 one of us," they have said, " the man is become as one of us." But it 
 Ls very evident, both from the original Hebrew, hayah, and the gene- 
 ral tenor of the subject, that the passage ought to be rendered in the 
 corrected form, " the man was as one of us." The words immediately 
 following confirm the propriety of this translation; for, with a view 
 to show the difference between his former and his then present state, 
 it is added, "And now lest he put forth his hand," &c. What ia 
 meant by the expression as one of us may be seen explained in a 
 preceding section. 
 
70 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 the plural number has no relation whatever to a trinity of 
 persons in the Godhead, but to angels, or " the spirits of 
 just men made perfect," by whose ministry the reformaticm 
 and regeneration of man are uniformly effected. 
 
 Were it true, as Mr. Pike and others suppose, that the 
 angels spoken of by Peter and Jude were once pure, ethe- 
 real beings, destitute of bodily substance, and of course 
 exempt from the infirmities and frailties that flesh is heir 
 to, how it came to pass that they should " in like manner 
 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them, give 
 themselves over to fornication and going after strange flesh 
 Jude 7. Are we to suppose that these angels had the same 
 propensities as the sons of Ood, spoken of in Gen. vi. 2, 4, 
 who " saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took 
 them wives of all which they chose?" Or are we not 
 rather warranted in considering these descriptions as appli- 
 cable to man in his degenerate state, and not to any race, 
 whose habitation from their birth was in the skies? 
 
 From these observations it may be seen, that Mr. Pike 
 has failed to make good his charge against Swedenborg, of 
 maintaining a doctrine opposed to the Sacred Scriptures ; 
 since in conformity with these Swedenborg plainly teaches, 
 that angels and men are of the same race, having the 
 same faculties, and capable of the same enjoyments ; that 
 they are fellow-servants, brethren, and children of the 
 same Parent, who regards them all with an equal eye of 
 benevolence and mercy, having never refused to any one 
 description of his intelligent but fallen creatures what he 
 has liberally granted to another, namely, the opportunity 
 of repentance and amendment of life, together with all the 
 aids necessary to promote them ; consequently having never 
 passed by heaven-born rebels, for the purpose of stooping 
 to redeem a few earth-born worms. Yet these great truths 
 are denied by Mr. Pike and his Trinitarian friends, who, 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 
 
 71 
 
 concur in representing hira as partial in his loves, and un- 
 willing to hold out the sceptre of mercy, when most to be 
 desired, to the first and fairest portion of the works of his 
 hands. For they not only assert, that a great proportion 
 of the angels of heaven fell from their original integrity, 
 and plunged themselves into unspeakable misery, but that 
 their Creator beheld them in this deplorable condition with- 
 out the least emotion of pity or love ; that he had no bowels 
 of compassion toward them ; that he never, in conjunction 
 Avith his Son and the Holy Ghost, proposed or formed any 
 plan for their redemption and restoration ; and that he 
 willingly acquiesced in their everlasting damnation : while, 
 on the other hand, he suffered his anger, which had been 
 excited against fallen man, to be assuaged by the sufferings, 
 death, and intercession of a Saviour. According to such 
 doctrine, the angels, who faithfully stood their ground on 
 one trying occasion, may yet fall if another occurs : and 
 who knows how soon that may be? May not jealousy 
 spring up in their minds, when they see the supposed in- 
 ferior race of man crowned with equal if not superior honora 
 with themselves? May they not in their envy and an- 
 ger take up the language of the elder brother in the parable, 
 when they hear the music and dancing in their Father's 
 house on account of the return of their younger brother 
 man, and say to their God, " Lo, these many years do I 
 serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy command- 
 ments ; and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might 
 make merry with my friends : but as soon as this thy son 
 was come, who hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou 
 hast killed for him the fatted calf?" Luke xv. 25. to 30. 
 If some of the heavenly host have already been found 
 guilty of treason and rebellion against their King, what se- 
 curity is there, that the rest will not hereafter follow the 
 sad example of their companions, and like them be pre- 
 
72 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 cipitated into all the depths of misery and despair ? Shock- 
 ing as this may appear to a reflecting mind, it is yet no 
 more than what may be justly apprehended if the doctrine 
 concerning fallen angels be entitled to the credit which it 
 has so generally i-eceived. 
 
 How different are the views, which the New Church takes 
 both of the character of her God, and of the disjiensations of 
 his love toward all his creatures ? Instead of " limiting the 
 Holy One of Israel," she incessantly teaches, that " the 
 Lord is gracious and full of compassion; that he is good to 
 all; and that his tender mercies are over all his works," Ps. 
 cxlv. 8, 9 : consequently that angels are equally the objects 
 of his care and regard with men, and men equally with 
 angels ; nay, that being men, angels have all experienced 
 the blessings of salvation ; that not one of their race has 
 been passed by, and left without remedy or hope ; but that 
 all the inhabitants of heaven, as well as all the inhabitants 
 of the earth, without exception, are at this moment in posses- 
 sion of the benefits of redemption, each according to his 
 state of reception, angels in being thereby preserved in their 
 state of integrity, and men in the capacity thereby acquired 
 of being regenerated and finally saved. 
 
 Wheresoever therefore mention is made, in the Word, of 
 Lucifer, the son of the morning, who fell from heaven, as 
 in Isa. xiv. 12 ; or in the Apostolic Epistles, of angels who 
 keep not their first estate, but were cast down to hell, as in 
 Jude 6 and 2 Pet. ii. 4, we are uniformly to understand, 
 that the passages refer to men of very ancient times, who 
 being at first "perfect in their ways, until iniquity was found 
 in them," Ezek. xxviii. 15, and being afterward " lifted up 
 in their heart because of their beauty," ver. 16, at length 
 gave themselves up to every kind of vice and enormity, 
 and became as it were devils incarnate. This is the true 
 scriptural account of the fall of angels, while the commonly 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SAVEDENBORG. 73 
 
 received opinion is mere poetical fiction, and groundless im- 
 agination. 
 
 XIX. — Heaven and the Church as One Man. 
 
 Speaking further on the subject of redemption, without 
 which no man could have been saved, nor could the angels 
 have remained in a state of integrity, Swedenborg assigns 
 as a reason for this latter circumstance, that " the whole 
 angelic heaven, together with the Church on earth, is before 
 the Lord as a single man ; the highest heaven constituting 
 the head ; the second and lowest heaven, the breast and 
 middle region of the body; the Church on earth, the loins 
 and feet ; while the Lord himself is the soul and life of that 
 whole man." And he further adds, that " the defection of 
 the Church on earth may be compared to a mortification in 
 the feet of the natural body, by degrees rising upward, and 
 infecting the other parts, until in the end it proves fatal." 
 On which Mr. Pike takes occasion to exclaim, " Here is 
 childish fiction ! What idea can be more absurd, or more 
 unfounded in Scriptui-e or common sense, than this, that the 
 Church below and the heavens above are all united in the 
 shape of one vast man !" 
 
 Childish and absurd as this arrangement of many into 
 one form or body may appear to Mr. Pike, it is precisely 
 that which the apostle Paul has repeatedly pointed out in 
 several of his Epistles : and if the charge of folly and want 
 of common sense be good against one author, it must apply 
 with equal force against another. The Church, consisting 
 of many individuals, is thus described by the apostle above 
 named : "We being many are one body in Christ, and every 
 one members one of another," Rom. xii. 5. " Know ye not, 
 that your bodies are the members of Christ f" 1 Cor. vi. 15. 
 " We being many are one bread, and one body," 1 Cor. x. 
 17. " Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in par- 
 7 
 
74 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 ticiilar," 1 Cor. xii. 27. " The Gentiles are to be fellow- 
 heirs, and of the same body," Eph. iii. 6. " We are members 
 of his body, of his flesh and of his bones: this is a great 
 mystery ; but I speak concerning Christ and the Church," 
 Eph. V. 30, 32. In various other parts of his Epistles the 
 same apostle writes to the same effect, representing the 
 Church at large as one body under a spiritual view, united 
 together, not by contiguity of natural space, or by heaping 
 together the bodies of the individual members into one mass 
 of matter, so as to resemble one gigantic human form, as Mr. 
 Pike seems to understand the expression, but by the ttses 
 which each individual of the Church is capable of perform- 
 ing to another, and to the whole, mutually and reciprocally, 
 according to the beautiful and edifying description given 
 in 1 Cor. xii. 1 to end. The same may be said of every 
 nation, kingdom, and society of men, each of which, though 
 consisting of numerous individuals, is yet as to their several 
 offices, functions, and uses, regarded by an intelligent mind 
 as one body, one man, and not unfrequently is so called. 
 
 Similar, but still more expressive and sublime, is the idea, 
 which Swedenborg holds out to his readers, when he informs 
 them, that not only the Church on earth, taken in a univer- 
 sal sense, but the angelic heavens also, in conjunction with 
 the Church, together constitute, in the sight of the Lord, one 
 spiritual body, one grand man, according to the endless 
 variety of uses, which an indefinite number of individuals, 
 separately and collectively considered, are capable of per- 
 forming to each other. This view of the subject is not only 
 countenanced by the Apostolic Writings, and by the good 
 sense of every intelligent and contemplative man, but what 
 is more, it is in perfect harmony with the Holy Word, 
 which repeatedly presents before us the Church, consisting 
 of thousands and tens of thousands, concentrated into one 
 human form, male or female, as the case may be. Thus we 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 75 
 
 read of Judah, Israel, Jacob, Ephraim, Aholah, Aholibah, 
 the daughter of Zion, the daughter of Jerusalem, the angel 
 of the several churches, the bride and wife of the Lamb, 
 etc. etc. ; not to mention a variety of other names and 
 characters, which all set forth the Church of the Lord as 
 one aggregate human form, though it consist of perhaps in- 
 numerable distinct individuals. And yet this divine mode 
 of representing many under one form, and one name, is 
 rashly called by Mr. Pike " a childish fiction ;" and is 
 branded by him as a ridiculous absurdity, "having no 
 foundation whatever either in the Sacred Scriptures, or in 
 common sense!" 
 
 XX. — Bearing Iniquities. 
 
 When Swedenborg says, that " by bearing iniquities is 
 not understood the removal of them, but only to represent 
 the profanation of the truths of the Word," Mr. Pike makes 
 the follo\ving remark : " If bearing iniquities meant the 
 profanation of the truths of the Word, as it is Christ that is 
 thus said to have borne iniquities, it must consequently 
 have been he that profaned the truths of the Word. A 
 more ungenerous and perverse mutilation of an author's 
 words was surely never before witnessed, or a more palpable 
 proof of incapacity in drawing an inference was never before 
 given by any man professing to have the use of his facul- 
 ties. " If (says Mr. Pike) the bearing iniquities meant the 
 profanation of the truths of the Word," etc. But who is it 
 that says so ? The words quoted from Swedenborg author- 
 ize no such supposition. He says, " By bearing iniquities 
 is meant to represent profanation," not that it is itself pro- 
 fanation. Yet Mr. Pike, immediately after giving the true 
 sense of the author, and thereby furnishing his readers with 
 an opportunity of detecting his sophism, builds an argument, 
 not on the real words and meaning as quoted even by him- 
 
76 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 self, but on a partial and mutilated view of the passage, as 
 if the author had said, that bearing iniquities was profana- 
 tion, when at the same time, by the objector's own showing, 
 he asserted, that it only represented profanation. By such 
 a proceeding Mr. Pike not only grossly injures the writer, 
 whose doctrines he undertakes to comment upon, but actu- 
 ally abuses the confidence, which many of his friends may 
 have put in his candor and impartiality. 
 
 Does Swedenborg give the least ground for the insinua- 
 tion, that the Lord by bearing iniquities was guilty of pro- 
 faning the truths of the Word ? Mr. Pike himself knows 
 to the contrary : for in the very section, from which he 
 quotes, he must have read (unless indeed he has only 
 skimmed lightly over Swedenborg's works, picking here and 
 culling there what he thought might suit his purpose), that 
 the Jewish people, who were in possession of the Holy 
 "NVord, were the persons who falsified and profaned its 
 truths ; and that the Lord, who sufiered them to treat his 
 person with the same contempt and violence, which they 
 had offered to the Word, he himself being the Word, thereby 
 represented, in an external, visible manner, such falsifica- 
 tion and profanation. In the same section Mr. Pike must 
 also have read, what the author further says of the ancient 
 custom of representing, in the persons of the prophets, the 
 state of their particular churches both with respect to their 
 doctrine and their life ; as that the prophet Isaiah was com- 
 manded " to loose the sackcloth from off his loins, and put 
 off his shoes from his feet, and to walk naked and barefoot 
 three years for a sign and a wonder," Isa. xx. 2, 3 : That 
 the prophet Ezekiel was commanded, for the purpose of 
 representing the state of the Church, "to prepare him stuff 
 for removing, and to remove to another place in the sight 
 of the children of Israel, and to bring forth his stuff by day 
 in their sight, and to go forth at even through a hole dug 
 
•W-RITIXGS OF EMANTJEL SWEDEXBORO. 77 
 
 in the wall, and to cover his face that he might not see the 
 ground, and that he might thus be as a sign unto the house 
 of Israel ; and that he should say, Behold ! I am your sign ; 
 like as I have done, so sliall it be done unto you," Ezek. 
 xii. 3 to 7, 11. 
 
 That the prophets in all these cases represented the state 
 of the Church in their day, and thus became visible signs 
 to the people of their woeful degeneracy, and impending 
 destruction, cannot be denied : and that the prophet Ezekiel 
 in particular bore the iniquities of the house of Israel and 
 the house of Judah, yet did not cancel and remove them, 
 nor expiate and atone for them, but only representeil and 
 pointed them out, is plain from what follows in the same 
 prophet, where it is said, that " the staff of bread should be 
 broken in Jerusalem, and that they should consume away for 
 their iniquity," chap. iv. 16, 17. The same is imderstood of the 
 Lord, of whom, as the grand prophet, it is written, " Surely 
 he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows ; Jehovah 
 hath laid on him the iniquities of us all ; by his knowleilge 
 shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear 
 their iniquities," Isa. liii. 4, 11. By thus bearing the iniqui- 
 ties of the people, at the time of the crucifixion, is there- 
 fore not meant, as Swedenborg has well observed, that the 
 Lord removed or abolished them, for they are still too 
 prevalent, but that he represented the profonation of the 
 truths of the Word, of which the Jewish Church had been 
 so repeatedly and notoriously guilty. 
 
 XXI. — The Kesurkectiox, how Understood. 
 
 The doctrine of the resurrection, as taught by Sweden- 
 borg, according to the true sense of the Sacred Scriptures, 
 being widely different from that which is maintained by 
 the generality of Christians, who on this point have grossly 
 misunderstood the language of divine revelation, Jilr. Pike 
 7 * 
 
78 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 asserts, that Swedenborg "rejects the doctrine of a resur- 
 rection." He no where rejects the true doctrine of the 
 resurrection, but only that crude, indigested, and earthly 
 idea, which Mr. Pike and so many others have formed con- 
 cerning the resurrection and future state of man. He 
 maintains, that immediately after the death of the material 
 body, which will never be rcassumed, every man rises 
 again as to his spirit, and continues to live as a man in all 
 respects as before; with this difference, that, instead of a 
 material body, he is then clothed with a spiritual and sub- 
 statitial body, and that all things around him are also 
 spiritual and substantial. This doctrine he confirms by an 
 appeal to those parts of the Sacred Scripture, where refer- 
 ence is made to deceased men, now living in spiritual 
 bodies, resembling in form their former material bodies, but 
 essentially different from them, as spirit is essentially differ- 
 ent from mattei". 
 
 Mr. Pike, in professing to quote the words of Sweden- 
 borg on the resurrection, has through negligence or inad- 
 vertence transcribed the language of another person, a 
 priest, who is introduced as a speaker in a conversation 
 which took place in the spiritual world. He has also taken 
 occasion, no less than five times in one page, to sneer at 
 Swedenborg for an expression, not used by him, but by 
 the aforesaid priest, who, after describing a very common 
 opinion of the state of disembodied souls from the begin- 
 ning of the world, and their anxious expectation of a 
 general judgment yet to come, adds, in the words of some 
 of his own order, "Supposing this to be the state of a man 
 after death, is not the life of an ass to be preferred to that 
 of a man ?" See Tr. Chr. Bel., 693. The author having 
 been thus misrepresented, and unfairly dealt with by Mr. 
 Pike, it is but just that he should be allowed to speak for 
 himself on the subject of man's future state, in order to 
 
"WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORO. 79 
 
 give the reader an opportunity of forming his own judg- 
 ment on the comparative merits of the two systems, that 
 adopted by professing Christians in general, and that main- 
 tained by Swedenborg. 
 
 "It hath (says he) been generally believed, that man 
 after death is a mere soul, and the common idea concern- 
 ing such soul hath been, that it is something like ether or 
 air, consequently that it is like the breath which goetli out 
 of a man's body Avhen he dies, in which nevertheless there 
 resideth some vital principle. But then it hath been con- 
 ceived, that this vital principle neither hath the faculty of 
 seeing, such as belongeth to the eye, nor of hearing, such 
 as belongeth to the ear, nor of speaking, such as belongeth 
 to the organs of speech ; when nevertheless man after death 
 is as much a man as he was before, and so little changed, 
 that he does not know but he is still living in the former 
 world : for he seeth, heareth, and speaketh, as in the former 
 world ; he walketh, runneth, and sitteth, as in the former 
 world ; he lieth down, slecpeth, and waketh, as in the 
 former world ; he eateth and driuketh, as in the former 
 world ; he enjoyeth conjugial delight, as in the former 
 world ; in a word, he is a man in all and every respect. 
 From which circumstances it is evident, that death is not 
 an extinction but a continuation of life, and consequently 
 that it is only a passage from one state to another. 
 
 "That man after death is as much a man as he was be- 
 fore, although he is not then apparent to the eyes of the 
 material body, may reasonably be conceived from the 
 angels that appeared to Abraham, Hagar, Gideon, Daniel, 
 and some of the prophets, and also from those that were 
 seen in the Lord's sepulchre, and afterward frequently by 
 John, as he relateth in the Revelation. But it may still 
 appear more evident from the circumstances respecting the 
 Lord himself, in that he proved himself to be a Man both 
 
80 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 by the touch, and by eating before his disciples, when 
 nevertheless he became invisible to their sight. AVho can 
 be so extravagantly absurd as not to acknowledge, that, 
 notwithstanding his being invisible, lie was still a Man as 
 before? The reason why the disciples saw him was, be- 
 cause their spiritual eyes were then opened ; and when that 
 is the case, the things of the spiritual world appear as dis- 
 tinctly as the things of the natui-al world. The difference 
 between a man in the natural world and a man in the 
 spiritual world is, that the latter man is clothed with a 
 substantial body, but the former with a material body, 
 within which is his substantial body ; and a substantial 
 man seeth a substantial man as clearly and distinctly, as a 
 material man seeth a material man : a substantial man, 
 however, cannot see a material man, nor can a material 
 man see a substantial man, by reason of the difference 
 between what is material and what is substantial. 
 
 " In consequence of what I have seen, and been an eye- 
 witness of for many years together, I can assert the follow- 
 ing facts relating to the spiritual world ; that there are 
 earths in that world, just as in the natural world, and that 
 there are also plains and valleys, mountains and hills, 
 fountains and rivei-s; that there are paradises, gardens, 
 groves, and woods ; that there are cities, with palaces and 
 houses contained therein ; also that there are writings and 
 books, employments and merchandises ; and that there are 
 gold, silver, and precious stones ; in a word, that there is in 
 the spiritual world all and everything that is in the natural 
 world, but that in heaven such things are in an infinitely more 
 perfect state. The difference is, that all things, which are 
 seen in the spiritual world, ai-e created in a moment by the 
 Lord, as houses, paradises, meats, and other things ; and 
 that they are created according to a correspondence with 
 the interiors of angels and sjiirits, that is, with their affec- 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEBENBORO. 81 
 
 tions and thoughts : whereas all things, that are seen in the 
 natural world, begin to exist and grow from seed." Tr. Chr. 
 Bel., 792, 793, 794. 
 
 Such are the views, which Swedeuborg gives of the res- 
 urrection, and the condition of man in another life. Mr. 
 Pike charges him with denying a resurrection, because he 
 asserts, that it takes immediate effect, on the decease of the 
 material body ! But Mr. Pike takes credit to himself for 
 believing a resurrection, and yet puts it off to a distant, in- 
 definite, and unknown period, when the earth is to be de- 
 stroyed by fire, and consequently when the material bodies 
 then lying in graves must be consumed with it! Which 
 system now looks most like a denial of the resurrection, 
 that which assigns to it a specific and swiftly approaching 
 time, namely, the death of each individual of the human 
 race ; or that which defers it sine die, until the sun, moon, 
 and stars, are fairly worn out, or hurled together in awful 
 confusion upon this little earth ; in other words, until the 
 sky first melts, and then falls ? A child may answer the 
 question. The man who believes, or rather affects to be- 
 lieve, in a resurrection of matter, accompanied with such 
 incredible absurdities and impossibilities, a resurrection that 
 was never heard or thought of by any one rational being 
 for the first four thousand years after the supposed time of 
 the creation of the universe, and which for the last fifteen 
 hundred years has been daily expected by the ministers 
 and slaves of the letter, without the least sign or appear- 
 ance of the accomplishment of such a wild and fantastical 
 theory, must be set down as a deceiver of himself, a de- 
 ceiver of the people, a false prophet, who runs before he is 
 sent, and libels the Majesty of heaven by impeaching his 
 wisdom in constructing a fabric capable of lasting only a 
 few thousand years. 
 
 Mr. Pike, however, appeals to the Scriptures for a justi- 
 
82 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 fication of his doctrine, saying, that " they assert with all 
 possible pla inness, that thai vei-y body which is laid in the 
 grave, and which may for centuries moulder there, shall rise 
 again, in an incorruptible state ; and that whatever change 
 may pass upon it, its identity will remain." Now the only 
 passage, which he brings forward from the Divine Word, 
 in proof that it asserts with all possible plainness the resur- 
 rection of the material body, is the following : " The hour 
 is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his 
 voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, to 
 the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, to 
 the resurrection of damnation," John v. 28, 29. He then 
 gives an extract from the 15th chapter of Paul's first Letter 
 to the Corinthians, and refers the reader to the whole 
 chapter. 
 
 That our Lord, in the passage above quoted, did not as- 
 sert the resurrection of the material body, is plain from his 
 own words in ver. 25, where he says, " The hour is coming, 
 a7id now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of 
 God; and they that hear shall live." Who now were these 
 dead men, that heard the voice of the Son of God, and then, 
 " passing from death to life," became living men f who but 
 such as were heretofore dead in trespasses and sins, dead to 
 the joys and happiness of heaven, and alive only to the 
 vain delights and pleasures of this wicked world? And 
 what are the graves or sepulchres, out of which men are to 
 come forth, when they are renewed and vivified by the 
 Lord, but those impure, filthy and sensual principles of 
 the bodily life, which confine man as it were in the cham- 
 bers of death, and cause him to dwell in the dust of the 
 earth ? In this sense graves are mentioned in Num. xix. 
 16, 18; Ezek. xxxii. 22 to 26; chap, xxxvii. 12, 13; Ps. 
 Ixxxviii. 5, 11 ; and in many other places. In the same 
 sense, the Jews as a rebellious people, are said to remain 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 83 
 
 among the graves, aud lodge in the monuments, which eat 
 swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their ves- 
 sels," Isa. Ixv. 4. The man with au unclean spirit is also 
 said "to have his dwelling among the tombs; and the legion 
 of devils within him, when cast out, were desirous of en- 
 tering into a herd of sivine," Mark v. 2, 3, 12; which 
 sufficiently manifests their filthy, sensual, and base appetites. 
 The Scribes and Pharisees, being hypocrites, are themselves 
 compared to " ivhitcd sepulchres, which indeed appear beauti- 
 ful without, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of 
 all uncleanness," Matt, xxiii. 27. And David says of his 
 enemies, "Their inward part is very wickedness; their 
 throat is an open sepulchre," Ps. v. 9. From which it ap- 
 pears, that the very bodies of men, so for as they are the 
 receptacles of unclean and fleshly lusts, are considered 
 in the Scriptures as graves, out of which not only the re- 
 generate but the unregenerate also are to come forth at 
 death, the former " to the resurrection of life," and the 
 latter " to the resurrection of damnation." What then be- 
 comes of Mr. Pike's assertion, that the resurrection of the 
 material body is " ivith all possible plainness" insisted upon 
 in the Word, when we see that it is that identical grave, 
 which in due time must yield up tlie spirits of all men, and 
 from which, " many that sleep in the dust of the earth shall 
 awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame aud 
 everlasting contempt ?" Dan. xii. 2. 
 
 XXII. — Difficulties and Absurdities respecting 
 THE Identity of the Material Body. 
 
 With respect to the identity of the material body, 
 which, Mr. Pike says, will remain, notwithstanding the 
 many inconceivable changes that may pass upon it, is he 
 'aware, that the identical matter, which made up the body 
 of one man, may, and in some cases actually does, form the 
 
84 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 compouent parts of another? and that these two men, thus 
 claiming the same body, may be sentenced, the one to heaven, 
 and the other to hell I in which case it would be a point of 
 curiosity to ascertain, to which place the jaoor body, which 
 had been the instrument of good to one, and of evil to the 
 other, was ultimately to be consigned ; since it could not 
 possibly be transferred to both at the same time. Or has he 
 sufficiently considered, that in consequence of the perpetual 
 resolutions of the bodily frame, and of new accessions of 
 matter in the place of former substances, the same man in 
 the course of his life, may have several bodies in succession 
 one after another, in each of which bodies he may commit 
 acts, for which he must be brought to judgment? Of these 
 several bodies belonging to one and the same individual, 
 which is it that will rise up at the last day ? the body that 
 he had in infancy, in youth, in manhood, or in old age ? 
 Again, as the bodies of men were eaten by wild beasts, by 
 fishes, by worms, and by mice; and as some of these 
 bodies will, at the day of the supposed resurrection of 
 matter, be actually prowling in the forest under the form 
 of wild beasts, or skimming the air as birds of prey, or 
 crawling in the grave in the form of worms, or swimming 
 in the waters as so many sharks or pikes, may it not be 
 fairly asked, whether these beasts, birds, and fishes, will or 
 will not be called upon to yield up such parts of their 
 frames as are composed of human flesh ? or whether the 
 spirits of resurgent men, now in search of their proper 
 bodies, and indignant at finding them in such base recepta- 
 cles, dispersed through the earth, air, and sea, will or will 
 not seize upon their own long-lost property, and instantly 
 metamorphose those brute cannibals into rational beings? 
 The subject will not bear examination ; it continually re- 
 cedes at the approach of light, shelters itself in darkness,"* 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL RWEDENBORG. 
 
 85 
 
 and at last wraps itself up in the cloak of mystery, omnipo- 
 tence, and empty wonder ! 
 
 XXIII. — The Doctrine of Paul concerning the 
 Resurrection. 
 
 But let us hear what the apostle Paul has to say on the 
 rosurrectiou ; since his authority appears to be relied on by 
 Mr. Pike and his brethren much more than the Word of 
 God itself. Dr. Priestley, a leading Unitarian, was pre- 
 ci.sely of the same opinion with these Tri-personalists, and 
 like them grounded his objections against the doctrines 
 of the New Church on the words and reasoning of Paul, not 
 understood according to their fair interpretation, but ac- 
 cording to certain preconceived ideas, which are as foreign 
 to the truth, as darkness is to light. The answer, therefore, 
 which was given many years ago to Dr. Priestley, who had 
 anticipated the greater part of Mr. Pike's arguments, and 
 supported them by other passages besides those adduced by 
 the latter gentleman, may not be unacceptable to the reader 
 on the present occasion : 
 
 " You seem to lay great stress on the account which Paul 
 gives of the resurrection, in 1 Thess. iv. 15 to 17, where he 
 says, ' For this we say unto you by the AVord of the Lord, 
 that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the 
 Lord, shall not prevent them who are asleep. For the Lord 
 himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the 
 voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God ; and 
 the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we, who are alive 
 and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the 
 clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever 
 be with the Lord.' But all this may very easily be ex- 
 j)lained, consistently with the doctrines of the New Church, 
 by considering it as spoken according to the appearances of 
 the literal sense of the Word, which describes spiritual 
 8 
 
86 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 things by such images and expressions as are accommodated 
 to tiie apprehension of men in the natural world. We 
 have already seen, that the Lord's second coming in the 
 clouds of heaven is not to be understood as alluding to the 
 atmospherical clouds over our heads, but to the literal 
 sense of the Word, and to the appearance of clouds in the 
 spiritual world. In this view, the above passage perfectly 
 coincides with our sentiments; for we maintain, that the 
 new heaven is formed before the new earth ; that is, the 
 New Church takes place in the spiritual world before it 
 does in the natural world ; which agrees with this saying, 
 that the dead in Christ shall rise first. And as the Church 
 on earth will be conjoined with the Church in heaven, so as 
 together to form only one Church, like internal and external, 
 therefore it is said, that we, who are alive and remain, shall 
 be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord 
 in the air ; that is, we shall be enabled, at the Lord's second 
 coming, when the spiritual sense of his Word shall be re- 
 vealed, to penetrate through the shade and obscurity of the 
 letter, and, discerning the glory of its inner contents, be 
 elevated into the heat and light of heaven, by virtue of 
 which we shall worship the Lord alone in spirit and in 
 truth, as angels do above. In any other sense, what can be 
 meant by being caught up in the clouds, and meeting the 
 Lord in the air? Surely every rational and intelligent 
 person must know, that heaven is no more in or above the 
 clouds, than it is under them ; and that the presence of the 
 Lord is equally as well to be found upon the earth, as in 
 any heights of the air or atmosphere. 
 
 " Another passage, which you quote as apparently favor- 
 able to your hypothesis, is that in 1 Cor. xv. 51, 52, 53, 
 where the apostle Paul says, ' Behold, I show you a mys- 
 tery ; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in 
 a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump ; 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBOHG. 87 
 
 for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised 
 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corrupti- 
 ble must put on incorruptiou, and this mortal must put on 
 immortality.' In whatever sense these words of the apostle 
 are to be interpreted, they ought at least to be taken in con- 
 nection with the preceiling verses of the same chapter. 
 The construction, wliich I observe you put upon them, is, 
 that the same material body, which is committed to the 
 earth, will rise again, and be made immortal. But this is 
 not the doctrine of Paul ; for he distinguishes between the 
 natural corruptible body which is sown, and the spiritual 
 incorruptible body which is raised. ' Thou fool,' says he, 
 ' that which thou so west, thou sowest not that body that shall 
 be,' ver. 37. 'There are celestial bodies, and bodies terres- 
 trial,' ver. 40. ' There is a natural body, and there is a 
 spiritual body,' ver. 44. ' Now this I say, brethren, that 
 flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither 
 doth corruption inherit incorruption,' ver 50. Hence, I 
 think, we may fairly conclude, that Paul maintained the 
 resurrection of man's spiritual body, and not of his material, 
 earthly, and corruptible body. In agreement with this, 
 then, must the succeeding verses, which you have quoted, 
 be understood. He begins, 'Behold, I show you a mystery; 
 plainly implying, that what he is going to add, is not to be 
 understood literally, but spiritually ; for were it to be taken 
 according to the express tenor of the words, there would be 
 no mystery in the case, but a simple . prophetic narration. 
 A mystery is something hidden from public view, being 
 under the covering of appearances, which may either be 
 misinterpreted or properly understood, according to the 
 different degrees of illumination which different persons 
 may possess. Paul, in most of his Epistles, writes accord- 
 ing to the literal sense of the Word ; which indeed could 
 not have been otherwise, inasmuch as the genuine spiritual 
 
88 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 sense was not at that time clearly revealed. Hence the 
 appearance of predestination and of justification by faith 
 alone, so visible in various parts of his writings, are by 
 many confirmed as the genuine sentiments of Paul ; when 
 yet it is sufficiently clear from other parts, that he in 
 reality maintained no such doctrines. See 1 Cor. xiii. 13 : 
 ' Now abideth faith, hope, and charity ; but the greatest of 
 these is charity.^ This also is the express doctrine of the 
 New Church. But writing as he did according to tlie ap- 
 pearances of truth in the letter of Scripture, it is no wonder 
 that he should have been misunderstood by those who pene- 
 trated no further. Let us now see what is the real import 
 of his words, agreeably to the true sense of Scripture. To 
 be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the 
 last trump, means nothing else but the certainty of pass- 
 ing from a natural into a spiritual state, at the time of the 
 Lord's second coming; and this change may take place, 
 according to its measure, as well with those who are now 
 living, as with those who are already dead. Not that a 
 material body shall be ever converted into a spiritual body, 
 for this is a thing impossible, as being contrary to divine 
 order ; but on the death or removal of the former, together 
 with all the imperfections of its nature, man will be endowed 
 with a spiritual substantial body, in which he will live for 
 ever, and no more see the corruption of death. 
 
 " ' Paul,' you say, * compares the resurrection of the dead, 
 1 Cor. XV. 36, to the revival of seed that has been put 
 into the ground ; and we read, Rev. xx. 13, of the sea giving 
 up its dead. But according to you, nothing that is ever 
 committed to the ground, or to the sea, will appear again, 
 or anything else in the place of it.' With respect to the 
 revival of seed that has been put into the ground, it is well 
 known, that it is not the same gross earthly substance of the 
 seed, which grows up in the form of a new plant or tree, 
 
WRITINGS OP EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 89 
 
 but only the spirit within it, which accumulates /m/i viatter 
 from the juices of the soil in which it is sown. Hence Paul, 
 in the very next verse to that which you mention, says, 
 'And that which thou sowest, thou soivest not that body which 
 shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some 
 other grain.' This is a true emblem of man's resurrection ; 
 the material body, which i.s laid in the grave, forms no part 
 of that spiritual and substantial body, with which man 
 rises ; but the spirit, which is within the material body, 
 quits it after death, and then man lives as a man in all re- 
 spects as before, only in a more perfect state, in consequence 
 of being disencumbered of the gross body of clay. You 
 therefore do justice to the members of the New Church, 
 when you report as their belief, that ' nothing that is ever 
 committed to the ground, or to the sea, will ever appear 
 again :' but you by no means do justice to their sentiments, 
 when you represent them as holding, that 'nothing else is 
 to appear in the place of it.' 
 
 " As to the passage in Apoc. xx. 13, where it is said, that 
 the sea gave up the dead which were in it, it has no respect 
 whatever to the sea in the natural world, or to the dead 
 bodies which have been there consigned. This indeed may 
 appear even from the circumstance, that no notice is taken 
 of the bodies which have been committed to the earth, 
 although the number of these latter immensely exceeds that 
 of the former, comprising in fact the general bulk of man- 
 kind. But it is still more plain from the words immediately 
 following those above quoted, viz.: 'And death and hell de- 
 livered up the dead which were in them.' And again, ver. 
 14, 'Death and hell were cast into the lake of fire.' If we 
 take these last words in their mere literal sense, we shall be 
 under the necessity of supjxising, that hell shall be cast into 
 hell, which is a manifest absurdity. And if hell deliver up 
 the dead, in order to present them before the judgment- 
 8 * 
 
90 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 seat, it will follow, that some men are consigned to hell, 
 immediately on their death, not only before sentence of con- 
 demnation is passed ujion them, but even before they are 
 arraigned at the bar, and tried ; which is utterly incon- 
 sistent with every principle of justice, whether human or 
 divine. This doctrine, moreover, is particularly unfavor- 
 able to the scheme which you have adopted, respecting the 
 state of souls after the death of the body ; for you suppose, 
 that then the life of man becomes extinct, and that he 
 neither goes to heaven nor to hell, until the arrival of a 
 certain grand but awful day, usually called the end of the 
 world, and day of judgment, when souls and bodies are to 
 be reunited, and for the first time either raised to heaven, 
 or thrust down into hell. 
 
 "That man, however, rises again immediately after 
 death, is evident from many passages in the Word, par- 
 ticularly the following: 'Jesus said to the thief on the 
 cross, Verily I say unto thee. To-day shalt thou be with me 
 in paradise,' Luke xxiii. 43. The same also appears from 
 what the Lord said concerning Dives and Lazarus, that 
 Dives went to hell, and thence conversed with Abraham ; 
 and that Lazarus went to heaven ; and all this while men 
 were still living in the world, consequently before what is 
 generally understood by the day of judgment: for when 
 Dives entreated Abraham to send Lazarus from the dead 
 to warn his brethren, Abraham answered, 'If they hear 
 not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded 
 though one rose from the dead,' Luke xvi. 31. It is further 
 written, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of 
 Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the 
 dead, hit of the living,' Matt. xxii. 32. Hence it appears, 
 that Al)raham, Isaac, and Jacob, notwithstanding the death 
 of their bodies, are still alive. The angel likewise said 
 
AVraTIXGS OF EMAXUEL SWEDEXBORO, 91 
 
 unto John, who fell down to worship him, 'I am thy felloic- 
 scrvant, and of thy brethren the prophets' Apoc. xix. 10; 
 chap. xxii. 9 : a demonstrative proof this, not only that 
 man lives as a man after death, prior to the general judg- 
 ment, but also that angels are of the human race, being no 
 other than deceased men. So again, when Jesus was trans- 
 figured before Peter, James, and John, there appeared unto 
 them 'Moses and Elias talking with him,' Matt. xvii. 3. 
 And in the Acts of the Apostles, chap. x. 30, Cornelius 
 said, 'I prayed in my house, and behold, a man stood be- 
 fore me in bright clothing ;' which same man is called an 
 angel of God, ver. 3, 7, 22. 
 
 " When a proposition is clearly proved, it is unnecessary 
 to urge further arguments on the same subject. I shall 
 therefore conclude my remarks on the resurrection, by 
 briefly showing who are the persons meant by the living, 
 and who by the dead, that are to be judged at the last day; 
 for I observe you all along take the account of the judg- 
 ment according to the first and lowest sense of the words, 
 Avhen yet, to be truly rational in our conceptions, we ought 
 to elevate our minds to their highest sense, and thus from 
 the letter ascend to the spirit. All who die in a state of 
 regeneration, are in the language of Scripture called living 
 men; but all who depart in an unregenerate state, are 
 termed dead. Both descriptions of men will be judged ; 
 the former, as having the spirit of true life within them, to 
 life eternal ; but the latter, as being destitute of that life, 
 to death eternal : life eternal is the life of angels in heaven ; 
 but death eternal is the life of devils in hell. The Lord 
 alone knoweth the true state of every man ; therefore the 
 Lord alone is the judge of every man ; and he will give to 
 every one according to his works, whether they have been 
 good or bad. This is what is meant by judging the living 
 and the dead, good and evil being the only proper distinc- 
 
92 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 tion between life and death, as invariably set forth in the 
 Word of God."* 
 
 XXIV. — Prevailing Errors concerning the Last 
 Judgment. 
 
 Mr. Pike, next charges Swedenborg with denying a 
 general judgment, which is to be accompanied with the 
 destruction of the visible heavens and the habitable earth. 
 But as he does not by any means give a fair account of 
 what that enlightened author has written on the subject, 
 it may be expedient to state not only his views, but the 
 opinions commonly entertained concerning the last day ; as 
 by contrasting the one side with the other, the unprejudiced 
 reader will be the better enabled to discover the truth. 
 
 "The prevailing opinion at this day in all churches is, 
 that the Lord, when he shall come to the last judgment, is 
 to appear in the clouds of heaven with angels, and the 
 sound of trumpets, and to gather together all who dwell on 
 the earth, and at the same time all that ever died, and to 
 separate the evil from the good, as a shepherd separateth 
 the goats from the sheep ; and that then he will cast the 
 evil, or the goats, into hell, and raise up the good, or the 
 sheep, into heaven : and further, that he will at the same 
 time create a new visible heaven, and a new habitable 
 earth, and on this new earth will make to descend a city, 
 ■which is to be called the New Jerusalem, and is to be built 
 according to the description given in the Revelation, chap, 
 xxi. viz. : of jasper and gold, and the foundation of its 
 walls to be of every precious stone, and its height, breadth, 
 and length equal, each twelve thousand furlongs ; and that 
 tlie elect are to be gathered togetlier into this city, as well 
 those that are alive, as those that have died since the crea- 
 tion of the world ; and that the latter will then return into 
 * See Letters to Br. Priestly, p. 327 to 337. 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 93 
 
 their bodies, and enjoy everlasting bliss in this magnificent 
 city, as in their heaven. This is the prevailing opinion at 
 this day, in all Christian churches, concerning the coming 
 of the Lord, and the last judgment. 
 
 "In regard to the state of souls after death, both 
 generally and particularly, the common belief at this day 
 is, that human souls are mere airy beings, of which it is 
 impossible to form any idea but as of a vapor or exhala- 
 tion ; and that in consequence of this their state and 
 nature, they are reserved to the day of the last judgment, 
 either in the middle of the earth, or in the limbm of the 
 ancient fathers. But on this point there are various opin- 
 ions : some suppose, that they are ethereal or aerial forms, 
 and thus that they are like ghosts and spectres, and that 
 certain of them d\¥ell in the air, others in woods, and 
 others in waters. Some again suppose, that the souls of 
 the deceased are translated to the planets, or to the stars, 
 and have abodes allotted them therein : and some again, 
 that after a thousand years they return back into material 
 bodies. But the general notion is, that they are reserved 
 till the time, when the whole firmament, together with the 
 terraqueous globe, shall be destroyed ; and that this will be 
 effected by fire, either bursting from the centre of the 
 earth, or cast down from heaven as a general blaze of 
 lightning ; and that then the graves will be opened, and 
 the souls that were reserved will be clothed again with their 
 bodies, some in a lower region, some in a higher, because 
 the height of the city is to be twelve thousand furlongs, 
 like its length and breadth, Apoc. xxi. 16. 
 
 " "When a clergyman or layman is asked, whether he 
 firmly believes all these things, as that the antediluvians, 
 together with Adam and Eve, and the postdiluvians, 
 together with Noah and his sons, and also that Abraham, 
 Isaac, and Jacob, together with all the prophets and apos- 
 
94 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 ties, in like manner as the souls of all other men, are still 
 reserved in the middle parts of the earth, or flying about in 
 the ether or air ; and also whether he believes, that their 
 souls will be again clothed with their bodies, and enter into 
 connection again with carcasses eaten by worms, by mice, 
 by fish, or (as in the case witli Egyptian mummies) by men, 
 and with skeletons parched in the sun, and reduced to pow- 
 der ; if clergymen or laymen, I say, be asked whether they 
 believe all this, or whether such conceits are not mere para- 
 doxes, which like all other contradictory notions are dis- 
 pelled and dissipated by right reason, some of them make 
 no reply to such questions ; some insist, that such points 
 are matters of faith, and that the understanding ought to 
 be kept in obedience thereto ; some again argue, that not 
 only these things, but also many others, which are above 
 the comprehension of reason, are of the divine omnipotence ; 
 and when they mention faith and omnipotence, sound reason 
 is set aside, and either disappears like a thing annihilated, 
 or becometh like a spectre, and is called a thing unsound. 
 To this they add. Are not such things agreeable to the 
 Word ? and ought not that to be the rule and measure of 
 whatever we think or speak ?" Tr. Chr. Eel., 768, 769, 770. 
 
 Such appears to be the commonly received opinion con- 
 cerning the state of man after death, and the last day, 
 when the universe, though the workmanship of consummate 
 wisdom, is expected to be burnt up, and destroyed by the 
 same Omnipotent Hand that brought it into existence. 
 Let us now see the contrast of this sad and dismal picture 
 in the language of soberness and truth, as drawn by th6 
 same author, Emanuel Swedenborg. 
 
 XXV. — The State of Man after Death. 
 
 " The Word, as to the letter, is written according to ap- 
 pearances and correspondences, and therefore there is a 
 
■WRITINGS OP EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 95 
 
 spiritual sense contained in every part of it, in which sense 
 truth appears in its own proper light, whilst the sense of 
 the letter is in a kind of shade. Wherefore lest the members 
 of the New Church, like those of the Old, should wander 
 in the shade of the literal sense of the "Word, particularly 
 in regard to heaven and hell, and to a lite after death, 
 and to the coming of the Lord, it has pleased the Lord to 
 open my spiritual sight, and thereby to let me into the 
 spiritual world, and not only to convei-se with spirits and 
 angels, and with my relations and friends, nay, with kings 
 and princes, who have departed out of the natural world, 
 but also to see the stupendous things of heaven, and the 
 miserable scenes of hell, and thus to be convinced that man 
 doth not live after death in any hidden caverns of the 
 earth, or fly about blind and dumb in air, or in an empty 
 void, but that he liveth as a man in a substantial body, and 
 in a much more perfect state if he goeth among the blessed, 
 than he lived before in a material body. To prevent there- 
 fore man's plunging himself deeper into a false opinion 
 concerning the destruction of the visible heaven and the 
 habitable earth, and thereby concerning the spiritual 
 world, in consequence of that ignorance which at this day 
 is the true source of naturalism and atheism, and to pre- 
 vent such atheism from spreading and affecting man's 
 external mind, wherein his speech originates, as they have 
 begun to affect and to take root in the rational mind, es- 
 pecially among the learned, the Lord hath enjoined me to 
 publish some of the various things that I have seen and 
 heard, as well in relation to heaven and hell, as to the 
 last judgment ; and also to unfold the Apocalypse, which 
 treats of the Lord's coming, and of the former heaven, 
 and of the New Church, and of the Holy Jerusalem ; from 
 the reading and understanding whereof every one may 
 see what is there meant by the coming of the Lord, and 
 
96 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 by the New Heaven, and by the New Jerusalem." Tr. Chr. 
 Be/., 771. 
 
 XXVI. — The True Scriptural Doctrine of the Last 
 Judgment. 
 
 The same author, writing particularly on the subject of the 
 last judgment, has clearly shown from the Sacred Scriptures, 
 that several judgments have taken place since the creation ; 
 and that they were each accomplished in the spiritual world, 
 where men are collected together, at the close of their res- 
 pective churches. He also in the most solemn manner de- 
 clares, that the judgment predicted in the Gospels, and in 
 the Apocalypse, was actually performed in the year 1757, 
 he being an eye-witness of the same. See Last Judg., 45, 
 46. ; Tr. Chr. Bel, 115, 772. But that such an assertion 
 may not pass unheeded, or be set down as a proof of a de- 
 luded mind, let the following considerations be carefully 
 attended to, and the reader will find good reason to pause 
 before he jironounces a rash or unfavorable opinion ; since 
 the events, which are now taking place in the moral world, 
 must owe their origin to an adequate cause, and that cause 
 must be a spiritual one, because all effects in the natural 
 world are produced from causes in the spiritual world. 
 
 The great change that took place at the time of the Lord's 
 first coming, consisted not so much in the adoption of any 
 new external forms of worship, as in a 7iew capacity men 
 received for understanding the interior things of heaven 
 and the Church. Everything before was typical or repre- 
 sentative ; but when He came, of whom all the Scriptures 
 testify, and to whom they all referred, then the whole cloud 
 of shadows and representatives, that veiled the light of the 
 sun, disappeared, and the minds of men received new illu- 
 mination, as it is written, " The people, that walked in 
 darkness, have seen a great light; they that dwell in the 
 
WKITIXGS OF EMANUEL SWEDEXBORO. 97 
 
 shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined," Isa. 
 ix. 2. 
 
 By the Scriptures we are informed, that several general 
 judgments have taken place, prior to that of which we are 
 now speaking, and which is stated to have been accom- 
 plished in the spiritual world in the year 1757. The fii-st 
 was the last judgment of the Most Ancient Church, when 
 all charity and faith perished, and which is described in 
 Genesis by the flood. At that time, according to the lan- 
 guage of the Sacred Scriptures, heaven and earth passed 
 away, in other words, the internals and externals of the 
 church perished, and a new heaven and a new earth were 
 created, that is, a new church, which succeeded the former, 
 and may be called the Ancient Church. The last judgment 
 of this second general church, which included many par- 
 ticular churches, was when it came to its consummation by 
 the many idolatries to which it gave birth. Immediately 
 after this was raised up the Representative of a Church 
 among the posterity of Jacob ; the last judgment upon 
 which, and upon the remains of former churches, took 
 place at the time of the Lord's first coming into the world. 
 The pro]>het Isaiah speaks of this judgment, to be accom- 
 plished by the Lord, in the following terms: "Who is this 
 that Cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, 
 travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak 
 in rigliteousness, mighty to save. I have trodden the wine- 
 press alone : / will tread them in mine anger, and trample 
 them in my fury ; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon 
 my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the 
 day of vengeance is in my heart, and the year of my re- 
 deemed is come," Isa. Ixiii. 1, 3, 4. Hence it appears, that 
 judgment and redemption commence at the same time. 
 
 The Lord himself also, when he was in the act of fulfill- 
 ing the ancient prophecies, and executing the judgment, 
 
98 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 says, "Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the 
 prince of this world be cast out, John xii. 31. Again, "For 
 judgment I am come into this world," John ix. 39. In an- 
 other place, "Verily, verily I say unto you, The hour is 
 coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of 
 the Son of God ; and they that liear shall live. For as the 
 Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to 
 have life in himself ; and hath given him authority to exe- 
 cute judgment also, because he is the Son of Man," John v. 
 25, 26, 27. And again, " Be of good cheer, I have overcome 
 the world," John xvi. 33. 
 
 From these and similar passages it is evident, that a day 
 of judgment is not spoken of in the Scriptures, as an event 
 which has never yet in any former period taken place, or 
 as decisive of the fate of every individual of the human 
 race ; for we find, that the Lord, when on earth, actually 
 accomplished a judgment, not upon the whole race of man- 
 kind, but only upon a certain number of those who were 
 deceased, and consequently in the spiritual world. 
 
 That the habitable earth was not to be destroyed at the 
 time of the last judgment, is plain from the Lord's words 
 in Luke : " I tell you, in that night there shall be two men 
 in one bed ; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be 
 left Two women shall be grinding together ; the one shall 
 be taken, and the other left. Two men shall be in the field ; 
 the one shall be taken, and the other left," Luke xvii. 34 to 
 36. Here the last time of the Church is called night, be- 
 cause there is no genuine faith or truth remaining, in con- 
 sequence of there being no true spiritual charity : but that 
 the world would not then be destroyed, is plainly declared 
 by the circumstance of some being left, while others are 
 removed. The same doctrine may be confirmed from the 
 following passages : "Jehovah built his sanctuary like high 
 palaces, like the earth which he hath established for ever," 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 99 
 
 Ps. Ixxviii. 69. "Thou hast established the earth, and it 
 abideth," Ps. cxix. 90. "One generation passeth away, 
 and another generation cometh: but the earth abideth for 
 ever," Eccles. i. 4. 
 
 These considerations sufficiently prove, that the doctrine 
 of the New Church, respecting the last judgment and the 
 second advent of the Lord, is perfectly consistent with the 
 Word of God ; while all those systems, which suppose the 
 destruction of the universe as the necessary consequence of 
 that event, can be considered in no other light, than as so 
 many idle di-eams and dreadful chimeras, calculated to 
 frighten mankind, and to inspire them with no one useful 
 or rational sentiment, but on the contrary with dismal ex- 
 pectation and useless alarm. 
 
 The end of creation is the formation of an angelic 
 heaven out of the human race, which, as an image of the 
 Creator, may bear some respect to his infinity, his im- 
 mensity, and his eternity. But this respect to infinity, im- 
 mensity, and eternity, would cease, were the habitable earth 
 to be destroyed at the day of the last judgment: for then 
 by a period being put to the procreations of mankind, the 
 extent of heaven, together with the number of its inhabit- 
 ants, would be limited. Whereas it is highly reasonable 
 to suppose, that, as the human mind, which is a heaven in 
 its smallest form, increases in perfection according to the 
 plurality of its knowledges, so the angelic heaven will like- 
 wise advance in perfection, and thus more and more re- 
 semble its Creator, according to the perpetually increasing 
 number of its inhabitants. Hence the doctrines, which 
 ascribe to the Divine Being an end worthy of himself in 
 the creation of the world, by making provision for the per- 
 petual generations and eternal successions of mankind, 
 must be the most rational in themselves, as well as most 
 conformable to divine revelation, when properly understood. 
 
100 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 XXVII. — The Particular Judgment of Individuals 
 
 AFTER Death. 
 It may be supposed, and indeed has been charged upon 
 the members of the New Church, that, according to their 
 vieM's, since the last judgment is already past, no future 
 judgment is now to be looked for. But this is not a true 
 representation of their belief: for though they give full 
 credit to what Swedenborg asserts with respect to the last 
 general judgment, spoken of in the Gospels and the Apoca- 
 lypse, which was executed in the spiritual world in the 
 year 1757, yet they are well assured by the testimony of 
 the Scriptures throughout, that every man mi particular 
 will be judged immediately after death, and that he will 
 then be rewarded according to the deeds done in the body, 
 whether they have been good or evil. The last judgment 
 they consider to be of various signification, general, par- 
 ticular, and singular ; general, as having respect to the end 
 of a church ; particular, in reference to the death of in- 
 dividuals ; and singular, so far as the future state of man 
 is to be determined by every thought and affection, every 
 word and work of his past life. 
 
 XXVIII. — The supposed Destruction of the Hea- 
 vens AND THE Earth by Fire, a gross Error. 
 
 It was observed above that the visible heavens and the 
 habitable earth are not to be destroyed at the time of the 
 last judgment, neither the first nor the second coming of 
 the Lord being for any such purpose. What then, it may 
 be asked, is to be understood by those passages in the Apos- 
 tolic Epistles, which seem to intimate that as the old world 
 perished by water, so the present frame of creation is to be 
 consumed by fire ? The following are quoted by Mr. Pike, 
 and he no doubt thinks them unanswerable: " The heavens 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL, SWEDENBORO. 101 
 
 and the earth, which are now, are reserved unto fire against 
 the day of judgment. The day of the Lord will come as a 
 thief in the night, in wliich the heavens being on fire shall 
 be dissol ved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; 
 the earth also, and the works that arc therein, shall be burnt 
 up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, 
 what manner of persons ought ye to be?" 2 Pet. iii. 7, 10, 11. 
 A passage from the Word, though not adduced by Mr. Pike, 
 is also thought by many to countenance the same idea. The 
 prophet says, " Behold, the day cometh that shall burn as 
 an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, 
 shall be as stubble, and the day that cometh shall burn them 
 up, saith Jehovah of hosts," Mai. iv. 1. 
 
 The prophet Malachi announces the approach of a day 
 that shall burn as an oven, and he calls it " the great and 
 dreadful day of Jehovah," in which the wicked shall be 
 burnt up as stubble. But the day of which he speaks is 
 evidently that of the Lord's first advent into the world, for 
 in the same chapter the birth and office of John the Bap- 
 tist, under the character of Elijah the prophet, and as the 
 immediate forerunner of the Messiah, are plainly predicted ; 
 and it is added, that " he shall turn the heart of the fathers 
 to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, 
 lest the Lord come and smite the earth with a curse," ver. 6. 
 And in ver. 2 the godly are comforted with the promise, 
 that "to them the Son of righteousness shall arise with 
 healing in his wings." Now I would ask. Was it literally 
 true that the day burned as an oven, at the period here 
 alluded to by the prophet? Was the earth in a state of 
 conflagration at that time? Or were the wicked literally 
 burnt up with fire and consumed as mere stubble? On the 
 contrary, is it not plainly enough stated, that, notwithstand- 
 ing the fire which would then rage, still the earth would be 
 preserved, and not smitten with a curse? 
 9 * 
 
102 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 It is again written, " Behold, the day of Jehovah cometh, 
 cruel both with wrath and fierce anger ; the stars of hea- 
 ven, and the constellations thereof, shall not give their light ; 
 the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the 
 moon shall not cause her light to shine. I will shake the 
 heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the 
 wrath of Jehovah, and in the day of his fierce anger," 
 Isa. xiii. 9, 10, 13. " The earth is utterly broken down, the 
 earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly, the 
 earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard ; then the moon 
 shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when Jehovah 
 of hosts shall reign in mount Zion and in Jerusalem," Isa. 
 xxiv. 19, 20, 23. " The sun shall be turned into darkness, 
 and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day 
 of Jehovah come," Joel ii. 31. The Psalmist also says, 
 " The earth and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved," 
 Ps. Ixxv. 3. Here again it may be asked. Was it literally 
 true that at or immediately preceding the coming of the 
 Loi"d the sun was darkened, the moon turned into blood, and 
 the stars of heaven refused to give their light ? Were the 
 visible heavens put into a state of extreme agitation or con- 
 cussion at the time spoken of ? Was the earth utterly broken 
 down, clean dissolved, and moved out of its place, reeling to 
 and fro like a drunkard ? Or was there ever a period when 
 the earth and all its inhabitants were literally dissolved f 
 Yet this is the language of the Holy Word, and we must 
 believe that all these things literally occurred, if the doc- 
 trine maintained by the opponents of the New Church be 
 true, that the expressions used in Scripture are to be inter- 
 preted according to their obvious meaning, and not accord- 
 ing to their spiritual signification. 
 
 The same remarks will apply to the passage quoted from 
 Peter's Second Epistle, which, in imitation of the literal 
 sense of the Word, and probably in language borrowed 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 103 
 
 from a writer much more ancient than himself,* speaks of 
 the heavens and the earth being reserved unto fire against 
 the day of judgment, when they, together with all things 
 in them, are to be burnt, dissolved, and destroyed. We pro- 
 ceed, therefore, to explain what is reallj- meant by the hea- 
 vens and the earth, which are to be destroyed at the last 
 day, and what by the fire which is to burn and consume 
 them. 
 
 Nothing is more common in the Sacred Scriptures than 
 to describe the things relating to the Church by those which 
 appear in nature, such as the sun, the moon, the stars, the 
 heavens, the earth, fire, water, rain, mountains, hills, val- 
 leys, rivers, trees, etc., each of which terms is expressive of 
 something spiritual in man, either of a superior or of an 
 inferior quality. And it is observable that the same terms 
 have a twofold application, according to the nature of the 
 subject treated of, being sometimes used to denote states of 
 good and truth, and at other times the opposite states of 
 evil and falsehood. Thus, when a new Church is to be 
 raised up instead of a former, which has perished, it is 
 written, " Behold, I create new heavens, and a new earth ; 
 and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into 
 mind," Isa. Ixv. 17 ; Apoc. xxi. 1 ; where the heavens denote 
 the internals of the Church, and the earth its externals. So 
 again fire is a term used to denote, in a good sense, love, 
 tvannth of affection, ardent desire, fervent zeal, etc., and in an 
 opposite sense, wrath, anger, fury, hatred, hist, and every 
 state of mental irritation. In the former sense, the Word 
 of the Lord is compared to fire in Jeremiah : " Is not my 
 word like as a firef saith Jehovah," Jer. xxiii. 29 ; mean- 
 ing that it is full of love and mercy to the human race. 
 The same divine love of the Lord, in itself perpetual and 
 eternal, was represented by the fire upon the altar, which 
 
 * Compare 2 Pet. iii. 10-12 and Jude 14, 15. 
 
104 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 was kept continually burning, Levit. vi. 12, 13. And it is 
 also in reference to the same divine love that the Lord is 
 said to "baptize with the Holy Spirit, and with fire" 
 Matt. iii. 11 ; Luke iii. 16. In an opposite sense, fire and 
 its destructive effects are thus spoken of in Isaiah, " Wick- 
 edness hurneth as the fire ; it shall devour the briers and 
 thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and 
 they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke : the peo- 
 ple shall be as the fuel of the fire : no man shall spare his 
 brother," Isa. ix. 18, 19. The perverse state of the Church 
 from a principle of self-love, in conjunction with the inor- 
 dinate love of the world, is here described by fire kindling 
 and devouring, and by the lifting up of smoke. In the 
 same sense it is said, "Upon the wicked shall Jehovah rain 
 snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest," Ps. 
 xi. 6; meaning, not that such literal judgments shall be 
 inflicted by the Lord, but that the wicked, by their own 
 evils of life, will bring upon themselves the spiritual calami- 
 ties signified by snares, fire, brimstone, etc. The fire of hell 
 is no other than infernal love, with all the odious passions, 
 lusts, and concupiscences which agitate and torment the 
 minds of those who become their willing subjects. It is in 
 reference to such turbulent and disorderly states, accom- 
 panied by the punishments to which they lead, and not to 
 any natural or elementary fire, that the prophet asks, 
 " Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire f who 
 amongst us shall dwell with everlasting burnings f Isa. 
 xxxiii. 14. 
 
 From all these considerations it may now plainly appear 
 that wherever mention is made in the Word of the day of 
 Jehovah burning as an oven, or in the Epistles of the heavens 
 being dissolved by fire, and of the earth and the works that 
 are therein being burnt up and consumed, we are uniformly 
 to understand that it is the end or destruction of the Church 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 105 
 
 which is thus described, the internals of which, or the hea- 
 vens, are consumed by various lusts and concupiscences, and 
 the externals, or the earth, by the same lusts breaking forth 
 into outward act, and producing manifest evils of life ; in 
 consequence of which it becomes necessary that new hea- 
 vens and a new earth should be formed ; in other words, 
 that a new Church should be raised up by the Lord, which 
 should both internally acknowledge and worship him, and 
 externally live in conformity to his divine laws. By the 
 elements, again, melting with fervent heat, we are to under- 
 stand not the dissolution of the first principles of nature, 
 which give consistency and stability to the works of out- 
 ward creation, but the destruction and extinction of the 
 first elements or constituent principles of the Church, 
 which are love to the Lord, and love to our neighbor, 
 together with the great truths of the Holy Word, on which 
 they are founded, and without which neither the angelic 
 heavens above, nor the Church on earth below, can for a 
 moment exist. 
 
 XXIX. — The Second Coming of the Lord not in 
 Person, but in Spirit. 
 
 Mr. Pike's next objection, refers to the second coming of 
 the Lord, which is said to be " denied by Swedenborg," 
 though he is avowedly the first to proclaim, that it has 
 already taken place, according to the true and only sense 
 in which that great event can be scripturally and rationally 
 understood. The question is, Whether the second coming 
 of the Lord was to be ^?^ person, like his fii-st appearance, 
 or in spirit, that is, in the Divine truth of his Holy Word, 
 which is one with himself? Mr. Pike, with the late Dr. 
 Priestly, and other literal interpreters of Scriptures, holds 
 the former opinion, while the more enlightened and judicious 
 Swedenborg maintains the latter. 
 
106 
 
 A VINDICATION OP THE 
 
 Among the passages urged in favor of a personal coming 
 are the following: "The Son of Man shall come in the 
 glory of his Father, with his angels ; and then he shall re- 
 ward every man according to his works," Matt. xvi. 27. 
 "The Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the 
 holy angels with him ; and before him shall be gathered all 
 nations," Matt. xxv. 31, 32. "This same Jesus, who is 
 taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, in like man- 
 ner as ye have seen him go into heaven," Acts i. 11. " The 
 Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with 
 the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God," 
 1 Thess. iv. 16. From these and similar passages it is in- 
 ferred, that the Lord will appear personally in the clouds 
 of heaven in great pomp and splendor, to judge the assem- 
 bled race of mankind at his bar, with all the formalities 
 attendant upon human courts of justice; and that the 
 whole earth and ocean shall at the same time be summoned 
 to yield up the bodies which they contain, in order that 
 they, together with the souls of their former tenants, may 
 be adjudged either to eternal life or eternal death. But as 
 these vague and incoherent notions have been already suf- 
 ficiently exposed in the preceding remarks on the resurrec- 
 tion and last judgment, nothing more shall be said on that 
 subject on the present occasion. Let the following more 
 rational views of the Lord's second advent engage the at- 
 tention of the reader. 
 
 The doctrine of the New Church, deduced from the 
 Sacred Scriptures, and so intelligibly laid down in the 
 writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, concerning the second 
 coming of the Lord, is this, That, according to the laws of 
 divine order, the Lord cannot come in person into the ma- 
 terial world, because since his ascension into heaven he is 
 in his Glorified Humanity ; and in this Humanity, although 
 it is omnipresent, he cannot be seen by any man, unless his 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 
 
 107 
 
 spiritual ej'es be first opened, as was the case with all who 
 saw him after his resurrection ; for as a material eye can 
 see nothing but matter, so the Lord's glorified body being 
 divinely substantial, and not material, can only be seen by 
 a spiritual eye. Hence, when the Lord manifested himself 
 to his disciples after his resurrection, it is written, that 
 " their eyes were opened, and they knew him ; and he van- 
 ished out of their sight," Luke xxiv. 3L So when the 
 women went to the sepulchre on the morning of the resur- 
 rection, they saw angels sitting there, whom yet it was im- 
 possible to see with the eyes of their natural bodies, but 
 only with the eyes of their spirits. The case was similar 
 with Elisha's young man, who as soon as his spiritual eyes 
 were opened, and not before, saw a great variety of objects 
 in the spiritual world, viz., " horses and chariots of fire 
 round about Elisha," 2 Kings vi. 17. From these con- 
 siderations then it is plain, that a material eye cannot see 
 spiritual objects, still less a divine object, such as the glori- 
 fied body of the Lord. But although the Lord cannot, 
 consistently with divine order, come personally into the 
 world, as he did at the period of his first advent (being 
 then in an infirm body of material flesh and blood, whereas 
 now his body is altogether divine), yet he can make his ap- 
 pearance in his Word, which being the divine truth pro- 
 ceeding from himself, is in this respect the same as himself. 
 We therefore read, " in the beginning was the Word, and 
 the Word was with God, and God was the Word," John i. 1. 
 
 Much stress, however, appears to be laid on that passage 
 in the Acts, above quoted, where the angel says, " This same 
 Jesus, who is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come, 
 in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven:" and it 
 is concluded, that, as his ascent was personal and visible, 
 his return will be the same, personal and visible also. 
 In answer to this, let it be observed, and particularly 
 
108 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 attended to, that the whole passage, from whicli the objec- 
 tion is drawn, is the record of a transaction that occurred, 
 not in the natural, hut in the spiritual world : for, as has been 
 already proved, the Lord never was, nor could be, seen 
 after his resurrection, by the material eyes of any man. 
 He was then in the lower parts of the spiritual world ; con- 
 sequently his personal ascent must have been from thence 
 into heaven, and not from the material world, which he had 
 left forty days before, viz., at the time of his resurrection. 
 Besides, there are clouds in the spiritual world, equally as 
 •well as in the natural world ; and the clouds of the former 
 are more properly called the clouds of heaven, than the 
 latter, which in fact are nothing but the clouds of the earth. 
 It is evident, thei-efore, that what the angels said of Jesus 
 returning from heaven in like manner as he went up into 
 heaven, ought to be understood as alluding to his appear- 
 ance in the spiritual ivorld, at the time of his second com- 
 ing, and not to any personal appearance in the natural world. 
 To men on earth, who are enlightened so as to discern the 
 spiritual sense of the Scriptures, the Lord appears as divine 
 truth : but to those inhabitants of the spiritual world, who 
 in heart acknowledge him as the only God of heaven and 
 earth, he not only manifests himself in the character of 
 divine truth, but also occasionally presents himself in per- 
 son, descending in the same glorious manner, as the men 
 of Galilee saw him ascend. And thus the event, which the 
 angels foretold, hath actually taken place. 
 
 That the above passage in the Acts of the Apostles can- 
 not with propriety be understood in any other sense, than 
 that already explained, may further appear from this con- 
 sideration, that the Lord's ascension was visible only to his 
 followers, whose eyes were opened, and not to the Jews at 
 large. Now if he is to come again in like manner, as is ex- 
 pressly declared, it follows, that his second advent will be 
 
WRITINGS OF KMANUKL SWEDENBORG. 
 
 109 
 
 witnessed and acknowledged, not by the bulk of mankind, 
 but (as before, so now again) by his followers only, whose 
 spiritual eyes or understandings are opened to discern him in 
 his Word. And all such, in consequence of clearly com- 
 prehending the meaning of John, when he says, that God 
 was the Word, will see that the Lord's advent in his Word, 
 consisting of a revelation of its internal contents, is neither 
 a mere figure nor an emblem, as some may call it, but a 
 divine reality. 
 
 XXX. — The Lord's Second Coming effected through 
 THE Instrumentality of Emanuel Swedenborg. 
 
 " But," says Mr. Pike, " follow Swedenborg one step 
 further, and you come to the highest pitch of his impiety." 
 And wherein consists the impiety here spoken of? Why, 
 according to the accuser's own statement, in Swedenborg's 
 assertion, that " the second coming of the Lord is in order 
 to separate the evil from the good, that they may be saved 
 who have believed and who do believe on him, and that of 
 them may be formed a new angelic heaven, and a new 
 Church on the earth ; that without this coming no flesh can 
 be saved ; that it is effected by a man, before whom he hath 
 manifested himself in person, and whom he hath filled with 
 his spirit to teach the doctrines of the New Church by the 
 Word for him ; and that this man is no other than Eman- 
 uel Swedenborg himself." Now can any person seriously 
 believe, that it is impious to assert, that the coming of the 
 Lord is for the purpose of saving such as believe in him, 
 and of forming a new Church both in the spiritual and in 
 the natural world, when it is so plainly declared in the Sa- 
 cred Scriptures, that he comes not to destroy, but to build 
 up; not to condemn, but to save? Or is it any proof of 
 wickedness to say, that the Lord is about to form a new 
 heaven and a new Church, when it is expressly announced 
 
 10 
 
110 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 by John in the Revelation, that he saw " a new heaven and 
 a new earth, and the holy city. New Jerusalem, coming 
 down from God out of heaven ?" Yet this is a part of the 
 charge, which Mr. Pike has unwittingly brought against 
 one of the best and most pious of men. 
 
 The chief ground of complaint, however, appears to be 
 the solemn declaration of Swedenborg that the Lord mani- 
 fested himself to him in person, and commissioned him to 
 teach the doctrines of the New Church by the Word from 
 him ; and further, that the spiritual sense of the Word 
 being laid open, and the divine presence therein being thus 
 made known to the world, through the instrumentality of 
 a chosen servant, constitute the second coming of the Lord. 
 This Mr. Pike considers to be the height of arrogance, pre- 
 sumption, and impiety ; being, in his opinion, tantamount 
 to Swedenborg setting himself up as the subject of prophecy, 
 in the place of the Lord himself, just as if an humble 
 acknowledgment that he was only a servant, or instrument 
 in the Lord's hands, was equivalent to his laying claim to 
 the honor due unto his Divine Master! Such perversity 
 of judgment would equally condemn prophets and apostles 
 for acting and speaking in the name of their God, though 
 at the same time they declared they were merely instruments 
 and ministers appointed to perform the divine will. 
 
 Without further noticing in what manner Mr. Pike in- 
 dulges himself on the subject, our time may be more use- 
 fully occupied in pointing out to the candid reader the true 
 ground and reason why so great an event as the second 
 coming of the Lord should necessarily require to be effected 
 through the instrumentality of a man. It has been already 
 proved that the Lord cannot, without a manifest breach of 
 divine order, make his appearance in the world in the way 
 and manner expected by Mr. Pike and many others ; but 
 that he is to come in spirit, not in person ; that the clouds 
 
WRITINGS OP EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. Ill 
 
 in which he will appear are the literal sense of his "Word ; 
 and that the 2)ower and glory by which he will be accom- 
 panied belong to its internal or sjjiritual sense. This being 
 the case, he must of necessity commission some man, placed 
 for the purpose under a high degree of illumination, to open 
 or explain his AVord, to teach the genuine doctrines of 
 divine revelation from him, and thus to present the Lord 
 in spirit and in truth before the eyes of all who are dis- 
 posed to receive and acknowledge him. There appears no 
 other possible mode whereby divine truth can be published 
 and propagated in the world than through the agency or 
 instrumentality of man ; and therefore in all ages since the 
 first going forth of the Word, even unto the present day, 
 instruments have been employed by the Lord to make 
 known his will, and human means have been made subser- 
 vient to divine ends. Thus we read, that \dien Jehovah 
 gave the law upon mount Sinai, he commissioned Moses, 
 his servant, to stand between him and the people, Deut. 
 v. 5 ; and though he was himself present in the midst of 
 the fire and smoke that overhung the mountain, yet was he 
 not seen by them in person, neither was his voice heard, 
 John V. 37. Equally present was he afterward with the 
 same people, in the ark of the testimony, in the tabernacle, 
 and in the temple ; yet all his commands, his promises, and 
 his blessings, were conveyed to them through the medium 
 of priests, judges, kings, and prophets. For "surely the 
 Lord Jehovah will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret 
 unto his servants the prophets," Amos iii. 7. Why then 
 should it become matter of astonishment, or be regarded as 
 an incredible thing that the Lord should, at the period of 
 his second coming in the power and glory of his Word, 
 make choice of a servant in every way qualified to perform 
 the duties of the office to which he has been appointed, and 
 thus to prepare his way among Christians, as John the Bap- 
 
112 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 tist did in ancient times among the Jews? He formerly 
 chose for prophets and apostles characters, who, in the esti- 
 mation of the world, would have been rejected as altogether 
 unfit for their several employments. Yet the success which 
 followed and crowned their labors have, in the eyes of all 
 good men, completely justified the divine wisdom in bring- 
 ing, out of so much evil as then existed, all possible good by 
 the best possible means. And why may not equal, nay 
 superior advantages and blessings be now hoped for, seeing 
 that the same all-wise and merciful Lord has again conde- 
 scended to visit, instruct, and comfort his people ; and has 
 provided such a messenger, or instrument, for opening his 
 Word, and spreading his truth through all nations, as pro- 
 bably was never before excelled for genuine piety, universal 
 learning, and all the graces becoming the character of an 
 enlightened, upright, and sincere Christian ? 
 
 Indeed everything around us proclaims aloud that we are 
 entering upon a new era. By the extraordinary occurrences 
 that mark the times in Avhich we live ; by the general expec- 
 tation (similar to that which prevailed at the time of our 
 Lord's first or personal advent in the flesh) of some great 
 event now about to take place ; by the numerous institu- 
 tions for extending knowledge ; and especially by that 
 splendid moral phenomenon, the association of men of 
 every name, rank, and character, for the purpose of intro- 
 ducing the Sacred Scriptui-es among all the nations of the 
 earth, not to mention other undoubted and infallible signs 
 from heaven, we are distinctly instructed that now is the 
 period of the Lord's second advent in the clouds of heaven, 
 with power and great glory (i. e., in both the literal and 
 spiritual senses of his Holy Word) ; that now the holy city. 
 New Jerusalem, is descending from on high, and that hence- 
 forth there shall be in the Church only " one Jehovah, and 
 his name one," Zech. xiv. 9 ; since " the kingdoms of this 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 113 
 
 world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his 
 Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever," Apoc. xi. 15. 
 
 XXXI. — SWEDENBORG FALSELY CHARGED WITH BEING 
 
 AN Encourager op Vice, etc. 
 
 We come now to objections of another description, such 
 as no man of sound judgment, capable of distinguishing 
 between virtue and vice, and the different degrees of each, 
 would ever think of bringing forward against a character 
 so truly pious and devout as that of Swedenborg. Mr. 
 Pike, charges that author with giving countenance to forni- 
 cation, concubinage, and adultery, merely because he dis- 
 criminates between their relative degrees of evil, and shows 
 that one kind of vice is less grievous and destructive of 
 happiness than another. This, after all that Mr. Pike has 
 said on the subject, and after all his partial- and unfair 
 quotations from the treatise on Conjugial Love, is precisely 
 the state of the question ; on which a few observations 
 have already been oflered in a former part of this Vindica- 
 tion, but which now demands a more particular con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Swedenborg lays it down as the very first principle 
 of his work, that love truly conjugial, or the chaste love 
 subsisting between one husband and one wife, originates 
 in the marriage or conjunction of good and truth ; that it 
 corresponds with the marriage of the Lord and his Church ; 
 that it is therefore celestial, spiritual, holy, pure, and clean, 
 in a pre-eminent degree ; that it is the foundation of every 
 species of heavenly love and affection, with all their in- 
 numerable felicities ; but that it is imparted to no others 
 than those who approach the Lord, and live according to 
 his divine precepts ; consequently tliat every deviation from 
 true conjugial love is to be regarded as a departure from 
 the most perfect state of Christian life, either into evil of a 
 
 10* 
 
114 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 relatively venial character, such as the apostle John calls 
 "a sill not unto death" or into evil of a more gross and 
 destructive nature, such as the same apostle emphatically 
 pronounces to be "a sin unto death" 1 John v. 16, 17. 
 But as it is not to be expected, that all men should arrive 
 at the high state of purity above spoken of, and it would 
 be the height of cruelty and injustice to condemn with 
 an indiscriminate judgment those, who, by reason of the 
 frailties of their nature, either cannot or do not come uj) to 
 the standard here pointed out, the author proceeds to show 
 in what cases the conjugial principle may yet be preserved 
 to a certain degree. This leads him to consider the nature 
 of permission, and how far the divine mercy tolerates some 
 evils, with a view to prevent others of greater enormity, 
 according to these words of our Lord, addressed to the 
 Jews, "Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, 
 suffered you to put away your wives ; but from the begin- 
 ning it was not so," Matt. xix. 8 : from which it appears, 
 that by reason of the adulterous propensity of the Jews, or 
 the hardness of their hearts, a law accommodated to their 
 state of evil was permitted, in the place of one more pure 
 and perfect, which doubtless they would have profaned. 
 It is therefore to be well observed, that Emanuel Sweden- 
 borg no where recommends or approves either of fornication, 
 or of concubinage, still less of adultery in any of its forms 
 or degrees ; but, on the contrary, most strenuously advo- 
 cates the chastity, purity, and sanctity of the marriage 
 state. 
 
 Mr. Pike has introduced into his pamphlet a variety of 
 quotations from Swedenborg's work on Conjugial Love, 
 which, taken in their proper connection, are highly just 
 and important, and merit the approbation of every intel- 
 ligent reader; yet when given in detached portions, and 
 especially when mutilated, may in some cases seem to 
 
WRITINGS OP EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 115 
 
 countenance a laxity of morals, which the author never in- 
 tended. By such a proceeding even the Sacred Scriptures 
 themselves may be made to speak any language, however 
 profane or indelicate, and to give forth any doctrine, how- 
 ever opposed to the truth of their divine spirit. But as no 
 pious or enlightened man would consent to take the charac- 
 ter of the Holy Word from an Atheist or a Deist, so it is 
 presumed, that no person of a liberal and candid turn of 
 mind, desirous of receiving information concerning the 
 principles and doctrines of Emanuel Swedenborg, will 
 acquiesce in the mere assertions and misrepresentations of 
 an avowed enemy ; but will rather be disposed to read for 
 himself the works of that celebrated author, especially his 
 work on Conjugial Love, and to form his own unbiased 
 judgment on its most interesting contents. In the mean 
 time the few following extracts therefrom are submitted to 
 the attention of the reader, as undeniable evidence of the 
 nature, spirit, and tendency of that extraordinary and 
 most admirable production. 
 
 "Love, considered in itself, is nothing else but a desire 
 and consequent tendency to conjunction ; and conjugial 
 love to conjunction into one ; for the male and female were 
 so created, that from two they may become one man, or 
 one flesh ; and when they become one, they are then, taken 
 together, man in his fullness. But without such conjunc- 
 tion they are two, and each is as a divided or half-man. 
 Now whereas the above conjunctive principle lies inmostly 
 concealed in all and singular the parts of the male, and in 
 all and singular the parts of the female, and the same is 
 true of the faculty and desire to be conjoined together into 
 one, it follows, that the mutual and reciprocal love of the 
 sex remaineth with men after death." Conj. Love, 37. 
 
 "As few know the distinction between the love of the 
 sex and conjugial love, it may be expedient briefly to point 
 
116 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 out this distinction. The love of the sex is a love directed 
 to several, and contracted with several of the sex ; whereas 
 conjugial love is only directed to one, and contracted with 
 one of the sex. Moreover, love directed to several and 
 contracted with several is a natural love, for it is common 
 to man with beasts and birds, which are natural ; whereas 
 conjugial love is a spiritual love, and peculiar and proper 
 to men, because men were created, and are therefore born 
 to become spiritual : wherefore so far as man becomes 
 spiritual, so far he puts off the love of the sex, and puts 
 on conjugial love." Conj. Love, 48. 
 
 "But no others come into this love, and can be in it, ex- 
 cept such as come to the Lord, and love the truths of the 
 Church, and practise its goods. The reason of this is, be- 
 cause monogamical marriages, which are of one husband 
 with one wife, correspond to the marriage of the Lord and 
 the Church, and because such marriages originate in the 
 marriage of good and truth. Hence it follows, that con- 
 jugial love with man is according to the state of the 
 Church with him." Conj. Love, 70. 
 
 "Conjugial love is according to the state of the Church, 
 because it is according to the state of wisdom with man, as 
 a principle of life. It may be asked. What is wisdom as a 
 principle of life ? In a summary view, it is to shun evils, 
 because they are hurtful to the soul, and hurtful to the 
 public weal, and hurtful to the body. This is the wisdom 
 to which conjugial love binds itself: for it binds itself 
 tliereto by shunning the evil of adultery as the pest of the 
 soul, of the public weal, and of the body : and whereas 
 this wisdom originates in spiritual things appertaining to 
 the Church, it follows, that conjugial love is according to 
 the state of the Church, because it is according to the state 
 of wisdom with man." Conj. Love, 130. 
 
 "The Christian conjugial principle alone is chaste. 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL 8WEDENBORG. 117 
 
 Christians, in case they many more wives than one, com- 
 mit not only natural, but also spiritual adultery." Conj. 
 Love, 142. 
 
 "The chastity of marriage exists by a total abdication 
 of whoredoms from a principle of religion." Conj. Love, 
 147. 
 
 "Chastity cannot be predicated of those, who abstain 
 from adulteries only for various external reasons. Many 
 believe, that the mere abstaining from adulteries in the 
 body is chastity, when yet this is not chastity, unless at the 
 same time there be an abstaining in spirit. The spirit of 
 man, by which is here meant his mind as to affections and 
 thoughts, constitutes the chaste and unchaste; for hence 
 the chaste or unchaste hath place in the body, the body 
 being in all cases such as the mind or spirit is. Hence it 
 follows, that they who abstain from adulteries in the body, 
 and not by influence from the spirit, are not chaste; 
 neither are they chaste, who abstain from them in spirit as 
 influenced from the body. There are many assignable 
 causes, which make man desist from adulteries in body, 
 and also in spirit as influenced from the body; but still, he 
 who doth not desist from them in body as influenced from 
 the spirit, is unchaste ; for the Lord saith, ' tliat whosoever 
 looketh on a woina7i to lust after her, hath committed adultery 
 with her already in his heart,' Matt. v. 28. It is impossible 
 to reckon up all the causes of abstinence from adulteries 
 in the body only ; for they are various according to states 
 of marriage, and also according to states of the body ; for 
 there are some persons, who abstain from them out of fear 
 of the civil law and its penalties ; some out of fear of the 
 loss of reputation, and thereby of honor ; some out of fear 
 of diseases, which may be thereby contracted ; some out of 
 fear of domestic quarrels on the part of the wife, whereby 
 the quiet of their lives may be disturbed ; some out of fear 
 
118 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 of revenge on the part of tbe husband or relations ; some 
 out of fear of chastisement from the servants of the family ; 
 some also abstain from motives of poverty, or of avarice, 
 or of imbecility arising either from disease, or from abuse, 
 or from age, or from impotence. Of these there are some 
 also, who, because they cannot or dare not commit adultery 
 in the body, on this account commit adulteries in the 
 spirit ; and thus they speak morally against adulteries, and 
 in favor of marriages. But such persons, unless in spirit 
 they call adulteries accursed, and this from a religious 
 principle in the spirit, are still adulterers ; for although 
 they do not commit them in body, yet in spirit they do 
 commit them : wherefore after death, when they become 
 spirits, they speak openly in favor of them. Fi-om these 
 considerations it is manifest, that even a wicked person 
 may shun adulteries as hurtful, but that none except a 
 Christian can shun them as sins." Conj. Love, 153. 
 
 " A state of marriage is to be preferred to a state of 
 celibacy : the reason of which is, because it is a state or- 
 dained from creation ; because it originates in the marriage 
 of good and truth ; because its correspondence is with the 
 Lord and the Church ; because the Church and conjugial love 
 are constant companions ; because its use is more excellent 
 than the uses of all things of creation, for thence according 
 to order is derived the propagation of the human race, and 
 also of the angelic heaven, this latter being formed from 
 the human race. Add to these considerations, that mar- 
 riage is the fullness of man, for by it man becomes a full 
 man. All these things are wanting in celibacy." Conj. 
 Love, 156. 
 
 "The delights of conjugial love ascend to the highest 
 heaven, and join themselves in the way thither and there 
 with the delights of all heavenly loves, and thereby enter 
 into their happiness, which endures for ever : the reason is, 
 
WRITINGS OP EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 119 
 
 because the delights of that love are also the delights of 
 wisdom. But the pleasures of scortatory love descend even 
 to the lowest hell, and join themselves in the way thither 
 and there with the pleasures of all infernal loves, and there- 
 by enter into their unhappiness, which consists in the 
 wretchedness of all heart-delights : the reason is, because 
 the pleasures of that love are also the pleasures of insanity." 
 Conj. Love, 294. 
 
 "Scortatory love is opposite to conjugial love, as hell is 
 opposite to heaven." Conj. Love, 429. 
 
 " That the lust of fornication is not the lust of adultery, 
 every one sees clearly from common perception. AVhat 
 law and what judge imputes a like criminality to the 
 fornicator as to the adulterer ? The reason why this is seen 
 from common perception is, because fornication is not op- 
 posite to conjugial love, as adultery is. In fornication con- 
 jugial love may lie stored up within, as what is spiritual 
 may lie stored up in what is natural : but the libidinous and 
 obscene love of adultery is opposite to conjugial love, and 
 destructive thereof." Conj. Love, 449. 
 
 " There are two kinds of concubinage, which differ ex- 
 ceedingly from each other, the one conjointly with a wife, 
 and the other apart from a wife. The former is illicit to 
 Christians, and detestable: the latter, when engaged in 
 from causes legitimate, just, and truly conscientious, is not 
 so." Conj. Love, 463, 464, 467. 
 
 Among the legitimate causes for separation Swedeuborg 
 ranks vitiated states of the body ; but by these he does not 
 mean "accidental diseases, which befall one or other conju- 
 gial partner within the time of their marriage, and pass 
 away, but inherited diseases, which do not pass away." Conj. 
 Love, 252. 
 
 " There are four degrees of adulteries, which from the 
 nature of circumstances and contingencies, are to be reputed 
 
120 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 milder or more grievous. A man, from rational conviction, 
 according to circumstances and contingencies, may ab- 
 solve a person, whom a judge, whilst he sits in judgment, 
 cannot absolve from the law ; and also a judge may absolve 
 a person, who after death is condemned. The reason is, 
 because a judge gives sentence according to actions done : 
 whereas after death every one is judged according to the 
 intentions of the will and thence of the understanding, 
 and according to the confirmations of the understanding, 
 and thence of the will. These intentions and confirmations 
 a judge doth not see: nevertheless each judgment is just, 
 one for the sake of the good of civil society, the other for 
 the sake of the good of heavenly society." Conj. Love, 485. 
 
 " Various circumstances exist in the world, which miti- 
 gate and excuse crimes, also which aggravate and charge 
 them upon the perpetrator : nevertheless imputations after 
 death take place, not according to circumstances which are 
 external of the deed, but according to internal circum- 
 stances of the mind : and these are viewed according to the 
 state of the Church with every one ; as for example, a man, 
 who hath no fear of God, nor love for his neighbor, and 
 consequently no reverence for any sanctity of the Church, 
 after death becomes guilty of all crimes which he did in the 
 body, nor is remembrance had of his good actions, inas- 
 much as his heart, from whence as from a fountain those 
 things flowed, was averse from heaven, and turned to hell. 
 In order that this may be understood, I will relate an arca- 
 num : Heaven is distinguished into innumerable societies, 
 in like manner hell from an opposite principle ; and the 
 mind of every man, according to his will and consequent 
 understanding, actually dwells in one society, and intends 
 and thinks in like manner with those who compose the 
 society. If the mind be in any society of heaven, it then 
 intends and thinks in like manner with those who compose 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBOEG. 121 
 
 that society ; if it be in any society of hell, it intends and 
 thinks in like manner with those who are in the same so- 
 ciety ; but so long as man lives in the world, so long he 
 migrates from one society to another, according to the 
 changes of the affections of his will and of the consequent 
 thoughts of his mind ; but after death his peregrinations 
 are collected, and from the collection thereof into one a 
 place is allotted him, in hell if he be in evil, in heaven if 
 he be good. Now whereas all in hell are influenced by a 
 will of evil, all are viewed there from that will ; and 
 whereas all in heaven are influenced by a will of good, all 
 are viewed there from that will : wherefore imputations 
 after death have place according to the quality of every 
 one's will and understanding. The case is similar with 
 scortations, whether they be fornications, or pellicacies, or 
 concubinages, or adulteries, inasmuch as those things are 
 imputed to every one, not according to the deeds them- 
 selves, but according to the state of the mind in the deeds ; 
 for deeds follow the body into the tomb, whereas the mind 
 rises again." Conj. Love, 530. 
 
 From these extracts the reader has now an opportunity 
 of judging how far Mr. Pike is justifiable in his endeavors 
 to vilify the character of Swedenborg, by representing him 
 as an encourager of vice. 
 
 XXXII. — Female Prostitution. 
 
 Mr. Pike further observes that " on Swedenborg's princi- 
 ples it is not unlawful, but allowable, for one sex to indulge 
 in fornication, and consequently it must be as allowable for 
 the other sex to live in prostitution." We have already 
 seen that the crime of fornication is considered by Sweden- 
 borg as an evil, but not of so atrocious a nature as adultery; 
 and therefore that it is permitted, not in the way of appro- 
 bation, as Mr. Pike insinuates, but with a view to prevent 
 11 
 
122 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 a greater evil. The same rule is equally applicable to both 
 sexes, and there is no more reason or justice in the conclu- 
 sion that a life of whoredom is lawful for females, than that 
 a life of fornication is lawful for males. The drift of Mr. 
 Pike's reasoning appears to be simply this : If a man be 
 permitted to indulge in fornication, then a woman must also 
 be permitted to prostitute herself ; since the former permis- 
 sion cannot exist without the latter. Admitting this to be 
 true, what then? does it follow that the permission in either 
 case amounts to approbation f Until this can be proved, 
 the argument carries with it no more weight than a feather. 
 Evils of much greater magnitude than such as relate to 
 individuals are tolerated in states which comprise many 
 individuals, but in all these cases the laws and customs 
 adopted have for their end the suppression of more griev- 
 ous offences against the welfare and peace of society. In- 
 formers, spies, and thief-takers, are characters of no good 
 name in any country, yet they are permitted and employed 
 with the view of preventing and curing the greatest disor- 
 ders in a community. A standing army, also, consisting 
 of men hired to fight and destroy their fellow-men, or by 
 their martial attitude to deter an enemy from landing on 
 our shores, may be regarded as an evil, but surely not so 
 great an evil as actual war itself, or the devastation of a 
 country by a barbarous enemy ; and altliough the one may 
 seem to imply the other, still the danger to be apprehended 
 from the greater evil, in the eyes of all reasonable men, 
 will ever justify the permission of the less. 
 
 So with respect to the inordinate love of the sex, which 
 in some men and under certain circumstances cannot be 
 altogether checked without producing the most deplorable 
 calamities both to the individuals concerned, and to society 
 at large, it has been found necessary to tolerate, under pro- 
 per regulations, public stews, or houses of ill-fame in many 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 123 
 
 populous cities of Europe, as in London, Amsterdam, Paris, 
 Vienna, Venice, Naples, Rome, etc., etc. ; and this tolera- 
 tion or permission has been sanctioned by kings, magis- 
 trates, judges, and other authorities of the several states, 
 as well as by the people at large, purely for the sake of 
 preventing greater and more destructive disorders. In 
 every point of view, therefore, which can be taken of the 
 subject, we are authorized to conclude that fornication on 
 the part of the male, and prostitution on the part of the 
 female, though acknowledged to be evils in themselves, are 
 in the present state of society Avisely permitted, not as mat- 
 ter of favor or choice, but of necessity, to prevent as much 
 as possible adulteries of every kind, violations of the chaste, 
 and seductions of the innocent, besides other nameless 
 abominations. 
 
 XXXIII. — Indelicacies of Language and Idea. 
 
 Again, Mr. Pike not only charges the author with hav- 
 ing "delighted in letting his thoughts dwell on impure 
 scenes, and in meditating frequently on different lusts ;" but 
 in his extreme modesty affects so nice a sense of delicacy 
 as to be incapable of transcribing the exact words used by 
 Swedenborg in his enumeration of the conscientious and 
 legitimate causes of separation from the bed, though not 
 from the house ; thus leading his readers to suppose that 
 the language of Swedenborg is gross and forbidding to the 
 last degree, when yet of all the writers who ever treated of 
 such subjects, he is confessedly the most chaste, the most 
 delicate, and the most correct, not only in his ideas, but 
 also in his expressions. On the first part of the charge, 
 that he suffered his thoughts to dwell on impure scenes, and 
 meditated on different lusts, it may be asked, How was it 
 possible for him, or any other author, to write with perspi- 
 cuity and effect on love truly conjugial, and on the blessed- 
 
124 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 ness attending it, without contrasting them with those lusts 
 and impure pleasures which are in direct opposition to 
 them ? Or how could he, with any degree of accuracy and 
 precision, point out the various genera, species, and shades 
 of vice, without previously meditating on the subject? A 
 charge so trifling, childish, and contemptible, was surely 
 never before brought against any author. To Avhat lengths 
 will not prejudice and envy carry a man ! Had Sweden- 
 borg written without thought, without meditation, and with- 
 out discrimination, as some are suspected to have done in 
 their recent attacks on him, the charge might have been 
 entertained, and suffered to have its full weight ; but when 
 it is made matter of distinct accusation against him, that 
 he had studied his subject, that he had meditated, and re- 
 fiected upon it in all its varieties and bearings, what shall 
 we say of the man who hesitates not to expose himself to just 
 censure, provided he can but for a moment injure the repu- 
 tation of the pious and enlightened Swedenborg? Let him 
 follow the example which he affects to despise, and in future, 
 when he takes up his pen, let him think before he writes. 
 
 With regard to those alleged indelicacies of expression 
 in Swedenborg 's work on Conjugial Love, particularly in 
 notes 471 and 473, which Mr. Pike says modesty will not 
 permit him to repeat, and instead of which he gives the 
 
 mere dash of his pen , as the most effectual way of 
 
 convincing the reader of the justice of his charge ; the pas- 
 sages referred to have been closely examined, and so far 
 from there being a single expression in them offensive to a 
 chaste ear, the language is in every respect decorous, and 
 becoming the subject, as well as the character of the writer. 
 Who would imagine that the words objected to by Mr. 
 Pike, as too indelicate for his tongue to pronounce, or his 
 hand to transcribe, are no other than prolification, or actual 
 love, and conjugial debt f — terms by which the author has so 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 125 
 
 well expressed his meaning, as the apostle Paul before him 
 has done by the phrase due benevolence, 1 Cor. vii. 3. Yet 
 this is the grievance complained of, this the gross language 
 which I\Ir. Pike's refined sense of decency would not suffer 
 to appear in his page ! His extreme delicacy calls to mind 
 what Moses said in ancient times, on another occasion, 
 " The man that is tender among you, and vei-y delicate, his 
 eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife 
 of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children," 
 Deut. xxviii. 54. Who ever conducted himself more deli- 
 cately than Agag the Amalekite? Yet with all his affecta- 
 tion of nice and delicate feelings, " Samuel hewed him in 
 2jieees before Jehovah," 1 Sam. xv. 32, 33. 
 
 It is a just observation of the apostle, that "to the pure 
 all things are pure; but unto them that are defiled, and 
 unbelieving, is nothing pure," Titus i. 15. To persons of 
 the latter description even the Sacred Scriptures themselves, 
 in various places, must appear deserving of censure : and 
 indeed it is well known, that on this very account Deists 
 and others have not scrupled to reprobate them as un- 
 worthy of being dictated by a holy and wise God. Mr. 
 Pike probably, as a minister of religion, will not venture 
 openly to denounce the Levitical law, though written in 
 terms much plainer than any used by Swedenborg. But 
 by what rule of judgment, it may be asked, will he sjmre 
 or perhaps justify the one, while he condemns, without a 
 moment's reflection, the similarly chaste and select lan- 
 guage of the other ? 
 
 [Editor's note. — We cannot refrain from inserting here a passnge 
 singularly appropriate, from this same section, 44 C. L., characterized 
 by Pike as loo obscene to quote from, but which on careful reading we 
 find to be written throughout in the most pure and decorous language. 
 Of course between sucli conflicting judgments the reader will desire 
 to judge for himself, and in recommending him to read for himself this 
 11 * 
 
126 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 and all the other passages thus referred to by Pike, we are sure that 
 he will be struck by the singularly chaste and well-chosen terms in 
 which our author treats of his subject. We read that on hearing 
 certain novitiates complain that a chaste love of the sex would be no 
 love at all, " The angelic spirits indignantly replied. You are alto- 
 gether ignorant what a chaste love of the sex is ; because as yet you are 
 not yet chaste. This love is the very essential delight of the mind, 
 and thence of the heart ; and not at the same time of the flesh be- 
 neath the heart. Angelic chastity, which is common to each sex, 
 prevents the passage of that love beyond the enclosure of the heart. 
 Love truly conjugial is chaste, and has nothing in common with un- 
 chaste love, being confined to one of that sex and separate from all 
 others ; for it is a love of the spirit and thence of the body, and not a 
 love of the body and thence of the spirit ; that is, it is not a (bodily) 
 love infesting the spirit." C. L. 44.] 
 
 XXXIV. — To THE Puke all Things are Pure. 
 
 It is well knovrn, that the Lord is called the Word ; 
 that when he came into the world for the redemption of 
 mankind, the Word was then made flesh, John i. 14 ; and 
 that after he had departed out of the world, he was seen 
 by John as a Divine Man, being still called The Word of 
 God, Apoc. i. 13 to 18 ; chap. xix. 11 to 16. Now if the 
 Lord be indeed the Word, and if the Word also be flesh, 
 that is, Man, then it is reasonable to suppose, that every 
 part of the human frame should be distinctly noted in the 
 Word, in order to teach us, that divine truth in its several 
 gradations from inmost principles to ultimate effects, is 
 adapted not only to the faculties and energies of the mind, 
 but also to the powers and organs of the body, so as to 
 form the whole man into an image and likeness of his God. 
 For as the Lord himself, by fulfilling the Word in his own 
 person, made his Humanity the tabernacle, temple, and 
 habitation of the pure Divinity, insomuch that every por- 
 tion of his body, even to the very sensual and corporeal 
 principles, was at length completely identified with the 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDEXBORG. 127 
 
 divine nature ; so his exaiujile is held out to his followers 
 as the rule, whereby they ought to govern the internal 
 affections and thoughts of their spirit, and at the same 
 time the external actions of their body. With this view, 
 and to show, that, when man is in a state of heavenly 
 order, every organ of his fi-ame may become instrumental 
 in promoting some specific good or use in the Lord's king- 
 dom, with which there is a correspondence in all his 
 members ; and on the contrary to point out, when he is in 
 a state of disorder, the precise nature of the evil by which 
 he opposes the divine will, the Sacred Scriptures, in speak- 
 ing of the Church, sometimes as a male, and at other times 
 as a female, make repeated and distinct mention of the 
 head, the face, the eyes, the ears, the cheeks, the mouth, 
 the lips, the tongue, the teeth, the neck, the throat, the 
 breast, the back, the side, the ribs, the arms, the hands, the 
 fingers, the heart, the reins, the inward parts, the belly, the 
 loins, the womb, the thighs, the knees, the legs, the ankles, 
 the feet, the heel, the sole, the toes, the flesh, the blood, the 
 skin, the bones, the sinews, the hair, the nails, the dress, 
 etc., etc., with many of the functions and actions peculiar 
 to the several parts of the body here enumerated. To cite 
 all the passages, where these and other expressions of the 
 kind are to be found, would be an endless task : suffice it 
 to say, they are interspersed throughout the Sacred Pages ; 
 and it cannot be doubted, that they have a place therein in 
 consequence of the relation which they bear, either in a 
 good or in an opposite sense, to the Church, to heaven, and 
 even to the Lord himself, who is present with all the full- 
 ness of his Divinity in every point and tittle of his Word. 
 
 It may be further observed, that the Word, while it 
 embraces every possible state of good and truth, to which 
 the human race can be elevated, treats also of every possi- 
 ble degree of evil and folly, to which it can be debased : 
 
128 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 and as it is the desire and purpose of the Lord to deliver 
 man from the evils and corruptions of his nature, this 
 desire and purpose accompany every expression in his 
 Word, and render that chaste and pure, which might 
 otherwise appear to be of a contrary description. "The 
 words of the Lord are pure words; as silver purified in a 
 furnace of earth, purified seven times," Ps. xii. 6. "Thy 
 word is very pure," Ps. cxix. 140. " Every word of God is 
 pure," Prov. xxx. 5. So with respect to human produc- 
 tions; the modesty or immodesty of words (if free from 
 gross vulgarisms) depends entirely on the state of the 
 writer's mind, and the end or motive by which he is influ- 
 enced. If, for example, in treating of marriage, or of the 
 intercourse between the sexes, a spiritual or chaste motive 
 predominate, and keep in check those carnal, libidinous 
 ideas, which are apt to be engendered in the natural mind, 
 when separated from the spiritual, the writing or conversa- 
 tion in such case is not to be regarded as injurious to the 
 most delicate feeling of chastity, because, the intention 
 being to convey useful instruction, the language is qualified 
 by the motive, and the ruling idea gives no provocation to 
 lasciviousness. Hence medical men, by the nature of their 
 profession, are frequently under the necessity of conversing 
 on subjects of the greatest delicacy, yet without merit- 
 ing the imputation of indecorum. Want of chastity, or 
 immodesty in language, on the other hand, consists in the 
 disclosure of impure motives, and in suffering sensual ideas 
 either to gain the ascendancy over those which are of a 
 higher order, or to extinguish them altogether. In this 
 latter case no modest female can for a moment listen to the 
 conversation, or suffer her attention to be arrested by a 
 subject so repugnant to her feelings. On the whole, it may 
 therefore be justly concluded, that neither chastity nor un- 
 chastity depends upon the mere external expression, but on 
 
WRITIXGS OF EMANUEL SWEDEKBOEG. 129 
 
 the internal state of affection and thouglit, which give it 
 birth ; and again, that the same expressions may be inno- 
 cent and chaste in the mouth and ears of one person, while 
 they are of an opposite character in those of another, since, 
 according to the authority before quoted, "to the pure all 
 things are pure, and to the defiled all things are unclean." 
 
 XXXV. — The Divine Providence exemplified in 
 THE Permission of Mahometanism. 
 
 It is next charged against Swedenborg, that he represents 
 Mahometanism as a divine religion, because he says, that 
 both in its rise and progress it was under the guidance of 
 the divine providence of the Lord, being calculated to ex- 
 tirpate the gross idolatries of the Eastern nations, and to 
 give them some knowledge concerning the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures of both Testaments, and his birth in the world as the 
 Son of God. The warmth, with which Mr. Pike agitates 
 this question, and which seems to clothe him with all the 
 enthusiasm and fury of Peter the Hermit, the instigator of 
 the holy wars against the poor Turks, leads one to suspect, 
 that, were he able, he would gladly excite a war of exter- 
 mination against the Swedenborgians. 
 
 He gives indeed a short extract from Swedenborg's ac- 
 count of Mahometanism ; but, as he omits the able reason- 
 ing of that author on the effects produced by it among many 
 of the Eastern nations, it is almost impossible for the reader, 
 who depends on such scanty information, to see the subject in 
 its true light. To remedy this defect, it is therefore thought 
 of importance to transcribe the whole passage, from which 
 Mr Pike has drawn his partial and unjustifiable remarks. 
 It is to be found in the work, entitled True Christian Re- 
 ligion, and is as follows : 
 
 "That the Mahometan religion is received more gen- 
 erally throughout the world than the Christian religion, 
 
130 
 
 A VINDICATION OP THE 
 
 may be matter of stumbling and offence to those, who busy 
 their thoughts about the divine providence, and at the 
 same time believe that none can be saved except such as 
 are born Christians : whereas this is no matter of offence to 
 those, who believe that all things are under the regulation 
 of divine providence ; for they trace the footsteps of that 
 providence on this occasion, and likewise discover the wis- 
 dom and goodness thereof in this circumstance, that the 
 Mahometan religion acknowledgeth the Lord to be the 
 greatest and wisest of prophets, and also to be the Son of 
 God. But whereas they have made the Alcoran alone the 
 rule and standard of their religion, and consequently think 
 much about Mahomet who wrote it, and pay him a kind of 
 worship, therefore they think little about our Lord. In 
 order to show more plainly and fully that the Mahometan 
 religion, both in its rise and progress, was under the gui- 
 dance of the divine providence of the Lord, I shall enter 
 into a more particular consideration of the subject, advert- 
 ing first to the origin of idolatries. Before the rise of Ma- 
 hometanism, idolatrous worship was spread through most 
 countries of the terraqueous globe ; the ground and reason 
 whereof was, because the churches extant before the Lord's 
 coming were all representative churches ; such also was the 
 Israelitish Church ; wherein the tabernacle, the garments 
 of Aaron, the sacrifices, all things belonging to the temple 
 at Jerusalem, and even their statutes, were representative. 
 Amongst the ancients also the science of correspondences, 
 which is likewise the science of representatives, was ac- 
 counted the chief of sciences, and was particularly culti- 
 vated by the Egyptians, being the true ground and rise of 
 their hieroglyphics. By virtue of this science they knew 
 what was signified by animals and plants of every kind, and 
 what likewise by mountains, hills, rivers, and fountains ; 
 what also by the sun, the moon, and the staxs. By the 
 
WRITIXGS OF EMAXUEL SWEDENBORG. 
 
 131 
 
 same science they attaiued bei^ides to the kuowledge of 
 spiritual things, inasmuch as the things represented, being 
 such as have relation to spiritual wisdom amongst the an- 
 gels in heaven, were the originals of the things representa- 
 tive. Now whereas their worship was representative, con- 
 sisting of mere correspondences, therefore they performed 
 it on mountains and hills, and likewise in groves and gar- 
 dens ; and for this reason they consecrated fountains, and 
 made graven images of horses, oxen, calves, lambs, nay 
 even of birds, fishes, and serpents, and placed them near 
 their temples, and at the entrance into their temples, and 
 also in their houses, in exact order according to the spiritual 
 things of the Church with which they corresponded, or which 
 they represented, and thereby signified. In process of time, 
 when the science of correspondences was obliterated, pos- 
 terity began to worship those graven images as if possessed 
 of some essential holiness iu themselves, not aware that 
 their forefathers saw nothing holy in them, but regarded 
 them only as representative of holy things according to 
 correspondences. Hence originated all the idolatries, which 
 have prevailed throughout so many kingdoms of the earth. 
 In order to extirpate these idolatries, it was brought to pass 
 of the divine providence of the Lord, that a new religion, 
 accommodated to the genius and temper of the Eastern 
 nations, should be taught and propagated, which religion 
 should have some respect to both the Old and the Kew 
 Testaments, and which would teach, that the Lord came 
 into the world, and that he was the greatest and wisest of 
 all prophets, and the Son of God. This was effected by 
 Mahomet, from whom that religion took its name. Hence 
 it appears, that this religion owes its rise to the divine provi- 
 dence of the Lord, and was accommodated, as was said, to 
 the genius and temper of the Eastern nations, with a view 
 to destroy the idolatries that so generally prevailed, and 
 
132 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 communicate to its votaries some knowledge concerning the 
 Lord, before they came after death into the spiritual world. 
 This religion would not have been received by so many 
 kingdoms, and consequently would have had no power to 
 extirpate idolatries therein, unless it had been made suitable 
 to the ideas of the people, particularly unless it had allowed 
 of polygamy, because the Eastern nations, without such 
 allowance, would have burned with adulterous lust more 
 than the Europeans, and by the indulgence of that lust 
 ■would have destroyed themselves eternally." Tr. Chr. Bel., 
 833. 
 
 XXXVI. — Xhe Difference between mere Sensual 
 Gratifications, and the pure Joys of Heaven. 
 
 Connected with this subject is another charge, equally 
 destitute of foundation, which Mr. Pike brings against 
 Swedenborg, and his description of the joys of heaven. He 
 represents him, as saying with Mahomet, that the delights 
 and pleasures of the heavenly life consist in the gratifica- 
 tion of the outward senses, in reposing on silken couches 
 interwoven with gold, in eating of the fruits of an external 
 paradise, and in the enjoyment of beautiful damsels, whose 
 bewitching eyes are calculated to captivate the beholder, 
 and to lull him into their embraces by all the blandish- 
 ments of sensual love. But he forgets, or perhaps never 
 gave himself the trouble to examine, the wide distinction, 
 which Swedenborg has everywhere insisted upon, between 
 the external enjoyments proceeding from a pure and chaste 
 state of the spirit, and those which originate in the bodily 
 senses. The pleasures of heaven, according to Swedenborg, 
 are both internal and external, the latter depending alto- 
 gether upon the former : whereas with the Arabian prophet 
 all the delights of life are to be found in the external sepa- 
 
WRITIXGS OF EMAXUEI^ SWEDEXBORG. 133 
 
 rate from the internal, in the mere acts of eating and 
 drinking, in gazing with the eye on the glittering scenes of 
 paradise, in listening with the ear to the ravishing sounds 
 of music, and in the indulgence of every gross, sensual, 
 and carnal appetite. The true nature of the joys of heaven 
 is amply described by Swedenborg in his treatise on Heaven 
 and Hell, from which the following extracts are made, to 
 show Islv Pike has done him great injustice in assimilating 
 his account of future happiness to that given by the im- 
 pure and voluptuous Mahomet. 
 
 " Heaven is so constituted as to abound with pleasures, 
 insomuch that, considered in itself, it is an aggregate of 
 beatitudes and delights ; and that because divine good, pro- 
 ceeding from the divine love of the Lord, constitutes heaven 
 both in general and in particular, in every one there." 
 H. & H, 397. 
 
 " The delights of heaven are unutterable, and they are 
 also innumerable : but innumerable as they are, no man, 
 that is absorbed in carnal and sensual gratifications, can 
 have the least notion of any one of them, and that because 
 his interiors are turned backward from heaven to the world, 
 and consequently, being immersed in the love of self and 
 of the world, he is incapable of taking delight in any thing 
 but in honors, riches, and the pleasures of the bodily senses, 
 which yet so far extinguish and suffocate all the interior 
 delights of heaven, as to render their reality incredible." 
 H. & H, 398. 
 
 " Something of an estimate may be made of the superla- 
 tive felicity of heaven from this single consideration, that 
 it is the delight of all who are there to communicate their 
 joys and beatitudes to one another ; and as all of them are 
 like-minded in this matter, it is evident how immense the 
 delight of heaven must be, since there is a mutual commu- 
 nication between one and all, resulting from the twofold 
 
 12 
 
134 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 love that prevails there, viz., love to the Lord, and love 
 toward their neighbor." H. & H., 399. 
 
 " All the delights of heaven are connected with and in- 
 separable from uses, these being the good fruits of love and 
 charity in the angels ; and according to the quality of the 
 uses, and their alacrity to perform them, is the degree of 
 their joy." H. & H., 402. 
 
 " Certain spirits, from a notion they had entertained in 
 this world, fancied that the happiness of heaven consisted 
 in a life of ease and indolence, and being served in all 
 things by others. But it was told them, that no society 
 could subsist happily in such a state, and that where all 
 were to be served, there could not be any to serve : more- 
 over, that a life of idleness would render them stupid and 
 good for nothing ; that action was essential to felicity, and 
 rest only the means of fitting them the better for it. They 
 were likewise given to understand, that the life of angels 
 principally consisted in doing offices of love and use, and that 
 it was their highest delight to be so employed : and then, to 
 make them ashamed of so absurd a notion, as that of happi- 
 ness in heaven consisting in everlasting indolence, there was 
 given them a perception of such a state, by which it ap- 
 peared to them most irksome and melancholy, and such as 
 would not only be destructive of every joy, but in a little 
 time be attended with disgust and loathing." H. & H., 403. 
 
 " Some spirits, who thought themselves wiser than their 
 fellows, had conceived an opinion in this world, that hea- 
 venly joy consisted altogether in praising and worshiping 
 God, and that this constituted active life. But it was told 
 them this was not the case, and that God needed not their 
 praises and worship, but willed rather that they should be 
 employed in performing offices of use and love to one 
 another. This, however, they considered more as a task of 
 servitude than true happiness, although the angels assured 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 135 
 
 them, that it was a most free and delightful employment, 
 as proceeding from the most affectionate good-will, and 
 executed with unspeakable pleasure." H. & H., 404, 
 
 " All who are in heaven, continue in their progress to- 
 ward the flower and perfection of life ; and the more thou- 
 sands of years they pass, the more delightfully and happily 
 thoy advance in an eternal progression, according to their 
 proficiency in love, charity and faith. There such of the 
 female sex as had departed this life broken with the in- 
 firmities of old age, but had lived in faith to the Lord, in 
 charity toward their neighbor, and in all the duties of con- 
 jugial aflfection, after a succession of ages appear as ad- 
 vancing toward perfection in the bloom of youthful beauty 
 surpassing description ; whilst goodness and charity add 
 graces to their persons, and express themselves in every 
 feature of their faces, insomuch that they may be considered 
 as very forms of charity. In a word, to grow old in heaven 
 is to grow in youth and beauty, as is the case with all those 
 who have here lived in love to the Lord, and in charity to- 
 ward their neighbor. Such forms are all the angels, though 
 with unspeakable distinction and variety." H. & H., 414. 
 
 XXXVIL— Purgatory. 
 
 Mr. Pike charges Swedenborg with maintaining the doc- 
 trine of purgatory in common with the Roman Catholics, 
 and denies that the Scriptures make mention of any inter- 
 mediate state or place between heaven and hell. " Nothing 
 can be much more calculated to encourage mankind to per- 
 severe in their iniquities than a belief that if they should 
 not be prepared for heaven at death they may have their 
 sins forgiven, and their souls prepared for hajipiness, in the 
 other world. Yet such is the doctrine of purgatory among 
 the Papists, and such, under the name of vastation, is that 
 of Swedenborg." IJe also asserts that ." the Word of God 
 
136 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 gives not the slightest intimation of a middle state," or 
 world of spirits, but only of " heaven as the abode of those 
 who die in the Lord, and hell as the abode of those 
 who die in sin." That he has dealt unjustly with Sweden- 
 borg in representing his doctrine of vastation as similar to 
 that of the Popish purgatory, and that he has also over- 
 looked those numerous parts of the Sacred Scriptures which 
 treat of an intermediate state between heaven and hell, will 
 now be made to appear by the most direct testimonies. 
 
 After speaking of the gross abuses which are practised 
 by the Romish clergy in reference to dispensations, indul- 
 gences, and promises of heavenly happiness to those who 
 enrich monasteries and increase their treasures, Swedenborg 
 proceeds to observe as follows : " In particular they are 
 watchful to impose upon the rich when they are sick, and 
 also on such occasions infuse terror in regard to hell, and 
 so extort money from them, promising sacrifices of the mass 
 for their souls in proportion to the value of legacies, and by 
 this means successive exemption from the place of torment, 
 which they call Purgatory, and thus admission into heaven. 
 As to what relates to purgatory, I can aver that it is a Baby- 
 lonian fiction invented for the sake of gain, and that no such 
 place does or can exist. Every man after death comes first 
 into the world of spirits, which is in the middle between 
 heaven and hell, and is there prepared either for heaven or 
 for hell, every one according to the life he had led in the 
 world; and in that world no one is tormented, but the 
 wicked then first come into torment when after prepara- 
 tion they go to hell. There are in that world innumerable 
 societies, and in them enjoyments similar to those upon 
 earth, by reason that the spirits therein are connected with 
 men upon earth, who are likewise in the middle between 
 heaven and hell. The externals of such spirits are suc- 
 cessively put oflT, and so their internals are disclosed and 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 
 
 137 
 
 unfolded, and this till such time as the ruling love, which 
 being the life's love in the inmost, and governs the exter- 
 nals, discovers itself; and this being discovered, it appears 
 what is the quality of the man, and according to the qual- 
 ity of his ruling love he is sent from the world of spirits to 
 his own place, if he be good to his place in heaven, and if 
 bad to his place in hell. That this is the case it hath been 
 given me to know of a certainty, because it hath been 
 granted me by the Lord to be with those who "are in that 
 world, and to see everything and so to relate this from 
 actual experience, and this now for the space of twenty 
 years. AVherefore I can aver that purgatory is a fiction, 
 which may be called a diabolical one, because it was in- 
 vented for the sake of lucre, and for the sake of exercising 
 power over the souls, even of the deceased, after death." 
 Aj)oc. Rev., 784. 
 
 XXXVIII. — Vastation in the Other Life. 
 
 The author having thus so expressly disclaimed and 
 denounced the doctrine of a Popish j)urgatory, as a wicked 
 invention of the priests to establish a kind of dominion not 
 only over the property, but even over the souls of their 
 misguided and infatuated adherents, it is but justice to 
 allow him to give his own account of what he calls Vasta- 
 tion, which is the defecation or purification of the good and 
 pious from the many errors and infirmities incident to their 
 condition in this life, in order that they may be more fully 
 prepared to enter into consociation with angels, and thus 
 into the perfect enjoyment of heavenly happiness : 
 
 " There are many persons, who, during their abode in the 
 'world, through simplicity and ignorance, have imbibed 
 falses as to faith, and have formed a certain species of con- 
 science according to the principles of their faith, and have 
 not, like others, lived in hatreds, revenges, and adulteries ; 
 12 * 
 
138 
 
 A VINDICATION OP THE 
 
 these in another life, so long as they are principled in what 
 is false, cannot be introduced into the heavenly societies, lest 
 they should defile them ; and therefore they are kept for a 
 certain time in the lower earth, in order that they may put 
 off the principles of the false. The times of their continu- 
 ance there are longer or shorter according to the nature of 
 the false, and the life contracted thereby, and according to 
 the principles which such persons have confirmed in them- 
 selves. Setae endure in that state a sufficient degree of 
 hardship, whilst others experience nothing of the kind.* 
 These states are what are called vastations,. v/hereof much 
 mention is made in the Word. When the time of vastation 
 is over, they are taken up into heaven, and are instructed 
 in the truths of faith." Arc. CoeL, 1106. 
 
 Such, in a few words, is the account which Swedenborg 
 gives of vastations in the spiritual world, whereby numbers 
 of upright and conscientious persons are divested of those 
 worldly and terrestrial things, which do not accord with the 
 angelic life. For it is scarcely to be supposed that many 
 men are to be found who are so perfectly satisfied with their 
 spiritual attainments, and freedom from errors and impuri- 
 ties of various kinds, as to think themselves in all respects 
 qualified for an immediate entrance into the kingdom of 
 heaven, and that at the hour of death they shall have 
 nothing to do but to take their seats at once among blessed 
 angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect. On the 
 other hand, the process of vastation also takes place with 
 the wicked before they are in all respects prepared for hell ; 
 but in their case vastation is the divesting or depriving 
 them of whatever external or apparent good and truth 
 
 * This last sentence, on whicli Mr. Pike appears to lay great stress, 
 is somewhat varied from the translation in Arcana Calestia, with a 
 view to render it more conformable to the original, which rans thus : 
 " Quidam ibi satis dura patiunliir, quidam non dura." 
 
WRITINGS OP EMANUEL, SWEDENBORG. 
 
 139 
 
 they might possess, in consequence of former hypocritical 
 habits, until being reduced both internally and externally 
 to a full conformity with the ruling evil adopted in the 
 world, they are at length consigned to their final abodes of 
 misery and despair. These states of vastation, or full pre- 
 paration for heaven and for hell, respectively, are plainly 
 alluded to by the Lord, where he says, " Unto every one 
 that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance : but 
 from him that hath not, shaU be taken away even that which 
 he hath," Matt. xxv. 29. 
 
 The common opinion, therefore, that man after death is 
 either immediately raised to heaven, or immediately cast 
 down to hell, without any intervening process of justice or 
 open manifestation of his internal life, is not only most un- 
 reasonable in itself, but plainly repugnant to the Sacred 
 Scriptures, which further declare, that "there is nothing 
 covered, w^hich shall not be revealed; neither hid, which 
 shall not be known : therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken 
 in darkness, shall be heard in the light; and that which ye 
 have spoken in the ear in closets, shall be proclaimed vpon 
 Vie house-tops," Luke xii. 2, 3 ; Matt. x. 26 ; Mark iv. 22. 
 
 With respect to the places of vastation in the spiritual 
 world, they are repeatedly spoken of in the Word under 
 the names of lower earth, pit, the prison, the land of the 
 shadow of death, etc., which, though situated near the hells, 
 are perfectly distinct from them. The lower earth is that 
 portion of the world of spirits, or intermediate state, which 
 is immediately under the feet of those who are in that 
 world : the pit is under the lower earth, each of which is a 
 kind of prison, or place of temporary captivity, until their 
 inhabitants are prepared for elevation into heaven : and 
 the hells are iinder and surrounding the whole. These facts, 
 which are asserted by Swedenborg, are proved by the fol- 
 lowing passages from the Word itself: 
 
140 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 Isa. xiv. 15, 19. "Thou shalt be brought down to hell, 
 to the sides of the pit. Thou art east out of thy grave, like 
 an abominable branch ; and as the raiment of those that 
 are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to the 
 stones of the pit, as a carcase trodden un der foot." Here hell 
 is the place of the damned ; the pit is where they who are 
 in falses are to be vastated ; stones are the borders or termi- 
 nations, which are also called sides, because round about 
 the pits are the hells ; and the whole is represented to be 
 underfoot 
 
 Isa. xxiv. 22. "They shall be gathered together as 
 prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the 
 prison, and after many days shall they be visited." The 
 prisoners in the pit are they who are undergoing vastation 
 or temptation ; of whom it is said, that after many days 
 they shall be visited, that is, released and comforted. 
 
 Isa. xlii. 6, 7. " I Jehovah will give thee for a covenant 
 of the people, for a light of the Gentiles, to open the blind 
 eyes, to brint/ out the prisoners from the prison, and them 
 that sit in darkness out of the prison-house." This passage 
 alludes to the coming of the Lord, when he liberated 
 those in the spiritual world, who were in the lower earth, 
 and in the pits or prison-houses adjoining it, in states of 
 vastation. Peter, in his First Epistle, also says, that the 
 Lord after his crucifixion " went and preached unto the 
 spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient, when 
 once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, 
 while the ark was preparing," chap. iii. 19, 20. Now if he 
 preached unto those spirits, he must have instructed them 
 in such truths as they were ignorant of, and thus opened 
 the eyes of their understandings, which were before in- 
 volved in spiritual darkness, or in ignorance of divine 
 things. 
 
 Apoc. v. 13. " And every creature which is in heaven, 
 
WRITINGS OP EMANUEL SWEDENBOKG. 141 
 
 and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in 
 the sea, and all that are in them, heard I, saying, Blessing, 
 and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth 
 upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever." 
 The lower parts of the spiritual world are here meant by 
 the phrase, tinder the earth; for it is plain, that the natural 
 world is not alluded to, since men do not in this world 
 dwell under the earth. 
 
 Apoc. vi. 9. " I saw under the altar the souls of them 
 that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony 
 which they held." The place where these souls were seen, 
 was in the lower earth of the spiritual world ; and they are 
 said to be under the altar, because they worshiped the 
 Lord, and were preserved by him until the time of their 
 elevation into heaven. 
 
 XXXIX. — The Intermediate State, or World op 
 Spirits. 
 
 The doctrine of an intermediate state and place between 
 heaven and hell being, however, with difficulty admitted by 
 many sincere and upright characters, particularly of the 
 Protestant persuasion, it is considered advisable, for the 
 sake of these, to add a few more observations on the sub- 
 ject, and to confirm the truth of the doctrine by a further 
 appeal to the Sacred Scriptures. But first of all, let the 
 terms made use of be defined. The spiritual ivorld is the 
 general abode of all spiritual beings, whether good, evil, 
 or of a mixed quality : consequently it includes heaven, 
 hell, and the world of spirits, or intermediate state between 
 both. Heaven is the eternal residence of angels, in other 
 words, of deceased men made perfect and happy in their 
 several degrees. Hell is the eternal abode of devils, in 
 other words, of deceased men also, who by a life of wicked- 
 ness have plunged themselves into the depth of imperfection 
 
142 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 and misery, according to their several states and degrees of 
 evil. And the world of spirits, or intermediate state and 
 place between heaven and hell, is the temporary abode of 
 such deceased men as, being partly in good and truth, and 
 partly in evil and falsehood, are not yet fully prepared for 
 either, but are undergoing the process of vastation and in- 
 struction, which will finally terminate in the elevation of 
 some into heaven, and the depression of others into hell, 
 each according to the ruling love which he had pre- 
 viously formed in himself during his abode in the natural 
 world. To this intermediate world of spirits may be re- 
 ferred those pits, prisons and habitations in the lower earth, 
 which have been already spoken of in the preceding pages. 
 
 The world of spirits, then, to which we are now more 
 particularly about to call attention of the reader, is that 
 world into which every man passes immediately on the 
 death of the body. That there must be, in the nature of 
 things, such an intermediate state and place, is plain from 
 a due consideration of what it is that constitutes heaven, 
 and what hell ; and how rare and uncommon it is for either 
 of those states to be perfected in the present life. Now as 
 good and truth, together with their conjunction in man, con- 
 stitute heaven both within him and without him ; and as, on 
 the other hand, evil and falsehood, together with their con- 
 junction in man, constitute hell both within him and with- 
 out him ; and yet neither of these two opposite states can 
 be supposed to be completed in this life, evei-y man (with 
 few exceptions, if any) being partly in good and truth, and 
 partly in evil and falsehood ; it therefore necessarily fol- 
 lows, that man dying in this mixed state is, on his first en- 
 trance into another life, neither fully prepared for heaven, 
 nor fully prepared for hell, but stands as it were midway 
 between both. 
 
 The good and virtuous, or they in whom the love of good 
 
WRITINGS OF EMAKUEL, SWEDEXBORG. 143 
 
 predominates over the love of evil, are then, by means of 
 instruction suited to the capacity and peculiar disposition 
 of each, by degrees delivered from the various imperfections, 
 infirmities, and errors, which adhered to them in their 
 natural state ; and are thus prepared by the Lord for an 
 actual entrance into some of the heavenly societies, wherein 
 they enjoy, in common with angels, all the happiness of 
 which their love and faith have rendered them susceptible. 
 But the wicked, or they in whom the love of evil predomi- 
 nates over the love of good, are gradually divested of the 
 real or apparent good and truth which they may possess ; 
 and after being reduced both internally and externally to a 
 full conformity to those principles of evil, which they had 
 adopted in the world, they are consigned, or rather volun- 
 tarily betake themselves, to such of the infernal societies 
 as make one with their life, and with them experience all 
 the misery which is inseparable from their ruling love, and 
 their delight in evil. 
 
 In addition to the many passages already cited in proof 
 of the actual existence of a middle state between heaven 
 and hell, which, for the sake of distinguishing it fi-om 
 other parts of the spiritual world at large, is very properly 
 called the world of qjirits, as being the immediate or first 
 receptacle of departed souls, the following are worthy of 
 being attentively considered. 
 
 1 Sam. xxviii. 11 to 19. Samuel, after he was dead, first 
 appeared to a woman who had a familiar spirit, and after- 
 ward to Saul, whose spiritual eyes were opened on the 
 occasion: during which interview Samuel was neither in 
 heaven nor in hell, but in the world of spirits between 
 both, and probably in that part of it which is called the 
 loiuer earth; for the woman said, "I saw gods (or powerful 
 beings) ascending out of the earth," ver. 13 : and again, she 
 
144 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 said, "An old man {Samuel) cometh up, and he is covered 
 •with a mantle," ver. 14. 
 
 2 Kings vi. 17. A mountain full of horses and chariots 
 of fire was seen in the world of spirits, or intermediate 
 place between heaven and hell, by Elisha's young man, 
 but not till his spiritual eyes were opened for the express 
 purpose. 
 
 Ezekiel, chap. ii. iii. viii. ix. x. xxxvii. xl. xli. xlii. xliii. 
 xliv. xlvi. xlvii. In all these chapters the prophet speaks 
 of what he saw in vision, or in the world of spirits ; but 
 particularly in chap. viii. he states, that, while he was in 
 the spirit, he was lifted up between the earth and the heaven : 
 and in chap, xxxvi. that the spirit took him, and set him 
 down in the midst of a valley full af, dry bones, which after- 
 ward received life. Now this valley was neither in heaven, 
 nor in hell, and yet it was in some part of the spiritual 
 world ; for the prophet expressly says, that he was taken 
 there in the sjnrit. Whence it clearly follows, that there is 
 an intermediate state and place between heaven and hell, 
 which being inhabited by spirits of a mixed quality, not 
 yet prepared either for the one or the other, is therefore 
 called the world of spirits. 
 
 Luke xvi. 26. Abraham in heaven said to the rich man 
 in hell, "Between us and you there is a great gulf fixed." 
 This great gulf, or open space, is that intermediate state 
 and place between heaven and hell, called the world of 
 spirits, of which we are now speaking. 
 
 Matt, xxviii ; Mark xvi ; Luke xxiv ; John xx ; chap, 
 xxi. By each of the Evangelists we are informed, that 
 our Lord, after his resurrection, was in a spiritual state 
 previous to his ascension into heaven ; and that, while in this 
 state, he at different times appeared to his disciples, by 
 opening their spiritual eyes, and thereby enabling them to 
 see his person, now no longer material as before. .In tlw> 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 145 
 
 Acts of the Apostles, chap. i. 3, we also read, that he con- 
 tinued no less than forty days in that part of the spiritual 
 world, which lies between heaven and hell, and that at 
 length he ascended toward heaven, until a cloud received 
 him out of their sight, ver. 9. 
 
 Apoc. i. 10 ; chap. iv. 1 ; chap. vi. 9 ; chap. vii. 1 ; chap, 
 viii. 10 ; chap. ix. 1, 2; chap. x. 1, 2; chap. xi. 12; chap, 
 xii. 5; chap. xiii. 1, 11; chap. xvi. 16; chap. xvii. 3; 
 chap, xviii. 1 ; chap. xix. 17 to 21 ; chap. xx. 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 
 9 ; chap. xxi. 10. From the passages here referred to, and 
 many others in the book of Eevelation, the doctrine of an 
 intermediate state, place, or world, between heaven and 
 hell, is so plainly set forth, as to admit of no reasonable 
 doubt. For the apostle John first declares, that he was in 
 the spirit, or in spiritual vision; and then that he saw 
 heaven above him, and the bottomless pit beneath him; 
 That he saw a star fall from the one, and smoke ascend 
 from the other: That he saw the souls of martyrs under 
 the altar, who were not as yet elevated into heaven, but 
 were to remain for a season in the place they then occupied, 
 until the number of their brethren shduld be fulfilled: 
 That he saw four angels standing on the four corners of 
 the earth ; and another angel standing with his right foot 
 upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth, with his 
 hand lifted up toward heaven : That he saw a beast rise up 
 out of the sea, and another from the earth : That the name 
 of one of the places in the intermediate world is called in 
 the Hebrew tongue Armageddon, and is the seat of spiritual 
 warfare between the powers of heaven from above, and the 
 powers of hell from beneath. 
 
 After these abundant proofs from the Sacred Scriptures 
 of the actual existence of an intermediate state and place 
 between heaven and hell, the reader, it is presumed, must 
 be fully convinced of the ■ rashness and futility of Mr. 
 
 12 
 
146 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 Pike's assertions to the contrary; since few doctrines of 
 revelation are more plainly taught, than that against which 
 he has raised so loud an outcry. 
 
 XL. — The Place of Punishment, or Hell. 
 
 Swedenborg's account of hell, or the place of punishment 
 in the spiritual world, is in few words as follows : " As love 
 toward the Lord and our neighbor, together with the joy 
 and happiness therein originating, constitute heaven, so 
 hatred against our Lord and against our neighbor, together 
 with the punishment and torment therein originating, con- 
 stitute hell. There are innumerable genera of hatreds, and 
 still more innumerable species ; and hence the hells are in- 
 numerable. As heaven, by means of mutual love, consti- 
 tutes as it were one man and one soul, and thus regards one 
 end, which is the preservation and salvation of all to eter- 
 nity, so on the other hand, hell formed from proprium by 
 self-love and the love of the world, that is, by hatred, con- 
 stitutes one devil and one mind, and thus regards one end, 
 which is the destruction and damnation of all to eternity. 
 The torments of the wicked in hell are such as cannot be 
 described : for the highest satisfaction of their life consists 
 in being able to punish, torture, and torment each other, 
 which they do by arts most unknown to the world, whereby 
 they excite exquisite sensations, just as if they were in the 
 body, and also direful and horrible phantasies, together 
 with terrors and horrors, and many more things of a similar 
 kind. The diabolical crew perceive so much pleasure 
 herein, that, if it were possible for them to increase and 
 strain pangs and torments to infinity, they would not even 
 then be satisfied, but would still burn with desire to go be- 
 yond infinite. The Lord however takes away their ten- 
 dencies, and mitigates their torments." Arc. Ciel., 693 to 695. 
 
 From this extract Mr. Pike has selected the following 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 147 
 
 passage for animadversion : " Hell formed from proprium 
 by self-love and the love of the world, tliat is, by hatred, 
 constitutes one devil and one mind." In opposition to which 
 he remarks, that, " the Scriptures do not represent hell as a 
 devil or a mind, but as a place of torment." That hell is a 
 place, as well as a state of mind, is admitted and confirmed 
 by Swedenborg in many parts of his writings, particularly 
 in his True Christian Religion, as quoted by Mr. Pike, 
 where he calls it " the common receptacle of all, who since 
 the creation of the world, have alienated themselves from 
 God : " but that the same term is also used in the Scriptures 
 to denote one form, one devil, one mind, and the principle of 
 evil in general, is plain from the following passages : 
 
 Isa. xiv. 9. " Hell from beneath is moved for thee to 
 meet thee at thy coming." This cannot with propriety be 
 said of hell as a place, but as an assemblage of devils or einl 
 spirits, who are combined together as one form, one devil, 
 and one mind, to seduce and to destroy. 
 
 Apoc. vi. 8. "I looked, and behold, a pale horse, and 
 his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed with 
 him." Here death means the extinction of spiritual life, 
 and hell a state of damnation as the consequence thereof. 
 Place is one thing, state is another ; and the term hell some- 
 times, but not always, implies both. 
 
 Apoc. XX. 14. " Death and hell were cast into the lake of 
 fire." If hell signified nothing more than a certain place 
 so called, as insisted upon by Mr. Pike, then it would follow 
 from the words here quoted, that hell was east into hell! 
 which is a thing impossible. But when it is considered, 
 that by the terms death and hell are denoted the wicked 
 and impious in general, by death such as were interiorly in 
 evils, and therefore in reality devils, and by hell such as 
 were interiorly in falses, and therefore in reality satans, 
 there is then no difficulty whatever in comprehending 
 
148 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 what is meant by death and hell being cast into the lake 
 oj fire. 
 
 Let the reader now compare these passages with Mr. 
 Pike's bold assertion, that the Scriptures do not represent 
 hell as a devil or a mind, but only as a place of punishment. 
 Hell is moved from beneath to meet a man at his coming ; 
 an agreement is entered into with hell ; the belly of a fish 
 is called the belly of hell ; a proselyte of the Scribes and 
 Pharisees is called a child of hell ; death rides upon a pale 
 horse, and hell follows with him ; and lastly death and hell 
 are both cast into the lake of fire. None of these par- 
 ticulars accord with the ideas of hell as a mere place or in- 
 animate locality ; but they evidently imply a living agent, 
 or an assemblage of minds all acting under one common 
 impulse, and bearing one common name, as the legion of 
 devils did, who, though many in number (perhaps no fewe/ 
 than two thousand, as they afterward entered into so many 
 swine), are yet called and addressed as only one unclean 
 spirit, Mark v. 2, 8 to 13 ; Luke viii. 29, 30. From these 
 considerations then it plainly follows, that the term hell, as 
 used in the Sacred Scriptures, not only denotes a place of 
 punishment, but also the principle of evil itself, which is the 
 cause of punishment, together with those infernal spirits 
 who combine together, as one mind and one monster, to 
 produce one end, the subversion of order, and the destruc- 
 tion of all around them. 
 
 XLI. — The Inhabitants op Heaven, as well as of 
 Hell, are all of the Human Race. 
 
 The doctrine maintained by Swedenborg from the ex- 
 press declarations and true sense of the Sacred Scriptures, 
 that angels and devils are of the human race, is again for 
 the third time assailed by Mr. Pike, who seems very un- 
 happy that he should be placed so high in the scale of crea- 
 
WniTIXGS OF EMANUEL SWEDEXBORO. 149 
 
 tion, as to be entitled to the privilege of calling an angel 
 his broth ! 
 
 But this subject having been already sufficiently dis- 
 cussed, and the identity of angels with men clearly demon- 
 strated from the Sacred Scriptures, it remains now only to 
 advert to an objection urged by Mr. Pike from Matt. xxv. 
 31, 32, where it is said, that the Son of Man shall come in 
 his glory, attended by the holy angels, that then all the na- 
 tions shall be gathered before him, and that he will separate 
 the sheep or the righteous from the goats. " If (says he,) 
 the holy angels had once been righteous men, instead of 
 being the attendants of the eternal Judge, they would be 
 the sheep that shall be gathered before him. The Lord 
 also declares, that at that day he will send forth his angels, 
 who shall sever the wicked from the just : but if they them- 
 selves were just men, what would be the meaning of send- 
 ing them forth to sever the wicked from the just? In 
 various other passages, holy angels are described as forming 
 the train of the eternal Judge ; but in no one of them as 
 standing before his bar to be judged by him." 
 
 The whole of this objection is founded on the mistaken 
 though prevailing opinion, that the judgment spoken of in 
 the Gospels is to be a judgment upon all of the human 
 race, who have ever lived, and who shall live, from the 
 creation of the world to the end of time. But it has been 
 proved (p. 92 to 94) that this is not the true doctrine of 
 the Sacred Scriptures on the subject ; that several judg- 
 ments have taken place prior to that above alluded to, 
 namely, at the end of the Most Ancient, the Ancient, 
 and Israelitish churches ; and consequently that the wicked 
 liave several times been separated from the just, when these 
 latter have successively been elevated to heaven, and thus 
 invested with the character, name and office of angels. 
 This single consideration detects the fallacy of Mr. Pike's 
 13* 
 
150 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 reasoning, and at once annuls his whole argument, which is 
 built, not on the true sense of the Lord's words in the Gos- 
 pel, but on his own misapprehension of the language and 
 doctrine of divine inspiration. 
 
 XLII. — Evil Spirits Disturbing Heaven. 
 
 It is again objected to Swedenborg, that he represents the 
 hells, or evil spirits from the hells, as disturbing heaven 
 before the coming of the Lord, and infesting it a thousand 
 different ways : and this Mr. Pike considers as opposed to 
 the Scriptures, which say, " There shall in no wise enter 
 into it (heaven), any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever 
 worketh abomination, or maketh a lie," Apoc. xxi. 27. 
 And again, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, 
 where thieves do not break through nor steal," Matt. vi. 20. 
 Yet this very attempt of the infernals to disturb, plunder 
 and destroy heaven, is one of the reasons which induced 
 the Lord to come into the world, in order to frustrate their 
 designs. It is therefore written, " Blessed be the King that 
 cometh in the name of the Lord : peace in heaven, and 
 glory in the highest," Luke xix. 38. Here mention is 
 made of peace being produced in heaven, as an effect of the 
 coming of the Lord into the world ; which evidently im- 
 plies that before such coming the angels were in some 
 measure disturbed or infested by the machinations of evil 
 spirits. This is more plainly expressed in these words by 
 an inspired penman : " There was war in heaven ; Michael 
 and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon 
 fought and his angels, and prevailed not, neither was their 
 place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon 
 was cast out, that old serpent, called the devil and Satan, 
 which deceiveth the whole world : he was cast out into the 
 earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard 
 a loud voice, saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORO. 151 
 
 Strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of 
 his Christ : for the accuser (infester and disturber) of our 
 brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God 
 day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of 
 the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony," Apoc. xii. 
 7 to 11. Our Lord himself also says in the Gospel, "I be- 
 held Satan as lightning fall from heaven," Luke x. 18. He 
 must then have found means to introduce himself into 
 those regions of bliss, from which he was at length expelled, 
 possibly in some such way as the man without a wedding- 
 garment insinuated himself amongst the guests invited to 
 the heavenly wedding, who was in like manner cast out into 
 outer darkness, Matt. xxii. 11 to 13. 
 
 Wherein now does the account given by Swedenborg of 
 the state of heaven before the coming of the Lord, as being 
 subject occasionally to the presence and infestation of evil 
 spirits, at all differ from the testimony of divine revelation? 
 Is it not in literal and perfect agreement with it? And is 
 it not at the same time evident, that the benefits of re- 
 demption extended not only to men upon earth, but even to 
 the angels in heaven, who found in it an accession of 
 strength, and security from all further danger? Yet Mr. 
 Pike, in the fullness of his ignorance on this imjiortant sub- 
 ject, reprobates and virtually disclaims all part in a heaven, 
 that could stand in need of such divine assistance. " What 
 a heaven (says he,) would that be !" intimating thereby 
 (for what other conclusion can be drawn from his 
 words ?) that it would not be worthy of his acceptance or 
 notice, if its enjoyments and felicities were not placed on a 
 more solid and permanent basis, than the protection afforded 
 by the powerful arm of the Redeemer. 
 
 It follows, therefore, if we would put a consistent inter- 
 pretation on the various passages of Scripture, which appa- 
 rently oppose each other, that the quotations which Mr. 
 
152 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 Pike has made from the Apocalypse and the Gospel, stating 
 that heaven is a place into which there shall in no wise 
 enter any thing that deiileth, or worketh abomination, or 
 maketh a lie, and that it is not liable to the violence and 
 rapacity of thieves, apply not to the cases of a different 
 complexion already cited, nor to others in which occasional 
 intrusion into the blest abodes on the part of devils, satans, 
 and hypocrites, has been permitted for wise and useful pur- 
 poses, but are to be understood as conveying a divine 
 assurance, that no one can be received into the new Church 
 and kingdom of the Lord, who defiles and perverts his 
 Word, or who confirms himself in evils of life, and in 
 falses of doctrine ; and in general, that all who believe in 
 the Lord, and live according to his commandments, will 
 hereafter be placed in a state of perfect security from all 
 danger; so that even admitting the casual introduction of 
 strangers, as of wolves among lambs, of leopards among 
 kids, or of lions among calves, a state of innocency shall 
 still bear rule, and nothing shall by any means hurt or de- 
 stroy in all the holy mountain, Isa. xi. 6. to 9. 
 
 XLIII. — The Wicked go Voluntarily to Hell, and 
 Infernal Spirits have their Delights. 
 
 Another sore, which Mr. Pike appears to feel to the 
 quick, is that, " according to Swedenborg, men go volun- 
 tarily to hell," and that infernal spirits " have their de- 
 lights." The idea generally entertained by the ignorant of 
 the nature of hell, as consisting merely in torments, pro- 
 duced by the application of fire and brimstone to immortal 
 souls, whereby they are perpetually roasting without ever 
 being consumed, has evidently led to the objection here 
 stated. Under a full conviction, that no man would will- 
 ingly court punishment, or feel anything like pleasure and 
 delight in the pains of damnation, and taking it for 
 
WRITIXGS OF E^fANUEL SWEDEXBORG. 
 
 153 
 
 granted, that hell is nothing else but a place of extreme 
 suffering without a moment's respite, Mr. Pike thinks it 
 passing strange to be told that the wicked spirits after 
 death betake themselves voluntarily and even clieerjulhj to 
 hell. He does not seem to be at all aware that hell con- 
 sists, first, in the delight of doing evil ; and secondly, in 
 the punishment and misery which that delight, when put 
 forth into action, unavoidably entails : just as on the other 
 hand, heaven consists, first, in the delight of doing good ; 
 and secondly, in the happiness, which that delight, when 
 put forth into action, necessarily produces. The difference 
 in the quality of these delights constitutes the essential 
 difference between heaven and hell. The delights which 
 prevail in hell, are the delights of hatred, revenge and 
 murder ; of adultery and whoredom ; of depredation and 
 theft; of raillery, false testimony, and blasphemy; of the 
 denial of God, and profanation of his Holy Word, with 
 many other kinds ; all of which are opposed to the delights 
 of heaven, arising from love to the Lord and love to our 
 neighbor. 
 
 That the delight of doing good, in obedience to the 
 divine law, constitutes heaven, is plain from these passages 
 in the "Word, which describe the character of the good 
 man: "His delight is in the law of Jehovah, and in his 
 law doth he meditate day and night," Ps. i. 2. "Delight 
 thyself in Jehovah ; and he shall give thee the desires of 
 thy heart," Ps. xxxvii. 4. "I delight to do thy will, O my 
 God : yea, thy law is within my heart," Ps. xl. 8. " In the 
 multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight 
 my soul," Ps. xciv. 19. "Thy testimonies are my delight, 
 and my counselors. I have chosen the way of truth. 
 Unless thy law had been my delights, I had perished. Thy 
 commandments are my delights," Ps. cxix. 24, 30, 92, 143. 
 "Let your soul delight itself in fatness," Isa. Iv. 2. "They 
 
154 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 seek me daily, and delight to know my ways; they take 
 delight in approaching to God," Isa. Iviii. 2. "Mary hath 
 chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from 
 her," Luke x. 42. These and many other passages clearly 
 announce, that the delight and choice of doing good, and 
 of walking in the way of truth, constitute the very essence 
 of the heavenly life, and qualifies man for the enjoyment 
 of those ineffable pleasures, which are said to be "at the 
 right hand of God," Ps. xvi. 11. Now if hell be the re- 
 verse of heaven, which none will deny, it must be so in all 
 its delights, as well as in the consequences of those delights : 
 and as the character and condition of man after death are 
 determined altogether by the quality of his delights, or, 
 what is the same thing, by the choice which he has pre- 
 viously made, and still continues to make, either of good 
 or of evil, it necessarily follows, that his future heaven or 
 his future hell will be according to the same. Hence it is 
 ■written of the wicked, "Ye did evil before mine eyes, and 
 did choose that wherein I delighted not," Isa. Ixv. 12. 
 "They have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth 
 in their abominations," Isa. Ixvi. 3. " Death shall be chosen, 
 rather than life, by all the residue of them that remain of 
 this evil family," Jer. viii. 3. "Without are dogs, and 
 sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, 
 and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie," Apoc. xxii. 15. 
 
 From these considerations it is evident, that, as the life 
 of angels and blessed spirits is the life of their choice and 
 of their delights, so, on the contrary, the life of infernal 
 and wicked spirits is equally the life of their choice and of 
 their delights ; that, as the one leads to the enjoyment of 
 real and permanent bliss, so the other is productive of 
 misery and unhappiness ; consequently, as before observed, 
 that both heaven and hell consist essentially in delights, 
 but in such as are in direct opposition the one to the other. 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 155 
 
 If SO, then all that Mr. Pike has urged against the truth 
 of this doctrine falls to the ground, as iuajiplicable to the 
 subject, notwithstanding the few passages of Scripture, 
 which he adduces in support of his own theory. Like 
 many others, who know not how to collect true doctrine 
 fi'om the Word, or how to separate the appearances of truth 
 in the letter from the genuine sense that every where per- 
 vades it, and thus give a consistent interpretation to the 
 whole, when he reads that " God is angry every day," Ps. 
 vii. 11, and that at times he burns with wrath, fury, indig- 
 nation, and vengeance, "raining upon the wicked snares, fire 
 and brimstone, and an horrible tempest," Ps. xi. 6 ; Deut. 
 xxxii. 22 ; Isa. xxx. 27, 30, 33, he confirms himself in the 
 belief of these apparent truths, and teaches others, that 
 God is "altogether such a one as himself," Ps. 1. 21 ; that 
 he is actually the subject of such hateful passions or 
 emotions ; that he is not only an intemperate Judge, but 
 also the inflicter of punishment himself, the executioner of 
 his own vengeance on the heads of the guilty, to whom he 
 literally says, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire," 
 Matt. XXV. 41 ; while the attendant angels, whom he 
 associates with himself in the work of destruction, are 
 ordered to "cast them into the furnace of fire, where shall be 
 wailing and gnashing of teeth," Matt. xiii. 42, 50. Thus, 
 instead of keeping in view the genuine truths of the Word, 
 which ascribe to the Lord nothing but what is worthy of a 
 Being of infinite goodness, and suffering these to be his 
 guide in determining every point of doctrine relative to his 
 dealings with mankind, he rashly confounds mercy with 
 wrath, light with darkness, heaven with hell, asserting that 
 the same fountain "sends forth at the same place sweet 
 water and bitter," James iii. 11; and that "out of the 
 mouth of the Most High proceedeth both evil and good," 
 Lam. iii. 38. 
 
156 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 To do justice to Swedenborg on this very important sub- 
 ject, it is but reasonable he should be allowed to speak, for 
 himself ; and though the members of the New Church may 
 be perfectly satisfied with what has already been advanced, 
 yet as others, into whose hands this Vindication of his 
 writings may fall, may not have had an opportunity of 
 forming a correct judgment fur themselves on the nature 
 of his doctrine, but have depended on the garbled extracts 
 and unfair quotations, which his enemies have repeatedly 
 made from them for the purjiose of misrepresentation and 
 deception, the following observations, taken from his treat- 
 ise on Heaven and Hell, are thought worthy of being tran- 
 scribed. They are to be found in the section entitled. That 
 the Lord casU none into hell, but that the spirits cast themselves 
 into it, n. 545 to 550. 
 
 "It is a prevailing opinion with many, that God turns 
 away his face from man, rejects and casts him into hell ; in 
 a word, that he is angry with him for sin, and inflicts vin- 
 dictive punishment upon him on that account; and they 
 confirm themselves in this belief from like expressions in 
 the literal sense of the Word, not considering, that the 
 spiritual sense, which is the true interpreter of the letter, is 
 very different. Now the genuine doctrine of the Church, 
 as founded on the spiritual sense of the Word, teaches, 
 that God is not inexorable, nor implacable, neither hath 
 any vindictive wrath, nor casts any one into hell : and this 
 all may plainly know, who read the Scriptures with any 
 degree of divine light in their understandings, as he is 
 there represented as the fountain of all good, love, and 
 mercy ; and consequently that it is contrary to his nature 
 and essence to reject and cast away any ; but contrariwise 
 that he willeth the good and happiness of all men, and 
 dealeth with them according to his infinite love and mercy. 
 They who so think, when they read the Word, will not fail 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDEXBOKG. 157 
 
 to discern therein that hidden, spiritnal sense, which gives 
 light and life to the letter, which is written in a sense 
 accommodated to our natural capacities, and first rudi- 
 ments of knowledge. 
 
 "Men of an enlightened understanding, moreover, see 
 good and evil in the same fullness of contrariety and 
 opposition that heaven and hell stand in to each other, and 
 how all good comes from the former, and all evil from the 
 latter, consetjuently that man is continually drawn to good 
 by the Lord of heaven, as well as to evil by the attraction 
 of hell ; and that unless man stood between these two con- 
 trary attractions, he would neither have thought, will, nor 
 liberty, these being the effects of his equilibrium betwixt 
 good and evil ; consequently, were the Lord so to turn 
 away from man, as to leave him wholly to the power of 
 evil, he would immediately cease to be human. This 
 divine influence extends to every man both bad and good, 
 only with this difference, that, in respect to the former, its 
 operation consists in withdrawing from evil ; in respect to 
 the latter, in attracting to all good ; and the cause of the 
 difference is the quality or will of the recipient. 
 
 " From these considerations it is evident, that the evil, 
 which a man does, is by influx from hell ; and that the 
 good, which he does, is by influx from the Lord ; but by 
 believing, and consenting to it as such, that the evil 
 which he does is from himself, he makes it his proper own, 
 and therefore is the cause of his own evil. Evil in man, 
 as his choice, is hell within him ; for whether we call it 
 evil or hell, it amounts to the same. Now since man is the 
 cause of his own evil, he is therefore his own leader to hell ; 
 and so far is the Lord from being chargeable with his own 
 destruction, that he does all that divine goodness can do to 
 deliver him from it, consistently with his choice and free- 
 will. All that belongs to man's will and love remains with 
 
 14 
 
158 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 liim aftei' death ; he that wills and loves evil in this world, 
 wills and loves the same after death, and then it is no longer 
 separable from him ; and therefore it is, that he who by 
 choice continues in evil here, binds himself to hell, and is 
 actually in it in spirit even in this life, and after death de- 
 sires nothing moi-e than to be where his own beloved evil 
 may be in its proper province and exercise ; consequently 
 such a one is cast into hell by himself, and not by the Lord. 
 
 "How the above is efiected shall here be mentioned: 
 When any one first enters the other world, he is received by 
 angels, who do him all kind offices, enter into conversation 
 with him concerning the Lord, heaven and the angelical 
 life, and instruct him in various kinds and relations of 
 good and truth. But if the person, now become a spirit, 
 be one that was acquainted with the like things in this 
 world, but in his heart had rejected and despised them, in 
 this case, after some short conferences with the angels, he 
 desires his dismission ; upon which they leave him. He 
 then, after some conferences with others, associates Avith 
 spirits like unto himself; which done, he turns away from 
 the Lord, and sets his face toward that particular hell 
 which he had fellowship with in this world, and where the 
 infernals are of the same evil affections with himself. By 
 this we may learn, that the Lord strives with every spirit to 
 draw him to himself, by the ministry of angels, and by an 
 influx from heaven ; but that such, as are under the do- 
 minion of sin, are reluctant to all his gracious means for 
 good to them, being drawn away from them as by a rope 
 by their evil propensities, and so voluntarily cast themselves 
 into hell. This will seem incredible to most in this world, 
 from the general idea conceived of hell : nor do those 
 miserable wretches think that they so precipitate them- 
 selves, but only that they enter in of their own accord, 
 though such of them, as enter their dismal prisons under 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 159 
 
 ardent propensities to evil, appear to the good spirits as if 
 they were cast headlong thither ; and from this appearance 
 of precipitation comes the notion of the Lord's casting 
 them into hell by his almighty power. Let thus much suf- 
 fice to show, that the sinner's destruction, and casting into 
 hell, are not from the Lord, but from himself, both in this 
 world and the other. 
 
 " That the Lord, who is essential good, love, and mercy, 
 cannot exercise them toward all alike, is because of the 
 hindrances which evils and falses lay in the way, and so 
 weaken or repel the divine emanations. Evils and falses 
 are as so many black clouds, which, by their interposition 
 between the sun and the human eye, intercept its lovely 
 light and cheering influences, whilst the sun continues 
 the same, all-glorious, and tries to dissipate the obstruct- 
 ing medium, still transmitting something of light through 
 the intermediate veil. The case is similar in the spiritual 
 world : the Lord and his divine love are represented 
 by the spiritual sun, and the light thereof is divine 
 truth ; the black clouds are the falses from evil ; and the 
 eye signifies the understanding ; and as far as any one there 
 is in falses from evil, in the same degree of darkness and 
 thickness is the cloud that surrounds him. This com- 
 parison may represent to us how the Lord is perpetually 
 present with every man, but difierently according to his re- 
 ception. 
 
 " Severe punishments are appointed for the evil spirits in 
 the spiritual world, to deter them from the commission of 
 evil ; and the infliction of them appears as if from the 
 Lord ; but in reality it all proceeds from the evil that is in 
 them ; for evil and its punishment are inseparable com- 
 panions. Infernal spirits wish and delight in nothing more 
 than to do mischief, and torment others that are not under 
 the divine protection ; and as all, that offend through ma- 
 
160 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 licious wickedness, withdraw themselves from that protec- 
 tion, on such they rush, and exercise their cruelty. This 
 may be illustrated by the administrations of justice in this 
 world, where the punishment also follows its evil. Thus 
 human laws have provided a penalty for every crime, and 
 which the delinquent brings upon himself, only with this dif- 
 ference, that offences may be concealed here, but not in the 
 other life. Thus the Lord can no more be said to be the 
 author of the sinner's misery, than the king, the judge, or the 
 law, to be the cause of the criminal's punishment, as having 
 nothing to do with the guilt that entails it upon him." 
 
 XLIV. — Some are in Hell, and do not Know it. 
 
 Again, Mr. Pike considers it an inconceivable thing, that 
 a man or a devil should be in hell, and yet not know that 
 he is there. And indeed it would be most extraordinary, 
 if his notions concerning the nature of hell, as consisting of 
 literal fire and brimstone, were in agreement with the truth. 
 But the fire of hell is not material or natural fire ; for this 
 cannot in any wise affect or torment a spirit : but it is the 
 inordinate love of self and the world, together with all the 
 lusts, concupiscences, and criminal passions, arising there- 
 from, such as malice, envy, hatred, revenge, cruelty, lascivi- 
 ousness, adultery, and other deadly evils. For as the 
 heat and genial warmth of heaven is pure, disinterested 
 love and universal benevolence, so infernal fire is the con- 
 tinual burning desire of committing violence, and spreading 
 destruction among others. It is therefore written, " Wicked- 
 ness burneth as the fire: it shall devour the briers and 
 thorns, and shall kindle in the thickets of the forest, and 
 they shall mount up like the lifting up of smoke : the peo- 
 ple shall be as the fuel of the fire : no man shall spare his 
 brother," Isa. ix. 18, 19. Again, " Babylon is fallen, and 
 is become the habitation of devils : and they cried, when 
 
WRITINGS OP EMANUEL SAVED ENBOHG. 161 
 
 they saw the mnoke of her burning : and her smoke rose up 
 for ever and ever," Apoc. xviii. 2, 18 ; chap. xix. 3. In 
 these and many other passages by fire is meant the lust of 
 self-love and the love of the world ; and by the smoke 
 which ascended, the false arising from and accompanying 
 evil. 
 
 Now, considering what is really meant by the fire and 
 smoke, with which infernal spirits are said to be enveloped, 
 and which at a distance have all the a])pearance of being 
 literally such: and considering further, that the persons 
 spoken of do actually " call evil good, and good evil ; that 
 they put darkness for light, and light for darkness, bitter 
 for sweet, and sweet for bitter," Isa. v. 20 ; and that they 
 " love darkness rather than light, because their deeds are 
 evil," John iii. 19 ; there is then no difficulty whatever in 
 conceiving, that, while they are in the perception of their 
 vicious delights, they may be totally ignorant of their de- 
 plorable situation ; ignorant, in short, that they are in hell, 
 until woefully convinced of their delusion by the heavy pun- 
 ishments which those delights unavoidably bring upon 
 them. It is evident, therefore, that the scorn and contempt, 
 with which Mr. Pike treats this subject, as well as others 
 equally above the reach of his narrow conceptions, so far 
 from weakening the credit due to Swedenborg's testimony, 
 betray only his own ignorance of the true nature of hell, as 
 opposed to heaven, and of the state of man in another life, 
 as being essentially the same as in the natural world, where 
 each one follows the pursuits, delights, and pleasures, to 
 which his own inclinations and suitable opportunities lead 
 him. 
 
 14* 
 
162 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 XLV. — Heavenly Joy supposed to consist in 
 Perpetual Worship. 
 
 We now come to Mr. Pike's last objection, which is di- 
 rected against the account given by Swedenborg of heaven ; 
 the functions and employments of its inhabitants; their 
 eating, drinking, and recreations ; the occasional admission 
 of strangers therein, who either withdraw themselves from 
 it of their own accord, or are cast out ; the education of 
 children ; the celebration of marriages ; divine worship ; 
 and various other particulars, some of which have been 
 already considered in the preceding pages, and therefore 
 require no further notice, though Mr. Pike seems never 
 wearied with repeating the same objections over and over 
 again. 
 
 It appears to be an opinion very generally entertained 
 by those who know no more of the nature of heaven than 
 they do of the nature of hell, that heavenly joy and hea- 
 venly employment consist altogether in praising and wor- 
 shiping God. And because Swedenborg takes some pains 
 to correct this mistaken idea, Mr. Pike represents him as 
 contradicting the Scriptures, which say of " the four beasts 
 in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, 
 that they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy 
 Lord God Almighty," etc., Apoc. iv. 6, 8. He supposes 
 that these four beasts or living creatures " are designed to 
 give a hieroglyphical representation of the angels;" and 
 therefore he concludes, that the angels themselves are con- 
 tinually employed in worshiping and celebrating their 
 Creator, and that men also, as forming the Church triumph- 
 ant, join in the same unceasing song of vocal glorification. 
 But herein is his error ; the four beasts do not represent 
 the angels, but the Word ; and therefore their place is said 
 to be in the midst of the throne, or upon the throne, because 
 
■WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 163 
 
 the Word is divine, like the Lord himself, and is that 
 whereby all judgment is performed, John xii. 48 : they 
 are also said to be round about the throne, because the Word 
 is received throughout the angelic heaven, and is the rule 
 of life to each individual therein. They are further de- 
 scribed as being fidl of eyes before and beliind, to denote 
 the divine wisdom, which is in every part of the Word. 
 Now when it is said of these four beasts, that " they rest not 
 day and night, saying. Holy, holy, holy," etc., we are to 
 understand by such language, that the Word continually 
 and without intermission teaches, that the Lord is the Only 
 God, and consequently that he alone is to be Avorshiped. 
 But it follows in the chapter above cited, that " when those 
 beasts give glory, and honor, find thanks, to him that sat 
 on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever," then "the 
 four and twenty elders also fall down before him," and 
 make a similar acknowledgment ; by which we are not 
 surely to understand that finite creatures, like angels or 
 men, are incessantly and without intermission singing and 
 praising God in an external and audible manner, which is 
 a thing utterly impossible, but that they are constantly in 
 the true spirit of devotion, even when attending to their 
 appointed ministrations and active services to each other, 
 Ps. ciii. 20, 21; Ps. civ. 4; Heb. i. 14; and that on all 
 suitable occasions, whenever their attention is more imme- 
 diately called to the Word and worship of the Lord, they 
 also, in an external, visible and audible manner, make their 
 accustomed offerings of thanksgiving, praise and adoration 
 to Him that liveth for ever and ever. 
 
 XLVL — What is meant by Praying always, and 
 Incessant Glorification. 
 
 That the inhabitants of heaven are not perpetually and 
 without intermission engaged in external acts of divine • 
 
164 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 worship, any more than men on earth, though doubtless 
 their whole life is in the true spirit of devotion, may be 
 known from this single consideration, that the thing is in 
 itself impossible. No finite being has the power of continu- 
 ing any one act either of mind or body for ever; there 
 must be changes of state, and with them varieties of action ; 
 there must, as the wise man says, be a season and a time for 
 every purpose, as well among angels as men ; consequently 
 there must be a time for worship, a time for useful employ- 
 ments, a time for recreation, a time for social conversation, 
 a time for eating and drinking, and a time for rest. 
 Whenever therefore mention is made, in the Word, or in the 
 Apostolic Epistles, of watching and praying always, as in 
 Luke xviii. 1 ; chap. xxi. 36 ; Rom. i. 9 ; Col. i. 9 ; 1 Thess. 
 v. 17 ; 2 Tim. i. 3 ; or of blessing and praising the Lord 
 continually, as in Ps. xxxiv. 1 ; Ps. lii. 9 ; or of talking of 
 his righteousness all the day long, as in Ps. Ixxi. 24 ; or of 
 ceasing not to give thanks, as in Ps. xxx. 12 ; Eph. i. 16 ; 
 1 Thess. ii. 13 ; or of constantly shouting for joy, as in Ps. 
 V. 11 ; or of dwelling in the home and tabernacle of the Lord 
 for ever, as in Ps. xxiii. 6 ; Ps. Ixi. 4 ; or of serving him 
 day and night in his temple, as in Apoc. vii. 15 ; all these 
 and similar expressions, both with respect to angels and 
 men, are to be understood, not of the external acts, which 
 must of necessity be of temporary duration, but of that 
 general and indeed universal spirit of love and wisdom, 
 piety and devotion, gratitude and resignation to the divine 
 will, which constitutes the soul of religion, and by its 
 presence in every change or variety of state causes the 
 whole life and each particular work to be an act of wor- 
 ship, praise and glorification. So that whether with Daniel 
 they " kneel upon their knees, and pray, and give thanks 
 before God three times a day," Dan. vi. 10 ; or with David 
 • they "praise him seven limes a day," Ps. cxix. 164, they are 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SAVEDENBORG. 165 
 
 still constantly engaged in his service, and never turn aside 
 from following the Lord, but "love him, and walk in all 
 his ways, and keep his commandments, and cleave unto 
 him, and serve him with all their heart and with all their 
 soul," Josh. xxiL 5 ; 1 Sam. xiii. 20. ; Deut. xi. 13. 
 
 XLVII. — Angels not Perfectly Pure. 
 
 But, says Mr. Pike, "Swedenborg further informs us, 
 that heaven is so far from being a place where nothing that 
 defileth can in any wise enter, as the Scriptures say, that 
 even its inhabitants are not quite chaste and pure ;" and, 
 in proof of his charge, gives a partial quotation from the 
 treatise on Conjugial Love, n. 71 and 746, omitting the rea- 
 sons upon which that assertion is founded. That the reader, 
 however, may be apprised of the unfair method taken by 
 Mr. Pike in this, as in most other cases, the passages re- 
 ferred to shall be here given according to the true sense 
 and meaning of the author. " It is not possible (says Swe- 
 denborg) that any love should become pei-fedly pure with 
 men, nor with angels, consequently neither conjugial love. 
 Nevertheless, since the intention of the will is what the 
 Lord principally regards, therefore so far as man is in this 
 intention (of conjugial love), and perseveres in it, so far he 
 is initiated into its purity and sanctity, and successively 
 advances therein." Conj. Love, 71. 
 
 And again, " It is to be observed, that conjugial love 
 altogether chaste or pure hath not place with men, nor with 
 angels: there is still somewhat not chaste or not pure 
 which adjoineth or subjoineth itself thereto ; but this 
 originates in a different principle from that which gives 
 birth to what is unchaste : for with the angels the chaste 
 principle is above, and the principle not chaste is beneath, 
 and there is as it were a door with a hinge interposed by 
 the Lord, which is opened by determination, and is provi- 
 
166 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 dently prevented from standing open, lest one principle 
 should pass into the other, and they should mix together : 
 for the natural principle of man from his nativity is de- 
 filed, and full-fraught with evils ; whereas his spiritual 
 principle is not so, because the birth of this principle is 
 from the Lord, for it is regeneration ; and regeneration is a 
 successive separation from the evils, to which man is 
 naturally inclined." Conj. Love, 146. 
 
 Wherein now does this account of the relative imperfec- 
 tion of angels, as infinite beings, all of whom were originally 
 natives of this world, differ from the testimony of the Sa- 
 cred Scriptures, and the wisdom of the ancients ? Not in a 
 single iota. In the Word we read, that the inhabitants of 
 heaven, those who had gotten the victory over the beast, 
 and over his image, and over his mark, and over the num- 
 ber of his name, unanimously disclaim all sanctity in and 
 of themselves, ascribing it wholly unto the Lord, saying, 
 " Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? 
 for thou only art holy," Apoc. xv. 4. " There is none holy as 
 Jehovah," 1 Sam. ii. 2. If the Lord alone be holy, pure, 
 and perfect, then neither angels nor men can lay claim to 
 that character in any other sense, than as organized forms 
 receptive of the life communicated to them, and that in 
 a very imperfect degree when compared with the fountain 
 of all perfection. " For who in heaven can be compared 
 unto Jehovah ? who among the sons of the mighty can be 
 likened unto Jehovah ?" Ps. Ixxxix. 6. In one of the books 
 of ancient wisdom the absolute purity of angels is ex- 
 pressly denied: "Behold, he put ?io trust in his servants; 
 and his angels he charged with folly," Job iv. 18. " How 
 can man be clean, that is born of a woman ? Yea, the stars 
 (angelic societies) are not pure in his sight," Job xxv. 4, 5. 
 Mr. Pike, however, takes the liberty of thinking otherwise ; 
 and in opposition to the Evangelist, the Prophet, the 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDEXBORG. 167 
 
 Psalmist, and other wise men of antiquity, considers the in- 
 habitants of heaven to be altogether holy, pure, and per- 
 fect, without any abatement or alloy whatever ; which is in 
 effect to exalt them above the rank of angels, and to can- 
 onize them as so many independent Gods. 
 
 XLVIII. — Administrations, Offices, Employments, 
 AND Trades in Heaven. 
 
 It is an opinion very commonly entertained by profess- 
 ing Christians, that the happiness of heaven consists in a 
 life of ease and indolence, and this because it is described 
 in the Word as a placie of rest, which is interpreted to 
 be an exemption from all exercise and activity. The same 
 idea is also strengthened by what is said in Job concerning 
 tlie grave, though by mistake it is supposed to refer to 
 heaven : " TJiere the wicked cease from troubling, and there 
 the weary are at rest," Job iii. 17. This opinion is adopted 
 by Mr. Pike, and he seems to think it strange indeed, that 
 Swedenborg should presume to assert, that in heaven, as 
 well as upon earth, there are different administrations, viz., 
 ecclesiastical, civil, and domestic ; that there are offices, 
 judiciary proceedings, employments, trades, mechanical 
 arts, and manufactures, together with studies relating to all 
 sciences and professions; that there are also books and 
 writings, parchment, paper, pens, and ink; likewise dis- 
 tinctions of dignity and pre-eminence in society, with 
 wealth and riches in great abundance ; also meats and 
 drinks, feasts and repasts, garments for ornament and use, 
 sports and public exhibitions, concerts of vocal and instru- 
 mental music, with every thing else that can contribute to 
 the comfort and improvement of the inhabitants ; whilst in 
 the midst of all these external pleasures, duties, and scenes 
 of activity, their minds are continually under the influence 
 
168 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 of love, and intent upon promoting the happiness of all 
 around them. 
 
 The occupations and employment of angels, and of whole 
 societies of angels, are described generally by Swedeuborg 
 in the manner following : " Some societies are appointed to 
 the charge of infants : others to instruct and educate them 
 till they are grown up : some are instituted for the improve- 
 ment of such young persons of both sexes, as have been 
 preparing for heaven in this world by a virtuous and pious 
 education : others to form for heaven such as are well dis- 
 posed, but ignorant : some whose office is to instruct those 
 that are from the various heathen nations : some to receive 
 the novitiate spirits or such as are newly arrived from this 
 world, and to defend them against all assaults from evil 
 spirits : some also there are, whose designation is to minister 
 to those who are detained for a while in the lower earth : 
 some whose province it is to restrain the evil spirits from 
 tormenting one another beyond due measure : and some are 
 appointed to take care of those who are raised from death. 
 In general, the angels of every society are employed about 
 men, in order to preserve and withdraw them from evil 
 affections and evil thoughts, and to inspire them with good 
 affections, as far as they can receive them consistently with 
 free-will ; and hereby they guide and influence their works 
 or actions, and as much as possible bend their inclinations 
 from evil. But all these administrations are from the 
 Lord through the angels, who act only as instruments 
 therein. 
 
 " The forementioned are the common functions of the 
 angels ; but besides these, every angel has his charge or 
 office in particular. They who loved the Word while in 
 this world, and studiously investigated the truths therein, 
 not for honor or gain, but for purposes of practice- and 
 good life, both with respect to themselves and others, are 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORO. 169 
 
 appointed to the ecclesiastical functions in heaven, and ac- 
 cording to tlie degree of their love and desire of being use- 
 ful is their illumination and wisdom from the Word. These 
 exercise the office of preachers, and according to the es- 
 tablished laws of divine order excel in eminence of i-ank 
 and dignity, as they are superior to others in divine illu- 
 mination. As to matters of civil administration, they con- 
 stitute the province of such as in this world loved their 
 country, and preferred the good of it to their own private 
 advantage, doing that which is just and right from affection 
 and principle. As far as these took pleasure in improving 
 their minds in the knowledge of the laws of justice and 
 equity, in such degree are they qualified for offices in the 
 heavenly societies, which they administer, each according 
 to his intellectual abilities, which are in proportion to the 
 degree of their affectionate zeal for the common good. In 
 a word, the offices, administrations, and employments in 
 heaven are innumerable, and far exceeding those that are 
 to be found in this world ; and all that are concerned there- 
 in take delight to be so engaged from their love of useful- 
 ness ; no one is actuated by selfish or lucrative motives, or 
 under the temptation of anxious care for the needful ac- 
 commodations of life, these being all given to them gratui- 
 tously, as suitable habitations, garments, food," etc., Heaven 
 and Hell, 391 to 393. 
 
 Such is the description, which Swedenborg has given, of 
 the various employments in which angels and good spirits 
 are engaged ; and there is surely nothing in the whole ac- 
 count that is cither unreasonable in itself, or in the least 
 degree opposed to the Sacred Scriptures, but rather in per- 
 fect agreement with them. Moses was enjoined to see, that 
 the tabernacle, and every thing belonging to it, should be 
 made exactly according to their heavenly pattern, which 
 was showed him in the mount, Exod. xxv. 9, 40 ; conse- 
 
 15 
 
170 
 
 A VI>rDICATION OF THE 
 
 quently there was not a single object, instrument, or utensil, 
 in or about it, but what was also in heaven, in its spiritual 
 substance and form. The apostle John, when he was in 
 spiritual vision, saw a tabernacle, a temple, an ark, and an 
 altar in heaven ; an angel ministering at the altar ; a book 
 sealed with seven seals ; another little book, which he ate ; 
 seven gold candlesticks: a great multitude clothed with 
 white robes ; a great supper ; an angel reaping with a sharp 
 sickle ; another angel binding the devil with a great chain, 
 and shutting him up in the bottomless pit for a thousand 
 years ; another angel also measuring the city New Jerusa- 
 lem with a golden reed, the foundations of the walls being 
 garnished with all sorts of precious stones. The prophet 
 Zechariah saw an angel riding in the spiritual world : he 
 also saw four carpenters ; a man with a measuring-line in 
 his hand ; a golden candlestick, with a bowl upon the top 
 of it, and seven lamps. Ezekiel saw six men, each with a 
 slaughtering-weapon in his hand ; another man, who ap- 
 peared to be a writer or clerk, for he had an ink-horn by 
 his side ; also an angel measuring the temple, and the parts 
 belonging to it. And in Daniel we find, that Michael is 
 called one of the chief princes among the angels. It is 
 plain, therefore, from the Word itself, that there are ofBces, 
 ministrations, and dignities in the spiritual world, and in 
 heaven, as well as in the natural world ; that there are 
 workers in wood, as well as in metals ; carpenters, smiths, 
 and spinners ; reapers, writers, and measurers ; in short, 
 every employment, which the necessities, conveniencies, and 
 even luxuries of life can possibly require. But in all cases, 
 it is to be remembered, the objects and furniture of the 
 spiritual world, including gold, silver, and precious stones, 
 are themselves spiritual, and not material. So also are the 
 meats and drinks, wherewith angels and spirits are refreshed 
 and nourished, and of which abundant mention is made 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 171 
 
 throughout the Sacred Scriptures. For "man shall not 
 live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out 
 of the mouth of God," Matt. iv. 4 ; Deut. viii. 3. 
 
 XLIX. — Marriages in Heaven. 
 
 Another objection, and the last which calls for an answer, 
 is that relating to marriages in heaven. Unacquainted 
 with any other sense of the Sacred Scriptures, than that 
 which belongs to their mere letter, Mr. Pike charges Swe- 
 deuborg with contradicting them, because he asserts that 
 marriages take place in heaven as well as upon earth. For 
 it is argued, that when the Sadducees interrogated the Lord 
 concerning the woman who had had seven husbands in this 
 world, and desired to know which of them was to have her 
 for a wife in the resurrection, he answering said unto them, 
 *' The children of this world marry, and are given in mar- 
 riage ; but they who shall be accounted worthy to obtain 
 that woi'ld, and the resurrection from the dead, neither 
 marry nor are given in marriage" Luke xx. 34, 35. This 
 passage is thought decidedly to annul the doctrine in ques- 
 tion ; and the literal interpreters of Scripture taking it for 
 granted that the Lord in his answer referred to the same 
 kind of marriage as the Sadducees did, too hastily conclude 
 that the assertion of Swedenborg and the words of the 
 Lord are in direct opposition to each other. On due ex- 
 amination, however, it will be found that not only on this, 
 but on various other occasions, the Lord in adopting the 
 very same expressions as those used by the Jews, his ene- 
 mies, attached to those expressions totally different ideas 
 from theirs ; and that, while they kept their attention 
 fixed on the external natural things usually understood by 
 the terms employed, he on the contrary spake of the internal 
 spiritual things to which they corresponded, and of which 
 neither the ancient nor modern Sadducees had or still have 
 
172 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 any true knowledge. For example, in the case above cited, 
 the Sadducees by the term marriage understood no other 
 than carnal conjunction, an union not of minds, but of 
 bodies : for being themselves immersed in worldly and cor- 
 poreal affections, they had no other conceptions of the hea- 
 venly state, than such as were gross, earthly and sensual. 
 But the Lord by the term marriage understood something 
 spiritual, and not natural, namely, conjunction with him- 
 self, or regeneration, which must be entered into while man 
 is yet in the natural world, and not deferred till he comes 
 into the spiritual world, after the manner of the five foolish 
 virgins, who were not prepared to meet the Bridegroom, 
 Matt. XXV. 10. For it is an established truth, founded on 
 the eternal laws of divine order, that the process of regene- 
 ration, which is a real spiritual marriage with the Lord 
 (Isa. liv. 6 ; Jer. iii. 14 ; chap. xxxi. 32) must commence in 
 this life, and by no means in the life to come, agreeably to 
 to that saying, " Where the tree falleth, there it shall be," 
 Eccles. xi. 3.* 
 
 When Jesus had driven the sellers of oxen, sheep and 
 * Man af? to his spiritual part is frequently compared, in the Sacred 
 Scriptures, to a tree ; and the soil in which this tree is planted and 
 grows, is his natural affections, formed in and appertaining to his 
 material body. Now while the tree is in its proper soil, it may be 
 improved by the application of manure to its roots, and its quality 
 may be altogether changed by grafting or inoculation. But after the 
 tree is cut down, separated from its roots, and removed from the soil 
 in which it grew, it is no longer susceptible of improvement or change, 
 but permanently retains tlie quality it had acquired. So man, while 
 he is in the material body, is capable not only of improvement, but 
 even of an entire change of quality, either by having a scion from the 
 tree of life grafted upon him, or by being himself engrafted as a 
 branch into the true spiritual Vine, and drawing therefrom new 
 spiritual life. But after his removal by death from the natural into 
 the spiritual world, he hiis no longer the capacity of changing his 
 life ; his character is fixed and determined for ever ; and he must of 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORQ. 173 
 
 doves, together with the money-changers, out of the temple, 
 he said unto them, " Destroy this temple, and in three days 
 I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty-and-six years 
 was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three 
 days ? But he spake of the temple of his body," John ii. 
 19 to 21. Here it is evident, that by the same expression 
 the Jews understood one thing and our Lord another : for 
 when he made mention of the temple, he meant thereby his 
 own body ; but they thought he spake of the building of 
 stone, or place of worship, usually called the temple. It is 
 precisely the same with respect to the term marriage : the 
 mere literalist, the Jew, the Sadducee, the nominal Chris- 
 tian, takes it in one sense, and that according to its ordinary 
 acceptation ; while the truly enlightened man, who is aware 
 of the spirit and life contained in every part of the Word, 
 regards it as a natural image representative of a heavenly 
 state. 
 
 Again, it is said, that in the resurrection they neither 
 marry, nor are given in marriage, just as it is said, that no 
 man is to be called father, master, or rabbi : that a rich 
 man can scarcely be saved, it being easier for a camel to 
 pass through the eye of a needle than for a man who has 
 great wealth to enter into the kingdon of heaven ; but that 
 the poor, the lame and the blind gain easy admission : that 
 we are to make friends of the mammon of unrighteousness : 
 that the right eye is be plucked out and the right hand cut 
 off, if they offend : that we are not to resist evil, but to 
 him that smiteth us on the right cheek, we are to turn the 
 other also : that if any man will sue us at the law, and 
 take away our coat, we are to let him have our cloak also : 
 that in order to become a true disciple of Jesus, a man 
 
 necessity retain to eternity the same quality, the same niling affection 
 and disposition, which he had acquired during hia life in the material 
 body. 
 
 15* 
 
174 
 
 A VINDICATION OP THE 
 
 must hate his father, and mother, and wife, and children, 
 and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also : that 
 the Lord came into the world, not to send peace among 
 men, but a sword ; and to set at variance with each other 
 the father and the son, the mother and the daughter, etc., 
 etc. In short, it is said, that in the resurrection they neither 
 marry, nor are given in marriage, in the same sense as 
 numerous other passages of Scripture speak of heavenly 
 and divine things, the literal expressions of which are to 
 be understood spiritually, and not naturally. 
 
 Is it now to be supposed, because the Lord says in the 
 Gospel, " Be not ye called Rabhi, or Master ; and call no 
 man your Father upon the earth," Matt, xxiii. 8 to 10, that 
 therefore a man is not at liberty to call his earthly master 
 master, nor his natural i&ihev father f Common reason and 
 understanding dictate, that this could not have been his 
 meaning, but that the terms prohibited are in the spiritual 
 sense to be applied exclusively to the Lord. 
 
 When again it is said, that a rich man can with difficulty 
 be saved. Matt, xix, 23, 24 ; and that the kingdom of hea- 
 ven is for the poor, Luke vi. 20 : are we to conclude that 
 the way of salvation is not equally open to men of every 
 station and degree, but that the poor in worldly estimation 
 have an advantage in this respect over the wealthy merely 
 on account of their poverty ? This surely cannot be ad- 
 ' mitted by any who believe that the divine mercy is extended 
 to all of the human race without exception, whether they 
 be distinguished for their rank and wealth, or for the 
 wretchedness of their worldly fortunes. It must be at once 
 perceived by an enlightened mind, that the disqualification 
 for heaven arises not from the possession of earthly riches, 
 but from trusting in them, Mai-k x. 24, and especially from 
 trusting and taking pride in mere science or knowledge, 
 which constitutes spiritual wealth : while, on the contrary, 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 175 
 
 the poverty that has the promise of eternal life, consists in 
 humility, self-abasement, and a sincere acknowledgment 
 that all true wisdom is derived from the Lord alone, and 
 communicated to those of whom it is written, " Blessed 
 are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," 
 Matt. V. 3. 
 
 In Matt, xviii. 8, 9, the Lord recommends the hand or 
 the foot to be cut off, and the eye to be plucked out, if they 
 offend : and adds, that it is better to enter into life halt or 
 maimed, or with only one eye, than having two of each to 
 be cast into hell-fire. But will Mr. Pike or any one else 
 infer from such language, that some good men after death 
 are really and literally so disfigured ; and that, when intro- 
 duced into the final abodes of the blessed, they are to be 
 seen limping and hobbling about in the streets of the heav- 
 enly Jerusalem, some without a hand or arm, some without 
 a foot or leg, and others without an eye ? As well may he 
 form such vain and idle conceits from the Lord's words to 
 his disciples on this occasion, as press into his service, through 
 sheer ignorance of their purport and design, many other 
 parts of divine revelation, which describe the sacrifices to 
 be made in order to obtain eternal life, and among the rest 
 that passage, which declares, that in the resurrection they 
 neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the 
 angels in heaven. 
 
 But what are we to think of the terms and conditions, 
 which a man is required to fulfill, before he can be acknow- 
 ledged as a true disciple of Jesus Christ, if taken according 
 to their plain, obvious, and literal construction ? Let those, 
 who refuse to acknowledge a spiritual sense in the Sacred 
 Scriptures perfectly distinct from the customary signification 
 of the words employed, attend to the following declaration 
 of the Lord himself : " If any man come to me, and hate 
 not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and 
 
176 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot 
 be my disciple," Luke xiv. 26. This is the language of him, 
 who in another place says, " A new commandment I give 
 unto you, That ye love one another : by this shall all men 
 know, that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to 
 another," John xiii. 34, 35, And again, " These things I 
 command you, that ye love one another," John xv. 17. 
 Nay, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do 
 good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despite- 
 ftilly use you, and persecute you," Matt. v. 44. 
 
 Is it possible now, that he, who so strenuously recom- 
 mends love to neighbors, friends, and even enemies, could 
 for a moment depart from his own essence, which is pure 
 love, and enjoin hatred to our nearest and dearest connec- 
 tions, as a necessary qualification for becoming his disciples ? 
 Could he, who so solemnly declares, that on love to God 
 and love to man " hang all the law and the prophets," Matt, 
 xxii. 40, advisedly contravene or abrogate that divine com- 
 mandment, which says, " Honor thy father and thy mother" f 
 Exod. XX. 12. It cannot, must not be imagined. And yet 
 his express words are, " If any man hate not his father, and 
 mother, etc., he cannot be my disciple." 
 
 It may perhaps be thought, that by the hatred here en- 
 joined is meant only a less degree of love and consequently 
 that the Lord spoke comparatively, and not positively. But 
 neither the original nor the context warrants any such in- 
 terpretation. On the contrary, a real aversion to the things 
 signified by the different terms used is pointed out as an es- 
 sential requisite of the regenerate life. Thus the father and 
 mother, which are to be hated, denote the natural hereditary 
 propensities of our nature to what is evil and false, con- 
 sisting in general of self-love and the love of the world ; 
 and as these propensities beget or produce acts of wicked- 
 ness, so the former are regarded as parents, and the latter 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 177 
 
 as tlieir children or offspring. Similar princijiles of evil 
 and falsehood iu the will, the understanding, and the life, 
 are signified by the other terms ; and the renunciation of 
 these, however dear or gratifying to our depraved appetites 
 they may be, is held up by the Lord as an indispensable 
 condition of our acceptance with him. From this example, 
 among others of a like charater, it may be safely and cer- 
 tainly concluded, that the language of divine revelation is 
 in many cases to be interpreted, not according to the literal 
 or external expression, but according to the genuine inter- 
 nal sense contained within it. And by the same rule, which 
 determines the sense in any given passage, namely, the 
 general tenor of the Scriptures seen in rational light, it is 
 equally clear, that the term marriage, in the case before 
 cited, was intended by the Lord to convey a spiritual 
 meaning widely diflferent from that entertained by the Sad- 
 ducees. 
 
 That marriages take place in heaven, as well as upon 
 earth, is clearly deducible not only from the original design 
 of the creation of man, but also from the general sense of 
 the Scriptures, which in many places represent heaven as a 
 state of marriage. Our Lord says, "Have ye not read, 
 that he who made them at the beginning, made them male 
 and female f and said. For this cause shall a man leave father 
 and mother, and shall cleave to his wife ; and they twain 
 shall be one fiesh. Wherefore they are no more twain, but 
 one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not 
 man 2nd asunder," Matt. xix. 4 to 6. Hence it plainly ap- 
 pears, that marriage, which consists in the union of male 
 and female forms, both in the spiritual and in the natural 
 world, is agreeable to the original unchangeable intent of 
 the Creator, who being essential good and truth in most 
 perfect union, desires all the recipient subjects thereof to 
 become images and likenesses of himself. 
 
178 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 That the Scriptures represent heaven as a state of mar- 
 riage, is plain from those places where the Lord is spoken 
 of as a Bridegroom or Husband, and the Church as his 
 bride or wife ; as from the following : " The marriage of the 
 Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 
 Blessed are they who are called unto the marriage-supper 
 of the Lamb," Apoc. xix. 7, 9. "I John saw the holy 
 city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, 
 prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Come hither, 
 I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife," Apoc. xxi. 2, 
 9. Again, " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain 
 king, who made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his 
 servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding," 
 Matt. xxii. 2, 3. " Then shall the kingdom of heaven be 
 likened unto ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went 
 forth to meet the bridegroom, five of whom went in to the 
 marriage," Matt. xxv. 1 to 10. 
 
 L. — Chief Articles of the Faith op the New 
 Church, called the New Jerusalem. 
 
 For the information of those who are disposed to make 
 further inquiry into the nature and tendency of the hea- 
 venly doctrines of the New Jerusalem, yet have not 
 hitherto had an opportunity of consulting the theological 
 writings of that illustrious and enlightened servant of the 
 Lord, Emanuel Swedenborg ; and likewise with a view to 
 guard such against the misrepresentations and false reports 
 which are too frequently propagated concerning them by 
 bigoted and designing men, we subjoin a statement of the 
 chief articles of the faith professed and embraced by the 
 members of the New Church : 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBOEG. 179 
 
 Heavenly Doctrines of the New Church; Signified by the 
 New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation, 
 
 1. That Jehovah God, the Creator and Preserver of 
 heaven and earth, is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself, or Good 
 Itself and Truth Itself: That he is One both in Essence 
 and in Person, in whom, nevertheless, is the Divine Trinity 
 of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, which are the Essential 
 Divinity, the Divine Humanity, and the Divine Proceed- 
 ing, answering to the Soul, the body and the operative 
 energy in man : And that the Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ is that God. In Him dwells all the fullness of the 
 Godhead bodily. 
 
 2. That Jehovah God himself descended from heaven, 
 as Divine Truth, which is the Word, and took upon hira 
 Human Nature for the purpose of removing from man the 
 powers of hell, and restoring to order all things in the 
 spiritual world, and all things in the Church : That he re- 
 moved from man the powers of hell, by combats against 
 and victories over them ; in which consisted the great work 
 of Redemption : That by the same acts, which were his 
 temptations, the last of which was the passion of the cross, 
 he united, in his Humanity, Divine Truth to Divine Good, 
 or Divine Wisdom to Divine Love, and so returned into 
 his Divinity^u which he was from eternity, together with, 
 and in, his Glorified Humanity ; whence he for ever keeps 
 the infernal powers in subjection to himself : And that all 
 who believe in him, with the understanding, from the heart, 
 and live accordingly, will be saved. 
 
 3. That the Sacred Scripture, or Word of God, is Divine 
 Truth Itself; containing a Spiritual sense heretofore un- 
 known, whence it is Divinely inspired and holy in every 
 syllable ; as well as a Literal sense, which is the basis of 
 its Spiritual sense, and in which Divine Truth is in its full- 
 
180 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 ness, its sanctity, and its power : thus that it is accommo- 
 dated to the apprehension both of angels and men : That 
 the spiritual and natural senses are united, by correspond- 
 ences, like soul and body, every natural expression and 
 image answering to, and including, a spiritual and divine 
 idea : And thus that the Word is the medium of communi- 
 cation with heaven, and of conjunction with the Lord. 
 
 4. That the government of the Lord's Divine Love and 
 Wisdom is the Divine Providence; which is universal, 
 exercised according to certain fixed laws of Order, and ex- 
 tending to the minutest particulars of the life of all men, 
 both of the good and of the evil : That in all its operations 
 it has respect to what is infinite and eternal, and makes no 
 account of things transitory but as they are subservient to 
 eternal ends ; thus, that it mainly consists, with man, in 
 the connection of things temporal Avith things eternal ; for 
 that the continual aim of the Lord, by his Divine Provi- 
 dence, is to join man to himself and himself to man, that 
 he may be able to give him the felicities of eternal life : 
 And that the laws of permission are also laws of the Di- 
 vine Providence ; since evil cannot be prevented without 
 destroying the nature of man as an accountable agent; 
 and because, also, it cannot be removed unless it be known, 
 and cannot be known unless it appear : Thus, that no evil 
 is permitted but to prevent a greater; and allls overruled, 
 by the Loi-d's Divine Providence, for the greatest possible 
 good. 
 
 5. That man is not life, but is only a recipient of life from 
 the Lord, who, as he is Love Itself and Wisdom Itself, is 
 also Life Itself ; which life is communicated by influx to 
 all in the spiritual world, whether belonging to heaven or 
 to hell, and to all in the natural world ; but is received 
 differently by every one, according to his quality and con- 
 sequent state of reception. 
 
WRITINaS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 181 
 
 6. That man, during his abode in the world, is, as to his 
 spirit, in the midst between heaven and hell, actuated upon 
 by influences from both, and thus is kept in a state of 
 spiritual equilibrium between good and evil ; in consequence 
 of which he enjoys free-will, or freedom of choice, in 
 spiritual things as well as in natural, and possesses the 
 capacity of either turning himself to the Lord and his 
 kingdom, or turning himself away from the Lord, and con- 
 necting himself with the kingdom of darkness; And that, 
 unless man had such freedom of choice, the Word would 
 be of no use, the Church would be a mere name, man 
 would possess nothing by virtue of which he could be con- 
 joined to the Lord, and the cause of evil would be charge- 
 able on God himself. 
 
 7. That man at this day is born into evils of all kinds, or 
 with tendencies toward it : That, therefore, in order to his 
 entering the kingdom of heaven, he must be regenerated or 
 created anew ; which great work is effected in a progressive 
 manner, by the Lord alone, by charity and faith as me- 
 diums, during man's co-operation : That as all men are re- 
 deemed, all are capable of being regenerated, and conse- 
 quently saved, every one according to his state ; And that 
 the regenerate man is in communion with the angels of 
 heaven, and the unregenerate with the spirits of hell : But 
 that no one is condemned for hereditary evil, any further 
 than as he makes it his own by actual life ; whence all who 
 die in infancy are saved, special means being provided by 
 the Lord in the other life for that purpose. 
 
 8. That Repentance is the first beginning of the Church 
 in man ; and that it consists in a man's examining himself, 
 both in regard to his deeds and his intentions, in knowing 
 and acknowledging his sins, confessing them before the Lord, 
 supplicating him for aid, and beginning a new life : That 
 to this end, all evils, whether of aff'ection, of thought, or of 
 
 16 
 
182 
 
 A VINDICATION OF THE 
 
 life, are to be abhorred and shunned as sins against God, 
 and because they proceed from infernal spirits, who in the 
 aggregate are called the Devil and Satan ; and that good 
 affections, good thoughts, and good actions, are to be cher- 
 ished and performed, because they are of God and from 
 God : That these things are to be done by man as of himself ; 
 nevertheless, under the acknowledgment and belief, that it 
 is from the Lord, operating in him and by him : That so 
 far as man shuns evils as sins, so far they are removed, re- 
 mitted, or forgiven ; so far also he does good, not from him- 
 self, but from the Lord ; and in the same degree he loves 
 truth, has faith, and is a spiritual man : And that the De- 
 calogue teaches what evils are sins. 
 
 9. That Charity, Faith and Good Works, are unitedly 
 necessary to man's salvation ; since charity, without faith, 
 is not spiritual, but natural ; and faith, without charity, is 
 not living, but dead ; and both charity and faith, without 
 good works, are merely mental and perishable things, be- 
 cause without use or fixedness : And that nothing of faith, 
 of charity, or of good works, is of man ; but that all is of 
 the Lord, and all the merit is his alone. 
 
 10. That Baptism and the Holy Supper are sacraments 
 of divine institution, and are to be permanently observed ; 
 Baptism being an external medium of introduction into the 
 Church, and a sign representative of man's purification and 
 regeneration ; and the Holy Supper being an external me- 
 dium, to those who receive it worthily, of introduction, as 
 to spirit, into heaven, and of conjunction with the Lord ; 
 of which also it is a sign and seal. 
 
 11. That immediately after death, which is only a put- 
 ting off of the material body, never to be resumed, man 
 rises again in a spiritual or substantial body, in which he 
 continues to live to eternity ; and after proper preparation 
 in the iutermediate world of spirits, he abides in heaveu, if 
 
WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 183 
 
 his ruling affections, and thence his life, have been good ; 
 but in hell, if his ruling affections, and thence his life, have 
 been evil. 
 
 12. That Now is the time of the Second Advent of the 
 Lord, which is a Coming, not in Person, but in the power 
 and glory of his Holy AVord : That it is attended, like his 
 first Coming, with the restoration to order of all things in 
 the spiritual world, where the wonderful divine operation, 
 commonly expected under the name of the Last Judgment, 
 has in consequence been performed in the world of departed 
 spirits : and with the preparing of the way for a New 
 Church on the earth, — the first Christian Church having 
 fiilfilled its mission, as foretold by the Lord in the Gospels : 
 And that this New or Second Christian Church, which will 
 be the Crown of all Churches, and will stand for ever, is 
 what was representatively seen by John, when he beheld 
 the holy city. New Jerusalem, descending from God out of 
 heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 
 
 It is called the Bride, the Lamb's wife, because it wor- 
 ships the Lord Jesus Christ, alone, as the only God of 
 heaven and earth ; neither dividing Him into three persons, 
 nor separating His Human essence from His Divine. This 
 truth, that God is One in Person, and that He has revealed 
 Himself to the world as an Infinite, Divine Man, is what 
 is meant in Daniel by the " Stone cut without hands out of 
 the Rock, which became a great mountain and filled the 
 whole earth;" for it is a Truth revealed from His Holy 
 Word, and not devised by human ingenuity ; and is there- 
 fore the only platform on which divided Christendom can 
 ever be united ; the Rock on which the Lord's latter day 
 Church is founded. 
 
 To this Church has been revealed, 1, the Spiritual or 
 Heavenly Meaning of the whole Divine Word : 2, the 
 Heavenly or Angelic System of Christian Doctrine : 3, the 
 
184 
 
 A VINDICATION, ETC. 
 
 Life after death, or the states of existence in the spiritual 
 world : by means of which there is now being rapidly in- 
 troduced into the world, which is to last for ever and never 
 to be destroyed, a New Age and Dispensation of clearer 
 Light, greater love and better life. Wherefore, all men are 
 now called upon to acknowledge our Lord, in this His 
 Second coming, to look up to Him and worship Him as he 
 actually Is, and to acknowledge also the Church or King- 
 dom which He now sets up, walking more faithfully in His 
 commandments. 
 
 " I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these 
 things in the churches." 
 
 " And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him 
 that heareth say. Come. And let him that is athirst, come. 
 And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."— 
 Rev. xxii. 16, 17. 
 
 These Doctrines are unfolded at length in the Writings of Emanuel 
 Swedenborg, and in the collateral writings of the New Church ; a full 
 and constant supply of which is kept on hand at the Book Boom, No. 
 20 Cooper Union, New York, whence Catalogues may be obtained 
 and books ordered by mail through any post-office. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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