FROM THE LIBRARY

OF

JOHN WHITEHEAD
1850-1930
PRESENTED TO
/ale UvkvveTA,\lv AjitovraLYv
BY HIS HEIRS

COURSE OF LECTURES
ON THE DOCTRINES

NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH,
AS EBTEAIED IN THE THEOLQSSflGAIj WRITINGS

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG:

DELIVERED IN THE CITY Or HEW TOBE DURIlSrG THB. WINTER 01' 1840-41.

BY B. F. BARRETT,
PASTOR OP TBE FIRST BOCIETT OF THE NEW JERtTSALEU OHrRCH IN NEW TORK.

'* There are seme things in the Word, which appear like contradictions when yet, viewed ii> its
own BBiritual light, there is no contradiction. . s. l^ue doctrine, is lijte a lantern in the darli, and. like
a'guide-posiin the waya. . . Thosewho read the Word without doctrine, are in the dark concerniag
every truth." SwedenhOTg, T, C. R. 226, '27, '28.

NEW YORK:
POBLISHED FOR THE ADTHOH.
FOR SALE BT SAMOEL COLMAN, 14, JOHN ST. ; JOHN ALLEN, 121, FtJLTOH
ST. ; OTIS CLAPP, BOSTON ; ADAMS PEABODY, CINCINNATI ;
H. F. FAIRBANK, PHILADELPHIA.
1842.

Joseph Snowden, Fr.
59, Gold, Corner of Ann st.

CONTENTS.

LECT. I. Page.
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS, WITH A SKETCH OP THB LIFE, WRI
TINGS AND CHARACTER OP THE HON. EMANOEL SWEDENBORG. . . 1
. LECT. II.
THE DOCTRINE OP THE NEW JERUSALEM CHUKCH CONCERNING
"the end OP THE WORLD," MENTIONED IN MATTHEW XXIV.
3, AND ELSEWHERE  32
LECT. III.
THE DOCTRINE OP THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH CONCERNING
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD, MENTIONED IN MATTHEW
XXIV. 30 ; MARK XIH. 26 ; luke xxi. 27 ; and other places. .78
LECT. IV.
THE necessity OP ADMITTING AN INTERNAL SENSE TO THE
WORD, SHOWN FROM THE SCRIPTURES THEMSELVES  116
LECT- v;
THE EXISTENCE OF AN INTERNAL SENSE IN THE WORD PROVED
FROM THE SACRED SCRIPTURES  151
, LECT. VI.
THE SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES EXPLAINED, AND APPLIED
AS A RULE OF SCRIPTURE INTERPRETATION  182
LECT. VII.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THB SCIENCE OF COR-
EESPONDENCBS AS A KEY TO THE RIGHT INTERPRETATION OP
THB SCRIPTURES  216
LECT. VIII.
THE DOCTRINE OP THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH CONCERNING
THE DIVINE TRINITY AND THE TRUE OBJECT OP RELIGIOUS
WORSHIP  252

LECT. IX.,
CONCEKNING THE GLORIFICATION OP THE LORd's HUMANITY,
WHICH INVOLVES THE NEW CHURCH DOCTRINE OF THE ATONE
MENT AND OP THE REGENERATION OP MAN  .'290
LECT. X.
THE DOCTRINE OP THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH CONCERNING
THE RESURRECTION, WIIH A BRIEF VIEW OF THE SPIRITUAL
WORLD  328
.^ LECT. XI.
THE OPENING OF SWEDENBORG's SPIRITUAL SENSES — ITSPOSSI-
•aiLITY PROVED FROM THE SCRIPTURES  374
LECT. XII.
SWEDENBORG's INTERCOURSE WITH THE SPIRITUAL WORLD, AND
HIS MEMORABLE RELATIONS  ,  401

PREFACE.

The following course of Lectures was originally prepared not
"with any view to publication, but in the hope that they might be
a means of making the doctrines of the Nevv Church, as contained
in the theologicar writings of Swedenborg, more generally known
in this city. It was believed by the writer that the public generally
were under an entire misapprehension in regard to the character,
¦both of Swedenborg and his writings. And he also tiiought it
quite possible that there might be some persons among us, suffi
ciently dissatisfied-with the leading doctrines of religion as taught
in the prevailing Church, sufficiently desirous of finding some
purer and more rational Theology, and sufficiently in the good of
life, to enable them to see and acknowledge that the doctrines of
the New Jerusalem are in reality all that they claim to be — the
very doctrines of heaven. The result has proved that the writer
was not mistaken. The Lectures, on their delivery, were attend
ed by a greater number of persons, were listened to with a deeper
interest, and werO received with more favor than he had any reason
to expect. They have been a means under the Divine Providence
tif opening the eyes o'f some, and leading them into the Holy
•City — leading them to s:e and acknowledge the Lord in the pow
er and glory of His second appearing; while many others, it ia
¦believed, have received from thenfi an impression in regard to .the
\vritings of Swedenborg quite different from what they had for
merly entertained.
It is from considerations like these, and from a desirethat these
liectures may Ge more extensively useful, that the writer, at the
¦solicitation of his friends, has b^en induced to put them in this
¦permanent form. They have been somewhat enlarged since their
¦delivery, chiefiy however with additional extracts from the writ-
¦ings of Swedenborg and the Sacred Scriptures. With this ex-
(cejitioH they are -eifered to the public .substantially as ihey wise

Vi prejpace.
«
delivered. They contain nbfHing which is not already well known
to all who are familiar with the writings of Swedenborg. And as
it was not for such persons that they were originally prepared, but
for those who have little or no knowledge of these writings, so it
is chiefly for this latter class that they are now offered in their
present form. TheSwriter desires to be regarded only as a me-
¦dium of the truth which they contain. And if the truth has suf
fered some obscuration from a want of perfect transparency in
the medium, it may on that very account be better adapted to the
mental vision of thos^ for whora these Lectures were originally
designed .; just as the light of the sun may be better suited to the
state of some eyes, when its effulgence has been dimmed by pass
ing through colored glasses. If these Lectures should prove use
ful in preparing the minds of any for the admission of stronger
light — useful as an introduction to the writings of Swedenborg —
the hopes of the writer will be fully answered. They lay no claim
to originality ; and in point of rhetorical merit they may be deemed
sadly deficient. The sole aim of their author has been, not merely
to give his opinion or any other man's speculations upon the
subjects here treated of; but simply to unfold and elucidate some
of the leading doctrines of the New Church as they are revealed
in the writings of Swedenborg. And if this has been done in a
style that some may deem ungraceful and homely, his only apol
ogy is, that, in his opinion, the truths ofthe New Jerusalem are so
grand and momentous, that they require not the graces of rhetoric
or any other human adornments to enhance their beauty or their
power. No one of much elevation of mind who looks round him on the
present aspect of the prevailing Church, can fail to perceive that
there are " famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers
•places." He cannot fail to perceive that "the body of Christ" is
rent limb from hmb with intestine feuds. The Church is every
where in " great tribulation." On all sides we hear of » wars and
rumors of wars.'' Brother betrayeth brother to death, and the
father the son. Christian faith is separated from" christian chari
ty, and brotherly love nowhere abounds. Men who profess the
religion of Christ, are seen to be sensual, selfish, and worldly-
minded. And if we examine attentively the religious doctrines
whieh are acknowledged as fundamental in the prevailing Church,
we find them deeply imbued with that sensualism, which has main-

PREFACE. VU
tained its grasp upon the human mind ever since the Fall, and
which forms the basis of the reigning philosophy of our times.
The consequence of all this is, that religion has nearly lost its hold
upon the minds of multitudes. A deep-rooted scepticism is appa
rent almost everywhere. And even among men professedly re
ligious, there seems to but little faith in spiritual things.
But in this " Consummation of the Age " there appeareth " the
sign of the Son of Man in the clouds.'' Amidst the surrounding
gloom " a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun " has
already dawned upon the world. The Holy City, New Jerusa
lem, is seen " ooming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband." As yet, not many have sur
veyed its length, and breadth, and height, because not many have
the " golden reed to measure the city." Not many have yet seen
the glory of God that shines therein, because there are not many
who desire to "walk in the light of it." "The light shineth in
darkness, but the darkness comprehendeth it not." The Lord, at
his second advent, is standing in our midst, but the eyes of men
are " holden, that they should not know Him."
The writings of the New Church are eminently pure and spi
ritual. They contain the truths of tha spiritual sense of the
Word, such as the angels receive, and are calculated to make
men like the angels. They are addressed to us as rational and
¦spiritual beings. They open to our view the spiritual world, and
unfold the laws of spiritual life. And because the truths which
are contained in these writings are thus spiritual in their charac-
tei-y they are often called dark and mystical ; for so they appear
to those whose minds are imbued with the doctrines of sensual
ism. Spiritual truths must needs appear dark and mystical to
persons who have no faith in the reality of a spiritual world, and
no love for spiritual things. The charge of mysticism which is
often brought against these writings, is itself a sufficient commen
tary upon the spiritual state of those who raake it. " Unto you
(yfho are the Lord's true, spiritual disciples) it is given to know
the mystery of the kingdom of God ; bur unto them that are with
out, all things are done in parables."
Among the theological writers of the Old Church at the present
day, there are few of any acknowledged merit, who do not per
ceive and lament the desolation that reigns in Zion. Still they
¦do not see, and are unwilling to admit, that there exists any ne-
scessity for further revelations. Tbey thirst for purer truth thaa

tiltV

¦vm . PREFACE.
*h
is commonly taught, but they also thirst forthe reputation of being
its discoverers. It is therefore difficult for them to receive reveal
ed truth, because then they fail of that worldly honor for which
they pant, " How can ye believe, who receive honor one from
another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God onlyf
They urge the necessity of destroying all creeds and formularies
ef faith, and returning to the purity of primitive Christianity. And
by what light would they return t By the light of self-derived
intelligence — the same delusive ignis fatuus which has con
ducted the Church to her present " land of darkness." Vain
expectation ! For if it be through the love and pride of self-intel
ligence that the sun'ight of heaven has been extinguished in the
Church, can we rely on this same blind guide to lead us back
to truth and duty? The mind of man in itself is opaque. The
Divine Mind alone ia luminous — the light ofthe world. Can the
human mind, therefore, unaided by truth revealed from Heaven,
ever disperse the clouds which its own reasonings have induced,
and which now darken its sky by shutting out the beams of hea
ven's own Sun? Never. — Besides, the Divine Providence never
retreats. Its course is always onward. The earth rolls not back
on her axis to find the morning, nor retrograde in her orbit to find
the spring ; but forward forever. And as well might the silver-
haired man of eighty-r-blind, palsied, and leprous — by the siraple
eflbrt ofhis will, return to the freshness and bloom of youth with
out a dissolution ofhis material body, as could the Church — blind
as she is from the accumulated falses of nearly eighteen centuries
— palsied in every limb — leprous and ulcerated at the heart's core
— of herself retuvn tothe freshness and bloom of her youth, with
out a raedicine frora the Great Physician to unseal her blind eyes,
or a voice from the Lord, laying, " Rise and walk." She can
never experience a radical cure, without a New Dispensation of
truth from Heaven.
The whole history of God's dealing with mankind is proof of
this. When the Oewish Church was consummated through
falsifying the Word and" holding fast the traditions of men, the
Lord did not leave it to reason ita way back to the innocence of
¦Eden and the true meaning of Mosea and the Prophet^, but He
made a New Dispensation of .his own truth to men. He came
into the world, not to destroy or abrogate the law previously de
livered, but rather to explain iits meaning and show how it had
ibeen perverted. Hg came "not to destroy hut to fulfil," or Jill

out, so that not " one tittle of the law should foil." He told the
Jews that they had misunderstood and falsified the Word. " Ye
do err," said Jesus tothe unbelieving Sadducees, "not ktiowing
the Scriptures, nor the power of God." Even so is it now.
The Lord has not left the Chnrch, in its blind and vastated con
dition, to find its way back to primitive Christianity and the pu
rity ofthe Gospel by human reasonings ; but in infinite love and
mercy to mankinds and infinite compassion for our ignorance and
blindness, He has condescended to make a further revelation of
truth, by unfolding, in the spiritual sense of his Word, deeper
treasures of wisdom than the world has ever dreamed of. In the
truths of this revelation, which are Himself, — His own Divine
proceeding bearas of light — He has come again into the world
according to his proraise. This revelation acquaints us with the
true nature of divine inspiration, and shows wherein consists the
divinity of the Word ; and that, however party-colored, multiform,
and apparently contradictory are some portions of it in the literal
sense, in the spiritual sense it is one and uniform — like the Lojd's
vesture, woven without seam from top to bottom. It is this reve
lation of the spiritnal sense of the Word — this manifestation of
genuine truth through the obscurity of the letter — which is claim
ed to be that predicted and glorious appearing of the Son of
Man "upon the clouds of heaven." ,
But Whether those who examine, will be able to acknowledge
the claims of the New Church, must ever depend on the state of
mind in which they undertake the investigation, or the end which
they have in view. If one enter upon this examination under the per
suasion that he is already in possession of all truth — 'who therefore
regards hiraself as spirituaUy " rich and increased iri goods" — to
him the writings of Swedenborg will appear any thing but lumin-
ous. Regarding his present views as an infallible test of truth,
whatever does not conform to these he sets down as therefore
false, and of course rejects. His 'examination is not instituted in
order to see whether his present views be conformable to the truth,
but whether the views which he pretends to examine be con
formable to his own. Such a person is not in that humble, docile,
child-like frame of mind, which is favorable to the reception of
truth, or to a fair investigation of any subject. And before he can
be made wiser by the truths ofthe New Church, or before he can
see that they are truths, he must be'willing to become a fool in
•his own estimation. He must be willing to go and sell all that he

X PREFACE.
hath. " Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the
kiggdora of God as a httle child, he shall not enter therein."
-^ But to all honest, huinble, independent, sincere seekers after
truth, Ihave no caution to submit. They are afliectionately so
licited to exaraine the writings of Swedenborg for themselves —
seriously — patiently — thoroughly. The New Church shrinks
not from the severest investigation of her doctrines and principles,
by all those who desire truth to the end that they may live a purer
and a better life. She is willing — nay, she desires — that philos
ophy and science, talent and learning, acute penetration and sound
logic, humdity and meekness, freedom and independence — in a
word, that all the treasures of wisdom and all the noblest facul
ties of the human niind, be brought to the investigation of her
writings. Truth is its own witness. It fears not free and impar
tial examination, but ever seeketh to be seen in its own resplend
ent brightness.
Much misrepresentation haa gone abroad in respect to the
wiftings of Swedenborg. I may say that the popular impression
in regard to the New Church is very remote from the truth.
Many who oppose and ridicule its doctrines, would find upon care
ful examination, that what they had opposed and ridiculed, were
not the doctrines of the New Church, but only some grotesque
caricature of them — the creation of their own or of others' minds.
The enemies of truth have sometimes brought forward garbled
extracts from the writings of Swedenborg, which, when taken
out from thoir proper connection, cannot be rightly understood ;
and which have doubtless been the occasion of prejudicing the
minds of some innocent and well-disposed persons against the
New Church. But honest people must see that such a course
is extremely unfair. Stone, and mortar, and rough lath-boards
may be indispensable in building a royal mansion ; but neither of
these could be considered as exactly a fair specimen of the king's
palace. And befbre one allows a prejudice to enter hia mind
against the writings of the New Church, on account of some ex
tracts that may have offended him, he would do well to consider
what may be, and what indeed has been done in regard to the
Sacred Scriptures. The sneering infidel has collected passages
from the Word, which, when misunderstood, or understood in their
strictly natural sense, appear trivial, obscene, irrational, and alto
gether unworthy the Divine Mind. And, would it be fair to judge
ihe Sacred Volume by these garbled extracts misunderstood ?

PEEFACE. _ »»
If 60, the argument of the infidel were indeed triumphant. Yet,
(sfrange lo say !) this ia preciaely what some professed chrisiians
have allowed theraselves to do in regard to the writings of thej
New Church.
Perhaps it will be thought by some who may read these Lec
tures, that the writer has sometimes spoken concerning the Old
Church with a degree of plainness which seems harsh and severe,
and not quite consistent with genuine charity. But it should be
remembered that true charity is spiritual. It has more regard for
the future and eternal states of men, than for their present or
merely natural feelings. It aims not to please, but to do raen
the highest good. It therefore tells them the simple truth,
" whether they will hear or whether they will forbear." And to
those who are in a state of opposition to the truth, the truth
always seems harsh and severe. "Ye are of your father the
devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do," was the language of
Charity itself to the unbelieving Jews. And they sought to kill
Jesua, because He told them the truth.
If the revelations which have been made for the nse 'of the
New Church be true, then certainly they are of paramount im-
portance. And if there be even a possibility of their being true,
then they deserve a patient and thorough examination. Multi.
tudes of honest and deep- thinking men — some of them among the
purest and most eminently philosophic minds of the age — after
giving thera such an examination, have with one voice declared,
" One thing I know, that, whereas J was blind, now I see." The
strongest evidence that the doctrines of the New Church are all
true and from heaven, is, after all, to be found in their purifying
and regenerating power ;' in the searching influence which they
exercise over the heart ; in their efficacy as felt in the renewal of
the inner life ; in the sweet, gentle, heavenly peace which they
diffuse through all the chambers of the soul. They explore the
hidden recesses of the mind — they unveil the latent springs of ac
tion, and show us the evil quality of our hearts with a distinctness
with which we never saw it before ; and at the sabe time they
teach us how toget rid of our evils, as we find taught nowhere else.
Could these doctrines do this — could they open the eyes of the
spiritually blind — eould they unstop the cars ofthe spiritually deaf
—could they make the lame walk, the leprous clean, and raise up
to newness of -life the spiritually dead, if they were from hell?
« Can a de^il open the eyes ofthe blind?"

xu PEEFACE.
This New Revelation comes to men without the attestation of
external miracles. It addresses them as beings possessed of a
»4jTational faculty, and therefore capable of judging between truth
* and falsehood without any external signs to force belief. It comes
a great light into the world, manifesting the real internal quality
of the prevailing Churoh. It sits in judgment upon all forms of
religious error. It prostrates all idols of silver and gold, the work
of men's hands. It strips off the feeble disguises of mere form,
parade, and external sanctity, and lays bare the interior, ruling
loves of men. Yet it cometh "not to condemn ths worid," but
that the world through its agency may be saved — saved from
those evil loves and false persuasions that enslave the human
soul. — And as the fleld of true science enlarges — aa thought be
comes more free — as inquiry upon all subjects becomes more bold
and searching — a voice, louder and still louder, comes up from the
honest and thinking men in Christendom, calling for rationality in
religion as well as in every thing else ; — calling for such princi
ples of biblical interpretation as shall show the Scriptures to be
indeed the Word of God. And no where but in the writings of
.the New Church, will it be found that this call is fully answered.
Near one hundred years have already elapsed since Swedenborg
began to write. And although the world has been ever since
steadily and rapidly advancing in knowledge, yet it is a remarkable
fact that his writings were never so much sought after, nor so ex
tensively circulated and read, both in our own country and in raost
of the civilized states of Europe, as at the present time. New
editions of his works are in constant progress of publication to
satisfy the continually increasing demand for them. Not a few
men of reputed piety and learning are known to read these writ
ings extensively, and to take from them (generally without any ac
knowledgment of their source) the very truths which gain for theni
their chief glory. Here then is a problem not easy of solution, if
the writings of Swedenborg be the ofispring either of imposture
or delusion.
That this volume of Lectures may be instrumental in leading
some to a careful and diligent perusal of these writings, and that
the Lord Jesus Christ may open their eyes to see and their hearts
to acknowledge Him in the glorious truths of the New Jerusalem,
is the earnest prayer of their author.
B. F. B.
New York, Jan. 28, 1842.

DOCTRINES

OF THE

NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH.

LECTURE I.

INTRODUCTORY REMARICS, WITH A SKETCH OF THE
LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER OF THE HON.
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.
" A MAN SENT 01? GoD." — John, I. 6.

This earth of herself is cold and dark. All the
warmth and light that she has, come down from the ben
eficent sun, without whose quickening beams not a blade
of grass could grow, and not a creature draw the breath
of life. Wherever she turns her face direct towards
this bountiful giver of light and heat, she receives there
from an expression of activity and joy ; life circulates
through every vein, and her smiles of beauty are re-
fleeted in ten thousand forms. But where her face is
turned away from the great orb of day, there the shades
of darkness brood — there cease the pulsations of life,
and nought but sadness and gloom overspread her ice
bound surface.
Thus it is with man. Of himself, he hath neither
goodness nor truth, love nor wisdom. All that he re
ceives qf these, comes down to him from the beneficent
Lord of life, who is Love itself, and Wisdom itself, and
the only source of goodness and truth to men. The
most ancient men of our earth perceived, and from the
heart acknowledged that this is so. And so long as
they thus kept their faces tutned towards the Lord, the
2

2 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
only Fountain of life and light to their minds, and re
mained in the inward acknowledgement that all their
Itove and wisdom were derived frora Him alone, life,
love and joy circulated through every avenue of their
souls ; the harmony and peace of heaven reigned with
in ; fragrant thoughts and pure affections sprang up,
and grew, and blossomed spontaneously, and the minds
of men were as the garden of Eden, the paradise of God.
Then truth needed no other witness save her own re
splendent brightness, because men had eyes^ to see.
They were in love with all that is good, and therefore
they could perceive all that is true ; for goodness and
truth are always in agreement. Man was then a living
soul, created in the image and likeness of God ; for
the truly human principles of love to the Lord and
charity tpwards the neighbor then had absolute do
minion over all the inferior principles of his mind—
" over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."
But when man began to turn his face away from the
Lord, and to cease acknowledging Him as the only
source of all the wisdom and intelligence of angels and
men, and began to regard himself as. the source of
goodness and truth, then the heavenly order of his mind
began to be inverted, and the light that was in him to
be changed to darkness. And the more he continued
to love himself, and to regard his wisdom as his own
and originating in himself, so much the more did he
turn his face away from the light of the Sun of heaven,
to the darkness of self-derived intelligence ; until at
last his primitive state became completely inverted.
His affections, which were originally directed towards
the Lord and the things of heaven, became withdrawn
from these and turned towards self and the world.
And when in this manner he came to regard himself as
God, knowing good and evil, then the heavens became
black, for he had extinguished in his mind the only
true light, and his affections became fast bound in the
frosts of selfishness.
Thus did man's blooming paradise become trans-

I.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 3
formed into a desert, Thus did his affections and
thoughts, which once bore the freshness and fragrance
of heaven, lose theif life and perfume when deprived
of the blessed beams of heaven's own Sun. And thus
was man driven out from the garden of Eden, where the
Lord God placed him, and caused to grow every tree
that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. This
was the Fall — the fall of man ; a fall from his primitive
and exalted state of innocence, simplicity, truth and
love. It is because of this inverted state of man's affections
— ^because the image and likeness of God in human
breasts has been thus marred, that genuine truth has
, now so few attractions, and appears so unlovely to the
world. Because man has fallen from his original state
of supreme love to the Lord, into an infernal state of
self-love, therefore truth has no beauty or attractions to
him, for it is not in agreement with his perverted affec
tions ; therefore it is, and has ever been, since the Fall,
despised and rejected of men, having no form or come
liness to the natural mind, and when it is seen, " there
is no beauty that it should be desired." Hence it is
that every ray of truth which has been sent from heaven
to bless mankind — to enlighten and guide men out of
their fallen state, has gained admittance into the world
only by patient struggle and persevering, contest. It
has often had to fight its way through racks and fag
gots — through dungeons and chains. The Lord's pro
phets have been stoned and spit upon. The noblest
messengers of truth to man have been treated with scorn
and contumely. And when He who is the Light of the
world — the very Truth itself — became flesh and dwelt
among men, He was despised and rejected, and at last
killed as a malefactor. And when He performed deeds
that no other man could do, and spake as never man
spake, it was said of Him—" He hath a devil and is
mad, why hear ye Him ?" Yes — so lost were men to
truth and love, so perverted were the principles of hu
manity in their breasts, that, when their original, divine
Archetype appeared, they knew Him not, and put Hira
to an ignominious death.

[lect.
But Truth itself— absolute Truth can never die. In
the language of a late German author, " it is eternal,
like the infinitely wise and gracious God. Men may
disregard it for a time, until the period arrives when its
rays, according to the determination of Heaven, shall
irresistably break through the mists of prejudice, and,
like Aurora, nnd the opening day, shed a beneficent
light, clear and inextinguishable over the generations of
men."* , ^
Looking therefore at the present and past state of the
world, and seeing how it has fared with triith generally
at its first unfolding, and with every new dispensation
of truth in particular, we ought not to be surprised that
tlie New Dispensation of truth which has been made to
the world through that distinguished servant of the
Lord, Emanuel Swedenborg, is not suddenly embraced,
or at once seen to be truth. We ought not to be sur
prised, but rather to expect that the. pure truths of the
New Jerusalem, since tiiey are opposed to the impurity
of men's natural loves, will meet with opposition, mis
representation, scorn and contempt. Such is the present
state of what is called the Christian world, that it is to be
expected men will sit in judgment on these truths, who
know very little or nothing about thera ; and that base
fabrications and false statements with regard to them,
will be circulated by persons who jnay think as Paul
thought, when engaged in hauling Christian men and
women to prison, that they are doing God service.
But the ignorance, bigotry, and wholesale abuse,
which are among the characteristics of an unthinking
and frivolous age, are fast disappearing before the dawn
ing light of a better era. Within the last half century,
a spirit of free and fearless inquiry into everything has
been strikingly manifest ; and rigid investigation and
severe analysis are everywhere beginning to take the
place of crude conjecture and groundless assertion. " If
ever there were a period, (says a late English author,)
in which the members of the Christian church were
called upon to ' believe not every spirit, but to try the
* Organon of Homoeopathic Medicine, by Samuel. Hahnemann, p. 44.

.1.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 5
spirits, whether they be of God,' ' to prove all things
and to hold fast that which is good,' the present assu
redly is one. . The disposition to inquiry that has been
awakened, the spread of education, the increasing de
sire of knowledge, and the extraordinary progress of
the sciences, however sometimes exaggerated, have been
sufficient to lead many sober and reflecting minds to
contemplate, as not improbable, a new aspect in the
history of the world ; and when we connect' these cir
cumstances with the disregard of human authority in
matters of religion, the asserted right of private judg
ment, the conflicting views which are entertained even
upon the most important principles of Christianity, it
will be granted, I presume, that, if ever learning, sound
judgment, piety and diligence were required in the
clergy, they are assuredly most requisite now. When
to this we add, that, among a considerable portion of the
Christian community, there prevails a Variety of expec
tations, with respect to prophecies in Scripture, the ful-
fllment of which many believe to be not far distant,
there is, assuredly, the more particular reason, why the
Christian community should be on its guard, lest any
enthusiast should avail himself of these expectations,
and delude both himself and his followers ; more espe
cially as, under the circumstances we have mentioned,
the probability is that enthusiasts would arise, and that
many, consequently, would be deluded. It is remark
able that the introduction of new dispensations by the
Almighty seems, in general^ to have given occasion for
opposite and rival claims to the truth. When Moses
wrought miracles before Pharaoh, counter miracles were
said to be wrought by the Magi. When Christ cast out
devils from the possessed-, similar claims to miraculous
power were asserted to exist, among the Pharisees.
When Christ assumed the character of King of the
Jews, rival pretensions were made by others. " Before
these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to 'be
somebody, to whom a number of men, about four hun
dred,, joined themselves, who was slain : and all as many
as obeyed him, were scattered and brought to nought.
After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of
. 2*

6 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
the taxing and drew away much people after hira ; he
also perished, and all, as many as obeyed him, were
dispersed." (Acts, v. 36.) At the second coming of
Christ into th^ world, we are told, it should be the
same; "for there shall arise false Christs and false
prophets, and shall shew great signs^and wonders, inso
much that if it were possible, they 'shall deceive the
very elect." (Mat. xxiv. 22.) Thus at the end of the
old and the beginning of new dispensations, arise false
and true prophets in every direction ; whence preten
sions of both kinds become so mixed up one with the
other, that, unless possessed of a clear spiritual discem
ment, a person runs the risk of receiving the false as
the true, or the true as the false, or of rejecting indis
criminately both together ; and so in order to avoid the
snare of enthusiasm, of falling into the pit of infidelity."
{Rev. Augustus Clissold's Letter to the Archbishop
of Dublin, pp. 1, 2.)
Although the truths of the New Jerusalem are of
such a cliaracter, that, when rationally received, they
carry their own witness with them, testifying whence
they came and whither they conduct, still it is natural
for those who are yet unacquainted with them, to de
sire some knowledge of the life and character of Eman
uel Swedenborg, who, by divine appointment, was the
human agent in communicating these truths to man
kind. And since this desire is lawful as it is natural, I
shall devote the remainder of the present lecture to a
brief notice of this great and truly extraordinary man.
And I do this the more cheerfully, because there is so
little known of Swedenborg generally ; and because it
is not unusual to meet with persons professing some
knowledge of his character, who regard him as an in
ane visionary or idle dreamer. But we shall see from
the testimony of those to Whom Swedenborg was in
timately known, that he was neither a visionary nor a
madman ; but on the contrary, was a profound philoso
pher and a humble christian.
The childhood and youth of eniinent men are usu
ally among the most interesting portions of their life.
Unhappily for us, the materials for this period of Swe-

i.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 7
denborg's history are very meagre. Most that we are
able to gather is, that he was bom in Stockholm, Swe
den, January 29, 1688, and was educated principally at
the University of Upsala. Great care is said to have
been bestowed by his father on his early education.
His youth was marked by uncommon assiduity and
application in the study of philosophy, mathematics,
natural history, chemistry, and anatomy, together with
the European and Oriental languages. ^ He had an
excellent meraory, quick conceptions, and a most clear
judgment. The following extract from a letter written to a
friend, who inqiiired of' him what had passed in the
earlier part of his life, affords a striking indication of
spirituality in his youth : " From my youth to my tenth
year," he says, " my thoughts were constantly engrossed
by reflecting upon God, on salvation, and on the spirit
ual passions of man. I often revealed things in my
discourse which filled my parents with astonishment,
and made them declare at times that certainly the an
gels spoke through my mouth. From my sixth to my
twelfth year, it was my greatest delight to converse with
the clergy concerning faith, to whom I often observed,
that charity or love was the life of faith, and that this
vivifying charity or love was no other than the love of
one's neighbor ; that God vouchsafes this faith to every
one, but that it is adopted by those only who practice
that charity."
In early life, Swedenborg's mind was preserved in a
remarkable degree from false theological doctrines, and
from the trammeling influence of the commentaries and
biblical criticisms in common use at that period ;
wherein the Providence of the Lord is strikingly man
ifest. Those who are acquainted with the true princi
ples of biblical interpretation, which he was made the
instrunient in unfolding, will readily perceive the great
importance of this, and the difficulties which would
have arisen to him had his mind been early imbued
with the prevailing dogmas of the Old Church. The
following is Avhat Swedenborg himself says upon this
subject : " I was prohibited reading dogmatic and sys-

8 UFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
tematic theology before heaven was opened to me, by
reason that unfounded opinions and inventions might
thereby easily have insinuated themselves, which, with
difficulty could afterwards have been extirpated.
Wherefore, when heaven was opened to me, it" was
necessary first to learn the Hebrew language, as well
as the correspondences of which the whole Bible is
composed, which led rae to read the Word of God over
many times. ' And, inasmuch as the Word of God is the
source whence all theology hiust ,be derived, I was
thereby enabled to receive instruction from the Lord
who is the Word."
The offices of honor and trust which were bestowed
upon Swedenborg without any solicitation on his part,
together with the many marks of distinction which he
received frdm the nobility of Sweden; and from the
King Charles XIL, show us in what high repute he
was held by men o^ his own time, who were able to ap
preciate distinguished talents and leaming. Nor was
he', like most men of profound leaming, a mere scholar.
He was eminently a practical man. He regarded use
as the end of all science. He was therefore not m,iserly
ill res,pect to his intellectual possessions, but liberal and
expansive as the air. Consequently, his mind was not
a mere treasure-house or depository of dead learning,
but like the great laboratory of nature, it made every
speck of knowledge subserve some useful end. Like
some rich and beautiful garden, ever Swept with vernal
breezes, and moistened with vernal showers, and warm
ed with the beams of a tropical sun, it was full of greeji
and living things, which grew, and blossomed, and bore
fruit perpetually, shedding their fragrance on all around;
and this, because his mind was ever open to the Lord's
love. In the garden of his soul, it was always suramer-
tirae. Those who will take the trouble to familiarize them
selves with his history, will' find ample illustrations of
the truth of these remarks.
In 1716, at the age of twenty-eight years, and soon
after his return from a four years' tour in England, Hol
land, France and Germany, Swedenborg was appoint-

I.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 9
ed by Charles XII. to the important office of Assessor
Extraordinary of the Metallic College, or Board of
Mines. But so careful was he to discharge in the most
faithful and perfect raanner the duties of every station,
thc^t he was unwilling to exercise the functions of this
office, before he had acquired a perfect knowledge of
ftietallurgy. Accordingly, he did not enter upon the
duties of this office, until six years afterwards : most of
which time was spent in the universities of England,
Holland, France and Germany, and in journies to dif
ferent parts of Europe to examine the principal mines
and smelting works. The diploma appointing him to
this offlce, states, " that the King had a particular re
gard tothe kriowledge possessed by Swedenborg, in the
science of mechanics, and that his pleasure was, that
he should accompany and assist Polhammar (afterwards
called Polheim,) in constructing his mechanical works."
Charles XII. is said to have been fond of devoting his
leisure hours to the subject of mathematics and mechan
ism ; and in Dr. Norberg's history of that King, are de
tailed many interesting conversations between Charles,
Swedenborg and Polheim. He remained in the office
of Assessor of the Metallic College, until 1747, when
he resigned it on Recount of other more important du
ties, which he felt claimed his attention. "My sole
view," he says, " in this resignation, was, that I might
be more at liberty to .devote myself to that new function
to which the , Lord had called me. On resigning my
office, a higher degree pf rank was offered me ; but this
I utterly declined, lest it should be the occasion of in
spiring rae with pride."
In 1719, he was ennobled by Q,ueen Ulrica Eleanora,
and named Swedenborg, his father's name being Swed-
berg. Frora this time he took his seat with the Nobles
ofthe Equestrian Order in tbe Triennial Assemblies of
the States of the IjLealm. In 1 724, he was offered a pro
fessorship of Mathematics in the University of Upsala,
which he declined. In 1729, he was, by invitation, ad
mitted a member of the Royal Academy of Sciences at
Stockholm ; and was appointed a corresponding mem
ber of the Academy of Sciences at St; Petersburg, in

•

10 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
1734. His society was sought by leamed men of his
'own and of foreign countries, some "of whom were ea
ger to establish with him a literary correspondence, and
to consult him x>n many intricate subjects, He lived on
terms of familiarity and friendship with the ten bishops
of Sweden, and sixteen Senators, and the rest of the no
bility ; and reeeiVed much favor also frora the King and
Q,ueen, and the tliree princes, their sons.
During his life he travelled much, and visited most
of the interesting and important parts of Europe. And
that he did not, like many tourists, have recourse to
travel merely for pleasure, or as the most agreeable mode
of spending his time, but that in this, as in every thing
else, he had regard to use, will appear evident from the
following reraarks in a dissertation on the Royal Soci
ety of Sciences at Upsal, published in 1789. The au
thor of this dissertation, after mentioning Swedenborg
as one of its first and best members, says, " His letters
to the Society while abroad, witness that few caii travel
so usefully. An indefatigable curiosity, directed to va
rious important subjects, is conspicuous in all. Math
ematics, astronomy and mechanics, seem to have been
his favorite sciences, and he had already made great
progress in these. Everywhere he became acquainted
with the most renowned mathematicians and astronp-
mers, as Flamstead, Delahire, Varignon, &c. This
pursuit of knowledge was also united with a constant
zeal to benefit his country. No sooner was he inform
ed of some useful discovery, than he was solicitous to
render it beneficial to Sweden, by sending home mod
els. When a good book was published, he not only
gave immediate notice of it, but contrived to procure it
for the university."
That the high' repute in which Swedenborg was held
as a philosopher, by the scholars and nobility of Sweden,
and the marks of royal favor which he received, were
not unntesited, appears evident frpm the nuniber ahd
character of his' published philosophical works. For,
in addition to the other honorable things that may be
said of him, he was the most voluminous writer of his
own, or indeed of any age. The bare titles of the works

I.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG, 11
he has published, are sufficient to evince the extent and
variety of his knowledge ; and the honorable testimony
borne to their merit by learned men, is sufficient evi
dence of their worth.
The most important of his scientific works are his
"Opera Philosophica et Mineralia ;" or. Philosophical
arid Mineral Works — his " OSconomia Regni Animalis ;"
or. Economy of the Animal Kingdom — and his " Reg
num Aniniale ;" or. Animal Kingdom. The first of
these works, commonly called his " Principia," was pub
lished at Dresden and Leipsic in 1734j in three volumes-
folio, of about 400 pages each ; and in reality it consists
of three distinct works, though always alluded to by
Swedenborg as one. The first volume, is entitled, " The
Principles of Natural Things ; or, New Attempts at a
Philosophical Explanation of the Phenomena of the
Elementary World." (Principia Rerum Naturalium,
sive, Novorum Tentaminura Phsenomena Mundi Ele-
mentaris Philosophice Explicandi.) The second vol-
urne is called " The Subterranean or Mineral Kingdom;
or, A Treatise on Iron." (Regnum Subterraneum, sive
Minerale de ferro.) The third is called, " The Subter
ranean or Mineral Kingdom ; or, A Treatise on Copper
and Brass." (Regnum Subterraneum, sive Minerale de
Cupro et Orichalco.)* , . ¦
His economy of the Aniraal Kingdom was published
at Arasterdam in ' 1740-1, in 4to. It consists of two
parts, the first of which treats of the blopd, the arteries,
the veins, and the heart, with an introduction to Ra
tional Psychology. The second part treats of .the mo
tion of the brain, of the cortical substance, and of the
human soul.
His Animal Kingdom consists of three parts. The
first two were printed at Amsterdam in 1744, and a
third at ' London in 1745 ; and together they mike a
thick quarto volurae. The first part treats of the viscera
of the" abdomen, the second ofthe viscera of the thorax,
and the third of the organs of sehse.
* See Life of Swedenborg, published at New York, 1841, p. 13—32.

12 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
In addition to these, which are the larger and raore
important of Swedenborg's philosophical works, con
taining each three or four hundred pages 4to, there ate
ten or twelve other smaller works, written and publish
ed at an earlier period . Some of these are, A Treatise
on the Height of the Tides, and a greater Flux and Re
flux of the Sea in former ages ; with proofs furnished
by various appearances in Sweden. New attempts at
explaining the Phenoinena of Chemistry, and Physics
on Geometrical Principles. New Observations and
Discoveries respecting Iron and Fire, especially re
specting the ^ Elementary Nature of Fire ; with a new
mode of constructing Chimneys. A new raethod of
finding the Longitude of Places, either on Land or at
Sea, by Lunar Observations. A new mode of construct
ing Dykes to exclude Inundations ofthe Sea or of Riv
ers. A Mode of ascertaining, by Mechanical Means, the
dualities of Vessels. Miscellaneous Observations on
Natural Things, particularly on Minerals, Fire, andthe
Strata of Mountains. (See Life of Swedenborg p. 8, 9.)
The limits of a single lecture will allow me to do but
little more than' giye this dry catalogue of the titles of
Swedenborg's scientific works. But this, however, may
answer the purpose of showing that there is scarcely a
single department of natural science with which his ca
pacious raind was not familiar. And those who will
take time to examine these Works, will find thein perva
ded throughout with the spirit of a profound philoso
pher, and will all along be inipressed with the compre
hensive scope, the orderly, and severe analytical charac
ter of their author's mind.
In the Principia, Swedenborg asserts that nature, in
all its operations, is govemed by one and the same gen
eral law, and is always consistent with itself. " Na
ture," he says, " raay be styled a labyrinth, whose intri
cacies you are anxious to explore. Fruitless would be
the attempt to wander through its meandering turns', and
note the dimensions of all its ways. The difficulty
would but grow the more inextricable ; you would pur-

I.J OP EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 13
sue your footsteps in a circle, and recognize the self
same spot, when most elated by the prospect of success.
But would you gain with ease, and possibly ' by the
shortest road, the exit of the labyrinth, reject then the
senseless wish of exploring all its turns. Rather plant
yourself at any intersection of its paths, strive to ascer
tain soraewhat of its general fdrm frora the ways which
you have trodden, and thus in some degree retrace your
steps. When once you have gained the exit, a mere
thread can serve to guide you through all its circuitous
tracks, and to retrace your errors ; but even this, after a
time, you raay cast aside, and wander fearlessly Without
it. Then, as if seated on an eminence, and at a glance
surveying the scene which lies before you, how would
you sinile in tracing out its various breaks and contor
tions, which have baffled the judgment by raultiplied
and illusive intersections:"
In the same work, the author treats of the magnetic
needle and its variations. He describes the sun and its
vortex, and explains the creation of the planets of our
solar system from the sun. And what may appear re
markable, although this work was published more than
forty years before the discovery of the seventh planet
by Dr. Herschel, he alleges that there were seven plan
ets created from the sun at the same time. He has
eight or ten drawings in the work illustrative of the
subject, in all of which seven planets are laid down.
It is believed that in this work Swedenborg made
many discoveries in philosophy, which, owing to the
little attention paid to his writings, have not been ac
credited to him. We have testimony to this effect from
a philosopher of reputation in our own country. Mr.
Patterson, late Professor in the University of Pennsyl
vania, iil a letter written to Dr. Atlee respecting the
Principia, says, " The work of Swedenborg which you
were so kind as to put into my hands, is an extraordina
ry production of one of the most extraordinary men,
certainly, that has ever lived." After stating, among
other things, that he should like to pemse it farther be
fore he could form an opinion of it, " a thing," he adds,
" not to be done in a few words," he continues : " This
3

14 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
much, however, I can truly say, that the air of mysti
cism which is generally thought to pervade Baron Swe
denborg's ethical and theological writings, has prevent
ed philosophers from paying that attention to his physi
cal productions, of which I now see that they are worthy.
Many of the experinients and observations on magnet
ism, presented in this work, are believed to be of much
more modern date, and are uitjustly ascribed to
much more recent writers," Did it probably ever oc
cur to the author of these remarks, that the air of mys
ticism which has been thought to pervade Swedenborg's
theological writings might be but the vapor of men's
own imaginations, or inight be owing to the perversion
and dimness of their moral vision? And that the
time is rapidly approaching when trae philosophers and
true christians will speak ofhis ethical and theological,
as the professor himself has here spoken of his philo
sophical works 1 When they will confess that these
also have not received from religious men the attention
of which they are so well worthy ? •
There is also the fullest evidence that other impor
tant discoveries were anticipated by Swedenborg, the
merit of which has been claimed by different writers.
In a work entitled " The Institutions of Physiology," by
Blumenbach, the author, treating of the brain, says, that
after birth it undergoes a constant and gentle motion,
correspondent with respiration ; so that when the lungs
shriiik in expiration, the brain rises a, little, but when
the chest expands, it again subsides. And in a note he
adds, that Daniel Schlichting first accurately described
this phenomenon in 1744. But it is now well known
that Swedenborg had fully demonstrated, and accurate
ly described this correspondent action in that part of his
(Economia Regni Animalis, published in 1740, which
treats of the coincidence of motion between the brain
and lungs.
In another part of the same Institutions of Physiology,
when speaking ofthe causes ofthe motion ofthe blood,
Blumenbach remarks thus ; " When the blood is expel
led from the contracted cavities, a vacuum takes place,
into which, according to the common laws of deriva-

I.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 15
tion, the neighboring blood must rush, being prevented,
by means of the valves, from regurgitating." In the
notes, this discovery is attributed to Dr. Wilson. But it
now appears that the same principle was known to
Swedenborg long before, and is applied by him in the
(Economia Regni Animalis, to account for the motion of
the blood, as any one may see who will read the section
of that work on the circulation of the blood in the
foetus. Those who are skilled in anatomy, and have read
Swedenborg's Economy of the Animal Kingdom., state
that he was familiar with many truths in Anatomy,
which were unknown to other learned men of his day.
For example, the flrst discovery and description of a
passage of communication between the two lateral ven
tricles of the brain, was claimed by the celebrated anat
omist Dr. Alexander Monroof Edinburg, and the merit
of the discovery has since been awarded him by suc
ceeding anatomists. In his work entitled "Observations
on the Structure and Functions of the Nervous Systera,"
the Doctor says, that he deraonstrated this foramen to
his pupils as early as the year 1753. Now any one
who will look into Swedenborg's Regnum Animale,
page 207, may there find a description of the foramen
here spoken of. , And this work was published by Swe
denborg some eight or ten years before the time that
Dr. Monro says, he demonstrated this foramen to his
pupils. I do not affirm that these men first drew their discov
eries from the writings of Swedenborg, and then claim
ed them as their own ; but thus stands the fact, that the
discoveries here claimed were made by Swedenborg
years before, as his philosophical works themselves do
testify. To show the value ofhis Regnum Minerale, and the
high estimation in which this work is held in England,
I quote a brief extract from the translation of Cramer's
Elements of the Artof Assaying Metals, by Dr. Crom
well Mortimer, Secretary of the Royal Society of Lon
don. "For the sake of such as understand Latin," he
says, " we must not pass by that magnificent and labo-

16 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [leCT.
rious work of Emanuel Swedenborg, entitled Principia
Rerum Naturalium, in three tomes, folio. In the sec
ond and third tornes of which — [these embrace his min
eral kingdom]^— he has given the best accounts, not only
of the method and newest, improvements in metalic
Works in all places beyond the seas, but also those in
England and our colonies in Araerica, with drafts of
' the furnaces and instruments employed. It is to be
wished we had extracts of this work in English."
Thus much of Swedenborg regarded as a philoso
pher and man of science. A great deal more might be
said, did time and the limits I have proposed to myself
permit. It was not his object to gain human applause,
or to astonish the world by discoveries in natural sci
ence ; hence no pains were taken by him to give, circu
lation to his discoveries. His great object in investi
gating the organization of fhe human system, was to at
tain to a knowledge of the nature, form and constitu-^
tion of the human mind. Had he been desirous of fame,
he would have made a very different use of his knowl
edge. He regarded all natural science only as the
means of becoming wise. Speaking in his (Economia,
of those who are in pursuit of genuine wisdom, he says,
"They reckon the sciences and the mechanical arts
only among the ministers of wisdora, and they learn
them as helps to its attainment, not that they may be re
puted wise on account of their possessing them. They
modestly restrain the external mind in its tendency to
be elated and puffed up, because they perceive the sci
ences to form an ocean of which they can only catch
a few drops. They look at no one with a scornful
brow or the spirit of superiority : nor do they arrogate
any of their attainments to themselves. They refer ^ll
to the Deity, and regard them as gifts from Him, from
whom air true wisdorn springs as from its fountain."
Every one, therefore, must be convinced from what
has now been said, that Swedenborg, whatever else may
be thought of him, was no charlatan. Nor did he, like
most pretenders to science, merely skim along the sur
face of things, or content himself with scraping togeth
er the treasures of other minds. In his own person,

I.] op EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 17
yet in the most quiet and unostentatious manner, he
interrogated nature in her inmost recesses, leaving un
tried no department of her broad and beautiful field.
Thus was his mind prepared by degrees to be opened
to the perception of things within and above nature. By
means of his extensive and genuine scientific knowl
edge, he formed a spacious and solid earth, on which
the ladder leading to the heaven of his mind could firm
ly rest, and the angels of God — the celestial principles
of truth and love — could descend as well as ascend.
And if this earth be the footstool of God — if the great
temple of nature be not a mere show-room nor a char
nel-house, but all things here be significant of the^ wis
dom, and love, and life with which they are filled — if
science have a higher end than ministering merely to
man's temporal wants, and all things in nature be filled
with instruction for the human spirit, then, assuredly,
no man ever lived, who, by the extent and variety of
his genuine scientific knowledge, was so well prepared
to reveal to the world the grand arcanum of the interior
spiritual truth of Nature and God's Word, as Eraanuel
Swedenborg. In 1743, at the age of 54, 'Swedenborg relinquished
his philosophical pursuits, and devoted himself exclu
sively to theology, or to unfolding the doctrines of the
New Jerusalem (CJhurch. And in 1747 he resigned his
offlce as Assessor of the Metallic College. At the time
he retired from the office of Assessor, he was offered a
higher degree of rank and' other privileges under the
government, all of which he declined.
It is rare that he speaks of, or even alludes to himself
in his writings ; and never, except when there seems to
be an absolute necessity for so doing. In the year 1769,
the Rev. Dr. Hartley of Northamptonshire, England,
sent him a letter of which the following is an extract :
" As after your departure from England, disputes
may arise on tl^e subject of your writitlgs, and so give
occasion of defending their author against such false
reports and aspersions as they who are no friends to
truth may invent to the prejudice ofhis character, may
it not be of use in order to refute any calumnies of that
3*

18 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
kind, that you leave in my hands some short account of
yourself? As concerning, for example, your degrees
inthe University; the offices you have borne; your
family and connexions : the honors which I am told
have been cpnferred upon you, and such other pairticu-
lars as raay serve to the vindication of your character,
if attacked ; that so any ill-grounded prejudice rnay be
obviated or removed- For where the honor and inter
est of truth are concemed, it certainly behoves us to
employ all lawful means in its defence and support."
Swedenborg replied to this letter ; and after having
answered briefly the inquiries conceming his birth, fam
ily, offices, honors, &c., he adds :
" But I regard all that I have raentioned as matters of
respectively little moment ; for, what fAr exceeds them,
I have been called to a holy ofiice by the Lord hiinself,
who most graciously manifested himself in person to
me his servant in the year 1743 ; when he opened my
sight to the view of the spiritual world, and' granted
rae the privilege of conversing with spirits arid an
gels, which I enjoy to this day. Ftora that time I be
gan to print and publish various Ai'cana that have been
seen by me or revealed to me ; as respecting heaven
and hell, the state of man after death, the true worship
of God, the spiritual sense of the Word, with raany
other most important matters conducive to salvation
and true wisdom. The only reason of my late jour
neys intp foreign countries has been a desire of being
useful in making known the arcana entrusted to me."
" As to this world's wealth, I have what is sufficient;
and more I neither seek nor wish for.
"Your letter has drawn from me the mention of
these things, with the view, as you suggest, that any
ill-grounded prejuciices may be removed. Farewell,
and from my heart I wish you all felicity both in this
world and in the next, which I make no doubt of your
attaining, if you look and pray to the Lord."^ — [Life of
Swedenborg, p. 12.)
It was at the above named period that Swedenborg's
illumination commenced ; conceming the precise na
ture of which nothing raore can here be said, than that

I.] op EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 19
it was such as to enable him to see and converse with
spirits and angels, as we do with one another ; and thus
to record,' as he has done, for our instruction, the laws
of order in the spiritual word, and to bring down from
heaven the true but lost doctrine concerning the Lord,
his holy Word, life from Him, and raany other import
ant subjects connected with man's salvation. I am
aware that it is difficult for. men at the present day to
believe that Swedenborg's spiritual senses were opened,
for it is difficult for thera to believe that man has any spir
itual senses, or even any spirit, or that there really exists
any spiritual world. So gross is the sensualism in
which mankind are now immersed !
But we are not required to exercise a blind faith in
regard to this, or other things recorded in the writings
of Swedenborg. They rest upon their own rationality
and intrinsic worth, (as raust everything that is true and
genuine,) and raay be seen in their own light by the ra
tional faculty of all good, honest, well-meeining men,
who will examine them with thoroughness and care.
When the question was once asked Swedenborg —
" Whether there was any occasion for a sign that he had
been sent by the Lord to do what he did," he replied,
'J That at this day no signs or rairacles will be given,
because they compel only an external belief, but do not
convince the internal. What did the miracles avail iri
Egypt, or among the Jewish nation, who nevertheless
crucifled the Lord ? So, if the Lord was to appear now
in the sky, attended with angels and trumpets, it would
have no other effect than it had then. As it is Written
in Luke, xvi. 31, ' If they hear not Moses and the
prophets, neither would they be persuaded though one
rose from the dead.' The sign given at this day wfll
be an illustration, and thence a knowledge and recep
tion of the truths of the New Church. This works
more effectually than miracles." — {Life of Swedenborg,
p. 38.)
We See, therefore, that.the opening of Swedenborg's
spiritual senses was not regarded by him as a miracle ;
nor are miracles appealed to in proof of his mission,
but only the consistency and rationality ofhis writings.

20 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
which, to every honest raind that examines them thor
oughly,, are such as to carry the force of positive dem
onstration. But although Swedenborg lays no stress .upon any
miraculous proofs ofthe justness ofhis pretensions, and
never appeals to them or even mentions them in any of
his works as evidence of the trath of what he writes,
yet such proofs are not entirely wanting. " For the ben
efit of those, therefore, who may be in a state to desire
sorae external evidence of the extra^ordinary character
of Swedenborg's mission, we here introduce an extract
from a letter written by the celebrated Professor Kant,
the German philosopher, and 'addressed to a lady of
quality, Charlotte de Knoblock. It appears that this
lady, whom Kant highly esteemed, had asked his opin
ion concerning Sewendenborg and his writings. ¦ The
letter is as follows :
" I would npt have deprived myself so long of the
honor and pleasure of obeying the request of a lady,
who is the ornament of her sex, in communicating the
desired information, if I had not deemed it necessary
previously to inforra myself thoroughly concerning the
subject of your request. Permit me, gracious lady, to
justify my proceedings in this matter; inasmuch as it
might appear that an erroneous opinion has induced me
to credit the various relations concerning it without
careful examination. I am not aware that anybody has
ever perceived in me an inclination to the marvellous,
or a weakness approaching to credulity. So much is
certain, that notwithstanding all the narrations of appa
ritions, and visions concerning the spiritual world, of
which a great number of the most probable are known
to me, I have always considered it to be the most in
agreement with the rule of sound reason to incline to
the negative side ; not as if I had iraagined such a case
to be impossible, although we know but very little con
cerning the nature of a spirit, but because the instances
are not in general sufficiently proved. There arises,
moreover, frota the incomprehensibility and inutiiy of
this sort of phenomena, too many difficulties ; and there

1.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 21
are, on the other hand, so many proofs of deception^
that I have never considered it necessary to suffer fear
or dread to come upon me, either in the cemeteries of
the dead, or in the darkness of night. This is the posi
tion in which my mind stood for a long time, until the
accounts of Swedenborg came to my notice.
* » » * # #
" In order, gracious lady, to give you two proofs, of
which the present existing public is a witness, and the
person who related them to me had the opportunity of
investigating them at the very place where they oc
curred, I will narrate to you the two following oc
currences :
" Madam Harteville, the widpw of a Dutch envoy at
Stockholm, was, s6me time after the death of her hus
band, asked by Croon, the goldsmith, for the payment
ofa set of silver plate, which the husband had ordered
to be made by him. '
" The widow was indeed convinced that her de
ceased husband was too orderly and particular in his
aflfaijs, not to have settled and paid the account ; how
ever, , she could find no receipt to testify the payment.
In her trouble, and as the value was considerable, she
entreated M. de Swedenborg to pay her a visit After
some apologies, she besought him, if he possessed the
gift of being able to speak with departed souls, as every
body said he did, to have the kindness to inquire of her
departed husband, respecting the demand of payment
for the set of silver plate., Swedenborg was very affable,
and promised to serve her in this affair. Three days
afterwards, the same lady had company, when M. de
Swedenborg came, and told her, in his cool manner,
thdt he had spokeri with her husband. The debt had
been paid seven months before his death, and the re
ceipt had been put in a bureau which was in an upper
apartraent. The. lady replied that this bureau had
been cleared out, and that the receipt could not be
found amongst any ofthe papers. Swedenborg return
ed, that her husband had told him, that if a drawer on
the left side of the bureau was pulled out, a board would
be observed, which must be pushed away, and then a

22 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
secret drawer would be discovered, in which he used to
keep his secret Dutch correspondence, and in which,
also, he had placed the receipt At this indication, the
lady, accompanied by all her friends, went to the tipper
apartment. They opened the bureau, and proceeded-
according to Swedenborg's instruction. They found
the drawer of which the lady had not known, and in it
the papers and receipts were met with to the very great
astonishment of all.
" Bat the following occurrence Jippears to me to have
the greatest weight of proof, and to set the assertion
respecting Swedenborg's extraordinary gift out of all
possibility of doubt. In the year 1756, when M. de
Swedenborg, towards the end of Septernber, on Satur
day, at four o'clock, P. M. arrived at Gothenburg from
England, Mr. William Castel invited him to his house,
together with a party of fifteen persons.- About six
o'clock, M. de Swedenborg went out, and after a short
interval, returned to the company quite pale and
alarmed. He said that a dangerous fire had just broken
out in Stoclcholm, at the Sundermalm, (Gothenburg is
about fifty miles* from Stockholm,) and that it was
spreading very fast. He was restless, and went out
very often. He said that the house of one of his friends,
whom he named, was already in ashes, and that his
own was in danger. At eight o'clock, after he had been
out again, he joyfully exclaimed, " thank God ! the fire
is extinguished, the third door from my house." This
news occasioned great commotion through the whole
city, and particularly amongst the company in which
he was. It" was announced to the governor the same
evening. On the Sunday moming, Swedenhorg was
sent for by the governor, who questioned hira concern
ing the disaster. Swedenborg described the flre pre
cisely, how it had begun, in what manner it ceased, and
how long it had conthiued. On the same day the
news spread through the city, and as the governor had
thought It worthy of attention, the consternation was
considerably increased ; because man3'- were in trouble
* Getman miles ; near three hundred English.

1.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 23
on account of their friends and property, which might
have bejen involved in the disaster. On the Monday
evening a messenger arrived at Gothenburg, who was
despatched during the time of the fire. In the letters
brought by him, the fire was described precisely in the
manner stated by Swedenborg. On the Tuesday morn
ing the royal courier arrived at the governor's with the
raelancholy intelligence of the fire, of the loss which it
had occasioned, and of the houses it had damaged and
ruined, not in the least differing from that which Swe
denborg had given immediately after it had ceased, for
the fire was extinguished at eight o'clock.
" What can be brought forward against the authen
ticity of this occurrence ? My friend, who wrote this
to rae, has not only examined the circumstances of this
extraordinaiy case at Stockholm, but also about two
months ago, at Gothenburg, where he is acquainted
with the most respectable houses^ and where he could
obtain the raost authentic and complete information ;
as the greatest part of the inhabitants, who are still
alive, were witnesses to the memorable occurrence. I
am with profound reverence, &c.
"Emanuel Kant.
"Kcenigsberg, August 10,. 1758."
Other things are recorded of Swedenborg, upon good
authority, similar to those here mentioned by Professor
Kant. But Swedenborg himself laid no stress upon
them — wrote no account of them ; nor does he ever
appeal to them, or even mention them in any of his
works. This fact evinces both the extraordinary eleva
tion of his mind, and his entire conviction that the in
trinsic truth and rationality of the doctrines which he
was made the instrument in unfolding, were such as to
require no such external evidence for their support.
How different does this make him appear from all
fanatical pretenders to divine communications ! It
was doubtless on account of the silencing or compul
sory nature of such evidence, that Swedenborg re
frained from using it ; for it is a principle in his the
ology that nothing which externally compels assent,

24 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
can impart an internal reception of genuine trath,
which is the only kind of reception that can, do the
subject of it any real good.
During the period of his illtamination^ which con
tinued from 1743 to 1772, the time of his removal to the
spiritual world, Swedenborg wrote his theological WOrks,
of which about forty volumes have already been pub
lished, and many yet reraain in manuscript, sorae of
which are in process of publication. His published
theological works, when taken together, coraprise an
amount equal to about twenty seven voluraes ocfavo of
five hundred pages each ; twenty volumes of which are
employed in explaining the spiritual and true sense of
the sacred Scriptures. Since it is my purpose, in suc
ceeding lectures to unfold the important principles and
leading doctrines contained in these writings, it is un
necessary in this place to do raore than raake this raen
tion of them. Both his theological and philosophical
works were written in Latin, with the exception of a
few small ones written in the early part of his life.
All who knew Swedenborg intiraately, bear the full^
est testiraony to his high inoral and religious character ;
some idea of which may be formed from the rules
which he prescribed for the regulation of his conduct,
and which were found interspersed among his raanu
scripts. They are the following :
1. To read often and raeditate on the Word of the
Lord. 2. To submit every thing to the will of Divine Pro
vidence. 3. To observe in every thing a propriety of beha
viour, and always to keep the conscience clear.
4. To discharge with fidelity the functions of his
(employment and the duties of his office, and to render
himself in all things useful to society.
¦Such are the few rules which Swedenborg pre
scribed to himself, the simplicity and comprehensive
brevity of which are strikingly characteristic of the
mind of this great man :^Rules worthy to be engraven
in letters of gold upon the door posts of every man's
house, and stamped indelibly upon the tablet of every
heart.

I.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 25
; Swedenborg was as eminently good as he was
learned. He saw the intimate connection that subsists
between the will and the understanding so clearly, that
he perceived there could be no great advance made in
genuine scientific truth, without well regulated affec
tions. He saw that love to the Lord and to the neigh
bor is the life and soul of all sound philosophy. Con
sequently he affirmed that no one can become a true
philosopher who is not a good man. Previous to the
Fall, he says, when man v/as in a state of integrity, he
had a,ll the essentials of wisdom and true philosophy
inscribed on his heart. He had then only to open his
eyes, in order to see the causes of all the phenomena of
the universe around him ; but in his present state of sin
and non-conformity with' Divine Order, he is pbliged to
investigate truths by a laborious external application of
the mind.
" One reason," he continues, "why man in a state of
integrity was made a complete philosopher, was^ that
he might better know how to venerate the Deity, the
origm of all things, or that Being who is all in all.
For no raan can be a coraplete and truly learned philoso
pher, without the utmost reverence for the Supreme
Being. True philosophy and contempt of the Deity
are tWo opposites. Veneration for the Infinite Being
can never be separated ffom philosophy ; for he who
fancies himself wise, whilst his Wisdom does not teach
him to ackriowledge a Divine and Infinite Being, i. e.
Wl^o thinks lffe can possess any wisdom without a
knowledge and veneration of the Deity, is in the pro
foundest ignorance."— (Li/e of Swedenborg, p.16,17.)
No man,- perhaps, was more intimately acquainted
with Swedenborg, or better qualified to testify correctly
concerning his character, than Count Andrew Van Hop-
ken, prime minister of Sweden, who was also one of
the institutors of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sci
ences, and for several years its acting secretary. He
enjoyed an intimate and friendly intercourse with Swe
denborg as well after as before his illumination. And
the following extract from a letter written by Count
Hopken to a friend, during the latter part of Sweden-
4

26 LIFE; WRITITSTGS, AND CHARACTER [tECT.
borg's life, will show in what estimation his character
was held by the prime minister of Sweden. ' ' .
"I have not only known him [Swedenborg] these
two and forty, years, but have also for some time daily
frequented his company.- A man whp, like rne, has
long lived in the world, and even in an extensive ca
reer of life, may have numerous opportunities of know
ing men as to their virtues or vices, their, weakness or
strength ; and in consequence thereof, I do not recol
lect to have ever known any man of more uniformly
•virtuous charact.^r than Swedenborg. Always con
tented, never fretful or morose, although throughout
his life his soul' was occupied with sublime thoughts
and speculations. He was a trae philosopher and lived
like one. He labored diligently, lived frugally without'
sordidness. "* * * * He was gifted with a most
happy genius, and a fitness for every science, which
iriade him shine in all those he embraced. He was,.
without contradiction, probably the most 'learned man
in my country. * * * In his youth a great poet :
I have in my possession some remnants of his Latin
poetry, which Ovid would not have been ashamed to
own. * * * He was well acquainted with the He
brew and Grteek ; an able and profound mathematician ;
a happy mechanic, of which he gave proof in Norway,
where by an easy and simple method, he transported
the largest gallies over the high mountains and rocks to
a gulf where the Danish fleet Was stationed. * * *
He detested metaphysics, as founded on f^lacious ideas,
because they trariscend our sphere, by means of which
theology has been drawn from its simplicity and be
come artificial and corrupted. He was. .perfectly con
versant with mineralogy, having a long time been As
sessor, on which science he also published a valuable
and classical work, both as to ¦ theory and-practice, print
ed at Leipsic in 1734. If he had remained in .his office,
his merits and talents would have entitled him to the
highest dignity. * * * In Holland he began to
apply himself to anatomy, in which he made singular
discoveries. He possessed a sound judgment upon all
occasions ; he saw every thing clearly, and expressed

I.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBOR.G. 27
himself well on every subject. The most solid memo
rials, and best penned, at the diet of 1751, on matters
of finance, were presented by hira. In one of these tie
refuted a large' work in quarto on the sarae subject,
quoted all the corresponding passages of it, and all this
in less than one sheet." — {Lifeof Swedenborg,^. iK),
117, 118.) , ¦
Thus testifies the prime minister of Sweden) to whom
Swedenborg was familiarly kriown.
Simple and regular in all his habits, of quiet and un
pretending manners, and of the most inflexible integri
ty, Swedenborg sought tto other reward in all he did,
than that which accompanies the diligent performance
of good uses — an inward delight which ever comes un
sought. Like a true disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ,
whom he w;orshipped in spirit and in truth, he sought
rather to know and to do His divine will in everything,
than to escape the ridicule or the reproach of men.
Writing on one occasion to a friend who was unjustly
censured by another,' he says, "Continue to deserve his
reproaches : turn not aside, either for riches or honors,
from the path of rectitude : but' on the contraiy, keep
steadily in it, as you haVe done, and you will prosper."
This agrees well with what another Of his intimate ac
quaintances has said of him : " He was of such a na
ture that he could impose on no on6 ; that he always
spoke the truth in every little matter, and would not
have made any evasion, though his life had been at
stake." An ardent lOver and diligent seeker of truth for its
own sake, i. e. for the sake of use, he claimed no riierit
to himself for the great truths he made known, but hum
bly ascribed all the honor and the glory, and Wished
others to ascribe thera also, to Him who is the light of
all rainds — ^the very Truth itself. "Every one,", he
says, " is morally educated, and -spiritually regenerated
by the Lord, by being led from what is natural to what
is spiritual. Moreover, the Lord has given unto nie a
love of spiritual trath, that is to say, not with any view
to honor or profit, but merely for the'sake of truth itself;
for every orie who loves truth merely for the sake of

28 LIFE,- WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER [lECT.
trathj sees it from the Lord,, the Lord being the way
and the truth. But he who professes the love of truth
for the sake of honor or gain, sees trath from his own
selfhood, and to see from one's self is to see falsity.
The confirmation of falsehood shuts the church, but a
rational confirmation of truth' opens it What man can
otherwise comprehend. spiritual things which enter into
the understanding ? The doctrinal notion received in
the protestant church, viz., that in theological matters,
reason should be held captive under obedience to faith,
locks up the church ; what can open it, if not an un
derstanding enlightened by the Lord ?"
I canriot better close my remarks upon this truly
great raan — great alike in knowledge and in goodnesSj
than by introducing an extract from an address deliver
ed on the occasion of his death, in the Great Hall of the
House of Nobles, before the Royal Academy of Sciences
of Stockholm, by M. Samuel Sandel, Counsellor ofthe
Royal Board of Mines, and Meraber of said Academy.
The address does equal credit to its author and the sub
ject of it. It commences thus :
" Gentleraen — Perrait rae to entertain you this day
upon a subject, which is not of an abstracted or reraote
nature, but is intended to revive fhe agreeable remera
brance of a raan pdebrated for his virtues and his
knowledge, one of the oldest members of this Academy,
and orie whom we all knew and loved. The senti
ments of esteem and friendship with which we all re
garded the late Emanuel Swedenborg, assure rae of the
pleasure with Which you will listen to rae while he is
the subject of my discourse ; happy should I be, could I
answer your expectations. * * * But if there are
some countenances, of which, as the painters assure us,
it is extremely difficult to give an exact likeness, how
difficult then must it be to delineate that of a vast and
sublirae genius, who never knew either repose or fa
tigue; Who; occupied with the sciences the raost pro
found, was. long engaged with researches into the
secrets of nature, and who, in his latter years, applied
all his efforts to unveil the greatest naysteries : who, to
arrive at certain branches Of knowledge, opened for hira-

I.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 29
self a way ofhis oWn, without ever straying from sound
morals and true piety."— (Zyi/"e of Sioedenborg, p. 140.)
Then, after enuraerating some of the distinguished
services which he had rendered to science and his coun
try, he continnes :
" Swedenborg contemplated the 'great edifice of the
universe in, general. He afterwards examined such
parts of it as come within the limits of our knowledge.
He saw that the whole is arranged in a uniform order,
and governed by certain laws. He took particular no
tice, in this immense machine, of every thing that can
be explained on raathpmafical principles. He doubted
not that the suprerae Creator had arranged the whole,
even to the most imperi^eptible parts, in the most entire
harraony, and the raost complete mutual agreement ;
and this agreement, as a mathematical philosopher, he
endeavored to develope, by drawing conclusions from
the sraallest parts to the greatest. He thus formed to
himself a system founded upon a certain species of
raechanisra, and supported by reasoning ; a system, the
arrangement of which is so solid, and the composition
so serious, that it claims and raerits all the attention of
the learned."
" [His works] are so raany incontrovertible proofs of
a universal erudition, which attached itself from prefer
ence to objects which require deep reflection and pro
found knowledge. None can reproach him with hav
ing wished to shine in bprrowed plumes, passing off as
his own the labors of others, dressed out in a new forin
and decorated with somp new turns of expression. * *
Nor was he at all of the same class as the generality of
universal geniuses, who, for the most part, are content
with' merely skimming over the surface of things. He
applied the whole force of his mind to penetrate into the
most hidden things, to connect together the scattered
links ofthe great chain of universal being, arid to trace
up every thing in an order agreeable to its nature, to the
Great First Cause. Neither did he proceed in the man
ner of certain natural philosophers and mathematicians,
Who, dazzled by the light which they have been in
search of and have found, wouldj were it possible,
4*

30 LIFE, WRITINGS, AND CHARACTER , [l,ECT.
eclipse and extinguish to the eyes of the-world the Only
Trae and Great Light. He, in the course of his medi
tations on the universe and on creation, continually
found new occasions for rising in love and adoration
towards the Author of nature."
"He Was the sincere friend of mankind ; and in his
examination of the character of others, he was particu
larly desirous to discover in them this- virtue ; which he
regarded as an infallible proof of the presence of many
raore. , He was cheerful and agreeable in society. By
w^y of relaxation frora his important laborsj he sought
and frequented the company of persons of inforraation,
by whom he was always well received. He knew how
to check opportunely, and with great address, that
species of wit, which, would indulge itself at the ex
pense of serious things. - As a public functionary, -he
was upright and just ; while he discharged his, duties
with great exactness, he neglected nothing but his own
advancement. Having been called, without solicitation
on his part, to a distinguished post, he never sought any
further promotion. When his private occupations be
gan to encroach upon the time required for the functions
of his office, he resigned it, and remained content with
the title which he had- borne while exercising it -for one-
and-thirty years."
" As a raember of the Equestrian Order of the House
of Nobles, he took his seat in several of the Diets of the
Realra; in which his conduct was such as to secure
hirii, both from reproaches of his own conscience and
from those of others. He lived imder the reigns of
many of our sovereigns, and enjoyed the particular fa
vor and kindness of them all ; an advantage which vir
tue and science will ever enjoy under an enlightened
government." y
" He always enjoyed most excellent health, having
scarcely ever experienced the slightest indisposition.
Content within himself, and with his situation, his life
was, in all respects, one of the happiest that ever fell to
the lot of man, till the very moment of its close. . During
his last residence in London^ on the 24th of December,
last year, he had an attack of apoplexy ; and, Nature de-

I.] OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG. 31
manding her rights, he died on the 29th of March, in
the present year, [1772] in the eighty-fifth year of his
age ;, satisfied with his sojourn on earth, and delighted
at the prospect of his heavenly metamorphosis.
" May this Royal Academy retain as long, a great
nuraber of such distinguished and useful raembers !" —
{Life of Swedenborg, p. 145, '6, '7, '8^
Such was Emanuel Swedenborg. How appropriate
ly did his life on earth close with the utterance of these
words — ^which were araong the last that fell from his
lips— " It is well.'*
Such was the man, who, under the Divine Providence,
was the instrument in unlocking tJiat exhaustless foun
tain of wisdom — the Word of God— and the raediura of
communicating to the world truths of the most sublime
and momentous character : truths, which in their pro
gress, and active developement, are destined tp change
the entire aspect of the inoral world — to re-organi2;e the
whole social system, and re-model hriman society upon
the heavenly and eternal principles of order, love, and
peace — ^to uprear the prostrate teraple of wisdora, re
build the old waste places in human ininds, and restore
tp man the lost image of his Maker : so that the Church,
long time a Wilderness and a solitary place, may be glad
for them> and her desert rejoice and blossom as the rose ;
that it may rejoice even with , joy and singing, having
the glory Of Lebanon given unto it, the excellency of
Carmel and Sharon. ,

32 THE END OF THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
LECTURE II.

THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW" JERUSALEM CHURCH
CONCERNING " THE END OF THE WORLD," MEN
TIONED IN MATTHEW XXIV. 3, AND ELSEWHERE.

" Fojl THE FIRST HEAVEN ANDTHE FISST EARTH WERE PASSED AWAY."
Rev. XXI. 1.

The Lord says, that " the Life of the Word, (or Sa
cred Scriptures,) is the light of men ; and the light
shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it
not." (John i. 4, 5.) Whence we are instructed that
so far as men's minds are darkened by confirmed false
doctrines originating in evil loves, so far they are una
ble to comprehend or receive the light of genuine truth,
however bright it shines. The pupil of their intellect
ual eye havirig become adjusted to the darkness of er
ror, genuine truth dazzles and blirids/them. Hence the
meaning of these wprds in John, " And Jesus said. For
judgment I am come into this world ; that they which
see riot might see, and that they which see might be
made blind." ix. 39. This text is thus explained in
the Arcana Coelestia by Emanuel Swedenborg, " To
come into the. world for judgment, denotes to reveal
divine trath, which truth makes those to see who relish
wisdom from the Lord, and makes those blind who are
wise from themselves, thus who have the reputation of
being learnisd." A. C. 9857. . " They that see denotes
those that think themselves intelligent above all others,
concerning whom it is, said, that they shall become
blind, that is, will not, receive faith ; that not to see, or
to be blind, is predicated of those who are in false prin
ciples, also of those who are in ignorance." (A. C. 3865.)
They who have confirmed false principles in them
selves, and have thus come to see or to think they see.

II.] CONSUMMATION OP THE AGE. 33
.¦m .
not by the pure light , of heavenly wisdom, but by the
fatuitous light of their own self-intelligence, are always
blind to the perception pf genuine truth. Therefore,
they always resist the truth' whenever it is announced
-7-for to thera.it dpesnot appear trae but false, since
they see darkness as light and light as darkness. Geri-
uine truth, to their minds, is as the natuial light of day
to the eyes of owls and bats, which see best in the night
time, and cannot bear the light of the sun.
Now, because of the perverted state of the Church,
all our minds are more or less in this darkened condi-
tipn. Spiritual truth is very obscure to us. We do not
readily comprehend the shining light.
Again : the Lord says, " This is the condemnation
that light is corae into the world, and men loved dark
ness rather than light, because their deeds were evfl."
John, iii. 19. These words denote, that, while men
live wicked lives — while their motives of action are
wrong, and the loves of self and the world instead of
love to the Lord and the neighbor, have dominion over
them, they do not love the hght of truth, because this
reveals,their own evil quality, and condemns their wick
edness. Hence they prefer the darkness of falsity, which
leaves them in the quiet indulgence of their evil loves.
Wherefore, the Lord adds, " for every one that doeth
evil hateth the light,' neither cometh to the light, lest
his deeds should be reproved." {v. 20.)
" The Lord," says Swedenborg in the Apocalypse
Explained, " calls himself the light, because He was
the divine truth itself when in the world ; hence by
light is signified the Lord as to divine truth, and also
divine truth from the Lord ; and whereas darkness is
opposed to light, by the darkness whick men loved
more than light is signified the infernal false principle,
which is the false of evil [i.e. the false originating in
selfish and evil loves ;] that it is the false of evil which
in this passage is signified by darkness, is manifest from
its being said, because their works were evil, since
from evil works, or frpni evils of life exists the false of
evil ; for as good conjoins to itself trath, so evil con
joins to itself the false, inasmuch as one is ofthe other."
{Ap. Exp. n. 526.)

34 THE ENn OP THE WOIILD, OR [lECT.
From these texts, as thus explained, we may con>-
elude that persons who are quite satisfied with, and ful
ly confirmed in, the dogmas of the prevailing theology,
and those whose ruling affections are wrong, and who
have no desire to become regenerated by having the
Ipves of self and the world brought under subjection to
the principles of heavenly life, carinot, in their present
state, receive the truths of the New Church. Such per
sons raust first " go and wash in Jordan seven times ;"
i. e. they must first suffer those knowledges of truth and
goodness derived from the Wotd, which form the first
boundary to the spiritual Canaan — ^those truths which
are introductory to the church — to effect in their minds
a plenary purification from falsified truths, which is the
cleansing of their spiritual leprosy."* They must first re
ceive from John the baptism " of water' unto repent
ance," before they can receive, from " One mightier than
he," that other baptism which is " with the Holy Spirit
and with fire." At present they are not in a state to
comprehend the light ofthe New Dispensation.
It is the design of the present lecture to exhibit the
doctrine ofthe New Jerusalem Church concerning " the
end of the world," which, according tP our coramon
English version, is spoken of in Matthew xxiv. 3, xiii.
40, and other parts ofthe New Testament.
It has been, and is still, a prevailing belief araong
those belonging to the first Christian church, that this
natural world with all things appertaining to it, will, at
some future time, be utterly destroyed : that then will
be the general judgment day, when the Son of Man
will be seen in person coming upon the natural clouds,
with all the holy angels with Him. And at different
periods ofthe church there have arisen "false Christs,
and false prophets," who have assumed to know and to
foretell the precise time when this event would take
place. But their predictions have thus far proved to be
all untme. The sun and the stars continue to shine,
* See Apocalj-pse Explained by Emanuel Swedenborg. n. 475, p. 203,
forthe explanation ofthe epiritual import of the rairacle of Healing wrought
upoil Naaman, the Syrian, by washing seven times in Jordan. Also, uie
Dictionary of Correspondences under the words washing, Jordan, seven, ^c.

II.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 35
and the earth moves on in her orbit as orderly and un
disturbed as ever.
Many religionists in our Country have recently had
their attention considerably awakened to this subject —
the end of the tporld—aind some have had their fears
greatly alarmed, by the preaching of, the kev. Mr. Mil
ler, who teaches that the end of all things is at hand ;
and who has .lately published a book, wherein he at
tempts to prove from Scripture that this world will cer
tainly be destroyed in 1843. And so plausible an ar
gument has this writer made put from the literal sense
of Scripture, and from a deceitful handling of the Word
of God, that not a few intelligent men have been led to
admit that there is certainly a fretty strong probabili
ty that this, event will take place at the period assigned
by the writer. And those who have' rejected the con
clusions of Mr. Miller, have generally admitted his flrst
position, viz., that such an event will certainly take
place sometime or other.; but have denied that he, or
any one else could tell precisely when.
But when the year 1843 shall have closed upon us,
we shall behold the face of nature still unchanged in
its -aspect. The firmament will look as bright and
sparkling, and the earth will roll on in her- orbit as
steadily as before; and the writer above referred to
will be reckoned among the false prophets who have
gone before him.
We shall not stop to remark upon the exceedingly
irrational and unphilosophical character of the opinion
about " the end of the/world," which has been most pre
valent in the, church. We will only say that it is
highly improbable such an event, in the sense in which
the Church has commonly understood it, will ever take
place ; for it woul'd be a manifest departure from all
that we knpw ofthe divine laws of order, progress, re
production and preservation in the natural world. The
prevailing belief of the Church upon this subject, has
doubtless originated partly in tbe mistranslation, and
consequent misunderstanding, ofthe passage in Matthew
above cited, and which is of frequent occurrence in the
New Testament ; and it has besn confirmed by other

36 THE EN^ bp THE WORLD, OR [liECT.
j)assages of Scripture understood accoi;ding tp their lite
ral sense, such as that in Rev. xxi.- 1. The Greek
words ¦fl avvTileta tov aiw6g {he sunteleia tou aidnos)
mean, riot the end of the world, as is read" in the com
mon English version,' but the Consummation of the,
Age, This is known and admitted by every good clas
sical scholar of whatever religious sect. Ati>v {Aion)
means an age, a life, pr, any full period, whether long
or short ; and uwtilsia {sunteleia) means the end,
consum/mation, or finishing pf that period.— (xSfee
Schleusner's Greek and Latin Lexicon,)
Now, according tp Swedenborg, this natural world is
never to be destroyed ; but the Consummation of the
Age mentioned in the New Testaraent, denotes the cori^
summation or end of the first Christian Church. This
therefore,'is the doctrine of the New Church'upon the
subject before us. What is rheant by the consumma
tion or end of the church, may best be learned from
Swedenborg's own language, which we quote from his
work entitled " The True Christian Religion." '
753. "That THE Consummation of the Age is
THE LAST Time or End of the Church. ..
On this earth there, have been several churches, and
all in the course of time have been consummated ; and
after their consummation, new ones have existed ; and
thus even to the present time. The consuramation of
the church takes "place when no divine truth remains,
except what is falsified or rejected ; and when there is
no genuine truth, no genuine good can be given, since
all the quality ofgood is formed by truths ; for good is
the essence of tnithj and truth is the form of good ; and
without a form quality is not given. Good arid trath
can no more be s,eparated, than the will and the. under
standing, or, what is the same thing, than the affection
of love and the thought thence : wherefore, when the
truth in the .church is' consummated, the good is con
summated also ; and when this is done, then, the church
has an end, i. e^,- there is a consummation of it.
754. " The church is consummated by various things,
especially by such as make the false appear as true ; emd
when that appears true, then the good which, in itself

ri.] consummation op the age. 37
is good, and is called spiritual good, is not ariy more
given ; the good which is then believed to be good, is
only the natural good, which inoral life produces. The
causes that truth, and together with it good, are con
summated, are principally the two natural loves,.which
are called the love of self and the love of the world,
which are diametrically opposite to the two spiritual
loves. The love, of self, when it is predominant, is op
posed to love to God ; and the love of the world, when
it is predominant, is opposed to love towards the neigh
bor. The love of self is, to wish well to one's self alone,
and to no othef except for the sake of self ; likewise the
love pf the world ; and these two loves, when they are
indulged, spread themselves like a mortification through
the body, and successively consume thp whole of it.
That such lovfe has invaded churches, is raanifestly evi
dent from Babylon and the description ofit. Gen. xi*
1 to 9 ; Isaiah xiii., xiv., xlvii ; Jer. i., and in Daniel ii.
31 to 47 ; iii. 1 to 7 and the following verses : v., vi. 8, to
the end ; vii. 1 to 14 ; and in Rev. xvii^ and xviii-, from
the beginning to the end of each."
Again, in the same work Swedenborg says :
. 757. " That at this Day is the last Time op
the Christian Church, which is foretold and
described BY THE LoRD IN THE EVANGELISTS, AND
IN THE Revelation.
" That the consummation of the age signifies the last
time of the church, was shown in the preceding article ;
thence it is manifest What is meant by the consumma
tion, of the age, concerning which the Lord spoke in
the Evangelists, Matt, xxiv.; Mark xiii.; Luke xxi.;
for it is read, ' As Jesus sat upon the mount of Olives
the disciples Came to Him privately, saying, what is the
sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the
age 7' (Matt. xxiv. 3.) And then the Lord began to
foretell and describe the consummation, such as it would
be successively, even to his coming.
758. " That all those things which the Lord spoke
with the disciples, were said concerning the last time of
the Christian Church, is very manifest from the Reve
lation, where the like things are foretold concerning the
5

38 THE ElSrD OF THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
consummation of the age, and conceming his coming;
Which all are'particularly explained in the Apocalypse
Revealed, published in the year 1776. Now, because
those things which the Lord said conceming the Con
summation of the age, and concerning his coming, be
fore the disciples, coincide with those which He after
wards revealed in the Revelation by John, concerning
the same things, it is clearly manifest, that He meant
no other consummation than that of the present Chris
tian Churchi Besides, it is also prophesied in Daniel
concerning the end of this church ; wherefore the Lord
says, ' When ye see the abomination, of desolation fore
told by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place ;
whoso readeth let .him observe it well." (Matt. xxiv.
15 ; ban. ix. 27.) In like manner also in the other
prophets. That there is at this day such abomination
of desolation in the Christian church, will be still more
manifest from the Appendix ; in which it will be seen,
that there is not one genuine truth left in the church,
and also that unless a New Church be raised up in the
place ofthe present, no flesh could be saved, according
to the words of the Lord in Matt. xxiv. 22. That the
Christian church, such as it is at this day, is consum
mated and vastated to such a degree, cannot be seen by
those on earth, who have confirmed themselves in its
falses : the reason is, because a confirmation of the false
is a denial of the true ; wherefore, it as it were, veilfe the
understanding, and thereby prievents the entrance of any
thing else, which might pull rip the cords and stakes,
with which it has built and formed its System, as a
strong tent. Add to this, that the natural rational can
confirm whatsoever it pleases, thus the false as well as
the true, and both, when they are confirmed, appear in
similar light ; and it is not known whether the light be
fatuous, such as is given in a dream, or whether it be
true light, such as is given in the day ; but it is quite
otherwise with the spiritual rational, in which those are
who look to the Lord, and from Him are in the love of
trath." It will be borne in mind that these things were said
by Swedenborg conceming the church as it was more

11.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 39
than seventy years ago. Doubtless, as one effect of the
New Dispensation, the rainds of men generally — even
of those who have known nothing of the New Church
through the writings of Swedenborg — have been much
enlightened upon religipus as upon all other subjects ;
so that the doctrines, and consequently the stafe of the
Old Church, have undergone a very considerable mod
ification since the time that Swendenborg wrote. Yet,
with all the change for the better which has taken place
in the Church within the last half century, there are
many pious and honest men who even now mourn over
the desolation of Zion ; — men who see clearly that her
pristine glory has departed from the Church, and who,
in anxious expectation of some new and saving power
— ^with eyes longing to see her salvation — are, like
Simeon of old, " waiting for the consolation of Israel."
Indeed, there is a pretty general perception and ac
knowledgment among Christians and anti-Christians of
the present day, that the Church is in a broken, dis
tracted, forlorn, and pitiable condition. The power of
the pulpit— of religion — of the Church — of the Bible, is
acknowledged to be sadly deficient — almost gone ; and
most significant allusions are frequently made to this
fact, in the current literature of the day. But we will
hear the opinion on this subjept pf sorae ,who are still in
external connexion with the Old Church. One writer
says : —
" Certainly there have been periods when, from the in
activity of the intellect on certain truths, a greater faith
was possible in names and persons. The Puritans in
England and America, found in the Christ of the Cath
olic Church, and in the dograas inherited frora Rome,
scope for their austere piety, and their longings fpr civil
freedom. But their creed is passing away, and none
arises in its room. I think no man can go with his
thoughts about him, into One of our churches, without
feeling that what hold the public worship had on men
is gone, or going. It has lost its grasp on the affection
ofthe good, and the fear of the bad. In the country,
neighborhoods, half parishes are signing off— to use
the local term. It is already beginning to indicate char
acter and religion to withdraw from the religious meet-

40 THE END OF THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
ings. Ihave heard a devout person, who prized the
Sabbath, say in bitterness of heart, 'On Sundays it
seems wicked to go to church.' And the motive that
holds the best there, is now only a hope and a waiting.
» -» •»
" My friends, in these two errors I think, I find the
causes of that calamity of a decaying church, and a
wasting unbelief, which are casting malignant influ
ences around us, and raaking the hearts ofgood men sad.
And what greater calamity can fall upon a 'nation, than
the loss of worship ? Then all things go to decay.
Genius leaves the temple, to haunt the senate, or the
market. Literature becomes frivolous. Science is
cold. The eye of youth is not lighted by the hope of
other worlds, and age is without honor. Society lives
to trifles, and when men die we do not mention them."
{Address delivered before the Senior Class in the Di
vinity School, Cambridge, Mass. July, 1838 — By
Rev. Ralph Waldo Emerson, p. 23, 24.)
Another writer says :
" Let then the Transient pass, fleet as it will, and may
Godsend us some new manifestation of the Christian
faith, that shall stir raen's hearts as they were never
stirred ; sorae new Word which shall teach us what we
are, and renew us all in the iraage of God ; sorae better
life, that shall fulfil the Hebrew prophecy, and pour out
the spirit of God on young raen and raaidens, and pld
men and children; which shall realize the word of
Christ, and give us the Comforter, who shall reveal all
needed things. There are Simeons enough in the cot
tages and churches of New-England, plain men arid
pious women, who wait for the consolation, and would
die in gladness, if their expiring breath could stir quick
er the wings that bear him on. There are men enough,
sick and ' bowed down, and in no wise able to lift up
themselves,' who would be healed could they kiss the
hand of their Savior, or touch but the hem of his gar
ment ; raen who look up and are not fed, because they
ask bread from heaven, and water from the rock, not
traditions or fancies, Jewish or heathen, or new or old ;
men enough who, with throbbing hearts, pray for the
spirit of healing to come upon the waters, which other

II.] CONSUMMATION OF THK AGE. 41
than angels have long kept in trouble ; raen enough
who have lain long time sick of theology, nothing bet
tered by raany physicians, and are now dead, too dead
to bury their dead, who would corae out of their graves
at the glad tidings." — {A Discmirse on the Transient
and Permanent in Christianity, by the Reverend
Theodore Parker, of Roxbury ; Preached at Boston,
May, 19. 1841, p. 27.)
All other says :
" All I can say in this place is, that I am raost firm
ly persuaded that we are living in that awful period
designated in Scripture as the last time, and the last
days. Every succeeding year serves to increase the
evidence on this head, and to givfe clearness and precis-
iori, and intensity to those signs which already have
been noticed by commentators. Even worldly men
are so affected by the signs of our tiraes, as. to feel seri-
pusly persuaded that some tremendous crisis is at hand.
It therefore more especially behooves the professing
people of God to bp upon the watch-tower, and to ob
serve what is passing around them, and be prepared for
the future, that the day may not overtake' them as a
thief in the night."— [Elements of Prophetical Inter
pretation, by the Rev. J. W. Brooks, Vicar of Clare-
boro\ England, p. 480.]
Another I says:
" When Christiariity came, faith was purified and en
larged, and inforraation was enlarged with it. The
proportion between the two was preserved. It is only
within the last half century that this' proportion seems
to be entirely overthrown. * * *
" As to Christianity, doubtless i^s action is not expend
ed,, yet must every one have observed that the Chris
tian religion at present affords neither base nor circum
spection to modern aspirations after moral verity. * *
Mind seems as it were to be getting loose upon space.
It reposes on no religious ultimates. Those even who
have the deepest, the most immoveable conviction that
in revelation is to be found the only true moral substra
tum of humanity throughout all its modifications, per
ceive, at the same time, the incommensurateness of
5*

42 THE END OF THE WORLD, OE [lECT.
Christianity, under its present developments, to em
brace and to forra a rest for the new mental develop
ments of society.
" These believing men look, fpr, and wpuld promote,
an enlargement pf the gospel faith. Whether among
Hebrews, Christians, and . we might add Pagans, the
mind in all ages ofthe world has had its moral and re
ligious holdings on Biblical revealed truths, more or
less purely, or more or less corruptly conceived. It is
only now that a new phenomena seems to be emerging
—that these holdings seem lo. be giving wUy, and that
men are becoming accustomed to question human ex
perience at large for solutions. Which they have hitherto
drawn, partially,. gradually, increasingly, according to
the proprotionate progression between natural and re
vealed knowledge, directly from religion. The result
is that human nature has becorae to thera, in all its
raoral aspects, a raighty riddle.
"; The remedy to this, on the one hand luxuriant,
and on the other barren demoralization of the under
standing, can consist only in a fresh openirig out of
Christiariity till it be brought into its own proper supe
rior relationship to the spirit of the age." — {Blackwood's
Magazine.) Another English periodical says :
" Then when the spiritual had encroached upon the
civil, and had become itself civil and secular, good men
rose up against it, and bad raen joined them ; and in
the straggle, religion was destroyed. With religious
obligation fell also the obligation of all laws ; for no
laws have any strength but that which is derived frora
God. And though by a providence from God, such as
no other nation has experienced, soraething of both
these obligations was once more established in this
country over the hearts ^nd lives of men, both were so
weakened and corrupted that religion soon gave way,
and nothing but human and worldly considerations
were left to keep men in their line of duty.
" Hence our vices and faithlessness, our avarice and
hard heartedness, our neglect of the poor beneath us •
our secularized clergy, our political dissenters, our abuse

II.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE 43
of ecclesiastical patronage ; our foolish, vulgar exclusive
ness, which has severed every class of society from those
above and below it ; our disrespect to governors ; our
disobedience to parents ; our self-indulgence and vanity
and extravagance, which have encumberecj our states
with debt. * * Hence our morals degraded into utili-
tarianism^our philosophy become sensualism — our
politics debased into economy — our science confined tp,
matter — our reason misiriterpreted to mean logic — and
our piety stripped from truth and made matter of empty
form, or of emptier feeling. We have lost sight of the
.ipiritual, and can see nothing but the material. The
Church was sacrificed, and nothing but the State could
he seen ; and now the state also must soon be, lost." —
{'London Quarterly Review for Sept. 1840 — Ameri
can Edition, p. 244.)
Upon the next page of the same article, this able
writer laments the departure of "the spirit of faith, by
which only the mind can grasp truth" ; and he declares
his conviction, that, until this principle be restored,
" there is no hope for his country or this age." He
says : , .
" Until the child once more , looks up to its pafent,
and its parent; to the State, and, the State to the Church,
and the Church to God, and still as the eye ascends
through all these stages, it beholds in each a shadow
and a symbol, and a presence of that power, from which
all power flows — society- cannot exist. It does not
exist at present. Society is union ; the union of raany
in one. If there be no union, there is no society ; no
more than there is union in a heap of sand. .Like
atoms of sand, men are now tost together ; huddled in
houses by the chance of birth ; thrown up as in heaps
into large towns, by a thousand separate eddies — by
avarice, or want, or caprice ; not bound together but
only not falling, apart, in so-called kingdoms, because
walls of dead matter hold them in — as mountains, rivers
or seas — or a foreign force, or the mere absence of a
dissolving power ; and saved frora splitting off into in
numerable fragraents of religious dissent, not because
the church is the- centre of their affections and duty.

44 THE END OF THE WORLD, OR [lECT,
but because their interest, or conceit, or ignorance, or
indolence keeps each in their place. Society, therefore,
is gone. It is now lying like a long buried corpse,
which the air has not yet reached, and its lineaments
seera perfect, and the body sound ; but if it should
please God in his aiiger by sorae shock to lay it bare,
it will crumble to dust. Let the State withhold its ar
tificial support from the Church, and, with the excep
tion of that large portion which is beginning tp be im
pregnated and held together by a true revivifying spirit,
the body, which calls itself the Church will fall tp
pieces." — {Ibid-, p. 245.)
These are the, honest confessions of honest minds.
And it would be easy to fill a volume with extracts
from the various theological and ethicar writers of the
day, similar to these we have just quoted. There are
multitudes on both continents whose hearts respond to
the sentiraents here uttered.^ And what does this indi
cate, but a pretty Wide-spread acknowledgment, even
araong Churchmen themselves, that " the glory has de
parted frora Israel" — that "beauty has fled from the
daughter of Zion," and that " the abomination of deso
lation spoken of by Daniel the prophet" has indeed
fallen upon the Church ? If there be ground and
reason for, what ' these writers say concerning the
Church as it now is, (ahd inasrauch as they are them
selves formally connected with that Church whereof
they speak, they could hardly be suspected of any dis
position to state more upon this point than is clearly
seen to be true,) then we can, without much difficulty,
believe what Swedenborg said Of the, Church at the
tirae he wrote ; we can believe that the first Christian
dispensation had been lived out, and that the Church
established under it had consequently corae to an end — ¦
had, ceased to be a true Church.
"What is meant by the end of the Church, according
to Swedenborg, is evident from the passages which have
bpen cited from the Trae Christian Religion. From
what, is there said it may be seen, that by the spiritual
consummation of the Church is not to be understood the
destruction or abandonment of the external things be-

II.] CONSUMIviATION OF THE AGE. 45
longing to the Church — its places and forms of wor
ship, and religious ordinances. All these may be pre
served, and every thing belonging to the externals of
religion be most scrupulously observed, while the spirit
of Christianity — the essential, living principles of a true
Church-— may be entirely wanting. A Church may
" have a name that she liveth," while, as to genuine
goodness and truth, or charity and faith, which alone
have vitality, she may be stone dead. (Rev. iii. 1.)
The external forms — the outside of a Church may in
deed appear beautiful as a whited sepulchre, while dead
men's bones. and all uncleanness are within. (Matt.
xxiii. 27.) She may even have a forra of true life-^the
outward appearance of goodriess— her merabers may
pour forth frequent, fervent, and long prayers — may
listen to preaching, go to the Holy Supper, give to the
poor, help the needy, expend money on churches, con
fer endowments upon hospitals, and do other like things,
and yet not know what genuine faith or genuine love is.
For all this may be done to " be seen of men" ; thus
frora a wrong, because from a selfish principle. Norie
were more remarka,ble for their external piety and reli
gious devotion than the Scribes and Pharisees at the
consummation of the Jewish Church. They made
broad their phylacteries, and enlarged the borders of
their garments, and made long prayers. Yet what se
vere denunciations did the Lord utter against thera !
(See Matt., xxiii.) Consequently if the principle or
motive, from which the good deeds just enumerated
emanate, be impure, the deeds are not really good, but
only so in appearance. They are done for show, and
their internal quality is corrupt. Therefore the per
sons who do them maybe a Church outwardly, but npt
inwardly, hence not really ; i. e. they may have faith,
charity, piety, and worship in their outward life which
appears before men, but nothing of these in their hearts
or inward life which appears before God. This was
precisely the case with the Jews when the Lord came
into the world. They- made clean the outside of the
cup and of the platter, while within they were full of

46 THE END OF THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
extortion and excess. (Matt, xxiii. 25.) They paid
tithe of mint, and anise, arid cummin, but oraitted the
weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy,, and
faith {.V 23) : and while building the torabs of the
prophets, and garnishing the sepulchres of the righteous,
they we,re witnesses unto themselves, by virtue of their
internal quality, that they were the children of them
that killed the prophets — {v. 29, 31.)
"Vye see, therefore, that the natural or external form
of a Church may exist, after the internal principles of
spiritual and heavenly life have become extinguished.
Its' body may remain awhile, after its spirit has fipd.
When the fountain ceases to flow, the excavation which
received and contained the waiter does not suddenly dis
appear. The spiritual flgtreeis a fig-tree still, though
it bear no fruit : yet ever is it accursed of God, while
it brings forth nothing " but leaves only."
"What is meant by the end or consummation of the
Church, must now be well understood. When the
leading doctrines of religion- — doctrines concerning the
Lord, the Atonement, .Redemption, the Sacred Scrip
tures, Regeneration and Life, have become so wide of
the truth, that they do not enlighten but darken the
human understanding; and when men, reading the
sacred Scriptures under the influence of these darken
ing doctrines do not receive therefrom genuine truth,
but truth falsifled ; . (for since man cannot originate
trath and so guide himself to heaven, but must be led
to that which is good solely by the light of revealed
truth, it is obvious that as far as he falsifies that reve
lation, it becoraes to him not a trae but a fake guide ;
and must therefore lead hira not towards but away from
heaven ;) and when, on account of fundamental false
doctrines, the Divine Word is so misunderstood and
falsified by the great body of the Church, (especially by
those whose province it is to teach in spiritual things,)
that it can no longer b^ the means of bringing' raen out
of their evils, and iniparting to them the principle of
angelic life, then the Church is consummated. And we
submit for the consideration of honest and reflecting

II.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 47
men, whether anything less than a New Revelation can
remove these false doctrines, and thus prepare the way
for the establishment of a New Church.
But let it not be understood, that, because the writ
ings of the New Church teach that the Old is consum
mated, they therefore teach that there are no individuals
in external connection with the Old Church who have
any spiritual Ufe. On the contrary they teach that
there are individuals- among all the religious sects in
Christendom, whose state of life is far different from that
of the great body of the Church ; who have in their
hearts and lives a rauch purer theology than that
which is usually found in books or taught frorii the
pulpit. They teach that there are many individuals
nominally in the Old Church,^ who, because they have
the good of life as an end, and shun evils as sins against
God, are not permanently injured bythe false doctrines
in that Church ; and that all, whether in Christian or
in Pagan countries, who live according to the light
which they have, shunning and doing what their reli
gion requires thera to shun and to do, will be saved.
One or two extracts frora Swedenborg will suffice to
show what the writings of the New Church teach in
relation to this subject.
" Such is the quality of good, that evil cannot be ad
joined to it, for good shuns evil, and evil dreads good,
as hell heaven ; wherefore no conjunction of thera is
given : but as to What concerns truth, it is of such a
quality, that the false raay be adjoined to it, yet not the
false in which evil is,' but in which good is, such as ap
pertains to infants and to boys and girls whilst they are
yet in innocence, and to well-disposed Gentiles who
are in igriorance ; and such as appertains to all, who
are in the sense ofthe letter of. the Word, and reraain
in the doctrine thence derived, and still have the good
of life for an end, for this good, as an end, drives away
all the raalevolence of the false, and by application
forms it into some resemblance of truth."— ^(^rcana
Ccelestia, n. 9809.) '
" They who are in the good of life according to their
religion, in which there are not genuine truths, undergo

48 THE END OF THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
temptatiofts in the other life, by which the falsities of
their religion are dissipated, and genuine truths implant
ed in their place.' It is to be particularly observed that
no one, whether he be within the chnrch where the
Word is, or out of that church, is damned hereafter,, if
he live a good life according to his religion, for it is not
the fault of such that they do riot know genuine truths ;
wherefore, inashiuch as the good of life contains within it
the desire of knowing truths, when such corae into the
other life they easily receive truths, and irabibe them ; the
case is altogether otherwise with those who; haye lived
an evil life, and trifled with religion." — {ApocUlypse
Explained, n. 452.)
Let us now see ho^v far the doctrine of the New
Chureh in relation to the subject that we are con
sidering is supported and confirraed by the Sacred
Scriptures: "^
And we remark first, that the texts in which the Con
summation of the Age, and the second coming of the
Lord are announced, belong to the prophetical parts of
the Sacred Writings. Now one of the acknowledged
canons of criticism among biblical commentators, is,
that the exact meaning of any pr^ophecy, or the pre
cise raanner in whiph the prophecy is to be fulfilled, is
never understood imtil after its accoTnplishment. If,
therefore, this rule of criticism be a sound one, it would
follow that the prophecies concerning the Consumma
tion of the Age and of the Lord's second appearing are
to be fulfllled in some manner different from what the
flrst Christian ChurCh has expected. For to say that
they are to flnd theiif fulfilment in the destmction of
the material world and the personal appearing of the
Lord upon the material clouds, is to deny this rale of
criticism, and to insist that the precise manner in which
the prophecy is to be fulfilled can be ImoWn before
hand. Now in order to ascertain whether this rule be a cor
rect one, we have only to consider how it was with re
gard to the predictions concerning our Lord's first ad
vent. Were they understood before their fulfilment ?
The whole Jewish nation expected a Messiah ; but did

n.] CONSUMMATION OP THE AGE. 49
they form right conceptions concerning his character,
or the nature of the kingdom he was coming to estab
lish ? They read in the prophecy of Isaiah' that " The
Prince of Peace" was to be bom among them, who
would take the govemment upon his shoulder, and
would break " the yoke of their nation's burden, and
the staff of his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, as in
the day of Midian ;" and that, " of the increase of [his]
government and peace [there would be] no end upon
Sie throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it,
and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from
henceforth even forever." (ix. 4, 6, 7.) And in Jeremi
ah, " Behold, the days come,, saith the Lord, that I will
raise unto David a righteous Branch and a King shall
reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and jus
tice in the earth." (xxiii. 5.) And did they understand
what kind of a King and governraent were here deno
ted 7 By no means. They interpreted'these and simi
lar texts, agreeably to their own carnal conceptions and
selfish desires. Accordingly they expected a Messiah
in the character of a great warrior, who would deliver
thera, not from the dominion of evil lusts, for they pant
ed after no such deliverance-— but from the thraldom of
a foreign government,, and who would make their na
tion victorious , over all the nations upon earth. So
little indeed did they understand the true meaning of
the prophecies concerning Him — so gross and literal
was the interpretation of them by the Jewish Rabbis,
that they did not know the trae Messiah when He ap
peared, but persecuted, rejected, and put Him to death.
And even the twelve apostles, whom He selected to be
his immediate followers, were so deeply imbued with the
prevaihng idea of their countrymen, that, on one occa
sion, they disputed which of them should be the great
est, or should have the most honorable post in his king
dom — evidently supposing it was an earthly? and tempo
ral kingdom, that He had come to establish. (Mark ix.
34.) Nor did they wholly abandon this idea at the
time of his era cifixion. For even after his resurrection,
we find them inquiring : " Lord, wilt thou at this time
restore again the kingdom to Israel ?" (Acts i. 6. )

50 THE END OP THE WORLD, OR [lECT;
And when the Apostles had received tbe gift of thei
J^oly Spirit, even this did not at once communicate to
them a true understanding of the prophecies, or all the
truths of the first Christian dispensation ; for they re-^
mained for a long tirae under the persuasion that the
gospel was to be preached only to the Jews. It was not
until seven or eight years after the Lord's ascension that
P'eter was brought to believe that it was to be preached
to the Gentiles also ; and then it required a vision and
special revelation to induce him to believe it (See
Acts X. 28, 34, 35, and throughout the chapter.) And
it was not until nearly ten years after this that they
were willing to exempt the Gentile converts frora the
observance of the law of Moses concerning circumcis-
.ion, as appears from Acts xv ; and they do not appear
ever to have clearly seen that the Jews themselves were
exempted by the gospel from the observance of that
law. If, therefore, the true meaning of the prophecies con
cerning the Lord's first advent, was not understood by
any until after their fulfilment, there is, at least, a strong
presun.'ption that those which relate to his second com
ing would not be understood beforehand. And if it
was only by degrees that the Apostles came to a knowl
edge of some essential truths in the Christian system,,
and v/ere enabled to understand the precepts and p'ro-
phecies pf the Old Testament as they applied to the
first Christian dispensation, is it strange that the pro
phecies in the New Testament relating to the Lord's
second advent at a period then far distant, and to his
revival, at such second advent, of pure Christianity
after it had suffered decline and perversion — is it strange,
I ask, that these prophecies should have been at that
time misunderstood in the church? And that they
were misunderstood even by the Apostles, is evident
fpra several passages in their Epistles, which show that
they expected a literal fulfilment of thera in their own
day and generation. To instance only one or two frora
Paul's Epistles. Speaking upon this subject in his first
letter to the Thessalonians, he says : " We who are alive
and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not pre-.

n,J CONSUMMATION OP THE AGE. 51
vent them that sleep." iv. 15.' And again he says, v
17, "Then we who are alive and remain, shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in
the air." Now, if the Apostle intended that this lan
guage should be understood according to its literal im
port, we are warranted in saying that he cherished ex
pectations upon this subject which were never realized.
But the mission of the apostles was to proclaim the
Lord's first advent, and the discoveries which v/ere
proper to that ; and it would not have been consistent
with the order always observed in the Divine economy,
had they been equally well informed conceming the
circumstances of his second appearing. To teach any
of the particulars, either in regard to the time, place, or
manner of the Lord's second coming, forraed no part of
their raission.
We therefore speak according to a well-established
mle of biblical criticism, when we say that the prophe
cies in the New Testamerit concerning the Lord's second
appearing, will not have a literal accomplishment, but
will be fulfilled in some manner different from what
has generally been expected in the church. The spir
itual fulfilment of them, after the manner taught in the
doctrines revealed for the New Jerusalem Church, is
one way in which their accomplishment has not been
expected. Is this the fulfilment which the Lord in^
tended 1 Or does the Consummation of the Age, for&-
told in the Evangelists, refer to the spiritual end or con
summated state of the first Christian church, as taught
in the doctrinfes of the New Jerusalem 1
Those who reflect sufficiently upori the great end for
which the Lord came into the world and exhibited Him
self in a natural human form, cannot fail to perceive in
the outset, that there is, at least, a strong presumption in
favor of this view. That end was spiritual. It was
because of the corrupt, perverted, and utterly consum
mated state of the Jewish church, that He came ; and
in order to make a further revelation of Himself or his
truth to men, and to gain, through the medium of his
glorified Humanity, new power and influence over hu
man minds. His first advent, therefore, looked to an

52 THE END OP THE WOllLD, OR [lECIS
end entirely spiritual • for it had exclusive regard to
man's deliverance from the infernal bondage of false
doctrines and.evil lusts. He taught that spiritualclean-
ness— purity of thought and of affection — is the proper
end of life for every man to propose to himself. His
language was, "Seek ye first— [as a thing pf priniary
and suprerae importance] — the kingdora of God and his
righteousness ; and all [other] .things shall be added
urito you." (Matt. vi. 33.) Consequently we should
suppose that every thing which He said and did while
on earth, must, when rightly understood, be seen to have
primary regard to the state ofthe church and the essen
tial principles of heavenly life with man. And sinpe
the Lprd is ever the same, we should suppose that his
second coming would have reference to the same great
end as his first, viz. to the spiritual condition of the
church. Accordingly, as has been already stated, it is
taught in the doctrines ofthe New Jerusalem, that, when
the Lord speaks of the Consummation ofthe Age, He re
fers to a full state of the first Christian Church ; when,
through successive perversions and falsifications of ,th8
Word, it would spiritually come to its end, and be suc
ceeded by a NeW Church ; and that the wars, famines,
pestilences, earthquakes, <fcc.,which it is declared should
precede that event, refer to the faraishing and desolate
state of the church in respect to goodness and truth, and
to the various controversies and spiritual changes which
she would have to pass through before her final con
summation. But let us see in what language the consummation
or erid of the Jewish Church is foretold by the prophets.
. In Isaiah chap, x., which speaks of a " day of visitation"
tothe church, and says, in reference to the Lord's advent,
that " the light of Israel shall be for a fire, and his Holy
One for a flame ; and it shall burn and devour his thorns
and his briars in one day," {y. 3, 17.) — it is written, " A
renmant shall return^a remnant of Jacob, to the mighty
God ; for though the people of Israel be as the sand of
the sea, a remnant of them shall return : the ronsum-
m,ation (or destruction,) decreed shall overflow with
righteousness ; for the Lord Jehovih Zebaioth maketh

ri.] CONSUMMATION OP THE AGE. 5^
a consummation and decision {or a destruction deter-
minedupon) in the midst of the whole earth." That
the consummation or destruction here mentioned, is
used in reference to the Je.vvish Church, which was con
summated at the time of the Lord's advent, is evident
from what w;e read in the beginning of the chapter im
mediately following : " And there shall come forth a rod
out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out
of his roots ; and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon
him, the spirit of wisdom.and understanding, the spirit
of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and of
the fear of the Lord. ¦» * * * ^nd righteousness
shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the gir
dle of his reins." Again, the same prophet, speaking of
the corrupt state of the Jewish Church, says, " Now,
therefore, be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made
strong ; for I have heard from the Lord Jehovih , Ze
baioth a consummation and decision {or a destruction
decreed) upon the whole earth." (xxviii. 22.) ^ That it
is a consummation of the then existing Church which
is here spoken of, is manifest from the following pas
sage which occurs in the same chapter, and only four
verses preceding the one just quoted. " Wherefore
hear the Word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule
this people which is in Jerusalem : Because ye have
said, ' We have made a covenant with death, and with
hell are we at agreement ; when the overflowing scourge
shall pass through it shall not come unto us ; for we
have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have
we hid ourselves. Therefore thus saith the Lord Jeho
vah, ' Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation stone, a
tried stone, a precious comer (stone), a sure foundation ,'
he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also-
will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet;
and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and
the waters shall overflow the hiding place." (xxviii. 14,
15, 16, 17.) It is evident that this was said in reference
to the condition of the Jewish Church, and the advent
of the Lord to establish a new Church. Again, in the
first chapter of Zephaniah, where the approaching end
ofthe Jewish Church is foretold in these words : " The

54 THE END OP THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
great day of the Lord is near, a day of ,wrath, a day of
trouble and distress, a day of wastenessand desolation,
a day of darkness and gloominess,, a day of clouds and
thick darkness," (i. 14, 15.)— it is added, "but the whole
land shall be devoured by the fire of. his jealousy, be
cause he will make a consummation — surely a sudden
destruction of all the inhabitants of the earth." {v. 18.)
Likewise, in Daniel, where Messiah's advent is treated
of, we read, " Know, therefore, and understand, from
the going forth of the commandment to restore and to
build'Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, (shall be)
seven weeks, and three score and two weeks ; and for
the overspreading of abominations He shall raake deso
late, and until the consummation decreed, it shall drop
upon the devastation."* (ix. 25', 27.) Here and else
where in the prophets, we find language eraployed,
foretelling the end ofthe Jewish Church, at the time of '
the Lord's first advent, similar to that used in the Evan
gelists, where his second coming is predicted. The
conclusion therefore may be ' easily and fairly drawn,
ihat, by the consummation ofthe age spoken of in the
Evangelists, is denoted the end or consummation of the
first Christian Church.
A^ain : in one of the texts cited above, " a consum
mation and decision, upon the whole earth" is spoken
of; and in another it is said, "the whole land shall be
devoured by the flre of God's jealousy," <fec. In the
original Hebrew language, the word here trarislated
earth is the same as that translated land. Now in the
language of correspondence, in which, according to
the writings of the New Church, the Sacred Scriptures
* It will be seen that the word consumjtiation is not found in onr comraon
English version, except in one of the texts here cited, but instead of it, the
word consumption or ridrfanec is employed. But the same Ilebrew word
•^^5 kahh, occurs in each of them, and signifies completion, consumption,
destruction. It also comes from a root which signifies to finish, to com
plete, to waste, to destroy; and when used with nSinSI iceneheratsah, a«
isthe casein nearly all ofthe above texts, they together denote destruc
tion and decree, or destruction decreed. (Ijee Gesenius' Hebrew and t:ng-
lish Lexicon.) Moreover, the word knlah, in the text from Daniel, is trans
lated consummation in our cominon English version; and as this word ex
presses the exact raeaning of the original, we have employed it in each
of the other texts also ; as it should be for the sake of preserving uni.
formity in the translation.

II.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 55'
are composed throughout, earth or land signifies the
church ; and j'Jre denotes love either good or evil. Here,
because it is the fire of Ood's jecdousy, it denotes the
infernal love of self ; fbr this it is which consumes and
destroys all heavenly principles in human minds, and
thus ", devours" the church or " the whole land." The
ground of this correspondence and consequent signifi
cation of fire in the word, will appear when we come
to treat of the Science of Correspondences, and explain
the laws of a divine coniposition;
That earth and land, wherever they occur in the
Sacred Scriptures, signify the church, appears evident
from many passages. To instance only a few :, " Be
hold Jehovah maketh the earth empty ; and maketh it -
waste, and turneth it upside down." (Is. xxiv. 1.) "And
He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and
with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked."
(xi. 4.) " 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, and shall be
removed like a cottage ; and the transgression thereof
{m,ark — the transgression of the earth) shall be heavy
upori it ; and it shall fall, (i. e. the earth shall fall.)
(xxiv. 19,20.) "Behold the day of Jehovah cometh,
cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land
desolate ; and the earth shall remove out of her place.
(xiii. ,9, 13.) "In my distress I called upon Jehovah,
and cried unto my God : He heard my vpice out of his
temple, and my cry came befbre Him, [even] into his
ears. Then (i. e., when David called upon Jehovah
and was heard) the earth shook and trembled." (Psalm
xviii. 6, 7.) " Let the earth hear, and all that is there
in." (Is. xxxiv. 1.) " Blessed are the meek, for they
shall inherit the earth." (Matt. v. 5.)
Now it is plain that this material earth, or any por
tion of it, cannot be meant in such passages as these ; as
where it is said to be "turned upside down," to be "ut
terly broken down,'' to "reel to arid fro like a drunkard,"
to be "removed out of her place," to tremble and fall,
(fcc. But if by, earth we understand that the church is
denoted, which, by means of falses and evils, is clean

56 THE END OP THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
dissolved, turned upside down, moved out of its place,
made to tremble and fall, (fee, then these passages be
come intelligible. Then we can understand what is
meant by the transgression of the- earthy as in Isaiah ;
and also by the words "Blessed are the xtieek, for they
shall inherit the earth." The earth here refers to the
land of Canaan, which signifies the spiritual Canaan, or
heaven and the church, with its goods and truths. And
because only those who are of a raeek and lowly mind
can receive thesp goods and truths, or thpse angelic
loves which are the essential things of a true church,
and which constitute the kingdom of heaven within Us,
therefore the m6ek are said to be "blessed." They
know the delights of a heavenly inheritance.
There are also other passages which make it still
more evident that earth and land are used in the
Scriptures to denote the church; such are,, "through
the wrath of Jehovah Zebaioth, the land is darkened ;"
(Is. ix. 19) " for ye shall be a delightsome land," (fee.
(Mal. iii. 12). And in Isaiah, where Messiah's advent
is fpretold, it is said of the church, in reference to her
renovation and purification consequent upon that event,
" and the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all
kings thy glory ;. and thou~ shalt be called by a new
name, which the mouth of Jehovah shall name. Thou
shalt also be a crown of glory in the harid of Jehovah,
and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou
shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy
land any more be termed Desolate ; but thou shalt be
called Hephzibah, (i. e. my delight is in her) and thy
land Beulah (i. e. married) ; for Jehovah delighteth in
thee, and thy land shall be married." (Ixh. 2, 3, 4)
Now when there is a perfect union of love and wisdom
in human minds, i. e. when men will and love to do
what the truth in their understanding teaches thera to
be right, then they have within themselves the celestial
marriage of goodness and truths They are then a true
church— the delight of Jehovah; and as "the Bride,
the Lamb's wife," they are conjoined to the Lojrd, wha
is the Husband of the Church. Then the land is mar
ried.

n.J CON TJMMATION OP THE AGE. 57
From the signification here given to earth, we may
readily understand what is raeant by the pillars^ and
foundations of the earth spoken of in the Word ; as
where it is said, "the word of Jehovah layeth the founda
tion of theeakh, and formeth the spirit of raan within
him." (Zech. xii. 1.) And of the wicked it is said
"They know not, neither Avill they understand: they
walk on in darkness; all the foundations ofthe earth
are out of course." (Ps. Ixxxii. 5.) Inasmuch as ear^A
denotes the church, it is evident that the foundations
of the earth raust denote those primary doctrines or
fundamental truths, upon which every thing of the
church rests. And since in every true church, these
must be derived from God's own Word, therefore itis
said that, "his Word layeth the foundation of the earth."
And when the fundamental doctrines of a church are
false, it is plain that " all the foundations of the earth
are out of course."
We may also learn from this spiritual meaning Of
earth, what is signified by a flood of water mentioned in
Genesis, which destroyed every living substance from
off the face of the earth, (vii. 23.) For we are taught
in the writings of the New Church (what indeed is now
fully conflrmed by recent geological discoveries) that
there has never been a universal deluge of natural wa
ters upon the face of our earth since the creation of
man. Waters, in the language of correspondence, signi
fy either truths or falses, according to the subject treated
of. Hence, by a, flood of waters destroying every living
substance from off the face of the earth, is denoted such
an accumulation of falses in the church, as to over
whelm and destroy all genuine good and truth, thus
all spiritual life with the men of that church. By Noah
and the creatures saved alive with him in the ark, are
denoted the few remains of the essential things of a
church, which were prisserved and kept alive by the
providence of God.
This, therefore!, about the flood, ¦'in its literal sense,
does not contain true history, as has commonly been
supposed ; but in its internal and spiritual sense, it does
contain a true history of the consummation of the

58 THE END OP THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
Ancient Church, deluged and destroyed by false doc
trines originating in pvil lusts. And not only so, but
it contains, in its spiritual sense, a true history of the
consummation of every church destroyed in a similar
manner. The pure and living principles, of heaven al
ways perish, when they suffer inundation from the false
principles that flow from hell. Such is the nature of an
• inspired and truly divine composition : it is applicable
alike to men in all times, and places.
From What has now beeri said concerning the true
meaning of earth when mentioned in the Sacred Scrip
tures, we may be able to form a correct idea of what is
meant by the new earth mentioned in the Apocalypse,-
which John saw when the former earth had passed
away. (xxi. 1.) This text has generally been taken in
its literal sense. And accordingly it has been comraon
ly understood in the Old Church, that the passing aWay
or destruction of this natural earth is there taught, and
the creation of a new one. But if those who give the
passage this interpretation would be consisterit, they
would, interpret literally all that follows in the same
chapter. Then we should have not only a lake of lit
eral fire and brimstone, wherein the wicked would be
cast and find their second death, (which indeed is a doc
trine that has also-been generally taught in the church)
but we should have a literal city descending from theT
sky, or the visible heavens above our heads, whose
height would be twelve thousand furlongs, -or fifteen
hundred railes — -raore than thirty times the height of
our atmosphere 1 For this is the measure of the length
and breadth of the city ; and it is said that "the length,
and the breadth and height of it are equal." And the
measure of its wall, a hundred forty and four cubits, is
said to be "the measure of a man, i. e. of an angel."
INow every one must see the falsity of a principle of
interpretation which brings us to, such an absuid con
clusion as this : — which would lead us to believe that
the Lord will, at some future day, send down from the
visible heavens a literal city raore than, thirty tiraes the
height of our atmosphere, and that the measure of a
manor an angel is to bean hundred forty and four

tl.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 59
cubits. And yet the rale of literal interpretation, which
brings us to this strange conclusion, is the very same, by
the application of which men have been brought to be
lieve that this natural earth is to be destroyed by fire,-
and the wicked are then to be cast into a literal lake of
fire and brimstone. The Scriptures do as really and
as plainly teach that such a city as is here described
will actually descend from the visible heavens, as that
this natural earth will ever be destroyed. ,The one
conclusion is reached just as legitimately as the other,
and by the application of the same rule of interpreta
tion. And it is therefore fair to conclude that one is
just as absurd as the other. The Word of God, rightly
interpreted, teaches neither of these things. And yet is
not the Church full of such vain imaginings as these ?
which it has drawn frora the literal sense of the Word,
and so confirraed by that sense, as at last to see thera to
be true — to see darkness as light.
How rauch raore agreeable not only with sound phi
losophy, and enlightened reason, and all we know of
the order of Providence, but with the general tenpr of
the Sacred iScriptures, is the conclusion to which we are
brought by applying to the Word the principles of in
terpretation revealed for the use of the New Jerasalem
Church. According to these principles the earth sig
nifies the church ; therefore by the new earth which
John saw, and the passing away of the former earth,
is denoted the establishment of the New Church, and'
the passing away ofthe Old. The things of a church,-
or of that which is so called, may consist of merely
human imaginiuffs ; i. e., of false doctrines wherein men
have confirmed themselves from the literal sense of the
Word. But when genuine truth descends from heaven
into human minds, in such a manner that the doctrines
once believed to be true are seen to be only imaginary
and false, then these doctrines are overthrown and re
jected ; and the things which appertain to a true church
are received in their places. . Thus the former earth
passes av/ay and the new earth appears.
But as every natural phenomenon is the effect of
some spiritual cause, so ariy change in the state of the

60 THE END OF THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
clurch upon earth must be the result ofa correspond-
in change in the state of the church in the spiritual
world. Therefore the passing away of the forraer earth
and the appearance of a new one, are an effect conse
quent upon that change in the world of spirits which is
denoted by the passing away of, the forraer, andthe
appearance of a new heaven.*
Then the Re velator describes the descerit of true doc
trines and their reception into human minds, under the
image of " the Holy City, New Jerusalem, coraing down
from God out of heaven." The city signifies the church
as to doctrine ; and inasmuch as all true doctrine coraes
down to man from the Lord, through the raediura of
his Holy Word, therefore this was representatively ex
hibited to John by the descent of a city.t Consequently
all the things which are there said concerning this city,
are, when rightly understpod, things said concerning
the doctrines of the New Jerusalem Church. Thus it
is said to be four square, with its length, breadth and
height equal, to denote that all things good and true
will be acknowledged and included inthe doctrines of this
church. Breadth, according to the Science of Corres
pondences, is predicated ofgood, and length of truth, and
height of their orders or degrees, as from the highest or
mostinteriorspiritual truths, to the lowest ormost exterior
truths of natural science, together with the good or the
use of each. And when, by means of those heavenly
doctrines, the mind of man has been brought into an
angelic state, or a state of true order, he has then reached
the stature of spiritual manhood ; — he hath " the raeas
ure of a man, i. e., of an angel." This fulness of heav
enly stature is denoted by 144, cubits, which is his
measure. — The number 144, aa well as the number
twelve from which it is derived, signifies, in the lan
guage of correspondence, what is full and complete,
or all the goods and truths of the church. The lake
* Pee this subject more fully explaincl in a little work entitled [he Last
Judgment, By Emanuel Swedenborg, n. 65— 74^
+ That the city which is here described, dues not mean a literal city
but the Church, may appear still rnore evident fri>m what is said near the
close of the chapter : " And the city had no ne- d of the sun, neither of tho
iLOon, to ehine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and Ihe Lamb is

II.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 61
of fire and brimstone mentioned in the eighth verse,
signifies the falses and evils in which the minds of
these persons are immersed, who are of the character
there described.
This is a very general and brief view of some of the
things contained in this twenty-first chapter of the Apoc
alypse, as unfolded according to the Science of Corre
spondences, or by the application of the principle of
interpretation which is revealed in the theological wri
tings of Swedenborg.*
It must by this time appear abundantly evident, that
earth or land, when mentioned in the Sacred Scrip
tures, does not raean this material globe or any portion
ofit, but the Church. Hence it is manifest, where the
prophets of the Old Testament speali of tlie land being
devoured by fire, of a con.summation upon all the
earth, (fee, that the end or consummation of the then
existing Jewish Church is signified, which took place
at the time of the Lords first advent ; for we know that
the natural land was not then literally devoured by fire.
And that the " new heaven and the new earth," spoken
of in the Revelation, signify a New Church, both in
ternal and external, which the Lord at his second com
ing would establish, is placed beyond all doubt, when
we consider that his flrst advent, to consummate the
Jewish and establish the Christian Church, is foretold
the light thereof And the nations of them that are saved shall walk in
the'.light of it; — tiiere shall be no night therei" dsc. Now it isthe church
built upon true doctrine derived from the Word, which hath nonredof
natural light ; for it enjoys spiritnal illumination. "The glory of God," br
the divine truthof the vSord enlightens it, and thnt continually ;."for there
ic no night there." And all who walk according to this light, 1. e., who
live as these truths require, are signified by " the nations of ihem that are

indeed, so evident is it thatthe church is here described nnder the im
age of a city, that not a few in the Old Church have perceived and ac
knowledged it ; though for want ofa knowledge of Correspondences, they
could not make out the precise meaning of its foundation, walla, gates,
streets, &c. In a margiBa! note on the first verse of ihis chapter in Bag..
eter's Comprehensive Bible primed in London m 1838, it is said "As tliis
immediately succeeds the account of the judgment, it must refer exclusive
ly to the heavenly state ; 'lhe new heaven,' and 'the new earth,' and th^
' new Jerusalemi' being emblematical of the glory and happiness whi<(b
will be the poriion ofthe good forever."
* For a full and detailed explanation ofthe contents of this chapWr,
agreeably tn the Science of Correspondences, see Apocalypse K«Tealed,
by Emanuel Swedenborg, vol. 3, n. 876-931-

62 THE END OP THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
by Isaiah in language almost precisely the same : " For
as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will
make, shall remain before me, saith Jehovah, so shall
your seed and your name remain" (Ix-d. 22). And
again in language still more explicit: "For, behold, /
create new heavens, and a new earth ; and the former
shall not be remembered, nor cOme into mind. But be
ye glad, and rejoice forever' [in that] which I create :
for, behold, / create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her
people a joy. . And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy
in my people : and the voice of weeping shall be no
more heard in her, nor fhe voice of crying." (Ixv. 17,
18, 19.) Here it is plainly declared, that creating new
heavens and a new earth means the same as creating
Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people ajoy ; and is
an event worthy of gladness and rejoicing forever.
What else but that renovated stafe of the Church, which
took place in corisequence of the Lord's advent, could
be worthy of such joy 1 Besides, we are not informed
that the material heavens and earth were created anew
at that time.
From the, language, therefore, employed in the Old
Testament Scriptures to describe the end of the Jewish
Qhurch, we derive, at least, a strong probability, that
the consum,mation of the agej and the passing away
of the former heaven ancl s^rth, mentioned in the New
Testament, denote the end or spiritual consummation
ofthe flrst Christian Church. We shall hereafter con
sider the true meaning of this word age.
But there is more proof of this same kind. We ob
serve, that, where the consummation ofthe age is treat
ed of in the Naw Testament, it is mentioned as one of
the accompanying circumstances of that event, that
"the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not
give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven,
aJrid the powers of the heavens shall be shaken."
(Matt. xxiv. 29 ; Mark xiii. 24, 25.) Without stop
ping here to point put the unphilosophical and absurd
nature of the conclusion, which a literal interpretation
of .this passage would force upon us, or to urifold its
true meaning accprding to the revealed Science of

XI.] CONSUMMATION OF THfi AGE. 63
Correspondences, let us turn to the prophetical parts of
the Old Testament, and see whether we do not there
find similar language employed to describe the end of
the Jewish Church.
If we turn to the prophecy of Amos (chap, viii.)
where the Lord says by the mouth of the prophet,
" The end is come upon my people Israel," — clearly de
noting the end of the Israelitish Church — we shall find
these words there added : " Shall not the land tremble
for this, (i. e., for falsifying the balances, and Dther
evil deeds there mentioned) and every one mourn that
dwelleth tlierein? And it shall rise up wholly as a
flood ; and it ^hall be cast out and drowned, as by the
flood of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in fhat day,
saith the Lprd Jehovah, that I will cause the sun to go
down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear
day." {v. 8, 9.) And that a dark and famished state of
the Church, arising from falsifications of the Word and
the "consequent loss of genuine good and trath, is here
signified, appears evident from what follows in the
same chapter : " Behold, the days come, saith the Lord
Jehovah, that I will senci a famine in ike land ; not a
famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing
the words of Jehovah : and they shall wander from
sea to sea, and frora the north even to the east ; they
shall ran to and fro to seek the Word of Jehovah, and
and shall not find it." (-y, 11, 12)
In Joel also, where the Lord's advent and the destruc
tion of the Jewish Church are foretold, it is said, " The
earth shall quake before them ; the heavens shall trem
ble ; the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars
shall withdraw their sliining." (ii. 10.) "And I will
show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood,
and fire, arid pillars of smoke. The sun shall be
turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before
the great and the ' terrible day of Jehovah Lord come."
(ii. 30, 31.) "For the day of Jehovah is near in the
valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be
(iarkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.
Jehovah also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice
from Jerusalera ; and the heavens and the earth shall
shake." (iii. 14, 15, 16.)

64 THE END OF THE WORLD, OR [lECT-
Again, in Isaiah, where it is said conceming. Babylon,
that " the day of Jehovah is at hand ;" that " it shall
come as a desolation from the Almighty, to lay the
land desolate :" it is added, " And he shall destroy the
sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven 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. Therefore
will I shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove
out of her place." (xiii. 9, 10, 13.) Now we are not
informed that these things did literally take place at the
¦ time of the destruction of ancient Babylon. But they
did all occur, in their spiritual sense, at the consumma
tion of that church denoted by Babylon. And the
same things, spiritually understood, do always take
place at the end of every church, whose pride or spirit
ual quality is similar to that denoted by Babylon.
Moreover we observe that the language here em-'
ployed, as well as that of the other texts just cited, is
alraost precisely the same as that in the Evangelists
where the Consuramation of the Age is spoken of.
Hence we infer,- that, inasmuch as the extinction ofthe
sun, moon and stars, foretold in the words of the pro
phet Isaiah, did not literally take place when Babylon
was destroyed, but this language is employed to denote
the spiritual darkness which would come upon that
church at its end, therefore the event foretold in the
Evangelists in almost the same language, is not to
have a literal fulfilment ; but denotes, in the language
of correspondence, the extinction of genuine charity
and faith, or the loss of true spiritual light which
would befall the first Christian Church at its end.
There is another sirailar text, which occurs in the
Apocalypse, immediately after the death or departure of
true charity and faith, and the consequent consumma
tion of the church is foretold under the image of " a
pale horse" that was seen coming out of a book : " and
his name that sat on him was Death, and hell followed
with him." We give the words of the text, together
with Swedenborg's explanation of a part of them.
" And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and

IX.] COifSUMMATrON OF THE AGE. 65
lo, there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became
black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as
blood ; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even
as a fig-tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is
shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed
as a scroll when it is rolled together ; and every moun
tain and island were moved out of their places." (vi.
12, 13, 14.)
Explanation. — " And, lo, there was a great earth
quake," signifies an entire change of the state of the
church with these,* and their terror. Earthquakes sig
nify changes of state in the church, because the earth
signifies the church n. 285 ; and because, in the spirit
ual world, when the state of fhe church is perverted any
where, and there is a change, an earthquake takes place,
and this is a prelude to their destruction, the effect is
terror ; for the earths in the spiritual world, are in ap
pearance, like the earths in the natural world ; but as
the earths there, like all other things in that world, are
from a spiritual origin, therefore changes occur accord
ing to the state of the church among the inhabitants ;
and when the state ofthe church is perverted; th^y quake
and tremble, yea, sink down, and are moved out of
their places.
" And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and
the moon became as blood," signifies, the adulteration of
all the good of love in them, and the falsification of all
the truth of faith. That the sun signifies the Lord as to
divine love, and thence the good of love frora Him ;
and, in an opposite sense, a denial ofthe Lord's divinity,
and thence adulteration of the good of love, may be
seen above, n. 53. And as the sun signifies the good
of love, the moon therefore signifies the truth of faith ;
for the sun is red from fire, and the moon is white by
virtue of the light from the sun ; and fire signifies the
good of love, and light, the truth from that good : con
cerning the moon, see also the passages adduced above,

* Persons who appeared in their extemal form like Christians, and orally
Erofessed the things of the church ; but in their internal form, or in their
earts, were against them.
7* 9

66 THE END OF THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
n. 63. It is said the sun became black as sackcloth of
hair, because adulterated good in itself is evil, and, evil
is black ; and the reason why it is said, the moon be
came as blood, is, because blood signifies divine trath,
and, in an opposite sense, divine truth falsified, as raay
be seen below, n. 379.
" And the stars of heaven fell unto theearth," signifies,
the dispersion of all the knowledges of good and truth.
That stars signify the knowledges of good and trath,
may be seen above, n. 51. ; that to fall from heaven to
earth means to be dispersed, or to disappear, is evident ;
in the spiritual world, also, stars appear to fall from
heaven to the earth there, when the knowledges ofgood
and truth perish. {Apocalypse Revealed n. 331, 332,
333.) Let us endeavor now to ascertain, by the light of the
Divine Word, what is the true meaning of the word
Age, in the phrase, " the Consummation of the Age."
In common language we call any period of a man's
life upon earth, his age; and when. that period is full
and finished and he is reraoved to the spiritual world,
his age is corisuramated. The period during which
any particular systera of opinions, either political, philo
sophical, or moral, bear sway over human minds, is
Usually denominated an age. And, of course, when
their sway is loosened or destroyed, that age or the age
Of such opinions is consummated. In general the time
that any thing survives on earth, is usually called its
age ; and when it is extinct, its age is consummated.
This also is the meaning of the original Greek word
Alitv {Aion) which signifies an entire period of time,
whether longer or shorter.
Now it is revealed for the use of the Lord's New
Church, that, in the spiritual world there is no time de
fined by planetary motions, as in this natural world ;
but yet there is an appearance of time in that world,
which appearance is always .-.ccording to the internal
or spiritual state of those there. We may form some
idea of this, if we reflect upon how the case is when we
dream. Often in our dreams we appear to witness the
events of several days, and even to be carried through a

II.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 67^
much longer period, and all in the space of a few mo
ments of actual or natural time. The appearance is ac
cording to the state of our mind and its changes.
Sometimes indeed there is an approximation to the
sarne thing during our waking hours. If We are idle,
or in a dull, listless, inactive state of mind, the hours
move heavily and slowly on, and a day appears to us
very long. But if we are closely occupied, and our
minds actively and affectionately engaged in what we
are doing, then we make no account ofthe hours ; there
appears to be no time. Every one is more or less fa
miliar with this fact, and knows from his own experi
ence, that, even in this natural world, time appears
longer or shorter according to our mental states.
Now because in the spiritual world, time is not actu
ally defined by days, months, years, (fee, as it is in this,
but appears there long or short according to one's state,
therefore all words in the Sacred Scriptures, which, in
their natural sense, denote somewhat of time, in their
spirimal and true sense, denote state. Consequently
^ioV or Age, which naturally signifies a full period of
time of indefinite duration, in its spiritual sense denotes
state. Therefore the Consummation of the Age must
signify a fullness of state even to the end. And since
it was on account of the condition of the Church that
the Lord came at first into the world, and evidently on
account of its condition that He will come a second
time, we raay rest assured that when He speaks of The
Age, He refers to the life or duration of the Church
which had then but just commenced ; — to the living
and active operation, in the men of the first Christian
Church, of those truly human principles which He
came to impart. What else therefore can the Consum-
mation of the Age signify, but a full and consummated
state of that Church?
According to Swedenborg, the tenth chapter of the
Apocalypse treats of the exploration and manifestation
of the internal states of those in the reformed churches
at the time of their consummation. And inasmuch as
they were seen to be generally principled in the doctrine
of justification by fafth alone, and true charity was so

68 THE END OP THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
far extinguished among them that they could no longer
be a church, the angel whom John saw is represented
as having f in his hand a little book open," and swear
ing " by hira that liveth forever and ever," " that there
should be time no longer." {v. 6.) From what has beeft
said of the spiritual meaning of 'time, and of all words
in Scripture, which, in their natural sense, denote tirae,
the meaning of this language will be readily under
stood. When a church has had all its seasons from
spring to mid-winter ; when it has been in all possible
states ; has had its morning, noon, and evening, and
has reached its night, then its state is -full and it can
have no more states ; i. e. it can be no longer a church.
It is like a man who has passed his childhood, youth,
and manhood, and, arrived at extreme old age. He can
not live these periods over again, or pass through these
states a second time. This full age of the church,
therefore, is properly said to be the fulness of tim,e, and
when time shall be no longer. Hence the Apostle, in
his letter to the Galatians, says of the Lord's first ad
vent, when also the Jewish Church was consummated,
that it happened " when the fulness of time was come."
(iv. 4.) Certainly he .could not be understood to mean
that natural time ceased with that event, for he knew
that it did not. And yet is not this precisely the con
clusion to which we should be .brought by a fair appli
cation ofthe principle of literal interpretation, according
to which men have come to believe that natural time
would one day cease, because it is declared in the
Apocalypse " that time should be no longer" ? How
much confidence then deserves to be placed in such a
principle of interpretation ?
No : this idea of the cessation 'of time is a merely
natural idea, and has been derived from the natural or
literal sense of the Word.
The spiritual raeaning of time as denoting state, has
its ground or origin in the correspondence of things in
the natural with things in the spiritual world. The
Lord, as we are taught in the writings of the New
Church, is the Sun of the spiritual world ; and hence it
is said in the' word, "For Jehovah, God is a sun and

II.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 69
shield." (Ps. Ixxxiv. U.) His wisdora and love, or his di
vine truth and divine goodness are the light and warmth
of all minds, and hence of all things in the spiritual
world, just as the beams of the natural sun are the lioht
and warmth of all things in the natural world ; and
this not in any poetical or merely figurative sense, but
in real verity. Now all the changes of natural time, as
through the four great divisions of the day and seasons
of the year, are at the same time changes in respect to
the light and heat, or to the earth's reception of these
from the natural sun. So, from correspondence, all the
changes of spiritual time, i. e. all the changes in the
spiritual condition of any church or of the mind of any
individual, are but changes in regard to the reception of
wisdom and love from the Lord who is the spiritual
Sun. In the natural world, we know that there is some
thing peculiarly joyous and animating to all creatures
in the. bright light of the morning sun. This is on ac
count of the correspondence ; for morning, in the spirit
ual sense, denotes a corresponding state of the church ;
i. e. a state, when from little or no genuine truth and.
love, (which is spiritual darkness and night,) it receives
a communication of intelligence and wisdom from tho
rising of the spiritual Sun ; or a new dispensation of
divine truth. Hence it is that the morning, and the
coming of the moming are so often mentioned in the
Word where the Lord's advent is treated of Thus it
is said in Psalms where the church is spoken of under
the designation of "the city of God," that "God is in
the raidst of her ; she shall not be moved : God shall
help her when the m,orning appeareth," Every one
must perceive that a natural morning cannot be here
meant ; for God is no more a respecter of times, natural
ly considered, than He is of persons ; yet it is here said
that He will help the church " when the morning ap
peareth." But a spiritual morning is here denoted.
When the Lord in his Providence sees fit to make a
new and clearer communication of divine truth to
men, whereby they are able to see the falses and evils
whioh before were concealed from their view, then ap-

70 THE END OP THE WORLDJ OR [lECT.
peareth the morning to the church, and she is indeed
helped of God.
So likewise in Isaiah, where the end of the Jewish,
or of any old dispensation, is treated of under the iraage
of the fall of Babylon, and the comraencement of a new
dispensation is foretold, there is a call out of Seir,
" Watchman, what of the night ? Watchman, what of
the night?" The, watchman said: "The morning
cometh, and also the night." (xxi. 11.) Whenever a
new dispensation, and consequently a new church com
mences, which is what is denoted by morning, there is
at the same time an end of the former dispensation and
church, which is signified by night. " The morning
cometh, and also the night."
Again: in Ezekiel, where the end of the former
church and the beginning of a new one is treated of, it
is said, " An end cometh ; the end coraeth. The
morning cometh upon thee, ,0, thou that dwellest in
the land." (vii. 6, 7.) This is said by Jehovah God
unto the land of Israel, evidently denoting the church.
Moreover the Lord in the Apocalypse is called " the
bright and morning star ;" and in the Gospel of John,
He is called " the Light," and " the true Light, which
lighteth every man that cometh into the world." (i. 9.)
This is the bright and Heavenly Sun, whose searching
beams bring rnorning to the church.
It would be easy also to cite many passages from the
Word, where the end of a church. Or its state of vasta-
tion as to goodness and truth, is spoken of as a time of
darkness and night. For such is the state of any
church at the time of its consummation, that the faces,
i. e. the affections of men, which are their spiritual
faces, are turned away from the Lord to the darkness of
their own intelligence ; just as the face of the earth in
liight-time is turned away from the sun of the world.
Thus in Micah it is said "to the princes of the
house of Israel, who hate the good and love the eVil."
" Therefore night [shall be] unto you, that ye shall not
have a vision ; and it shall be dark unto you that ye
shall not divine ; and the sun shall go down over the
prophets, and the day shall be dark over them." (iii. 6.)

II.] CONSUMMATION OP THE AGE. 71
The spiritual Sun always goes down over those pro
phets " who hate the good, and love the evil." The day
is dark over them, for in their best state, their minds are
darkened by innumerable falsities originating in evil
loves, and they can scarcely discern anything spiritual.
They are in that outer darkness, where is Weeping and
gnashing of teeth.*
It is said again, in . the Apocalypse, conceming the
Holy City, New Jerusalem, that " there shall be no
night there." (xxi. 25.) All who are in the Holy City
— ^who are. really ofthe true Church — have their minds
continually illurained with the beams of God's glo
rious truth. Also in Psalms, it is declared that the
wicked " walk on in darkness." (Ixyxii. 5.) And
again, the Psalmist says that his spirit is overwhelmed
within him, and his heart is desolate, "Because the
enemy hath persecuted my soul : he hath smitten my
life down to the ground : he hath made rae to dwell in
darkness, as those that have been long dead." (cxliii.
3.) So in the prophecy of Joel, where the consurama
tion of the church is spoken of, it is said to be " a day
of darkness and of gloominess — a day of clouds, and of
¦ thick darkness." (ii. 2.) And , in Isaiah, where it is
treated of Messiah's advent, " The people that walked
* The following is Swedenborg's explanation of outer darkness and
gnashing of teeth. "Outer darkness— ienoiea the more du^e falsities of
those who are in the church, for they darken the light, and indnceifalsitiea
contrary to truths, which the Gentiles cannot du. — {Arcana Cwlestia, n.
1839.) "¦Inasmuch as sensual men do not see any genuine truth in the light, but
reason and dispute about every thing, whether it te so, and these disputes
are heard at a distance from them, as gnashings of the teeth, which con
sidered in themselves are collisions of falses with each other, and also of
what is false and true, it is evident what is signified in the Word by ^reasA-
ing qf teeth ,' the reason is, because reasoning^from the fallacies of the
senses, corresponds to teeth." — (True Christian Religion, n. 402.)
" Gnasiiing of the teeth is the continual dispute and combat of falses
with each other, consequently of those who are in faUes. joined also wijh
contempt of others, with enmity, derision, ridieule, blasphemy, which also
burst forth into butcherly assaults of various kinds ; for every one fights
in favor of his ovvn false, and calls it truth. These disputes and combats are
heard out of the hells as gnashings ofthe teeth ; and also are turned into
gnashings of the teeth when truths from heaven flow in thither; for all
falses in the, spiritnal world gnash or make a grating noise, and teeth cor
respond to the ultimate things in nature, and also to the uhiinate things ap
pertaining to men, which are sensual corporeal tbiBga."—{HeavenandHeU,
k 575.)

72 THE END OP THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
in darkness have seen a great light ; they that dwell in
the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the
light 'shined." (ix. 2.) In all these passages, and raany
more that might be adduced, it is plain that darkness
and light can have no other than a spiritual significa
tion. If any further evidence from Scripture were needed to
show that " the consummation of the age" denotes the
end of the first Christian Church — a state where the
Hght of genuine truth had become extinguished through
falsifications of the Word and evils of life, we might re
fer to Luke xvii. 34 ; where, describing this event, it is
written " I tell you, in that night, there shall be two
in one bed ; the one shall be taken and the other left."
That night clearly denotes a state of great obscurity
in respect to the trath ; a state of spiritual darkniess
into which the Lord foresaw the first Christian Church
would fall, on account of falses orignating in evils.
That such is the true. Scripture meaning of night, is
evident from the passages already cited, and many more
that raight be adduced frora the Word, wherein dark
ness and night are raentioned. And inasmuch as there
are two very different classes of persons among those
who believe or profess to believe the same false doc
trines, one of. which is in the good of life, i. e., in the
desire and effort of living well and always doing right,
and the other npt so, therefore it is said that " two shall
be in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other
left." Bed, in the language of correspondence, signifies
doctrine : " for as the body," says Swedenborg, " rests
in its bed, so does the mind rest in its doctrine." They
who are in false doctrine, and at the sarae time in evils
of life, or under the dominion of the love of self and the
world, cannot receive genuine truth ; therefore they are
"left". But others who may be in the same false doc
trine, yet in the good of life, can receive genuine truth,
for this proceeds from good and always leads to good ;
these therefore are " taken".
Perhaps by this time our minds are prepared to un
derstand the true explanation of that text in the Evan
gelists, which saith, " Iniraediately after the tribulation

II.] CONSUMMATION OP THE AGE. 73
of those' days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon
shall not give her liglit, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and' the powers of thelieavens shall be shaken."
(Mat. x:xiy. 29, Maris: xiii. 24, 25;) The meaning of this
may appear evident from correspondence. The natu
ral stars are fixed and luminous bodies ; yet so far
away in the deep blue vault of heaven, that they shed
down upon us no warmth, and scarcely any light. Yet,
little specks as they are, because they are useful as
beacons to guide the pilgrim through the wilderness,
or the mariner across' the pathless deep, they there
fore correspond to and signify the knowledges of good
and truth derived from the word of God ; such, for ex
ample, as children or even grOwn people may have in
their minds, who have committed some plain texts of
Scripture to memory, but without nndbrstanding any-
thirig more than their literal sense. These knowledges
of truth lie, as it were, like little stars far away in the
deep blue vault, of their minds, yet fixed and luminous,
but without affecting their wills with the warmth of
love, or their understandings wifh the light of wisdorir.
Yet very useful are these knowledges ; they serve as
beacpn-lights to guide the little pilgrim through the
mazy wilderness of doubt, and the voyager across the
trackless ocean of life. The moon gives more light,
yet ho warrath. It therefore corresponds to and signifies
faith, or truth in the mind without the affection oflove;
i. e., an understanding enlightened by the trath, yet
wanting the will or the love of doing as the trath re^
quires. But the sun sheds down riot only a clear light,
but vivifying heat also. It therefore corresponds to and
sio-nifies the human raind or th,e church, in which
goodness and truth or charity and faith are perfectly
united, like the heat and light of the natural sun^-every
one who has a cleair Understanding of what is trae, uni
ted with a warra love of what is good; When used
with the moon, it denotes love to the Lord ; and the
moon denotes charity towards the neighbor.
But the explanation of this text given in Sweden
borg's own language Will be much more satisfactory.
8

74i THE END OF THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
" But im/mediately after the affliction of those days^
signifies a state of the Church as to trath Which is of
faith, which state is treated of in what precedes; deso
lation of trath in ,the Word throughout is called af
fliction ; that days denote states, may be seen n. 23,
487, 488, 493, 893, 2788, 3462, 3785'; hence it is evi
dent, that by these Words is signified that there will be
no charity, whenthere is no longer any faith ; for faith
leadeth to charity, because it teacheth what charity is,
and charity receiyeth its quality frora the truths which
ate of faith, whereas the truths of faith receive their es
sence and their life from^charity, as hath been abun
dantly shown in the preceding voluraes. The sun
shall be obscured, and the moon shall not give her
light, signifies love to-the Lord which is the sun, and
charity towards our neighboi' which is the moon; to be
obsciiired and not to give light, signifies that they would
not appear, thus that they would vanish ; that the sun
is the celestial principle Of love, and the moon the spir
itual principle of love, that is, that the sun is love to
the Lord, and the moon charity toWards our neighbor,
which charity, is by faith, may be seen n. 1053; 1529,
1530, 2120, 2441, 2495, ; the ground and reason of this
signification of the sun and moon is, because the Lord
in anpther life appears as a suri to those in heaven "who
are principled in love, to him, who are called celestial,
and as a raoon to those Who are in charity towards
their neighbor, who are called spiritual, see n. 1053,
1521, 1529, 1530, 1531, 363&, 3643.' The sun and
moon in the heavens, or the Lord, is in nOcase Obscured,
nor loseth light, but shines perpetually, thus neither is
love to him at any time obscUred with the celestial, npr
charity towards their neighbor with the spiritual in the
heavens, nor in 4he earths with such on whom those
angels are atteridant, that is, who are principled in love
and charity ; but with those who are principled in nP
love and charity, but in self-love, and the love of the
world, and thence in hatreds and revenges, these occa
sion the above obscurity to themselves ; the case herein
is as with the sun of the world, the sun shines perpet
ually, but when clouds interpose themselves, it doth

II.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 75
not appear, see n. 2441. And. the stars shall fall from
heaven, signifies that fhe knowledges of good and truth
shall perish :' Nothing else is signified in the Word by
stars, whensoever they are named, see n. 1808, 2849.
A7id the powers of theheavens shairj>e wio?;erf, signifies
the fouridations ofthe Church, which are said to be
moved and to be shaken, whpn the above principles
perish ; for the Church in the earths is the foundation
of heaven, inasmuch as the influx of good and truth
through the heavens from the Lord ultimately termi
nates in the goods and truths appertaining to the man
of the Church-; ¦ wherefore when the man of the Church
is in such a perverted state, as no longer to admit the
influx of good and trath, in this case the powers of the
heavens arfe said to be moved ; on which account it is
always provided of the Lord, that somewhat pf a Church
should remain, and when an old Church perisheth, that
a new one should be established." — {Arcana Ccelestia,
n.4060.) From this explanation it may readily be seen why
these things are mentibned where the consuramation of
the age is spoken of, For when genuine charity has
departed from the church, .and genuine faith, and even
the knowledges of what genuine good and genuine
trath are, there is- evidently a spiritual consummation
of the church ; and this prophecy, in its spiritual sense,
is then fulfilled : " The sun shall be darkened, and the
moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall
from heaven."
Here then we rest the argument for the Consurama
tion of the Age, as denoting the spiritual end of the
first Christian Churcli, agreeably to what is taught in
the writings ofthe New, Jerusalem; — an argument based
not upon mere human reasonings, but upon the eternal
and immutable testimony of God's Word.
1. Itis not in the order of Divine Providence that
the precise manner in which a prOphecy is to be ful
filled, should be understood.before its fulfilment. , There
fore the prophecy conceming the Consummation of the
Age will not find its accomplishment in the destruction

76 THE END OP THE WORLD, OR [lECT.
of the material world, or be fulfilled precisely in the way
that the Church has expected.
2. The prophecies in the Old Testament concerning
the Lord's first advent, and the end ofthe Jewish Church,
were not understood until after their fulfilment. There
fore we conclude that the prophecies in the New Tes
tament concerning the Loras second appearing and the
Consumraation pf the Age would not be understood until
after their fulfilment. ,
3. The language which foretells the consummation of
the Jewish Church, and describes the accompanying
circumstances of that event, is similar to that found in
the New Testament, where the Consummation of the
Age is spoken of Therefore this lattpr refers to the
Consummatien ofthe first Christian Church.
4. The principle of literal interpretation, by the ap
plication of which to many parts of Scripture, especial
ly to Rev. xxi. 1, it has been believed that this natural
earth is to be destroyed and a new earth created, cannot
be applied to the rest of this chapter in the Apocalypse, ¦
without driving us to the most absurd conclusions.
Therefore this principle is false, and earth is not to be
understood in its literal sense.
5. Earth and land are plainly used in other parts of
the Word to denote the Church. Therefore in this chap
ter of the Apocalypse earth signifies the Church.
6. Words which in their natural sense denote time or
portions of time, as morning, night, <fec., are employed
in the Old Testaraent to denote certain states of the
Church. Therefore, since ^iA" or Age means a full pe
riod of time, the Consumraation of the Age denotes a
full and consuraraated state of the first Christian
Church ; and in the gospel of Luke this state is called
night. We leave the subject for all honest and thinking men
to rpfleot upon, and examine further for themselves by
the light of the truth now revealed.
Ye who have the fear of Almighty God before
your eyes, and who love to know the truth, that the
tmth may make you " free indeed," judge ye, whether

II.] CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE. 77
the New Church doctrine upon the subject we have
been considering, be established by a deceitful handling
of the Word of God, or by a fair, consistent, orderly,
and rational principle of interpretation. If according
to the latter, then wE.OTay,6e living in the time of the
Lord's second coming. For it is said, that He will
come upon men " unawares," and " as a thief," and that
it shall not be known " when the time is." And as He
once stood in person among the Jews and they knew
Him not, so even now, spiritually, — in the genuine
truth concerning Himself and the Church unfolded in
his Word, He raay be in our midst at hi^ second com
ing, and we know Hira not. Therefore, let every, one
examine for himself in the fear of God, and in the love
of truth ; for riot only " in. such an hour," but, per
chance, in such a manner as we think not, the Son
of Man may come. " Watch therefore ; lest coming
suddenly, He flnd you sleeping. And what I say unto
you, I say unto all. Watch." (Mark xiu. 36, 37.)

78 THE SECOND COMING [lECT.

LECTURE III.

DOCTRINE OF THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH CON
CERNING THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD, MEN
TIONED IN MATT. XXIV. 30 ; MARK XIII. 26; LUKE
xx:i. 27 ; and other places.

' And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds."
Mark, xm, 26.

It was stated in our last lecture, that there is a pretty
general perception among the enlightened and be^t raen
of the present day, that " the glpry has departed frora
Israel" — that "beauty has fled from the daughter of
Zion." There is a pretty general acknowledgment that
the church is not fair and comely in her aspect — "beau
tiful as a bride adOrned for her husband." Has not
Christendom, because of her unchristian deeds, and still
more unchristian doctrines, become the reproach and
derision of the Gentiles ? Has not religion, even in
christian countries, become, in the minds of multitudes,
almost synonymous with bigotry, narrow-mindedness,
raorbid melancholy, and hypocritical cant? If it has
not, then people do not think at all as they talk. We
hear it almost everywhere confessed that the Church is
in a broken, distracted, tottering, and forlorn condition ;
that the great body of men in Christendoni — of those
who profess the religion of Christ —is unchristian ;— that
its heart does not throb with the love of the only Lord
and Savior, nor does the life of genuine charity and
faith circulate warm through its veins, but rather the
life of self-love and self-intelligence. And among those
who are determined to be honest, and true to their deep

III.] OP THE LORD. 79
convictions, many in their hearts are taking up this la
mentation concerning Zion : " How has the gold be
come dim ! How is the raost fine gold changed ! How
hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a
cloud in his anger, and cast down from heaven urito the
earth the beauty of Israel" ! (Lam. ii. 1.)
But notwithstanding this general perception and ac
knowledgment of the existing state of the Church, peo
ple are very unwilling to believe that it has really come
to its end; and that nothingcanever bring it back to a state
of union, order, peace and loVe, but a New Revelation,
or a further and more lucid unfolding of the contents
of God's Word. I am well aware, that, to most minds,
the assertions, that the Consummation of the Age fore
told in the Evangelists has already found its fulfllment
in the consummated state of the first Christian Church,
and that we are really living at a time which witnesses
the fulfilment of that other prophecy concerning fhe
second appearing of the Lord upon the clouds of heaven,
must sound very strange— almost like the ravings of a
madman. It seems very strange to most people, that
so many great and learned men as there have been in
. the church, should so long have remained under a mis
apprehension ofthe trae import of these texts.
And did it not sound strange to Jewieh ears, when
the hukible Galileean (as the Lord appeared tO them,)
stood up in their synagogue and said, " This day is
this Scripture fulfilled in your ears — ' The Spirit of
the Lprd is upon me, because He hath anointed me to
preach the gospel to the poor ; He hath sent me to heal
the broken-heartedj to preach deliverance to- the cap
tives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set' at lib
erty them that are braised, to preach the acceptable year
of the Lord'"? (Luke iv. 18, 19.) Atthe Lord's first
advent inquiry was made, " Do the rulers know indexed
that this is the very Christ"? (John, vii. 26.) And so
dark were the minds of the Jews — so little did they un
derstand the true raeaning of the Sacred Scriptures, and
the prophecies concerning the Lord's advent, that, after
He had performed many miracles before their eyes, they
took up stones on one occasion to stone Him, because

80 THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
He said "I and the Father are one." That the -very
same things, in their spiritual sense, should be said and
done at the Lord's second coming which is spiritual,
oUght to be expected. We need not be surprised there
fore, that multitudes, who think they see, but are de
clared blind by the truths of the New Dispensation,
should stand ready to cast the stones of the literal sense
of God's Word, at the pure spiritual truths of the New
Jerasalem ; which truths are what is meant by the sec
ond appearing ofthe Lord.
In our last lecture, we attempted to show, from the
testimony of the Sacred Oracles themsehes, that "the
Consummatipn of the Age," spoken of in , the New,
Testaraent, denotes ^ consummated state of the first
Christian Church ;. i. e. a state of so little genuine chari
ty in the great body of the church, and of such general
darkness in respect to spiritual things or the trae mean
ing of God's Word, induced by false doctrines which
men have framed^ that it raay be truly said of her,
" The sun is darkened, and the moon has withdra-wn
her hght, and the stars have fallen from heaven ;" — in
a word, that it is proper to say, because it is. true; that
the Church has spiritually come to its end. In order,
therefore, that a New Church may be established and
exist upon earth, when such a consummated state of
the former Church takes place, it is necessary that there
be a new revelation, or a new dispensation of divine
truth to men;
Now, it is raaintained by the New Church, ^and
taught in its writings, (as may be learned from the pas
sages already cited,) that ,the Church instituted by our
Lord at his flrst adyent, has spiritually come to its end ;
and that a ne;w dispensation of trath Aas been naade to
the world in the theological writings of Eraanuel
Swedenborg, which revelation or new dispensation is
claimed by the New Church, and is also repeatedly de
clared in^ these writings; to be that second and glorious
appearing of the Son of Man upon the clouds of heaven,
which is foretold in the Evangelists.
Whether this claim be sufficiently well-founded or
not, is a question which it is not ray province to decide

III.] OP THE LORD. 81
for Others. I would have each one decide it for himself,
by a diligent and faithful exercise of the faculties which
God has given him, taking heed lest any man deceive
him- And I may here add, that every year, men of
acute penetration, sound' learning, and humble spirit,
are settling this question in their own minds beyond a
doubt ; — settling it, too, in that Avay which the spirit of
true religion, as well as of sound philosophy, dictates--^
by honest, patient, careful, prayerful, thorough exami
nation. One of the marked peculiarities of the New
Church, is, that men cannot come into it blindly, or by
subjecting their understanding to their faith. They
mUst come in,if they come af all, by the active exercise
of their understanding, and the appropriate use of all
their noblest faculties. They must have their minds
enlightened with the beams of truth, which, when seen
in cloudless splendor, is her own indubitable witness.
Npr is it my purpose in this lecture, to prove that the
theological writings of Swedenborg are of such a char
acter as justly to entitle thera to the claira of being re
garded as a new revelation, or as a fulfilment of the
prophecies concerning the second coming of the Lord.
I trust that those, whose minds are free from any undue
prejudice, and who axe, from a right motive, honestly
seeking the truth, will be able to settle this question in
their own minds, when they have heard the exposition
of some of the prominent doctrines contained in these
writings, which it is the purpose of these lectures to
present At present, I design only to show, that the
doctrine revealed to the New Church concerning the
Lord's second advent, is not only in agreement with
enlightened reason, but with all that the ' Sacred Scrip
tures teach, which has any relation to the subject.
This doctrine is, as already intimated, that the second
appearing of the Lord, is not to be in person, or in a
manner agreeing with the strict letter of the text in
which it is foretold ; but that it is to be in the power
and glory of the internal sense of his Word— his own
truth unfolded to a more interior degree, and in a more
luminous raanner than had ever been done before.
Does this doctrine concerning ^Messiah's second ad-

82 THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
vent find support and confirmation inthe Sacred Scrip
tures ? This is the subject of our present inquiry.
But before presenting the testimony of Scripture in
support of the New Church view of this subject, it may
be proper and useful to notice two or three ofthe modes
of interpreting this prophpcy, which have been raost
prevalent in the church, and raost generally acknowl
edged as true. I shall only exaraine them very briefly,
but perhaps at sufficient length to establish in the minds
of sincere and reflecting men, at leiast a strpng probabil
ity of their unsoundness.
The opinion in respect to those chapters in the Evan
gelists wherein the Lord's second coming is foretold,
Which was formerly most prevalent in the church, is,
that they are to have a literal fulfilment, according to
our common English version, in the destruction of this
material world and the personal appearing of the Lord
upon the natural clouds. But every one must see that
this theory is embarrassed with insuperable difficulties.
For in the flrst place we observe that the whole of this
prophecy was uttered in reply to the question, put by
the disciples to our Lord, concerning the time when the
stones and the buildings of the teraple at Jerasalem
should be thrown down. Arid it would therefore be
doing great violence to the sacred text, as well as to
enUghtened reason, to maintain that a prophecy was in
tended to have a literal fulfilment, and yet that fulfil
ment not to take place in the destmction of the very
things of which they were speaking, viz., Jerusalem and
its temple ; but that it would have place in the des
truction of this material universe, of which they were
not speaking.
Besides, we read in each of the chapters containing
the prophecy, that " this generation shall not pass till
all these things be fulfilled" ; a declaration, which, if
understood in its strictly literal sense, like the rest of
the chapter, i. e., as referring to the generation of men
then living, and not to the generation of false or Jewish
principles of religion existing in the minds of men —
must prove one of three things ; either that a complete
literal fulfilment of this prophecy was never intended ;

III.] OP THE LORD. 83
or if so, that it was to take place during the life-time of
the men then living Upon the earth ; or that the predic
tion, in some respects at least, was false. But that the
Lord could utter falsehood, or predict what would not
come to pass, is an insupposable case. And we know
that the prophecy was not all literally accomplished
within the life-time of those then upon earth. The
conclusion therefore is inevitable, that the Lord never
intended a complete literal fulfilment of the prophecy,
but a spiritual fulfilment. In its spiritual sense only,
shall we find the prophecy entirely true.
Another theory in regard to this whole passage, and
one which perhaps is favored by far the greatest major
ity of learned theologians in the prevailing church at
the preseut day, is this : that the destruction of Jerusa
lem is referred to in the former part of each of the
chapters which contain the prophecy, (Matt. xxiv. Mark
xiii, Luke xxi.) ; but that the latter part of these chap
ters refers to the destruction of the material universe.
Now it does seem strange that thinking men shonld
pretend to maintain such a theory as this ; for its ab
surdity is so palpable as to seem hardly worthy of a
remark. For if Ae destructiori of all riiaterial things
which it supposes to be referred to ip the latter part of
these chapters, should immediately take place, there
would then have elapsed between the announcement of
the prediction and its fulfllment, almost two thousand
years ; a period, which, if real'y intervening, we should
suppose would have been indicated by some pretty dis
tinct sign. But what J^ the sign which the Divirie
Prophet has given us of this chronological chasra ? Not
the sUghtest. On the contrary the prophecy flows on
from beginning to end, in an uninterrupted and most
closely connected series. At the very point where the
chasm, according to our learned commentators, is sup
posed to occur, we find words indicating the closest
connection in point of time. In Matthew the supposed
gulf is leaped with the words " Immediately after the
tribulation of those days," (fee. ; in Mark with these :
" But in those days after that tribulation," <fcc. ; and in
Luke this supposed prediction of the consumraation of

84 THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
the material world is so intimately connected with
what goes before in the same chapter, that one would,
think even a child of coramon understanding could not
fail to perceive that one and the same event must be re
ferred to throughout. The hiatus, according to the theo
ry we are considering, occurs there between the two fol
lowing verses : v. 24. " And they shall fall by the edge
ofthe sword,- and shall be, led away captive into all na
tions ; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the
Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
{Hiatus.) v. 25. And there shall be signs in the sun,
and in the moon, and in the stars ; and upon the earth
distress of nations, with perplexity ; the sea and the
waves roaring." Who does not see that the particle
and, with which verse 25th commences, is of such a
binding nature as utterly to preclude the idea of there
being any such hiatus between these two verses as
this theory supposes : or of two such widely different
events being here predicted, as the overthrow of Jerusa
lem and the destruction of the material universe ?*
. There is yet another theory in regard to these chap
ters, which appears to be making progress among bibli
cal critics in the Old Church at the present day, and
which therefore deserves attention. This theory limits
the prophecy under consideration to the overthrow of
the Jewish capital, and the downfall of Judaism- It
maintains that the outward calamities which befell the
Jews at the time of, and prior to, the destruction of Je
rusalem by the Romans, are foretold in this prophecy,
and nothing more. Consequently, when Jerusalein
was destroyed some thirty or forty years after the pre
diction, it was then fulfilled in the sense in which the
^Lord intended it. This is the way that those who call
•themselves Unitarians and Universalists commonly in
terpret this passage., And although this theory also is
encurabered with great difficulties, as we shall see upon
ea^amination, yet it must be confessed that, if there were
no internal sense to the Word, it would be far more ra-
* For a more particular and elaborate examination of this theory and
some of its modifications, the reader is referred to an able work on '*the
Flen&ry Inspiration Of the Scriptures," by Rev. S.Noble — Lect. iv 816-226.

III.] OF THE LORD. 85
tional than any other. I am not therefore surprised
that reflecting men should settle down upon this inter
pretation until their minds are illumined by the light of
the New Jerusalera. I think it is the raost reasonable
one that unaided human intelligence has yet been able
to discover. But let us examine it briefly.
And first I remark with respect to this theory, that it
is one of comparatively modern date. It was not the
view of the early Christians upon this subject, nor has
it been the generally received interpretation of the first
Christian Church. There has been in that Church a
general expectation of another advent of the Lord, in
some manner and at some future time ; which expect
ation has been based chiefly upon this prophecy in the
Evangelists. Though men have differed much in re
gard to the probable tirae and manner of his coming,
they have generally been agreed respecting the certainty
of the event itself.
Now it was remarked in our last lecture, that one of
the acknowledged canons in biblical criticisra, is, that
the precise raanner in which a prophecy is to be fulffll
ed, cannot be known until after its fulfilment. And I
would here add, that it is a principle equally true, and
Ibelieve equally admitted, that the meaning of a pro
phecy can be understood after its fulfllment. It was not
known beforehand exactly how the prophecies relating
to the Lord's first advent were to be fulfilled ; but after
their fulfilment, then their meaning could be under
stood. If, therefore, the prophecy concerning the Lord's
second coming had found its complete fulfilment in the
destruction of Jerusalem, it is reasonable to conclude
that this would have been generally so perceived and
understood in the Church. At any rate we should
think that it would have been 'so understood and taught
by some of the Apostles, and would have. found many
advocates among biblical expounders in all ages of the
Church ; which is not the fact. On the contrary, there
has been a general, though undefined and someWhat
vague expectation in the Church, of a second advent
yet future.
Again : in the Apocalypse, (i. 7.) the Lord's second

86 THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
comirig is foretold in these words, " Behold He cometh
with clouds ; and every eye shall see Him, and they
that pierced Him." And again in the last chapter and
last verse but one of the same book, it is written, " He
Which testifieth these things saith. Surely / come quick
ly; Amen. Even so, come. Lord JesUs." But this
book of the Revelation, in the opinion of good biblical
critics, was not written' until twenty years after the de
struction of Jerusalem. Yet we find in it the repeated
prophetic announcement of another advent of the Lord
in some form or other ; which we should not expect,
and certainly should not find, if that event had already
taken place twenty years previous. Moreover it is wor
thy of remark, that, in the first chapter ofthe Revelation,
it is said, " Behold he cometh with clouds" ; and in the
sixth chapter of the same book, where the coming of
" the great day" is raentioned, it is written, " And I be
held when he had opened the sixth seal, and lo, there
was a great earthquake ; and the sun becarae black as
sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and
the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig-tree
casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a
mighty wind." Here the language is so similar to that
found in the prophecy under consideration, as to leave
no doubt that it refers to the same event.
Besides, if we carefully examine the prophecy itself,
we shall find in it insurmountable objections to the
theory we are considering. In Matthew, xxiv. 9, for
example, imraediately after what the Lord tells the dis
ciples " are but the beginnings of sorrows," He says that
they shall be killed ; and afterwards. He speaks of their
flight, and of the things which they would be called to
Jwitness and suffer, as if they would still be living.
^"'^ Again : in Mark, xiii. 10, it is said that " the gospel
must first be published among all the nations ;" and the
,^i»(parallel passage in Matthew is substantially the sarae.
"'¦''But we know that this was not literally fulfilled prior
to the siege and destruction of Jerasalera ; though it
Tinay be said to have been fulfilled according to the
Jews' understanding of all the nations.
But we find it further said in the same chapter, that

III.] OP THE LORD. 87
" in those days after that tribulation, the sun shall be
darkened, and the moon shall not give her light ; and the
stars of heaven shall fall,"&c. We know that this didnot
literally take place when Jerusalem was destroyed,* and
we think there is good reason for believing that it never
will be literally accomplished. For should the stars
fall from heaven, where would they fall to ? To the
earth, as it is written in the Revelation ? But such a
supposition is absurd, since they are immeasurably
larger than our little planet. Besides, it is written in
the verse immediately following the one just quoted,
" And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the
clouds with great power and glory." And this, we
know, was not literally fulfilled when Jerusalem was
destroyed. Other objections of a similar nature might be urged
against the interpretation which confines the fulfilment
of this prophecy to the destruction of Jerusalem and its
temple. And if it l)e said, (as we know is argued by
those who maintain this view,) that the first part of the
chapter is to be interpreted literally, and the latter part
to be understood as figura-^iTe, dr the language of east
ern hyperbole, we reply that this were to treat the Word
of God with most unwarrantable license : — to destroy
its beauty, order, and uniformity, and make it altogether
like a mere human production. If we see that some
portions of the Word will not admit of a strictly literal
interpretation, can we be certain that other portions will
admit of no other than a literal one ? And if it be ad
raitted that some parts of the prophecy we are consider
ing must have a figurative or spiritual meaning, why
m,ay not the other parts have a spiritual meaning also?
Why should they not, if there be, as we believe, con-_
sistency, uniforraity, and order in God's Word, and
some fixed principle of interpretation equally applicable
to every part of it ?
* According to the historian Jopephus, there were some remarkable
meteoric appearances ahout this time ; to which, indeed, some commenta
tors have supposed this prediclion to refer. But frora a description of that*
phenomenon given by Josephus, we cannot help regarding it as trifling with
divine prophecy, to apply such an important prediclion to such an unim
portant event.

88 THE SECOND COMING [lECT
Furthermore I remark that if this prophecy con
ceming the Lord's _ second coming foi^nd a complete
fulfilment in the destruction of Jerasalem, then it is to
be regarded now as merely a portion of profane history.
And thus the language that fell frora the Lord's own
lips is to be rejected as wanting the proper characteris
tics of Scripture, or of a divine composition ; for Paul
tells us that " All Scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable fbr doctrine, for reproof, for cor
rection, for instruction in righteousness ; that the man
of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all
good works." (2 Tim. iii. 16.) And if the proph
ecy referred raerely to the destruction of Jerasalera, it
is plainly not profitable to us for either of these ; at
least, no more so than any piece of profane history not
given by inspiration of God.
Now according to this Apostolic test, we observe that
the end of all Scripture, or of every divinely inspired
writing, is purely spiritual. It is, that we may becorae
perfect as to our spirits, thoroughly fumished unto all
good works, by means of the doctrine, reproof, correc
tion, and instruction in righteousness, which Scriptare
contains. In other words, it is the regeneration of man,
or the restoration of the world to that state of primitive
innocence, simplicity, order and love, which make
heaven and its delights with man. Such is the end of
all Scripture, or the whole of God's Word. Each and
all its parts must therefore have the same end ; — an end
to be accomplished, not in the material world without
us, but in the spiritual world within us — in the soul.
And since the end of every divine prediction is etemal,
, and therefore spiritual, it follows that no prophecy can
,Jiave its complete fulfilment in the outward events of
this natural world. In its literal and lowest sense it
may be partially fulfilled ; but only in its highest and
ulterior, which is its spiritual sense, may we ever ex
pect its complete fulfilment.
Such is the conclusion to which we are brought by
the clear and logical deductions of reason; and such,
upon an inipartial and thorough examination, shall we
find to be the truth in respect to the prophetic parts of

III.] OP THE LORD. 89
the Word. The literal, historical events which accom
panied our Lord's first advent, were most undoubtedly
referred to, and included in the prophecies of the Old
Testament. But those outward events were only a
partial fulfilment of the prophecies — a kind of scenical
or symbolic representation, according to fixed laws of
order, of something above and beyond and eternal in
its nature. And it is only in a spiritual sense, i. e. by
the second advent of Messiah, the nature of which we
are about to explain, that these prophecies are to find
their complete fulfilment.
So with the prophecy under consideration, which
foretells the Lord's second coraing. Undoubtedly the"
destruction of Jerusalem and the pverthrow of Judaism
were referred to, and included in the prophecy. Yet it
is so obvious that all of it cannot he adapted to the cir
curastances of that event, that we are constrained to be
lieve something more and beyond this is referred to ;
and to look for its complete fulfilment somewhere else
than among merely natural and outward events. This
is ray meaning — and I wish to be cleariy understood — ¦
that this prediction did meet with a, partial fulfilment
in the circumstances attending the destruction of Jeru
salem, sufficiently coraplete however to prove it divine
ly inspired, yet sufficiently mcomplete to prove that an
order of truth higher than that pertaining to raere out
ward events, raust be referred to, in its ulterior or highest
sensp — in that sense in which its accomplishment shall
be full and perfect. In other words, the language of
the Lord on this occasion was prophetic of the destruc
tion of Jerusalera and its attendant circumstances ; and
it was at the same time also prophetic of something
far beyond and higher ; something of which that event
itself was but a prophecy, or an outward, sjmabolic re
presentation. The idea which we wish to convey, may perhapSjbe
more readily comprehended by means of a simple illus
tration dra-wn from nature. Take a single little bud
which appears upon a fruit-tree in spring time, holding
a flower in erabryo. Now herein is contained a prophe
cy. The flower-bud foretells the flower. But has all
9*

90 THE SECOND COMING [lECT,
the prophetic announceraent of that flower-bud been
fulfilled when the flower appears ? By no means ; for
the flower itself is but a mute prophecy of the future
frait, which is the end. And this end was as much
included in the prophecy of the flower-bud, as was the
unfolding of the flower: and without which end, it
could not be said that all, or by any means the raost
important part of that which the bud foretold, had been
fulfilled. Innumerable illustrations of this kind might be drawn
from the volume of nature. And if we would not de
stroy all analogy between the works and the Word of
God— set them at complete variance with each other,
and so make Jehovah, contradict himself, we must sup
pose the same principle to hold trae in relation to the
prophetic parts of the Word, as we know to be trae
in relation to the prophetic parts of nature. And as no
prophecy in nature can be said to be fulfilled, until the
end pointed at by the first sign has been accomplished ;
so neither can any prophecy in the Divine Word be pro
perly said to be fulfilled, until its end, or the thing pri-
masily referred to, has been accomplished. But this
end, as we have remarked, is purely spiritual. Conse
quently, no divine prophecy can have a complete fulfil
ment in any natural event.
Moreover, it appears evident from the context that
spiritual things were uppermost in the mind of the Di
vine Prophet, and hence that a spiritual fulfilment of
this prophecy must have been intended. In the chapter
in Matthew immediately preceding the one which con
tains the prophecy, we find the Lord weeping over Jeru
salem, and pronouncing repeated woes upon the Phari
saical JeWs, who did " all their works to be seen of
men ;" — who were outwardly fair, but inwardly vile.
Now we cannot suppose that it was on. account of any
thing external in the condition of Jeiusalem or the
Jews, that made the Lord weep and mourn as here
represented. His woes and lamentations must have
been uttered on account of the spiritual condition of
the Church — on account of the perversions and falsifi
cations of the Scriptures, which they professed to follow,

HI-] OP THE LORD. 91
and the deep, moral corraption which prevailed among
that formal and hypocritical people.
Then in the following chapter the Lord discourses to
his disciples concerning the kingdom of heaven, telling
them unto what it is like, (fee. And this chapter, be it
observed, commences in the original Greek with the
particle j6i£, {tote,) which would seem to warrant the
inference that it is a continuation of the same subject,
viz. the second comirig ofthe Lord, which is treated of
in chapter xxiv. Our English version has it, " Then
shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten vir
gins," <fcc. Now, " the kingdom of heaven " here spoken
of, is evidently a spiritual kingdom ; or the reign of di
vine truth, order, peace and love, to be established in
human minds ; — the progressive advancement of the
sarae thing, as will be shown in fhe sequel of this lec
ture, which, in its commencement, is described by " the
sign of the Son of Man" appearing in the clouds of
heaven. And it is difficult to beheve that the Divine
Teacher would pass by such a rapid and violent transi
tion from things outward and temporal, to those inward
and spiritual, as is involved in the theory that nothing
but the destruction of Jerusalem is referred to in the
divine prediction which we are considering.
,, Thus have we briefly examined the most common and
prevalent modes of interpreting the prophecy which
foretels a second appearing of our divine Lord and
Saviour. And I think that every candid mind must
admit that none of thera will stand the test of a severe
criticisra. The Sacred Scriptures, fairly and consist
ently interpreted, do not support either of the views
which have been noticed.
Let us now consider the doctrine revealed to the New
Church upon this subject, and see whether this be any
better supported and confirmed by the Word of God.
According to the revelations made to the New Church,
the whole of this prophecy, as well as every other part
of the Word, contains a spiritual sense ; and this spirit
ual sense is the genuine and true sense of the Scriptures,
— is what the Lord really teaches through his Word.
Accordingly we are informed in these revelations, that
the Lord, in the prophecy under re-dew, foretells the

92) THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
^iritual end or consuramation of the flrst Christian
j-Church under the image of the destruction of Jerusa-
I lem and its temple. Jerusalem signifies the church.
1 " The reason why by Jerasalem in the Word is meant
' the Church," says Swedenborg, " is because there, in
the land of Canaan, and in no other place, was the tem
ple and the altar, and sacrifices were offered, thus di
vine worship itself; wherefore also three feasts were
held there yearly, and every male throughout the whole
land was commanded to come to thera." {Apocalypse
Revealed, v. 880.) '^
That such is the signification of Jerusalera ap
pears evident from numerous passages in the Word
whera it is raentioned. To cite only a few of thera :
It is said in a chapter of Isaiah which treats of the
Lord's advent, and of the Church to be established
by Him, "For behold, I- create new heavens and a
new earth : and the former shall not be remerabered
nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for
ever in that which I create : for behold, I create Jeru
salem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will
rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in fny people." (Ixv. 17,
18.) Now we know thatthe Christian Church was
not established among those who were in Jerusalem,
but among those who were out of it. ' Hence it is evi
dent that by Jerusalem is here signified the Church,
and not the natural city known by that name. It was
the Church which the Lord came to renovate or create
anew, and thus to fill with joy and rejoicing : therefore
He says, "Behold I create Jerw^aZewi a rejoicing, and
her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and
joy in my people."
Again in another chapter of the same prophecy, where
Messiah's advent and the Church to be established by
Him are treated of, it is written " Awake, awalce, put
on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful gar
ments, O Jerusalem, the holy city ; for henceforth
there shall no more corae into thee the uncircumcised
and the uiiclean. Shake thyself from the dust : arise,
and sit down, O Jerusalem. Therefore my people shall
know ray narae : therefore shall they know in that day,
hat I am he that doth speak ; behold it is I. Break

III.] op THE LORD. 93
forth into joy, sing together ye waste places of Jerusa
lem : for Jehovah hath comforted his people, he hath
redeemed Jerusalem." (lii. I, 2, 6, 9.) Every one
must perceive that it was not the natural city of Jera
salem, but the Church, or mankind in their fallen state,
which the Lord came to comfort and redeera: — that it
was the Church which had becorae waste and desolate,
and which the Lord's advent was to regenerate, and
thus cause to " break forth into joy." It was evidently
the Church — the fallen,degenerate human mind^ — which
is commanded to " shake itself from the dust," "to arise,"
&c.; i. e., to divest itself of the false and evil principles
which are signified by dust, and becorae elevated out of
its fallen condition. It was the Church which the Lord
commands to " put on its beautiful garments," i. e., to
clothe and decorate itself with pure, spiritual truths from
the Word : for garraents signify truths. And it is the
trae Church into which " the uncircuracised and the
unclean" can never come.
Again in Isaiah : " Look upon Zion the city of our
soleranities ; thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a quiet hab
itation, a tahernacle that shall not be taken down ; not
one of the stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither
shall any of the cords thereof be broken." (xxxiii. 20.)
And in Zechariah ; " Thus saith Jehovah, I am retum
ed unto Zion and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem;
and Jerusalem shall be called the City of Truth ; and
the raountain of Jehovah of hosts, the holy raountain."
(viii. 3.) Also in Joel ; " So shall ye know that I am
Jehovah your God dwelling in Zion, my holy moun
tain ; then shall Jerusalem, be holy, and there shall no
strangers pass through her any more. And it shall
come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop
down new wine and the hills shall flow with milk. But
Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalein from genera
tion to generation." (iii. 17, 18, 20.) To suppose that
by Jerusalem is here to be understood the natural city
by that name, were not less irrational than to suppose
that what is said of the mountains dropping down new
wine and the hills fiowing with railk is to be understood
in its literal sense. It is the trae and living Church —

94 THE SECOND COMING [lECT,
the human mind imbued with love and intelligence
from the Lord— which shall dwell "from generation to
generation." Again it is written in Jeremiah, " At that time they
shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah : and all
nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of
Jehovah, to Jerusalem : neither shall they walle any
more after the imagination of their evil heart." (iii. 17.)
Here it is quite plain that not to walk after the imagina
tion of an evilheart, is the same a& to be gathered to the
name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem ; i. e., to be brought in
to the Church by a life of obedience to the divine truth.
The Jews, by understanding Jerusalera here and in oth
er parts of the Word, only in its literal sense, suppose
that a time is coming when " all nations" (by which
they understand all the Jews,) will be brought into the
land of Judea, and gathered to their ancient city, which,
it is believed, will endure " frora generation to genera
tion." That the Lord's Church is raeant by Jerusalem in
all these passages, and not that natural city in the land
of Canaan, which was inhabited by the Jews, appears
still more evident frora those portions of the Word,
where it is said of the latter that it was to be destroyed,
and also that it was entirely ruined. This, which is
said in the literal sense of the Word, signifies in the
spiritual sense, that the Church would be destroyed,
or come to its end, which also has happened as well to
the first Christian as to the Jewish Church.
If any one desires more evidence from the Word to
be convinced that Jerusalem is therein employed to de
note the Church, let him turn to Rev. xxi. 2, where it
is thus written : " And I John saw the holy city. New
Jerusalera, coming down from God out of heaven, pre
pared as a bride adorned for her husband." That a
natural city cannot be signified by the New Jerusalem
here mentioned, is evident from its dimensiahs,.ipartic-
ularly its height, as given in verse 16. And that it dOes
signify the Church — a church which the Lord would
establish upon earth when the first Christian Church
was consummated — is evident from what is said in the
latter part of the chapter, that " the city had no need of

HI.] OF THE LORD. 95
the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it ; for the
glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the lamp
thereof;" that "the nations of them that are saved shall
walk in the light of it ;" that " there shall be no night
there ;" and that " there shall in no wise enter intb it
anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh
abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they which are writ
ten in the Lamb's book of life." It is the doctrine of
genuine truth from the Word now unfolded or brought
down to man's apprehension — " coming down from
God out of heaven"— descending into human minds,
and dispersing the clouds of error and the lusts of evil,
and thus reforming man into the image of his Maker,
which constitutes the true and living Church, and is
what is signified by " the holy city. New Jerusalem."
This doctrine, as revealed in the writings of Sweden
borg, is clear and luminous, " for the glory of God doth
lighten it." All who " walk in the light of it," " are
saved" — saved from the falses and evils v.rhich destroy
the soul. They are delivered from the darkness of ig
norance and error, and hence " there is no night there."
But this heavenly doctrine cannot be received by selfish,
impure, and wicked raen ; cannot be received by any
save those who are striving to become heavenly mind
ed — seeking, as of first importance, " the kingdom of
Ged and his righteousness." " There shall in no wise
enter into it anything that. defileth, neither whatsoever
worketh abomination, or maketh a lie ; but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life."
Many other passages might be cited from the Word
in proof of what is declared in the writings of Sweden
borg to be the spiritual and true signification of Jerusd^
lem,. But it is unnecessary to multiply examples.
If, therefore, Jerusalera, when used in the Word, is to
be understood not merely in a natural, but in a spirit
ual sense, as denoting the Church, it is evident that
what our''Lord says, in those chapters ofthe Evangelists
which foretell his second appearing, concerning the
temple that was there, its buildings, and the stones of
the buildings, must have some other than a literal sig
nification. If by Jerusalera is denoted the Church, the

96 THE SECOND COMING [lECT,
Stones and buildings of its temple must evidently sig
nify something of a spiritual nature appertaining to
the Church.
Now we are taught in thi writings of Swedenborg,
that temple, because it was the Jews' place of worship,
and was therefore regarded- by them as raost holy, sig
nifies, in its supreme sense, the Lord himself as to the
Divine Humanity, who alone is to be worshipped;
and that, in a subordinate sense, it denotes the Church
as to worship, i. e., as to its interior quality or state of
life.— (See Apocalypse Revealed, n. 918.) The build
ings of the temple, according to the same authority,
signify all that appertains to the worship of the Church,
or of an individual (ibid. n. 911,) ; i. e., all those feel
ings of dependence, humility, gratitude, meekness, self-
distrust, and self-renunciation, without which there is
no genuine worship. And the stones of the buildings
denote the Divine truths of the Word, (see Arcana Coeles
tia, n. 1298) by means of which these heavenly states
are produced ; or the graces of meekness, charity, &c.,
which are built, up and established inhuman minds.
Jt might be shown from the Sacred Oracles them
selves that these words have the spiritual meaning here
given to them, in like manner as has been done in respect
to Jerusalem. In the Revelation, for example, where
the descent of the New Jerusalem is treated of, it is
said that "the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are
the temple of it." And the Apostle Paul calls man "the
temple of God." " For the temple of God," he says
"is holy, which temple ye are." (1 Cor. m. 17.) Evi
dently it is the mind of man to which the Apostle here
refers ; and this is holy only in the degree that it receives
from the Lord the holy principles of truth and love or
in the degree that it is brought into a state to " worship
God in spirit and m tmth." Therefore teraple here
denotes man as to the quality of his life, or his state of
worship. ^
Again: because the Lordis the very Divine Trath as
He declares in John, " I ara the Way, and the Truth
and the Life," (xiv. 6.) therefore He is called the head
stone of the corner which the builders rejected. [Matt

HI.] OF THE LORD. 97
xxi. 42; Ps. cxviii. 22.) For the same reason also He is
called in Isaiah " a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a
precious corner stone, a sure foundation." (xxviii. 16.)
And when Simon Peter acknowledged that Jesus was
" the Christ, the Son of the living God," tJie Lord's reply
was, " and I say also unto thee that thou art Peter —
iJsiQog {Petros, i. e. a stone or rock,) — and upon this
rock — JJerQOf, {Petra) — I -w-iil build my church ; and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matt. xvi. 18.)
What rational mind cannot perceive that the Lord's
church is built upon the eternal Rock of Divine Truth,
and not upon any created being ?
Peter here confesses that Christ is " the Son of the
living God :" which, in the spiritual sense, signifies that
He is the Divine Trath ; by virtue of which confession
Peter represented the Divine Truth frora the Lord in
the church. And inasrauch as the church, to be able
to withstand the " gates of hell," or the assaults of wick
ed men and devils, must be built upon the Divine
Truth frora the Word " which was in the beginning
with God and was God," therefore the Lord here says
that He will build his church upon this Rock.
But to multiply quotations from Scripture in order to
confii-m the spiritual meaning of these words, would
' lead us too far astray frora the object of the present lec
ture. It raust be obvious to every one, that when an indi
vidual falls into such a state that there is no genuine
humility, meekness, self-renunciation, <fec., in his wor
ship — when he has so perverted and falsified the truths
ofthe Word as to make them favor his natural inclina
tions and subserve the gratification of his evil loves,
then the church in that individual is consummated.
The buildings of God's holy temple are then destroyed
in him, and the stones are all thrown do-wn, so that "not
one stone is left upon another." The same is also true
of any number of individuals, or of the collective body
of the church. And because the Lord foresaw that the
first Christian church would one day fall into this state —
that the time would come when the truths of the Di
vine Word, as received and understood by the great
10

98 THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
body of that church, would not be truths but falses,
which must be overthrown by a new revelation. He
therefore uses this language to describe its total vasta-
tion : " Seest thou these great buildings ? There shall
not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be
thrown down." (Mark, xiii. 2.) The wars, famines,
pestflences, earthquakes and other things which if is
said should precede this "Consumraation of the Age,"
denote corresponding spiritual calaraities and changes
which would take place in the church before its final
consummation. Thus it was foreseen by the LOrd that
different reUgious sects in the flrst Christian church,
whose doctrines would be very near akin to each other —
as it were, of the same faraily and household — would
bitterly hate, persecute, and endeavor to destroy each
other ; therefore it is said, " Now the brother shall be
tray the brother to death, and the father the son ; and
chfldren shall rise up against their parents, and shall
cause them to be put to death." (Mark, xui. 12.) Fi
nally, it was foreseen, that, at the end ofthe church, the
christian worid, considered in respect to its religious
doctrines, would be in just such a dark, chaotic state, as
would this natural world, if the light of the sun and
moon were extinguished, and the stars blotted from the
sky.* Hence the use of that symbolic language which
* Those who desire to know the spiritual sense of this entire prophecy,
are referred to the Arcana Coelestia, by Emanuel Swedenborg, vols. 4, 5,
and 6, where it is explained at the beginning of eaeh chapter. The follow
ing, which is the commencement, is given aa a specimen of Swedenborg's
exposition :
"Thi greatest part of manliind believe, that when the last judgment
coraes, all things are to he destroyed which are in the visible world, that
the earth will be consumed by fire, the sun and the moon will be dissi
pated, and the stars will vanish away; and that anew heaven and a new
earth will afterwards spring forth; this opinion they have conceived from
prophetic Revelations, wherein mention is made of such things coming to
pass ; but that the real case is otherwise, may appear from what was shewn
above concerning the last judirment, n. 900, 931, 1850, 21 17 to 2133. Hence
it is evident, ihat the last judgment is nothing else but the end of the Church
with one nation, and its beginnine with another, which end and which be
ginning then have place, when there is no longer any acknowledgment of
the Lord, or, what is the same thing, when there is no faith ; and there is
no acknowledgment of the Lord, and no failh, when there is no charity,
for faith cannot possibly exist but with those who are in charity ; iliat in
such rase there is an end of the Church, and a translation thereof to others,
appears manifest from all those particulars, which the Lord Himself taught
and foretold in the EvangeUsts, concerning that last day, or concerning the

III.]

OF THE LORD. 99

we flnd in Matt. xxiv. 29. And immediately after the
fulfllment of all these things, it is said : " And then
shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds,
with great power and glory." (Mark, xiii. 26.) In
Consummation of the Age, viz. in Matt, chapter xxiv, ; in Mark, chapter
xiii. ; and in Luke, chapter xxi. : but inasmuch as these particulars cannot
be comprehended by any one without a key, which is their internal sense,
it is permitted to unfold them in the order in whiq.h they stand, according
to that sense ; we shall begin with these words in Matthew, " The disci
ples caine to Jesus, saying, tell us when shall ihese things be, a'nd what is the
sign of Thy coming, and qf the Consum'mation of the Age : and Jesus an
swering said unto tkem, see that no one seduce ycm ; for many shall come in
My na^me, saying, I am Ch'rist and shall seduce many : hut ye shall hear of
wars ami rumors of wars ; see that ye be not disturbed ; for aU these things
rnust needs be, but the end is not yet. For nation shall be siir-ed up agai-nst
riation, and Idngdom agamst kingdom ; and there shall be famines, and pesti'
Iences, and earthquakes. But att these things are the beginning of sorrows,'
xxiv. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 ; they who abide in the sense of the letter, cannot know
whether these, and the particulars which follow in this chapter, were
spoken concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the
Jewish nation, or concerning the end of days, which is called the last judg
ment; but they who are in the internal sense, see clearly, that the subject
here treated of is concerning the end of the Church, which end, in this and
other passages, is what is called the coming of the Lord, and the Consum
raation ofthe Age : and inasmuch as this end is here understood, it may
be known that all the above particulars signify things appertaining to the
Ohurch ; but what they signify, may appear from each particular m the in
ternal sense ; as for example ; when it is said Many shall come in My name,
saying I am Chrisi and shaU seduce •many, hy name here is not signified
name, nor by Christ Christ, but name signifies that by which the Lord is
worshipped, see n. 2724, 3006 ; and Ghrist signifies essential truth, n. 3009,
3010 ; thus it is signified, that there would come those who would assert,
that this or that is an article of faith, or that this or that is true, when yet
it is neither an article of faith, nor true, but false : by hearing of ¦mars
and rumors of wars is signified, that there would exist disputes and litiga
tions concerning truths, which are wars in'the spiritual sense : by ¦nation
heing stirred up against nation,and kingdom against kingdom, is signified,
that evil would combat with evil and what is false with what is false ; that
nation denotes good, but in an opposite sense evil, may be seen, n. 1259,
1260, 1416, 1849, and that kingdom denotestruth, but in an opposite sense
whatis false, n. 1672, 2547: and by theitbemgfamines and pestilences, and
earthquakes in diners places, is signified that there would be no longer any
knowledges of good and of truth, and thus that the state of the Church
would be changed, which is an earthquake (motion ofthe earth.)
" From these particulars it is evident, what is meant by these words of
the Lord, viz. that they denote the first state of the Church's perversion,
which comes to pass, when men begin no longer to know what is good and
what is true, but dispute with each other on snch subject?, whence come
falsities : inasmuch aa this is the first state, it is said, that the end is nof, yet,
and that these things are tli^ beginning of sorrows, and this state is called
earthquakes in divers places, whereby is signified in the internal sense, a
change of lhe state of the Church in part, or at first. By these things be
ing said to the disciples, is signified, that they are said to all who are of
the Churoh, forthe twelve disciples represented all such, see n. 2089, 2129,
2130 ; wherefore it is said, see thatno one seduceyou ; also, ye shall hear of
wars and rumors of wars, see that ye be not disturbed," — Arcana Coelestia, n,
3352, 3354.

100 THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
Matthew, it is said that He would be seen coming " in
the clouds of heaven." Now, what is the true Scrip
tural meaning of this text ? This is the imporf ant sub
ject of our present inquiry. Important — because upon
the decision of this question must depend entirely our
idea of the nature or mamier of the Lord's second ap
pearing. And if, at the Lord's first advent, it was im
portant that men should know and acknowledge Him,
it surely cannot be deemed a matter of less moment that
they should know and acknowledge Him at his second
coming. According to the writings of the New Church, the
Son of Man* signifies the Lord in respect to the Word
or the principle of Divine Truth, which proceeds frora
Him, and is Hiraself The clouds, or clouds of heaven,
signify the Sacred Scriptures in their literal sense ; in
which sense the genuine Divine l^ruth lies ih great ob
scurity. Consequently the coming of the Son of Man
in the clouds of heaven, denotes the coming to human
minds — thus to the church — of genuine divine truth,
which has not been understood by the former church,
but has been concealed as it were in a cloud. In other
words, it denotes the unfolding and revealing of the
spiritual sense of the Word through the obscurity or
cloud of the literal sense. And this is done by means
* It is evident, from the manner in which son is often used in the Old
Testament, that it is employed in the Scriptures to signify a relationship
different from that of natural generation. Thus, for example, in Lam. iii.
13, arrows are called " sons of lhe quiver." And in I Sam. xiv. 52, a ¦cal-
ianf Tnan is called in the orginal Hebrew a "son of strength." So also
in the original of Job, v. 7, sparks are called *^ sons of the fire," or of the
flame; and again, ^chapter xii. 28,) an arrow is called in the original "son
of the bow." Now, in each of these examples, it is to be observed, that
the things which proceed from anoiher, is, by virtue of thai circumstance,
called its son. Thus, sparks proceed from the fire, and hence are called
its sons : the arrow proceeds or goes forth from the bow, and hence is
called its son, &c.
Agreeably to this form of expression, the liglit which proceeds from heat
would be called the son of heat : and' trutli which proceeds from love,
would becalled the son oflove.
Now it is taught in the doctrines of the New Church that the Lord is a
Divine man, whose Essence is Divine Lbve. Frora this Love, therefore,
as spiritual heat, proceeds Divine Truth as spiritual light. And it is in
this sense that the Son proceeded or came forlli from the Father. By Fa
ther, is signified the Lord as to Divine Love. These two terms, therefore,
denote two distinct principles appertaining to one and the tame Divine
FeisoQ.

III.] op THE LORD. 101
of the revealed Science of Correspondences, according
to which the Sacred Scriptures are composed through
out. And because in the internal sense of the Word,
truth is of a more clear, consistent, and luminous char
acter, and consequently is more powerful and effective
in its regenerating influence, (for the more clearly any
truth is seen, the more it affects us,) therefore this com
ing is said to be " with power and great glory."
This is a summary exposition of the meaning of
this text, according to the interpretation given of it in
the theological writings of Swedenborg ; — an interpre
tation, we observe, not natural or according to the letter,
but purely spiritual. Is this the true interpretation ?
Or, in other, words, is it one which is supported and con
firmed by the Sacred Scriptures themselves? We ap
peal to the law and the testimony.
First then, it appears evident from the repeated decla
rations of this faithful and true witness, that the Lord
is the WoM, or Divine Truth. In the gospel of John it
is thus written, " In the beginning was the Word, and
the Word was with God, and God was the Word. In
Hira, [i. e., in the Word,] was life ; and th6 life was the
light of raen, and the light shineth in darkness and the
darkness coraprehendeth it not. [This] was the True
Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the
world." (i. 1, 4,5.) It is also said that this Word or
Light " was in the world, and the world knew Him
not" ; that " He became flesh and dwelt among raen,"
&c.
Now we learn from the texts here cited, that God,
who became clothed with humanity — who came into
this natural world as the Lord Jesus Christ — is The
Word ; and also , that He, or the Word, is the light of
all raen, yet shining in darkness ; and that natural
light and darkness are not here referred to by these
terras, but spiritual, i. e., the light of truth which illus
trates, and the darkness of error which obscures the
human understanding must be obvious to every one.
In another passage of John's gospel, it is written that
Jesus said, " As long as I ara in the world, I am the
Light of the world." (ix. 5.) And again when the
10*

102 THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
people inquired, " Who is this Son of Man ?" the Lord's
answer was, " Yet a little while is the light with you.
Walk -w-hile ye have the light, lest darkness come upon
you : for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not
whither he goeth. While ye have the light, believe in
the light, that ye may be the children oi light,"
Here we have the testimony of the Lord himself,
that the Son of Man is the Light ; by which is evi
dently raeant not natural, but spiritual light, or Divine
Truth. Again : it is recorded in this sarae gospel, that
Jesus saith, "I ara come a light into the world, that who
soever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
He that rejecteth me and receiveth not my words, hath
one that judgeth him ; the Word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day." (xii. 46, 48.)
And again we read: "And Jesus said, for judg
raent I am come into this world ; that they who see
not might see, and that they who see might be made
blind." (ix.39.)
Now in one of these passages, we observe it is said
that the Lord came ifor judgment ; and in the other it
is said that the Word shall judge men. Hence we de
duce the unavoidable inference, that the Lord is the
Word, or Di-vine Truth itself
It is said also in other places that the Lord " came
down from heaven," (John vi. 38) : that " He who
cometh from above is above all," &;c. (iii. 31). And
when the people, on one occasion, told Jesus that " bread
from heaven," or " manna" was given to their fathers to
eat in the desert, and asked Him, " What sign shewest
thou then, that we raay see and believe thee ? What
dost thou work 1" He saith to them among other things
in reply, " I am the living bread which came down
from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall
live forever ; and the bread that I will give is my flesh,
which I will give for the life of the world. Verily,
verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the
Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, hath
eternal life ; and I will raise him up at the last day.

III.] OF THE LORD. 103
For my flesh is raeat indeed, and my blood is drink in
deed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood,
dwelleth in me, and I in him. This is that bread which
came down frora heaven : not as your fathers did eat
manna and are dead : he that eateth of this bread shall
live forever." (vi. 51, 59.) But the Jews understand
ing these words of the Lord in their strictly*^ literal
sense, " strove among themselves, saying. How can this
man give us his flesh to eat ?" And even the disciples,
" when they heard it, said. This is an hard saying ;
who can hear it ?" Then the Lord tells them by way
of explanation, " It is the Spirit that quickeneth ; the
flesh proflteth nothing ; the words that I speak unto
you are spirit and are life," {v, 63.)
Here, then, we have divine testimony that the Lord's
words are spirit and life, and are what is signifled by the
flesh and blood of the Son of Man ; and also by the liv
ing bread which came down from heaven, which the
Lord declares is himself
But there are other texts which afford incontroverti
ble evidence that the Son of Man, so often mentioned
in the New Testaraent, signifies the Word or Sacred
Scriptures ; or the Lord in respect to the principle of
Divine Truth,which is the sarae thing.
Every one must know that Divine Truth is not, and,
from its very nature, cannot be confined to time or place.
In itself it is the same now that it always has been, and
always must be ; the same with the angels in heaven as
with men on earth. It differs in different individuals, it
is true, on account of the difference in their moral qual
ity or state of reception ; for it is well known that the
same truth falling into different minds, will receive a
different forra and complexion, corresponding to the
difference in the form or quality of those minds. But
considered absolutely and in itself, Divine Truth is un
changeable — the same every where and always ; the
sarae in heaven and on earth ; the same yesterday, to
day, and forever. Now we read in the gospel of John,
that " No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that
came down from heaven, even the Son of Man who is
in heaven." (ui. 13.) These are the Lord's own words,

104 THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
*
while he was upon earth. And can it therefore be sup
posed that the- Son of Man here signifies that, natural or
material person which the Lord derived from the raoth
er Mary ? Certainly not ; for in respect to that. He had
not previously been in heaven, and, of course, could not
therefore have corae do-wn from, heaven. Neither could
it be said of Him, in this natural sense, that He was in
heaven while pronouncing these words. But if we un
derstand the Divine Truth to be here signified by the
Son of Man, the interpretation of the passage becomes
easy and intelligible ; for Truth, as we have reraarked,
is not controlled by the liraitations of time or space. It
is the rule of life to angels and raen, and is therefore at
the sarae tirae in heaven and on earth.
Again : the Son of Man is frequently spoken of in the
Evangelists as coraing to judge the world. To cite but
a single passage of this kind : " The Father judgeth'no
man, but hath committed all judgraent unto the Son :
And hath also given him authority to execute judgment
because He is the Son of Man." (John v. 22, 27.) Now
in the same gospel we find written the following pas
sage, which has been quoted once before, " He that re
jecteth me and receiveth not my -words, hath one that
judgeth hira ; the Word that I have spoken, the same
shall judge him in the last day." (John, xii. 48.) Can
any thing be more demonstrative than this ? It is said
in- Chapter Sth, and often elsewhere in the New Testa
ment, that the Son of Man shall judge the world ; and
here the Lord declares that it is his Word which shall
judge men. Whence we necessarily conclude that the
Son of Man is the Word, or the Divine Truth ; and
therefore signifies this when used in the Sacred Scrip
tures. Indeed this is distinctly affirmed by the Lord
himself in one passage, where He says, "I am the Way,
and the Truth, and the Life." (John xiv. 6.)
We cannot leave this part of our subject, without di
recting the attention of the reader to one raore text of
Scripture which is found in Rev. xix. It is this : " I
saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse ; and He
that sat on hira is called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness doth He judge and raake war. His eyes

III.] OF THE LORD. 105
were as a flame of fire, and on his head were raany
crowns. And He had a name written which no man
knew but He himself; and He was clothed in a ves
ture dipped in blood; and His name is called The
Word of God." Now it is a fact, which may seem
somewhat reraarkable to those who know nothing of
the internal sense of the Word, that, in every passage
where the Lord's second coming is spoken of, except this
in- the Revelation, He is called the Son of Man ; and in
this passage. He whom the Revelator saw sitting upon a
white horse, is called the word op God. According
to thfe Science of Correspondences which will be explain
ed in a future lecture, to sit or ride upon a white horse
when predicated of the Lord, signifies to illustrate the
mipds of raen, or to impart to thera a clear understand
ing of truth. This is done by means of the Word in its
spiritual sense, which is now unfolded, and is what is
signified by heaven being opened.
" By heaven being seen open," says Swedenborg, " is.
signified a revelation from the Lord and consequent
manifestation, as will be seen presently ; by a horse is
meant the understanding of the word, and by a white
horse .the interior understanding or meaning of the
Word ; and as this is signified by a white horse, and as
the spiritual sense is the interior meaning of the Word,
therefore that sense is hereby signified by a white
horse. > The reason why this is the coming of the
Lord, is, because by that sense it manifestly appears,
that the Lord is the Word, and that the Word treats of
Him alone, and that He is the God of heaven and earth,
and that from Him alone the New Church has its exis
tence. Every one who does not think beyond the sense
ofthe letter, believes that, when the last judgment shall
come to pass, the Lord will appear in the clouds of
heaven, with the angels and a sound of trumpets ; still
that this ist not meant, but that He will appear in the
Word, may be seen in the explanation above, n. 24,
692 ; and the Lord appears manifestly in the spirituai
sense of the Word ; from that sense, indeed, it is disco
vered not only that He i^ the Word, i. e. Divine Truth
itself, but that He is the inmost of the Word, and thence

10^ "' the SECOND COMING [lECT.
the all thereof, and also that" He is the one God, ia
whom there is a trinity, consequentlyithe only God of
heaven and earth, and raoreover that He carae into the
world to glorify his huraanity, i. e. to raake it divine."
{Apocalypse Revealed, n. 820.)
I think it must, by this time, appear evident to every
honest mind, that, by the Son of Man so often mention
ed in the New Testament, is signified the Lord as to
the Word, or Divine Truth. But genuine truth, or the
true meaning of the Word, lies not in the letter but in
the spirit ; i. e. in the internal or spiritual sense. Con
sequently a coming ofthe Lord would signify a coraing
of this internal sense to the understandings of men ; or
ia more luminous exhibition of Divine Truth to the
church, than what appears in the literal sense of Scrip
ture. It would signify a clearer and fuller unfolding
of God's Word, which is Truth, than was given to the
first Christian Church. A revelation therefore of the
spiritual sense of the Word, by means of the Science of
Correspondences not known to the first Christian
Church — of the laws ofthe spiritual world, and of truth
concerning the great and fundamental doctrines of re
ligion, which had become perverted by that church —
such a revelation, indeed, as the writings of the New
Church claim to be, would, according to the testiraony
of the S&cred Oracles, be a real conoing of the Lord, or
the Son of Man.
But we find it said in each of the gospels, where the
secopd appearing of the Son of Man is spoken of, that
He will be seen coming in the clouds, or in the clouds
of heaven. Also in the Revelation — a book, which, in
its spiritual sense, treats of the consuramation of the first
Christian Church, and of the Lord's second coraing to
establish a New Church, called the New Jerusalem —
we read, "Behold He cometh w;i^A cZowds." (i. 7.) And
again in another chapter of the same book, " And I
looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud
sat one like unto the Son of Man, having on his head
a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And
He that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the
earth ; and the earth was reaped." (xiv. 14, 16.) Now

III.] "^ op THE LORD. ' 107
if any one affirm that the second coining of IJie Lordis
to be in person, and upon the natural clouds above our
heads, and if he raaintain this position upon the ground
that the Sacred Scriptures, in their obvious and literal
sense, do so teach, then it raay also be affirraed upon
the authority of this same witness, that He will come as
a literal reaper, with a sharp sickle in his hand, which
he will thrust into the ripe harvest ofthe earth, and lit
erally reap ; or, as is said in a following verse, " gather
the clusters of the vine of the earth." For the Sacred
Scriptures do as really teach this as the other. And can
men of understanding have confidence in a principle of
interpretation, which, when fairly applied, would lead
to such absurd conclusions ? No. The Sacred Oracles,
rightly interpreted, nether teach that the Lord is to come
personally on the natural clouds of the sky, nor as a
literal reaper to reap thejjearth ; however they may ap
pear, to the apprehension of natural raen, to teach both.
Other passages, if necessary, raight be cited, where
the Lord's second advent is said to be in or upon the
clouds. It therefore becomes iraportant that we ascer
tain, if possible, the true meaning of this word clouds,
when used in the Scriptures.
If, as I think has been clearly shown, the Son of Man
is to be understood spiritually, as denoting the Divine
Truth of the Word, or the Lord in respect to the princi
ple of truth which proceeds from Him and is Himself,
then it is manifest that ctowrfs must also have a spiritual
sense ; for we can hardly suppose that Divine Truth
could come upon the literal clouds in our atmosphere.
What then are we to understand by clouds in this pas
sage ? To this question the writings ofthe New Church
furnish an answer at once, rational and intelligible.
They teach us that clouds is a term employed, in cor-
respondential or symbolical language, to denote the lit
eral sense of the Word, whereby the spiritual sense, or
the genuine truth, is more or less obscured ; and conse
quently, that the coming of the Son of Man in the
clouds denotes the manifestation to human minds of the
spiritual sense of the Word in the clouds of the letter ;
which is done by means of the revealed Science of Cor-

108 ' - THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
respondences. These clouds are called in Matthew, the .
clouds of heaven, because they obscure the light of
heaven ; because they veil from human understandings
the genuine truth according to which the angels live,
or those pure la-ws of heavenly order which men, in
their natural state, are not prepared to understand or
obey. It is in mercy to man, therefore, that the Lord
has veiled in clouds the genuine truth of his Word-.
How far is this signification of clouds supported by
reason and Scripture ?
In common discourse, nothing is more common than
to hear men say of a subject which is yet unintelligible
to them, that it is misty, cloudy, or enveloped in a cloud.
This is often said of the writings of Swedenborg, by
persons who are but ill-informed of the real character of
these writings, or who have not studied them sufficient
ly to comprehend their meaning. But when the truth
breaks in upon the mind, and the subject not well un
derstood before, becomes clear and intelligible, then it is
said that the raist is blown away, or the cloud that hung
around it has disappeared. Now the obscurity or cloud
iness of a subject may arise from one of two causes ;
either from the impropriety of the language — the un-
suitableness of the terms employed by the speaker or
writer, or from our own imperfect knowledge of the
language, and ignorance of the trae meaning of the
terms made use of. Thus the cloud may either be
in the mind — in the ignorance of the other person, who
has failed to clothe his subject in appropriate language,
or it may be in ourselves — in our own ignorance of the
proper meaning of his language. If our difficulty in
understanding a subject arise from the forraer of these
two causes, then it can be removed and the subject be
made clear to our minds only by sorae further explana
tion, or by the use of different and raore appropriate
terms. But if its obscurity arise from the latter cause,
then, since the cloud is within ourselves, it will disap
pear when our ignorance has disappeared, or when we
have learned the raeaning of the terms employed. Then
the very words, which before were meaningless, and,
like a dense cloud, concealed from our minds the truth

»

III.] OF th:^lord. 10^
in relation to the subject which they were employed tr
elucidate, become significant and full of meaning
Then these very words are luminous, and the truth ap
pears in or upon the clouds.
Now if we carry to the Word the consideration jus
presented, we shall be able to see that the cloud, or thi
whole cause of its obscurity and unintelligibleness, lie
within ourselves ; — in our ignorance of the style ii
which the Word is composed, and of the trae meanin;
of the language there employed. That the languag
used in the Word is without imperfection, and perfectb
appropriate to the subjects treated of, is evident from th ¦.
perfection and divine wisdom of its Author. Whe., ,
men shall have learned the trae meaning of this lai.
guage, and thus shall have removed the cloud of ignc
ranee from their own minds, then even the letter of th ,
Word, which before appeared so cloudy and dark, wi
be bright and luminous with the trath that beams witl.
in. Then will appear the Son of Man in the clouds t
heaven. Having shown that the familiar language of men, o
account of a coramon perception ofthe correspondenc
between natural and spiritual clouds, furnishes son
presumptive evidence at least, in favor of the spiritu
signification given to this word in the writings of S-vi-
denborg, let us tum now to the still stronger argume '
from Scripture.
We Imow that Jehovah is often spoken of in the £
cred Yolume as being encompassed with clouds —
dwelling in clouds — as riding upon the ¦ clouds — 6.
Thus it is written in Psalms : " Sing unto God, si
praises to his name, extol Him that rideth upon i
. clouds,* by his name Jah, and rejoice before Hii
(Ix-viii. 4.) Again, in Isaiah : " Behold Jehovah rid
upon a cloud swiftly" (xix. 1.) And in Deut. : " Ther
none like unto the God of Jeshurun who rideth in ¦
i
* This word, filSIS' gneraboth, which, in our common English
sion, is rendere'd heavens, properly signifies the ^evenings ; i. e. si .
thing respectively dark or obscure. 11

iV

110^ THE SECOND COMING [lECT-
heaveiiSi and in his magnificence Upon the clouds.*"
(xxxiii. 26.) And in Pslams it is said, " Jehovah raaketh
the clouds his chariot." (civ. 3.)
Now do such passages as these convey, I will not
say a rational, but an intelligible idea, if clouds be un
derstood literally, as referring to the watery particles in
our atmosphere ? Certainly not. But if they be under
stood to denote the literal sense of the Word,t (which
is the spiritual signification of clouds,) then the mean
ing of these texts becomes very plain. For siace the
spiritual sense of the word — the sense in which the
angels understand it — is magnificent in comparison
with its literal sense, and since the spiritual sense rests
upon the literal, with which it also corresponds, and
through the raediura of which genuine truth is convey
ed to human minds, therefore it is said in Deuteron
omy that God rideth in his magnificence upon the
clouds. To ride, when predicated of the Lord, signifies
to enlighten the understanding, as has been said. And
to ride upon the clouds would therefore signify to en
lighten the raind by means of spiritual truth communi
cated through the medium of the literal sense of the
Word ; or by an influx of spiritual into natural truth.
Hence also it may be understood what is signified by
Jehovah making the clouds his chariot, which would
be wholly unintelligible without the spiritual sense.
The literal sense ofthe Sacred Volume is the vehicle,
thus the chariot, for conveying to our rainds things ce-
lelestial and divine — the love and wisdora of God.
Hence the cloud of the letter becomes most truly the
chariot of Jehovah.
Again we read in Job, that " God bindefh up the wa-
* This is the true meaning ofthe Hebrew word tJ'ihnfiJ ^hehaqim, which
is translated sSy in our eommon version — as any one may see by eonsult-
ing. Gesenius' Hebrew Lexicon. Moreover tlie same word is translated
clouds in other places, as in Psalras xxxvi. 5, cviii. 4 ; and therefore it should
be so translated here.
t It is to be observed that the Word in the sense of the letter is not equally
obscure in every part. In some places this cloud is so thin that the hght of
the internal sense shines through and readily appears to every one : wliile
in others itis so dense that we do not see any light at all; — many passages
in the literal sense are wholly unintelligible. And herein we observe a per
fect cprrespondence between spiritual and natural clouds.

III.] OP THE LORD. Ill
ters in his clouds." (xxvi. 8.) These words, agreea
bly to the language of correspondence, signify that spi
ritual truths, which are here denoted by the ivaters, are
bound up or comprehended in ultimate truths ; i. e., in
the truths of the literal sense of the Word.
Again in Lamentations ; " How hath the Lord cover
ed the daughter of Zion with a cloud in his anger, and
cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of
Israel !" &c. (ii. 1.) Israel and the daughter of Zion
e-ddently signify the Church. And when the beauty
of Israel is cast down to the earth, i. e., when the Church
is consummated on account of falses of doctrine and
evil of life, then it does not see the spiritual sense of the
Word, or acknowledge that there is any such sense ;
and by resting wholly in the sense of the letter, it re
mains in comparative darkness as if under a thick cloud.
Thus it is that " the Lord coyers the daughter of Zion
with a cloud," as is here said. So also in Joel, where
the coming ofthe Lord and the end ofthe former Church
is treated of, it is said that it shall be " a day of clouds
and of thick darkness." (ii. 2.) No one can suppose
that natural clouds and darkness are here meant : but
this language is used in reference to the state of the
Jewish Church at the time of the Lord's advent. The
state of that Church, as we know, was one " of clouds
and thick darkness ;" i. e., it was immersed in gross
falses which darken the understanding, and which it
had nevertheless confirmed by some appearances of
truth in the letter ofthe Word. By day, according to
Swedenborg, is denoted state.
Take another text from Psalms ; " God's strength is
in the clouds." (Ixviii. 34.) Now what intelligible
idea do we derive from these words, if clouds be under
stood literally, as denoting the vapor that floats over our
heads ? Not the least. But in the writings of Swe
denborg we are shown that Divine Truth in the letter
of the Word, is in its ultimate and fullest forra — hence
in its strength. The Word of God, in its literal sense,
is brought down and accoraraodated to the lowest states
of men in the natural world ; and it must be flrst obey
ed in this lowest or literal sense ; otherwise the Lord

112 THE SECOND COMING [lECT.
can have no power to remove from us our e-\dls. For
example, take the precept " Thou shalt not steal" ; this
has a spiritual as well as a literal sense. But until man
keeps this precept literally, the Lord cannot reraove
from his mind the evil which is condemned by its spir
itual sense. Moreover by means of the literal sense of
the Word, divine truth can descend to men, and affect
them in their lowest states. Through this raediura, the
Lord hath power or " strength" to reach and save, if
they are willing to be saved, even the raost abandoned
and profligate of our race ; and thus He hath all power
on earth as well as in heaven. Hence we raay see why
it is said that " God's strength is in the clouds."
But Divine Trath proceeding frora the Lord, cannot
descend lower than the state of the natural raan, or
than the literal sense of the Word which is adapted to
this state. It terminates in the literal sense, and rests
upon it like a house upon its foundation. Accordingly
it is said in Psalms, " For thy mercy is great above the
heavens, and thy Truth [reacheth] unto the clouds ;
(cviii. 4 :) and the same words occur again in chapter
Ivii. V. 10. Who does not perceive how absurd it would
be to speak of Divine Trath extending to the literal
clouds ? But, by means of the immutable law of cor
respondence, it does reach even to the letter of the
Word, which is signified by clouds in their spiritual
sense. Moreover we find that, on various important occa
sions, when divine truths of an exalted character were
to be announced, the revelation, according to the Sacred
Record, was made from the clouds. And this was
done to represent, as it does by correspondence, the
manner in which all divine truth is comraunicated to
man. It is uttered from the clouds. The Lord, who
is the inmost, the soul and life of all Scripture — the
very Truth itself— addresses man through the medium
ofthe literal sense of the Word, thus from; the clouds.
Hence when the Decalogue was given on raount Sinai,
we read that "the Lord said unto Moses, Lo, I corae unto
thee in a thick cloud :" and so " it carae to pass onthe
third day in the morning, that there were thunderings

III.] OP the lord. 113
and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount," &c.
(Ex. xix. 9, 25.) Now if we regard the thick cloud
here mentioned as the symbol of the Word in its literal
sense, from, or through the medium of which the Lord
comes to us, and communicates to our minds pure
spiritual truth, how beautiful and expressive does this
language becorae.
Again : when Moses was called up into the mount
to receive the tables of the law, it is written that " a
cloud covered the mount. And the glory of Jehovah
abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six . »
days : and the seventh day He called unto Moses out ¦^,
ofthe midst ofthe cloud." (Ex. xxiv. 15, 16.)
Again : when the children of Israel were journeying
through the wilderness, we are told that "Jehovah went
before them by day in a pillar ofa cloud, to lead thera
the way." (Ex. xiii. 21.) By these words is denoted the
comparative cloudiness or obscurity of trath, previous
to our regeneration, or while the Lord is leading us
through the wilderness of sin and error, and conduct
ing us to that heavenly state of mind which is denoted
by the land of Canaan. He does not let his trath shine
upon us with noon-day splendor, for He sees that we
could not bear it. It would reveal such a mountain of
evil within us, that we should, be disheartened and
crushed beneath the load. He therefore mercifully tem
pers his truth to our state — veils and softens its efful
gence with a cloud. And throughout our regeneration
we must look continually to Him in the cloud ; we
must keep the Lord as manifested in the flesh, or his
truth as revealed through the letter of Scripture contin
ually before us. Thus the literal sense of the word,
irradiated by the genuine divine truth within, is the
pillar of a cloud, in which by day, i- e., in our most
lucid states of raind, the Lord goeth before to lead us
on our heavenly way.
Many more passages might be adduced in confirma
tion of the trae Scripture signification of clouds. But
it is unnecessary. Every candid mind will perceive
from what has been said, that this word when used in
Scripture, has a spiritual meaning ; and moreover that
11*

114 the second coming [lect.
its meaning, as revealed in the works of Swedenborg,
finds ample support in the word of Qpd..
The argument which has been offered in this lecture,
is brief and simple. It was shown :
1. That fhe prevailing modes of interpreting those
passages in the Word which foretell a second coming
of the Lord, will none of them stand .the test of a se
vere criticism- ; and that the coramon idea upon this
subject in the Old Church, is not supported by, and
cannot be reconciled -with the positive teachings of
Scripture when fairly ^^^ consistently, interpreted.
Hence we infer that the common idea upon this sub
ject, hitherto entertained, has not been in agreement-
with the tru^ ; and that the, raost prevalent interpreta
tions of passages which relate to it, have been unauthor
ized and false.
2. That Di-vine Truth is one of the essential princi
ples in the Lord ; and the Son of Man, as appears from
many passages in the Word, clearly denotes the Lord
in respect to this principle of Divine Trath. And
wherever the Lord's second coming is spoken of, He is
called the Son of Man, except in Rev. xix. 13, where
" his name is called the Word of God." From this we
infer that the predicted coming ofthe Lord is hot to be
a personal hut a. spiritual coming:, a coining to his
church of the Word ; i. e., of the genuine spiritual
truth, which is contained within the. letter of the Sacred
Scriptures. 3. That it is abundantly manifest frora many texts
of Scripture, that clouds, when mentioned there, are
not to be understood in fheir literal sense, but as denot
ing the apparent truths in the letter of the Word ; which
letter softens, tempers, and veils the resplendent truth
of the internal or spiritual sense, as natural clouds do
the light ef the sun. And this is why the Lord's com
ing is said to be in the clouds of heaven-
I have thus endeavored to present the doctrine of the
New Jerusalem Church concermng the Lord's second
appearing, together with some of , the immutable testi
mony on which it rests. A doctrine at once beautiful,
intelligible, rational, scriptural, and in harmony with

III.] op the lord. 115
all we know of the order of Providence, and of the ope
rations of the Divine Love. It is a coraing of the Lord
to human rainds in the power and glory ofhis own Di
vine Truth ; so that raan, by means of greater light, may
attain to higher degrees of purity and love, and to a more
intimate consociation with the angels and conjunction
with the Lord. It is such a coraing as to reveal, in an
eminent degree, the love and glory of God ; for it is
such as^ to lay low the mountains of/ human pride and
selfishness, and to show the exalted character of true
humility and neighborly love.
Sublimely beautiful and interesting is this second ap
pearing of the Son of Man ! PowerfliJ- and glorious
are tl:(^ truths of the internal sense of the Word now
reveated ! For they show us that the Lord's words are
indeed spirit and life ; that the Sacred Scriptures are not
dead, but have a living Divine Soul, and, when "rightly
understood, are in perfect agreeraent with themselves,
with right reason, and with all true science. This
spiritual sense or soul of the Bivinq. Word, is the cen
tral principle — the life and soul of all true knowledge.
It is the great sun at the centre of the intellectual and
moral world, from which all enduring systems of gov
ernment, philosophy, morals and religion, must receive
their light and warmth, and according to whose guiding
wisdom they must proceed if they continue to revolve.
It coraes too — this glorious truth — with raighty power ;
with power to save raen's souls from- the infernal do
minion of e-vil loves and false persuasions ; with power
to renovate the desert church, and malce her rejoice and
blossom as the rose. Already the mountain mists are
beginning to break away and disappear before the rising
Sun. Already have science, philosophy, government,
art, felt fhe power of the second coming : and more and
more are the healing influences of the New Dispensa
tion to be seen and felt in the spiritual renovation of
the church. Well then may " 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 w-ater of hfe freely. He that testifieth thesQ
things saith, Surely I come quickly ; Amen. Even so,
come. Lord Jesus."

116 necessity op an internal [lect.

LECTURE IV.

the necessity op admitting an internal sense
TO the word shown from the scriptures
themselves.

" A BOOK WRITTEN WITHIN AND ON THE BACKSIDE — SEALED WITH
SEVEN SEALS." — Rei>. V. I.

In the last lecture we presented the doctrine of the
New Jerasalem Church concerning the Lord's second
coraing, and some of the Scripture testimony whereon
this doctrine rests. And I think it must be obvious to
all, from the passages of the Word therein adduced, that
this coming, according to the Sacred Oracles themselves,
is not to be in person, nor on the natural clouds, as is
commonly supposed, but in the power and glory of
spiritual truth, or of the intemal sense of God's Holy
Word. I think it must have been made abundantly
evident that clouds, when raentioned in the Sacred
Scriptures, do not signify the watery particles in our
atmosphere, but the apparent truths in the literal sense
of the Word ; which troths, to the understanding of
the natural man, obscure the truth of the spiritual sense,
as natural clouds obscure the brightness of the sun.
Hence the reason why it is said in the Word, that
" clouds are round about Jehovah," and that " upon all
the glory there shall be a covering." And hence the
coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of hea-ven, de
notes a more clear and luminous exhibition of Divine
Truth ; or a revelation of the internal sense of the
Word through the clouds of the letter, as we are taught
in the writings of the New Church.
But some are perhaps ready to ask; "Why should

IV.] sense to the scriptures. 117
there have been any cloud about the Holy Oracles ?
Why did the Lord place this covering upon the intemal
glory of his Word ? Why was it not coraposed in such
a manner that the genuine trath could be readily per
ceived by every one ?"
And why, /would ask, was not this natural -world
so constituted, that any one, say a child or an ignorant
savage, might comprehend its interior structure and
understand all its la-ws, by a single glance of the eye ?
Why is it so difficult to understand and explain the laws
of the natural phenoraeria we witness ; and why do so
many things around us appear different from what they
really are ? Why does not a flash of lightning reveal
at once to every beholder the nature and laws of the
electric fluid ? Or those flickering pencils of light that
dance in the northern sky, why do they not proclaim
the cause of the aurora borealis ? Why does the color
of trees and flowers appear to be one of their own in
herent properties, when in reality all their color belongs
to the sun? Why dothe sun, moon, and stars appear
to rise and go round our earth once in twenty four
hours, when in reality they do not ; but the earth turns
round in that time, and thus causes this appearance?
Why should the God of Nature delude his intelligent
creatures with such feillacies, and so often suffer the ap
pearance of things to contradict the reality 1 Ans-iver
me these questions, and I -will tell you why there is a
cloud or covering upon all the glory of God^ Word ;
for He who gave the Word, made and governs the
world also ; and the sarae laws of order therefore, which
appertain to the one, belong also to the other. Many
things in the Word appear different fr^ra what they
really are, just as they do in the nafiiral v/orld. Ahd
this obvious answer, which must occur to every one, to
the quesiion why there exist such fallacies in nature,
viz. that it is according to divine order, because the
world could not have been constituted otherwise than it
is, is the true answer to the question why the appear
ance of trath in the letter of the Word so often differs
from the genuine truth itself The Word of the Lord
is not less orderly in its construction than his -works.

118 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
And it could not have been written without the clouds,
or any otherwise than according to the fixed and eternal
law of correspondence between natural and spiritual
things, and be a divine composition. And the many
fallacious appearances of truth in the literal sense of
Scripture, can with no more propriety be urged as evi
dence of ainy imperfection in God's Word, than the fal
lacious appearance of raany natural things can be urged
as evidence of any imperfection in nature. The truth
is that the clouds of which we have spoken, do not re
ally belong to the Word itself, but to huraan rainds ;
just as natural clouds, which obscure the light of the
sun, do not belong to the sun itself, but to our own
planet. And in proportion as the spirits of men are
purified from evil loves, and brought into a state of
heavenly order, or of conformity to spiritual truths, the
clouds will disappear from the letter and the intemal
sense of the Word be unveiled.
Again, it is asked, why has not the intemal sense of
the Word (if there be such a sense,) been revealed to
men long before ? With equal propriety might it be
asked, why was the Lord's first, advent so long delayed ?
And the true answer to both questions is, that each of
these events took place when the fulness of time had
come. The world was no more prepared for the revela
tions that are now made at any period previous to their
announcement, than it was prepared for the Lord's first
advent at any time prior to his appearing upon earth.
And inasmuch as men were not prepared for this rev
elation before, it could not have been understood or ra
tionally received, and therefore would not have been
useful. Upon this subject Swedenborg. remarks as fol
lows :
" The reason why the science of correspondences,
which is the key to the spiritual sense of the Word,
was not discovered to later ages, was, because the
Christians of the primitive Church were men of such
great simplicity, that it was impossible to discover it to
them ; for . had it been discovered, they would have
found no use in it, nor would they have understood it."
—{Doctrine concerning the Sacred Scriptures, n. 24.)

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 119
That the sacred Scriptures are indeed " the power of
God and the wisdom of God," we have the fullest evi
dence in the civilizing and huraanizing influence which
they have exerted araong all nations where they have
been generally received and acknowledged. Wherever
the written Word of God has penetrated, the fountains
of knowledge h ave been opened to man . And wherever
this Word has been most thoroughly studied and best
understood, there the human mind has been most en
lightened upon all subjects which appertain to the wel
fare of raan ; there the principles of human government
have been best understood, and the arts and sciences,
and everything which distinguishes civilized above
savage life, have flourished raost. I would ask the in
fidel, and sceptic, and all who are inclined to reject the
Bible as a revelation of God's will to raan, to think of
this fact, and weigh it well. I would have them look at
South Africa, look at Araerica ; look at New Holland,
look at England ; — and accouut, rationally if they can,
for the araazing difference in point of knowledge and
raental cultivation which exists between these coun
tries, without ascribing to the Sacred Oracles a more
than human power and origin : -without admitting that
the Word of God is indeed the light of the world.
If, then (as there are the strongest reasons for be
lieving), the Sacred Scriptures are indeed Divine Truth,
—the very wisdora of God, and the only true Light to
guide man in the path to heaven, certainly there is no
subject of human inquiry of such momentous concern to
all who desire the life of heaven, as is the question What
do the Sacred Scriptures really teach ? This is the ques
tion which has divided the first Christian Church into so
raany conflicting sects, and which is every year becom
ing more and more embarrassing — more and more
difficult for theologians themselves to answer -with con
fidence, as religious sects multiply. Every one appeals
to the Scriptures as authority for what he believes, and
each alike can confirm his creed by the appearances of
truth in some parts of the Word. The raost irrational
dogmas that have ever been maintained by any sect
in Christendom, have found some support and confir-

120 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
mation in the literal sense of the Word. And it is
well .known, that many of the religious sects differ
widely in their opinions, and some hold views which
are diametrically opposed to those entertained by others,
upon subjects, too, which are acknowledged to be of
primary importance. Each sect can boast of leamed
and talented men among its champions, and each ap
peals to the Word of God in support of its own pecu
liar doctrines.
Since things are sp, is it any wonder that raany hon
est, observing, and reflecting men should ask them-'
selve^, as they often do, " How is_ this ? Is the Bible
indeed the Word of God, and does.it contradict itself?
Is there^the same conflict between the things there
taUght, as exists between the different religious sects
which appeal to its authority for support? Has this
Volume really so many different faces, and an approving
smile for so many widely differing sects ? Ef so, where
will be the end of religious controversy ? — When will
these desolating wars in the Church cease ? If not so,
then what do the Sacred Scriptures really teach, and
how may we be sure of it ?"
Many an honest seeker after trath has often found
himself erabarrassed with questions of this sort. And
if, in his perplexed state of mind, he undertakes to exa
mine the Sacred Volurae for himself, with a desire of
learning whether it, be the Word of God, and what it
really teaches, is he then relieved from all erabarrass
ment?. Does he not flnd that sorae parts ofthe Word
appear to contradict others ? That some parts appear
to contradict trae science? That some appear to
countenance immorahty? That sorae apjoear, unim
portant and trivial, and wholly unworthy the Irvine
mind? And di3^ he not find many passages from
which he can extroct no intelligible raeaning whatever?
And if, according to the aclmowledged principles of in
terpretation in the Old Church, the obvious or appa
rent meaning of Scripture be its true and only mean
ing, how can he reconcile all the things which he
there finds, with the idea that the Bible is really what
it purports to be— the Word of God ?

iv.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 121
Without attempting in the ^ present lecture to illus
trate or explain the nature of the intemal sense of the
Word by examples, or to offer any direct evidence ofthe
existence of such a sense, we will here endeavor, in
few words, siraply to state what it is.
Upon this subject we learn frora the writings of Swe
denborg, that, as there is a natural and a spiritual woirld
united by correspondence, or as there is a natural and a
spiritual — a body and a soul — appertaining to man, so
there exists in the Sacred Scriptures a natural and a
spiritual, or an external and an internal sense. And as
the soul and body of man are united in one person, and
perfectly correspond with each other — the soul flowing
into and fllling every part of the body — so the spiritual
and literal senses of the Word are united and form' one
by correspondence ; the letter being fllled and pervaded
with the spirit. And as the body of man hath no life in
itself, and dies when separated from the spirit, so the
letter of the Word hath no life in itself, and, separate
from the spiritual sense, is dead. The literal sense is
natural, treating for the raost part of objects and events
-vvhich belong to the natural world, and is therefore
adapted to the states of natural men and children ; the
spiritual sense is above the natural and treats of things
which belong to the spiritual world, or to the human
rajnd ; of the inflnitely various states of human life ;
and consequently is adapted to the state of angels and
spiritual raen. The literal sense is Divine Truth in
obscurity, and hence it is as a cloud ; the spiritual sense
is Divine Truth in its brightness and true glory. The
literal sense is as the clothing of man, whife the spirit
ual is as the man himself And as those parts of the
body which man has occasion to use most frequently —
those in which all his senses are ultimated, viz. his face
and hands — are usually left naked, so those parts of the
Word which are most needed for spiritual use, are, as
it were, naked : i. e. the cloud of the letter is so thin as
scarcely to veil the internal sense. To quote the lan
guage of Swedenborg:
" Divine truths in the literal sense are rarely found
naked, but clothed ; in which state they are called the
12

122 NECESSITY OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.'
appearances of truth, and are more accommodated to the
apprehension of the simple, who are not used to any
elevation of their thoughts above visible objects. The
Woird in that (the literal) sense, is like a man clothed,
whose face and hands are naked. All things necessary
to the life of man, and consequently to his salvation,
are naked ; but the rest are clothed ; and in many places
where they are clothed, they shine through the clothing,
as the face shines through a veil of thin silk. {Doctrine
of the Sacred Scriptures, n. 51, 55.)
These few remarks will convey some idea of what is
to be understood by the internal sense of the Sacred
Scriptures. But this subject will be more fully ex
plained and illustrated in succeeding lectures.
In order to sho-w the absolute necessity of admitting
the existence of a spiritual sense to the Word, we proceed
now to notice some of the difficulties to be encountered,
upon the supposition that the Word does not contain
any such sense ; or that the obvious and literal, mean
ing of Scripture is its true and only meaning. First,
let us see if there be not statements in different parts
ofthe Word, which, if understood according to the lit
eral sense, manifestly contradict each other. We shall
notice only a few of these.
In Numbers, xxiii. 19, it is written, " God is not a
man that He should lie ; neither the son of man that
He should repent." Again in 1 Sam. xv. 29 : " For
He is not a man that He should repent." Likewise in
Ps. ex. 4, it is said, " The Lord hath sworn and will
not repent" ; and in Jer. iv. 28, " Because I have spoken,
I have purposed, and will not repent," But in -the
same prophecy (xviii, 8,) itis written "If that natiOn
agamst whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil,
I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them."
Also in 1 Sam. xv. 3.5, " And the Lord repented that-
He had made Saul King over Israel." Again in Jonah :
" God repented of the evfl that He had said He would
do unto them [the Ninevites] ; and He did it not." (iii.
Now inasmuch as it is affirmed with equal distinct
ness in the letter of the Word, that the Lord does repent

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 123
and does not repent, it is manifest that one of the asser
tions must be false, if the texts in which they occur
have no other than a literal sense ; because they con
tradict each other. «,
Again : it is written in Psalms that " God is angry
[with the wicked] every day." (vii. 11.) And in Isai
ah, " Because they have cast away the law' of Jehovah
of hosts, and despised the Word of the Holy One of Is
rael ; therefore is the anger of Jehovah kindled against
his people." (v. 24, 25.) There are also many more
passages wherein anger and wrath are predicated of the
Lord according to the letter of the text. Can these pas
sages be literally true ? ¦ If so, how are they to be recon
ciled with others which forbid anger, and enjoin love
to all, even to our enemies. As in Psalms : " Cease
from anger and forsake wrath," (xxxvii. 8 ;) and in
Matthew : " Love your enemies," &c. (v. 44.) For if
anger be a good quality or emotion, why should men
be forbidden to exercise it ? But if, on the other hand,
it be an emotion originating in evil, why should it be
predicated of the Lord, as is often the case, unless there
be some way of understanding such texts different from
their obvious and literal meaning?
It is said again in Exodus, that, for a certain evil deed
there mentioned, " thou shalt give life for life, eye for
eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn
ing for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe."
(xxi. 23, 24, 25.) This text, if it contain no other sense
than that ofthe letter, is manifestly contradicted by these
words ofthe Lord in Matthew, which forbid the retali
ation of an injury ; " Ye l:^ave heard that it hath been
said. An eye for an eye. and a tootli for a tooth : But I
say unto you that ye resist not evil ; but whosoever
shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the
other also." (v. 38, 39.)
Again : in Matthew's Gospel, where the purchase of
the potter's field with the money that Judas received as
the reward of his treachery is spolcen of, we find it thus
written : "' Then was fulfilled that which was spoken
by Jereray the prophet, saying. And they took the thirty
pieces of silver, the price of hiih that was valued, whora

124 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
they of the children of Israel did value, and gave them
for the potter's field, as the Lord appointed me." (xxvii.
9, IO:)- Now although this text is not contradicted by
any other, yet we find nothing like it in the prophecy
of Jeremiah where it is said to occur. The only pas
sage in the Old Testament which bears any resem
blance to it, is found in Zechariah (xi. 12, 13 :) a fact
which it is not easy to explain (if there be no internal
sense to the Word,) without admitting (what indeed
some commentators have not hesitated to do,) that the
inspired penman was here Tnistaken ! But when the
internal sense of the Word as now revealed, is seen and
acknowledsred, the difficulty which here exists accord
ing to the literal sense, finds an easy solution -without
any such dangerous admission or presumptuous con-
clusion*as this. For, according to Swedenborg, all pro
pei"' names used in Scripture have an intemal sense,
and denote some peculiar mental quality or state of life ;
and the text above cited is one of that character or
quality which is denoted by the prophet Jeremiah.
Hence it is said to be spoken by hira, although in the
literal sense it is not.
In another passage of the sarae Evangelist, which de
scribes the cruel and insulting treatraent of the Lord at
the hour of his cracifixion, it is written, "And the
thieves {ol ^axai — plural) also which were crucified
with Him, cast the same in his teeth." But 1 .uke says
that only one of them was guilty of this brutality, and
that he was rebuked for it by the other, who, instead of
mocking, " said unto Jesus, Lord reraember me when
thou com^est into thy kingdom."
Such are some ofthe discrepances and contradictory
statements which occur in the literal sense of the word.
Others of a similar character might be adduced, were it
necessary. But it is sufficient here to remark, that, in
the internal sense these statements are seen to be nei
ther discrepant nor contradictory, but in perfect agree
ment. There are other passages of Scripture, which if taken
in their .stricfly literal sense, manifestly contradict the
teachings of true science. Take, for exaraple, the chap-

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 125
ter with which the Bible commences, and which con
tains what is commonly called the Mosaic account of
the creation of the world. Itis abundantly proved by
facts which geological research has brought to light
within the few last years, that this account of the crea
tion given in Genesis cannot be literally true. So con
vincing indeed is the evidence furnished by the science
of Geology, that the best biblical scholars of all denom
inations no longer think of adhering to the literal sense
of the word day in this chapter ; but understand it to
signify an indefinite period of time. , In this way they
endeavor to harmonize this chapter with geological
facts. And although this signification of day, which
it is now generally supposed to have, is merely natural,
since it conveys an idea of time which belongs to the
natural world, still it is a departure from the strict sense
of the letter, and may therefore be regarded as an ap'r
proximation .towards the truth — an approximation
which theologians have been compelled to make, by the
indubitable testimony of modern science.
But there is a piece of evidence upon this point, of a
different kind and of quite recent discovery, which is,
if possible, even niore conclusive than that fiirnished by
geological research. This evidence is contained in the
following extract from a number of a French periodical
just received.*
" We read in a report rendered of the doings of the
Academy of Sciences, at its session of Oct. 5 :
' M. Thilorier submitted to the Academy a work of
peculiar interest in relation to Chronology. Two texts
serve as the basis of his argument, in which philology,
history, and astronomy are engaged at once. On the
one hand, an Arabian author expresses himself thus*:—
" During the reign of the Calif Almamoun, there was
found engraven upOn the great pyramid an inscription
which showed at what time it was erected ; that time
was when Lyra was found under the sign of Cancer.
On calculating, we find twice thirty-six thousand
years." Changing this twice thirty-six thousand years
* See La Nouvelle Jerusalem R^vue, Sept, 1840.
12*

126 NECESSITY OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.
4nfo'as many synodical revoliltions of the moon, and
interpreting the astronomical indication accordingly,
the commentator finds that the erection of the great
pyramid is carried back as far as 45U0 years before the
¦Christian era. On the other hand a hyeroglyphic le
gend recently discovered in one of the chambers of the
great pyramid, and which M. Thilorier has deciphered,
says ' that under the reign of Cheops, Lyra rose at noon
on the day of the summer solstice.' Starting from this
new text, the author has ascertained by means pf a pre
cession sphere, that, under the latitude of Memphis, the
astronomical phenomenon indicated by the legend must
have happened about the year 4500 before the Christian
&m,.' " _ •»
Here then are two different texts, yet agreeing to
gether in a most remarkable manner ; and both of them
place the construction ofthe great pyramid at an epoch
more remote, according to common chronology, than
the creation of the world ; which proves in a manner
the most conclusive, that the Mosaic account in Genesis
is not to be literally understood, or as an account of the
creation of this natural world. jf\nd the writer in the
French Review states that the Acaderay of Sciences at
Paris has undertaken to verify the calculation of M.
Thilorier. But, independent both of this historical fact and of
geological science, there are reasons for believing that
this account of the creation in Genesis cannot refer to
this natural world, or be literally true. For whoever
reads the account attentively, will see that light is said
to have been created on the first day, and divided from
the darkness ; whereas the sun, moon, and stars were
not raade untfl the fourth day. IVow, it certainly is not
in accordance with the laws of Divine order, nor can
we conceive it possible, that light should first be created
and exist without any luminous body from which it
emanated ; and the difficulty of so conceiving becomes
still greater, when we find it said there was such a di
vision between the light and darkness on the first day
of creation, as to form day and night. Moreover, it is
said {v. 14, 16, 17, 18) that the lights, viz., the sun,

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPURES. 127,.
moon, and stars, which -were produced on the fourth
day of creation, were placed in the firmament, araong '
other, purposes, to divide the day from, the night.
Again : it is related that the vegetable kingdom was
created on thcthird day, which was before the forma
tion of the sun, whose influence we know is now es
sential to the creation or growth of vegetables. And
if, according to the opinion of those Avho endeavor to
reconcile geological facts with this account of the crea
tion, day be understood to signify an indefinite period
of time — perhaps of many thousand years duration — ¦
then it is necessary to admit that the earth was clothed
with vegetable life during all this long period befoje the'
sun, raoon, or stars were created. And then the literal ,
signification of morning and evening must also be de
parted from ; for if day he not understood to signify a
period of twenty-four hours, it is manifest that raorning
and evening cannot be understood according to' their
coramon acceptation. And what idea is then to be at
tached to the night, which, on account of darkness, was
divided frora the day ?
We see, therefore, that there are difiiculties in this his
tory of an internal kind, which are absolutely insur
mountable, if it be understood as containing an account
of the creation of this natural world.
Then there is the account of the deluge, which, taken
in its literal sense, is manifestly irreconcilable with
trae science. For, to say nothing of the improbability
that God would literally destroy by drowning, not only
the whole human race, but every beast, and fowl, and
creeping thing, and living substance on the earth, on
account of the wickedness of men — to pass by this, we
may safely affirm that, according to what modern science
has raade known to us of the laws of storms, it could
not possibly have rained upon all the face of the earth
for the length of time there mentioned — forty days and
forty nights. And even adraitting the possibility of
this, there could not have fallen so much rain as is sta
ted in the literal sense of the history ; for to have cov
ered all the high hills under the whole heavens, and
likewise the mountains, as it is said (Gen. vii. 19, 20),

128 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
the rain must have fallen at the prodigious rate of about
thirty feet of water during the hour ! And this con
tinually for the space of forty days and forty nights, as
any one may ascertain for himself, who will go into the
calculation ! ¦»
We find other difficulties also in the literal sense of
this history, growing out of the dimensions of the ark
necessary to contain so many creatures ; and the im
possibility, according to the known laws of mechanical
forces, of constructing this iramense vessel in such a
riianner, that it would not fall to pieces with its own
weight, on the slightest agitation or moveraent upon the
waters. But these things we pass by ; and also other
things stated in the Word, which, if understood accord
ing to their obvious and literal sense, are raanifestly
contrary to true science.
We turn now to another class of sacred-texts, which
appear to be of an iramoral character, and which would
certainly not have been in a book emanating frora in
finite Wisdom and Love, if they mean precisely what
they appear to affirm, and do affirra according to the
sense of the letter, and nothing more ; i. e., if they
contain no internal sense;
In Judges (iii. 15,) it is recorded that the Lord raised
up Ehud, the son of Gera, to deliver the children of Isr
rael from Eglon, the king of Moab. And in verse 21
we are informed that he [Ehud] sheathed a daggpr in
the bowels of the Moabitish king, at the very moment
when pretending to offer him a g ift. And this brutal and
treacherous deed, as appears from the literal sense of the
history, was committed with the Divine sanction.
An act of a sirailar character is recorded in the next
chapter ; where it is related that Sisera, the general of
the army of Jabin, king of Hazor, being defeated by
Barak, "fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael, the
wife of Heber the Kenite ; for there was peace between
Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the
Kenite. And Jael (who was the wife of Heber the
Kenite) went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him,
Turn in, my lord, turn in to me ; fear not." Accord
ingly Sisera accepted her proffered protection and hos-

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 129
pitality ; and when, through rauch weariness, he had
fallen asleep in her tent, we are told, "Then Jael,
Heber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and took a hammer
in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the
nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground ;
(for he was fast asleep and weary :) so he died " (iv. 21.)
And was any condemnatory sentence pronounced upon
Jael for this barbarous and most treacherous deed ? So
far from it, that we find written in the next chapter,
{v. 24,) " Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of
Heber the Kenite be : blessed shall she be above women
in the tent." Thus, according to the letter of the text,
this infamous deed receives the Divine approbation.
Again : where the entrance of the children of Israef"
into the promised land is spoken of, it appears that they
were commanded by Jehovah, not only to make no cove
nant with the Canaanites, but to " smite them, and utter-!|j
ly destroy them, and shew no mercy unto them."'
(Deut. vh. 2.)
We are told also (1 Sam. xiii. 14.) that David was " a
. man after God's own heart''; yet we learn from another
passage (2 Sam. xi. 2, 5.) that he was guilty both of
adultery and murder.
Likewise concerning Jacob, we find it written (Gen.
chap, xxviii,) that the Lord would De with him, and
would keep him in all places whither he should gO :
and that in him and in his seed, all the families of the
earth should be blessed. Yet we learn from the history
of this patriarch that he had two wives and two concu
bines. And from his example, taken in connection with
that of most ofthe Jewish worthies and kings,- Dr, Ma
dan, a clergyraan of the Church of England, has en
deavored to prove that polyganiy and concubinage are
allowable to Christians ; and has published a book on
the subject !
Now is it strange, -while professing Christians adhere
to the literal sense, and are unwilling to admit the ex
istence of any other sense in the Sacred Scriptures, that
they should be 'charged with blasphemy, as they have
been by the infidel, for receiving the record of these and
other similar transactions as the Word of God ?

130 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
Again : there are many things in the Word, which,
understood according to the sense of the letter, appear
trivial, unimportant, and wholly unworthy the Divine
Mind. For example, we read in Deuteronomy " If a
bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way in any
tree, or on the ground, [whether they be] young ones
or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon
the eggs, thou shalt not tftke the dam with the young :
thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the
young to thee ; that it may be -well with thee, ahd that
thou mayst prolong thy days." Again : " Thou shalt
not wear a garment of divers sorts —of woolen and linen
together. Thou shalt make thee fringes upon the four
quarters of thy vesture wherewith thou coverest thy
self" (xxii. 6, 7, U, 12.) Then the whole book of
. Leviticus, and much of Exodus, Numbers and Deuter-
. onomy, are filled with directions for the performance of
-ceremonies, which, in themselves considered, seem very
unimportant. Sometimes whole chapters contain noth
ing but precepts concerning what kind of food the
servants should eat, and what kind of clothing they
should wear, as in Leviticus xi. ; Exodus xxviii.
See, moreover, what exact instructions are given con
cerning the tabernacle (Ex. chap. xxv. to xxxi.) — its
shape, dimensions, and manner of construction, and the
form and size of its vessels. How minute and particu
lar also are the directions in regard to sacrifices ; pre
scribing not only the kind of animal or thing to be of
fered for certain offences, but also the manner of slaying
and preparing it. Likewise in the Prophets we find
things which appear exceedingly trivial and unmean
ing. In Ezekiel for example, the Lord commands the
prophet to shave his head and beard with a sharp knife
or barber's razor, to weigh the hair in balances and di
vide it : then to burn a third part with fire in the midst
ofthe city, when the days of the siege were fulfilled ; to
take a third part and smite about it with a knife, and to
scatter a third part in the wind. And afterwards it is
added, " Thou shalt also take thereof a few in number
and bind them in thy skirts": i. e. a few ofthe hairs, af
ter three thirds have already been disposed of I — for this
is what is said in the literal sense.

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 131
We might easily multiply examples of this kind ;
but it is unnecessary. Enough of thera are doubtless
farailiar to the minds of all.
Now it is chiefly upon the occurrence of passages
like those above cited, that the infidel grounds his ob
jections to the Sacred Scriptures as the Word of God.
And notwithstanding the number of learned and able
defenders which the Scriptures have found, I am free to
confess that all the objections which have been or may
be raised against them as a divinely inspired composi
tion, have not been, and in my opinion cannot he fairly
answered, without admitting the existence of an internal
sense to the Scriptures — a sense within and above that
of the mere letter. It is indeed true that none can
doubt the divine character and origin of the Word, who
have ever experienced its regenerating influence upon
their souls ; yet many pious men, and even ministers of
the gospel, have perceived and felt the difficulty arising
from the occurrence in the Scriptures of passages like
those which we have justnoticed. Andhowhave modern
commentators sought to escape this difficulty ? Not by
admitting that they did not understand these passages,
as short-sighted and ignorant men should, and as men
of true humility would, nor by elevating their thoughts
above the letter to the spirit of the Word — by looking
within the veil for purer truth than that which appears
on the surface — but by reducing the idea or meaning of
inspiration to the lowest possible standard. Instead of
trying to elevate their minds towards the Lord, they
have sought to reduce Him and his Truth to the mea
sure of their natural understanding. Thus they de
grade the Word of God to the level of a mere humcin
composition, by seeking a principle of interpretation
which shall make its teachings square with their own
natural and gross conceptions. In the very arguments
which have been offered in proof and in defence of the
inspiration of the Sacred Oracles, the authors have
admitted their inspiration to be of such a kind, that the
sacred penmen might sometimes be mistaken, and af
firm what is not true, or what is contrary to true science
and sound morality !

132 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [LECT.
Such is the dangerous position which Christian ad
vocates have taken in these latter times, in order to
maintain the general credibility ofthe Sacred Scriptures.
We say dangerous ; — for once admit that the inspired
penmen were mistaken in regard to some things which
they record professedly by diyine dictation, and you
virtually deny to them any inspiration which, is worthy
of the name : for what assurance can we then have,
that they may not have been mistaken in regard to many
other things also ?
Suppose, a beautiful and fertile country to be sur
rounded by a raud wall, which protects it on all sides
against the encroachments of the sea. Would it be wise
when the sea is seen rising, to dig a trench through that
wall lest it should be swept away by the swelling tide?
The wall indeed might be preserved in this way, but to
what purpose 1 — for the country would be desolated.
Such a trench have they dug (unconsciously no doubt)
through the walls around the Word and the Church,
who have reduced the standard of divine inspiration so
low as amounts to a virtual denial of it. And through
that trench, even now, are the floods of infldelity rolling
with fearful and desolating surge.
Are we speaking extravagantly or unadvisedly in
what we say of the low standard to which the advocates of
Christianity have reduced the inspiration of the Word ?
Hear then what some of these advocates themselves say
concerning the Word and the nature or degree of its
inspiration. , One of the most eminent theologians in this city, in
a tract published not long ago, (the express design of
wbich is to silence or convince unbelievers, and defend
the Sacred Scriptures from all cavil,) expr-isses himself
thus : * " Iv is from rash positions on this subject that
the advocates of a revelation expose themselves to the
strongest attacks of infidelity. The Scriptures are not
the actual communication made to the rainds inspired
from above." * » * " They are not the actual Word

* See a Tract by Ut. Orville Dewey, entitled " Belief and Unbelief,"
ptiblished in 1839.

IV.J SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 133
of God, but they are a " record of the Word of God."
(p. 4:) And this writer further adds, (p. 5.) "If there
ever were productions which showed the free and fervent
workings of human thought and feeling, they are our
Sacred Records. * * * * gut the things [in them]
which we have to deal with are words ; they are not
divine syrabols of thought." Again he says (p. 6.) :
" If we open alraost any book, especially any book writ
ten in a fervent and popular style, we can perceive on
accurate analysis, that some things were hastily written,
some things negligently, some things not in the exact
logical order of thought ; that some things are beautiful
in style, and others inelegant ; that some things are
clear, and others obscure or ' hard to be understood.'
And do we not find all these things in the Scriptures ?"
In other words, do we not there find some things that
were hastily and negligently written, the same as in
human compositions ? And this is the way which this
-writer would propose tous, (a' very easy -o'ay indeed,
but did the writer himself perceive its danger?) of get
ting over the difficulty presented by such texts as those
we have cited. He would have us consider that those
who wrote the Word of God, like the writers of any
other books, sometimes wrote in haste, and sometimes
with negligence ; and hence, like any other writers,
they were liable sometimes to make mistakes, sometimes
to contradict themselves and the truths of science, and
sometimes to write in an obscure and unintelligible
manner. Consequently he would have us refer all the
apparent contradictions and discrepances in the Word —
everything in fine which does not appear to us con
sistent with divine wisdom— not to any defect of under
standing in ourselves, but to haste and negligence, or
a defect of wisdom in the inspired penmen.
Now we ask how much lower kind of inspiration can
possibly be conceived of, than that which this writer as
cribes to the Divine Word in the remarks we have
quoted ? We ask if the idea concerning the Sacred
Scriptures which his language clearly conveys, be not
such as does virtually deny ^to them any inspiration
-whatever 7 — or, at least, any above that which belongs
13

134 NECESSITY OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.
to every human composition. He would have his rea
ders infer that there is no meaning in the Word within
or above its obvious and literal sense — that passages
which appear to be contradictory, are really so, and
that apparent mistakes are real mistakes of the inspir
ed penmen. And hence, because he finds in the Scrip
tures all those appearances which characterize "any
book -written in a fervent and popular style," and be
cause they show " the free and fervent workings of
human thought and feeling," he affirms that they " are
not the actual communication made to the minds in
spired frora above !"
Such is the idea of inspiration which is entertained by
an eminent scholar and theologian in the Old Church.
Nor does this writer by any means stand alone in his low
views of the inspiration of the Word. The Rev. Dr.
Palfrey, late Professor of Biblical literature in the Uni
versity of Cambridge, Ilassachusetts, speaking of, the
Pentateuch, says :
" The style of the Pentateuch agrees with the sup
position of a remote age. The idioms of language and
the rhetorical representations are of a simple character,
while the tone and structure of the composition,
throughout, are such as we might expect from a man
engagad in an enterprise like that which it describes.
* * * * The work is written for the most part in
the manner ofa journal, as Moses would be extremely
likely to write, but as an author composing in a later
age would not be." {Academical Lectures on the Jew
ish Scriptures and Antiquities, Published at Boston
in 1838. Vol. I. Lect. iv. p, 85, 86,)
Thus, according to this writer, the Pentateuch is a
merely human composition. Mos^s, and not God, is
its author. " The tone and stractuf e ofthe composition
are such as we might expect from a man engaged in
an enterprise like that which it describes." That this
learned theologian utterly rejects the idea of the divine
origin of the Pentateuch, is still more manifest from the
following extracts :
" I apprehend, that when a law is announced, pre-
fkced by such words as " the Lord spake unto Moses "

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 135
it is by no raeans necessary to understand the arrange
raent to have b :en originated (so to speak) in the Divine
Mind, and then dictated to the Jewish leader, to be by
him promulgated. In my view, the force of the lan
guage is equally well met, if we understand, when other
considerations would incline us so to do, that the plan
was a plan of Moses, who, by being encouraged to act
on this kind of responsibility, would be hi all respects
better qualified. for his office as leader of the people;
that having been devised by him, it was submitted for
the divine approval; (!!) and that, (this approval ob
tained) it was announced, in such words as I have quo-
fed, as resting on the divine authority." {Ibid, Lect. vii.
pp, 14,T, 146,)
Again this writer says :
" The principle of interpretation, thus ascertained, is
of obvious importance. When we read, "The Lord
said unto Moses, ' Establish and promulgate such or
such a law,' " if that law appears to us trivial, or not
thoroughly well devised to meet its end ; if we find
even that it actually requires afterwards, on experiment,
to be qualified, or extended, or repealed ; we are not
debarred from supposing, that it had its origin in the
imperfect wisdom of Moses, and that he was but per
mitted to adopt it in order that he might perceive its
imperfections, and learn the political wisdom, which
his station demanded, in seeing what defects it had failed
to supply, and how a better measure was to be devised."
{Ibid. pp. 147, '8.)
Thus, in the opinion of this biblical critic, the first
five books of the Old Testament, because they contain
some things which appear to us trivial, are to be re
garded as a mere human production ; — as having no
higher kind of inspiration than what belongs to profane
history, or to any human composition; for they "had
their origin in the imperfect wisdom of Moses."
Similar views also with regard to the New Testa
ment have been expressed by late theological writers in
the Old Church. In a work published at Philadelphia
in 1838 by the Rev. W. H. Furness, entitled " Jesus and
his Biographers, or Remarks on the four Gospels," the

136 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
writer plainly denies the divine inspiration of the Gos
pels, and boldly asserts that they are the productions of
men ; of honest men indeed, but yet liable to the preju
dices, imperfections, and mistakes of men in general.
Speaking ofthe account given in the Evangelists ofthe
miraculous conception of our Lord, this writer says :
" Now there is an iraprobability of the truth of this
account, arising from its very unusual and extraordina
ry character, which, however, is not decisive. We can
not conclude upon this ground alone that the account is
false." (p. 105.) And on the next page he says :
" There is an improbability in this account, resulting
from another and more specific cause. It arises frora
the common disposition of the world to magnify the
circurtistances of the birth and childhood of distinguish
ed raen, to believe that, upon their first coming on the
stage of life, supernatural appearances were visible, un
earthly agents busy, that "  at their nativity
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes.
Of burning cressets ; and' at their birth,
The frame and huge foundation of the earth
Shak'd like a cow.ird."
Alexander would have had it believed that he was
the son of Jupiter, and Pythagoras was reported to be
the child of Apollo." (p. 106, 107.)
Here, everything like inspiration is denied. This
writer supposes the Evangelists to have taken up a -vul
gar report, which they believed to be trae but wbich
was not, and to have recorded it for literal fact. And
he endeavors to explain their account of the Lord's na
tivity, by referring it to " the common disposition of
the worid to magnify the circumstances of the birth and
childhood of distinguished men" ! And would he have
his readers infer that Jesus Christ was not really the
Son of God, any more than Alexander was the Son of
Jupiter, or Pythagoras the child of Apollo ? Horrible
blasphemy !
But in another part of this same work, we find a pas
sage StiU more to our purpose. In this, the human ori-

IV.]' SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 137
gin and consequent imperfection ofthe Gospels is openly
maintained. The writer says :
" Receiving the sketches, that have come down to us,
of the life of Jesus as siraple human histories, the pro
ductions of honest and intelligent men, while we ac
knowledge their substantial truth, we cannot possibly
avoid admitting the liability of their authors to error.
To hold the Gospels to be human compositions and to
maintain their absolute freedom from mistake are ideas
wholly irreconcilable. For it is of the nature of every
thing human to be marked with imperfection. But
because these writings, being human, are necessarily
imperfect, to assert that they lose all claim to trust
worthiness, is a very precipitate and dangerous conclu
sion. A perfect human work is, in strict ternis, not an
impossibility, but an absurdity. We might as well
speak of a perfect imperfect work. The pretension
therefore in behalf of any book to absolute perfection,
inight justly provoke skepticism and 'cast ominous
conjecture on its whole success.' On the other hand,
the very imperfections of any human work, taking their
form from the time and place of the writer, from his
character and the nature of the subject of which he
treats, aid us in determining the extent of his credi
bility. The strongest arguraent for the truth of the
Gospel narratives is found, as I have endeavored in
the foregoing pages to show, in the marks of human
nature, in the traces, every where visible throughout
these remarkable histories, of human minds, honest
and intelligent, and yet impressed by the institutions,
partaking of the opinions and prejudices of a certain
period and country, and affected, in various ways, more
or less powerfully, by the very facts they narrate. We
are not then to be dismayed at the slightest appearance
of misstateraent in works which we acknowledge to be
productions of men. The thing is inevitable." (p. 96, 97.)
Such are the views of inspiration which are enter
tained in our times by some of the professed expound
ers of the Sacred Oracles. And are they not such as
imply in the minds of those who hold them a complete
denial of the divine origin of the Scriptures ? Nor are
¦3*

138 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
these the views of merely a few bold and rash expositors.
The fact that opinions substantially the sarae as these
are so often expressed, and so seldom animadverted
upon by theological writers in the Old Church, is of
itself sufiicient to prove that these views are far raore
generally entertained than raight at first be supposed — •
that the great body of the Church is indeed infected by
them. We ought however to reraark that there are sorae
nominally belonging to the Old Church, whose views
of inspiration appear to be of a higher and worthier
character. It is refreshing to raeet (as we do but rarely)
with views like the following; for we recognize in
thera somewhat ofthe light ofthe New Dispensation.
" If the Spirit of God directs the minds of inspired
men, and gives them just conceptions relative to the
subjects on which they are to write ; and if he consti
tutes and maintains a connexion, trae and invariable,
detween their conceptions, and the language they em
ploy to express thera ; the language raust, in this way,
be as infallible, and as worthy of God, as though it
were dictated directly by the Holy Spirit. But to as
sert that the sacred writers used such language as they
chose, or such as was natural to them, without any spe
cial divine superintendence, and that, in respect to style,
they are to be regarded in the same light, and equally
liable to mistakes, as other writers, is plainly contrary
to the representations which they themselves make,
and is suited to diminish our confidence in the word of
God. For how could we have entire confidence in the
representations of Scripture, if, after God had instructed
the rainds of the sacred -writers in the trath to be cora
municated, he gave thera up to all the inadvertencies
and errors, to which huraan nature in general is expo
sed, and took no effectual care that their raanner of wri
ting should be according to his will ?" {Lectures on the
Inspiration of the Scriptures by Leonard Woods,
D. D. --published in \S2^— Andover, Mass. p. 97.)
Again this writer says :
" The points which I wish to be specially remembered
are these ; that our finding, after all our efforts, that any

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 139
part of Scripture is of difficult interpretation, or even
unintelligible, is so far from proving, the Bible to be im
perfect, that it may directly result from its perfection ;
that the sa,cred volume could not, consistently with the
nature of the subjects of which it treats, and with the
ends which God designs it shall answer, be so formed,
as to be entirely free fiom obscurity ; and that the Holy
Spirit may direct men to write, for the benefit of future
times, that which may be quite unintelligible now, and
which may be of but little use to us, except as a means
of rendering us more modest and humble, and more
desirous that a day of clearer light may cSme." {Ibid.
p. 113.)
Those who have made theraselves familiar with the
writings of Swedenborg, believe that this " day of clearer
light" has come. But how any one can maintain the
plenary, divine inpiration of the Scriptures, as Dr.
Woods appears to, without admitting the existence
of an internal sense as taught in the writings of the
New Church, it is difficult to conceive.
And now let us see what kind of inspiration belongs
to the Scriptures according to their own repeated decla
rations. On this subject, we will let the Word bear
witness for itself
In thfr first place, then, we remark, that the Sacred
Scriptures claim to be The word op God. In the
books of Moses it is repeatedly said, that " the Lord
spake unto Moses, saying," (fee. ; and likewise, that
" Moses wrote all the words ofthe Lord." Also in the
prophets we find this expression very often made use
of, " The Word of the Lord came unto me, saying."
Moreover, the Lord himself, when on earth, fre
quently called the Scriptures The Word Of God.
For example : after quoting a passage from, the law of
Moses concerning the duty of honoring father and moth
er. He then tells the Jews that, because they disregarded
this precept, they raade The Word of God of none ef
fect through their tradition. (Mark vii, 13.) Again, on
another occasion, when the Jews were ready to stone
Hira because He said, " I and the Father are one," the
Lord replied, " Is it not written in your law, I said ye

140 "' NECESSITY OP AN INTERNA* [lECT.
are gods ? If he called thera gods to whom the Word
of God came, (and the Scriptures cannot be broken)
say ye of Him whOm the Father hath sanctified, and
sent into the world. Thou blasphemest ; because I said,
I am the Son of God ?" (John x, 34, 35, 36.) Now,
the words which are here said to be written in the law,
are found in Psalms Ixxxii. 6 ; which proves that the
book of Psalms is included in what the Lord calls " the
law." And the Greek word ^vdr^fctt {luthenai), which
is here translated broken, signifies to loosen, to dissolve,
or weaken any bond or obligation. Hence by these
words, " arifl the Scripture cannot be broken," is meant
that its authority is not to be called in question, or the
obligation to obey its precepts is not to be denied.
Here then it is affirmed by the very highest authori
ty, not only that the Scriptures are the Word of God,
but that their authority is not to be weakened, or on any
account impugned.
Again : at the time of the Lord's first advent, in what
manner did He treat the Jewish or Old Testament
Scriptures, whenever He spake of them or quoted pas
sages from them, as he often did? Do we anywhere
find Him saying, as some raodern coraraentators have
said, that Moses and the prophets were mistaken in re
gard to some things 7 That some things were hastily
written, and some things negligently? -Or that the
writers were not inspired in respect to everything which
they professed to utter by Divine dictation ? On the
contrary, does He not tell the Jews that they erred, not
knowing the Scriptures 7 (Matt. xxu. 29.) Does He
not say that MoSes and all the prophets [by which is
dertoted the Scriptures] wrote concerning himself?
(Luke xxiv. 27 ; John v. 46.) Does He not declare
that they [the Jews] taught for doctrines the command
ments of men, and thus had rendered the Word of God
of none effect through their tradition ? (Matt. xv. 6,
9 ; Mark vii. 13.) And does He not assert the plenary
divine inspiration of every part of the old Testament
Scriptures, when He says, " Think not that I am come to
destroy the law or the prophets ; I ara not come to de
stroy but to fulfil — (i. e., to fill out by revealing some-

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 141
what of its genuine sense — its. fulness of raeaning which
they did not understand). For verily I say unto you, till
heaven and earth pass, one jot or tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law till all be fulfilled. Whosoever, there
fore, shall break [i. e. shall weaken the authority of] one
of these least commandments and shall teach men so, he
shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven"
(Matt. V. 17, 18, 19.)
Certainly we can have no higher authority for af
firming, nor stronger evidence than these texts afford us
for believing, that the Scriptures are indeed, what they
claim to be, without any qualification^ — The Word op
God ; ' and that no part of them, however small, is ever
to be set aside or to " pass from the law."
Now " The Word of God," taken in an unqualified
sense, e-^ddently means an expression of the mind or of
the will of God. " All thought, speech, and writing,"
says Swedenborg, " derives its essence and life from him
who thinks, 'speaks, and writes — the 'man, with all
that he is, being therein ; but in the Word, the Lord
alone is," The Word of God therefore, if it be really,
what the terms import, an expression of the Divine
Mind, must be filled with illimitable treasures of sacred
knowledge. The love and the wisdom of God must
pervade every part of it, just as the spirit or life of man
pervades every part of his body, even his fingers and
finger nails. And in this conclusion we are sustained
by these words of the Apostle, " All Scripture is
given by inspiration of God," (2 Tim. iii. 16.) The
words " given by inspiration of God," are expressed in
Greek by the single term &8vnfevojo; {theopneustos)
which literally signifies God-breathed. If therefore
all Scripture be really God-breathed, there cannot
of course appertain to it anything of the errors, limita
tions, or infirmities of man's understanding. It mpst
be inflnite-^perfect— divine— in every part. But how
are we to reconcile this conclusion with such passages
as have already been quoted from the Word? Impos
sible — without admitting the existence of a sense with
in and above that ofthe letter. This inference, we
think, is clearly deducible from what has been said thus
far.

4.
142 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
But there exist other difficulties in relation to the let
ter of the writien Word, which furnish additional proof
of the necessity of admitting an interual sense.
Every one who is at all familiar "with the Sacred
Oracles, knows very well that they contain numerous
passages, which, to his mind, are perfectly dark ; pas
sages which he, either does not understand, or which do
not contain any meaning whatever. He knows that
some of the historical parts of the Word, portions of the
Psalms, much of the Prophets, and nearly all the book
of Revelation, convey to his mind no intelligible idea ;
and are moreover of such a character that, agreeably to
the principles of interpretation acknowledged in the Old
Church, any meaning or no meaning can be extracted
from them, according to the genius or fancy of the in
terpreter. Let a few examples of this kind be cited by
way of illustration.
" In Judah is God known ; his name is great in
Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle, and his dwel
ling-place in Zion. There brake He the arrows of the
bow, the shield, the sword, and the battle. Thou- art
more glorious and excellent than the mountains of
prey. The stout-hearted are spoiled, they have slept
their sleep ; and none of the men of might have found
their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, both
the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep."
(Ps. Ixxvi.)
Now will any one, wlio is not acquainted with the
internal sense of the Word, or the Science of Corre
spondences, say that he derives from this passage an in
telligible idea? Or would any two of such persons be
likely to agree in regard to its real meaning ?
Again in Ezekiel, chapter xxxix :
" And thou Son of Man, thus saith the Lord God,
Speak to the fowl of every wing, and to every beast of
the field, Assemble yourselves, and come, and gather
yourselves on every side to my sacrifice, that I do sacri
fice for you, [even] a great sacrifice upon the mountains
of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood. Ye
shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of
the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs and of goats ;

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 143
of bullocks, all of thera fallings of Bashan. And ye
shall eat fat fill ye be full, and drink blood till ye be
drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for
you. Thus shall ye be filled at my, table with horses
and chariots, with niighty raen and all men of war,
saith the Lord God."
It may perhaps be said that this passage does convey
an intelligible idea ; that it describes a great feast pre
pared by fhe Lord God, especially for all the birds and
beasts. The prophet is divinely commissioned to ex
tend to them the invitation, and they are to come and
eat not only the men and horses, but also the chariots !
But although the idea conveyed in the literal sense of
this text may be intelligible, we ask if it be rational 1
Again in Habakkuk chapter iii :
" God came from Teman, and the Holy One from
mount Paran. Selah. His glory covered the heavens,
and the earth was full of his praise. And his bright
ness was as the light ; he had horns coming out of his
hand : and there was the hiding of his power. Before
him went the pestilence, and burning coals went forth
at his feet. He stood, and measured the earth : he be
held, and drove asunder the nations ; and the everlast
ing mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did
bow: his ways are everlasting. I saw the tents of
Cushan in affiiction : and the curtains of the land of
Midian did tremble. Was the Lord displeased against
the rivers? was thine anger against the rivers? was thy
wrath against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine
horses, and thy chariots of salvation ? Thy bow was
made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes,
even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth
with rivers. The mountains saw thee, and they trem
bled : the overfiowing of the water passed by : the deep
uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high. The
sun and moon stood still in their habitation : at the
lio-ht of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of
thy glittering spear."
Again in the Revelation chapter vi :
"Andl saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals ;
and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the

144 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
four beasts, saying. Come and see. And I saw, and be
hold a white horse : and he that sat on hira had a bow ;
and a' crown was given unto him: and he went forth
conquering, and to conquer. And when he had opened
the second seal, I heard the second beast say. Come and
see. And there went out another horse [that was] fed ;
and [po-wer] was given to him that sat thereon to take
peace from the earth, and that they should kill one an
other: and there was given unto him a great sword.
And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the
third beast say, COme and see. And I beheld, and lo,
a black horse ; and he that sat on him had a pair of
balances in his hafld. And I heard a voice in the
midst of the four beasts, , A measure of wheat for a pen
ny, and three measures of barley, for a penny ; and see
thou hurt not the oil and the wine. And \vhen he had
opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth
beast say. Come and see. And I looked, and behold a
pale horse ; and his name that sat on hiih was Death,
and hell followed with hira : and ^ower was given unto
thera over the fourth part of the earth, to kiU with
sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the
beasts of the earth."
Again, in chapter ix. it is written :
" And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall
frora heaven unto the earth : and to him was given the
key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottom
less pit : and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the
smoke' of a great furnace ; and the sun and the air was
darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there
came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth : and unto
them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth
have power. And it was coraraanded them that they
should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green
thing, neither any tree ; but only those men which have
not the seal of God in their foreheads. And to thera it
was given that they should not kill them, but that they
should be tormented five months : and their torment
was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a
man. And in those days shall men seek death, and
shail not find it ; and shall desire to die, and death shall

sv.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 145
flee frora them. And the shapes of the locusts were like
unto horses prepared unto battle ; and on their heads
were as it were crowns like gold, and their faces were
as the faces of men. And they had hair as the hair of
woraen, and their teeth were as the teeth of lions. And
they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron ;
and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chari
ots of raany horses running to battle. And they had
tails like unto scorpions ; and there were stings in their
tails : and their power was to hurt men five months.
And they had a king over thera, which is the angel of
the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue
is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name
Apollyon. One woe is past ; and, behold, there come
two woes more hereafter,"
Now, who that is unacquainted with the spiritual
sense of the Word, can derive frora these passages an
idea at once intelligible and rational ? For, without a
knowledge of correspondences, what can be understood
by horses coming out of a book, or by the key of the
bottomless pit being given to a star ? And how much
there is in the Word, which, without a spiritual sense
must forever remain as it is, wholly unintelligible !
" Without the spiritual sense," says Swedenborg, " it
is impossible for any one to know why the prophet
Jeremiah was comraanded to buy hiraself a girdle, and
not to draw it through the waters, but to go to Eu
phrates, and hide it there in a hole in the rock, (Jerem.
xiii. 1-7) ; or why Isaiah the prophet was comraanded
to loose the sackcloth from off his loins, and to put off
his shoe from off his foot, and to go naked and barefoot
three years, (Isaiah, xx. 2, 3) ; or"why Ezekiel the pro
phet was commanded to raake a razor pass upon his
head and upon his beard, and afterwards to divide them,
and to burn a third part in the midst of the city, and to
sraite a third part with the sword, and to scatter a third
part in the wind, and to bind a little of them in his
skirts, and at last to cast thera into the raidst of the fire,
(Ezek. V. 1-4) ; or why the sarae prophet was com
manded to lie upon his left side three hundred and nine
ty days, and upon his right side forty days, and to make
14

146 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
himself a cake of wheat, and barley, and millet, and
fitches, with cow's dung, and eat it ; and in the mean
time to raise a rampart and a mound against Jerusalera
and besiege it, (Ezek. iv. 1-15) ; or why Hosea was
twice coramanded to take to himself a harlot to wife,
(Hosea, i. 2-9 ; iii. 2, 3) ; with several other things of
a like nature. Moreover, who can know, without the
spiritual sense, what is signified by all things appertain
ing to the tabernacle ; as by the ark, the mercjj^seat, the
cherubira, the candlestick," the altar of incense, the
shew-bread on the table, and the veils and curtains ? Or
who would know, -without the spiritual sense, what is
signified by Aaron's holy garments ; as by his coat, his
cloak, the ephod, the urim and thuramim, the mitre,
and several things besides ? Or, without the spiritual
sense, who would know what is signified by all those
particulars which were enjoined concerning burnt of
ferings, sacrifices, meat-offerings, and drink-offerings ;
and also concerning sabbaths and feasts ? The truth
is, that nothing was enjoined, be it ever so minute, but
what was significative of something appertaining to the
Lord, to heaven, and to the church. From these few
instances then it may be plainly seen, that there is a
spiritual sense in all and every part of the Word." —
{Doctrine Concerning the Sacred Scriptures n. 16.)
Nor can it be said that passages like those which we
have cited are to be found only by long seeking. They
occur frequently in almost every part of the Sacred Vo
lurae. And it is well known that there are no princi
ples of interpretation understood and acknowledged in
the Old Church, by a fair application of which we are
able to elicit frora these and other sirailar portions of
the Word, a clear, consistent, and rational meaning.
Almost every one in that Church is ready to acknow
ledge that, if such passages have any meaning, it is con
cealed as it were by a thick cloud.
But says one, "There is enough of Scripture plain and
simple that we can understand ; why then should we
be troubled about such parts as are cloudy or obscure ?"
Suppose a man could see just well enough to enable
him to walk the street tolerably well without stumbling ;

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 147
should we consider him wise in refusing the gift of
more light or better eye-sight, so that he would be able
not only to walk more securely, but also to read and
write ? By no means. Then are we not wise in re
fusing the gift — the precious gift of a revelation which
renders the darkest parts of God's Word at once lumi
nous and beautiful."
But are we sure that we do fully understand, without
the aid of the New Dispensation, even those parts of
Scripture which are called plain and simple 7 We
shall find on close examination that many of these will
admit of various significations, and actually have been
very differently understood by different persons, and at
different times.
The Rev. Andrews Norton, one of the most learned
and accomplished biblical scholars in our country,
says in his " Statement of Reasons," <fcc., (p. 129)
" it is not always easy to determine the meaning even
of passages which may seem at first view to present
little difficulty." For " a great part of all language, di
verted in any way frora its literal sense, will bear an
absurd meaning." (p. 106.) Then, by way of illustra
tion, citing this text : " Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,"- — he asks : "But are
they blessed for what they are, or for the peculiar ad
vantages they enjoy for becoming what they ought to
be ? Is the blessing absolute and universal ? Or does
it refer only to the favorable circumstances of the class
spoken of? Or is it confined to some particular indi
viduals of that class ?" (ibid. p. 126.) And in order to
show that these are not idle questions, the writer goes
on to remark that, " Wetstein understands these words
as addressed particularly to Christ's poor disciples ;"—
that " the Romish Church understand by ' the poor in
spirit,' those who voluntarily submit to poverty ;" and
others understand the words still differently.
duoting the next verse, " Blessed are the mourners
for they shall be comforted," this learned author again
asks, " Does this intend those who deny themselves the
blessings of life and endure voluntary penance, as some
Catholics explain the passage ? Does it mean those

148 NECESSITY OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.
who mourn for their sins, as many Protestant commen
tators tell us ?• He then adds : " I think otherwise.
The purpose of our Saviour was, I believe, simply to
announce, that his religion brought blessed consolation
to all who mourned." (Ibid. p. 128.)
These reniarks (which are the more to our purpose for
coming from an eminent theologian in the Old Church,)
show us that passages, which at first view appear plain
and simple, may be, and actually have been understood
in raany different ways. And if such be the case, in re
lation to texts so plain as those here cited, what propor
tion of the Divine Word can we be sure of understand
ing aright, unless we understand the principles or laws
of its composition ? Suppose we perfectly understand
the meaning of those two great commandments on which
all the law and the prophets hang, what would this avail
us unless we also rightly understand those portions of
the Word, which teach us how to attain to that heav
enly state of supreme love to the Lord and charity to
wards the neighbor ?
But I need add no raore to prove, (what it was my
design to do in this lecture,) the necessity of either ad
mitting an internal sense to the Word, or of utterly re
jecting a large portion ofit, at least, as the offspring of
uninspired, erratic, or even of distempered minds. Nor
need it here be intimated which alternative a wise man
will choose.
The sum of what has been said is this :
There are to be found in the Sacred Scriptures some
statements which appear to contradict others ; some
which appear to contradict the truths of science ; some
which appear contrary to the principles of pure moral
ity ; some which appear unimportant and trivial ; and
many which, in the sense of the letter, are altogether
irrational or unintelligible. In consequence of such ap
pearances in the letter of the Word, modern commen
tators, who are in the acknowledgment of no other than
the apparent or literal sense, have adopted such loose
notions in regard to the inspiration ofthe Scriptures, as
do virtually deny their divinity— deny that they are re
ally the Word of God, But this title the Scriptures.

IV.] SENSE TO THE SCRIPTURES. 149
claim for themselves in many places ; and moreover
was frequently applied to the Old Testament by the
Lord himself when on earth. And not only so, but He
has declared that their authority is unquestionable —
that they cannot be broken — that not even the smallest
part of thera is ever to be abrogated : — " Till heaven
and earth pass, one iota or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law, till all he fulfilled." And inasmuch
as the literal sense of many parts ofthe Scriptures can
not be reconciled with the repeated declarations of the
Lord himself, that they are the Word of God and hence
the very Divine Truth, we must either admit that they
contain a spiritual sense within the letter, or else accuse
the Lord of false affirmations or a most heedless use of
language. In the course of my remarks I have not forborne to
state frankly and fully the difficulties to be encountered
in the Scriptures, according to the mode of interpreting
them which is commonly received and acknowledged.
They are difficulties upon which the infidel grounds
his objections to the Bible as a special revelation from
God. And candor forces- us to acknowledge, that, if
there be no sense in Scripture above what is obvious
and apparent, or that of the mere letter, these difficul
ties are insuperable.
But let no one be alarmed for the Sacred Oracles, on
account of the difficulties that have been stated in this
lecture. Let each rather turn his eyes towards the Son
of Man, who is now lifted up iri the wilderness. Let
hun come to the glorious truths of the New Dispensa
tion, before whose brilliant light these difficulties will
all vanish, and the clouds round about God's Word will
o-radually melt away and disappear like mists before the
raorning sun. Let him be assured, that, while raulti
tudes in the Old Church are rendering, void the law by
their low and false notions of inspiration — making the
Word of God of none effect by their traditions — the
doctrines of the New Church, like the Lord at his first
advent, have come not to destroy one iota or tittle of the
law, but to fill it all out in the most eminent degree.
They have come revealing the divine fulness, order,
14*

150 NECESSITY OP AN INTERNAL SENSE, ETC. [lECT..:
a,nd perfection of God's Word— breathing spirit and life
into all its minutest parts — and raising it from that pow
erless and death-like state wherein the ignorance and
wickedness of men have entombed it.
No one who looks around upon the present aspect of
the world, can fail to perceive that a spirit of inquiry is
abroad — of inquiry upon all subjects — independent and
free as the mountain .wind. This spirit is at once the
offspring and the harbinger of the new heavens and the
new earth, which the Lord is even now creating. Will
this spirit stop at the boundaries of science and art ?
Will it satiate itself with the investigation Of natural
phenomena alone ? No : never. This spirit will look
— nay is even now looking, above and beyond nature,
and is asking to know the laws of the spiritual world,
and the principles according to which the Sacred Scrip
tures are composed. From the great heart of Christen
dom there cometh a voice, which ere long will be heard
louder than seven thunders, inquiring — -What does the
Word of God really teach ? In what sense is it inspir
ed ? Wherein does its divinity consist ? How are its
apparent contradictions, discrepances, trivialities, <fec.,
to be reconciled with the idea that it is God's Word
and not man's 7 What are the true principles of inter
pretation to be applied to it ? Are there any laws in its
composition as fixed and orderly as those according to
which the grass grows or the planets move ?
Such are the inquiries which the Christian world
has already begun to make — inquiries which Old
Church theology in vain essays to answer. Multitudes,
who have never expressed such interrogatories in any
form of words, are yet making them deep in their hearts^
though they may scarcely know it. And has the gra
cious Lord left the world to hear in these inquiries
nought but the sad echo of its own voice ? No, He
has answered, and more than answered them all in an
ticipation in the truths now revealed for the use of his
New Church. Here He no longer speaketh in para
bles, but shows us plainly of the Father.
May the Lord Jesus Christ open all our eyes that we
may " behold wondrous things out of his law."^

v.] EXISTENCE OP AN INTERNAL SENSE, ETC. 151

LECTURE V.

The EXISTENCE OP AN INTERNAL SENSE IN THE
WORD PROVED PROM THE SACRED SCRIPTURES.

" The words that I speak unto von are spirit ano ari2 life."
John, vi. 63.

It is qaite a common thing, when people are address
ed upon the subject of the New Dispensation, to hear
them say, " We do not care anything about doctrines ;
much less do we wish to be any man's disciples. We
think, it by far the safest course to adhere to the Sacred
Scriptures alone. These, we believe, are the Word of
God, and are therefore an infallible guide to a state of
heavenly life. But as for Swedenborg, we do not know
with regard to his writings whether they be true or
false — from heaven or from helL Hence we prefer to
let them alone, and go directly to the Word itself"
Did not men seek to excuse themselves for rejecting
the Messiah at his first advent, by a similar process of
reasoning ? When on one occasion the Lord had per
formed a notable miracle of healing upon one who had
been blind from his birth, the Jews were urgent that the
raan who had been healed should tell them how his
eyes had been opened. " One thing," says the man, " I
know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see." And
upon their reiterating the inquiry, " He answered them,
I have told you already, and ye didnot hear,. Where
fore would ye hear it again ? Will ye also be his dis
ciples ? Then they reviled him and said. Thou art his
disciple, but we are Moses' disciples. We know that
God spake unto Moses : [as for this fellow,] we know
not from whence he is." (John ix. 27, 28, 29.)

152 EXISTENCE OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
On another occasion the Lord says to them, " Search
the Scriptures ; for in them ye think ye have eternal
life : and these are they which testify of rae." (John
V. 39.) And He further tells thera that even Moses, in
whom they trusted, was their accuser. " For had ye
believed Moses," says He, " ye Would have believed me;
for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings,
how shall ye believe ray words ?" {v, 46, 47.)
But the Scriptures do testify of the Lord at this his
second appearing in the truths of the New Jerusalem,
as certainly as they do of his first advent. And we
would say to those who endeavor to excuse themselves
for not receiving or attending to the revelations made to
the New Church, upon the ground that the Scriptures
of themselves are an all-sufficient guide, that, if they
really believed the Scriptures to be the Word of God
and divinely inspired, they would believe the revelation
that has been made for the New Jerusalem ; for the
Scriptures do speak of this revelation —do foretell this
second and glorious appearing of our Lord ; and every
page of the writings of Swedenborg bears witness, that
the doctrines of the New Jerusalem are by no raeans a
human device, or the offspring of any man's self-deriv
ed intelligence, but are frora Him who is " the Way,
the Truth, and the Life." And all who come to a ra
tional understanding of the truths revealed for the New
Church, and who live according to these truths, may
know of these New Doctrines whether they be of God,
or whether Swedenborg speaks of himself
On account, therefore, of the New Revelation that
has been made, the New Jerusalem Church is not to be
considered as a sect, or as one of the numerous progeny
born of the Old Church. It is a Church formed and
existing under a new dispensation which is altogether
distinct from every former dispensation. It is not sec
tarian in its character. Its truths are universal as the
Lord himself And it claims no nearer relationship to
any of the numerous sects in Christendom, than the first
Christian Church clairaed to any of the Jewish sects.
In our last lecture we endeavored to show, from the
Sacred Scriptures theraselves, the necessity of either

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 153
admitting the existence of an internal sense, or of re
jecting at least many parts of them as belonging to
the Word of God. To this end therefore, many passa
ges from the Word were adduced, which cannot be true
in their strictly literal sense, as will be readily admitted
by every one. For it was shown that some passages,
according to the sense of the letter, do contradict others ;
that sorae contradict the truths of science ; that some
are opposed to pure morality ; and that others are ex
ceedingly trivial and unimportant ; and also that many
passages furnish us with no intelligible idea whatever.
But inasmuch as the Lord himself has declared that
" the Scripture cannot be broken," (John x. 35,) i, e,, its
authority is by no raeans to be set aside or irapugned,
and that " it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than
for one tittle of the law to fail," (Luke xvi, 17,) we are
hence forced to the conclusion that there must be, at
least in many parts of the Word, an internal or spirit
ual sense. And if we admit that such a sense exists in
certain parts, we must also admit that it exists through
out the whole of the Scriptures ; otherwise we must
deny that there belongs to the Word of God anything
of the divine order and uniformity which appertain fo
all his works ; which were no less than to deny that it
is a divine composition.
But because it has been shown that many parts of
Scripture cannot be trae in their literal sense, it must not
be supposed that the New Church rejects or lightly es
teems the letter of the Word. On the contrary it enter
tains the highest regard and reverence for the letter ;
not, however, on account of what it is in and of itself
alone, but on account of that pearl of infinite value
which it contains within its bosom. The use ofthe lit
eral sense of the Word, and likewise the estimation in
which this sense is held by the New Church, may be
seen in the following extracts from Swedenborg. In
the doctrine respecting the Sacred Scriptures (n. 32, 33)
he says :
"In the Word, which is a divine work expressly
given for the salvation of mankind, the ultimate sense,^
which is natural and is called the literal sense, is the

154 EXISTENCE OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
basis, continent, and firmament of the two interior
senses. Hence it follows, that the Word without its
literal sense, would be like a palace without a founda
tion ; that is, like a palace in the air and not on the
ground, which could only be the shadow of a palace,
and must vanish away ; also, that the Word, without its
literal sense, would be like a temple in which are many
holy things, an'd in the midst thereof the holy of holies,
without a roof and walls to form the continents there
of; in which case its holy things would be plundered
by thieves, or be violated by the beasts of the earth and
the birds of heaven, and thus be dissipated. In the same
manner, it would be like the tabernacle, in the inmost
place whereof was the ark of the covenant, and iri the
middle part the golden candlestick, the golden altar for
incense, and also the table for shewbread, which were
its holy things, without its ultimates, which were the
curtains and veils. Yea, the Word without its literal
sense would be like the human body without its cover
ings, which are called skins, and without its supporters,
which are called bones, of which, supposing it to be
deprived, its inner parts must of necessity be dispersed
and perish. It would also be like the heart and the
lungs in the thorax, deprived of their covering, which is
called the pleura, and their supporters, which are called
the ribs ; or like the brain without its coverings, which
are called the dura and pia mater, and without its com
mon covering, continent and firmament, which is called
the skull. Such would be the state of the Word with
out its literal sense ; wherefore it is said in Isaiah, that
' the Lord will create upon all the glory a covering ' "
(iv. 5.)
Again, he says in the same treatise :
" The Word is pre-eminently the Word in its literal
sense ; for in this sense spirit and life are inwardly con
tained ; and this is what the Lord meant when he said,
' The words which I speak unto you, they are spirit and
they are life' (John, vi. 63) ; for the Lord spoke these
words before the world, and in the natural sense. The
celestial and spiritual senses are not the Word without
the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter ; for

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 155
in such case they would be like spirit and life without
a body ; or, as was said above, n. 33, like a palace which
has no foundation.
" The truths of the literal sense of the Word are, in
some cases, not naked truths, but only appearances of
truth, and are like similitudes and comparisons taken
frora the objects of nature, and thus accommodated and
brought down to the apprehension of simple minds and
of children. But whereas they are at the same time
correspondences, they are the receptacles and abodes of
genuine truth ; and they are like containing vessels,—
like a crystalline cup containing excellent wine, or a
silver dish containing rich meats ; or they are like gar
raents clotliing the body, — like swaddling clothes on an
infant, or an elegant dress on a beautiful virgin : they
are also like the scientifics of the natural raan, which
coraprehend in them the perceptions and affections of
truth of the spiritual man. The naked truths them
selves, which are included, contained, attired, and com
prehended, are in the spiritual sense of the Word, and
the naked principles of good are in its celestial sense.
But let us illustrate this by instances from the Word :
Jesus said, 'Wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypo
crites ! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of
the platter, but within they are full of extortion and
excess ; thou blind Pharisee ! cleanse first that which is
within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may
be clean also' (Matt, xxiii. 25, 26) : in this passage the
Lord spoke by ultimates, or things of the lowest order,
which at the same time are continents : he uses the
words ' cup and platter,' because by the cup is meant
wine, and by wine is signified the trath of the Word,
and by the platter is meant meat, and by meat is signi
fied the good of the Word : wherefore by making clean
the inside of the cup and platter, is signified, to purify
the interiors of the raind, which relate to the will and
the thoughts, thus to the love and faith, by means of
the Word ; and by the consequent cleansing of the out
side, is signified, that thus the exteriors are purified,
which are the words and works, inasmuch as these de
rive their essence frora the former. Again : Jesus said.

156 EXISTENCE OP AN INTERNAL. [lSCT.
* There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in
purple, and fine , linen, and fared sumptuously every
day ; and there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus,
who was laid at his gate, full of sores ' (Luke, xvi. 1 9,
20) : in this passage al^o the Lord spoke by natural
things, which were correspondences, and contained in
them spiritual things : by the rich man is meant the
Jewish nation, who are called rich because they were
in possession of the Word, in which i are spiritual rich
es ; by the purple and fine linen, with which the rich
man was clothed, are signified the, good and trath of
the Word, by purple its good, and by fine linen its truth ;
by faring sumptuously every day, is signified the de
light which the Jewish people took in possessing and
reading the Word ; by the beggar Lazarus are meant
the Gentiles, because they were not in possession of the
Word ; by Lazarus lying at the rich map's gate, is
meant, that the Gentiles were despised and rejected by
the Jews ; by being full of sores is signified, that the
Gentiles, by reason of their ignorance of truth, were in
many falsities. The reason why the Gentiles are meant
hy Lazarus, is, because the Gentiles were beloved by
the Lord, as that Lazarus -was whom he raised from the
dead (John, xi. 3, 5, 36) ; who is called his friend (John,
xi. 11) ; and who sat with him at table (John, xii. 2).
From these two passages it is evident, that the truths
and goods of the literal sense of the Word are like ves
sels and garments, to contain and cover the naked good
and trath, which lie concealed in the spiritual and ce
lestial senses of the Word."* — {Doctrine Concerning
the Sacred Scriptures n. 39, 40.)
Thus we see that the literal sense of the Word is not
* It is taught in the Doctrine concerning the Sacred Scriptures by
Emanuel Swedenborg, that " there is a sense still more interior [than the
spiritual] whieh is called Celestial ; but this sense cannot easily be un
folded, not being so rauch the object of intellectual thought as of will-afFec-
tion. The true ground and reason why there is in the Wqrd a sense still
more interior, which is called celestial, is, because from tlie Lord proceed
Divine Good and Divine Truth — Divine Good frora liis Divine Love, and
Divine Truth from his Divine Wisdom ; each is in the Word, for the Word
is the Divine Proceeding, it is on this account that the Word imparts lief
to those that read it under holy influence." (n. 19,)

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 157
rejected or undervalued in the writings of Swedenborg,
but is regarded as a vessel which contains the things of
spirit and life. The letter is the foundation on which
the internal senses rest, and the medium through which
these senses are brought down and accommodated to
man's state of reception. It is a kind of material body
to the Word, by means of which the divine Soul or
Spirit within holds communication with human minds,
just as our material bodies are the media through which
our spirits hold intercourse with one another here on
earth. Nor is it taught in the writings of the New Church
that no part of Scripture is true in its literal sense. On
the contrary, these writings admit that much of the Old
Testaraent contains a true history of things which lit
erally occurred as therein recorded ; that the history of
the Lord's advent, of his teaching, miracles, and death,
is literally trae. But these writings do also teach, that
even those parts of the Word which contain trae history
have an intemal sense, which is vastly more important,
and on account of which the history was written. The
spiritual sense is the principal thing regarded in the
history. Consequently wherever the history departs in
any instance from facts as they actually occurred, it is
in accommodation to the spiritual sense, to which the
letter is held subordinate, and raust always bend. But
as the end airaed at in our last lecture was to show that
there must be an internal sense to the Word, therefore
we adduced only such passages as are either not true, or
are unintelligible according to the sense of the letter.
But if there be any, (as doubtless there are many)
who are not in a state to receive the spiritual sense of
the Word as revealed by Swedenborg, and who would
yet feel pained on discovering that the Scriptures are
not all literally true, we have no desire to disturb their
minds. The New Jerasalem doctrines are not for them.
And it is much better that they should believe the Word
to be all true according to the letter — that they should
believe in contradictions, or (which perhaps is oftener
the case) think nothing about them, nor be troubled with
parts which they do not understand, than that their faith
15

158 EXISTENCE OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
in the Scriptures as a special revelation from God should
be in any degree impaired.
Having therefore in the preceding lecture, proved
from the Sacred Oracles the necessity of admitting an
internal sense, we design now to show by the same in
fallible witness, that there actually is such a sense in
the Word.
But some perhaps are ready to ask. If this be so,
why have not some of the great and good men in the
first Christian Church believed and taught it ? For if
it be possible to prove from Scripture not only the ne
cessity but the actual existence of an internal sense, we
should suppose that the fact itself would have been no
ticed and acknowledged by some at least of the forraer
church ; although the precise character of this internal
sense, and the principles according to which it is to be
developed, might not have been understood. This was
the case in respect to the Lord's first advent. The
Jews, relying on the promises contained in their Scrip
tures, were in the acknowledgement that a Messiah was
to come, although they did not understand in what char
acter He would appear, nor what kind of a kingdom
He was coming to establish. Now if the Word really
contains a spiritual sense, (as the writings of the New
Church teach,) and does itself actually bear testimony
to the existence of such a sense, why, it raay be fairly
asked, has there not been at least sorae general or con
fused notion of it in the first Christian Church ?
Before proceeding therefore to our Scripture argu
ment in proof of the existence of an internal sense, it
rnay be proper and useful briefly to consider this ques
tion ; to see if some of the greatest and best raen in the
flrst Christian Church have not had a pretty strong con
viction that there is a deeper meaning in the Word, or
in some parts of it at least, than that which is contained
in the sense of the letter. Upon this subject therefore
let us hear the opinion of some eminently learned and
pious men in the Old Church, who have written upon
the subject of biblical criticism.
The Rev. Bishop Home, in his " Introduction to the
Critical Study and Knowledge ofthe Holy Scriptures,"

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 159
(a work of great labor and in high repute among bibli
cal scholars, as is evident from the circumstance that it
has already passed through four editions) has the fol
lowing remarks on the interpretation of Scripture :
" All our ideas are admitted through the medium of
the senses, and consequently refer in the first place to
external objects ; but no sooner are we convinced that
we possess an immaterial soul or spirit, than we find oc
casion for other terms, or, for want of these, another ap
plication of the Same terms to a different class of objects ;
and hence arises the necessity of resorting to figurative
and spiritual interpretation. Now the object of revela
tion being to make known things which " eye hath not
seen nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of
man to conceive," it seems hardly possible that the hu
man mind should be capable of apprehending them but
through the medium of figurative language or mystical
representations." (Vol. II. pt. 2. chap. ii. § 5.)
In the same chapter and section of this work, the
learned author speaks of the necessity of admitting a
mystical or spiritual interpretation of the Scriptures in
the following terms :
"But independently of the able argument a priori,*
here cited, in favor of the mediate, mystical, or spiritual
interpretation of the Scriptures, unless such interpreta
tion be admitted, we cannot avoid one of two great dif
ficulties ; for, either we must assert that the multitude
of applications, made by Christ and his Apostles, are fan
ciful and unauthorized, and wholly inadequate to prove
the points for which they are quoted ; or, on the other
hand, we must believe that the obvious and natural
sense of such passages was never intended, and that it
was a mere illusion. The Christian will not assent to
the former of these positions ; the philosopher and the
critic will not readily assent to the latter."
After citing several texts both from the Old and New
Testament, in proof of his position that a mystical or
spiritual interpretation of the Scriptures must be admit-

* Reference is here made to the argument of Dr. John Clarke, quoted on
page 161, J

160 EXISTENCE OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.
ted, this writer remarks thus upon tbe miracles of our
Lord :
" Although the design of miracles is to raark the divine
interposition, yet, when perusing the miracles recorded
in the Sacred Writings, we are not to lose sight of the
raoral and religious instraction concealed under them,
and especially under the miracles performed by our
Savior. They were significant emblems of his designs,
and figures aptly representing the benefits to be confer
red by Him upon mankind, and had in them a spiritual
sense." This -writer also considers thespiritual sense as supe
rior to the literal in point of importance. " The literal
sense," he says, " it has been well observed, is undoubt
edly first in point of nature, as well as in order of sig
nification ; and consequently, when investigating the
meaning of any passage, this must be ascertained before
we proceed to search out its raystical import ; but the
trae and genuine mystical or spiritual sense excels the
literal in dignity, the latter being only the raedium of
conveying the former, which is more evidently design
ed by the Holy Spirit. For instance, in Numbers xxi.
8, 9, compared -with John iii. 14, the brazen serpent
is said to have been lifted up, in order to signify the
lifting up of .Tesus Christ, the Savior of the world ; and
consequeritly that the type might serve to designate the
antitype." (Vol. II. pt. 2. ch. vi.)
Again : Bishop Home lays it down" as a Canon of in
terpretation that " the same prophecies frequently have
a double meaning, and refer to different events ; the one
near, the of her remote ; the one temporal, the other
spiritual, or perhaps etemal." (Vol. IL pt. 2. ch. vii.
§ 2. Can. 1.)
The Rev. Dr. John Clarke, another profound scholar
and excellent raan, in his " Inquiry into the Origin of
Evil," in the folio collection of Boyle's Lectures, Vol. 3.
p. 229, says :
"The foundation of religion and virtue being laid in
the mind and heart, the secret dispositions and genuine
acts of which are invisible, and known only to a man's
self, therefore the powers and operations of the mind

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 161
can only be expressed in figurative terras and extemal
syrabols. The raotives also and inducements to prac
tice are spiritual, such as affect men in a way of moral
infiuence, and not of natural efliciency ; the principal of
which are drawn frora the consideration . of a future
state; and consequently these likewise must be repre
sented by allegories and similitudes taken from things
most known and familiar here. And thus we find in
Scripture the state of religion illustrated by all the beau
tiful images we can conceive. In the interpretation of
places, in which any of these images are contained, the
principal regard is to be had to the figurative or spirit
ual, and not to the literal sense of the words. From
not attending to which, have arisen absurd doctrines
and inferences, which weak men have endeavored to
establish as Scripture truths; whereas, in the other
method of explication, the things are plain and easy to
evei-y one's capacity, make the deepest and most lasting
impressions upon their minds, and have the greatest in
fluence upon their practice. Of this nature are all the
rites and ceremonies prescribed to the Jews, with rela
tion to the extemal forra of religious worship ; every
one of which was intended to show the obligation or
recommend the practice of some moral duty, and was
esteemed of no further use than as it produced that ef
fect. And the same may be applied to the rewards and
punishments peculiar to the Christian dispensation,
which regard a future state. The rewards are set forth
by those things in which the generality of men take
their greatest delight, and place their highest satisfac
tion of this life ; and the punishments are such as are
inflicted by human laws upon the worst of malefactors ;
but they can neither of them be understood in the
strictly literal sense, but only by way of analogy, and
corresponding in the general nature and intention of
the thing, though vety different in kind."
It therefore appears plainly from this, that Dr. Clarke
was ofthe opinion that there must be, and is, a spiritual
sense to some parts of Scripture at least.
Again ; the learned Dr. Lowth, in his coraraentary
upon the prophecy of Isaiah, raaintains that the portion
15*

162 EXISTENCE OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.
of this book from chapter xl. to the end, treats, in its
ulterior and most important sense, of the Lord's advent
upon earth, and of the establishment by Hira of a spir
itual kingdom. This is what the doctor calls "the
evtogelical. sense of the prophecy," which he says, "is
so apparent, and stands forth in so strong a hght, that
some interpreters cannot see that it has any other ; and
will not allow the prophecy to have any relation at all
to the retum frora the captivity of Babylon." But he
^ves it as his own opinion, " that the return of the
Jews from Babylon is the first, though not the principal
thing in the prophet's view." And after showing that
natural or outward events, as recorded in the literal
sense, were referred to by the prophet, he concludes
¦with these words : " If the literal sense of this proph
ecy, as above explained, cannot be questioned, much
less, surety, can the spiritual ; which I think is allow
ed on all hands, even by Grotius himself [And] if
both are to be adraitted, here is a plain example' of the
raystical allegory, or double sense, as it is coramonly
called of prophecy ; which the sacred writers of the
New Testament clearly suppose, and according to
which they frequently frame their interpretations ofthe
Old Testament."
Another eminent writer, and profound biblical schol
ar, the Rev. W. Jones, was clearly of the opinion that
all the miracles of our Lord were representative of cer
tain internal, spiritual operations performed in the mind
or spirit of man. " All his miracles," he says, " were un
doubtedly so many testimonies that He was sent frora
God : but they were much more than this, for they
were all of such a kind, and attended with such circura
stances, as give us an insight into the spiritual state of
' man and the great -work of his salvation." ( W. Jones'
Works, vol. iii., p. 326-7.)
We will quote the language of but one other writer in
proof of the fact, that, among modern biblical commen
tators, there has existed an opinion that the Sacred
Scriptures do contain some other raeaning than that
which is conveyed by fhe strict letter ofthe text. Bishop
Warburton, in his Divine Legation, (b. iv., § 4,) says :

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 163
" The Old Asiatic style, so highly figurative, seems,
by what we find of its remains in the prophetic lan
guage of the Sacred Writings, to hav^ Ijbpen evidently
fashioned to the mode of ancient hieroglyphics, both
cririologic and tropical ; — ofthe second kind, which an
swers to the tropical hieroglyphic, is the calling em
pires, kings, and nobles, by the names of the heavenly
luminaries, the sun, moon, and stars ; their teraporary
disasters, or entire overthrow, by eclipses and extinc
tions ; the destruction of the nobility, by stars falling
from the firmament.; hostfle invasions, by thunder and
tempestuous winds ; the leaders of arraies, conquerors,
and founders of empires, by lions, bears, leopards, goats,
or high trees. In a word, the prophetic style seems to
be a speaking hieroglyphic."
These few extracts from the writings of some of the
raost distinguished biblical scholars of modern times
may suffice to show, that there has been in the first
Christian Church a perception and acknowledgraent of
soraething besides the mere literal sense, in some parts
ofthe Word at least. All modem commentators, how
ever, have not been of this opinion. The learned Dr.
Mosheim, for example, lays it down as a " golden rale,"
that the Scriptures contain but one sense, which is that
of the letter. And probably theologians in the prevail
ing Church are raore generally principled in this doc
trine of Dr. Moshiem at the present day, than at any
former period. For it is a reraarkable fact, that as we
go back in the history of the Church towards the tirae
of the primitive Christians, we find the opinion that the
Word does contain an intemal sense, becoming more
and more prevalent in the Church the nearer we ap
proach to that early period. Any one raay satisfy him
self upon this point, who will consult the best writers
on Ecclesiastical History.
And now — ^passing by the -writers upon theology at
subsequent periods — let us see what opinion the primi
tive Christians entertained on this subject, according to
that eminent -writer of Ecclesiastical History, Dr. Mos
heim. Speaking of the manner of interpreting Scrip
ture in the first century, this learned author says:

164 EXISTENCE OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.
" "Those who perforraed the office of interpreters, studi
ed above all things plainness and perspicuity. At the
same time itj must be acknowledged, that, even in this
century, severarChristians adopted that absurd and cor-
i-upt custom, used among the Jews, of darkening the
plain words ofthe Holy Scriptures by insipid and forced
allegories, and of drawing them violently from their
proper and natural signification, in order to extort from
them certain raysterious and hidden signiflcations. Fbr
a proof of this, we need go no farther than the epistle
of Barnabas, which is yet extant." (Cent. I. part 2,
chap. iii. § 2.)
Again : this author mentions among the illustrious
writers ofthe secowrf. century, and raen raost renowned
for their piety and erudition, the naraes of Pantaenus,
Cleraens the Alexandrian, Tatian, Justin Martyr, and
Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch. And conceming these
distinguished luminaries in the Church, he says : "They
all attributed a double sense to the words of Scripture,
the one obvious and literal, the other hidden and mys
terious, which lay concealed, as it were, under the veil
of the outward letter. The former they treated with
tlie utmost neglect, and turned the whole force of their
genius and application to unfold the latter." (Cent. II.
part 2, chap. iii. § 4, 5.)
Among the Christian fathers of the third century, the
name of Origen stands pre-eminent. Speaking of " the
principal writers that distinguished themselves in it
[the third century] by their learned and pious produc
tions," Dr. Mosheim says : " The most eminent of these,
whether we consider the extent of his fame or the mul
tiplicity of his labors, was Origen, presbyter and cate-
chist of Alexandria, a man of vast and nncommon abil
ities, and the greatest luminary of the Christian world
that this age exhibited to view. His virtues and his
labors deserve the admiration of all ages ; and his name
-will be transmitted with honor through the annals of
time as long as learning and genius shall be esteemed
among men." (Cent. III. part 2, chap. ii. § 7.)
Such is the eulogistic language which our historian
employs in speaking of Origen. And he tells us in an-

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES, 165
other chapter that this illustrious man maintained and
t&.ught that the principal wisdom of God's Word lies
within or above the letter. To cite his own language :
" He [Origen] alleged, that the words of Scripture
Were, iri raany places, absolutely void of sense ; and
that though in others there were, indeed, certain notions
conveyed under the outward terras according to their
literal force and import, yet it was not in these that the
trae raeaning of the sacred writers was to be sought,
but in a mysterious and hidden sense arising from the
nature of the things themselves. This hidden sense he
endeavors to investigate throughout his commentaries."
(Cent. III. part 2, chap. in. § 5.) And in the next sec
tion of the same chapter, the historian adds, " A prodi
gious number of interpreters, both in this and the suc
ceeding ages, followed the method of Origen, though
-with sorae variation."
From these extracts we learn how general was the
opinion among the early Christian fathers, that the
Scriptures do contain some other sense besides that of
the raere letter. That these men were not able to de
velope the internal sense in any consistent and orderly
manner, or even to show what this sense is, because the
Science of Correspondences was not revealed to them,
is a fact well known. Not having this key, and not un
derstanding the style of a divine composition, in their
interpretations or manner of arriving at the spiritual
sense of Scripture, there was, as might be supposed, but
little order, method, uniformity or agreement among
them. And, (as we should suppose would be the case
when the imagination is left to wander at will without
the restraining and guiding influence of some establish
ed principle,) they often extracted from the Word a
meaning not less fanciful and puerile, than it was un
authorized and false. And it is probably on account of
the danger apprehended by many modern commenta
tors, in opening such a fleld for the fancy to play in,
that has led them to adopt the doctrijie concerning the
Sacred Scriptures which is now most prevalent, that
there is but one sense belonging to them, and this the
plain and obvious sense.

166 EXISTENCE OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.
But the danger in admitting an intemal sense to the
Word, which has been apprehended frora this quarter,
is entirely reraoved, when the rule for unfolding this
sense, as revealed in the writings of the New Church,
is well understood. There is then as little danger that
the imagination will run riot in respect to the Scrip
tures, as there is that it will run riot in respect to this
solar system, when we understand the science of math
ematics, together with all that Copernicus has taught
and Newton demonstrated. There is nothing that curbs
a wayward fancy like the flxed and well-defined bounds
of truth. It is where no law is seen to exist — where
all is vague and uncertain — that imagination loves to
rove. Let it here be observed, that, in what we have said
thus far, it has not been our design to prove that the
Scriptures do contain a spiritual sense ; but simply to
show what opinion has been entertained upon this sub
ject by some of the most illustrious men that have lived
under the flrst Christian dispensation. For if there be
such a sense in the Scriptures, and if its existence be
also susceptible ofproof from the Scriptures themselves,
we ought to be able, as we have before remarked, to find
in the Old Church the traces of some idea concerning
it, or of some belief in its existence. And from what has
been shown, (much more of a similar kind also raight
be adduced,) we think every one must perceive that
the notions upon this subject in that Church, have been
just about as general, diverse, vague and indefinite, as
might have been expected, upon the supposition that
there does exist an internal sense, the precise nature of
which however could not be known until it was re
vealed. Let us now proceed to consider some testimony in
proof of the existence of an internal sense in the Word ;
which testimony none, we trust, will be disposed to call
in question. First, let us attend to what the Apostles
teach upon this subject.
In the Acts of the Apostles, (chap, ii.) wherein are
recorded some things which took place on the day of
Pentecost, when there was such a powerful descent of

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 167
the Holy Spirit, we find it written of Peter, that he stood
up and thus spake before all who were present on that
memorable occasion : " Ye men of Judea, and all ye that
dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, arid heark
en to my words : for these are not drunken, as ye
suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But
this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel :
And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God,
I will pouT out of my Spirit upon all flesh : and your
sons and your daughters shall prophecy, and your young
men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream
dreams. And I will show wonders in heaven above,
and signs in the earth beneath ; blood and fire and
vapor of smoke : the sun shall be turned into darkness
and the moon into blood, before that great and notable
day of the Lord come," Now it is evident that the Apos
tle believed this prophecy of Joel to contain a spiritual
sense ; for he declares that what had just happened was
the very thing foretold by the prophet. And it nowhere
appears from the record, that all the things mentioned in
this prophecy took place according to the sense of the
letter. Certainly we may affirm with much confidence
that the moon was not literally turned into blood.
Again: the same Apostle, in his first epistle, (iii. 20, 21)
after mentioning Noah's ark, " wherein few, i. e., eight
souls were saved by water," adds: "The like figure where
unto even baptism doth nowjalso save u s : (not the putting
away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good
conscience towards God,) by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ." Here this Apostle not only gives to baptism a
spiritual import, plainly understanding it to signify
spiritual purification, but he also understands the wa
ters of the flood mentioned iri the Old Testament to be'
the flgure of something spiritual, as manifestly appears
from his saying that baptism is a like figure : i. e., like
unto the saving of a few souls alive in the ark in the
days of Noah. Thus it is evident that this apostle con
sidered what is said concerning the ark and the flood as
figurative ; and the saving of eight souls as denoting
something similar to what is signified by baptism, viz..

168 EXISTENCE OP AN INTERNAL [lECT.
spiritual washing and purification, or the saving of man's
soul from the falses and evils of hell.
In his second epistle this apostle tells us " that no
prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpreta
tion." (i. 20.) Now any interpretation ofthe Word, or
of any part of it, which confines its raeaning to the par
ticular time, place, person, or thing spoken of in the lit
eral sense, is obviously a private interpretation. But
inasmuch as the spiritual sense of the Word is not con >
fined, to any particular times, places, or persons, but is
of universal application, therefore such an interpretation
as developes this universal sense, is hot private, and
hence is the true interpretation of all Scripture. Thus
it is quite evident that the apostle Peter believed there is
a spiritual sense throughout all the Sacred Scriptures ;
and that Scripture is rightly interpreted only when this
spiritual or universal meaning is unfolded.
The testimony of Paul to the existence of an internal
sense is still more copious and conclusive. In his sec
ond letter to the Corinthians, he says : " That we are not
sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves,
but our sufficiency is of God ; who also hath made us
able rainisters of the New Testaraent ; not of the letter,
but of the spirit : for the letter killeth, but the spirit
givethlife." (iii. 5, 6.)
Here is evidence of a strong and explicit kind, that
this apostle believed not only that there is sorae other
meaning to the New Testament besides that expressed
in the letter, but also that the spiritual sense is its es
sence and life. He plainly teaches that the hteral, sepa
rate from the spiritual sense of the Word, hath no life,
nor the power to produce life, but only spiritual death.
Again : in his epistle to the Romans, this same apos
tle says, " For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly ;
neither is that circumcision which is outward in the
flesh : but he is a Jew who is one inwardly ; and cir
cumcision is that ofthe heart, in the spirit, and not in
tke letter ; whose praise is not of men, but of God."
(ii. 28, 29.)
Here it is plainly declared that the rite of circumcis-

v.] SENSE IN THE SQRIPTURES. 169
cision is of the heart ; and moreover that he who receives
this spiritual circumcision, thereby' becomes a Jew in-
v,rardly. Whence it is manifest that the apostle under
stands the term Jew as having a spiritual signification,
and as denoting not one of the natural descendants of
Judah merely, or an inhabitant of the land of Judea, but
any member of the Lord's true church whenever or where-
ever he riaay be found. Therefore to be a Jew inwardr
ly, or in the spiritual and good sense of the teim, is to
be circumcised in heart, i, e,, to be purified from the evil
loves of the natural man.
In his epistle to the Galcitians, Paul again says :
" For it is written that Abraham had two sons ; the one
by a bond-maid, the other by a free woman. But he of
the bond-woman was born after the flesh; but he of
the free woman by promise. Which things are an al
legory ; for these are the two covenants ; the one from
the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is
Agar. For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and an
swereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage
with her children. But .Terusalem which is above is
free, which is the raother of us all." (iv, 22-27.)
Froni this passage it appears evident that the Apostle
understood the historical parts of the Old Testament to
contain a spiritual sense. For, refferring here to a piece
of plain history, he declares it to be an allegory, which
signifies that the principal or most important thing con
tained in the history, is not that which appears in the
sense of the letter. This must be inferred from the
common acceptation ofthe term allpgory. Besides, the
Apostle declares that the two sons of Abraham are the
two covenants. It is evident that they are not the
two covenants in the literal but in the spiritual sense ;
i. e. they are types or representatives of both the Jewish
and Christian dispensations, and likewise of any two
dispensations which stand similarly related. Moreover
the Apostle here gives to Jerusalem a spiritual signifi
cation, evidently understanding it to denote the Church,
which, according to Swedenborg, is its spiritual mean
ing ; for he says " the Jerusalem which now is" — i. e.
the Jewish Church — " is in bondage with her children.
16

170 EXISTENCE OP AN INTERNAL * [lECT,
'Ba.t Jerusalem which is above" — ^^i. e. the Christian
Church, whose principles were theh desceriding from
above-^" is free, which is the mother of us all." - This
Jerusalem is here called by the Apostle, "the raother of
us all," because the Church, being "the Bride the
Lamb's wife," is the spiritual mother of all who becorae
the children of God. It is said to be free, because
"where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." (2
Cor. iii. 17.) " If the Son shall make you free, ye shall
be free indeed." (John viii. 36.)
Take one other passage from the writings of this
Apostle. In his first letter to the Corinthians, speaking
of the children of Israel and their journey through the
wilderness, he says, " moreover, brethren, I would not
that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers
were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea ;
and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in
the sea ; and did, all eal the same spiritual meat ; and
did all drink the same spiritual drink ; for they
drank of that spiritual Rock that folloioed them :
and that Rock was Christ." (x. 1, 5.)
In these words the Apostle plainly teaches that the
manna and quails given to the children of Israel in the
desert, and the water that gushed from the Rock in Ho
reb, are symbols of that spiritual meat and drink where
with the Lord feeds the souls of all who are hungering
and thirsting after righteousness; and who are there
fore his spiritual Israel journeying towards the spiritual
Canaan. He teaches that there is such a thing as spi
ritual meat, aud spiritual drink, and a spiritual Rock ;
consequently that these words have a spiritual as well
as a natiu-al meaning. And that the rock from which
the water flowed in Horeb, was understood by the
Apostle to symbolize the Rock of Ages — the Eternal
Word— the Fountain of living water — is evident from
his saying "and I hai. Rock urns Christ."
Furtiier testimony of a sirailar land might be addu
ced from the Apostolic wi'itings, especially from the
epistle lo the Hebrews. But we pass it byj in the full
conviction that flie passages above cited are suflicient
to establish the fact, that the Apostles were in the ac-

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 171
knowledgment of an internal sense to the Word — even
to those parts, which, in the literal sense, contain a
plain and simple narrative of facts.
If we turn now to the Old Testament Scriptures, we
shall be able to flnd there many plain intimations of an
ihternal sense. For example, it is said (Ex. xxviii. 38.)
that the diadem or plate of gold worn on certain solemn
festivals upon the forehead of the high-priest, signified
that he bore (i. e. representatively, or in a typical man
ner) the sin ofthe holy things, and made an atonement
for the imperfection of the Hebrew offcrinss and sacri
fices. So also in Deuteronomy (xxx. 6.) the spiritual
import of flie rite of circumcision plainly appears in
these words, "And Jehovah tliy God will circuracise
thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love Jeho-vah
thy God with all thine heart, and Avitli all thy soul, that
thou mayest live." And again in .leremiah (iv. 4.) :
" Circumcise yourselves to Jehovah, and take away the
foreskins of your heart, ye men of .Tudah and inhabitants
of .Jerusalem ; lest my fury co-oie forth like fire, and burn
that none can quench it, because ofthe evil of your do
ings." Whence it plainly appears that there is a spirit
ual as well as a natural meaning to circumcision; a
circumcision of the heart or mind, as well as of the
body. Again: if there be no internal sense to the Word,
what are we to iiuder.=itand by that prayer of the Psalm
ist, " Open thou mine eyes that I may Ijehold the won
drous thi)igs of thy law." (cxix. 18.) Certainly no one
can suppose that the Pstilmistis here praying that his
natural eyes may be opened, l-iut the eyes of his mind.
He evidently raeans, liy these words, to ask that his un
derstanding may be so illustrated by the Lord, that he
shall be able to understand the wondrous things con
tained in the internal sense ofthe Word. Eyes, in the
spiritual sense, denote the understanding ; for the un
derstanding receives and is affected by spiritual light,
which is truth, as the eyes receive and are affected by
the natural light of the sun. And if (agreeably to the
opinion of raost raodern commentators) there be no oth
er meaning to the Word than its obvious and literal

172 EXISTENCE OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.
sense, why should the Psalraist pray that his eyes raight
be opened or his understanding be illustrated, to enable
him to discern the wondrous things of the law ? We
should suppose that he raight have understood the law
in its obvious and literal sense, without any peculiar
illustration. And what can be raeant by the wondrous
things of the law, unless it be those illiraitable treasures
of sacred wisdom which are stored up within the letter
of the Word ; and which do not imraediately appear un
less the eyes be opened, or the understanding be illus
trated to behold thera ?
Again : it is written in Psalras Ixxvin. 1, 2, " Give
ear, 0 my people, to my law : incline your ear to the
words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a para
ble ; I will utter dark sayings of old." These words
would naturally lead us. to expect that the Psalmist was
about to speak in symbolic language, or- to clothe his
ideas in such imagery that they would not be readily
comprehended; consequently they would be obscure,
or what he utters would be dark sayings. But what
do we find iramediately succeeding this soleran an
nounceraent ? Nothing but a plain, brief, and simple
narrative of what the Lord did to the children of Israel
from the tirae of their departure out of Egypt to the
reign of David. Indeed we cannot conceive of a more
naked and unvarnished statement of facts — facts too
which must have been well known at the tirae — than
we find throughout the whole of this chapter. In its
literal sense, it contains a portion of plain and well
known history ; and there is . not the slightest appear
ance of anything obscure or difficult to be understood.
Yet in the second verse it is denominated a . parable,
and dark sayings. Certainly if there be no other than
a literal sense to this historical narration, it could not be
called a parable, as we shall see by and by from the
explanation of a parable given by the Lord himself;
neither could it be called dark sayings, because in the
serise of the letter it is perfectly plain.
Here then we have as strong evidence as any one
could reasonably ask, that the whole of this Psalm, and

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 173
consequently the whole recorded history of the Jewish
people, contains an internal or spiritual sense. And it is
fair to conclude that the sarae is true of the prophetical
and other portions ofthe Word, the whole of which, we
may presume, is composed upon some fixed and uni-
forin plan.
We pass finally to consider evidence upon this subject
which is of the very highest authority, and, more con
clusive perhaps than any that we have already adduced
— the testiraony of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In the gospel according to Matthew, this infallible
witness says ; " Think not that I ara come to destroy
the law or the prophets ; 1 am not corae to destroy but
to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and
earth pass, one iota or one tittle shall in no wise pass
from the law, tUl all be fluffilled." (v. 17, 18.) Now
it is manifest that this declaration of our Lord cannot
be trae, unless the Word contain an internal sense.
For we know that many things of the law in its literal
sense — many of the rites and cereraonies enjoined upon
the Jewish church — were abolished on the establishraent
of Christianity. And we also know that not only was
there no injunction upon Christians to observe the cer
eraonial law, but that even the power to do so in all
particulars was taken away from them wheu their city
and temple were destroyed.
Moreover the Lord has fully illustrated the nieaning
of these words in the very chapter frora which they are
taken. For He there plainly teaches us that the pre
cept which forbids raurder, does also, when rightly un
derstood, forbid anger or hatred towards a brother ; for
this is the cause, and consequently the intemal or es
sence of all murder, {v. 22.) He teaches us that the
precept which forbids adultery, extends even to the
thoughts and affections of man, and condems all inter
nal unchastity. {v. 28.) He teaches that the preceptwhich
condemns false swearing, does also condemn swear
ing of all kinds ; and declares that whatever is more
than yea, yea, nay,nay, cometh of evil. {v. 37) Thus the
Lord has shown us in these and other similar examples,
16*

174 EXISTENCE OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.
what He means hj fulfilling the law, or filling it full,
(for this is the true meaning of the original word nlrj.
qwaai. \jpler6sai\ which is here used.) He evidantly
means that He had come to show the real substance, of
which the outward, ceremonial law was but a shadow —
to show the divine fulness of the precepts in the Word,
and thus to fill the letter fuU.with. spirit and with life ;
so that all who would be of that heavenly kingdom
which He had come to establish, must regard their in
ward motives not less than their outward actions — must
let their righteousness be of the heart and the spirit, and
thus exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Phari
sees, whose aim was merely to cleanse the outside of
the cup and ofthe platter. It is obvious therefore, that
the Lord plainly teaches, in'the chapter from which we
have just quoted, the existence of ari internal or spiritu
al sense in the law.
Again : it is known to all who are familiar with the
New Testament; that the Lord when on earth generally
taught by parables. In Matthew xiii. 34^ it is said " all
th^se things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables ;
and without a parable spake he not unto them." The
same thing is also declared in Mark iv. 33, 34 ; " And
with many such parables spake He the Word unto them,
as they were able to hear it. But without a parable
spake He not unto them ; and when they were alone.
He expounded all things unto his disciples."
Now the true raeaning of a parable, is, any spiritual
truth clothed in proper natural habiliments— in appro
priate imagery drawn frora the natural world. When
natural objects and events are so selected and arranged
as to forra suitable vessels for containing divine and
spiritual things, and thus to becorae a raedium of trans
mitting these from angels to raen, then we have what,
in Scripture phraseology, is denorainated a parable.
Any one may convince himself that such is the true
meaning of this term, by an attentive examination of
some of the parables in connection with the context :
as, for example, the parable of the grain of mustard seed,
ofthe treasure hid in the field, and ofthe net cast into
the sea, (Matt, xiii,) ; of the householder who sent forth

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 175
laborers into his vineyard, (Matt, xx.) ; of the marriage-
feast, (Matt, xxii.) ; of the ten virgins, and of the
talents, (Matt, xxv.) ; for all these and other parables
also, are declared to be representative images of the
kingdom of heaven ; they are said to be what the king
dom of heaven is like unto. And if we refiect that the
kingdora of heaven is not external but internal — not
natural but spiritual as the Lord has himself declared,
"my kingdom is not of this world," (John xviii. 36) ;
and again, " Behold, the kingdom of God is within
you," (Luke xvii. 21) — we raay see that this kingdora
is one which belongs to the mind or spirit of man,
whose government is of love according to truth ; and
hence that love and wisdom, or goodness and truth from
the Lord, are the essentials of this kingdom. There
fore it raust be something of these spiritual and essen
tial principles of heaven, that is contained within the
literal sense of the parables, and constitutes their life
-nnd soul. It is on account of the internal meaning of
the parables, that the kingdora of heaven is said to be
like unto such things as it is.
Moreover wherever the Lord has explained the
raeaning of a i parable, as that of the sower, for exara
ple, and of the tares and the wheat in Matthew, chap.
xiii., we find that the natural objects there mentioned are
made to signify something spiritual ; and thus the par
able is seen to have a spiritual sense. In his explana
tion of the parable of the sower. He says : " When any
one heareth the word of the kingdora, and uuderstand
eth not, then coraeth the wicked [one], and catcheth
away that which was sown in his heart. This is
he which received seed by the way-side. But he that
received seed into stony places, the sarae is he that
heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it : yet
hath he not root in hiraself, but dureth for a while ; for
when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the
word, by and by he is offended. He also that received
seed among the thorns, is he that heareth the word ;
and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of rich
es choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he
that received seed into the good ground, is he that hear-

176 EXISTENCE OP AN INTERNAL [lECT;
eth the word, and uuderstandeth ; which also beareth
fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundred fold, some
sixty, some thirty." (Matt. xui. 19-23.)
Here we see that the Lord raakes the seed, men
tioned in the parable, signify the word of the kingdom,,
i, e., the traths of heaven and the Church ; the way
side, the stony and thorny places, and also the good
ground upon which this seed fell, signify, according to
this explanation, the different states of raind of persons
Xo whora heavenly truths are taught ; and the fowls, the
sun, and the thorns, denote the false pursuasions and
evil loves of the natural man, which destroy in various
ways — signified by devouring, parching, and choking
— the principles of heaven or " the word of the king
dom," before it has become appropriated to life. Thus
we perceive, that in the Lord's explanation of this par
able, a spiritual signification is given to each of the nat
ural objects herein raentioned.
Again : in explaining the parable of the tares and the
wheat, He says, " He that soweth the good seed is the
Son of Man," i. e., the Lord, who is the Divine Being,
and frora whom proceedeth all divine truth. " The field
is the world," i. e., all huraan rainds to which traths are
taught : " the good seed are the children of the king
dom," i. e., the good principles which proceed from or
are the offspring of heaven : " but the tares are the
children of the wicked [one]," i. e., the evfl princi
ples which proceed from, or are the offspring of hell :
" The enemy that sowed thera is the devil," i. e.,
hell, or all evil spirits in one complex : " the harvest
is the consummation of the age," i. e, the full and
final state ofthe Church, and of every individual ; " and
the reapers are the angels," i. e., divine truths, which,
as heavenly messengers, separate the tares from the
wheat in every mind ; or the false principles frora the
trae, and the evil frora the good.
Here again we find a spiritual meaning given by our
Lord to each of the natural thmgs raentioned in the par
able. Now if all the Lord's parables have an internal
or spiritual sense, and if the Holy Word be indeed the
Word of the Lord, and if it be trae, as we are told it is,

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 177
that He spake all things in parables, and without a
parable spake not, then it follows of necessity thatthe
Wordmusthaveaninternal or spiritual sense throughout.
But there are other passages in which the Lord teach
es the existence of a spiritual sense in the Sacred Scrip
tures, in a manner still more explicit. We are informed
(Luke xxiv.) that after His resurrection. He appeared to
two of the disciples as they were journeying towards
Emmaus, " And beginning at Moses and all the proph
ets. He expounded unto them in all the Scriptures
the things concerning hiraself" And when he had
" vanished out of their sight," " they said one to anoth
er. Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked
with us by the way, and while he opened to us the
Scriptures 7" (v, 32.) And when he appeared to thera
again, " He said unto them. These are the words which
I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled which were written in the law
of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalras, con
cerning rae." And it is added, " Then opened He their
understanding, that they might understand the
Scriptures," {v, 44, 45.)
Now what can be more demonstrative than this, in
proof of an internal sense to the Scriptures ? For it is
manifestly implied by these words of our Lord, that the
Scriptures contain a meaning which cannot be clearly
discerned unless the understanding be opened to per
ceive it. And if there be but one raeaning to Scripture,
and this (agreeably to the opinion of raost raodern cora
raentators) its obvious and literal meaning, what idea
can we possibly attach to these passages, which speak
of the Lord's opening the Scriptures to the disciples,
and of his opening their understanding that they
might understand the Scriptures 7 If there were no
interior serise to the Sacred Oracles — nothing but what
appears on the surface — would the Lord speak, as He
has here spoken, of opening them ?
One raore text shall be cited in confirmation of the
truth of our position that the existence of an internal
sense is actually taught in the Sacred Scriptures ; and
then we leave the subject forthe reflection and further ex-

178 EXISTENCE OF AN INTERNAL [lECT.
araination of all honest, unfettered aad liberal rainds,
who, in huraflity and sincerity, are searching for the(
truth. It is written of our Lord Jesus Christ that He once
declared in the synagogue of the Jews, " I am the liv
ing bread which came down frora heaven. If any raan
eat of this bread, he shall live forever ; and the bread
that I will give is ray flesh, which I will give for the'
life of the world," (John vi, 51.) And when the Jews
who heard hira, "strove among theraselves, saying,
How can this raan give us his flesh to eat? 'Then
Jesus said unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, ex
cept ye eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his
blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth ray flesh
and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will
raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat in
deed, and my blood is drinlc indeed." (¦/;. 52, 53, 54.)
Audit is recorded that "many of- his disciples, when
they heard tin's, said, This i,-* tin hard saying ; who can
hear it?" Then the I^ord ndd,s, by -way of explanation,
"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth
nothing ; tlic irords that I speak unto you are spirit,
and are Ufe," {v, 63.)
Now can any one suppose that it is by virtue of their
literal sense alone, that the Ijord here declares his words
to be spirit and life ? Does He not say, " It is the spirit
that quickcnoth"? And this agrees with what the apos
tle saith, " The letter killeth, but the spirit o-iveth life."
And are wc notpUiinly taught in the passage just cited,
that it is the literal 8cn,sc — the outward, corporeal part — ¦
the mere " flesh" of the 'W'ord at which men .stumble
and take offence ? And that, if we desire to know what
that " livino- bread" is Avhich cometh down from heaven,
apd of which wlioso eateth shall live forever, we must
look within the outward covering or "flesh" of the
Word (which alone doth not profit) to those pure and
heavenly principles which are "spirit and life;" and
with which, by the light of the New Dispensation, fhe
Sacred Scriptures are seen to be everywhere full.
Thus far we have arrived in our arguraent. In our

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 179
last lecture we showed, frora the character of raany
parts of the Sacred Scriptures, the necessity of either
admitting a spiritual sense, or of rejecting the Bible as
the Word of God : — a dread alternative indeed ! — yet
one on whose fearful brink multitudes are even now
standing. And in this lecture we have endeavored to
show frora the united testiraony of the Apostles, of Mo
ses, of the Psalms and the Prophets, and of the Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, that there actually is an in
ternal or spiritual sense to the written Word.
As a piece of corroborative evidence also, it has been
shown that, here and there along the horizon of the first
Christian church, the light of the spiritual sense has
streamed through tbe clouds, and bathed the lofty
mountain-tops with its resplendent brightness. It has
been shown that some of the most distinguished lumi
naries in the Old Church have believed and taught that
the chief wisdom of God's Word lies within and above
the letter.
It reraains for us to exhibit, as Ave shall endeavor to
do in succeeding lectures, something of the nature of
the spiritual sense, and the principle of interpretation
as revealed in the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg,
according to which this sense of Scripture is to be un
folded. For it is to be observed that the mode of inter
preting Scripture in the New Church, or the method by
which we arrive at the trae internal sense, is not the
cunning device of any man ; neither is it fanciful, con
jectural, or ingenious, as many suppose ; but it is a
matter of special revelation, and is of a nature so ra
tional, orderly and beautiful, that enlightened reason
acknowledges it to be consistent with itself, Avith true
science, and with all that is knoAvn of the economy of
God. Human ingenuity has spent all its force in vain at
tempts to invent a key by Avhich to unlock the Oracles
of God. The Church has struggled long and hard to
find her way back to the garden of Eden, by the light
of her nvju intelligence. But this has not been permit
ted. Evermore at the entrance of the garden are seated
cherubim with a flaming sword turning every way to

180 EXISTENCE OP AN INTERNAL [leCT.
keep the way of the Tree of Life. And in these latter
times the Church has fallen into such an external and
sensual state — has become so lost to genuine love and
charity — wandered so far away frora her Father in the
heavens, that she would fain fill herself with the husks
which the swine do eat. Nay raore ; with her various,
conflicting, and blind conjectures concerning the raean
ing of the Sacred Volume, multiplying her commenta
ries and swelling her libraries with conflrmations of the
mere appearances of truth, she has torn the letter of
God's "Word all to shreds, and has come to regard its
spiritual sense as of no account, or even as having no
existence ; thus fulfilling, in their spiritual sense, these
words of our Lord, " They parted ray garments among
them, and upon ray vesture did they cast lots."
Yes. Human ingenuity has gone as far as it can go
in its endeavors to interpret aright the Word of God. It
has done all it can do to give us a consistent and ration
al theory concerning the Sacred Volume, by raeans of
which we may know for certainty what the Scriptures
really teach. But this book, " written within and on
the back side, and sealed with seven seals," (Rev. v. ] )
which " no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under
the earth, has been able to open," {v. 3) — this book "the
Lion of the tribe of Judah has prevailed to open, and to
loose the seven seals thereof" {v, 5.) Let therefore, the
power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and hon
or, and glory, and blessing, be ascribed to the Lamb
that Avas slain, who alone is worthy to receive it.
Those who have any perception of the darkness and
and gloom that uoav overshadoAv the prevailing church,
and are anxiously inquiring the way to Zion with their
faces thitherward, let them come to the revelations that
have been made for the NeAV Jerusalem. Let thera
corae to the light, — the glad and glorious light of the
spiritual sense of the Word as unfolded in the writings
of Swedenborg, and then they shall walk and not stum
ble. Then, if they really desire to knoAv the truth, that
the truth may make them free from evil loves and false
persuasions — if they desire to know and to live the life
of heaven — ^they shall understand what mean these

v.] SENSE IN THE SCRIPTURES. 181
words, " The people that walked in darkness have seen
a great light : they that dwell in the land of the shadow
of death, upon them hath the light shined." (Is.
ix. 2.) And then shall they also, in some degree, expe
rience within themselves — in the clearer illustration of
their minds, and the easier control of their turbulent
passions — the fulfilment of those other words in the
prophecy of Isaiah, " Arise, shine ; for thylight is come,
and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee. For, be
hold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross dark
ness the people : but Jehovah shall arise upon thee, and
his glory shall be, seen upon thee. The sun shall be
no more thy light by day ; neither for brightness shall
the moon give light unto thee : but Jehovah shall be
unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy Glory.
Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither shall thy
moon withdraw itself : for Jehovah shall be thine ever
lasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be
ended." {H. Ix. 1, 2, 19, 20.) 17

182 ' SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.

LECTURE VI.

THE SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES EXPLAINED, AND
APPLIED AS A RULE OP SCRIPTURE INTERPRETA
TION.

'The kev of knowledge." — Luke xi. 52.

Is it not singularly strange, while almost every body
is Avilling to admit that the volume of nature has but
just begun to be unfolded to huraan vision, and that in
the great globe of science there yet lie innumerable
strata unexplored and untouched, that people should
be so unwilling to admit that any higher and purer
truth is ever to be unfolded in the volurae of Revela
tion ? Is it not strange they should so generally and
pertinaciously maintain, that all which ever will or ever
can be knoAvn of the Word of God, has already been
discovered by the learned men of forraer tiraes ? Is not
this virtually to deny that there exists any analogy be
tween the "Word and the works of God ? and to raain
tain that the former is a very superficial production,
while atthe same time, in respect to the latter, it is ad
mitted that there are infinite stores of wisdom which lie
concealed beneath the surface ?
It was a pointed question once asked by Swedenborg,
" Wfll it take ages to discover the truth, or ages to ac
knowledge it when discovered ?" Does not the history
of the progress of human intelligence show, that in pro
portion as a truth is great, and transcending the capaci
ty of the age, it is either forgotten or rejected ? Long
and hard has truth always had to struggle to penetrate
the thick mists of human ignorance, prejudice, and er-

VI.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 183
ror. Although it never comes to condemn, but always
to save the world, yet at its advent has the Avorld al
ways pronounced its own sentence of conderanation.
The disposition which men have shown ever since the
Fall, to shut their eyes against the light, affords a strik
ing commentary upon these words of our Lord : " And
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men loved darkness rather than light, be
cause their deeds were evil. (John iii, 19,) And even
now, as ever, " the light shineth in darkness and the
darkness comprehendeth it not."
It has been intimated in a preceding lecture, that
there is not to be found in the Old Church any orderly,
consistent, uniform, and well established principle of
interpreting the Word of God. And for want of some
such principle, interpretation is necessarily loose, dis
cordant, conjectural, and sometimes contradictory.
Each expounder of the Sacred Oracles is leff, in a good
degree, to the very imperfect guidance of his own un
derstanding, or even to indulge the wild and giddy
flights of his untutored imagination. Consequently
each contrives to hammer, and bend, and twist the
Scriptures into a shape conformable to Ais ideas ; and
thus, in many instances, a man gives forth the dark
counsels of his own intelligence for living and eternal
verities. Hence the almost countless number of dog
mas in the prevailing Church, many of which neither
harmonize with each other, nor with enlightened rea
son ; and yet with some hammering and grinding at
the Word, they can all, in some measure, be confirmed
by the literal sense.
These things being so, it is no wonder, what sensi
ble men so often affirm, that the philosophy of the pul
pit, and the logic of the pulpit are very bad — are in ma
ny instances absolutely contemptible. Nor is it any
wonder, while the vague conjectures of uninspired- men,
or the feeble flickerings of human intelligence are given
out for the veritable teachings of God's Holy Word,
that the Sacred Volume should have fallen into such
discredit as it has with multitudes.

184 SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
To show that the assertion which has been made wifh
regard to the discordant interpretations of the Word,
and the various opinions that have been entertained up
on this subject among biblical scholars in the Old
Church, is not wholly gratuitous or unfounded, we will
here cite the authority of the leamed bishop Marsh. In
his flrst lecture upon the interpretation of the Sacred
Scriptures, (p. 271) this Avriter says :
" If the interpretation ofthe Scripture were easy and
obvious, there would be little or no diversity in the ex
planations which different commentators have given of
the same passage. But if we corapare the Greek with
the Latin coraraentators, we shall frequently flnd such
a variety of interpretation, as would appear alraost
irapossible to be extracted from the same text. If we
compare the Jewish commentators either with the
Greek or with the Latin, we shall flnd as great a variety,
though a variety of a diflerent kind. If we compare
our English coraraentators with any of the preceding,
we shall find no dirainution in the variety of interpre
tation. Nor do, we find uniformity, either among com
mentators of the same language, or even among cora
raentators of the same church. It is true, that in all
things relating to doctrine and discipline, the Church
of Rome preserved, during several ages, an uniformity of
interpretation by the coraraentary which was called the
Glossa Ordinaria. But when the revival of learning
had opened ucav sources of intelligence, and the Refor
raation had restored the right of unfettered exposition,
the Glossa Ordinaria was exchanged for new systems
of interpretation, frora Luther and Melancthon, from
Calvin and Beza, frora Grotius and Spanheim." {See
Clissold's Letter to the Archbishop of Dublin, p. 89.)
On page 274 of the same lecture, this learned prelate
again remarks :
" There is not the slightest historical evidence that
the apostles transinitted to posterity any rule, but what
is recorded in the New Testament. The fathers there
fore, are on precisely the same footing with respect to
the authority of their interpretations, as the coraraenta
tors of the present age. Nor, in fact, are they uniform

VI.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 185
in their interpretations even in regard to doctrine, not
withstanding the agreeraent alleged by the Church of
Rome ; though some coraraentators may be selected,
both ancient and modern, who agree on particular
points."— {Ibid. p. 90.)
Many admissions of this kind might be quoted from
the theological writings of other distinguished men,
showing not only a great want of agreement and uni
forraity in the interpretation of the Scriptures, but also a
great diversity of opinion in respect to the nature ofthe
inspiration which belongs to them.
And are the Sacred Scriptures really the Word of
God, and yet so loose, disorderly, and imraethodical
in the style of their coraposition, that there is no one
uniforra principle of interpretation applicable to all
parts of thera? Is it presumable, in the outset, that
there would be less uniformitv in the Word of God,
than in his works ? And should we not expect that his
recprded Word, even in the style of its composition,
would transcend every human production as far as his
Avorks transcend those of man, or as nature rises supe
rior to art? And if the Scriptures be composed ac
cording to sorae uniform plan — some fixed and eternal
laAV of divine order (as we should suppose would be the
case with a really divine composition) — then it is ob
vious that a knoAvledge of this principle of their con
struction, is essential to a right understanding of the
Scriptures. To know what the Scriptures really teach,
we ought first to know the laAv of their composition,
which alone can enable us to interpret thera aright.
Now Ave believe and maintain that the. Scriptures are
composed according to a fixed and uniform law, and
that the nature of their diAane style is clearly shown in
the theological writings of Emanuel Swedenborg. We
believe also that the key to the true interpretation ofthe
Word, is revealed in these writings for the use of the
New Jerusalem Church, which the Lord is now in the
endeavor to establish upon earth. It is the design of
this lecture to unfold and exhibit, in some measure, the
nature of that law according to which the Scriptures
are composed : and to illustrate its importance, at the
17*

186 SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
sarae time that we are confirming its trath, by applying
it in the interpretation of sorae difficult portion of the
Word. And here in the outset, we shall assurae that the
reader already acknowledges the existence of a Divine
Being ; — acknowledges that there is a God, and thait
He is Spirit (John iv. 24.) ; that He is essential Love
(1 John iv, 16.), and essential Wisdom (Jer. x. 12. ;
John i. 1, 3.) ; or goodness itself (Luke xviii. 19.), and
truth itself (John xiv. 6). We shall assurae that the
reader already believes that this Divine Being or Spirit,
Avhose essence is love and wisdom, is not confined to
any time or space, but is always and CA'-erywhere pres
ent as the life and soul of everything that lives ; as the
forming, supporting, and animating principle of the uni
verse.* We shall also assume that it is believed that
raen, aniraals, trees, plants, and every sraallest blade of
grass do not live and grow of themselves alone, but by
virtue of a constant influx into thera of living principles
from Him .who alone is spirit and life. In short, we
shall assurae that it is believed, not only that raan has
a soul or spiritual principle, without which his corpo
real part hath no life, but also that tiiere is a spiritual
principle within and throughout ah nature, constituting
its soul, life and forraing power ; which principle is
not blind, but is a constant emanation frora the Omnis
cient Mind. We shall assume that there is already an
acknowledgment of this, because it appears at once so
obvious and rational, that we do not well see how a
man can really deny it. We do not Avell see, for ex
ample,- how any reflecting man can deny that he has a
raind as well as a body, or that there is a spiritual as
well as a raaterial part appertaining to his constitution ;
and that all living things have within thera a spiritual
essence which the natural eye does not see, and which
constitutes their life.
Frora the preraises here assumed therefore, the con
clusion inevitably follows that some spiritual principle,
* It will be shown in a subsequent lecture when we come to treat
of the doctrine of the Lord, that the New Church does not make God
a mere dead abstraction, but a living Divine Person.

VI.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 187
i. e. something of love and wisdom frora the Lord, Avho
is Love itself and Wisdom itself, must enter into and fill
every single thing in the natural world, as its soul, es
sence, and forming power ; just as the spirit ofman, for
example, enters into and fills with its own life every or
gan, membrane, gland, fibre, (fee. of the human body.
Thus all nature is seen to be but an effect, of which
God, who is spirit and the only Life, is the cause.
Hence every single thing in nature — beast, bird, fish,
insect, air, water, trees, stones — and every natural phe
nomenon that we witness around us, is only an effect,
of which some spiritual principle proceeding from the
Lord as its centre and souice, is the internal and pro
ducing cause. Nature, therefore, in one coraplex, is
the clothing of the Divine — the outer garment of God ;
as the body of man is the clothing, or material garment
of his soul. Consequently every single object and phe
nomenon in nature is the outward garment of sorae par
ticular portion of the Divine, or of sorae order and de
gree of goodness and truth ; for jn the Lord there are
all orders and degrees of love and wisdom, or of good
ness and truth. This, we think, must appear perfectly
rational and incontrovertibly true to every man who is
not an atheist, and thus in the denial of any spiritual
principle as the creative power and real cause of all ef
fects in nature.
That some spiritual principle, therefore, enters into
each and every single object in nature, and stands rela
ted to it as the cause to its effect, is a perfectly rational
conclusion, and one that is legitimately drawn from pre
raises which must be adraitted by all who acknowledge
the existence of a Divine Being. Noav this relation be
tween certain spiritual principles Avhich proceed from
the Lord, and the effects or forms which these principles
produce, is Avhat, in New Church phraseology, is terra
ed Correspondence ; and the knowledge of this relation
between ultimate effects and the spiritual principles
which enter into them as their cause, or between the
forms of things and their essence, is called the Science
of Correspondences.
" That all things in nature,!' says Swedenborg, " both

188 SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES [lECT,
in general and in particular, correspond to things spirit
ual, and in like manner, all' and every thing in the hu
man body, is shown in the treatise conceming Heaven
and Hell, n. 87-105. But what is meant by corre
spondence, has to this day reraained unknown, notwith
standing it was a subject most familiar to the men of
the raost ancient times, who esteemed it the chief of
sciences, and cultivated.it so universally, that all their
books and tracts were written by corresporidences. The
book of Job, Avhich was a book of the ancient church,
is full of correspondences. The hieroglyphics of the
Egyptians, and the fabulous stories of antiquity, Avere
founded on the sarae science. All the ancient churches
were churches representative of spiritual things ; and
their cereraonies, and also their statutes, which were
rules for the institution of their worship, consisted of
raere correspondences ; in like raanner, every thing in
the Israelitish church, their burnt-offerings and sacri
fices, with all the particulars belonging to each, were
correspondences : so ^Iso was the tabernacle, with all
things contained in it : and likewise their festivals, as
the feast of the unleavened bread, the feast of taberna
cles, the feast of the fii^t-fruits ; also, the priesthood of
Aaron and the Levites, and their garraents of holiness ;
and beside the things above raentioned, all their statutes
and judgments, relating to worship and life, Avere cor
respondences. Now, forasmuch as divine things, fix
their existence in outward nature in correspondences;-
therefore the Word was written by mere correspond
ences ; and for the same reason the Lord, in conse
quence of speaking from Divinity, spoke by correspond
ences ; for whatever proceeds from Divinity, when it
comes into outAvard nature, manifests itself in such
outward things as correspond AA'ith Avhat is diA-ine;
which outward things become then the repositories of
divine things, otherwise called celestial and spiritual,
which lie concealed Avithin thera." — {D, S. S, n. 20.)
The reason why this relation, of which we have
spoken above, is called correspondence, is, because the
peculiar organization, shape, color, and all the sensible
qualities which belong to any object in nature, corre-

Vl.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 189
spend to the quality of the spiritual principle which en
ters into it as its producing cause, as perfectly as the
body of raan corresponds to his soul. Every natural
objec| was created for some particular use in this natu
ral Avorld ; and all its sensible properties correspond to
this natural use, as an effect to its cause ; and this na
tural use corresponds in the same manner to the spirit
ual use ofthe object, or to the spiritual principle which
is the cause of its natural use. Thus the sun, air, AA'-a-
ter, <fcc., have each of them frora creation, certain pe
culiar sensible properties ; and these properties are
adapted to produce certain effects, which are the natu
ral uses of these objects, and to which they therefore
correspond as cause to effect. Illumination is one of
the uses which results from the sun's peculiar proper
ties ; and hence this use is correspondent to the sun's
peculiar form or constitution. Water performs no such
use as this ; therefore it does not correspond to it. And
the natural uses of these objects correspond to certain
spiritual uses, or to spiritual principles from which the
natural use results as an effect from its cause. Thus
the sun, as being the source of light and heat to the
natural Avorld, corresponds to the Lord, who is the
source of all spiritual light and heat, or of wisdom and
love to angels and men. Therefore the sun, when
mentioned in the Word, signifies the Lord. The light,
which proceeds from the sun, because it enables us to
see natural objects, to travel about, and to perform va
rious natural uses, corresponds to truth which pro
ceeds from the Lord, and which enables us to discern
spiritual things, i. e. to understand the quality of various
affections and thoughts, to travel on our spiritual jour
ney, and to perform various spiritual uses, or the great
work of regeneration. Therefore truth is Avhat is sig
nified by light in its spiritual sense when raentioned in
the Word. The heat which proceeds from the sun,
because it supplies the earth with natural warmth, and
is that principle which animates, vivifies and quickens
all natural things, corresponds to love which proceeds
frora the Lord, which supplies the soul with spiritual
warrath, gives vitality to the affections, and is the vivi-

190 SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
fying and quickening principle of all spiritual life.
Therefore love is the spiritual signification of heat when
raentioned in the Word. The atmosphere, because it
is the raeans of tempering the rays of the sun and trans
raitting them to the earth, corresponds to that pure and
elevated principle of the human mind which intends
use, and which is therefore the medium of transmitting
the celestial beams of goodness and truth from the spirit
ual Sun to the lower regions or the earth of our minds.
For it is to be observed that the doctrines of the Ncav
Jerusalem Church tearh, that no man is regenerated in
stantaneously ; but on the contrary, that the heavenly-
principles of goodness and truth are brought down grad
ually and successively into the region of the natural
mind, and just in the degree that we are willing to shun
their opposites, and to perform uses from love to the
Lord and for the good of the neighbor — i. e. from a
genuine love of "use. Thus the. affection of use is our
spiritual atmosphere, or the medium through which
goods and truths — the rays of the spiritual Sun-^find
access to the lower region of our minds. Therefore the
atmosphere in its spiritual sense, signifies the love of
^e, or use itself Again : water, which, among various
other uses, is employed for quenching thirst, and for
cleansing things of their natural impurities, corresponds
to truth as employed in quenching spiritual thirst, and
cleansing the mind of its impure thoughts and affec
tions. 'Therefore when Avater is spoken of in the Word
in reference to these uses, it signifies, in the spiritual
sense, the use of truth in satisfying the thirsty soul and
washing away our spiritual impurities.
Now the use of the natural objects here raentioned
proceeds from the use of the spiritual principles which
they denote, as an effect from its cause. Therefore it is
that these natural things are said to correspond to such
spiritual principles.
These few examples raay perhaps be sufiicient to give
us some general idea ofthe doctrine of correspondence —
a doctrine which is not only rational and philosophical,
but Avhich it seems absolutely necessary to admit, un
less we deny the existence of a Divine Being, and

VI.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 191
consequently deny that there is any influx of spiritual
and living principles from Him into the various forras
which exist in nature. According to this doctrine all
things around us are significant. ., All material things,
and all natural phenomena, are symbols of certain spirit
ual principles and their operation in the mind of man.
The whole of the volume of nature is, what bishop
Warburton calls the prophetic writings, a speaking
hieroglyphic. This natural world, being the world of
^effects, is but an out-birth from the Deity, in every sin
gle object and operation of Avhich, is mirrored some
principle of the Divine Mind, either in its pure or per
verted form. Each thing therefore represents by cor
respondence some specific spiritual principle — some
thing of thought and affection, or of the Avisdom and
love of God, Avhich enters into it as its forming power,
and constitutes its real essence.
And inasmuch as man was created" an image and
likeness of God, therefore everything in the natural
world must also represent by correspondence sorae spi
ritual principle appertaing to the raind of man. 'To
raake this subject still plainer, it is as if particular af
fections and thoughts, or specific huraan principles, pro
ceeding in the first instance from the Lord, were taken
out of man, and each embodied in some natural forra ;
which natural form is in all respects perfectly corre
spondent to the quality of the spiritual principle which
enters into and fills it, and of which it is therefore a
perfect type or representative image. For example,
one principle taken»out of the human raind, and, sepa
rate from all others being clothed with matter or era
bodied in a natural form, bfecorries a horse, another a
sheep, another a lion, another a dove, (fee. And thus
throughout the vast range of nature, we have all the
principles of the huraan mind individualized and em
bodied in forra.
And here it should be remarked, that, as every pure
and heavenly principle is capable of being perverted by
man, and thus turned into something of an opposite na
ture — every good into its opposite evil and every truth
into its opposite falsity — so there are in nature forras

192 SCIENCE. OF CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
which embody and thus represent by correspondence
these opposite or infernal principles ; such, for example
are all unclean things, ferocious animals, poisonous
plants, venoraous reptiles, (fee. *
According to Swedenborg, soraething like this indi
vidualization of the principles of the human mind just
hinted at, and their embodiment under correspondent
external forms, actually takes place in the spiritual
world. There, both angels and evil spirits behold in
the objects around thera the forras of their own loves.
Their affections take to themselves certain extemal
forms according to their quality, and thus the princi
ples Avhich are active in their minds at any tirae are
presented in effigy before their eyes. The angels there
fore behold around thera, delightful fields with sportive
"sheep and lambs, little children playing in flower gar
dens, warbling birds of beautiful colors, and other like
pleasing imagery ; while those of the infernal kingdora
look upon scenes of barrenness, dismay, and horror,
and behold therein the ugly forms of savage beasts and
birds. We Avill here give one or two extracts upon this
subject from the writings of Swedenborg.
,, " No one can know Avhat is the quality of the life of
the beasts of the earth, of the birds of heaven, and the
fishes of the sea, unless it be known what their soul is,
and the quality thereof: tiiat every animal hath a soul
is a well known thing, for they live, and life, is a soul,
wherefore also in the 'Word they are called living souls.
That the soul in its ultimate form, which is corporeal,
such as appeareth before the sight, isthe animal, cannot
be better knoAvn from any other source, than frora the
spiritual world-: for in the spiriual world, in like raan
ner as in the natural world, thefe are seen beasts of all
kinds, and birds of all kinds, and fishes of all kinds, and
so like in form, that they cannot be distinguished frora
those which are in our world ; but the difference is,
that in the spiritual world they exist apparently from
the affections of angels and spirits, so that they are ap
pearances of affections, -wherefoTe they also vanish away
as soon as the angel or spirit departeth, or his affection
ceaseth ; hence it is evident that their soul is nothing

TI.] APPLIED AND EXPLAINED. 193
else [but some human affection] ; consequently that
there exist as many genera and species of animals, as
there are genera and species of affections." {Apocalypse
Explained, v, 1199.)
" Inasmuch as the universal heaven is distinguished
into societies, in like manner the universal hell, and also
the universal world of spirits, and the societies are ar
ranged according to the genera and species of affections,
and inasmuch as the animals there are appearances of
affections, as was just said above, therefore one kind of
animal with its species appears in one society, and an
other in another,, and all kinds of aniraals with their
species in the whole together. In the societies of heaven
appear the tarae and clean animals, in the societies of
hell the savage and unclean beasts, and in the world of
spirits, beasts of a mediate character. They have often
been seen by rae, and it has been given thereby to
know the quality of the angels and spirits there ; for all
in the spiritual world are known from the appearances
which are near and about them, and their affections
from various things, and also from aniraals. In the
heavens I have seen lambs, sheep, she-goats, so siraflar
to those seen in the world that there is no difference f<
also turtle-doves, pigeons, birds of paradise, and several
others of a beautiful form and color ; I have seen like
wise various kinds of flsh in the waters, but these in the
lowest parts of heaven. But in the Jiells are seen dogs,
wolves, foxes, tigers, swine, mice, and several other
kinds of savage and unclean beasts, besides venomous
serpents of raany species, likewise crows, owls and
bats." (Ibid. n. 1200.)
But it must not be supposed that the objects above
mentioned, as seen in the spiritual world, are material
like sinular ones in this world. They are the substan
tial and correspondent forms of particular affections, and,
like every thing else in that world, they are all spiritual,
as is evident frora its being said that they disappear
as soon as the affections, which are their soul and life,
cease. Frora what has now been said, it Avill be seen that a
pure correspondence is something quite different from '
18

194 SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
those flgures of speech called metaphor and simile,'
wherein one thing is taken to represent another to
which it bears some analogy. For although a metaphor
or simile may be a pure correspondence, it raay be also,
and often is, based on the apparent .analogy which ex
ists between things that are the same in kind ; whereas
correspondences are based, not on any apparent anal
ogy, but on a real and eternal relation which subsists
between the natural and the spiritual, as that between
body and soul, or between an effect and its producing
cause. Any one who reflects upon this relation may see that
it is not arbitrary, or fanciful, or in any degree dependent
upon the understanding or will of man, but that it is a
law of divine order in creation as flxed as any of the
laws of nature, and as exact as the science of mathe
matics. This fixed and eternal relation between natii-
ral and spiritual things, Avhich is called correspondence,
exists, because the natural world exists /rowi a spiritual
cause. Now although the knowledge of this Science of Cor
respondences, which is revealed in the writings of Swe
denborg, has been lost to the world for thousands of
years in consequence of the depravity of man, yet there
has ever remained among men some perception and ac-
loiowledgement of its existence. It is said, for example,
that light is used in all languages, as the represerttative
image of truth in its power of illustrating the huraan
understanding. There is also a comraon perception
araorig raen that sheep, larabs, doves (fee, correspond to
certain principles or affections of the raind which are
pure and innocent ; and hence they are so often select
ed as the fit representatives of such affections ; while
bears, wolves, serpents and the like, are coraraonly
chc)sen to represent the opposite affections. The foun
dation of all excellence in the arts of painting and
sculpture, is based upon the Science of Correspondences,
a portion of which the artist receives by influx. For it
is the great aim of those who cultivate these arts in their
higher departments, to represent by sensible colors, anci
to embody under material forms, certain ideas or princi-

VI.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 195
pies Avhich appertain to the mind, and which are there
fore spiritual. The artist labors to give a visible forra
to his conceptions, either on canvass or in raarble ; and
if his power of execution be equal to his conception,
there will be a perfect correspondence between his pic
ture or statue, and the idea w^ich he had endeavored
therein to express. The works of the greatest masters
in poetry also, and those destined to live the longest,
will be found, on careful examination, to contain the
most of pure correspondences. For it is to be observed
that genuine poetry is identical with truth ; and thus it
is the truth in these works which is their living princi
ple, and the source of their power over men, and which
promises to them an enduring fame.
Moreover as we go back to the period of remote an
tiquity, especially as we journey eastward and explore
the arcana of oriental literature, we flnd still more of
the remains of the Science of Correspondences ; for the
highly figurative style, as it is called, of Asiatic litera
ture, is a thing Avell known among raen of learning.
But the country which most abounds in the remains of
this science atthe present day, is Egypt, the land where
anciently the Science of Correspondences was raost stu
died, and where, as a science, it took its departure from
among raen : for the hieroglyphics upon the monu
ments of Eg5^t are natural symbols of certain ideas,
and hence were chosen as the flt representatives of
things that are spiritual ; and although they are not
pure, but soraewhat perverted correspondences, yet this .
science, the revival of which coramenced with the rev
elations made through SAvendenborg, is the only key by
which the true and full meaning of these Egyptian fig
ures can ever be unlocked.
Again : the Science of Correspondences explains the
origin of the idolatrous practices of different nati<3ns.
The most ancient people upon tjiis earth Avere pure and
innocent, and were in causes, i, e., were in the orderly
reception and exercise of those spiritual principles
which proceed from the Lord, and which enter as the
producing cause into all natural effects. They there
fore had a perception of the internal quality of things.

196 SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES [lECT;
thus of the spiritual iraport of all the objects around
them. They saw heaven mirrored in the things of
earth. When they looked on nature, their thoughts
did not rest there, but immediately rose above nature to
the spiritual things which were symbolized by the ob
jects they there beheld. When they looked at the sun,
for example, they thought of the Lord, of whom the sun
is the natural representative image. But as man turn
ed from the true worship, acknowledgment and love of
the Lord, to the love of hiraself, and let his thoughts
doAvn from heavenly to earthly things, he gradually lost
his perception of the spiritual in the natural ; and thus,
ceasing to think of the Lord as represented ih the nat
ural sun, in proportion as he ceased to worship Him
" in spirit and in truth," he came at length to worship
the natural syrabol or the sun itself.
Similar remarks might be made upon other idolatrous
practices ; for they all had their origin in the Science
of Correspondences. The following extract, which
contains Swedenborg's account of this subject, is from
the Doctrine respecting the Sacred Scriptures, (n. 23.)
" The reason Avhy the idolatries of the Gentiles of
old took their rise from the Science of Correspondences,
was, because all things that appear on the face of the
earth have correspondence ; consequently, not only trees
and vegetables, but also beasts and birds of every kind ;
with fishes and all other things. The ancients, who
were versed in the Science of Correspondences, made
theraselves images, Avhich corresponded Avith heavenly
things ; and were greatly delighted with them by rea
son of their signification, and because they could dis
cern in them what related to Heaven and the Church :
they therefore placed those images not only in their
teraples, but also in their houses ; not with any inten
tion to worship them, but to serve as raeans of recollect
ing the heavenly things signifled by them. Hence, in
Egypt, and in other places, they made images of calves,
oxen, and serpents, and also of children, old men, and
virgins ; because calves and oxen signifled the affec
tion of the natural man ; serpents the prudence of the
i^ensual man ; children, innocence and charity ; old

VI.] ' EXPLAINED AND APPLIED, 197
men, wisdom ; and virgins, the affections of truth ; and
so in other instances. Succeeding ages, when the Sci
ence of Correspondences Avas obliterated, began to adore
as holy, and at length to worship as deities, the images
and resemblances set up by their forefathers, because
they found them in and about their temples. The case
\yas the same with other nations ; as with the Phflis-
tines in Ashdod, whose God, Dagon (conceming whora,
See 1 Sara, v, 1 to the end) was, in its upper part, like
a raan, and in its lower part like a fish ; the reason of
which was, because a man signifies intelligence, and a
fish, science, which make a one. For the same reason,
the ancients performed their worship in gardens and in
groves, according to the different kinds of trees growing
in them, and also on mountains and hills ; for gardens
and groves signified wisdom and intelligence, and eve
ry particular tree something that had relation thereto ;
as the olive, the good of love ; the vine, trath derived
from that good ; the cedar, good and truth rational ; a
mountain signifled the highest heaven ; a hill, the
heaven beneath. That the Science of Correspondences
remained amongst many eastern nations, even till the
coming Of the Lord, may appear also from, the wise men
of the east, who visited the Lord at his nativity ; where
fore a star went before thera, and they brought with
them gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matt. ii. 1,
2, 9, 10, 11) ; for the star which went before them sig
nified knowledge from heaven ; gold signified celestial
good ; frankincense, spiritual good ; and myrrh, natu
ral good ; which are the three constituents of all Wor
ship." I trust that sufficient has noAV been said in explana
tion of the Science of Correspondences ; and that the
reader will see sufficient reason for adraitting that this
Science is based upon a fixed and eternal law of divine
order, according to Avliich alone creation can proceed ;
or according to which spiritual principles descend from
the Lord and clothe themselves in ultimate forms cor
respondent with their quality.
Here then, in this Science of Correspondences, which
was anciently esteemed the Science of Sciences, we dis-
18*

198 SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
cover the law according to which God's Holy Word is
composed; for the Scriptures are Avritten throughout
according to correspondences. The Divine Mind or
Wisdom could not descend to a level with the huraan
understanding in any other way, than by clothing itself
in a garb of natural objects and events. The Lord
could not speak to man without speaking in pure cor
respondences, any more than He could create things in
nature without an influx of spiritual principles into
correspondent natural forms ; for neither the one nor
the other would be according to his divipe order. And
as with the volume of nature, the farther we descend
beneath its surface, and the raore we explore its interior
structure and laws, the raore curious, wonderful, and
perfect do we find it all, so it is with the Sacred. Scrip
tures. And here we discover a coraplete analogy be
tween the Word and the works of God. Here, too, we
learn something of the true nature of inspiration, and
wherein the divinity of the Word consists. We see
that the Scriptures are divine even to'the very ultimates ;
and that they surpass every human coraposition, not
only in the nature of their contents, but also in the
style of their composition, in the same manner and de
gree that the works of nature transcend the works of
art. And if they are really what theyc laim to be the
Word op God should not this be the case ?
In this principle or law of correspondence, therefore,
according to which the written Word is coraposed, we
discover a rule, and the only rule for the true interpret
ation of the Word ; — a rule, as we have seen, not arbi
trary, nor fanciful, nor of any man's invention, but or
derly, rational, and fixed as the laAvs of creation. Men
may deny and reject it if they Avill, but their denial and
rejection can neA^er alter its truth.
From what has been said it will readUy be seen, that
if the Word be composed agreeably to the law of corre
spondence between natural and spiritual things, it mu,st
contain an external and an internal, or a natural and a
spiritual sense throughout. And such, as Ave leam
from the writings of Swedenborg, is actually the case.
Moreover, it has been shown conclusively from the

VI.] explained and applied. 199'
Scriptures themselves, in the two preceding lectures, not
only that it ^is necessary to admit an intemal sense, but
that such a sense does really exist. The Word in its
natural sense, as every one knows, treats much of
things personal, local, and temporary ; but in its spirit
ual sense, which, with the aid of the revealed Science
of Correspondences, we are now able to unfold, it treats
of the fixed and eternal laws of order — of principles
which are universal, and which have a living and
present application at all times and in all places where-
ever a human being exists. Thus, by virtue of its in-
. ternal sense, the Bible, like the face of nature, is forever
fresh and fragrant with beauty and Avith love. The
Avords of the Lord, like his works, are filled with spirit
and with life.
We shall now endeavor to illustrate the importance,
and at the same time establish more fully the truth of
the principle which we have attempted to explain, by
applying it, as a rule of interpretation, to some portion
of the Word. We can hardly expect to do more in this
lecture than give a very general, and perhaps quite im
perfect, idea of the Science of Correspondences in its
application to the interpretation ofthe Scriptures.
We will first take, for the illustration of our rale, that
portion of the Word which is embraced in the flrst three
chapters of Genesis, and Avhich treats of the creation
and fall of man. We choose this, both because we cannot
elicit from the letter of the text a sense that consists with
reason and true science, and also, because there has been,
and is still, among the learned in the Old Church, so
much doubt and disagreement in regard to what these
chapters do really mean — particularly the third chap
ter which contains the account of man's temptation and
fall. Since the flrst chapter of Genesis has commonly been
regarded by the Old Church as containing an account
ofthe creation of this natural world, so the third chapter
has generally been thought to contain a piece of literal
history also — (though upon this point theologians have
not been, and are not at the present day, by any means
agreed). Consequently much labor and leaming have

200 SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
been expended in fruitless endeavors to find out upon
what precise spot of this natural globe the garden of
Eden was Icpcated ; and pages^ — ^perhaps it raight be said
with trath, volumes of absurd and foolish stuff have
been written about the forbidden tree and its fruit, and
the probable kind of aniraal here called the serpent.
Not a few, in their fanciful speculations, have supposed
the fruit, which is here forbidden, to have been apples.
But we will not dwell upon the raany absurd and
ridiculous things, which raen, following the blind guide
of their self-intelligence, have written upon this portion
of the Word. Forgetting, alraost universally, that the
Lord's words are spirit and life, they have ever been
looking outward upon the world of nature for the gar
den of^ Eden, the serpent, and the forbidden fruit, in
stead of looking inward upon their own souls for the
spiritual and living principles which are denoted by
these things. And when we consider the raass of ab
surdity that has been written upon this chapter, and the
strange conclusions which the first Christian Church
has deduced frora it, can we wonder rauch at the lan
guage of that celebrated French infidel, Didirot, who
says : "The God of the Cfiristians for an apple, punish
ed all the huraan race, and killed his OAvn son. This
only proves that God is a father who makes a great
deal to do about his apples, and cares very little for
his children."
We ask if it be not professing Christians who have
themselves put this profane language into the mouth of
that infidel Avriter ? — But to our work of interpretation.
According to the writings of the New Church, the
first eleven chapters of Genesis do not contain a true
literal history, as has coramonly been supposed ; but
trae history comraences with the call of Abrahara at
Chap. xii. And this indeed is believed and taught by
sorae of the raost learned biblical scholars in the Old
Church. Nevertheless it is taught in the works of
Swedenborg that these first chapters of Genesis make a
part of the Word of God, and are therefore divinely in
spired, being written according to correspondences.

VI.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 201
And the reason why they are coraposed in the historical
forra, is, because the most ancient race of men, who, on
account of their innocence, had a perception of the in
ternal quality, and hence of the spiritual meaning of
everything around them, took peculiar delight, not only
in clothing their affections and thoughts with corre
spondent natural imagery, but also in arranging that im
agery into a historical series. " They not only," says
Swedenborg, " expressed theraselves by representatives,
but also reduced their thoughts into a kind of historical
series or arrangement, in order to give them more life,
and in this they found the sweetest delight and enter
tainment." {Arcana Coelestia, n. 66.)
Hence, according to Swedenborg, Adam, who is
mentioned in the first chapter of Genesis, and is there
said to have been created an image and likeness of God,
does not mean any particular man by that name as has
been supposed, and as indeed appears in the literal sense ;
but this name denotes the most ancient Church, or all
the men who belonged to that Church. In fhe sense
abstracted frora persons, it signifies the genuine princi
ples both of love and faith which constituted the essence
and life of that Church — Avhich are indeed the essence
and life of every true Church.
Moreover we are taught in the writings of Sweden
borg that all the proper naraes raeritioned in Scripture,
which, in their literal sense apply to particular persons,
in their spiritual and trae sense denote universal prin
ciples of the raind which proceed frora the Lord, either
in true or in perverted order. Each name being given
by inspiration of God, has therefore an internal sense,
in which it denotes some speciflc but universal princi
ple of the Church, or the human raind. And herein
the writings of Swedenborg agree with what the Apos
tle teaches, viz., that " no Scripture is of any private in- ,
terpretation." (2 Pet. i. 20) ; whereas if naraes be limit
ed in their application to particular persons, the inter
pretation evidently Avould be private. Besides, it is a
thing well known to all who are acquainted with the
HebrcAV language, that all the proper names in that lan
guage are significant. Thus, for example, Judah sig-

202 SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES [lECT,
nifies the praise of the Lord ; Melchizedek signifies
king of righteousness ; Horeb signifies dryness or sol
itude ; Heskbon signifies industry or thought, (fee.
TJiat thetname Adam does not denote any particu
lar individual, but the principles of love and truth, or
charity and faith perfectly united in the human mind,
as they were in the minds of the raen of the raost an
cient Church, appears evident frora the first chapter of
Genesis where this > name is first raentioned. For it is
there written, {v. 26) " And God said let us make man
in our image, after our likeness ; and let them have
dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowls of
the air,'" (fee. And in the next verse, " So God created
man in his own image, in the image of God created He
him ; raale and female created He them." And again
(Gen. V. 2) : " Male and female created He them ; and
blessed them, and called their name Adam."
Here it is declared that both the male and female
were called Adam. And not only so, but it is said in
the first chapter that He created both of these on the
sixth day : whereas no raention is raade of the creation
ofthe woman Eve, until near the close of the second
chapter ; which appears to be some tirae after the Lord
had rested on the seventh day.
Now in the language of correspondence, according to
which we l^ave said the whole Word is Avritten, and
which was well understood by the raost ancient Church,
m,ale signifies the intellectual principle of the Church,
or of any raan of the Church — together with all of un
derstanding, thought and the truths of faith which ap
pertain to tbat principle ; and /ewaZe signifies the will-
principle ofthe Church; or of any raan — together Avith
all of love, affection, and the goods of charity which
appertain to this principle. SAvedenborg says in the
Heavenly Arcana, n. 54 : " The raost ancient Church
called the understanding in the spiritual raan m,ale, and
the will female, Avhich when they acted in unity they
styled a marriage : from that Church was derived a form
of speaking, which became usual, that the Church itself,
by reason of the affection of good, was called daughter,
and also virgin ; as the virgin Zion, the virgin Jerusa-

VI.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 203
lera, and also wife." We see, in the characteristic men
tal qualities of the two sexes, an illustration of the cor
respondence and internal sense of the terms male and
female. The raale of our species, or man, is pre-emi
nently a forra of the understanding ; while the feraale,
or woman, is in an equal degree a forra of affection.
We have said that all things in this natural world
correspond to spiritual principles which appertain to the
human raind ; and therefore Avhen natural things are
raentioned in the Word, they signify these spiritual
principles. Consequently the creation and orderly ar
rangeraent of all natural things Avould correspond to and
signify the new spiritual creation ; i. e. the renewal of
raan's spirit, and the orderly arrangement in his raind
of all spiritual principles. And so we are taught in the
Avritings of Swedenborg that the first chapter of Gene
sis, Avhich appears to treat of the creation of this natural
world, does in reality treat of the regeneration of man,
and describes by correspondences the spiritual changes
and operations which take place in the human mind, or
the works which the Lord there performs, while He is
creating man ancAV into His own iraage and likeness.
The raind of the natural raan is in a state of spiritual
darkness, disorder, and emptiness. Hence, before regen
eration, or before the spirit of God moves upon the faces
of the waters, his state corresponds to, and is therefore
represented by the earth* when it " was without form
and void ; and darkness brooded over the faces of the
deep." But when the intellectual principle of raan is
illumined from the Word, and is formed according to
Divine Wisdora, i. e. when a man thinks and under
stands nothing but Avhat is in agreement with divine
truth — and when his will principle is formed into an
* The Hebrew word n)2nn ad&m&h which is translated earth is a deriva.
tive frora iq-js^ a,ddin which is translated Adam, and sometimes man. And
inasmuch as the earth, together with all things appertaining to it, subsists
by an influx of human principles from the spiritnal world, and hence repre
sents by correspondence all the principles of the human mind or of the
church with man, we may therefore see why the earth, when mentioned in
the Word, denotes the church, as was shown in a former lecture ; and also
why Adam likewise signifies the most Ancient Church, or any church in a
state of true order.

204 SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
agreement with the Divine Love, i. e. when the man
wills and loves nothing but what divine truth teaches to
be good and right — ^then there exists in his mind the
cetetial marriage of goodness and truth ; his will and
understanding act together in perfect union. The man
then becomes a living soul. He is then spiritually cre
ated, m,ale and female ; i. e. both his understanding and
will are forraed anew, and he is raade into the image
and likeness of God. Image is here predicated of the
understanding when formed into an agreement with the
divine truth ; and likeness, of the will, when formed
into an agreement with the divine love. And because
man is not able to regenerate himself — ^because divine
truth from the. Lord illumines his understanding, and so
forms it into an image of itself, and divine love from the
Lord vivifies his will and also creates that into a like
ness of itself, and divine power frora the Lord ienables
him to resist and put away evil and do what the tixith
requires, therefore this creation is spoken of as the work
of God.
The six days' work mentioned in this chapter, corre
spond to and signify all the states of spiritual labor — all
the temptations and corabats with evil spirits which
man has to endure while he is becoming regenerateci.
And the seventh day which is called the Sabbath, and
the Lord's day, corresponds to and signifies a state of in
ternal peace and rest, such as a raan feels when he has
overcorae and subdued in himself all infernal propensi
ties, and rests from his spiritual warfare. This state is
called the Lord's day, because it is one in which the
man suffers himself in all things to be led and governed
by the Lord. Moreover Sabbath, in the Hebrew lan
guage, means rest. '
Those Avho desire to know the correspondence and
internal sense of each particular thing mentioned in this
chapter, are referred to the first volume of the Arcana
Coelestia by Emanuel Swedenborg. The folloAving
sumraary exposition of its internal sense, taken frora this
volume, ^is all that our liraits will allow us here to in
troduce. " The six days, or times, which are so many success-

VI.| explained and APPLIED. 203
ive states of the regeneration of raan, are in general as
follows :
"The first state is that which precedes, as well that
frora infancy as that imraediately before regeneration, and
is called a void, emptiness, and thick darkness. And the
first motion, which is the mercy of the Lord, is the
spirit of God moving itself on the faces of the waters.
" The second state is, when a distinction takes place
between the things which are of the Lord, and the
things Avhich are proper to man : the things which are
of the Lord are called in the Word remains, and are
here principally the knowledges of faith, Avhich man
has learned from infancy, which are stored up, and are
not raanifested till he comes into this state : which state
at this day seldom exists without temptation, raisfortune,
or sorrow, which effect, that the things which are of
the body and the world, consequently which are proper
to hira, becorae quiet, and as it were die ; thus the things
which are of the external man are separated frora the
things Avhich are of the internal : in the internal are the
remains, stored up by the Lord till this time, and for
this use.
" The third state is, that of repentance ; in which
frora the internal raan, he speaks piously and devoutly,
and brings forth goods, as the works of charity, but
which nevertheless are inanimate, because he considers
thera from himself: and they are called the tender
grass, then the herb of seed, and afterwards the tree of
fruit. " The fourth state is, when he is affected with love,
and illuminated by faith : he before discoursed piously,
and brought forth goods, but frora the state of terapta
tion and distress, not from faith and charity ; wherefore
these are noAV enkindled in his intemal man, and are
called two luminaries.
" The fifth state is, that he discourseth from faith,
and thereby confirms himself in truth and good: the
things then produced by him are animated, and are
called the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the heavens.
" The sixth state is, when frppi faith, and thence
from love, he speaks truths, and does goods ; the things
19

206 SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
which he then produces are called the living soul, and
beast. And because he then begins also to act from love,
as well as from faith, he becomes a spiritual raan, which
is called an iraage. His Spiritual life is delighted and
sustained by such things as are of the knowledges 'of
faith, and of works of charity, which are called hisn
meat ; and his natural life is delighted and sustained by
such things as belong to the body andthe senses, from
whence a combat arises, until love reigns, and he be
comes a celestial raan."
Now when a man has been brought into this fully
regenerate state, such as the most Ancient Church was
in, and which is denoted by Adam — Avhen he has be
come a perfect image and likeness of the Lord, having
his thoughts all of truth and his affections all of love,
then his mind is in a state of heavenly order, and he
experiences internal but unspeakable joy, rest, delight,
and peace. And so long as he continues to acknowl
edge the Lord as the source of all his sweet affections
and fragrant thoughts, so long he receives the delights of
true life from their eternal Fountain, and is unspeaka
bly happy.
This heavenly and blissful state of mind is what
corresponds to, and is therefore denoted by the garden
of Eden, wherein it is said the man was placed after he
had been created. In the writings of Swedenborg, we
are taught that all the naraes of places raentioned in
the Word, correspond to, and thence signify, certain
states of the mind or of the Church with man. Ac
cordingly, it is there said that garden corresponds to and
signifies intelligence, and Eden,* love. Consequently,
the garden of Eden corresponds to and signifies that
celestial state of mind, in which man, by virtue of the
purity and disinterestedness of his love, receives true
intelligence and wisdora from the Lord, and enjoys the
purest delights of life.
That the garden of Eden here mentioned does not
signify any particular spot of ground on this natural
earth, as has comraonly been supposed, but a certain
,«
* Eden, in the Hebrew language, means pleasure or delight.

VI.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 207
State of raan's affections and thoughts, is manifest from
the raention that is made of it in Ezekiel, xxviii. 13.
It is there said concerning the king of Tyrus, " Thou
hast been in Eden, the garden of God ; every precious
stone Avas thy covering." Now it is a common opinion
Jhat no one ever entered the garden of Eden after Adam
was expelled from it ; and certainly, if a literal garden
or spot of material earth be understood, it is quite im
probable that this king of Tyre could ever have been in
it ; for, according to common chronology, he was not
born till more than 3000 years after Adam's expul
sion from Eden.
No.— Men of learning raay cease their fruitless search
for the garden of Eden upon some spot of this natu
ral earth ; for certain it is they will never find it there.
Nowhere in this outward world, but only in the soul of
man — in the condition ofa regenerate and well ordered
mind, is the true garden of Eden — the paradise of God.
Whoever hath his understanding enlightened by the Di
vine Truth, and his will warmed and vivified by the
Divine Love, having all his affections and thoughts
brought intb perfect agreement with the will and wis
dom of God, and is thus raade a living soul- — created
anew, as to his spirit, after the iraage and likeness of the
Lord Jesus Christ — he is in the garden of Eden, and
every precious stone is his covering; i. e., all the
precious truths of Revelation (which are the things de
noted by precious stones) are his spiritual protection and
covering — the fulness and perfection of his wisdora, the
ornaraent and beauty of his raind.
Thus doth the Lord now, as in ancient tiraes, place
in the garden of Eden every one whom He creates a
living soul after his own image and likeness. And
there " He causes to grow every tree that is pleasant to
the sight and good for food" ; i. e. in this celestial state
He causes to spring up in the mind the* spiritual things
to Avhich beautiful trees and delicious fruit correspond—
those clear perceptions and blissful loves, which delight;
and nourish the soul of man : " The Tree of Life also
in the midst of the garden."
Noav since the garden of Edefi denotes not a place,

208 SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
*
but a celestial state of the human mind, it is obvious
that the Tree of Life in its raidst cannot be understood
as denoting any natural tree, but the inraost and life-
giving principle of all raan's intelligence and affections,
which are his spiritual garden of Eden. Every man
has sorae suprerae and ruling love ; and according tc^
its quality is the quality of all his subordinate loves.
This ruling love is in all his affections and thoughts,
and forras their inmost principle. Hence it is in their
midst. Thus all the affections ofthe natural man are
, selfish, because his ruling love is theJove of self But
the supreme love of '.he angels, and of all raen who are
like the angels — ^of all who are in a state of mind denot
ed by the garden of Eden — is love to the Lord. They
perceive and acknowledge that the Lord alone is Life,
and is the living source of all their intelligence and love.
And because they love Him supremely, and look to
Him in all things, therefore He is the Tree of Life in
the midst of their garden of Eden. Tree, in a subor
dinate sense, corresponds to and signifies the Church,
or a man of the Church, in respect to both faith and
charity ; its leaves correspond to the truths of faith, and
its fruit to the goods of charity. And since the Lord is
the only life, and the only source of goodness and truth
to men, being Goodness itself and Truth itself, therefore
Tree is here used in its supreme sense, because it is
called the Tree of Life, and denotes the Lord as to his
divine, life-giving wisdom and love.
While raan remains in the garden of Eden, this Tree
of Life must be in the raidst ; i. e. Avhile he remains in
a celestial state, lie loves the Lord supremely, and ac
knowledges Him as the inraost, the source and the life
of all his affections and thoughts. And Avhile he lives
in the performarice of good uses frora the Lord, ac
knowledging JJiji as the inmost or supreme source of
all his will and Wisdom and power to do good, he eats
the fruit of this Tree of Life ; for then his raind is con
tinually fed and nourished with the heavenly graces of
innocence, raercy, forbearance, peace, wisdom, intelli
gence, humility and love ; and these with all other hea
venly principles become appropriated to him, and as it
were incorporated into his spiritual being.

VI.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 209
As there is spiritual food or things which nourish the
iriind, to which natural food or things which nourish
the body correspond ; therefore there is such a thing as
spiritual eating, to Avhich natural eating corresponds.
Hence to eat, according to the language of correspond
ences, signifles to receiA'e into our minds the spiritual
things of truth and love in such a manner that they be
come appropriated to our spirits, and incorporated with
thera, as natural food is appropriated to and incorporated
with our material bodies. Hence the Lord saith,
" Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath
etemal life." (John vi. 54.) Flesh corresponds to and
signifles the good of love ; and blood corresponds to and
thence signifies the truth by which that good is nour
ished and made spiritually alive. Consequently to eat
the Lord's flesh signifies, according to correspond
ences, to have the good of the Lord's love incorporated
with our will ; and to drink his blood signifies to have
the truth of His divine Wisdora or Word incorporated
with our understanding. Whoever is in this state lives
frora the Lord, and thus hath eternal life. Nor can
there be any true heavenly life without this substantial
food whereAvith the Lord feeds our souls, and which is
indeed the spiritual fiesh and blood of his own divine
body. Wherefore it is written, "Except ye eat the
flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, ye have
no life in you." (John vi. 53,)
Now at the same time that the celestial or regenerate
raan is eating the frait of the Tree of Life in the raan
ner above described, he is also dressing and keeping the
garden wherein the Lord God hath placed hira; for he
is cherishing and preserving the life of all celestial
principles — those heavenly plants which spring up and
blossora in his raind, and raake his state . a trae garden
of Eden.
But another tree is spoken of in this garden, the very
name of Avhich shows us that a natural tree cannot be
meant : it is "the tree of the knowledge [or science] of
good and evil." We perceive by its name that its fruits
are spiritual. Now when man lives in the acknowledg
ment that the Lord is fhe only source of goodness anti
19*

210 SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
trath, and is in the constant endeavor to perforra good
uses, not frora himself or for ,the sake of himself, but
frora the Lord and for the sake of the neighbor, he
knows nothing but good ; for he then eats only of the
Tree of Life, which is altogether good ; and therefore
he is blessed in the reception of true life from the Lord.* «
Such was the state of the most ancient- Church denoted
by Adam. But so far as man thinks that he lives of
himself — that he does good and originates truth of him
self — so far he turns away from the Lord to his OAvn
self intelligence, thinking that of himself he Imows
good and evil.
Man's self-derived intelligence therefore, which con
tains within it the love of being as God knowing good
and evil, is what is denoted by " the tree of the knowl
edge of good and evil." And so often as man performs
any act, however fair its outward appearance may be,
and does not in his heart ascribe all the honor and the
glory of it to the only Lord and Saviour, but takes
merit to himself for the good which he does and the
truth Avhich he speaks — so often he plucks and eats the
fruit of that forbidden tree, whose very touch is moral
pollution and disorder, and whose taste is spiritual
death. These two trees are said to have been placed in the
garden, to denote the perfect freedora in which raan is
left, even in his regenerate state, to turn either to the
Lord or to hiraself ; thus to eat either of the Tree which
is in the raidst of the garden, and enjoy true life, or of
" the tree of the knowledge of good and evil," and siif-
fer spiritual death.
And this, it should be remarked, agrees perfectly with
Swedenborg's account of the origin of evil, which is
the only rational account that has been or can be given.
Upon this subject he says, in his work conceming
Conjugial Love n. 443 :
" This arcanum cannot be opened, unless it be known,
that no one is good but God alone, and that there is not
anything good Avhich in itself is good, except from God ;
wherefore he that looks to God, and wills to be led by
God, is in good ; but he that turns himself away from

VI.] . EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 211
God, and wills to be led by himself, is not in good ; for
the good which he does, is either for the sake of him
self, or for the sake of the world, thus it is either meri
torious, or counterfeit, or hypocritical ; frora which it is
manifest, that man himself is the origin of evil ; not
that that origin Avas put into man frora creation, but
that he hiraself, by turning frora God to himself, put it
into himself That origin of evil Avas not in Adam and
his wife, but when the serpent said. In the day that ye
shall eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
ye shall be as God, Gen. iii. 5 ; and then, because they
turned themselves away from God, and turned them
selves to theraselves, as to a god, they raade in thern
selves the origin of evil : to eat from that tree signified
to believe that he knew good and evil, a7id was vnse
from himself, and not from God. Man was created,
that all that he Avills, thinks and does raay appear to hira
as in himself, and thus from himself ; man, without this
appearance, would not be man, for he would not be
able to receive, to retain, and, as it were, appropriate to
himself anything ofgood and trath, or of love and wis
dom ; whence it follows, that without that as it were
living appearance, man would not have cojunction Avith
God, and thence neither eternal life. But if from this
appearance he induces in himself a belief that he wills,
thinks, and thence does good from himself, and not from
the Lord, although in all appearance as from himself, he
turns good into evil with himself, and thus makes in
himself the origin of evil : this was the sin of Adam [or
the most Ancient Church,]"
Every one raust perceive the rationality of this ac
count ofthe origin of evfl.
We know that there is a principle in man — it is the
very outermost or lowest principle of the mind— which
would judge of everything from the outward appear
ance, i. e,, by the senses alone ; and herice it is called
the sensual prih ciple of the raind. This principle
would persuade us that there is no God besides our
selves, because we do not see Hira with our natural
eyes. It would persuade us that the obvious and lite
ral raeaning of Scripture is its true and only raeaning ;

212 SCIENCE OP CORRESPONDENCES [j-ECT.
— that the Word of God contains no spiritual sense, and
is altogether like a huraan coraposition, because it so
appears. It would persuade us that we really live, do
good, and originate trath of ourselves, because such is
the appearance. Thus it would persuade us that we
have an independent, self-derived existence, and are as
God, knowing good and evil. Now when this princi
ple, separate from all other pririciples, descends into na
ture, and alone becoraes clothed in a material garb, be
cause it is the lowest in the mind, being nearly allied
to the corporeal principle, it is seen embodied in the
form of a serpent. This is its appropriate form and
natural representative. Consequently serpent corre
sponds to, and, when raentioned in the Word, signifles
this low arid sensual principle of the mind : and the
speech or language of the serpent, denotes the reason
ings of this principle, or of the persons who are under
its influence ; such, for example, are the reasonings of
the natural raan when he labors to conflrm this, that
the a,ppearances of truth, whether in the A'olurae of
nature or revelation, are the genuine trath itself And
because he does this in a very cunning and artful man
ner, appealing to the evidence of the senses, therefore
the serpent is said to be " more subtie than any beast of
the field, which Jehovah God had made." (Gen, iii. 1.)
Hence the reason why it is said in Psalras concerning
those who seduce men by their carnal or sensual riea-
sonings, " They sharpen their tongue like a serpent ;
adders' poison is under their lips." (cxl. 3.) And
again, " Their poison is like the poison of a serpent."
(Iviii. 4.) ' ¦
That serpent has such a spiritual signification, and
consequently, wherever it is used in the Word, it de
notes all persons who are under the influence of the
sensual principle, is raanifest from many passages.
Thus the Lord called the Jewish Scribes and Pharisees
" Serpents — a generation of vipers," (Matt, xxiii. 33.)
Of course He could not mean that they were literally
such ; but that they were spiritually such from corre
spondence — because their minds were of that gross and
sensual character to which the serpent corresponds ; —

.Vl] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 213
because their interiors were full of all kinds of evils ; —
hecause they Ayere under the dorainion of hell, " that
old serpent, called the Devil and Satan, which deceiveth
the whole world." That it was on this account that
the Lord called the Jews " serpents" and " a viperous
generation," is evident frora the context; for these
words occur in the same chapter and immediately after
the repeated and severe denunciations which He utters
against them, because they were " like unto whited sep
ulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but
within are full, of the bones of the dead, and of all un
cleanness." {v, 27.)
Again : there is another principle in man, which,
while it inclines him to love goodness and truth, in
clines him also to love the raerit of thera, and thus to
believe and claiin thera as his own or self-derived.
This affection — this love of clairaing good and truth as
our own and self-derived, is ever ready to grant a list
ening ear to the crafty insinuations of the serpent or
sensual principle, because this principle endeavors to
persuade us, by raany appearances, of the very thing
which we desire to believe, viz. that we do live and
are wise of ourselves. This principle or affection there
fore, is what is denoted by the woman whom the ser
pent tempted. Woman, in a good sense, corresponds
to and signifies affection for truth. But when listening
to the suggestions of the serpent, as in the present in
stance, it denotes the love of- self-derived intelligence.
Now when this love yields to the artful reasonings of
the sensual principle, as it is ever inclined to do, and
the raan begins to believe that he lives, is wise and good
of himself, because it so appears, that moraent he turns
away from the Tree of Life, and begins to eat of the
forbidden tree of the knoAvledge ofgood and evil. And
when man's affection for truth has becorae thus debased
and sensualized, being changed into the affection for
self-derived intelligence, it extends its poisonous influ
ence throughout every region of the mind, blinding the
understanding and debasing the rational principle also ;
— Avhich is whatis signified by the woman's tempting
the raan to eat. By man is here denoted the rational

214 SCIENCE OF CORRESPONDENCES [lECT.
principle. And in this state, the sensual principle be
ing separated from the spiritual and celestial and tum
ed to the corporeal, is no longer in the true order of its
creation, or in a state of obedience to the higher princi
ples of the soul. It is therefore accursed. This is
what is spiritually signified by the sentence pronounced
upon the serpent, "upon thy belly shalt thou gOj and
dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life." And not
only so, but the Avhole lapd is accursed, bringing forth
thorns and thistles ; i. e,, the whole region ofthe mind
is disorded and debased, , giving birth to infernal lusts
and false persuasions.
Thus did the serpent, in the raost Ancient Church,
tempt the woman and the woman the raan, until the af
fections of that Church becoraing corrupted, and its un
derstanding darkened, it gradually and successively fell
from its state of primitive purity and innocence ; thus
was it driven out frora the garden of Eden — away from
the peaceful paradise of innocence and love.
This was the Fall — the fall of raan : — a degraded
state of spiritual blindness, raoral imbecility, and inter
nal self-worship, wherein all men by inheritance are
now immersed ; and frora which state, whosoever rises
so as to feed upon the trae and living Bread which
cometh doAvn from heaven, must do so in the sweat of
his face ; i. e. by a hard struggle against his cAril loves,
and continual watchfulness against .the subtle arts of
the serpent.
Thus we may discover now in every mind the prin
ciples which correspond to and are denoted by the ser
pent, the tree of the science of good and evil, and that
siiming woman Eve. And every man who depends on
his own intelligence, or who loves himself raore than
the Lord, is eating of that forbidden tree, whose frait is
deadly poison to the life of heaven.
Let no one therefore think ever to flnd the garden of
Eden out of himself. For in the soul — the purified
and regenerate soul, are the essence and living corre
spondences of all the beautiful places and forras that ex
ist in the natural world ; — of all the innocent creatures
that walk and fiy ; — of all the fair and fragrant flowers

VI.] EXPLAINED AND APPLIED. 215
that overspread the earth. Here, or nowhere, is the
garden of Eden to be found.
Thus doth this Scripture, once cold and dead, beaqpie
fresh and living truth, having an application to all men
in^ll times. 'Thus by "the key of knowledge" which
is furnished us in the revealed Science of Correspond
ences — by the touch as it were of the Lord's finger at
this his second advent — the Sacred Scriptures rise frora
the dead, and are presented to us glorious in wisdom —
radiant with beauty — warm and breathing with the life
of God.

216 IMPORTANCE AND USE OF [lECT.

LECTURE VII.

Illustrations of the importance op the sci
ence OF correspondences as a key to the
interpretation of the scriptures.

' The supper or the great con." — Rev. xis, 17.

In our last lecture we explained the nature of the
Science of Correspondences, or the law according to
which, as we learn from Swedenborg, the Sacred Scrip
tures are composed, and applied it to the interpretation
of a few things in that portion of the Word which treats
of the creation and fall of man. We endeavored to
show that this science is not arbitrary or fanciful, but
has its foundation in that immutable and necessary
relation which subsists between natural and spiritual
things, as between effects and their producing cause :—
that it expresses a law of divine order in creation, and is
therefore as determinate and fixed as the laws of light,
or ofthe planetary motions. And because all things in
the natural world subsist from a spiritual cause and ori
gin — because this law of correspondence between forms
and their essence, or between natural effects and the
spiritual substances which enter into them as their
cause, is a necessary law in creation, it is a law of order
necessary also in revelation. Consequently the Science
of Correspondences, as revealed in the writings of Swe
denborg, furnishes us with a rale, and the only rule, as
we have before said, for interpreting aright the Word of
God.

VII.] CORRpI^PONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 217
It will be seen on adverting to our last lecture, that
light, water, and blood were each given as the corre
spondent and representative image of truth. Perhaps
some, who are unacquainted with this subject of cor
respondences, may not readily understand, from what
was there said concerning it, how this can be. They
may not at once perceive how different natural things
can correspond to and signify the same spiritual princi
ple, if, as we have said, the principle and the thing have
a correspondential relation like that existing between
cause and effect. But hoAV this is may be explained in
few Avords.
I presume it will be admitted by all, thaf nothing was
made in vain : but that every object in creation has
some spcific use for which it Avas created. All the
things in the natural world therefore, taken together,
present us with an endless variety of natural uses. So
there are all orders and degrees of truth in. the Divine
Humanity, and ,an infinite variety of spiritual uses
which truth has to perform in the spiritual creation, or
regeneration of man. The different natural objects
therefore, which are each the representative image of
truth, and which have each a different use, correspond
to and signify the different operations or uses or truth.
Thus light corresponds to and signifies the use of
truth in illustrating human minds : water corresponds
to t:^uth with respect to its use in cleansing the mind of
those evil principles which defile it. And as water has
many other uses besides that of cleansing, so there are
correspondent spiritual uses which truth has to per
form in the mind. But when raan not only knows and
understands truth, but so regulates his life according to
it that it becoraes a vital principle of his being, it is then
received as it were into the spirit's circulation, and its
use therefore is such, that it finds its corresponding
natural forra and representative iraage in blood.
Thus it is that all the different representative iraages
of truth, whether in nature or in art, correspond to this
.divine principle in its various forms, degrees, relations,
uses and operations in man. 20

218 IMPORTANCE AND USE OF [LECT.
We now proceed to give some further confirmations
of the truth, and illustrations of the use, of the Science
of Correspondences. And although this Science is
equally applicable to the interpretation of the plainer
portions of the Word, yet, with the vie\v of showing
its iraportance more clearly, we shall select' for our illus
trations such passages as are either unintelligible in
their literal sense, or are attended with some other diffi
culty. We must necessarily be brief in our explanations ;
and shall therefore aim only to give the reader some
general idea of the application of this Science to the in
terpretation of the Word.
It was shown in a preceding lecture that what is re
corded in Genesis (ch. vii.) conceming the flood, cannot
be received as trae according to the literal sense, be
cause in this sense it teaches what is manifestly con
trary to the truths of science. But in its spiritual sense,
as unfolded^ by raeans of the Science of Corresponds
ences, this chapter addresses man's rational faculty, and
is seen to be perfectly true and consistent throughout.
We will here offer a few hints which may furnish the
reader with a clue to the interpretation of the whole
chapter by the rule of correspondences.
Water, we have said, is the correspondent of truth.
But it is only when Avater is employed in sorae of its
appropriate uses, that it has this correspondence. If
people employ it, as they may, in drowning themselves
or others, or in destroying any living thing that is use
ful upon earth, then they abuse it, or convert it from its
appropriate and good use into an evil use. There
should therefore be something to which water corres
ponds when it is thus abused, or turned from a good
into an evil use which is opposite. And what else
should its correspondence then be, but truth raisera-
ployed or used for an evil end ? Truth is abused, be
cause turned from its appropriate use, whenever it is
employed to favor any evil love ; and since genuine
truth cannot do this — cannot favor anything that is
evil — for only falsehood is in agreement with evil, there
fore the abuse of truth implies its conversion into falsity
which is opposite ; for to make any truth favor an evil

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 219
love, is to make that trath a falsity. Water therefore,
when employed for any purpose that is not good, cor
responds to trath Avhen used to favor some evil love,
thus to falsity, because truth is thereby changed into
falsity. From this opposite correspondence of water, we raay
learn what is signified by the waters of the flood raen
tioned in the chapter above referred to. They denote
the falses of the Ancient Church, originating in its evil
loves, which so overwhelmed the minds ofthe men of
that Church, that the pure and innocent affections of
charity, and all the things of heavenly life, perished.
And this is what is denoted by that flood's destroying
every living creature and substance upon the face ofthe
earth. Earth denotes the Church, as we have before
said. The internal sense of the whole of this chapter may
be seen unfolded in the flrst volume of the Arcana Coe
lestia by Emanuel Swedenborg. Without entering far
ther here into the raeaning of the particular things there
mentioned, we Avill quote what Swedenborg says con
cerning the waters of the flood, and give, in his oAvn
language, the exposition of verse 19, where it is thus
written : " And the Avaters prevailed exceeding exceed
ingly upon the earth, and all the high mountains were
covered, Avhich were under the heaven."
" That waters, in this and in the following verses,
signify falses, may appear from those passages of the
Word, which were quoted in the introduction to this
chapter, and also in the explication of verse 6, where
mention is raade of a flood, or inundation of waters. It
was there shown that inundations of waters signify des
olations and teraptations, which imply the same thing
as falses, for desolations and temptations are nothing
else but inundations of falses excited by evil spirits.
That such waters signify falses is hence, because in
general waters in the Word signify what is spiritual,
that is, Avhat is intellectual, rational, and scientific : and
because these, , thej signify also contrary things : for
every false is a kind of scientific, and appears as some
what rational and intellectual, because it is of thought,

320- IMPORTANCE AND USE OP , [lECT.
That -vvateJs Sigriify things spiritual, appears from- very
mariy passages in the Word ; but that they signify also
falses, the following passages may serve as proof, be
sides what were before adduced : " This people hath
refused the waters of Shiloah that go softly ; therefore
behold, the Lord bringeth up upon therii the waters of
the river, strong and raany ; and he shall come up over
all his channels, and go over all his banks," Isaiah viii.
6, 7 ; where waters going softly signify things spiritual :
Waters strong and many, signify falses. In the sarae
prophet: "Wo to the land shadoAving with wings,
which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia [Cush], that
sendeth airibassadors to the sea, and in vessels of bul-
rrishes upon the facies of the waters : go ye swift am-
bassadots to a nation outspread apd trodden doAvn,
whose land the rivers have spoiled," xviii. 1, 2 ; deno
ting falses, which are of the land shadowing with wings.
Again, iri tlie sanie prophet: "When thou passest
through the- A<^aterS I will be with thee, and through the
ri-t^e-rs, they shall not overflow thee," xliii. 2 ; where
Av'aters and rivers signify difficulties, and also falses.
In i^tetniah : " What hast thoU to do with the way of '
Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor ? or what hast thou
to do with the way of Assyria, to drink the Avaters of
the river?" ii. 18 ; where Waters signify falses origina
ting in reasonings. Again, in the same prophet : " Who
is this thfit cometh up as a stfeam, Avhose Avaters are
moved as streams ? Egypt riseth up like a stream, and
waters are moA^ed as streams ; and he saith, I will go
up, I will cover the earth, I will destroy the city and
thera that dwell therein," xlvi. 7, 8 ; where waters in
like manner signify falses originating in reasonings.
in Ezekiel : " Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, When I
shall raake thee a vastated city, as the cities that -are
not inhabited ; when I shall~ bring up the abyss upon
thee, and many waters shall cover thee ; when I shall
bring thee doAvn with thera that go down into the pit,'
xxvi. 19, 20 ; where Avaters signify evils ahd the falses
thence. In Habaklrak : ' Thou hast trampled on the
sea with thine horses, the mud of raany Avaters,' iii. 15 ;
where waters signify falses. In John, ' The dragon cast

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 221
out of his mouth water as a river, that he might cause
her to be swallowed up by the stream,' Rev. xii. 15, 16 ;
Avhere waters signify falses and lies. In David : ' Send
thine hands from above, rid me, and deliver me out of
raany waters, from the hand of the sons of the stranger,
Avhose mouth speaketh a lie, and their right hand is a
right hand of falsehood,' Psalm, cxliv. 7, 8 ; where raany
waters evidently signify falses ; the sons of the stranger
also signify falses.
" That by the waters prevailing exceeding exceeding
ly upon the earth, are signified the persuasions of the
false, that they so increased, appears from Avhat was
said and shoAvn above concerning Avaters, viz. that the
waters of a flood, or of an inundation, signify falses :
whereas in the present passage are signified falses in
creased, or the persuasions of what is false, therefore it
is said that the waters prevailed exceeding exceedingly,
which is the superlative of the original tongue. Falses
are the "principles of the false, and the persuasions of
the false ; and that these increased immensely amongst
the antediluvians, appears frora what has been said
above concerning them : persuasions increase immense
ly, when men immerse truths in their lusts, or cause
them to favor self-love and the love of the world, for in
such case they perA'Crt truths, and by a thousand
methods force them to agreement with their lusts ; for
how common is, it, Avhen a person imbibes, or frames to
hiraself, a principle of the false, to confirm it by abund
ance of scientifical knowledge which he is in possession
of, nay, even from the Word ! Is there a single heresy
but what seizes thus upon confirming things, and the
things Avhich do not consent, it even forces, and va
riously explains and distorts, that they may not dissent.
As he Avho assuraes the principle that faith alone saves
without the goods of charity, can he not weave an en
tire systera of doctrine from the Word Avithout ever
regarding,' or even attending to, or so much as seeing,
what the Lord has said, that the tree is known by its
fruit, and Avhatsoever tree doth not bring forth good
fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire ? Matt. vii.
16, 17, 18, 19, 20, xii. 33. What is raore pleasing than
20*

222 IMPORTANCE AND USE OP [lECT.
for a riian to live according to the flesh, and yet to be
saved. If so be he only knoAvs what is true, although he
does not at all practice what is good? Every lust
which a man favors, forms the life of his wfll, and every
principle, or every persuasion, of the false, forms the
life of his understanding ; these lives make one, when
the truth or doctrinals of faith are immersed in lusts :
every raan thus forras for himself, as it were, a soul, the
life of Avhich becomes such after death. Wherefore
nothing is of more concern to man than to know what
is trrie ; when he knows what is true, and in such a
manner that it cannot be perverted, then it is not capa
ble of being so immersed in lusts, and producing such
deadly effects. What ought to be more dear to man
than his life to eternity ? If he destroys his soul in the
life of the body, does he not destroy it to eternity ?
" That by all the high raountains which were under
heaven being covered, is signified, that all the good
things of charity were extinguished, appears from the
signification of mountains amongst the raost ancient
people. Mountains with them signified the Lord, be
cause they enjoyed and exercised his worship on moun
tains, because mountains are the highest parts of the
earth ; hence they signified things celestial, which they
also called highest, consequently they signified love
and charity, and thus the goods of love and charity,
which are celestial. In an opposite sense, they also are
called mountains in the Word who are high-rainded,
and thus a raountain denotes self-love itself The Most
Ancient Church is also signified in the Word by moun
tains, by reason that mountains are elevated above the
earth, and are nearer as it were to heaven. That moun
tains signify the Lord, and all celestial things thence
derived, or the goods of love and charity, appears from
the following passages in the Word ; from which it is
plain Avhat they signify in particular, for all things in
the Word, both in general and in particular, have a
sense according to the Subject to which they are ap
plied. In David : ' The raountains shall bring peace,
and the hifls in righteousness,' Psalra lxxii. 3 ; where
mountains signify' love towards the Lord, hills neigh-

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED, 223
borly love, such as prevafled in the Most Ancient Church,
which therefore is also signifled in the Word by raoun
tains and hills, as being principled in such love and
charity. In Ezekiel : ' In the raountain of my holi
ness, in the mountain of the height of Israel, said tlie
Lord Jehovah, there shall all the house of Israel, all of
them in the land, serve me,' xx. 40 ; where the moun
tain of holiness signifies love towards the Lord, and the
mountain of the height of Israel signifies charity to
wards the neighbor. In Isaiah : ' It shall corae to pass
in the last days, that the raountains of the house of
Jehovah shall be established on the top of the moun
tains, and shall be exalted above the hills,' ii. 2 ; signi
fying the Lord, and hence every thing celestial. In
the same prophet : ' Jehovah of hosts will make for all
people in this mountain a feast of fat things, and he will
swallow up in this raountain the faces of the covering,'
xxv. 6, 7 ; Avhere the mountain again signifies the Lord,
and hence every thing celestial. Again, in the same
prophet : ' There shall be upon every high mountain,
and upon every lifted up hill, rivers and channels of
waters,' xxx. 25 ; where mountains signify the goods
of love, hills the goods of charity, whence come the
truths of faith, which are rivers and channels of wa
ters. Again, in the sarae prophet : ' Ye shall have a
song as in the night, tp keep a holy festival, and joy of
heart as when one goeth with a pipe, to come unto the
mountain of Jehovah, to the rock of Israel,' xxx. 29 ;
Avhere mountain of Jehovah signifies the Lord with
respect to the goods of love, and the rock of Israel sig
nifies the Lord with respect to the goods of charity.
Again, in the same prophet : ' Jehovah of hosts shall
come down to fight upon mount Zion, and upon the
hill thereof,' xxxi. 4 : in this passage as in many others
in the Word, raount Zion signifies the Lord, and hence
every celestial thing, which is of love ; and hills signify
the inferior celestial, which is charity. Again, in the
sarae prophet : " O Zion, that preachest good tidings,
get thee up into the high raountain ; O Jerasalem that
preachest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength,'
xl. 9 ; to ascend into a high mountain, and preach good

224 IMPORTANCE AND USE OP [lECT.
tidings, is to Avorship the Lord frora love and charity,
which are inmost things, and therefore called highest,
for whatever is inraost is called highest. In the sarae
prophet : ' The inhabitants of the rock shall sing, and
they shall shout from the tpp of the mountains,' xlii.
11 : the inhabitants of the rock signify such as are in
charity ; to shout from the top of the raountain, signifies
to worship the Lord from love. In the same : " How
delightful upon the raountains are the feet of hira that
preacheth good tidings, that published peace, that preach-
eth good tidings of good, and publisheth salvation," lii.
7 : to preach good tidings on the raountains, signifies
in like raanner to preach the Lord, froin the doctrine of
love and charity, and to worship Hira frora these. In
the same : ' The mountains and the hills shall break
forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the
field shall clap their hands,' Iv. 12 : signifying to wor
ship the Lord from love and charity, Avhich are moun
tains and hills, and from faith thence derived, which
are the trees of the field. In the sarae : ' I will make
all my raountains a way, and my pathways shall be
exalted,' xlix. 11 ; where mountains signify love and
charity ; way and pathway signify the truths of faith
therein originating, which are said to be exalted, when
they come from love and charity, which are inmost. In
the same : ' He that putteth his trust in me shafl pos
sess the land for inheritance, and shall inherit the moun
tain of my holiness,' Ivii. 13 ; signifying the kingdom
of the Lord, where there is nothing but love and chari
ty. In the same : ' I will bring forth a seed out of Ja
cob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains,
and raine elect shall possess it,' Ixv. 9 : raountains signi
fy the kingdom of the Lord and celestial goods ; Judah
signifies the celestial church. Again, in the same:
' Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth
eternity, whose name is holy, I the high and holy One
dwell,' Ivii. 15 ; where high signifies what is holy.
Hence mountains, from their height above the earth,
signify the Lord and his holy celestial things ; on which
account also the Lord published the law from raount
Sinai. The Lord also by mountains raeans love and

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 225
charity, where speaking of the consumraation of the age
he says, ' That they Avho were in Judea should then
flee to the raountains,' Matt. xxiv. 24, 16 ; Luke xxi.
21 ; Mark xiii. 14 ; where Judea signifies the church
vastated. " Frora hence then it plainly appears, what is signified
by the waters covering the mountains, viz. that the
persuasions of what Avas false extinguished all the good
of charity,"— Arcana Ccelestia, n, 790, 794, 795, 797.
Again : in Exodus, Chap, xx., we are commanded to
remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy ; and the
reason there given is this, " For in six days Jehovah
made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is,
in them, and rested the seventh day ; wherefore Jehovah
blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it." But in
Deuteronomy (chap, v.) where the decalogue is repeat
ed, the reason for keeping holy the Sabbath day is stat
ed thus.: " And remember that thou wast a servant in
the land of Egypt, and that Jehovah thy God brought
thee out thence, through a mighty hand and by an out
stretched arm. Therefore Jehovah thy God comraand
ed thee to keep the Sabbath day."
Here we observe, that, according to the literal sense,
the two reasons assigned for keeping the Sabbath are
v'ery different. And if the first be tbe true reason, it
may be fairly asked, why should a different one have
been given in Deuteronomy? But if that given in
Deuteronomy be the trae ground and reason of the
coraraand to hallow the seventh day, then it would
seem that this precept is by no means binding upon us ;
for we have never been servants in the land of Egypt,
in the literal sense ; and therefore we could not remem
ber that Jehovah brought us out thence.
Now although the tAVO reasons here given for keep
ing the Sabbath day holy, appear different, and are
different in their literal sense, yet in their spiritual and
true sense they are essentially the same.
According to the doctrines of the New Church, all
Avords in Scripture, which, in their natural sense denote
some portion of time, agreeably to the law of corres
pondence, denote in their spiritual sense certain states of

226 IMPORTANCE AND USE OF [lECT.
the Church, or of the human raind. Thus the six
days' work of creation mentioned in the first chapter of
Genesis, corresponds to and thence denotes the various
states in man's regeneration, as was stated in our last
lecture. The same, as has been said, is also true of
those words in Scripture which, iu their natural sense,
refer to space ; for tirae, be it remarked, is estimated by
motion through natural space. The Sabbath day
therefore, agreeably to what is said of the correspond
ence of time in general, denotes that blessed state of
intemal peace and rest, -which a raan enjoys after his
regeneration is full and complete ; or when truth in his
understanding has become perfectly united with love in
his Avill. And this also is the reason why the Sabbath
is the seventh day ; for seven is a number, which, ac
cording to the language of correspondence, denotes
what is full and complete, carrying with it also the idea
of wh^at is holy. The fully regenerate state of raan is a
holy state, because ofthe presence and indwelling in his
mind of the wisdom, love and power of the Lord, who
alone is holy. '
' When raan has passed through his several states of,
temptation and combat agaipst evils and falses — which
are states of spiritual labor and are what is signified by
the six days' work of creation — he then comes into that
state of internal rest which is denoted by the Sabbath
day. And this state, it will be observed, is the sarae as
that described in our last lecture, when man is spiritu
ally created into the image and likeness of God, and
made a living soul. Whence the sum of the precept
in Exodus, to reraember and keep holy the Sabbath day,
when understood in its spiritual sense, is this : that we
ought perpetually to bear in mind that holy union of
divine good and divine truth in the Lord's Divine Hu
man, which is the essential Sabbath or state of perfect
rest, and remember that we can approach that state orily
in the degree that Ave have the principles of good and
trath, or of charity and faith from the Lord, united in
our minds. We are required to*reraeraber that we can
not attain to the state of Spiritual rest denoted by the
Sabbath, until we have worked, or have suffered the

VII.] CORIlESPONDENCEa ILLUSTRATED. 227
Lord to work, six- days in creating in us " the heavens
and the earth, the sea and all that is in them" ; i. e. un
til we have passed through all our different states of spi
ritual temptation and trial, arid, by continually shun
ning evils as sins against God, have removed from our
minds all false and evil principles.
Now the reason for remembering the Sabbath day,
which is given in Deuteronomy, although, as we have
said, apparently different frora this in Exodus, is yet
essentially the same in its internal sense. It is there
said that the children of Israel were commanded to re
member and keep the Sabbath day, because they had
orice been in bondage to the Egyptians, and had been
brought out thence through the mighty hand of Jeho
vah God.
And here it may be expedient to remark, that the
Israelites were not a true, internal church ; but, accord
ing to Swedenborg, they were merely an external and
representative church. All their recorded history was
so ordered by the Divine ProAadence, as to represent, by
a series of external acts and ceremonies, all those inter
nal and spiritual operations which must be performed
in a true church. Or in the minds of all who becorae re
generated. They were therefore chosen of the Lord to
be his peculiar people, nof on account of any peculiar
goodness which they possessed above other nations, as
appears evident frora what is written of them in Deut.
(ix. 6.) : " Understand therefore that Jehovah thy God
giveth thee not this good land to possess it for thy right
eousness ; for thou art a stiff-necked people," But
because of their being the most external of all nations,
they were peculiarly well adapted to the purposes of a
representative church ; just as ignorant and unreflect
ing raen are most suitable for any service which requires
in the operative no thought, nor anything but passive
obedience to the will of another.
Now inasmuch as the Israel ites were a representative
church — since they represented the internal things of a
true church by their outward acts and condition, ac
cording to the law of correspondence — therefore, Avhen
ever they are spoken of in the Word, they denote those

228 IMPORTANCE AND USE OF [lEC'T.
spiritual principles which constitute a true church.
But in the unregenerate man, the principles of genuine
goodness and truth which are the constituents of a true
church, are in subjection and servitude to the loves of
;self and the world, which are the principles that pre
dominate in the natural man. This subjection of the
things of heaven and the church to the principles of the
natural man, is what was represented and is therefore
signifled by the bondage of the children of Israel in
¦^oTPt- ^Sypt denotes the state of the natural raan.
And hence the reason why Joseph and Mary were
commanded to flee into Egypt with the infant Savior ;
for that his going into Egypt Avas a thing of diyine or
der, is evident from its being said in Matthew that this
came to pass, "that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying. Out of Egypt
have I called my Son." (ii. 15.) His descent into Egypt
was a representative image of this great trath, viz : that
He assumed humanity with all its inherited corraptions,
and thus descended — " went down" — with his own Di
vine into every possible state of the natural raan. And
his subsequent return from Egypt into the land of
Israel, represented, by correspondence, the glorification
of the humanity which He assumed, or its elevation to
a perfect oneness with the Divinity that was in Hira
from conception. And since raan's regeneration is an
image of the Lord's glorification, therefore the Lord's
return from Egypt was a representative of our regene
ration. Hence by the children of Israel being brought
up out of Egypt and led into Canaan by the hand of
Jehovah God, is signified man's deliverance from his
natural state of ignorance and bondage to evil lusts,
which is denoted by the bondage of the Israelites in
Egypt, and his introduction into that heavenly state
¦which is denoted by Canaan, through the divine power
of the Lord ; in other words, it signifies the deliverance
of the things of heaven and the church from that state
of bondage which they are in before our regeneration,
and. their consequent elevation above the principles
which govern and enslave in the natural man. When
this has been fully accomplished— w±ien all the affec-

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 229
tions and thoughts originating in the natural and inor
dinate love of self, are brought into a quiescent state. —
when the whole family and possessions of the natural
man cease frora their labor and dominion over the goods
and truths ofthe church, (AA-hich is what is signified by
permitting to rest " thyself and thy son, and thy daugh
ter, thy man-servant and thy maid-servant, thine ox and
thine ass, thy cattle and the stranger that is within thy
gates") — then the soul enjoys that internal peace and
quietness which is denoted by the Sabbath day.
Thus Ave perceive that the six day's work of creation
and the deliverance of the children of Israel from their
bondag-e in Egypt, though apparently very different
things, are, in their intemal seuse, essentially the sarae.
The only difference is, that the fqrraer is predicated of
the celestial, and the latter of the spiritual church. And
this exaraple raay suffice to show how apparent dis
crepances, such as sometimes occur in the literal sense
of the Word, fade aAvay and disappear before the light
of the spiritual sense ; and it raay also assist us in un
derstanding the true meaning of those texts which
speak of the Lord's anger, jealousy and revenge— of his
punishing man and turning his face away from him, &,c.
These things, Avhich are said in accomraodation to the
state of the natural man, are only apparent truths, i. e.
such as appear in the literal sense, fliough they are a
medium of^conveyingg-enMme truths to such as under
stand the laws of a divine composition.
Let a familiar example be taken to illustrate this.
We say that the sun rises, and the sun goes down ;
but this, as every one knows, is not true according to
the strictiy literal sense of these AvOrds. The language
expresses only an apparent truth, which however is
the meditim of conveying a genuine truth to the minds
of all who are instructed in the laws of our solar
system. We shall find also that the apparent immoralities
which occasionally occur in the Word — those which
appear, according to the letter of Scripture, to have the
Divine sanction — Avill vanish in the same manner, as
soon as the spiritual sense of such passages is unfolded,
21

230 IMPORTANCE AND USE OF [lECT.
Take, for example, the seventh chapter of Deuterono
my, where, as appears frora the second verse, the chil
dren of Israel Were commiand'ed to smite the Canaan
ites, and utterly destroy them ; — to make with thera no
covenant, neither to show thera any mercy ; and in
verse 16, it is written, " Arid thou shalt consume all the
-people — thine eye shall have no pity upon thera," «fec.
Now war is justly enough considered by Christians
as an iraraoral practice ; and yet frora the letter of the
text just referred to, it appears not only that the Lord
Sanctioned unmercifulness and craelty, but that He pos
itively commanded the Israelites to show no pity nor
mercy unto those who dwelt in the land of Canaan.
This, according to its literal sense, is certainly contrary
to the feelings Of every generous mind, as well as to the
general spirit and tenor of the Ncav Testament ; for we
read in Matthew (v. 7), "Blessed are the merciful for
they shall obtain mercy." But the internal sense ofthe
passages above referred to, is in perfect agreement with
this text in Matthew, and with the general spirit of the
'gospel. We will unfold this sense very briefly, yet
¦sufficiently to show that such is the case.
The land of Canaan, when inhabited bythe children
of Israel, denotes, agreeably to the law of correspond
ence, the kingdom of the Lord or a heavenly state of
'tnind ; for " the kingdora of heaven is within." (Luke
xvu. 21). Consequently, all the parts of that land, and
everything of order appertaining to it, agreeably to this
sarae law, denote all the good and true principles which
appertain to a true church, and to every mind when
'brought into a state of heavenly order. But while the
land of Canaan was inhabited by the Amorites, the
Perizzites, the Hivites, &c., it denotes the Church or
the mind of man in his natural state, which is capable
'of being regenerated, but which is yet infested with all
kinds of false and infernal principles signifled ^by the
Canaanites ; which principles are in direct opposition
to those of Heaven and the Church, which are denoted
by the children of Israel.
Now the Israelites, as we have before said, were not a
true, but only a representative church. They were

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 23l!
left in precisely the same state of freedom that all other
people are ; only their external history, (or that portion
of it which is recorded in the Bible) was so overruled
by the Divine Providence, as to be all representative of
divine order in the Church according to the law of cor
respondence. In order therefore that their outward
acts might truly represent the internal things of a true
church, it Avas iraportant that these should appear to be
done by the coramand of the Lord. Thus to represent
the spiritual combat in which all who become regener
ated raust engage, even after they have been brought
out of that state denoted by Egypt,— i. e., after spiritual
things have been elevated in their rainds above a state
of mere subserviency to natural affections — and to repre
sent that Avar of extermination which the Lord requires
us to wage against evils and falses of all kinds, the chil
dren of Israel were coramanded to make war upon the
Canaanites, and to destroy thera all without raercy. And
to show that we cannot get rid of our evils all at once,
or be regenerated instantaneously, it is said in Deuter
onomy (vii. 22), " And Jehovah thy God will put out
those nations before thee by little and little ; thou
mayest not consume them at once."
This agrees with the doctrine of regeneration as
taught in the writings of Swedenborg ; for we are there
told that man is regenerated just in the degree that he
shuns evils as sins against God ; thus in the degree that
he resists, overcomes or drives out frora his mind those
principles of evil which the Canaanites represented.
And this is done by little and little.
This example may also serve to show us hoAV those
texts of Scripture, which contain an invocation of curses
upon enemies, and which occur so frequentiy in the
book of Psalms, are to be understood. There are spirit
ual eneraies to Avhich natural ones correspond, and
which they therefore signify. Our spiritual eneraies
are all the false and evil principles that flow frora hell ;
for these assault our spiritual life, and threaten rairi to
our souls. Falses and evils therefore, are what is de
noted by enemies in the internal sense. It is against
such eneraies that Ave are permitted to invoke the Lord's

232 IMPORTANCE AND USE OP [lECT.
vengeance, and to pray Hira, in the language of the
Psalraist, to arise, disappoint thera and cast thera down,
that our souls may be delivered. (Psalms xvii. 13.)
We turn next to a passage in the prophecy of Eze
kiel, which was quoted in a former lectiire, and which
reads thus : " And thou son of man, thus saith the Lord
Jehovih, Speak to the bird of every Aving, and to every
beast of the field. Assemble yourselves, and come,
gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I ^
do sacrifice fbr you, a great sacrifice upon the mountains
of Israel, that ye raay eat fiesh and drink blood. Ye
shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of
the princes of the earth, of rams, of lambs and of goats/
of bullocks, all of them fallings of Bashan. And ye
shall eat fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be
drunken, of my sacrifice Avhich I have sacrificed for you.
Thus shall ye be filled at my table Avith horses and
chariots, Avith mighty raen and with all raen of war,
saith the Lord Jehovih." (xxxix. 17-20.
I think it will be- admitted by every candid mind,
that, if this passage is to be regarded as a portion of
God's Word, and therefore as containing divine truth
profitable to us for doctrine, and for our instruction in
righteousness, the language must be symbolic ; for from
the literal sense, nothing can be derived which is pro
fitable either fbr doctrine or for instruction in righteous
ness. I think it Avill be admitted, that, if there be any
meaning to this Scripture, it is involved in great obscu-
rity^ — covered over as it Avere with a thick cloud ; for
no idea, that is at once intelligible and rational, is con
veyed by the literal sense of the passage.
But let us see what meaning is conveyed by the in
ternal sense of this passage, as unfolded by raeans of
the Science of Correspondences. A suraraary exposi
tion of its spiritual sense is given in the Apocalypse Ex
plained by Emanuel Swedenborg n. 650. Yet it may
be useful to those unacquainted with the Avi-itings of the
New Church, to' amplify Swedenborg's explanation
somewhat, which Ave are able to do by means of what
is taught elsewhere in his writings.
In the first place it a,ppears from the natural sense of

VII.] CORRESPONDENCEa ILLUSTRATED. 233
this passage that a great feast was prepared by Jehovah,
to which the bird of every Aving, and every beast of the
field were to be invited ; for the Lord calls it " my sa
crifice Avhich I have sacrificed for you," and also " my
table." Such however is only the apparent truth.
The genuine intei;nal sense which corresponds to the
natural sense, is quite different.
It was shown in our last lecture, that, inasmuch as
the things which nourish the body correspond to
the things Avhich nourish the mind, so there is such a
thing as spiritual eating and drinking, to which the
natural act Corresponds. Hence also it may be seen
that there is such a thing as a spiritual as well as a nat
ural feast — a feast for the mind as well as for the body.
In the language of Scripture therefore, feast denotes, by
correspondence, a profusion of such things as delight
and nourish the soul of man. In the present instance,
because it is a feast prepared by the Lord Jehovih, it
denotes the great abundance of spiritual blessings which
were communicated by the Lord to his Church under
the first Christian dispensation ; and likeAvise the pro
fusion of heavenly goods and truths which are revealed
by Hira now at his second coming, which is spiritual,
because in the spiritual sense of his Word. That this
is the true meaning of the feast or "great sacrifice"
here spoken of, is manifest from Rev. xix., . wherein
mention is made of " the marriage sEpper of the Larab,"
and " the Lamb's wife" it is said, " hath raade herself
ready" ; and the appearance of one sitting upon a white
horse who is followed by the arraies of heaven, is also
described there, Avhose "name," we are told, "is called
THE Word op God." And after this appearance, the
revelator goes on to say : " And I saw an angel
standing in the sun ; and he cried with a loud
voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of
heaven, come, and gather yourselves together unto the
supper of the Great God : that ye may eat the flesh of
Itings, and the flesh of captainSj and the flesh of mighty
men, and the flesh of horses, and of theiri that sit on
them, and the flesh of all [men, both] free' and bond,
both small and great." {v. 17, 18.) This language so
21*

234 IMPORTANCE AND USE OF [lECT.
nearly resembles that in the prophecy of Ezekiel, that
we may fairly presume both passages refer either to the
same event, or to events that are very similar. And
from the order in which things are here mentioned, it
musf be plain to every one Avithout any particular un
folding of the internal sense,* that " the supper bf the
great God," must denote sorae general and rich dispen
sation, raade by the Lord to his Church, ofthe spiritual
things which are contained in his Word ; which things
are the food and nourishraent of human minds.
Moreover this view of the subject finds abundant con
firmation in other parts of the Word. In the gospel of
Luke, the Lord says to those Avho have continued with
Him in his temptations, " And I appoint unto you a
kingdora as ray Father hath appointed unto me ; that
ye raay eat- and drink at m,y table in my kingdom."
«fec. (xxu. 29, 30.) So likewise the parables of a cer
tain rich man, who made a great supper, (Luke xvi. 16)
and of a certain king Avho prepared a dinner on account
of the marriage of his son, and sent out servants to say
to thera that Avere bidden, "Behold I have prepared my
dinner ; my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and'all
things are ready: come unto the marriage," (Matt.
xxii. 4.) — these and other like passages were clearly de
signed to represent the abundant communication of
spiritual things for the nourishinent of raen's souls,
consequent upon tlie Lord's advent. Besides, it is well
known that the spiritual gifts which the Lord dispenses
to his Church, are in the Word often compared to meat
and drink ; and not unfrequently are they called bread,
meat, flesh, wine, water, blood, &c.
Indeed the correspondence between natural and spi
ritual feasting is so obvious, that nothing is more cora
mon than for people to say, when they have been list
ening to ncAv and interesting truths, that they have en-
joyed a great feast.
Noav there are tAVO great faculties of which the
human mind is composed, called the Avill and the under
standing. This is the raost general division of the fac-
» See the Spirimal sense of this passage unfolded in the Apocalypse
Revealed, by tmanuel Swedenborg, n. 831, 832

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 235
ulties ; and the tAVO parts into which the mind is thus
divided, correspond to and are derived from the two es
sential divine principles of love and wisdom in the Lord,
and are indeed receptacles of those principles. And
whether Ave adopt any of the old systems of raental phi
losophy, or that raore modern and at the same time more
consistent and orderly one which is based upon the sci
ence of Phrenology, we shall flnd that all the faculties
of the mind arrange themselves into the two great class
es of intellectual and affectuous ; for there are none
which do not belong either to the understanding or the
will. All of man's inclinations, desires, or loves, are of
his will, for what he loves that he also wills ; and all
his ideas, perceptions and thoughts, are of his under
standing. And because the Sacred Scriptures Avere de
signed for the regeneration of the Avhole man — for the
removal of falsities from his understanding, as Avell as
the purification of his Avill frora evil loves — they ought
there .'ore to have regard throughout to this most gene
ral division of the mind into will and understanding, and
to address raan with respect to both these faculties.
And this, as we learn from the writings of Swedenborg,
is actually the case. The Word is addressed to man
as possessing both a will and an understanding ; for in
all parts of the Word there exists a marriage of good
ness and trath, which correspond to the union of will
and understanding with man ; and this marriage exists
because the Word is from the Lord, and is Himself, and
in Him there is a divine marriage oflove and wisdom.
This may help us to urierstand why it is that Avoids and
phrases so often occur in Scripture, in close connection
with each other, which appear to signify the same
thing ; as for example, justice and judgraent, nations and
people, joy and gladness, (fee. In such ca.ses there is not
a repetition of the same thing, as appears in the literal
sense, for one is predicated of the will or the love of
man, and the other of his understanding or thought.
Hence likewise the reason Avhy, in the passage noAV
under consideration, the Prophet is commanded to
" speak to the bird of every Aving, and to every beast of
the field;" for, in the language of correspondence, birds
signify things which appertain to the understanding of

236 IMPORTANCE AND USE OP [lECT.
man, or thoughts in general either of trath or of falsity
according to the nature and quality of the birds ; and
' beasts, according to their quality, denote the various
affections, or such things as appertain to the will princi
ple of man.
It would be interesting, did our liraits permit, to in
quire into the ground of this correspondence and spirit
ual signification of birds and beasts ; to pursue sorae
what in detail the correspondence between the thoughts
of the mind, and the powers, habits, and various char
acteristic qualities of the winged part of creation ; such,
for example, as their power of soaring high above the
earth's sui'face, the musical character of some of them,
the agreeable and enlivening effect which the approach
of light produces upon most of thera, and the sudden
ness with which they lose their activity and fall to sleep
on the approach of darkness, even though the darkness
corae upon thera at mid-day, as in the case of a solar
eclipse. In all these respects there is such a coraplete
correspondence between the birds of the air and human
thoughts, that the rational mind at once perceives and
assents to it.
But in order to confirm this correspondence of birds
and beasts, or to show, that, when mentioned in the
Word, they signify certain principles of the human
mind, it will be sufficient to quote a single passage from
the prophecy of Isaiah. It is there said (chap, xxxiv.)
concerning the Jewish church in reference to its ap
proaching consummation, " The cormorant and the bit
tern shall possess it ; the owl alsovand the raven shall
dwell in it :~ and He shall stretch out upon it the line of
confusion, and the stones of emptiness. And thoms
shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in
the fortresses thereof; and it shall be an habitation of
dragons and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the
desert shall also raeet there, with the wild beasts of the
island, and the satyr shall , cry to his fellow ; the
screech-owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a
place of rest. There shall the great owl make her
nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow ;
there shall Iiie vulture also be gathered, every one with
her mate."

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 237
These things are said of the church in its state of
consummation, when human minds are inhabited by all
those infernal principles, which correspond to and are
signified by the various creatures here mentioned.
Again : it is Avell known that no tAvo individuals are
precisely alike in their modes of thought and feeling.
There is as^ great variety among men in respect to the
character of their minds, or the peculiar cast of their
thoughts and affections, as there is in the expression of
their faces, or as there are species and varieties of birds
and beasts. Because this is so, and because the divine
principles of good and truth, which are now eraplo^red
in the internal sense of the Word, are not, as sorae sup
pose, suited merely to one peculiar class of minds, but
are adapted to every variety of mental character where
there exists any love of Avhat is re£tlly good and true,
therefore it is said in the prophecy before us, " Speak to
the bird of every vjing, and to every beast of the field."
The bird of every wing denotes, by correspondence,
every variety of intellect whence are the thoughts of
man ; and every beast of the field, denotes every variety
of the voluntary principle whence are the affections of
man. The sacrifice which is here spoken of, is called " a
great sacrifice upon the raountains. of Israel;" which
words, in their spiritual sense, denote, that if we would
corae to the real enjoyment of the goods and traths
which are revealed — such enjoyment as those expe
rience who are in states of spiritual worship from these
truths and according to them — we must elevate our af
fections above the things of sense and the world, to the
things which are of heaven and the church ; — we must
go upon the mountains of Israel; i. e. we must endea-
-vor to have our affections raised to such an elevated
state, as to desire trath for the sake of its good use.
Sacrifice, in the Israelitish church, was an act of wor
ship, and consisted in offering to the Lord certain natu
ral things which He required them to offer. And since
the Israelites Avere a representative church, this external
worship of theirs represented, by correspondence, the
internal and spiritual Avorship of a true church. The
natural things which they offered in sacrifice, repre-

238 IMPORTANCE AND USE OP [lECT.
sented the spiritual things, i. e. all the affections and
powers of the mind, Avhich the true spiritual worship
per dedicates to the Lord. Sacrifice therefore, when
predicated of man, denotes in the spiritual sense those
pure spiritual affections with Avhich he approaches the
Lord in worship. It is the offering up to the Lord,
or the dedicating to his service of all the noblest pow
ers oft he mind. But when predicated of the Lord, as
in the present instance, it denotes a coraraunication
from Him to human minds of such things as are essen
tial in all true worship. His sacrifice is the offering
which He makes to man of the goods and truths (rf
heaven. And it is here said to be upon the mountains
of Israel, to denote that we can receive the heavenly
things which the Lord has to impart, and which are the
essentials of true Avorship, only when our desires are
elevated ; i. e. when we have a love of truth grounded
in the love of goodness. Mountain, in the language of
correspondence, denotes an elevated state of the affec
tions ; and Israel denotes the spiritual church, or all
who are in spiritual truth frora the Lord. Hence
by the m,ountains of Israel is signified states of affec
tion for spiritual truth, such as those are in Avho highly
esteera the things of heaven and the church, or in
whose minds these are exalted above every thing else.
It is to persons who are ip this state, that the Lord can
impart the essential things of true worship ; for they
alone are in a state to receive them. Thus it is upon
the mountains of Israel that the Lord makes his great
sacrifice, and where all men are invited to come and
partake. And as the raind of man consists of the two facul
ties, will and understanding, so there are the two divine
principles of love and wisdora or goodness and truth
proceeding frora the Lord, to nourish theise faculties and
keep them alive. These two principles are signified by
the names Jehovah God and Jesus Christ in the Word —
Jehovah and Jesus referring to the principle of divine
love in the Lord, God and Christ to the principle of
divine truth. Wherefore it is said to the birds and
beasts in the passage before us, " Assemble yourselves,
(fee., — that ye may eat flesh and drink blood" Now

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 239
as flesh and blood are the principle constituents of the
material body, so the principles of good and truth to
which they correspond, are the essential constituents of
the spiritual body or of the mind of man. In the Lord
these principles are divine, and are Avhat is meant in
the Word by his flesh and blood, which, it is said,
" whoso eateth and drinketh hath eternal life," (John
vi. 54.) So far therefore as these principles are re
ceived into human rninds in a pure and orderly form, so
far the Lord is received, and men dwell in Him and He
in thera.
We observe that it is said at first of the birds and
heasts, that they shall eat flesh and drink blood. This
is a general stateraent of what they shall do ; and de
notes in general the reception of good and truth by
every variety of intellectual and voluntary character.
Afterwards the prophecy descends more to particulars,
and says, " Ye shall ea|; the flesh of the mighty, and
drink the blood of the princes of the earth ; of rams, of
lambs, and of goats, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of
Bashan." It is well known to all who have reflected rauch upon
the raental constitution of man, that there is not only
this general division of the faculties of which we have
spoken, but that there are various orders and degrees of
these faculties. For nothing is more common than to
hear it said of two different minds, that one is ofa high
er order than the other. We know also that there are
various degrees in which the sarae raind may be eleva
ted with respect to its attainments in goodness and truth.
And as there are various orders and degrees of the two
general faculties of the mind; so there is acorresponding
variety in the orders and degrees of good and trath,
which are to nourish these faculties in their respective
grades. And corresponding to these different orders
and degrees of good and trath, are the different crea
tures here raentioned, whose flesh and blood, it is said,
" ye shall eat and drink." By the mighty is denoted
such truths as are powerful — those on which we rely
with entire confidence, and which are therefore efficient
in combating and removing from our minds such evils
as are conjoined with the falsities to which these truths

240 IMPORTANCE AND USE OP [lECT.
are opposed. And hence to eat the flesh of the rnAgh-
ty, is to enjoy the good consequent upon such combat
and victory ; i. e. to receive into our wills the good and
the delights of some heavenly affection, as a conse
quence of removing thence some evil love through the
powerful operation ofthe trath which is denoted by the
mighty. The princes of the earth signify the pjinci-
pal" truths of the Church — earth denoting the Church,
as was shown in a forraer lecture ; and fo drink their
blood, signifies to nourish the mind with these truths by
receiving thera rationally, and having thera so incorpo
rated with the understanding as to become practical
principles of life. Rams and lambs correspond to and
signify those pure and interior affections which are-of
charity and innocence ; while goats and bullocks de
note corresponding affections which are of a more ex
ternal kind. They are said to be all of them fatlings
of Bashan, to denote the excellent quality of the prin
ciples Avhich are here represented. And to signify the
abundant nourishment which the faculties of the mind
would receive from the profusion of spiritual things to
be unfolded in the Word, it is said, " And ye shall eat
fat till ye be full, and drink blood till ye be drunken, of
my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you." Fat,
like flesh, denotes the principle of goodness, but good
ness of a more interior quality, such as the good of ce
lestial love. Whence to eat fat till ye be full signifies
to appropriate this good, or to have the will nourished
and filled with the delights of celestial love.
Thus far the passage before us inight be said to be in
telligible even in its literal sense ; though it raust be
acknowledged that the idea which is conveyed by it in
this sense, is quite irrational and altogether unworthy
the wisdora of God. But when we find this added in
the next verse, " Thus shall ye be filled at my table with
horses and chariots, with mighty raen, and with all men
of war, saith the Lord Jehovih," we feel the necessity of
either rejecting the passage as wholly unintelligible, or
of accepting sorae other raeaning than that which is
contained in the sense ofthe letter. For, although the
animals here mentioned might eat the flesh of men and
horses, if is not so easy to admit that they could eat the

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 241
chariots also. And thus we find in raany parts of thc
Word, as in the present instance, expressions of such a
character'as Avill not allow our minds to rest in the lite
ral sense — as if Infinite Wisdom had uttered thera for
the very purpose of leading us to look Avithin and above
the letter.
" Thus shall ye be filled at my table," We know
that in common discourse, a man's table is often put for
the food Avhich is spread upon it. Hence the Lord's
table denotes, by correspondence, all the spiritual and
celestial things which are imparted by Hira through the
medium of his Word, for the delight and nourishraent
of human rainds. Horses and chariots, on account of
their use in conveying our bodies frora place to place, or
in aiding us to travel naturally, correspond to those
things Avhich are of use to us in our spiritual progress.
Now it is evident that our progress in spiritual life raust
be in sorae degree commensurate with our understand
ing of the Scriptures. We cannot advance in regene
ration if we do not understand the Word ; for this is
the only tru,e light that enlighteneth every man. Horses
therefore correspond to and thence signify the under
standing ofthe Word, since it is this which assists us in
our spiritual journey. And chariots, because they are
attached to horses for the purpose of facilitating natural
travelling, correspond to , and signify doctrines, Avhich
are intimately connected with our understanding ofthe
Word, and therefore facilitate our spiritual progress.
And to be filled with these, is to have the mind fully
fed, or instructed in the right understanding of the
Word, and in the great doctrines of religion thence de
rived. " Mighty men and all men of war" are added, to
denote, as they do by correspondence, the power of ra
tional and convincing truths such as are now revealed
for the use of the New Church — the confidence Avith
which men would rely upon these truths in spiritual
combat^and their final victory over the evils and falses
that infest the Church. To be filled with mighty men
and all men of war, therefore, is to have the mind filled
or imbued with traths Avhich are valiant against the
powers of hell. 22

242 IMPORTANCE AND USE OP [lECT.
Thus it raay be seen, even frora the brief and ira
perfect exposition here given, that this prophecy, so ob
scure and meaningless in the literal sense, becomes, by a
fair application of the Science of Correspondences, at
once luminous, rational, and full of instruction. From
the darkness and death-dan;ps of the tomb, it- leaps
to light and life ; and, as a portion of the ever-living
Word of God, it speaks to us. For even now, in the
spiritual sense of the Avords, there is a great sacrifice
prepared by Jehovah God upon the mountains of Israel,
of which the bird of every wing and every beast of the ,
field are invited to partake ; for a gre;t abimdance of
spiritual things are no\v coraraunicated by the Lord, in
the revelations raade to the New Church, to feast and
delight the rainds of aU raen Avho really desire to eat the
bread of heaven.
We next proceed to a passage in the New Testaraent
(Mark xi. 13, 14,) which has caused no sraall degree of
trouble to coraraentators in the Old Church ; and which,
if there be none but a literal sense, certainly does not
appear at all consistent with the language or the opera
tions of Divine Wisdora ; for it represents the Lord Je
sus Christ as cursing a fig-tree on a certain occasion,
because when He came to it He foupd nothing on it
but leaves, although it Avas not then the tirae of figs.
The passage reads thus : " And seeing a fig-tree afar off,
having leaves. He came, if haply He raight find any
thing thereon ; and Avhen He came He found nothing
but leaves ; for it was not the time of figs. And Jesus
ansAvered and said unto it. No man eat fruit of thee
hereafter forever." And in verses 20, 21, it is Avritten:
" And in the morning as they pasj;3d by, they saw the
fig-tree dried up from the roots. And Peter, calling to
remembrance, saith unto Him, Master, behold the fig-
tree which thou cursedst is Avithered aAvay."
Now can it for a moraent be believed by any rational
mind, that these Avords of the Lord have no other than
a literal sense ? Is it not raanifest that they imist con
tain some hidden or spiritual meaning? For it is con-.
sistent neither Avith comraon sense hor common justice,

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 243
that the Lord should curse a fig-tree for having nothing
on it but leaves, especially as it is said the time of figs
was not then.
But let us endeavor to ascertain the meaning of this
passage as developed by raeans of the Science of Corre
spondences. We Avill first give the correspondence and
internal sense of some of the more important words here
used, and then endeavor to connect their meaning into
a series. We shall not attempt any thing more than a
ve;-y general and summary exposition of the text.
It vvas stated in our last lecture that tree corresponds
to and signifies the church or a raan of the church.
Different kinds of trees therefore, would denote different
kinds, of churches, or the diflerent states of men as to
goodness and trath. Fig-tree, from correspondence, de
notes the good and truth of the natiiral raan, which are
merely external ; consequently it denotes such an ex
ternal church as the Jews Avere, who " did all their
works to be seen of raen," Afar-off signifies far from
the Lord — far from a state of genuine charity and faith
— i, e, in externals. For since the Lord is love itself
and wisdom itself, whatever is said in the Word to ba
afar^off from Him, must be understood to be far re
moved from divine good and divine truth. The leaves
of the fig-tree denote such truths as belong to a church
of this external quality — such as are all natural truths,
especially tho.se in the literal sense ofthe Word. Hence
fhe reason why the most Ancient Church, AA'-hich after
the Fall was signified by Adam and Eve, is said to have
sewed fig-leaves together to conceal their nakedness, af
ter they had eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil ; for to do this, signifies to cover up, anij thus
endeavor to conceal from the eye of Omniscience inter
nal pride and self-love, by means of a fair exterior, or an
outward life conformable to the moral precepts. W ho
over tries to hide from his own view or the view of
others, the iuAvard evils of his heart, by arguments
framed from the literal sense of Scripture, sews fig-
leaves together to cover his nakedness. Fruit signi
fies tho good works of charity. Time denotes the state
of the church, as was said in a former lecture ; and

244 ' IMPORTANCE AND USE OP [lECT.
morning denotes a new and raore lurainous state, or a
New Dispensation, and consequently a New Church.
Frora this brief explanation of the correspondence of
some of the principal Avords that occur in the text re
ferred to, the internal sense of the whole passage may
be easily understood. By the Lord's seeing a fig-tree
afar off, is signified that he saw the JcAvish Church to
be far removed from Hiraself, or from those principles
of genuine goodness and truth which are contained in
the internal sense of his Holy Word. Having leaves
denotes that they had truths of an external liind, such
as are those ofthe literal sense of the Word ; and these
Avere in the raost external region of their minds — as
it were only in their mouths, and not in their hearts.
Hence the Lord says of them " This people draweth nigh
unto me with their mouth, and honoreth me with their
lips, but their heart is far from rae " (Mat. xv. 8) By
his coming, if haply He m,ight find anything thereon,
is denoted his advent and consequent exploration, by
means of trath from Himself, of the interior quality of
the JcAvish Church, to see Avhether its members Avere
principled in the good of charity. Fruit on a tree, de
notes the good of life proceeding from a spiritual princi
ple, i. e. from trath which hath vitality in it. And by
irrs, finding nothing but leaves when He cam,e, is sig
nified that He found the Jews possessed of much exter
nal sanctity, but of no intemal goodness ; — aclmoAvledg-
ing divine truth with their lips, but denying it in their
hearts. For it was not the time of figs, denotes that
they were in no state of charity, or of doing good from
an internal, spiritual ground. Time denotes state ; and
figs denote good works — Avorks which proceed from a
right principle Avithin, ' And because the Jewish church
had only an outward show of piety — because their re
ligion was of that external kind Avhich is denoted by
fig-leaves — Avas of the lips and not of the heart, and be
cause they were in no state of true charity so as to per
form the good works Avhich are denoted by figs, there- '
fore the L(3rd cursed the fig-tree, as is said in Mark xi.
21. By his cursing the fig-tree is denoted the sentence ¦
of condemnation Avhich that church brought upon it-

VII.] -CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 245
self, in neglecting to perform good works. Every
church is accursed Avhich bears nothing but leaves.
By Jesus answering and saying unto it, no man eat
fruit of thee hereafter forever, is denoted the execution
of a judgement upon that church, and its final consum
raation ; so that, as a church, it could no longer bring
forth the fruits of charily.
We are also instructed ty the internal sense of this
passage, that the Jews Avill never be restored again to
Jerusalem, as some, for want of a right understanding
ofthe Word, have vainly imagined. For it is said that
" in the raorning, as they passed by, they saw the fig-tree
dried up from the roots " ; which words denote that the
Jewish Church was vastated of all the principles of
spiritual life — was Avithered at the root, when the New
Dispensation commenced. By morning is denoted the
commencement of the New Dispensation.
This is a summary exposition ofthe intemal sense of
this passage, as unfolded by means of the Science of
Correspondences. And although in the sense ofthe letter
it appears both irrational and unjust, in the internal sense
it is replete with wisdom, spirit and life from the Lord.
And it is not addressed to the Jewish Church alone, but
to every Church of a like quality, or of the same ex
temal and hypocritical character. It is addressed to
every man, who, with his lips, and may be with his out
ward life, raaketh loud professions and an ostentatious
show of religion, while his heart is far from God ; — who
beareth none of the genuine fruits of charity, but has
only a faith of the lips and lungs — nothing on him but
leaves only. Whenever a church or an individual
comes into this state, he is accursed ; for, in respect to
genuine spiritual life, he is withered and dried up at the
roots. This is an immutable laAV of divine order.
It Avill be recollected that one or two passages were
cited in a former lecture from the book of Revelation,
which, according to the literal sense, are wholly unintel
ligible. The reader will flnd the internal sense of those
passages, and indeed of this whole book, fully unfolded,
according to the Science of Correspondences, in the
Anocalypse Revealed by Emanuel Swedenborg. We
22*

246 IMPORTANCE AND USE OF [lECT.
Avill here present, in a very summary manner, the inter
nal sense of one of the passages referred to, as developed
by means of this "Key of Knowledge."
It is \ye\\ knoAvn that the whole book of Revelation
has ever been and is still acknowledged, even by the
most learned in the Old Church, to be dark, mysterious
and nearly unintelligible throughout. No one has had
much confldence that he understood it aright, and no
two commentators, that we have any knowledge of, have
ever been agreed as to its precise meaning : and for this
very good reason, that it is a prophetic book treating
throughout of the consumraation of the first Christian
Church and the commencement of a Ncav Dispensation
or the descent of a New Church which is called the New
Jerusalera. This book therefore could not be rightly
understood before the internal sense of the Word was
revealed, (Avhich revelation is the Lord's second appear
ing,) any more than the prophetic books of the Old
Testamerit could be understood before the Lord's first ad
vent. But by the aid of the Science of Correspondences,
we are now able to discover in this hitherto raysterious
book, an orderly, consistent, coherent and beautiful
meaning frpm begining to end.
The sixth chapter of this book Avhich contains the
passage above referred to, treats in its literal sense, of
the unsealing " of a book Avhich was Avritten Avithin
and on the back" side, and sealed AAtith seven seals," and
the things Avhich folloAved in consequence. On the
opening of each of the flrst four seals, a horse was seen
coming out of the book ; flrst a Avhite horse, then a red,
then a black, and then a pale horse; and in reference
to this last it is said, " and his name that sat on him
was Death, and hell folloAved Avith him."
Now even the most literal interpreters of the Word
cannot, we should think, understand Avhat is here said
in its strictly literal sense. For certainly they cannot
suppose that natural horses could come out of a book
when it was unsealed. This language therefore must
be symbolic. What then does it mean ? Briefly this :
The book written Avithin and on the back side, de
notes the Word of God in respect both to its internal

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 247
and external, or its spiritual and natui;al senses. It is
said to be sealed Avith seven seals, to denote, that, at the
time of the Last Judgement^ which was the consumma
tion of the flrst Christian Church, the trae meaning of
the Word was wholly concealed from the Church in
general ; and consequently the quality of men's' lives
Avas entirely unknown, since it is truth from the Word
which alone reveals or manifests the real quality of
every one. The nuraber seven denotes all, or entirely,
and is predicated of what is holy. The opening of
the seals, Avhich it is said was done by the Larab, sig
nifies exploration by the Lord, and consequent mani
festation of the interior states of those of the Church,
such as took place with all in the Avorld of spirits at the
time of the Last Judgement, and such as now takes place
with CA-ery one in particular after he enters the spiritual
world. And because the quality of every one's mind
or life can be explored only by means of truth from the
Word, therefore a manifestation ofhis state of life must
be at the same time a manifestation of truth to his mind,
or an unsealing of the Word. This is the way that
CA'^ery judgement both in general and in particular, ¦
which the Lord executes, is effected.
Now we have said before, that the understanding of
the Word is at any time according to the state of the
cburch ; i. e, according to the quality of life in those
who compose the church. If the state of the church
be pure and innocent, its understanding of the Word
Avill be clear. It Avill see truth in the light. But if the
church be corrupt — if its will-principle be infested with
evil loves — it wfll pervert, and thus in relation to itself,
Avill destroy the Word as to the principle of charity or
good. We say in relation to itself, because the church
or men of the church cannot destroy the good of the
Word absolutely, any more than they can destroy the
Lord ; but they may so abuse and adulterate the good
of the Word as to convert it into evil, and thus destroy
it or change its quality in their own minds. And Avhen
men do this— when thoy violate the laws of charity, and
thus destroy the Word as to this principle in themselves,
then their understanding soon becomes obscured, so

248 IMPORTANCE AND USE OF [lECT.
that truth is falsified ; and then, in their minds, the
Word is destroyed as to the principle of trath or faith.
And when the good of the Word is adulterated and its
truth falsified, so that in humqn minds it is destroyed
as to both the principles of good and truth, or charity
and fiith, then there is spiritual d('ath in the churQ^h.
And what follows ? Hell — An infiux into men's minds
of all infernal principles.
Now these different and successive states of the
church are beautifully symbolized in the passage under
consideration by horses of ditferent colors that were
seen coming out of the book, as its seals were opened
by the Lamb ; for a horse, as Ave have before shown,
corresponds to and signifies the understanding of the
Word. A white horse signifies a clear and true under
standing of the Word, such as those of the primitive
church possessed, who were in states of innocence.
White is predicated of truth ; for truth is spiritual light.
That such is the raeaning ofthe white horse that came
out of the book, is evident from the internal sense of the
words which follow : " And he that sat on him had a
bow ; and a crown Avas given unto him : and he Avent
forth conquering and to conquer;" by which Avords is
denoted in general the corabat against falses and evils
frora hell, and the final victory over them which those ,
obtain Avho have a clear understanding of the Word, or
who sit upon the white horse,
A red horse that Avent out of the book next, denotes
the understanding of the Word destroyed in men as to
good or charity, and thence as to life — a state which
succeeded that of the primitive church. Red is predi
cated of love, either good or evil ; here of evil .love, as
is evident from what follows ; for it is said, "and [pow
er] vvas given to him that sat thereon to take peace frora
the earth, and that they should kill one another ;" which
words denote in general the taking away of charity,
spiritiial security, and internal tranquility ; Avheiice pro
ceed intestine feuds, infestations from the hells, nnd in
ternal restlessness ; all of vvhich thing-s take place in the
minds of those, who have destroyed in themselves the
understa-ading of the Word as to good, or who sit upon
Ae red horse.

Vll.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 249
A black horse which next appeared, denotes the un
derstanding of the Word destroyed in raen as to the
principle of truth, and thus as to doctrine, which takes
place when the Word is falsified ; for black is predicat
ed of Avhat is false, since falsity is spiritual darkness.
Hence it is said " And he that sat on hira had a pair of
balances in his hand," Avhich signifies the measure or
estimation of good and truth, of what kind it is Avith
those who have falsified the Word. And a voice was
heard to say, " A measure of wheat for a penny and a
measure of barley for a penny," which signifies that the
estimation of good and truth with such persons is so
small as scarcely to amount to any thing.
Last of all came a pale horse ; and by this is denoted
the understanding of the Word destroyed in men as to
both the principles of good and trath, or charity and
faith. When this takes place, then there is spiritual
death, and all infernal principles follow or floAV into the
church. Paleness signifies the absence and deprivation
of spiritual life. Hence it is said, "And his name that
sat on him was Death, and hell followed with him ;"
Avhich denotes in genetal the extinction of spiritual life,
and thence damnation. "And power was given unto
him over a fourth part of the earth, to kill with the
sword, and with hunger, and with death, and Avith the
beasts of the earth ;" Avhich denotes the destruction of all
good in the Church, by falses of doctrine, by evils of life,
by the love of self and by lusts.
This, though a very brief and general exposition of
the passage under consideration, will serve to give
the reader some idea of its internal contents, as develop
ed by means of the Science of Correspondences. The
correspondence and spiritual significationof eachof the
particulars here mentioned, may be learned frora the
work already referred to.
Doubtless there may be those Avho Avill have failed to
be convinced, from what has here been said, of the
truth of this Science of Correspondences, and its im
portance as a key to the right interpretation of the Word
of God. If so, it is to be hoped that such persons will

,250 IMPORTANCE AND USE OF [lECT.
at least haA^e the wisdora to suspend their judgraent for
a time, and to a.^cribe such failure to the feeble and im
perfect manner in which this Science has here been ap
plied, rather than to any fault or imperfection in the
Science itself We Avould have them reflect that a sub
ject so vast as this, would require a volume to unfold
and present it in a himinous raanner ; and that the ablest
mind could hardly be expected to do it any thing like
tolerable justice within the narrow limits of two lectures.
If, ho vever, ther 3 should be any who think they al
ready see reason for believing that there may exist in
the constitution of the universe a correspondential rela
tion between the natural and the spiritual world, and
thus between every natural object and some spiritual
principle, as between an effect and its producing cause
— that this may be a law of divine order in creation —
that the Sacred Scriptures also may be coraposed ac
cording to it, and that therefore this Science of Corre
spondences may be the only rule for interpreting the
Scriptures aright^'— we trust they will feel desirous of
pursuing the subject farther, and of learning more about
this interesting and important Science from the thelogi-
cal writings of Swedenborar. And we trast also that
they will see reason for admitting, that a science so im
portant as this is a subject wi=ll AVorthy of a special rev
elation ; that the precise correspondence And spiritual
meaning of the various things mentioned in Scripture,
could not indeed have been found out in any other
way. But let all who desire further knowledge of these
things, be temperate in their wishes and patient in their
pursuit. Let them not expect to comprehend the whole
ofthe grand Science of Correspondences at once ; for it
is a Science which connects this earth with heaven,
and is vast as the universe of God. But let them know
for their encouragement, that if they really desire to
have their hearts purified from all evil loves, and have
faith in the Sacred Scriptures as the W^ord of God, this
Science shall be to them what it really is—" the Key of
Knowledge " — the key to the kingdom of heaven. By
a right application of it, in simplicity and lowliness of

VII.] CORRESPONDENCES ILLUSTRATED. 251
mind, they raay unlock the volurae of nature, the Ora
cles of God, and the inmost recesses of their OAvn souls.
They may come to see, as they never saw before, the
perfection and beauty of the Word as well as of the
works of the Lord, And by shunning as sins all the
evils which the radiant light of the spiritual sense of
Scripture reveals, they shall open in their souls the gate
of heaven, through Avhich the streams of living water
frora their eternal Fountain will gush warm and free
to water in their rainds the Garden of God.

252 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.

LECTURE VIII.

The DOCTRINE OP THE NEW JERUSALEM CHURCH
CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY AND THE
TRUE OBJECT OF RELIGIOUS WORSHIP.

'¦ Lo, THIS IS oua GOD." — Isaiah ixv. 9.

When Paul was about to proclaim at Athens the
doctrine of the first Christian Dispensation, " some said
' What will this babler say ?' other some, ' He seemeth
to be a setter forth of strange gods ;' because he preached
imto them Jesus and the resurrection. And they took
him and brought him, unto Areopagus, saying, ' May
we know Avhat this new doctrine whereof thou speak-
est, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to
our ears : we would know therefore what these things
mean ?'"
" Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' Hill, (or
court of the Areopagus,) and said, ' Ye raen of Athens,
I perceive that in all things ye- are very religiously in
clined.* For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions,
I found an altar Avith this inscription. To the un
known God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly Avorship,
Him declare I unto you.' And Avhen he preached unto
them the doctrine concerning the resurrection of the
Lord, some mocked ; and others said, ' We will hear
thee again of this [matter.]' " (Acts xvii.)
* This is the true meaning ofthe Greek Words (is dstaidaifiovsuTipov;
(see Schleusner's Greek and Latin Lexicon.)

VIII.] concerning the divine TRINITY. ¦ 253
We should not be surprised therefore, but should
rather expect that similar things Avould occur at the
present time, whenever the doctrines of the New Chris
tian Dispensation aie proclaimed. When the doctrine
concerning the true object of Christian Avorship, as
taught in the revelations made for the New Jerusalem
Church, is proclaimed in the ears of those upon the
altar of whose hearts is traced the inscription, ITo the
unknown God, it is not surprising that he Avho
preaches the new doctrine should appear to some as " a
setter forth of strange gods." And when we proclaim
the glorious doctrine of the Lord's resurrection — the
doctrine of His second appearing in the powerful and
glorious truths of the spiritual sense of the Word, which
IS a resurrection of his own truth from a state of dark
ness and death in the Church, to one of light and life —
it is not strange that some, when they hear of this re
surrection froih the dead should " raock". But there is
abundant cause of devout thankfulness to the Lord, in
the fact that so raany are ready to say, " We will hear
thee again of this matter."
The doctrine of the New Jerusalera Church concern
ing the true object of Christian worship, and the Divine
Trinity in the Lord, will form the subject of our pres
ent lecture.
And I think it must be admitted by all who acknoAvl
edge God as the Creator and Disposer of all things —
as the Source of all truth, love, and life — that the doc
trine concerning this object of our worship, is the grand,
central doctrine of the Christian religion. It is the great
sun at the centre of the Christian systera. If therefore
the doctrine of the Lord, as received and acknoAvledged
in the Church, be true, then the rainds of raen can re
ceive from Him spiritual light and heat, and can make
steady and orderly progress in spiritual life ; just as all
th&opaque bodies in our solar systera circle the sun in
a steady and orderly progression, and receive frora hira
their light and heat. But if this central doctrine as re
ceived by raen be false, then darkness, disorder, and
confusion upon all religious subjects, raust of necessity
pervade the Church. For then, in respect to human
23

254 DOCTRINE OF THE NEV/ CHURCH [lECT.
minds, the sun is darkened ; and as a necessary conse
quence, " the earth reels to and fro like a drunkard."
(Is. xxiv. 20.) "All her foundations are out of
course." (Ps. Ixxxii.) Such things then take place in
the whole system of religious doctrines, as are fltly
represented, because of their correspondence, by that
chaotic state into which this natural world would be
thrown, if the sun Avere extinguished, and the power
which holds the planets in their orbits annihilated.
Human minds are then hurled into wild disorder and
confusion, and left to the guidance of a wayward fancy,
or to move blindly forward on their eternal course.
There have been sorae raen in all ages ofthe church,
who have perceived and acknowledged the suprerae im
portance, in a practical point of view, of possessing right
apprehensions of God. Scott, in his " Christian Life,"
says : " Whilst we are ignorant of God's nature, or pos
sessed Avith Avrong and false apprehensions of it, we
raust necessarily wander in the dark, and neither know
what to do, nor hoAv to behave ourselves towards Him.
For, how can we imagine what Avill please or displease
a dark and unknown nature, whose bent and inclina
tions we are utterly unacquainted with ? But if we are
under false apprehensions of his nature, they must ne
cessarily mislead us in our behaviour towards Him, and
put us upon false Avays of serving and pleasing Him."*
{Right Apprehensions of God vol. ii. p. 161.)
Moreover the supreme iraportance ofthe doctrine con
cerning the Lord, may be inferred from this first and
greatest commandment, " Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with
all thy mind." (Mat. xxii. 37.) For unless we know
who and Avhat the Lord is, how can we love Him ? If
our minds be unenlightened on this point, our love can
at best be but a blind impulse. And if we be falsely
instructed hereon, our love will then be not of the true
but of a false God ; — some offspring of human intel
ligence ;— an idol of silver or gold, the work of men's
*For passages similar to this, taken from the works of diflferent writers
npon theology, see Clissold's End, of tha Church p. 1—7.

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 255
hands. If therefore, men profess to worship the Lordj
whose minds are uninstructed or falsely instructed con
cerning Hira, they either " worship they know not
what," or they Avorship a raere name, or some imaginary
being quite other than the true and only God ; each ot
which is spiritual idolatry.
Hence we may see that there is good reason for Avhat
is so often affirmed by Swedenborg, viz. " that the situa
tion of every one in the other life is determined by his
idea and acknowledgement of the Lord ; and that " the
universal heaven, and the universal Church on earth.
and in general, all religion, has its foundation in a just
idea of God ; because hereby there is conjunction, and
by conjunction, light, wisdom, and eternal happiness "
{Apocalypse Revealed n, 469.)
Again Swedenborg says: " Of how great impor
tance it is to have a just idea of God, may be evident
from this, thatthe idea of God makes the inmost thoughts
with all who have religion ; for all things of religion
and all things of worship have respect to God. And
because God is universally and particularly in all things
of religion and worship, therefore, unless there is a just
idea of God, no communication can be given with the
heavens. Hende it is, that every nation in the spiritual
world is allotted a place according to his idea of God as
Man ; for in this and in no other is the idea ofthe Lord.
That the state of man's life after death is , according to
the idea of God confirmed in himself appears manifestly
from its opposite, that the denial of God makes hell ;
and in Christendom, the denial of the divinity of the
Lord." {Divine Love and Wisdom n. 13.)
This is confirraed by these words of the Lord in John
" And this is life etemal, that they raight know thee the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."
(xvii. 3) To have such a knowledge of the Lord as
those possess who are instructed in the true doctri ne
concerning Him, and who at the sarae tirae do his Avill,
is to drink of the Fountain of Eternal Life, and to en
joy the happiness of heaven.
Now it is repeatedly affirraed in the revelations made
for the New Jerusalem Church, that 'this great central

256 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
doctrine of religion — the doctrine concerning the Lord-
as taught at the present day in the -catechisms, creeds,
commentaries, confessions of faith, and from fhe pulpits
of the Old Church, is not true hxxt false, Consequentiy
the Sun of that church has become darkened ; a thing,
whichj according to the Lord's prophetic announcement
in the Evangelists, was to take place at the Consumma
tion of the Age. (See Matt. xxiv. 29 ; Mark xiii. 24.)
It is also alleged in these revelations, that, because this
fundamental doctrine of the Christian religion, as taught
in the prevailing church, is false, therefore the doctrine
of the Atonement, of Regeneration, and indeed all the
doctrines of the Old Church which grow out of this
concerning the Lord, and which depend upon it as
their foundation, are likewise false. Por it is well
known that a solid and enduring superstructure can be
reared only upon a solid foundation ; and if the central
truth of any system of doctrines be wrong, all the sub
ordinate and derivative truths raust necessarily be not
truths hut falses ; and consequently the whole systera
raust also be wrong.
According to the writings of Swedenborg therefore,
all that system of false doctrines of religion, Avhich ex
ists in the prevailing church, is the legitimate offspring
of the false doctrine concerning Hira, from whom alone
cometh all truth as well of doctrine as of life. Hence
the spiritual consummation or end of the flrst Christian
church, Avas a natural and necessary consequence of
the falsification of the great doctrine concerning the
Lord ; which falsification was coramenced at an early
period of the Christian church.
It is the design of this lecture to unfold and present
the doctrine concerning the Lord, as it is revealed in the
writings of the New Church. And as truth can be
raore clearly seen and raore readily acknowledged when
placed in contrast with the false, it raay be useful, first,
to exaraine briefly the doctrine of the Sacred Trinity
as generally held and taught in the Old Church. We
shall do this, in order that persons of honest and dis
criminating minds may be better able to judge for them
selves, which of the doctrines upon this subject is from

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 257
heaven, and which is the raere offspring of huraan in
telligence ; Avhich is really true, and which merely
imaginary. It is by no means a pleasant task to expose the falsity
of doctrines Avhich are maintained and taught by a
large proportion of the professed Christian world. It
is a task which we would gladly excuse ourselves from
performing, could we do so consistently with the require
ments of those two coraraandments on which all the
law and the prophets hang — consistently with our ac
knowledged obligations to God and our neighbor. But
we know that truth cannot descend into human rainds
and flnd there an abiding-place, until error has been
driven out ; and before error can be banished thence,
it must be exposed and shoAvn to be error. The duty
therefore, Avhich we owe to the cause of ti-uth and good
ness in the world, iraperiously deraands that we speak
with all freedom and plainness concerning that funda
mental error in religion, which is received and taught
as a fundamental truth by the prevailing sects in the
Old Church.
' The doctrine conceming the Divine Trinity as gen
erally taught in the Old Church, is this ; that there are
three persons, the same in substance, equal in power
and glory, which together constitute one God. That
we might state this doctrine fairly, as it is held and
tau.ght by different religious denominations now — in
this country — in this city— we have examined the Cate
chisms used in the Sabbath Schools of the Methodist,
Baptist, Presbyterian and Episcopal Churches; pre
suming that, in books designed expressly for the instruc
tion of children, Ave should flnd this doctrine expressed
in the simplest and clearest manner possible. • And in
three of these Catechisms we flnd it said, in answer to
the question "How raany persons are there in the God
head ?" " There are three persons in the Godhead ; the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; and these three
are one God ; the same in substance, equal in power
and giory." In the other one the sarae thing is stated,
though in little different language.
In the Confession of Faith which is found in the
23*

258 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
Constitution of the Presbyteran Church in the United
States, the doctrine of the Trinity is stated thus ; "In
unity of the Godhead there be three persons of one
substance, power and eternitv : God the Father, God
the Son, and God the Holy Ghost." (Chap. 2, § 3.)
This then is the doctrine of the Trinity as taught by
the prevailing religious sects at the present day. It is
the doctrine of a tri-personality — of three persons in one
God, Now vvhat idea does a child derive from this language?
Has he no idea of the raeaning of person 7 Then the
language is unintelligible to him, and therefore nothing
is taught by it. But probably there is not a word in our
language which is raore clearly and distinctly defined
in a child's raind, and indeed in the mind of every one,
than person. And . hoAvever his lips may be forced to
say "there are not three but one God," nevertheless
while he is taught to believe that there are three persons
in the Godhead, in the idea of his thought there are
and must be three Gods, And this must be the case
not only with respect to children, but also with respect
to persons of raature minds, who acknowledge the doc
trine of three persons in the Godhead ; for in every
mind the word person has a clear and well deflned
meaning. And we would ask every one who is, or
ever has been, in the acknoAvledgment of this tri-per-
sonal doctrine, to consider whether the three persons in
the Godhead are not, in his mind, as distinct from each
other as Peter, Jaraes and John ; or as any three persons
with whom he is acquainted. And if so, whether he
does not really think of three Gods, however he may
say there is only one. We Avould have him reflect,
that it is at the thought in the imderstanding and not
at the mere confession of the lips, that a man must look
in order to ascertain what he really believes • and
whether, if his words were a true expression of his
thoughts, he would not find himself in the open ac
knowledgment of three Gods, It is Avith the thought
and not raerely with the lips that man believesJ^If he
really believes in only one God, then he thinks of only
one divine person. And on the other hand if he thinks

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 259
of three divine persons, then he actually believes in the
existence of three Gods ; and his saying with the lips
there is only one, can by no means alter or affect his
real belief
We can see no other possible way of escaping from
this, except by subordinating, in thought, two of the
persons to the third ; i. e. by thinking of the Son and
the Holy Spirit as inferior persons to the Father. But
this is a virtual denial of the doctrine ; which teaches
that the three persons are " the sarae in substance, equal
in power and glory." Any inferiority of the person of
the Son to that of the Father, even in the idea of one's
thought, is a virtual denial of the Son's divinity ; for
absolute divinity can adrait of no inferiority. The
sarae might also be said in reference to the third person
in the Trinity, or the Holy Spirit.
Some Trinitarians have deeply felt the difficulties
Avith which this tri-personal theory is attended, and
have seen the danger on the one hand of either believ
ing in more than one God, or on the other of denying
the divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Dr. Stuart,
Professor of Sacred Literature in the Theological Sem
inary at Andover, (Massachusetts,) thinks it extremely
unfortunate that this Avord persons was ever introduced
into the Symbols of the church ; for, he says it is not
believed that there are really three persons in the God
head, but only that there is a real distinction, (See
Letters to Dr. Channing, &c.) Other Trinitarians in
the Old Church have also lamented the introduction of
the word persons when speaking of the Trinity, saying
that they believe not exactly in three persons but only
in three someiohats, (See Home's Introduction, &c,)
But none of these learned men throw much light upon
the subject by the new terras which they would era-
. ploy. For they do not tell us what the real distin.c-
tion or the three somewhats are. Besides, when they
corae to the doctrine of the Atoneraent, one of these
somewhats becomes a person by a kind of necessity.
But it raay be shown still raore clearly that those Avho
really believe in a trinity of persons in the Godhead, do
actually believe in three Gods, however they raay pro-

260 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
fess with their lips to believe in only one. It is taught
by those who hold this doctrine as above stated, that the
Father is God, and is an infinite, eternal, divine person ;
thaf the Son or second person is also God, who is infi
nite, eternal, and divine ; and that the Holy Spirit or
third person is God, Avho is likewise infinite, etemal, and
divine. Now can the existence of three infinite, etemal,
divine persons, thus of three Gods,, be, by anypossibili-
ty, stated in clearer language than this ? And are not
those who really believe this, guilty of a palpable con
tradiction Avhen they say that they believe in only one
God? Moreover the different offices, which those ^ho be
lieve in the tri-personal theory assign to each of the per
sons of the trinity in the work of rederaption and regen- '
eration, show that the persons are as distinct in their
minds as any three individuals can. be.
In the Assembly's Catechism which is now used, by
the Presbyterian church in this country, Ave find given,
as a reason for believing that there is more than one per
son in the Godhead, this passage from Genesis, (i. 26,)
" God said let us make man." But in making this quo
tation from the Word, we observe that a sentence has
been brokeh in the middle ; which, when given entire,
would prove, we should think, even to the mind of a
child of common understanding, the falsity of the doc
trine taught in the Catechism. The sentence unbroken
reads thus : ' " And God said let us made man in our im
age, after our likeness," And in the next verse it is
added, " So God created man in his own image, in the
image of God created He him." Noav if, as the Di
vine Word here teaches, man Avas created an image and
likeness of God and if there be, as the prevail ing theology
teaches, a trinity of persons in God, then it follows as a
logical and necessary inference, that there must be a
trinity of-persons in raan.
We see therefore that the Bible as plainly teaches that
there are three persons in each and every man, as it
does that there are three persons in the one only Qpd ;
for it teaches that man was created in God's own image. .
Consequentiy in the sarae sense that God is tri-personal.

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 261
man is tri-personal. We shall be able to understand
how this is, Avhen we come to consider the doctrine on
this subject as revealed for the New Church ; for we
shall learn something conceming the Divine Trinity,
from what we know of its image and likeness in man.
But we are aware that it is not unusual for persons
in the Old Church to abjure everything like reason upon
this subject : to admit that it is a dark and inscrutable
mystery — a doctrine which the huraan raind cannot
comprehend, but which we must believe nevertheless.
In other words, we must believe something Avhich we
cannot understand — Avhich does not enter the mind in
any intelligible form — which does in no Avise address
man's rational faculty, and which appears like a self-
conti-adictory proposition ! Eveiy raan who reflects at
all raust see that such a belief is raerely of the lips. It
is not a real, internal belief, since it is acknoAvledged
that the thing professed to be believed is what the under
standing can take no cognizance of, and with Avhich it
has nothing to do. And is a belief which is only of
the lips a real belief?
Besides, once admit the principle that we raay be
lieve without any exercise of the understanding —
believe things which the rational faculty rejects as ab
surd and self-contradictory, and we tear away the rara
parts of a true Church — we destroy in ourselves the
only safe-guard of true religion ; for we deny to the
human mind the power of discriminating between the
false and the true, and thus leave it exposed to the in
flux of all the wild speculations, delusive fancies, and
false doctrines which have ever desolated the Church.
If men are not to exercise their rational faculty upon
doctrines Avhich they are required to believe, we ask
hoAV they are to know whether the doctrines which they
receive be true or false— -from heaven or from hell 7
" Shut people's eyes," says Swedenborg, " sfop their
ears, and cause thera not to think from any understand
ing ; then might you not induce thera to believe that
God has given all his power to a man, (the Pope,)
that he raight be as God upon earth ? Might you not
induce them to believe, that dead raen ought to be in-

262 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
voked ? that people ought to uncover their heads, and
fall down upon their knees before their images ? and
that their carcasses, bones, and sepulchres, are sacred
and ought to be venerated ? But if you open your eyes
and unstop your ears, i. e., ifyou think of these things
from any understanding, will you not view them as
enormities Avhich human reason raust abominate ?
" When these things, and the like, are received by a
man Avhose understanding is shut up from a principle
of religion, may not the temple in which he performs
divine worship be then compared to a den or cavern
under ground, where he does not know what the ob
jects are which he sees ? And may not his religion be
compare-i to living in a house in which there are no
windows ? And his voice when he worships, to inar
ticulate sound ? .With such a man an angel of heaven
cannot discourse, because the one does not understand
the language of the other." — {Doctrine of the New
Jerusalem, concerning Faith, n. 47, 48.)
Thus the doctrines of the New Church, Avhile they
teach that man's rational faculty Avas not given him
that he raight of himself originate truth, or be proud
of his own intelligence and think hiraself as God, they
at the same time teach that this faculty was not given
to be despised, tranapled upon, or disregarded ; but, in
meekness and lowliness of mind and in hurable ac-
knowledgeraent of Hira who gave it, to be exercised in
discriminating between the false and the true — ^between
doctrines which men haA'-e invented, and those which
are revealed frora heaven by the true and living God.
And whoever neglects the use of his rational faculty
so far as to profess to believe for truth a doctrine which
he does not at all comprehend, and thus, by subjecting
his understanding to his belief, accepts a blind faith,
fails to employ this faculty to the end for which it was
given ; and in so doing he sins against God, and takes
one grand step toAvards the ruin of his OAvn soul.*
* It is sometimes said that because we eannot understand how there
can be three persons in one God, is no reason why we should not believe
it ; — that we cannot understand how the grass grows, or the blood circu
lates, and yet we beheve the fact. But this mode of reasoning is extreme-
A ¦*' *.

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 263
The Sacred Scriptures often insist upon belief or
faith, as a thing essential to our salvation ; but they no
where require us to believe blindly, but understand-
ingly. They require us to walk not in darkness, but
in the light. It is written in Psalms, " Give rae un
derstanding, and I shall keep thy law," (cxix. 34.)
" Through they precepts I get understanding," {v. 104.)
" Thy Word is a larap unto my feet and a light unto
ray path," {v. 105.) " The entrance of thy words
giveth light, it giveth understanding unto the simple."
{v. 130.) " The testiraony ofthe Lord is sure, making
wise the simple. The coramandraent of the Lord'" is
pure, enlightening the eyes." (xix. 7, 8.) • Noav if the
coramonly received doctrine of three persons in one
God, giveth no understanding to the simple, nor maketh
them wise — if it be not a light unto any one's path, and
doth not enlighten the eyes, it is clearly not a doctrine
of divine Revelation, but one of human contrivance ;
for it has none of the characteristics of truth, or of doc
trine taught in the Holy Word.
But this tri-personal doctrine, so far frora enlightening
any one's eyes, or giving him understanding, is ac
knowledged to be a doctrine Avhich cannot enter the
huraan understanding, and with which the rationality
of raan hath nothing to do. Thus it is virtually ac
knowledged, that the great central doctrine of religion
fis held and taught in the prevailing Christian Church,
and whose reception ought to illustrate the human mind
in an eminent degree, is not an enlightening but a
darkening doctrine. How then can those, who have
ly fallacious. For those who argue in this way assume that the proposi
tions " There are three persons in one God," and " The grass grows," are
similar ; when in reality they are very unlike All that is affirmed in the
latter proposition is perfectly intelligible ; and that is a simple fact. The man.-
ner liom the grass grows is not affirmed, and is quite another and ditferent
proposilion. Suppose we should say, "there is a circle of such a peculiar
construction that it is at the same time a circle and a squ/ire.'' Who cannot
perceive thatsuch a propositionis of a very.different kind from this — "the
blood circulates ?" The latter is an intelligible proposition, although we do
not understand how it circulates. But the same cannot be said of the form
er, 'i'he thing which is afirmed can by no means enler ihe mind. There
fore il is extremely unfair to say that we can believe there are three per
sons in one God, though we may not understand how it is, as well as we
can believe that the grass grows when we do not understand how it grows.
It is unfair, because those who argue thus, assume that tlie two proposi
tions are similar when they are not, , ^

264 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
confirmed themselves in this doctrine, be much en
lightened upon the other subordinate doctrines of reli
gion, which are taught in the Word of God ? Let the
natural sun be blotted from the heavens, and what
could people see ?
It is on account of the many difficulties with which
this doctrine ofthe tri-personality of God is einbarrassed,
and the irapossibility of really believing it without be
lieving in three Gods, that no inconsiderable portion of
the Old Church have corae to an qpen denial of the
Divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ. This doutless has
seemed to them the only way of escape from the doc
trine of tri-theism. Hence it is believed and taught by
those of the Old Church who call themselves Unita
rians, that the Lord Jesus Christ is now and always
was as dependent for all his wisdom, love, and life, upon
another divine Being called the Father, as any one of
us. And because it is this derived and dependent ex
istence of huraan beings, which constitutes the essen
tial difference between the Creator and the created— be
tween God and raan — therefore it follows that Unita
rians believe Jesus Christ to be a mere m,an, however
some of their number may shrink from the application
of this epithet. He may be more a raan than any other,
as Unitarians believe and teach. ; but this does not raake
him more than raan. One individual raay be much
Aviser than another, or may receive the divine princi
ples of love and truth in far greater fulness ; but he is
not on this account to be regarded as anything more
than man. And the circumstance of our Lord's having
only a dependent and derived existence, instead of be
ing self subsistent, is what, if true, Avould make Him
merely human and not divine — nothing more than man.
There can be but littie doubt that multitudes in ,the
Old Church,, who have not yet openly avowed this doc
trine of the Unitarians, do nevertheless believe it in their
hearts. If any one will take particular notice of the
prayers which he hears offered in Trinitarian pulpits,
he raay observe frequent indications of this belief, viz :
that the Father or first person in the Trinity is the su
preme God, and that Jesus Christ is one of a somewhat
subordinate rank ; and any subordination of rank, even

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 265
mentally assigned to Him, is, as we have before said, a
virtual denial of his Divinity. For absolute Divinity ad
mits of no subordination or inferiority.
But if Unitarians and all who are inclined to their
doctrines would reflect upon this fact, viz, that every
great falsity, which has been as universally prevalent
as the doctrine of three persons in the Godhead, is gen
erally a falsiflcation of the genuine truth — the truth per-
A'^erted by some distortion, and not by something super
added— if, we say, they Avould reflect upon this, they
would see reason not for rejecting entirely the doctrine
of the Trinity, but rather for believing that this doc
trine as now taught is a distortion of the real truth ;
and thus they would endeiivor to flnd the genuine doc
trine concerning the Trinity, which by falsification has
become corrupted into a trinity of persons,*
Having thus briefly considered the doctrine of the
Trinity as held and taught in the Old Church, we pro
ceed next to unfold and illustrate the doctrine on this
* The way in which the truth upon this subject became distorted, ap
pears manifest from Ecclesiastical History, It vvas not until the early part
of liie fourth century, that the Divine Trinity became a subject of contro
versy in the church. To the decision of the celebrated council of Nice in
Bithynia, convoked in the year 325. may be traced the origin of the tri-
personality of God, which, with various modifications and modes of expla
nation, has existed ever since in the Old Church, as i-is fundamental and
leading doctrine. In this Nicene council, the doctrine of Arius, on whose
acconnt it was convoked, was formally condemned: — a doctrine which
taught that the Son of God was a created being, totally and essentially dis
tinct from and inferior to the Father, both in nature, person 'and dignity.
This is the commonly received doctrine on this subject among Unitaii-
ons at the present day. The council, m opposilion to this doclrine, de
clared that lhe Father, Son, and HolySpirit were three hypostases — that
they were ofioovcioi, [homoiitsioi,] i. e of the same nature, dignity and es
sence, e jual and cnnsubstiiiitial. And from the vi^ords in uhich the decis
ion of that council is expressed, there is no reason for supposing that they
entertained any thing like the conimon idea "f three ;)crs07is in the Trinity
— a doctrine that was .subsequently evolved or exlofted from them. For
the Greek word iirfarao-if [hypostasis,] properly signifies the basis, suit-
stance or groimd of being, — llial which is essential lo the existence of any
thing, rhe language of the Nicene council lliercfnre, properly translated,
would convey this idea, that in lhe Divine nature or Heing ihere are three
essentials, expressed hy the terms Father, Son, and Holy ISi irit, without
which the Divine Beinj: could not have existence. And ihisis the real truth.
Subs-equently the word hopoitani was translated into lhe Laiin persona,
which at that time signified a mask, an appearance, or an assumed cliaracter;
whence the nrijiin of dramatis persoiim, now in use in dramatic writings^
But when at a later period lhe vji^ri\ persona came lobe applied to tlie real
individual — man or woman — and hence was afterwards translated into the
English word person, we see that the siguifiiation ofthe original' word hypos-
24

¦266 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
subject, as we find it revealed in the writings of Swe
denborg. The reader Avill then be able to judge for
himself, which of the doctrines accords best with reason
and Scripture, and which is raanifestly contrary to both.
We know that Father, Son, and" Holy Spirit, are
mentioned in the New Testaraent in such a connection
with each other, as evidently to indicate a raost intiraate
relation of these three. The apostles, as we learn from
Matthew's gospel, were sent forth to teach and to bap
tize in the name of the, Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit, (xxviu. 19.) The mention of these
three in this connection, would seem to imply a relation
between them much raore intimate than is consistent
Tvith the Unitarian idea that there is an infinite distance
between the Father and the Son ; or that one is Divine
and the other human — one the Creator, and the other
the creature — one Life itself, the other only a recipient
of life. Besides, even Unitarians admit that the Holy
Spirit here mentioned, means the Spirit of Jehovah — the
divine influence, or operative energy which proceeds
from God the Father. From this also it would appear
that the union between the Father and the Son must
be of a far higher or more intiraate kind, than accords
with the Unitarian notion. But it is no where said in
the Scriptures that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are
three persons, according to the coraraon Trinitarian
idea. Op, the contrary there is the fullest evidence for
believing fhat the Holy Spirit, at least, is not a person
by itself, but a power or influence proceeding from the
Lord. Now we learn from one of Swedenborg's Memorable
Relations, that, on a certain occasion, a council was con
vened in the spiritual world to deliberate upon the Lord
and the Holy Spirit. And after mature deliberation, we ¦
are told that they finally made this decree : " In this
feists was entirely lost. Thus through a gradual change in the conventional
use and meaning of a term — a change incident to the mutability of hnman
languiige, and facilitated in no small degree by successive translations — we
may discover how the statement of n doctrine, which, according to the mean
ing of llie terms in which it was originally eipressed, may have been true,
came at length to involve and teach a falsity

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 267
Council we have seen clearly, and therefore acknow
ledge it to be a holy truth, that in our Lord Jesus Christ
there is a Divine Trinity, consisting of the all-begetting
Divinity Avhich is called the Father, the Divine Hu
manity which is called the Son, and the Proceeding
Divine Avhich is called the Holy* Spirit : thus there is
one God in the Church," {Apocalypse Revealed n.
962.) And as evidence that this decision of the Coun
cil is according to the truth as it is received and ac
knowledged in heaven upon this subject, we are inform
ed that an angel then brought and presented to each
of the raembers " shining garments, interwoven here
and there with threads' of gold, and said. Receive ye
these Wedding Garments." The reason AV'hy wed
ding garments were presented to them, appears from the
Science of Correspondences. Garments, in the Word,
correspond to and thence signify truths ; because truths
are the garments of our loves ; our affections clothe
themselves with thoughts. Hence vjedding garments
correspond to truths of the highest kind, such as those
which relate to the Lord, or the Holy Trinity in the
Divine Savior. Those who are in the understanding
of these traths, and are at the same time in the love of
goodness, are said to be clothed in Avedding garments.
But they who are not in truth concerning the Lord, nor
in the good- of life, are meant in MatthcAV (xxii. ii,) by
the man who had not on a wedding garment. Where
fore coraraand was given that he should be cast into
outer darkness ; which signifies that all such are in
falses derived from evil, thus in spiritual darkness —
out of heaven.
In another Memorable Relation iraraediately preceed
ing the one above mentioned, the angels say, that " in
Him (the Lord Jesus Christ) is the Divine Esse it
self, from which all things are, to which the soul. in
man corresponds ; the Divine Humanity, to which
the body in man corresponds : and the proceeding
Divine to which activity in man corresponds. There
fore in every angel and in every man, inasmuch as they
are images (of the Lord,) there is a soul, body and ac
tivity which makes a one." In another part of the same

268 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
Relation, the angels say, that " the Lord appears such
as He is in Himself, as a sun above the angelic heaven,
from which that which proceedeth as light, is Himself as
to wisdom, and that which proceedeth as heat is Him
self as to love. He Himself is not the sun, but the
Divine Love and the Divine Wisdora proceeding proxi
mately from Him, and which are about Him, appear in
the sight of angels as a sun." {Apocalypse Revealed
n. 961.)
Here then, according to Swedenborg, we have the
Heavenly Doctrine concerning the Divine Trinity : for
we have it frora the lips of the angels theuLselves. We
shall see on further exaraination, whether it be Avorthy
ofa celestial origin.
This heavenly doctrine concerning the Trinity, is
also the doctrine of the New Jerusalera Church upon
this subject ; for in the True Christian Religion by
Emanuel Swedenborg, (n. 2,) and throughout all his
writings, it is declared to be " a universal of faith, that
God is one in essence and in person, in whom is a Di
vine Trinity, and that the Lord God the Savior is He."
Let us examine this doctrine in the light of reason and
Scripture. In the first place we observe that this doctrine of the
Trinity is not raysterious or incoraprehensible, but per
fectly intelligible ; for it presents us not witl; a trinity
of persons in unity, of Avhich the Lord Jesus Christ is
the second person, but with a trinity of essential divine
principles united in the one person of the Lord Jesus
Christ ; so that He is not raerely the second person in the
Trinity agreeable to the Old Church doctrine upon this
subject, but unites in his own divine person all of the
Holy Trinity. " For in Hira," saith the apostle, " dwel
leth substantially all the fulness of the Divinity." (Col.
ii. 9). Hence He is the only God of heaven and earth.
For He himself saith. " All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth." All power is omnipotence.
The essential principles which constitute the Divine
Trinity, are the inmost divine essence, frora which are
all things, and which is therefore called the Father ;
the form of this essence, or the Divine Huraan which

-VIII.J CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 269
is called the Son : and the sphere of divine life, opera
tion, or activity, which continually proceeds from the
Lord, and Avhich is called the Holy Proceeding, and in
the Word, the Holy Spirit. This Trinity is such as
corresponds to the- soul, body, and operative energy
with man. Or, to state it in a still more intelligible
forra, it is the Divine Love, the Divine Wisdom or
Truth, which also is the Word, and the Divine sphere
of active use, which is love and Avisdom in their pro
ceeding operation. This corresponds also to the Avill
and understanding Avith man, and the sphere of life
thence proceeding. And this is an intelligible Trinity.
We will endeavor to explain and illustrate it farther,
and then see hoAv it agrees with the teaching of the
Sacred Scriptures.
We have said in a forraer lecture that the sun cor
responds to the Lord, and is the grand representative
iraage of Hira in nature. If this be so, then the sun
ought to represent, by correspondence, the Divine Trini
ty in the Lord,. and should furnish us with a perfecf
illustration of our doctrine. And such is really the case.
The heat of the sun represents, by correspondence, the
divine principle of love or goodness in the Lord ; the
light represents the divine principle of wisdora or
truth ; and the proceeding sphere of the solar influ
ence, or the rays of heat and light which constantly
emanate from the sun and extend their active energy
throughout the solar system, represents the Divine Pro
ceeding of the Lord, or the Holy Spirit. Moreover Ave
observe that the union of these three — heat, light, an'd
their proceeding influence — is necessary to the very
existence of the sun ; and each forras an essential ele
ment in ,the idea which that term conveys : and were
either of them to be abstracted or taken away from the
other two, that luminous body as a sun would be de
stroyed. The same is true in respect to the Lord. ^
Neither element of the Divine Trinity can, even in
thought, be abstracted from the other tAvo, Avithout de
stroying, in the mind of him who does it, the true idea
of a God ; for the Divine Love, the Divine Wisdora,
and the Divine proceeding sphere of operation, are each
24*

270 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
alike necessary to the very existence of the Divine
Being.* Here then is the true hypostatic union spoken of by
the early Christian Fathers- a union of three essential
elements, without Avhich God could haA'e no substan
tial existence. And this is the reason why we have
called the Trinity, as taught in tiie writings of the New
Church, a union of three essential divine principles.
But although heat, light, and their proceeding opera
tion, are each alike essential to the true idea of the natu
ral sun, and are so uni);ed as to form a distinct one in the
great orb of day, nevertheless Ave do not always speak of
that body in reference to all these essential eleraents.
We speak of it sometimes in respect to the heat alone,
as when we say the sun scorches, burns, or warms us ;
sometimes in respect to its light alone, as Avhen we say
the sun enlightens or enables us to see objects ; and
sometimes in respect to both the heat and light, as Avhen
it is said that the sun clothes the earth Avith verdure,
causes the plants to vegetate, the fruits to ripen, &c.
Now the same thing is true in n^spect to the Lord, Avho
is the sun of the spiritual world. He is sometiraes
spoken of in the Word in reference to his Divine Love,
sometimes in reference to his Divine Wisdom, some
times in reference to both ; and sometiraes also in refer
ence to his omnipotence, omnipresence, redeeming and
saving power, and other divine attributes. And this is
the reason Avhy different names are applied to the Di
vine Being in the Word ; for every narae which is there
used has an internal sense, and denotes some specific
spiritual quality. Consequently different names are
applied to the Lord according as He is spoken of in re-
* It is also taught in the doctrines of the New Church that the Lordis
the Sun of the spiritual world. '¦ Although in heaven," says Swedenborg,
"the son of the world 'loes not appear, nor anything which is trom that
«un, slill Ihere is a sun ihere, there is liaht and there is heal, and there are
all things Ihat are in lhe wnrld^and innumerable more, but not from a like
origin; forthe things which are in heaven are spiritual, hut ihote which
are in the world are natural. The sun nf heaven is the Lord ; the light
there is divine truth, nnd lhe heat there is divirie good, vi'hich proceed from
tho Lord as a sun , from ihat origin ore all things thai appear in the heav
ens. That the I.ord appears in heaven as u sun, is. bei ause He is Divine
. Love, from which all spiritual t'lings exist, and hy means uf the son of tho
world.all natural things ; it is that Love whicUshinesas asun. (H.^H. 117,;

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 271
ference to his different attributes and operations, and the
different elements of the Divine Trinity. Yet in his
own Divine Person, he is always and unchangeably the
same. These remarks will enable us to understand, not only
why so raany different names are applied to God in the
Old Testament, but also why He is called in the NeAV
Testament, Messiah, Savior, Redeemer, Son of Man,
Jesus Christ, &c. These and other names which are
there applied to Him, are significant of the different re
lations to the Church, and the different modes of opera
tion of the same Divine Person in the Avork of redeem
ing and saving mankind ; the precise meaning of which
names cannot be understood without sorae knoAvledge
of the internal sense of the Word.
Perhaps we may make this subject plainer by raeans
of a familiar illustration. Suppose the sarae individual
to hold several different offices at the same time ; to be,
for exaraple, president, judge, and priest. Now such an
indiAidual Avhen spoken of in his presidential capacity
would be called President ; when spoken of in his ju
dicial capacity, he Avould be called Judge ; and Avhen
spoken of in his priestly function, he would be called
Priest; yet Ave should not on this account call him
three persons, for all the while he would be but one
and the same man.
" That Christians have acknowledged three divine
persons," says Swedenborg, " and thus as it were three
Gods, was because there is a trine, [or three constitu
ents,] in the Lord, and one is called the Father, another
the Son, and the third the Holy Spirit ; and this trine
is distinctly named in the Word, as the soul and body
and what proceeds from them, are also distinctly na
med, which nevertheless are one. The Word, in the
sense of the letter, also, is such that it distinguishes
things which are one, as if they were not one ; thence
it is, that Jehovah, Avho is the Lord from etemity, it
sometimes calls Jehovah, sometiraes Jehovah of hosts,
sometimes God sometimes Lord, and at the same time.
Creator, Savior, Redeemer, and Former, yea, Shnddai ;
and his Human which he assuraed in the world, Jesus,

272' DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT,
Christ, Messiah, Son of God Son of Man, and in the
Word of the Old Testaraent, God, the Holy One of
Israel, the Anointed of Jehovah, King, Prince, Counsel
lor, Angel, David. Now, because the Word is such ,
in the sense of the letter, that it names several, which
nevertheless are one, therefore Christians who in the
beginning were simple, and understood everything ac
cording to the sense of the letter, distinguished the Di
vinity into three persons, which also on account of their,
simplicty was perraitted ; but yet so, that they also
believed concerning the Son, that He was Infinite,
Uncreated, Almighty, God, and Lord, altogether equal
to the Father ; and raoreover, that they believed that they
are not two or three, but one in essence, raajesty, and
glory, thus in divinity. Those who siraply believe
thus, according to the doctrine, and do not confirm
themselves in three Gods, but of the three make one,
after death are inforraed by the Lord through the angels,
that He is that One and that Trine ; which also is re
ceived by all who come into heaven ; for no one can be
admitted into heaven, who thinks of three Gods, how
soever with his raouth he says one. For the life of the
whole heaven, and the wisdom of all the angels, is
founded upon the acknowledgement and thence confes
sion of pne God, upon the faith, that that one God is
also a Man, and that He is the Lord, who is at fhe
same time God and man. Hence it is raanifest, that it
was of divine perraission, that Christians in the begin ¦
ning should receive the doctrine concerning three di
vine persons, provided that they also received at the
same time, that the Lord is God, Infinite, Alraighty and
Jehovah ; for unless they had also received that, it
would have been all over with the church, since the
church is a church frora the Lord ; and the eternal life
of all is frora the Lord ; and not frora any other." {Doc
trine of the-Lord n, 55,)
There is one more remark which we will make, by
way of further illustration, concerning the representa
tive image of the Lord, the natural sun,^ — We know it
is quite common for people to say, that, wherever the
sun shines or his influence is felt, there the sun is.
And this is strictly and phflosophically correct ; for the

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 273
proceeding rays of light and heat are the sun, andean by
no means be cut off or separated from the source whence
they emanate. So likewise, it is in reference to the
Lord's Holy Proceeding, to which the proceeding rays
of the sun correspond, that He is said to be in angels
and in raen, and also to be everywhere. For since
everything in the universe exists and subsists by means
of an influx from the Lord, therefore there can he no-
thins; Avhere the Lord's Proceeding; Divine is not.
Again : Ave find in every man a perfect illustration of
the Sacred Trinity as it is revealed for the New Jeru
salem Church. And such should be the case, if, as the
Scriptures plainly declare, raan was created in the image
and likeness of God. This trinity in man is the soul,
the body, and the sphere of activity which proceeds
from their union. Or, if we consider man merely as a
spiritual being, there is the Avill, which corresponds to
and is the receptacle of the Divine Love ; the under
standing, which corresponds to and is the receptacle of
the Divine Wisdom; and the sphere of actiA'ity or life
which proceeds from their union, and which corresponds
to the sphere of DiAnne activity, or the Holy Proceeding
of the Lord. And when the Avill ofman is formed into
an aq:reement with the Divine Love, and his under
standing into an agreement Avith the Divine Wisdom,
then the sphere of his life will be in agreeraent with the
Divine Proceeding ; for it wfll be a holy sphere of love
and truth, and the man is then a trae image and like
ness of God. He is then principled in good, in truth,
and in a life according to these ; thus in charity, faith,
and good works ; for. all the elements of the Divine
Trinity floAV into his mind in an orderly raanner, and
are received by him as one — as they really exist in the
Lord. Thus he is in the Lord, and the Lord is in him.
There is also this trinity of which we have spoken,
even in an unregenerate man. But since such an one
has the will of what is evfl, and the understanding of
what is false, and a sphere of life thence proceeding of
a corresponding quality, therefore there is in him not a
true but a perverted image of the Divine Trinity,
¦ But if the Lord in his Holy Proceeding is everywhere

274 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
creating and filling all things with the elements of his
own life, then not man alone, but each and every created
Object in the universe should contain soraething of the
three essential elements in the Lord, and should there
fore be, in a certain sense, an image of the Divine
Trinity, And such is really the case. Because the
three essential elements in the Lord are indissolubly
united, like will, understanding, and their operative
energy with man, and because everything subsists by
an hiflux of principles from the Divine, therefore there
is and raust be in everything a certain image of the
Divine Trinity, Take, for example, the seed of an
orange. There is in the seed an intention or affection
of producing fruit as an end, united with the Avisdom
or the understanding of the means necessary to that
end. Or, to speak raore correctly, the seed is a natural
forra so organized as to receive frora the Lord the love
of producing fruit, and also the wisdora to -enable it to
form a tree with its peculiar organic structure, roots,
bark, leaves, &c. as an appropriate raeans to this con
templated end. And by virtue of this organized form
of the seed, there is a living endeavor of the love and
wisdom which it receives, to produce, first a tree, and by
raeans of the tree, frait ; and when placed in circura
stances favorable to the ultimation of this endeavor, it
proceeds immediately to do so. This living endeavor
in a seed to produce fruit, is no other than the Divine Ac
tivity or Holy Proceeding. And thus the seed, we per
ceive is a receptacle of love, wisdora, and activity from
the Lord. Hence it is a certain image of the Divine
Trinity. Sirailar remarks might be made with respect to each
and all things in the universe ; — to things great and
sraall — things singular and things universal. For in
all created things, from the great sun that warms and
enlightens us, down to the sraallest atora that quivers
in his bearas, there is a conjunction of love, wisdom
and use, which proceeds from the union of Divine Love,
Divine Wisdora, and Divine„ Operation in the Lord.
Hence in each created object there is a certain iraage
of the Divine Trinity, because frora the Divine of the
Lord all things subsist.

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVJNE TRINITY. 275
Having thus briefly'explained and illustrated the doc
trine ofthe Trinity as it is taught in the revelations made
for the New Church, we next proceed to test the trath
of this doctrine by the only infallible witness — the Word
of God. Let us see how it accords with the teaching
of the Scriptures^
And we remark in the first place that all raen in
christendora profess to believe that there is only one
God. " The first of all the commandments is, H^ar,
O Israel ; the Lord our God is one Lord." (Mark xii.
29.) " I am Jehovah, and [there is] none else ; [there
is] no God besides me." (Ig. xiv. 5.) Indeed no doc
trine is or can be raore clearly taught, than is the doc
trine of the strict personal unity of God, in the Sacred
Scriptures. If therefore the New Church doctrine con
cerning the Divine Trinity, which has been presented
be the true one, and if the Lord Jesus Christ be really
a divine person, as the Avritings of the New Church do
also teach, (and as indeed a very large portion ofthe Old
Church profess to believe) then He is not the second but
the only person in the Godhead, in whora is all ofthe
Holy Trinity. He alone is God, and the only proper
object of religious worship, " in whora " as the apostle
saith, " dwelleth substantially all the fullness of Divi
nity." For we have seen that each of the elements of
the Trinity as taught in the New Church, is essen
tial to the very existence of the Divine Being. They
neither have, nor can they have any existence separate
from each other. Therefore if the Lord Jesus Christ
be really a divine person, He is the only divine person,
uniting in Himself all the elements of the Holy 'Trinity.
Let us see then how far the Sacred Scriptures support
and confirra this doctrine of the New Church, that
Jesus Christ is really a divine person.
It has sometimes been argued against the personal
identity of Jesus and Jehovah, and in favor of a separate
and distinct personality ofthe Father and the Son, that
where they are raentioned together in the Word they
are usually connected by the particle and, as the Fa
ther and the Son, God and Jesus Christ, God and the
Lamb, &c. This, it is said, would not have been the

276 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
case, had both terms beep used to designate one and the
same person. It is raaintained that such is the nature
of this connecting particle, that it would not be used
between proper names linless those names referred to
distinct and separate persons. 'This argument has
soraetiraes been resorted to by Unitarians to prove the
separate personality of Jesus Christ and the Father, and
hence the mere creaturely humanity of the Savior.
But to show that this criticism upon the .nature and use
ofthe particle and is not just, and therefore, that the
argument based upon it is without foundation, it is only
necessary to quote this single passage frora the prophe
cy of Isaiah : " Thus saith JehovAh the King of Israel,
and his Redeemer Jehovah of Hosts ; I am the flrst,
and I ara the last ; and besides rae [there is] no God."
(xliv. 6.) Who does not perceive that "Jehovah the
King of Israel" raust evidently raean the sarae Divine
Person as " his Redeemer Jehovah of Hosts ?" And yet
not only does the particle and occur between thera, but
the possessive pronoun his also ; which would seera to
afford additional proof that two persons are here spoken
of, if the contrary were not so apparent as to admit of
no dispute.
But to our Scripture arguraent for the supreme Di
vinity of Jesus Christ.
It is writen in Isaiah, where the Lord's advent is
treated of, " The Lord hiraself shall give you a sign :
Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and
shall call his name Immanuel," (i. e., God Avith us.)
(vii. 14.) And in the first chapter of Matthew, after
the account given of the birth of Jesus Christ, it is
written " Now all this was done that it raight be ful
filled Avhich was spoken of the Lord by the prophet,
saying. Behold a virgin shall be with child, and shall
bring forth a son, and they shall call his narae Iraraan-
uel ; which, being interpreted, is, God with us." (v. 23.)
From this it appears that Jesus Christ is the Lord of
whom vthe prophet spake, and that He is God with us.
Again : speaking of the Lord's advent it is said
" Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given ; and
the government shall be upon his shoulder ; and his

Tin.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 277
name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God, Hero,
THE .Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the
increase of his government and peace [there shall be] no
end ; upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom,
to establish it in judgment and justice, from henceforth
even forever." (Is. ix. 6, 7.) Now if we really believe
in the inspiration of the Sacred Scriptures — believe that
they are, without qualification, what they profess to be —
the Word op God — we must believe that all the
proper names in Scripture are appropriate to the persons
to whom they were given. For we cannot suppose
that Divine Wisdom would give an arbitrary name to
any one, or one Avhich did not perfectly express his
quality. This would evidently be contrary to divine
order. Ahd if the names in Scripture are all appropri
ate — if they denote the quality of the persons to whom
they were given, then He; whose advent was foretold
in the prophecy above cited, and who was to be called
God, Eternal Father, &c., must possess the qual
ity or attributes of the Divine Being ; i. e., He raust be
God — ^the Eternal Father.*
Again : It is written in the sarae prophet concerning
the Lord's advent, " It shall be said in that day, Lo
THIS IS OUR God, we have waited for Him that He
may save us. This is Jehovah, we have waited for
Him, let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation."
(xv. 9.)
* ft will perhaps be said by some that the fact of Jesus Christ being
called Gob, Eternal Fatheh, Immanuel, &c., is not evidence of his
supreme Divinity ; because other persons are mentioned in the Scriptures
whose names signify nearly the same thing. [Thus the name Joshua
means, in the Hebrew htnguage, the Lqrdthe Savior; Shephatiah means
the Lord that judges ; ithiel means God m(A me; Lemuel means God mth
them ; Elislia means God that saves ; and Elijah, God the Lord, or the
strong Lord. But as the Israelitish church to whieh these persons belonged
was not a true but only the representative of a true Church, so these per
sons themselves were only the representatives of what their names signify.
Thus Josliua, according to Swedenborg, represented the Lord as to truth
combating against evils and falses, and saving men from hell. Hence the
reason why this name denotes the Lord the Savior. Elijah and Elisha repre
sented tlie Lord as to the Word which is from Him, and is strong to save,
Bnt who can believe that Jesus Christ was raerely a representative person
age like the other individual here mentioned ? It is plain that He was the
reoZ person whom these others represented — was redly Immandel as He
was called, 25

278 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [LECT.
Again: "Behold the days come, saith Jehovah,
that I will raise unto David a righteous branch, who
shall reign a King and prosper, and shall execute judg
raent and justice in the earth ; and this is the narae by
which He shall be called, Jehovah our righteous
ness." (Jer. xxiii. 6.)
Again, in Daniel : " I saw in the night visions, and
behold, one like the Son of Man carae with the clouds
of heaven ; and there was given Hira. dorainion and
glory, and a kingdora, that all people, nations, and lan
guages should worship* Him : his dominion is an ever
lasting dorainion, which shall not pass away, and his
kingdom which shall not be destroyed," (vii, 13, 14.)
These are a few of the passages relating to the sub
ject under consideration, which occur in the prophetical
parts of the Old Testament, and which prove the su
prerae divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Again : the angel that announced to Joseph in a
dream, the birth of the Lord into this world, said, " and
thou shalt call his narae Jesus ; for He shall save his
people frora their sins." (Matt. i. 21.) Jesus signifies
Savior. And hence it is said also in Luke, " For unto
you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior,
which is Christ the Lord." (ii. 11.) Again, it is written
in John : " For Ave have heard ourselves, and knoAv that
this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world."
(iv. 42.) And in raany other parts of the New Testa
raent, the Lord is called Savior. See Philip iii. 20 ;
2 Tim. i. 10 ; Titus i. 3, 4-n. 13— iii. 6 ; 2 Pet. i. 1,
2, and other places. He is also spoken of as our Re
deemer, and as redeeming us through his blood ; as in
Luke xxiv. 21 ; Rev. v. 9 ; Gal. iii. 13, and other
places. Now it is plain from many passages in the Old Tes
tament, that the naraes Jehovah, God, Creator, &c.,
denote the sarae divine person as Redeeraer and Savior :
as from that in Isaiah which was quoted above : " Thus
saith Jehovah the King of Israel, and his Redeeraer
* That this is the correct translation ofthe original word n'^n^s'i (yiphle.
Aoon ) see Gesenius' Hebrew Lexicon.

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 279
Jehovah of Hosts ; I am the First and I am the Last,
and beside me there is no God." And again : " I ara
Jehovah thy God the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior."
(Is. xliii. 3.) " A just God and a Savior, [there is] none
beside me." (xiv, 21,) "I, even I am Jehovah, and
besides me there is no Savior," (xliii. 11.) "As for
our Redeemer, Jehovah of Hosts is his narae, the Holy
One of Israel." (xlvii, 4,) " I ara Jehovah thy God
from the land of Egypt, and thou shalt know no God
but me, for there is no Savior beside me," (Hosea xiii, 4,)
" Thou, O Jehovah, art our Father, our Iledeemer, thy
name is from everlasting," (Is, Ixiii, 16.) " Their Re
deemer is strong, Jehovah of Hosts is his name," (Jer.
1.34.) Many other passages might be adduced wherein it is
affirmed with equal clearness that Jehovah God is the
only Savior and Redeemer. And because these names
are applied to the Lord Jesus Christ in the Scriptures,
aS appears from the texts above cited, therefore it fol
lows as a logical and necessary conclusion that He is
the same Divine Person as Jehovah God, and conse
quently is the only proper object of religious worship.
Again : we find the Lord Jesus Christ frequently
spoken of in the Word as the Bridegroom and Hus
band of the Church. Thus in Matthew: "And Jesus
said unto thera can the children of the bride-charaber
raourn as long as the Bridegroom is Avith them ?" (ix.
15.) And in John, " He that hath a bride is the Bride
groom," (iii, 29.) And the Apostle in his second letter
to the Corinthian church, says : " For I have espoused
you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ." (xi. 2.) Again in the Revelation : "Let
us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Hira ; for the
raarriage of the Larab has corae, and his wife hath raade
herself ready." (xix. 7.) — (See also Matt. xxv. 1-7 ;
Rev. xxi. 2-9.) — And in Isaiah, Jehovah saith to his
his Church through the raouth of his prophet, " Thy
Maker is thine Husband ; Jehovah of Hosts is his
name." (liv. 5.) So in Jeremiah, it is written concern
ing " the house of Israel," by which is denoted the
Church, " They brake my covenant, although I was

280 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [LECT.
an Husband unto them, saith Jehovah." (xxxi. 32.)
Whence it foUoAvs, that Jesus and Jehovah are the
same identical Person ; otherwise the Church raust
have two Husbands.
Again : it is written in Isaiah, (xl. 3) " The voice of
hira that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way
of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for
our God." And in Matthew (iii. 2) it is said of John the
baptist, " For this is he that was spoken of by the pro
phet Esaias, saying. The voice of one crying in the
wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, raake his
paths straight." Indeed all the Evangelists apply this
prophecy in Isaiah, to John, who was the forerunner of
Jesus. (See Mark i. 3 ; Luke iii. 4 ; John i. 23.) One
of these two conclusions therefore is inevitable, either
that the Evangelists were mistaken and have raipp-
plied this prophecy, or that Jesus is the sarae divine
person as Jehovah.
Moreover the identity of Jesus Christ, ds to person,
with the only true and living God — even the Father —
is evident from many passages in the Evangelists : as,
" He that seeth me, seeth Him that sent me." (John xii.
45.) " Jesus saith, I am the Way and the Truth and
the Life." (xiv. 6.) " If ye had known me, ye should
have knoAvn my Father also ; and frora henceforth ye
'know'Hi.m, and have seen Him,." {v. 7.) '' Philip saith
unto Hira, Lord, show us the Father and it sufficeth
us. Jesus saith unto hira, Have I been so long time
with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip ?
He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father." (xiv. 8,
9.) " Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am
the Light of the world." (viii. 12). If ye had knoAvn
ME, ye should have known ray Father also." {v. 19.)
" Before Abrahara was, I am." {v. 58.) " If ye believe
not that I AM, ye shall die in your sins." {v. 24.) And
we read in Exodus (iii. 14) that God said unto Moses,
" Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I am
hath sent rae unto you." Again: "As the Father
raiseth up the dead and quickeneth, even so the Son
quickeneth whom He will." {v. 21.) "For, as the
Father hath life in Himself, so hath he given to "the

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 281
Son to have life in hiraself" {v. 26.) Now self-ex
istence is a peculiar attribute of the Deity, and is incora-
raunicable. (See Is. xlii. 8.) For if underived exist
ence, or Life in Itself, could ,be communicated to
another person, (as Avould appear from this text to be
the case, if, according to the doctrine of Unitarians, the
Son were a separate and distinct person frora the Father,)
thbn it Avould follow that God could create a self-exist
ent person ; which involves an absurdity and a contra
diction. In the Avritings of the apostles also, we find ample
testimony to the same truth, viz., that the Lord Jesus
Christ is the only God and Savior, Paul says, that "in
Hira dwelleth substantially all .he fulness of the Divin
ity [or Godhead]," (Col. ii. 9) : that, " He is over all,
God blessed forever," (Rora. ix, 5) : that " By Him were
all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or domin
ions, or principalities, or powers ; all things were cre
ated BY Him and for Him ; and He is before all things,
and by Him all things consist," (Col, i. 16, 17,)
James calls Hira " the tjord of glory," which evidently
means the same as the King of glory ; and it is written
in Psalms (xxiv, 10,) " Who is the King of glory ? Je
hovah of Hosts, He is the King- of glory," And
Jude closes his epistle with these words, " To the only
WISE God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, domin
ion and power, both now and ever. Amen,"
But passing by much other testimony of a similar
kind, which may be found in the writings of the apos
tles, we proceed to notice a few passages in the book of
Revelation, which is the croAvn of prophecy. In the
first chapter of this book, it is said when John " was in
the spirit on the Lord's day," that " he heard behind
him a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha
AND Omega, the First and the Last" {v, 11):
and turning to see from whora the voice carae, he saw
" one like unto the Son op Man " {v, 13.) And when
John had fallen at his feet as dead, this same person
lays his hand upon him, and says, " Fear not ; I am
THE First and the Last" {v. 17) ; thus leaving no
25*

282 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
doubt that the Lord Jesus Christ or the Son of Man
was the Being whose voice the Revelator heard behind
him. Again also in the last chapter of the Revelation, where
the second coming of the Lord Jesus is spoken
of. He says ; " And behold, I come quickly ; and ray
.reward is with rae, to give every man according as his
work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the Be
ginning AND THE EnD^ THE FiRST AND THE LaST."
{v. 12, 13.)
But we find in the prophets of the Old Testament,
that Jehovah repeatedly declares himself to be the
First and the Last. (See Is. xliv. 6 ; xii. 4 ; xlviii.
12.) And since there evidentiy cannot be two Firsts
and Lasts in the sense in which these words are here
used, therefore the Lord Jesus Christ must ba the same,
as to person, with Jehovah.
But there are othe'r passages from this same book,
which render the identity of Jesus and Jehovah, as to
person, evident beyond a doubt. It is said (chap. iv.
10) that " The four and twenty elders fall down before
Him that sat on the throne, and Avorship Hira that liv
eth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the
throne, saying. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive
glory, and honor, and power : for thou hast created all
things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
And in the next chapter it is said that " the four and
twenty elders fell down before the Larab : — and they
sung a new song, saying. Thou art Avorthy to take the
book, and to open the seals thereof : for thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us," &.c. {v. 8, 9.) After this, myr
iads of rayriads and thousands of thousands of angels
were heard, " saying with a loud voice. Worthy is the
Larab that was slain, to receive power, and riches, and
wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and bless
ing." {v. 12.) The Lamb evidently denotes the Lord
Jesus Christ ; and we observe that the same worship is
here offered to Him, as is paid in the preceding chapter
to " Him that liveth forever and ever." There
fore He raust be the eternal, true, and living God, and
ihe only proper object of leligious worship.

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 283
Thus we see what abundant testimony the Divine
Word bears to this doctrine of the New Jerusalem
Church, that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Suprerae and
only God of heaven and earth. For we have seen that
some of the same titles are applied to Him as to Jeho
vah God, the sarae attributes of' etemity and self exist
ence predicated of Hira, and the same worship offered
Him by myriads of angels that is proper to be given to
God alone.
Let us now see iiow the New Church doctrine con
cerning the Sacred Trinity as it has been explained, ac
cords with the teaching of Scripture.
It has been said that the Divine principle in the Lord
which is called the Father, and the Divine which is
called the Son, and the Divine which is called the Holy
Spirit, are united in one Divine Person like soul, body,
and their proceeding operation Avith man ; or like will,
understanding, and the raental activity thence proceed
ing ; or as heat, light, and their continually proceeding
emanations are united in one body called the sun.
The Greek words ayiov npev/xa {hagion pneuma),
which are soraetiraes translated Holy Ghost, properly
signify a holy breathing or exhalation, rivevua
{pneuma) coraes from a Greek root Avhich signifies to
breathe or exhale, and is usually and much raore pro
perly translated spirit. Consequently the Holy Spirit
is not a separate Divine Person, as is believed and
taught in the Old Church, but is a holy principle of
life, as it were breathed out or proceeding from the
Lord. And this agrees with what is said of it in the
Word.: for in John (xx. 22.) it is written that, after
the Lord's resurrection, " He breathed on his disciples,
and said unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit." The
reason Avhy He breathed upon his disciples, was because
aspiration (or breathing upon) represented, according
to the law of correspondence, divine mspiration, or an
infiux into their ininds of spiritual principles.
Again : in .John xiv. 26. the Comforter or Paraclete
is called the Holy Spirit ; and in a preceding verse the
sarae Paraclete is called " the Spirit of truth, which

284 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
the world cannot receive," but which dwelleth with the
Lord's disciples, and shall be in them. And to make it
stfll more evident that this Holy Spirit is not a distinct
person by itself, but a divine principle or influence pro
ceeding from the Lord and illustrating the rainds of
those who are his true disciples, it is said, (John xv. 26.)
" But when the Paraclete is corae, which I will send
unto you frora the Father, the spirit of truth, which
proceedeth frora the Father, he shall testify of me."
And again it is said, that " When he is come, he will
reproA^e the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment (xvi. 8.) ; that he Avill guide into all trath —
will teach the disciples all things — will bring all things
to their remembrance, <fec." 'This is what the spirit of
truth effects when it is received into human minds —
when it really comes to us,
The Holy Spirit therefore denotes a principle of di
vine life proceeding from the Lord's Glorified Humani
ty w,ith sufficient energy to reach, affect, and enlighten
the minds of raen in their lowest natural state. This
holy proceeding sphere of life frora the Lord, was raore
poAverful, and therefore raore efficacious in the Avork of
regenerating and saving man, after the Lord had glori
fied the human, than it was before ; as is evident from
these Avords in John, " But this He spake of the Spirit,
which they that believe on Him should receive ; for the
Holy Spirit was not yet, because that Jesus was not
yet glorified." (vii. 39.)
Accordingly Swedenborg says, " that in the angelic
heaven He [the Lord] appears as a Sun, after his com
ing into the world, with stronger effulgence and in great
er splendor, than before his coming." — {Divine Love
and Wisdom, n, 221.)
Much raore evidence might be adduced from the
Word, to prove that the Holy Spirit is not a separate and
distinct person, but is, what the writings of the New
Church declare, a holy influence or operation proceed
ing from the Lord's Glorified Huraanity, and hence
called his Holy Proceeding. But we presume it is un
necessary to multiply texts in proof of this.
Finally: let us see how the other eleraents of the

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 285
Holy Trinity, viz. the Divine Love and the Divine
Wisdom, or the essential Divine and the Divine Huraan
which answer to the sonl and body Avith raan, will as
sist us in explaining some of those texts in which the
Father and the Son are mentioned together. The Fa
ther as we have said, denotes the essential Divinity, or
specifically the principle of Divine Love in the Lord :
and the Son denotes the Divine Humanity, or specifi
cally the principle of Divine Truth. The Lord when
upon earth was the manifested form of Jehovah in this
natural world ; and the only forra in which He could
exhibit himself personally to raen in their natural state.
As therefore the body of raan is the forra through which
the soul is raade raanifest, so the Son which is the
divine huraan body of Jehovah, is the forra which
manifests the invisible and essential Divinity— the Fa
ther. Hence it is written, " No one hath seen God at
any time; the only begotten Son which is in the bosom
of the Father, He hath brought Hira forth to view (John
I. 18.) As no one can know the quality of any raan's
soul except frora the revelations that are raade of it
through his words and actions, thus through the raediura
of his body, so no one can have any knowledge of the
Father or the essential Divinity, save through the rae
diura of the Son or the Divine Humanity. Hence it is
written again, " No one knoweth the Father save the
Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Hira."
(Mat. xi. 27 ; Luke x. 22.) As the soul dwelleth in the
body, so the Divine dwelleth in the Human ofthe Lord,
or the Father in the Son. Hence it is written that the Son
is not alone (John viii. 16 ;) and that the Father dwelleth
in Him (xiv. 10.) As the soul iraparts its own life to the
body, so the Father or the essential Divine, which is life
itself, imparts life itself to the Son or the Divine Human.
Hence it is written, " As the Father hath life in hiraself,
so hath He afi ven to the Son to have life in hiraself (v. 26.)
As the body can do nothing of itself without the life and
activity of the indwelling soul, so it is written that " the
Son can do nothing of himself but Avhat He seeth the Fa
ther do ; for what things soever He doeth, these also doeth
the Son likewise." (v. 19.) And again, "the Father that
dwelleth in me, He doeth the works." (xiv. 10.) As

286 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
the body proceeds from the soul and forms its image, so it
is Avritten that the Son " came forth frora the Father,"
(xvi. 28,) and is " the express iraage (or stamped im
pression) of his person." (Heb. i. 3.) As the body is
actuated by the soul, lives from and depends upon it, so
Ave are taught that the Son doeth continually the will
ofthe Father, lives from and depends upon Him (John
V. 19, 26.) As no one can have access to the soul of
man ^except through the medium of his body, so
Jesus saith " No one cometh unto the Father but by
me." (John xiv. 6.) And as the soul and body with
man are united in one finite human person, so the Di
vine and the Divine Human, or the Father and the Son
are united in one infinite Divine Person, the Ijord Jesus
Christ, who hath all power in heaven and on earth.
Hence He saith, " I and the Father are one."
(x. 30.) Hence He is the only Divine Person, and the
only true and proper . object of religious worship.
Therefore the New Church worship the Father in the
Son, not out of Him, or as a separate Divine Person ; and
thus, agreeably to what is required in the Word, they
" honor the Son even as they honor the Father." (John
V. 23.)
Such is the doctrine revealed for the Ncav Jerasalera
Church concerning the Sacred Trinity in the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ ; — a doctrine which is alike free
frora the objections that reason urges against the tri-per
sonal theory, and from the contrariety to Scripture which
is raanifest in the Lfnitarian scheme ; — a doctrine which
is at once intelligible, and in coraplete harraony both
with reason and Revelation, and which presents Jesus
Christ the Savior as the true, living, and only God,
and alone the proper object of religious worship.
Thus the stone which the builders rejected has in
deed becorae the head of the corner. And the New
Church, in paying suprerae homage to the Lord Jesus
Christ, Avorship all the adorable Trinity, for they wor
ship the Father in the Son : and the Holy Spirit is the
divine proceeding sphere or operation of his own life.
And whoever is so rencAved in the spirit of his mind, as
to have his will brought into agreement with the Di
vine Love, andhis understanding brought into agreement

VIII.] concerning the divine trinity. 287
with the Divine Wisdom, and the sphere of his life into
agreeraent with the holy proceeding sphere ofgood and
truth from the Lord, is, in the spiritual sense, baptized
into the narae ol the Father, and of the Son, and of
the Holy Spirit. His will is then cleansed of its irapure
loves, his understanding of its false persuasions, and
his works are therefore good. He is a true iraage of
the Lord, having deritiVely in hiraself the three ele
ments of the Holy Trinity, — love, Avisdora and use, or
charity, faith, and good works — ^in harraonious and
blissful union.
Frora this it may be seen that the doctrine of the
NeAV Church concerning the Sacred Trinity, like all
the other doctrines of this Church, is not speculative
merely, but is of the highest practical importance. It
is eminently the doctrine of life. This of itself Avere
strong evidence of its truth. And how widely does the
doctrine differ in this respect from that of the Old
Church ! Indeed we are not aAvare that any one has
ever attempted to show the importance of a belief in the
tri-personal doctrine considered in a practical point of
view. We are not aware that those who profess to be
lieve it, regard it as a doctrine of life ; or that it has
ever been explained in any intelligible and rational man
ner, in what way this doctrine is calculated to make men
better. Besides it would be extremely absurd to speak
of the practical importance of a doctrine which is ac- •
knoAvledged to be unintelligible and mysterious. Only '
such truth as men are able to understand can really be
made practical ; for no other can be applied to lifa
Hence it is comraon to hear it said in the Old Church
that this doctrine, and some others which proceed frora
it, must be believed though they cannot be understood;
and that this belief alone saves men. Thus the doc
trine of the tri-personality of God is intiraately connect
ed with that of justification by faith alone. But
it is taught in the writings of the New Church, that
charity, faith and good works, are each alike essential
to man's salvation ; and that neither of these is genuine,
consequently is not any thing if separated from the oth
er two. This agrees with what the apostle teaches :
" Though I have all faith, so that I could remove

288 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
i
mountains, and have not charity, I ara nothing." (1 Cor.
xiu. 2.) Again the apostle Jaraes saith, " Faith, if it
hath not works is dead, being alone ; for as the body
without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead
also.'' (ii. 17, 26.) Many passages raight be cited frora
the Word in confirraation of what is so often taught in
the writings of Swedenborg, viz. that " charity without
faith is nothing, nor is faith anything Avithout charity,
nor are charity and faith anything without works."
{Apocalypse Revealed, n. 875.)
Since therefore charity, faith, and good works, are
neither of thera any thing if separated frora the other
two, so neither of thera alone hath any poAver to justify
or save. The conjunction of these three Avith raan, is
what saves hira, and makes a church to be a true church.
And the reason and necessity of this appears manifestly
from the Kew Church doctrine concerning the Divine
Trinity. It is because the three divine principles in the
Lord, signified by Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are
each of thera essential eleraents in the Divine Being;
and have not, neither can they have a separate and in
dependent existence, any more than heat, light, and
their proceeding operation with the natural sun, could
exist separate frora each other.
Now it must be admitted by all who reverence the
Sacred Scriptures, that raan has no goodness that is
peculiarly his own. " None is good but One — God."
(Mat. xix. 17.) Therefore a church is not a true church,
and angels are not angels by virtue of any thing which
is properly their oioti. It is the Lord in raen Avhich
makes thera good and constitutes thera a trae church.
Itis the Lord in the angels of heaAren that makes
them angels. " lin them" and thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one." (John xvii. 23.) "I give
unto them eternal life." (x, 28,) " As the branch can
not bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; no
more can ye except ye abide in me ; for without rae
ye can do nothing." (xv. 4, 5.)
If therefore it is the Lord in angels and raen that con
stitutes the all of Heaven and the Church with thera,
it is manifest that He must dwell in them as to afl tha

VIII.] CONCERNING THE DIVINE TRINITY. 289
eleraents of the Sacred Trinity, since these elements
can have no real existence separate frora each other.
And this Trinity, when received by man, becomes in
hira charity, faith, and good works. The Divine Love
which is the love of doing good to the human race,
when received by raan, becoraes in hira the love ofthe
neighbor which is charity; the Divine Wisdom which
is the wisdom according to which Divine Love proceeds
and operates, becomes faith in man, or the truth by
which his love of doing good to the neighbor is directed
in its operations ; and the Divine Power or Holy Proceed
ing of the Lord, which is the actual operation of the
Divine Wisdom and Love, becomes in raan a sphere
of active usefulness proceeding frora his charity and
faith — a life devoted to good works.
Thus we see of how great practical iraportance is the
New Church doctrine of the Sacred Trinity. Those
who receive it are thereby instructed that no man is
saved by faith alone, or by charity alone, or by good
works alone ; but that it is the conjunction of these three
which bringeth salvation. They see that man must
know and love and do the commandments ; and that he
has no true spiritual life, unless love, wisdom, and use,
or charity, faith, and good works, dwell together as one ;
i. e. unless he do good from love and according to
truth ; for otherwise the Lord who is Love itself, Wisdom
itself, and Use itself, abideth not in him nor he in the
Lord. And it is written, " If a man abide not in me, he
is cast forth as a branch, and is withered." (John xv. 6. )
And again: " If a man love me, he will keep my words,
and ray Father will love him, and we will come unto
him, and raake our abode with hira." (xiv. 23.) " There
fore love is the fulfilling of the law." (Rora. xui. 10.)
" But Avithout faith it is impossible to please God."
(Heb. xi. 6.) And "faith without works is dead,"
(James ii, 26,) "Whosoever therefore heareth these say
ings of mine, and doeth them, I wfll liken hira unto a
wise man, Avho buflt his house upon a rock ; and the
rain descended, and the floods carae, and the winds
bloAV, and beat upon that house : and it fell not ; for it
was founded upon a rock," (Matt. vu. 24, 25.)
26

290 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.

LECTURE IX.

CONCERNING THE GLORIFICATION
HUMANITY, WHICH INVOLVES THE NEW CHURCH
DOCTRINE OP THE ATONEMENT AND OF THE RE-
. GENERATION OF MAN.

" Now IS THE Son of Man glorified, and God is glokifixd m
Him.'" — John xiii. 31.

In the preceding lecture we explained the doctrine of
the Sacred Trinity as it is taught in the writings of the
New Jerusalera Church, and showed its perfect agree
ment both with reason and Scripture. We also stated,
that, according to these writings, the Lord Jesus Christ
when upon earth, was the person of Jehovah raanifest
ed in the flesh : i. e. that the Divine Being becarae
clothed Avith a natural human form, and thus exhibited
Hiraself personally in this natural world, for the pur
pose of redeeming and saving mankind : which doctrine
was also shown to be in accordance with the teaching
of Scripture.
The Word of God therefore, rightly understood,
agrees fully with what the Avritings of the New Church
teach upon this subject, viz.. that God is one in essence
and in person, and that the Lord Jesus Christ the Sa
vior is that God : — that in his Divine Person dwells all
the fulness of the Godhead, or the whole of the Divine
Trinity which is called in the Scriptures, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit : consequently He is the only God of heaven
and, earth, and therefore the only proper object of religious
worship. For if, (as the Scriptures plainly teach, and
as a very large proportion of the Old Church profess

XX.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. 291
to believe,) the Lord Jesus Christ be really a Divine
Person, and there be any other Divine Person whom it
is proper to Avorship, then it certainly follows that there
must be more than one God — which is a doctrine alike
contrary to reason and Scripture.
It was stated in the last lecture, that by the Father is
denoted the Lord as to his essential Divinity, or the
Divine Love ; by the Son, the Lord as to his Divine
Humanity, or the Word Avhich is Divine Truth ; and
by the Holy Spirit, the Lord as to his Divine Power or
operative energy, which proceeds from the union of the
Divine with the Human, or from the glorified person of
the Lord Jesus Christ, in whora we behold our Creator,
Redeemer and Regenerator. It was also stated in that
lecture, that this 'Trinity in Jesus Christ has its corre
sponding iraage and likeness in every ipan, which are
the soul, body, and resulting sphere of life and action —
or will, understanding, and their proceeding operation.
While therefore, there is an inflnite difference between
the Lord and raan, there is yet such a complete image
of the one in the other, that Ave raay obtain a distinct
and intelligible idea of the Divine Trinity frora what
we knoAV of its image in raan. The Lord is Divine ;
man is huraan. The Lord is self-existent, uncreate,
and infinite ; raan is dependent, created, and finite.
The Lord is the Giver of all things j man is a re
ceiver. The Lord is Life itself; man is but a recipient
of life. The Lord hath an uncreated and divine soul,*
which is the inmost or esse of his life, and is called the
Father; man hath a created and human soul. The
Lord hath a divine body, Avhich is the external or exist
ere of his life, and is called the Son ; raan hath a hu
man body. "The sphere of life proceeding frora the
Lord as the spiritual Sun, Avhich sphere is called the
Paraclete or Spirit of truth, is holy, divine, and infinite,
since nothing can proceed frora Hira but what partakes
of his own nature, and is Himself ; the sphere of man's
life is imperfect, human and finite.
* See Angejio Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and Divine Wisdom
n.I4.

292 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
According to the writings of the New Church there
fore, God is not a mere abstraction, but a real, living,
divine, infinite Person, in perfect human form ; in
whom also dwell, and from Avhom continually proceed,
as the rays of light and heat proceed from the natural
sun, all truly human principles and all the creating and
sustaining power in the universe. There are many
persons at the present day who do not think of God as
existing in any form,* but who yet profess to believe in
the strict personality of the Deity. But such persons
do certainly deceive themselves ; for a real belief in the
personality of God involves an idea of Him as existing
in a huraan form ; and without such an idea the mind
does not rest upon or contemplate any person, and we
are really in the denial of the personality of God, how
ever we raaj prof ess to believe it. To regard loAre,
truth, beauty, power, &c., as together constituting God,
and as being everywhere diffused through the universe,
yet nowhere centering in a living, human forra, frora
Avhich they continually proceed, is to make the Divine
Being a dead abstraction, or sorae interior and subtle
principle of nature — which is virtually to deny that
God hath any personal existence.
* " One arguraent against the divinity ofthe human nature of Christ, is,
that humanity has a form ; and that it is absurd to eonsider a human form to
he divine, because forra implies hmit, boundary, termination ; whereas
God is infinite and unbounded, being everywhere equally present. To
this we reply, tbat if we cannot attribute form to God, because it implies
limit; so neither cjin we, for the same reason, attribute anything lo Him,
or frame any conception of his nature. For all the ideas we can enter
tain of Him necessarily imply limit, inasmuch as the ideas themselves are
limited, being those of a limited, finited creature ; yet we do not, for that
reason, cease to consider certain perfections as belonging to the divine na
ture. None but an infinite being can have infinite and therefore adequate
ideas of himself; all finite ideas, however exalted, must have form, limit,
and boundary, as truly so as the senses or sensations of the body. The
objection, therefore, derived from the idea of form, is as applicable to all
intellectual ideas, however abstracted, as it is to sensational impressions.
Let any ideas of God entertained by a creature, however intellectual, how
ever absiracted, nay, however angelic or spiritual, be embodied ; and that
embodiment will as certainly present a definite Hmitation, as any object
presented to the senses. The objection, therefore, derived from the idea
of form, if allowed, would tend to deprive us of entertaining any idea of
the Deity whatever; for the only other idea we couhl entertain is that
which is formless; hence indefinite, indeterminate, chaotic, confused;
which is virtually no idea, because it has no form ; and that which has no
form, has no quality ; and that which has neither fonn nor quality is a non
entity,"— ChssoWs End of the Church, p. 393,

IX.J CONCERNING THE ATONEMEMT. 293
No.— Because we are taught that " God is a Spirit," it
by no raeans folio avs that He does not exist in a huraan
form, any more than it follows as a just conclusion,
that man no longer exists in a human forra, after he is
divested of his material body and has become an inhab
itant of the spiritual world.* The natural sun is self-
luminous, and on this account it is essentially different
from all the planets, which are opaque, and which re
ceive from him their light and heat. But because the
sun is self-luminous, it does not follow that it is not a
body ; or because his light and heat are diffused every
Avhere throughout the solar system, it does not follow
that there is no central source whence they emanate ;
nor that the sun is not a body even more substantial
than any earth in the universe. And as we cannot
conceive of light and heat diffused as they now are,
and in active operation, without a luminous body frora
whence they continually proceed, no more can we con
ceive of truth and love diffused as living principles,
without their proceeding from a living, self-existent Per
son as their eternal source.
The difference between the sun and the planets in
respect to this attribute of self-illumination, affords a
good illustration of the difference between God and man;
The sun of itself is lurainous — the planets opaque ; so
God of Himself is luminous, and men are opaque. 'The
sun from itself continually emits light and heat, and the
planets receive them ; so God from Hiraself emits wis
dom and love, and raen receive thera. Yet the sun is
in a spherical form as well as the planets ; so God is in
the human form as well as man. Hence also it may
be seen Avhy the earth corresponds to the Church or to
any raan who is a church in the smallest form, since
the sun corresponds to the Lord.t
" • It is generally the case that those who are not willing to think that God
• .^ists in hnman form, do not think of man as in the human forra after
death, nor indeed as having any form until he shall have resumed his mate
rial body. It would be well for such persons to consider whether they do
rot in heart deny the existence of God and the reality of the spiritual
world t " That the Lord appears as a sun in heaven," says Swedenborg, "is
evident frora His transfiguration before Peter, Jamesand John, ^/laf His face
shone as the sun. (Matt, xjcvii, 2,) The Lord was eeen thus by thote disci-
26*

294 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
Having explained the doctrine of the New Church
concerning the Sacred Trinity, Ave come now to con
sider the doctrine as it is taught in the writings of Swe
denborg, concerning the gloriflcation of the Lord's
humanity, or that union of the Divine with the Human
which is properly signified by the Atonement. But be
fore pioceeding to do this, it may be useful briefly to
hotice the doctrine of the Atonement as it is held and
taught by the prevailing religious sects of the Old
Church. We shall thus be the better able to judge
whether the Old or the New doctrine upon this subject
be the imaginary one, or the offspring of huraan con
trivance. It was stated in the last lecture, that, inasmuch as
the great central doctrine of the Christian religion as it
is now believed and taught in the Old Church — the
doctrine concerning the Divine Trinity in the Lord,
which has been corrupted into a trinity of persons— is
false, therefore all the other leading doctrines of that
Church must be false likewise. 'The most prorainent
and at fhe same time the most captivating and ruinous
falsity, which is the legitimate offspring of the doctrine
of the tri-personality of God, is that concerning the
Atonement as at this day held and taught by the pre
vailing Church. This doctrine, we are aware, has
been differently understood in the Old Church at differ
ent times, and by different individuals in that Church
at the same time. And notwithstanding the supreme
importance, which is properly enough attached to a
right understanding of it, probably very few could be
found at the present time araong Trinitarians of the
Old Church, who would explain this doctrine precisely
alike. However that may be, we can easily obtain from
the confessions of faith and other authorized publications
of that Church, a statement of the doctrine as it is com
monly received and taught there. We flnd a summary
statement of it in Buck's Theological Dictionary under
pies, when they were withdrawn from the body, and in the light of heaven.
Hence it was that the ancients, with whom ilie Church was representa
tive, turned the face, when they were in divine worship, to the sun in the
east; from this it is that they gave to temples an aspect towarde the east.
(Heaven a'nd Hell, n. 119.)

IX.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. 295
the article Atonement, flraAvn from erainent Trinitarian
writers upon this subject, and which raay therefore be
considered as erabodying the generally received opinion
, hereon. " The Atonement," say these writers, " is the satisfying
divine justice by Jesus Christ giving himself a ransom
for us, undergoing, the penalty due to our sins, and
thereby releasing us from that punishment which God
might justly inflict upon us. All mankind having brok
en the law, God in his infinite wisdom did not think
fit to pardon sinful man without some compensation for
his broken law. For if, the great Ruler of the world
had pardoned the sins of men without any satisfaction,
then his laws might have seemed not worth the vindi
cating." " Gbd had a mind," say they, " to raake a very illus
trious display both of his justice and o£.his grace among
raankind ; on these accounts He could not pardon sin
without a satisfaction,"
And again : " Because God intended to make a full
display of the terrors of his justice, and his divine re
sentment for the violation of his law, therefore He ap
pointed his own Son to satisfy for the breach of it by be
coraing a proper sacrifice of expiation or atonement.
The Divine Being having received such ample satisfac
tion for sin, by the suffering ofhis own Son, can hojior-
ably forgive his creature man who was a transgressor."
But if any one desires to know from more recent
authority what this doctrine is, as held and taught in
the Old Church at the present time, let him tum to the
" Confession of Faith " of the Presbyterian Church in
the United States published in 1838 ; and he will there
find these words : " Christ by his obedience and death,
did fully discharge the debt of all those that are thus
justified, and did raake a proper, real, and full satisfac
tion to his Father's justice in their behalf He was
given by the Father for them, and his obedience and
satisfaction accepted in their stead." (p. 55.)
In the same chapter of this work Ave are told that God
justifies sinners " by imputing the obedience and satis
faction of Christ unto them" (§ 1.); and that "Faith

296 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
thus receiving and resting on Christ and his righteous
ness, is the alone instrument of justification." (§ 2.) In
other parts of the same work we find mention made of
Christ having borne the weight of God's wrath, satis
fied his justice, procured his favor, purchased recon
ciliation, &c. (See p. 44, 161, 168.)
In the Catechism (No. 2.) of the Methodist Episcopal
Church published in 1839, we find it stated (p. 14,) that
" Christ, by means of his sufferings and death, offered a
full satisfiaction and atonement to Divine Justice for the
sins of the whole world." And imraediately after it is
added by way of explanation, that, because He was per
fectly righteous, there was an infinite value and raerit in
his death, which, being undergone for our sakes and in
our stead, Almighty God exercises his mercy in the
forgiveness of sins, consistently with his justice and
holiness." Such is the comraonly received doctrine of a vicari
ous atonement as given in the language of those who
believe and teach it. And it will be found substantial
ly the sarae as here stated, in the Catechims, and Forrau-
laries and Confessions of Faith of all the prevailing re
ligious sects in the Old Church, who believe in the tri-
personality of God. Indeed this doctrine, as we have
already said, is a legitimate descendant from the tri-per
sonal theory. And according to the language in which
it is set forth by its own advocates, it represents the
Father or flrst person in the Trinity, as a stern, inflexi
ble, vindictive God, who is angry with the human race
on account of their transgressions, and Avill by no means
forgive them their sins without afull equivalent or sat
isfaction for his violated law. And it represents the Son
or second person in the Trinity as a tender and com
passionate God, who is moved with pity towards the hu
raan race ; and in order to satisfy the Father's demands,
and procure his favor, or purchase for man a release
from his vengeance. He comes into the world ofhis own
free will, and pays the penalty due to the sins of all
mankind by suffering and dying upon the cross. The
Father accepts the ransom, is reconciled toAvards the
human race, and can then " honorably forgive his crea-

IX,] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. 297
ture inan ;" or, as some understand it, He then imputes
to mankind th'e merit of Christ's sufferings and death,
or feels toAvards our race as if they themselves had suf
fered their merited punishment. It is for this reason
that the Atonement is commonly called by the Old
Church vicarious, Christ, they say, suffered as our vicar
or substitute — " in our stead " — and by his own death
paid the penalty which the Father demanded for his
violated law ; and thus satisfied the demands of Divine
Justice, and purchased a pardon forman, or propitiated
the Deity. It is as if a child should violate its father's
precepts, and the father, however sorry and penitent the
child might be, should refuse to be reconciled to hira
except on the condition that one of his other innocent
children, or sorae innocent person like hiraself, would
first suffer the penalty due to such an offence.
This doctrine certainly needs no comment. For
every honest raan, who is not willing utterly to re
nounce his understanding in matters of religion and
accept a blind faith, can hardly fail to perceive that such
a doctrine m,ust be false, as soon as it is clearly present
ed. And those who have confirmed themselves in tbis
commonly received doctrine of the Atonement, must
have done so by first trampling on their rational facul
ty ; and therefore must have brought their rainds into
such a perverted state, as would probably disqualify
thera for seeing the genuine truth upon this subject,
however clearly it raight be presented ; and would lead
thera to reject the most conclusiA'e arguraents in support
of any other than their own view, whether drawn from
reason or from Scripture. In reference to such persons
it is written in the Word, " Ephraim is joined to his
idols ; let hira alone," (Hos, iv, 17,) By Ephraim is
denoted the intellectual principle of man ; and by idols
are signified falsities of doctrine. Hence by Ephraim
being joined to his idols, is signified the intellectual
principle seizing on falsities and attaching itself to them,
whereby the rational faculty is perverted, {See Apoca
lypse Explained n. 283.)
But irrational as is the prevailing idea concerning the
Atonement, and equally unscriptural as it must be Seen

298 DOCTRINE OF 'tHE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
to be when the truth on this subject is well understood,
there is yet perhaps not a single doctrine, which is raore
universally prevalent, and none to which the larger
portion of the Old Churph cling raore pertinaciously
than to this. And is not this fact alone sufficient to
show the state of wild disorder into which the human
mind has been thrown upon religious doctrines, and the
utter darkness with respect to spiritual things, in which
a large proportion of christendora is iraraersed.
But the reason why this doctrine is dearly loved and
obstinately clung to by so raany persons, finds its ex
planation in the state of these persons, or in the quality
of the prevailing Church. For it is of all others per
haps the raost acceptable doctrine to the natural raan,
since it promises him the pardon of his sins and the
happiness of heaven upon such easy terms. It assures
him that the penalty due to his transgressions has been
paid by the sufferings and death of Christ ; and that
he has only to believe this, and the merit of Christ's
righteousness will be imputed to him. The doctrine
bears upon its very face the raarks of its origin. Its
every feature shows that it originated in the gross con
ceptions of the natural man. The natural man is angry
and unrelenting towards those who offend him, and
therefore he thinks that God has sirailar feelings to
wards his offending children. And because the natural
man is unwilling to forgive those who offend him ex
cept on condition of receiving some equivalent or full
satisfaction, so he conceives that '' God could not ftjr-
give his erring creature raan," without receiving an
equivalent. Thus the commonly received doctrine of the Atone
ment is in perfect agreement with the conceptions of the
natural man, who thinks God to be altogether such an
one as himself No wonder therefore that natural men
should be so loath to relinquish their hold upon this
doctrine, and should say, as is often said, " if you take
this away from rae you take away all ray religious sup
port—all of Christianity that I raost highly prize."
Thus rauch concerning the doctrine of the Atone
ment as held and taught in the Old Church. We Avill

IX.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. 299
now endeavor to present the doctrine of the New
Church concerning the glorification of the Lord's Hu
manity, which signifies the unition of fhe Divine with
the Human, and which involves what is believed to be
the true doctrine of the Atonement. And here we
would premise that it is not easy to present this subject
in a manner to be readily coraprehended by the natural
man. The reason of this is, because our regeneration ,
is an image of the Lord's glorification ; and until we
have soraething of this image — until our natural man
has in some measure been brought into an agreement
or oneness with our spiritual raan, and we have thus
received something of the Atonement in ourselves, we
cannot expect to understand rauch about the glorifica
tion of the Lord's Human, or how He brought it at-one
with the Divine.
It must be obvious to every one, that, if the New
Church doctrine conceming the Divine Trinity, as pre
sented in bur last lecture, be the true doctrine, and the
Lord Jesus Christ be the supreme and only God, uniting
in his OAvn Divine Person all the elements of the Holy
Trinity, then the coramonly received doctrine of the
Atonement must be false. No one therefore can realjy
receive the New Church doctrine of the Trinity, and,
consistently with such reception, retain his belief in the
Old Church doctrine of the Atonement, which is based
entirely upon the idea of three persons in the Godhead.
For when it is admitted that Jesus Christ is the one and
only Divine Person, then there is no first person aside
frora Him, to deraand satisfaction for his violated law,
or whose wrath is to be appeased by the sufferrings and
death of another, or to whom the penalty due to man's
transgressions is to be paid. Thus we see that the Old
Church doctrine of the Atonement does by no raeans
consist with the New Church doctrine of the Trinity,
nor with the suprerae divinity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
According to the doctrines - of the New Church raan
was originally created in the iraage and likeness of God ;
i. e. his understanding was created a form receptive
of the Divine Wisdom, and his will a form receptive of
the Divine Love ; and on account of the union of these

300 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
two principles in the huraan raind, there proceeded con
stantly frora raan a sphere of beneficent life and action
corresponding to the Divine Proceeding Sphere of the
Lord. Man did not then receive truths from the Lord
disjoined from their corresponding affections of good
ness ; but his will was in perfect agreeraent Avith his
understanding, and thus he was conjoined to the Lord
because he received each of the eleraents of the Divine
Trinity, or had in himself the conjunction of charity,
faith and good works. This happy state of man is de
scribed in the Word by Adam's situation in the garden
of Eden. But he did not continue in his primitive state
of innocence, and therefore it is said that he was driven
out|of the garden of Bden — the meaning of Avhich was
explained in a former lecture. By virtue of the liberty
Avith which he was endowed, man could turn either to
the Lord or to hiraself And by degrees he began to
think of his Avisdom as his oavu, and to pride himself
on account of it, and thus to love hiraself raore than
the Lord — ^to deem himself a god. In this manner his
affections becarae gradually and successively turned
away frora the One only Good, and fastened upon' hira
self Thus his will-principle, from being the receptacle
of the Lord's love, became defiled with the evils of self-
love. Love to the Lord and the neighbor became
changed in his mind into the love of self and the world ;
or into a state of unwilling acknowledgment of any
offiier God than himself, and of hatred towards the
neighbor. There still remained some light of truth in
his understanding, but it was not, as originally, united
to the love of goodness in his Avill, for he no longer
loved to do as the truth required ; and thus his will
and his understanding became separated. And the more
man indulged his pride and love of self, the raore did
his mind become filled with evils and falsities, and the
farther did he remove himself from his original, happy
state of conjunction with the Lord : until the whole
human race, or the Lord's church on earth, Avith. the
exception of " a very small remnant," (Is. i. 9,) becarae
what is described in these words of the prophet, " Ah
sinful nation, a people laden Avith iniquity, a seed of

IX.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. 301
evil-doers, children that are corrupters ! They have
forsaken the I .ord, they have provoked the Holy One of
Israel unto anger, they have gone away backward.
From the sole of the foot even unto the head there is
no soundness in it ; but wounds and bruises and putri-
fying sores." (Is. i. 4, 6.)
Yet the Lord did not forsake the human race in this
their wounded, braised and putrified state ; but still
pursued them with his love even to the pit of degrada
tion into Avhich they had fallen. But because men had
changed the divine love into hatred in their own minds
therefore the Lord appeared to thera as if He were
angry ; and agreeably to this appearance, it is often so
said ih the literal sense of the Word. This appearance
was> correspondent Avith raan's state. But "In all their
affliction He Avas afflicted, and the angel of his presence
saved thera : in his love and in his pity He redeeraed
thera." (Is. Ixv. 9.) Me came into this natural world
in a bodily form — clothed Himself with the natural
humanity —defiled, borne down and oppressed with
evils of all kinds as that humanity was — and by degrees
purifled it from all its defilements and filled every re
gion of it with his own Divinity ; thus He glorified or
raade that humanity Divine. He came as the Word —
as Truth Divine, or the Son, and by a series of tempta
tion corabats He successively united that Truth witli
Love Divine, or the Father, in the assuraed humanity ;
that so He might thenceforward be able to unite tmth
in the understanding with love in the will, in the rainds
of all men Avho will permit Him to do so ; and in this
Avay gradually to lead mankind back fo their original
happy state of conjunction Avith the Lord, which is
heavenly and eternal life. (See John vi. 54, 56.)
Thus the end for which the Lord assumed and glori
fied the Human was to bring raan into a state of reunion
with his Maker; to bring his will at-one with the Lord's
will, and his understanding at-one with the Lord's un
derstanding or the Divine Truth, and thus restore to
human rainds their original but lost harmony. This
at-one-ment of raan and God, or of the huraan and the
Divine, was perfectly effected in the Lord's Glorified
27

302 doctrine of the new church [lect.
Huraan, and the image of it exists in every one's mind
just in the degree that he receives the principles of the
Divine Huraanity, or the principles of good and truth
in their celestial union.
Before proceeding to remark further upon the glorifi
cation ofthe Lord's Huihanity, let us first attend to the
true Scripture meaning of the Avord Atonement, We
find this word used but once in the NeAV Testament
(Rora. V. 11.); and those who Avfll take the trouble to
consult Calmet's Dictionaj-y on the subject, wfll find
that it was originally syllabled and pronounced at-one-
ment ; and signifled being at one, or being brought at
one, i. e. into agreement. And this we flnd is the true
meaning of the original Avord xuTii'Klctyr\ {catallage),
which in its primitive sense, signifies a change ; and
in its derivative sense, a reconciliation, a pacification.
{See Schleusner's Greek and Latin Lexicon.) Indeed
this same word is always translated reconciliation in
stead of atonement wherever it occurs in the New Testa
ment, except in the single instance above referred to :
and it is found either in its primitive and simple, or
in its derivative and corapound form, not less than
thirteen times ; and it ahvays raeans (as every one at all
familiar with the Greek language kiioAvs) the restora
tion of peace and union between minds that have been
at variance — an at-one-ment. Such is the true signifi
cation of the word Atonement.
Now this agrees perfectly with what Ave are taught in
the writings of the Ncav Church upon this subject. Ac
cording to these writings, the Atonement means the
bringing at one of the DiA'inity and the Humanity,
which Avas effected Avhen the Lord came into the Avorld
and glorified the huraan. And the design of this Atone
ment Avas to effect a reconciliation between God and
man ; to bring the human raind, Avhich had become
alienated from God, into an agreement or at-one again
with the Divine Mind. But inasrauch as the separation
betAveen God and raan, or between the Divine and the
human mind, had been effected not through any change
in God (for He is unchangeable) but through a change
that had taken place in man since his creation, therefore

IX.] concerning the atonement. 303
it was raan who needed to be brought back or reconciled
to God, and not God Avho needed to be reconciled to
man. Accordingly the doctrines of the New Jerusalera
teach .that the object of the Atoneraent was not to ap
pease God's wrath, or purchase his favor, or produce
any change in the Divine Mind, (as is commonly be
lieved and taught in the Old Church) but to effect such
a change in human minds as to render them receptive
of the Divine principles vvhich proceed frora the Lord,
and thus to reconcile or bring raan at-one with God.
And this we shall flnd to be in perfect agreement
with what the apostles teach in relation to this subject.
In Paul's second letter to the Corinthian church, Ave
read "And all things are of God who hath reconciled
us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the
ministry of reconciliation ; to wit, that God was in
Christ reconciling the world unto himself [not himself
unto the world] — and hath committed unto us the Word
of reconciliation." (2 Cor. v. IS, 19.) And in the next
verse he says, " We pray you in Christ's stead be ye
reconciled to God." And the same apostie in his letter
to the Ephesians, speaking of Christ Jesus making "in
himseXf of twain one nevj man, so making peace,'' adds :
" And that He might reconcile both [Jcavs and Gentiles]
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the en
mity thereby." (ii. 15, 16.) Now in all these instances,
and others which raight be adduced, Ave observe that
the apostle speaks as if the advent, sufferings, and death
of Jesus Christ were to reconcile the Divine and the hu
man mind, or to bring them at one. not by effecting any
change in God, but a change in raan. He tells us that
God Avas in Christ reconciling the world unto himself.
And the Greek word Avhich is translated reconciling,
reconciliation, &c., in the passages just quoted, is in
every instance, the same as that which is translated
atonement in Romans v. 11.
Let us heie for a moment consider, Avhether there
was any necessity, which can be rationally comprehend
ed, for the Lord to descend upon earth in a natural hu
man form. And if Ave reflect upon the state of the
Church at that time, evenliuman reason may perceive

304 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
that there Avas this necessity. . The rainds of the Jewish
people, who were the depositories of God's Word, had
becorae so perverted through falses of doctrine and evils
of life, that they could not be instructed in spiritual
things which pertain to heavenly life, either by irarae
diate influx from the Divine, or mediately through the
Word, or in any other way. Their rainds not being in
a state of heavenly order, but ina state of infernal dis
order, Avhatever flowed into' thera frora heaven, was of
course inverted or turned into what is opposite ; just as
Avarni Avater falling upon a sheet of ice is iraraediately
congealed. How differently do different bodies upon
earth, according to their form, receive and reflect fhe
rays of the sun ! So is it with man in respect to truth.
We know that the purest truths receive a 'complexion
frora the character or form of the mind into which they
fall. Let spiritual truths be presented to a carnal mind
ed man, and straig'ntway they are materialized. The
mind that receives them must first change them into a
form accommodated to its sti te of reception. And ifthe
mind be not in a heavenly but in an infernal state, then
truth on passing into it is imraediately changed into fal
sity. To the carnal and irapure raind, the pure spirit
ual truths of the New Jerusalem appear false and im
pure ; and in the form in which such a mind appre
hends them, they are so. " The natural tnan receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God : for they are fool
ishness unto him : neither can he know thera, because
they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor. ii. 14.)
Now the Jews Avere eminently a carnal rainded peo
ple, and were in such a state before the Lord's advent,
that, Avhether he imparted trath to them by an imme
diate influx into their minds, or through the medium of
his Word which they possessed, or in any other Avay,
they wonld either not understand or they would per
vert and ffilsify it. Thus. they Avere taught to Avorship
.Tehovah as the only living and true God, and did Avor
ship Him Avilh their lips ; but in their mindsthe Being
Avhora they serA'ed was very different from the true
God— nay, was quite the opposite. For, according to
their understanding of Hitn, He Avas selfish, partial,

IX.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. 305
vindictive, and altogether such an one as themselves.
Indeed the rainds of all men were then so immersed in
the sphere of hell, that the light of heaven could not
enter. ' For the Church is the kingdom of heaven upon
earth ; and in the degree that the Church is consura-
miited, this kingdom departs from human minds, and
hell flows iu and establishes its empire there. Previ
ous to the Lord's advent, the kingdom of hell had be
come so powerful upon the earth, that evil spirits infest
ed not only the minds but even the bodies of men. (See
Matt. iv. 24 ; Luke iv, 41,)
Thus Swedenborg says :
" Before the coming of the Lord, the hells had risen
to such a height that they began to infest the very an
gels of heaven, and likewise every man coming into the
world and going out of the world. The reason that the
hells had risen to such a height, was, because the
Church Avas utterly devastated; and the men of the
world, from idolatries, were in mere falses and evils,
and the hells are frora raen ; thence it was, that, unless
the Lord had come into the world, no man could have
been saved," {Doctrine of the Lord, n. 33,)
Now since man, in this state of bondage to evil spirits,
could not receive instruction immediately from the
Lord, nor mediately through the Word, without falsi
fying and thus wresting it to his own destruction, it
was necessary that Infinite Wisdom should employ
sorae new means of gaining access to the human mind,
in order to redeem and save men from hell. Before the
Lord could redeem and save raen from their fallen
state, it was necessary that He should descend to thera
in that state. Before He could teach them how to re
move their evils in any forra that they could understand,
and before He could impart to raen the power of his
truth and love with any saving efficacy, it was necessa
ry that He should unite himself to humanity in some
such manner that He could sensibly perceive all its
wants, weaknesses, errors and pollutions ; and, by
means of his own divine wisdom and power, deliver it
from its infernal bondage. In other words, it was ne
cessary that He should assume humanity Avith all its
27*

306 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
evil loves and false persuasions, and thus, as to that hu
manity, should put nimself in every possible state that
mau ever has been or ever can be in ; so that, having
once raet and subdued in his own assuraed huraanevery
infernal principle that ever did or ever can flow frora
hell. He might put himselfin the powerof fbrever im
parting to all who desire it, the precise instruction in
heavenly things Avhich they need, and the precise mea
sure of power which is requisite to remove their evils,
or to give them the victory over hell.
This commends itself to the rationality of raan ; and
this the Alraighty did. He descended into nature in a
bodily form, by first entering into and animating the
rudiment of a human being, agreeably to what the an
gel said to Mary as recoided in Luke, " The Holy
Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most
High shall overshadoAv thee : therefore also that Holy
thing which shall be born of thee, shall be called the
Son of God." His being born of a Avoman was strictly
according to his own, divine order ; for it Avas according
to that order which He observes in bringing all men
into the world. From the mother Me derived his ma
terial body, together with all the hereditary tendencies to
evil which appertain to fallen humanity. His inmost soul
was Jehovah God. " That the Lord " says Sweden
borg, " had a Divine and a Huraan, the Divine frora
Jehovah as Father, and the Huraan frora the virgin
Mary, is known. Thence it is that He was God and
man, and thus He had a divine essence and a human
nature, the divine essence from the Father, and the hu
man nature frora the mother : and thence He Avas equal
to the Father as to the Divine, and less than the Father
as to the Human.— He put off the Human taken from
the mother, which in itself was like the human of
another man, and thus material, arid put on a Huraan
from tha Father, which in itself Avas like his Divine,
and thus substantial, frora Avhich the Huraan also was
made Divine."'' {Doctrine ofthe Lord n. 35.)
* At the same time that the Lord was putting off the raaterial humanity
He was putting on u Divine Humanity ; and thus the very ac a by which

IX.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. 307
And when the Lord, through his own divine power
and wisdom, had fully glorified the assumed humanity,
i. e. had purged it of all its imperfections and impurities
and at the same time filkd successively every region of
it with'the essential Divinity, then the liuman was
brought at-one with the Divine. Then the Son was
glorified in the Father and the Father in the Son ;
agreeably fo the words Avhich Jesus spake shortly
before his crucifixion: "Father, the hour is come:
glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorifiy thee :
as thou hast given Him poAvcr over all fiesh, that He
should give eternal life to as raany as thou hast given
iiira. — 1 have glorified thee on the earth : I have finished
the work which thou gavest rae to do. And now, O
Father, glorify thou nie with thine own self, Avith the
glory which 1 had with thee before the world was. —
All raine are thine, and thine are mine ; and 1 am glorifi
ed in them. (John xvii. 1, 2, 4, 5, 10.) Again : " Jesus
said, uow is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glo
rified in Hira. If God be glorified in Him, God shall
also glorify Hira in hiraself, and shall straightAvay
glorily Him. (xiii. 31,32.) Then He was able to shed
down upon the souls of all raen, in a raanner and degree
that He could not before, that Holy influence Avhich is
called the Comforter or Paraclete, and Avhich he pro
mised to send from the Father (John xv. 26.) Sweden
borg reveals this heavenly arcanura in the following
language :
" The Lord came into the world, and assumed tbe
human, that He might put hiraself into the power of
He conquered the hells were also acts whereby the Hnman was deified.
Our concepiion of ihis di\ine operation may perhaps be somewhat aided
if we reflect upon how the case is in thai nalurnl phenomenon which is
called petrifaction — a process by which wood or any olher organic tub-
Etani e is changed lo sloiie. As often as a particle of the organized
sulis' ince which undergoes this operation, is removed, a panicle of niine-
r.il or silicious maner comes in and takes its place. And i hus when the
proc, s.^ IS compleled, the substance of the uood has all been removed
and replaced by mineral mailer ; yet so gradual has this process been that
the form and organic structure ofthe wood has heen completely preserved.
And ^" perlecily is this ihe case that il appears as if the wood had been
cl angrd to'sione. Sonielhing similar to this i.- alto taking place coniiiiual-
ly in our bodrcB. Particles are constantly passing off, and their place is
suppled ny new ones ; jet the form and organic structure of our bodies
ja slill preserved.

308 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
subjugating the hells, and of reducing all things to order
as Avell in the heavens as in the earths. This Human
He supsrinduced upon his forraer Human. The Hu
man which he superinduced in the Avorld, was like the
human of a raan in the world ; yet both Avere divine,
and hence infinitely transcending the finite humans of
angels and men., And because He fully glorified the
natural Human even to its ultimates, therefore He rose
again with the whole body, otherwise than any raan.
By the assumption of his human He put on the divine
omnipotence, not only of subjugating the hells and of
reducing the heavens to order, but also of holding the
hells subjugated to eternity and of saving men. This
power is understood by his sitting at the right hand of
power and virtue of God. Since the Lord, by the as
sumption of the natural Human, mr.de Himself divine
Truth in ultiraates,' therefore He is called the Word ;
and it is said that the Word was raade fiesh ; and divine
Ultiraates is the Word as to the sense ofthe letter : this
He made Himself, by the fulfilling of all things of the
Word concerning Himself in Moses and the Prophets.
For every man is his own good and his own truth ; not
from elsewhere is man man ; but the Lord, by the as
sumption of the natural Human, is divine Good and
divine Truth itself: or, Avhat is the same. He is divine
Love and divine Wisdom itself, as Avell in first princi
ples as in ultimates. Hence it is, that in the angelic
heavens He appears as a sun, after his coming into the
world with .stronger effulgence and in greater splendor,
than before his coming." {Divine Love and Wisdom
n. 221.)
Hence Ave may understand what is signified by these
words in the prophecy of Isaiah, where, speaking, of
the time ofthe Lord's advent, it is said, " Moreover the
light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and
the light ofthe sun shall be seven-fold, as the light of
seven days, in the day that the Lord bindeth up the
breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their
wound," (xxx, 26,) We may also understand, frora
the things contained in the above extract, Avhat is raeant
by the Son of Man sitting at the right had of God ; as

IX.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. 309
in Mark, " So then after the Lord had spoken unto
thera. He Avas received up into heaven, and sat on the
right hand of God." (xvi. 19.) Again in Matthew ;
" Jesus saith. Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sit
ting on the right hand of Power, and coraing in the
clouds of heaven " (xxvi. 64.) Also in the epistle to the
Hebrews it is said concerning the Son of Man, " Who,
being the brightness of glory, and the staraped impress
of his person, and upholding all things by the Avord of
his power, when He had of Hiraself purged our sins,
sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."
(i. 3.) — ' See also Mark xiv. 62, Luke xxn. 69.)
The precise meaning of these texts has not hitherto
been understood in the Church, and could not be under
stood before the internal sense of the Word was revealed.
It appears as if two distinct persons were here spoken
of, one seated at the right hand of the other. But this
is only the literal or apparent, not the spiritual and
true meaning. The internal sense shoAvs us what these
passages really signify. We knoAv that the energies of
the huinan body are determined in an eminent degree
to the right hand. The right hand is the grand instru
ment of raan's poAver — the instrument with which he
operates, and performs uses in the natural Avorld. It
therefore corresponds to the poAver of trath from love,
because it is this which gives raan spiritual power.
Truth from love is the instrument Avherewith man ope
rates spiritually^ — the instraraent Avith Avhich he fights
against evil spirits, and performs spiritual uses. And
because all truth is of God, therefore the right hand of
God signifies all the power of all truth proceeding and
operating from Divine love ; or Omnipotence and Om
niscience. That the words have this meaning is mani
fest frora many passages where they occur. Thus in
Psalms, " The right hand of Jehovah is exalted ; the
right hand of Jehovah doeth valiantly," (cxvni, 16,)
The Lord by means of divine truth is valiant against
our spiritual enemies, Avhen that truth is exalted into
the will, or united to good in our minds. Again : ' O
God, thy right hand is full of justice." (Ps. xlviii. 10.)
All the operations of God are just, because they are all

310 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
frora love, and according to trath ; thus his " right hand
is full of justice." Again : " Jehovah said unto ray
Lord, Sit thou at ray right hand, until I raake thine en
eraies thy footstool." (Ps. ex. 1.) " That these things"
says Swedenborg, " are said concerning the Lord is well
known, and thereby is described the combat of the Lord
in the world against the hells, and the subjugation of
them, Avhich was effected from divine good by divine
truth. The right hand there signifies divine truth,
wherefore it is said, ' Sit thou at my right hand, until I
raake thine enemies thy footstool.' By enemies are
signified the hells, and by raaking thera the Lord's foot
stool is signified his coraplete subjugation of them."
{Apocalypse Explained n. 298.)
But it is needless to raultiply quotations frora the
Word in confirmation of this spiritual meaning of God's
right hand. To sit signifies, in the language of corre-
s-pondence, to teach and to judge according to trath.
Wherefore by the Son's sitting at the right hand of pow
er, and at the right hand of God, is denoted the exalta
tion ofthe Lord's Human to a state of omnipotence and
omniscience, thus to a state of oneness with the DiA'ine
— endued with all wisdora to judge, and to instruct
men in the way of eternal life, and with all pi-)wer over
the evils Avhich infest huraanity. In other Avords we
are here taught, that the Lord's Huraan was raade Di
vine, and is now the raediura through Avhich Jehovah
God imparts all regenerating and saving influences,
and the instrument Avhereby He produces all spiritual
operations in heaven and on earth, just as the right
hand is the raedium or instrument through which the
mind of man puts forth its energies and produces effects
here in the natural world. Hence it is with reference
to his Glorified or Divine Humanity, that the Lord, af
ter his resurrection, says, " All poAver is given nnto me
in heaven and on earth." (Matt, xxviu. 1 8.) All power
is omnipotence. We have said that, according to the doctrines of the
New Jerusalem Church, the Lord came intp the natural
worid as the Divine Truth. And this agrees with
what is recorded in the gospel of John, where it is said

IX.] concerning the atonement. 311
that the Word, Avhich " Avas the true Light that light
eth every man coraing into the world " — which was in
the beginning with God and was God — " was made
flesh and dwelt araong us ; and avc beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only-begotten of tbe Father, full of
grace and truth." (i. 14.) That the Word here signi
fies the Lord as to the principle of Divine Truth, is
evident from its being called " the True Light Avhich
lighteth every man." And it may be said that this
divine principle was in the beginning with God, and
was God, as truly as it raay be said that light Avas in
the beginning with the sun, and that the sun is the
light of this natural world.
That Jehovah came into the world as Divine Truth,
is evident also from other passages ; as where Jesus
saith, " I am the Light of the world." (John ix. 5.)
Again : " I am come a Light into ths world, that who
soever believeth on me should not abide in darkness."
(xii. 46.) Again : " I am the Way and the Truth
and the Life." (xiv. 6.) And in the first epistle of
John : " We knoAV that the Son of God hath come, and
hath given us an understanding that we may know the
Truth, and we are in the 'Truth, in his Son Je
sus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."
(v. 20.) By the Light in the texts here cited, is evi
dently raeant the Lord as to Divine Truth. He " carae
a Light into the world ;" therefore He came as the
Divine Truth ; and yet He did not separate this from
the Divine Good.
Swedenborg says, in the True Christian Religion n.
86, 88 : " The reason why Jehovah God descended as
the Divine Truth Avns, that He might do the Avork of
rederaption ; and redemption Avas the subjugation ofthe
hells, the establishment of order in tVie heavens, and,
after this, the institution ofa church. The. Divine Good
is not competent to effect those Jhings, but the Divine
Truth from the Divine Good : the Divine Good, con
sidered in itself, is as the round hilt of a sword, or as
blunt Avood, or as a naked bow ; but the Divine Truth
frora the Divine Good is as a sharp SAVord, and as wood
in the forra of a spear, and as a bow Avith arroAvs, which

312 DOCTI{,INE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
are serviceable against an enemy. By swords, spears,
ahd bows, in the spiritual sense of the Word, also are
meant traths flghting : see ' Apocalypse Revealed,' n.
52, 298, 436, where this is demonstrated : nor could the
falses and evils in Avhich the hells were and perpetually
are, be attacked, conquered and subjugated otherwise
than by the divine truth from the Word ; nor could the
new heaven, Avhich also was then made, be founded,
formed and arranged in order by any other means ; nor
could the New Church upon earth be instituted by any
other raeans. Moreover, all the strength, all the virtue,
and all the poAver of God, is of the divine truth frora the
divine good. This was the reason why Jehovah God
descended as divine truth, which is the Word ; there
fore it is said in David, " Gird thy sword upon thy
thigh, O Mighty, and in thy honor ascend ; ride
UPON THE Word of Truth ; thy right hand will
teach thte wonderful things ; thine arrows are sharp ;
thine enemies shall fall under thee." (Psalm xiv. 4,
5, 6.) "^Phese words are concerning the Lord, and con
cerning his combats with the hells, and concerning hi's
victories over them.
" That God, although He descended as the divine
truth, still did not separate the divine g-ood, is evident
from tbe conception, concerning which it is read, that
The virtue of the Most High overshadowed Mary.
(Luke i. 35) ; and by the virtue of the Most High, is
raeant the divine good. The same is evident from the
passages, where He says that the Father is in Him, and
He in the Father ; that all things of the Father are
his ; and that the Father and He are one ; besides
many other things ; by the Father is raeant the Divine
Good." Perhaps if we duly consider the purpose of the Lord's
advent, we may be able rationally to comprehend why
He came as the Divine.Truth. Although by his coraing
He effected a judgraent upon the Jewish Church, yet '
it was from pure love and mercy to raankind that He
came. He came not to condemn the world, but to save
the world. (John iii. 17.) He came to resist, over
come, and remove all the infernal influences that in-

IX.] concerning THE ATOJSTEMENT. 313
fested humanity, and to make his Human Divine f that
so, by means of his Glorified Human, He might be
able to resist and subdue evils to all etemity in the minds
of all men Avho look to Him with faith and a spirit of
willing co-operation. Thus, to use the language of
SAvedenborg, " the Lord came into the world, that He
might reduce all things in the heavens and thence in
the earth to order, and this Avas done by combats
against the hells, which then infested every man coraing
into the world and going out of it, and hereby He be
carae righteousness and saved raankind, who without
that could not have been saA^d, as is foretold in many
passages in the Prophets."— (Z^oc^riwe ofthe Lord n. 14.)
Noav what does a good and wise father do when his
children are rebellious, and he wishes to deliver thera
frora this unhappy state 1 He chides and corrects thera
in such a manner as the truth in his understanding
may dictate. He does not approach them with tender
caresses, but as a laAv-giA^er, judge, and corrector. And
although he does this from purest love to his children,
he appears to them, meanwhile, not in the character of
an affectionate and loving father, but in the severe
character of truth judging and chastising. Never
theless the trath according to which he acts, or in th©
character of which he appears to the children, is not
separated from parental love, but proceeds from it and
is perfectly united with it in the person of the father ;
and when the children are grown wiser and better they
Avfll be able to see that it is, so.
This raay perhaps aid us in understanding why our
Father in the heavens raanifested Hiraself to His chil
dren as the Son or the Divine Truth. He could not be
brought forth to view in any other way, nor approach
thera in any other character, because of the rebellious
state of His children. ,Yet as fhe Divine Truth He
was not separated from the Divine Love except in ap
pearance. In reality the Son and the Father were ever
united in one person, as truth and goodness are united
in one mind. And the more our minds are irabued
with the wisdora which is frora Above, the raore clear
ly shall we perceive that the character of Trath explor-
28

814 doctrine of THE NEW CHURCH [LECTi
ing, judging and combating, in which the Lord came
into the world, was the truest possible manifestation of
the Divine Love. Thus the Father is manifest in the
'Son. As it is written, " The only-begbtton Son whieh
is in the bosom, of the Father, He hath brought Him
forth to view." (John i. 18.)
Moreover the coming of the Lord into this natural
world as the Divine Truth, represented his spiritual
advent to the Church, and to every raind that receives
Him spiritually ; for his birth in time and nature cor
responds perfectly with his spiritual birth in the minds
of raen. He always comes to us first aS the Trath ex
ploring, judging, and fighting against our evfls. The
beginning of every spiritual creation in man is described
by these words, " God said. Let there be light, and ther©
was light." (Gen. i. 3.) Truth is the forra in which
the Divine Love ever first manifests itself to our minds,
" convincing us of sin, of righteousness, and of judg
ment ;" just as affections must erabody theraselves ih
thoughts before they can raanifestiy appear. When the
truth first has birth in our minds, it appears as a tyran
nical raaster fhat wishes to rule us with a rod of iron.
It causes us much trouble by revealing and judging our
evil inclinations ; and appears to us by no means love
ly or from love, but harsh and severe. Nevertheles the
Divine Love is in it — the Father is in the Son, though
we do not see Him. The Divine Trath in our under
standing, by virtue of the Divine Love that dwells in it,
is perpetually struggling against the evil affections
which appertain to our natural will ; and when our
evil loves are overcome and removed by means of' the
truth, then the opposite heavenly loves enter and have
place in the will, and the union of love and truth, or of
Father and Son which has always existed in the Divine
Being, becomes manifest to our minds. Then, in our
minds the Father is glorified in the Son, and we under
stand the meaning of these words, " No man coraeth
unto the Father but by me," (John xiv. 6.) ; for we see
that there is no other way of subduing our evil inclina-
ti'ons, and thus coming into a state of genuine love, but
by means of the truth : — no way of coming unto the

ix;.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. 315
Father but by the Son. But before we are regenerated
the truth in our minds is in subjection to our natural
evil loves. Thus the Son or Divine Truth in us is in
a state of humiliation, yet ever struggling against our
erils— praying as it were for a raanifest union with the
Father. And this leads us to speak of the tAvo states,
which, according to the doctrines of the New Church,
the Lord had while in the Avorld ; the one a state of
humihation, and the other a state of glorification. First,
we will see what Swedenborg says upon this point.
" Now because the Lord had frora the begining a hu
man from the mother, and successively put off this, there
fore while He was in the Avorld, He had two states, which
are called the state of humiliation or exinanition, and the
state of glorification or union with the Divine, which is
called the Father. The state of humiliation was at the
time and in the degree that He was in the human frora
the raother ; and the state of gloriflcation at the time
and in the degree that He was in the Human from the
Father. In the state of humiliation He prayed to the
Father, as to one different from Himself; but in the state
of gloriflcation He spoke with the Father as with Him
self. In this state He said that the Father was in Him,
and He in the Father, and that the Father and He Avere
one ; hut in the state of humiliation He underwent
teraptations and suffered the cross, and prayed that the
Father might not forsake Hira ; for the Divine could
not be tempted, and still less suffer the cross. From
these things now it is raanifest, that by teraptations, and
continual victories thera, and by the passion of the cross,
which was the last of the teraptations, He fully con
quered the hells, and fully glorified the Unman."— {Doc*
trine of the Lord, n. 35.) j
We knoAV that tiiere has been much controversy in
the Old Church concerning what has been called the
double nature of Jesus Christ. Unitarians have ob^
jected to the doctrine which is commonly held upon this
subject, as being absurd and impossible ; afiirming that
it would thence of necessity follow, that the Lord must
have had, two souls, a double consciousness, &c. But
the doctrines of the New Church explain this difiiculty

•316 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
in a manner perfectly satisfactory, because consistent
both with reason and Scripture. They teach, that,
¦as man was originally created after the image and like
ness of God, so he is now re-Created or regenerated after
the iraage and likeness of the Lord's Glorification. Now
how is the case with raan while he is becoraing regen
erated ? He has two states, oneof the internal or spirit
ual man which perceives the trath, loves it, and Avills to
obey it ; and the other of the extemal or natural man
which wills to gratify the cravings of self-love, and so to
-violate the truth- And the man, at different tiraes dur
ing his regeneration, is in each of these states. Sorae
times he is let into an elevated state, or the state of the
spiritual man ; his evils are all quiescent, he loves
nothing but what is good and true, and appears as to his
intemal quality to dwell only Avith the angels — to be
fully regenerated ; and in that state he is regenerate,
for it is a state of the spiritual man Avhen he is with
drawn from externals. At other tiraes he is let into the
evil state of the natural raan ; the sweet influences of
the angels appear to be withdraAvn from him, and he is
beset on all sides Avith infernal spirits ; he seeras to have
no love but what is evil. Soraetiraes also the raan per
ceives in himself these two states at one iand the sarae
time; as if he had two distinct wills, one of what is
good and the other of -what is evfl.
The two states of which we have spoken, and which
indicate as it Avere two minds, are mentioned by the
apostle, and described by hira in these woods : " I find
then a law that when I would do good, evil is present
¦with rae. For I delight in the law of God after the in
ward man .: but I see another law in ray raembers, war
ring against the laAV of ray raind, and bringing rae into
-capTivity to the law of sin." (Rora. viL 21, 22, 23.)
In another place the same apostle says, " For the flesh
lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh ;
and these are contrary the one to the other." (Gal. v.
17.) Now that the apostle does not here mean by the
Jlesh man's material body, but the external or natural ,
mind in contradistinction to what he calls " the inward
iinan," is manifest from -.some of the things which h&

IX.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT.* 317
afterwards raentions as "the works of the flesh ;" such
are hatredsj^ emulations, wrath, strife, envyings, &c.; all
of Avhich proceed not frora the raaterial body, but evi
dently from the natural or unregenerate mind.
Indeed every one must be conscious of these two
states or minds in himself ; one of the spiritual man,
which perceives, loves, and wills to do what is right ;
the other of the natural man, which loves and wills to
do the very opposite. And the reason of this is, because
there is a heaven and a hell, and man, while living in
this world, is between the two ; i. e. he is so situated as
to receive into his raind an influx of principles frona
both, and these are exactly opposite in their nature ; and
in every man who is becoming regenerated, each is con
tending for the mastery. "Michael and his angels
fought against the dragon ; and the dragon fought and
his angels." (Rev. xii. 7.) Even Unitarians recognize
the existence of these two states or minds in raan, as is
manifest from their frequently speaking of our higher
and lower nature. They never think of this language
as involving any thing impossible or absurd, but as ex
pressing a universally acknowledged truth ; and yet it
seems to indicate their belief of a double nature in raan.
But because of these two conflicting states or rainds of
which a man is conscious Avithin himself, he is not two
persons, nor has he two separate souls or conscious
nesses ; but both of them together constitute the condi»,
tion of one person as yet but partially regenerated.*
* " There are ia man," says Swedenborg, " two minds, the one superior
or interior, which is called the spiritual mind, and the other inferior or ex
terior, which is ealled the natural mind. The natural mind in man is first
opened and caltivated, because this is proximately eitant to the world ; the
spiritual mind is opened and cultivated afterwards, but only in proporrioH
as man in life receives the knowledges of truth from t'he Woisd, or fromdoc-
• trine derived from the Word, wherefore it is not opened with those who da
not apply those knowledges to life. When the spiritual mind is opened;
then the light of heaven flows in, through that mind, into tire natural mind',
and illuminates it, by .virtue whereof this mind becoraes spiritual-natural,
for the spiritual mind then sees in the natural, nearly in the same manner
as a man sees his face in a mirror, and thence it acknowledges those things
which agree with itself; but when the spiritual mind is not opened, as is the
¦case with those who do not apply to life the knowledges -of good and truth
which are in the 'Word, then there is still a mind formed inwa>tdly in the
natural, but this mind consists ef mere evils and falsities. The reason 1%
because the spiritual mind not being opened, the light of heaven is not let
lin into the inatiual miud by .the right or direct way, but only ,lfaiauj;h chinks
28*

^318 DOCTRINE OF THE NE'W CHtTRCTa; l^LECJT-
;What were these two states in the Lord Jesus Christ
-when on earth ? This question has already been
answered in the above extract from .Swedenborg's doc
trine of the Lord. They were his state -of glorification
¦and of humiliation. And to these two states which the
Lord had while in this world, those <of man perfectly
¦correspond. The spiritual, wliHch is'at the time and in
the degree that man is withdrawn from the loves of self
and the world, and is under the infiuence of heavenly
¦affections, corresponds to the Lord's state of glorification,
which was " at the tirae and in the degree that He was
in the Human from the Father ;" and the natural,
which is at the time and in the degree that man is let
'into his hereditary evils, and heavenly things are sub
ordinated in his mind, corresponds to the Lord's state of
' humiliation, which was " at the time and in the degree
that He was in the huraan from the raother." And
when man, by means of truth and power from the
Lord, has reraoved from his natural will all its perverse
and evfl inclinations, and has thus brought his natural
man into su^h a state of agreement or oneness with
the spiritual, that they ?both will the same things and
act as it were spontaneously in union, then he has the
¦at-one-ment in himself; and his state corresponds to
¦that of the Lord when " it Avas finished " — the hells
were all subjugated— 'the Human brought at-one with
the Divine: — when the Son was glorified v/ith the
Father's own self, " Avith the glory which He had with
'Him before the world was." (John xvii. 5.)
^ound about, whenceman has {he faculty of thinking, of reasoning, and
of speakingi'Hnd also the faculty of understanding truths, but still he has
not the faculty of loving tbem, or of doing them from aflfection ; for the
faculty of loving truths because they are truths, can only be given by the
iinflux of the light oC heaven through the spiritual mind; for the light of '
heaven flowing in through thespiritual mind is conjoined with the heat of
'heaven, 'Which is love, and ¦ may' be compared to the light' of the world in
'the time of spring ; but the hght of heaven flowing only throngh chinks into
¦the natural principle, is a light separated from the heat of heaven, which
•is love, andis comparatively as the light of the^ world in the time of winter.
Hence it may be'evident, thatthe man in whom the spiritual' niind is open-
<ed, is as a garden and a paradise ; -and that he in'whom the spiritual mind ib
Tiot opened, is as a desert, and as land coveredwith snow ; inasmuch as the
'mind makes l;he man, forthe mind-of man consists of understanding and
will; 'hence it is tlie>^same thing whether we use the expression mind > or
anan, or whether we say Jthe spiritual and natural-mind, or. the-^piritiMl antt
laaturalman."— (Apocailjpse Explamed n. 406,)

'IX.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT, 319
Whoever therefore reflects upon the two states which
every man has while undergoing regeneration, and re
members at the sarae time that our 'regeneration is an
image of the Lord's glorification, will readily perceive
why the Savior sometiraes prayed when on earth, and
spake of Himself as if He were, as te person, distinct
from and inferior to the Father ; for in bis state of hu
miliation, when He was in the raaternal human before
that human was glorified. He was separate from and in
ferior to the Father, as the natural man is separate from
and inferior to the spiritual raan before they have been
brought at-one by regeneration.
We have repeatedly said, that, according to the doc
trines ofthe New Church, raan's regeneration is an image
of the Lord's glorification. By this is meant that the
Lord overcomes and removes the ervils appertaining to
the natural man, in all who really desire it and are wil
ling to co-operate with Him in this work, after the same
manner that He overcame and removed the hereditary
evils from the natural huraanity which He assumed.
He makes our natural man spiritoial, in a manner cor
responding to that whereby He made, his own Huraan
Divine. That this is so, is raanifest frora liis own words
to his disciples : "And Jesus said nnto thera, verily I
say unto you, that ye which have followed m,e in the
regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit upon the
throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matt. xix. 28.)
Again-: ^' Jesus said unto his disciples, If any man
will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross, and follow me." (xAsi, 24,) Again : " My
sheep hear ray voice, and I know them and they follow
me; and I give unto -f hem etemal life." (John x. 27,
28.) Again : " I am the Light of the world : lie that
followeth 'me shall not walk in -darkness, but shall have
the light of life." (viii. 12.) Now from these and other
simflar texts we learn that it is necessary to follow the
Eord in order to become regenerated or'to -receive "the
light of life." And to follow Him must evidentiy de-
.note the doing of things siraflar. to what He did. It
^must mean that we-are to figkt -against and .remove -the

320 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
'evils and falses appertaining to our natural man, as He
fought against and removed the evfls and falses which
¦appertained to his natural or assumed humanity.*
Again, the Lord says conceming his disciples : " And
for their sakes I sanctify rayself." These words clearly
show that there was soraething in the Lord when on
earth which needed sanctifying — soraething w-hich
was not yet pure and holy. Hence they piust have been
said in reference not to his Divine but to his assuraed
huraan nature ; for this, like the huraan of other men,
was by inheritance full of impure and unhallowed
'Principles, which needed to be subdued or put away.
It was the Lord's maternal human therefore which re
quired to be sanctified. And the reason for his sancti
fying this, appears in the last clause of the sarae verse :
" That they also m,ight be sanctified through the
truth." Frora these words we infer, not only that raan
from natural is made spiritual in a manner analogous to
that whereby the Lord made his H-uman Divine, but
also that huraan sanctification or regeneration proceeds
frora and is dependent* upon the Lord's sanctification,
and is effected by means of the truth proceeding from
his glorified Human. It was for our sakes — for the
sake of our purification from evil loves, and our conse-
tjuent regeneration — " that we also might be sanctified
through the truth" — that the Lord sanctified himself
or made his Human Divine.
That man's regeneration is an iraage of the Lord's
Glorification is also taught in the writings of the apos
tles. Thus Peter says : " For even hereunto were ye
called : because, Christ also suffered for us, leaving
* It is taught in the writings ofthe New Church, that man does not and
cannot remove evils of himself ; but the Lord alone can do this. Neverthe
less that man ought to fight against them as of himself, while in heart he
acknowledges that it is the Lord who does it for him and in him. Sweden
borg says :
" The man who fights against evils, raust needs fight as of himself ; other
wise he does not fight, but stands hke an automaton, seeing nothing and
•doing nothing; inwhich state, from the evil in which ht) is, he continually
thinks in favor of evil, and not against it. But still it is well io be attended
to, that the Lord alone fghts in man against evils, and that it only appears to
man as if he fought of nimself, and that the Lord is willing it should so ap
pear, inasmuch as ivithout snch appearance there could be no combat, and
¦consequently no reformation. "¦^(jDoci^/ine g/'ii/e,n,96.)

:?S;.] CONCERNING THE ATONEMENT. 321
iis an example ihat ice should folloxo his steps"*
(1 Pet. ii. 21.) Now the 'steps by which 'the Lord glo
rified his Human were a series of temptation combats,
or a constant warfare against those infernal principles
•of which his maternal Irumanity was full. Thus we
read in three of the Evangelists of his teraptations in
the wilderness for forty days und forty nights, and how
He resisted the tempter. Wilderness, in corresponden
tial language, denotes the state of the natural man, or
one wherein is a destitution of good and truth ; andthe
number forty denotes a full state frora beginning to end.
Hence the forty days ahd nights, during which it is
.said the Lord was in the wilderness terapted of the
Devil, signify all the states of teraptation which He
endured while on earth — 'the last of which was the
passion Of the cross. It was by raeans of these tempta
tions admitted into his human, that He conquered the
hells, and at the same time put off successively the ma
ternal huraanity and put on a Divine Huraanity. And
it Avas the hereditary CAtils in his assumed humanity,
that rendered Him subject to ' teraptation. Absolute
Perfection, or Divinity itself, could not be tempted;
-" for God," says the apostle, " cannot be tempted with
evil." (James i. 3.) Even a perfectly regenerate man
is beyond the reach of temptation ; for "every man is-
terapted when he is drawn away of his own lust and
enticed." (i. 14.) Upon this subject of temptations
whereby the Lord made his Human Divine, Sweden
borg remarks :
" Temptations are nothing else than corabats against
evils and falsest and because evils and falses are from
hell, they are also combats, against hell. There are al
so with raen Avho undergo spiritual temptations, evil
* " The reason,'- says Swedenborg, " why a comparison is madii of the
members of the church with the [.ord himself, when it is said, ' To hini that
-overcometh will I grant to sit vvith me in my throne, even as I also over
came and am set down with my Father in his throne,' is, because the life
the Lord upon earth, was an example according to which the members of
tiie churcli were to live, as the Lord himself also teaches in John ; ' For I
have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you,'
I (xiii, 15.) And hence it is that the "Lord himself.in other p.irts of Scripture,
makes a comparison between himself and his disciples ; as in John xv, %
IB ; xvii, 16,18.; xx. 21,.&o. — (Apocalypse Explained a. iii.)

322 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT*
spirits frora hell, who induce thera. Man does not
know that evil spirits induce temptations ; yet it has
been given rae to know, frora much experience, that
they do. Hence it is, that a raan, when frora the Lord
he conquers in teraptations, is drawn out of hell and
•elevated into heaven ; thence it is that man, by tempta^
tions or corabats against evils, becomes spiritnal, thus
an angel. But the Lord fought from his own poAver
against all the hells, and utterly subdued and subjugated
thera ; and by having at the sarae tirae glorified his
Huraan, He keeps thera forever subdued and subju
gated. For before the coming of the Lord, the hells
had risen to such a height, that they began to infest the
very angels of heaven, and likewise every man coraing
into the world, and going out of the world. The rea
son that the hells had risen to such a height, was, be
cause the church was utterly devastated ; and the men.
of the world, from ido'atries, were in raere falses and
•evils, and the hells are from men ; thence it was, that,
unless the Lord had corae into the world, no man could
liave been saved. These combats of the Lord are
much treated of in the Psalms of David and in the
Prophets, and a littie in the Evangelists. Those corabats
are what are raeant by the teraptations, which the Lord
endured, the last of which was the passion of the cross.
It is frora them that the Lord is called Savior, and Re
deeraer. This is so far known in the church, that they
say that the Lord conquered death, or the devfl, that is,
hell, and that He rose again victorious ; as also, that
without the Lord there is no salvation. That He also
glorified his Huraan, and that thereby He becarae a
Savior, Redeeraer, Reformer, and Regenerator, forever,
will be seen in what follows. That the Lord became a
Savior by cofnbats or temptations, is evident frora the
passages adduced above, n. 12-14, in abundance, and
frora this in Isaiah : ' The day of vengeance is in ray
heart, and the year of my redeemed is corae ; I
have trodden thera down in ray anger, I have brought
(down their strength to the earth, therefore He be
came THEIR Savior.' Ixiii. 4,'6, 8. The combats of
sthe Lord are .treated of in that <;hapter. And in David ;

IX.] CONCERNIN© THE ATONEMENT. 323
' Lift up your heads, ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye
everlasting doors, that the King of Glory raay corae
in. Who is this King OF Glory? Jehovah strong
AND mighty, Jehovah mighty in battle.' Psalm
xxiv. 7, 8. These also are conceming the Lord. —
{Doctrine ofthe Lord n. 33.)
The apostles also speak of the Lord's teraptations
while He was in the act of glorifying the human, as
being a pattern of our own while we are becoming re
generated. They tell us that " in all things it behooved
Him to be made like unto his brethren, that He inight
be a raerciful and faithful high priest : — For in that He
hiraself hath suffered, being tempted, He is able to suc
cour them that are tempted." (Heb. ii. 17, 18.) They
tell us that He is " not an high priest which cannot be
tcJcuhed with the feeling of our infirmities ; but was in
all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin." (iv.
15.) By means of these teraptations He successively
sanctified hiraself — removed from his assumed hu
manity all its hereditary evils, and filled it Avi h his own
Divinity. And this is what the Apostle evidently
means by his dying unto sin. (See Rora. vi. 10.) And
that it is necessary for us to do the sarae thing in be
coraing regenerated, he plainly teaches in these words :
" Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we
shall also live with Him " {v. 8.) " and again : " If we
have been planted together in the likeness ofhis death,
we shall be also [in the likeness] of his resurrection.
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin." {v. 5. 6.)
It is thus and only thus that we can becorae regene
rated and saved — by enduring teniptations as the Lord
endured thera — by becoraing " dead with Christ front
the elements of this world" — ^by being "planted together
in the likeness of his death" — by dying unto sin as He
died, that we may also live with Him unto righteous
ness — ^by fighting against hell as He fought — resisting
and subduing the evils of our natural wfll, and thus
losing our own proper life that we may flnd true life
from the Lord. In this manner, (if we acknowledge

324 doctrine of the. new CHirRCH [lecjei
the Lord as our Regenerator and Savior) our natural
man is gradually and successively brought at-one with
the spiritual man, as He brought his Human at-one
Avith the Divine. And thus we receive the at-one-ment.
(see Rom. v.. ii.) And it is through Him that we receive
it; for all this work of regeneration is effected in ua
thrbugh the mediating power and influence of the
Truth which continually proceeds from his Divine
Humanity to wash and purify our souls from sin; which
truth, in its proceeding from the Glorified Huraan, was
beautifully symbolized by the blood and water which
floAved from his side after the crucifixion. "Blood and
water in this passage," says Swedenborg; " denote divine
truth, spiritual and natural, thus the Word in the spi
ritual and natural sense ; and to pierce the Lord's side
is to destroy both by falses,. as was also done by the
Jcavs ; fbr all things of the Lord's passion represented
the state ofthe Jewish church as to the Word, on which
subject see the Doctrine of the Ncav Jerusalera concern
ing the Lord, n. 15-17. The reason why piercing hira,,
signifies to destroy the Word by falses, is,, because this
is said pf Jesus Christ, who presently after is called the
Son of M.in, and by the Son of Man is raeant the Lord
as to the Word ; therefore to pierce the Son of Man is to
do the sarae to the Word." {Apocalypse Revealed,
n. 26.)
The divine truth therefore, which proceeds frora the
Divine Humanity, is what is signified by the blood of
Christ. It is this truth Avhich reveals our evil loves,
and is thus the means of cleansing our minds of their
spiritual impurities. " This is that blood qf the New.
Testament which is shed for many for the remission of
sins. (Mat. xxvi. 28.) This is that " blood of Jesus
Christ which cleanseth us from all sin"; (1 John, i. 7)
— that blood whereby alone we are redeeraed, regene
rated, and saved. For it is written, " Except ye eat the
flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, ye have no
life in you." (John vi. 53.)
' From what has beeh said we may also understand
why it is that we are said to be reconciled and saved by
the cross of Christ. For by his cross is denoted terap-

IX,] concerning the atonement. 325

«

tations such as He endured -when on earth. And in
becoming regenerated it is necessary for. us to endure
similar temptations. It is necessary that Ave should be
assailed as He was by the poAvers of darkness, and that
we should resist them in the strength of the Lord :—
thus that •we should take up our cross and follow Him-
For in no other way can the life of self-love be extin
guished, and the loves of heaven be implanted within
us. Hence the Lord saith : " If any, man will come
after me, let him deny hiraself, and take up his cross,
and follow rae. For whosoever will save his life shall
lose it ; and whosoever will lose his life for my sake,
shall find it." (Mat. xvi. 24, 25.)
It may also be understood, from what has been said,
how the Lord bore our sins and, carried our iniquities ;
for these are all evils frora hell ; and the Lord in
glorifying the Huraan, bore the assaults of all the hells ;
and He bears their assults now — He fights for us and in
us again.st infernal spirits, as often as we look to 'Him
and shun evils as sins. Upon this subject SAvedenborg
remarks thus in the Arcana Celestia n. 9937 :
" That it is said ofthe Lord, that He carried sins; for
the human race, it is known in the Church, but still it
is unknown what is evidentiy carrying iniquities and
sins ; it is believed by some that it denotes, that He took
into Himself the sins of the human race, and suffered
Hiraself to be conderaned even to the death of the cross,
and that thus, because daranation for sins was cast upon
Him, mortals are liberated frora damnation ; also tbat
daranation was taken away by the Lord through the
fulfilling of the laAV, since the law would have damned
every one, who did not fulfil it ; but by carrying in
iquity are not raeant those things, since every man's
deeds remain with him after death, andthen heis judg^
ed according to their quality either to life or to death ;
and therefore they cannot be taken away by transfer to
another who carries them ; hence it is evident that by
carrying iniquities soraething else is meant ; but what
,is meant may be raanifest from the carrying itself of
iniquities or of sins by the Lord ; for the Lord carries
those things when He fights for raan; against the hells,.
29

326 doctrine of the Nfiw church [lect.
•
forraan of hiraself cannot fight against thera, but the
Lord alone doeth this, also continually for every raan,
with a difference according to the reception of Divine
Good and Divine Truth : the Lord when .He was inthe
world fought against all the hells, and altogether sub
dued thera ; hence also He was made justice ; thus He
redeemed those fiom daranation, who receive Divine
Good and trath frora Himself: unless this had been
effected by the Lord, no fiesh' could have been saved,
for the heUs are continually with man, and have domi
nion over him, so far as the Lord doth not remove them;
and He so far removes them, as man desists from evils ;
he who once conquers the hells, conquers thera to eter
nity and that this might be. effected by the Lord, He
made His Human [principle] Divine ; Hetherefore who
alone fights for raan against the hells, or what is the
sarae thing, against evils and falses, for these are frora
the hells, He is said to carry sins, for he alone sustains
that burden : ' the reason why by carrying sins is also
signified the reraoval of evils and falses frora those who
are in good is, because this is a consequence, for so far
as the hells are removed frora inan, so far evils and falses
are removed, for the latter and the former, as was said
are frora the hells ; evils and falses are sins and in
iquities." From what has been said in this lecture, it raay be
seen not only that the doctrine ofthe New Church con
cerning the Atonement is in agreement both with reason
and Scripture, but that it is also of the highest practical
importance. It is the doctrine of the deification of the
Lord's Human, and involves the whole doctrine of man's
regeneration. It teaches us how the Human and the
Divine were brought at-one in the Lord, and thence
how the natural and the spiritual raan are to be brought
at-one in us. It teaches how the Lord put off the
creaturely Human derived frora the raother and put on
a Divine Human from the Father, and thence hoAV we
are to " put off the old raan with his deeds," and to " put
on the new man Avhich is renewed after the image of
Him that created us." It teaches how Divine Love and

IX.] concerning the atonement. 327
Divine Wisdom were brought at-one in the Divine Hu
manity, and thence how the Avill and the understanding
or goodness and truth are to be brought at-one in our
rainds. It teaches how the Lord sanctifled Himself,
and to what end — "that we also might be sanctified
through the truth." Thus it teaches that we become
images and likenesses of the Lord only in the degree
that we follow Him in the regeneration ; — in the de
gree that Ave shun evils as sins, and thus have charity
and faith united in our minds, — our natural brought at
one with our spiritual man and our wills brought at-one
with the Lord's will. And that so far as we love
and love to do the truth, we f receive the at-one-ment "
and are saved by the blood of Christ.

\-

328 doctrine of the new chttrgh [leGt;

LECTURE X.

THE-DOCTHINE of the new JERUSALEM CHURCH
concerning the RESURECTION, WITH A BRIEF
VIEW OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD.

•There is a natural body, and thire is a spiritual body."
1, Cor. XV. 44.

It Avas stated in our last lecture that trath always re
ceives a coraplexion, raore or less strongly colored, frora
the character of the raind into which it falls. As a raan
must see natural objects with his oavu eyes if he see
them at all, so he raust apprehend truth with his oavu
understanding if he apprehend it at all. And since, if
the eye be diseased, it raay see objects double, distorted,
variously colored, or in great obscurity, so ifthe under
standing be perverted, it will either not see the truth at
all, or see it very obscurely, or in a strangely colored and
distorted form. Thus the appearance, to any one, of
absolute truth, must ever depend on the character or
state of his own raind. If spiritual truths fall into
minds of a sordid mould, straightway they are ma
terialized. Like the minds which receive thera, the
truths theraselves becorae " qf the earth, earthy."
Thus Avhen the Lord said unto his disciples, " Take
heed and heware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of
the Sadducees," (Mat. xvi. 6,) they supposed that He
spake of the leavep of raaterial bread, " and reasoned
among theraselves, saying, it is because Ave have taken
no bread {v, 7.) When He spake to the woman of
Samaria who came to draw water at Jacob's well, and

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 329
said unto her, " If thou knewest the gift of God, and
who it is that saith to thee, give rae to drink, thou
wouldst have asked of Hira and He Avould have given
thee living water ;" the woman, supposing that He refer
red to natural Avater, replied, " Sir, thou hast nothing to
draw with, and the well is deep : from whence then
hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our
father Jacob, Avho gave us the well, and drank thereof
himself, and his chfldren, and his cattie?" (John iv. 10,
11, 12.) When He said to the Jewish ruler, " Except
a man be bom again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,"
Nicoderaus supposed that He referred to natural birth,
and replied, " How can a raan be born when he is old ?
Can he enter a second time into his raother's worab and
be born ?" (John in. 3, 4,) And when on another oc
casion He declared " I ara the living bread that came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he
shall live forever ; and the bread that I will give is ray
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world," the
Jews supposed that He spake of material flesh, and there
fore strove among themselves saying, " How can this
raan give us his flesh to eat?" (John'vi. 51, 52.) And
even " his disciples raurraured at it," thinking it " an
hard saying." Wherefore Jesus said unto thera, " It is
the spirit that quickeneth : the flesh proflteth nothing ;
the words that I speak unto you are spirit and are
life." {v 63.)
Such is the prevailing tendency of the natural man
to materialize the things of heaven. As the apostle hath
AA'-ell said, " he receiveth not the things of the spirit of
God, for they are foolishness unto him ; neither can he
know thera, because they are spiritually discerned."
(1 Cor. ii. 14.) He is ever ready to drag down the
spritual truths of the Word to a level with his own car
nal conceptions. Hence it is written : " If thine eye be
single (or sound) thy whole body shall be full of light ;
but if thine eye be evil (or diseased) thy whole body
shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is
in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness !" (Mat.
vi. 22, 23.) This is an eternal law of the human
raind. 29*

330 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
The first Christian church, on account of its sensual
character, has ever been prone to materialize spiritual
trath; and has therefore intei-preted the Scriptures for
the most part in a manner conformable to its own gross
and sensual ideas. Accordingly it has been believed in
that Church that heaven is far off from this natural
•world — away up in the sky — because in the literal sense
of the Word it is often spoken of as being above or oti
high. Because the letter of the Word speaks of the
passing away of the former heaven and the former earth,
and the appearing of new ones, therefore it has been be
lieved that this natural earth and the heavens visible
above our heads are all to be destroyed, and new ones
created in their place. Because, in the literal sense,, Ave
-read of a second appearing of the Lord upon the clouds
of heaven to judge the world, therefore the Church has
believed that at some remote period there would be a
-general judgment day, when all these things would be
literally fulfllled. Because the literal sense appears to
¦teaCh, that, when this general judgment day comes, the
wicked Avill be cast into a lake of raaterial fire and
brimstone, therefore this also has been believed and
taught in the Church. And because we read of a resur-
arection from the dead, and the carnal mind cannot con
ceive of any resurrection save that of the raaterial body,
therefore it has been believed and taught that the souls
of men, at the general judgment day, Avould be reunited
to their former clay tenements, and thus the human race
would be raised in their raaterial bodies. In this way
the first Christian church, forgetting that the Lord's
words " are spirit and life," and interpreting thera agree
ably to its own material conceptions, has gradually de
stroyed the vitahty of the Word, and thus finally de
stroyed itself.
But the doctrines revealed for the use of the Lord's
New Church upon all these subjects, are very different.
These doctrines teach us that the spiritual world is not
far off, as to space, but is within the natural world as
the soul is within the body. They teach that the pass
ing away of the forraer heaven and earth, and the ap
pearance of a new one, denotes the passing away from

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 331
the interiors and also from, the exteriors of men's minds,
of the principles and doctrines which they have imag
ined to be the essential constituents of a true church —
thus the passing away of the Old and the coming of a
New Church. They teach that the coraing of the Lord
upon the clouds of heaven in judgment, denotes not a
personal appearing of Him upon the material clou'ds,
but such a luminous exhibition of the truth of his Word
which is himself, through the obscurity of the natural
understanding or the clouds of the literal sense, as to
manifest and judge the evils of men. They teach that
the judgment day is not far distant, but that a particu
lar judgment according to the truth that each one has
is. constantly, in progress, and that a final judgement
commences with every one as soon as he is removed
from the natural to the spiritual world. They teach
that all who are in the spiritual world, devils as well as
angels, are arranged into societies according to the qual-
i<-y of their affections, i. e, according to the spiritual af
finity which they have for each other ; and that the
state of the wicked, whose minds are imbued with false
persuasions and in whose bosom forever burns the fire
of evil loves, is described, in the language of correspond
ence, by a lake of fire and brimstone wherein the evil
are said to be cast. Finally these doctrines of heaA'^en
teach, that the souls of men will never be reunited to
their material bodies, but that every one has a spiritual
and substantial body within his fleshly tabernacle, in
which spiritual body he rises imraediately after death,
and lives forever. Whence it may be seen in sorae
measure how widely the doctrines of the New Church
differ from those of the Old.
Before explaining the doctrine of the New Church
concerning the Resurrection, it may be proper and
useful to adopt the course Avhich has been pursued
in former lectures, viz., to consider first the doctrine oil
this subject which has been comraonly received and
taught in the Old Church. In this Avay, by presenting
the two doctrines as it were side by side, we may be
the better able to determine which of them is true and
which imaginary. Both truth and error usually appear

332 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
more palpable Avhen placed in contrast with each other.
Swedenborg says : " All truth is made manifest by re
lation to its opposite."
It has comraonly been believed and taught in the
Old Church, that, at sorae future period (few have un
dertaken to say when) this natural world would be
destroyed, and a new one be created : — that then the
souls of those who had once lived upon the earth would
be reunited to their forraer raaterial bodies, and a gen
eral judgment would be executed upon all men : pre
vious to Avhich general judgment, it has been believed
that the souls of men would remain in a kind of sleepy
or torpid state — existing, yet not conscious of their ex
istence. Some hoAvever, who hold that the material
body will rise at the general judgment day, believe that
the soul will enjoy a conscious state of existence pre
vious to that event. The " Confession of Faith" used
by the Presbyterian Church in the United States, treat
ing of man's state immediately after death, says :
" The souls of the righteous, being then raade per
fect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens,
where they behold the face of God in light and glory,
vjaitingfor the full redemption of their bodies ; and
the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they
remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved for the
judgment of the great, day" (Chap, xxxii. § 1.)
Again it is said in the same work ; " At the last day
such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed :
And all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same
bodies, and none other, although with different quali
ties, which shall be united again to their souls forever."
(Ibid. §2.)
This language plainly indicates a belief, (which there
is good reason for supposing is very prevalent in the
Old Church) that the souls of men are certain ethereal
essences, Avithout form, and yet possessing conscious
ness.* For if men exist in any form iramediately after
* " Concerning the state of souls after death," says Swedenborg, " these
things, in general and in particular, are at this day believed ; that human
souls after death are spirits, of which they, cherish an idea as of a breath of
wind ; and that, because they are such, they are reserved until the day of

X.]

CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 333

death, that form milst be to thera as a body of some kind or
other ; and we shouldsupposeit wou Id be in human shape.
Nor are we able to understand hoAV any being can enjoy
a conscious state of existence, unless at the samo tirae he
be conscious of existing in some form. We know that
nothing in the natural world can receive or reflect the
rays ofthe sun, unless it exist in some form ; and Ave
cannot iraagine how any being in the spiritunl worid
can enjoy a conscious existence, unless he be a forra
organized for the reception of love and wisdom which
proceed frora the Lord as the Sun of the spiritual world ;
for without such reception of the proceeding Divine,
there can be no conscious life. Because pur affections
and thoughts appear like some ethereal things without
form, it does not follow by any means that we could
either love or think (indeed it is manifest that we could
the last judgment, either in the middle of the earth, where their place is, or
in the Limbo of the fathers. But in these Ihings they differ : some suppose
that they are ethereal or serial forras, and that thus they are like ghosts and
spectres, and that some of them dwell in the air; some in ;the woods, and
some in the waters ; but some suppose that the souls of the deceased are
transferred tothe planets or tothe stars,- and there abodes are given lo them ;
an^ some that, after thousands of years, they relurn into bodies. But most
suppose that they ate reserved to the time when all the firmament, together
with the terraqueous globe, will be destroyed, which will be effected by
fire, either bursting forth from the centre ofthe earth, or cast down from
heaven, hke a universal Ughtning ; and that then the sepulchres will be
Opened, and the souls which have been reserved, clothed again with their
bodies, and transferred Into tliat holy city Jerusalem, and thus, upon another
earth, they will dwell together^ in purified bodies, some below there, and
sorae above, because the height of the city is to be twelve thousand fur
longs, as its length and breadth,! Kev, xxi. 16.
" When any of the clergy or laity are asked whether they firmly believe
all those things, as that the antediluvians, together with Adam nnd l.ve,
and the postdiluvians, together withiNoah and his sons, and also Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, together with all lhe prophets and apostles, as well as the
souls of other men, are still reserved in t!ie mid die of the earlh, or are flying
about in the ether or air ; and also whether they believe that souls will be
clothed again vvith their bodies, and become united with them, which yet
are carcasse.s eaten up by worms, mice and fishes, and those ofthe Kgyp-
tians, aa mommies, eaten up by men, and some raerely skeletons, burnt up
bythe sun, and reduced to powder ; and likewise whet'-ier they believe
that the stars of heaven will then fall upon the earth, which yet is smaller
than one of them : are not such things paradoxes, which reason itself dis
sipates, as it does things that are contradictory ? But to these things sorae
answer nothing ; sorae, that those are raatters uf faith, under obedience to
which we keep the understanding ; sorae, that not only these things, but
many raore that are above reason, are of the divine omnipo^tence ; anti
when they name faith and oranipotence, reason is banished, and then aound
reason either disappears and becoraes as nothing, or becomes like a^spectro,
and is called insanity," — [True Christian Religion, n.,769, 770.)

334 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
not do either) Avithout existing in a form to receive the
Divine Lo-ire and Wisdom.
It therefore appears to be a self-evident propostion,
that the principles which proceed frora the Divine can
have no conscious existence, except in their recipient
subject; and there cannot be a recipient, subject
which does not exist in some form. And if the
souls of good men, iraraediately after death, exist in a
substantial body, or in such a humaii form as to be
" perfect in holiness," " beholding the face of God in
light and glory," as the "Confession of Faith" above
referred to teaches, Ave cannot understand why they
should wish to be again united to their material bodies,
or how their happiness could be enhanced by this re
union. But the more prevalent opinion in the Old Church
probably is, that the souls of men will sleep or remain
in an unconscious state of existence until the general
judgment day, when they will enter into and re-animate
the bodies which they had in the natural world, and
thus be raised again to life. According to this opinion
the souls of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses — of all
the partriarchs, prophets, and apostles — of all raen in-
-deed Avho have ever lived and died upon this earth, are
not now living in any conscious state of existence, but
are held someAvhere in a kind of torpid state, waiting
for the general judgmentday,Avhen they shall be awaken
ed frora their long sluraber and raised again to life in
" the self-same bodies" which they aniraated Avhile on
earth. This doctrine concerning the resurrection of the
natural body (to say nothing of its extreraely irrational
and unphilosophical character) is not a doctrine which
is taught in the Sacred Scriptures, but one Avhich has
been invented by the wisdora of raan. All that was
revealed to the first Christian Church upon this sub
ject, is, that man's existence does not terminate with the
life of his body, but that he possesses an immortal part
Avhich still lives on after the body dies. This is all
which that Church was in a state to receive upon the
subject — all therefore which it was proper for it to

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 335
know. But on account of its very extemal and sensual
character, it could not conceiveof any resurrection, nor
indeed of any real life without the material body; there
fore the Chupch has believed and taught that the resur
rection which is spoken of' in the Word, denotes the
resuscitation of this body.
We will now present the doctrine upon this subject
which has been revealed forthe New Jerusalem Church,
that Ave raay be the better able to perceive, on examining
it further by the light of reason and Scripture, which
doctrine is best supported by the united testimony of
these tAVO witnesses. In the " New Jerusalem and its
Heavenly Doctrine," by Emanuel Swedenborg, (n.
223-227) we read :
"Man is so created, that as to his internal he cannot
die, for he is capable of believing in God, and also of
loving God, and thus of being conjoined to God by faith
and loA-e ; and to be conjoined to God is to live to eter
nity. " This internal is with every man who is born ; his
exterftal is that by raeans of Avhich he brings into effect
the things Avhich are of faith and love. The internal
is Avhat is called the spirit, and the external is what is
called the body. The external, which is called the
body, is accommodated to uses in the natural Avorld ;
this is rejected when man dies ; but the internal, which
is called the spirit, is accoraraodated to uses in the spirit
ual world ; this does not die. This internal is then a
good spirit and an angel, if the man had been good when
in the world, but an evil spirit, if the man had been evil
when in the Avorld.
" The spirit of raan, after the death of the body, ap
pears in the spiritual world in a huraan form, altogether
as in the world ; he enjoys also the faculty of seeing, of
hearing, of speaking, of feeling, as in the world ; and
he is endowed AAath every faculty of thinking, of will
ing, and of acting as in the world. In a word, he is a
man as to all things' and every particular, except that
he is not encompassed with that gross body which he
had in the world ; he leaves that when he dies, nor does
he ever re-assume it.

336 DOCTRINE OF THE ^EW CHURCH [lECT.
" This continuation of life is what is understood by
the resurrection.. The reason why men believe that
they are not to rise again before the last judgment, when
, also every visible object of the world is to perish, is
because thejl- have not understood thfe Word; and be-
• cause sensual men place their life'in the body, and be
lieve that unleSs'-this were to live again, it would be all
over with the mkn. •, ' - /
" The life ofman aftei; dfeath is the life of his love
and the life of his faith, hence such as his love and such
as his faith had been, Avhen he liA-ed in'the Avorld,,such
his life remains to eternity. It is the life of hell Avith
those who have loved themselves and the World above
all things, and the life of heaven with those Avho have
loved God above all things and their neighbors as them
selves. The latter are they 'that have faith, but the
former are they that have not faith. The life of heaven
is what is called eternal life, and the life of hell is what
is called death."
Again : it is said in the Arcana CoElestia, by Eman
uel SAvedenborg, that "raan rises immediate^ after
death, and then appears to hiniself-in the body alto
gether as in the worid, with such a face, with such raera
bers, arras, hands, feet, breast, belly, loins ; yea also
when he sees hiraself and touches himself, he saith that
he is a man as in the world ; nevertheless it is not his
external principle, which he carried about in the world,
that he sees and touches, but it is the internal principle,
which constitutes that very huraan principle which
lives, and which had an extemal principle about it or
out of singular the things belonging to itself, whereby
it could be in the world, and act suitably to its situation
there in the performance of its functions ; the earthly
corporeal principle is no longer of any use to it, it being
in another world where are other functions, and other
powers and abilities, to Avhichits body, such as it hath
there, is adapted ; this body it sees with its eyes, not
those Avhich it had in the Avorld, but those Avhich it
hath there, which are the eyes of its intemal raan, and
by virtue of which through the eyes of the body it had
heretofore seen worldly and terrestial things ; it alsa

X.j CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 337
feels it with the touch, not with the hands or sense of
touching which it enjoyed in the world, but with the
hands and sense of touching which it there enjoys,
which is that frora Avhich its sense of touching in the
world existed ; every sense also is there raore exquisite
and raore perfect, because it is the sense of the internal
principle of man, set loose from the external, for the in
ternal principle is in a more perfect state, inasmuch as
it gives to the external the power of sensation, but when
it acts into the external, as in the world, in this case the
sensation is rendered dull and obscure ; moreover it is
the internal principle which is sensible of the internal,
and the external principle which is sensible of the exter
nal ; hence it is that men seeeach other, and are in society
together according to the interiors ; for ray conviction
of the certainty of all this, it hath also been given rae
to touch spirits theraselves, and to discourse frequently
with thera on this subject." — (n. 5078.)
Here we have the doctrine of the New Church con
cerning the resurrection in SAvedenborg's own language.
The' same is taught also in many other parts of his
writings. And according to this doctrine we perceive
that every man has a spiritual as well as a material body.
The spiritual body is real and substantial — the very man
hiraself— not subject to death or decay ; the material
body is the clothing of the spiritual, and needful as an
instrument to enable it to perform uses in this natural
world. When the natural body dies, the real life of a
man is by no raeans interrupted ; but, if he be a good
man, he then lives raore truly than ever. He is reraoved
to the world of causes, and enjoys a state of existence
vastly superior to that which he enjoyed while connect
ed Avith the raaterial body. He is then elevated into a
world Avhich is a discrete degree aboAre the natural,
wherein every thing is much more real and perfect than
it is in this world, and he has his senses greatiy refined
and exalted, and his capacity for knowledge and enjoy
ment vastly increased.
Thus, according to the doctrines ofthe New Church,
the death of the natural body is no suspension or inter-
raption of the life of raan, but is a change which is
30

338 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
needful to our further progress and to the fuller develop
ment of all our faculties. We do not lie down to sleep,
may be for thousands of years, and then to resurae our
worn-out earthly teneraents, but we rise imraediately in
a spiritual body to a state of greater wakefulness than
before. Now we regard this doctrine as quite consistent both
with reason ahd Scripture ; while that of the Old Church
appears to us contrary to both.
Those who receive the Sacred Scriptures as the Word
of God, believe that the Author of revelation is also the
Author of nature ; and that these two voluraes cannot
therefore conflict, but raust be in perfect agreeraent with _
each other. Now where throughout, natu re's vast do
main do we discover any thing that bears an analogy
to the coraraonly received doctrine of the resurrection
of man's material body? We behold around us living
creatures undergoing various transformations in their
mode of existence. For example, Ave see the creeping
worm passing through several successive states in the
progress of its development, until at last it emerges from
the stupid chrysalis a beautiful winged butterfly, joyous
and happy, sporting among floAvers and buoyant as the
sweet breeze that it sails upon. But never does it re
sume the exuviae -which clothed it while a worra ; for
useful as that covering Avas, when in the infancy of its
being it crawled upon the earth, it needs it no longer
now that it can fly in the air. And no Avhere in nature
do we find an exaraple of a creature that has its con
scious life suspended by casting its slough, or that ever
resumes the envelope which it has once rejected. But
what a beautiful illustration of the New Church doc
trine of the resurrection is this instance of a butterfly
rising frora a worm !
And while the doctrine of the New Church upon this
subject is so Avell supported by analogical reasoning, that
of tbe Old is as plainly contrary to all analogy ; for it is
plainly contrary to all that we knoAV of the perfect or
der of Divine Providence, that the particles which cora
pose our raaterial bodies so useful to our spirits here in
the natural worid, should— after they have perforraed

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 339
their appointed use, been rejected, resolved into their
•original elements, and scattered to the four winds of
heaven — be re-collected, and again becorae the dwelling-
place of the spirits that now animate thera. And if this
be contrary to the laws of divine order, we may affirm
(and that without limiting the omnipotence of God) that
it is impossible, and will never take place ; for God can
never act contrary to his oavu divine order, and is there
fore omnipotent only according to order.
But there is another still stronger objection which
reason urges against the doctrine of the resurrection of
the raaterial body. It is a thing well known among
philosophers, and admitted by all, that our bodies are
undergoing a gradual and constant change in respect to
the material particles that compose them; so that we
have not now precisely the same bodies that we had a
year ago ; and in seven years frOra this tirae, all the
particles which nqw forra our bodies raay be rejected
and replaced by others entirely new. If therefore the
body of raan, in respect to the specific atoms that com
pose it, is entirely changed once in seven years, at the
age of seventy a man will have had not less than ten
different bodies. Now which among this nuraber will
he have at the resurrection day ? Sorae say, the body
which was laid in the grave, or that which the man had
at the tirae of his death. But it is plain that this would
be giving some a very great advantage over others, and
without any apparent reason ; for the soldier, or the
suicide even, Avho dies suddenly in the full vigor and
bloom of life, would rise at the judgraent day with a
ranch better body than those who have died of a long
and emaciating disease.
Moreover it is known that the body, Avhich is laid off
at death, after a while decays and becomes Avholly dis
sipated. And philosophy teaches us that the particles
which corapose it enter into new corabinations and help
to form new bodies. Indeed this mitst be the case unless
we admit that these decomposed particles remain idle
and of no use, which is a thing contraiy to all we know
of the economy of God ; for the kingdom of God in the
natural as well as in the spiritual world, is a kingdom

340 DOCTRINE •OS' THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
of ends and uses. Hence it would result that the par
ticles, which once formed the bodies of the patriarchs
and prophets of old, may have since entered into and
formed parts not only of plants, beasts, and birds, but
of the bodies of innumerable other raen. And not only
so, but some of the same particles, in a succession of
ages, may have forraed constituent portions of the
bodies of thousands of men, even at the raoraent of
their death'. Who among these thousands therefore,
when the body rises, shall possess these particles which
have been owned alike by all ?
Besides, if we believe in the reality of a spiritual
world, it seeras necessary to admit that things in that
world are different in their nature frOm things in this —
that they are spiritual and not raaterial. For it would
be absurd to talk of a spiritual world wherein exist
things material. And if there be any inhabitants of
that world, their bodies must be spiritual bodies ; for if.
they were material, there would be no adaptation of
them to other things, nor Avould they be fitted to per
forra uses there, any more than a spiritual body is fitted
to perforra uses in this world where all things are ma
terial. Therefore to deny that roan rises after death in
a spiritual body, and to maintain the doctrine that the
material body is to rise again, is to deny the reality of
a spiritual world. It is pure materialism.
'There are other objections of a rational kind to the
doctrine of a resurrection of the material body, drawn
from the known laws of all material things — their lia-
bflity to change, decay, and injury. But those which
have been already urged raust appear insuperable to
every honest and reflecting mind. It would therefore
seem that when this doctrine is received as true, it must
be done either without any reflection, or in utter disre
gard of the monitions of reason — through a blind sur
render of one's understandinof to his faith.
Now while it is not pretended that we ean prove by
the.aid of reason alone, the doctrine ofthe New Church
upon this subject, or the resurrection of a spiritual body
immediately after death, yet it should be observed that
reason favors this idea. At any rate it does not urge

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 341
any thing against it, as it does against the doctrine of
the Old Church.
But it is said by some, ^ We believe in a resurrection
of the material body because the Sacred Scriptures do
thus teach; although the doctrine is erabarrassed with
many difficulties, and certainly does appear contrary to
divine order, contrary to reason, and impossible." Now
if the premises here assumed were perfectly true, then
the argument raight be admitted as eertainly conclusive.
But we think it can be shown that the Sacred Scriptures,
rightly understood, do not teach a resurrection of the
natural but of the spiritual body. We appeal therefore
to the only infallible witness in such a case^THE Word
OF God.
It may perhaps be thought that the term resurrection,
and the expression "he shall rise again," which occur in
Scripture, raust necessarily signify the revivification of
something wliich has died or has had its life suspended ;
and since neither death nor a suspension •of life can be
predicated of the soul, that therefore it must be the body
which is to rise again. But we raay s^e that this is
not a necessary inference frora the language employed,
if Ave reflect upon the Sense in which the word again is
used in other places. For example: in the gospel of
John the Lord said to Nicodemus, " Except a raan be
born again, he cannot see the kingdora of God." Now
although the words born again are here used, no one
understands them in the sense that the JeAvish raler did,
as denoting actual re-birth of that Avhich has already
been born once, but rather man's entrance into a new
spiritual state wherein he had never been before. If
therefore to be born again signifies a new spiritual
birth, and not a repetition of the natural, then we should
suppose that to rise again raust raean a new spiritual
resurrection ; —not the reanimation of the natural body,
but the rising of the spiritual body, or its entrance into
the spiritual world.
-In appealing to the authority of Scripture upon this
subject, we will first notice a few ofthe texts which are
commonly brought forward to prove a resurrection of
the material body. Perhaps no passsage is raore fre-
30*

S42 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW "CHURCH '[lEC!^.
quently cited in support of the prevaihng doctrine than
this in Job : " And though after ray skin, worras destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God ; whom I
shall see for rayself, and mine eyes shall behold, and
not another." (xix. 26, 27.) Now it -might be suflicient
to say in reference to this and all the other passages in
the Old Testament Scriptures, which appear to have re
lation to the subject, that they cannot be understood as
teaching explicitly the doctrine of a resurrection either
of the natural or of the spiritual body ; else the words
of the apostle cannot be true, which declare that " our
Savior Jesus Christ brought life and immortality to light
tjirough the gospel." (2 Tim. i. 10.) Certainly this
could not be said, if the doctrine concerning a resurrec
tion and man's immortality had been clearly taught in
the ,01d Testament.
But in respect to this passage in Job, it is to be re
marked in the flrst place, that neither worms nor bod^
are to be found in it according to the original Hebrew,
as every one may know who looks carefully at our
English version ; for he will see that both of these
words are italicised to denote that they have been sup-
j)lied by the translator. It appears from the contend;
that Job was greatly afliicted — that those whom he
loved had turned against him, and raoreover that he
was oppressed with severe bodily sufferings : so thathe
^ays, " the hand of God hath touched rae." But not-
withstandhig his afflictions, he expresses his full confi
dence that he shall be delivered frora thera all through
' the timely interposition of the Divine Providence.
Without going into a critical examination of this pas
sage, we will merely give in paraphrase what is believ-
-ed to be its true raeaning.
Job declares, that, although he was forgotten and ab-
liorred even by his friends, and altiiough his skin was
corrupted and his body consumed by wasting disease,
he is nevertheless assured that, "in his flesh," i. e. dur
ing his life upon earth, he shall see God interpose for
his deliverance. Hence he says {v. 25.) " For I know
that my Redeemer liveth, and that at last* He shall
* This is the correct translation of the Hebrew -word liins ahardn.
— (See Oesemxts Hebrew Lexicon.) 1 1 i""

-X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTIO-N. '343
stand in the field," i. e. shall appear as ray victorious de
liverer. That this is the trae raeaning of the passage
any one may be convinced by turning to the last chap
ter, where we read that " Job answered the Lord and
said, I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear-;
but now mine eye seeth thee'' {v. 1, 5.) Thus in chap
ter xix, he expresses his confidence that he should see
God in his flesh and Avith his OAvn eyes : and in the last
¦chapter, after the Lord had " accepted him " and " turn
ed his captivity," he says, "Noav raine eye seeth thee."
No one we presume will affirm that Job says this after
the death and resurrection of his raaterial body ; for it
is said in the very last verse of this book, "So Job died,
beingoldand full of years." Therefore the words in m,y
flesh which occur in chapter xix, must mean during
his natural life upon earth, and not, as some suppose,
after his death and resurrection.
There is another passage in the Old Testaraent,
equally inapplicable however, Avhich is frequentiy ad
duced to prove a general judgraent day and the re
surrection of the material body. The passage occurs in
Daniel xii. 2, and reads thus : " And many of them
that sleep in the dust of the earth shall aAvake, some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt." Many have concluded frora these woids
that the raaterial body raust certainly rise again, be
cause it can be said of that only, and not of the soul, that
it " sleeps in the dust ofthe e6.rth."
Now this false inference has been deduced by those
who have not understood the Science of Correspond
ences, and have therefore altogether raistaken the mean
ing of the language here employed. In the language
of correspondences according to which the Sacred
Scriptures are written, to sleep, and to sleep in the dust,
signify to be in a merely natunil and even sensual state
of life. Consequently to awake from this state to ever
lasting life, is to be elevated into a spiritual state of
mind, which is to enjoy true life and eternal happiness.
And to awake to shame and everlasting contempt, is to
have one's mind confirmed in falses and evils, or to pass
into an infernal state as to the affections and thoughts,

344 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
which State is accompanied with internal disquiet and
misery. That such is the meaning of this language raight
easily be shown from many other passages in the Word.
To instance only one or two : " Shake' thyself from the
dust ; arise, and sit down, O Jerusalem^" (Is. lii. 2.)
No one can suppose that this language refers to a re
surrection of the raaterial bodies of the Jewish people
frora the literal dust. Yet we ought so to understand
it, if Ave interpret literally the passage just quoted from
Daniel. Again : ^' Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the
dust." (Is. xxvi. 19.) The apostle also says: 'MwaAre
thou that steepest, and arise /rowi the dead, and Christ
¦shall give thee light," (Eph. v. 14) ; which words are
but a paraphrase of the prophet's language. Certainly
the apostle cannot be here understood as addressing the
dead bodies of men ; for these could not hear ; and
even if they could, to what purpose would such a com
mand be, if they could not rise until the day of judg
ment? But he is evidently addressing natural raen,
whose bodies are alive, but whose souls are in a state
denoted by sleeping in the dust — Avho are spiritually
dead. The same apostle again says : " that now it is
high time to awake out of sleep ; for noAV is our salvation
nearer than when We believed." (Rom, xiii. 11.) That
these words are an exhortation to christian vigilance,
thus to greater spiritual wakefulness, is evident from the
verse that immediately fblloAvs: "The night is far
spent, the day, is at hand ; let us therefore cast off the
works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.
Let us walk honestly, as in the day."
Moreover we observe that it is said in the passage
from Daniel, that " m,any of thera that sleep shall
awake," <fcc. Many of them raust certainly except
some. It cannot raean all. Therefore if this passage
be understood as referring to a general judgraent day,
a,nd a resurrection of the raaterial bodies of raen at that
tirae, we must infer from itthat all will not rise again — •
a doctrine indeed which some in the Old Church have
deduced fiom it.
We proceed next to notice a few passages in the

X.] -CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 345
New Testament which have been thought to favor the
doctrine of a general judgment day and the resurrection
of the material body. One of these occurs in Mat. v.
29, 30 : " And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out
¦and cast it from thee : it is profitable for thee that one
of thy raerabers should perish, and not that thy whole
body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand
offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee : for it is
profitable for thee that one of thy members should
perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast
into hell." Mention is here made, it is said, of the
whole body being cast into hell. But if we are to un
derstand it in its literal sense, i. e. as denoting the ma
terial body, then Ave must also understand literally
what is said of the right eye and the right hand.
And are we to believe that literally plucking out a right
•eye, or cutting off a right hand, can facilitate any one's
admission intof heaven 7 And moreover that sorae go to
heaven raairaed, halt, and with only one eye, as avou Id
•appear frora the parallel passage in Mark (ix. 43, 45,
47) ? For this is the conclusion to which we raust
arrive if we interpret this. Scripture in its strictly literal
sense, and understand the whole body here raentioned
•to mean the raaterial body.
No. — The whole body raeans the whole raan — the
real, spiritual raan. The offending eye and hand here
mentioned, denote certain perverse propensities of tiie
human mind which govern the whole man. Conse
quently unless these propensities are rejected or sub
dued, (which is Avhat is raeant by plucking out the eye
and cutting off the hand) the whole raind, i. e. the eu:-
tire and real man, is finally brought into an infernal
state. This is what is meant by the whole body being
cast into hell.
Again, it is written in the gospel of John : " Marvel
not at this : for the houris coming, in the Avhich all that
are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come
forth ; they that have done good unto the resurrection
of life ; and they that have done evil unto the resur
rection of condemnation." (v. 28, 29.) This text has
heen thought to prove a resurrection of the material

346 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
body, because it it is «aid that they "shall come forth
from the graves ;" and only the body can be in the
grave. That the passage however is raisunderstood
and misapplied Avhen cited to prove such a doctrine, is
abundantly evident from the preceding verse AA'^here the
Lord saith, " Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is
coming aud now is, when the dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God ; and they that hear shall live."
Every one raay see frora this that "the dead" here
spoken of, and " all that are in the graves," cannot mean
the dead bodies of men ; for it is declared that the hour
in which all this should take place was then. And it is
not admitted by any who believe that the material bo
dies of men are to rise again, that the general resurrec
tion is already past. Indeed this could not be, inas
much as there are men yet living upon the earth who
could have had no part in it.
But the Lord spake here, as in every other instance,
according to correspondences. His language therefore
has a spiritual iraport, and its raeaning is sufficiently
obvious frora verse 24, which introduces the subject :
" Verily, verily, I say nnto you, he that heareth ray
word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath ever
lasting life, and shall not come, into conderanation ; but
is passed frora death unto life." No one can suppose-
that death and life are here used in reference to the
natural body. What is here said is evidently predicated
of the raind or spirit of man Those who are in a
merely natural state — Avho, as to their spirits, are en
tombed in selfishness and sin, are, in the language of
correspondences, said to be dead, in their graves, (fcc.
Consequently to pass from death unto life must raean
to pass from a raerely natural into a spiritual state of
mind, as those do who believe on the Lord, and hear and
do His precepts. The Lord alone is Life, and the only
source of life to angels and men. It is He alone Avho
ean raise us from .an infernal into a heavenly state, and
who gives our spirits life Avhen we enter the spiritual
world. Hence He says : " I am the Resurrection and
the Life ; he that believeth in rae, though he Avere dead,
yet shall he live : and Avhosoever liveth and believeth

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 347
in rae, shall never die-" (John xi. 25. 26,) Again, He
says : " If a raan keep my saying, he shall never see
death." (vin. 51.)
It is manifest therefore that the doctrine which teach
es that the material body is to rise again, finds no sup
port from the text above cited ; since not the dead bo
dies in the tombs but those who are merely natural
men — who are spiritually dead — are signified by " all
that are in the graves." Graves also signify the exte
riors of the mind. And every one, when he passes into
the spiritual world, puts off his exteriors and passes into
the state of his interiors. Thus all come forth from
their graves. The Divine Truth, which is what is
signified by " the voice of the Son of Man," flows into
the interiors of their minds, and thereby makes manifest
the real quality of their inner life. If that life be good,
the Truth pronounces them to be of heaven ; but if
evil, it conderans thera to hell. And hence it is said
that " they who have done good shall corae forth unto
the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil
unto the resurrection of condemnation."*

r *"Bygoingforthout of the sepulchres," says Swedenborg, "is signified,
outof the material body, which first takes place with every one immedi
ately after death, and afterwards when the lastjudgmeht takes place, for then
the exteriors are reraoved and the interiors are opened in all with whom thia
was not accomplished before, when they whose interiors are heavenly, rise
into life, but they whose interiors are infernal, rise into death, which is signi
fied by, they who have done goods shall go unto the resurrection of life, but
they who have done ev.ls unto the resurrection of judgment. That this is
meant by going forth out of lhe sepulchres or monuments is still more evi-
dent in these words of the prophet Ezekiel : * Behold lam ahout to open your
sepulchres, andlwill cause you to ascendout of your sepulchres, Omypeople,
and [ will bri,ng you upon the land of Israel, that ye may know that Iam, Je/iovah,
when I shall have opened your sepulchres, and shall ha've caused you to ascend
out of your sepulchres, O my people, and I shall have given My spirit m you
ihat yemai/live, and I shall have placed you uponyourland,'^ (xxxvh. 13, 14) :
the subject here treated of is concerning the dry bones seen by the prophet
upon the faces of the valley, upon which nerves appeared adduced and
flesh carae upon them, and they were covered with skin, and which, after
the spirit of God came into them, revived, and stood upon their feet: that
by those bones is understood the whole house of Israel, is openly declared
in these words, ' Son of Man, these bones are the whole house of Israel, be
hold ihey say, Our bones are dried up, our hope hath perished, we are cut
off for our parts,' (v. 11): the reason of the house of Israel beine likened to
dry bones, was, because they were in falses and evils, which have not any
life, because no correspondence with heaven as to nerves, flesh, and skin,
for by bones are signified truths in the ultimate of order, upon which spirit
ual truths have their foundation, but dry bones Eig<nify falses derived frora
evil ; hence it may appear that by opening the sepulchres, and causing ths

348 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT
«
Thus we see, that, according to the doctrine of the
resurrection as revealed in the writings of the New
Church, this text is very easy of explanation ; while,
according to that of the Old Church, it is encumbered
with many difficulties.
Ao-ain : the advocates of the commonly received doc
trine often appeal to the resurrection of our Lord, affirm-
ino- that He rose Avith his material body. And that
such is the apparent truth, we adrait. But we can
hardly conceive it possible for any one to .believe that
such was actually the case, Avho really believes in the
supreme Divinity of our Lord, For if he be altogether
divine, as the doctrines of the New Church teach, and as
many in the Old Church profess to believe, then his
body raust be divine — He must be divine even as to his
flesh and bones. But this idea is raanifestly incorapati
ble with the belief tbat He has a material body.
In considering the subject of our Lord's resurrection,
we remark in the first place that it proves conclusively
the general doctrine ofa resurrection of all men. And,
if it be raaintained (as we know it is by raany) that it
proves soraething raore than this — proves that all men
will rise with their material bodies, because it appears
as if the Lord rose with his, it may be argued with equal
plausibility, that it also proves that all men will rise with
their material bodies on the third day after their death,
because the Lord rose on the third day.* But this latter
conclusion is contradicted by Avell known facts. Yet
this conclusion is drawn just as legitimately as the
former. We therefore must infer, either that the forra
er conclusion is not fairly deduced, or else the preraise
that the Lord rose with his material body is not true.
But there are circurastances mentioned in the history
people to ascend out of the sepulchres, is signified to raise up out of falses
from evil, thus from the dead, and to endow with triiihs from good, thus with
life, which life is, the spirit of God, from which they revived ; this therefore
is what is meant by causing to ascend outof the sepulchres, — (Apocalypse
Explained n. 659 )
* It is taught in the writings of the New Church that man usually rises
or revives in a spiritual body on the third day after the heart has ceased to
beat; because the number three denotes what is full and complete, or any
full state. Hence the Lord's rising on the third day was a thing of divin©
order. (See Apocalypse Revealed n. 153.)

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 349
of that event which prove conclusively that the Lord
did not rise with a material body. For example : on
one occasion after his resurrection, while He sat at meat
with his disciples, it is recorded that " their eyes were
opened, and they knew Him: and He vanished out of
their sight." (Luke xxiv. 31.) Now what kind of eyes
are those here spoken of— natural or spiritual ? For
this is a question of primary importance in the discus
sion of this subject. And certainly it does not seem to be
a very difficult question to settle. For if it were their
natural eyes which are here said to have been opened,
then we are obliged to conclude that the disciples sat
down and began to eat with their' eyes shut — a thing
which is not to be supposed.
Blit the natural eyes are able to see natural or mate
rial things. They cannot see things spiritual or such
as belong to the spiritual worid. These can be dis-
cterned only with the spiritual eyes. If therefore the
Lord's body had been material on the Occasion just re
ferred to, it is manifest that the disciples could have
seen Him with their natural eyes ; and that it was not
with these bnt with their spiritual eyes that they saw
Him, is pliiin frora its-being said that " their eyes were
opened, and they knew him."
From what we are taught in the writings of the New
Church concerning man's Spiritual senses, it would .ap
pear that his spiritual eyes , might be opened in a man
ner so gently that he would not know it ; and thus he
might see things in the spiritual world, while he sup
posed that he was seeing them In the natural worid,
'The opening of his spiritual eyes would cause some
thing in the spiritual world to appear before his^view;
and the closing of them would cause the same thing 40
disappear. Thus to the beholder it would appear as if
soraething natural presented itself before Ms natnic^
vision, and' then sud,denly disappeared:
Now this Avas the case Avith the two disciples. Their
spiritual eyes were partially opened so that they coiaild
discern the Lord before they sat at meat : " But their
eyes were holden that they should not know Him." '(».
16.) At supper their eyes were fully opened, " and
31

350 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
they kne-w Him." Suddenly they were closed again,
and, as a necessary consequence, "He vanished out of
their sight." And they returned to Jerasalera, and
while they discoursed with the other disciples concern
ing what had happened (the spiritual eyes of thera all
being opened) '"Jesus himself stood in the midst of
thera." {v. 36.)'
Now it is Jiot easy to conceive Jiow the Lord could
vanish out of their sight; and then appear in their
midst again so suddenly, if it was a material body
which they saw. But according to the New Church
view, the account presents no difliculty. Nor is there,
according to this view, any difiiculty presented by those
other instances in which the Lord showed hiraself to his
disciples after his resurrection ; as where it is said,
" when the doors were shut where the disciples were
assembled for fear, of the Jews, Jesus canae, and stood
in the midst." (John xx. 19.) And again : " Jesus came,
the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said.
Peace be unto you." '{v. 26.) We know thaf it is con
trary to all the known laws of material things, that the
Lord should have presented Hiraself in the raidst of his
disciples when the doors were shut, if He then had a
material body. We therefore infer that it was not raa
terial, and that He was seen not with the natural but
with the spiritual eyes.
But it is asked, "What then became of his raaterial
body 1 For it was not found in the sepulchre on the
third day."
What becoraes of men's material bodies in the course
of thousands of years ? They are resolved into their
original elements, and are dissipated. They return to
the dust. This is according to order. But we know
that some raaterial substances are rauch sooner decom
posed and dissipated than others. Yet we do not know
how little of materiality may have appertained to the
Lord's body when it was laid in the sepulchre, nor how
long it would take for it to become wholly dissipated.
•And we subrait Avhether there may not have been so
little of material substance as to be entirely decomposed
in three days as easily as the bodies of other men are in

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 351
three thousand years, and according to the same laws
of order.
This view appears to be confirmed both by the Sa
cred Record and by the the writings ofthe New Church.
From the latter we learn that the Lord raade his Hu
man Divine to the very ultiraates — even to the fiesh and
bones. His very body was filled to fulness with the
divine substance. Hence at the hour of his crucifixion
there could have been appertaining to Him but very
little of that which belongs to the bodies of other raen.
And the flesh and bones Avith which He in His Hu
manity rose or entered the spiritual world, were divine
and substantial (not material) in a degree that no other
man's are ; and hence He says, after his resurrection,
that " a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me
have." (Luke xxiv. 39.) Now even if it were adraitted
that the Lord rose with a raaterial body, it would appear
from this text that other men do not ; for He distinctly
declares that " a spirit (i. e. the spirits of ordinary men)
hath not flesh and bones."
The orderly descent of divine principles, according
to Swedenborg, is through each of the angelic heavens
into the world of spirits,* and thus to men on earth.
And the orderly ascent of all who pass into the highest
heaven on leaving this world, is, through the world
of spirits, the first and second heavens and thence into
the third. Now since all things which the Lord does,
must be done according to divine order, therefore the
divine principles with which He filled the Huraan in
the process of deification, descended according to order ;
and He a^so ascended according to order — i. ,e. through
the world of spirits, and thence through each of the
heavens "up far above all heavens, that He raight fill
all things " (Eph. iv. 10.) Wlien He was seen by the
disciples therefore, after his resurrection, He was seen
in the world of spirits. He had glorified the Huraan as
* The world of spirits, according to Swedenborg, is not heaven, nor is
it hell, but is a middle place or state between both. Into this every raan
first comes after death, ahd thence according os his life has been in the
world he is elevated into heaven, or cast into hell. This raiddle state in
what is meant by "the great gulf" in Luke xvi. 26, (See Heaven and
Hen n. 431,)

352 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
to the natural worid, but not yet fully as to the .spiritual
world. This is evident frora his words to Mary : "Touch
rae not, for / ha,ve not yet ascended to my Father"
(John XX. 17.) He had put off all the irapurities which
appertain to raen on earth; but there were irapurities
of a more subtie and interior nature such as appertain
to spirits and angels, Avhich had not yet been wholly
put off. For the loves of the best of the angels are very
irapure in comparison with Divine Love itself ' " The
heavens," it is said are not clean in his sight." (Job xv.
15 ;) and "He chargeth his angels with folly." (iv. 18.)
In glorifying the Human therefore, the Lord had to put
off not only the principles of life which appertain to
men and devils, but also those which belong to the an
gels. He had not only to fight against hell, but
against heaven also. He, had to endure temptations
even- from the angels. Thus Swedenborg says :
" That the Lord in temptation fought at length with
the angels theraselves, yea, Avith the whole angelic
heaven, is an arcanura which hath not heretofore been
discovered ; but the case herein is this ; the angels in
deed are in the utraost wisdom and intelligence, but
they have dll their wisdom and intelligente from the
Lord's divine [principle.] and frora theraselves or their
proprium they have nothingof wisdora and intelligence ;
so far therefore as they are principled in truths and goods
from the Lord's divine [principle,] so far they are wise
and intelligent. That the angels have nothing of wis
dom and intelligence from themselves, they themselves
openly confess, yea, they are also indignant if any one
attributes to them any thingof wisdora and inj:elligence
for they knoAV and perceive that this would be to dero
gate frora the divine [principle] Avhat is divine, and to
claim to themselves Avliat is not their own, thus to incur
the crime of spiritual theft ; the angels also say, that
all their own proprium is evil and false, as well what
they have received hereditarily, as Avhat they have con
tracted by actual life in the world when they were men ;
see n. 18S0, and that what is evil and false is not se-
paratedior wiped away frora them, and thereby they
are justified, but that it remains Avith them, yet that they

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 353
are withheld ofthe Lord from what is evil and false, and
are kept (or held) in good and truth, see n. 1581 ; these
things all the angels confess, nor is any one admitted
into heaven, unless he knows and believes these things ;
for otherwise they cannot be in the light of wisdora
and intelligence Avhich is from the Lord, consequently
not in good and truth ; hence also it may be known in
what raanner it is to be understood, that heaven is not
pure in the eyes of God, as in Job, chap. xv. 15. This
being the case, to the intent that the Lord raight restore
the universal heaven to celestial order, he even adnut-
ted into himself temptations frora the angels, who, so
far as they were in their OAvn propriura, so far were not
in good and truth ; these temptations are the inmost of
all, for they act only upon ends, and' with such subtlety
as to escape all observation : but so far as they are not
in their own proprium, so far they are in good and truth,
and so far incapable of tempting : moreover the angels
are continually perfecting by the Lord, and yet cannot
in any wise be perfected to eternity to such a degree,
that their wisdora and intelligence raay adrait of cora
parison with tiie divirie wisdom and intelligence of the
Lord ; for they are finite, and the Lord infinite, and
finite adraits of no comparison with infinite." — {Arcana
Ccelestia, n, 4295.)
Thus we perceive upon careful examination, that the
circumstances connected with the resurrection of our
Lord are of such a character, as to be utterly irrecon
cileable with the idea that He rose Avith -a material body.
But according to the doctrines ofthe New Church they
all adrait of an easy explanation.
There are several other texts* often cited in proof of
the resurrection of the material body, which our limits
Avill not allow us here to notice. Besides, it seems
hardly necessary ; for the interpretation which we have
given of the passages already cited, will fumish a key
to the right understanding of all the rest.
* Those who wish to see a critical examination of these texts, are referred
to the Rev. S. Noble's " Appeal in behalf of the Doctrines of the New
Church," where they are all fully explained. See second London editioa
p 34-88, 31*

354 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
We tum UOW to some of those texts which te.ach that
man rises iramediately after death, not in his material
but in a spiritual body ; and which thus clearly confirm
the doctrine ofthe New Church upon this subject.
Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthian church,
(chap. XV.,) endeavors to prove the doctrine of a resur
rection. This was evidently the design which he had
in view in writing this chapter, as appears from the
general Scope of the argument there employed. But he
Says not a word about the resurrection of the material >
body. On the contrary, he asserts in the most unequiv
ocal language, that we shall not rise with "the self
same bodies" Avhichwe have had in this world. "But
sorae," he says, " will say. How are the dead raised up ?
And with what body do they corae 1 Fool ! That
which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die : And
fhat Avhich thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that
shall be, but bare grain, it raay chance of wheat or some
other grsiin ; but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased
Him,< and to every seed his oavu body;" (xv. 35, 36,
37.) Here the apostie plainly adraits that the body
which is laid in the grave will not ,rise again ; but ar
gues that raan will have a new body — evidently mean
ing a spiritual body— suited to his new state of exist
ence. Else where is the force or raeaning of his illus
tration? For he suggests that the self-sarae seed that
is sown does not riSe again. " Thou sowest not," he
says, " that body that shall be." Bnt he goes farther
and applies his illustration, when he says, " So also is
the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption ;
it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor ;
it is raised in glory : it is soAvn in weakness ; it is raised
in power : it is sown a natural body ; it is raised a
ipiritual body,* There is a natural body, and there
is a spiritual body, {v, 42, 43, 44.)
It is impossible to state the doctrine of the New
Church upon this subject more explicitly than the apos
tle has here stated it. But, as if to remove entirely
from the rainds of those to whom he was writing, the
* This passage, more correctly translated, would read, "a natural body
il town ; a spiritual body is raised,"

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 355
idea that the doctrine of raan's resurrection implies a
resurrection of the material body, he adds in the verse
following, "Now this I say, brethren, ^Aa^j^es/i and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," {v, 50.)
Again : this apostie, in his second letter to the Corin
thians, teaches the Same doctrine in little different lan
guage. " For we knoAv," he says, " that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a build
ing of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in
the heavens." (v. 1.) Now it is evident, that, by "our
earthly house of this tabernacle," the apostle means the
natural body ; and consequently by " the house not
made with hands, eternal in the heavens," he must
raean the spiritual body. And that he believed the
latter house was to be entered and enjoyed as soon as
the former was dissolved, is evident from the languao-e
which immediately follows. " For in this," he con
tinues, " we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon
with our house which is from heaven : If so be that
being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we
that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened ;
not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon,
that mortality raight be swallowed up of life." {v. 2, 3,
4.) And again in the same chapter he speaks of his wil
lingness " to be absent from the body, and to be present
with the Lord." This language appears to intiraate
very plainly, that man will rise immediately after death
in a spiritual body— will " be clothed upon with his
house which is from heaven." And we do not well see
how it can be reconciled with the notion that there is
to be no resurrection except of the raaterial body at
some far distant period.
Again : writing to the Phflippians, this same apostle
says : " For rae to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
(i. 21.) And afterwards he adds, " For I ara in a strait
betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with
Christ whick is far better." {v. 23.) From this it ap
pears that the apostle believed the casting off of his
material covering would iraraediately bring hira nearer
to the Savior — the source of true life and happiness.
And can any one suppose that he thought the putting

356 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
on again of the natural body would improve the effect
of putting it off, and bring hira nearer still ? The idea
is absurd.If we turn now to the Gospels, we shall there find
the doctrine of the New Church upon the subject which
we are considering, still raore fully confirmed, and that
of the Old more plainly contradicted.
When the Lord was transfigured before his three dis
ciples, they saw Moses and Elias talking with Him ;
which could not have been the case unless they had ap
peared as real men in bodily form,, Apd that it was
the spiritual and not the natural bodies of Moses and
Elias, which the disciples saw, appears evident from the
fact that they saw thera not with their natural but with.
their spiritual eyes, which were for a moraent opened in
them ; for the Lord himself calls it a vision ; for He
" charged ^hem [the disciples], saying, Tefl the vision
to no raan." (Matt. xvii. 9.) The natural eyes see only
natural things. But a vision is evidently an appear
ance of soraething Avithin or above nature, and conse
quently not discernible by the natural eye. Besides, ac
cording to the coramonly received doctrine, their raate
rial bodies had not risen ; for the resurrection day had
not yet corae.
Moses and Elias then have been seen as real men,
with spiritual bodies, living and speaking, long after
their removal from this natural world, and long before
the general resurrection according to the prevailing be
lief in the Old Church upon this subject.
Again : on one occasion, conversing with the Saddu
cees upon the subject of the resurrection, who believed
that "there is no resurrection, neither angel, nor spirit,"
(Acts xxiu. 8.) the Lord says, " But as touching the
resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which
was spoken unto you by God, saying, I am the God of
Abrahara, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob ?
God is not the God of the dead, but of the living,"
(Matt. xxii. 31, 32.) Now Abrahara, Isaac, and Jacob
had long been dead as to their natural bodies ; yet the
Lord here teaches that they are still living, and that
their real life has not been, interrupted or suspended by

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 337
their reinoval to the other world : nay more — that they
have actually risen again (in their spiritual bodies of
course) ; for we observe that He is proving to the unbe
lieving Sadducees the doctrine ofthe resurrection ; and
this He endeavors to do by shoAving them out of the
Scriptures, that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob must still be
living men.
Thus the Lord here plainly teaches that Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob have already risen ; and He brings
thein forward as examples to prove the general doctrine
of a resurrection. The unavoidable inference there
fore to be drawn frora His arguraent, is, that the resur
rection of all raen will be of a nature similar to that
which these patriarchs had already experienced — i. e.
immediately after death.
In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the Lord
also teaches that raan rises in a spiritual and substan
tial body immediately after his removal frora the natural
world. For He there speaks of the rich man as suffer
ing extreme torment, while Abraham and Lazarus are
perfectly happy. Mention also is made of Abraham's
bosom — of Lazarus' _^reg-er — ofthe rich man's eyes and
tongue ; and they are likewise spoken of as conversing
Avith each other like raen in this Avorld. Thus they are
represented as real, living persons, possessing all the
capacities, organs and functions of men. And that all
this is related as taking place soon after their death, is
manifest from the rich man's speaking ofhis five breth
ren who were still living in the natural world.
Is it said that this is a parable, and therefore proves
nothing ? We reply that the passage is none the less
pertinent on that account, nor is the evidence which it
affords upon the subject of our inquiry at all invalida
ted by this circumstance. For what is the design of the
parable ? What instruction was it giA-en to communi
cate ? Manifestly this — that all men, the evil as well
as the good, continue to live after the death ofthe natu
ral body, (of course it must be in a spiritual body) and
in a condition of life corresponding to the internal and
real quality of their affections and thoughts : that ira
mediately on man's removal from this world by death,

358 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT,
he finds hiraself stfll living, a real man and in a real
world, with his capacities both of enjoyment and of
suffering— according as the quality of his life may be
good or evil— greatly increased: and that thus a par
ticular judgraent takes place with every one as soon as
the body dies. And if there is to be besides this a gen
eral judgment, when men's souls will be reunited to
their natural bodies which have been rejected, is it not
singularly strange that there is given us neither here
nor elsewhere the slightest intimation of it ?
Again : the Lord plainly teaches that man rises im
mediately after death, when He says to the penitent
thief who was crucified with Him, " Verily I say unto
thee, to-day shalt thou be with me in paradise." (Luke
xxiii. 43.) That paradise denotes heaven, is plain from
Rev. ii. 7, where it is said, "To him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the
midst of the paradise of God." Can any thing be more
conclusive than this emphatic declaration of our Lord,
or more demonstrative of the New Church doctrine con
ceming the resurrection 1
John also, in the Revelation, speaks of seeing great
multitudes of persons, when " a door was opened in
heaven." In one place he says, " I beheld, and lo, a
great multitude, which no man could nuraber, of all na
tions, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood be
fore the throne, and before the Larab, clothed with white
robes, and palras in their hands." (vii. 9.) And this
was long before the general resurrection, according to
the prevailing opinion on that subject.
Having thus shoAvn from the Scriptures that man
rises and lives in a real, spiritual body, (and of course
in a real, spiritual Avorld,) imraediately after death, we
proceed next to notice in a very general way a few
things, Avhich have been revealed for the use of the
New Church, concerning that world which raan enters
when he puts off the natural body. Our limits will not
perrait us to descend to particulars.
It was stated in the early part of this lecture, that,
according to the writings of the New Church, the spirit-

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 359
ual world is not remote from the natural as to space,
but is within it as the soul is within the body. In that
world, as the writings of this Church teach, there is a
heaven and a hell which are opposite to each other ;
and a world of spirits in the middle between thera, which
is what is signi&d by the "great gulf fixed" between
the rich raan and Lazaras. ti general there are three
heavens, one above or within the other, correspond
ing to the three senses of the Word, and the three de
grees of the huraan raind ; and opposed to these are
also three hells. Yet these are not places, (for space
cannot properly be predicated of the spiritual wprld)
but they are collections Df individuals who are in oppo
site principles or states of life. Nevertheless they ap
pear to exist in space, which appearance is according to
their state. This may be rendered intelligible by meana
of the following siraple illustration.
Suppose two raen who are in very different states of
raind — one of an angelic, the other of an infernal qual
ity — are together in the same roora. As seen with the
natural eye and as spoken of according to natural space,
they are near together ; but spiritually regarded they
are very far apart. And could their spiritual eyes be
opened so as to enable thera to discern each other's
spiritual bodies, they would actually appear as far apart
as they really are in respect to the state of their mindg —
even though there had been no raotion of their bodies
through space. But suppose these individuals were to
dwell together for several years, and the bad man
should meanwhile put away his evils and become
heavenly rainded like the other, then, if seen with the
spiritual eye, they would appear near to each other —
because they would be spiritually near — although as
regards natural space they might be no nearer than
they were before. Their spiritual nearness has been
effected raerely by a change in the menial state of one
of them ; and if the spiritual eyes of this one had been
open all the time during these several years, he would
have appeared to himself to be journeying towards the
other. Hence as Swedenborg says, " distances in the
spiritual world are from no other origin than from the

360 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
difference of the state of the interiors ; thence, in the
heavens, from the difference of the states of love ; those
are far distant who differ rauch, and those littie distant
who differ little. Similarity causes thera to be together."
{Heaven and Hell n, 42.)
From this we raay understand what is meant when
it is said that actual space does not belong to the spirit
ual world, while yet there is an appearance of space
corresponding to one's state. And Ave may also com
prehend why it is, as the Avritings of the New Church
teach, that all journeyings or apparent changes of place
in the spiritual world, are effected by real changes in the
state of one's raind : and also why all those Avorda in
Scripture, which, in their natural sense, refer to place or
change of place, in their spiritual sense denote state or
change of state. For exaraple : the Lord says, " Come
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I
will give you rest." (Matt. xi. 28.) The word come
naturally signifies a change of place. Here it plainly
denotes a change of state ;^such a change as takes
place in the rainds of those who become legenerated,
or who have their minds brought at-one with Xhe Di
vine Mind — who thus come to the Lord in the spiritual
sense. According to the writings of the New Church, the
two opposite kingdoms in the spiritual world of which
we have spoken — heaven and hell — are made up en-
tiraly of persons who have once liA'ed upon earth. So
that the doctrine concerning a class of beings interme
diate between raan and God, fallen angels, (fee, is to be
regarded as a fable of the poets ; which, hoAvever, the
Church has confirmed through a raisunderstanding and
consequent raisapplication of Scripture.
;* It is also taught in these writings that both heaven
and hell are composed of innumerable societies corre
sponding to that infinite variety of character which ap
pertains to the human family. This also the Lord
teaches in these words : " In my Father's house are
many mansions, if not I would have told you." And
into some one of these societies every individual comes
after his removal frora the natural world. If he be a

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 361
good man — mternally as well as earternally good — one
whose ruling affections are of the Lord and of the
neighbor, he comes into such a heavenly society as cor
responds raost nearly in its general character to the pe
culiar quality of his own life's love, and where he will
therefore be raost happy. But if he a bad raan, or one
whose ruling affections are of self and the world, he
coraes into sorae one of the infernal societies which is
in nearest correspondence Avith his own state of life,
because there he will be raost happy. For it is a
doctri/ie of the New Church that the Lord, because He
is Love itself and Mercy itself, endeavors to raake and
does raake every one, even the devils in hell, as happy
as He possibly can raake thera.
This arrangement of all in the spiritual world into so^
cieties, is strictly according to divine order. There is
nothing arbitrary in their association. They come to
gether according to a law of spiritual attraction as fixed
as the law by which natural substances, which have a
natural affinity for each other, enter into a chemicd*
corabination. Each one of his own free choice, selects
the society which he prefers above all the rest ; and he
prefers that which is nearest in agreement with his own
state of life.
Swedenborg says that, in heaven, " like ones are, as
if of themselves, carried to like one^ ; for they are, with
their like, as with their OAvn, and as at home ; but with
others as with strangers, and as abroad. When they
are with their like, they are also in their freedora, and
thence in every delight of life. All Avho are in sirailar
good also know each other — just as raen in the world
know their kindred, their relations and their friends —
although they never before saw them ; the reason is,
because in the other life there are no other kindJeds,
relationships and friendships, than spiritual ones, thus
those which are of love and faith." — {Heaven and Hell,
n. 44, 46.)
Every devil is also much happier in his own infer
nal society, than he would be in a society of angels.
And Avere he placed in a heavenly society, he would
withdraw from it of his own free choice ; for the heat
32

362 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [leCT.
of heaven, which is heavenly Ioaj-c, is extreme torment
to infernal spirits, — (A^ee Heaven and Hell, n, 518.)
This doctrine is perfectly rational. We see it illus
trated to some extent here in the natural world. Like
seeks like almost every where. So universally is this
the case, that the saying, " Birds of a feather flock to
gether," has long since passed into a proverb. Here is
a raan who is in the love of ministering to the wants
of tlie indigent, of relieving the distressed, of iraparting
truth, and of doing all the good that he can in the
world. This is the delight of his life. And does not
such a man instinctively, as it were, seek the society of
the benevolent, that he may co-operate with them in
their philanthrophic enterprises ? While on the other
hand the intemperate and the licentious do as invaria
bly seek the society of the inebriate and the dissolute.
And in both cases the association is forraed not arbitra
rily, or by any foreign constraint, but in the raost per
fect freedora.
This principle therefore, or law of association in the
spiritual world, is really, if Ave "will but think of it, an
observed law of the spirits of raen while living in the
natural world : a law according to which raen would
uniformly associate, if all external restraints were re
raoved and they Avere left in entire freedora.
But let it not be supposed, that, because each one in
,the spiritual world chooses his oAvn society, and goes
where he can be happiest, therefore the devils are as
happy as the angels. On the contrary, there is as Avide
a difference in this respect, as there is between the
character or quality of their ruling affections. The an
gels obey all the laws of heavenly order, (which are the
laws of God,) — live in mutual love and charity, and in
the performance of all goodnses from a free priticiple,
because they love to live so, and find therein the delight
of their life. The devils, on the other hand, live in no
mutual love or charity, but in mutual hatred ; and if
they perform any uses or obey any laAVS of order, they
do it from external constraint, as frora fear of punish
ment, and not from affection or a free internal princi
ple. And thus it is a source of perpetual misery to

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 863
them, to be restrained from doing always what their in
fernal love or hatred prompts.
We have a complete illustration of this in the admin
istration of civil government upon earth. There are
some men who love the laws, and therefore obey them
frora a free principle — from genuine affection. Such
persons never feel the laws to be tyrannical or oppres
sive. But there are others who do not really love the
laws, and who will therefore violate them as often as
they can do so with impunity. Such persons are kept
in a state of order or civil obedience, not by any free in
ternal principle but by certain external restraints, such
as the fear of losing their property or reputation, or of be
ing otherwise punished. By these therefore, the laws
are felt as tyrants and oppressors, because they irapose
restraints upon their infernal freedora.
Thus we see that the governraent both of heaven and
of hell is perfectly rational.
With regard to heaven, the writings of the Ncav
Church teach us that it is not, as natural raen and the
Old Church generally have conceived it to be — a place
of inactivity or idleness ; but a state of pleasing and ac
tive usefulness. Every angel lives in the perforraance
of the very use for which he is best quaUfied, and which
he takes most delight in performing, not for the sake of
himself, but for the good of his neighbor. But the uses
are all spiritual, yet corresponding to natural uses. By
that rest in heaven which is promised to the good man
in the Word of God, is not raeant coraplete inaction,
but the rest which arises from internal peace : — rest
from those spiritual conflicts with falses and evils which
all have to encounter in becoraing regenerated.
Swedenborg says : " The employments in the heavens
cannot be enumerated, for they are innumerable and
likewise various, according to the oflices of the socie
ties ; for every society performs a peculiar office, since, "
as the societies are distinct according to goods, so they
are according to uses, since goods, Avith all in the
heavens, are goods in act, which are uses. Every one
there performs use, for the kingdom of the Lord is a
Jdngdom of uses." — {Heaven and Hell, n, 387.)

364 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT,
An4 after raentioning some of the general employ
ments of the angels, he adds :
"But every one has his particular charge ; for every
general use is coraposed of innuraerable ones, which are
called raediate, administering, subservient uses ; all and
each are co-ordinated and sub-ordinated according to
divine order, and, taken together, make and perfect the
general use, which is the general good.
" Ecclesiastical affairs are under the charge of those in
heaven, who, in the world, loved the Word, and frora
desire investigated the truths there, not for the sake of
honor or gain, but for the sake of use of life, both for
themselves and others. These, according to the love
and desire of use, are there in illustration, and in the
light of wisdom, into which also they come frora the
Word in the heavens, which is not natural as in the
world, but spiritual, see above, n. 259. These perforra
the oflice of preachers, and there, according to divine
order, those are in a superior place, who, frora illustra
tion, excel others in Avisdom. Civil affairs are given in
charge to those, who, in the world, loved their country
and its general good in preference to their OAvn, and
have done what is just and right from the love of what
is just and right ; as far as these, frora the desire of love,
investigated the laws of what is just, and have thence
becorae intelligent, so far they are in the faculty of ad
ministering offices in heaven, which also they adrainis
ter in that place or degree in which their intelligence is,
which also is then in an equal degree with the love of
use for the general good. Moreover, in heaven there
are so raany offices and so raany administrations, and
also so many employments, that they cannot be enume
rated on account of their abundance ; in the world there
are respectively few : all, how raany soever there be,
are in the delight of their work and labor frora the love of
use, and no one frora the love of self or of gain ; nor
has any one the love of gain on account of life, because
all the necessaries of life are given to thera gratuitous
ly ; they are housed gratuitously, they are clothed gra
tuitously, and they are fed gratuitously : frora which it
is evident; that those who have loved themselves and

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 365
the world more than use, have not any lot in heaven ;
for every one's own love or own affection remains with
hira after his life in the world, nor is it extirpated to
eternity. " Every one in heaven is in his work according to
correspondence, and the correspondence is not Avith the
work, but with the use of every work, see above, n.
112 ; and there is a correspondence of all things, n. 106.
He in. heaven, who is in an eraployraent or work corre
sponding to his use, is in a state of life altogether sirai
lar to that in which he was in the world ; for what is
spiritual and what is natural act in unity by correspond
ences, yet with this difference, that he is in raore inte
rior delight, because in spiritual life, which is raore inte
rior life, and hence raore receptive of heavenly blessed
ness."— (iyeawji and Hell, n. 392, '93, '94,)
Such is the organization of the whole angelic heaven,
that every individual and every society there, acts in
union with, and for the good of all the rest, in the raost
perfect and Avonderful raanner. While each perforins
uses for all the rest, he receives in return the benefit of
all their several uses. And the perfect order, subordi
nation, mutual co-operation and unity of action Avhich
prevails among the several societies there, are represent
ed by the order, mutual co-operation &c. of the several
merabers, organs and viscera of a healthy human body,
to which indeed the angelic societies correspond. And
this agrees with what the apostle teaches, where he
speaks of the church as being " one body in Christ, and
every one merabers one of another." (Rora. xii. 5.)
Now inasmuch as the human form is the most perfect
of all forms, being the form of the Lord himself, there
fore it expresses the most perfect idea of beautiful, or
derly and harraonious arrangement of many parts into
a complete whole ; hence it is said that the whole an
gelic heaven is in the human form, and, in New Church
phraseology, it is often called the Greatest Man.
" Because heaven is such," says Swedenborg, " there
fore also it is ruled by the Lord as one man, and thence
as one ; for it is known, that although man consists of
an innumerable variety of things, as well in the whole
32*

366 doctrine op the new church [lect.
as in part — in the whole, of merabers, organs and visce
ra— m part, of series of fibres, nerves, and blood-ves
sels ; thus Of raembers within merabers, and of parts
within parts, yet still man, when he acts, acts as one.
Such also is heaven under the auspices and guidance
of the Lord.
" That so many various things in man act as one, is
because there is not any thing there which does not do
something for the coraraon weal, and perform a use. The
whole performs use to its parts, and the parts perform use
to the whole, for the whole is from the parts, and the
parts constitute the whole ; wherefore they provide for
each other, they have respect to each other, and are
conjoined in such a form, that all and each of the things
refer themselves to the whole and its good. Hence it is
that they act as one. Similar are the consociations in
the heavens ; they are conjoined there according to
uses in a similar form ; Avherefore those who do not per
form use to the whole are cast out of heaven, because
they are things heterogeneous. To perform use, is to
Avill well to others for the sake of the coraraon good ;
and not to perforra use, is to will well to others, not for
the sake of the common good, but for the sake of them
selves. The latter are those who love theraselves above
all things ; but the forraer are those who love the Lord
above all things. Hence it is, that those who are in
heaven act as one, but this not from themselves, but
from the Lord ; for they regard Hira as the only one
from whora [all things are,] and his kingdora as the
whole, which is to be regarded. This is meant by the
words of the Lord, Seek ye flrst the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness, and all things shall be added
unto you.' (Matt. vi. 33.) To seek his righteousness, is
[to seek] his good.* Those who in the world love the
good of their country raore than their OAvn, and the
good of their neighbor as their own, are those who in
the other life love and seek the kingdora of the Lord,
for thei^e the kingdora of the Lord is in the place of their
* That justice in the Word is predicated of good, judgment of trutbf and
hence to do justice and judgraent is to do what is good and true. — See Ar-
cona Ccekstto.n. 3235, 9857.

X.] concerning the resurrection. 357
country ; and those who love to do good to others, not
for the sake of themselves, but for the sake of good, love
the neighbor ; for there good is the neighbor. All those
who are such, are in the Greatest Man, that is, heaven."
— {Heaven and Hell, n. 63, 64.)
We are also taught that hell consists of innumerable
societies, the same as heaven. But because rautual
love does not exist there, but rautual hatred — because
the principles of life which govern in the hells are in
all respects opposite to those which rule in the heavens,
therefore each devil, when seen in the light of heaven,
appears not in the human but in a monstrous form.
And hence it is said that all the hells in one coraplex
appear before the Lord as a m,an-m,onster.
"All spirits in the hells," says Swedenborg, "when
inspected in any light of heaven, appear in the forra of
their own evfl, for every one is an effigy of his own evil,
inasrauch as with every one the interiors and exteriors
act in unity, and the interiors present themselves visible
in the exteriors, which are the face, the body, the speech,
and the gestures ; thus their quality is recognized as
soon as they are seen ; in general, they are forms of
conterapt of others, of menaces against those who do
not pay them respect ; they are forms of hatreds of va
rious kinds, also of various kinds of revenge ; outrage
and cruelty from their interiors are transparent through
those forms ; but when others commend, venerate, and
worship them, their faces are contracted, arid have an
appearance of gladness grounded in delight : it is ira
possible to describe in a few words all those forms such
as they appear, for one is not like to another ; only be
tween those who are in similar evil, and thence in a
sirailar infernal society, there is a general siraflitude, by
virtue of which, as from a plane of derivation, the
faces of each appear there to have a kind of likeness :
in general, their faces are direful, and void of life, like
carcasses, in some they are black, in sorae fiery like
little torches, in sorae disfigured with pimples, warts, and
ulcers ; in several no face appears, but in its stead some
thing hairy or bony, and in some, teeth only are exhib'
ited ; their bodies also are monstrous ; and their speech

368 DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
is as the speech of anger, or of hatred, or of revenge ;
for every one speaks from his own falsity, and the tone
of his voice is frora liis own evil ; in a word, they are
all images of their .own hell. It has not been given me
to see what is the form of hell itself in general ; it was
only told me, that as the universal heaven in one com
plex constitutes one man, (n. 59-67,) so the universal
hell in one complex constitutes one devil, and may
likewise be presented in the effigy of one devil.^ — It is,
however, to be noted, that such is the appearance of the
infernal spirits in the light of heaven, whereas amongst
theraselves they appear as raen, which is of the Lord's
mercy, lest they should seem as filthy one amongst
another as they appear before the angels ; but that ap
pearance is a fallacy, for as soon as any ray of light from
heaven is let in, their human forms are turned into
monstrous forms, such as they are in themselves, as
described above ; for in the light of heaven eyery thing
appears as it is in itself" — {Heaven and Hell n, 553.)
These are sorae of the things which are taught in
tlie writings of the New Church concerning societies of
raen in that Avorld Avhich all enter as soon as they leave
the natural body. Every man enters some society,
either of angels or of devils according to the quality of
his life, and there he remains to eternity. For every
one carries with hira into the other Avorld such a quality
of life as he had procured to himself in this : thus each
one carries with him his own heaven or his oAvn hell.
The quality of every one's life may be known frora his
ruling love, for it is this which makes his life. It is
this from which all a raan's subordinate loves derive
their quality. If one's ruling love be of the Lord and
the neighbor, and he has lived in the perforraance of
uses from this love, or from the love of use, then the
quality of his life is good ; and when he is reraoved to
the spiritual world he enters sorae angelic society which
is in a simflar state of love with himself But if his
ruling love be of self and the world, and whenever he
has performed any uses he has done it not frora any
love of use but frora the love of self, then the quality of
his life is CAril ; and when he passes into the other world

X.] CONCERMNG THE RESURRECTION. 369
he enters some infernal society whose quality of life -is
in general similar to his own. Swedenborg says :
" Heavenly love is to love what is good, sincere, and
just, because it is good, sincere, and just, and to act
accordingly from that love ; thence they have the life
of what is good, sincere, and just, which is heavenly
life. Those who love these things for the sake of thera,
and do them or live them, love also the Lord above all
things, because these are frora Hira ; and they also love
the neighbor because those are the neighbor who ought
to be loved. But corporeal love is to love what is
good, sincere, and just, not for the sake of thera, but for
the sake of self, because to secure thereby reputation,
honor,' and gain ; they do not regard the Lord and their
neighbor in what is good, sincere, and just, but them
selves and the world, and feel delight in fraud ; and
what is good, sincere and just frora fraud is evil, insin
cere, and unjust, which in them they love. Because
the loves thus deterraine the life of every one, therefore
all, as soon as they corae after death into the world of
spirits, are explored as to their quality, and are attached
to those who are in similar love ; those who are in
heavenly love, to those who are in heaven, and those
who are in corporeal love, to those who are in hell.
And also, after having passed through the first and
second state, they are so separated, they no longer see
each other nor know each other ; for every one becoraes
his own love, not only as to the interiors which are of
the raind, but also as to the exteriors which are of the
face, the body, and the speech ; for every one becomes
an effigy of his own love, even in externals. Those
who are corporeal loves appear gross, obscure, black
and deformed ; but those who are heavenly loves, ap
pear fresh, bright, fair and beautiful. They are also
altogether dissimilar as to their minds and thoughts ;
those who are heavenly loves are also intelligent and
wise, but those who are corporeal loves are stupid, and
as it were sottish. When it is given to inspect the in
teriors and exteriors of the thought and affection of
those Avho are in heavenly love, the interiors appear like
light, in some hke flaming light, and the exteriors in

370 J DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
various beautiful colors like rainbows ; but the interiors
of those who are in corporeal love appear as something
black, because they are closed, and of some as dusky
fire, who are those who had been interiorly in malig
nant deceit ; but the exteriors appear of a dirty color,
and disagreeable to the sight. — "Those Avho are in cor
poreal love cannot in any wise live in the heat of
heaven, for the heat of heaven is heavenly love, but in
the heat of hell, which is the love of indulging rage
against others who do not favor themselves ; conterapt
of others, enraity, hatred, revenge, are the delights of
that love ; and when they are in those delights they are
in their life, not at all knowing what it is to do good to
others from good itself, and for the sake of good, but
only to do good from evil, and for the sake of evil.
Neither can those who are in corporeal love breathe in
heaven, for when any evil spirit is brought thither, he
draws his breath as one who straggles in a contest ;
whereas they who are in heavenly love breathe the
more freely, and live the raore fully, the raore interiorly
they are adraitted into heaven. From these things it
may be manifest, that heavenly and spiritual love is
heaven with man, because on that love are inscribed all
things of heaven ; and that corporeal and woridly love,
without heavenly and spiritual love, are hell with man,
because on those loves are inscribed all things of hell.
Hence it is evident, that he who is in heavenly and
spiritual love comes into heaven, and he who is in cor
poreal and worldly love without heavenly and spiritual,
into hell. — {Heaven and Hell n. 481.)
Frora what has now been said concerning societies of
raen in the spiritual world, it will be seen that a very
different doctrine is taught in the writings of the New
Church from what is found in those of the Old, concern
ing the future condition of the wicked, and the nature of
their punishment. According to the doctrines of this
Church, there is nothing arbitrary either in the punish
ment of the wicked or in the rcAvard ofthe virtuous : but,
agreeably to an eternal law of order, goodness is its own
reward and vice its oAvn tormentor. Swedenborg says
that, in the spiritual world "there is nothing of punish-

X J CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 371
ment from the Lord, hnt from evil itself; for evil is'So
conjoined with its OAvn punishment, tl^at they cannot be
separated ; for the irifemal crew desire and love nothing
more than to do evil ;" and hence " that the Lord does
not cast any one down into hell, but that every one
casts himself down not only whilst he lives? in the
world, but also after death, Avhen he comes amongst
spirits." {Ibid, n, 548, 550.) ,^„
Neither is there in the spiritual world any literal
"lake which burneth with fire and brimstone," into
which the wicked will be cast ; although it is so said in
the literal sense of the Word. But this is there said,
because the Scriptures are Avritten according to corre
spondences, and such a "lake" corresponds to the state
of life in which the wicked are. Those therefore who
confirm themselves in this apparent truth of the letter,
pervert and falsify the Word.
Swedenborg says : " The spiritual heat appertaining
to raan is the heat of his life, because in its essence it is
love ; this heat is what is raeant in the Word hyflre ;
love to the Lord and neighborly love being meant by
heavenly fire, and self-love and the love of the world by
infernal fire." {Ibid, 568.)
From this it may readfly be understood what is sig
nified by the lake of fire and brim,stone into which, it
is said, the wicked shall be cast. It denotes in general
a state of evil lusts and false persuasions into which
those persons cast themselves, who wilfully reject and
disobey the Divine Truth. A lake, when employed in
a good sense as when a lake of water is spoken of, de
notes an abundance of truth ; for water corresponds to
truth. But when used in an opposite sense, as in the
present instance, it denotes Avhat is opposite to truth, or
falses in abundance. Fire denotes love either good or
evil. Here it denotes evil love which is infernal fire.
And because such love is conjoinedwith all kinds of
falses, therefore the state of one's mind in which it
dwells is described in correspondential language by a
lake of fire. By brimstone is denoted the lust of evil
and thence of falsity. This lake is sometimes said to
burn with fire and brimstone, to denote the infiamma'^

372 DOCTRINE OP THE NEW CHURCH [lECT.
tory and consuming character of those infernal loves
whence issue evil lusts and false persuasions. By the
wicked being cast into this lake, as is sometiraes said,
is signified that raen cast theraselves into such an in
fernal state of raind as is denoted by it, through a vol
untary rejection and disobedience of the truth. The
reason why they are said to be cast into this lake, as if
it were done by the Lord in an arbitrary raanner, is,
because it is effected through the operation of a law of
divine order. For it is an eternal law of order, that those
who reject and disobey the truth shall fall into such a
state of raind as is denoted by the " lake that burneth
with fire and brimstone."
Such isthe burning lake in which all the Avicked
have their part ; — into which are cast " the beast and
the false prophet," and all Avho " have received the mark
of the beast and worshipped his iraage." " And the
smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever ;"
i. e. evil concupisences and the pride of self-derived in
telligence Avhich is darkness when compared with
heavenly light, continually proceed from the torment
ing love of self in which those are who are denoted by
the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet, as natural
smoke proceeds from the fire.
We have thus presented the doctrine of the New
Church conceming the resurrection, together with a
brief view of that world which raan enters iramediately
after death. Those Avho desire to know raore about the
spiritual Avorld, are referred to the writings of Sweden
borg, particularly to the treatise on Heaven and Hell,
frora which we have made copious extracts. From
these extracts it must be manifest that everything which
is there taught is perfectly reasonable and consistent.
And it raust be seen also frora what has been said, that
the doctrine of the resurrection as taught in the writings
of the New Church, is not only free frora the philoso
phical objections which raay be urged against the pre
vailing doctrine upon this subject, but is in perfect ac
cordance both with reason and Scripture.
The great advantage also which this doctrine pos
sesses over that of the Old Church in a practical point

X.] CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION. 373
of view must be manifest to all. It brings the spiritual
world and the day of judgment very near to us all. It
teaches us that the spirit of raan is the real man him
self, endowed Avith sensations far more acute than any
that can be iraparted to flesh and blood ; and that his
state of final happiness or misery is not to be deferred
to sorae indefinite and very remote period, but that im
raediately on quitting the natural world he rises a real
man, capable of all that fulness either of joy or of sor-
roAV which is comraonly supposed to await him not be
fore the resurrection of the material body. And w^en
in connection with this, we refiect that there is nothing
arbitrary either in the rewards or the pi^ishments of
another life — that we carry with us our own heaven or
our own hell — ^that the quality of life which we have
procured, each one for hiraself, in this world, or the na
ture of the loA'e which we have permitted to rale in us,
will remain with us to eternity — what a powerful mo
tive is here presented to induce raen to cease frora evil
and learn to do well ! — to induce them to observe all
things whatsoever the Lord has comraanded.
Certainly the practice of virtue and the discourage
raent of vice carinot be enforced by any stronger sanc
tions than those furnished by the New Church doctrine
which we have just been considering. 33

374 OPENING OF swedenborg's [lect.

LECTURE XI.

THE OPENING OF SWEDENBORG S SPIRITUAL SENSES
—ITS POSSIBILIT-^- PR.OVED FROM THE SCRIP
TURES.

' I WILL comi: to visions and revelations.'' — 2 Cor. xii. 1.

Writing upon the subject of Swedenborg's modes
of perception, the pious, learned and philosophic
Richer says :
"At the word 'Vision,' science is disturbed, faith
alarmed ; and the mind, without examination, appeals
to ridicule and mockery. In this proscribed word, su
perstition, fanaticism, and deception, meet. One sees
in it unequivocal proof of a disordered brain ; another, '
the certain influence of the spirit of darkness ; a third,
the evidence of gross and ignorant credulity. Memory
recalls Avhat one has read, and receives thqse visions
with the same contempt we have been accustomed to
feel for those of ancient story. If history has wished
to blast the reputation of any religious personage, it has
called hira a visionary. Is there in a roraance a char
acter whose delirious opinions the author would con
demn, he makes him a visionary. It is a word which
everywhere invites proscription, contempt, ridicule and
hatred. The infant, whose reason is but budding,
smiles at the story of a vision ; for it is told hira along
with the fairy tales, to which no one is expected to list-

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 375
en seriously. And while uttering this word, the man
of letters smfles ; for if he spoke it seriously, his repu
tation Avould suffer.
However fearful may appear such a coalition of en
eraies, it is nevertheless certain, that truth has very often
appeared upon the ekrth under discredited terms. The
Gospel had its origin in the midst of a people, who had
become the scorn of all others. Let us venture then to
approach, Avithout prejudice, the phenomena of visions.
We shall find, perhaps, even, here, raaterials for trae
science, which should dread no investigation. We
shall undoubtedly be convinced, that enlightened reli
gion has nothing to fear frora the results of this study ;"
we shall at last acquire the proof that the frivolity which
jests with it, as with an arbitrary thing, attacks a fact
which deraands to be observed, comprehended and ap
preciated. Our conscience will then put us in a condi
tion to pass a definitive judgment upon this subject, in
stead of repeating, like servile echoes, the pleasantries of
•people who have never been able to think for thera
selves, or who have not had light or strength enough
to struggle against an error which had becorae dorainant.
We will begin, then, consistently with these views,
to consider, in this celebtated raan, the Arisionary in
good faith.
In truth, it is as a seer of visions, that Swedenborg as-
seried his raission, and it raay be remarked that no found
er of religion has spoken in the name of reason alone ;
<tie has spoken as an organ of heaven, A\'ith which he
has claimed to be in comunication. If reason alone
had been appealed to in aid ofthe establishment of forms
of worship, there Avould have been as raany, without
doubt, as there are individuals ; for each raan has his
own raanner of feeling and conceiving the truth. The
right of imposing his religious opinions on others, be
longs to no one, rationally speaking ; but, if not as an
imperative right, at least as a demonstrative right, it may
in some sort, belong to certain individuals in corarauni
cation with the divine power.
The Scripture is founded entirely on a certain order
of things : it is only the raan who finds hiraself in this

('tV

376 OPENING OF saatedenborg's [lect.
order, who can have the faculty of interpreting it. If
St. John wrote his Apocalypse as a seer, is it not proba
ble that it is only a seer, like himself, who Avill have the
power to explain it ? What appears, at the first view,
a motive for rejecting Swedenborg, appears, on farther
reflection, rather a guarantee of the mission with which
he declares himself charged. If he had clairaed to be
chosen in order to establish upon the earth a new provi
dential kingdora by the extent of his reason, the excel
lence of his understanding, the raoral superiority of all
his faculties, by what right would his intelligence have
prevailed over that of others? With a claira so extra
ordinary, he should necessarily, in order to be received,
assert an intercourse equally extraordinary with the
divinity whose agent he is.
But let it not be thought that I deraand here the sac
rifice of reason ; it seeras to rae, on the contrary, that it
is by the use of this faculty alone that I can assure my
self that anything above it exists. To expel her from
a domain which is hers, is not the way to force her to-
surrender ; she will revolt against this tyrannical act,
and will never submit to what one would attempt to im
pose upon her. If you present to her, on the contrary,
something inaccessible to our senses, those instruraents
which have been given us to act within certain liraits,
she Avill soon herself acknowledge her insufficiency, and
her laying down of her authority will be her own act.
In refusing to act, she will exercise all her force, and'all
her independence.
Now, it is a long time since the reason of enlighten
ed men, has declared itself incompetent for the expla
nation of certain phenomena, which do not enter into
the common order of life and of thought. There is
beyond the science of sensations a science of man,
scarcely known, it is true, but yet acknowledged ; it is
that which expUuns drearas, presentiraents, visions, a
thousand supernatural effects attested by the raost re
spectable writers in all tiraes."— (Morfe* of perception
of Emanuel Swedenborg) by Edward Richer, — See
New Jerusalem Magazine for Nov,, 1841.)
These reraarks are from the pen of an able French

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 377
writer, who possesses a good heart, extensive and va
ried learning, and one of the most eminently clear
and phflosophic minds of modern tiraes. They are
cited as an appropriate introduction to our present
lecture. In the coraraenceraent of his work entitled " The
Delights of Wisdora concerning Conjugial Love," Swe
denborg says :
" I FORESEE that raany who read the relations iraracr
diately following, and those annexed to the chapters,
Avill believe that they are inventions of the iraagination ;
but I assert in truth that they were not invented, but
truly done and seen ; nor seen in any state of the sleep^
ing raind, but in full wakefulness. For it has pleased
the Lord to raanifest hiraself to rae, and to send rae to
teach those things which will belong to the Ncav
Church, which is meant by the New Jerusalem in the
Apocalypse ; for which purpose He has opened the in
teriors of my mind and spirit; whereby it has been
given me to be in the spiritual world with angels, and
at the same time in the natural world with raen, and
this now for twenty-five years."
Again in the sarae volume, (n. 39) the writer says :
" 'That man {homo), lives a man after death, and that
then a raale is a male, and a female a female ; and, that
his own love remains with every one after death, and
that especially the love of the sex and conjugial love
remain, I have wished hitherto to conflrm by such
things as are of the understanding, and are called ra
tional ; but because raan {homo.) frora infancy, takes
|rom his parents and masters, and afterwards frora the
learned and the clergy, a belief that he shall not live a
man after death until the day of the last judgment,
which day has now been expected for six thousand
years ; and because many have regarded this as one of
those things which are to be received by faith, but not
by the understanding, it was therefore necessary that
these propositions should be confirmed by the proof of
actual sight ; otherwise man, who believes only the
senses, from the faith implanted in hijn would say. If
33*

%,

378 OPENING OF swedenborg's [lect.
men lived raen after death, I should see and hear them :
who has descended out of heaven, or ascended from
hell , and told of them ? But because it is not and never
was possible, that any angel of heaven should descend,
or any spirit of hell ascend, and speak with raen, except
with those who haA^e the interiors of the raind, which
are those of the spirit, opened by the Lord ; and this
cannot be fully done, except with those who have been
prepared by the Lord to receive the things which are of
spiritual wisdora ; wherefore it has pleased the Lord so
to prepare rae, to the end that the state of heaven and
hell, and the state of the life of men after death, might
not be unknown, and sleep in ignorance, and at length
be buried in denial. Nevertheless, ocular proofs on the
subjects above-raentioned cannot here be adduced be
cause of their abundance ; but they have been adduced
inthe work on Heaven and Hell ; and then in The
Continuation concerning the Spiritual World
— rand afterwards in the Apocalypse Revealed ; but
especially, in regard to the present subject of marriages,
in the relations which are annexed to the several
paragraphs or chapters of this work." — {Conjugial Love
n. 39.)
In another of his works entitled " The Trae Chris
tian Religion," (n. 779) Swedenborg says :
" That this second Coming of the lord is
effected by means of a Man, before whom
He has manifested Himself, and whom He
:^yis pilled with his Spirit, to teach the
•Doctrines of the Keav Church through the
Word from Him.
Since the Lord cannot manifest Hiraself in person, as
has been shown just above, and yet He has foretold that
He would corae and establish a New Church, which is
the New Jerusalem, it follows, that He is to do if by
means of a man, Avho is able not only to receive the
doctrines of this church with his understanding, but
also to publish them by the press. That the Lord has
manifested Himself before me, his servant, and sent me
on this office, and that, after this. He opened the sight
of my spirit, and thus let me into the spiritual worid.

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 379
and gave rae to see the,Jieavens and the hells, and also
to speak with angels and spirits, and this now continu
ally for raany years, I testify in truth ; and also that,
from the first day of that call, 1 have not received any
thing which pertains to the doctrines of that church
from any angel, but from the Lord alone, while I read
the Word."
Such is the language in which the especial mission,
that is clairaed for SAvedenborg as a divinely appointed
instrument or servant of the Lord for revealing the
truths ofthe New Dispensation, is asserted by Sweden
borg himself Sorae of us well remember how wild
and strange these assertions sounded to our ears, before
we had satisfied ourselves, by an impartial and thorough
exaraination of his writings, of the claims of him who
makes them. And we are not therefore surprised, that
others, on first hearing them, should say in their hearts
if not with their .lips, " These are hard sayings : who
can hear them ?"
Such is the condition of the prevailing church at the
present day, that, if you tell people who profess the
Christian Religion that there is a spiritual world more
real and substantial even than this natural Avorld, and
that' angels are real men with spiritual and substantial
bodies, and with all huraan organs and functions much
raore perfect than those which helong to raen on earth —
in nine cases out of ten they wfll doubt it with their
lips, while in their hearts they deny it altogether. Tell
professed religionists of the Old Church, that raan has,
within his fleshly covering, a spiritual and imperishable
, body in which he rises immediately after death — that
this body is endowed with spiritual senses, and that
these senses may be opened by the Lord Avhile man lives
upon earth, so as to raake him sensibly acquainted with
the things ofthe spiritual world, and that they actually
have been opened at such times and for such purposes
as the Lord in his wisdora has deeraed fit — tell this to
professedly religious men, and they will generally re
ceive it with a contempt aous sneer. The bare assertion
that Swedenborg's spiritual senses >vere opened, and that
he really saw things in the spiritual world, and con-

380 OPENING OP swedenborg's [lect.
versed with angels and spirits as man with raan, is, with
raost people in the Old Church, sufficient of itself to
stamp his communications with extravagance and folly.
It is but a few weeks since, that one of the religious
journals* of this city stated as evidence of Swedenborg's
delusion, that he professed to enjoy open intercourse
with angels and spirits. And this was stated in such
a connection as to leave no doubt that the editor meant
to have his readers infer that therefore Swedenborg's
writings raust be foolish, and the doctrines of the New
Church false.
Such, in these latter times, is the real infidelity in
the rainds of professing Christians — infidelity in the
heart's core of the prevailing church. There are mul
titudes in christendora now, like the Sadducees at the
tirae of the Lord's first advent, who, in their hearts,
" believe that there is no resurrection, neither angel nor
spirit :" — multitudes who deny the reality of a spiritual
Avorld, and of course the reality of all spiritual exist
ences. The Church is immersed in sensualism. There
is no faith in spiritual things. And thus is fulfilled the
prediction which is implied in this interrogatory of our
Lord, "When the Son of Man o^imeth shall He find
faith on the earth ?" (Luke xviii. 8.)
Nevertheless, when we consider how raany enthu
siasts, fanatics, and irapostofs there have been in the
Church, who have deluded both theraselves and others
with their pretended revelations, it is not so much to be
wondered at that the very idea ofa vision should come
to be ridiculed ; and that whoever professes to have had
one should therefore be regarded as necessarily a person
of disordered intellect, or as possessing a diseased organ
of marvelousness. But certainly it is neither wise nor
just, as was remarked in a preceding lecture, to con
clude from the raany pretended revelations which raen
have had, that therefore there can be no true ones ;
nor, because there have been irapostors and lying spirits
in all ages of the Church, that therefore there can be
no genuine raessengers of a revelation frora heaven.
* The New- York Evangelist.

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 381
Those who would draw such inferences frora such data,
are perhaps not aware of the extent to which their logic
would lead thera. For, if they would be consistent, they
raust reject the Sacred Scriptures theraselves as alto
gether unworthy of credit — as the productions of mad
raen — ^because therein are recorded raany rairacles and
visions. And this is precisely what the avoAVed infidel
has done.
No. — The wiser, and, as I deem, far raore philosoph
ic and christian course for one to pursue in these
days of imposture and delusion, is, to " believe not
every spirit, but to try the spirits whether they be of
God." We should endeavor to " prove all things," that
we raay thereby be better able to " hold fast that which
is good." And since we "know not what hour the
Lord doth corae" — since we know not when, nor Avhere,
nor how He will raanifest Himself to human minds, it
becometh us all to do as He commands us — " Watch."
We are told that "there shall arise false Christs and
false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders ;
insomuch, that if it were possible, they shall deceiA'-e
the very elect."* (Mat. xxiv. 24.) This teaches us the
need there is that we be on our guard against impos
ture ; but we do not learn from it that we ought to re
ject indiscriminately everything which pretends to be
a revelation. Indeed the declaration contained in this
text is of itself evidence that there will be a coming of
the true Son of Man. And an indiscriminate rejection
of everything which claims to be the fulfillment of the
predicted second appearing, would CA'idently lead men
to reject Him who is the very Truth itself, whenever
and in whatever forra He might appear. " Watch, there
fore ; for in such an hour as ye think nOt, the Son of
Man cometh." (Mat. xxiv. 42, 44.)
We are aware that Swedenborg's alleged intercourse
* It would appear from this text that the second coming of the Lord is to
be in a mannerthat may be and will be counterfeited. But if his second
coming was to be in person and upon the natural clouds, according to the
prevailing belief in the Old Church, we do not see what chance there could
possibly be for a counterfeit. Certainly no one could imitate such an ap
pearing. Therefore nobody could be deceiveij, rauch less "the very
ele^t."

382 OPENING OF swedenborg's [lect.
with spirits and angels, and the Relations which he has
given us of the things seen by him in the spiritual
world, are generally regarded as the raost objectionable
parts of his writings. Nor is it strange that, in this
"faithless and perverse generation," it should be so.
His Meraorable Relations appear at first like the drearas
of superstflion, or the tales in the Arabian Night's En
tertainment. They are frequently seized upon by per
sons in the Old Church, and held up as fit subjects for
ridicule, and as affording indubitable evidence of Swe
denborg's monomania. Looking at these Relations with
a jaundiced eye — seeing thera through the raediura of
their own carnalrainds-^they of course do not under
stand thera aright, and therefore pervert their raeaning.
This we know is what natural raen are ever inclined
to do in respect to things that raust be spiritually dis
cerned. It is frequently the -case however, that persons who
becorae fully convinced of the truth of all the rest of
Swedenborg's writings, find theraselves fbr a consider
able tirae in a state of doubt Avith regard to the Memora
ble Relations. Perhaps these are usually the greatest
stumbling-blocks to those who are just coming into the
Church, and the last things that are fully received and
rationally understood. This being the case, (and when
Ave refiect upon the existing state of the Church we are
not surprised that it should be so) it may be useful to
show — as we shall now proceed to do — not only the
possibility of Swedenborg's alleged intercourse with
the spiritual world, but also the consistency and ration
ality of what he has given us in his Meraorable Rela
tions, When rightly vieAved, these Relations, so far
from invalidating the truth of the rest of his Avritings,
help to confirm their truth ; and at the sarae tirae they
receive frora the acknoAvledged truth of the other parts,
ample confirraation of their own reality and genuine
ness. But even if this were not so — even if the Meraorable
Relations were adraitted as sufficient evidence of Swe
denborg's insanity — this would not in the slightest de
gree affect the trutfi of other parts of his writings ; for
SM

XI,] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 383
their trath does not rest upon his or any other raan's
testiraony, but raay be seen in its own light ; — raay be
seen to be in perfect agreeraent with all nature, with
enlightened reason, and with the Word of God. 'Truth,
which is susceptible of such verification, could in no
Avi'se be affected by the sanity or insanity of hira who
uttered it. A law of nature whose truth Ave are able
to demonstrate by positive experiment or a mathe
raatical calculation, is not at all dependent on the char
acter of the person Avho may have first discovered it.
Its demonstration is none the less possible, nor is its truth
the less certain, though the man who first announced it
raay have been a fool or a maniac. The sarae raight
be said of the truths which are revealed in the theo
logical writings of Swedenborg.
But the goodness of Swedenborg's heart, the purity
and innocence of his life, the distinguished honors that
Avere conferred upon hira, and the clearness, order,
depth and soundness of his understanding, according to
the testimony of all who knew hira intiraately, are suf
ficient, one would think, to raake wise men feel very
reluctant to pronounce even such statements as those
Avith which this lecture commenced, either dreams or
fables. His heart, we may depend upon it, was too
good to allow him to deceive others ; and his under
standing was too large and clear to allow him to deceive
himself The end, or one of the ends for which Swedenborg
was permitted to enjoy intercourse with spirits and an
gels by having his spiritual senses opened, is stated in
the folloAving passage from the Treatise on Infiux (n.
" That there is a spiritual world inhabited by spirits
and angels, and that of a very different nature and con
stitution from that we live in here, is a truth much
doubted of by many, even in the Christian world, and
that because no angel has come down frora heaven to
declare it unto them, and no man, whilst in the body,
hath ascended up and seen it. -And therefore, that igno
rance in this particular may no longer be pretended by
such for an excuse of their unbelief;' and lest, by a most

'#

384 OPENING OF swedenborg's [lect.
fatal delusion, they should fall into that species of athe
ism which ascribes all to nature, the Lord hath been
graciously pleased to give me a view in spirit, both of
the heavenly and hellish kingdoms, so that I can, frora
sight and experience, declare that there are two worlds
entirely distinct frora each other, the one in Avhich all
things are spiritual, and therefore called the spiritual
world ; the other in which all things are natural (raate
rial), and therefore called the natural world ; that spirits
and angels live in the world that is accoraraodated to
their condition of existence, as raen do in that which is
proper to thera ; and also that every raan passes through
death frora the one to the other, in which he continues
to live to all eternity. This declaration conceming
both Avorlds is premised, that the doctrine of Influx, now
before us, may be opened in its true ground and princi
ple ; for the spiritual world influences and actuates the
natural world throughout, as well in respect to raen as
beasts, and is also the principle of vegetation in trees,
plants, and all vegetables,"
We shall in this lecture consider whether it be possi
ble that Swedenborg could have had his spiritual senses
opened, so as to enable him to converse with persons in
the spiritual world in the manner that he has described ;
and afterwards, whether it be probable ; or whether,
from his well known character and from the nature of
the Relations which we flnd in his Avritings, there is
reason to believe that such was the case.
First, is it possible ? If we really believe that there
is a spiritual Avorld, and that man has a spiritual body
which is adapted to it as his material body is adapted to
the natural world, (and Ave cannot conceive how any
who have attended carefully to our last lecture, and who
acknowledge the Sacred Scriptures to be the Word of
God, can deny this) then certainly it does seera possi
ble. For if we have a spiritual body within the natural,
we should suppose that body Avould be endowed with
senses adapted to its wants and uses in the spiritual
world, as our natural senses are adapted to our wants
and uses in this world. And since man, as to his spirit
or his spirjjual body, is actually an inhabitant of the

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 385
spiritual world even while he lives upori earth, if he has
spiritual senses, there is no reason that we can perceive
why these raight not be opened so as to enable him to
see and hear things in the spiritual world, whenever the
Lord in his infinite wisdom should see a fit occasion for
doing so. Reason therefore admits its possibility.
But on turning to the Sacred Scriptures we find this
question placed beyond all doubt. We there, find
abundant evidence going to prove, not only that raan
has spiritual senses, but that they have frequently been
opened in hira while living in this world. All the in
stances which are recorded in the Scriptures, of angels
having been seen by raen, furnish us with evidence of
this kind. (See Gen. xix. 1; xxxn. 1; Luke i. 30; n.
10 ; xxiv. 23, and other places.) For if angels* or
spirits could be seen with fhe natural eyes, then why
are they not frequently seen ? Why do we not see the
spirits of our friends after they have left the natural
body? Wfiy are not the spirits of all who have de
parted this life visible to the natural eyes of raen ?
* The Greet word a^yy£\oq (angelos,) as well as the Hebrew 'TIJ^^)3
(•/waZdA;), each of which is translated angel'm the Scriptures, means a me.?-
senger—one sent. Therefore some persons belonging to the Old Church,
who seem unwilling to believe that there is either angel or spirit, endeavor
fo confine this word entirely to those living in the natural world. But thnt
the word is u«ed to designate an inhabitant of the spiritual world, is mani
fest from many passages in which it occurs. Thus in Luke, we are inform
ed that the Lord's advent was announced to the shepherds by "the angel
of the Lord ;" " and suddenly tiiere was with the angel a multitiide ofthe
heavenly host;" and afterwards we are told what. happened when "tlie
angels were gone away from them into heaven." ,(h. 9, 13, 15.) If these
had not been spiritual beings, they would hardly liBve beeii^ spoken of as
** theheavenly host,^' nor asgomg away into AeatJen when they'left the shep
herds ; nor can we otherwise conceive how such a multitude could have
appeared "suddenly" to the shepherds while "keeping watch over their
flock by night," But if we admit (what is taught in the writings ofthe
New Church ;T that man has spiritual eyes which may be opened sudde.ily
so as to give him a view of angels and spirits, then this whole passage be
comes easy of explanation. ^
Again : in the parable of the rich raan and Lazafns, we are told that when
the beggar died, he "was carried by angeh into Abraham's bosom,"
(Luke xvi. 22,) These " angels " were evidently beings who attended the
poor man in the spiritual world. The Lord also says of little children
" that their angels in the heavens do always behold the face of my Father
which is in the heavens," (Matt, xviii. 10.) These muft mean inhabitants
ofthe spiritual world. The apostle also says, " Though I speak with the
tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as
•ouruiing brass and a tinkling cymbal," (1 Cnr. xiii. 1.) Angels are evident
ly used here to distinguish the inhabitants ofthe spiritual world from men
who belong to the natural world.  „.  ,
34

386 OPENING OF swedenborg's [lect.
Again : we find it frequentiy said in the Scripturesi
that persons were " carried away in the Spirit." And
when in this state, it appears that they . heard and saw
wonderful things. Thus in the prophecy of Ezekiel :
" Then the spirit' took rae up, and I heard behind rae a
voice of a great rashing, [saying,] blessed be the glory
of the Lord frora this place. [I heard] also the noise of
the wings of the living creatures that touched one an
other, and the noise 'of the wheels over against thera,
and a noise of a great rushing." (iii. 12, 13.) Is this to
be regarded as a raere fancy of the prophet — as some
thing which he imagined that he heard — or did he re
ally hear such sounds as he describes ? And if so, were
they in the natural or in the spiritual world? Were
they heard with the ears ofthe natural or of the spirit
ual body, Avhen the prophet was " lifted up ?"
Again : this same prophet declares, that " it came to
pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth raonth, in the
fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by
the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and
I saw visions of God," (i. 1.) And he describes what
he saw. "And I looked," he says, "and behold a whirl
wind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire in
folding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of
the raidst thereof as the color of araber, out of the midst
of the fire : Also out of the midst thereof carae the
likeness of four living creatures. And this was their
appearance ; they had the likeness of a man. And
every one had four faces, and everyone had four wings.
And their feet were straight feet ; and the sole of their
feet was like the sole of a calf's foot : and they sparkled
like the color of burnished brass. And they had the
hands of a raan under their wings on their four sides ;
and they four had their faces and their Avings. Their
wings were joined one to another ; they tumed not
when they went ; they went every one straight forward.
As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face
of a raan and the face of a lion on tbe right side ; and
they four had the face of an ox on the left side ; they
four also had the face of an eagle. Thus were their
faces: and their wings were stretched upward; two

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 387
wings of every one were joined one to another, and two
covered their bodies. * *
"Noav, as 1 beheld the living creatures, behold one
wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his
four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their
work was like unto the color of a beryl ; and they four
had one likeness : and their appearance and their work
was as it were a wheel in the raiddle of a wheel. When
they Avent, they went upon their four sides ; and they
turned not when they went. As for their rings, they
were so high that they were dreadful ; and their rings
were full of eyes roupd about them four. And Avhen
the living creatures went, the wheels went- by thera ;
and when the, living creatures were lifted up frora the
earth, the wheels were lifted up. Whithersoever the
spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to
go ; and the wheels Avere lifted up over against thera :
for the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels."
(Ezekiel i, 4-20,)
Did the prophet see these things in the natural or in
the spiritual world? — with his natural or with his
spiritual eyes ? They were what he calls " visions of
God," which he saw when " the heavens were opened''
It is plain from this therefore, as well as from the
creatures described by the prophet, that the things
which he saw could not have been seen in the natural
world. Other visions also of a sirailar kind are recorded by
this prophet, which he saw while in the spirit, or " when
the heavens were opened." (Seechap.viii., x., xl., xlvi'.,
&c.) Such representative appearances were seen also by
the other prophets. Thus the prophet Zechariah says :
" And I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked,
and, behold, there carae four chariots out from between
two mountains ; and the mountains were raountains of
brass. In the flrst chariot were red horses, and in the
second chariot black horses, and in the third chariot
Avhite horses, and in the fourth chariot grisled and bay
horses. Then I answered and said unto the angel that
talked with me. What are these, ray lord ? And the

388 OPENING OF swedenborg's [lect.
angel answered and said unto me. These are the four
spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing
before the Lord of all the earth. The black horses
which are therein, go forth into the north country ;*and
the white go forth after them ;' and the grisled go forth
toward the south country. And the bay went forth,
and sought to go, that they raight walk to and fro
through the earth : and he said, Get you hence, Avalk
to and fro through the earth. So they walked to and
fro through the earth." (vi. 1-7.)
Now if the prophet really saw the things here de
scribed, it is manifest that he could not have seen them
in the natural world, and consequently not with his
natural but with his spiritual eyes ; for he could not in
this world have seen chariots coraing out from between
two mountains of brass. *
Similar things are recorded in the Revelation : "I was
in the spirit," says the Revelator, "on the Lord's day,
and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last :
and what thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto
the seven churches Avhich are in Asia ; unto Ephesus,
and unto Srayrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thya-
tira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto
Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake
with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden can
dlesticks : And in the raidst of the seven candlesticks
one like nnto the Son of Man, Clothed with a garment
down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden
girdle. . His head and his hairs were white like wool,
as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flarae of fire*
Arid his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a
furnace ; and his voice as the sound of raany waters.
And he had in his right hand seven stars : and out of
his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword : and his
(?.ountenance was as the sun shineth in his strength."
(i. 10-16.)
Can any one believe that John saw and heard these
* Similar visions are also recorded in Zech. i. 8 ; ii., iv , v. ; Dan. vi.,
vii,, viii., ix., x, ; Hev, v,, vi., viii., xii., xiii., xvii,, and raany other places.

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 389
things Avith his natural eyes and ears ? If so, Avhat are
Ave to understand by his being "in the /spirit" at the
time they were seen and heard ? Besides, he tells us in
another place (chap, iv,) of things which he heard and
saw when " a door was opened in heaven :"
"After this I looked, and behold, a door Avas opened in
heaven : and the first voice which 1 heard, was as it
were of a trumpet talking Avith me : which said. Come
up hither, and I wfll shew thee things Avhich must be
hereafter. And immediately I was in the Spirit : and
behold, a throne was set in heaA'^en, and one sat on the
throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper
and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round
about the throne in sight like unto an emerald.' And
round about the throne were four and twenty seats ; and
upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting,
clothed in white raiment ; and they had on their heads
crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded light
nings, and thunderings, and voices. And there were
seven laraps of flre burning before the throne, which are
the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there
was a sea of glass like unto crystal : And in the midst
ofthe throne, and round about the throne, Avere four
beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first
beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf,
and the third beast had a face as a raan, and the fourth
beast was like a, flying eagle. And the four beasts had
each of them siic wings about him ; and they were full
of eyes within : and they rest not day and night, saying.
Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which was, and
is, and is to come." (Rev. iv. 1-8.)
It is difficult to believe that these things were seen in
the natural world, or with the natural eyes ; especially
as the Revelator himself declares that he saw them after
" a door was opened in heaven." And there are many
more things in this book which it would be equally dif
ficult for us to believe Avere seen with the natural eyes,
even if it were not said that they were seen when " a
door was opened in heaven," orwhen John was "in the
spirit ;" such as horses coming out of a book (chap, vi.);
locusts, with golden crowns upon their 'heads, with the
34*

390 OPENING OP swedenborg's [lect.
faces of raen, the hair of women, the teeth of lions, and
with breastplates of iron (chap, ix.) ; "a great red dragon,
having seven heads and ten horns," and " w^ose tail
droAV away a third part of the stars of heaven and cast
them to the earth " (chap, xi.) ; and many other things
of a like character. i .
'¦ Now do we really believe that such things as are
mentioned in the passages which have been referred to,
were actually seen and heard as they are described ?
Or do we believe that the Prophets and the Revelator
were men of disordered rainds ? Or that they possessed
such an undue developeraent of the organ of marvel
ousness, that they deceived theraselves, and have there
fore recorded, as actual visions, things which their lively
imaginations pictured, but which they never really saw ?
Certainly the man who can abuse the science of phren
ology, his own understanding, and the Word of God,
to' such a degree as to adopt this latter conclusion, is
much to be pitied. And if we must adopt the forraer
as being the most rational, and believe that they did
actually see (while in the spirit, or when the heavens
were opened) the things which they have recorded, then
we must also believe that they saw them not in the
natural but in the spiritual world, and with their spi
ritual eyes.
Again : the writings of the Apostles furnish us with
indubitable evidence of the existence in raan of spiritual
senses,. and also that these have been opened during
raan's life upon earth. For example, Paul says : " I
knew a raan in Christ about fourteen years ago, (Avhether
in the body I cannot teU, or whether out of the body I
cannot tell : God knoweth,) such an one caught up to
the third heaven. And I knew such a man, * * how
that he was caught up into paradise, and heard un
speakable words, which it is not possible for a man to
utter." (2 Cor. xii. 2, 4.) Certainly it cannot be be
lieved that the Apostle heard these words Avith his na
tural ears ; for they were not heard in the nafural but
in the spiritual world — when he was "caught up to the
third heaven,"
On another occasion this Apostle says ': " As I went

XI.] SPIRITUAL SEiSISES. 391
to Damascus with authority and commission from the
chief priests, at mid-day, 0 king, I saw in the way a
light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun,
shining round about me and thera which journeyed
with rae. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I
heard a voice speaking unto rae, and saying in the He
brew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou rae ? It is
hard for thee to kick against the pricks." (Ti cts xxvi.
12, 13, 14.) -That this light which Paul saw Avas not
natural, and therefore was not seen with his natural but
with his spiritual eyes, is evident frora his saying that
it -Was a light f ronft, heaven,, and also that it was above
the brightness of the sun. Moreover this appearance
coincides well with what is taught in the Avritings of
the New Church concerning light in the spiritual
world. " The light in heaven," says Swedenborg, " is such,
as to exceed the noon-day light of this world in a de
gree surpassing all belief They [i. e. the angels] how
ever receive no light from this Avorld, because they are
above, or within the sphere of that light ; but they re
ceive light from the Lord, who to them is a sun." — {Ar
cana Coelestia, n, 1521.)
The Apostle Peter also tells us of a vision which he
saw when in a trance in the city of Joppa : " A certain
vessel descended, as it had been a great sheet let down
from heaven by four corners ; and it came to me : upon
the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered,
and saAV four-footed beasts ofthe earth, and wild beasts,
and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And I heard
a voice saying unto me. Arise, Peter ; slay, and eat.
But I said, not so Lord : for nothing coraraon or un-
I clean hath at any time entered into ray mouth. But
the voice answered rae again frora heaven. What God
hath cleansed, that call not thou coramon. And this
was done three times : and all were drawn up again
into heaven." (Acts xi. 5-10.)
This ^as a representative appearance to Peter, ac
cording to his own account of it ; for he was thereby
taught, that " God is no respecter of persons : but in
every nation he that heareth Him, and worketh rightr

392 oPENiNis OF swedenborg's. [lect.
eousness ,is accepted with Him." (Acts x. 34, 35.) And
it agrees well withtherepresentative appearances which
were seen by Swedenborg in the spiritual Avorld, and
are described in his Memorable Relations, We there
fore infer that Peter saw and heard the things above
described, not in the natural but in the spiritual world
when his spiritual senses were opened.
But there is more testimony in the Scriptures of the
same kind, going to establish the fact that men have
spiritual senses, which may be, and actually have been
opened during their life upon earth.
We read that when the Lord was fransfigured be
fore his three disciples, "His face did shine as the
sun, and His raiment was white as the light. And behold,
there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking Avith
Him." (Matt. xvii. 2, 3.) In this instance the spiritual
eyes of the disciples were opened, and they saw the
Lord in his glory — saw Hira as the angels of heaven
see Him — ^as the Sun; for we are taught in the writ
ings ofthe New Church that He is the Sun of the spi
ritual world, whose light is wisdom, and whose heat is
love. Thus was He seen by J^ohn the Revelator ; "His
countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength."
(Rev. i. 16,) And that it was with their spiritual and
not with their natural eyes, that the disciples saw Hira
on the raount of transfiguration, is raanifest frora the
fact of i s being said that John "was in the spirit wl en
he saw His countenance shining as the sun." This also
appears still more evident from the circurastance of
their seeing Moses and Elias, Avho had long since been
dead, and could therefore be seen then only m the spi
ritual world, and only with the spiritual eyes.
Again : the spiritual senses of the shepherds were
opened, when " the angel of the Lord carae upon theiri,
and the glory of the Lord shone round about thera ;"
and when there suddenly appeared "with the angel
a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and
saying. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward raten." (Luke ii. 9, 13, 14.)
This is a necessary conclusion frora the facts recorded,
unless we are willing to adrait that angels or spiritual

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 393
beings may be seen with the natural eyes. {See note
to page 385.)
Ag-ain : when the women, who came early unto the
Lord's sepulchre, " entered in and found not the body
of the Lord Jesus," and " were much perplexed there
about," it is said " behold two men stood by thera in
shining garraents : and as they were afraid and bowed
down their faces to the earth, they said unto them,
' Why seek ye the living among the dead ? He is not
here but is risen : remember how He spake unto you
when He was yet in Gallilee." (Luke xxiv. 4, 5, 6.)
It appears plain from this narrative that the "two
men in shining garments," who appeared and spake to
the women on that occasion, were not inhabitants of
the natural world, but were angels. And this view is
corroborated by the fact that the women themselves so
considered thern ; for we find it wrflten {v, 23) : "And
when they found not his body, they came, saying that
they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that
He was alive."
In the gospel of Matthew, Avhere only one* angel is
mentioned as being seen at the sepulchre, it is said con
cerning him that " his countenance was like lightning,
and his raiment white as snow." (xxviii. 3.) Noav
this appearance of the garraents of the angels as de
scribed by the Evangelists, coincides perfectly with the
account which Swedenborg gives of the garments of
the angels as seen by him when his spiritual sight was
opened. Thus in the treatise on Heaven and Hell, (n.
178, 179,) he says:
* We observe here an apparent discrepancy between the account in
Matlhew and that given in Luke. In the former, mention is made of only
one angel, and in the latter it is said there were two. But according to the
truths of the New Church, this apparent discrepancy admits of an easy ex
planation. For in one of his Memorable Re\sinnns {Conjugial Lore n 42)
Swedenborg says, that he once saw " a chariot descending from the high
est or third heaven, in which was seen one angel ; but as it approached,
there were seen therein two " These were consorts, whose minds were
so perfectly united, that at a distance they appeared like one angel. We
have therefore only to suppose that the tvvo angels seen at the sepulchre,
according to the gospel of Luke, were conjugial partners, who. when seen
farther off, would appear as one Both accounts therefore are Iriie, and
perfectly reconcilable with each other ; — one Evangelist being in.spired to
record tiieir more remote appearance, and the other their appearance when
nearer seen.

394 OPENING OF swedj:nborg's [lect.
" The garments wflh which the angels are clothed,
like the other things, correspond ; and because they
correspond, they also really exist : see above, n, 175.
Their garraents correspond to their intelligence ; where
fore all in the heavens appear clothed according to intel
ligence ; and because one excels another in intelligence,
n. 43, 128, therefore one has raore excellent gahnents
than another. The raost intelligent haA'-e garments
glittering as from fiame, some shining as from light ;
the less intelligent have bright and Avhite garments
without splendor ; and the still less intelligent have
garments of diverse colors ; but the angels of the inmost
heaven are naked.
" Because the garments of the angels correspond to
their intelligence, therefore also they correspond to
trath, since all intelligence is frora divine trath ; Where
fore whether you say that angels are clothed according
to intelligence, or according to divine truth, it is the
sarae thing. That the garments of some glitter as from
flame, and those of sorae shine as frora light, is, be
cause flame corresponds to good, and light to trath from
good. That the garments of some are bright and
white without splendor, and of some are of diverse co
lors, is, because the divine good and truth are less reful
gent, and also are variously received, with the less in
telligent : brightness, also, and Avhiteness, correspond
to truth, and colors to its varieties. That those in the
inraost heaven are naked, is, because they are in inno
cence, and innocence corresponds to nakedness."
In his Memorable Relations also, Swedenborg fre
quently speaks of seeing angels in shining g-arraents.
{See Conjugial Love n. 19, 136, 137, 266— Mem. Re
lations.) Again : it is recorded, that, when the Lord " drew
near" to the two disciples as they were corarauning to
gether on their Avay to a village called Emraaus, " their
eyes were holden that they should not know Him."
(Luke xxiv. 16.) And afterAvards while He sat at meat
v/ith them, it is said. " And their eyes were opened and
they knew Him," {v, 31.) Now can it be supposed
that their wa^wraZ eyes are here raeant ? If so,. then it

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 395
would folloAV that the disciples must have been travel
ling, talking, and eating together in the first instance,
with their natural eyes shut ; — a conclusion too ab
surd, one would suppose, for any rational mind to adopt.
Once more. — We read in the book of Kings, that,
when the King of Syria sent " horses, and chariots, and
a great host" to Dothan, to fetch to him Elisha the
prophet, and " the host compassed the city both with
horses and. chariots," the servant of Elisha, being
greatly alarraed, " said unto hira, Alas, ray master !
How shall we do ? Aad he answered, Fear not ; for
they that be with us are more than they that be Avith
them. And Elisha prayed, and said. Lord, I pray thee
open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened
the eyes of the young man : and he saw, and, behold,
the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire
round about Elisha," (2. Kings vi. 15, ,16, 17.)
For rae, I confess that I cannot conceive how lan
guage can be so framed as to teach more clearly than
this does, not only that raen have spiritual senses, but
that these have actually been opened in persons while
living upon earth ; and that, when opened, they could
see things in the spiritual world, which were not dis
cernible by the bodily eye. Elisha saw (with his spirit
ual eyes of course) the multitude of the heavenly host
that were with him ; but his servant did not see thera
until the Lord opened his eyes ; and then he " beheld
the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire round
about Elisha."*
With such as acknowledge the Scriptures to be in
deed the Word of God, we think that the question with
regard to raan's having spiritual senses, and the possi
bility of their being opened in him during his life in,
this world, must now be placed beyond all doubt. With
out admitting this fact, we know of no rational mode of
explaining many things Avhich are recorded in. Scrip-
* This appearance also agrees well with the things which Swedenborg
relates that he saw when his spiritual sight was opened. Thus in Conju
gial Love (Memorable Relation n 266) he speaks of seeing "two angels car
ried in a fierv chariot and taken up into their own heiven." (See also
Mem. Ret n.'42,)

396 OPENING OF swedenborg's [lect.
ture, some of which Ave have noticed. But granting
this, together with what Swedenborg says concerning
the spiritiial world, and all the visions which are re
lated in the Bible admit of an easy explanation. We
have only to suppose that the spiritual senses of the
beholder were for the tirae opened, (which, we have
said, may be done so gently that one would not know
it) and that the things then presented to his view were
actually in the spiritual world, and then all becomes
plain, and easy to be understood ; for " The world of
spirits and the heavens," says Swedenborg, " are full of
representatives, such as were seen by the prophets, and
of so grandi a kind that if any one's sight were opened,
and he could look into those worlds, though but for a
few hours, he could not but be astonished." — {Arcana
Coelestia n, 1521.)
And Ave shall find, upon careful examination, that
the Memorable Relations of Swedenborg, or the ac
count of things seen by hira in the spiritual world, are
not raore strange or incredible than the visions which
are recorded in the Bible. Any one who really believes
the latter, raay easily believe the former likewise. In
deed these Relations explain and illustrate not only the
visions but many other things also which we flnd in the
Scriptures, and Avhich without them Avere " hard to be
understood." And those persons who profess the reli
gion of Christ, and who yet ridicule (as many do) the idea
of Swedenborg's having had his spiritual senses open
ed — who scoff at his Memorable Relations — who re
gard his alleged intercourse Avith the spiritual world as
of itself evidence of his insanity, and as affording suf
ficient ground therefore for rejecting, without examina
tion, all that he has written as certainly false — perhaps
they are not aware of the length to which their logic
would lead them. For if their derision be not misap
plied, and their conclusion be legitimately drawn frora
the preraises — if the fact of Swedenborg's alleged in
tercourse Avith the spiritual Avorld be sufficient to prove
him insane, and to warrant thera in rejecting all that
he has written as necessarily a delusion and a lie —
then let them be~ consistent and employ the sarae mode

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES. 397
of reasoning when they corae to the Sacred Scriptures ;
and they will flnd themselves calling the Apostles in
sane, and the Prophets insane — sneering at and ridi
culing many parts of God's Word, and rejecting it all
as a fable.
Men now-a-days scoff at visions as things that be
long only to the vulgar and superstitious. But this is
because there is so little faith in the reality and pre
sence of the spiritual world, or indeed in any thing
spiritual in man. Once it was not so. Once it Avas
cause of bitter lamentation that Zion's prophets had no
vision frora the Lord. (See Lara. ii. 9.) Once a wise
man said, " Where no vision is, the people perish."
(Prov. xxix. 18.) Once it was deemed a privilege, and
evidence of peculiar goodness of heart and soundness
of head, to have a vision — a privilege which those who
" hate the good and love the evil " could not enjoy.
" Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that
make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry.
Peace : and he that putteth not into their mouths, they
even prepare war against him : Therefore night [shall
bej unto you, that ye shall not have a vision ; and it
shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine ; and
the sun shall go down over the prophets and the day
shall be dark over thera." (Micah iii. 5, 6.) On the
other hand it is promised, that, in the day when the
Lord shall pour out his spirit upon all flesh, " your sons
and your daughters shall prophecy, your old men shall
dreara dreams, and your young men shall see visions."
(Joel ii. 28.) Upon the whole therefore, we find so
rauch evidence in the Scriptures going to prove that
man has spiritual senses, arid that these have actually
been opened during his life upon earth, that we cannot
well conceive how any one who receives the Bible as
the Word of God, can reject the writings of the New
Church siraply upon the ground of the alleged visions
which these writings contain. For if it be admitted
that this is a sufficient reason for rejecting these writings,
then we shall find sufficient reason for rejecting the Sa^
cred Scriptures also. 35

3,9,S oPEiSriNG of swedenborg's [lect.
Having thus shoAvn (Avhat it Avas our design to do in
this lecture) that the opening of Swedenborg's spiritual
senses and his'alleged intercourse with the spiritual world
are araong things possible, we shall proceed in our next to
consider the other question, viz, whether it he probable ;
i, e. whether the things which he has related concerning
the spiritual Avorld be of such a nature — so consistent
with each other, with enlightened reason, Avith the rest
of his writings, and with the Sacred Scriptures, as to
establish a high degree of probability in respect to their
truth. Meantime Ave would remark that the Memorable
Relations are not to be regarded merely as things strange-
arid curious, useful only as food for the gratification of
an inordinate love of the marvelous. Not only are they
full of angelic wisdom, but they are highly important
on raany other accounts. They serve as guards to pre
vent those from approaching or becoming acquainted
with the truths ofthe New Church, who are in states to
profane them. Thus they are as cherubim placed at the
east of the garden of Eden, to keep the way of the Tree
of Life. But to those who receive the Heavenly Doc
trines Avith affection, these Relations impart a deeper
sense ofthe reality and presence ofthe spiritual Avorld.
They give to all our conceptions of that world a vivid
ness, which without them, we could not have had.
They contain, as it were, practical illustrations of the
laws both of heavenly and infernal life. They are a
description of that world Avhither we are all going, and
Adhere we are to dAvell forever, furnished us by one Avho
gives ample evidence that he has been there and de
scribes truly what he heard and saw. And do Ave read
with profit and delight the accounts which traA'eUers
give us of foreign lands which Ave may never visit, and
yet receive no pleasure and derive no profit from authen
tic accounts of that world which is to be our eternal
dw:elling place ? Upon this subject the Rev. S. Noble,
in his Appeal in behalf of the views ofthe Etemal Worid
as unfolded in the AVritings ofthe New Church, has the
foflowing sensible remarks, which avc introduce as form
ing an appropriate conclusion to this lecture.
" If the accounts of travellers in distant countries are

XI.] SPIRITUAL SENSES, 39^
read with delight ; if even the minute occurrences Avhich
happened on the journey to the tmvellers themselves,
and the familiar anecdotes by which they illustrate the
manners ofthe people and the character of the place, are
found to possess great interest, though we never expect
to visit those countries ourselves ; what delight ought to
attend the perusal of an authentic account of that eternal
country to which we are all hastenins:, and with Avhat
interest should aa'-c hang over a favored traveller's de
tail of the familiar incidents which are there constantly
occurring, and in which we must, ere long-, be called to
take our share ! That a special traveller should be em
powered to coraraunicate such inforraation, by no means
exceeds, we have seen, the bounds of rational credibility,
nor even of probability. The possibility ofit is abun
dantly evinced by the narratives of Scripture ; and the
facility ofit is demonstrated by the views of man's con
stitution, and of the laws of the spiritual world, dis
covered in the writings of Swedenborg. Indeed, many
divines and philosophers have seen that ma,n is by
creation a subject of both worlds, the spiritual and
natural. If by his spirit he belongs to the spiritual world,
and he has a spirit within hirn while he lives in the body,
it cannot be difficult for Hira who is the Author of both
to open the senses ofhis spirit even while he lives in the
body ; he must then be at once perceptibly amid the ob
jects of the spiritual world, in the same manner as he
will be after death ; and accordingly, we have seen, it
was thus that vieAvs of the spiritual world have been
vouchsafed to prophets and others. Is it at all surprising
then, that such an opening of tbe spiritual sight should
take place in an extraordinary manner, Avith one individu
ual, at the era of the Lord's second coming ? Most peo
ple believe, that in the primeval ages of the world man
lived in perpetual society with angels, and that it was
not till he had far descended in degeneracy that it carae
to be the character of " angel visits" to be " feAV and far
between:" and raost people, believe also, that in the latter
ages of the Avorld such communications will be restored,
and angels will again be closely associated with raen ;
is it then at aU unreasonable to expect^ that, as prepare-

400 OPENING OF swedenborg's SPIRITUAL SENSES.
atory to such a state, should it be the purpose of Provi
dence to produce it, — or in lieu of it, should that be
without the provisions of the Divine Econoray, — sorae
distinct, accurate, precise, and even farailiar knowledge,
respecting the eternal world, its appearances, its inhabit
ants, and its laws, should be communicated, through
the instrumentality of one coraraissioned herald, to
beings who belong to it, in part, even now, and are soon
to belong to it altogether ? When raan's former state,
and his stfll unaltered nature as a subject of both worlds,
are reflected on, the wonder surely is, that the world of
which his better part is a native and a denizen should
ever have become so shut out frora hira, and all partic
ular knowledge respecting it so utterly lost, — not that
they should again be restored : and when eould their
restoration be raore appropriately in place, than araong
the blessings attendant on the second coraing of the
Lord, and consequent upon the performance of the
last judgment ? Whilst then there is so rauch to give
probability on this subject to the stateraents of Swe
denborg, and nothing Avhich, fairly estiraated, detracts
at all frora their credibility; whilst all the particulars
advanced when their causes are understood, are found
to be in the strictest agreeraent both Avith Scripture and
Reason ; they surely may be pressed upon the candid
and reflecting as in the highest degree worthy of their
attention, because conveying inforraation of the highest
interest to man as an imraortal."

¦the memorable relations. 401

LECTURE XII.

."Swedenborg's intercourse with the spiritual

-"They came, saying that thev had aleo.keen a vision of angels."
Luke, xxiv. 23.

In our last lecture it was shoAvn conclusively from
the Sacred Scriptures, that men of former tiraes had
spiritual senses, .Avhich could be opened, and actually
were opened in them during their abode in the natural
Avorld. Having arrived at this conclusion, we cari see
no possible reason for believing that men now-a-days
have not these senses also, Avhich are susceptible of be
ing opened Avhenever the Lord in his wisdom sees a fit
¦occasion for doing so. On the contrary the inference
seems unavoidable that men have, such senses, and that
they may be opened while they are yet living in this
world. We see therefore that the possibility of Swe
denborg's intercourse Avith the spiritual world, and of
his having actually seen and heard all that is recorded
in his Memorable Relations, is established .upon the
highest possible authority.
We come riow to examine the second question which
was proposed in our last lecture for consideration,
whether it be probable. And in order that Ave may
•settle this question fairly, Ave should first endeavor to
iearn the true meaning of these Memorable Relations—

402 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
leam how they are to be understood. A nd having done
this, we should next consider whether they be rational ;
— ^i. e. whether they be consistent with the other parts
'of Swedenborg's writings, with the Sacred Scriptures,
and with all that we know of the laAvs of order, and of
the spiritual or divine operations in man. For, in re
spect to the Sacred Oracles, we certainly should not
consider it exactly fair for a- man, wholly uninstructed
in the truths of revelation, to open the Bible, say at the
10th chapter of Ezekiel, or at the 9th chapter of the
Revelation, and, understanding those visions according
to their literal sense, to infer from the strange things
which he finds recorded there that the Bible is a book
of silly fables, and all its .believers insane men, or, at
best, men Avith the organ of marvelousness unduly de
veloped. We should feel ourselves warranted in saying
that this were a rash conclusion, and one deduced from
quite insufficient data. We should tell such a man that
he ought to make hiraself better acquainted with the
contents of this book generally — with the external and
internal evidences of its divine origin — hefore he per
mits himself tb pronounce such an opinion concerning
the Bible. And yet (strange to tell !) this is precisely
the course which has been and still continues to be
pursued by many professed religionists in the Old
'Church, with regard to the writings of Swedenborg.
Without being familiar with his writings generally, and
from some things in his Memorable Relations which
they may have read or heard of, but which they do not
understand aright, they feel themselves authorized to
sit in judgment upon these Avritings, and to pronounce
thera all visionary and foolish. TMs certainly is
neither Avise nor just.
Let us then endeavor first, to leam if Ave can, how
the Meraorable Relations of Swedenborg are to be un
derstood. And this is clearly taught in the Avritings
themselves. In the " True Christian Religion" n. 794,
we are told "that all things Avhich are seen in the
spirituail world are created in a moment by the Lord, as
¦houses, paradises, food and other things ; and that they
rare created for correspondence withthe interiors ofthe

XII.] OP SWEDENBORG. 403
angels and spirits, which are their affections and
thoughts thence."
In another part of this same work, Avhen Sweden
borg was " raeditating on the creation of the universe."
Avith his spiritual sight opened, he tells us that an angel
came to him and said :
" ' I Avill HOW show you how animals and vegetables
of every kind were produced by God.' And he led me
along into a large green field, and said, 'Look around.'
And 1 looked around, and saw birds of the raost beauti
ful colors, sorae flying, sorae perching upon the trees,
and sorae upon the ground, plucking little leaves frora
the roses ; amongst the birds were also doves and swans.
After these things vanished from my sight, 1 saw, not
far from me, fiocks of sheep with lambs, and of goats
and kids ; and round about those flocks, I saw herds of
COAVS and calves, and also of camels and raules ; and in
a certain grove, stags Avith high horns ; and also uni
corns. After these things were seen, he said, ' Turn
your face toAvards the east' And I saw a garden, in
which were fruit-trees, as orange-trees, citrons, olives,
vines, fig-trees, pomegranates, and also shrubs, which
bore berries. Afterwards he said, ' Look now towards
the south." And I saw fields of grain of various kinds
— wheat, oats, barley and beans ; and round about them,
beds of roses, exhibiting colors beautifully variegated ;
but, towards the north, groves full of chestnut-trees,
palm-trees, linden-trees, plane-trees, and other trees, all
in the richest foliage. When I had seen these, he said,
' All those tilings Avhich you have seen are correspond
ences of the affections of the love ¦of the angels, who are
in the vicinity,' And they told me to what affections
every thing corresponded ; and, raoreover, that not only
those things, but also all the other things which are pre
sented to our eyes as objects of sight, are correspond
ences ; such as houses and the furniture in thera, tables
and raeats, and clothes, and also coins of gold and silver,
as also diamonds and other precious stones, with which
wives and virgins in heaven are adorned. ' From all
¦these things, we perceive what each one is as to love
and wisdom. T-hose things which are in our houses,

404 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
and serve for uses, constantly remain there ; but to the
veyes of those who wander from one society to another,
«uch things are changed according to consociation.
These things have been shown to you, in order that you
might see the whole creation in a particular type ; for
God is Love itself and Wisdora itself; and the affections
of his love are infinite, and the perceptions of his wis
dora are infinite ; and of these, all and every thing that
appears upon tihe earth are correspondences, thence are
birds and beasts, thence trees and shrubs, thence corn
<tnd other grain, thence herbs and grass of every kind ;
for God is not extended, but still He is in the extense
•every where ; thus in the uniA^erse frora its firsts to its
lasts ; and because He is omnipresent, such correspond
ences of the affections of his love and wisdom are in the
whole natural world ; but in our world, which is called
fhe spiritual world, there are similar correspondences
with those who receive affections and perceptions from
God ; the difference is, that such things, in our world,
are created by God instantaneously, according to the af
fections of the angels •; but in yotir world, they were
created in like manner at the beginning; but it was
provided, that, by generations of one from another, they
should be perpetually renewed, and thus that creation
should be continued. The reason Avhy creation, in our
world, is instantaneous, and in yours continued by gen-
•erations, is, because the atmospheres and earths of our
world are spiritual, and the atmospheres and earths of
your" world are natural ; and natural things were cre
ated that they might -clothe spiritual things, as the slrin
clothes the bodies of men and animals, and the rind and
bark clothe the trunks and branches of trees, the maters
and meninges the brain, the coats the nerves, and the
'delicate membranes, the nervous fibres, (fcc. Thence
it is, that all those things which are in your AA^orld are
-constant, and constantly return every year.' To this
the angel added, ' Relate these things, Avhich you have
seen and heard, to the inhabitants of your world, be-
•cause hitherto they have been in entire ignorance con
cerning the spiritual Avorld ; and without some know
ledge of itj no one can knoAV^ nor even guess, thatcraa-

XJI.J OP SWEDENBORG. 405
tion is continual in our world, and that it was similar
to this in yours, while the universe was created by
God.' " After this we talked upon various subjects, and at
last concerning hell ; as, that no such things as are in
heaven appear there, but only the opposites ; since the
affections of their love, Avhich are the lusts of evil, are
opposite to the affections of the love in which the angels
of heaven are. Wherefore, Avith those in hell, and gen
erally in their deserts, there appear birds of night, as
bats, and various kinds of owls, and also wolves, leop
ards, tigers, rats and mice ; raoreover, venomous ser
pents of every kind, such as dragons and crocodiles ;
and where there is any spot of grass, there grow briers,
nettles, thorns and thistles, and some poisonous plants,
which at times vanish, and then appear only heaps of
stones, and bogs in which frogs croak. All these things
are also correspondences, but as was said, correspond
ences of the affections of their love, Avhich are the lusts
of evil."— (T. C. R. n. 7^— Memorable Relation.)
Again in the Apocalypse Explained, n. 1212, Swe
denborg says :
" Vegetables in the heavens appear according to the
affections of the angels, and also represent those affec
tions, insomuch, that in them, as in their types, the an
gels see and knoAV their own affections as to their nature
and quality; theyare also changed according to the
changes ofthe affections. •» * * in the heavens there
appear beautiful animals, and similar vegetables ; but
in the hells noxious animals, and vegetables also simi
lar ; and angels and spirits are known, and their quali
ties distinguished from tbe appearances of the animals,
and in like raanner frora the appearances ofthe vegeta
bles ; there is a plenary concordance with their affec
tions, and so much so, that an aniraal can be changed
into a concordant vegetable, and a vegetable into a con
cordant aniraal. The angels of heaven knoAv what
principle or affection is represented in one and the other ;
and I -have heard, and also perceived, that it is similnr
in both cases. It has also been granted me to know
manifestly the correspondence not only of the animals

406 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
but also of the vegetables with the societies of heaven,
and with the societies of hell, thus with their affections,
for societies and affections in the spiritual world make
one. Hence it is that so frequent mention is made in
the Word, of gardens, groves, forests, trees, likeAvise of
various plants, and that they there signify spiritual
things according to their origins, all which have refer
ence to affections.
Again, in the Treatise conceming Heaven and Hell,
Swedenborg says :
" The man, who thinks only from natural light, can
not comprehend that there is any thing in heaven sira
ilar to what is in the world, and this because frora that
light he had thought and confirraed hiraself, that the
angels are only minds, and that rainds are, as it were,
ethereal spectres, and hence that they have not senses as
man has, thus neither eyes, and if not eyes, neither ob
jects of sight ; when yet angels have all the senses that
man has, yea, rauch more exquisite ; the light also, by
which they see, is much brighter than the light by
which man sees. That angels are raen in the raost per
fect form, and that they enjoy every sense, may be seen
above, n. 73-77 ; and that the light in heaven is much
brighter than the light in the world, n. 126-132.
"Buttbe things Avhichappear in the heavens, although
for the most part they are similar to those which are on
the earth, still they are not sirailar as to essence ; for
the things which are in the heavens exist from the sun
of heaven, and those which are on the earth from the
sun of the world : the things Avhich exist from the sun
of heaven are called spiritual, but those which exist
from the sun of the world are called natural. -
" The things which exist in the heavens do not exist
in the same manner as those which exist in the earths :
all things in the heavens exist frora the Lord, according
to the correspendences with the interiors of the angels ;
for the angels have both interiors and exteriors : the
things which are in their interiors, all refer to love and
faith, thus to the will and understanding ; for the will
and understanding are their receptacles ; but the exte-
liors correspond to the interiors:. that exteriors corre-

Xll.] OF SWEDENBORG. 407
spend to interiors, may be seen above, n. 87-115. This
raay be illustrated by those things which Avere said
above conceming the heat and light of heaven : that
the angels have heat according to the quality of their
love, and light according to the quality of their wisdom,
may be seen, n. 128-134. The case is simflar with all
other things Avhich appear before the senses of the
angels. " When it has been given me to be in company with
angels, the things which are there have been seen by
rae altogether as those which are in the Avorld ; and so
perceptibly, that I knew no other than that 1 Avas in the
world, and there in the palace of a king : I also spoke
with them as man with man,
"Since all things which correspond to the interiors also
represent them, therefore they are called representa
tives ; and because they are varied according to the^
state of the interiors with them, therefore they are called
appearances ; although the things which appear be
fore the eyes of the angels in the heavens, and are per
ceived Hsy tligir senses, appear and are perceived as much
to the lite as the things Avhich are ori the earth appear
to man ; yea, much more clearly, distinctly, and per
ceptibly. The appearances which are thence in the
heavens, are called real appearances, because they ex
ist really : there are also given appearances not real,
which are those things which indeed appear, but do
not correspond to the interiors ; but of these in Avhat
follows, " To shoAV Avhat those things are which appear to the
angels according to correspondences, I will here adduce
one thing for the sake of illustration. To those Avho
are in intelligence, there appear gardens and paradises,
full of trees and flowers of every kind ; the trees there
are planted in the most beautiful order, combined into
arbors, through Avhich are arched entrances, and around
which are Avalks ; all of such beauty that they cannot
be described. Those who are in intelligence also Avalk
there, and gather flowers, and weave garlands, with
which they adorn infants : there are also species of
trees and flowers there, no Avhere seen nor given in the

408 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lEGT.
world : on the trees also there are fruits, according to
the good of love, in which the intelligent are. They
see such things because a garden and a paradise, and
also fruit-trees and flowers, correspond to intelligence
and wisdom. That such things are in the heavens, is
also known in the earth, but only to those who are in
good, and who have not extinguished in themselves the
light of heaven by natural light and its fallacies ; for
they think and say, when speaking of heaven, that such
things are there as the ear hath not heard, nor the eye
seen." — {Heaven and Hell.n. 170-175.)
These extracts may be sufficient to fumish us with
a key to the right understanding of SAvedenborg's Me
morable Relations. Although they are selected frora
different parts of his writings, and treat of the same
things only iri different language, yet we flnd them per
fectly consistent with each other. And were we to add
hiany raore extracts upon the sarae subject frora his dif
ferent works, we should find among them all the same
consistency and agreeraent ;^a fact, which (consider
ing the nuraber of years that Swedenborg was occupied
upon his theological works) it is not easy to account
for upon any other supposition than this — that every
thing which he has written concerning the spiritual
world was actually seen by him as he has described it.
Frora the above extracts, and from many other parts
of his writings, Ave learn that all things which appear
in the spiritual world are spiritual, because from a
spiritual origin ; and that the things which appear in
the heavens represent, by correspondence, the affections
and consequent thoughts ofthe angels, and those which
appear in the hells the affections and consequent
thoughts of the devils ; and that thus both angels and
devils behold in the objects around thera the types of
their own affections. The things without thera corre
spond perfectly to the principles of life wUhin thera, and
are the effigy or form of those principles. The angels
therefore, because their affections are pure and innocent,
behold around thera raost beautiful and raagnificent
things, which are the representative iraages of their good
affections. The devils on the contrary are surrounded

XII.] OF SWEDENBORG. 409
with hideous and offensive objects, because these are the
correspondent forms of their evil loves. It is elsewhere
taught in the writings of Swedenborg that the angels
are delighted Avith the paradisaicalthings around them
because they are principled in genuine love and intelli
gence, and thus have the soul of those things within
them. He says that he once heard an angel, who Avas
instructing persons that had lately entered the spiritual
world about heavenly joy, say : " that they (i. e. the
magnificent things of heaven) are not external paradisal
delights, unless these are attended with internal paradi
sal delights : external paradisal delights are only ofthe
senses of the body ; but internal paradisal delights are
delights of the affections of the soul ; and if the former
be without the latter, there is in them no heavenly life, be
cause there is no soul in them ; and every delight with
out its corresponding soul continually grows more lan
guid and faint, fatiguing the raind more than labor.
''rhere are eAreryAvhere in heaven paradisal gardens, from
which the angels derive joy, and so far as within it is de
light ofthe soul, so far the joy is to them joy." ( The De
lights of Wisdom, concertiitig Conjugial Love n. 8.)
And thus, as is said in another place, "every one who
becomes an angel carries his own heaven in hiraself, be
cause he carries within him the love of his own
heaven," We also learn from the extracts that have been made
that things change in the spiritual Avorld, according as
the affections and thoughts of its inhabitants change ;
so that in the heavens, on account ofthe change in the
states ofthe angels, there is a change in the appearance
ofthe objects around thera corresponding to thatpleas-
ino- variety which is caused by the changes ofthe seasons
in raild latitudes upon 'earth. And thus it is a law of
divine order in the spiritual as well as in the natural
world, that " seed tirae and harvest, and cold and heat,
and summer and Avinter, and day and night, shall not
cease," (Gen, viii. 22.) " These changes," says Sweden
borg, " are for this end, that man may be more and more
perfected, and thereby raay be rendered more and more
happy. Such changes take place in the regenerate man
/ 36

410 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
not only during his life in the body, but also when he
comes into the other life, for without changes as it were
of suramer and winter as to things of the will, and as it
were of day and night as to things of the understanding,
he is never perfected and rendered more happy ; these
changes however in another life are like the changes of
summer and winter in the temperate zones, and like the
changes of day and night in the spring season." {Arcajia
Celestia n. 935.)
We thus find that the law of correspondence between
internal and external things, which is the same as be
tween cause and effect, is beautifully exeraplified in the
accounts which Swedenborg, in his Meraorable Rela
tions, has given us of things in the spiritual world.
And if this be a fixed and etemal law of order, as we
endeavored to show in a forraer lecture, then certainly it
ought to prevail in the spiritual as well as in the natural
world. And inasrauch as that world is above or inte
rior to the natural, we ought there to flnd the raost cora
plete exeraplification of this law.
It therefore appears perfectly rational that the things
round about angels and spirits should correspond to the
state of their rainds, and be the exact representative
iraages of their affections. Indeed there is something
that we all have experienced in this natural world, which
raay be regarded as an approxiraation towards the sarae
thing. Every one knows how the world without hira
appears to change its aspect, according as the world
within hira changes. When the bosora glows with
sweet affections, the face of natute is redolent with smiles
and beauty, and everything seems full of gladness.
But when the soul is sad and gloomy, the same bright
face of nature scowls, and all things wear a raournful
a'spect. Truly the poet sings :
" The rill is tuneless to hia car, who feels
No harmony within ; the sonth wind steals
As silent as unseen among the leaves.
Who has no inward beauty, none perceives.
Though all around is beautiful 
***** + *
Turn where thou wilt, thyself in all things see
Keflected back."

XII.] OF SWEDENBORG. ' 411
But on account of the greater fixedness of things in
the natural world, this outward change, produced by a
change in the state of our own minds, is only apparent
and not absolute as it is in the spiritual world.
Now it has been repeatedly said in the course of
these lectures, that the Sacred Scriptures contain an
internal sense and are composed throughout according
to correspondences. And possibly those who have at
tended to the lectures that were devoted to the discus
sion of this subject, sufficientl3'- to understand them, may
see reason for believing that it is really so ; — that every
natural object and event mentioned in Scripture, are the
ultimates of sorae spiritual principle or law with which
they correspond. 'Taking this in connection with what
Swedenborg has said concerning correspondences and
representatives 'in the'- spiritual world,- Ave arri^re at a
most beautiful method of verifying the truth of his
Memorable Relations ; or of establishing, at least, so
high a degree of probabflity with regard to their truth
as amounts to absolute certainty. And for us, Ave can
not conceive how a man can becorae acquainted with
the law of correspondence, and learn sufficient of the
internal sense of the Scriptures as developed by that
law, to enable hira rightly to understand the Memora
ble Relations, and then doubt the truth of those Rela
tions, any more than we can conceive hoAV an inhab
itant of some other planet could become acquainted
with the laws of nature or the principles of natural
philosophy which have been developed on our earth,
and then doubt the facts from the observation of which
these laws or principles have been deduced, and upon
which the philosophy rests. So completely do the
Meraorable Relations, and the spiritual sense of the
Scriptures as developed by the Science of Correspond
ences agree together, that they rautually strengthen and
confirra each other. — We will endeavor to raake this
plainer by means of a few illustrations.
It is to be observed that the Memorable Relations of
Swedenborg are a collection of facts, apparentiy with
out any order, and gathered, according to his oAvn ac
count, from actual observation of things in the spiritual

412 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
world. And we are told that all things external Avhich
belong to that world are correspondences ; — that they
correspond to the interior things, or the things Avhich
appertain to the rainds of the spirits and angels there.
We are also told that every natural thing raentioned in
the Scriptures, corresponds to soraething spiritual ap
pertaining to the raind, and therefore has an internal or
spiritual sense. Now let us see whether the persons in
the spiritual world, in whose vicinity, according to
Swedenborg's Relations, there appeared certain objects,
are invariably described as being of that quality which
he elsewhere has given as the internal sense of those
objects when they are raentioned in the Scriptures.
For, according to the extracts which have been raade
frora his Avritings in this lecture, we perceive that such
should be the case, if the Meraorable Relations be true.
And we shall find on careful examination that this is
really so, in such a degree too as utterly to preclude the
idea of either imposture or delusion.
On referring to the Dictionary of Correspondences
corapiled Yrom the theological writings of Swedenborg,
we find it said that owl denotes trath falsified, and bat
denotes nearly the sarae thing. But neither truth nor
falsity hath any existence out of, or abstracted frora,
persons. Consequently both owl and bat correspond
to and thence signify the state of mind of those who
have so confirmed themselves in error, that they have
at length come to see the false as true — to see darkness
as light. Such persons often think they perceive trath
even raore clearly than others. But it is not the light
of genuine trath by which they see, but of trath falsi
fied, which is the light of infatuation. Speaking of
such persons, Swedenborg says : "The falses of their
faith do not indeed appear before them as darkness, i. e.
as falses, but they appear to thera as if lucid, i. e. as if
they were truths, after they have confirraed themselves
in them ; but nevertheless while they are viewed from
the light of heaA-^en, which discovers all things, they
appear dark. — The reason why they do not appear to
themselves to be in darkness, but in the light, although
they are in falses, is because their falses, after confirma-

XII.] OP SWEDENBORG. 413
tion, appear to them as truths ; hence comes their light,
but it is the light of infatuation, such as is the light of
the confirmation of Avhat is false. This light corre
sponds to that to which owls and , bats oAve their light,
to whom darkness is light and light darkness, yea to
whom the sun itself is thick darkness." — {Apocalypse
Revealed n. 695.)
This is perfectly rational. We know that men, by a
blind surrender of their understanding in the first in
stance, may at length confirm themselves in false doc
trines to such a degree, that these doctrines will ap
pear to them true, and true doctrines Avill appear to
them false. How often do men become so confirmed
in the doctrines of _the tri-personality of God, vicarious
atonement and justification by faith alone, as to see
these falsities as truths, by a kind of fatuitous light ;
and Avhatever is contrary to them appears as darkness.
Hence the fatal consequence of blindly surrendering
one's understanding to his faith.
Now because owls and bats correspond to persons
who are in the state of mind just described, therefore
whenever they are mentioned in the Scriptures they
denote such persons. Hence in Isaiah (chap, xxxiv.)
it is said in reference to the church destroyed by falsi
fying the truth, that it shall be "a court for owls" —
that " the screech-owl also shall rest there," and " there
shall the great owl raake her nest ;" which words de
note that there will be in the church, at the tirae of its
consumraation, persons who have falsified the trath and
have confirmed themselves in falses of faith. Again it
is said : "In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver
and his idols of gold, which they have raade [each one]
for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats."
(ii. 20.) It is plain that this cannot be understood in
its literal sense. The idols of silver and gold denote
false doctrines and evil loves,; which they have made
each one for himself to worship, denotes their origin
in man's self-derived intelligence, and his adoring love
of them ; and by their being cast to the moles and to
the bats, as in the last days of the Old and the com
mencement of a New Churcli, is denoted that these
36*

414 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
doctrines will be permitted to reraain with all who have
becorae so confirmed in them as to see the false as the
true ; but will be utterly rejected by those whose minds
are not closed against the truth, through a confirraa
tion of the false.
Now according to what has been said of the law of
correspondence, and of the representative appearances
in the spiritual world, (all of which, it has been said,
are correspondences of affections and thoughts,) we
should expect that owls and bats, on account of their
correspondence as just given, would be seen in the vi
cinity of persons who have confirraed theraselves in
false doctrines to such a degree that they appear to thera
trae. Accordingly we are told in a Memorable Rela
tion in Conjugial Love, (n. 233) that there were once
seen in the spiritual world certain persons called con-
firmators, who maintained that nothing is trae but
what raan raakes true — that they were able to confirm
opposites — that they could make it true that light is
darkness and darkness light, and could prove that a
crow is white. And at the close of this Relation Swe
denborg tells us, that as he looked towards the assembly
where the confirraators were standing, and the crowd
around them were shouting O how wise ! " Behold a
a dusky cloud covered them over, and in the cloud
oidIs ai>,d bats were flying." A dusky cloud denotes
the Word as it is in the sense of the letter with those
who have conflrmed themselves in falses. (iS'ee Apoc
alypse Revealed n. 24.)
And thus it appears that the things here seen by
Swedenborg were Avhat we should have expected —
were precisely what ought to have been seen according
to the imrautable law of correspondence, when we con
sider the quaUty or state of raind of the persons there
described. The owls, bats, and the cloud in which
they were seen flying, were all of thera correspond
ences, and thence appearances of those persons' thoughts.
And nothing certainly appears raore rational than that
the confirmations of falsities, to such a degree that they
appear as truths, should be represented in the spiritual
world under the forms of birds of night, whose eyes

XII.] OP SWEDENBORG. 415
are illumined by a fatuitous light within, from which
they see objects in darkness as in light. For such
spiritual, fatuous light is with those who confirm falses
until they seem as truths, and are, afterwards said and
believed to be truths.
Again : SAvedenborg tells us that there are zones and
climates in the spiritual world, but that the state of
temperature wherein each one lives, corresponds to his
own internal state — i. e. to the quality and degree of
his love. If one has rauch love which is of a heavenly
quality, then he is in a state of spiritual heat to which
natural heat corresponds : and if he has but little of
heavenly love or charity, then his state is one to which
natural cold corresponds — he is spiritually cold. In
deed alraost every one has a perception of the corre
spondence of natural Avith spiritual heat and cold ; so
that nothing is raore coramon than to hear pious people
pray that God would warm their hearts with love ;
and in familiar discourse too, it is often said of one who
has much affection, that he is warm-hearted, and of
another who has but little affection, that he is , cold-
hearted. Hence also the Lord says to the church of
the Laodiceans, " I know thy works, that thou art
neither cold nor hot : I Avould thou wert cold or hot.
So then because thou art lukewarra, and neither cold
nor hot, I will spew thee out of ray mouth." (Rev. iu.
15, 16) : where cold and hot evidently have a spiritual
signification, being predicated of the church. But
these words, like most others which occur in the Scrip
tures, are soraetiraes used in an opposite sense, in
which they signify infernal heat and cold, or the loves
and hatreds of hell. Those who are much in the evil
of self-love, are in this opposite kind of spiritual heat,
which, in the Word is called hell-fire ; and those who
are in hatred toAvards the neighbor, or in no charity,
and at the same time in false doctrines, are in this oppo
site kind of spiritual cold.
; Now since the zones ofthe earth differ in respect to
temperature, it is manifest that they also should corre
spond to the different states of man as to love. Those
reo-ions which are farthest from the equator, or farthest

416 THE memorable relations [lect.
from the sun, since they are the coldest, ought to corre
spond to the states of least love or charity ; and in a bad
sense, they ought to denote the state of raind with those
who are in false dotcrinesand at thesarae tirae in no chari
ty. Such persons raight be said, in the spiriual sense, to
dwell far at the north — in the frigid zone — because their
state is a frigid one. And if all things in the spiritual
world correspond to the states of those there, (as Ave are
so often told in the writings of Swedenborg is the case)
then we should expect that these persons, when^ seen in
the spiritual world, would appear to be dwelling in a
frozen region, because this would correspond to their
internal state. This is a rational view of the subject.
Now on turning to the Dictionary of Correspond
ences, we find that the north in a bad sense corresponds
to and signifies the state of those who are in hell, or
who are in falses of faith, and consequently in no charity.
{See Apocalypse Explained n, 817 and Arcana Celes
tia n. 3708.) When used in the Word in this sense,
according to Swedenborg, it denotes a state of spiritual
obscurity and coldness, such as those are in who have
not lived a life of charity, — who have been indolent
about spiritual things — and haA'-e been indifferent in re
gard to truth. Accordingly in the True Christian Re
ligion (n. 185 — Memorable Relations) SAvedenborg
speaks of seeing some such persons in the spiritual
world who were in a false faith and without charity,
consequently who were ih a frigid state of mind. And
he describes the country where they lived, as being
bound up with ice and covered with snoAv, and all the
waters congealed. And on the day of their worship
he says that he saw some engaged in digging avjay
the stiow around their temple, and preparing an entrance
for the Avorshipers. And their temple Avas illuminated
with lamps and candles. Lamps and candles, in a bad
sense, denote the lumen of self-intelligence.
Here again Ave have a complete exerapliflcation of the
imrautable laAv of correspondence.
Again ; we learn frora the Dictionary of Correspond
ences that by a mill and grinding at a mill, when used
in a good sense, is denoted exaraination and conflrraation

XII.] OF SWEDENBORG. 417
of spiritual trath from the Word ; but in the opposite and
bad sense, it denotes the mental operation Avhich takes
place Avith those who labor to collect passages from the
Word in order to confirm doctrines which are false.
Hence the Lord when speaking of the consumraation of
the age, or end ofthe first Christian Church, says : "Two
wo men shallbe grinding at the mill ; the one shall be
taken and the other shall be left." (Mat. xxiv. 41.) " By
the two women grinding atthe mill," says Swedenborg,
' are meant those who conflrm themselves in truths,
and those who confirm themselves in falses frora the
Word ; they who confirra themselves in truths are
raeant by her who shall be taken, and they Avho confirm
themselves in falses by her who shall be left." {Apoca
lypse Explained n. 1182.)
Now agreeably to the law of correspondence as it
has been explained we should expect, from the internal
sense here given of grinding at a mill,thai the operation
of the rainds of those in the spiritual world who are en
gaged in collecting passages frora the Word serviceable
to confirra their doctrine, would be heard at a distance
as the sound of a raill. Accordingly Swedenborg tells
us {True Christiau Religion n, 161 — Memorable Re
lation) that he once heard in the spiritual world a
sound like that of a raill ; and it was in the northern
region of it. " Wherefore," he says, " I went up to the
place where the sound was heard and Avhen I was near,
the sound ceased ; and then I saw a kind of arched roof
above the ground, the entrance to which was through a
cave ; and on seeing Avhich, I descended and entered ;
and behold there was a vault in which I saw an old raan
sitting araongst books, holding before hira the Word and
searching in it for things serviceable for his doctrine.
Little scraps of paper lay around, on which he wrote
what was serviceable to his purpose. I inquired first
concerning the books around him. He said that they
all treated concerning justifying faith. And he
added that in various points they differ, but in the ar
ticle concerning justification, and salvation by faith
alone, they all agree. Afterwards he said that he was
now collecting frora the Word this first article of justi-

418 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
fying faith, that, God the Father fell out of favor to
wards mankind on account of their iniquities ; and that,
therefore, in order to save men, there was a divine ne
cessity that satisfaction, reconciliation, propitiation, and
mediation should be i^de by some one, Avho should
take upon himself the sentence of justice, and that this
could not possibly have been done but by his only Son ;
and that after this Avas done, a way of access was open
ed to God the Father for his sake."
In this, as in the other instances, the law of corre
spondence is completely illustrated. The sound that
SAvedenborg heard was precisely what might have been
anticipated when we reflect upon the occupation of the
person here mentioned, and upon the spiritual sense of
grinding at a mill as given by Swedenborg in his ex
position of the text wherein it occurs.
Again : we learn from the Dictionary of Correspond
ences, and also frora the Arcana Coelestia n. 4116, 4809,
that sheep correspond to and thence signify the goods
of charity, or all persons who are in the good of charity
and thence in faith. Consequently they denote those in
whose rainds faith and charity are so united as to form
a one. But goats correspond to and thence signify
those who separate charity and faith, or who believe
that truth alone, without a life according to it, Avill save
man. Such are those who believe in the doctrine of
justification by faith alone. <
That sheep and goats have this spiritual signification
where they occur in the Word, is manifest from many
passages. Thus the Lord, who is Goodness itself and
the source of all the good which angels and raen re
ceive, says,: " I ara the good shepherd : the good shep
herd giveth his life for the sheep." (John x. 11.) And
again He says : " I lay doAvn ray life for the sheep. —
My sheep hear ray voice and I knoAV thera, and they
follow me." {v. 15, 27,) It raust be evident to all that
sheep cannot here be understood in the literal sense of
the word. And that it denotes all persons who are in
charity or the good of life — i. e. all who live according
to the truth of the Word — is raanifest from the Lord's
saying, " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them.

XII.] OP SWEDENBORG. 419
and they follow me. To hear the Lordes voice evi
dently denotes to give attention to the trath of his Holy
Word ; and to follow Him signifies to do so spiritually :
— to shun evils, or fight against and resist infernal
spirits as He did Avhile glorifying the Huraan : — thus it
is to "follow Him in the regeneration,"
In another place we read of two classes of persons, one
of which was in the good of charity or neighborly love,
and the other not so. And of these two classes of persons
it is said : " When the Son of Man shall come in his glory,
and all the holy angels Avith Him, then shall He sit
upon the throne of his glory : and before hira shall be
gathered all nations : and He shall separate thera one
from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the
goats : and He shall set the sheep on his right hand,
but the goats on the left. Then shall the king say to
thera on the right hand, Corae ye blessed of ray Father,"
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founda
tion of the world, — Then shall He say also unto thera
on the left hand. Depart from me ye cursed, into ever
lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."
(Mat. xxv. 3 1-42.) That the sheep here raentioned de
note those who do good according to truth, thus all in
whora charity and faith are united, and the goats those
who are not in the good of life, thus all who are in faith
separate frora charity, is very evident frora the deeds of
charity raentioned in the context, which, it is said, the
sheep had performed but the goats had not.
It is therefore plain that sheep and goats, when they
occur in the Scriptures, have the spiritual signification
Avhich Swedenborg has given to them. And from what
has been said of correspondences and representatives in
the spiritual world, we should expect that the interiors
or affections of the first class of persons above described,
would sometimes appear there under the external form
of sheep ; and the interiors of the other class, under the
forra of goats. This ought to be the case, if these
words have the spiritual raeaning Avhich Swedenborg
has given to them, and if what we have said of corre
spondences in the spiritual world be true. .
Accordingly Swedenborg tells us in the Apocalypse

420 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
Revealed (n. 416 — Memorable Relation) that he once
saw in the spiritual world two flocks, one of goats, and
the other of sheep. " Wherefore," he says, " I ap
proached towards thera, and as I drew near, the like
nesses of animals disappeared, and instead of them were
seen men. And it was shown that they who formed
the flock of goats, were those who had 'confirmed thera
selves in the doctrine of justification by faith alone ;
and they who forraed the flOck of sheep, were those Avho
believed that charity and faith are one, as good and
truth are one." From the conversation which then fol
lowed, it is manifest that they were of such a character ;
i. e. that one class, who were at flrst seen under the
representative image of a flock of goats, were in faith
alone, and the other class, whose interiors were repre
sentatively exhibited as sheep, were in faith united with
charity. And here we have another exemplification of
the unalterable law of correspondence.
Again : Swedenborg tells us in various parts of his
writings where he is unfolding the spiritual sense of
the Word, that virgins correspond to and signify those
who have a genuine affection for truth ;¦ — that fountain
corresponds to the interior truth of the Word ; hence
drinking at a fountain corresponds to the reception
of this interior truth into the mind ; and roses corre
spond to the delightful state of mind in which those
are who love to receive and live according to the inte
rior truths of wisdom. The correspondence of these
words raay also be learned frora the Dictionary of Cor
respondences. Accordingly in a Memorable Relation
in Conjugial Love n. 293, Swedenborg speaks of some
women who had an affection for the interior truths of
wisdom, and were delighted with them ; and he says
that he at first saw them "sitting upon a rose-bed at
a certain fountain, drinking water," And when he
approached thera and raade inquiry whence they Avere ;
"they said. We are wives, and are here conversing to
gether concerning the delights of conjugial love ;' and
from much confirmation Ave conclude, that those de
lights are also delights of wisdom, ; which answer
(says SAvedenborg) so delighted my mind that I seemed

XII,] OP SWEDENBORG. 42i
to myself to be in the spirit, and thence in perception
more interiorly and brightiy than on any other occa
sion before."
Again : Swedenborg often says, in his expositions of
the internal sense of the Word, that garments corre
spond to the truths of faith which clothe the goods of
charity, or to the thoughts which clothe affections ; for
a raan's thoughts are always in agreeraent with his
loves. They are the garments Avith which his affec
tions clothe and adorn theraselves. Thus it is written
in Isaiah : " Put on thy beautiful garraents, O Jerasa
lera, the holy city" (hi. 1); and in the Revelation:
" Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have
not defiled their garments ; and they shall walk with
me in white : for they are worthy " (iii. 4) : where gar
ments evidently denote the truths of faith ; and they
who have not defiled their garments denote those who
have not profaned truths. Accordingly in a Memo
rable Relation in the True Christian Religion (n. 188)
we are told that " splendid garments interAvoven here
and there with threads of gold " were presented to cer
tain persons who thought and spake truly conceming
the Divine Trinity in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
angel who presented thera said, "Receive ye the
WEDDING garments." Thcsc Splendid garments
were correspondences of their thoughts. 'Their re
ceiving thera therefore was a thing of divine order.
No others could have been given or received, because
no others would have been correspondent. And here
again we see perfectly exeraplified the irarautable law
of correspondence.
Swedenborg also says that when the angels are in
discourse upon any subject, their ideas and discourses
are often exhibited representatively to those in the
world of spirits who are beneath, or in a raore external
state. And whenever they are thus exhibited, we find
that the external forms under Avhich they are said to
appear are invariably such as are correspondent with
the angelic ideas ; or such as they should be, according
to the correspondence of those things which Sweden
borg has given in his Scripture expositions. For ex-
37

422 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
ample : when unfolding the internal sense of the Word,
he tells us that city corresponds to and signifies doc
trinals, or the church as to its doctrinals of charity and
faith. Accordingly in the Arcana Coelestia n. 3216, he
says: " When the discourse Avith the angels is concerning
the doctrinals of charity and faith, there soraetimes ap
pears on such occasions, in an inferior sphere inhabited
by a corresponding society of spirits, the idea of a city
or of cities, with palaces therein, exhibiting such skill
in architecture as to beget astonishraent, so that the be
holder would imagine that the very essence of the ar
chitectonic art was there and thence derived, besides
houses of various appearances ; and what is Avonder
ful, in all and singular of these things, there is not
the smallest point, or the most rainute visible par
ticle, but what represents somewhat of angelic idea and
discourse : hence it raay appear wh;it innuraerable
things are contained therein ; and also what is signified
by the cities described in the Word as seen by the pro
phets, and likewise what 'by the holy city or New Jeru
salera ; and what by the cities mentioned in the pro
phetic Word, viz. the doctrinals of charity and faith."
Again : in his Scripture expositions, Swedenborg tells
us that animals in general correspond to celestial natu
ral things, or the various affections in the natural de
gree of the mind ; and the different animals according
to their nature and quality correspond to the different
kinds of affections. Accordingly in the Arcana Coeles
tia n. 3218, he says :
" When the angels are in affection, and at the same
time in discourse concerning them, then with spirits
in an inferior sphere such things fall into representative
species of animals ; when the discourse is concerning
good affections, there are exhibfted beautiful, tarae, and
useful aniraals, such as were used in sacrifice in the
representative Divine Worship in the Jewish Church,
as lambs, sheep, kids, she-goats, raras, he-goats, calves,
heifers, oxen ; and in this case whatsoever appears at
any time upon the animal represents some effigy of
their thought, which it is given to the upright and well-

Sril.] OF SWEDENBORG. 423
disposed spirits to perceive : hence it raay appear Avhat
was signified by aniraals in the rites of the Jewish
Church, and what by the same when mentioned in the
Word, viz. affections. But the discourse of the angels
concerning evil affections is represented by beasts of a
terrible appearance, fierce, and useless, as by tigers,
bears, wolves, scorpions, serpents, mice and the like, as
such affections are also signified by the same beasts
when named in the Word."
Again : where the internal sense of the Word is ex
plained, Ave are told that groves, gardens, paradises,
(fee, correspond to and thence signify the things of
knowledge, of intelligence and wisdom. Accordingly
it is said in the Arcana Coelestia n. 3220 :
" When the angels hold discourse concerning things
appertaining to intelligence and wisdora, and concern
ing perceptions and knowledges, on such occasions, the
influx thence into corresponding societies of spirits falls
into representations of such things as are in the vege
table kingdora, as into representations of paradises, of
vineyards, of forests, of raeadows adorned with flowers,
and into scA'-eral kinds of beauties, which exceed all
huraan imagination : hence it is, that those things
which relate to wisdom and intelligence, are described
in the Word by paradises, vineyards, forests, meadows,
and that Avhere these things are naraed, such things are
signified." Again : in his expositions of Scripture, Sweden
borg often tells us that clouds correspond to truth in the
literal sense of the Word, which raay appear dark or
lurainous according to the state of one's understanding:
—that white clouds correspond to truths seen with
clearness, and black clouds to truths obscured, or to
felsities. He also frequently tells us that fire or flama
corresponds to love, and light to truth ; and wherever
they occur in the Word, they signify these. And that
these words have such a signification in the Scriptures,
has been shown in some of the preceding lectures.
Hence, from what has been said of correspondences in
the spiritual world, Ave raay easily conceive how an
gelic discourse raight sometimes be represented to those

424 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT,
in the world of spirits. Accordingly in the Arcana
Coelestia, n. 3221, 3222, Swedenborg says :
" The discourses of angels are soraetimes represented
by clouds, and by their forms, colors, motions and trans
lations ; affirmatives of truth by bright and ascending
cloudy, negatives by dark and descending clouds ; af
firmatives of what is false by dusky and black clouds ;
consent and dissent by various consociations and disso
ciations of clouds, and these in a sky color, such as is
that of the heavens in the night.
" Moreover the different kinds of love and their affec
tions are represented by flaraes, and this with inexpres
sible variation ; but truths are represented by lights,
and by innuraerable modifications of light ; hence it
may appear from what ground it is, that by flames in
the Word are signified the good things appertaining to
love, and by lights the truths appertaining to faith."
These exaraples raay be sufficient to show us gen
erally how the Meraorable Relations of Swedenborg
are to be understood. We might easily fill a volume
with others of a sirailar character, showing an entire
and perfect agreement of these Relations with the in
temal sense of the Word as unfolded by means of the
Science of Correspondences. We every where find
that the things described in these Relations are precisely
what they should be, according to the principle or law
of correspondence as elsewhere explained by Sweden
borg, and the truth of whicl^ we have verified in sorae
of the preceding lectures : — d. e. the things there de
scribed are always found to be perfectly correspondent
with the things of affection and thought, which, at the
time, happen to be most active in the rainds of those in
whose vicinity they were seen and heard.
This agreement between the Memorable Relations
of Swedenborg, and the intemal sense ofthe Scriptures
is so remarkable, as utterly to forbid the idea that it
could have been the result either of chance, ingenuity
or monoraania. We can hardly conceive how any man
of an honest and philosophic raind, can becorae suffi
ciently acquainted with both to perceive this remarka
ble agreement, without admitting it to be of such a na-

XII.] op SWEDENBORG. 425
tare, that it can be explained only on the supposition
that Swedenborg actually saw and heard, in the spi
ritual world, the things v;hich he has described. These
Relations, when viewed through the medium of a car
nal mind, cannot but appear like absurd and ridiculous
stories. But when rightiy understood.— when the things
which they describe, are regarded as the representative
images of spiritual principles, bodied forth according to
a divine and imrautable law^they appear beautiful
and full of heavenly wisdora. To be seen aright, they
must be " spiritually discerned."
But Ave are aware that these Relations cannot easily
be belie\-ed by persons AA'-ho have but littie knoAvledge
ofthe internal sense of the Scriptures, and but a slight
acquaintance Avith the truths of the Ncav Church gene
rally ; for such persons will not easily understand thera.
Yet while there are so raany things in the writings of
Swedenborg, which all who are in the good of life may
understand, and m,ay know to be true — things which ad
dress powerfully the rational faculty of every unpreju
diced raind — would it not be fair and reasonable to con
clude that his Memorable Relations raust also be true,
even though we were not able to see their entire con
sistency and rationality ? The professed christian tells
the infidel, 'Although there are many parts of Scripture
which we cannot explain, and which, to our superficial
understanding, appear absurd or without any meaning,
yet we believe it is all Divine Wisdom and susceptible
of explanation, on account of the wisdom in those parts
which we can understand, and .which we know to be
true.' And this conclusion is admitted to be fair and
logical. But the man who has confirmed himselfin the
belief that the Bible is all a fabrication and utterly un
worthy of credit, and who, without having sufficiently
examined the evidence of its divine origin, or fully con
sidered its influence upon the huraan race, is bent upon
proving it false and ridiculous— such a raan opens per
hapes at the 18th Psalra, and there reads that " God rode
npon a cherub and did fly " {v, 10.) : he opens again at
the 1st chapter of Ezekiel, and there he reads that a
(Chexub was a jcreature in forra hke a man, with fi>ur
37*

426 THE memorable relations I^lect.
faces — as of a man,, a lion, an ox, and an eagle — ^with
four wings under which were the hands of a man — and
with the hoofs of a calf And then, as if he thoroughly
understood the meaning of this language of Scripture,
and with a tone of conscious pride in his own superior
wisdom, he exclaims, " What nonsense ! As if the Infi
nite Jehovah ever really rode upon such a strange crea
ture as is here described ! And can any man (he adds)
who is not absolutely deraentate, believe that a book
which contains such absurdities is tHe Word op God?"
And the Christian replies to hira — justiy enough — that
this is not quite fair ; and that possibly if he understood
the Scriptures better, he would think and speak very
differently concerning thera. Yet, (strange inconsist
ency !) the very thing which the avowed infidel does in
regard to the Scriptures — nay, even worse things— men,
calling themselves Christians, have done and still con
tinue to do in regard to the writings of SAvedenborg.
They quote passages from his Memorable Relations, the
meaning of which "they do not understand, and after
tearing thera out frora their proper connection and then
interpreting thera according to their own carnal con
ceptions, they cry out ' absurdity and nonsense 1' And
we ask if we have not good reason to say, that such a
mode of dealing with the writings of Swedenborg is
not quite fair ? And whether, in the eye of Hira who
looketh on the heart, professing christians, who do this,
may not be as far or eyen farther from the kingdora of
heaven than the avowed infidel hiraself? And however
they may build the tombs of the prophets and garnish
the sepulchres of the righteous, are they not witnesses
unto themselves that they are the children of them that
killed the prophets 1
We would therefore beg all those who are disposed to
ridicule and reject the Avritings of SAvedenborg, on ac
count of the alleged visions which they contain, to pause
— and consider whether they do not, in their hearts
if not with their lips, mOck at the visions of the apostles
and prophets, and reject the Scriptures as a revelation
from God.
But let it not be supposed, because Swedenborg's

SII.] OF SWEDENBORG. 427
spiritual senses were opened so as to enable hira to see
and converse with those in the spiritual world, that
therefore all, who receive the truths which he was the
instruraent in unfolding, epjoy the same privilege. We
know that, araong raany other raisrepresentations Avhich
have gone abroad concerning the New Church, it has
been said and believed that we profess to have A'isions,
and to enjoy open intercourse_ with spirits. Eut this is
not trae ; certainly not in respect to those who are well
instructed in the writings of the Church ; for these
writings distinctly teach that such intercourse is not al
lowed at the present day, because it would not be use
ful nor generally safe.
It is soraetiraes brought as an objection to the revela
tions raade for the New Jerusalera, that Swedenborg
wrought no rairacles, neither pretertded to work any.
But such an objection would certainly never be made
by one who had well read and understood his writings ;
for such an one would then be able to see that truth ra
tionally received beareth witness of itself; and that no
miracles could make it better understood, or render its
certainty more evident. Besides, many of the prophets
did no miracle ; and it is distinctly said of John the
forerunner of Jesus, that he "did no miracle." (John
X. 41.) And yet we find that the Lord reproved those
who hearkened not to the preaching of the prophets and
of John. (See Mat. xi.)
In one of Swedenborg's Memorable Relations, {Con
jugial Love n. 532) he tells us that he was once, as to
his spirit, raised into an angelic society ; and being in
quired of by the angels, what there was new from the
earth, he replied, that the Lord had revealed to men,
that in all things and in each particular of the Word,
there is a spiritual sense corresponding to the natural
sense. That the correspondences, of which the spirit
ual sense of the Word consists, are disclosed. That
the things concerning heaven and hell -and a life after
death are revealed. That it is made known that there
are three degrees of life Avith man corresponding to the
three angelic heavens ; and that God is one in essence
and in person, in whom is a diidne trinity, and that He

428 THE lilEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the God of heaven and
earth. When it Avas told that these and other heavenly
arcana had been revealed to men, SAvedenborg says :
" The angels, from having heard this, rejoiced great
ly, but they perceived a sadness in rae, and asked,
Whence is your sadness ? I said, that those arcana at
this day revealed by the Lord, although in excellence
and Avorth {dignitate) they exceed the knowledges
hitherto raade known, still on earth are reputed as of no
value. At this the angels wondered, and entreated of
the Lord, that they might be permitted to look down
into the Avorld ; and they looked down, and behold
mere darkness there ; and it Avas said to them, that
those arcana should be written upon paper, and the
paper be let down upon earth, and they would see a
prodigy ; and it was done so, and, behold, the paper on
which those arcana were written, was let down from
heaven, and in its progress, while it was yet in the
spiritual Avorld, it shone as a star, but when it descend
ed into the natural world, the light disappeared, ahd in
the same degree as it fell, it was covered with darkness :
and when it Avas let down by the angels into compa
nies where were the learned and erudite from the cler
gy and the laity, there was heard a raurraur from many,
in which were these expressions ; What is this ? Is it
any thing? What does it concern us, whether Ave
know them or do not know them ? Are they not the
productions {foetus) of the brain ? And it appeared as
if some took the paper, and folded it, rolled and un-
- rolled it with their fingers, in order that they might
¦obliterate the writing ; and it appeared as if some tore
it in pieces, and some as if they wanted to trample
upon it with their feet ; but they were withheld by the
Lord from that enormity, and it was commanded the
angels to draw it back and guard it ; and because the
angels became sad, and thought how long it would be
thus, it was said, tfntil (usque ad) a time and times
und half a time, (Rev. xn. 14.)
" After these things I heard a spiteful murmur from
those below, and at the sarae time these Avords, Do
miracles and we will believe ; and I asked whether the

XII.] -OF SWEDENBORG. 429
things above named were not miracles, and it was an
swered. They are not ; and I asked, What miracles,
then ? and it was said. Manifest and reveal future
events, and we will have faith ; but I answered. Such
things are not given from heaven, since as far as man
knows future events, so far his reason and understand
ing, with his prudence and wisdom, fall into inactivity,
are torpid, and brought to decay ; and again I asked.
What other miracles shall I do ? and then the cry was
made, Do such rairacles as Moses did in Egypt; to this
I replied. Perchance you will harden your hearts at
thera, as Pharaoh and the Egyptians did ; and it Avas
answered, that they Avould not ; but again I said. Assure
me, that you will not dance ,around a golden calf, and
adore it like the posterity of Jacob, which they did in
the space of a raonth after they had seen the whole
mount Sinai buming, and heard Jehovah hiraself
speaking out of the fire, thus after a rairacle, which
was the greatest of all ; (a golden calf, in the spiritual
sense, is the pleasure of the flesh ;) and it was answered
frora those below, We will not be as the posterity of
Jacob. But at that raoraent I heard this said to them
from heaven ; Ifyou believe not Moses and the prophets,
that is, the Word of the Lord, you will not believe frora
pairaeles raore than the sons of Jacob in the desert ; nor
niore than they believed, when Avith their own eyes
they saAV the rairacles done by the Lord himself, while
He was in the world,"
Thus, my friends, have I attempted, in the course of
lectures to which you have listened so patiently, to
present to your minds in an intelligible form some of
the leading doctrines which characterize that New Dis
pensation of Christianity whereof I have spoken. I
have not given you mA/ opinion merely, or truths
which I have discovered by the light of my own intel
ligence, but have endeavored only to unfold and eluci
date some ofthe great truths which are revealed in the
theological writings of Svyedenborg. No one can be
more conscious than I rayself am of the unfinished and
imperfect manner in which the several topics that have

430 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
been brought before you have been discussed. I have
at times feft painfully oppressed Avifli the magnitude of
my subject, which I could do little more than glance
at within the ordinary liraits of a single lecture. But
perhaps the great object which I had in view on cora
raencing these lectures, has been fully attained. Ira
perfectly as the doctrines of the New Church have
here been presented, perhaps some have had their un
derstanding sufficiently opened to perceive the strong
contrast wliich exists between these doctrines and those
of tho Old Church ; and have been able to discover the
vast superiority of the former in point of beauty, order,
consistency, reasonableness, and agreement with both
the volurae of nature and revelation. If so, I trust that
they will be induced to follow this littie light, Avhich
may now be but as the day-star in the east to their
minds, until they come to the clear, bright blaze of
heaven's own Sun.
In presenting this new revelation as I have for the
consideration of all honest and unprejudiced rainds, I
have done only what it seemed my duty to do. To
thousands besides rayself, who have been " waiting for
the consolation of Israel," the truths of this revelation
have been " glad tidings of great joy." I have there
fore spoken to you concerning them, because I could
not Avell keep silence. I have spoken to you in eamest,
because the existing state of the Old Church and the
character of the truths whereof I have spoken, have
caused rae to feel in earnest. 1 have spoken to you
seriously, because I deera the traths of this New Dis
pensation worthy of your most serious consideration.
I have spoken to you with confidence, because I have
felt confident that I Avas speaking of the very doctrines
of. heaven — telling you nothing but the truth ;— be
cause the light of this New Dispensation has been to
my own mind as that light from heaven above the
brightness of the sun, which shone round about the
Apostle while he journeyed towards Daraascus. I
have spoken to you Avith great plainness, because I have
been afraid of falling into that spirit of accoramodation
and prudential concealment which is so coraraon in our

XII.] OF SWEDENBORG. 431
times, and of thereby in some degree comprising the
truth. I have spoken with rauch freedora concerning
the end pr spiritual consuramation of the first Christian
Church, because what Swedenborg has tanght heieon
is true, and I have not felt at liberty either to disguise
or palliate the fact. But because we believe that the
Old Church as a Church has corae to its end, it must
not be supposed. that we believe tbere is no goodness or
truth in the minds of individuals who nominally be
long to that Church. On the contrary, we believe
there are many among its members who are in the
good of life — many Avho are but little confirraed in the
false dogmas of that Church — who shun evils as sins
against God, and live as well as they can according to
the light they have ; for it is a remarkable fact that
many of the simple minded of the laity of the Old
Church, Avhen you converse freely with them concern
ing their religious doctrines, Avill flatly deny more than
half of the veiy creed which they have subscribed.
Thus we believe with the apostle, that " God is no
respecter of persons : but in every nation he that feareth
Him and worketh righteousness is accepted with Him."
The doctrines of the New Church teach that all Avho
look to the Lord through the raediura of his Word,
shun evils and sins against Hira, and do the coraraand
ments, will be saved. Swedenborg says :
" It is provided that every one, in whatever
heresy he is as to the understanding, may still be
reforraed and saved, provided he ishuns evils and sins,
and does not conflrra heretical falsities with himself;
for by shunning evils as sins the Avill is reformed, and
through the will the understanding, which then first
comelout of darkness into light. There are three es
sentials of the church, the acknowledgraent of the Di
vine of the Lord, the acknowledgment of the sanctity
of the Word, and the life which is called charity ; ac
cording to the life, Avhich is charity, every man has
faith ; from the Word is the knowledge of what life
must be ; and from the Lord is reformation and salva
tion. If these three had been as the essentials of the
church, intellectual dissensions would not have divided,

432 THE MEMORABLE EELATIONS. [lECT.
but only varied it, as the light varies the colors in beau
tiful objects, and as various diadems raake the beauty
in a king's crown." — {Divine Providence, n. 259.)
But as there are different degrees in regeneration, so-
there are different degrees in Avhich a man may be
saved. And inasmuch as truth is the only means of
revealing to us our states of life, and showing us what
are sins against God, therefore the more and purer
truths we havd, the more have we the raeans of being
saved ; for we are then able to discover raore evils in
ourselves, and if we resist and overcorae thera we shall
thereby attain to a higher degree of salvation and con
sequent happiness. ,
I have scrupulously avoided in these lectures all ap
peals to the syrapathies, or the fears, or any of the feel
ings of the natural rnan. This raay haA^e seeraed rather
singular, especially at a time when there is such a gen
eral craving for religious exciteraent ; and when the
fears and the passions, more than the understandings of
men, are addressed by religious teachers. But we re
gard all excitement in religion as Avell as in other things,
not less hurtful and dan^rous than it is coramon. We
are sure that no one cometh unto the Father but by thd
Son : — no one coraeth into A. state of heavenly love,
but by raeans of truth received and understood ; and
all exciteraent of the natural feelings is prejudicial to a
clear understanding of the truth.
As yet this New Dispensation is only in its dawn.
And although all the evil loves of raen, and all the
powers of hell are arrayed against its truths, yet the
Oranipotent Lord Jesus is in thera, and their progress
hoAvever slow is sure. Scepticisra raay cavil — bigotry
may sneer — prejudice may turn aAvay its face in scorn
— nay, the serpent rnay be permitted to rear aloft its
proud and hideous crest, and to braise the spirits of raen
" for a time and times and half a tirae," but the seed of
the woman must finally bruise his head. So sure as
the Lord liveth and reigneth, the raarch of his truth, as
unfolded for the New Jerusalera Church is forever on
ward. And yonder broad river that hurries to the
ocean could as easily be stopped in its career by the

XII.] OF SWEDENBORG. 433
puny hand of man, as the onward and continually in
creasing progress of the truths whereof I have spoken
can be stayed by any huraan opposition. They raay
be opposed — scorned — persecuted — (for thus it has ever
fared with truth) — but they cannot be crushed nor stop
ped. " Conquering to conquer," they must ever go,
until "the kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord and ofhis Christ: and He shall
reign forever and ever."

The following Meraorable Relation from the Apoca
lypse Revealed (n. 875) is here subjoined for the sake
of giving the reader a better idea of that portion of^
Swedenhorg's writings which treats more particularly
of his intercourse with the spiritual world. And we
cannot conceive how a good raan can read it without
being deeply impressed with the conviction that its au
thor could not have been either a fanatic or an impostoir.
" Awaking one raorning frora sleep, I saw two angels
descending out of heaven; one from the southem quar
ter of heaven and the other from the eastern quarter of
heaven, each in his chariot drawn by white horses ; the
chariot in Avhich the angel from the southern quarter of
heaven Avas conveyed, shone like silver, and the chariot
in which the angel from the eastern quarter of heaven
was conveyed, shone like gold ; and the reins which
they held in their hands, were refulgent as the flaraing
light of the morning ; thus these two angels appeared
to me at a distance, but when they came nearer, they
did not appear in chariots, but in their own angelic
form, which is human. He who came from the easterti
quarter of heaven was clad in a bright purple gamientj
38

434 THE MEJIIORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
and he who carae frora the southern quarter of heaven
in a raiment of violet blue. As soon as they reached
the regions beneath the heavens, they ran to meet each
other, as if they strove which should be first, and mu
tually embraced and kissed each other. I was informed
that these two angels, during their abode on earth, had
been conjoined in the bond of an interior friendship, but
that now one was in the eastern heaven and the other
in the southern. In the eastern heaven are such as are
principled in love, from the Lord ; and in the southern
heaven are such as are principled in wisdora frora the
Lord. When they had conversed together sorae tirae
about the raagnificence of their respective heavens, their
discourse took a turn upon the question whether heaven
in its essence be love, or whether it be wisdora ? They
iramediately agreed that one derived its origin frora the
other, but the debate Avas, which was the priraitive and
which the derivative. The angel who carae frora the
heaven of wisdora then asked the other, " What is love ?"
to which he replied, " That love, originating from the
Lord as a sun, is the vital heat of angels and men, thus
their life ; that the derivations of love are called affec
tions ; and that by these are produced perceptions and
thus thoughts ; whence it follows that wisdom in its ori
gin is loye, consequently that thought in its origin is
the affection of that love ; and it is evident from the de
rivations viewed in their order, that thought is nothing
else but the form of affection ; but the reason Avhy this
is not known, is, because thoughts are in light, but af
fections are in heat, so that the mind refiects upon its
thought^, but not on its affections, in the same manner
as obtains with sound and speech. That thought is
nothing else but the form of affection, raay also be illus
trated by the case of speech, Avhich is nothing else but
the form of sound ; there is also a simflarity, because
sound corresponds to affection, and speech to thought,
wherefore affecfion utters the sound, and thought utters
the speech ; this raay be further elucidated by this con
sideration, that if you take away sound frora speech,
nothing of speech reraains, and in like raanner, if you
take away affection frora thought nothing of thought

XII,] OF SWEDENBORG. 435
remains. Hence then it is plain, that love is the all of
wisdom, consequently the essence of the heavens is love,
and their existence is wisdom, or what is the sarae thing,
the heaA'-ens have their being from the divine love, and
exist frora the divine love by the divine Avisdora, where
fore, as was said abo-ve, the one derives its origin frora
the other." There was with rae at that tirae, a novitiate
spirit, who on hearing this discourse, asked. Whether it
is the same with charity and faith, since charity has re
lation to affection, and faith to thought ; the angel re
plied, ' It is the same ; for faith is nothing else but the
form of charity, just as speech is the forra of sound ;
faith being forraed by charity as speech is formed by
sound ; the raode of its forraation is also known to us in
heaven, but there is no opportunity to explain it at
present.' 'By faith, however,' he added, 'I mean spirit
ual faith, the spirit and life of which is derived solely
frora charity, for charity is spiritual, and by charity,
faith ; wherefore faith without charity is a raerely natu
ral faith, which is dead, which also conjoins itself with
merely natural affection, which is nothing ejse but con
cupiscence.' The angels conversed on these subjects
spiritually, and spiritual discourse comprehends thou
sands of things which natural language cannot express,
and what is wonderful, such as do not even fall within
the ideas of natural thought. Reraeraber this, I beseech
you, and when you corae out of natural light into spirit
ual light, as is the case after death, inquire what faith is
and what charity is, and you will clearly see that faith
is charity in forra, and therefore that charity is the all
of faith, consequently that it is the soul, life, and essence,
of faith, just as the affection is of thought, and as the
sound is of speech ; and if you desire it, you will see
the formation of faith from charity like the formation of
speech frora sound, because they correspond. ^ After dis
coursing together for some tirae on these and such like
subjects, the angels departed, and as they retired each
to his respective heaven, their heads appeared encora
passed with stars : and Avhen they were some distance
from me, they again seemed to be borne in chariots as
before.

436 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
When these tAVO angels were gone out of my sight, I
saw a garden on ray right hand, in which were olive-
trees, vines, flg-trees, laurels, and palra-trees, planted in
order, according to correspondence. I looked into the
garden, and saw angels and spirits walking and convers
ing together araong the trees ; then a certain angelic
spirit observed rae (they are called angelic spirits, who
in the Avorld of spirits are prepared for heaven, and after
wards becorae angels), and, came out of the garden
towards me, and said, ' Will you come with me into
our paradise, and you shall hear and see wonderful
things.' I went with. him, and then he said to me,
'Those whom you see (for there were many persons
there), are all principled in the affection of truth, and
thence in the light of wisdora : here also is a building
which we call the Temple op Wisdom ; but the
nature of this building is such, that it cannot be seen by
hira who thinks hiraself very wise, rauch less by hira
who thinks hiraself wise enough, and still less by him
who thinks himself wise from himself; the reason is,
because such persons are not in the reception of the
light of heaven from the affection of genuine wisdom :
genuine wisdora consists in a raan's seeing from the
light of heaven, that what he knows, understands,, and
is wise in, is, respectively to what he does not know,
understand, nor is wise in, as a drop to the ocean, con
sequently next to nothing. Every one who is in this
paradisaical garden, and perceives and acknowledges in
himself, that his own wisdom is so little comparatively,
sees that temple of wisdom, for interior light enables a
man to see it, but not exterior light without it ;' and in
asrauch as I had often thought so myself, both from sci
ence, and then frora perception, and lastly in conse
quence of seeing it from interior light, and had acknoAv
ledged, that raan had so Itttle Avisdora, behold ! it was
given rae to see that teraple. In form it was stupen
dous, it was raised a great height above the ground, and
was quadrangular, with walls of crystal, its roof of trans
parent jasper elegantly arched, the foundation consisted
of precious stones of various kinds ; and the steps lead
ing up to it were of polished alabaster ; at the sides of

XII.] OF SWEDENBORG. 437
the steps were seen the figures of lions Avith their cubs.
I then asked whether I might be allowed to enter ; and
being inforraed that I raight, I ascended therefore the
steps, and when I had entered, I observed, as it were,
cherubs flying beneath the roof, and presently vanish
ing out of sight ; the floor under our feet was of cedar,
and the whole teraple, by reason of the transparency of
its roof and walls, seeraed built to be the form of light.
The angelic spirit went in with me, and I related to
him what I had heard frora the two angels concerning
love and wisdom, as also concerning charity and faith ;
and he said to rae, 'Did they not also raention a third?'
And I said, 'What third?' He replied, 'Use,' Love
and wisdora Avithout use, are not any thing, they are
only ideal entities, nor do they becorae real until they
are fixed in use ; for love, wisdora, and use, are three
things which cannot be separated ; for if they are sepa
rated each is reduced to nothing ; love is nothing with
out wisdora, but in wisdora it is formed for something,
which soraething is use, wherefore when love by wis
dora is in use, then it is soraething, yea it then really
is ; they are exactly like end, cause, and effect ; the end
is not any thing unless it exists by the cause in the ef
fect ; and if any one of the three be destroyed, the whole
is destroyed, and becomes as nothing. It is the same
with charity, faith, and works ; charity without faith is
nothing, nor is faith any thing without charity, nor are
charity and faith any thing without works, but in works
they become something, thequality of which something
is according to the use of those works. It is the same
Avith affection, thought and operation ; and also with
will, understanding, and action. That this is the base,
raay be seen clearly in this teraple, because the light, in
which Ave are here, is a light illustrating the interiors of
the raind. The science of georaetry teaches also that
nothing can be complete or perfect except it be a trine,
or a corripound of three, for a line is nothing without an
area, and an area is nothing unless it become a solid,
wherefore the one must be drawn into the other, that
they may exist and co-exist in the third. As it is in
this instance, so it is likewise in the case of all and
38*

438 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
every created thing, they have their lirait and terraina
tion in a third. Hence it is, that three in the Word,
spiritually understood, signifies Avhat is coraplete and
entire. 'This being the case, I cannot but wonder that
some profess faith alone, sorae charity alone, and some
Avorks alone, when yet one without the other, or any
two of- thera without the third, are a raere nothing.'
But then I asked hira, 'May not a man have charity and
faith, and yet not have works ? May he not be inclined
both in affection and thought towards some particular
purpose, and yet not be in its operation?' The angelic
spirit answered, 'He can only be so ideally, but not
really, for he must needs be in the endeavor or will to
operate, and Avill or endeavor is in itself an action, be
cause it is continually striving towards action, which
becomes an exterior act when opportunity occurs to de
termine it, wherefore endeavor and Avill, as an interior
act, is accepted by every wise man, because it is accept
ed by God, altogether, as though it were an exterior act,
provided it fail not to operate when opportunity offers.'
After this I descended the steps from the teraple of
wisdora, and Avalked in the garden, and I observed sorae
persons sitting under a laurel and eating figs ; I ap
proached and asked thera for some figs, which they gave
me ; and lo, the figs in my hand became grapes; when
I expressed my surprise at this, the angelic spirit, who
Avas still with rae, said, 'The figs in your hand became
grapes, because figs, by correspondence, signify the
goods of charity and thence of faith, in the natural or
extemal man, but grapes signify the goods of charity
and thence of faith in the spiritual or internal map ; and
because thou lovest spiritual things, therefore has this
change happened to you, for in our worid all things
come to pass and exist, and are also changed, according
to correspondences.' And instantly I Jfelt a desire to
knoAv how a man can do good from God, and yet as
from himself; Avherefore I asked those who Avere eating
figs, Avhat was their notion on the subject? they said
they could conceive no other but that God operates it
inwardly in man,- and by man when he knows nothing
of it ; since if raan were conscious of it, and so did it as

XII.] OF SWEDENBORG. 439
if frora himself, he would not do good but evfl ; for all
that proceeds from man, as from hiraself, proceeds frora
his propriura or selfhood, and the propriura of man frora
his birth is evil. How then can good frora God and evil
frora raan be joined together, and proceed conjointly into
action ? besides the propriura of raan in raatters relating
to salvation is ever full of its own merit, and in propor
tion as this is the case, it derogates frora the Lord's raerit,
which is the highest injustice and irapiety. In short, if
the good which God operates in raan by the holy spirit,
were to flow into man's volition and thence into his 'ac
tions, that good would be totally defiled and also pro
faned, which God never permits. Man raay, indeed,
think that the good which he does is from God, and call
it the good of God through hira, and as it were frora him,
but still we do not comprehend how it can be so.' But
I then opened my mind, and said, ' You do not corapre
hend hoAV it can be so, because you think from appear
ances, and such thought, when confirmed, is fallacy.
You are under the appearance and thence under the
fallacy, because you believe the appearance and conse
quent fallacy, that all things which a man wills and
thinks, and thence acts and speaks, are in hira, and con
sequently frora hira, Avhen nevertheless, not one of all
such things is in him except the state and capacity of
receiving that Avhirh enters by influx. Man is not life
in himself, but an organ receptive of life ; the Lord
alone is life in himself, as he also says in John : 'For as
the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the
Son to have life in himself' v. 26 ; besides other places,
as John xi. 25, xiv. 6, 19. There are two things which
constitute life, love, and wisdom, or what amounts to
the same, the good of love and the truth of wisdom ;
these flow from God and are received by man, and they
are felt by man, as in him, and because they are felt by
him, as in hira, they also proceed as if frora hira ; that
they are so felt by raan, is given of the Lord, that that
Avhich flows-in raay affect hira, and so be received and
remain. But as all evil likewise enters by influx, not
frora God but frora hell, and is received with delight,
because raan is born such ah organ, therefore he re-

440 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
ceives no raore good from God, but in proportion to the
evil which is removed by man as if from himself, which
is effected by repentance, and at the same tirae by faith
in the Lord. That love and wisdom, charity and faith,
or, to speak in more general terras, the good of love and
charity, and the truth of wisdora and faith, flow-in. and
that the things which flow-in appear in man as if they
were in him, and thence as if they Avere from hira, raay
be plainly seen from the sight, hearing, smell, taste, and
touch ; for whatever things are felt by the organs of
thoSe senses, flow from withotit, and are felt in them ;
the case is the sarae with the organs of the internal
senses, only with this difference, that into the latter flow
spiritual things Avhich do not appear, but into the forraer
natural things which do appear. In a word, man is an
organ receptive of life from God, consequently he is re
ceptive of good, in proportion as he desists from evil ;
the power to desist frora evil, the Lord gives to every
raan, because he gives hira the power to will and to un
derstand as if frora himself, and whatsoever a man does
frora the Avill as his own, according to understanding,
as his own, or Avhat is the same thing, whatever he does
from freedora of will according to the conviction of the
understanding, that remains; and by this the Lord
brings man into a state of conjunction with hiraself, and
in that state reforms, regenerates, and saves him. The
life which flows-in, is life proceeding from the Lord,
which is also called the spirit of God, and in the Word
the Holy Spirit, of Avhich also it is said that it enlight
ens and quickens, yea, that it operates in man ; but this
life is varied and modified according to the organization
induced on man by his love and the object he has in
vieAV. You may also know, that all the good of love
and charity, and all the truth of Avisdom and faith
flow-in, and are not in man, from this consideration, that
he who supposes that such things are inherent in man
by creation, cannot think otherwise than that God has
infused hiraself into man, and thus that men are in part
gods ; and yet they Avho so think from faith, become
devils, and stink like dead carcasses. Besides, what is
all huraan action but the action of the raind ? for what

XII.] op SWEDENBORG. 441
the raind wills and thinks, that it acts by its organ the
body, wherefore when the raind is guided by the Lord,
its actions are also guided, and the mind and the actions
flowing from it, are guided by the Lord, when it believes
in him. Were not this the case, tell rae if you can, Avhy
the Lord in the Word has a thousand and a thousand
times comraanded man to love his neighbor, to do the
goods of charity, and to bear frait as a tree, and to keep
the commandments, and all this with a vieAV to salva
tion ; also why it is said, that man shall be judged ac
cording to his deeds or works, he who has done good,
to heaven and life, and he who has done evil, to hell
and death ? How could the Lord have said such things,
if all that proceeds frora man were meritorious and con
sequentiy evil ? Know, therefore, that if the mind be
charity, the action is charity also, but if the mind be
faith alone, which is a faith separated frora spiritiial
charity, the action also is such faith, and this faith is
meritorious, because its charity is natural and not spirit
ual ; not so the faith of charity, because charity does not
desire to have any merit, and therefore neither does its
faith.' On hearing this, they who sat under the laurel
said, 'We conaprehend the justness of your observations,
and yet we do not coraprehend it.' And I replied,
'You coraprehend the justness of ray observations by
virtue of that coraraon perception which raan enjoys
frora the influx of light out of heaven, when he hears
any truth ; but you do not coraprehend it by reason of
that peculiar perception, which every raan has in con
sequence of an influx of light frora the world ; these
two sorts of perception, namely, the internal and exter
nal, or the spiritual and natural, make one in wise raen ;
you also raay make them one, if you look up to the
Lord and put away evils.' Seemg that they understood
these words, I plucked off some twigs from the laurel,
under Avhich we were sitting, and held thera out, and
said, 'Do you believe that this is from rae, or frora the
Lord ?' And they said, ' They believed it was through
rae as frora rae,' and, lo ! the branches blossoraed in
their hands. As I was retiring, I saw a table raade of
cedar wood, on which .there Avas a book, under a green

442 THE MEMORABLE RELATIONS [lECT.
olive-tree, whose trunk was entwined about with a vine ;
I viewed it^tentively, and behold, it was a book which
I had written, entitled' Angelic Wisdom concerning
the Divine Love and the Divine .Wisdom ! and also
concerning the Divine Providence; and Isaid,\'In
that book it is fully shown, that man is an organ recep
tive of life, and not life.' After these things I returned
home from the garden exhilarated in mirid, and accom
panied by the angelic spirit, who said to rae in the way,
'Ifyou wish to see clearly what faith and charity are,
thus Avhat faith is when separated from charity, and
Avhat it is when conjoined with charity, I will gi'fe you
ocular deraonstration !' And I replied; 'Do so.' And
he said, ' Instead of faith and charity, think of light and
heat, and you will see it clearly ; for faith in its essence
is the truth of wisdora, and charity in its essence is
the affection of love ; and the truth of wisdom in
heaven is light, and the affection of love in heaven is
h,eat ; the light and heat in which the angels are, is
nothing else ; hence thou mayest see clearly what faith
is separated from charity, and Avhat faith is when con
joined with charity ; faith separated from charity is like
the light in winter ; and faith conjoined Avith charity is
like the light in spring ; the light in winter, Avhich is
light separated from heat, and in consequence conjoined
with cold, strips the trees of their leaves, hardens the
ground, kills the green herb, and also congeals the wa
ters ; but the light in spring, which is light conjoined
with heat, causes the trees to vegetate, first into leaves
then into blossoms, and lastly into fruits ; it opens and
softens the ground, so that it produces grass, herbs,
flowers, and fruit trees, and also dissolves the ice, so
that the waters can flow from their springs. It is ex
actly the sarae with faith and charity ; faith separated
frora charity kills all things, and faith conjoined with
charity gives life to all things ; this quickening and this
extinction ofthings raay be seen to the life in our spirit
ual world, because here faith is light, and charity is
heat; for where faith is conjoined Avith charity, there
are paradisiacal gardens, shrubberies, and laAvns, which
flourish and spread their fragrance in proportion to that

XII.] Op swedenborg. 443
union ; but where faith is separated frora charity, thefe
does not grow so rauch as a blade of grass ; nor any
green thing except i{ be on brarables, thoms, and net
tles ; this is effected by the heat and light proceeding
from the Lord as a sun, in the angels and spirits, and
thereby out of thera.' There were on this occasion not
far from us some of the clergy, whom the angelic spirit
called justifiers and sanctifiers of raen by faith alone,
and also arcanists or dealers in mysteries ; we related
the sarae things to thera, and deraonstrated the truth so
plainly, that they saw it -was so ; but when we asked
thera Avhether they adraitted it to be so, they turned
their backs, and said, 'We did not hear you ;' but we
called out to them, saying, 'Hear us now then ;' but im
raediately they placed both hands on their ears, and ex
clairaed, 'We will not hear.'"

THE END.

THE WORKS OF SWEDENBORG.

Pkiob.
Arcana Coelestia, with an Index. 13 'Vols. Svo  $30 00
Apocalypse'Revealed, with an Index. 3 Vols. 12mo  2 00
Apocalypse Explained. A much larger and more -fully illus
trated work than the preceding — 6 Vols, and Index, Svo. 15 50
Four Leading Doctrines of the New Church — viz. Con,?*
cerning the Lord, the Sacred Scriptures, Faith and
Life. 1 Vol. 12mo  75
True Christian Religion, or Universal Theology?, of the
New Church. 1 Vol. Svo  .-:..,.  2 00
A Treatise concerning the Last Judgment, 12rt)o..  50
A Treatise concerning Heaven and Hell. 1 Vol. 12mo,. . . 75
Angelic Wisdom concerning the Divine Love and Divine
Wisdom. 1 Vol. 12mo  1 00
Do. do. Divine Providence,
wherein are unfolded tho laws of order by which the
Divine Government is regulated, 1 Vol. 12mo. ...... 75
The Delights of Wisdom concerning Conjugial Love.
1 Vol. Svo...  .'''....  1 62
A Summary Exposition of the Internal Sense of the Pro
phets and of the Psalms. 12mo.  1 . . . . i 50
The New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine, 12mo.. . 25
A Brief Exposition of the Doctrines of the New Church.
12mo.  30
A Treatise on Influx, or Nature of the Intercourse betweeh
-« the Soul and the Body. 12mo  12

The above is a list of some of the principal theological works
of Swedenborg. These, together with other works illustrating
the ipoctrines ofthe New Jerusalem Church, are kept for sale by
Otis Capp, 12 School street, Boston; Samuel Colman, 14, John
ati-eet; John Allen, 121 Fulton street, New York ; H. F. Fair.
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