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FROM THE LIBRARY

OF

JOHN WHITEHEAD1850-1930
PRESENTED TO
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BY HIS HEIRS

THE

Symbolic Character

SACRED SCRIPTURES

BY
REV. ABIEL SILVER

" The words that I speak unto you they are Spirit and they are Life."
" Without a Parable spake He not unto them."

SIXTH EDITION

BOSTON:
MASSACHUSETTS NEW- CHURCH UNION
169 Tremont Street
1891

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S63, by
ABIEL SILVER,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern
District of New York.

tW95

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.

Feom the many testimonials which I have received of the
uses which, in the Divine Providence, these Lectures* seem to
have performed, in leading doubting minds to acknowledge and
receive the Sacred Scriptures as the Lord's Holy "Word, filled
with His Spirit and Life, for the salvation of human souls ; and
leading them also to the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg, wherein
the " Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed
to open the Book and loose the seven seals thereof" (Rev. v. 5),
revealing Himself as that Spirit and Life, and thus making His
Second Advent for the establishment of the New Jerusalem, in
which, as men are regenerated by the Spirit and Life of the
Word, He " makes all things new " in faith, doctrines, and life,
by means of the Science of Correspondences and the Revelations,
through Swedenborg, of the laws of our spiritual being, and of
the realities and character of the spiritual world ; — I say, from
having abundant assurance of this happy use of these Lectures,
and feeling my own indebtedness to the Lord as the Word,
through the writings of Swedenborg, for the clear and beautiful
truths contained in this little work, I have been stimulated to
print another edition, revised and corrected, making such altera
tions as have been thought necessary in order to prevent any

4 PREFACE.
misunderstanding of the mission of Swedenborg, or of the doc
trines presented through him.
And now, praying that it may continue to be the means of
leading inquiring souls to the One Great Source of Light and
Life, now opened for the salvation of the world, it is still offered
to the public. Abeei, Silver.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. PAGE
Reasons why the literal sense of the Word of God must sym
bolize a higher sense. John vi. 63  9

CHAPTER II.
The origin of Language, and the law of the Divine Symbols.
Ps. xix. 3  29

CHAPTER III.
The Scripture Analogy between the material universe and
the human mind. Zeph. iii. 9  47
CHAPTER IV.
The divine law of life between God, Man and Nature. Ps.
cxiv. 1, 2, 3-  63
CHAPTER V.
The correspondence of birds and animals to the thoughts and
affections of man. Ezek. xxxix. 17-20  81

CHAPTER VI.
The symbolic meaning and use of Horses. Rev. xix. 11-14 .. 98

6 CONTENTS.
CHAPTER VII. page
The correspondence of Trees to the things of the mind.
2 Kings xiv. 9  115

CHAPTER VIII.
The symbolic meaning of the Heavens and the Earth, Sun,
Moon and Stars. Matt. xxiv. 29  131
CHAPTER IX.
The first chapter of Genesis in its spiritual import — the crea
tion of man. Gen. i. 27  149
CHAPTER X.
The first chapter of Genesis, in its practical bearing upon
the regeneration of Man in all ages. Gen. i. 28  166

CHAPTER XI.
A glance at the second chapter of Genesis, and at the making
of the woman of the rib of the man. Gen. ii. 18-23 .... 186

CHAPTER XII.
The correspondence of Water, and the divine teachings
thereby. Rev. i. 15  205

CHAPTER XIII.
The nature and character of the Mosaic deluge. Gen. viii.
8,9  221
CHAPTER XIV.
A spiritual view of Cain, Abel and Seth ; of Cain's wife,
and of the building of the city of Enoch. Gen. iv. 17. . 241

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XV.

A general glance at the whole subject of these Lectures —
God, Man and Nature, and their relative connection.
Gen. i. 1  257
CHAPTER XVI.
How the Science of Correspondences has been restored, and
the Spiritual Sense of the Word and its Doctrines re
vealed. Rev. xxi. 5  272

CHAPTEK I.
SEASONS WHY THE LITERAL SENSE OF THE WORD OF
GOD MUST SYMBOLIZE A HIGHER SENSE.
" The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they
are life." (John vi. 63.)
We are now commencing a course of lectures upon
the symbolic character of the Sacred Scriptures, or of
the Divine Language. But, are we'truly sensible of what
we are undertaking ? Are we, indeed, conscious that
the language we purpose to explain is infinite, that
God's words must contain infinite ideas, and that, to
fully comprehend them, would require the wisdom of
the great Jehovah — a capacity so far beyond the reach
of men or angels ? All this we fully believe. And we
also believe, that we can learn to appreciate the mean
ing and force of God's language, only in degrees ac
cording to our states ; and that we can do this properly,
only as we become acquainted with God's nature and
character. For if we would enter into the real life and
spirit of any book, we must know the qualities and
character of the author ; for the real author lives in
his words and his works. And, as from the language
of men, we are introduced to a knowledge of their

10 THE LITERAL siXsE A
minds ; so, from the language of God, we may become
somewhat acquainted with the will and wisdom of our
heavenly Father. For God lives in his language. The
words which He speaks, " They are spirit and they
are life." And that spirit and life are God Himself in
His wisdom and love.
But what is the divine language ? In its broadest
sense it is everything that manifests the Lord's qual
ities. He is the author of everything; he lives in
everything, and speaks in everything, either directly
or indirectly. But His speech is understood according
to the state and ability of the reader. Some see it in
the light of divine wisdom, and understand it aright to
the extent of their capacity. Others see it in the light
of their own self-derived intelligence, and understand
it not as it really is, but only as it appears to them
to be.
But it is of the nature and character of God's re
vealed Word, rather than of the book of Nature, that
we are to speak this evening ; and more particularly,
of the reasons why that Kevelation must possess a sym
bolic or spiritual sense distinct from the literal sense.
But in doing this, and in all our lectures, we shall
aim, not so much at the profundity and depth of the
divine Wisdom and Word, as at its simplicity and
plainness. For everything perfect and divine is in
itself deep and obscure ; far deeper than finite minds
can fathom. Human wisdom can never reach the start
ing point, so as to comprehend the full cause of any
thing ; for Infinity is involved in that. Our efforts,
therefore, in these lectures, will be to simplify and

SYMBOVOF THE SPIRITUAL. 11
bring the real, spiritual things out from their secret en-
foldings, into the plain daylight of the reasoning fac
ulties of man's natural mind ; where he can see them
in the light of science, take hold of them with the arm
of his judgment, turn them over and about, and look
at them on all sides, in the relation they bear to one
another, to man and to their Creator.
Now the first and perfectly conclusive reason, why
the Holy Word contains a spiritual sense within the
literal, is seen in the law of analogy, which pervades
the entire Word, and which shows the relation between
spiritual and natural things ; between the world of
mind and the world of matter ; between God and na
ture ; between the mind of man and the universe of
things. But this argument has no weight with a per
son, who is not acquainted with this law of analogy,
or science of correspondences. This argument, there
fore, we cannot use in this evening's discourse, as our
lectures are designed for persons unacquainted with
that science. But it will gradually present itself as
the truth and beauty of that science are seen and un
derstood, as the law is applied to the illustrations of
the Word, as we proceed with these lectures. For the
science of correspondences is the great rational test of
the divinity of the Sacred Scriptures. By means of it
are clearly understood the history of the Creation, the
Garden of Eden, the Fall, the Flood, the Prophecy of
Ezekiel, the Second Coming of the Lord, the Descent
of the New Jerusalem, and the wonderful things de
clared in the Apocalypse. Upon the truth of this sci
ence, as an infallible key to the otherwise hidden

12 THE LITERAL SEiS&E A
beauty and glory of the divine Word, the receivers of
the doctrines of the New Church are ever ready to rest
the entire question of their new religious faith.
Does any one disbelieve or doubt, that the Lord, as
the *' Word," which was in the beginning with God
and was God, and which was manifest in the flesh, is
now actually making his second coming in the spiritual
or internal sense of the Word, for the establishment of
a new religious order of things, which will eventually
bring all to see eye to eye, do away with all sin and
contention among men, and really make all things
new ? — I say, does any one disbelieve or doubt this ? —
Let him test the ground of his unbelief by the truth or
falsehood of the science of correspondences. We court
this test of all who candidly desire to understand the
Holy Word. For, of the result of such an investiga
tion, we have not the least doubt. We ourselves (with
thousands of others) have weighed the ground of our
own former unbelief in the same balance, and found it
wanting. And all, who have ever sincerely examined
into the merits of this science, have come to the same
conclusions, and alike understood the doctrines of the
sacred Word. The reason of their agreement is, that
correspondences are a real science. For, as the science
of geometry, hj the light of natural truth, brings every
close investigator of its principles to the same results
in the solution of its problems ; so, also, does the sci
ence of correspondences by a higher, and yet, equally
philosophical light, bring all its true and faithful in
vestigators to the same conclusions as to the doctrines
of the Word. For all truths are eternal verities.

SYMBOL oi-'She spiritual. 13
They are ever and unchangeably the same. About
them, when seen, men do not differ. It is about false
hoods, and where truths are not seen, that the intel
lectual world is contending.
The doctrines of the Word, when seen in the light
of correspondences, become themselves the indisputa
ble evidence of their own truth. This is the reason
why the students of this science agree in divine things.
And it is the very reason why the watchmen, at the sec
ond coming of the Lord, are to " see eye to eye."
The science of correspondences is a language. It
may be denominated the language. For it is the
sure language of Jehovah. It is therefore a living lan
guage. It is the only language that has spirit and
life. It is a universal language : the language in
which not only the Holy Word speaks, but the moun
tains and streams, the winds and the ocean ; yea, earth
and skies and universal nature with her ten thousand
tongues are speaking to us. Does any one doubt the
existence of such a language ? Let him learn to read
it. No one who has ever learned it has any such doubts-
Does he say no one ever has learned it ? How does he
know that ? Thousands of persons, entitled to re
spect, say they have studied it, and find it to be a
most sure and certain language. Where, then, rests
the weight of evidence ? Who is the best judge of a
book, he that has read it, or he that has not ?
By this science, the Sacred Scripture is convincingly
proved to be the Word of the Infinite Jehovah. All
its parts thereby blend into harmony. The darkest
and most obscure passages are opened and explained ;

14 THE LITERAU^ENSE A
and th'd simplest portions are filled with profound wis
dom. Every passage is, indeed, seen to be " Profitable
for doctrine^ for reproof, for correction, for instruction
in righteousness" (2 Timothy iii. 16), according to the
apostle's declaration. But without this science, has
any one found it to be so ? If the Bible was given by
God to man to teach him something, was it not in
tended to be understood ? Has God endowed man
with reason, addressed him as a reasonable being, said
to him, " Come now, and let us reason together"
(Isaiah i. 18), given him His Word as a rule of life, to
show him what he must do and what he must not, and,
at the same time, interspersed throughout the Word
thousands of things which he can never understand,
and which are of no use to him ? Not so. Infinite
Wisdom has not so indefinitely expressed Himself that
He cannot be understood
The difficulty is with man. He, by a false and evil
life, has lost the pure language of analogy in which
God speaks. But, by the divine mercy of the Lord,
that language is again restored. That sublime key to
the inexhaustible treasury of intellectual wealth con
tained in the Word and Works of God is now merci
fully made known. The great seminary of scientific
wisdom has become accessible to man. For this divine
key not only unlocks God's book of Revelation, but
also, at the same time, His book of Nature. And as
we are thereby conducted within the veil of the letter
of the Word, and permitted to feast upon the pure
bread and water of life, and to "admire the glory and
beauty of that divine sanctuary ; so we have, also, a

symbol(oV'the spiritual. 15
passport within the veil of universal nature, where we
find, enthroned, pure spiritual philosophy, expounding
the invisible ligaments which unite heaven and earth ;
elucidating those otherwise incomprehensible affinities
which exist between life and matter, God and nature,
the mind and the brain, the soul and the body. In
passing this veil, we enter the School of all schools,
look up to the Teacher of all teachers, and study the
Science of all sciences. The books we read are the
Books of all books — the book of Nature and the book
of Revelation. They are books published by the same
Author, they illustrate the same principles, and lead
to the same conclusions. Both books are necessary to
the proper study of either. All the objects in nature,
are so many indices, pointing to the history of their
creation, and the cause of their existence ; and refer us
for information to the written Word, to which they
are the grand concordance. At such a seminary, with
such books, and such a Teacher, we may obtain heav
enly wisdom and feast on angels' food.
But, to a mind unimbued with the science of corre
spondences, what we have said are mere assertions
rather than reasons. Let us, then, assign some reasons
why the Holy Word has a spiritual sense within the
letter. And, first, it is because it contains divine
thoughts and feelings, which are infinite in wisdom
and lave. Now, the literal sense is in man's language.
The meaning of the words of that language is limited.
Men understand their full import. There must, there
fore, be a sense within and above the literal definitions
of the terms, or it is the language of men only, and

16 THE LITERAL- 8XNSE A
not of God. And the Lord Himself declares that there
is such a sense, when He says to us, " The words that
I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
For He made this declaration to teach men, that He
does not mean by the words ' flesh and blood,' what
they are defined to mean in man's language ; but that
He means infinitely more. For spirit and life are in
finite and eternal things ; such things as He desires to
feed our souls with, that they may live for ever. Now,
if we know that ' flesh ' is a symbol of goodness, and
' blood ' a symbol of truth, we have, at once, a definite
though limited understanding of what the Lord there
means, and it is highly interesting and instructive.
But, otherwise, we cannot distinctly understand what
He does mean, by eating His flesh, and drinking His
blood. And the correspondences here are exceedingly
beautiful. Our physical man is composed, principally,
of flesh and blood : our spiritual man, if in order, is
composed of goods and truths. Thus ; there is a per
fect correspondence between the mind and the body.
Now, it is because the natural substances, of which the
body is composed, correspond to the spiritual substan
ces of which the mind is -composed, that the mind and
body can be united and exist together.
Again, all spiritual life is by means of the union of
goodness and truth ; and all physical life, by means
of the union of flesh and blood. Therefore, if we well
understand the science of correspondences, we may
know, from the fact that, as the drawing of the blood
from the flesh produces physical death ; so, also, the
separation of goodness and truth in the mind produces

SYMBOL j;OJF THE SPIRITUAL. 17
spiritual death. We must love the truth, or die spir
itually. And so the natural things which we eat and
drink to supply flesh and blood to the physical man
and keep it alive, have their perfect correspondences in
the goods and truths which the Lord says the mind
must eat and drink, or have no life in it. Thus, with
this scientific light, the mind is illuminated, the soul
cheered, and the heart refreshed ; but without it, that
beautiful Scripture is involved in clouds of uncertainty,
and its richest blessings are unenjoyed. And when we
further know, that evils and falsities are goods and
truths perverted, and that such substances, when taken
into the mind, poison the affections and thoughts, and
make the soul diseased, we may also know that the
poisonous substances of the earth, to which those evils
and falsities correspond, will, when taken into the
body, make it also sick and diseased. ' Flesh and
blood,' therefore, when mentioned in the Word, may
mean, either things good and true, or things evil and
false, according to the sense in which they are used.
With this scientific light in the mind, the true use of
the words 'flesh and blood,' wherever expressed
throughout the entire Word, may be readily seen ; and
thus, Scripture, otherwise dark and obscure, will emit
a clear and certain light.
Now, there is much said, in the Word, of ' blood,'
and of ' innocent blood ;' of ' shedding innocent blood;'
of ' taking away innocent blood;' of ' condemning inno
cent blood;' of ' putting away the guilt of innocent
blood;' of ' betraying innocent blood;' of ' sinning
against innocent blood.' And yet, there can be no such

18 THE LITERAL SEjNSE A
thing as innocence, or guilt, in material blood. This,
everybody must know. All understand that it is the
mind that is innocent, and not the blood. Blood is
therefore used because it denotes a living principle of
the mind. And it is only because truth filled with
love is the very life of an innocent mind, and blood, as
the Ufe of the body corresponds to that hfe, that the
blood of such a person is said to be innocent. It is
declared in Isaiah that, " The sword of the Lord is
filled with blood" — an expression which strikes terror
to many minds ; and yet, its real meaning is beautiful
and consoling. The sword of the Lord always signi
fies the divine truth of the Word, in its powers to con
quer and destroy evils and falsities. Therefore a
sword is said to go out of the mouth of the Lord, be
cause he speaks the truth. " The sword of the adver
sary," mentioned in the Word, signifies falsehood. For
the Devil is " A liar, and the father of it." Then the
phrase, "The sword of the Lord is filled with blood,"
would read, by correspondence, "The truth of the
Word is filled with life." Sword denoting truth, and
blood life.
Another reason why the Word must contain a spir
itual sense is, because, without it, that Word seems, in
many places, to directly contradict itself, and cannot
be reconciled, but by the spiritual sense. But in the
light of the spiritual sense, all is made rational and
clear, beautiful and instructive. For example, the
Lord commands us, saying, " Thou shalt not kill ;"
and yet, he says again, " Cursed be he that keepeth
back his sword from blood," (Jer. xlviii. 10.) Both

SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 19
passages are full, qpen, and unqualified ; and are ap
plicable to every man. Without the spiritual sense
they cannot be reconciled. But by the science of cor
respondences, we see that, besides the death of the nat
ural body, there are two kinds of death, two kinds of
life, and two kinds of killing, treated of in the Word.
There is the life of the love of good, and the life of the
love of evil : one is heavenly life, and the other is hel
lish life. If we die unto fhe love of good, we become
alive unto the love of evil : this was the fall of man.
And so, if we die unto the love of evil, we become alive
unto the love of good : this is regeneration. There
fore, the Lord says, " He that findeth his life shall
lose it : and he that loseth his life for my sake shall
find it." (Matt. x. 39.) That is, he that findeth his
spiritual life, shall lose his selfish life : and he that
loseth his selfish life for the Lord's sake, shall find his
true spiritual life. Then, if we remember that blood,
which is the life of the body, and corresponds to the
life of the soul, may, when mentioned in the Word,
denote either hellish life or heavenly life, according to.
the sense in which it is used, we shall at once, see the
truth and the harmony of the two contradictory passa
ges mentioned above. In the first — " Thou shalt not
kill," we are commanded not only not to kill the body,
but also, not to destroy any principle of goodness or
truth in the soul : in the second, " Cursed be he that
keepeth back the sword from blood," we are taught,
that, unless we conquer our evils — unless we shed the
blood of our carnal life — our love of self, by the sword
of the spirit — the divine truth — we shall be lost, or be
cursed.

20 THE LITERAL SENSE A
Again, we read in the gospel of Matthew, " They that
take the sword, shall perish with the sword," and also,
the Lord says, " He that hath no sword, let him sell
his garment and buy one." (Luke xxii. 36.) Now, this,
in the letter alone, is strange teaching. Who can
know what it means ? We answer, No one, without
the spiritual sense. Who can see why the Lord should
command us to sell our garment and buy a sword, to
perish with ? Men may say it is figurative language.
And they will interpret the figures differently, accord
ing to their several tastes. But they must rest in un
certainty, till they see the spiritual sense. Then, they
will have no doubt of its meaning. For that sense is
definite and sure, reasonable and clear. "They that
take the sword shall perish with the sword," therefore,
means, that, They that take the sword ofthe adversary,
or falsity, and use it, will, by continuing their false-
witnessing, destroy everything truthful and good in
their souls ; and thus they will perish with the sword.
While, on the other hand, he that has not commenced
the regenerate life, who has no true sword of the spirit,
must sell his garment of self-righteousness, must put
away his filthy rags of covetousness and sin, and buy
the sword of truth. Garments, which are the clothing
of the body, denote the outermost deportment, or cloth
ing of the mind. And the outermost things of the
sinful mind, are its most external, selfish, and worldly
thoughts and actions. These must be put away before
we can fully possess the sword of the spirit in our
heart. Again in Isaiah, the Lord declares of His church

SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 21
that " They shall beat their swords into plow-shares,
and their spears into pruning-hooks ; nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more." But soon after, in Joel, He says,
" Prepare war ; beat your plow-shares into swords, and
your pruning-hooks into spears, and let the weak say,
I am strong." Now, God's Word is universal, reach
ing to all men. These commands are as applicable to
us as' they were to the Israelites and the Gentiles.
How shall we obey them ? They command us, in the
letter, to do two diametrically opposite things. And
a command to do one thing forbids us to do the oppo
site. In the covenant to love our neighbor, we are
bound not to hate him. The command, not to lie, in
cludes the behest to tell the truth. We must there
fore look beyond the letter to find what God would
here teach us. But from what we have already said
of the sword, it may readily be seen, that the swords
and spears which we are to beat into plow-shares, and
pruning-hooks, must be the swords and spears of the
adversary, or false principles. But what are the plow
shares and pruning-hooks which we are to have in their
stead ? The plow-shares must be those divine truths
which will penetrate deep inio the heart, and bring on
a thorough repentance, and thereby plow, or, as it is
called in the Word, " Break up the fallow-ground of
the heart," that the seeds of truth may be sown in an
humble and contrite soil. And the pruning-hooks are
those watchful and corrective truths of the Word with
which we may notice, and cut off the dead and unfruit
ful branches from the tree of our life. But what, then,

22 THE LITERAL SENSE A
are the plow-shares and pruning-hooks which we are
commanded to beat into swords and spears ? They
are, of course, the very opposites of the others. The
plow-shares are those false and contentious principles,
which plow, or stir up the selfish feelings or soil of the
natural heart, engendering strife and ill-will, and thus,
preparing the ground to receive new and fresh seeds of
falsehood and selfishness. And the pruning-hooks are
those principles, opposed to truth and virtue, which
are always ready to prune from the tree of spiritual
experience, every good shoot it may send forth. The
false plow-shares and pruning-hooks of the mind, must
be converted into swords of truth, and spears of wis
dom, wherewith we may fight against the headstrong
evils of humanity and subdue them.
Again, David prays that the Lord will scatter all
those that delight in war ; and yet he also says,
" Blessed be the Lord my strength, who teacheth my
hands to war, and my fingers lo fight." (Ps. cxliv. 1.)
These literal contradictions contain within them, spir
itual harmonies, which the science of correspondences
only can reveal. By that science we see that David
desires that the Lord would scatter all the wicked spir
its and evil principles that delight to war against
things good and true, and that he blessed the Lord for
teaching him, by the truth, how to fight against those
evil influences. In all David's prayers to the Lord to
destroy his enemies, he never means persons, but the
evils which are in them and in himself. There is not
a syllable in all the Psalms, when their true light is
seen, that contradicts that beautiful precept of our

SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 23
Lord which says, "Love your enemies, bless them
which curse you." But this love has relation to the
persons, and not to their evil principles. Evil princi
ples with their falsities are the only things to be hated.
Against them our faces should be firmly set, wherever
they are.
Again, we are expressly commanded in the Word to
Honor our father and mother ; and yet the Lord as
expressly says, that if we do not hate them we cannot
be His disciples. Now, without the spiritual sense,
these statements are perfectly inexplicable ; no light
has ever been thrown upon them, or evolved from
them ; nor can there be any without the science of cor
respondences. We must see that the Bible, in its most
essential meaning, treats of mental and spiritual things,
and that pure, virtuous minds, or such principles of the
mind, must have the divine Love and Wisdom for their
Father and Mother. God, in the unity of his love and
wisdom begets them ; and therefore, they are called
children of God: while on the other hand, corrupt and
depraved minds, or such principles of the mind, must
have evil and falsity for their father and mother. The
Devil, or the love of evil and falsity in the complex, in
the union of their ill-will and deceptiveness, begets or
perverts them ; and therefore they are called children
ofthe Devil. Thus heavenly Love and Wisdom are
the Father and Mother we must honor ; and hellish
evihand falsity are the father and mother we must hate
and forsake ; while our own natural parents, and all
human beings, we must love and try to do them good.
Again, the joyous song of the angels at the birth of

24 THE LITERAL SENSE A
our Lord was, " On earth peace, good will toward
men ;" and yet, the Lord says, " Think not that I am
come to send peace on the earth : I came not to send
peace, but a sword." In the spiritual light, these an
gels and the Lord are both seen to be in harmony.
The Lord is indeed the Prince of Peace ; and yet He
is a God of war and of vengeance. But his warfares
and vengeance are not against men, but against their
evils. Thus He comes to send the sword of truth that
we may have peace through victory over our evils.
For without the truth we can never know peace.
Again, it is written in the Holy Word that, " It re
pented the Lord that He had made man on the earth,
and" that " it grieved Him at His heart." It is also
written, that ' ' God is not a man that He should lie,
nor the son of man that He should repent." Now,
how could Infinite Wisdom, Goodness and Perfection
grieve ? How could He who knew all things from the
beginning, and does all things right, do anything to
repent of ? How could Infinity and Immutability —
He who is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever —
how could He repent ? His ways are not as our ways,
nor are His thoughts as our thoughts. It is an appa
rent truth that God repents and grieves ; those emo
tions can be felt only by man ; and when mentioned ih
reference to God they mean His mercy. The very es
sence of true repentance and grief are mercy and com
passion. These heavenly emotions belong to the Lord.
In order to bring the letter of the Word down to
the states of wicked men, God is often represented as
being not what He really is, but rather, what He ap-

SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 25
pears to them to be. For this purpose He is repre
sented as possessing the depraved passions of men ; is
said to be angry, wrathful and revengeful. And it is
often asked by persons who begin to see that those
qualities cannot belong to a Being who is Love, why
the Word was so written. And we answer, It was for
the wisest and best of purposes. It was so written
that it might be capable of teaching poor, natural,
fallen, wrathful, revengeful man the way of life and
salvation. To' teach another we must come to his
state, to the sphere of his understanding, to his lan
guage and mode of expression. Now, an angry man
will believe those angry with him, who oppose him.
He who will get angry at his children for disobeying
him, or seek persecution and revenge upon those he
thinks his enemies, would suppose that his God would
do the same : and he would think it right that God
should be angry and punish his enemies. This man,
God comes to, in his Holy Word, according to his
state. He warns him to " Flee from the wrath to
come," and threatens him iwith damnation in hell.
At the same time He kindly tells him how to avoid
tliese evils. He commands him not to steal, covet,
and so forth. Now, the natural, wicked man knows
it is wrong to steal, or deceive. He would punish any
one that would steal from him. And in seasons of
mourning, sickness, or other afflictions, he hears the
Holy Word preached, and his own character comes up
before him in a light which makes him shudder. He
is afraid of the wrath to come, because he feels guilty
and thinks he deserves it, and in a spirit of repentance,
2

26 THE LITERAL SENSE A
he begins to amend his Hfe and plead for mercy. Here,
" The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."
But as he progresses, he gets the love of God which
casteth out fear, and he now finds that God was not
angry, but loved him all the while ; that it was his
own opposition to God which made it appear as though
God were opposed to him, and which is the reason
why the Word was so written.
The words which the Lord speaks, they are spirit
and they are life. But, for the natural man to see and
understand anything of that spirit and life, they must
be brought down into man's common words, as vessels
or symbols through which they can be apprehended by
analogy. And though those words have a literal mean
ing, and may give a correct literal history of events in
this world, yet they also teach, by correspondences, a
spiritual history of things in the world of mind. The
human words are so selected and arranged by divine
wisdom as to contain this spiritual sense. Anc\ in
many instances, the literal events mentioned are only
appearances, not realities, and are given for the sake
of the spiritual sense.
We should bear in mind, that we are in a world of
appearances, that the real world is out of sight ; that
in this world we, to a great extent, speak according to
appearances. If we did not so speak, we could not be
understood by the generality of mankind. We speak of
looking through miles of space, and of beholding the
mountains and the spread-out landscape; and so it ap
pears ; while the reality is, that the image of the land
scape is brought by the light, and pictured upon the

SYMBOL OF THE SPIRITUAL. 27
retina of the eye. We have looked through no space. ,
We see not beyond the skin of our eyes. So, we speak
oi hearing the thunder from the clouds; but the drum
of the ear makes the noise. We speak of the blue arch
of heaven, the vaulted skies, the revolving stars, and
the setting sun : but there is no arch there ; the stars
are stationary bodies ; and the sun does not set. We
talk of the colors of objects; but the colors are from
the varied positions of the rays of Hght. Things have
no color. And the Holy Word speaks of such things,
according to appearances, because men's states re
quire it.
Now to come to the reality of even these natural
things we must have science. What do we know of
nature without science ? And yet, God's Word comes
to us, clothed in the habiliments of nature. It treats
of invisible things. It teaches the nature and charac
ter of the Invisible God, of our own invisible being,
and of the laws of the invisible world ; so that " The
invisible things of God, from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that
are made, even His eternal power and Godhead." But
the Word cannot possibly teach this without science.
The invisible things of God cannot be seen through
the things that are made without the science of corres
pondences, any more, than we can understand the plan
etary systems without the science of astronomy. For,
as we cannot understand the deceptive appearances in
God's book of Nature without the deductions of natu
ral science, so, neither can we understand the apparent
discrepancies and contradictions in God's book of Rev-

28 THE LITERAL SENSE A SYMBOL, ETC.
elation without the spiritual science of corresponden
ces. And all who rightly study the Word by that sci
ence, alike receive the true doctrines of the Word, with
as much certainty and harmony of sentiment, as they
can the problems of Euclid, or any other scientific de
ductions. We have endeavored, in this discourse, to advance
some reasons why the Word of God must have a spir
itual sense, and to show that dark and contradictory
passages can thereby be reconciled and made plain.
The age has now come, when the free inquiring mind
demands a reason for what it is required to believe.
And such irreconcilable contradictions, as those we
have cited, are causing many religiously disposed minds
to begin to hesitate, and doubt the divine origin of the
Bible. And thus, insinuating skepticism steals in upon
their hearts step by step, tiU the blessed Word loses, to
them, its divine sanctity and power. What a consol
ing and joyous thought then, that there is now an op
portunity for such a mind, to become rationally con
vinced that there are no contradictions in the blessed
volume, that all its parts are harmonious and consis
tent, that there is a glory and beauty beaming through
the letter of every page and sentence, at the sight of
which the scoffer becomes dumb, and the sincere skep
tic opens his mouth in humble praise and adoration of
the blessed Jesus, and hugs the Holy Word to his
bosom as heaven's best gift, and man's unfailing treas
ure ! " Whoso is wise and will observe these things,
even they shall understand the loving kindness of the
Lord."

CHAPTER II.
THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE AND THE LAW OF THE DI
VINE SYMBOLS.
" There is no speech nor language where their voice is not
heard." (Ps. xix. 3.)
We are now to take a general glance at the nature,
origin, and use of language, and of the law of analogy, or
language of correspondences. What then is language ?
It is any mode of expressing or conveying ideas ;
whether by words, looks, actions, signs, symbols, fa
bles, metaphors, parables, representatives, or corre
spondences. Whence is language ? In its outward
speech it is all from nature. From the things of the
universe, and the life which is in them all, speech origi
nates. " There is no speech nor language where their
voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through
all the earth, and their words to the end of the world."
Let us then take a glance at Nature ; see what she
is, how she speaks, and what she says. Now, there are
two worlds, a spiritual world and a natural world.
The spiritual world is the world of mind, and the nat
ural world is the world of matter. Mental things are
composed of spiritual substance, and material things of

30 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE,
natural substance. The world of mind is the world of
causes, and the world of matter is the world of effects.
And as there can be no effect without its cause ; so
there can be nothing in the world of matter which has
not its proper correspondent in the world of mind ; nor
can there be anything in nature, which does not point
for its origin to the spiritual world.
What then do we mean by the science of correspond
ences ? What is it ? It is the law of analogy which
shows the relation between these two worlds. Corre
spondence is not a metaphor of speech, nor a trope in
language, but a universal law of creation and provi
dence. A metaphor, or simile is the mere resemblance
which one natural thing may be thought to bear to
wards another, or towards a spiritual thing. Corre
spondences are the actual, effective relation which
exists between spiritual and natural things. It is a
higher law than can exist between matter and matter,
or spirit and spirit on the same plane. It is the
union of inner things with outer ; or higher things
with lower, and is the great law by which both the
spiritual and natural worlds subsist from the Lord.
For as an effect cannot exist without a cause, so nei
ther can a cause without an effect. Now, God is the
great efficient cause of all things. Therefore, every
created thing, whether human, animal, vegetable, or
mineral, bears a correspondential relation, either di
rectly or indirectly, to some one of the infinite varieties
of the divine principles. For the entire universe is an
out-birth from God. It is not God. But it is the
effect of God. God is the cause, and He fills the uni-

AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 31
verse with life. And it is because the effect is related
to the cause that He can fill it with life. This relation
is the law of analogy, and is the means of constantly
holding the universe in existence. Suspend this law
for one moment, and universal nonentity is the conse
quence. Now, the great end and object of the Creator in giv
ing existence to the universe was, the production of
His own image and likeness in created intelligences
whom He could for ever bless and make happy by His
own goodness and truth, whereby they could know
Him, and love Him, and thus be filled with heavenly
bliss. But how can we know that God's object and
effort in producing the universe was to bring forth His
own image and likeness ? We can know it, because
that law obtains throughout the whole universe of
things. Everything that has life is in effort to pro
duce its kind. God has imparted that law of His own
nature to all created things. And the effort of all
nature to carry out that law, emphatically bespeaks
that principle in God.
Now man, in true order, is in the general image and
likeness of God. Any other created thing in true order
is only an image of some principle or principles in God
or in man.
The order of the outward creation of the world was,
from lower things to higher ; first minerals, then vege
tables, then animals, and finally man : thus orderly
and gradually approximating by higher and purer
organizations the real divine image, until God finally
crowned the creation with man, as the sum total and

32 ' THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE,
embodiment of all things below him. When all but
man was created, and everything was in readiness to
produce man, the vast variety of things scattered all
over, and throughout the universe, were but humanity
in fragments : every single thing was an image of some
principle which was to be in man ; and it took them
all, combined, to make up the full man. Man could
not exist until these things were created ; for upon
them his body must subsist ; and through them his
mind is to be educated. And when all these materials
were brought harmoniously together, in man, and all
was pronounced good, the vast universe corresponded
to man, and man to his Maker.
Who cannot see that the things which God creates,
must be, in their degree, like Him, so far as a finite
thing can be like an infinite. ? His love desires their
creation, His wisdom devises the mode, and His power
executes it. And they come forth, not out of nothing,
but from Himself ; and He is the very life of their ex
istence. The withdrawal of His love from any created
object, would at that instant destroy it. It takes the
same power to sustain which it does to create. Pres
ervation is perpetual creation.
Thus we see, that during the whole process of crea-
ation, God was making man. God is the Infinite Man.
And all things that he makes must be expressions of
Himself as they come from His hands. But He can
make nothing infinite. He cannot add to Himself.
Infinity is all : everything is involved in it. The cre
ation of lower things is only a finite expression of qual
ities in the Divine Beinsr.

AND law of DIVINE SYMBOLS. 33
The highest individual image of God is the wisest
and best man. or angel. But even that image is con
stantly being improved by the reception of further
goods and truths for its ever-expanding mind and in
creasing wants. And the affectionate union of various
wise and good minds into a society, imparting to each
other what the Lord gives them, is a higher, and more
full image than that of an individual. And this image
will be forever improving by the constant advancement
of each of its individuals, and by the continual accu
mulation of more individuals. For no two men are
alike. Their various forms and qualities indicate the
variety of the divine principles. Every addition, there
fore, to the Grand Man, supplies a deficiency in the
general image, and makes it more full. But the per
fection of the original never can be reached : because
Infinity never can exhaust Itself by giving forth new
expressions of its parts, and filling them with life.
The reason is, the Fountain is Infinite, and the human
beings given off, or created from it, are only various
finite expressions from it.
But, to return to the period when in the process of
the creation all things were in readiness for the produc
tion of man ; when the vast variety of human princi
ples lay scattered throughout the mineral, the vegeta
ble and the animal kingdoms, in living, speaking forms ;
when all nature was a beautiful page of mental sym
bols in physical robes, without an admirer on earth ;
with no created rational being to read the expressive
characters of that wonderful book, and to love and
worship the Author ; then it is that we behold Man,
9 0

34 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE,
making his appearance — Man, the sum total of the
creation, the connecting link between God above him
and nature below him, and thus, the crowning act of
the creation.
And as man was made above all other things in the
scale of creation, by being endowed with rationaHty and
freedom, and at the same time embracing within him
self all the various qualities of life which animated the
natural world, therefore, life had thereafter to be sup
phed to nature through the medium of man. For Hfe
ever flows from God, through higher things into lower.
But we have said that correspondence is the relation
which an effect bears to a cause ; and it may be asked
how the lower orders of creation could correspond to
man, and yet be the first created. The reason is this :
the principles which constitute a true man, always ex
isted in God. He is the infinite Man, and man is His
finite image. In the eternal purposes of God, there
fore, man, in potency, and indeed every human being,
always existed ; not as distinct created individuals, in
self-consciousness ; but yet, in the divine mind, per
fectly distinct and objective ; for God is the infinite
Man : and one of the fundamental laws of the spiritu
al world is the ultimation of internal quah ties in object
ive forms. By this law there always went forth from
Jshovah, and was manifest before Him, in substantial
human form, His own image. This image was not
Himself, but the outgoings of Himself for further ulti
mation in the actual creation of man. And, in bring
ing man down into nature as the created image of God,
the lower orders of creation were the ultimated effects

AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 35
of those outgoing principles of humanity which consti
tute man. While, therefore, in point of time, the low
er orders of things were first, yet, in spiritual reality,
man, in the full image of his Maker, was first, in the
divine mind, in outward, substantial, objective form,
though not in actual individual creation. And that
substantial form was the medium cause, in the power
of God through which the various principles of man's
nature became ultimated in the world, and clothed with
matter. Man, therefore, is the medium of conjunction and
communication between the natural and the spiritual
worlds, being in one, as to his soul, and in the other,
as to his body. And, being the medium of life from
God to lower things, he imparts his qualities to the
divine stream, as it flows through him. Consequently,
as man fell, the various things below man partook of
his depravity, became changed and modified according
to the various vicissitudes and changes of man's states
and qualities. Thus, nature became corrupted through
man's vileness. The earth brought forth thorns and
thistles ; the wild beasts became quarrelsome and fe
rocious ; serpents and reptiles, became poisonous and
troublesome ; and hawks and owls, moles and bats, an
noyed the human race.
Still, the world corresponded to man ; and sad,
though faithful, was the tale it told of his conduct
and vileness. The book of Nature still spoke to man
with her ten thousand tongues, but how changed were
rnany of her accents ! To the people of the primeval
age, before the fall, all her tones were sweet and har-

36 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE,
monious ; she spoke the sure Word of the living God.
Therein they read the history of their creation, the
character and laws of God, and the nature and quality
of themselves. There was no truth which men needed
to know that this book of nature did not teach or indi
cate. It was, to them, a medium of infinite wisdom.
Upon what page soever their eyes rested, they saw, as
by intuition, the true nature and character of the scene
in its living aspect. So clearly did they look through
nature up to nature's God, that the very names which
they gave to the various objects of the creation indi
cated and expressed the peculiar quality and character
of those objects. This book of nature was written in
the pure language of analogy. They could read it in
that language. It was a universal language, under
stood and read by all alike : for it spoke from life
through qualities clearly indicated by their forms
and uses. And it is now, as then, in itself a univer
sal language ; and aU who truly see it understand it
alike. But the people of that golden age read not this lan
guage in the light of their own wisdom ; nor did they
have to learn it, as we do, by the light of the Word
through the study of the law of analogy. They had
never sinned, they were the open and willing recipients
of wisdom from their heavenly Father ; and, in that
state, they could not mistake His teachings through
nature, nor the language in which He spoke : for it
was divine language, unchangeable and universal. It
is the only language used in the spiritual world ; and
in the full millennial day it will be universal again

AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 37
upon the earth, as it was before the fall. It is alike
the language of nature and of Revelation.
The Holy Word, if correctly translated into all the
various languages of the earth, would still have the
one universal language of analogy pervading the whole
work ; and in that light it would be read and under
stood alike by all. The various languages of men would
be lost in the glory ar.d beauty of the one divine speech.
The reason why men, before the fall, saw the lan
guage of analogy by intuition is, because their wills
and understandings were in harmony w;th the divine
love and wisdom, and acted with them. Men had then
but a mere shade of will and thought of their own.
They had a self-hood, and were free ; and it appeared
to them as though they saw and felt from their own
knowledge and desire. They had not learned to exer
cise that self-hood against the divine order. Therefore
they saw and enjoyed the divine light as though it
were their own. And, for a long time, the language
of correspondences was the only language of the earth.
It was the first written language. When men first
began to put their thoughts upon the barks and leaves
of the trees, and the skins of beasts, they did it in the
hieroglyphics of nature. They had no other language.
Pictures of the objects in nature instead of the living
originals became the expressive symbols of men's ideas.
And there was no thought, feeling, passion, or propen
sity of the mind, which this language could not delin
eate to the life, and much more correctly than any
other language could do it ; because man's spiritual
qualities had given the very forms to the objects in

38 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE,
nature which would be selected to represent those
qualities in man. The written language therefore,
could not possibly be mistaken by any one who under
stood the science of correspondences, even at the pres
ent day. Did the people of that age wish to express,
upon parchment, any attribute or character of their
Creator ; in the book of nature they saw Him in living
lines, and any expression of His character could be
delineated therefrom. Then, in very act and deed,
" The invisible things of God, from the creation of
the world, were clearly seen, being understood by the
things that were made ; even His eternal power and
Godhead." And did they wish to correspond with
their friends at a distance, or narrate a history of
events, this mode of writing was amply sufficient.
But, in the process of inventions, the period arrived
when a new language from the use of sounds expressed
by means of letters and words was invented and intro
duced into use. But even in this language men still
conveyed their ideas, as before, by natural symbols :
for though they did not paint any longer the objects
of nature, yet they spelled and used the names of those
objects, and therefore continued to look by correspond
ences, through the objects themselves for the quality
of the ideas. For example : — they had been accus
tomed to paint the lamb for innocence, the serpent for
subtlety, the hand for power, the eye for the under
standing, the heart for the will, the ear for obedience,
the stars for knowledges, the moon for faith, the sun
for love and sometimes for the Lord ; and so on. But
now they used the names of Ihese things, which con-

AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 39
veyed the same ideas. For the names of things always
indicate their qualities. Indeed when these things re
ceived their names such names were given to them as
signified, by analogy, their quality. So that the change
in the mode of writing did not change in the least
the character of the language. It was still the lan
guage of correspondences — the language of God. And
the names of the natural things, just mentioned, now
signify in the Word what is stated.
This is the true original language. And in this lan
guage of correspondences, Moses, a man skilled in all
the wisdom of the Egyptians, wrote the Pentateuch, in
the Hebrew language, a language peculiar for the ex
pression of the qualities of things by their names. In
no other language than that of correspondences could
the Bible possibly contain the Word of God ; for no
other language can have, in itself, " Spirit and life."
But as man, by sinful habits, became less and less
spiritually-minded, and gradually sank into sensuality
and naturalism, so this subhme language lost its beauty
and glory, until its gold became as dross and passed
away ; but not without leaving its expressive memo
randums upon the pyramids of Egypt ; in the records
of the Druids, in Oriental literature, in the fabulous
stories of antiquity, in the idolatrous worship of the
Gentiles, in Heathen Mythology, in German supersti
tions, in the poetry of all ages, and, even, faintly, in
the present profane languages of the earth.
But, from all these remains the spirit and Hfe have
departed ; and the consequence of the loss of this sci
ence is, " Confusion of tongues" all over the earth.

40

Men cannot now, certainly understand each other.
Their words have no definite meaning. They quarrel
from the want of a sure way of expressing their ideas.
The hottest mental combats often end in the perception
of the fact, that the parties both meant the same thing ;
but misunderstood each other's words. Now, there
can be no other sure and certain language than that of
analogy. It is the language, because God's language.
The confusion of tongues, at the building of the tower
of Babel, was from the loss of this language ; for that
confusion was spiritual. It was a confusion of thoughts
as well as of words. Although that history appears short,
yet it embraces a long period of time, during wnich
men forsook the Lord's language or words of truth,
and the true way of life, and undertook to build up a
tower of their own self-hood, which could give them
heaven in the light of their self-derived inteHigence.
And by this course, they finally lost the science of cor
respondences, and the true meaning of God's words.
And then, as a matter of course, they misunderstood
each other. They had no standard to go by. They
contended among themselves about the truth of the
Word, and consequently divided into parties and fac
tions, and scattered abroad. And hence, the innumer
able variety of languages, and of religious sects and
conflicting creeds ; and even of divers opinions among
individuals of the same sect, upon the meaning of
God's Word.
It is therefore from false, and not from true views
of the Word, that men are divided. Truths are eter
nal verities. They are ever and unchangeably the same

AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 41
And all truths are in harmony, and sustain each other.
About them, when seen, men cannot differ. It is about
falsities, altogether, that the Christian world is con
tending. Falsities are all dark, unstable, deceptive,
and mysterious ; fit grounds for contention and strife,
and for the proud display of self-wisdom ; and con
stant changes of opinion are and must be taking place
among those who build upon such grounds : while
those who build on the " Rock of ages" — the spiritual
truth of the Word rationaUy seen in the light of anal
ogy, never can change their views, nor disagree in their
doctrines, unless by sin they lose their language.
When this Hght is seen in the study of the Holy Word,
it will as inevitably lead all sincere students of divinity
to the same conclusions in every jot and tittle of the
Word, so far as it is seen, as the light leads to the sun
from which it flows. The reason is, the investigation
is carried on by a scientific law, and that law is divine.
The reason, therefore, why men who read the Word in
the science of correspondences, differ not in its doc
trines, is the very reason why men differ not in mathe
matics ; it is because, in both instances, the truths are
indisputable. If, as we believe, there are no two per
sons who, without the light of this science, agree as to
the doctrines of the Word, and no two, who have it,
that disagree, the question, as to its truth, becomes a
startling one.
Now we wish it distinctly understood, that this lan
guage or science was once universal ; that it has been
lost, and is now revealed ; that the revelation has been
made by the Lord himself in fulfilment of prophecy,

42

and not by any man ; that " The Lion of the tribe of
Judah . . . hath prevailed to open the book, and to
loose the seven seals thereof," and has evolved this sci
ence from nature and the Holy Word, and not from the
mind of any man ; and has caused its general elements
and rules to be recorded in the works entitled the Ar
cana Celestia, the Apocalypse Revealed, and the
Apocalypse Explained ; and that when we read
these works, and learn this science, and behold its
light, we obtain both the science and the light from
the Holy Word, and from nature, ahd not from those
works except as the Hght shines in them from the
Word. As we read those wonderful books with an humble
and teachable disposition the Hory Word comes up
constantly before us with newly shining pages, which
grow brighter and brighter as we progress, until the
heavenly harmony and beauty of the Word become so
absorbing to the mind that we lose all sight of the
writings we are reading, and the Word itself becomes
its own interpreter — its own revealer of the divine law
in which it is written. One passage throws its Hght
upon another, and receives back the other's lustre in
blending beauty, and their united blaze is responded to
by a third, and aU these are embraced by a fourth, and
so on, till every sacred text we see becomes an evidence
of the truth of all the rest, and the whole blessed Word,
so far as we behold it, stands before us in symmetrical
glory and beauty, a perfect whole, in an infinitude of
parts, all in harmony. And though we are lost in the
,- *.th and immensity of its wisdom, yet, we arc lost in

AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 43
light and not in darkness. And every advance we make
in the regenerate life enables us to drink still deeper at
this inexhaustible fountain of the water of life.
Now, are there any persons present who are unac
quainted with this science ? let me affectionately invite
you to turn aside and see this great sight, how the
bush burns and is not consumed. Would you have a
view of the light of the sun of righteousness, as it shines
from the interior of the Word, removing every obscur
ity from the letter, and reconciling all apparent contra
dictions ? come and take a scientific view of the divine
language. Does infidelity at times trouble you with
doubts, and would you see those doubts flee before the
light of the Gospel like the fogs of the morning before
the rising sun ? would you see the Holy Word in a
light which will prove to you, beyond the possibility
of a doubt, that it is the Word of the great Jehovah ?
look at it in the light of correspondences. It is not a
foreign light, brought to the Holy Word to enable us
to see its teachings. It is its own scientific light,
beaming from its own pages. Would you be able to
close the mouth of the skeptic by truths irresistible,
when he scoffs at the serpent's tempting Eve and talk
ing with her ; or at the woman's being made of the
rib ; or asks you how long the seventh day was on
which the infinite God rested ; or who was Cain's wife,
and where he found her ? stop not at the surface of
the word, but look within. Would you see the laddei
which Jacob saw extending from earth to heaven, and
would you hold communion with God thereon ? you
may find it in the Holy Word ; it is the relation be-

44 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE,
tween cause and effect ; it is that sublime way which
leads through nature up to nature's God. Would you see
the wonderful vesture of our Lord, woven without seam
from the top throughout ? you must see the spiritual
sense of the Word in its perfect harmony and oneness *
while the letter, or outward garments, are parted among
so many sects. Would you see the burning bush un-
consumed ? you must see the literal sense of the Word
shining with inward fire, or brilliant with spiritual
truths from the love of God. Would you, like Moses,
turn aside to see this great sight, how the bush burns and
is not consumed ? Come not to gratify idle curiosity,
come with an humble and teachable disposition, desi
rous to know what God says to you, that you may
obey Him ; for like that venerable lawgiver, you may
spirituaUy hear God call unto you " Out of the midst
ofthe bush," saying, " Draw not nigh hither : put off
thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou
standest is holy ground." (Ex. iii. 4, 5.) The shoes,
which are the clothing for the feet, denote the lowest
and most outward things of the mind — our carnal pro-
prium. This must be put off before we can truly appre
ciate the internal sublimity and beauty of the Word.
The spiritual sense is the sanctum sanctorum of the
Word, where we may hold communion with Him who
is " Of purer eyes than to behold iniquity." We may
see something of the natural philosophy of this sense
by the science of correspondences while we are in a nat
ural and selfish state of mind ; but, to feel it in our
Hearts, and see its inner glories, we should approach it
with a suitable sense of the rreat distance between our

AND LAW OF DIVINE SYMBOLS. 45
own state and the purity of its teachings. We should
come then, with humility and meekness, praying to the
Lord that He will open our understandings, that we
may behold the wonderful things written in the Law.
And, if we have truly sincere desires, a lively faith and
ardent hope, and look into the Law of analogy with
elevated understandings, rationally opened to receive
instruction in a reasonable way, we shall behold, and
understand the wonder which St. John saw — " A wo
man clothed with the sun, and the moon under her
feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars :" or,
in other words, we shall see " The holy city, New Je
rusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, pre
pared as a bride adorned for her husband :" or, in still
other words, The church of God, with its doctrines
shining in spiritual light ; for the Lord God and the
Lamb are the Hght thereof.
Doubting not that this New Church is the very thing
now needed and designed to prevent the universal reign
of skepticism, to restore reverence for the Holy Word,
to open, elevate and enlighten the human mind, that
it may overcome and put away the love of self and the
world which now so universally reign, and become filled
with the love of God and the neighbor, and be happy ;
I appeal to you, as you value order, light, love, peace,
purity, and heaven, to examine these things. 0, turn
not away from this call ; for it is a call to a true
" Feast of reason and flow of soul." We call you to
no instantaneous reception, in a way you will not know
how, of something you wiU not know what. We invite
you to look at nothing unreasonable, and to believe

46 THE ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE, ETC.
nothing you cannot understand. Come, then, to the
Fountain of Wisdom, and drink the truth into your
souls understandingly. Come wiUingly, come cheer
fully, come inquiringly. " The Spirit and the bride
say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And
let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let
him take the water of Hfe freely," (Rev. xxii. 17.)

CHAPTER HI.
THE ANALOGY BETWEEN THE UNIVERSE AND THE
MIND.
" For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they
may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one
consent." (Zeph. iii. 9.)
We are to glance this evening at the Scripture anal
ogy between the material universe and the human mind.
This analogy is strikingly manifest, everywhere in the
Holy Word, by the science of correspondences — the sure
language of God — in which that Word is written, and
which, according to the prophecy of our text, the Lord
promises to make known to the people. This promise
is now being fulfilled. The Lord is now turning to the
people a pure language, that they may all caU upon
the name of the Lord, and serve Him with one con
sent. There was a time when there was but one lan
guage upon the earth. The Lord declares in the Xlth
chapter of Genesis that, " The whole earth was of one
language, and of one speech." And again He says, in
the same chapter, " Behold, the people is one, and
they have all one language."
Now, it is certain that that language has been lost.

48 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND.
The people are not all of one speech now. Nor are the
people of any one language all of one speech, in that
language. Indeed there are no two persons of any one
language, that understand that language alike. The
reason is, the language ii self has no stability nor sure
definiteness. This is because it has lost its roots.
True, the language we use purports to take root in
many others. But these languages themselves, and even
those of them which are called dead, or fixed languages,
have, to men, lost their roots. Nature is the ground
in which all true language takes root. And the law
of analogy is the only light in which that root can be
truly seen. We know the dead languages are not fluc
tuating and changing like those in common use. But
the reason is, they are not used. It is to the conserva
tive nature of the Hebrew and Greek languages, that
we are indebted for so correct a knowledge of the Holy
Word as we now have. And it is therefore of the di
vine Providence that they became dead, that they could
better preserve the Word. Those languages still take
root in nature. But men, by the loss of the science of
correspondences, see not where, nor how that root ex
ists. Hence the uncertainty which hangs over the pre
cise meaning of many things in even those languages ;
and particularly in the Holy Word, where many things
are written solely for the sake of the spiritual sense,
and therefore where no shadow of a rational meaning
can be seen without the law of analogy.
But the Lord says, prophetically, in our text,
pointing to this age of the world, "Then wiU I
turn to the people a pure language, that they may
all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him

THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 49
with one consent." Now what can this pure language
be, in which all the people will call upon the name of
the Lord, to serve Him with one consent, unless it be
a language which will give them all the same ideas of
God and of His Word ? and also, unless it be that
very language which the people had, when the whole
earth was of one speech, and all caned on the name of
the Lord ? And who that sees the science of corre
spondences, and reads the Word by it, can doubt that
the time has now come, in which that prophecy is be
ing fulfilled, when he sees persons of every nation and
kindred and tongue and people embracing this lan
guage, reading the Holy Word by it, understanding it
alike, and beholding therein the Lord Jesus Christ, as
the one Lord, whom they can all serve with one con
sent ? And what other language can the Lord turn
to the people than the one they have before had, and
which He gave them ? He says He will turn to the
people a pure language. What is a pure language ?
It is certainly something above human, like its Divine
Author it must be divine, definite, and sure — the same
yesterday, to-day, and forever. Such is the language
of analogy ; and such is no other language.
Let us then continue our investigations into the na
ture, origin, and use of that language ; that we may see
the relation between the physical universe and the hu
man mind. The ancient Greeks called man a microcosm,
or little world. They considered him an epitome of the
macrocosm, or the great world or visible system. This
was from correspondence ; and although this word mi
crocosm — this comprehensive and graphic expression
3

50 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND.
of human nature has, for a long time, been considered
fabulous, and has become nearly obsolete, though still
retained in English dictionaries ; yet it is, at this day,
rising from obscurity, replete with meaning, and speak
ing with light and life. And many are now investigat
ing, with admiration and delight, the countless volumes ,
of mental philosophy contained in this one word micro
cosm, it being expressive of the embodiment of all the
elements of the universe in man, as the connecting Hnk
between God and nature.
Man, then, being a microcosm ; what is there, what
can there be, in God's Word or His works, that does
not treat of man, and also of God, the infinite man,
the great eternal prototype of all created things ?
This view of the subject furnishes us, at once, with
the reason why God, in giving us His Word to teach
the way of life, has written that Word in the symbols
of nature ; for that language, like its Author, has a
divine character ; its essence is the life of the universe,
ever flowing from God, and well might He say, " The
words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they
are life." God's language, therefore, is as much supe
rior to man's language as His works are superior to
man's works, or, as He Himself is superior to man.
His language, could we read it all, would teach, us all
things ; for everything that God does speaks ; and a
single sentence, or even word of His, contains an infi
nite /ariety of things. It is a part of everything.
Thus, it is infinite in its essence, in its qualities and
in its relations. And by the relation which every part
of the Holy Word bears to all the other parts, the

THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 51
whole and all its parts may be proved to be true ; for
every part has God in it in His wisdom and love, and
therefore we may "learn from it forever ; for God is
perfect in the least things as well as in the greatest.
And though our minds are lost in its unfathomable
depths, and insurmountable heights ; yet, to our con
solation and joy, we are lost in light and not in dark
ness ; for we are in the midst of an infinity of truths,
each corroborating and confirming the truth of aU the
rest, so far as they enter into the mind ; so that there
are no contradictions. But still, the willing receiver
is not so lost as not to be able constantly to ascend
higher and higher up the holy mountain, beholding, as
he rises, newer and brighter glories in Wisdom's light.
Does this look like exaggeration, or fancy-sketching ?
Who, we would ask, will, at this day, presume to fix
Hmits to the extent to which man may advance in
wisdom and knowledge ? Being made a recipient of
God's wisdom and love, and having the Lord for his
teacher, where shall he stop ? Why may he not yet
know how the trees grow, and the plants bloom, and
see and understand the causes which are operating be
hind the curtain of matter ?
Now, as man is a microcosm, having within him all
the living elements of the macrocosm ; and as God,
the infinite man, is the Author and Father of all, is
related to all, and is giving existence and life to aU ;
so, therefore, the history of man is the history of every
thing ; a knowledge of man is a knowledge of every
thing ; and the study of man is the study of everything.
And God's Holy Word embraces that whole vast his-

52 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND.
tory. It is an entire history of man — past, present,
and prophetic : a history of his origin, nature, and
destiny ; of what he has been, is, and will be, embra
cing all time and eternity. And in coming to that Holy
Word for light, our investigations will be much facili
tated by bearing in mind, that the internal sense from
the beginning to the end of the volume, treats expressly
and entirely of the nature and character of God, of the
various creations and falls of man, and of the conse
quences, to man, of his being either good or evil, true
or false. This is the one, and entire history.
By the various creations, and falls, and re-creations
of man, embracing aH his diversified qualities, of every
shade and character, which are described throughout
the Word, are meant, the establishment, consummation
and succession of churches of every grade ; or the
regeneration of man in aU the minutias of the process.
This is the one constant theme of the Sacred Word.
And what else could it treat of when that theme em
braces everything ? for whether we say the Bible is a
history of the church, or the history of man, it is the
same thing ; for the church in man is what constitutes
him man. This is what gives him the image and like
ness of his God. This is because the essentials of the
church are love and wisdom in man, from God, goine
forth into action. Whatever, therefore, may be the
apparent subject of the letter of the Word, we must
look, by analogy, through what appears on the surface
to matters of the mind — to things human.
Where the creation of natural things is mentioned
the internal sense treats of the creation of the spiritual

THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 53
things to which the natural things correspond. And
as aU things in nature correspond to principles in the
mind of man, therefore, a history of man's spiritual
creation or regeneration could be perfectly- described
by a history of the creation of natural things, whether
those natural things were created in the order men
tioned to describe the spiritual creation or not. Thus,
in the very commencement of the Holy Word, the
spiritual creation or regeneration of man, the micro
cosm, is described by a parabolic history of the creation
of the universe, or macrocosm. And this creation of
natural things is narrated in such order, by the divine
wisdom, as to teach, by correspondences, the precise
process of the regeneration of man ; or of the growth
of a human mind from spiritual infancy, up into the
image and likeness of God, in every particular of
the proceedings ; so that men, in the light of the spir
itual sense, may now go to the first chapter of Genesis
to learn the way of life and salvation.
This immense, and yet, consolidated system of views
of God, man and the universe, and of the Holy Word,
as the medium of light and life to all created things,
strikes many minds, at the first view, as strange and
novel ; and they turn aside, saying, It is asking too
much to request our attention to any such system.
But let me ask them if it is asking too much to request
their attention to the Word of the Most High God ?
And let me further ask them what light, from any
other philosophy, they can bring to show the use and
beauty of the strange things of the Holy Word ?
Upon what other ground, than this language of anal-

54 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND.
ogy, can we possibly account for the propriety or use
of many portions of the Sacred Word ? What shall
we do with the Pentateuch, or with the books of Eze-
kiel and the Apocalypse, and with many things scat
tered throughout the Word ? Why is the vast universe,
in generals and in particulars, so frequently brought
before us ? The sun, moon, stars, winds, clouds, rain,
hail, snow, ice, frost, fire, light, darkness, calms,
storms, thunders, earthquakes, floods, droughts, moun
tains, hills, vaUeys, seas, rivers, beasts, birds, fishes,
reptiles, insects — everything that flies, walks, creeps,
swims, or crawls — trees, brambles, briers, shrubs,
thistles, plants, wheat, rye, barley, corn — everything
that grows upon the earth — gold, silver, copper, brass,
iron, lead, precious stones, rocks, clay, sand — every
thing in the earth ; and even the earth itself. Why
are these things so frequently mentioned by the Lord,
in whole or in part, to teach men the doctrines of the
Word and the way of life ? for " All scripture is profit
able for doctrine." Must it not be because they im
part moral and religious instruction by a higher mean
ing than the letter which killeth ? Why are these
things mentioned as living and rational creatures ? the
floods clapping their hands, the hills rejoicing, the
trees choosing a king, the mountains moving about,
the hills skipping like young sheep, the valleys shout
ing and singing, the earth reeling to and fro like a
drunken man, everything that hath breath praising
God, and God entering into covenant with the beasts
of the field and the creeping things of the earth ; why
all this, unless they correspond to principles in man ;

THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 55
so that it is man that reels to and fro, man that praises
God by every living principle of his nature, man with
whom God entered into covenant, man that shouts and
sings, man that claps his hands, man that chooses a
king, principles in man that skip like young sheep,
mountains in man that are moved ? It must be so :
and, by the science of correspondences, it is clearly
seen to be so ; for all these things are mentioned as
" Profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction,"
and " for instruction in righteousness : " that we may
be "thoroughly furnished unto all good works."
(2 Tim. iii. 16, 17.) But, without this science, what
can we learn from such things of the Word as the
Lord's shaving with a hired razor, and its consuming
the beard from the feet ? from the dragon's sweeping
down a third part of the stars of heaven with his tail ?
from a chariot's being cast into a dead sleep ? from
Jehovah's riding on horseback, or in chariots ? from
horses coming out of the book when opened ? from
locusts with shapes like horses, faces Hke men, hair
like women, teeth like lions and tails like scorpions ?
What can these things mean ? Are they the Word
of infinite wisdom ? They are, most certainly ; and
they are beaming with truth clear to the mind, and
filled with food for hungry souls. Come ye to the
banquet ! come with confidence and a teachable spirit,
and you will find, in every passage, a well of living
water, springing up unto everlasting Hfe, for all that
are thirsty. How emphatically do all these things
point us to nature for the symbol of their true meaning,
or for the origin or forms of the words in which divine

56 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND.
ideas must be clothed, or expressed, in order to reach
human minds on earth. Indeed, it is to nature that
we must go for the real basis of all language. How
ever lost we may now be to the true roots and laws of
our own dialect, we may soon know, by rational reflec
tion, that it is Dame Nature that has taught us all
how to talk. We can lisp only her accents. True,
her language has become, to us, much adulterated ;
but that is our own fault. We use it nevertheless.
Her songs, and shouts, and tears, and groans, and
sighs, are the sure expressions of human thoughts and
feelings. We can soar only through her eloquence,
paint only through her colors, and rejoice only through
her gladness. Does any one doubt this ? Then let
us inquire into it.
Had we no language, how would we go to work
to get one ? Now, think deeply, and seek, as keenly
as you can, the answer to this question, and you wiU
find it impossible to see how to express a single idea,
in speech, without taking the sign from nature. For
illustration. — Had we no words to express the idea of
innocence, how would we declare it ? By a harmless
expression of the face, a soft tone of the voice, or a
gentle motion of the hand ? How should we know but
it meant gentleness, kindness, quietude, or some other
grace or virtue ? We could not certainly tell. We
should have no possible way to definitely express the
idea of innocence, without seeking something in nature
which was a symbol of innocence. And if we could
read the book of nature in correspondences, we should
point at once to the lamb ; and that would be our word

THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 57

for innocence. But having lost the science of corre
spondences, the language we should now draw from na
ture, if we had none, would be very indefinite. Still, we
should go there, for we could get a dialect nowhere else.
But, in the primeval age, when men were good, and
saw the qualities of natural things by intuition, they
had, at once, something in nature to express every
quaHty and principle of the human mind : for all
things correspond to qualities in man, and name, by
correspondence, signifies quality. And when, in the
early days of that golden age, they named the various
things of nature according to the different mental qual
ities which they denoted, they did as men do now, in
giving names to new things ; only they acted then from
the union of spiritual thought with the natural, and
named according to correspondences ; while men now
act only from natural thought, and name according to
qualities. Thus, we have our Rocky and Green moun
tains ; our White and Rattlesnake hills * our Wolf,
Bear and Pleasant lakes ; our Crooked, Muddy and
Silver creeks; our telegraph wires and steam engines.
We should know that every principle of the under
standing and of the will, of the thoughts and feelings,
though, in themselves, spiritual things, and entirely
above the laws of this lower world, yet, in order to be
brought down into natural language for men in the
flesh, they must be expressed by natural symbols.
For the natural man has no other way, and can
think of no other way, to describe his thoughts
and feelings bat in the use of words which have
been drawn entirely from nature. From a mo-
3*

58 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND.
ment's reflection, one who has never thought upon the
subject, may see that the language he uses to describe
his thoughts and feelings, was drawn from nature.
Take for instance the whole variety of adjectives by
which we express the quaHties of mental things ; bit
ter, sweet, sour, warm, cold, long, short, high, low,
dark, light, near, distant, black, white, no matter what.
Are they not all taken from the things of this world ?
And yet, we use them to describe the states and quali
ties of the mind. We speak of a warm or cold heart ;
a bitter, sweet, or sour temper ; a long, deep, or shal
low head ; of high or low spirits ; a dark and muddy,
or clear and lucid understanding ; a bright or cloudy
intellect ; a black character ; a distant relative ; a
near friend ; a knotty subject ; and so we might go on
and fill up our discourse. Now, we aU know that these
words have not the same meaning, when appHed to the
mind, as they have when applied to matter. We have
no proper idea of extension in space when we speak of
a long or deep head, or of high or low spirits, or of
near and distant relatives ; nor of natural mud or clouds
when we speak of a cloudy or muddy intellect ; nor of
taste when we speak of a sweet or sour temper. These
expressions are used because there is no other way, for
persons in the flesh, to speak of spiritual things but
through natural symbols ; nor to express the quality
of spiritual things but by means of words expressive
of the quality of natural things.
And, before the loss of correspondences, a clear spir
itual idea was always seen through natural symbols,
and was alike understood by all. But when the true

THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. 59
law of analogy was lost, this beautiful and certain lan
guage fell into mere naturalism, and the Word has
since been understood, either precisely as it reads in
the letter, or else been considered figurative, and there
fore been interpreted according to the various states
and prejudices of men. And thence has originated all
the different creeds and doctrines of Christendom.
And nothing short of the restoration of this science can
ever draw out the deep truths of the Word, restore
harmony to the minds of Christians, and bring the
watchmen to see eye to eye. Nor can this be done by
merely bringing the philosophy of this science into the
external plane of the mind, so as to see the propriety
and consistency of it. Nothing short of the possession
of this heavenly Hght in the affections, and the car
rying it out in our lives, will restore order and har
mony among men.
But, to accomplish this, it is necessary, in the first
place, to have a common plane upon which we can* ra
tionally meet to learn the true character of our God, of
ourselves and of the way of life, as taught in the Holy
Word. This common ground we have, in a light in
disputable, in the divine science of correspondences.
But, it is asked, " What is the strongest and most
conclusive evidence which you have to offer in proof of
the truth and certainty of this new science ?" We an
swer, No evidence can be sufficiently clear and full
to satisfy a mind that will not look at it, or that has
no taste nor desire for things beyond the gift of this
world. But if even such a person were entirely unac
quainted with the Chinese language, and should re-

60 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND.
move to China, and there learn to speak and write that
language, so as to read their books and understand
them, and should find that they contained a rational
and consecutive chain of ideas and history of events,
he certainly would be convinced that they had a lan
guage, and that he had learned it. It is precisely so
with the language of analogy. It must be examined
and learned, and tested by the reading of analogical
language before it can be understood.
Now let that same man come to the Sacred Scrip
tures and look at the first two chapters of Genesis, the
twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, the tenth of Ezekiel
and the twenty-first of Revelation, and he will be as
much at a loss to know their true meaning, as he was
that of the Chinese language when he went to that
country. But let him learn the language of analogy
until he can read and understand the Holy Word by
it, and can see a beautiful and consistent course of use
ful instruction pervading the entire chapters mentioned ;
and not only them, but also the whole Word, making
it a new Book, most clear and instructive, and he will
then be much more strongly convinced of the indisputa
ble verity of this language than he was, or could possi
bly be, of that of the Chinese.
Now, we can say to such persons, that many are the
human minds, of different nations of the earth, who
are becoming thus convinced. WiU not God's Holy
Word, then, yet become known as it is, and be univer
sally received, loved and regarded ? Will it not be
come the great Law of the land, and restore universal

THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND. ' 61
peace on earth and good will toward men ? It most
surely will. That glorious shout of the angels, at the
birth of our Lord, was not made in vain. " Behold, I
bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to
aU people." (Luke ii. 10.) The Lord, at His second
coming, as the light and life of the Word, seen by the
law of analogy, will surely bring it to pass. The seals
are already broken, and the Holy Spirit is going forth.
The pure Truth, or the Lord as the spiritual sense of
the Word, is coming in the clouds of heaven, or letter
of the Word, into the human mind, with power and
great glory ; and every eye shall see Him. Tes, the
glorious Bridegroom Himself is coming. Go ye out to
meet Him ; go dressed in the wedding garments of the
New Jerusalem : go adorned with the precious stones
of the Holy City ; with the pearls and rubies of the
blessed Word. Yes, let us arise, and go hence, that
we may walk the golden streets of the New Jerusalem
together, in peace and love. And let us thus hasten
on the glorious day when the knowledge of the Lord
shall cover the earth as the waters coyer the sea ; and
when all shall know the Lord, from the least to the
greatest. God, by the Hght of His Holy Word, is of
fering to us this blessed privilege. Is it worth the re
ception ? Are heavenly light and life, and peace and
joy — are a happy world and a heaven below, and an
eternal heaven above worth the attention of men ?
Then, I beseech you, let us accept the boon of Jesus'
Spirit, and work in His vineyard while the day lasts,
that when the final morning of the resurrection comes

62 THE UNIVERSE AND THE MIND.
and we cast off the clay, we may feel in our hearts the
warmth and brightness of the rising sun, and hear the
plaudit of " Well done, good and faithful servant,
. . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." (Matt.
xxv. 21.)

CHAPTER IV.
THE LAW OF LIFE BETWEEN GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
" When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a
people of strange language, the sea saw it, and fled ; Jordan was
driven back ; the mountains skipped like rams, and the little hills
like lambs. " (Ps. cxiv. 1, 3, 4.)
Our subject for this evening is, The Divine Law of
Life between God, Man and Nature. This law of life
is the great law of Analogy. It is the divine rule of
action between the Creator and the created. It is the
way God gives life to all created things. Life in God
is the Divine Love and Wisdom. The Divine Love or
Goodness is the essence, and the Divine Wisdom or
Truth is the form or manifestation of that Life to
man. By the efflux of this Love and Wisdom God
created and constantly sustains the universe. But in
order for the affectionate reception of this Love there
had to be human will, and for the rational reception
of this Wisdom there had to be human understanding.
But this Love and Wisdom could never have been
affectionately and rationally received into the human
will and understanding without language to teach or
express the nature, character and qualities of this di-

64 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
vine Life. The only language, in which it could be
given, is the language of correspondences, for that is
the speech of God ; and it presents something of that
Love and Wisdom in every word it utters. A people
who should rationally and affectionately receive that
language would know and love God, and possess His
image and likeness. A people without any knowledge
of it would have no true spiritual idea of God what
ever ; their thought would be only natural.
That language was once universaHy understood on
the earth, and the world was in true order. And just
in the degree that it was lost men lost true ideas of
God's^ nature and character, misunderstood the true
doctrines of the Holy Word and divided into various
sects, with divers creeds and ceremonies. And when
that language is rationally and affectionately received
again, by the human family on earth, the world of
mankind will be spiritually alive — in the true knowl
edge and love of God ; for it is the eternal Law of
Life between God, man and nature. God clearly
speaks it in both His Word and His works ; and, be
tween the two, the language is definitely explained
and rationally taught.
We will therefore now appeal to tbe Word Itself,
in Its analogical connection with nature, in further
verification of this law. Now the words earth and
heavens are often used in the Word in such a way as
to give no rational instruction, in the literal sense
alone, but rather to involve the subject in obscurity,
until the true law of life is seen ; as where it speaks of
the heaven and the earth passing away, and of God's

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. , 65
creating a new heaven and a new earth ; of the heavens
being roUed together as a scroll ; of the stars falling
from heaven as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs
when she is shaken of a mighty wind ; or where it says,
" The earth mourneth and fadeth away ; . . . the earth
is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved."
(Is. xxiv. 4, 19.) " The earth opened her mouth."
(Rev. x. 16.) " The Lord hath forsaken the earth."
(Ezekiel ix. 9.) These are strange sayings. But as
soon as it is clearly seen that the earth corresponds to
man or to the human mind, there may be readily seen
something of the beauty and propriety of all such ex
pressions ; for if we see that, in the most essential
meaning, it i3 the human mind that is everywhere
treated of in the Word, and that it is because the visi
ble world corresponds to that mind, that it is so often
mentioned, a most rational light will ever beam from
the sacred page where the teaching is otherwise lost in
obscurity. Thus we can see that, as the earth is
warmed and illuminated by the heat and light of the
sun so as to give germination and growth to every liv
ing thing upon it, so do spiritual heat and light, which
are the love and wisdom of the Lord flowing from Him
as the Sun of Righteousness, give germination and
growth to every spiritual principle — every good thought
and feeling which spring up in the mental earth or soil
of the mind. And the cultivation and growth of natu
ral things perfectly corresponds to the cultivation and
growth of mental things. It is for this reason that
there is so much said, in the Word, about breaking
up the fallow ground, and sowing, planting, watering,

66 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
reaping, gathering, and gleaning ; and also about
thorns, thistles, nettles and briers, as weU as wheat,
corn and good fruits. For, in the spiritual sense, it is
always things of the mental earth which are meant by
such expressions ; because it is the states and quahties
of the human mind that the prophets were all writing
about. Thus, in Hosea, the Lord says, " Judah shall
plow, Jacob shall break his clods. Sow to yourselves
in righteousness, reap in mercy." (x. 11, 12.) " Light
is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright
in heart." (Ps. xcvii. 11.) Man " Soweth discord ; "
(Prov. vi. 14, 19.) "Soweth strife;" (ib. xvi. 28.)
Soweth " The wind, and shall reap the whirlwind ; "
(Hosea viii. 7.) " Soweth iniquity" and "shall reap
vanity." (Prov. xii. 8.) The Lord says in Mark,
" The sower soweth the Word." (iv. 14.) And in
Jeremiah He says, " I will sow the house of Israel and
the house of Judah with the seed of man," (xxxi. 27.)
by which is meant the truths of the Word, which, if
cultivated, wiU produce the image of God the divine
Man. And when the Word is sown it is declared that
" Instead of the thorn shaU come up the fir-tree, and
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle-tree."
(Is. Iv. 13.)
Now, as it is in the affections of the human mind that
all this sowing and plowing and reaping are done ; so
also that is the place, to which the prophet alludes,
when he says, " Thorns shall come up in her palaces,
nettles and brambles in the fortresses thereof." (Is.
xxxiv. 13.) For the living soul is composed of things
good and true in the mind, and when that soul goes

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 67
down, then the falsities and evils, denoted by thorns,
nettles and brambles, come into the heart. Thus it is,
that " Thistles come upon" our " altars," because the
human heart is the true altar of worship. And there it
is that the thorns choke the good seed of the Word.
How clear and beautiful is the correspondence be
tween the uncultivated earth and the uncultivated
mind ! Therefore the cultivation of the earth is often
mentioned to denote the cultivation or regeneration of
the mind. Thus in Isaiah, speaking of the mind, it
says, " I wiU make the wilderness a pool." (xH. 18.)
" Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift up their
voice." (xiii. 11.) " He will make her wilderness Hke
Eden." (H. 3.) This is regeneration. The whole
journey of the children of Israel in the wilderness, on
their way to Canaan and the expulsion of the Canaan-
ites, is a perfect description, by correspondence, of what
every man passes through, in being regenerated. And
the degeneration of man is described by the fruitful
place becoming a wilderness ; — " The pleasant portions
,a wilderness." " Edom shaU be a desolate wilderness."
And as in the natural wilderness are wild and ravenous
beasts, so, in a wilderness state of the mind, are savage
and head-strong affections and passions to which wild
beasts correspond.
We will now mention a few general rules which may
be of use to the new student of this divine science.
The two great essential principles in God are, love and
wisdom. The third principle in Him is power. But
this power is the offspring, or rather, the operative
force of that love and wisdom. Man's will, in order,

68

corresponds to God's love ; his understanding, to God's
Wisdom ; and his energy, to God's power. Now, as
there is nothing in nature which God's love and wis
dom have not brought into being and sustained, and is
therefore a direct or perverted image of some principle
in Him, it must follow that every natural thing corre
sponds, in some certain degree, either to goodness and
truth or to evil and falsity, in some of their infinite va
rieties of forms. For, it should be borne in mind that
God's love and wisdom are not a unit in goodness and
truth, but an infinite variety of goods and truths, aH
in perfect order and harmony, forming a whole in the
Infinite Human form ; and that everything good and
true in man or in nature, corresponds to something in
the great Form of all forms, from which it derives its
existence ; and also that every evil or falsity is a per
version of something in the great divine Being. But
this perversion springs from the abuse of man's freedom
and not from God. Sometimes thu main or prominent
correspondence of a thing will be to goodness, yet there
will, at the same time, be a certain relation to truth in
it. For every good has its truth. And good cannot
produce anything without the co-operation of truth,
nor can it even exist separate from it. The quality of a
thing, generally speaking, has relation to some good or
evil ; and its form to some truth or falsity. But, to
these general rules, there are exceptions resulting from
states or circumstances which will be readily seen as a
person progresses in a knowledge and love of this di
vine science.
Everything that we eat that is wholesome, corre-

69

sponds to good, and everything that we drink, to truth.
Unwholesome things which we eat and drink corre
spond to evils and falsities. All liquids, as a general
rule, correspond to truths or falsities : water to truth
or falsity in the natural degree, and wine, in the spir
itual degree. Thus, the same thing sometimes corre
sponds to truth, and at other times to falsity, accord
ing to the light in which it is used. But it is readily
known to which ' it corresponds. For, if it be men
tioned in a bad sense, as against God's laws and injur
ing that which is good or true, it would correspond to
falsity. But if in a good sense, or according to the di
vine laws, or as destroying that which is evil and false,
it corresponds to truth.
Thus, all the implements of war, used in the battles
recorded in Scripture, correspond either to truths or
falsities ; those on the Lord's side correspond to truths ;
, those on the opposite side, to falsities. And even the
opposing armies themselves correspond, on the one side,
to good principles, and on the other, to evils. Good and
evil principles always stand opposed to each other, and
their weapons of war are always truths and falsities.
Thus the " Sword of the Lord" is the divine truth pro
ceeding out of His mouth ; while the " Sword of the
adversary" is falsity.
Water, when it is used in a bad sense, as destroying
man, or overflowing lands or cities, or being muddy or
bitter, or raging in hail-storms, corresponds to falsity ;
but when used in a good sense, as the refreshing shower
or gentle dew, the river of God, the pool of Siloam, a
well of living water, the water of life, it corresponds to

70 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
truth. And what a beautiful correspondence to truth
is water ! It quenches the thirst, cleanses the skin,
and performs the same uses to the body which truth
does to the mind. In general, all things which are
transparent or that reflect images, correspond either to
truths or falsities.
The Holy City is said to be "pure gold, like unto
clear glass." This is because gold corresponds to
goodness and glass to truth ; and they are mentioned
together to denote the union of goodness and truth.
By this we learn that the doctrines of the New Church,
in order to become a holy city in our minds, must fill
our hearts with their goods and our minds with their
truths. Then the doctrines will be clear and beautiful
in our minds. They will be pure gold, Hke unto clear
glass. Again, as the earth corresponds to man, or to the
human mind, so all mountains, being, the highest parts
of the earth, signify the highest or uppermost things
in the mind ; and these are things of the will — the
desires — things which we either warmly love or hate.
Therefore, if the thing we most ardently love be good
ness, that affection would be called a " Mountain of
holiness " — a " Mountain of the Lord." It would be
a high state of love to the Lord. This is the mountain
which our Savior went up into to pray. For, although
He went up into a natural mountain, yet He did it
from correspondence ; His heart was in love to the Fa
ther : His soul was in a mountain as well as His body.
Everything He said or did was in correspondences.
And He took His body into a mountain to pray to

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 71
teach us, by outward and expressive acts, that when we
pray, we should elevate our affections to God in the
highest degree we can. And that we should strive
and labor for it mentally, as the Lord did naturally by
actually climbing up into a mountain to pray. If the
thing we most ardently love be self, manifested in
some violent feeling of revenge or malice toward some
individual who has injured or slandered us, that bitter
feeling is a mountain — the uppermost pinnacle of our
mental earth. This mountain must be removed before
we can find rest or peace of soul. This is the kind of
mountain to which, if we have " faith as a grain of
mustard seed," we can say, " Remove hence to yonder
place ; and it shall remove." (Matt. xvii. 20.) If we
have faith to believe that it is wrong to feel unkind
toward anybody ; that we should love even our ene
mies, and bless those that curse us, then we can remove
this mountain of revenge. But to have faith as a
grain of mustard seed, in this case, is to have the bless
ed truth, which says, " Love your enemies," so deeply
Bown in the soil ofthe heart, that it will spring up, for
the removal of all such mountains, and become large
enough for the birds of heaven, or heavenly thoughts,
to lodge in the branches thereof ; or, in other words,
so that we can think kindly toward our enemies.
Hills, in a bad sense, denote feelings not so high as
mountains — not so bitter as revenge or malice — yet,
feelings which are unkind and uncharitable. In a
good sense, they denote feelings of charity and good
will. From this we may form some idea of what is
meant in the Word by the moving about of mountains

72 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
*\ and hills, as expressed in the text, when " The moun
tains leaped like rams ; and the little hiUs Hke lambs,"
or, more properly rendered, " The sons of the flock."
Now, all know that these things could not take place
physically ; but we readily see that the mountains and
hills of the mind may be removed, whether they be
good or evil. In the text they were evil. Indeed, we
have a singular text, strange enough in the letter. It
reads thus, " When Israel went out of Egypt, the
house of Jacob from a people of strange language, the
sea saw it and fled ; Jordan was driven back, the
mountains leaped like rams, and the little hills like
lambs." What a scene for a mundane eye to behold !
But it is spiritual, not natural. And many of us have
witnessed something of the kind in our own mental
earth. The sea, in the Word, corresponds to knowledge in
general, whether true or false, stored up in the memory.
Rivers denote the scientific and doctrinal streams
which flow into that sea from study. Places represent
states of mind. In our text, by the sea and river are
meant false knowledges and doctrines ; and by Egypt
a state of religious darkness, brought on by a strange
language not rationally understood, used in the absence
of the pure language of analogy, which had been lost.
But let that bright language be again brought clearly
into the mind ; let Israel and Jacob, which denote di
vine qualities or the highest religious principles in us,
arise and start from their Egyptian mysteries, and look
above their strange language by the light of analogy,
and, will not the sea of our false knowledges flee ?

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 73
Will not the river of erroneous doctrines turn back ?
Will not the mountains of self-love and the hills of
the love of the world remove from the affections ?
Most assuredly they will.
But, it may be asked, how is it that their removal
can be so sudden ? How can they skip like sheep
when they are the very life's love ? It is in theory
only that they thus leap. The true light shows us
the true doctrines ; and, intellectually, we see and
know that they are true, and that our former views
were false and our affections evil. This is quickly
done : so that from our system of theology all moun
tains and hills of evil, as they are seen, are, at once,
driven to the shades. They leap like rams. When
light comes in, darkness must disappear. Thus, our
understanding condemns them. But before they can
be removed from the natural will, the new light of
faith must work by a new love to the Lord, introduced
into the internal will by the new light, and thus must
purify the natural heart from the love of self. In this
way only can those mountains and hills be actually
removed. But there is a class of imaginary mountains
and hills, in the mind, without foundation, resting on
circumstances or on selfish hopes and fears, which are
sometimes as suddenly gone as the leaping of sheep.
How often do men's high mountains of hope or fear,
at once skip from the heart, from some new event of
Hfe either blasting every ardent expectation, or quell
ing all anxious dread ! And so of the hills, or imagin
ary charities. All the natural feelings of kindness and
benevolence which exist among men merely from self-
4

74 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
ish intercourse and enjoyment, and which sometimes
seem to be hills of much magnitude and importance,
may, by a single reverse of fortune, all skip like young
sheep. But God's hills of charity in our hearts,
founded in the pure love of mercy and good-will, the
reverses of worldly fortune can never disturb. But,
on the contrary, they ever magnify them and fill them
with new springs of kindness and compassion. It
does the generous soul good to pour the oil of sym
pathy and consolation into the wounds of an afflicted
brother. VaUeys, in a good sense, signify the lowest and most
external of the affections for either God or the neigh
bor. In a bad sense, they denote the most base and
groveHing affections of the natural mind. But, as aU
power is in ultimates, so the valleys or externals of
the mind, may become immensely productive of good
in the community in which we live. There is great
natural fruitfulness in the valleys of the earth. The
soil of them is luxuriantly fertile. They take the
wash of the mountains ; or the mountains give their
goodness to the vaUeys. They also send down their
streams to water and refresh them. And with these
blessings, with proper cultivation, their productions
are abundant. So it is with love, the mental mount
ain, whether in God or in man. Heavenly love, the
mountain of the good soul, wants to give itself away
to everything that is below it. It gives of its good
ness, and it gives of its truth. And those who, like
the valleys, open their bosoms to receive them, and
drink in freely the water of life, and partake of the

75
blessings of love, faithfully cultivating the mind, will
bring forth much fruit.
Again, the human body is an image of the mind which
infills it, and by which it acts ; therefore, every part of
the body corresponds to some principle of the mind.
It is for this reason that the organs of the body, in re
gard to both God and man, are so often mentioned in
the Word. And by knowing to what principles of the
mind the various organs of the body correspond, many,
otherwise strange and incomprehensible passages of
Scripture, are made plain and instructive. Therefore,
when the Lord says, " If thy hand offend thee, cut it
off : it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than
having two hands to go into hell." " And if thy foot
offend thee, cut it off : it is better for thee to enter
halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell."
" And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out : it is bet
ter for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one
eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell-fire."
(Mark ix. 43, 45, 47.) When the Lord says these
things, we are not left in the mazes of darkness, nor
in vague conjecture as to what He means. But who
would presume to say that the literal sense alone does
not leave the subject in profound darkness ? Can
any one believe that the natural foot, hand or eye can
offend ? Are they not mere instruments of the mind,
entirely unconscious, and without responsibility ?
But suppose that they could absolutely offend, can we
Cut them off and cast them from us so that we should
be without two hands, feet or eyes in the next life ?
Is a man who loses an eye in this life to have but one

76 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
in the next ? It does seem as though it were too late
a period in this wonderful age of scientific progression
for men much longer, to shut their eyes against this
light of analogy. If the Bible is the Word of divine
Wisdom, given to man to teach him, it must be in
tended to be understood. But who, without the science
of correspondences, will dare to say that he understands
these passages ? Surely no humble and pious man would
have that presumption. Let us look at them in the Hght
of that science. The hand denotes power or ability.
Therefore David prays to the Lord saying, " Send thine
hand from above ; rid me, and dehver me out of great
waters, from the hand of strange children ; whose
mouth speaketh vanity, and their right hand is the
right hand of falsehood." (Ps. cxliv. 7, 8.) Now,
who can give any other rational meaning to hands, in
this passage, than power ; or to waters, than falsities ;
or to the strange children, whose mouth speaketh vanity,
than to evil or the devil who was a liar from the begin
ning ? It is perfectly certain that David here prays
that the Lord will send His power from above ; and
rid him, and deliver him out of many falsities, from the
powers of the children of the devil whose mouth speak
eth a lie, and whose wilful powers are the wilful pow
ers of falsehood. Again, it is written, " His right hand,
and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory." Ho
conquered, of course, by His power. Hand denotes
power ; arms, greater power, and shoulders, all' power.
If thy hand offend thee, cut it off. For the hand to of
fend is to exercise the power and propensity to sin. To
cut the hand off, is to cease to exercise that abilityj

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 77
and thus weaken or put away the propensity. We are
creatures of habit, and our evil propensities become
strong or weak in proportion to the indulgence. In
the strength of them is the power or hand. To weaken
or put away that strength is called cutting off the
hand. The foot, as it is the lower part of the body
and most in the dust, denotes the most external and
the lowest principle of the mind. For the foot to of
fend is to indulge in the lowest principle of selfishness.
To cut the foot off and cast it from us, is to suspend
and mortify that indulgence, till we lose the desire
for it.
That the foot denotes the lowest natural principle
of the mind, we might know from the one passage
alone where our Lord says to Peter, " He that is
washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean
every whit." Thus teaching plainly that when once
spiritually clean, we have only to keep the lower, the
outward principles of the mind clean, to. be " clean
every whit." For it is through the lower principles of
our nature that temptations enter, and defile us. Keep
this principle pure ; guard well this avenue to tempta
tion ; keep this door well watched, with the blood of
the Lord, or truth of the Word upon its lintel and
there is no danger. But, without the spiritual sense,
what can the words of the Lord to Peter mean ? The
Lord was washing the disciples' feet. "Then cometh
He to Simon Peter : and Peter saith unto Him, Lord,
dost thou wash my feet ? Jesus answered and said
unto him, What I do thou knowest not now."
(John xiii. 6, 7.) Now Peter certainly did know the

78
Lord was washing the natural feet of the disciples.
But he did not know what that act signified. " Peter
saith unto Him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Je
sus answered Him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no
part with me. Simon Peter saith unto Him, Lord,
not my feet only, but also my hands and my head."
(xiii. 8, 9.) Then Jesus informed him the feet were
all that it was necessary to wash, in order to give the
divine instruction conveyed by that act. He wanted
to impress upon the world the great importance of
keeping the outward acts of life clean ; and that they
must wash one another's feet, or aid each other in keep
ing free from outward sins. Who can know, without
the spiritual sense, what the Lord meant by saying,
" He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet,
but is clean every whit" ? For if, after our bodies are
washed clean, we keep our feet clean, that wiH not
keep our bodies clean also. Let us then, while we have
the spiritual sense, faithfuUy follow its instructions,
and keep the hand and foot from offending : thus shall
we be prepared to enter into Hfe.
The eye denotes the understanding. For the eye to
offend, is to tell falsehoods and- to embrace falsities as
truths. To pluck the eye out and cast it from us, is
to cease to deceive and to stop trying to reason from
fallacies, and to seek for light upon a rational basis
until we can reason from correct principles and true
doctrines. When we deal in falsehoods, our eye or un
derstanding offends against God, against our neighbor
and the laws of our own peace. We must pluck out
that false eye by ceasing to deceive, until we love to
think and speak from plain truth. And as to its being

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 79
better to enter into life halt or maimed, or with one
eye, rather than having two hands, feet or eyes, to be
cast into hell-fire ; that means that it is better to be
good and happy here and hereafter in simple truth and
virtue, though we cannot know everything and have
all power, rather than, by being wise in our own eyes,
esteeming ourselves great, and worthy of great power
and dominion, we still remain in the love of self, and
cast ourselves, with all our boasted wisdom and power,
into the fires of envy, jealousy, and malice, and all the
attendant miseries of selfishness. The selfish man would
think himself spiritually maimed, if his overbearing
powers were curtailed. He would think himself halt,
if his feet were restrained from their wonted paths of
vice. And he would think himself half blind, if not
allowed to reason falsely and deceive his neighbors.
And the Lord would teach him, by this scripture, that
it is better to be happy in what he imagines would be
a cramped, mutilated, and imperfect condition, rather
than be miserable, in the full possession and indulgence
of all his selfish powers and wants. In another view,
we may see, that we cannot enter heaven with two
eyes, or rather, two understandings ; one dealing in
falsities and the other in truths. We cannot go there
double-minded, serving two masters. We must have
an eye single to the Lord or the truth. Nor can we go
there with two hands, or rather, opposite powers of the
mind ; one exercised in things evil and the other in
things good : nor with two feet, or rather, external op
posing natural principles of the mind, one indulging in
vices and the other in virtues. We can only go there

80 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
in singleness of heart, mind and action, led and gov
erned by the Lord. But our spiritual bodies there will
be perfect, with eyes, hands, and feet. The cutting of
the material body to pieces does not touch the organic
structure of the spiritual body. He who loses a limb
or an eye, in this world, will not be destitute in the next.
Thus does the Law of Analogy render clear and
beautiful, the darkest passages of the Holy Word, and
also bring to view new and heavenly light in the most
simple and plain portions. We might go on and fill
volumes with these illustrations. In fact, I have but
slightly touched the spiritual sense of the scripture ci
ted ; hinting only at the simplest and plainest corre
spondences. Much deeper and more wonderful Hght
may be drawn from every passage than we have at
tempted to evolve. For it is a fountain of infinite
Wisdom, known in its fullness only to the most high
God ; and yet so wisely adapted to men that they can
rationally commence the study in the mere twilight of
the science ; and pursue a path which will grow bright
er and brighter to the perfect day. And how emphati
cally does aU this prove to us that the Law of Life
between God, man, and nature, is the sure law of
analogy, in which God speaks to us in both His Word
and His works ! For we thereby receive His love and
wisdom — the great elements of eternal life — through a
rational knowledge and love of the -Divine qualities,
given in His language ; and which are, in themselves,
the life of angels, men and things. Let us then care-
fuUy study the sacred Word, as God's first and highest
gift to man, as the true medium of eternal light and
life to the human soul.

CHAPTER V.
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
" And, thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God ; Speak unto
every feathered fowl, and to every beast of the field. Assemble
yourselves, and come ; gather yourselves on every side to my sac
rifice that I do sacrifice 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, of bullocks, all
of them fatlings of Bashan. And ye shall eat fat till ye be full, and
drink blood till ye be drunken, of my sacrifice which I have sac
rificed for you. Thus ye shall be filled at my table with horses
and chariots, with mighty men, and withall men of war, saith the
Lord God.'; (Ezek. xxxix. 17-20.)
Our present subject is the correspondence of animals-
and birds to things of the mind, and the use made of
them in the Holy Word. And now, let any intelligent
person, who has never thought upon the subject, be
told that the visible universe corresponds to the human
mind, that there is nothing in nature which does not,
from its quality and use, denote some principle and
quality of the soul of man, let him admit this, and
then go rationally and carefully into the examination
of nature, for the purpose of finding out what things
4*

82 BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
there, most expressively symbolize human thoughts ;
and after closely investigating the nature of the vast
variety of mundane things, in comparison with human
qualities, he will come, most deliberately and decided
ly, to the conviction that the birds much more fuHy
and emphatically express man's thoughts, than any
other species of things. And for a symbol of human
affections, he wiU select, with the most definite decision,
the beast. And the more closely he studies the char
acter and qualities of the various animals and birds,
in connection with his own feelings and thoughts, the
more strongly will he become confirmed in the beHef
that there must be some analogical law or connection
between the human mind and these creatures. For he
will find no quality of the human affections or thoughts
which he does not see manifested, to the very life, in
the beasts and birds.
Every variety of quality will be there seen, from the
most gentle, peaceful, pure, innocent, harmless and af
fectionate, to the most treacherous, filthy, deceitful,
subtle, revengeful, quarrelsome and barbarous. Every
shade and tint of man's affections will be found in the
beasts, and of his thoughts, in the birds. And he wiH
then see, why the Lord in His Word, is so often bring
ing forward the beasts and birds to describe the states
and qualities of men. He will understand why Herod
was called a fox, Dan a lion's whelp or an adder in the
path ; and also why the Lord says, " The wolf shaU
dweH with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down
with the kid : and the calf and the young Hon and the
fatling together ; and a little child shall lead them.

BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 83
And the cow and the bear shall feed : their young ones
shall lie down together : and the lion shall eat straw
like the ox." (Is. xi. 6, 7.) He will see by all such
language, a beautiful description of the state of the
regenerate mind, when all the various feelings of the
soul, denoted by the different beasts, are in harmony
and love ; when the strong lion and leopard of the
mind, are filled with the spirit of mercy and truth,
and are faithfully protecting the lambs and kids of
innocence and virtue, from all harm, and even lying
down in their embrace.
He will understand what is meant, in the Word, by
the beasts before the throne of God full of eyes before
and behind. For as eyes denote the understanding,
he will see that it is the affections of man filled with
wisdom concerning things future and past. He will
also see why it is written that the animals give glory
and honor and thanksgiving to the Lord ; why the
animals say, Amen ; why, when the Lord opened the
first seal it was a beast that said, " Come and see ; "
and also, why the beasts fell down and worshipped
God, saying, " Amen ; Alleluia." He will see that
the human heart — the soul's affections — are what is
meant by beasts ; that it is men and not animals that
do these things.
But the novitiate may ask why the birds do not also
correspond to the affections, and the beasts to the
thoughts, since they both think and feel ? We an
swer, They do, to a certain extent ; because thought
and affection in man cannot be separated. But to
find the full specific difference between the correspond-

84 BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
ence of beasts and that of birds, to the things of the
mind, we must look at the different localities, habits
and uses of the two species of creatures ; and also at
the correspondence of those locaHties and habits, to
things of the mind. And here we shall find, that the
ground, upon which the animals live and walk, and
which is dark and opaque, corresponds to the human
will ; while the atmosphere, where the birds sing and
fly, and which the sun, moon and stars make luminous,
denotes the understanding where the light of truth is
seen. Then, when we see that the affections, to which
beasts correspond, are things of the will, to which the
ground corresponds ; and that thoughts, to which the
birds correspond, are things of the understanding, to
which the atmosphere or firmament corresponds, the
question will be settled.
That the ground does correspond to the wiU, and the
atmosphere to the understanding, may be seen, among
many other reasons, from the fact, that as truth can
not come into the will but through the understanding,
so, neither can light, the correspondent of truth, come
to the earth but through the atmosphere. And what
is definite in this argument, is, that in the history of
the creation, in Genesis, the earth, which denotes the
ground of the will, brought forth the beasts ; while
water, which denotes truth in the understanding,
brought forth the birds. Now, beasts crawl or run on
the earth : so move the affections in the will. But
birds fly and soar aloft above the earth ; so move the
thoughts in the understanding.
Let us now turn our attention more particularly to

BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 85
the correspondences of birds. And are they not strik.
ing symbols of thoughts ? How, like the thoughts,
they flit about from tree to tree, and object to object,
now rising toward heaven and now sinking to earth.
One bird meets the eye and is gone. We know not
whence he came, nor where he went. How like the
coming and going thought ! Another appears dressed
in beauty. 'Tis like the poet's gilded thought, flying
to perch in the verse of fame or affection. Another
bird soars, in the morning, on the wings of joy, singing
praises to the source of day. It is the grateful Chris
tian's thought, ascending to heaven in the morning
anthem. Some birds descend to the earth to feed upon filth.
They are the dissolute thoughts of the grovelling mind
indulging in sin. Some are birds of night which can
not bear the light of day. They are the hidden
thoughts of the thievish soul, afraid to appear before
the eyes of men. Some birds are fierce and cruel,
armed with beaks and claws for destruction. They
are the malicious murderer's thoughts, seeking carnage
and gain. Other birds are as gentle and harmless as
the breath of heaven, and as joyous as the music of
spring. They are the thoughts of sweet and innocent
children, sporting 'mid sunshine and flowers. Some
birds, in their union, are as affectionate and as constant
to each other as mercy and truth. They are the conju-
gial thoughts of faithful souls, which no powers can
sever, nor adversities weaken. Some birds are as black
as darkness, and others as white as the light, while
others are mixed with black and white. How per-

86 BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
fectly they symbolize, in color, the false, the true, and
the adulterated thoughts of men !
Birds are indeed, most true and perfect representa
tives of thoughts, and throughout the Holy Word,
they always denote something of the rational or intel
lectual element. It is remarkable that almost everye
where, in the Word, where birds are mentioned, some
other meaning than the Hteral sense must be given
them before the mind can be satisfied. If we go to
the first chapter of Genesis, the very first place where
"winged fowl" are mentioned, we are confounded
with the idea that the birds were made of water. And
we ask if, by any chemical process, they can be reduced
to water ? And science answers, No. We ask if
their substances have not been changed ? And the
Law answers, Everything must bring forth after its
kind. The question then arises, Why is it written
that the waters brought forth the birds, and the earth
the animals ? But this question can never be answer
ed, without the science of correspondences. But when
we see that it is a spiritual history and that water,
there, corresponds to truth and birds to thoughts, all
is light : the mystery is fled. For we see that all the
thoughts of the people, before the fall, to which birds
correspond, must have been true, for the truths of the
Lord brought them forth. And we also see that aU
the affections, to which the animals correspond, must
have been good ; for the will or goodness of God, to
which the land corresponds, brought them forth. And
as beasts and birds are there used merely for the sake
of the spiritual sense, all is rational and clear.

BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 87
Now, without knowing the correspondence of birds;
we cannot know what is meant by its being said in Jer
emiah, when prophesying of the coming of the Lord
in the flesh (chap. iv. 25), " All the birds of heaven
were fled." We are nowhere informed that, at the
Lord's first coming, there were not as many birds on
the earth as usual. But we know that heavenly
thoughts had passed away from the Jewish Church ;
we know those birds of heaven had fled. And there
fore, by correspondence, we can understand what is
meant. Again, in Isaiah, our Lord says, " As birds
flying, so wiU I defend Jerusalem." In the literal sense
of this passage we get nothing ; but, in the spiritual
sense, we have a general or universal truth. For the
Lord never defends a church, or an individual, but
as birds flying. It is only by the influx of true
thoughts, from the Lord, as birds flying, that we can
obtain any true knowledge of the Lord, have true faith,
see the way of life, and .make a successful defence
against our evils. This is the only way the Lord can
defend Jerusalem or the Church. When the church
in ourselves or in the community is in danger, we must
have true thoughts, and we must let them fly from
mind to mind, or the church wiU not be defended.
For the Lord expressly says, "As birds flying, so will
I defend Jerusalem."
And in Jeremiah, 'our Lord, in speaking of the
people of His church, says, "Asa cage is full of birds,
so are their houses full of deceit." Now what simi
larity can there be between the deceit of the human
mind and a cage full of birds, upon which, even an

00 BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
apology for a metaphor can be founded ? Not any.
No good sense can be drawn from it, unless we attach
a quality to the birds of a deceitful character. But if
birds mean thoughts, all is consistent. For thoughts
are often deceitful ; and their houses would be filled
with deceit as a cage or mind is filled with false
thoughts. Again, in Jeremiah, the Lord says, of the people,
" How long shaU the land mourn, . . . for the wicked
ness of them that dweU therein ? the beasts are con
sumed, and the birds." (xii. 4.) Now, if, by this pas
sage we understand, by land the good ground of the
heart, by beasts the affections, and by birds the
thoughts, we shall see the propriety and the use of
the teaching. For this was actually the state of the
Jewish Church — " the beasts were consumed, and the
birds," i. e., good affections and true thoughts were
gone or destroyed. But the natural beasts and birds
were aH on the earth as usual.
And the Lord again says, by the same prophet,
" Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird ; the
birds round about are against her." (xii. 9.) Now,
why is the church here compared to a speckled bird ?
Is not a speckled bird as good as any other ? And,
why is it said that the other birds are against the
speckled one ? Do the birds of this world fight the
speckled ones more than others <? It is impossible to
draw any rational instruction from this passage with
out coming to the spiritual sense. But all is clear if
we call the speckled bird an adulterated state of the
mind, by mixing up truths and falsities together ; the

BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 89
white spots indicating truths, and the black ones falsi
ties, so that the thoughts are presented, partly true
and partly false — a speckled bird. True thoughts
would then be against her on account of her falsities ;
and false ones, on account of her truths — the birds
round about would be against her. A church, or a
professed Christian, must be true, or the people round
about, or out of the church, will condemn him — the
community will be against a speckled bird.
In Revelation, speaking of the church as a city, or
rather, as to doctrines, it says, " Babylon the great is
fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils,
and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every
unclean and hateful bird." (xvfii. 2.) Here is de
scribed a fallen and depraved state of the mind. Devils
and foul spirits belong to minds and to false doc
trines, not to natural cities. And there too dwell all
unclean and hateful thoughts, not natural birds. How
true it is that a fallen and corrupt mind is a cage of
such birds !
In the 39th chapter of Ezekiel we have the strange
words of our text. " And thou son of man, thus saith
the Lord God ; speak unto every feathered fowl, and to
every beast of the field, Assemble yourselves, and come ;
gather yourselves on every side to my sacrifice that I
do sacrifice 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, of bullocks, all of them fatlings of Bashan.
Thus ye shall be filled at my table with

90 BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
horses and chariots, with mighty men, and with all
men of war, saith the Lord God." Now, whoever
looks into this wonderful passage of Holy Writ, and
believes it to be the Word of God to man, and " prof
itable for doctrine," must come to the conclusion that
God either has given, or will yet give to man, some rule
or law other than the literal meaning, by which its true
signification may be understood. If he has not come
to this conclusion, he is in doubt about its ever being
understood, with any degree of certainty, or even of its
being the Word of God at all. If any one does not be
lieve what I say, let him faithfully examine the passage
without the aid of correspondences, and see if I have
not met his case.
A person may give his assent to a thing without
weighing it, and think he believes, when he really
knows nothing about it. No faith is worthy the name
where the believer does not rationaHy see something of
the truth of what he believes. And all who are ac
quainted with the science of correspondences, well know,
that the above quotation from Ezekiel cannot be un
derstood without the light of that science. What sort
of chariots can they be which every feathered fowl and
every beast of the field are to be filled with at this
feast ? By what rule of metaphor can be drawn any
rational conclusions from the declaration that the beasts
and birds, by eating the flesh of the mighty, and drink
ing the blood of the princes of the earth, of rams, of
lambs, of goats and of bullocks, will thereby be filled,
at the Lord's table, with horses and chariots, with
mighty men and all men of war ? But when the cor-

BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 91
i
respondences of beasts and birds, horses and chariots,
flesh and blood, princes and mighty men, and rams,
lambs, goats, and bullocks, are seen, then the passage
becomes divine Scripture, profitable for doctrine.
This passage treats, prophetically, of the estab
lishment of the church in the mind of man, by the
Lord, at His second coming. The assembling together
of every feathered fowl, and every beast of the field,
means, the bringing of all the thoughts and affections
into harmonious contemplation of the Holy Word and
of the Lord's will ; and by eating flesh and drinking
blood, means for these thoughts and affections to ap
propriate to themselves divine good and divine truth ;
for flesh signifies good and blood truth. Chariots de
note doctrines, and horses, the understanding of doc
trines ; so that to be fiUed with horses and chariots, is
to understand and receive the doctrines. The flesh and
blood of princes and mighty men, and of rams and
lambs, and goats and bullocks mean, goods and truths
from the Lord through others ; for these beasts denote
good affections. We receive goods and truths through
each other. When persons love these goods and truths
and love each other, they give and receive these heavenly
blessings. The rams and lambs, and goats and bul
locks, mean the various good affections of the people,
through which they impart to each other the goodness
and truth of the Lord.
How beautifully and forcibly are we here called upon,
by the Lord, to call together at His Holy supper, or
whenever we come into social worship, all our affections
and thoughts, or beast and birds, that they may feast

92 BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
upon the goods and truths of heaven, the flesh and
blood for our souls, freely imparted from heart to heart
and from mind to mind, until our understandings are
filled with the heavenly doctrines, or with horses and
chariots ; and our hearts overflow with love and good
will. In this blessed way the whole beclouded book of
Ezekiel becomes, by this divine science, a free and open
fountain of living water — a river flowing from the
throne of Jehovah — a city whose gates are ever open,
emitting a light and heat which reach both the head
and the heart.
That chariots denote doctrines, a little fair exami
nation must convince any one. In the Psalms we have
this apparently strange expression : "At thy rebuke,
0 God of Jacob, both the chariot and horse are cast
into a dead sleep." (lxxvi. 6.) Now, that a chariot
could not be put to sleep, is certain. But, that doc
trines could become passive in man's mind, and even
pass into forgetfulness, is also certain. And in our
text it is seen that birds and beasts could not be filled
with chariots ; but that thoughts and affections can be
filled with doctrines.
We read of chariots of fire, but we can have no ra
tional idea of such things, Hterally. But when we
know that chariot means doctrines, and fire love, we
have something for the mind to feed upon. For the
doctrine of love or of life, is a heavenly doctrine. And
by this knowledge we can see why it was that Elijah
and Elisha were called the chariots of Israel and the
horsemen thereof. For they who have the doctrines of
the church in their understandings and live them, are

BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 93
mentally, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen there
of. It is because Elisha loved the doctrines of the Holy
Word and had them in his understanding that there
were seen a chariot and horses of fire when Elijah went
up by a whirlwind. For chariot of fire means doc
trine of love. Were we progressing rapidly toward
the heavenly state, by the doctrines of love to God and
the neighbor, our spiritual state would correspond to
chariots of fire. And the laws of the spiritual world
are such that a person, with his spiritual eyes opened,
would behold the state of our mind, by seeing near us,
chariots of fire.
This was what the young man, mentioned in 2
Kings, saw, where it is written, " 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." (vi.
17.) Otherwise, what does this passage mean ? Could
there be such things as horses and chariots of fire in
this world ? Yet, the understanding could be filled
with the doctrines of the Word and they could be ar
dently loved. And that state of mind would correspond
to horses and chariots of fire. I am aware that it
seems very strange to the natural mind that these
states and qualities of the mind fliould be manifested
in form, in the spiritual world. But, how can the
qualities of things be seen without form to manifest
them ?
Everything in the other world is mental. It is a
world of mind — a world of spiritual bodies, and of

94 BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
thoughts and feelings. And if we could not see their
forms, there would be no scenery there. It is the same
world that we have here, only here it is clothed with
matter. Therefore the things here correspond to things
of the mind. Now, that a chariot should be the mani
fest form of doctrine, may be quite rationally seen by
comparative illustration ; but to be truly and clearly
seen, we must behold it in the Hght of correspondence.
To illustrate by comparison : — a chariot is composed
of various parts, harmoniously put together, forming a
whole. Its use is to carry our natural bodies on a nat
ural journey. Doctrines consist of various principles
of truth, all harmoniously arranged, for the rational
conception of the human mind ; calculated to enhght-
en, elevate, and give spiritual progress to the mind
that receives them. Thus they constitute a spiritual
chariot. To behold this chariot, is to see the doc
trines ; to get into it, is to love them ; and to ride in
it, is to live them. And as we ride on, the chariot it
self becomes more and more beautiful, presenting new
combinations and arrangements of principles and parts,
making it more and more perfect and heavenly. For
the deeper and more hidden excellencies of its internal
qualities are constantly presenting themselves. We
are struck with the beauty of the leading outHnes of
this chariot, when we first get a fair view of the Trini
ty, Atonement, Fall, regeneration, resurrection, judg
ment, &c. Every part is so perfectly fitted to the
others. All is symmetry and harmony. We know
that this chariot will run well : for the truths are seen
by their own light, and become self-evidently true.

BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 95
Now, the Lord is often said, in the Word, to ride in
chariots. But, who can know what it means, unless
he knows that chariots mean doctrines ? If he knows
this he has something tangible and definite in the in
struction. For he can see that the Lord can come to
us in doctrines. And he may know that He does so
come. When we behold the doctrines of the New
Church from an affection for them, they become to us
fixed and eternal verities. They are seen in their own
Hght, and become the indisputable evidence of their
own truth, because they are felt as weH as seen to be
true. Therefore they become a chariot that we feel
safe to ride in. We are not afraid of losing a wheel,
nor of being upset or thrown over a precipice in the
end. And if our horses are weH trained and governed ;
that is, if our understanding of the doctrines be clear ;
and we keep the bit well watched, or keep the under
standing from breaking over the rules of the Holy City
and running wild, our journey to the promised land, in
this chariot, will be not only safe but highly de
lightful. In the 7th verse of the 20th Psalm we read, " Some
trust in chariots, and some in horses ; but we will re
member the name of the Lord our God." Here, " char
iots " denotes false doctrines, and " horses " self-derived
intelligence. And we must not trust in these; but in the
qualities of the Lord. For name signifies quality; and
God's qualities are goods and truths. For by chariots
are not always meant true doctrines, nor by horses,
truth in the understanding. These, as well as other
things, have their opposite signification. As in Ezek.

96 BIRDS AND ANIMALS.
xxvi. 7, 8, 10, 11, " Behold, I will bring upon Tyrus,
Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, a king of kings, from
the north, with horses, and with chariots, and with
horsemen, and companies, and much people. He shaU
slay with the sword thy daughters in the field : and he
shaU make a fort against thee. ... By reason of the
abundance of his horses their dust shaU cover thee ;
thy walls shall shake at the noise of the horsemen, and
of the wheels, and of the chariots, when he shall enter
into thy gates, as men enter into a city wherein is made a
breach. With the hoofs of his horses will he tread
down all thy streets : he shall slay thy people by the
sword, and thy strong garrisons shall go down to the
ground." Here we have a prophecy of the destruction
of the church, or of the principles of good and truth in
the people. The king of Babylon is falsehood in do
minion : his chariots and horses are false doctrines in
the understanding. The north, from which he comes,
is darkness. Daughters mean good principles ; and
the field means the affections or wiH. So that, to slay
the daughters of the field, is to destroy the good quah-
ties of the mind. The walls, which are shaken and the
garrisons thrown down, are the doctrines destroyed.
The sword which he uses is falsehood against the truth.
The dust with which he covers the people, is the low
est and most external naturalism.
What a Fountain of wisdom we have before us, in
the Holy Word, as opened by correspondences ! Let
us not despair because it is infinite, nor because we can
not comprehend more of it at once. Think of how
much more we know, than we did before we saw this

BIRDS AND ANIMALS. 97
light. And remember that the Teacher is infinite.
Jesus will ever help us in the study of His Word if we
look to Him. It is truly He that opens the book, for
a clear and satisfactory vision.
First ; we have the light of the science of Theology
presented to our natural reason, so that we begin to see
its philosophy by a new and heavenly law. If we ap
ply it to our hearts, in obedience to the truth, the
books of our own understandings will be opened by the
spirit of Jesus : all doubts will flee away, and we shall
go on the heavenly way together rejoicing, in new light
and new Hfe. Every day will bring us something new,
and a new appetite to enjoy it. Love growing warmer,
friendships stronger, the Lord more lovely and heaven
more bright, 5

CHAPTER VI.
THE SYMBOLIC MEANING AND USE OF HORSES.
" And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse ; and He
that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteous
ness he doth judge and make war. And the armies which were
in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean." — Rev. xix. 11, 14.
What a scene for heaven ! The Most High God,
the Creator of the universe, marshaHed at the head of
mighty armies, aU upon snow-white horses, and clothed
in fine linen, white and clean : and this Infinite Com
mander, leading the countless hosts to battle ; with a
sharp sword going out of His mouth ; His eyes as a
flame of fire, and His head surmounted with crowns
upon crowns, many in number; with the significant
motto upon his vesture and thigh, KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OF LORDS ! What a scene of sub
limity ! How awfully grand and exciting even to
natural thought ! But we are not enough awake to
truly imagine its grandeur. Could we peer, with our
natural vision, into the open firmament and behold
such a scene, how utterly we should be lost in wonder
and dismay ! Such a magnificent army of horsemen,

HORSES. 99
with an Almighty Commander, all upon such proud,
white steeds, rushing through the vaulted skies to
battle, would be completely overwhelming to every
earthly beholder !
Yet this is the plain literal description, given in the
sublime language of Jehovah, of a spiritual scene which
we may all realize and enjoy. A scene which will
prove equally wonderful and captivating to our souls ;
for it wiU open our minds to a clear understanding of
the nature of this divine warfare, present us with beau
tiful white horses, enable us to join the mighty armies
of heaven, and to follow the Great Commander on to
victory and glory. But as it is a spiritual scene, he
who would behold it, must find it in the human mind.
The heaven which John saw opened, and where he be
held these wonders, was that heaven which " cometh
not with observation," it is not " Lo, here, nor lo,
there," but within the human mind.
Let us then turn our thoughts inward to the proper
field of action, that we may learn the divine lesson
taught in the text ; and join the armies of heaven ; and
fight the battles of Jehovah, like faithful soldiers of
the cross. But how can we learn this divine lesson ?
We must learn it, in humble dependence upon the
Lord, through the light of the divine Truth ; by look
ing through the natural symbols of the Word, up to
the spiritual realities ; remembering that " the invis
ible things of God from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are
made." But, what invisible things can we behold in
the human mind through the symbol of a white horse ?

100 HORSES.
In that symbol, we may see represented, the truth of-
the Word in man's understanding. How can we know,
beyond a doubt, that a white horse denotes the under
standing of the truth ? We may know it from the
study of the symbols of the Holy Word ; for therein
God clearly teaches it by correspondence.
The Book of Nature and the Holy Word are God's
two great books. Both speak the same language — the
language of divine and human thoughts and feelings.
But man's words, in this age are arbitrary signs of ideas.
We must first learn their definitions, and keep them in
the memory, before we can know what ideas they sig
nify. But God's words contain their definitions in
their qualities. And we should see them there if we
were spiritually minded. Words are called signs of
ideas. Now, all the things of nature are signs of
ideas. They are living signs of living ideas, and they
must bespeak, by their Hfe and quality, the ideas
which formed them and which constantly give them
life and character. Indeed, there can be no other pure
language — no other fuU and perfect signs of ideas — no
other certain expression of the various qualities of
human souls, than the symbols of nature. For the
human mind constantly receives Hfe from the Lord, and
that life flows down through man into nature, carrying
with it the qualities of the human passions and propen-
ities ; and thus making nature, at all times, a symbol
of humanity as it is.
Now, all language was drawn from the things of
nature. " There is no speech nor language where
their voice is not heard." But men have perverted

HORSES. 101
and corrupted the true language, in thousands of ways,
until they have lost sight of the real symbol, and see
not the law of correspondences. They know not that
the human mind is perfectly symbolized in nature, and
that our thoughts and feelings, and all the various
qualities of our souls, can be accurately described in
no other language ; and that the language of the Holy
Word is, therefore, written in the speech of nature, by
a universal law; and could be perfect and divine in no
other language. Did the world see this, the ten
thousand apparently strange and mysterious things of
the Word, would soon lose their mystery, and open
their heavenly treasures of light and life, to the souls
of men. Then men would look into nature's signifi
cant mirror for a view of their mental qualities. And
they would there behold
Their Thoughts symbolized in the Birds,
" Innocence " " " Lambs,
" Watchfulness and Combativeness in the Dogs,
" Selfishness and Indolence " " Hogs,
" Slyness and Artifice " " Foxes,
" Malice and Cruelty " " Wolves,
" Subtleness and Sensuality in the Serpents, and
" Understanding of Knowledge in the Horses.
And so they might go on with their investigations,
until they gained full possession of the lost key of
analogy, which unlocks the divine casket of heavenly
wisdom, and opens to the human mind, the spiritual
truths of the Holy Word, in great glory and beauty.
But in this discourse we must inquire particularly

102 HORSES.
into the correspondence and use of the horse, in the
Divine Word. The Holy Word speaks much of horses,
where every one must see that it cannot mean natural
horses ; but must, in the divine language, mean some
thing of the human mind. Now, if we whl only ad
mit that the term horse means the understanding of
knowledge, and read the Word with that idea in the
mind, connected with other correspondences, all the
strange passages of the Word, where the term horse is
used, will be rationally understood. But if we should
adopt any other signification, the passages could not
be understood. We could make nothing out of them.
The Word speaks of horses and their riders. The
horses signify knowledge in the understanding, or
the understanding of things, whether true or false.
The riders are the persons themselves, who have this
understanding and knowledge. If I have the truth in
my understanding, my knowledge or understanding of
that truth performs the same uses for my mind, that a
horse does for my body. For by the knowledge of that
truth, my mind travels or advances. If it be scientific
truth, it carries me on in science. If it be spiritual
truth, it takes me on my spiritual journey, as a horse
takes me on a natural journey. By the divine truth
in our understanding, we perform the heavenly jour
ney, passing around the mountains of sin, through the
valleys of humility and repentance, along the streams
of science, over the hills of charity and kindness, drink
ing at every crystal fountain of wisdom, avoiding the
bogs and marshes of iniquity, and the thorny jungles
of vice ; crossing the pleasant plains of peace and

HORSES. 103
plenty, till we find our heavenly home in the top of
the Mountain of the Lord, or in love to God and the
neighbor. Without the understanding of divine truth, we could
not possibly make spiritual progress. We rest and
rely upon the understanding and power of the truth as
we rest and rely upon the ability and strength of our
horse ; and there is a perfect correspondence between
them. For the natural purposes, for which we use the
horse, are perfectly analogous to the spiritual purposes
for which we use our knowledge of the truth.
Now, if, instead of the truth, our understanding be
•filled with false, absurd, and evil views, it will be like
a wild, frantic, ungovernable horse, leaping all the
fences or rules of law and order, starting at every new
object, getting into mud and mire, and often jeopard
izing our life on the way. A man with such a mind
needs to keep a strong bit and a straight rein over his
headstrong understanding, or it will surely run away
with him, and throw him among the rocks of error, on
the wayside of destruction, or down the precipice of
vice. Now, all the qualities of the horse prove the truth
of this correspondence. His strength denotes the
powers of our intellect ; his speed, the activity of our
thought ; his great memory, our powers of recollection ;
and, his sagacity, our quickness of perception.
But now, to the law and the testimony for the proof
of these things. The Lord, in prophesying of the
future dark state of the church, says, through Zech.
xii. 4, " In that day, saith the Lord, I will smite

104 HORSES.
every horse with astonishment, and his rider with mad
ness : and I will open mine eyes upon the house of
Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with
blindness." This prophecy has reference to the state
of the Jewish church when the Lord should come in
the flesh. Now, this prophecy is fulfilled; and we
know that every natural horse was not smitten with
astonishment and blindness ; while we, at the same
time, know that the understandings of the Jews be
came astonished, and were blind to the truths of the
gospel ; and that they remain so to this day.
Again, it is declared in Genesis xlix. 17, " Dan
shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path,
that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall
backward." Now, aH see at once, that this can have
no reference whatever to a natural serpent or horse.
But we may also see that the debasing principle in man,
to which the serpent corresponds, would, by its poison
ous bite, soon sicken and destroy the understanding of
truth, to which the horse corresponds, and prostrate
the rider in sin.
In Habakkuk (iii. 8, 15) it is written, " Thou
[Lord] didst ride upon thine horses, thy chariots of
salvation. Thou didst walk through the sea with
thine horses." Now, all know tliat the Lord does not
ride through space on natural horses, nor in chariots,
nor in the natural sea. For He is the Omnipresent
God — everywhere at all times. But if the sea denotes
man's knowledge ; horses his understanding ; chariots
doctrines ; and the Lord, the Word of truth, the
passage becomes exceedingly beautiful and instructive.

HORSES. 105
For, with the Lord as the divine truth, in the under
standing, we can ride through the sea of our memory,
examine all the qualities of our knowledge, and make
that sea give up its dead ; or cast away all its false
and evil principles. Thus the Lord, as the Truth,
rides on the horses of men's understanding, or enables
them to progress in wisdom and goodness. And so it
is that the Lord rides in the chariots of salvation, or
in the doctrines of the Word. For the Lord is the
Truth of those doctrines. And men's understandings
of that truth are the horses of those chariots. And
those who love and daily live in obedience to those
heavenly doctrines, through the truth of them in the
understanding, are riding with the Lord, in the char
iots of salvation. They are progressing heavenward
with the Word of Truth. Thus, the darkness of the
letter is everywhere made luminous by the brightness
of the spirit.
Who can tell, from the literal sense, why Elijah
and Elisha were called the chariots of Israel and the
horsemen thereof. (2 Kings ii. 12 ; xiii. 14.) And
yet, the doctrines and truths of the Word, in their
understandings, as prophets of the Lord, would make
them, spiritually speaking, the chariots of Israel and
the horsemen thereof. The Lord in Psalms is said to
make the clouds his chariot. This is because, by the
doctrines of the literal sense in the understanding, man
makes spiritual progress, when he looks to the Lord to
curb and guide that understanding in the use of that
Word of Truth.
In Psalm lxxvi. 6, we have this apparently strange
5*

106 HORSES.
expression : "At thy rebuke, 0 God of Jacob, both
the chariot and horse are cast into a dead sleep."
We, of course know that there can be no such thing
as the waking or sleeping of a natural chariot. But
if we have false views and false doctrines in our un
derstandings, our mental horse and chariot need the
rebuke of the Lord. And if we yield to that rebuke,
they will be cast into a dead sleep, and laid aside as
useless. Now the Word speaks of white horses, red horses,
black horses and pale horses. But the color of the
horse always denotes the quality of the knowledge in
the understanding. A white horse signifies true knowl
edge, or truth in the understanding, because white
denotes truth. A black horse signifies false knowl
edge, or falsehood in the understanding, because black
denotes falsehood. A red horse in a bad sense, signi
fies guilty knowledge, or crime and evfl in the under
standing, because red in a bad sense, denotes sins. A
pale horse signifies lifeless knowledge in the under
standing, or knowledge having no strength or power
of good, because paleness denotes sickness or death.
Now, all these kinds of horses are mentioned in the
Word, where they can in no light whatever, mean
natural horses. For these four horses are mentioned
in the sixth chapter of Revelation, as coming out of
the Book when the seals were opened by the Lord.
And though this prophecy relates to the last judgment
in the spiritual world ; yet, let us apply it to our
selves individually, for aU Scripture is applicable to
individuals.

HORSES. 107
Now, the books which are opened at the Lord's
second coming, are nothing else than the Holy Word
and the books of Ufa in human minds. The under
standings of men are opened to the reception of the
light of the spiritual sense of the Word. The under
standing of this sense is really the white horse seen in
the book of the human mind. This sense in the
mind, is the Lord on a white horse ; or, in other words,
it is the spiritual truth of the Word in the under
standing, coming to judgment. This white horse is
seen at the breaking of the first seal, or when our
mind first begins to receive, by correspondence, the
spiritual sense of the Word in a rational light. Then,
our understanding of the spiritual truth is the white
horse. The new truth looks pure, white, glorious to
us. And we behold the heavenly doctrines with great
joy and delight. And we feel as though heaven were
indeed near to us.
But we have only been gazing outwardly at the
glory and beauty of the truths ; and have not yet
looked, by their light, in upon our evils. And the
Lord now opens His Word still further to our mind,
which opens the second seal of our book of life, and we
begin to look into ourselves, in judgment ; and what
do we see ? Alas ! a red horse ! Our understanding
is now fined with a view of our own evils. Our sins
are before us, red as crimson. But the rider on the
white horse, who entered our mind at the opening of
the first seal, had a bow, which denotes power : and
a crown was given Him, which denotes victory and
dominion : and He went forth conquering and to con-

108 HORSES.
quer. Thus we have a bow and a crown offered to us
by this heavenly truth, which means that the Lord
will give us power to gain dominion over our evils.
For the Lord Himself is with us, with the crown of
His wisdom and the bow of His might. And, not
withstanding the formidable appearance of the red
horse and his mighty rider, with his great sword,' and
power to take peace from the earth ; yet we can, with
our white horse, ride on, conquering and to conquer :
we can overcome every evil.
Then another seal of our book of life is opened ; and,
as we look in, behold a black horse presents himself,
with a rider having a pair of balances in his hand. Our
understanding is now filled with a view of our falses.
By the spiritual light, we see our own selfish proprium,
separate from what God gives us, and it is all deceit-
fulness and untruth — black with dissimulation. We
even see a pair of balances in our hand, which we are
holding out to make the world beheve we are honest
and just. But, in our dependence upon the Lord, we
can surely rout the black horse and his rider ; or the
falsehoods and powers of the natural man ; but we
must see that they hurt not the oil and the wine, or
things good and true.
And the fourth seal of our book of life is opened, and
as we survey our selfhood closely, by the divine light,
we behold a pale horse, whose rider is death ; and hell
follows with him. It is a sad picture. Thus the book
is opened gradually. We are not permitted to see our
selves all at once. Here, at the opening of this seal,
we are brought to see ourselves as dead in trespasses

HORSES. 109
and sins. As having no good whatever of our own ;
that death and hell are in every unregenerate human
soul ; that everything good and true is of and from
the Lord ; and that we shall receive them, only as we
conquer and overcome our evils, by new life from the
Lord, in obedience to His Word.
Thus the Lord, as the divine Truth of the Word in
its spiritual sense, is coming to judgment. He comes
with the law of analogy and the philosophy of life ; and
with them He opens the seals of our understanding and
presents, to the free inquiring mind, a rational view of
human nature, at this age of the world, in all its evils
and falses. And how graphic the description 'and hu
miliating the scene ! How it tries the heart and the
reins, as we see and feel the force of its truth ! And
yet, he who sees and feels it, is ready to say, "Even
so, come Lord Jesus :" for he sees his selfishness, and
feels his dependence.
And how orderly the book is opened ! After the
reception of the White Horse, or when we have seen,
by the spiritual truth of the Word, a glimpse of its
glorious doctrines, and commence looking into our
selves ; we first, by that light, behold our evils and
their powers, expressed by a red horse and his rider ;
next, our falses and their powers, by a black horse and
his rider ; and then, our state of death and hell, by a
pale horse and his rider. In the red and black horses,
we see great strength and power. We see depicted all
the energy and force of the hells. While in the pale
horse, we see our own weakness and entire inability.
Now as the pale horse comes after the red and black

110 HORSES.
ones, we are further taught that spiritual death and
hell are produced by the exercise of evfl affections and
false thoughts ; and. that, consequently, life and heaven
can be given, only in the exercise of good affections and
true thoughts. And that these can be received from
the Lord, only as we ride the white horse with the bow
of the Holy Spirit and the crown of victory ; gSing
forth against our evils and falses, conquering and to
conquer ; acknowledging, at the same time, that it is
truly the Lord and His bow and His crown, that gain
the victory.
But dark and depraved as the picture of our soul
appears, we are not to be discouraged. For the open
ing of the fifth seal shows us the good things which the
merciful Lord has stored up and protected within us.
As that seal is opened it is said that we see, under the
altar, the souls of them that were slain for the Word
of God ; and that white robes were given them. Now
what can this mean ? Like aU other things of the
Word, we must look within for them ; for souls are
elements of life given us by God. And when we use
this Scripture, as applied to ourselves individually,
these souls that were slain for the Word of God mean
all the good and kind germs of heaven which were im
planted in us during our infancy and chfldhood ; and
which, though they have been slain and buried by our
disorderly lives, yet, are not destroyed. The merciful
Lord has guarded them. And now the divine goodness
and truth flow down into them, and white robes are
given them. They rise to life and shine with the truth.
Thus all the honest, true, virtuous, and affectionate

HORSES. Ill
principles of our whole Hfe, which have sprung from
these germs, and yet have been lying dormant for want
of light, but which were internally regarded by us, are
now separated from our evils, and raised to light and
life. Nothing good is lost. And we are now enabled
to see, by the heavenly light, that while, in and of our
selves, we are spiritually dead ; yet, that the Lord is
Hght and Hfe for us. That He has freely given to every
one all the germs and elements of heaven. And that
He guards and protects these germs and elements of
heaven with aU care ; but that they can never be de
veloped into a human soul, of angelic form and beauty,
Without our cooperation. That the goats, in us, must
be separated from the sheep, by our free opposition to
them, and be cast out of the fold. And that every
principle which God has given us — all the lambs ofthe
fold — must look to the Good Shepherd for sustenance,
and obey His voice.
And now the sixth seal of our book of life is opened.
And as we look in, we behold, exhibited, our dark re
ligious views before we saw the spiritual light. We
see the false ideas we then had of God ; of the trinity ;
of the faH ; of redemption ; of regeneration ; of resur
rection ; of judgment ; of heaven ; and of hell. We
behold, in the light of heavenly truth, the whole pic
ture in its own dark colors. And we see it to be con
trary to the whole Word of God, in its true literal and
spiritual senses. And it is declared in the prophecy
that, at the beholding of this scene, " there was a great
earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth of
hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of

112 HORSES.
heaven fell." This graphic picture describes the ap
pearance of our former system of faith, as seen in the
light of truth. And we now behold it as without sun,
moon or stars ; entirely destitute of all true light and
life. It trembles and quakes before the light of truth.
And with astonishment, that we ever could have be
lieved it, we roll it together as a scroll, and put it out
of sight. Thus, the imaginary heaven of our former
theology, passes away from our mind, and we turn our
faces, with renewed joy and delight, toward the new
heaven, which God is creating within us ; where all is
light and glorious in the Lord ; and only our remain
ing evils and falses look dark. For we are now closing
and putting by our old book of life, with all that we be
lieved and loved that is false and evil, and retaining all
that is good, and are turning to the new book of love
to God and man. Now, an entirely new theology is
fining our heart and mind. Old things with us are
passing away, and the Lord is making aU things new.
The New Jerusalem is coming down ; and we are pre
paring to join the armies of heaven that foUow the
Lord on white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and
clean. For this great army comprises those who have
the spiritual truth of the Word in then* understand
ings. And their white horses are nothing but the un
derstanding of that truth. And their white clothing
is nothing but the pure, spotless character which their
love and devotion to the truth manifest in their sphere.
Their warfare is against nothing but the evils and
falses which infest humanity, destroying all true peace
and happiness. The horse of their Commander is

HORSES. 113
nothing but their own understanding of the truth of
the Word. It is therefore not a horse out of their
minds, but in them. And the Commander Himself —
the "King of kings and Lord of lords" — is that very
divine truth of the Word. He is, therefore, not their
commander out of them, but in their understandings ;
though He fills the universe.
And the many crowns which He wears are a crown
each, for every mind He enters. And it becomes an
ensign of victory to the man that wears it as he,
through the Lord, conquers the death and hell of his
soul. And the crown itself, is nothing but the domin
ion which truth gains over his evils and falsities. And
the sharp sword, which went out of the Lord's mouth,
is nothing but the divine truth, which He speaks.
But it is indeed a sharp sword against everything im
pure and unholy, going forth for their eternal disper
sion and destruction, from every heart that wields it.
And it is our blessed privilege, in the spiritual light
of the Word which we now have, to make use of this
divine sword as true and faithful soldiers of the cross.
King of kings and Lord of lords therefore means, the
Lord Jesus Christ as the divine truth of the Word,
with power and great glory, coming to establish His
kingdom over all the earth, by entering all human
minds that will receive Him ; presenting them with
the bow of His power and the crown of His might ;
and riding on with them, in their understandings, con
quering and to conquer, until every evil spirit shall be
driven from our earth, and every sinful desire subdued
among all nations and kindreds and tongues and peo-

114 HORSES.
pie : when peace shall rest in every bosom, joy beam
from every face, and plenty crown every board. And
then, in view of the future life, the departure from this
world will be cheerfully welcomed by every individual,
whenever it shaU please the Lord to say to that indi
vidual, Come. Come, my child. Come home to your
Father's house of many mansions. " Thou hast been
faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over
many things : enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
(Matt. xxv. 21.)

CHAPTER VII.
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF TREES.
" The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in
Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife." (2
Kings xiv. 9.)
We speak this evening upon the spiritual meaning
of trees, and their relation to the human mind by cor
respondences. A person who has never examined the
Holy Word with regard to the signification of the trees
and their use in the divine language, would be much
surprised and benefited by a candid and sincere inves
tigation of this subject. How few persons there are,
even of those who read the sacred volume, who are
really aware that the trees are treated of as though
they were rational beings, having understandings and
wills and muscular powers, so that they walk and talk
and laugh and sing and worship and rejoice and clap
their hands ; are sometimes in great happiness, and at
others, in great misery ; now strong, and now weak
even to fainting ; one day in an Eden of glory, and the
next going down to hell.
To those who look not beyond the literal sense ofthe
Word, such things are little noticed when read. The

116 TREES
meaning not being seen, no impression is left on the
mind ; and the reader is hardly sensible that the Word
contains any such ideas. Thus a great portion of the
Holy Word is of but little use to such minds. For
where no rational and practical meaning is seen in the
letter, the deeper and more glorious spirit, the inner
beauty and excellence, must be brought out to view,
or the mind will be left uninterested and uninstructed :
and the sacred Word will lose much of its value and
influence. What can the literalist learn from our text ? He
will say, it is figurative. And there he must stop if
he sees not the law of analogy. He may guess, and
guess again; but he cannot certainly know why the Lord
said, " The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the
cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give thy daughter
to my son to wife ;" for, to know this, he must know
what principles in the mind are meant by the natural
things mentioned.
And so David says in prayer, " Purge me with hyssop
and I shall be clean ;" and we, in our worship repeat
the same prayer. But we are privileged to know, by
the spiritual light of the word, that by hyssop is meant
external truth, which is a means of purification. And
when we say, " Purge me with hyssop," we mean,
Cleanse me with truth. But, without the science of cor
respondences, whose eye beholds this passage and attach
es any positive or certain signification to hyssop ? Yet
how interesting it must be, to one who is thirsting for
the pure water of life, to know definitely what the Lord
means when He speaks. But how can we know th":*

TREES. 117
hyssop denotes natural truth ? If we were far enough
advanced to see the relation between natural things and
.mental, we should know at once. But not having that
knowledge, we must look to the Holy Word and to the
revealed science of correspondences for it. In the first
place we know, by the general law, that as God is Love
and Wisdom ; and that Love and Wisdom are com
posed of goods and truths in infinite variety, forming
a perfect whole ; and as all natural things were created
by, or sprang from that infinite goodness and truth, so
each natural thing must correspond to some truth or
some good either -in true or in inverted order. And as
we further know, that purging or cleansing of the
mind, must be done by truths ; we may therefore see
that as hyssop is always used in the Word for cleans
ing, it must denote natural truth in its cleansing prop
erties. For the various loves of self, from which we
are to be purified, cannot be known but by the light
of natural truth, and therefore cannot be otherwise
removed. For truths cannot be used for cleansing
until they are known : because cleansing is a work
which cannot be done in the dark. We may therefore
see, from the general light before us, that to purge
with hyssop must mean to cleanse with truths. There
fore hyssop is always used, wherever it occurs in the
Word, for cleansing.
Cedar wood and hyssop are sometimes mentioned in
connection, for cleansing, where cedar means internal
or spiritual truths, and hyssop external or natural
truths. That hyssop denotes lower truth and cedar
higher, is evident from 1 Kings iv. 33, where it speaks of

118 TREES.
" trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even
unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall :" thus
embracing the whole range of truths, from spiritual
to natural.
Trees in general, in a good sense, signify the mem
bers of the church, or the church in them, as to intel
ligence from its doctrines, and from the truths of the
Word. Sometimes they denote the good desires men
feel, and the works they perform. In a bad sense, they
signify the opposites of these.
The natural forest has long been admired as an em
blem of the human family. For in the woods, as
among men, are all ages, from the great-great-grand
father down to infancy ; and the prior generations He
scattered on the ground. We behold the beautiful
tree and the ugly, the wholesome and the poisonous, the
perfect and the injured, the fruitful and the barren, the
free and the cross-grained, the smooth and the thorny,
the crooked and the straight, the healthy and the sick,
the living and the dead ; the black, white, red, brown
and yellow ; some dying of good old age, others swept
away by the tornado in the bloom of youth, and others
crushed in infancy and childhood. Thus the forest, in
a natural point of view, is a beautiful emblem of the
human family.
But the scene becomes doubly interesting and im
portant when we perceive that there is a perfect and
eternal law of analogy between mankind and the trees,
both cultivated and uncultivated. When we under
stand that the varieties and qualities of the trees are
the result of the varieties and quaHties of the spiritual

TREES. 119
states, principles and propensities of men ; and that
all that is said of them, in the Word, is symbolically
expressive of the qualities of men's hearts and minds ;
and that in these famihar symbols, we may learn hu
man nature, and the will of our heavenly Father, and
the way of eternal life, and behold the invisible things
of God from the creation of the world : — I say, When
we understand this, we are prepared to say with the
Psalmist, " The trees of the Lord are full of sap ;
the cedars of Lebanon, which He hath planted."
" Praise ye Him, sun and moon : praise Him, all ye
stars of light." " Mountains, and all hills ; fruitful
trees, and all cedars : beasts, and all cattle. . . , Praise
ye the Lord." For in saying this we are only calling
upon man to praise the Lord with all the principles and
elements of his nature, to which these natural things
correspond. In Judges, we have this singular parable. " The
trees went forth to anoint a king over them ; and they
said unto the olive-tree, Reign thou over us. But the
olive-tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness,
wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to
be promoted over the trees ? And the trees said to the
fig-tree, Come thou, and reign over us. But the fig-
tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness,
and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees ?
Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and
reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I
leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go
to be promoted over the trees ? Then said all the trees
unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And

120 TREES.
the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint
me king over you, then come and put your trust in my
shadow : and if not, let fire come out of the bramble,
and devour the cedars of Lebanon." (ix, 8-15.)
Before the spiritual sense of this parable can be
known, it must be understood what is meant by the
olive-tree, the fig-tree, the vine, and the bramble.
The olive-tree here signifies celestial good ; the vine,
spiritual good ; the fig-tree, natural good ; and the
bramble, spurious good. By celestial good we mean
that principle or state of heart which loves God or
goodness supremely : by spiritual good, that state
which loves the Word or truth supremely : and by
natural good, that state which loves kind words or use
supremely : but by spurious good, we mean a perverted
state of heart, which loves evil and self supremely.
The trees, in this parable, denote the people of the
kingdom of Israel, in that age, who had become so cor
rupt that they would not be ruled by the Lord. They
also denote any people of any age who are thus cor
rupt. By the refusal of the olive-tree to reign over
them, we learn that they were too low to be governed
by internal or celestial goodness, or by love to God.
For the olive-tree says, Should I leave my fatness,
wherewith by me they honor God and man ? This
fatness denotes the good of celestial love, or love to
God. Therefore to be their king, the olive-tree would
have to leave his fatness before the trees would pro
mote him. For when the olive-tree replied to their
call, saying, Shall I leave my fatness, wherewith they
honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the

TREES. 121
trees ? they made no reply, but turned to the fig-tree.
Gladly would the olive-tree have reigned over them,
had they yielded to his goodness.
By the refusal of the fig-tree, we learn that they
were too depraved to submit to the government of even
external or natural good springing from the love of
obedience. For the fig-tree says, Should I forsake my
sweetness, and my good fruit ? And what is more
sweet than natural kindness and mercy carried out in
good works or fruits ? The people were not willing to
come under the laws of good works and do as they
would be done by. And they would not promote the
fig-tree, unless he would forsake these heavenly princi
ples, and give them laws more in accordance with their
self-love. By the refusal of the vine, we learn that they would
not be governed by spiritual goodness, springing from
the love of truth. For the vine said, Should I leave
my wine, which cheereth God and man ? They were
not willing to love the truth, and be governed by that
love : and therefore, .they would not promote the vine,
unless he would throw off that restraint from his gov
ernment. But, by their consenting to be governed by the bram
ble, they show that they were in the love of perverted
goodness ; of hypocrisy and selfhood ; and so they
chose that these principles of their nature, represented
by the bramble, should govern their conduct. They
were willing to put themselves under the darkening
shadow of their own licentiousness — the vile bramble of
self-love. And here they expected to be satisfied and
6

122 TREES.
happy. But as predicted, fire came out of the bramble
and devoured the cedars of Lebanon ; or, in other
words, the lusts of evil and self-love destroyed in them
all the remaining principles of truth and good.
This parable, though particularly applicable to the
age in which it was written, comes, with its blessed in
struction, like all other portions of the divine Word, to
every individual of depraved humanity in all ages ; and
it proposes to him the solemn question, By what are
you governed ? the olive, the fig, the vine, or the
bramble ? And how shall we individually answer ?
Who can say he is governed by the olive — the pure love
of interior goodness ? To whom of us does not the
olive-tree say, Should I leave my fatness to be pro
moted over you ? Or who is willing to submit to the
pure government of the olive ? None of us is ready to
say he is governed by that pure love. And who of us
can say he has the vine for a governor ? Who feels
that he is governed, in his conduct, by the pure love of
the truth ? To whom does not the vine say, Should I
leave my wine — my heavenly truth — and come down
to your state and receive your selfish promotion ? Yes,
we ask, who is entirely ready to fully submit to the
government of spiritual truth ? I know of none that
would say I, to this question. And who can even say
he is governed by the fig-tree — the full love of natural
goodness — whereby he obediently and affectionately
keeps the commandments of his divine Master ? It is
a great deal to be in so good a state as not to have the
fig-tree say, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my
good fruit, in order to gain your approbation and re-

TREES. 123
ceive your vote to become your king ? I do not know
who considers himself fully governed by the fig-tree.
Sad, then, indeed is the spiritual state of mankind,
even in this age of freedom and science. The most
that the best are willing to say is, that they hope they
are, to some extent, governed by these heavenly prin
ciples of the Lord ; and that they are praying and
striving, by the powers of the blessed Spirit, to become
whoUy released from the brambles of self-love.
But the question is asked, How are we to know that
the olive, vine and fig-tree mean what is here stated ?
Are we to take a man's word for it ? • We answer, No :
God's Word clearly teaches it. In the first place, with
these significations of these trees, we have rational in
struction, from the parable explained, and receive from .
it useful rules of life. But, without the spiritual
meaning, it teaches us nothing. Here is at once an evi
dence of its truth.
The olive-tree signifies celestial good, from the qual
ity of the tree. It is a tree of oil. Oil denotes this
goodness. Oil burns, and its fire denotes love. So
celestial goodness burns with heavenly love, to the Lord.
It is for this reason that it is said, in prophecy, through
Jeremiah, of the church, when in order, " The Lord
called thy name, A green olive-tree, fair, and of goodly
fruit." Now, for a church or an individual to be a
green olive-tree, fair, and of goodly fruit, is to be alive
in love to the Lord, bearing the fruits of kindness and
love to the neighbor. That olive-trees mean celestial
principles of the mind, or men of those principles, is
evident from the condition in which olive-trees were

124 TREES.
seen in the spiritual world. For nothing exists or is
seen in the spiritual world, but principles of the mind
and the persons from whom those principles are mani
fest ; for that is a world of mind.
Zechariah saw two olive-trees in the spiritual world.
They were called the two anointed ones that stand by
the Lord of the whole earth. They were seen standing
by two golden candlesticks. And they are called the
two witnesses. And the candlesticks aie also called the
two witnesses. Now, that these candlesticks and olive-
trees denote principles of the mind, we may know, by
their being called the two witnesses. Saint John saw
these witnesses, and says, " These are the two olive-
trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God
of the earth." These two witnesses are love to God
and the neighbor. They signify man's heavenly state
of mind. These principles are the witnesses, or evi
dences of our preparation for heaven. And they who
possess them are called oHve-trees. Thus, David, who
represented the Lord, says, " I am like a green ohve-
tree in the house of my God."
That the vine denotes, in this parable, spiritual
goodness, or spiritual truth loved, is abundantly evi
dent from the Word ; indeed we could cite a volume.
The Lord, as to His spiritual principle, as the Word,
which is the truth, says, " I am the vine." And the
fact that wine corresponds to spiritual truth, is evi
dence enough.
And that the fig-tree corresponds to natural good,
may be seen from the fact that often when natural
goodness and truth are described in the Word by

TREES. 125
works, use is made of the fig-tree, or of figs, or fig-
leaves ; as in Jeremiah, when the people did not bring
forth the fruits of external faith and obedience ; the
prophet says, " There shall be no ... . figs on the
fig-tree, and the leaf shall fade." But when the
people bring forth the fruits of kindness, in good
works, it is written in Joel, " The fig-tree yields its
strength." A judgment was executed upon the fig-
tree, because it did not bear fruit. This was to teach
man that he must do the works — the external things.
And the Lord says to that fig-tree, " No man eat fruit
of thee hereafter for ever." ."" And presently the fig-
tree withered away." It was because the fig-tree de
notes works of kindness and mercy that it was selected
by the Lord to teach this lesson. And though a judg
ment was passed upon the barren fig-tree, yet it was
spiritually passed upon the unfruitful man.
The principles represented in this parable, by the fig,
the vine and the olive, which are the natural, the spirit
ual and the celestial, are often mentioned together in
the Holy Word ; the same as , corn, wine and oil,
which represent the same things. They point to the
three great essential principles in God — power, wisdom
and love. In man, they are use, truth and goodness ;
or works, faith and charity, symbolized in the parable
by the fig, the vine and the olive. And they are
brought up in the parable to teach us that unless we
are governed by some one of these principles, we shall
be lost — destroyed by the fire of the bramble, or of self-
love. In the celestial heavens, the angels are governed by

126 TREES.
the oHve-tree, or by celestial good, which is the love of
good. In the spiritual heavens, they are governed by the
vine, or by spiritual good, which is the love of truth.
In the natural heavens, they are governed by the fig-
tree, or by natural good, which is the love of use, or
of good works.
Therefore, to be governed by either of these loves,
will give us heaven — the love of good, the love of truth,
or the love of use. But if not wiUing to be governed
by either, the vile bramble must take us.
That trees denote persons as well as principles, may
be known by any one who will carefully and candidly
examine the thirty-first chapter of Ezekiel. For there,
Pharaoh is called the Assyrian, and also a cedar of
Lebanon. And this cedar had grown so great, shot up
its top so high, and spread out its branches so wide,
that " aU the fowls of heaven made their nests in his
boughs, and under his branches did all the beasts of
the field bring forth their young, and under his shadow
dwelt all great nations." He became so great, that'
" all the trees of Eden, that were in the garden of God,
envied him." " The fir-trees were not like his boughs,
and the chestnut-trees were not like his branches ;"
and even " the cedars in the garden of God could not
hide him." But, from the height of this glory he fell.
And at his fall, " all the trees of the field fainted."
And it is declared by the Lord that all the trees of
Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, shall be com
forted in the nether parts of the earth : And that they
also went down into hell with him. And when they

TREES. 127
went down the Lord says, " I covered the deep for him,
and I restrained the floods thereof, and the great waters
were stayed."
Now, although it is at once obvious, by this chap
ter, that trees signify persons or principles in them,
and although the last sentence in the chapter declares
that this is Pharaoh and all his multitude ; yet, to
simply know this and no more, is of but little use. The
essential teachings cannot be known without the sci
ence of correspondences. For, how is a man to know,
from mere fanciful tropes and figures of speech, what
these things mean ? He cannot thus know them. But
the Most High God speaks not in so weak and uncer
tain a language as metaphor. His speech is eternal
and unchangeable, definite and sure, carrying in its
bosom spirit and life. It is yea and amen ; positive
and certain : and so plain that he who runs may read.
But if we would truly read, we must run : and the race
must be heavenward.
We have not space to give the spiritual signification
of this chapter, but will glance at some of its leading
features. Pharaoh king of Egypt represents the natu
ral man in the love of science ; and progressing in sci
entific wisdom and knowledge, and thereby gaining
great power and influence, becoming envied and ad
mired for his vast acquirements and superior excellence,
until he becomes great in his own estimation, inflated
with self-love, and thus he falls into ruinous evils.
The various conditions of the trees and birds and beasts,
and the waters, show the operations of the various prin
ciples of his mind to which these natural things cor-

128 TREES.
respond as he rises to the zenith of his glory and falls
into darkness and death. And in the sure language of
God, we may find it exceedingly interesting and in
structive, as applicable to our natural man by the rules
of analogy. And these correspondences may be abun
dantly sustained from the Word ; for they are among
the most common symbols, and always mean precisely
the same things when used in the same relations.
And what a beautiful history this parable gives of
the scientific development of the human mind : and
then of its becoming proud of its own wisdom, forget
ful of its God as the fountain of knowledge, and thus
wise in its own eyes, until it falls into spiritual death !
And what a warning to us, lest we become inflated
with self-importance in consequence of the wisdom we
see in this heavenly light ; and thus imagine ourselves
good and wise above our neighbors, until we lose the
pure, interior light in the false glare of self-derived in
telligence !
But to our text. " The thistle that was in Lebanon
sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give
thy daughter to my son to wife." From what has
been said, all must be ready to look into the mind for
the thistle and the cedar. And while the cedar denotes
the spiritual man, or high interior truths, the thistle
denotes a low, external, vicious principle. As natural
thistles choke the good seeds of earth and prevent their
growth, so they correspond to those falsities of the
mind which prevent the divine seed of the Word from
taking root in the heart.
Hosea, prophesying of the fallen state of the church

TREES. 129
says, " The thorn and the thistle shall come up on
their altars." Now, the true altar where the real in
cense is offered to God is the grateful and contrite
heart. Wicked hearts are therefore the altars to which
the prophet here aUudes. For natural thistles grow
not upon the altars of churches.
" The thistle that was in Lebanon." Lebanon is a
mountain in Palestine. In the Word, a mountain de
notes a high state of the mind, either for good or for
evil. The thistle here denotes a false and vfie princi
ple, and the cedar a true and virtuous one. And both
of these principles may be in the same mind, or may
not. The will is the female element of the mind, and
the understanding is the male element. The daughter
of the cedar, therefore, is a young and noble principle
of the wHl ; and the son of the thistle is a young and
vicious principle of the understanding. Thus, as re
gards the same mind ; the thistle or a falsity in the
male department of the mind is asking for a union with
the cedar or with a virtue, in the female department.
Or in other words ; some falsity in the understanding
is seeking a marriage with some good in the will. Now,
vicious principles of the mind are always striving to
bring down to their level the virtuous principles ; to
unite the cedar with the thistle.
But we have not only the thistle and the cedar in the
same mind ; but we have the thistles and cedars of
society. Where the thistle principle in a man rules,
he may be called a thistle ; where the cedar prin
ciple rules, he may be called a cedar. And let the
young men, the noble young cedars of the community

130 TREES.
beware, lest they be led astray by the thistles that stroll
in our streets, and which lure to the dens of intemper
ance and vice. For if they once fall into the embrace
of the thistle, they wiU be in danger of coming to the
same end as the thistle in the text ; which is deplora
ble enough. For the words following our text declare,
that " there passed by a wild beast that was in Leba
non, and trode down the thistle ;" thus showing that
such principles are low as the dust, and are under the
very feet of the wild and unsubdued passions of the
perverted will ; trodden under the feet of wHd beasts.
But in these latter days the Lord is mercifuHy pro
viding us with a safeguard against aH these evils by
opening to us the deeper truths of His Word whereby
we may scan ourselves to the bottom, understand the
causes and consequences of transgression, and see the
way of escape from every vice. Then let us receive
fhe Holy Word to our bosoms, seek its divine Hght,
yield to its divine power, and thus ascend Mount Leba
non to its summit, where we can stand among its heav
enly cedars and hold familiar converse with the lovely
trees of Eden in the paradise of God.

CHAPTER VIII.
SYMBOLIC MEANING OF HEAVENS AND EARTH, SUN,
MOON AND STARS.
" The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her
light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken." (Matt. xxiv. 29.)
Here are divine ideas contained in human language
— the mere words of men. But there is a divine speech
within, the idiom of which is analogical. This analo
gy enables us to perceive something of the divine idea
in and through the human speech. This analogy ex
ists1 in and throughout nature. There we are to look
for it, there we are to study it as the law of Hfe. It is
that law which connects the creation with the Creator.
And by it we are to look through the visible universe
into the mind of the Creator, and also into the minds
of men, the images of God. God's language therefore
is not an empty sign of ideas, but a living sign, ex
pressive of the laws of life. It is neither Hebrew nor
Greek, nor any other human language. But as all hu
man dialects are taken from nature, and as God fills
nature, so he speaks in any one of the human lan
guages, when the words are so selected and arranged

132 HEAVENS AND EARTH,
as to contain divine ideas by correspondences. God's
language therefore is substantial life ; the very life
which exists throughout nature and speaks through it :
for He says, " The words which I speak unto you, they
are spirit and they are life." Thus the things of na
ture are all letters and syllables, words and sentences,
spoken by ten thousand tongues, all in action from the
living universal speech of God. Our heavenly Father
therefore, in order to speak to His children and teach
them the nature of Himself and the laws of life, by
written words, had to come down to man's own lan
guage, and thus clothe His divine speech in the com
mon, finite words of the people. This was the only
way He could reach our capacities. But, by His di
vine influence, He enabled the writers of His Word, to
so select the words and frame the sentences as to con
tain, by correspondences, a spiritual or divine sense,
which can be seen only by the divine law of analogy.
Thus God speaks to us, in man's own language, in
the literal sense ; and, at the same time, in the divine
speech in the spiritual sense. But in reading the
Word, some see only man's language. Yet, as it is
divinely arranged and infilled with life by correspond
ences, even the literal sense contains a power which is
felt in no other human composition. And if men hum
bly receive, it and obey its literal commands, it will
surely take them to heaven ; because, from its internal
powers it will make them heavenly. Why then, it may
be asked, is any further sense necessary ? We answer,
because the true literal sense has, in many of its doc
trines, been falsified by the traditions of men ; and the

SUN, MOON AND STARS. 133
scientific world is passing it by as not a divine work.
The time, therefore, has arrived for the Lord to appear
as the spirit and life of that Book, that He may there
in reach, anew, the souls of men, through their rational
faculties ; expressing at the same time, the truth of
the letter and the power and glory of the Spirit. While,
therefore, some persons see in the Bible only the lan
guage of men, others see therein, the language of God.
But the divine speech, is the great language — the
universal speech — the one in which the heavens and the
earth are conversing together — the one which we shall
all speak in the spiritual world. And because of the
high importance of the spiritual sense of the Holy
Word, the Hteral sense in many places, is given only
for the sake of the spiritual. And in these instances
the letter is often totally dark and incomprehensible,
until the spiritual sense is seen. Such is the case with
our text. The letter alone is total darkness. Science
looks it in the face and exclaims, What ! The stars
fall from heaven to this earth ! And what are the stars
but vast suns to other systems ? And, which way is
down from those great centres ? And what, in com
parison, is this Httle planet upon which we live, but a
mere atom of dust ? How is it to draw the universe
to its comparative nothingness ? And where would it
and its inhabitants be, if it were in the centre of the
whole immense mass of aH matter, in one solid body ?
And how could the Lord then come to us in the clouds
of heaven ? For, following our text, and after the
stars have fallen the narrative says, " And then shall
all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see

134 HEAVENS AND EARTH,
the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory." Let us then seek the spiritual
import of our text, and, thereby a true knowledge of
the subject before us.
Our full theme is, The symbolic meaning of the
heavens and the earth, the sun, moon and stars, as un
derstood in the divine language. And as the human
mind is a microcosm, or world in miniature, and the
universe of things corresponds to it, so the phrase,
the heavens and the earth, means the human mind. —
The heavens, the internal mind or the spiritual man ;
and the earth, the external mind, or natural man. In
the internal plane of the mind, we hold communion
with our God, and with heavenly things. In the ex
ternal plane, we have intercourse with men, and with
earthly things. We feel conscious of an elevation of
mind above natural things, when we enter into our
closet, in devotional meditations. And there, through
the Word, we receive light from the Sun of righteous
ness ; or the divine truth comes to iHumine, warm and
fructify our earth or natural mind, that it may bring
forth the fruits of good works ; the same correspond-
entially as the natural earth receives Hght and warmth
from the sun of the natural heavens, that it may yield
its fruits.
Now, the Holy Word commences by saying, " In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And
the earth was without form, and void." And the order
which follows, in the chapter, shows, by analogy, the
process ofthe creation of this mental heaven and earth,
or of man, until we see him in the full human form, in

SUN, MOON AND STARS. 135
the image and likeness of his God. Now this image
and Hkeness is what makes man to be the church ; for
the image is the divine truth, and the likeness is the
divine good, in man ; and these constitute the king
dom of God in the human mind. And because by an
alogy the divine phrase, " The heavens and the earth,"
means the human mind and not the natural universe,
therefore, an account of the creation of the heaven and
the earth, or of the human mind, is not confined to
the first chapter of Genesis.
The Lord says in Isaiah, " Behold, I create new
heavens and a new earth : and the former shall not be
remembered, nor come into mind." Now what is meant
by the former heavens and earth, which are not to be
remembered, unless it be the very heavens and earth
which the same Bible mentions as having been created
in the beginning ? It is positively certain that the
Lord means, by the new heavens and new earth, here
mentioned, a new state of the human mind ; or man
again restored to the image and likeness of God ; hav
ing his external mind or earth in God's image, and his
internal mind or heavens in God's likeness ; for the
prophecy continues, " Behold, I create Jerusalem a re
joicing, and her people a joy." And Jerusalem, all
may see, means the church or the human mind in or
der. Now, this prophecy in Isaiah, relates to the com
ing of the Lord in the flesh, for the establishment of
the Christian church, or of a new state of the human
mind. And this state of the mind is the new heavens
and the new earth to which the prophecy refers. For
the former heavens and earth, or good and true state

136 HEAVENS AND EARTH,
of mind, had passed away in the progressive fall of
man, wherein the image and likeness of God were lost ;
and the new heavens and earth were to take their
place. In the prophecy through Jeremiah our Lord says, in
reference to this dark state of the human mind or of
the church, " My people is foolish, they have not known
me ; they are sottish children, and they have none un
derstanding : they are wise to do evil, but to do good
they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and, lo,
it was without form and void ; and the heavens, and
they had no light. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man,
and all the birds of the heavens were fled." (iv. 22,
23, 25.) Here, we have the state of a depraved mind,
pr of a consummated church. For it is to the condi
tion of the Jewish church or people, at the time the
Lord was to come in the flesh, that this prophecy re
lates. And how much it is like the description of the
state of the first people on earth, while in spiritual ig
norance, before the kingdom of heaven was established
in them. For that narrative, in Genesis, says, " In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void ; and dark
ness was upon the face of the deep." And the proph
ecy in Jeremiah says, " I beheld the earth, and, lo, it
was without form and void ; the heavens, and they
had no light. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man."
Can we, then, come to any other conclusion than that
it was the state of the human mind that was meant in
both instances ? In the first instance the minds of the
first people were undeveloped, and therefore in mental

137

darkness ; their mental earth was void of light and
knowledge, and therefore, formless as to true beauty ;
but the Lord went on afterward and progressively cre
ated them in His own image.
In the prophecy in Jeremiah, the Jewish mind at
the coming of the Lord, was without form and void,
because it was not symmetrical, being deformed by sin,
and void of goodness and truth. Its heavens or internal
mind, as the prophecy declares, had no light, for they
had ceased to be spiritual. And the reason it is said,
I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, is, it requires the
image and likeness of God to make a real man ; and
these they had lost. And so, the reason it is said that
all the birds of heaven had fled is, all heavenly thoughts
were gone. The Jews had become a low, sensual peo
ple. The natural earth was not void nor formless. It
rolled, as usual, " along its airy way" and produced its
fruits ; whfle the heavenly bodies still sent forth their
cheering light, and the merry birds warbled as ever
their melodious notes. But the mental earth of the
people' was without form and void, their heavens had
no light and the heavenly birds were fled, and there
Was no real man left — nothing truly manly.
Now, what would have to be done, in order to restore
to man the image and hkeness of God ? What, but to
re-animate the mental earth with new affections, set
the lights of truth again in the heavens, to give light
upon the earth ; call back the fled birds, or heavenly
thoughts, and thus give to the mind its true form and
comeliness P And all this the Lord did in the estab
lishment of the Christian church. He created man

138 HEAVENS AND EARTH,
again in His own image and likeness. — Or He created
a new heavens and a new earth, or His church in man,
and illuminated it. And He says to it, prophetically,
" Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of
the Lord is risen upon thee ; and the Gentfles shaU
come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy
rising." Isa. Ix. 1, 3.
Thus the Lord is the light of the mind or of the
church. The sun denotes the Lord as to love and wis
dom ; the moon denotes truth or faith ; and the stars,
truths or knowledges. They are never mentioned in
the Word without having this signification.
The sun is the most striking symbol of the Lord in
all nature. By its heat and light it performs the same
use to the natural earth which the Lord, by His love
and wisdom, does to the mental earth or human mind.
And the analogy is perfect, and is everywhere main
tained throughout the Holy Word. And as the sun
represents the Lord in the Word, so the earth and sky
represent the human mind. And as the natural earth
without the sun, with its heat and light, is cold and
dark, so a human mind without the Lord, with His
love and wisdom, is cold and dark. And as clouds in
the atmosphere darken the earth, by shutting out the
light of the sun, so clouds of ignorance and error, in
the understanding, darken the mind and shut out the
light and truth coming from the Lord, the Sun of
Righteousness. And as, after a season of clouds and
storms and darkness, the light of the sun makes its ap
pearance through the clouds of the natural heavens,
illuminating and rejoicing the earth ; so the Lord, as

SUN, MOON AND STARS. 139
the Light of the Sun of Righteousness, after an age of
error and warfare and darkness with the children of
men, comes in the clouds of the human mind or mental
heavens, to enHghten and rejoice the souls of men and
establish His kingdom again among them*
And as the sun is used in the Word, as a symbol of
the Lord as to the Divine Love and Wisdom, so the
moon is used as a symbol of man's faith. For as the
moon is a dark, opaque body, receiving all its light from
the sun, so the human mind is a dark body receiving
all its light of truth or its true faith, from the Lord,
the Sun of Righteousness. We have no real faith but
as the Lord gives it to us by the Light of His Truth :
and so the moon has no light but as the sun gives it
from the glory of its beams. And as the human mind
shines by the truths of faith from the Lord, so the
moon shines by light borrowed from the sun. The
moon is therefore used in the Woid as a true symbol
of faith.
And the stars are most beautiful symbols of truths
or knowledges in the mind. Being bright objects in
the natural firmament, they denote true principles in
the understanding or mental firmament. What a
beautiful mental consteUation are the ten command
ments when bright and clear in the firmament of the
mind ! Like beacon lights to the natural mariner, they
stand in our mental heavens as fixed stars, upon which
we may ever depend to mark our moral and religious
latitude and longitude in the ocean of life, as we strive,
in dependence upon the Lord, to guide our frail bark
of humanity on its onward-bound voyage to the haven

140

of peace — our eternal home. Stars are therefore always
used in the Word as symbols of truths or of knowledges
in the human mind : and with this signification the
Word is made plain where stars are used.
Stars are therefore said to fall from heaven or to
withdraw their shining, whenever man loses his knowl
edges of the truths of the Word. Therefore, in the
prophecy in Joel of the end of the church, the Lord
says, " The earth shall quake ; the heavens shall trem
ble : the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars
shall withdraw their shining ; the sun shall be turned
into darkness, and the moon into blood." (fi. 10, 31.)
This is a prophetic description of the dark and troubled
state of the human mind when its sun of Righteous
ness, its moon of faith, and its stars of spiritual knowl
edge, cease to shine.
And how graphic is this description when the anal
ogy is seen ! No human language can compare with
it, either for fulness, definiteness, or force. What a
pitiable state of man, or of the mental earth, is shown
by the following language* through Isaiah ! " The
earth mourneth and fadeth away. The earth is de
filed. The foundations of the earth do shake. The
earth is utterly broken down. The earth is clean dis
solved. The earth is moved exceedingly. The earth.
shall reel to and fro like a drunkard." (xxiv. 4, 5, 18,
19, 20.) If the earth here means the church, or a dark
and troubled state of mind, all is rational. But if it
does not mean the mind, what does it mean ?
If the Lord created a new heavens and a new earth
at His first coming, as the Holy Word declares, and

141
that heavens and earth do not mean the church, or a
good state of the human mind, what do they mean ?
As these things did not happen to the sun, moon and
stars, at the Lord's coming, when the prophecy was
fulfilled, they must signify something e.se. And we
have positive testimony in the Scriptures, in plain and
unmistakable language, that they do mean something
else, and also, what they mean.
On the day of pentecost, when the people were all
amazed, and marvelled, saying one to another, " Are
not all these who speak Galileans ? and how hear we
every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born ?
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dweUers
in Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in
Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt,
and in the parts of Lybia about Cyrene, and strangers of
Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we
do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works
of God. But Peter, standing up with the eleven,
lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Ju
dea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known
unto you, and hearken to my words : This is that
which was spoken by the prophet Joel ; And it shall
come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour
out of my spirit upon all flesh : and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams : and on
my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out, in
those days, of my spirit, and they shall prophesy : and
I will show wonders in heaven above, and signs in the
earth beneath ; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke :

142 HEAVENS AND EARTH,
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon
into blood, before that great and notable day of the
Lord come : and it shall come to pass, that whoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
(Acts ii. 7-21.) Here Peter quotes the very words
of Joel, who declares that, before the things mentioned
as occurring on the day of pentecost should take place,
the sun should be turned into darkness and the moon
into blood : thus showing clearly that before the Chris
tian church should be established, there would be no
true light of faith in the human mind on earth. For by
the sun's being turned into darkness, is meant the loss
of all true knowledge and love of the Lord, the Sun of
Righteousness. And by the moon's being turned into
blood is meant, violence done to faith.
There can be no question of the meaning of these
prophecies left in the mind of any one who wfil can
didly examine them in that Hght of analogy in which
they are written.
The same symbolic language is used, in the prophetic
portions of the New Testament, to express another
dark, divided and distracted state of the religious world
on the earth, and of the establishment of the New Je
rusalem. And it is used in too plain a manner to be
mistaken by any unprejudiced and humble seeker after
truth, who wiU examine the science of correspond
ences : For the prophet John says, in the Apocalypse,
" And I saw a new heaven and a new earth ; for the
first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and
I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride

SUN, MOON AND STARS. 143
adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice
out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is
with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall
be His people, and. God Himself shall be with them,
their God." (Rev. xxi. 1, 2, 3.)
Now, in taking a candid and rational view of the
whole Word on this subject, we ask the serious mind
if the new heavens and the new earth mentioned in this
prophecy of St. John can, consistently with the rest of
the divine Word, be possibly construed to mean any
thing else than a new church, or a new state of religious
life ? As it is beyond dispute certain that the Lord
came the first time to supercede the Jewish church by
a higher order of faith and life, and that He established
it by a new heavens and a new earth in the minds of
His disciples : why then, we ask, is it not a still high
er order of faith and life that the Lord comes to estab
lish by the creation of another new heavens and new
earth in advance of those created at His first coming,
iind wherein all shaU see eye to eye ? Can any one
doubt from the tenor of the whole quotation from St.
John, that the new heavens and new earth, which he
saw, mean a new church ? The question then is plainly
settled, from the Holy Word, that the phrase " the
heavens and the earth " means the church, or the hu
man mind in order.
Now, the whole 2 4th chapter of Matthew is a proph
ecy of the divisions, disorders and troubles which would
arise in the Christian world, and of the coming of the
Lord for the establishment of the New Jerusalem.
And in that portion from which our text is taken the

144

Lord says, " Immediately after the tribulation of those
days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall
not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven,
and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken : and
then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heav
en : and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn ;
and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds
of heaven with power and great glory." AH these
wonderful things of the sun, moon and stars were to
take place before the coming of the Lord in the clouds
of heaven and the descent of the New Jerusalem.
Now, as the things prophesied of the sun, moon and
stars did not take place in outward nature at the Lord's
first coming, as prophesied in Isaiah, Jeremiah and
Joel, we therefore are not to look for anything of the
kind at his second coming ; for it is declared, in both
instances, that the same things would take place.
How can the natural stars — vast suns to other sys
tems — fall to this little earth ? But if the stars mean
knowledges of truth, they might fall from the mental
heavens. The understanding might become so dark
ened by sin as not to see nor regard the truths of the
Word at all. I know it is believed by many pious
Christians, that this prophecy, in Matthew, is to be
literally fulfilled in that the Lord will personally come,
in the natural clouds which float in our atmosphere.
But where would the clouds be after the stars had fall
en ? For He is not to appear until after the stars
have fallen, and the sun has been darkened. And how
is the Son of man to be seen in those clouds without
any Hght ? Besides, if the stars should fall to tho

SUN, MOON AND STARS. 145
earth, we should have all the material bodies of the
vast universe collected in one mass and this little earth
in the very centre.
But the doctrine of the falling of the stars is now
generally given up, among civilized people. It was
once supposed to be true : but since the science of as
tronomy has revealed some of the laws which govern
the heavenly bodies, and something of their distances
and magnitudes, thinking people no longer believe that
the stars will fall. But in giving up the falling of the
stars, many give up the Bible also, disbelieving it to be
divine wisdom ; for they think it plainly teaches that
the stars do fall. And many good people of the vari
ous Christian denominations, who stiU adhere to the
divinity of the Word, and acknowledge the falling of
the stars to be figurative language, continue to beHeve
that the Lord will make His second coming in a per
sonal form, in the visible clouds. But, upon what
grounds of Scripture interpretation can any one come
to the. conclusion that that entire quotation from
Matthew, all in one sentence, should be figurative lan
guage, except the coming of the Lord in the clouds,
and that that part should be literal, as it reads ?
But all will be plain when men see that the clouds
are the dark literal sense of the Word, when not un
derstood ; and that the Lord, who is the Word itself
in its spirit and life, will make His coming, as the spir
itual light of the Word, in those clouds, by means of
the science of correspondences. Who does not see
that, without that science, the letter of our text is a
dark cloud in the mind ? But by the use of that sci-
7

146

ence the Lord, as heavenly light, comes in this cloud
with power and great glory.
The passage in Mark, which treats of the second
coming of the Lord, and of the state of the Christian
world, reads thus, " But in those days, after the trib
ulation, the sun shaU be darkened, and the moon shall
not give her light, and the stars of heaven shall fall."
By " the tribulation of those days " is meant, what we
now see in the Christian world, as divisions and subdi
visions, and contentions of sects and parties and creeds,
called, in the prophetic teachings of the 24th chapter
of Matthew, " wars and rumors of wars, and famines,
and pestilences, and earthquakes ;" and cryings, "Lo,
here is- Christ, or there." But in Isaiah (lx. 18, 20),
where the coming of the New Jerusalem is predicted,
our Lord says, " Violence shall no more be heard in
thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders ;
but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates
Praise. Thy sun shall no more go down ; neither shaU
thy moon withdraw itself : for the Lord shaU be thine
everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shaU
be ended." Thus showing, that the New Jerusalem is
to be the crowning and final church, and is to have no
end : that its sun and moon will always shine : for,
says fhe Word, " The glory of God did lighten it, and
the Lamb is the light thereof." The Sun of Right
eousness is its Sun.
In one of the prophecies of the New Jerusalem
through St. John, it says, " There appeared a great
wonder in heaven ; a woman clothed with the Sun, and
the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown

SUN, MOON AND STARS. 147
of twelve stars." This woman denotes the crowning
church. She is to come as a bride adorned for her hus
band. And how sumptuous may become her embellish
ments when she has, by analogy, such free access to
the divine rubies, and pearls, and gems of the Holy
Word, of every heavenly variety and beauty ! Now,
with the signification which analogy gives to the sun,
moon and stars, this prophecy is most rational and
beautiful. While, without that signification, it teaches
us nothing. How cheering the thought that the
church is yet to be clothed with light as with a gar
ment — a light shining from heavenly love — so that her
deportment will be pure mercy and inteUigence : that
her understanding is to be filled with all spiritual
knowledges, symbolized by a crown of twelve stars :
that she will ever stand firm upon the eternal rock of
true faith, denoted by the moon under her feet, as a
sure lantern to her paths !
There is another striking prophecy in the Apocalypse,
concerning the disturbed and beclouded condition of
the Christian world preceding the descent of the New
Jerusalem. It reads thus : — " The sun became black
as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ;
and the stars of heaven feU 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 roUed together.'' (Rev. vi. 12-14.) Here
again, the literal sense is utterly incomprehensible. We
cannot conceive of stars falling from heaven as blighted
figs, blown off by the wind'. But we can conceive of
truths, by a wicked life, becoming apparently blighted,

148 HEAVENS AND
withered away, and lost to the human mind. Nor can
we conceive of the moon's becoming blood. But we
can conceive of violence done to a true faith, until it
is crimsoned with sins of every dye.
Now, we have given a brief explanation of the mean
ing of the heavens and the earth ; the sun, moon and
stars, from the very commencement of the Word to its
close. — In Genesis, in the prophets, in the gospels, the
Acts of the Apostles, as taken from the prophets, and
in Revelation. The literal sense alone is against the
reason which God has given to man, and consequently
cannot teach him. We may safely say this, because it
has not been able to teach him. It has baffled the
skill of the most learned and pious commentators.
They have all differed in their opinions ; and have
honestly declared themselves ignorant of the meaning
intended to be conveyed.
But by the divine science of correspondences, in
which the Holy Word is written, we have a rational
and beautiful view of the truths therein taught. And
what is most important is, they show us our God and
teach us the way of life and salvation ; the very things
which we most need to know, and which the good God
most desires to teach us. " 0 that men would praise
the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful
works to the children of men ; for He satisfieth the
longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with good
ness." Ps. cvii. 8, 9.

CHAPTER IX.
THE FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS IN ITS SPIRITUAL
IMPORT  THE CREATION OF MAN.
" And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our like
ness." (Gen. i. 26.)
In this lecture we propose to treat upon the first
chapter of Genesis, in its spiritual import — the crea
tion of man. This chapter has generally been looked
upon as a history of the creation of the material uni
verse. For, after the loss of the science of corre
spondences, and while men remained ignorant of the
.lower sciences, and particularly of Astronomy, Geology,
and Chemistry, they were in much mental darkness as
to the physical laws as well as the spiritual. And in
this ignorance, the literal sense of the account of the
creation, was adapted to their gross states and wants.
It was good for them to read it, to reverence it, and to
believe it. For thereby they acknowledged the Lord,
in His infinity, as the creator and sustainer of the
universe. And they could therein regard Him as their
heavenly Father. This instruction was just what they
needed. It was all their states could bear.
But men were not always to remain in this igno-

150 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
ranee. They were made for higher light and Hfe than
nature gives. But before they could advance to spir
itual knowledge, they must lay its foundation in
nature. It was for this reason that their existence
commenced in this material mode of life. " First that
which is natural, and afterward that which is spir
itual" And as men investigated nature and reasoned upon
her laws, the natural sciences were gradually seen, and
their principles and rules noted, and laid down. And
in this progress, a natural philosophy was graduaUy
evolved, from the great universal laws of things. And
upon the truth of this philosophy, they found that they
could implicitly depend, even to mathematical cer
tainty. Therefore, in due time, they raised the mighty
telescope, and looked in among the rolHng worlds ; and
learned their comparative magnitudes, distances and
revolutions ; an event far more astounding in that day,
than the steam engine and electric telegraph are in this.
For the delusion was then broken. The earth ceased.
to be the great centre, the main body of the universe ;
and the sun, moon and stars, mere torches and tapers
passing round it to light it. Thus men saw the sizes
of our sun and earth, and perceived that the earth was
not the primary, but a secondary body, and entirely
dependent upon the sun for heat, light, germination
and growth ; and was daily turning to that sun for
blessings, and revolving around him for seasons. And
they saw in these things fixed and eternal laws.
With this sure, scientific light in the mind, men now
look at the narrative of the creation, and they marvel

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 151
at the idea, that this little earth, but a mere atom of
dust in the balance against the rest, and even cold and
opaque in its nature, should have been the first thing
created in the whole universe : and that, here it was
for a long time, solitary and alone, in boundless space,
without sun, moon, or stars, to cheer the gloom ; and
yet, wonderful to tell, bearing trees and vegetables, con
trary to all known laws. And well may man wonder
that the enormous sun, the great centre and physical
source of a huge system of worlds, should have been
the last heavenly body made ; or at least, not made
until after one of his planets had been three immeasur
able days in existence ; and bearing trees ; days which
are now considered, by Biblical scholars, to mean in
definite periods of time ; probably not less than a thou
sand years each ; thus leaving the earth alone, in the
gloom of its solitude, for thousands of years.
The geologist, also, begins to doubt and demur, as
he reads this history of the creation. For, in the pro
cess of the earth's formations, he beholds the animal
kingdom treading upon the very heelsvof the vegetable,
and mingling with it, at every step of its progressive
creation. And he asks how it is possible, that all the
animals and fishes, and reptiles and insects, were created
on the fifth and sixth days, and all the vegetables and
trees on the third, when geology tells so very different
a story ? For she says the first vegetables were very
small mosses upon the rocks, produced after the atmos
phere and other elements had prepared the surface of
the granite with mould enough to give growth to minute
vegetables. And in these little vegetables, before the

152 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
larger growths were produced, are found, minute ani
mal organizations. And, as we turn over the leaves of
the stone book, we see a regular progression of larger
vegetables and larger animals, from the smallest up to
the production of large animals and trees. This must
have taken a long time, so that many animals, besides
the creeping things, must have been formed before the
earth produced large trees.
Thus the astronomer and geologist are giving up the
divinity of the Word. They say, Which shaU we be
lieve, God's word or His works ? We cannot believe
them both, and retain our reason. To this question,
the natural philosopher — the strong-minded man, an
swers, saying, Take His works : believe them ; they
cannot lie. While the zealous theologian, blindly de
voted to the letter of the Word, says, Take the Bible,
and let science go : they cannot be reconciled. But a
third voice speaks, saying, Take them both : they are
God's own books, and they tell the same truths. Read
them together, in the light of analogy : each is a key
to the other, and verifies its divinity : Read, I beseech
you, and every doubt will flee away. The strong-
minded philosopher hears this third voice and turns to
look. And as the light of correspondences beams into
his mind, he beholds the truth of the Holy Word shin
ing through the symbolic language ; and he yields the
palm, saying, Both are true. The astronomer and geol
ogist too, turn to look : and as they see the light of
correspondences shining through nature's page in the
speech of the written Word, they exclaim, Give God
the glory : both books are true. And even the zealous

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 153
theologian, at last, with caution, turns to look. He
reads, and ponders upon correspondences ; looks, and
hesitates, and looks again, and turns the page back
ward and forth ; but he cannot leave it till he finally
cries out, Amen : thy will 0 God be done : both books
are true : Nature and Revelation have met together :
Science and Theology have kissed each other.
Let us then look at the sacred history, for that di
vine light, that we too may see its harmony and beauty
and be blessed by its spirit. And in doing this, let us
bear in mind, that it is the soul of man, that God
everywhere speaks about, both in His Word and in His
works : that the soul — the mind — is the man ; the
body is its mere clothing : that this history of the cre
ation has nothing to do with the formation of man's
natural body, nor the creation of the natural universe.
God had, previous to this history, brought mankind
into existence, in numbers we know not how many.
They were not yet in the image and likeness of God ;
because they knew nothing of His love and wisdom.
They were simple, ignorant, harmless children of Na
ture ; with no knowledge of soul, mind, God or heaven :
distinguished from the brutes only by a capacity to be
come spiritual. And in this ignorance they would have
remained if their heavenly Father had not taught them
spiritual things. The Bible, therefore, commences with
an account of the process of the elevation of these hu
man souls from natural to spiritual, and of thus making
them real men, by giving them the image and likeness
of God — the Infinite Man. And the narrative is per
fectly applicable now to every person who knows not
70

154 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. ,
spiritual things, but applies to the Holy Word for light
and becomes regenerated.
The first chapter of Genesis is a complete illustration
of the spiritual creation or regeneration of man. It
describes, fully and clearly, the order and progress of
the regenerate life ; or of the creation of the kingdom
of heaven or the church in man. And because all things
in the macrocosm or material universe correspond to
principles in the microcosm or mind of man, they are,
in the wisdom of Jehovah, brought up, in this chap
ter, in such order as to teach most distinctly and pre
cisely, how man may be born again, or raised from nat
ural to spiritual, and thus become a new creature in
Jesus Christ. The six days of labor or creation, sig
nify the several distinct states of mind through which
we progressively pass from natural to spiritual. The
seventh day denotes the spiritual rest we enjoy, when
the victory over the evils of our nature is won —
when the work is all accomplished — the race triumph
antly run, and the warfare ended. It is the Lord that
is said to rest : and so it is, for it is He that conquers ;
it is He that " worketh in us to will and to do."
The internal sense of the Word, of which we shaU
speak, contains infinitely more than we shall attempt
to explain ; it being the speech of the Lord, and con
taining an infinity of principles and relations. Yet, in
a partial and modified sense — a sense in which it is at
first most receivable by the understanding, it will sig
nify those principles of the mind and that spiritual
creation of man which we shall attribute to it. And as
we are lecturing expressly for novitiate minds as to

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 155
the law of analogy, we shall introduce, for explanation,
these correspondences which can be most readily seen
and acknowledged.
By the creation of the heaven and the earth, in the
first verse, is meant the regeneration of the internal
and external minds, or the establishment of the church
in the soul. " The kingdom of God is within you,"
says the Lord. By the earth is meant the external
mind or the natural and earthly man ; and by the
heavens the internal mind, or the spiritual and heav
enly man. And as the internals of things are always
contained within the externals, therefore, when the
word " earth" is used alone, in the Word, it means the
church or the whole mind, either in order or in dis
order, according to the sense in which it is used.
By the earth being " without form, and void," as
mentioned in the second verse, is meant, that the mind
of man, at the first beginnings of its spiritual creation,
is without spiritual truth or goodness. Truth is the
form of goodness. To be without form is to have no
truth : and to be void is to have no goodness of man's
own. This is the state of every unregenerate person.
The "face of the deep" is the dark abyss of the
obscure and confused state of the mind, without
spiritual goodness and truth. The " face of the
waters," upon which the Spirit of God moved, are
certain hidden principles or germs in man, treas
ured there by the Lord, called in the Word " re
mains," upon which the Spirit of God first moves
to bring a person to some faint knowledge of goodness
and truth It is the implanted conscience ground
which a child gets through its good instructions.

156 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
" Let there be light and there was light" means, that
man began to see that goodness and truth are from the
Lord. The light was called " good," because it was
good to man to have it. To divide the light from the
darkness, was for man to distinguish between the
things which were from God and those that were from
man's wisdom. For aU truth is from the Lord. God
called the light day, because it was from himself, giv
ing man a new state of mind. He called the darkness
night, because it was man's dark state in the absence
of light. The evening and the morning are caUed the
first day, because the evening means the state of shade
in the mind, which precedes the reception of some truth ;
and the morning the state of Hght which follows. This
is what is meant throughout the whole chapter by
" evening and morning."
" And God said, Let there be a firmament in the
midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from
the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided
the waters which were under the firmament from the
waters which were above the firmament." HowtotaHy
dark is this passage in the literal sense ! The natural
firmament is the sky — the whole immense space in
which the stars are placed. Where would the waters
be which were above or below this firmament ? No
human mind can imagine what such language means,
without the spiritual sense. But if the waters mean
truths, and the firmament the rational plane of the ex
ternal mind — the heaven of the natural man — then it is
easy to see that the waters above the firmament are
truths in the natural will, which is above the rational ;
waters below the firmament are truths in tho natural

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 157
understanding below the rational. And for the Lord
to divide the waters which were above the firmament
from the waters which were under the firmament would
be, to enable man to distinguish between the truths
which he loved and those which he only saw ; or be
tween truths in the will and those only in the under
standing. God called the firmament heaven, because it
was the rational sphere of the kingdom which He was
establishing in man. This is the second day or a new
state of the mind.
" And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be
gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land
appear. And God called the dry land earth ; and the
gathering together of the waters called He seas." By
the gathering together of the waters under the heav
ens, is meant the storing up, in the memory of the ex
ternal man, all the knowledge received from the Lord
during regeneration. The memory is the great reser
voir of knowledges. Knowledges denote triiths signi
fied by waters. And all that we know is our sea of
knowledge. The dry land is the good ground of the
external mind — the basis of the kingdom of heaven —
and is called the earth of the mind. By the Lord's
saying, " Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb
yielding seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after his
kind, whose seed is in itself," is meant the mental earth,
or church in the mind, giving germination and growth
to the various seeds of truth which have been sown in
the dry land, through the Holy Word. This is the
third day, or a more advanced state of mind when the
fruits of righteousness are produced in the external
mind by simple obedience.

158 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
" And God said, Let there be lights in the firma
ment of heaven, to divide the day from the night ; and
let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and
years : and let them be for lights in the firmament of
the heaven, to give light upon the earth. And God
made two great lights ; the greater light to rule the
day, and the lesser light to rule the night : He made
the stars also. And God set them in the firmament
of the heaven, to give light upon the earth." Lights
in the firmament of heaven are truths in the internal
mind — the heaven of the soul. The sun in the heaven
of the soul, from its heat, is pure love ; it is love to
God and man. This is the heavenly Sun which ever
speaks or gives off the light of truth. God is love —
the Sun of righteousness. The Wisdom which He
speaks is THE TRUTH— the Light of the world.
The moon in the mind denotes faith, or the truth of
faith. The moon is an opaque body ; without the
light of the sun it is dark. Man's mind is opaque :
without truth from God or from love, it is dark. The
moon shines only by the light, of the sun. Man's mind
shines only by the truth of the Lord. The moon, then,
is a beautiful symbol of faith. The stars signify fixed
principles of truth, or true knowledges in the mind.
To set them in the firmament of heaven is to fix them
in the internal mind. The lights are set there by
means of love to God and faith in Him and His Word.
Love to God sets the Sun in our heaven. True faith
in Him puts the moon there. And the leading truths
of the commandments, when loved, become bright and
fixed principles or stars in our mental firmament. For

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 159
these luminous bodies to give light upon our earth, is
for them to iUumine and guide our external man. The
greater light to rule the day, means that the light of
love should govern our affections, in every state of
goodness. The lesser light to rule the night, means
that the truth of faith may sustain and direct us, in
the shady states of temptation ; having the stars or
knowledges of truth, in the mean time, as fixed prin
ciples in our mental heavens. This is the fourth day,
or a new state of mind, when we are in love of the
truths, and can walk by their light from within.
" And God said, Let the waters bring forth abun
dantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl
that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of
heaven. And God created great whales, and every
living creature that moveth, which the waters brought
forth abundantly, after their kind : and God saw that
it was good." After love and faith and knowledges of
the truths are thus, by the mercy and power of the
Lord, established in the soul, and are in active oper
ation, warming the heart into life, from a clear view
of right and wrong, the regenerating person begins truly
to live. And now commences the creation of principles,
within him, which have true intellectual life. They
are signified by the creepings things and winged fowl
and fishes which the waters brought forth abundantly.
Creeping things denote all the lower natural principles
ofthe mind; birds, the thoughts; fishes, things scientific.
All these belong to the intellectual region of the mind
where truth now reigns. Water is said to bring them
forth, because truth cleanses, directs, governs and fills

160 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
them with life from heaven. All our thoughts have
new life : all our creeping inclinations are led by the
truth to good ; and even our fishes, or scientific princi
ples, are regulated by God's Word, and become living
things of the mind. By God's blessing them, and say
ing, " Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in
the seas ; and let fowl multiply in the earth," we are
taught that everything in the intellectual region of the
mind, which has life from the Lord, is ever fruitful,
multiplying abundantly. This is the fifth day, or a
new state of mind, when the truth comes down from
our mental heaven warm with life from love to the
Lord, filling all the things of the understanding with
living emotions.
" And God said, Let the earth bring forth the jiving
creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and'
beast of the earth after his kind.' By the earth's
bringing forth the living creature, cattle, beast, and
creeping thing, is meant, that the external mind is now
being animated with heavenly affections. For animals
and beasts denote the affections. And living creatures
denote good affections ; such as love God and the
neighbor. And this is a glorious state in the progress
of regeneration, when our soul is filled with love and
faith and knowledges of the truth, and is bringing
forth every living creature — beast, bird, fish, insect — in
true order ; when the whole soul, from internals to ex
ternals, is truly alive ; when every principle of the
whole man is fruitful and multiplying with new goods
and truths,.and producing everything in the Microcosm,
or human mind, which the Macrocosm and natural
world would produce, if all were right.

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 161
" 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 fowl of the air, and
over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Here
we are taught that though God has been, all the while,
creating man, yet, that he is not really Man, till he has
God's image and likeness : and that he does not fully
receive and enjoy these qualities, till he has dominion
over the fish of the sea, fowl of the air, the earth, and
creeping things. This makes him Man because it gives
him freedom. The person who cannot govern himself
is not free, and therefore is not worthy the name of
Man. And as fish denotes scientifics, and sea, knowl
edges ; so, to have dominion over the fish of the sea, is
to have such clear and rational views, from spiritual
light, of the scientific principles of our general knowl
edge, as to keep them from falsifying our reasonings,
and biasing our judgment, and thus leading us into de-*
ceptive views, and a perverted philosophy. And to
have dominion over the fowl of the air, is so to govern
all our thoughts, by the divine truth, as to keep them
from foggy atmospheres, and wild and visionary schemes
of salvation, and from thus running into delusive dreams
and false doctrines. To have dominion over the cattle,
is to control all our affections by the divine love, that
they may fall into no states of unkindness, covetous
ness nor cruelty ; but may ever act from the merciful
spirit of Jesus. To have dominion over the creeping
things of the earth, is to have the full and perfect con
trol over all the lower appetites and desires of the ex-

162 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
ternal man, in all their little selfish wants and way
ward suggestions. Thus, as men, in God's image and
likeness, we are to have dominion over our entire men
tal earth, or external man ; having every thought, feel
ing and action — every desire and emotion of the wiH
and understanding — governed by the love and wisdom
of the Lord ; freely and rationally exercised, as though
they were our own principles and powers. This is what
gives us true rational freedom, and makes us real men,
in the divine image and likeness.
" So God created Man in His own image, in the image
of God created He him : male and female created He
them." Here we have an account of the creation of
Man, male and female. Nothing is said of Adam or
Eve ; nor of any individuals, as to sex. It is Man or
mankind — the race — that is created. " Male and fe
male created He them. And God blessed them, and
said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replen
ish the earth, and subdue it : and have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
every living thing that moveth upon the earth." From
this we see that the work of the creation was not yet
completed. They had still got to subdue the earth,
and gain the dominion over all the principles of their
nature. And to accomplish this they must be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the external mind, and
subdue it. It must be brought under the entire con
trol of the internal mind. To effect this, they must
plant the new truths from above in the good soil of
the heart, and carefully bring forth the fruits, in the
life and conversation. They must increase and multi-

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 163
ply their affections and thoughts, for God and their
neighbors, from the new goods and truths constantly
given them : thus their beasts and birds must bring
forth after their kind. This is a regular and pro
gressive work. And the male and female elements
which must be engaged in this labor, belong to every
individual. Thus each individual can bring forth
spiritual things, and must therefore be fruitful and
multiply in goods and truths, in himself, or herself.
The male elements of the mind are things of the under
standing ; the female elements are things of the will.
The union of these principles is spiritual marriage. It
is a union of thoughts and feelings ; or of the will and
the understanding : or, in its essence, it is a union of
good in the will with truth in the understanding. By
this union, the mind becomes harmonious, strong, and
productive. The understanding, in order, gives us
God's image : the will, in order, gives us His likeness.
But no one can have either this image or this likeness,
unless his will and understanding become united. This
is because God's will and understanding, -*r love and
wisdom, are never separated, but are one. And to be
like Him ours must also be one. This great work,
this new creation, not only unites the will and the
understanding, but also the internal and external
minds, or the heaven and the earth ; thereby, as the
work progresses, bringing the whole mind into har
mony. " And God said, Behold I have given you every herb
bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding

164 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
seed ; to you it shall be for meat." Seeds denote truths.
And by the command to take every seed-bearing herb
and tree for food we are taught, that every new truth,
produced from all the varieties of herbs and trees, or
from all the heavenly principles that grow from the
good soil of the mental earth, must be loved and cher
ished in the soul. This is the way to be fruitful, and
multiply and replenish the earth. None of the seeds
of truth which we bear from the trees and herbs of our
Hfe must be lost. The plants must be eaten, and the
seeds sown. The way to sow them in our heart is to
give them to our neighbor. When we affectionately
give the truth to our neighbor, for his salvation, it
takes root in our own soul.
" And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl
of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the
earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green
herb for meat." This teaches us that we should bring
all our good thoughts, affections and desires, to love,
cherish and protect every tender germ and young plant
of virtue, denoted by the green herb, which springs
from the good ground of the soul : for this also is the
way to be fruitful and multiply. Everything good
which the heart produces is of God's planting, and
should be tenderly cherished. To love a thing is to
use it for food, or to make it our own.
" And God saw every thing that He had made, and,
behold, it was very good." All things were of course
good, because God made them. " And the evening
and the morning were the sixth day." The sixth day
is that auspicious state of mind when all the "thoughts

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 165
feehngs and actions — all the principles of the whole
mind are mutually working together for good ; and
progressing toward that seventh day or sabbath of
rest, when the heavens and the earth will be finished
and all the host of them.

CHAPTER X.
THE FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS IN ITS PRACTICAL
BEARING UPON THE REGENERATION OF MAN IN ALL
AGES.
" So God created man in His own image ; in the image of God
created He him : male and female created He them. And God
blessed them, and said, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish
the earth and subdue it." (Gen. i. 27, 28.)
Man is an immortal soul. Man is a living spirit.
Man is an everlasting mind. Man is not matter. He
lives here for a brief season in a house of clay. But
that house is not the man. That house can neither see
nor hear, think nor feel, smell nor taste. It is the soul
that does all these things through the body. The body
is but a mere instrument, by which the soul op
erates upon natural things. Take the soul out of it,
and what can the body do ?
When God breathed into man the breath of lives,
God pronounced him a living soul, not a material body.
Nor did God breathe that breath of lives into a body of
clay, but into an immortal mind, a spiritual body.
The soul is primary ; the body is secondary. The Hfe
of the body is from the soul ; the life of the soul from

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 167
God. What is God's breath, but the spirit of truth
and love ? And what is the Word of God but that
very breath ? God speaks it, that He may breathe
that spirit into you and me ; that we too may become
living souls. For if we receive into our souls the breath
of truth and love we are alive unto God. But if not,
we are dead in sin, though still immortal. The first
chapter of Genesis, before us, contains that holy, living
breath of God. It is the spirit and life of Jehovah.
And it is given to tell you and me how God makes spir
itual and living things. It is given to tell us how He
makes the spiritual world rather than the natural : how
He makes the souls of men, not their natural bodies ;
and how He brings those souls into His own image and
likeness. And in order to teH us how the souls of men
are made, God brings up before our natural thought, in
His own divine language and way, an apparent history
of the creation of natural things, in order that the
things of the soul, " the invisible things of God from
the creation of the world may be clearly seen, being un
derstood by the things that are made ?"
The reason God brings up these natural things, sim
ply to tell how men's souls are created, is, because these
natural things all symbolize principles of the soul. And
the history is so composed as to show, by correspond
ences, the process of the soul's spiritual creation or re
generation. These natural things must signify spirit
ual things, because God, who is a spirit, made them.
And they must denote principles in Him that made
them, and still fills them with life, and gives them ac
tion. And as man was made in the image and likeness

168 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
of God, so the things of nature must also denote prin
ciples in man.
And now, if we can only look clearly through the
symbol to the real, we shaU receive some of that spir
itual instruction and food for our souls, for which this
portion of the Word of God is given. For, think you,
the imperishable God speaks the words of eternal life to
immortal souls, in merely teUing them about the crea
tion of the perishable things of time ? It is of more
importance to man to know how one soul is created in
the image and likeness of God, than how millions of
material worlds are made. For the whole universe of
matter is but a mere shadow or reflex of the immor
tal minds of men. Seeing then, that Man is the world
in miniature ; and that the universe of things possesses
his qualities, and is a broad symbol of his mind, we
can readily see that the creation of the human mind
could be very accurately described in every principle and
quality, and in a regular and successive development,
by a history of the creation of natural things : the his
tory being so composed as clearly to set forth, by the
law of analogy, the creation of the minds of men, into
the divine image.
Now, if men are not ready to believe our premises,
let them look at the matter. Let them assume the
ground that this history of the creation is a history of
the creation of the human mind. That the history is
given by God to man, by arranging the things of nature
in such order, in the history, as to express, by corre
spondences, the process of the creation of the human
mind. I say, Let them assume this ground, and then

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 169
look at the history as given solely for that purpose ;
and a slight glimpse at the law of analogy will show
them, rationally, that everything which science or rea
son objects to, in this whole history, is entirely wiped
away ; and all appears reasonable and consistent. All
the great difficulties are now removed which have so
much troubled and perplexed the commentators, re
specting the six days of creation as being at war with
geology : or in regard to the sun's being made on the
fourth day, as opposed to astronomical laws ; or con
cerning the garden of Eden ; the trees of the garden ;
the serpent's talking : the forbidden fruit ; and the
faU, over which there hangs so much dense darkness :
or respecting the creation of Eve from a rib of Adam,
after the seventh day ; when man had been created,
male and female, on the sixth day : or concerning the
questions, Who was Cain's wife ? and who built the
city of Enoch ? All these strange things, and many
others, will be rationally explained, and the whole his
tory, in a spiritual light, will become profitable for doc
trine ; teaching the way of life, and the true duty of
man to God and his neighbor.
But some people say they take God at his word, in
the literal sense, and that that is enough for them.
Very well, obey and love the commandments till you
hate evil and love good, and your soul is safe.
But there are others at this day who cannot do that.
Their intellect demands a reason for belief. The Bi
ble, therefore, must speak to every soul for itself. It
is a merciful book and suits itself to all states. I can
not speak to you intelligently, upon the literal sense,

170 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
alone, of this history. It is dark to me. My under
standing demands what the letter alone fails to give.
But I can say to you, understandingly, that there is a
spiritual sense to be seen, by correspondences, through
the literal, which is a history of the creation of the
human mind, and is reasonable, beautiful and highly
instructive : that it is precisely what the rational fac
ulty, in this scientific age demands : that in the early
ages of our race, while the thoughts of man flowed along
in union with the divin3 current, men saw it by intui
tion : that the science of correspondences was once well
understood on this earth, but has long since been lost ;
but that many great and good minds have, to some ex
tent, believed in it in all ages ; and that thousands are
now embracing it.
Hermes, the great Egyptian legislator, priest and
philosopher, who, by his excellence, acquired the name
of the Thrice Great, and who flourished about the
time of Moses, says, " This visible world is but a pic
ture of the invisible, wherein are seen, as in a portrait
ure, counterfeit forms of more real substances, in the
invisible fabric." And this was the prevailing belief
of the learned ancients. They beHeved that the ma
terial world was a picture of the world of mind. Philo,
who flourished A. D. 40, and who lived in the days of
the Saviour, says, " The whole law of Moses is Hke a
living creature, whose body is the literal sense, but
whose soul, the more hidden meaning, is covered under
the sense of the letter."
Augustine, one of the early fathers of the church,
says, " In all things that God hath spoken, in His writ-

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 171
ten word, we must seek for a spiritual meaning."
Again he says, " As barley is covered with a stiff chaff,
so that you come, with difficulty, to the nourishing
part, so the Old Testament is clothed with wrappings
or tokens ; but if you once come to its marrow, it
nourishes and satisfies." Origen, another of the early
fathers says, "As a mutual affinity exists between
things visible and things invisible, earth and heaven,
soul and body ; so, also, Holy Scripture is made up of
visible and invisible parts : first, a kind of body, or
letter, which we see with the eyes, next the soul, or
sense which is discovered within the letter." Again,
Origen says, " They who find fault with the allegorical
expositions of Scripture, and maintain that it has no
other meaning than that which the texts shows, take
away the key of knowledge."
We could fiH a volume with quotations like these
from the fathers and early Christians. St. Paul says
in Galatians, " It is written that Abraham had two
sons, one by a bond-maid, and the other by a free wo
man, which things are an allegory ?" Now, why an
allegory? It was a literal fact. And you may read
the whole history of Abraham through, and you will
see no reason why this was an allegory, any more than
aU the rest ; nor is it.
Many of the deeply pious, in all ages, have supposed
there must be some deep signification to the Scriptures,
which was not seen in the literal sense. Dr. Adam
Clarke says, " I appeal to all persons who have ever
read the various comments that have been written on
the Mosaic account, whether they have ever yet been

172 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
satisfied ? Who was the serpent ? Of what kind ?
In what way did he seduce the first happy pair ? These
are questions which remain yet to be answered." Thus
speaks Dr. Clarke.
The pious Dr. Watts says, " Who can fathom the
depth of the mystery of the Trinity, the fall, the res
urrection, &c. But may they not be yet understood ?
Who can say but that the dark cloud which now over
shadows this Mosaic history may some day be removed ?
Who knows but God may raise up some man to ex
pound these mysteries ?" And Dr. Watts was right
in his suggestion. For the cloud is being removed.
The light is now shining. These great and good men
needed only the spiritual sense of the Word, and aU
would have been plain. Dr. Clarke would have then
known who was the serpent. And Dr. Watts would
have understood the trinity, the fall, and the resur
rection. It was no want of talent nor piety nor hu
man learning that these men saw not the spiritual
sense. The rock had first to be smitten before the wa
ters would gush forth. The seals of the Word had
first to be broken, before its internal sense could be
known. No person could know, from any literal defi
nitions of terms, what was signified by the word ser
pent. He must first be shown that the serpent denotes
a principle in the mind of man, and what that princi-
ciple is. Had Dr. Clarke seen this he would never
have looked out among the four-footed beasts of the
earth, to find what tempted Eve.
With these preliminary remarks we will proceed to
the explanation of some of the leading features in the

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 173
first chapter of Genesis. And you will constantly bear
in mind, as we proceed, that the natural things men
tioned denote things of the mind ; because the whole
subject is the creation of the human mind. Not of
one mind or two, and at a certain time, but of any
mind or number of minds at any time. And remem
ber, also, that a mind, in a scriptural sense, is never
considered created till it is in the image and likeness
of God : and that the phrase, " in the beginning," is
as applicable to one period of time as to another.
There is no beginning with God ; but there is a begin
ning with everything that is created. And so far as
the thing created is concerned, the work is done in the
beginning. It is, therefore, but a feeble and fragmen
tary thought that supposes that at a certain time, in
the stillness of eternity, there was nothing in existence
but God ; and that He then spoke into being the pres
ent universe. What ! The mighty God exist from all
eternity up to a certain time without doing anything ?
He is an Eternal Creator — " the same yesterday, to -day,
and forever" — a Creator always. An Infinite and Eter
nal God, with an infinite and eternal field to operate
in, can always have been and forever be creating finite
worlds and things, without filling His field or exhaust
ing His store. He is an eternal cause. And there
cannot be a cause without an effect. It wiU not do to
suppose that infinite Love, Wisdom and Power ever
existed without action, for that position could belong
only to finite and passive things.
The chapter under consideration opens by saying,
" In the beginning God created the heaven and the

174 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
earth." Here commences the history of the creation
of some human mind or minds : and it is applicable to
any person, or persons, of any age of the world, who
are beginning an existence in the image and likeness
of God. And, for illustration, let an infant of an hour
lie, in imagination, before us. That helpless infant is
not a man. But it is a mental germ, possessing planes
and tendencies for the possible reception and operation
of all the elements of the universe of mind. And with
proper influx and development, it will become a man
and an angel. The mind to be formed and developed
from this infant, by proper influx and action, is to be
connected with two worlds ; the natural and the spir
itual. And could we open that little germ of mind
and look into its organization, we should find there an
external plane of action, for the cultivation and exer
cise of thoughts and feelings in relation to this earth,
or to material and earthly things. And this earthly
plane of the mind is what is meant by the earth which
God is said to have created in the beginning. There is
also far within that earthly plane of the infant mind,
a higher plane, for the cultivation and exercise of
thoughts and feelings connected with heaven and heav
enly things. This higher plane is what is meant by
the heaven which God is said to create in the begin
ning. But this heaven and earth — this immortal mind
— is hidden in the infant germ, in mere tendencies and
possibilities, just as the tree is concealed in the tenden
cies and possibilities of the acorn. And this little
mental earth or infant mind is now "without form,
and void." The mind, at this early age, has no form

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 175
or expression of truth. It seems to know nothing
rationally. Darkness is, literally, upon the face of the
mental deep. But gradually the eyes ofthe Httle mind
begin to notice things : the brain is being developed,
and the child learns things from without, through the
senses, and stores them up in the external memory.
Thus he grows and obtains knowledge. But it is
worldly or natural knowledge : and water corresponds
to that knowledge. Now this knowledge is the water
upon the face of which the Spirit of God is said to
move. As the child is taught to admit and respect the
truths of this knowledge, as he obtains them, good
ground is formed in his will. And it is because of
this good ground, or regard for the truth, that the
Spirit of God can move upon the face of the waters.
For the Spirit of God is the power of the divine love
and wisdom. Thus the youth begins to see the use and
feel the force of the commandments : and to distinguish
between right and wrong, truth and falsity. The truth
of the Word operates upon the face of his knowledge,
or upon his regard for the truth. If he had no natural
knowledge he could not receive the truth of the Word.
Now, God says to this mind, " Let there be light. [or
truth] : and there was light." The mind begins now
to really see, by the light of the Word, what are some
of its natural duties of life. And God saw the light of
this mind, that it was good for it. And God divided
the light from the darkness : or enabled the mind to
distinguish between truth and falsity. And God caHed
the light day, because truth is clear ; and the darkness
He called night, because falsity is obscure. The man

176 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
now begins to see that all truth is from the Lord, and
that man's own wisdom is folly. " And the evening
and the morning was the first day." The evening is
the state of shade and doubt which precedes the recep
tion of truth, and the morning is the state of Hght
which follows. Here is the first day, or the first true
state, which a man reaches in the proper development
of his mind. He begins to see and regard truths from
God. This is a state of natural faith in the Lord. It
is the first day or first real light which belongs to the
mind. " And God said, Let there be a firmament in the
midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from
the waters  And God called the firmament
heaven." This firmament is the rational plane of the
external mind — the heaven of the natural man. And
its dividing the waters from the waters, is simply its
distinguishing between the truths that are in the wfil,
or loved, and those which are only of the understand
ing, or seen. Waters above the firmament are truths
in the affections. Those under the firmament are
truths only in the thoughts. And it is important to
know whether we love the truth or not. And also to
see what truths are loved and what are not.
" And the evening and the morning were the second
day," The evening here means the state of shade and
doubt upon the subject of truths loved, and truths only
seen : and the morning is the new light which follows.
Here we see the second day, or true state of mind,
which man reaches, in the orderly development of his
mental abilities. He now understands the difference

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 177
between truths loved and truths only seen. This is a
state of introduction to works of natural charity. For
these truths tell us our duty to our neighbor ; and the
love of them disposes us to do that duty.
" And God said, Let the waters under the heaven
be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry
land appear." The waters under heaven are all the
truths and knowledges of the external mind. And the
gathering of them together, under heaven, is the stor
ing of them up in the external memory. ' Letting the
dry land appear is learning to see and understand
things of the will : to know the state of the heart.
For the dry land is the will of the external man where
the seeds of natural truth are sown. God caUed the
dry land earth, because it is the will or soil of the ex
ternal mind or mental earth. He called the gathering
together of the waters seas, because seas are waters of
the natural earth gathered together, as our knowledges
are gathered together in the memory. " And God
said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding
seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind,
whose seed is in itself, upon the earth." Here the
earth, or will of the external mind, is producing or
bringing forth good things, peaceful words, and kind
actions, as the fruits of the seeds of truth which the
Lord has planted.
" And sthe evening and the morning were the third
day." The evening here is the state of shade and
doubt upon the subject of obedience and good works.
And the morning is the truth and love which follow.
And we never perform works of charity, in obedience
8*

178 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
to God's law, without receiving light and joy as a re
ward. Here we have the third day, or third state,
which a man reaches in the proper development of his
mind. He begins now to bring forth the fruits of
charity and faith, in good works. Here are the union
and ultimate of faith, charity and good works, in the
natural plane of the mind. This brings him into a
state in which the internal plane of the mind can be
opened and illuminated. He is now a good natural
man, prepared, by the literal truth of God's Word, for
higher light.
" And God said, Let there be light in the firmament
of the heaven, ... to give Hght upon the earth."
The period has now arrived in man's progress when the
internal rational of his mind — the firmament of his
spiritual heaven — is opened, so that he can receive into
his internal man, something of the divine love, the di
vine truth and true knowledges, symbolized by the
sun, moon and stars. Under this state of things, the
church — the kingdom of heaven in the soul — begins to
arise, and shine ; for its light has come ; and the glory
of the Lord is risen upon it. And this light is in the
heaven, or internal mind, to give Hght upon the earth
or external mind. And, from henceforth, the natural
mind will always have light from above, to which it
can look for direction. The Sun of love, or of Righteous
ness, will rule the day, or when the mind is in a state
receptive of new truths, and is rejoicing in the light of
love to God and man. And the Moon of faith will
rule the night, or when we are in the shades of apathy
and selfhood, in the temptations of the world ; hav-

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.. 179
ing, at the same time,, for support the stars of divine
truth, prominent in the commandments, as fixed and
eternal principles of knowledge, constantly beaming
from the mental heaven. Then, should the Lord, the
Sun of Righteousness, seem, for a season to be hid from
our view, yet, true faith in Him would sustain us with
the assurance that our Lord liveth : just as the moon
assures us, when the sun is out of sight, that he stiU
shines. The moon, then, like true faith, is truly the
evidence of something not seen.
" And the evening and the morning were the fourth
day." The evening here is the state of shade and doubt
respecting the internal mind ; and the morning is the
state of light which follows the iUumination of the
heaven. Here we have the fourth day or state of the
true development of the mind, when the internal plane
becomes opened to the reception of the spiritual sense
of the Holy Word, whereby the natural man can be
governed by higher and clearer truth, and purer love.
Up to this time, or during the first three days, the
natural mind or earth, only, has been developed ; and
that by natural sciences and natural truths of the
Word., The first day, or state of light, was when the Spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters, or excited
the affection of the common knowledge of the mind, to
see the literal truth of the commandments, causing
light or day to be in the mind from God.
The second day or state was when man began to love
the truth, and to distinguish between truth loved, and
truth only seen : so that he could then divide the wa-

180 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
ters or truths which were in the understanding from
those in the will.
The third day or state was when he began to do the
good works, from the union of this love and this truth;
denoted by the earth or natural mind bringing forth
grass, and herbs, and trees. Thus, the first three days
have relation to the understanding, the wiU, and the
action of the natural mind ; or to faith, charity and
works. The first day, is the truth seen and acknowledged ;
the second, is the truth yielded to and loved ; the
third, is truth obeyed from love, or through faith and
charity. This brings the natural mind, or external
man, into outward order, by means of natural faith,
charity and works, through the literal truth of the
Word. But it does not make him a spiritual man.
Yet he never could beeome a spiritual man, tiH after
he had passed through this process. " First that which
is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual."
But the fourth day opens our heaven, or internal
mind, to the reception of the glorious Hght of the in
ternal sense of the Word, symbolized by the sun, moon
and stars. This light is to come aown from our heaven
to our earth, to spiritualize the whole natural mind,
filling everything with new light and higher life, making
natural truth as spiritual ; or turning the water into
wine ; causing our whole natural mind to act from
spiritual influences. This change is what God means
when he says. " Behold, I make all things new." And
for this purpose, the history continues, " And God
said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 181
creature that hath Hfe, and fowl that may fly above the
earth in the open firmament of heaven." Thus the
waters, the natural truths of the mind become illumi
nated and impregnated with spiritual life from the
Lord, the spiritual Sun. And the history says they
brought forth great whales and every living creature
that moveth. That is : they brought forth the great
sciences of the spiritual doctrines of the Word, and the
science of correspondences. And these are indeed great
whales. They are the largest scientifics in the sea, or
knowledge of the human mind. And thence the very
thoughts become spiritually alive. These thoughts are
signified by the birds that fly above the earth in the
open firmament of heaven.
" And the evening and the morning were the fifth
day." The evening is the state of shade and doubt,
which we first have in the natural mind, respecting the
spiritual sense of the Word ; and the morning is the
state which follows the descent of spiritual light from
the heaven of the mind into the natural plane. Here
we have the fifth day, or state of development, when
the natural mind becomes receptive of spiritual light
from the kingdom of heaven within. We now give
God the glory for every true thought, and for every
scientific and rational principle of our mental earth.
" And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living
creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and
beast of the earth after his kind : and it was so."
Here by the aid of the sun of love, and the moon of
faith, and the stars of knowledge, in the heaven of the
mind, the natural man or earth is enabled to bring forth

182 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
beasts and birds, and creeping things which have Hfe :
or all good affections, true thoughts, and kind actions*
Before the heavens were opened, when we had not the
Sun of Righteousness in our heart, or did not truly
love the Lord as spirit and life, our earthly mind brought
forth nothing but grass, herbs and trees ; or the fruits
of natural obedience. But now, it brings forth spirit
ual things, living affections, and heavenly thoughts,
signified by beasts, birds, cattle, and creeping things
that have life. This is a glorious state of the church
when we are filled with true light and life, with heav
enly thoughts and feehngs of every variety. As this
propitious state is reached in the progress of regenera
tion, and man is about to be completed as far as the
spiritual degree, God continues the history by saying,
" Let us make Man in our image, after our likeness."
That is : Let us now complete the spiritual work, and
bring man more fully up into our image, after our
likeness. Let us give him what makes him more fully
a man, which is " dominion over the fish of the sea,
and over the fowl of the air, and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
eartl." To have dominion over all these things is
simply for man to have the government of himself ; to
control all his thoughts, feelings, affections, passions,
and propensities. In this light only can this Scripture
be understood. For what dominion has man over the
eagle that flies above the mountain summit ; or over
the wild beast of the impenetrable forest, or the mon
sters of the unknown deep ? But man was to have
dominion over every living creature. Has he got it ?

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 183
Can he command the soaring vultures or voracious al
ligators to come down from their heights and up from
their depths and stand submissive at his feet, and they
obey him ? He may shoot them ; or entrap and encage
them, but that is no dominion. He may lead them by
their appetites, or ensnare them by stratagem ; but
dominion means more than this. Hu cannot call them
out, at the fiat of his will, and march them forth at
his command. He has no such dominion. Further
more, he was to have dominion, not only over these
creatures, but also over the earth itself. And what
control has he over the earth upon which we stand? It
rolls on its axis and pursues its annual round, regard
less of the will of man. No : it is his mental earth
over which he is to have dominion. He was to possess
the government over his external or earthly mind and
nature. But in order to do this each human mind is
endowed with a will and an understanding which are
the male and female elements of that mind. For all
dominion, and even action, in any person is from the
united power of these elements. The understanding
is the male element ; and the will, the female. When
tho will is filled with goodness and the understanding
with truth, and they become thereby united, they are
prepared to work for a dominion overall the principles
of the external mind or earth ; and even over the entire
earthly mind itself. But this dominion is gained only
as the mind, by means of this union, becomes fruitful
and multiplies in goods and truths, and thereby replen
ishes the earth, or external mind, with those new goods
and truths, as its evils and falses are removed or sub-

184 FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
dued. Thus is our mental earth to be subdued and
brought under subjection to the Lord in the internal
mind. " And God saw every thing that He had made, and,
behold, it was very good." God has, thus far, done a
good work. But it is not yet completed. The do
minion is not yet gained.
" The evening and the morning were the sixth day."
The evening is the state of shade and doubt respecting
this dominion and the way of obtaining it ; and the
morning is the new light which shows us the work be
fore us, and how to pursue it. Man is now in God's
image, but not in His likeness. He is a spiritual man.
This image is after God's likeness. The love of the
truth gives us God's image. The love of goodness gives
us His likeness.
This likeness is to be gained by being fruitful, and
multiplying and replenishing the earth, and subduing
it. This work, when accomplished, brings us into the
seventh day or state of rest, when we possess both the
image and the likeness of God, and are prepared to en
joy with delight, the society of the angels of heaven.
To be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it, is to cultivate the affections, the ground
of the heart, by a good life ; sowing therein aH the
good seeds or truths of the commandments, subduing
all the thorns of error, the nettles of vice, the thistles
of deception, and the briers of selfishness ; until the
mind becomes a garden of Eden, filled with good fruits ;
a paradise of God, cultivated, subdued and replen
ished ; so that we have the complete control over aH

FIRST CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 185
the birds, beasts and creeping things of our nature, or
over all our thoughts, feelings and actions. Then, the
kingdom of heaven will be fully estabhshed within us.
We shall have come to the full sabbath of rest ; and aH
will be happiness and peace. God will bless us, and aU
the ends of the earth will Draise Him.

CHAPTER XI.
THE SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS AND THE MAKING
OF THE WOMAN OF THE RIB.
" And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should
be alone ; I will make him an help meet for him. And the Lord
God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept ; and He
took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and
the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made He a
woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is
now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh : she shall be called
"Woman because she was taken out of Man." — (Gen. ii. 18, 21, 22, 23.)
If we would understand God's Word, we must ever
remember that it always treats of things of the mind.
That the human mind is its universal theme : that
natural things are mentioned, only, because they are
symbols of things of the mind : and because, in this
life, spiritual things can be described, or seen, only
through natural things, by correspondences. And
though, from a little reflection, we may see that this
must be the case, yet we are so natural and so grovel
ling that we are apt to lose sight of this great fact and
fall into darkness and mystery.
Thus, when we read about Adam and Eve, we are
apt to think of their material bodies instead of them-

SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 187
selves. We think of the mere tabernacles of clay that
they lived in, without letting our thoughts ascend up
to the inhabitants of these tabernacles, the real beings
themselves. Now, until we get into the habit of look
ing above the mere gross matter of this earth, for men
and women, we shall never understand God's Holy
Word. Indeed, it is in consequence of our low natural
state of mind that the Word seems clothed in such
mystery. For, when it is said that the Lord God took
from Adam's side a rib, and made a woman of it, who
thinks of anything but matter ? a material woman ?
Who thinks of her soul, and her life ? Who thinks
of any part of her, as coming from any other source
than the rib ? The mind, the affections, the will and
understanding ; the very woman herself ; everything
that can love, and think, and feel ; all that is noble
and immortal is not even dreamed of, or taken into the
account. And yet these things were never made of
matter. Even the learned commentators have never looked
up above the rib for this woman. They have seemed
to think that the whole woman ; all there was of her,
was made of the man's rib. They do not mention her
soul ; but are content to believe that the woman, tl*.e
wife of Adam, was made of one of his ribs. I commend
them for this modesty, and for their humble reliance
upon the letter of God's Word. It is all men can
know about it, who see no higher than the literal sense.
The commentators have tried to believe that the second
chapter of Genesis is somewhat explanatory of the first.
But every step in that direction has but increased the

188 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
darkness. Thus, Scott, in commencing his notes upon
the second chapter, says, " The sacred historian, having
given a brief account of the orderly production of aU
things, explains, in this chapter, some particulars, more
fully, which would otherwise have interrupted the order
of his narrative." Here Mr. Scott admits that we have
an account of the creation of man, male and female, in
the first chapter of Genesis. But, in the first chapter,
it does not mention of what material man was made ;
nor that he was so much as a living soul. It simply
says, " God created man in His own image, in the
image of God created He him : male and female created
He them ; and blessed them ; and said, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it."
But in the second chapter it says, " The Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of lives ; and man became
a living soul." But no literal reader of the Word sup
poses that Eve was made at this time with Adam, and
received the breath of lives and became a living soul ;
for the narrative gives the account of her creation after
ward, of the rib ; but it gives no account of any breath
of lives being breathed into her, to make her a living
soul. Hence the commentators, generally, have taken
it for granted, that Eve, the wife of Adam, was made
of his rib : and that Adam was made of the dust of
the earth.
But the discrepancies between the two chapters are
so great, that all attempts to make the second explana
tory of the first, have failed. The first chapter says
that man — msle and female — was made on the sixth

SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 189
day : and we should suppose that they were both made
at the same time, and not until after the animals weie
made. But the second chapter says that Adam, or
Man, was first made, and that afterward God planted
a garden, and there He put the man ; and that He next
caused to grow out of the ground, every tree that is
pleasant to the sight and good for food ; and the tree
of life also, in the midst of the garden, and the tree pf
knowledge of good and evil. Here the man was alone
aU the time that the trees were growing up, from the
planting until they bore fruit. And the man, it seems,
in this solitude, with no human being to enjoy these
blessings with him, was commanded not to eat of a cer
tain tree. And it seems that he did not eat of it until
some time after the command was given, nor until the
woman had been made of the rib. For it was not un
til after Adam had lived in the garden, to see these
trees grow up, and bear fruit, and had received the
command not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good
and evil, and after the Lord God had seen that it was
not good for man to be alone, and had promised to make
an help meet for him ; and also after he had further
gone to work and formed every beast of the field, and
jvery fowl of the air, and had brought them to Adam
to see what he would call them, and after Adam had
given the names to all cattle, and the fowl of the air,
and every beast of the field — it was not until after all
this had taken place that Eve was formed of the rib,
and the forbidden fruit was eaten. Thus, in the first
chapter, every other thing was created before man. He
was the last thing formed. Man was made male and

190 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
female on the sixth day. And God said to him, Bis
hold I have given you every herb bearing seed, whici*
is upon the face of the earth, and every tree in the
which is the fruit yielding seed : to you it shall be for
meat. But, in the second chapter, it appears that Adam
without Eve, was made before the trees were, of which
he was to eat ; and before the beasts and birds were
made : and that he was put alone in the garden, which
God had planted, before the trees had come up : and
that the beasts, and birds, and trees, were made after
Adam was made, but before Eve was made : and that
the command, not to eat of the forbidden fruit was not
given to Eve, personally ; but only to Adam : for Eve
was not made until some time after the command was
given. Now these are all strange things, if we look
only to the literal sense. Every attempt to reconcfie,
or explain them, has only deepened the darkness. And
the pious commentator has felt his own weakness in
the matter ; and has humbly believed in the mystery,
saying, " Let God be true, and every man a liar."
But we should know that all this divine history is
about the minds of men, rather than their bodies. It
teaches the order of the creation and development of
the human mind. It is the immortal soul — the mind —
that is the man. It is this that God talks about and
cares for. The spiritual world — the eternal world —
the world of mind — is the world which God speaks of
creating. Now, if we can only see and acknowledge,
that there are two worlds — a world of mind and a world
of matter — and that the world of mind has as many

SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 191
things in it as the world of matter has ; and that the
things of both worlds are called by the same names,
we shall then be able to understand more clearly the
teachings of the Holy Word. For we shall see that
the mind has its mountains of sin or holiness, its rivers
of truth or falsehood, its stars of light, its sun of
righteousness, its trees of knowledge, its lambs of inno
cence, its wolves of cruelty, its foxes of deceit, its ser
pents of subtlety. We shall indeed see that all the
things of nature denote things of the mind. For mind
produced them : mind gives them life ; and therefore
they must represent the mental quality which gives
them form and use. And, as the various principles of
the mind bear the same names as the things of nature
do which denote them, so we may always readily know
something about what God means, when He talks about
the things of nature.
Now the Divine Word commences by giving a his
tory of the creation of the human mind ; no matter
what natural thing is mentioned, it means something
of the mind. And it continues to describe the states
and qualities of the human mind until it comes to its
close in the Apocalypse. Primarily, it treats of nothing
else but the mind. All its creations and falls, its lights
and shades, its days and nights, its heats and colds, its
times and seasons, its floods and droughts, its clouds
and sunshines, its storms and calms, its earthquakes
and tempests, its lives, deaths and diseases, wars and
tumults ; everything it says describes states and quali
ties of the minds of men. Yet we are not to lose
sight of the fact that there is much literal history in

192 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
the divine Word, which took place, in this world, as
there recorded. But it is, at the same time, a history
of the human mind, and accurately describes, by cor
respondences, the things that were going on there. But
there are also many portions of the Word which are
given solely on account of the spiritual sense, when the
literal events did not occur, as recorded in this world.
Such are the first eleven chapters of Genesis, much of
the books of Ezekiel and of the Apocalypse ; and occa
sional sentences throughout the entire Word ; thrown
in to complete the spiritual sense, when the Hteral event
could not occur. This is done because the spiritual
sense is the life of the Word, which reaches the soul,
and becomes the spiritual and eternal Hfe of them that
receive it ; while the literal sense is the vessel which
presents that life. Therefore, whether the Hteral event
occurred or not, the spiritual sense is equally important,
and comes in an equally important vessel. We there
fore need not be over anxious to know precisely what
events actually occurred in this world, and what did
not, as the spiritual events more essentially concern us.
But let us not be hasty to decide against the occur
rence of any natural event recorded in the Word. It is
the spiritual sense which we can understand which most
concerns us. Let us thankfully receive and obey this ;
and when further advanced in spiritual life we may be
able to see more clearly how far the natural events ac
tually took place.
With these general remarks, let us now glance at the
subject of our text, in its spiritual light. For, in this
light, all the apparent discrepancies, between the first
and second chapters of Genesis, pass away. Remember,

SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 193
it is the mind of man that is treated of. And that
when the first chapter ends, the mind of man is not
finished. It has then only reached a certain state in
its progress. There is no such thing as completing or
finishing the creation of the human mind. It may
progress for ever, and still be incomplete. There will
be more knowledge to add to it. It'is nothing else than
an organized substance of affections and thoughts ; or
things of the will and understanding arranged in a hu
man form, in a spiritual body and capable of being
taught of God. And such as is the quality of its know
ledge and desires, such will be its beauty or deformity,
its happiness or misery : and it is free to learn and
practise either good or evil.
The word " Man," in the first chapter of Genesis,
means mankind — the human race — male and female,
without regard to numbers. The history is a history
of the creation of the human mind, in mass ; of hu
manity, or human nature at large. Adam means man
kind. The words " Adam and Eve," in their distinct
differences, do not mean one man and one woman ;
they mean the two great elements of the human mind
— the male and female elements ; extending through
the whole human family. They mean the Adam or
male principle, and the Eve or female principle of the
race. These two elements of the mind are the under
standing and the will. The understanding, in the spir
itual degree of the mind,* is the male principle or
* In the celestial degree, the will is the male and the under
standing the female. But in these lectures we explain only to
the spiritual sense. 9

194 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
. Adam of the mind ; and the will is the female
principle or Eve of the mind. These principles belong
to all minds, both of men and women. Every person,
therefore, has his Adam and his Eve of the mind ;
or his understanding and his wiU. In the women, the
will principle, the love or affections — the female element
— predominates. In men, the understanding — the rea
soning element — the male principle predominates. And
as woman has the broader will, affections, tenderness
and mercy ; and man the deeper understanding, judg
ment, reason and courage ; so the two brought to
gether make one mind, more full and perfect than either
could be by itself. For each supplies the other's de
ficiency. Their marriage, therefore, gives them that
fulness of happiness, which they could not otherwise
enjoy. Now, in order to give, in the first chapter of Genesis,
a history of the creation of the human mind in mass,
God has apparently given a history of the creation of
natural things, because they represent things of the
mind. And the things are so arranged, in the history,
in their order, as to show the regular creation and de
velopment of the mind.
In the order of creation the natural or external man,
called the earth of the mind, is always first developed.
This development is described in the first chapter by
the earth bringing forth grass, and plants, and trees ;
things which denote principles of the natural mind,
Then, as the human race grows up to years of under
standing, there follows an account of the creation or
development of the internal mind, or heavens, which is

SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 195
described by the creation of the sun, moon and stars
and ofthe animals ; things which denote the principles
of the spiritual mind. Then follows what is called the
creation of man, where God says, Let us make man in
our image. He had been making man all the while,
but had not brought him into His image. This was
done by bringing the internal and external minds — their
wills and understandings — together, into harmony ; so
that the male and female elements of the mind, could
work together.
Here closes the first chapter. The mind of the race
is becoming spiritual. But their work is not done.
The command to them is to be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth, and subdue it ; which shows
that the mind, the mental earth, is not yet subdued
and replenished. And it also shows that the various
principles, which God is giving it, must bring forth
after their kind. The race has only now entered upon
the sixth day or state. It has not reached the seventh.
It has not come to its rest. It has much labor to do
first. It is now in its spiritual working state. In this
state truth rules.
In the second chapter man progresses on to the ce
lestial state ; or to where love predominates. But this
state he does not reach until he has gained the entire
control over all the lower principles of his mind, which
require much cultivation and development. Therefore,
in order to reach this state, God commands him, in the
first chapter, to have dominion over the fish of the sea,
the fowl of the air, and every living thing that moveth
upon the earth. Which means that he shall get con-

196 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
trol over all the passions, principles and propensities of
the mind and body. This would prepare the race for
the seventh state of mind, or sabbath of rest, mentioned
in the second chapter. For here the Lord says, that,
on the seventh day God ended His work which he
had made ; and He rested on the seventh day from all
His work which He had made. This closes the spiritual
labor and introduces to a still higher order of things ;
or to 'a further development, in which man is to be
made celestial, or to be advanced to a state in which
love predominates. And, in speaking of this higher
state, it is said, in the second chapter, there was not a
man to till the ground.
Now what does this mean when the whole human
race had been created, and had advanced to the spirit
ual state ; and had replenished the earth and subdued
it? We shall see what it means by noticing the pecu
liarity ofthe terms used in the two chapters, to denote
the external plane of the mind. In the first chapter it
is called the earth ; and in the second chapter it is
called the ground. In the first chapter they were to
subdue the earth. In the second chapter they were to
till the ground. Subduing the earth is spiritual labor ;
tilling the ground is celestial labor. Subduing the
earth makes it good ground for tilling. The reason
there was no man to till the ground is, there was then
no celestial man. Man had advanced only to the spirit
ual state. There were many men to subdue the earth ;
or to overcome and strengthen the natural mind. But
there was not a man to tiU the ground, or to fill the
natural mind with celestial life, by tilling it from love.

SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 197
The earth means the external mind made spiritual,
or acting from the love of truth. The ground means
the external mind made celestial, or acting from the
love of good. To replenish the earth, and subdue
it is to dispose the external man to do right, because
he sees it to be right. This is the spiritual state, when
the truth rules. To till the ground is to dispose the
external man to do right, because he feels it to be right.
This is the celestial state, when love rules. There
fore it is, that there was said to be no man to till the
ground — nobody yet celestial.
You wul notice that in the first chapter the ground
is not mentioned ; but it is the earth that brings forth :
and the word God only is used. By which we are to
understand that the human mind was all the while un
der the control of the truth, and becoming spiritual,
being educated and instructed by truth. But, in ad
vancing man to a higher state, in the second chapter,
the word ground is used, and it is the Lord God who
does the work : or, in the original, Jehovah God, or
Love and Truth. In the first chapter it is God, opera
ting as the Truth, that makes man spiritual. But in
the second chapter it is Jehovah God, or, both the
Truth and Love operating together in the heart, that
makes man celestial. Therefore, though it may be
thought, by some, that the second chapter is a repeti
tion of man's creation in the first chapter, yet it is not
so. The second chapter takes man where the first leaves
him, and advances him on from the spiritual state to
the celestial state.- And this advancement is described

198 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
in the following language : " And the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of lives ; and man became
a living soul." Here we see that the celestial state is
effected by bringing love and good will down into the
lowest, smallest things of the external mind — into the
very dust of the ground. Now this is accomplished by
doing all the little things of life kindly, from the love
of the neighbor. Dust denotes the lowest external
natural things of man. This work is what forms man of
the dust of the ground. It makes him manly in small
things. Thus man tills the ground of the mind untfi
the very lowest natural things are filled with celestial
love — love to God, and good will toward men. Then
the whole man is celestial — lovely. This makes man a
living soul ; because it makes all his natural affections
alive with love
Now he is prepared to make a garden of the mind ;
because he can now till the ground. Therefore, it is
next said that, " the Lord God planted a garden east
ward in Eden." This garden of Eden, is the human
mind ; not of one person, only ; but of all the human
family then upon the earth. The race was advancing
from spiritual to celestial. The trees of this garden
are all the principles of the mind growing from the
ground of love. The rivers of the garden are truths
flowing from the Lord. Here the human family, in this
state of paradise, were command :d to dress and keep
this garden of the mind. Here all the principles of
the mind were made new, and put on the celestial as
pect and quality. The very affections of the soul were

SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 199
new ; and the people understood their quality : they
could read their own hearts.
This state is described in the following language :
" Out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast
of the field, and every fowl of the air ; and brought
them unto Adam to see what he would call them."
Beasts of the field denote man's affections ; and birds
of the air, his thoughts. And Adam gave names to
them. To name a thing is to ascertain its quahty.
Thus the human race, at that age, understood the
quality of all their affections and thoughts : or, they
could give names to all their beasts and birds.
Here, in the second chapter, we see that the animals
and trees are created over again. It is because, in the
first chapter, these principles of the mind were created
from the truth : and the earth produced them. Now
they are created from love : and the ground gives them
forth, and man becomes a living soul. Here we have
the highest state to which the human race advanced
before the fall ; and yet Eve is not mentioned. Here
they were, in their purity and happiness. There were
many of them, no doubt, in number, both males and
females. For we have every reason to believe, that it
must have taken many years to advance the human
race from a state of entire ignorance, when darkness
was upon the face of the deep, up to this high state of
celestial light and joy. And how many ages they en
joyed this high state, before they fell, we know not.
But in process of time they found that it was not
good to be alone. They wanted a help meet. This
uneasv state of mind was the germ of the fall. To be

200 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
alone is to be single-minded with God. It is to not feel
at liberty to act our own way. It is to be one in heart
and mind, and one with the Lord. It is to have no two
sides to anything ; no two parties : but to all yield,
implicitly, to the Lord's wiU, without exercising any
- independence of thought and feeling contrary to the
Lord's will ; or following any new inclinations which
they might sometimes feel. Thus they graduaUy began
to get tired of this oneness of state, and to want variety;
and to think and act more uncontrolled, more in their
own way ; more as many, .than as one alone. They
wanted the privilege of saying either yes or no. This
state of mind is what is meant by its not being good
for man to be alone. It was good : but it had ceased
to seem good to them. Therefore, it is said that, " the
Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and
he slept." Adam, here, remember, means the human
race, males and females : it means humanity, as it then
was, upon the earth. The Lord is said to bring upon
mankind this deep sleep, because He is said, in Scrip
ture, to do what He only permits to be done. The
human race, in reasoning from their own wisdom and
exercising their own proprium, began to fall into a state
of darkness and doubt as to whether their wisdom was
all from the Lord, or partly from themselves. This
darkness and doubt is the deep sleep. They were no
longer awake and alive to their own duties. Their un
derstandings were becoming dark and their affections
cold. The understanding is the male element of the
mind, and the wiU, or heart, is the female element.
Thus, the darkened understanding of the race was the
Adam that was asleep. And the cold indifferent state

SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS 201
of the will was the rib that was taken away. This was
done by the Lord by enabling the race to see and un
derstand that men had a selfhood ; and that they were
free to exercise that selfhood as their own, and there
fore to be no longer alone, provided they would ac
knowledge that the will, the understanding and the
power to do so were of the Lord. This was a new truth
that they had not before seen ; and it produced a new
state of mind, giving them much joy. For this truth,
in the understanding, or in the Adam or male principle
of the mind, could be received and warmly embraced by
the affections or the Eve principle of the mind. Thus
the mind, which was before dark and cold, was now
light and warm. This new truth, in the understand
ing, is the Lord, the Word or the husband. And this
new affection of truth in the will is the church, the
bride. And this union of good in the will with the
truth in the understanding is always used as the sym
bol of the relation between husband and wife. The
race received this new state of the affections, the Eve
principle, through the truth in the understanding,
which showed them that they were free agents. Thus
these affections, or Eve, are said to be taken out of man,
because they were received through the truth, in the
understanding — the male element : and as the under
standing and will are now brought together, i't is there
fore added that a man shall leave his father and mother
and cleave unto his wife, and they twain shall be one
flesh. Thus the cold, hard, bony state of the race, was
taken away from their affections, or from the side of
man, and a warm, soft state, was given in its stead
9*

202 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
Bones are often spoken of, in the Word, in reference
to the state of the heart, or the affections — the pro
prium. Thus, the Psalmist says, " Make me to have joy
and gladness, that the bones which thou hast broken
may rejoice." Here broken bones are broken affections,
dejected spirits, or subdued selfhood. Breaking a bone
is the same as taking out a rib, or destroying the love
of self. Thus it is written, " Hear, 0 Israel, for my
bones are vexed ; all my bones are broken ; aH my
bones are out of joint ; my bones are consumed." In
all these places the self-love or selfhood is meant.
Again, " AU my bones shall say, Lord, who is Hke unto
Thee ?"
Now, one peculiar point of interest, in this subject,
and the one of which we should be careful not to lose
sight, is the human selfhood or proprium. This self
hood is the mysterious line of distinction between man
and his God. It is the point expressive of what there
is of man speciaUy ; and of what the two different
states of man's proprium are — the state in order and
the state in disorder : or the state before the rib is
taken away and that afterward : for man'", selfhood is
either dead or alive. It is dead when he loves self for
the sake of self. It is alive when he loves self for
the sake of the Lord ; for then he loves his neighbor as
himself. He loves all that God has created, himself
among the rest, as the creatures of God's hands, whom
God himself loves, and whom we should love also as
God's children.
Now, the very point to be noted is this : man had
begun to feel some little regard or love for himself, in

SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS. 203
contradistinction to his love for the Lord. And in try
ing to study into the nature and quality of his own
selfhood and exclusive powers, he fell into that state of
profound darkness and doubt, called deep sleep, in
which most men are, at this day, upon this very sub
ject of human selfhood. Man, then, wanted to feel
himself to be something distinct from his God, and to
love himself in this distinction, and to love his God
also. He wanted to divide his affections between him
self and his God, so as not to be alone, or in oneness
in the action of those affections. So the Lord pro
vided that he might love himself or his own selfhood,
on condition that he would remember and acknowledge
that all that there was which was good in that selfhood,
and worthy of his love, was of the Lord alone.
This was a new view of the subject, by means of
new light ; and they yielded to it. Thus the human
selfhood was vivified. The rib, or the cold and dead
idea of man's own goodness, was thereby taken away
from his mind. Man now saw that he was not good
in, and of, himself ; and seeing this, and looking to the
Lord, the rib, or dead selfhood, was removed, and God's
supreme goodness was acknowledged and took its place.
Man was now enabled to see himself as finite and dis
tinct from the Lord, and also to love himself for the
goods and truths which were in him from the Lord,
and not for his own wisdom and righteousness. Man
had now, what we call, a vivifietl, living or spiritual
selfhood. This was called flesh, or goodness, in the
place of the rib, or lifeless and cold selfhood, which was
taken away. This vivified selfhood is the Eve, the

204 SECOND CHAPTER OF GENESIS.
Bride or the Church, in our wiU, which the truth in
our Adam, or our understanding, is to love and em
brace. And it is said of them, " What God hath
joined together let no man put asunder."
And here we have the true scripture symbol of the
conjugial relation between a man and his wife. It is
the same as the relation between the Lord and His
Church or Truth and Good : or between love in the
proprium of man, and the Lord, as the Divine truth,
in the understanding. The world is now in great dark
ness upon this very subject — the human proprium. It
is, indeed, in deep sleep, and can only be aroused as the
Lord takes from its side a rib, and makes thereof a
woman — a good affection — and brings it to the dark
ened understanding, and they embrace each other.
And this cold, dead bone is being taken away, and
the warm living flesh given in its place, whenever men
faithfully resist temptations and keep God's laws, as of
themselves, with the acknowledgment that the wiU, the
understanding, and the power to do so are of the Lord
alone. Thus no person is regenerated without God's
taking from his side, or from his affections, the cold
rib of his selfhood and putting in the place thereof,
warm and generous love to God and the neighbor ; and
thus forming a union of goodness and truth in his soul,
whereby goodness in his heart is the church wedded to
the Lord as the Truth. Thus, as in all sacred scrip
ture, we are here taught the way of salvation.

CHAPTER XII.
THE CORRESPONDENCE OF WATER.
" His voice as the sound of many waters." (Rev. i. 15.)
, We speak this evening upon the spiritual significa
tion of water.
Water constitutes one of the leading features of the
Holy Word. This is because it denotes one of the prin
cipal elements either of the human or of the Divine
Mind. It also constitutes one of the leading features
and principal elements of the natural world. It sig
nifies truth. And as water is essential to the produc
tion and growth of natural things, so truth is essential
to the production and growth of mental things. Water,
therefore, in every instance in which it is mentioned in
the Holy Word, signifies either truth or falsity. And,
by the sense in which it is used, it is at once known
which way it is to be understood.
Now, because it signifies truth, it is used as an in
troduction into the church, by baptism. For it is truth
which introduces a person into the church. Truths, in
the mind, show us our evils, and teach us how to put
them away. And, as we repent of our evils, resist

206 WATER.
temptations and obey the Lord, through the light and
power of the truth, we are cleansed from our evils
and filled with goods and truths. Baptism by water
denotes this cleansing by the truths. It is, therefore, a
beautiful and appropriate ordinance of the church, and
stands as the great index, pointing the way to heaven
by regeneration. Water performs the same use to the
body, in cleansing it, and quenching its thirst, and in
nourishing and sustaining it, as the truth does to the
soul : for the correspondence is perfect.
The very first expression of the operation of God's
Spirit, in the Holy Word, is upon the face of the waters.
This is made at the commencement ofthe Divine Word;
or, at the beginning of the spiritual creation of the human
mind. " And the Spirit of God moved upon the face
of the waters." The face denotes the affections ; and
the waters, truths. The first effort of the Spirit, after
there is light, is, to incline us to have an affection for
that light or truth.
Again, water is expressed, as being connected, not
only with the first movings of the Spirit mentioned in
the Holy Word, but also in the very last exhortation
of the Lord to man, in this divine Book. He there
says, " And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And
let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is
athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the
water of life freely."
And not only in the first and the last parts, is water
used, but also throughout the whole Word. Wells,
and rivers, and streams, and rains, and seas, and floods
a.re, all the way, brought to notice. One who has never

WATER. 207
examined the Divine Word as to the use made of wells
of water ; the finding, digging, moving, and destroying
of wells, as a means of spiritual instruction, would be
forcibly struck with a view of that feature of the Sacred
Scriptures. In 2 Kings we read that the Moabites cast stones
on all the good ground, stopped all the wells, and
felled all the good trees. Now, if we turn our thoughts
from natural things to spiritual, and lay the scene in
our own mind, we shall see at a glance, by correspon
dence, that the Moabites are evil principles or spirits ;
that the stones they cast on all the good ground are
hard falsities cast on the ground of the mind ; that the
wells, stopped, are the sources of truth from the Word
hidden from the mind ; and that the good trees, felled,
are all the noble and lofty principles of the soul de
stroyed. What an impressive lesson the Lord here
teaches us ! That evils, indulged, will fill our hearts
with falsities, close them against the truths of the
Word, and destroy the highest and best principles of
the soul.
Again, it is recorded in Genesis, that Hagar was sent
away from Abraham's house with her child ; that she
left the lad under a shrub to die for the want of
water, and sat down to weep ; and that God opened
her eyes, and she saw a well of water, and she gave the
lad to drink. Now, what eyes did the Lord open ?
Was it only the natural eyes ? Hagar was not blind
in those eyes. Let us then look into our own minds for
the illustration : for the Lord would teach us spiritual
things. The instruction is given expressly for the present

208 WATER.
age. Hagar denotes the female element of the mind
or our affections, and the child, a new principle or rule
of life from the Lord, which our affections love ; and
Abraham represents the Lord. And now, if we let
these affections go away from Abraham's, orthe heavenly
Father's, house with the child or new principle, and not
continue to look to the Lord for wisdom to feed it, the
child will surely die of thirst, or for the want of the
water of life. But if, in our wanderings, we feel its
need of truths, and fear its death, and set ourselves
down to weep and repent of our waywardness, the Lord
will open our understandings to the divine truth, and
we shall see a well of water springing up from the Holy
Word, and we shall give the child to drink.
Again, between Abraham and Abimelech, king of
Gerar, there was a falling out ; because Abraham had
digged a well, and Abimelech'' s servants had taken it
away ; that is, had taken the credit of digging it. And
Abraham and Abimelech entered into a covenant,
which was this : Abraham took seven ewe lambs and
said to Abimelech, " These ewe lambs shalt thou take,
that they may be witness unto me, that I have digged
this well." Now, what can this mean ? Why has our
heavenly Father recorded such a narrative ? And why
is he now giving it to all the world in aU languages ?
It must be because it contains food for the souls of
men. And if we know that the things here mentioned
denote things of the mind, and will look within our
selves for them, we shall then see their use and their
beauty. Abraham, who is often called father Abraham,
represents the Lord as Divine Good. He denotes a

WATER. 209
principle of love and mercy in our hearts. While
Abimelech, king of Gerar, signifies something of the
head — the doctrines of faith : Kings always relate to
truths. Now, the Bible talks about wells of water springing
up, in the human soul, unto everlasting life. Such
wells are always digged by repentance, faith, and obe
dience. But in order to have this repentance, faith
and obedience genuine, so as to produce the well of
living water, father Abraham must be there — love to
God ahd the neighbor must be in the work as its mo
tive power or spring of action. Abraham, the heavenly
father principle, or Divine Good, digs the well, through
the use of the other principles as means of operation.
But after the well has been digged, and we are enjoy
ing and giving forth, its precious waters, we may care
lessly faU into a cold and dark state of mind. And
then, while we are reasoning upon the subject in the
selfish light of our own intelligence, we may come to the
false conclusion that it was by the scientific principles
of our own judgment and faith, that the well was
digged ; that it was Abimelech's servants, or the sub
jects of our faith, that digged the well, or gave us the
truths and doctrines. Thus the merit is all taken away
from Abraham, or from the mercy and goodness of God ;
and we are falling into a dead state of mind ; giving
up the true religion of the heart, and resting in the
coldness of the head alone. Our heavenly Father sees
where we are going, and arouses us to a state of our
condition and danger. He calls a meeting of Abraham
and Abimelech, or of the heart and the head, that we

210 WATEfe.
may reflect, and understand where the truths, or waters,
and doctrines of our souls come from : whether from
wisdom or from love. And, in this examination, he
enables us to see that it is goodness that gives forth the
truth ; that Abraham digs the well. And now he in
stitutes a covenant between Abraham and Abimelech,
or between goodness and truth in us ; or between our
understanding and our will. In this covenant, Abra
ham gives to Abimelech seven ewe lambs to be kept as
a witness that Abraham digged the well, or that good
ness brings forth the truth.
Now, why should seven ewe lambs be given as this
witness ? How could they be a witness that Abraham
digged a natural well ? It is because ewe lambs de
note innocence of the affections, and seven denotes pu
rity or holiness. Therefore, for Abimelech to receive
from Abraham seven ewe lambs, is, spiritually speaking,
for the understanding to become convinced, by the
truth, that the Divine Good or Father principle is in
nocent and holy, and that this Divine Good actually
brings forth, in us, the truth of the Word, or digs the
well. Thus Abraham, or the goodness of God in the
will, is to give to Abimelech, or faith in the under
standing, a belief in innocence and purity : this belief
will cause a union or covenant between goodness and
truth in our souls. And we can readily see that so long-
as Abimelech, or our faith of the head, understands that
all purity and innocence are from Abraham, or the
Heavenly Father's goodness, we shall of course believe
that all truths and doctrines which cleanse the soul,
and bring purity and innocence, must also flow from

WATER. 211
God's goodness and mercy — that Abraham truly digs
the well, or supplies the water.
Again, the Lord commanded Moses to gather the
people together at the well Beer ; and the Lord God
gave them water. Then Israel sang this song, " Spring
up, 0 well, answer ye out of it ; the well, the princes
digged it, the nobles of the people digged it, by the di
rection of the Lawgiver, with their staves." Now, in
the letter alone, we here see nothing practical. It is
the same to us as any other history of past events. But
if we know that Moses means the Divine Law, and the
well Beer means true doctrines, we can see that the
Lord is now commanding us, by Moses, to gather our
selves together, at the well Beer ; or to come to the in
finite Well, the great fountain of the heavenly doctrines ;
and the Lord will there give us water, and we shaU
sing, with Israel, Spring up, 0 well, in our souls ; and
we shall joyfully answer each other out of this well,
speaking the truth from the heart. And if we further
know that princes mean high and noble principles of
the mind, and staves, the power of truth from good
ness, we, too, shall rejoice that the princes digged the
well in our souls with their staves. For we shall see
that it was by the great truths of the Word, through
the power of the Lord from goodness, that our hearts
became contrite by repentance, and the well of salva
tion was opened in our soul. And then, if we look a
little deeper into the subject, we shall see, at the start
ing point, that it is the Father's love, through the
princes and the staves, that does the work. Abraham
really digs the well. And we give to God the glory.

212 water.
Again, it is declared, in the Word, that the Philis
tines stopped up all the weUs which Abraham's ser
vants digged. Now, as Abraham denotes goodness, so
Abraham's servants are those obedient affections of the
soul which love goodness, and love to obey its dictates.
Through the exercise of these affections the Lord opens
in our hearts the wellsprings of life. PhiHstines de
note false principles of the mind which reason against
acts of charity and good works as essential to salva
tion ; which place the entire conditions of pardon and
heavenly bliss in external wisdom, in faith in God, in
worldly science and knowledge. Wells of salvation are
doctrines and truths flowing from the heart. When
we love the truths of the Word they become our own ;
and they are a fountain flowing out from the heart in
words of wisdom and acts of kindness. But if we yield
to the selfish falsities of the PhUistine principles, and
rely upon our own faith and knowledge, regardless of
the duties of charity, these Philistines will surely stop
up the wells of the soul which Abraham's servants have
digged. Every good affection and kind desire wiH be
come blunted and the streams of mercy and truth wHl
cease to flow.
But it is recorded that Isaac digged again the wells
which they had digged in the days of Abraham his
father : for the Philistines had. stopped them after the
death of Abraham. Here we are taught that Abra
ham, or the good principles of the soul, die as they
cease to send forth their streams of truth and love, or
as the Philistines or false principles, in us, become pre
dominant and stop the wells : but that, even then

WATER. 213
they can be opened again. Isaac can open them. " Isaac
digged again the wells which the Philistines had stop
ped." Isaac here signifies spiritual love ; or love to the
Lord, by means of the spiritual truths of the Word :
and how many wells, of doctrine and truth, are now
being opened by the love which men feel for the Lord,
through the spiritual sense of the Word. This love is
the Isaac of the soul, the son of Abraham or of goodness.
And if we yield to the spiritual truths of the Word, in
humble obedience, Isaac wUl open, afresh, the well-
springs of life ; and we shall heartily bless the Lord at
this His second coming, by a life of mercy and truth.
It is recorded that Isaac's servants digged, even in
the valley, and found a well. Here we are taught the
comforting truth, that, even in the low, selfish hearts
or states of men denoted by a valley, when the spir- -
itual sense of the Word comes, convincing the natural
understanding of its truth, Isaac's servants, or the af
fections we form for that truth, by obedience, wiU open
in our hearts a desire to speak the truth, and to love
and do it, which is a well. Thus the low, selfish val
ley will become humble and meek, when Isaac's ser
vants dig the well ; and the water will flow.
Again, it is written that Moses came to Elim where
were twelve weUs and seventy palm-trees. In the lit
eral sense, we see no essential use to men's souls, by this
record. But the spiritual sense is highly beautiful and
instructive. The number 12 is the multiple of 3.
Three includes everything spiritual — love, wisdom and
power. 12 wells signify all the doctrines and truths of
the Word. For this reason there were twelve apos-

214 WATER.
ties, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve foundations of the
Temple, twelve stones in Aaron's breastplate, twelve
gates, and twelve angels. Palm- trees denote the spir
itual goods of the Word. 70 is the common multiple
of 7 and 10. Ten denotes all we have. It is the ter
mination of the man. He has ten fingers and ten toes.
We count by tens. Seven is a holy number, denoting
purity, fulness and rest. The seventh day signifies
a state of holiness and rest. Seventy palm-trees, there
fore, denote the holiness and fulness of the spiritual
goods of the Word. Places in the Word, always de
note states of the mind. Elim denotes a state of mind
in the illustration and affection of the Word.
Now, with these significations, we may learn a heav
enly lesson, by Moses coming to Elim, where were
. twelve weUs and seventy palm-trees. As all places de
note states of mind, so going to a place always means
coming into a certain state of mind. Moses means the
Divine Law — the truths of the commandments. We
are therefore taught by this scripture, that the Divine
Law can so come into the soul as to fill it with the il
lustration, the love, and the enjoyment of all goods and
truths. And the practical instruction is this : — If we
faithfully and affectionately keep the divine command
ments, Moses, or the law of truth and love, will come
into the Elim, or the rational plane of our mind, and
will fill it with illustration and affection for seeing and
enjoying the twelve wells and seventy palm-trees ofthe
Holy Word ; or, all the goods and truths which the
soul needs or can desire.
Now, we find, in reading the divine narrative, that

WATER. 215
there was a great deal of strife and contention among
men about wells. Now, why should so much be said
about wells ? How different is God's history from
man's ! In God's book, wells are a leading feature : in
man's they are never noticed. You may read a whole
history of a man or a country now, and not find a well
mentioned. It is because wells mean the doctrines and
truths of the Word, that they are so often mentioned.
It is about truths and doctrines, therefore, and not
wells, that the Lord would teach us by these Scrip
tures. Now, Isaiah tells us what the true wells of the Holy
Word are when he says, " With joy shall they draw
water out of the wells of salvation." These wells are
hearts which love truth, and love to speak it. The
wise man Solomon says, " The words of man's mouth
are deep waters" — that " the wellspring of wisdom is a
flowing brook." Peter, speaking of persons who had
forsaken the right way, says, They are wells without
water. That is, minds without truth.
Rivers also hold a prominent position in the Holy
Word. David says of the good, " They shall drink of
the river of thy pleasure." He says, " There is a river,
the streams whereof shall make glad the city of our
God." That is, the truths of the Word shall make the
heart glad in the heavenly doctrines — the Holy City.
Again, he says, " The Lord enricheth the earth with
the river of God." That is, filleth the mental earth
with the truths of the Word.
The Lord showed John a pure river of water of

216 WATER.
life ; which was spiritual truth flowing from God's
love. Moses smote all the rivers of Egypt, and they be
came blood. All the rivers, ponds and pools, and all
the waters in vessels — all the water in Egypt became
blood ! Does any one suppose that this was a literal
fact ? What certain death it would have been to
Moses and all the people to be destitute of water. And
how could Moses turn all the water into blood ? But
in the light of correspondences all is clear. Moses
stands for the divine Law which he proclaimed. Blood,
which is called the life of the body, denotes, in a good
sense, the true life of the soul, or spiritual truth. But,
in a bad sense, blood denotes evil life, or falsity, which
is the death of the soul. Egypt here means the natural
mind ; and its rivers and waters, the falsities of that
mind. Now when the truth of the Law falls with powei
upon these falsities, they are as blood. That is, when
the light of the divine commandments shines clearly
into the depraved natural mind, its falsities are seen to
be carnal life — dead blood. And thus it is that when
Moses smites the waters of Egypt they become blood.
Again, it is said of the Lord, " He turneth rivers into
a wilderness." Now falsities, which rivers here denote,
will make a wilderness of the mind. And God is said to
turn them into a wilderness when, by the light of truth,
He enables us to see the wilderness state of mind which
they have produced.
The Lord says, in Isaiah, " A man shall be as rivera
of water in a dry place." A true man is in the image

WATER. 217
and Hkeness of his God : and the truth will go forth
from him to refresh the thirsty minds around him, like
rivers of water in a dry place.
Again, it is said, through Isaiah, " The glorious
Lord will be unto us a place of broad rivers and
streams ; for the Lord is our Lawgiver." Yes, be
cause He is our Lawgiver He will, when we admit Him
into our hearts, become in us a place of broad rivers
and streams. For His law wiU be there, sending forth
its streams of truth to the world around us.
The Lord says, through Ezekiel, He will bring a
sword upon the rivers and destroy their high places.
Here the sword is the divine truth. The Lord brings
it upon the rivers of falsehood : and He destroys there
by the high places in our mind ; or our love of falsities.
The Lord again says, in Ezekiel, He is against the
land of Egypt, and against her rivers. By the land
of Egypt is here meant the evils of the external man ;
and, by her rivers, his falsities. And the Lord is always
against evils and falsities.
In Ezekiel, the Lord says of Pharoah, " Thou earnest
forth with thy rivers, and troublest the waters with thy
feet, and fouledst their rivers." Pharaoh had become
a bad man. His rivers of knowledge had become fouled
with falsities. His feet, or lowest natural principles,
troubled the waters of truth. It is said that the deep
set him up on high with her rivers. That is, he was
proud of his knowledge.
In Joel, it is said, " The beasts of the field cry unto
the Lord, for the rivers of water are dried up. What
do the beasts of the field know of the Lord ? It is the
10

218 WATER.
affections of men mourning over the want of truth in
the world. And well they may mourn, for how sadly
are the rivers of water dried up in the hearts of men !
Again, it is written in Joel, that the rivers of Judah
shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth
of the house of the Lord : where Judah means the
church, and her rivers, the truths of the Word.
Again, " The Lord rebuketh the sea, and maketh it
dry, and dryeth up the rivers." This, we all know, the
Lord does not do, naturally. But He does rebuke and
make dry the sea of men's false knowledge, and dries
up the rivers of their deceit, whenever they yield to
His spirit.
Now, in the passages I have cited from the Word,
the necessity of a spiritual sense is readily seen. And
so in those I am about to quote, and which I have not
time to explain, you will see that there must be a spir
itual sense : and many of you will understand it.
" When the poor and needy seek water, and there is
none, I the Lord will hear them : I will open rivers in
high places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys :
I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry
land springs of water." Again, " I wiU pour water
upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry
ground : I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my
blessing upon thine offspring." The Lord says of the
church, " I entered into covenant with thee, and thou
becamest mine, and I washed thee with water, and
anointed thee with oil" — or cleansed thee with truth,
and filled thee with love.
Agaim He says of the church, " I will sprinkle clean

WATER. 219
water upon thee, and thou shaU be clean from all thine
idols." " Except a man be born of water and of the
spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
" The serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood
after the woman."
That waters sometimes mean falses, we might know
from what David says, when he prays, " Send thine
hand from above ; rid me, and deliver me out of great
waters, from the hand of strange children, whose mouth
speaketh vanity, and their right hand is a right hand
of falsehood." Thus David says, " Save me, 0 Lord,
for the waters have come into my soul. I am come
into deep waters where floods overflow me. Let not
the floods overflow me, neither let the deep swaUow me
up." Isaiah says, " I have digged and drunk water ;
and with the sole of my feet have I dried up aU the
rivers of besieged places.
But we need not pursue the investigation further.
It must be obvious to all that there is a spiritual sig
nification to water. And that when used in a good
sense it means truth ; and in a bad sense falsity. We
have mentioned but few of the many passages where
water is used.
There is much said, in the Word, of the sea, which
means general knowledge stored up in the memory. It
may be true, or false, or mixed. In Jeremiah, the
Lord says of the church, " I will dry up her sea."
Now, what can the sea of the church be, which the
Lord can wish to dry up, but her false knowledge ?
John says of the coming of the New J erusalem, " And
I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the first

220 WATER.
heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and there
was no more sea." All the false doctrines and knowl
edges of the natural man, which form the sea of the
external memory, are driven away when the spiritual
light of the Word enters, creating a new heaven and a
new earth. The knowledge now is spiritual. The true
water is made wine — the sea is gone. 1 he Lord says,
in Mark, " Ye compass sea and land to make one prose
lyte. Here it is obvious that by sea and land is meant
the whole mind of man — knowledge and wiU.
How beautifuUy true and expressive, then, is our
text ! " His voice as the sound of many waters."
His voice is divine truth ; aU truths, everywhere,
spiritual and natural : the truths of His Word : the
truths of His works : truths of infinite varieties. He
speaks in everything. His voice is everywhere. Every
truth spoken by man is God's voice. Think of the
universal speech of God, wherever the truth is uttered,
throughout the vast universe, in all its infinite varie
ties ; it is God's voice. Indeed, His voice is as the
sound of many waters. May we all learn to hear this
voice, so that we can feel the precious presence of our
heavenly Father, wherever we are : in city or country :
in mountain or valley : in sunshine or storm : on sea
or land — whether contemplating His Word or His
Works ; may the still small voice of His Holy Spirit
have our first affections and thoughts, now and forever ;
for " His voice [is] as the sound of many waters.''
" And whosoever will, let him take the water of life
freely."

CHAPTER XIII.
THE MOSAIC DELUGE.
" And he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were
abated from off the face of the ground ; but the dove found no
rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the
ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth." (Gen.
viii. 8, 9.)
We have seen, by our lectures, that man was the
crowning object of the creation, being the connecting
link between the earth and the Creator ; and contain
ing within him the sum total of the various qualities
of the living things of the earth — they being, individ
ually, but component parts of their common lord and
sovereign — the human race. We have also seen that
man is really and truly man only by means of the
church within him ; or, in other words, by means of
the order and harmony of the various parts and princi
ples of his nature.
From these facts, we have seen that the creation of
man, as a spiritual being, is described in allegory, in
the first chapter of Genesis, by a composed history of
the supposed creation of the world, including the ani
mals and birds, and other living things. And so, by

222 THE DELUGE.
the same law of analogy, the destruction of man, as a
spiritual being, in the image and likeness of his God,
may be analogically described by a composed history of
the supposed destruction of these living things by a
flood. And, again, the reestablishment of this order
and life may also be described by a composed narrative
of supposed events, in which the living creatures of the
earth are represented as brought together into an ark,
and there fed and protected against destruction by a
flood. And by thus looking at this history of the
deluge, in the light of correspondence, as apphed to the
human mind and its principles, all is rational, beauti
ful and instructive.
But in trying to view it, HteraUy, as a natural his
tory, it is strange, incomprehensible and at variance
with the natural laws. It is incomprehensible because
it appears contradictory, unreasonable and inexplicable
in itself. In the first place it declares that it rained
" 40 days and 40 nights," and that the " flood was 40
days upon the earth ;" which is a plain indication that
the deluge then ceased to prevail. It next avers that
the waters continued to rise for 150 days, which is 110
days after it had done raining, and longer than it is
affirmed that the flood was upon the earth. We are
next told, that, at the end of 150 days, the ark rested
on Ararat. This resting of the ark, being just at the
time when the water had done rising, would show that
the water rose just high enough to set the ark upon the
mountain and no more. And, from this time, we are
told that the waters returned from off the earth con
tinually ; and yet, that it was not until 73 days after

THE DELUGE. 223
the ark had rested, that the tops of the mountains were
seen. This would not only make Ararat the highest
mountain of the earth, but even so much higher than
the rest that the waters had to fall continually for 73
days in order to bring other mountains in sight. We
are next told that on the fortieth day, after the tops of
-the mountains were s6en, Noah sent forth a dove to see
if the waters had abated. This is certainly a very
singular step for Noah to take at this time. Had he
forgotten that the ark had been resting on dry land for
months, and that the mountains had been in sight for
forty days ? But, what is more remarkable still, " The
dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, for the waters
were on the face of the whole earth."
These are strange discrepancies. By the literal sense
alone they cannot be reconciled. Nobody has success
fully attempted it. The commentators wisely pass them
by in silence.
So it appears from the letter, that Noah and his
family, with this mass of living creatures, were confined
in this ark for one year and ten days. Here they were
in this water-tight vessel with only one window, which
was but eighteen inches square, and that in the top of
the ark — a vessel three stories high, pitched within and
without with pitch, with only one door and that closed
by the Lord. There is no possible way to account for
their existence but by one continued and unaccountable
miracle. Such a miracle would be different from all
others in the Word ; for it is contrary to the laws of
life and of order. Such a miracle God never performs :
for miracles, when seen by correspondence, are found to

224 THE DELUGE.
be facilities of life in perfect harmony with all the divine
laws. And, by what known law could these creatures have
been put into the ark from aU the climates and coun
tries of the world : some of them 12,000 miles off, hav
ing to pass over oceans, mountains and rivers ? I know
it is said that God could speak the word and they
would be there. But we should remember that God
works by means. Why does he not speak the word
and make all people good and happy ? For " He
would have all men to be saved."
The narrative says, "Fifteen cubits upward did the
waters prevail, and the mountains were covered." If
this is all that the waters rose, the mountains were very
low in those days. But the previous verse speaks of
the hills being covered : and if this verse means that
the waters rose fifteen cubits above the tops of the hiHs,
and the mountains were covered, then the difference be
tween the height of a mountain and that of a hiH is
only 22^ feet. But it is not to show discrepancies in
the letter that we would address you. The letter is aU
precisely right ; all in divine order ; there are no con
tradictions there, when understood. We mention these
things to turn your thoughts to something higher, and
to assure you that he who puts his trust in the living
God, may have his soul rejoiced and strengthened by
coming to the spiritual sense ; where he will see the
Holy Word rising above the cavils of the skeptic and
the shafts of infidelity ; and commending itself, in
every page and verse, to the sober reason with which
the wisdom of his God has endowed him.

THE DELUGE. 225
Let us then, come to that spiritual sense and see
what our heavenly Father has for us in this wonderful
history : for it is the human mind that is treated of.
By the flood is meant falsehoods inundating the mental
earth, and destroying its goods and truths ; by the ark
is meant, the true doctrines and rules of life from the
Holy Word ; by the animals, birds and other living
creatures brought into the ark are meant the various
affections, thoughts and propensities of the mind,
brought under the influence of the doctrines of the
Word. Thus we may see, by this history, how the
kingdom of heaven may be destroyed in man, by in
dulging in falsities, untfi every living creature, or good
spiritual affection and thought are gone ; and we may
also see how we may be raised above all falses and rest
upon the mountain of love to God and the neighbor,
having every thought and affection restored to order by
the rules of life denoted by the ark.
Now, destructions of all spirituality, in the human
mind, are often described in the Word by floods of
water ; as in the following prophecy of Jeremiah
xlvii. 2, " Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and
shall be an overflowing flood, and shall overflow the
land, and aU that is therein ; the city, and them
that dwell therein." Here the north, whence the wa
ters come, is a dark and ignorant state of the mind,
which gives forth falses : the land which is overflowed,
is the will or good ground of the heart : the city which
is destroyed, is true doctrines : and they that dwell
therein, are all the good principles of the mind. So
here we have another flood, of a somewhat similar char-
10*

•226 THE DELUGE.
acter to that in Genesis ; in which the land is over
flowed and the inhabitants destroyed. We all know
that this a prophecy of the false state of the Jewish
church, and that it has not taken place physically, by
inundating their bodies ; but that it has occurred spir
itually by their falsities.
Again, the Lord says, " Who is this that cometh
up as a flood, whose waters are moved as the rivers ?
Egypt riseth up as a flood, and his waters are moved
like the rivers, and he saith, I will go up, and wiU
cover the earth : I will destroy the city and them that
dwell therein." (Jer, xlvi. 7, 8.) Here Egypt is the
natural mind in its falsities ; and another just such a
flood is described, covering the earth and destroying
the inhabitants. And yet it was all mental ; no such
flood has ever taken place on the earth,
Again, in Ezekiel, prophesying of the church and its
doctrines, the Lord says, " Thus saith the Lord Jeho
vah, When I shall make thee a desolate city, as the
cities that are not inhabited ; when I shall bring up
the deep upon thee, and great waters shall overflow
thee ; when I shall bring thee down with them that
descend into the pit with the people of olden time."
(Ezek. xxvi. 19. 20.) Here is another similar flood ;
the city denoting the doctrines of the church, and tho
people the members ; the waters, falsehoods. And
here the Lord says they shall be destroyed with tho
people of olden time — alluding to the Mosaic deluge.
And as the Jewish church was not destroyed by a phys
ical flood, and yet shared the same fate of the antedi
luvians, so they must both have been destroyed by men-

THE DELUGE. 227
tal floods. And so Daniel, when predicting the rejec
tion of Christ and the destruction of the city' and
sanctuary says, " The end thereof shall be with a
flood." The Jews were really immersed in falsehoods
and evils. Their spiritual qualities were destroyed by
a flood. And the Lord, in prophetically treating of those who
daub with untempered mortar in building the temple
of the mind, says, " There shall be an overflowing
shower in mine anger, and great hailstones in my fury,
to consume it, and I will break down the wall thereof ;"
which shows that God will suffer the works of all such
to be destroyed by a storm of falses of their own crea
ting ; for it should be known that God is often said, in
Scripture, to do what He only permits to be done.
This is the case with regard to all the evils which He is
, said to bring upon mankind. He is the Creator and
Preserver, not a destroyer. Man, by the abuse of his
freedom, brings all the evils upon himself. So God
is said to cause it to rain and to bring the flood upon
the earth. And yet, it is man that brings the flood of
falses through the power which God gives him, and
which he might use to a better purpose. For by this
same power man could look to the Lord, in his freedom,
and avoid the curse if he pleased.
The Lord, through Isaiah, speaking of the church,
says, " This people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that
go softly; therefore, the Lord bringeth up upon them the
waters of the river, strong and many, and he shall come
up over all his channels, and go over all his banks."
(Is. viii. 6, 7.) Here, the waters of Shiloah which go

228 THE DELUGE.
softly, are the gentle truths of the Lord speaking in the
still small voice. But when we refuse these kind prompt
ings of the Holy Spirit, we bring upon ourselves the
waters of the river, strong and many. Falses, like a
torrent, will sweep in upon us, if we refuse to yield to
the gentle admonitions of Jesus.
David says, " Save me, 0 God, for the waters have
come into my soul." Now, natural waters cannot touch
our souls. Again he says, "I am come into deep
waters, where floods overflow me." "Let not the
waterfloods overflow me ; neither let the deep swaUow
me up."
But we need make no more quotations from the
Word. It must be obvious that, throughout the Sacred
Scriptures, falses destroying spiritual life, are repre
sented by floods of water destroying man. And as
waters are used aU through the prophets and Psalms to
signify truths or falses instead of waters, we must look
for the same in Genesis. For there must be a uniform
rule for understanding God's language. He being the
same yesterday, to-day, and for ever ; so, also, must be
His language. And whether He speaks from the book
of Nature or that of Revelation : whether in Hebrew or
Greek : whether by Moses, the patriarchs, the proph
ets, the apostles, or John on Patmos, His language
is ever and unquestionably the same ; and, like all His
works, it is filled with influent principles of spirit and
life. And, as the spirit and life of His language is as
distinct from the mere letter as cause is from effect, or
the sound of man's words from the feelings that utter
them, they therefore cannot be clearly seen or appreci-

THE DELUGE. 229
ated, but by correspondences. But, blessed be the
Lord, we are no longer left in darkness or doubt on this
subject ; but have a universal rule by which the glori
ous Word may be opened and explained, from Genesis
to Revelation.
One great point to be constantly borne in mind, in
the contemplation of the subject of the flood, is, that
man is man by means of order, or the image of God
within him : that the image of God in man, and the
church in him, and the love of God and the neighbor,
mean the same thing : that when a man loses the im
age of his Maker, that man is said to be dead, or the
church in him, consummated : and in this death of
the man, the orderly state of his affections and thoughts
is destroyed ; which would be described, in divine lan
guage, by the destruction of animals and birds. Man
is, everywhere in the Word, said to be destroyed by
sin — made dead. That is, he loses that which makes
him truly a man. So were the antediluvians destroyed
by sin — swept from the face of the earth, or true pale
of the church, by falsehoods.
When man is created anew, or regenerated, all the
principles of his thoughts and affections become new,
which is represented by the creation of birds and ani
mals, &c. The lion, the lamb, the leopard, the kid,
the cow, the bear, the serpent, the dove, the raven, &c,
all are new, all in order and harmony. The whole
mental earth, the microcosm, with all its teeming in
habitants, is created anew. In this way the lion Hes
down with the lamb, and the leopard with the kid ;
the cow and the bear feed together, and a little child

230 THE DELUGE.
leads them. In this way God enters into covenant
with the beasts of the field, and the creeping things of
the earth. In this way everything that has breath
praises the Lord. In this way the mountains are
moved, and the hills skip like young sheep, and the
valleys laugh and sing. In this way the church, the
kingdom of lieaven, is formed by bringing all the ani
mals, birds and creeping things into the ark ; or all the
principles of the soul into order.
Let us now look at this narrative of the flood, in the
light of analogy, and see if we can reconcile its appa
rent contradictions and impossibilities. The human
race was then in a state of great spiritual darkness,
brought on by gradually giving up the truths of the
understanding to the embrace of the evils of the will.
The events which immediately preceded the flood,
and which finally immersed the race in falsities, are de
clared, in the history, to be these : — " The sons of God
saw the daughters of men that they were fair ; and
they took them wives of all which they chose." This
can only be understood spiritually. Truths are the
male element of the mind, and goods, the female ele
ment. By sons of God are meant truths in the mind.
Every new truth which we receive and love, is really
conceived and born in the mind from the word of wis
dom sown in the heart. It is a son of God. The Son
of God is all Truth : this Truth is the Christ. And
so, by daughters of God are meant goods in the mind.
Every good principle we have is a daughter of God, an
element of the church, born of God's love in the soul.
And had the sons of God taken the daughters of God,

THE DELUGE. 231
all would have been well ; for goods and truths are
conjugial partners. But they took the daughters of
men. By the daughters of men, are meant evils.
Whatever comes from man's proprium is not good.
God is the only source of good. He only can beget
goods in us. He is the heavenly Father of all goods
and truths ; — of all the children of God. And it is
goods and truths, in us, begotten of God, and born in
us, that make us His children. This is the new birth.
But when the truths of our mind — the sons of God —
look upon the evils of our heart — the daughters of men
— and think them fair, and come down into their em
brace, then the truths become adulterated and falsified
by the evils of the will ; and thus the whole mental
earth may become immersed in falses and errors.
This was the condition of the race, at the time of
the flood. The Lord, in mercy, saw their condition,
and, in order to save them, instituted a new order of
things. For, under every emergency the Lord, in
mercy, comes down to men with instructions adapted
to their states. By Noah and his family are meant all
those who were willing to receive and regard the Lord's
instructions. By the ark is meant the church, or the
new state of order which the Lord was establishing in
their minds as to doctrines and life. The church is now
often called the ark of safety. By the materials and
dimensions of the ark are meant the character and
quality of the doctrines and principles of the church.
This may, at first, strike some as strange and incredi
ble. But this is a rule which holds good, by corre
spondence throughout the entire Word. Look at the

232 THE DELUGE.
materials and dimensions of the Holy City or New
Church doctrines — a city 1,500 miles square, with gates,
and walls, and foundations, and jDrecious stones, and
gold, and silver, and pearls, and glass, and trees, and
rivers, and fruits, all coming down from God, out of
heaven, into the human mind. Is the description of
the ark, as applied to the principles of the church or
the mind, any more strange than this ?
By the building of the ark is denoted the practising
and establishing, by faithful and humble obedience,
these new principles of life in the mind. For these
doctrines and rules are various principles of goodness
and truth, adapted to the states and wants of that age.
And when these principles are received into the mind,
that mind is the ark or the church. And though Noah
and his family are said to be in the ark, yet the ark is
also in them. Men are truly in the church only when
the church or kingdom is in them. " I in thee and
thou in me," saith the Lord. The three stories of the
ark denote the three degrees of the mind — celestial,
spiritual and natural. The window in the top, denotes
the understanding for the reception of the truth of the
Word, the true light of heaven. The door in the side,
denotes the reception of the truth by hearing and obey
ing the commandments of the Word. The window
above, denotes also interior or spiritual instruction ;
and the door below, external or natural instruction.
Seeing and hearing are the two most common entries
into the mind ; and are represented by the window and
door of the ark. Noah and his family denote all those
who embraced the new doctrines. By their entering the

THE DELUGE. 233
ark is meant their coming under the power and influence
of these doctrines and rules of life. By the animals
entering the ark is meant the bringing all their various
affections within the control of the new, divine rules.
The entering of the birds denotes the subjugation of all
their thoughts to the divine laws. The clean beasts
and cattle denote the good affections of the mind, and
the unclean, the bad affections : for, on entering the
ark, or coming under the influence of the doctrines, they
took with them all their mental principles good and
bad. The good are said to go in by sevens, because
seven is a holy number denoting purity. And as good
affections enter, or as the affections become good, they
come into a state of peace and rest signified by seven.
The bringing of the creeping things into the ark, de
notes the control of all the low and grovelling things of
the mind by the new divine truths.
But, we are asked, why, if this is a mental ark and
flood, is it said to rain forty days and forty nights ?
This is because the number 40 denotes a full state of
temptations. It denotes the whole time that their
minds were becoming falsified. Forty is a number
often used in the Word for that purpose. Days, or
nights, or years denote states of mind : forty days, aU
the various states of light, and forty nights all the va
rious states or shades of darkness through which we
pass during the whole period of our temptations and
trials. If we are resisting the temptations and shun
ning the evils, the states or nights of falsehood and
ignorance are disappearing, and all is becoming bright
with truth, till we end in eternal day.

234 THE DELUGE:
But if we are yielding to the temptations, the days
or states of light are disappearing ; the Sun of Right
eousness is setting ; the moon of faith wanes into dark
ness ; the stars of true knowledge grow dim and fade
away, till the whole mind is inundated with ignorance
and falsehood. Forty is a very peculiar number. It is
the common multiple of 4 and 10.^ Ten denotes all we
have. It is the termination of the hands and feet. It
is the extent of our numbering. We count ten and be
gin again. Thus we reckon by tens and parts of tens.
Four is also a peculiar number. It is the square of
two. Two denotes the first two things of all exist
ences — love and wisdom, or goodness and truth. Four
denotes the fulness of those principles. That fulness is
embraced, by correspondence, in the four cardinal points
— East, West, North and South ; in the four seasons
of the year — Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter ;
in the four periods of life — infancy, chndhood, youth
and manhood ; and in the four-square of the Holy
City, which includes all the doctrines of the Holy
Word. Forty, therefore, is that peculiar number
which, by correspondence, denotes the whole process of
any thing.
In the book of Numbers, the Lord says, " Ye shall
bear your iniquity forty years ; ye shall search the
land forty days ;" which means the whole time of their
trials and troubles. The Psalms are a full prophecy
of the states and trials through which the Lord Him
self passed on the earth. And, in them, He says of
the Israelites, " Forty years long was I grieved with
this generation." Now what does He mean ? He did

THE DELUGE. 235
not live forty years on the earth. He means, by forty
years, all the states of His temptations and trials. He
assumed the depraved nature of the Israelites, and thus,
forty years long He was grieved with this generation ;
or until He glorified His humanity by putting that
generation out of it, and filling it with glory from above.
Thus Ezekiel was commanded to lie forty days upon
his right side, to bear the iniquity of the house of Ju
dah ? Now, why this command ? Why lie forty
days ? Why on the right side ? And why would he
thus bear the iniquity of the house of J udah ? The
right side has relation to goodness, the left side to
truth. To lie upon the right side is to rest or rely
upon the goodness and mercy of God ; and forty days
would be during all the states and trials of the house
of Judah, until their iniquity should pass away.
Hence it is evident why it was ordained, in Deuter
onomy, that a wicked man should be beaten with forty
stripes : it means that he would receive punishment
for all his transgressions : and, why it is said that
Moses abode in the mount forty days and forty nights,
neither did he eat bread nor drink water, praying for
the people : and also why the Lord was tempted in
the wilderness forty days ; and why the children of
Israel were forty years in the wilderness to humble
them and to prove them. It is by no means certain
that the Israelites were just forty years in the wilder
ness ; or that the Lord was there forty days ; or that
Moses was praying forty days and nights, on the mount,
without eating or drinking : for forty means the whole
time, or all the states of trial they passed through.

236 THE DELUGE.
Let us now look into those strange contradictions
of the Hteral sense, mentioned in this narrative, and see
how clearly they are removed by the spiritual sense.
In looking back, then, to the time they entered the ark,
we behold the people of that age in a state of profound
darkness and error : their whole mental earth inun
dated with falses. In the midst of this general gloom
and wretchedness, we see a little band, called Noah and
his family, hearkening to the new teachings of the
Lord, and forming a little church. They caU this
church the ark : and they enter into its worship and
instructions, bringing under its influence aU their way
ward and various thoughts, feelings and propensities — ¦
every living creature of their mind and heart ; and they
feed them there with food from heaven, or with divine
goods and truths. In this ark or church, they keep
their falses under, and thus the ark is raised in their
estimation above their own and the surrounding waters
of error, until its doctrines rise to the very summit of
their affections. They truly love them ; the ark rests
on the Ararat of their hearts — their love to God and
His truth.
And we can now understand how it is that the water
could continue to rise so long after it had done raining ;
and also how it could return from off the earth con
tinually for 113 days, and yet Noah then send out a
dove, and she find the water on the face of the whole
earth. It was the earth or mind of the people in the
ark, upon which the waters or falses thus rose and feU.
They entered the ark, or came under the doctrines,
with the waters or falses even over their own moun-

THE DELUGE. 237
tains. Their mental earth was immersed in falses, but
they had some life left. And the church or ark was the
means by which they were to get rid of those falses
and bring their true life into action. They had some
remains or germs of life that could be quickened by a
righteous life ; and the ark, or new doctrines, was given
for this purpose. They were not aware of the depth
of their own ignorance and depravity of heart. And
it was only as they learned to practise and regard the
new truths which were, at first, merely in their under
standings, that they could see their falses of heart.
For though they had new light in their understanding,
adapted to their wants, yet it had not shined upon the
mountains of their will. And, therefore, notwithstand
ing it had done raining, or that they had ceased to receive
falses, yet they were ignorant of the extent of their
darkness. But as they turned their thoughts inward
and explored their hearts from externals to internals,
they progressively perceived the various falses of their
will. And as they pursued the investigation upwards
towards the interior or summit of the heart, they still
perceived that, at every new step or day they took, the
waters of deceit were there.
Thus the waters are said to rise, after it had done
raining, when the rising was all in the perceptions of
the people of the church. It was only their increasing
ability to see the deeper and still deeper, or higher ex
tent of their falses. The waters were actually there in
their hearts, when they entered the ark, or joined the
church, but they had not seen them, and the ark had
not risen above them. And when, by practising and

238 THE DELUGE.
learning to love the new truths, they had seen and
traced the waters of deception up to the very summit
of their affections, then it was, and not till then, that
the waters could begin to subside from the uppermost
pinnacle of the will and let the ark of heavenly truths
rest upon the top of the mountain of love and good
will. It could not rest there tiU the waters of deceit
were removed. They could not be removed till they
were seen. They could be seen, in the more interi
or states of the heart, only as the people came into high
er states of perception. These higher states of the per
ception of deeper falses are what is meant by the 73
days during which the waters continued to rise after it
had done raining, or after they had done practising de
ceit. And it was not until they had thus obeyed the
new truths and truly loved them, or until the ark was
on the mountain, that they could effectually put away
their evils and falses. And the returning of the wa
ters from off the earth continuaHy, immediately after
the ark had rested, was the progressive work of purifi
cation of the heart from its falses. Thus it was from
off the minds of the church or the people in the ark,
and not from those of the world without, that the wa
ters were returning continually till Noah sent forth the
dove. And, as they were purified and came into states
of true thoughts and feelings, they felt a sincere regard
for the salvation of the world of mankind, around
them, lying in darkness. And they kindly sent forth
the dove to see if the waters or falses were abated from
their minds

THE DELUGE. 23y
The dove corresponds to the Holy Spirit — the spirit
of truth and love. This little church then, sent forth
that gentle Spirit to the world of mind around, to see
if the darkness of error had subsided, and they would
accept the truth. But all was still false — dark as
night. The dove found no rest for the sole of her foot,
for the waters were on the whole face of the earth. No
mind could receive the truth. What Christian heart
that has a new and heavenly truth, has not experienced
the same thing in his efforts to present that truth to
other minds ? How often has the gentle dove returned
unto him into the ark of his own bosom for a place to
rest her foot !
Noah first sent forth a raven — a bird denoting very
external truth. This flew to and fro in their external
understandings till their falses had so subsided as to
receive it. But they could receive nothing higher. It
was necessary that they should first have the external
truth. "First that which is natural, afterward that
which is spiritual."
But Noah, after the return of the dove, waited seven
days, or till they had come into new states of mind
from the exercise of natural truth : and he sent forth
the dove again, or offered them the spirit of truth once
more. But their perceptions were still too dark to re
ceive her, and she returned ; and " Lo, in her mouth
was an olive-leaf plucked off." The olive-tree, from its
oU, denotes celestial love ; the leaf denotes the truth of
faith from that love. The return of the dove with the
olive-leaf plucked off, denotes that they could receive
some little of spiritual truth, or some faith, but could

240 THE DELUGE.
not yet receive the love The leaf was plucked off, or
separated from the tree.
Noah waited yet other seven days, or for new states
of mind, and sent forth the dove again, and then they
received the spirit of truth. Thus the church began to
spread among other minds. Now, I am aware that
there are many things in this narrative which I have
not mentioned ; and about which you are ready to ask
questions. But remember that there is matter here for
many sermons. I could glance only at the leading fea
tures. And I can only add that all may be rationaUy
understood through the science of correspondences :
that it is a beautiful, clear and comprehensive descrip
tion of the fall and regeneration of man. " Forever, 0
Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven. The righteous
ness of thy testimonies is everlasting : give me under
standing and I shaU Hve."

CHAPTER XIV.
CAIN, ABEL AND SETH ; CAIN'S WIFE AND THE CITT OF
ENOCH.
" And Cain knew his wife ; and she conceived, and bare Enoch :
and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the
name of his son, Enoch." — (Gen. iv. 17.)
Perhaps there is no passage in the Holy Word,
which has caused more surprise, or been more fruitful
of skepticism and cavil, than that of the text. Com
mentators have puzzled their brains over it for naught.
Volumes have been written upon it to no purpose. The
question still remains to be asked, by millions, Where
did Cain get his wife ? or who was she ? And weH
may the candid searcher after truth ask these questions,
if he looks only to this literal history for an answer.
For the letter alone clearly and definitely teaches, that
the human family, at that time, consisted of Adam and
Eve, and their son Cain. There is no account of any
more births than Cain and Abel. Who, then, could
Cain have married ? and who built the city of Enoch ?
And yet, it appears that Cain was afraid, lest every one
that should find him would slay him.
Dr. Adam Clarke thinks that Adam and Eve, at this
11

242 CAIN, ABEL AND SETH J
time, could have had over a thousand descendants. But
it is very strange, if Adam and Eve had been popula
ting the world, that the history should mention the
names of no daughters, and of only two sons : and
should mention them in such a way as to incline the
reader to believe that these two children were aH they
had then had. For, with all the suggestions of Dr.
Clarke and others, Eve still declares that her son Seth,
who was not born until after Cain had bufit his city, was
the successor of Abel and, to all appearance, the third
child. For she said, at his birth, " God hath appointed
me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew."
But why should we talk of these strange things of
the letter, when the science of correspondences removes
the mystery and opens, to the Biblical scholar, a new
field of thought ; and either closes the mouth of the
skeptic, by rational and irrefutable argument, or opens
it afresh with songs of praise and thanksgiving to God,
for the glorious truths of His Holy Word. For the
letter of the history was given solely for the sake of the
spiritual sense : and when it was written it was under
stood ; and men read therein only a history of mental
things. But, it maybe asked, how so deep and obscure
a science as that of correspondences could have been
understood, at so early an age of the world ? " We
answer : when this science was first known by man, it
did not require labor and study to learn and understand
it, as it now does. When the human mind was in the
image and likeness of God, it saw things in the li°-lit
of the divine mind. Its thoughts were in the divine
current. The divine goods and truths flowed into it ;

CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 243
and it looked down synthetically from causes to effects ;
and it consequently understood analogy. Man saw and
acted almost instinctively, as a bird builds its nest, or
a bee, its cells. He therefore understood the relation
between mind and matter ; but not in his own wisdom.
Yet, from his having a selfhood, and being free and
rational, it appeared to him as though he saw and acted
from his own wisdom and power. Still he was capable
of understanding that God was aU in all, and he was
not obliged to fall. But as he fell into sin, and became
natural in his thoughts and feelings, he gradually lost
his high position and his spirituality, until he finally
became entirely natural and selfish. In this downward
process, the law of analogy became a mere matter of
the memory, and the correspondences were no longer
understood. And then, as the people had lost the true
light of that science, and as their memory, without that
Hght, was unstable, the correspondences, as a matter of
course, became corrupted, and were gradually lost sight
of ; and the science became involved in darkness.
But, for a long time, the wise and learned retained
that science. And it was their custom and delight to
compose fables and imaginary histories of natural things
and events, in consecutive order, for the purpose of de
scribing, by analogy, certain mental progressions and de
velopments, or changes and movements of the thoughts
and feelings. In this way, the development of a human
mind, in all its various and minute changes, from in
fancy to old age, could be accurately recorded by com
posing, from day to day, a history of the production,
growth and changes of natural things, carefully adapt-

244

ing the history to the mental facts, by correspondences,
as they occurred. The first eleven chapters of Genesis,
or to the call of Abram, are of this class of writings.
They are pure analogy, in composed history, given by
our heavenly Father solely for the sake of the internal
sense. The real history of natural things and events com
mences with the call of Abram. But this history has
also an internal sense the same as the other : and many
things are there said which, at this age, require the
light of the spiritual sense to make them plain. Bibli
cal critics have generally believed in the literal sense,
after the call of Abram : but the history, before that
time, has been considered, by some of the wise men of
all ages, to contain only a hidden sense, and that the
literal meaning was not to be regarded as teaching nat
ural events ; but merely a vessel containing divine
wisdom within it. Origen says, " Who is so weak as
to think that God planted a garden, like a husband
man, and in it a tree of life, to be tasted by corporeal
teeth : or that the knowledge of good and evil was to
be acquired by eating of another tree ? And as to
God's walking in the garden and man hiding himself
from Him among the trees, no man can doubt that
these things are to be taken figuratively and not liter
ally" Thus speaks Origen.
That portion of the Bible before the call of Abram
is much older than the rest, and belonged to the purely
hieroglyphic age. It was a part of a more ancient Di
vine Word, to a more ancient people. It was tran
scribed by Moses, by divine direction, and placed at the

CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 245
beginning of the Divine Word, as the proper introduc
tion, directing us back to the very beginning of the
creation of anything and everything ; and embracing
creation during all time. Thus, in tracing back sacred
history, we are lost in hieroglyphics when we reach the
call of Abram. The letter is no longer reasonable, nor
in harmony with the truths of natural science.
But it is not in sacred history alone, that we are so
lost. We are equally lost in following back profane
history. What do we know of the world's history dur
ing the fabulous and heroic ages ? Cast your eye back
before the founding of Rome and you are swallowed up
in myths. Go back only 800 years before Christ, and
you want an interpreter before you can understand the
records of that day. Who were the ancestors of Romu
lus ? History declares that he was brought up in the
woods and fed by a wolf. Is this the origin of the
founder of Rome, the mistress of the world ? Were
the woods his native place ? And were his companions
wolves ? The truth is, profane history is here merged
in the fogs of fable and symbol ; and no man of this
age can read that history.
If we knew what the historian meant by woods and
wolves, we might tell something of the character of
the early associates of Romulus. These things are
true correspondences. We know that woods denote a
wild uncultivated state ofthe mind, and wolf, something
of the affections ; and from the quality and habits of
this animal, we might know something of the character
of the parents and companions of Romulus, if the
knowledge and judgment of the historian were reliable :

246 CAIN, ABEL AND SETH ;
but here profane history is swallowed up in mythologi
cal mysteries. The science of correspondences had be
come so perverted and adulterated, at that age, that
the true meaning of the writings of that day can never
be known ; but still that Oriental literature contains
much more wisdom than is attributed to it. If the
ideas were expressed in pure correspondences, they could
now be read by the restored law cf analogy. But being
clothed in the corruptions of that science, much valu
able information must be for ever lost to the world.
Now, to find the truth of the text, and of the sub
ject before us, we must bear in mind that the Holy
Word, from beginning to end, in its spiritual sense, is
a history of the creation and decline of the church, or,
in other words, of order and disorder in the human
mind ; and that this ancient portion of the Word,
down to the call of Abram without the spiritual sense
cannot teach wisdom. And therefore, by Adam and
Eve, Cain, Abel and Seth, as well as all other things
mentioned, are meant only principles of the mind, and
not persons and things.
Now, the church is composed of two kinds of things
— goods and truths, in great varieties. Goods give us
God's likeness, and truths, His image. Thus it is the
church in man that gives him God's image. The church
is really the man. Without the church there is no
man. For then, man is not a man, but a beast. The
creation of the church, therefore, is the creation of
Man. Adam is the generic name for the whole race,
males and females. " In the day that God created Man,
in the likeness of God made He him ; male and female

CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 247
created He them ; and blessed them, and called their
name Adam." (Gen. v. 1, 2.) By Adam and Eve, Cain,
Abel and Seth, are meant things of the church in the
human mind.
And now, to clearly see our subject, we must turn
our eyes away from the people to the church'; to what
is within the people, and look at the history there ;
considering, all the people, as to their quality, the
church : the truths of the people, the male element of
the church, and the goods, the female element ; and that
every man and woman possesses both of these elements,
for every one has truths and goods. Truths and goods
are everywhere treated of in the Word, as male and
female. Goodness and truth are the elementary prin
ciples of all life from God. They are of infinite va
rieties, and are consequently adapted to all the various
things in nature ; and they flow from God into all things
according to their qualities. The influx of these two
living elements is what gives to all nature the male and
female principles.
Truth and good united constitute the church. The
truth of the first church may properly be called Adam,
and the good of that church may be called Eve, be
cause truth is the male principle and good the female.
The Lord is called the husband of the church because
H3 is all Truth. And the truth wedded to goodness in
our hearts makes us the bride, because it gives us Go.l's
image, or establishes the church in us. Adam, then,
means the church, or the world of mankind in order —
the whole human family before the fall. In distinction
from Eve, Adam, in the spiritual sense, means the truth

248 CAIN, ABEL AND SETH ;
or head of the church, and Eve the good or heart of
the church.
Now the church is often spoken of in the Word as
conceiving and bringing forth. The kingdom of heav
en is like seed cast into the ground. This ground is
the goodness or Eve of the church. And this seed is
the truth or Adam of the church. The Lord as the
Word, is the husband of the church as to goodness.
By Adam is also meant the understanding ofthe church,
and by Eve, the will.
Now the circumstances under which the text was re
corded were these : the human family on earth had
passed out of the garden, or state of happiness, into
disorder. And they found that something must be done
to restore harmony and peace among them. To accom
plish this object this understanding and this will ofthe
people — this Adam and this Eve of the church — set
themselves to work to devise some doctrine or means
which they could use for the benefit of the church.
They needed some rules of life. And they conceived
and brought forth the doctrine of faith, and called its
name Cain. Faith was the first begotten of the church.
They resolved that they would not forget their God ;
but would believe on Him and acknowledge his suprem
acy and laws. But they found that one rule of life
was not enough. And they brought forth and estab
lished another doctrine which was charity ; and they
called its name Abel.
Thus, Adam, or the understanding of the church or
people, in connection with Eve, or the will of the
church, brought forth and established, for the guidance

CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 249
and government of the community, these two funda
mental doctrines or rules of life ?—faith and charity —
called Cain and Abel. These rules taught them that
they must believe in the Lord and regard His laws ;
and also love one another and live in peace. In conse
quence of the fall, these rules had become absolutely
necessary for the order and safety of the community.
Before the fall they needed no such doctrines or rules.
The people, then, were the direct and orderly recipients
of God's love and wisdom ; and they acted out those
principles as by intuition, and yet, as though they
were their own. But, after the fall, they had to exer
cise their reason and judgment. Before the fall, they
did what they felt to be right. After the fall, they had
to do what they saw to be right. They had eaten of
the forbidden fruit — the tree of knowledge of good and
evil. Their eyes or understandings were opened. And
they had become wise in their own eyes, proud of their
own wisdom. This brought discord. Each wanted to
rule. And they were under the necessity of looking to
the Lord, by faith, and exercising the laws of charity,
in order to make life agreeable. And to accomplish
this, the church established these two doctrines. They
now had faith in the Lord and charity towards the
neighbor. And as long as they regarded these doc
trines all went on well, of course. This was the best
that the Lord could do for them, under the circum
stances. But, as selfishness increased, some ceased to be satis
fied with the life of charity : this was more duty to the
neighbor than they were willing to perform. And they
11*

250 CAIN, ABEL AND SETH J
gradually reasoned themselves into the belief that faith
in God was all the doctrine that it was necessary to ex
ercise. As long as they had charity, they offered the
firstlings of the flock, or their best affections to the
Lord. But the faith of the head began to reason
against the offerings of the heart, and these people said
to themselves, It is not necessary to our salvation to
love our neighbor : faith in God is far better. We
need not give away, any longer, the firstlings of the
flock — our best affections — for an offering ; we want
them for ourselves. Surely, if we give the fruit of the
ground, or true faith in the Lord, that will be all-suf
ficient. Love to the neighbor cannot save us. Salva
tion is of God. We can do nothing. If we believe in
the Lord, he will save us by that faith. Thus the
head reasoned against the heart, and the will and the
understanding became separated. A strong contention
arose between the judgment and the feelings, or be
tween faith and charity, and eventually, the selfishness
of the natural, earthly man overruled the better feelings
of the heart, and finally destroyed the love of the
neighbor. Thus Cain, or faith slew his brother Abel or charity.
The good affections of the heart were destroyed. Faith
alone was the cold and selfish state of a portion of the
church. The church was therefore divided into two
parties. Thus, the Cainites or faith-alone-people, had
their own peculiar views distinct from those who still
adhered to the principles of charity. But they were
unhappy creatures, as all must be who have no true
love for one another. " And the Lord said unto Cain,

CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 251
Whereis Abel thy brother? Andhesaid,Iknownot: am
I my brother's keeper ?" Thus, in a reflective moment,
the Lord as the truth, entered their minds, and they
said to themselves, Where is my love to the neighbor ?
They saw and felt their coldness ; and they answered,
I know not where my charity is gone. And they an
swered truly ; for they had ceased to be their brother's
keeper. Their love of the neighbor was dead. They
felt condemned under the light of this truth. They
saw that they were not what they should be. And, as
said by the Lord, when they should , till the ground, or
cultivate the mind, it would not yield its strength ; for
faith without charity can produce no good fruits. The
mental earth cannot be cultivated by truth without
goodness. And, in their luminous moments, they saw
that they were fugitives and vagabonds in the earth,
and they were fearful of becoming entirely destroyed
or wretched.
But the light, which thus showed them their condi
tion, did not reach their hearts so as to enkindle benev
olence, but only to excite selfish fear. And as the
truth had failed to call them back to kindness, the next
effort of the Lord was to keep them from falling lower.
And He therefore said, " Whosoever slayeth Cain, ven
geance shall be taken on him seven-fold." That is,
the Lord told them, by the truth in their minds, that
if they should destroy their faith in Him, or cease to
believe in Him, they would be seven-fold more wretched
than they were then. Their faith stiU gave them some
connection with the Lord. There was something liv
ing in it. And if they should lose that, then indeed

252 CAIN, ABEL AND SETH ;
they would fall into the lowest wretchedness. He who
disbelieves in a God whom he can love is spiritually or
mentally most miserable. He has no hope of future ex
istence or heavenly joys. All he can see before him,
when this life ends, is darkness and extinction. And
even this life loses its brightness and its true delights.
These Cainites therefore settled down in the doctrine
of faith alone. They became a portion of the church
that differed from the main body. And the Lord set
a mark upon them that they might be known and pre
served. That mark was faith. The ensign of the
church from which they had sprung would he faith and
charity. Name or mark means quality. Faith was
the quality or name of the new sect. That was their
mark of distinction. And so long as they should wear
that mark — so long as they should have faith — they
would have some spiritual life.
But, being without charity, the light of their faith
in time grew dim and feeble. Thus it is said that Cain
went out from the presence of the Lord and dwelt in
the land of Nod. They receded from the Hght and
sunk into a vagabond state. Places denote states of
mind. Land of Nod, a vagabond state, or a state des
titute of goodness and truth.
The world has been long searching in vain for the
garden of Eden, the land of Nod, and the city of Enoch
which Cain built. But, why should they have searched
this earth for the place where Cain went, when it is
declared that he was driven from the face of the earth ?
Indeed it could not be found, as a place, in the vast
universe of mind or matter : for it is said to be " out

CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 253
from the presence of the Lord." And where is not the
omnipresent God ? " If I ascend up into heaven,
Thou art there : if I make my bed in hell, behold,
Thou art there." Thus we see that the land of Nod
must be a state of mind which does not see and love
the Lord.
" And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and
bare Enoch : and he builded a city, and called the
name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."
Now, who, or what was this wife of Cain ? Cain was
a portion of the church or was a society of men and
women who believed in faith alone. Cain also means
the faith or the understanding — the male element of
that body. And the female element is the will or love
of that body. And as soon as these Cainites had cul
tivated a real love of the idea of faith alone ; when the
feelings of the heart had become fully wedded to that
sentiment of the head, Cain, of course, had a wife; i. e.,
the will and the understanding were wedded in that
doctrine. And then followed the birth of Enoch.
This church of Cain could have offspring as well as the
church of Adam. Thus these Cainites, through the
union of their wills and understandings, gave birth to
a whole system of doctrines of faith alone. Enoch, the
chUd born, means these doctrines. This is known, be
cause city means doctrines, and name, quality : and.it
is said, they builded a city, and called the name of the
city after the name of their son, Enoch. The birth of
Enoch, therefore, is the establishment of these doc
trines of faith alone. And the building of the city is
the arrangement of these doctrines into a system of
faith.

254

And now the history goes on, showing the offspring
of Enoch, and his descendents, called Irad, and Mehu-
jael, and Methusael, and Lamech, &c. But these are
only new rules and principles of the church which origi
nated in their new system of doctrines. But aU these
new efforts and inventions did not restore order and
peace to that ancient people. The loss of Abel could
not be made up by all the devices of the head or faith
alone. Where charity, the very soul and life of society,
is wanting, there is a vacuum which nothing can fiU.
And this want was fast pervading the whole Adamic
people — all the human race of that age.
Under this state of things, something further must
be done. Matters could not go on much longer in this
way, and be endurable. Therefore, it is written that
" Adam knew his wife again ; and she bare a son, and
called his name Seth : for God, said she, hath appointed
me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew."
Here the general church devised a new doctrine or
way, which could supply the place of their lost charity
or Abel. This new son, Seth, or truth of doctrine,
brought forth by the united wisdom and love of the
church, was Good Works. This son, Seth, which was
given by the Lord, instead of charity, was not charity
itself, if it had been it would have been called Abel.
But it was given for the purpose of restoring charity
to the people, for it was given in Abel's stead. And
the divine object was thereby accomplished. For the
history says that, to Seth was born a son, and they
called his name Enos ; and that then began men to
call upon the name of the Lord.

CAIN'S WIFE AND ENOCH. 255
Thus Seth or good works brought forth love to God
and the neighbor. For to call on the name of the Lord
is to receive His quality. And this quality includes
mercy and kindness toward all. Thus we see here veri
fied the great truth, taught by our Lord, that, if we
would enter into life, we must keep the commandments.
The Adamic church could not stand without the doc
trine of works as a basis. When' they found them
selves rapidly falling, they established the doctrines of
faith and charity ; and supposed these were rules of
life enough. But faith and charity cannot stand un
less they are ultimated and grounded in works. Unless
the works of faith and charity are kindly performed,
Faith will surely slay his brother Charity.
We now see why Adam gave names to only three
children, Faith, Charity and Works. It is because he
was the church ; and faith, charity and works embrace
everything of the church. They are from the three
great fundamental principles — Wisdom, Love and
Power. The doctrine of works is the doctrine of charity
in action. And if we are not charitable, but have
natural faith enough to see that we ought to be so, and
will then do the works of charity, we shall become so.
We now see the necessity of protecting Cain or Faith
after he had slain his brother. For without the natu
ral truth of faith, we could not perform good works,
ahd thus be brought into the love of the neighbor, and
thereby obtain charity, and thence true spiritual faith.
The lesson we draw from this history is twofold.
First, that, if we cease to give to God the firstlings of
our flock, or our best affections, and trust to our own

256

faith, we shall lose our charity, fall into a false and
lifeless state of mind, and establish ourselves in false
doctrines : or, what is the same thing, we shall slay
our brother Abel, remove from the presence of the
Lord to the land of Nod, marry a wife and bufid a city.
And from this deplorable condition we can never be
removed unless, in the second place, there be born unto
us, Seth, or good works, a*hd we return to the presence
of our God, in humble obedience to His commandments.
Then will brother Abel be restored to our bosom, and
his blood will no longer cry unto us from the ground.

CHAPTER XV.
A GLANCE AT GOD, MAN AND NATURE, AND THEIR
RELATIVE CONNECTION.
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."
(Gen. i. 1.)
We are now to take a general glance at the whole
subject of these lectures — God, Man and Nature, and
their relative connection, as seen in the divine lan
guage. It is a vast theme. We can only glance
slightly over some of its leading features.
The subject necessarily commences with God. He is
the Great Centre, the Fountain from which everything
else proceeds. But here we must remember that,
though we commence with the Most High, yet we do
not see the Summit. That holy Source of all being,
the infinite Jehovah, as He is in Himself, is beyond the
reach of the highest finite conception or imagination.
No rational thought can possibly be had of Him, by
any man or angel, except as He lets His qualities down
to our capacities, by clothing them in finite things.
And then they can be seen only by the science of cor
respondences or law of analogy.
This law is the relation which exists between Him

258

and His Works, and His Word and man. In them, by
correspondences, we look towards Him, and get finite
but true thoughts of His qualities. For all His
works are finite. He has never made anything infinite ;
nor can He : for infinity can neither be added to nor
created. It is self-existent and all. There can be no
more. Yet millions of new finite things can be con
stantly created from It every moment, for ever, without
lessening Its varieties or quantity : and aU these things
are pointing, by correspondences, to qualities of the Di
vine Being. We may therefore talk about God, we
may use the word " Infinite," but we know not what it
means. We cannot grasp the full idea it is intended
to convey.
Yet, high and holy as Jehovah is Himself, we can
know of Him. We can feel from his love, think from
His wisdom, and act from His power. We can reason
and philosophize upon His qualities and laws, as they
are symbolized in the innumerable varieties of the
qualities, forms and uses of natural things. But with
out a knowledge of the science of correspondences and
of the Holy Word we cannot thus philosophize. We
can draw no rational idea of God's nature and charac
ter from looking into the things of nature and the hu
man family on earth, as they appear to any natural
mind unacquainted with the true Divine Language or
Word. No matter how strong the man's intellect,
nor how active and powerful his reasoning faculties,
nor how extensive and profound his other education, if
he is ignorant of the law of analogy and of the divine
Word, thereby, he can draw from the world and its in-

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 259
habitants, with all their mixed and contradictory char
acters, none but blind and erroneous ideas of the Being
who brought them into existence. What, he asks,
mean the tempests and convulsions, the blights and
mildews of nature ; the raving madness of her animals
and wild beasts ; the poisonous venom of her reptiles ;
and the deceit, murder and vengeance of her people ?
Is this the work of Infinite Wisdom and Goodness ?
It cannot be ! Thus he reasons. Indeed, the ten
dency of the whole scene would be to confound and
darken his mind, upon the subject of an infinite
Creator, and to lead it down to blind nature, as the
self-existent and all in all : thus he would rest in ma
terialism ; and suppose that this life would terminate
his own existence.
Fallen man can never know himself without instruc
tions from his God. Therefore God has always pro
vided him with divine laws, for his guidance and im
provement, suited to his state. But, in the doctrines
of the Holy Word, as for many years popularly taught,
there is universally acknowledged to. be much mystery.
With this want of light, the honest, independent,
thinking minds of this reason-asking age, are not satis
fied. Therefore they give the Bible up as incompre
hensible, and consequently, of doubtful origin and au
thority. And having nowhere else to go they fall into
an honest skepticism. For such minds I have a most
profound respect and sympathy : for I know their so
licitude and suspense. They would be glad of light ;
but it must be a light which answers the demands of their
reason and judgment. They can receive nothing else.

260 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
That light God is now, in mercy, offering to them, in
His Holy Word, through the law of analogy. There
they will find, as far as they are able to see it, God's
true and loving character ; and also man's. All dis
cords will be satisfactorily explained : the origin and
nature of evil clearly pointed out ; the infinite mercy
and goodness of God strongly verified ; and, as they
progress, God will make darkness light before them and
crooked things straight. These things wul He do unto
them, and will not forsake them.
In commencing with God, in this lecture, we have
rightly regarded Him as one, the Infinite, the Centre,
the Source. But in that oneness, there is nothing in
all creation, that fully corresponds to Him. If man
had never sinned and nothing had been perverted, and aU
things in nature were in true order, the whole universe,
collectively, would correspond to God, so far as He
had manifested His various qualities in the creation of
angels, men and things. But even that vast whole
would be but a very imperfect symbol of the Lord, be
cause the creation is a continuous work, to go on for
ever ; and every step presents new principles of the
divine nature.
Creeping things, then, are but correspondences of
principles in God, or in man. And although the va
rieties, in God's principles, are infinite, yet they are
divided into three distinct classes which relate to the
three divine essentials in God — Love, Wisdom and
Power. It is therefore to something in these principles
that every created thing corresponds, either directly or
indirectly. For the two great, primary elements, are

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 261
Love and Wisdom. Their action is Power. And as
they produce everything, all unperverted things must
symbolize something of those elements. The number
three, therefore, is a full, perfect, and peculiar number:
it has relation to everything, either in the complex or
in the particulars.
It will aid us much, in our general glance at the re
lation between God, man and nature, by correspond
ence, to understand the number 'Three.' The num
ber ' One' denotes God. He is first. Here is the be
ginning. And as numbers, with the ancients, signified
qualities, so number one necessarily denoted God. This
correspondence has never been fully lost. We speak of
the first man in town ; or the first scholar in the class.
But when we turn from individuals to principles, num
ber one denotes Love. Love is the first principle in ex
istence. It is the first principle in God ; and the first
principle in man. It is the vital spring of all thought
and action ; it is the very Hfe element. The next
principle in existence is Wisdom. Wisdom therefore
is number 'Two.;' or two denotes wisdom in its rela
tion to God. But where now is the one ? We readily
see that it is involved in the two. As we cannot have
two things without having one, so neither can we have
true wisdom without having love. The next principle
in existence, after love and wisdom, is power. Power,
therefore, is number three ; or three denotes power in
its relation to God. But where now are the one and
two ? They are of course involved in the three. For
we cannot have three without having two and one.
This love, wisdom and power then, are inseparable.

262

Love without wisdom could not think. Wisdom with
out love could not feel. And the two without power
could not act. Thus a regenerated man is in the image
of God. His truth or faith is from God's wisdom ; his
goodness or charity is from God's love ; and his use or
works, is from God's power. Thus the trine in man
corresponds to the trine in God. And this trine extends
through every created thing. For no single thing exists
without having, within it, something from God's love,
wisdom and power. For, as love, wisdom and power
are inseparable, so the very life which constantly flows
from God into every created thing, must contain all
these elements, in some of their infinite varieties. And
the love is manifested in the substance ; the wisdom,
in the form ; and the power, in the use of the thing.
Thus, God, in His love, wisdom and power, is con
nected with every single thing in the vast universe.
But how ? Through man. The first and highest re
ceptacle of God's love is the human will ; of His wis
dom, the human understanding ; and of his power, hu
man action. These divine elements, then, before they
can become the life of the material universe, must pass
through the minds of angels and men. God is the
great centre of all being, sending forth the principles
of life in every, direction, as the sun sends forth his
beams. Around Him, and nearest to Him, arc the
purest minds ; and the farther a mind is from Him,
the less pure it is. All are arranged in regular dis
tances according to their qualities. Through these
minds, in orderly succession, the stream of life flows,
clothing itself, at every step, with the quality of the

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 263
mind it is traversing, which adapts it to the state of the
next. Thus it comes from God, regularly down
through the various beings, celestial, spiritual and na
tural, till it enters men on earth ; they clothe it with
the quality of their own will and understanding. This
gives to the lower orders of things, man's nature, which
makes them correspond to him. Thus there is a regu
lar chain of correspondences, or law of analogy, be
tween higher things and lower ; connecting them all
together. Break this chain, and all would be lost.
But some men say they do not believe in this
influx ; that it is something new and visionary. Is
it something new and visionary, that the Lord is
the true Light that lighteth every man that cometh
into the world ? that His words are spirit and life ?
that He "giveth life unto the world" ? Is this some
thing new ? What are this light and life which God
giveth to the world ? They are either substance or
nothing. If they are not real, spiritual substance that
can enter the will or understanding, and thus make us
feel and think, they are nothing but vagaries of the im
agination : mere empty phantoms. Indeed, a man
must know that spiritual life and light are love and
wisdom, or goodness and truth, before he can have a
rational thought of what they are. And then, as he
learns to elevate his thoughts, by correspondences, above
gross matter, to spiritual things, he will soon be con
vinced that this Love and Wisdom are the real Source
of all substances, and the very elements of Jehovah.
As this divine love flows into an evil man's will, it
has, all the way, in its descent from God, through me
diums, been clothed in lower and more impure substan-

264

ces, until the evfi spirits associated with the man adapt
it to his state. And though the inmost of this influx
is pure love or life from God, yet as its power must be
acted out through its vUe covering, the influence, as it
goes forth, will be evil. And as it flows from this sel
fish, quarrelsome will into the beasts of the earth, it
gives poison to the serpent's tooth, and contention to
the dogs for their bones. And so of the influx through
all other men's minds, according to their various quali
ties ; some adapting it to the lambs and doves, some
to the bears and wolves, and others to all other creatures
and things : little chUdren being the medium of life to
lambs. Now, from a little reflection, it may be rationally
seen that this living influx from the Divine Mind,
must, in substance,- be feelings and thoughts. For
what else can mind give forth ? And when we, in this
life, give true thoughts and good feelings to a willing
mind that has not before received them, we know that
that mind is sensibly affected by them. Again, we
¦may rationally see that God's thoughts must be prin
ciples of truth, and His feelings, principles of good
ness ; and that, in order to take effect, these truths
must flow into understandings, and these goods into
wills ; and that these wills and understandings, which
first receive them from the Lord, must be of a very
high character, in order to appreciate and use them.
Thus it is philosophical and rational to believe that
the order of influx is from higher things into lower.
And who does not see that every man gives a certain
caste or coloring to what passes through his mind. It

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. . 265
does not go out as it comes in. He puts his own feel
ings into it. It partakes of the qualities of the mind
it passes through. Thus, let Mr. Webster and Mr.
Clay witness the same event ; and as they describe it,
it comes from one Websterized, and from the other
Clayized. Now, as man was the sole object of the creation, being
the only creature endowed with rationality and free
dom, whereby he can distinguish between right and
wrong, good and evil, truth and falsity ; and thence
be capable of knowing and loving his God, and thereby
becoming connected with Him, by His goodness and
truth seen and loved, and thus enjoying heavenly hap
piness and living forever ; so, we may rationally see
that this freedom necessarily gave man the power of
abusing this liberty and rationality, by an evil life, so
that his will and understanding would become selfish
and deceitful, and thereby change the character of the
Divine Influx, and give to the lower orders of things
the evil and quarrelsome propensities of men. Indeed
this is the only rational ground of the origin of evil
that has ever been suggested. For, upon any other
ground, God is the direct Author of it. But, upon
this true ground, it sprang from the abuse of those
principles, without which man would be a machine,
destitute of freedom or reason.
To understand our subject, then, we must never lose
sight of the Trine of first principles and their qualities.
That is the key to all true knowledge of spiritual
things. Everything should remind us of it, and point
us, by correspondence, to God, in His Love, Wisdom
12

266 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
and Power. God is the life of the universe ; the AU
in all of everything, by means of the trine of essen
tials, seen by correspondence. It is only in that one
great idea, that we can have a rational thought of God.
It is only in a true idea of the trine, in its united
substance of love and wisdom in action, that we can
rationally see God in nature or in man, and know that
He dwells there.
By an idea of the trine and its qualities, we, by cor
respondence, can see God in the sun, the earth, the
animal, the tree, the flower ; in anything. To know
a thing is to know its qualities. The idea of a thing
amounts to nothing, if that idea contains no thought
of its qualities : for it then has nothing in it but dark
ness and ignorance. What does the idea of Hfe amount
to if we do not know that it is love, and real substance ?
Simply, nothing. For a want of substance is a want
of everything. How long the learned world has puz
zled itself over the idea of life, and left the subject as
dark as they found it, for the want of knowing that it
was something. But when we think of it as substan
tial love, we have something tangible in our thought ;
something that we can feel to be true. And what can
we know of thought until we see that it is something
either true or false, exercised or moved by that love ?
Indeed we see nothing right,, unless our thought reaches
back to God, and rests in the Fountain — the Great
First Cause — by rational correspondence.
Without the great truth that love and wisdom are
substance, centred in God and flowing into man, en
abling him to feel, think and act, men have supposed

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 267
that thought and feeling originate in the brain of the
material body. And seeing not that life is received
substance all has been dark. And when they look at
nature, and behold her teeming with life, in all its va
rieties ; and have no idea of the origin, substance and
quality of that life, the same darkness hangs over na
ture. And when, by the aid of natural science, they
geologically search nature for the first manifestations of
this Hfe, and find it, in the mineral kingdom, in the
most feeble expressions ; it seems to act from the rock
as its author. They next see it, in a higher and stronger
influence, in the vegetable ; still higher and stronger in
the animal ; and highest and strongest of all, in man.
But the higher things seem dependent upon the lower
for their life and existence ; and all upon the dead cold
mineral. Thus nature appears to them as everything —
the very mother of all — and to which they of course
must return at death. Here all is total darkness.
They see not how lower things can produce the higher ;
the cold dead mineral giving forth the beautiful vege
table, with its delicate texture and velvet flowers ; and
the insensitive vegetable giving forth living creatures
with the five senses of animal life ; and man, above all,
with his sublime powers of mind, resting upon these
inferior things, as his origin.
Alas ! What darkness ! But this is the best that
nature can do. Without instruction from God, man
could never know anything higher. But with the
Holy1 Word before him, instead of looking down to in
ert matter, as the source of his being, he can look up
to his God. And by a knowledge of Him, in the sub-

268 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
stance and qualities of the trine, a flood of light, by
correspondence, is poured into his mind. He sees the
stream of the love, wisdom and power of his God,
flowing down through higher things into lower, tiU it
reaches the mineral kingdom, as a ground of reaction ;
when it returns back to God, in the gratitude, love and
praise of human hearts.
This trine of principles, in the light of analogy, is
the key of knowledge. All knowledge is of and from
God. It is He that breaks the seals and opens the
books ; and all by this key to His own qualities. From
these qualities we are to judge of the qualities of every
thing, more feebly or more fuUy expressed in some
things than in others ; and in either direct or in
verted order. Everything charming and lovely in na
ture has the trine there. All colors are from heat,
light and action. The heat denoting God's love ; the
light, His wisdom ; and the action, His power. And
those divine essentials are really in the colors. And all
their beauty is from the presence of God. Take God's
love, wisdom and power out of the sun and it would be
dark and powerless. All words are from vowels, con
sonants and arrangements. The vowels denote love,
the consonants, wisdom, and the arrangement, power.
Thus God is in our speech in every word we utter.
If the speech be false, His principles are perverted.
He is also in the feeling, thought and action which
speak the word, as well as in the word itself. All
music is from tones, sentiments and activities ; deno
ting love, wisdom and power. God therefore is in
all music. Every thought of man has its affection, its

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 269
idea, and its action. The divine elements are there.
Every organ of the body or mind has its form, its sub
stance, and its use, and points to God's qualities.
Everything in the universe, below man, has in it some
thing from man's love, wisdom and activity ; and, by
real substance, corresponds to something in man ; and
also to something in God ; either in direct or in in
verted order.
The highest symbol of God in any one thing, except
the human mind — the highest symbol of Him in na
ture is the sun ; the heat denoting His love, the light,
His wisdom, and their action, His power. And when
we consider the sun as corresponding to God, and the
earth to man, we have a broad field for contemplation,
and one which throws much light upon the under
standing of the Holy Word.
Let us glance at the similitude between the earth
and the mind. The first general division of the earth
is into land and water : that of the mind into will and
understanding. The land denotes the good or evfi
ground of the will, and the water the truth or falsity
ofthe understanding. The land can produce nothing
without water : nor can the will without the under
standing. Goodness can do nothing without truth,
nor evil without falsity. But even the land and wa
ter together can produce nothing of themselves alone.
They must have the heat and light of the sun. So
also must the wiU and understanding of man have the
love and wisdom of God — the divine influx — or they
can do nothing. The land and water of the earth de
note the will and understanding of the external mind,

270 GOD, MAN AND NATURE.
or the natural good and truth which are in them. To
be truly alive and productive in heavenly things, this
natural will and understanding must receive spiritual
goods and truths from the internal mind. This inter
nal mind is represented by the natural heavens, with
the sun, moon and stars. The sun denoting the Lord,
the moon, faith in Him, and the stars, knowledges of
His commandments.
And how forcibly does the power of these divine
principles, from our internal mind, operating upon our
external, correspond to the influence of those heavenly
bodies, upon the earth, without which it would be ut
terly unfruitful. Thus the correspondences between
the physical universe and the human mind are every
where, most perfect, not only in generals but in par
ticulars. And it is necessarily so, because the elements
of the human mind are the living elements of the uni
verse, by regular influx : — first God, then man, then
nature : Man the connecting link between God above
him, and Nature below him : Man having two minds
— an internal and an external — one connecting him with
God and heaven, the other with the earth and nature :
Nature the mirror of man, in which he may see re
flected, every quality of his soul, to the very life : and
God, in His Holy Word, holding that mirror up before
our face, in every page, from Genesis to Revelation,
showing us thereby, a full-length portrait of humanity
in its creation, its fall, and its regeneration. And the
particular character of each individual, from infancy to
his present moment ; and even his future path which
will make him either an angel or an evil spirit, is also

GOD, MAN AND NATURE. 271
clearly delineated. He sees clearly which way to go
and what to do ; and that, in legible characters, im
perishable woids, written by the eternal law of anal
ogy. So full and perfect is this delineation, that a
man well versed in the science of correspondences and
a knowledge of the Word, and fiUed with the spirit of
Jesus, wiU yet look upon the page of nature, in the
light of analogy, and read therein, his soul's history
written by his own hand, recorded by his own life,
in aU its lights and shades, whether good or evil. If
he sees two animals fighting, he will know whether it is
through his disposition that they are stimulated to
quarrel. If he loves to see them fight his own soul is
in the combat.
These are the glorious truths which will yet lift the
vefi from human hearts and minds ; bring the world to
gether in wisdom and love ; break the shackles from
every heart ; banish discords from all bosoms ; open
every prison door ; loose every captive ; discharge all
jafiors and hangmen ; do away with courts and juries;
make every man a judge and a peace officer, with a juris
diction extending over aU his own life and conduct, sub
mitting himself, with gladness and delight to the divine
government, in all those precious golden rules of life,
which fill the soul with love to God and good will toward
men. Then wiU the knowledge of the Lord cover the
earth, as the waters cover the sea ; tears will be wiped
from off all faces; the kingdom of God will be here; and
His Will will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.

CHAPTER XVI.
THE RESTORATION OF THE SCIENCE OF CORRESPOND
ENCES.
" Behold, I make all things new." (Rev. xxi. 5.)
Our present theme is the way and manner in which
the long lost Science of Correspondences has been re
stored, and thereby, the spiritual sense of the Word
and the life of its doctrines, revealed.
1863 years ago, when our Lord made His appearance
in the flesh, human nature was at its lowest state of
sin and depravity. To this wretched condition the race
had gradually fallen, during thousands of years, from
a state of innocence and virtue in the garden of Eden.
In his highest primeval condition, man's mind was in
true order. He saw from internals to externals. He
saw effects from the causes which produced them. He
saw the world of matter as an outbirth from the world
of mind. In seeing this, he saw that a perfect analogy
existed between material and mental things. He
therefore saw the qualities of the thoughts and feelings
of God and man perfectly represented in the material
forms around him. He saw that material things could

RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 273
not possibly exist but as the effects of will and wisdom
from above ; and that, therefore, they must be true
manifestations of that will and wisdom.
In aL this, he saw the true language ; the divine lan
guage ; the hieroglyphic language ; the only universal
language ; the first written language ; the only undis
guised and certain expression of thoughts and feelings.
But, in this clear preception of things, man had but/
a mere shade of wiU and thought of his own. He felt
and saw, almost exclusively, from the divine love and
wisdom. His mind was but little else than a mere un
developed vessel, receiving goodness and truth from the
Lord, and giving them forth in feelings and thoughts.
Yet he had a selfhood given him, that he might be
something more than a mere machine : for, without this
selfhood, he would have been incapable of progress and
rational enjoyment ; therefore he would not have been
a man. The essence of this selfhood was rationality
and freedom ; reason to determine, and freedom to act,
as a distinct individual.
In consequence of this selfhood, it appeared to man
as though the wisdom and love by which he saw and
acted were his own ; but he was also capable of under
standing that this will and wisdom were not entirely his
own, but were principally the Lord's. The truth is,
this selfhood gave him a will and understanding as his
own ; but, in this intuitive condition, this will and un
derstanding were in perfect harmony with the divine
love and wisdom, and acted with them. Yet it ap
peared to man as though he were thinking and acting
entirely from his own free-will. 12*

274 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES.
This selfhood, therefore, necessarily made man free to
reason and act, either as from his own will and wisdom,
or as from the Lord's ; and, as it seemed to him that
he felt and acted entirely from himself, his selfhood
made him capable of using the Lord's love and wisdom
as his own, and of falling, by habit, into the selfish
belief that they were really his own, and that he was
perfectly competent to manage his own affairs himself.
Therefore, in the ability to look to the Lord, and pro
gress upwards, was the ability to look to himself, and
decline into evil. Man was free to take either course.
He took the latter. Hence the long progressive fall,
from the primeval age to the coming of the Lord in the
flesh. In this downward process, man lost the divine lan
guage, founded on the science of correspondences ; and
with it he lost all true knowledge of the world of causes,
or of the laws of creation, and the relation between
mind and matter. He entirely lost his internal stand
point, where he could see in unison with God's wis
dom ; and he took his position in the dark, sensual de
pravity of the external mind, where he saw things, not
as they really were, but only as they appeared to be.
Thus everything in his nature had become perverted.
He saw himself as the very centre of all being, and
the universe as the circumference ; and thus he was
about to perish for tiie want of light and life.
In this state of things, our heavenly Father, that He
might restore man again to order and true life, came
and took his central position again in our nature. He
took upon Himself, by conception and birth, human

RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 275
nature, in the omega, as it then was. He became again
the centre, and that humanity, the circumference. Still,
that humanity, as assumed, had a will not in harmony
with the divine will. It still had its own centre in the
circumference of things, and its natural inclination was
to look and act from that apparent centre. But, by
its connection with the Great Divine Centre, it was
enabled gradually to change its position, and to see
from the divine will and wisdom.
This was effected by its yielding up its own will to the
divine wiU, in the midst of temptations and trials, until
everything in that nature which was impure and un
godly was seen by that nature in the divine light, as not
good, and freely rejected, and put away. Thus that
nature, by free-will and consent, became perfected and
gloriled, and made one with the Father ; the whole
having one will, and that will divine — the very Centre
of all existences.
Thus, having conquered and overcome all evil influ
ences in our nature and come near to us in the letter
and spirit of the gospel, the Lord was able to reach and
draw all men toward Him, who would yield to the influ
ence of the truth of His Word. But men were then
so low, sensual, and natural, that they could not re
ceive spiritual truth. They could not be at once ele
vated into the spiritual light of causes, where they
could look down again upon effects, and see them in
their true light. They had, therefore, to be reached in
the circumference where they were. H?.re they could
be reached only by natural truth and good ; and to ef
fect even this, they had to be overawed by the power
of the Lord's miracles, and forced into an assent and

276 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES.
submission to things which they did not understand.
But by their faith in the power of the Lord, and obe
dience to His commandments, they, by actual experi
ence, gradually saw and felt the truth and goodness
arising from righteousness of life, repented of their nat
ural evils, and, in their degree, became regenerated.
Some of the disciples appear to have had, at times,
glimpses of higher light ; but they could not retain it,
and the simple letter of the Word — the natural truth
— was all that they could bear. But it is very certain
that some of the most spiritually-minded of the disci
ples and early fathers of the church were sensible that
there must be some higher meaning to the Word than
the letter ; but the subject was so new, so high, and so
vast, that their natural state could not receive it. The
Christian church, therefore, settled down upon the Ht
eral sense of the Word, with wholesome doctrines
drawn therefrom ; and all who have sincerely received
these literal truths, faithfuUy repented Of their sins,
and regulated their lives by the commandments,
through faith in the Lord, have found their way to
happiness and heaven.
But, not being able to receive spiritual truths, this
state of things did not last, as the Savior declared that
it would not. The dark ages came on. The church
declined in doctrines and in life. " The traditions of
men made the commandments of God of none effect."
Schisms and division ensued, carrying martyrdom,
bloodshed, fire, and fagot in their train, untfi the
people were anything else than the followers of the
meek and lowly Jesus, loving their enemies, and ren
dering good for evil.

RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 277
This crisis was reached about one hundred years ago ;
and the Lord declares of it in Matt. xxiv. 22, that
" except those days should be shortened, there should
no flesh be saved." Under this state of things, what
could be done ? The true nature of God had been lost
sight of, and the true way of life. All the doctrines of
the Word were falsified. How could man be reached ?
Nothing short of an entire new light, differing in toto
from anything the world then had, could elevate the
race. They wanted a new God, a new Bible, new doc
trines, and new truths, before they could be moved one
step upwards. And yet all the needed, new life, and
light, and doctrines were in the old Bible before them ;
but they could not see them.
But, though they had been becoming blind to the
true light of the gospel, yet men had been making rapid
progress ih natural science. Their natural faculties,
and powers of reasoning, had become greatly developed;
and many were becoming prepared to look for some ra
tional ground of religious faith. Nothing else could
now reach their wants. Human nature had grown up
to natural manhood. Its intellectual eyes, in the nat-(
ural plane, were opened ; and it was asking for light
in matters of religion as well as science. Marvel and
mystery could no longer satisfy or control the free mind,
and there were some living remnants in fragmentary
Israel who were hungering and thirsting for something
to satisfy the longing soul. But they knew not what
it was, nor where to find it. The period had, therefore,
fully come, when something new must be done, and
when something new could be done.

278 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES.
There were minds now that could begin to receive the
spiritual sense of the Word, if it could only be brought
scientifically before them. This sense, was the only
thing that could lead their thoughts to the true God,
give them right views of His nature, and faith in His
Holy Word. The lost Science of Correspondences was
the only key to that spiritual sense that would fit their
minds. If that science could be brought rationally
before the minds of men, so as to enable them, from
their low, natural position, to look understandingly up
through the world of effects to the world of causes —
through natural things to spiritual, material to mental,
— so as to see and receive spiritual light from the Holy
Word, then the human race on earth could be gradu
ally elevated to heavenly order and happiness ; other
wise man must perish. " Except these days should be
shortened, no flesh should be saved."
By the use, then, of the key of correspondences, the
seals of the Word could be broken, and the Book
opened. But who was able to do it ? None but the
" Lion of the tribe of Judah could prevail to open the
Book, and loose the seals thereof." The seals were aU
in the human mind. It was sealed with seven seals ;
that is, every state of the human mind was closed
against spiritual light. Man was altogether natural.
But there were some minds in a religious state of nat
ural good, and in such a state of natural-rational free
dom as to be able to have their minds opened by in
struction from the Lord, so as to see spiritual light
through natural symbols, could they be so instructed.
But how was this mighty work to be done ? How

RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 279
was the human mind to be opened and instructed, so
as to behold the wonderful things written in God's law ;
to see the glory of the world of causes, and to look
down upon effects, and see them as they really are?
Emanuel Swedenborg tells us in T. C. R. 779, where
he says, " That this second coming of the Lord is effected
by means of a man, before whom he has manifested
himself, and whom he has filled with his Spirit, to teach
the doctrines of the New Church through the Word
from him.
" Since the Lord cannot manifest himself in person,
as has been shown just above, and yet he has foretold
that he would come and establish a New Church, which
is the New Jerusalem, it follows that he is to do it by
means of a man, who is able not only to receive the doc
trines of this church with the understanding, but also
to pubHsh them by the press. That the Lord has mani
fested 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 world, and gave
me to see the heavens and the hells, and also to speak
with angels and spirits, and this now continually for
many years, I testify in truth ; and also that, from the
first day of that call, I 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." Thus Swedenborg was the chosen servant of the
Lord. He had revered the Lord and the Word from
his youth ; was a most profound philosopher ; had
mastered most of the human Hterature of the age;

280 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES.
deeply investigated the laws of matter in the mineral,
vegetable, and animal kingdoms ; had traced the econ
omy of the human body up to the soul, and nature up
to God ; and had rationally seen something of the rela
tion between mind and matter, and the laws of creation.
In this way, his natural mind had become a sincere and
open vessel, adapted to the reception of spiritual truth ;
and his active soul was thirsting for something higher,
and looking up to receive it. And thus, at the mature
age of fifty-five years-— ripe in natural goodness and
truth, and in scientific and literary wisdom — he was
prepared to enter upon the divine study of the Holy
Word in its spiritual sense.
In this divine study the Lord opened the eyes of
his spirit, so that he gradually came, whUe in the flesh,
into a state of free, open, and sensible consciousness
of spiritual society and scenery, and this by a process
of such perfect mental growth and development, ac
cording ¦ to divine order, that, when his spiritual senses
had become clearly opened to the spiritual world, they
were permanently so ; because his views of that world
were not surface and uncertain views, presented from
a disordered or inflated imagination, but they were
scientific views. He saw and understood the law by
which spiritual forms are manifested, and this law he
found in the Holy Word. It is the Science of Corre
spondences, in which the Word is written, and which
he labored to make known to the world ; and, in the
ardent exercise of this benevolent desire to give it freely
to his fellow-man, his soul was rationaUy opened to re
ceive it from the Lord.

RESTORATION of correspondences. 281
Twenty-nine years df intense application were de
voted to this work, in which he presented to mankind
twenty massive volumes, opening and expounding the
Sacred Scriptures, and specifically recording his illus-
tiations, and the Science of Correspondences by which
they are explained. This he did in the most modest
and quiet manner, without any startling miracles or
outward displays of power, but in a deep, calm, and
contemplative state of mind ; looking prayerfully and
confidingly to the Lord while reading the Word.
In this way, the Science of Correspondences, and the
spiritual sense of the Word and its doctrines, have been
presented to the world. But who has done it ? Cer
tainly not Swedenborg, but the Lord Himself. Swe
denborg never, in all these volumes, gives us so much
as a single opinion of his own upon the meaning of the
Word or its doctrines, or of the Science of Correspond
ences ; but the illustrations are so given as to make
the Word itself its own interpreter. It is the Lord,
therefore, and not Swedenborg, that speaks to the heart
and the head of the reader of these volumes. Yet
Swedenborg was not inspired. He acted not as an
amanuensis, as did the prophets. He freely saw and
understood what he wrote. He knew it was true ; but
he knew, also, that it was not, one particle of it, his
own wisdom ; and he was far from claiming it.
These twenty volumes, therefore, in their explana
tion* of the Word and its doctrines, become to the un
derstanding reader positive and conclusive evidence of
their own truth and the truth of the Holy Word. They
call in an array of testimony which carries everything

282 RESTORATrON OF CORRESPONDENCES.
before it. They call our own internal selves and expe
rience on to the stand, with all our evils, and all we
know of human nature, and make them cry out, Amen !
They call in to their support all the truths of science
and art. Indeed, they call in everything, — the vast
universe of mind and matter, and the law of analogy
between them. Everything in nature, from the small
est dust of the earth to the sun in the heavens, bears
testimony in these volumes to the truth of the* Word,
and the divinity of its Author ; proving, beyond a
doubt, that the Creator of the universe is the Author
of the Holy Word ; that the spiritual truths of the
Word are the Divine Wisdom by which God created
and sustains the universe ; and that the universe now
stands in relation to that wisdom, as effects to causes.
All this is satisfactorily proved by the law of analogy
which pervades the whole Word. Mm therefore rests
in the evidence of these volumes, as God's own testi
mony of the truth of His Word ; for by them the
Lord opens the seals of every mind that reads and un
derstands them : and as man turns from his evils, and
yields his heart to this light, the Lord gradually puri
fies and elevates his thoughts and feelings above false
hoods and evils to heavenly light and life.
What a vast work this Science of Correspondences,
and the consequent influent spiritual light from the
Word, have laid out before them ! It is nothing less
than the entire revolutionizing of the whole mental
world on earth, and the restoring of all things to order,
— an entire change of all man's views of God, of man,
and of nature ; placing man in an entirely new posi-

RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 283
tion, where he wfll see with new eyes and in a new
light, and, by obedience, will learn to feel with a new
heart. The starting point in this elevation is a true thought
of God — some ray of light from the Great Divine
Centre into the rational faculty, presenting some true
idea of God's nature and character. In the light of
this idea, presented to man's rational consciousness,
lies the whole revolutionizing power. As we read the
Holy Word in the Hght of this idea, that light bright
ens and expands into the Sun of Righteousness, and
becomes, indeed, the Jehovah God ; and we then see
Him to be Love, Wisdom, and Power, in union as a
whole. And we see this Love, Wisdom, and Power
ever going out from the centre of the universe, creating,
sustaining, and giving life to everything. We see in
this divine character no change or shadow of turning,
but infinite and equal mercy towards all.
In this divine light, the Holy Word presents us with
a new Author, and with new doctrines, differing in
every particular from those entertained by mankind a
hundred years ago. Indeed, then, does the Lord, at
His second coming, " make all things new." He
makes us see all His own creations and doings to be
good, and all evil as springing from man : therefore we
see man falling and going astray, and God foLowing him
up to save him. But, as we see that man could not
fall without the free exercise of his own will and judg
ment, so also we see that he cannot rise without their
free exercise. God gives to man the power to turn
from his evil way, and live. This power is in the

284 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES.
truth which man sees. The starting-point in this
change is the truth so presented to his mind that his
own free-will and judgment tell him that the thoughts,
feelings and actions in which he is indulging are wrong,
and lead to misery and death. The regenerating power
that this truth really contains is in the Hght that it
brings of God's true nature, telling us we must be like
Him, and that in Him is our only dependence and help.
This light the Science of Correspondences everywhere
forcibly presents to view in the Holy Word. Hence
the regenerating power of the Lord at His second
coming. The Science of Correspondences keeps God's glorious
and merciful character before us in every page of the
Word, and it shows us what is meant by everything
that the literal sense seems to present of Him of a dif
ferent character. It shows why the Word was so writ
ten, and the use ; and both senses become thereby per
fectly harmonious. Thus we see that the literal truth
of the Word flowing into an angry man's mind, pre
sents the merciful God to him as angry : just as the
light which falls upon a crooked and imperfect mirror
reflects a beautiful face as distorted and ugly. The
anger is in the man, as the imperfection is in the glass.
The bad man looks at the truth which condemns him,
as his enemy ; when it is really his friend in effort to
save him.
Thus the Lion of the tribe of Judah, according to
prophecy, has prevailed to open the Book, and loose
the seals of God's Holy Word ; and has mercifully
given to the world the Divine Science of Corresponden-

RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES. 285
ces — the grand key which opens the door to that foun
tain of wisdom which is to bring the world into order.
These twenty volumes, with the Holy Word which
they open, will yet stand before the world as the great
test by which the truth or falsehood of every new sys
tem, creed, or practice, which may spring up in this
fruitful age of wonders, will be tried. All sects and
parties will yet come to these volumes, and the Divine
Word, for light ; and their decision will be peremptory
and final : for there will be found nothing substantial
upon which to base an argument against them. They
will be regarded as the Great Universal Body of Di
vinity, the true standard of all wisdom, the basis of all
law and order. Nothing can supplant them ; for they
centre everything in God. Nothing can rise above
them ; for they give to. God the highest exceUence.
No truth can oppose them ; for they are the fountain
and embodiment of all truth. The doctrines they pre
sent are one harmonious whole, with Jesus in the
midst. Their tendency is to snow man his sins in such
a light as to convince him that they are his certain de
struction, and then to show him how to get rid of
them in a way so plain that he cannot mistake it. This
is their universal tendency, and in this great work they
must in due time succeed ; purifying, regenerating,
and making happy, the whole human family on earth.
What this due time will be, no ono can tell. The race
was many thousands of years in falling from the alpha
of its existence in the Garden of Eden, down to the
omega of our nature at the divine incarnation. It may
take as many thousands of years to bring us- up to full

286 RESTORATION OF CORRESPONDENCES.
millenial life and glory : but the movement must ever
be with accelerating force and influence ; for its sphere
is amid free and active minds, first enlightening the
understanding, and then gaining the heart. And aU it
gains it holds forever. And its final success is certain :
for the Lord declares of it, that "God shaU wipe away
all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow nor crying." — " And there shaU
be no more saying, every man to his neighbor, Know
ye the Lord ; for all shall know Him, from the least
unto the greatest : for the mouth of Jehovah hath
spoken it."

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