iut'.r, ^LiTii!/.!.

FROM THE LIBRARY

OF

JOHN WHITEHEAD
1850-1930

PRESENTED TO
BY HIS HEIRS

nAvLNVro-rvL

THE
CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE :
BEING
A PROPHECY NOW FULFILLED AND INTERPRETED
IN THE WRITINGS OF
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.

fVITH A PREFJCE.

" What shall be the sign of Thy Coming, and of the Consummation of the
Age ? " — Matthew xxiv. 3.
" Why say the Scribes that Elias must first come ? " — Mark ix. 11.

LONDON :
LONGMANS, GREEN, & CO., PATERNOSTER ROW.
1879.

4'A
3

LONDON :
MITCHELL AND HTJOHBS, PEINTEKS,
WAEDOUR STEEBT, W.

Asa

^

PREFACE

I.
Is it possible that the primitive Catholic and Apostolic
Church can fall away, and again be restored ; or, in other
words, can it be subject to a state of Decline, and of
Renovation ? This is the question involved in the inter
pretation of the Twenty-fourth Chapter of Matthew by
Emanuel Swedenborg. Previously therefore to giving this
interpretation, it will assist the reader in returning an
answer to this question, if we briefly remind him of the
statements made by Roman Catholic and Protestant
writers upon this subject. The leading arguments in proof
that the Catholic Church cannot possibly fall away and
again be restored, or can be subject to Decline and
Renovation, are thus stated by Cardinal Manning : —
I. It is affirmed that the Church is identical with
Jesus Christ Himself — "The* Church is Jesus Himself:
He is its Head, and it is His Body; its fortunes are His
fortunes, and its sufferings are His sufferings ; its faith is
His voice ; its Sacraments are the touch of His hand ; its
visible Head is His Vicar j and all that befalls the Church
on earth is shared by the Son of God."
* The Temporal Power of the ricar of Christ, sec. ed., p. 177.
A %

4 Preface.
3. The Church is inerrable.
"All* the doctrines of the Church to this day are
incorrupt. I mean that they are as pure to-day as on the
day of Pentecost; and that, because they are the perpetual
utterances of the Spirit of Truth, by whom the Church
both in teaching and believing is preserved from error.
Individuals may err, but the Church is not an individual.
It is the body of a Divine Head united indissolubly
to Him. It is the temple of the Holy Ghost united
inseparably to His presence."
" Thef theory that the Church can err,'^ says Cardinal
Manning, "could only arise in minds which have lost the
faith of what the Church is. Can it be believed that the
mystical body of Christ, which is indissolubly united to
its Divine Head in heaven, should go about on earth
teaching falsehoods in His name ? Is it credible that the
Church, which is the dwelling plac'e of the Spirit of Truth,
should wander from the revelation which radiates from His
presence as light from the sun? The Church in the
beginning knew the whole revelation of God, and knows
it in every age with a perception which is never obscured,
and a consciousness which is never suspended. The
illumination which pervades its intelligence, unites with
the inspiration of the New Testament as two lights pass
into one."
* The Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, by Henry Edward, Arch
bishop of Westminster, p. 218.
t Iliid., p. I go.

Preface. ¦ 5
3. The Church is immutable.
" The* Church of all ages, and of all times, is immu
table in its knowledge, discernment, and enunciation of the
Truth ; and that in virtue of its indissoluble union with
the Holy Ghost, and of His perpetual teaching by its
living voice, not only from council to council, and from
age to age, with an intermittent and broken utterance,
but always, and at all times, by its continuous enunciation
of the Faith, as well as by its authoritative dogmatic
decrees." " Allf decay is change. When the tree of the forest
droops its branches, dies, and falls into dust about its
root, this change is corruption."
" Now in this latter sense change is impossible in the
doctrines of the Church, for God is not the God of the
dead, but of the living. His Church is the body of His
Son, and has life in itself, and all its doctrines and sacra
ments are the expressions of the character of His life,
which quickens it.'^
4. The Church is infallible.
" Whereasf before that epoch of the Divine Economy
(the Incarnation), the Holy Spirit taught and sanctified
individuals, and spoke by the Prophets by virtue of His
light and power, but with an intermittent exercise of His
visitations, 'now He is present personally and substantially
* Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, by Henry Edward, Archbishop
of Westminster, p. 35.
t Ibid., p. 223. IKd; P- 69-

6 Preface.
in the body of Christ, and both teaches and sanctifies,
without intermission, with a perpetual Divine voice and a
perpetual sanctifying power j or, in other words, the Divine
action of the day of Pentecost is permanent, and pervades
the world so far as the Church is diffused, and pervades
all ages, the present as fully as the past, to-day as fully as
in the beginning; or, again in other words, both theo
logical and conventional, the living Church in every age is
the sole Divine channel of the revelation of God, and
the infallible witness and teacher of the truths therein
revealed.'^ "The* visible Church itself is Divine tradition. It
is also the Divine depository, and the Divine guardian
of Faith. But this Divine tradition contains both the
' Ecclesia docens ' and the ' Ecclesia discens ' ; both infalli-
«
ble, the latter passively, the former passively and actively,
by the perpetual assistance of the Spirit of Truth. It
contains also the Creed of the Universal Church, the
decrees of Pontiffs, the definitions of Councils, the com
mon and constant doctrine of the Church delivered by its
living voice in all the world, of which our Divine Lord
said, ' He that heareth you beareth Me.' "
" Thef decrees of General Councils are undoubtedly
the voice of the Holy Ghost, both because they are the
organs of the active infallibility of the Church, and because
* The yatican Council and its Definitions, by Archbishop Manning,
p. 124. t Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, by the same, p. 81.

Preface. 7
they have the pledge of a special Divine assistance according
to the needs of the Church and of the Faith."
"The Definitions and Decrees of Pontiffs, speaking ex
cathedrd, or as the Head of the Church, and to the whole
Church, whether by Bull, or Apostolic Letters, or Ency
clical, or Brief, to many or to one person, undoubtedly
emanate from a Divine assistance, and are infallible."
5. The Church is irresponsible.
"The* revelation of the faith, and the institution of
the Church, were both perfect and complete, not only
before human histories existed, but even before the inspired
Scriptures were written. The Church itself is the Divine
witness, teacher, and judge, of the revelation entrusted to
it. There exists no other. There is no tribunal to which
appeal from the Church can lie. There is no co-ordinate
witness, teacher, or judge, who can revise, or criticise, , or
test the teaching of the Church. It is sole and alone in
the world."
" Thef enunciation of the faith by the living Church at
this hour is the maximum of evidence, both natural and
supernatural, as to the fact and the contents of the original
revelation. I know what are revealed therein, not by
retrospect but by listening."
6. The Church is impeccable.
" Oncef infallible, always infallible : in the first, in the
* The Vatican Council, p. 122.
f Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, p. 203.
{ Hid., p. 75.

8 Preface.
fifth, in the fifteenth, in the nineteenth century; the Divine
Teacher always present, and the organ of His voice always
the same. A truncated infallibility is impossible. To
affirm that it has been suspended because of the sins of
men, denies the perpetuity of the office of the Holy
Ghost, and even of His presence; for to suppose Him
present but dormant, is open to the reproach of Elias ; to
suppose His office to be suspended, is to conceive of the
Divine Teacher after the manner of men. And further: this
theory denies altogether the true and Divine character of the
mystical body as a creation of God, distinct from all indi
viduals and superior to them all ; not on probation, because
not dependent on any human will, but on the Divine will
alone ; and therefore not subject to human infirmity, but
impeccable, and the instrument of probation to the world."
7. The Church is Divine.
" The* Church of God is Divine, and the principles of
the Church of God are His revelation and His providence
— His revealed will and His Divine action. The Church
of God has no need to recast and recreate itself. It never
changes its character ; it never puts off its old form for
new combinations. It was never otherwise than it is;
and what it is, it ever shall be. The Pontiff, who now
reigns from the Apostolic See over the Universal Church
of God, stands alone firm and changeless in the muta
tions and instability of all around."
* The Temporal Power of the Ficar of Jesus Christ, p. 192. By Dr.
Manning.

Preface. 9
"The* sole tribunal on earth which can guide and
direct the consciences of men is the Church of God, and
this office centres in its Head. This then is the personal
sovereignty which is inherent in the Pontificate of the
Vicar of Jesus Christ."
" Inf conclusion, if the relation between the body and
the spirit be conditional and dissoluble, then the enuncia
tions of the Church are fallible and subject to human
criticism. If the relation be absolute and indissoluble,
then all its enunciations by Pontiffs, Councils, Traditions,
Scriptures, and universal consent of the Church, are
Divine, and its voice also is Divine, and identified with
the voice of its Divine Head in heaven."
8. The Church of God is the Church of Rome.
"TheJ Church of God is the presence of God, and
the mind of the Church is the mind of God, and the voice
of the Church is the voice of God."
" Can§ you find the Christianity of the world anywhere
except as identified with that one great world-wide organi
zation, the centre of which is Rome ? Take Rome out of
the world, and where is Christendom ? Take away the
one universal Roman Church, and I ask you where is
Christianity ? Then, if the history of Christianity is the
* The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, p. 182. By Dr.
Manning. t Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, etc., p. 85.
t The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, by Cardinal Manning,
p. 78. § Ibid., p. 48.

10 Preface.
history of the Christian Church, what is the history of the
Christian Church but the history of the Holy See ? "

Now, on attentively considering these various notes of
the Church, we observe, that if the Scriptures be the voice
of God, so also the Church is said to be the voice of God ;
if the" Scriptures be Divine, so also the teaching of the
Church, the Definitions, Decrees of Pontiffs in Bulls,
Apostolic Letters, Encyclicals, etc., the Definitions and
Decrees of Councils are all said to be Divine, and as
such they all claim to be considered as the Word of
God. If the Scriptures be inspired, so also the Church is
said to be inspired; its inspiration being independent of
that of the Scriptures, and possessing this advantage over
them, that it was anterior to that of the Scriptures.
The Church being thus in itself independent of the Scrip
tures and self-sufficient, the question naturally occurs, of
what use then are the Scriptures? and what place do they
hold in relation to the teaching of the Church ? Are they
a mere superfluity ? and the answer to this question will be
found in the following statements of Cardinal Manning : —
"From* what has been already said, it is manifest
that the revelation of Divine truth and will was anterior to
all Scriptures, and independent of them ; that it was full,
complete, and harmonious in itself; that it was perfect in
its unity, order, and relation of truth with truth. But it is
* Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, p. ig8.

Preface. li
equally manifest that the Scripture afterwards written,
though it recognizes, presupposes and refers back to this
revelation, does not contain it as a whole, and what it
does contain is to be found, not in order and completeness,
but detached and scattered, so to speak, here and there
through the Sacred Text, which treats also of local, per
sonal, and transitory events. It is perfectly true, therefore,
that the Church puts into the hands of its people books of
devotion which represent the whole order and completeness
of revelation, and not the partial and unordered aspect of
Scripture." " We* neither derive our religion from the Scriptures,
nor does it depend upon them. Our faith was in the
world before the New Testament was written. The
Scripture itself depends for its attestation upon the
Witness who teaches us our faith, and that Witness
is Divine." — " Christianity was neither derived from the
Scriptures of the New Testament, nor is dependent
upon them." — " Christianity whole and perfect was
anterior to the records of Scripture and independent
of them." — " It seems hardly necessary to say that
Christianity was not derived from Scripture, nor depends
upon it; that the master error of the Reformation was
the fallacy, contrary both to fact and to faith, that
Christianity was to be derived from the Bible, and
that the dogma of faith is to be limited to the written
records of Christianity; or in other words, that the
* Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, pp. 170, 172, 210, 177.

13 Preface.
Spirit is bound by the letter ; and that in the place of a
living and Divine Teacher, the Church has for its guide a
written Book."
We see then that according to the teaching of the
infallible, inerrable, incorruptible Church, Christianity was
neither derived from the Scriptures nor is dependent upon
them ; they may therefore, so far as Christianity is con
cerned, go into perdition, and the teaching of the Church
be substituted in their place ; for the Scriptures are but a
written Book, while the Church is a living Teacher.
Now the title of our present work. The Consummation of
the Age, is derived not from the Church but from the
Scripture ; and hitherto no light would seem to be thrown
upon the subject; for where all is spotless, unchangeable,
and perfect, our attention is diverted from that which
implies imperfection and change. History however informs
us, that about three centuries ago, when the Pontiff and
the Church were both proclaiming their own supreme
and inalienable rights over the souls and bodies of men,
an earthquake took place, which, in those portions of
Christendom where it occurred, shook to the ground and
overthrew both the Pontiff and the Church ; the cause of
this earthquake being the assumption of that very character
of the Church which we have been describing.
It is well known that the Reformation was conducted
on the principle, that the alleged " Holy Roman Catholic
Church," as above represented, was no other than the
Babylon of the Apocalypse ; and the Pontiff, the Man of

Preface. 13
Sin mentioned by St. Paul as " sitting in the temple of
God." Accordingly in his Warburtonian Lectures preached
in the Chapel of Lincoln's Inn, the preacher, the Rev.
J. Davison, maintains the following position : —
"The* Hierarchy of Rome has in its day fulfilled
every iota of St. Paul's prophetic description. The claims
of infallibility which the Roman See has arrogated to it
self; the demand of an implicit faith in its doctrines,
those doctrines many of them the most contradictory to
Christianity; the tyranny of its tribunals over the con
sciences of men ; the blasphemous titles of address and
impious homage which its Pontiff has heretofore extorted
or accepted ; the dominion over other Churches which it
has assumed ; assumed without justice, and exercised
without reason or mercy : perfectly agree with the pride of
that rival enemy of God seated 'in God's temple' figured
out by the Apostle. For these inordinate pretensions are
all of them, in the strictest sense, invasions of the honour
and supreme rights of God, due to Him alone, or to the
authority of His inspired Word. Romish infallibility
disputing precedence with His authentic Truth ; traditions
disfiguring His attributes and His worship ; a servility and
prostration of the conscience to man, dethroning God from
His dominion over the believer's understanding ; these are
the usurpations of the Roman Hierarchy, concentrated in
* Discourses on Prophecy, by J. Davison, B.D., late Fellow of Oriel Col
lege, Oxford, p. 443.

14 Preface.
its Head, which fall nothing short of the character of
' that man of sin who opposeth and exalteth himself above
all that is called God, or that is worshipped,' either God,
or Jesus Christ His Son ; so that He as God sitteth in the
temple of God, making a show of himself that He is God ;
a character which might have defied credibility, had it not
been as truly verified, as accurately foretold."
Moreover, that the Apocalyptic Babylon is no other
than the Church of Rome, the present Bishop of Lincoln
thus records his deliberate conviction :* —
" After a careful meditation, for many years, upon
these prophecies concerning the Apocalyptic Babylon, the
present writer here solemnly, in the presence of the Omni
scient Searcher of hearts. Who dictated these awful pre
dictions, records this as his deliberate judgment upon them,
probably for the last time.". ..." In this Divine Book, the
Spirit of God has pourtrayed the Chuich of Rome, such as
none but He could have foreseen she would become, and
such as, alas ! she has become."
" It is remarkable, that the Church of Rome acknow
ledges the Divine inspiration of the Apocalypse, and yet
lays claim to those very qualities and attributes which are
assigned in the Apocalypse to the Harlot, and are there
specified as the distinguishing traits and characteristics of
Babylon. This appears as follows : —
"i. The Church of Rome a.Troga.tes Indefectibility ; and
the Harlot says here, that she is a Queen for ever.
* Commentary on the Sevelation, pp. 246, 256, 253.

Preface. 15
" 2. The Church of Rome boasts of Universality ; and
the Harlot is seated on many waters, which are Nations,
and Peoples, and Tongues.
"3. The Church of Rome vaunts temporal felicity, and
claims supremacy over all ; and the Harlot has Kings at
her feet. "4. The Church of Rome points to the Unity of all her
members in one creed, and to their subjection under one
supreme visible Head ; and the Harlot requires all to drink
of her cup.
"Hence it appears that Rome's 'notes of the Church'
are marks of the Harlot : her trophies of triumph are
stigmas of shame; the claims which she makes to be Sion,
confirm the proof that she is Babylon."
Accordingly another Protestant* writer describes the
Harlot representing the Church as " A fair, beautiful, false
Woman, with a Cup in her hand, that seduces mankind :
she is called Deceit or Imposture. "t
Hence the contents of the Eighteenth Chapter of the
A|)ocalypse are represented as follows : —
"The downfall and destruction of the Antichristian
Power foretold, and described at large. Particular descrip
tions of the several corruptions, and impieties of it. All
painted out in the figurative language of the Prophets,
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, concerning the fall of Old
« A Paraphrase with Notes on the Revelation, by T. Pyle, M.A., Preben
dary of Salisbury Cathedral (1735). ,
t Ibid., p. 137.

1 6 Preface.
Babylon, and Tyre — the types and emblems of this
spiritual Babylon."
It should be observed that it is universally admitted,
that by harlot and harlotry is signified in Scripture the love
or affection of what is idolatrous and false ; and by sorcery,
incantations, or enchantments, the power of making what
is false appear to be true, and what is true to be false, so
as even to deceive if possible the very elect.
Such, then, is an illustration of one of those terrible con
vulsions of the Church designated in Scripture by earth
quakes ; for it was at this time that it was maintained, that
the Catholic and Apostolic Church, so called, had demon
strably fallen away; and that Reformation and Renovation
were absolutely necessary to its continued existence. We
may now see, therefore, that in order to explain the expres
sion Consummation of the Age, we must not look to those
transcendental visions of a Church which have been
described, and which exclude the very idea of change ; but
to the actual history of the Church itself.
As however it is now more than three centuries since
the Reformation was commenced, sufficient time has been
given it to develope itself, and consequently to enable us
to see what is the actually existing relation of the Re
formed Church itself to the Consummation of the Age —
which subject we next propose to consider.

Preface.

II.

It is well known that the hostility of the early
Reformers to the Roman Catholic Church was originally
maintained upon the principle, that the Church is founded
upon the written Word of God, and not the Word of God
upon the Church ; the consequence was, that at the Refor
mation, and indeed ever since, the question concerning the
Divine Inspiration and authority of the Scriptures has
assumed a new and unprecedented importance, since it has
involved a vital principle of the Reformation, as well as that
of Christianity itself. " The questions which agitate one
age," says Dr. Donaldson truly, " are never precisely the
same as those which agitate another." — "Thus,* the ques
tion of inspiration, as it presents itself to us now, never
so presented itself to any previous generation ."f — "The
theory of verbal or absolute inspiration was first started
with the intention of opposing the claims of Popery by a
counter-claim of still greater authority ; and the liberty of
private judgment was conceded, on the assumption that
the subject matter of the judgment would be fixed and
unalterable. This view has been allowed even by some of
the most moderate and rational divines."
Now, if the counter claims of the Divinely inspired
Word of God be set up against the claims of the Papal
Church, the Reformed Church is bound to give some clear
* A Cntical History of Christian Literature and Doctrine, vol. i. p. 7.
t Christian Orthodoxy, p. 167.

1 8 Preface.
and definite idea of what the Divine inspiration is, or else
the argument against the Papacy on this ground will prove
to be powerless. Yet what are we told by Protestant
writers ? According to one class —
"The* interpretation of Scripture has nothing to do
with any opinion respecting its origin. The meaning of
Scripture is one thing; the inspiration of Scripture is
another. It is conceivable that those who hold the most
different views about the one, may be able to agree about
the other. Rigid upholders of the verbal inspiration of
Scripture, and those who deny inspiration altogether, may
nevertheless meet on the common ground of the meaning
of words. If the term inspiration were to fall into disuse,
no fact of nature, or history, or language, no event in the
life of man, or dealings of God with him, would be in any
degree altered. The word itself is but of yesterday, not
found in the earlier confessions of the Reformed faith ; the
difficulties that have arisen about it are only two or three
centuries old. Therefore the question of inspiration,
though in one sense important, is, to the interpreter, as
though it were not important ; he is in no way called upon
to determine a matter with which he has nothing to do, and
which was not determined by fathers of the Church. And
he had better go on his way, and leave the more precise
definition of the word to the progress of knowledge and
the results of the study of Scripture, instead of entangling
himself with a theory about it."
* Essays and Reviews, p. 3_:;o.

Preface. ly
We are moreover told by Dr. Donaldson, that —
"The* words inspiration and inspired, as applied to
Scripture, do not occur once in the Articles or Liturgy,
and therefore it cannot be said that the Established
Church has any received theory respecting the composition
of the Bible, as affected by a special influence exerted on
the minds of those who wrote the Sacred Books."
— " The Church of England, then, asserts the value of
the Scriptures, and allows their authority, without deve
loping or adopting any theory respecting the mode of their
composition." The want of a fixed and definite principle of inspiration
has led a large number of Protestant theologians to a
sweeping denial to the greater part of the Scriptures of any
inspiration whatever. Thus, we are told by the Bishop of
St. David's, that —
" A great part of the events related in the Old Testa
ment has no more apparent connection with our religion,
than those of Greek and Roman history." We say
nothing of Dr. Colenso's assertion,! that " the Bible with
all its Divine lessons is yet a human book, a collection of
ancient writings by fallible men, full of human errors, con
tradictions, and inconsistencies ; " but we draw attention
to the following just remark : —
"NoJ thoughtful Christian can affect to be satisfied
* Christiwn Orthodoxy, p. i8i, r83.
t Natal Sermons, p. 38.
I Tlie Bible and its Interpreters. By Dr. Irons, Prebendary of St.
Paul's, p. 1.
E 3

30 Preface.
with the position popularly held, at present, by the Sacred
Scriptures. The periodical panics of sincere, if not deeply
instructed believers; the jealousy among religious persons
as to reason and science ; and the want of thoroughness in
the method of even professed theologians, are symptoms of
a condition of things which cannot really last, and ought
not to be prolonged by any honest mind."
As one illustration of this remark, out of many others
which might be adduced, we may refer to a popular
Protestant theory — that it is not the Scriptures that are
inspired, but only the authors :* —
" Inspiration is not the channel through which the
matter which was to be written came, but it refers to the
peculiar character which has been impressed upon the
Sacred Scriptures by the supernatural agency of the Holy
Spirit leading the authors to commit to writing subject-
matter which they became acquainted with through other
means, and superintending them in the execution of their
assigned work, so that the Scriptures are inspired because
their authors were inspired. From the commencement to
the end of the Bible, not one single statement or sentiment
came through inspiration."
Now, after reviewing these statements concerning the
inspiration of the Bible, we are reminded of the truth of
the foregoing remark, that they furnish " symptoms of a
condition of things which cannot last, and ought not to be
* The Inspiration of tJie Holy Scriptures. By the Very Rev. Dean
Bagot, D.D., etc., p. 15, 1878.

Preface. 3i
prolonged by any honest mind ;" for they not only un
settle and confound the minds of many well-disposed
Christians, but they seriously damage the claims of Scrip
ture, as set up by the Reformers against those of the
Papacy, and pave the way for all manner of scepticism and
infidelity. Accordingly Cardinal Manning observes : —
"It* is come then to this, that the system which
founded itself upon the claim to be essentially and above
all Scriptural, is ending in denying the inspiration and
authenticity of Holy Scripture."
— Not the system, we would reply, but the utter aban
donment of the first principles of the system; for the original
system maintained the supremacy of the Written Word of
God, as being Divinely inspired ; whereas this is the very
system from which Protestants have now fallen away.
"Thef Protestant Reformation," says the Cardinal,
"staked its existence upon the Bible; and as Protestants
have extensively denied or undermined its inspiration, no
other subject can be so vital to their religion, or more
opportune for us."
" AllJ things around us tell of one of those periods
which come, from time to time, upon the Church and the
bodies which surround it. Three hundred years have re
vealed at length the intrinsic anarchy and rationalism of
the so-called Reformation. It is passing away from before
* Temporal Mission of the Holy G-lwst, p. rg6.
t Ihid., p. 127. t Ihid., p. ii.

.23 Preface.
our eyes. The men of to-day reluctantly and unconsciously
are undoing what their fathers did — justifying the Church
of God by their unwilling testimony."
"There* are signs upon the horizon over the sea.
Protestantism is gone in Germany. The old forms of
religious thought are passing away. They are going in
England. Separation has generated separation. The re
jection of the Divine voice has let in the flood of opinion,
and opinion has generated scepticism, and scepticism has
brought on contentions without an end. What seemed so
solid once is disintegrated now. It is dissolving by the
internal action of the principle from which it sprung. The
critical unbelief of dogma has now reached to the founda
tion of Christianity, and to the veracity of Scripture. Such
is the world the Catholic Church sees before it at this
day." For these reasons the Cardinal comes to the following
conclusion : —
" Andf now it is every day becoming manifest that, in
the flood of unbelief pouring at this time upon England,
the sole barrier to the inundation, the sole guardian and
keeper of Holy Writ in all the integrity of its text and
meaning, the sole Divine witness of its inspiration, the
sole, immutable, and unerring interpreter of its meaning, is
the Catholic and Roman Church."
Now we have seen how, on the one hand, the claims
* Trmpornl Mission of the Holy Ghost, ji. 213.
t Ibid., p. ii.

Preface. 33
of the Roman Catholic Church have been dealt with by
the Church of the Reformation; how, on the other, the
claims of the Reformed Church have been dealt with by
the Roman Catholic ; and we now proceed to shew, how
the claim^ of both are dealt with in the writings of
Emanuel Swedenborg, announcing the Consummation of
the Age. III.
"The* Catholic Church," says Cardinal Manning
truly, " in inheriting the canon of the Hebrew and of the
Hellenistic books from the synagogue, inherited with them
the belief of inspiration current among the Jews, by whom
the operations of the Divine Spirit were believed to extend
to the whole substance and form, the sense and the letter,
of Holy Scripture."
" Such was evidently the belief of the early Christian
writers. The writings of the Fathers both of the East
and West shew that they extended the inspiration of the
Holy Ghost to the whole of Scripture, both to its sub
stance and to its form ; so that it is altogether pervaded
by the mind, voice, and authority of God."
It is well known that the belief current among the
Jews was a belief in verbal inspiration; and hence this
was the belief inherited by the Catholic Church, and
adopted by the early Christian writers. Hence, also, it
" Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, p. 139.

34 Preface.
was maintained by these writers, that* "the Divine
Scripture declares nothing vaguely or without intention,
but every syllable and every point has some mystery
hidden in It. Not an iota, not a point in Scripture, is
there in vain."
Such, then, Is the Tradition acknowledged to be origi
nally inherited from the Jews by the primitive Catholic
Church, and which was committed to the custody of the
Church as a sacred deposit. Now on what principle was
this belief of the Jews founded ? The question is thus
answered by one of their own learned Rabbis :
" Whent God created this lower world, says R. Simeon
Ben Jochai, He created it according to the pattern of the
world above, in order that this world might be the Image
of the world above ; and His reason for so doing was,
that the one world might be connected with the other."
We thus see that there are two worlds, a lower world
and a higher world, or a natural world and a spiritual
world ; and that the connection between the two was
owing to the principle of ccjrrespondence, that is to say,
the correspondence between the natural and the spiritual.
Hence the same principle of interpretation was transferred
to the Word of God which was found to pertain to the
works of God ; especially as It was by the Word of God
that all things were created, and from which they derived,
therefore, their very principle of correspondence. The
* Temporal Mission of the Holy Ghost, p. 140.
t Propmdin Prophrtica, by Archdeacon Lyall, p. 264.

Preface. 25
same learned Rabbi, therefore, thus argues for a higher or
spiritual sense pertaining to the lower or literal sense of
Scripture : —
" Woe* be to the son of man who says that the Penta
teuch contains common sayings and ordinary narratives.
For, if this was the case, we might in the present day
compose a code of doctrines from profane writings which
should excite greater respect. If the Law contains ordi
nary matter, then there are nobler sentiments in profane
codes. Let us go and make a selection from them, and
we shall be able to compile a far superior code. But every
word of the Law has a sublime sense, and a heavenly
mystery." This, then, was the belief current among the Jews,
which was inherited from them by the Catholic Church,
and committed to its custody as a sacred deposit. So far
from owing Its origin either to the Jews or to the Catholic
Church, it was anterior to both ; for, as the same learned
Rabbi assures us,t the same belief was first taught by
God Himself, through the medium of angels, to Adam in
Paradise; from Adam, he says, it passed on to Noah,
from Noah to Abraham, and from Abraham to Moses.
The world below was thus primsevally regarded as the
pattern of the world above, the pattern by correspondence;
and it was upon this principle of correspondence that dlrec-
* The Kabbalah : its Doctrines, Development, and Literature, by
Dr. Ginsburg, p. 45.
t Ibid., p. z.

%6 Preface.
tions were given to Moses to construct the Tabernacle,
" See that thou make all things according to the pattern
shewed thee on the mount;" the reason, as assigned by St.
Paul, being, that they were " the patterns of things in the
heavens," and as such maintained the connection between
earth and heaven, on the sole principle of correspondence.
On this principle it was that, like as the Humanity of our
Lord was the Tabernacle of the Divinity, so by early
Christian writers the Old Testament was regarded as the
Tabernacle of the New, and as such containing within
itself all the Divine Truths relating to Redemption.
It is upon this principle that, as Cardinal Manning
observes truly —
" Holy* Scripture known to be such, and rightly
understood, is certainly the voice of the Holy Ghost, and
likewise may generate acts of faith."
"Nayt more, the Church so honours the Written
Word of God, that it acts upon Its lightest word." — "Does
not every Divine word contain the veracity of God ? The
Church of God recognizes His voice in every utterance,
and honours the Divine will revealed in the fewest sylla
bles." — " It is this profound faith in their sacredness
(namely, that of the Sacred Books), which made S. Paullnus
lay them up in a tabernacle by the side of a tabernacle of
the Blessed Sacrament ; and S. Edmund kiss the page of
the Bible both before and after reading it ; and S. Charles
read It kneeling with bare head and knees. So the Church
* Trmpornl Mission of the Holy Ghost, p. 8i. f Ibid., p. 208.

Preface. 27
cherishes its least jot or tittle, and guards it as a deposit
dearer than life itself."
Now, as we are about to give Swedenborg's interpre
tations relating to the Consummation of the Age, it is of
the first importance to know what were the principles he
held in this respect. Are they the same with those which
were inherited from the beginning by the primitive Catholic
Church, or are they not ? The answer is, they are the very
same. There is nothing In the foregoing statements con
cerning the Divine inspiration of Scripture to oppose, but
every thing to confirm, the following propositions which
he maintains, viz., that — "The* Sacred Scripture or the
Word is Divine Truth itself;" that — "The style of the
Word is such that it is holy in every sense and in every
word, yea, indeed, in some cases in the very letters them
selves;" that — "The spiritual sense is in all and every part
of the Word ; " that — " It is owing to the spiritual sense,
that the Word is Divinely inspired, and holy in every syl
lable ; " that—" By the literal sense of the Word, through
the medium of correspondence, man has conjunction with
the Lord, and consociation with the angels." For, —
All this arises from Scripture being written on the
principle of correspondence between things natural and
things spiritual, or the world below and the world above ;
for, observes Swedenborg —
" Thef whole natural world corresponds to the spiritual
* See Ttie Doctritu of Sacred Scripture.
f Heaven and Hell, art. 89.

38 Preface.
world, not only collectively, but in every part; and there
fore, whatever exists in the natural world from the spiritual
is said to be the correspondent of that from which it exists ;
for the natural world exists and subsists from the spiritual
world, just as an effect exists from its efficient cause. All
that lies beneath the sun and receives thence its heat and
light is called the natural world; and the things of the
natural world are all those which thence subsist ; but the
spiritual world is Heaven, and the things of that world are
all things which are in the heavens." Hence,
" The angels in heaven," says Swedenborg,* " do not
think from natural things as man does, but only from
spiritual things. Consequently, when man is in the
science of correspondences, he may be consociated with
angels as to the thoughts of his mind, and be conjoined
with them as to his spiritual or internal man." Accord
ingly, he further says —
"The Word was written by pure correspondences, in
order that man might be conjoined with heaven; and
therefore even the minutest parts of the Word correspond
to something spiritual ; and if man were skilled in the
science of correspondences, he would understand its
spiritual sense, and become acquainted with arcana, of
which he perceives nothing in the sense of the letter ; for
in the Word there Is a literal sense, and there is a spiritual
sense. The literal sense consists of such things as there
are in the world, but the spiritual sense of such things as are
* Hcancn mid Hell, art. 114.

Preface. 39
in heaven ; and since the conjunction of heaven with the
world is by correspondences, therefore a Word was given
in which every iota has some spiritual correspondence."
Thus far, then, it is simply a fact, that the principles
of inspiration and interpretation of the written Word of
God are common both to Swedenborg and to the primitive
Catholic Church. We next proceed to point out how
these principles inherited by the Catholic Church have been
first superseded, and then abandoned by the Roman Catholic.
The reason is plain, and is not attempted to be concealed;
for, if the Scriptures are the Word of God written, so the
Tradition of the Roman Church is the Word of God
unwritten; if the Scriptures are Divine, so also the Roman
Church is Divine; if the Scriptures are the voice of God,
so also the Roman Church is the voice of God ; If the
Scriptures are infallible, so also "the Definitions and
Decrees of Pontiffs speaking ex cathedrd, or as the Head
of the Church, and to the whole Church, whether by Bull,
or Apostolic Letters, or Encyclical, or Brief, to many or
to one person, undoubtedly emanate from a Divine assist
ance, and are infallible."
Thus far, then, the Divine authority of the Scriptures
is not denied, it is distinctly acknowledged ; what is
denied is, that they are the sole Divine authority ; whereas
there is now a second Divine authority, which is that
of the Church; and two Divine authorities being now
established, the question arises, what is the relation
of the one to the other ? and we are told, that the

30 Preface.
Divine authority of the Church is superior to that of
the Scriptures, and independent of them, for it existed
before a line of the Scriptures was written ; the consequence
is, that while the authority of the Church is declared to be
independent of that of the Scriptures, the authority of the
Scriptures is declared to be dependent upon that of the
Church ; and that if we accept the superior and indepen
dent authority of the Church, we may dispense with the
Scriptures altogether; for, as before observed at large,
" We* neither derive our religion from the Scriptures, nor
does it depend upon them. Our faith was in the world
before the New Testament was written. The Scripture
itself _depew(^5 for its attestation upon the Witness of the
Church who teaches us our faith, and that Witness is
Divine." — " Christianity was neither derived from the Scrip
tures of the New Testament, nor is dependent upon them."
The practical consequence of thus setting up the autho
rity of the Church as independent of the authority of the
Scriptures, and superior to it, is openly shewn in the fact,
that — " manuals of devotion are distributed rather than
Bibles " — " the practice of Catholics is not so much to
make use of the text of Scripture in their devotions as of
devotional books ; " in which, of course, the Church may
teach anything It pleases, on its own independent and
superior authority ; and this accounts for the well-known
rarity of the Scriptures in Roman Catholic countries;
while the Scriptures themselves, even where acknowledged,
* Temporal Mi.tsion of the Holy Ghost, see above, p. 1 1 .

Preface. 3 1
are held to be not only useless, but positively mischievous,
unless their own voice be resolved into that of the Church;
we should rather say that of the Pope; for, as Cardinal'
Manning* assures us : —
"The sole tribunal on earth which can direct the con
sciences of men is the Church of God, and this office
centres in its Head. This, then, is the personal sove
reignty which is inherent in the Pontificate of the Vicar of
Jesus Christ."
Hence the sum and substance of the Cardinal's teach
ing is the same with that of Count De Maistre, himself
also a Roman Catholic : —
"Thef Sovereign Pontiff is the necessary, the only,
the exclusive basis of Christianity. To him belong the
promises ; with him disappears unity, in other words, the
Church." The supremacy of the Pope is thus declared to be the
one essential dogma, without which Christianity cannot
subsist ; and it is expressly said by the Church, that the
Christianity of the Church is not derived from the Scrip
tures, but from the Church herself; in which case the
assertion of the Church is " the maximum of evidence " —
" I am, and none else beside me."X
What, then, in this case, becomes of the assertion that
the Church is no otherwise above the Scriptures than a
* The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesxw Christ. By Cardinal
Manning. Second Edition, p. 182.
t The Pope considered in his Relations with the Church, p. 320.
J isaiah xviii. 10.

33 Preface.
Judge is above the law which he interprets ; for it would
be a strange thing for a Judge so to interpret the law as to
say, that the law itself was of no consequence, provided his
own principles, which he inherited from an antecedent
and independent authority, were submissively received.
Now we have seen it affirmed, that the primitive
Church inherited the belief that " the Scriptures are alto
gether pervaded by the mind, voice, and authority of God ;
that not an iota not a point is there in vain ;" and this,
we are told, was in the beginning the belief inherited by
the Catholic Church, and taught as the true doctrine con
cerning Sacred Scripture. In the course of time, as the
superior authority of the Church developes itself, this
judgment of the Church gradually sinks into secondary
importance; till at last the conclusion arrived at is this —
that " Christianity was not derived from Scripture, nor
depends upon it " — that " we neither derive our religion
from the Scriptures, nor does it depend upon them " — and
that " the Sovereign Pontiff Is the necessary, the only, the
exclusive basis of Christianity." The Scriptures are thus
acknowledged in the Roman Catholic Church, and yet are
not acknowledged.
Here, then, we observe that, according to some of the
most eminent writers in the Catholic Church, the two
Cherubim over the Ark represented the Old and New
Testaments ; the Four Living Creatures round about the
Throne represented the Four Gospels — instances which
suffice to shew, that the inspired Word of God was con-

Preface. 33
sidered to be represented both in the Temple and in the
heavenly Vision by living agents. The Books were repre
sented, so to speak, as alive, or as living creatures ; but
this was in respect of the Divine truths they contained
as the Word of God. Now we find mention of a repre
sentative animal form, or living agent, in the Book of
Revelation — Chap. xvii. — where it is called a Therion —
"the beast which thou sawest was, and is not;" the interpre
tation of which passage, as given by Emanuel Swedenborg,
is as follows : —
" That* hereby was signified the Word, which in the
beginning was received into the Church and read, and
afterwards taken away from the people and not read,
appears from the signification of the scarlet beast, as
denoting the Word in the letter, as to its Holy things ;
and from the signification of was, as denoting that in the
beginning it was received in the Church, and read; and
from the signification of is not, as denoting that afterwards
it was taken away and not read. That such things are
understood by these words is evident from this considera
tion, that this was really the case with the Word; namely,
that in the beginning it was acknowledged as Divine,
taught from, and read before the people; and afterwards,
as they who were in the love of power extended their
dominion over heaven and over the Church, they acknow
ledged it indeed to be Divine, but ceased to teach from it
as before ; for they forbade the people to read it ; . and
* Apocalypse Explained, chap, xvii., p. 8, C

34 Preface,
instead of doctrine from the Word, they delivered their
own doctrine from the Papal chair as alone Divine, and
instituted Divine worship in masses not understood by the
common people : they also preached the adoration of the
Pope, and of dead men whom they call saints, instead of
that of the Lord, whom they before preached. Hence it
may appear, that it is the Word which Is understood by
the scarlet beast, which was, and is not, and is about to go
into perdition."
As we have thus far been considering the history of
the written Word of God in relation to that crisis which is
called "The Consummation of the Age," we next proceed
to consider the relation of the Catholic Church itself to
that period.
We have seen it to be authoritatively and truly main
tained, that the Catholic Church inherited from the begin
ning a belief in the Divine Inspiration of the written Word
of God; that this belief initiated the present Age or
Dispensation ; and this being the case, a disbelief in that
Divine Inspiration would correspondingly imply the end
of the Dispensation, or the Consummation of the Age.
This progress from belief to disbelief, or to merely
external and nominal belief, involves the necessity of a
series of changes.
Among Roman Catholic writers, as is well known,
some of the most eminent admit, that the Church upon
earth passes through various phases of its existence. Thus,
jn the Apostolic age, it was In its infancy ; in the age after

Preface. '^^
this, in its adolescence; in the next after this, in its
maturity; after this comes its state of old age; changes corre
sponding to those of morning, noon, evening, and night.
Accordingly, the Catholic Church presents itself to us under
two different aspects ; first, the Catholic Church ideally or
abstractedly, or, according to some, as the soul ; secondly,
the Catholic Church concretely, or as it actually exists in
the minds and in the lives of its individual members, or,
according to some, as the body. It is in the former case
that the Church is said to be spotless, inerrable, infallible,
immutable ; that " The Church of God is said to be the
presence of God, and the mind of the Church to be the mind
of God, and the voice of the Church to be the voice of God."
In this point of view, the Church knows nothing, nor
is concerned to know any thing, of any signs of the times,
or any Consummation of the Age, because the Church
itself is above all time ; nor does it become either old or
new, and consequently cannot be included in the words —
" Behold, I make all things new." It is only in its con
crete form, or as actually subsisting in the minds and lives
of its individual members, that the Church passes through
its different changes; and we shall see, that while its
individual members may sink into the most deadly corrup
tions, the ideal Catholic Church may still be presented to
view as incorruptible, indissolubly united with the Holy
Spirit; and as such, spotless, pure, infallible, and so forth.
Hence as Moehler, himself a zealous Roman Catholic,
confesses, — C %

36 Preface.
" Doubtless,* examples enough can be alleged of priests,
bishops, and popes, who, in the most unconscionable and
unjustifiable manner, have failed to discharge their duty,
when it was quite in their power to bring about a reform
of morals ; or who, by their own scandalous conduct and
lives, have extinguished the still glimmering torch which
they ought to have kindled. Hell hath swallowed them
up. Avowals of this kind Catholics must not shrink
from : it would be even idle to attempt to elude them ; for
the Protestants themselves furnish an irrefragable proof of
the state of manifold neglect. Into which the people had
fallen during the fifteenth century. Never would a system
of doctrine like theirs have sprung up, still less have
obtained such wide diffusion, had individual teachers and
priests been faithful to the duties of their calling."
It is evident, then, that it is to the Church in this
concrete form that we are to look for any changing phases
of its existence, or for the different ages through which it
passes ; for at that very period, when (as Moehler describes)
priests, bishops, and popes were such that " Hell hath
swallowed them up," yet there was an alleged Catholic
sense in which these very popes were Vicars of the
Incarnate Word, the organs of His voice ; the necessary,
the only, the exclusive basis of Christianity ; while the
same priests and bishops were members of a Church
which is the perfect form of all perfections, and, as such,
" neverf needs to recast and recreate itself, never changes
* Symbolism, p. 270. f See above, p. 8.

Preface, 3^
its character, never puts off its old form for new combina
tions. It was Jiever otherwise than it is ; and what it is,
it ever shall be."
It is in this sense that, as Moehler says,* "We all
have erred — it is the Church only that cannot err ; we all
have sinned — the Church only is spotless upon earth " —
the spotless Church being the ideal Church, and the we
the individual members of the actually existing and visible
Church. It is evident, then, that it is to the human element in
the Catholic Church that we are to look for the different
phases of its life ; and hence for what the Scriptures call
" the Consummation of the Age ; " for the ideal Catholic
Church knows of no consummation — no consummatio
sceculi, since it is said to exist in secula seculorum.
What has been said of the ideal Catholic Church in
its relation to individual members, may also be said of
Councils.f " I never saw," says Gregory Nazianzen, " a
Council assembled, without danger and inconvenience. . . .
To speak truly, I must say that I avoid as much as I can,
assemblies of priests and bishops ; I never saw so much
as one concluded in a happy and agreeable manner, and
which did not tend rather to increase evils than to remove
them." Be it so. But what of this ? All were still, as indi-
* Symbolism, p. 1 7°'
t The Pope Considered in his Relations with the Church, by Count Joseph
De Maistre; translated by the Rev. E. M. Dawson, p. ig.

38 Preface,
viduals, members of the ideal, spotless, impeccable Church
— a Church which continues to be Christian, though all
its individual members, save a few remnants, may have
ceased to be Christian ; and, as to the remnants, it is not
these that determine the decisions of Councils, but, apart
from the dictum of the Pope, the majority. We make
these remarks only to shew, that the progress of the age
does not depend upon what is maintained to be immutable,
but upon that human element which passes through a
series of changes ; otherwise a " Consummation of the
age " would be unknown to the Church ; a cry might be
raised that the Bridegroom cometh, and a counter cry that
He was never absent ; inasmuch as the Catholic Church
cannot possibly Declitie, and consequently cannot possibly
need Renovation.
It is true that in the English authorized version, the
original Greek is translated end of the world, but the
Vulgate more correctly translates it consummatioin of the
age; at the same time it must be observed, that Roman
Catholic writers are apt to make use of the English
authorized version instead of their own, as the mistaken
translation is more calculated to favour the idea, that their
existing Church will last to the end of the world, and be
succeeded by no other. The same mistaken translation is
for the same reason adopted in the passage, " Lo ! I am
with you always, even to the end of the world," which
should be translated — to the consummation of the age.^
* Arcana, vol. iv„ p. 2g7.

Preface. 39
Upon this subject the independent testimony of a
clergyman of the Church of England, the Rev. C. D.
Maitland, so remarkably in accordance with the statements
of Swedenborg, and in opposition to the popular misappre
hension of the subject, may here be usefully placed before
the reader : —
"Among* the things that once darkened my own
mind on the subject of the coming of the Son of Man,
was the circumstance of the Second Advent being almost
always put in connection with the end of the world; at
least, so it appeared by our version of the Scriptures.
Concluding, as I then did, that the dispensation under
which we live was the the final dispensation, and that
what we translate ' end of the world ' meant literally the
end of the world, I could come to no other than the
generally received opinion, that there would be no re
appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ till the day of the
general judgment. Had the Greek word atrnv been ren
dered in our version by its nearest corresponding term in
our language, viz., age instead of world, it would have
removed one great difficulty out of my way. And, since
I doubt not but that which once misled myself may at
this day be a stumbling block in the way of many of my
brethren, who only read the Scriptures in the English
version, I begin with noticing it, and shall proceed to offer
a few plain thoughts in connection with this expression,
' end of the world ' or ' age.'
* The History of Noah's Day, etc., p. 138. I3g.

4b Preface.
. , . "We must understand by this phrase not the
dissolution of the globe, but the end of a dispensation or
particular economy upon it ; and forasmuch as several of
these have obtained by the Divine appointment, the
expression, when it occurs, will mean the termination of
one of these dispensations of God with man — the closing
or shutting up of one account, with a view to the adjust
ment of it, and the opening of another, in order to a
progression in the Divine plan."
Seeing, then, that the Scriptures actually foretell a
Consummation of the present Age, how shall we ascertain
it to be such yvhen it arrives? The answer is, by the
relation of the Age to the written Word of God, that is to
say, to the Scriptures. In the case of Roman Catholics,
the character of the Age is judged of by its relation to
the Church; although the quality of the Ecclesia docens is
nevertheless admitted to depend upon the quality of its
teaching. But as in this case the Church is not derived
from the Scriptures as the written Word of God, but from
her own alleged independent origin, it is evident that the
character of the Age is not to be judged of by its relation
to the Scriptures, and consequently not by its relation to
Prophecy. In this point of view, any interpretation of the
Twenty-fourth Chapter of Matthew, as indicating a Con
summation of the Age and hence of the Church, would
pass for nothing; for as the Church was not derived
from the written Word, so either the prophecies of the
written Word would be no valid testimony against the

Preface. 41
Church, or the Church would consign them to some
other meaning.
Moreover, if instead of the written Word pronouncing
judgment upon the Church, it is the privilege of the
Church to pronounce judgment upon the written Word ;
so also this privilege is assumed by the Age itself apart
from the Church; so that instead of being judged by the
Word, the Age by its criticisms is engaged in pro
nouncing judgment upon the Word itself. Hence the
language of the Age, resulting from the progress of ideas,
is this — The Sciences are as truly a Revelation from God
as the Scriptures; and the Revelation of the Sciences
judging of that of the Scriptures pronounces, that the
Revelation of the Scriptures is palpably inconsistent with
that of Science. The Scriptures are the culprit, and not
the Age. In this case the order of judgment is inverted;
and if the Age thinks that It may itself have arrived at a
Consummation, it is only because the old traditional belief
in the inspiration of the Scriptures is fast disappearing,
and the new light derived from the Sciences is -inaugurating
another period. All these causes blind the eyes to the
real character of the Age as determined by Prophecy.
If, on the other hand, we admit the Church to be
derived from the truths of the written Word, it is evident
that the state or quality of the Church must depend upon
the quality of its relation to the written Word, and hence
also to Prophecy. Now Swedenborg's interpretation of
the Twenty-fourth Chapter is founded upon this principle.

44 Preface.
and the signs of the Consummation of the Age are accord
ingly to be found In the relation of the various phases of the
Church to the written Word. It was a distinctive acknow
ledgment of the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures, as
fulfilled by Christ and evidenced by their spiritual sense,
that was an essential characteristic of the beginning of the
Christian age; whence it follows, that the loss of this
characteristic, from whatever cause, must be a correspond
ing sign of the End of the Age.
There had been of old, as we have already shewn, a
celestial wisdom taught by God Himself, through the
medium of angels, to Adam in Paradise, revealing the
correspondence between the World above and the World
below, or between things natural and things spiritual ; and
it was in virtue of this correspondence that the connection
between heaven and earth was at that time maintained,
and clearly perceived. After the Fall, an intellectual
knowledge of its existence, though with a lost perception
of its celestial nature, characterized the Church of Noah,
and was an essential principle of that dispensation. In
the rituals of that Church, the same principle of corre
spondence, though still more obscurely understood, con
tinued down to the patriarchal Church in the time of
Abraham ; from Abraham it passed on into the Mosaic
Dispensation, and constituted the hidden biit Divine
element of the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets, which
thus contained within themselves the original wisdom
taught by God Himself, through the medium of Angels, to

Preface. 4^
Adam in Paradise. Such were the Scriptures that were
fulfilled in the person of our Lord, in virtue of which they
are Divinely inspired, and as such are The Word of God.
This, then, was the belief inherited in the beginning of the
Christian age by the Catholic Church from the Jews, who
nevertheless had entirely ceased to understand what they
believed ; and, had they understood it, would only have
profaned their knowledge.
We thus see that the life and soul of all the Dispensa
tions that have ever existed upon this earth is the principle
of Correspondence between things earthly and heavenly;
and that upon this principle it is that the Scriptures are
Divinely inspired, and that a spiritual sense is involved in
the literal or natural. What, then, shall we say of the
indifference which ignores, or the pity which deplores, or
the authority which denounces, or the criticism which
consigns to Rabbinical superstition, the following account
of Inspiration, as embodying the principles already laid
down ? —
"Inspiration* implies that in all parts of the Word,
even the most minute, as well historical as others, are con
tained celestial things which appertain to love or good, and
spiritual things which appertain to faith or truth, conse
quently to things Divine. For what is inspired by the
Lord descends from Him through the angelic heaven, and
thus through the World of spirits, till it reaches man, before
whom it presents itself in such a form as the Word has
* Arcana Ccelestia. By Emanuel Swedenborg. Art. 1887.

44 Preface.
in its letter ; which is altogether different from that which
belongs to it in its first origin. In heaven there is not
any worldly history, but the whole is representative of
things Divine, nor is anything else there perceived; as
may also be known from the acknowledged fact, that the
words there heard are unspeakable by man : wherefore,
unless the historical relations be representative of things
Divine, and be thus celestial, they cannot possibly be
Divinely inspired. What is the nature of the Word in
the heavens can be known only from the internal sense ;
for the internal sense is the Word of the Lord in the
heavens." " The* worldly things, and things of civil judicature,
such as are the judgments, statutes, and laws promulgated
by the Lord from Mount Sinai (as in Exodus xxi., etc.),
are Divine and Holy by Inspiration ; Inspiration, however,
is not dictation, but is Influx from the Divine : what flows
in from the Divine passes through heaven, and is there
celestial and spiritual; but when it comes into the world it
becomes worldly, still containing Inwardly in it the same
principles. From these considerations it is evident whence
and wherein the Word hath in it the Divine principle, and
what Is Inspiration."
" If am well aware that few can believe that in all the
particulars of the Word, not only the prophetical, but the
historical, there is an internal sense. That there is such a
* Arcane Cailestia, art. gog4.
f Ibid., art. 2310.

Preface. 4^
sense in the Prophetical may be more easily believed;
because in these there is not such a regular series of
things treated of, and there occur at the same time forms
of expression foreign to common usage ; whence every one
is led to suppose that they involve something mysterious.
But that this is the case. In like manner, with the Historical
parts also, is not so obvious, both because It has not yet
entered into the minds of the learned, and because the
Historical parts are such as to detain the mind in the
history, and thereby withdraw it from thinking that any
thing deeper Hes hid in the narrative ; as well also because
the historical facts are really such as are related. But
still every one may be led to conclude, that even In the
historical parts of the Word there is something celestial
and Divine which is not outwardly apparent, Firstly, from
this consideration ; that the Word was sent from the
Lord through heaven down to man, and consequently that
it is different in Its origin from what it is in its external
derivative form. Secondly, he may be confirmed in such a
conclusion by this consideration, that the Word as b^ng
Divine is written not only for man, but also for the angels
attendant on man, so as to serve not only for use to the
human race, but also for heaven ; and that thus the Word
is a medium effecting the union of heaven and earth.
This union is by means of the Church, and indeed by
means of the Word in the Church; for which reason the
Word is of the nature we have described, and as such is
distinguished from all other writings. As to what con-

4-6 Preface.
cerns the historical parts of the Word in particular, unless
these, in like manner with the other parts, contained things
Divine and celestial abstractedly from the letter, it would
not be possible that they should be acknowledged as the
inspired Word, and this as to every Iota, by any one who
thinks beyond the surface of things. Is there any one who
could say that those things are inspired which are recorded
in the Divine Word of the abominable affair of Lot's
daughters ? or concerning Jacob, when he peeled the rods
and made them white, and placed them In water troughs,
in order that the flock might bring forth their young in
divers colours, streaked and spotted ? not to mention other
circumstances recorded in the books of Moses, Joshua,
Judges, Samuel, and Kings, which would not be of the
least importance unless they Involved some Divine arcanum
deeper than the letter. Were the case otherwise, the
narratives would differ in no respect from other historical
records, which are sometimes so written as to appear
calculated to affect more powerfully the mind of the reader.
Inasmuch as the learned part of the world are Ignorant
that things Divine and celestial lie inwardly concealed even
in the historical parts of the Word ; unless they had been
impressed from their infancy with a holy veneration for
the books of the Word, they would easily be induced to
say in their hearts that the Word is not holy, except from
the holiness derived from the impressions they had received
in early life ; when yet this is not its true source of its
holiness; for the Word Is holy because of its internal sense,

Preface. 47
which is celestial and Divine, and is effective of the union
of heaven with earth, that is, of angelic minds with those
of man, and thus of man with the Lord."
" In* the most ancient times the written Word was
not, but immediate revelation before the man of the Church,
and by it conjunction ; for when there is immediate reve
lation, then there is conjunction of heaven with man.
The conjunction of heaven with man is the conjunction of
the Lord with him, since the Divine principle of the Lord
with the angels constitutes heaven. When this immediate
revelation ceased, as was the case when man turned away
from the good in which he had been principled, then
another revelation succeeded, which was by representatives,
whereby the man of the Church at that time knew what
was true and good ; and hence that Church was called a
representative Church; In that Church also was the Word,
but in a form which served that Church only. When,
however, this Church also was vastated, as was the case
in consequence of their beginning to w orship idolatrously
those representatives by which the Church at that time
had conjunction with heaven, and in several lands to
apply them to magical purposes, it was then provided by
the Lord that The Word should be Written, which should
be Divine in each and all its particulars, even as to the
smallest expression, and which should consist of mere
correspondences, and thereby be accommodated to the per
ception of the angels in all the heavens, and at the same
* Arcana Ccelestia, art. 10632.

48 Preface.
time to man, to the intent that by the Word there might
thus be conjunction of the Lord with the human race; for
without a conjunction by such a Word, heaven would have
altogether receded from man, and mankind would in con
sequence have perished."
" And * he took the Book of the Covenant and read in
the ears of the people. Ex. xxiv. 7. Inasmuch as by
Covenant is signified conjunction, and by Divine Truth
proceeding from the Lord, that is to say, the Word, is
effected conjunction, therefore all things which are of the
Divine Truth from the Lord, or thus which are of the
Word, are called a Covenant ; as the Tables on which
the ten commandments were written, also the judgments,
the statutes, and other things contained in the Books of
Moses, and In general the things contained in the Word
both of the Old and New Testament."
" Behold* I make a Covenant ; before all thy people
I will do marvels, such as have not been created in all the
earth, nor in any nation ; and all the people shall see the
work of the Lord ; for It is a terrible thing that I will do
with thee." — In the historical sense it is here signified, that
Jehovah was about to do miracles among the Israelitish
people, which have not been heard of in all the earth; but
in the internal sense are not meant miracles, but wonderful
things which the Lord was about to do or make, by being
about to give such a Word that by it there might be con-
* Arcana Ccelestia, art, g3g6.
f Ibid., art. 10634,

Preface. 45
junction of heaven with the Church, and universally con
junction of the Lord with the human race. That the
Word is so wonderful is not apprehended by those who
do not know something concerning the correspondence of
natural things with spiritual, and concerning the spiritual
thought in which the angels are principled. Such persons
do not know, that in each and all the particulars of the
Word there is Interiorly somewhat in which is heaven, thus
in which is Divine life : when nevertheless the expressions
of the Word, each and all, by correspondence are perceived
spiritually by the angels when perceived naturally by men.
Hence and from no other source the Word is Divine, and
so wonderful that nothing is more so."
Here, then, is a doctrine of Divine Inspiration which
fully accounts for that Divine character of the written
Word of which it was said by Chrysostom — " The Divine
Scripture declares nothing vaguely or without intention,
but every syllable and every point has some mystery hidden
in it." The mystery consisted in this, that in the Word
everything natural represented or signified something
spiritual ; and this on the principle of Correspondence, by
which alone a connection between the two is maintained,
and the Church upon earth is in communion with the
Church in heaven.
And now, what is the general reply to these state
ments ?
"Where* there is no critical interpretation of Scripture,
* Essays cmd Heiiiems, p. 371, 382. O

50 Preface.
there will be a mystical or rhetorical one. If words have
more than one meaning, they may have any meaning.
Instead of being a rule of life or faith. Scripture becomes
the expression of the ever-changing aspect of religious
opinions. The unchangeable Word of God, in the name
of which we repose, is changed by each age and each
generation in accordance with its passing fancy. The
Book in which we believe all religious truth to be contained
is the most uncertain of all books, because interpreted by
arbitrary and uncertain methods."
— " If every sentence was a mystery, every word a riddle,
every letter a symbol, that would not make the Scriptures
more worthy of a Divine author ; it is a heathenish or
Rabbinical fancy which reads them in this way."
Spinoza has the credit of having demolished this Rab
binical fancy ; but in order to do so, he found it necessary
to treat also, as a Rabbinical fancy, the prevailing doctrine
of the Divine inspiration of the Scriptures : —
" They,"* says he, " who hold the Bible as it is to be
the handwriting of God, sent from heaven to man, will
doubtless exclaim that I am guilty of the sin against the
Holy Ghost in concluding that It is in parts imperfect,
corrupt, erroneous, and inconsistent with itself; that we
have but fragments of a much greater mass of hieratic
writings; and finally, that the original of the Covenant
which God made with the Jews has perished."
Such is the direction in which the modern " progress
* Tractatus Theologico-Politicus. English Translation, p. 229.

Preface, 51
of ideas " is tending; the main cause of it all being said to
be the progress of the Scierices arising out of the study of
•the laws of Nkture as being themselves a Revelation from
God, but which are in direct a:ntag^6nism to the representa
tions of Scripture ; for as in the early ages of the world
the modem sciences of Astronomy, Geology, Chemistry,
etc., were unknown, so the statements of Scripture in rela
tion to these subjects are said to be founded upon pure
ignorance. We now proceed to point out the real source
of this deadly error; and as such, to fui'nish a key to the
right understanding of the arguments against double
senses, and of the existing commotions of the Church in
relation to the Scriptures.
The natural sciences, such as Astronomy, Geology,
Chemistry, and the like, ascend no higher than matter,
space, and time ; and so little relation to God are they con
sidered to have, that treatises upon them are written without
the name of God being once mentioned. The consequence
is, that in all these cases the nature and the very existence of
things spiritual, nay, even of a God, is regarded as foreign
to the subject; for who would think of looking for double
senses in the different sciences ? This, however, was not
the way in which the Laws of Divine Order were contem
plated by our first parents. When the laws of Creation
alone are studied, that is, when we leave out God and the
World above, there is room only for a single meaning,
namely, that of Creation ; but when Creation is contem
plated in relation to the Word as Creator, immediately
D 3

^Z Preface.
another idea is introduced, namely, that of the Word.
Hence we are necessarily led to what may be called a
double idea, namely, the idea of the natural object and the
idea of its relation to the Word as Creator. If we regard
the natural object without this relation, the process of
thought is simply atheistical. In the very expression —
" In the beginning God created the heaven and earth," we
are presented with the double idea — the heaven and earth,
and also God ; hence the double meaning arising from
there being two distinct objects. Now it was this mode
of contemplating Creation, and not the scientific, which
characterized the process of thought in the minds of our
first parents; and as this implied a higher order of
thinking than is required in the study of the natural
sciences, so the higher thoughts contained in the early
chapters of Genesis cannot be made to bow down to, or
submit to be tested by, the lower thoughts proper to the
sciences. Now it was the double idea, or that of the natural in
relation to the spiritual, which was presented to our first
parents in the contemplation of the natural world, and
which led them to perceive that all natural things had a
relation to some spiritual truth; for the first object with
them was not the knowledge of nature, but the knowledge
of God. This state of mind is aptly illustrated in the
following remarks of a modern writer, who expresses his
conviction that all things are "types of some spiritual
truth or existence " : —

Preface, 53
" When* I walk the fields, I am oppressed every now
and then with an innate feeling that everything I see has
a meaning, if I could but understand it. And this feeling
of being surrounded with truths which I cannot grasp
amounts to indescribable awe sometimes ! Everything
seems to be full of God's reflex, if we could but see it.
Oh ! how I have prayed to have the mystery unfolded, at
least hereafter 1 To see, if but for a moment, the whole
harmony of the great system ! To hear once the music
which the whole universe makes as it performs His bidding !
Oh, that heaven ! The thought of the first glance of
Creation from thence ! when we know even as we are
known 1 and He, the glorious, the beautiful, the Incarnate
Ideal, shall be justified in all His doings, and in all and
through all and over all I When I feel that sense of the
mystery that is around me, I feel a gush of enthusiasm
toward God, which seems its inseparable effect."
Here, then, is depicted the like state of mind in which,
according to Swedenborg, our first parents contemplated
the objects of Creation, and in thought ascended from the
World below to the World above. That such an interpreta
tion of Nature and of the written Word should be foreign
to men of science in the present day, and to interpreters of
the Bible, is, to those who can discern the signs of the
times, a portentous sign of the Consummation of the
Age; for in this way we may see how it is that the
* Cha/rles KingsUy. His Letters and Memories of His Life, iio\. i.,
p. 77. Third Edition.

54 Preface.
ancicAt science of Correspondence, in virtue of which man
was enabled to converse with spirits and angels, is at this
day so neariy obliterated from theology, that* scarcely any
one is willing to believe that such a science exists; "and
even they who believe, regard it generally as something
mystical and of no practical use ; and this for the reason
that man has now become altogethejr worldly and corporeal :
so that when mention is made of what is spiritual and
celestial, he immediately feels a repugnance, and sometimes
a disdain amounting even to a loathing."
" Itt is vvonderful," says Swedenborg, " that, in so
learned a part of the globe as Europe is above all other
parts where thp Word is, in every particular of which
tjiere is an internal sense^ yet that there is no knowledge
of this sense whatever. Nevertheless, this knowledge
qjdsted among the ancients in Chaldaea, in Assyria, in
Egypt, and in Arabia, and thence in Greece ; in whose
l^ooks, emblerp^s, and hieroglyphics such things are still to
be met with. The reason why such knowledge has
perished is, because there is no belief that what is spiritual
is anything." As, however, the doctrine of the Divine Inspiration of
the Scriptures, above stated, involves that of the connection
between the World above and the World below, as taught
by God, through the medium of angels, to Adam in Para
dise ; so the abandonment of this doctrine involves the
* Arcana Ccelestia, art. 2763.
f Ibid., art, goii.

Preface. ^^
abandonment of the connection between heaven and earth,
and hence between the Church in heaven and the Church
upon earth. The consequence is, that as in this case the
literal sense of Scripture is made to stand alone and dis
connected from the spiritual, so the Church upon earth is
in like manner disconnected from the Church in heaven,
and is left to its own self-guidance and counsel. In this
case there neither is, nor can be, any light proceeding from
Prophecy; for the clouds of naturalism are too dense to
admit of its transition, and Prophecy itself becomes inter
preted upon the very principles upon which the Divine
inspiration of the Scriptures is ignored or denied. In this
state of things, as the connection between the World
below and the World above is altogether unknown, so the
very existence of a World above comes to be made a
matter of conjecture, doubt, and uncertainty, or else
altogether denied. The consequence is, that In order to
introduce certainty of some kind, appeals are made on the
one hand to some external infallible authority ; or else, on
the other, to criticism, reason, and learning; as if these
were satisfactory substitutes for the loss of the perception
of spiritual truth, and could restore the connection between
the World below and the World above.
Yet it is in this direction that, we are told, " the pro
gress of ideas " in the present Age is eminentiy tending : —
"The* Christian religion is in a false position when
all the tendencies of knowledge are opposed to it. Such a
* Essays am,d Reviews, p. 374. ^

56 Preface.
position cannot be long maintained, or can only end in
the withdrawal of the educated classes from the influences
of religion. It is a grave consideration whether we our
selves may not be in an earlier stage of the same religious
dissolution, which seems to have gone further in Italy and
France. The reason for thinking so, is not to be sought
in the external circumstances of our own or any other
religious communion, but in the progress of ideas with
which Christian teachers seem to be ill at ease."
It is this " progress of ideas " which led Dr. Colenso
to anticipate the advent of a New Age : —
" It* is certain," says he, " that In this age of ours,
every part of the New Testament, as well as the Old, will
be subjected to a close and searching criticism. We
cannot, if we would, escape this trial of our faith; for
God, our God and Father, has called us to it. As plainly
as in the days of the Reformation men were called to brace
up their minds for a mighty struggle between the powers
of light and the powers of darkness, so surely, if we read
the signs of the times, the like struggle is coming now —
nay, rather, is come upon us."
Verily, says a modern Prelate of the Church of Scotland
to a distinguished member of the Old Catholic Church —
" Thef times are not ordinary times. Never since
the agitation of the sixteenth century has there been such a
* Natal SerTnons, p. ig4.
t Letter of the Primus of Scotland, as Secretary to the Lambeth Conference,
in answer to the letter of P6re Hyacinthe addressed to the Archbishop of
Ca.nteihuty.— September 25, 1878.

Prefaci. ^y
wide-spread religious and ecclesiastical movement as that
which now marks the present day. It is not, as then,
limited to Europe, but it is felt in all parts of the world.
Attendant upon this religious movement there has arisen
a wide-spread spirit of scepticism and scientific doubt,
which aims at sapping the very foundations of the Church
of Christ." But what is the cause of this wide-spread spirit which
aims at sapping the foundations of the Church ? What
are the foundations of the Church but the Scriptures ; and
when the Divine Inspiration of the Scriptures is doubted
or denied, what becomes of the foundations of the Church ?
And if both the Scriptures and the Church are thus
imperilled, shall we shut our eyes to the signs of The
Consummation of the Age ?
But when the Consummation has arrived, what is to
follow ? The general conflagration of the Earth or of the
Universe ? By no means ; but rather such a Divine pro
vision as shall be calculated to remove the evils which
brought about the Consummation. And what is that ?
We answer, the same with that which was seen afar off
by many of the most eminent early Christian writers. It
was said in the prophet Malachi, "Behold, I will send you
Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the Lord." The Jews, interpreting this
prophecy literally, supposed that Elijah would appear in
person ; and the same belief pervaded so large a number
of the most eminent early Christian writers, that the pre-

58 Preface,
sent Bishop of Lincoln is constrained to admit that*—
" In the face of such strong Catholic evidence in favour
of a belief in the personal coming of Elias before the
Second Advent of Christ, it would seem to be presumptuous
to deny the possibility or even the probability of such an
event." Now it is evident that Elias may come — nay, that he
has already come, and yet not in person. " Why say the
Scribes that Elias must first come ? " Our Lord acknow
ledged that he must first come, but yet — " I say unto you
that Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but
have done unto him whatsoever they listed," What,
however, was then the object of his coming? It was
" to restore all things." The Jews had lost the true idea
of Divine Inspiration, and hence the true meaning of the
Law and the Prophets : Elias, as the representative of
Prophecy In its spirit and power, comes to restore it.
Accordingly, when Ellas comes again in this character at
the Consummation of the present Age, his office will be,
says St. Augustin, to explain in a spiritual sense, especially
to the Jews, what had hitherto been understood in a
natural and carnal sense. It is, then, a restoration to the
Church of the spiritual sense of the Word of God, and
thus of the connection between the World above and the
World below, which is to be thewoik that is to be accom
plished by " the spirit and power of Elias," that is, of the
Prophetic Word, in the latter days.
* See Commienta/ry vpon the Bible, in loc.

Preface* 59
The voice of Elias at the first coming was, however,
but the voice of one crying in the wilderness ; and it is in
the wilderness of the Church that the spirit and power of
Elias or the Prophetic Word, are again to be manifested. All
infallible authority, all the naturalism which is the religion
of criticism, human reason, and learning, are destined ac
cordingly to wither and fade as. the grass and the flower, at
the renewed and uplifted voice of the Word of God* in
the Consummation of the present Age — whose voice, at
the former consummation, shook the earth : " But now he
hath promised, saying — Yet once more I shake not the
earth only, but also heaven. And this word — Yet once
more, signifieth the removal of those things that are shaken,
that, the things which cannot be shaken may remain."
And what are these? Such remnants of Divine truth as
still survive in the Church. For a Church of some kind
there must always be, even to the Consummation of the
Age, since the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
But what of the Church after this Consummation ? The
following is an independent testimony referring to those
learned writers in the Church of England who anticipated
the doctrine upon this subject maintained by Emanuel
Swedenborg : —
" Witht relation to the glories and happiness of Christ's
kingdom, described in the last chapters (of the Apocalypse)
* Hebrews xii. 26.
¦f A Paraphrase with Notes on the Revelation of St. John. By T.
Pyle, M.A., Prebendary of the Cathedral Church of Salisbury. — Preface.

So Preface,
under the emblems of the New Heavens and the New
Earth, I rest myself in the sense of those learned writers
who understand them to mean nothing more than the full
and complete Reformation of the Christian Church during
its last period upon earth."
Hence, on Rev. xxi. i, the same author observes : —
" In the general, I saw, methought, that total Revolu
tion of things and men in the Christian World, with
respect to Religion, which the prophet Isaiah expressed in
the high phrase of a New Heaven and a New Earth —
Behold, I create a New Heaven and a New Earth ; and
the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
But be you glad and rejoice in that which I create; for
behold, I create Jerusalem (the true Church of God) a
Rejoicing, and her people a Joy." — Isaiah Ixv. 17, 18.
AUGUSTUS CLISSOLD.
March, 1879.

Note. — The Canon referred to in the course of this
Preface by the expressions Bible, Scriptures, Written Word
of God, as alone containing an internal sense, is the follow
ing :—
In the Old Testament — ^The Five Books of Moses, the
Book of Joshua, the Book of Judges, the Two Books of
Samuel, the Two Books of Kings, the Psalms of David,
the Four Major and the Twelve Minor Prophets.
In the New Testament — The Four Gospels and the
Apocalypse.

THE

CONSUMMATION OF THE AGE:
BEING A PROPHECY NOW FULFILLED, AND INTERPRETED IN
THE WRITINGS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG.

Matthew xxiv. — Internal Sense.
I. — And Jesus went out, and departed from the Temple ;
and His Disciples came to Him, to shew Him the buildings
of the Temple.
The Lord predicts the Vastation of the Church, and
its Renovation. By* Temple, in a supreme sense, is signified the Lord
as to His Divine Humanity, and more particularly as to
Divine Truth. ... By Temple, in a representative sense,
is signified the Lord's Church in heaven ; as where it is
said there came a great voice out of the Temple of heaven
— Rev. xvi., xvii., and other places. That Temple signifies
the Church in the world is clear from these places — I will
shake all nations — and I will fill this house with glory —
the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the glory
of the former; also Ezekiel xl. to xlviii. By Temple In
Matthew xxiv. i, 3; Mark xiii. 1-5; Luke xxi. 5, 7, is
signified the Church at this day (a.d. 1757), and by its
dissolution, even to there not being one stone left upon
another, is signified the end of this Church in that no truth
whatever would be left ; for when the disciples spoke to
the Lord concerning the Temple, the Lord foretold the

63 The Consummation of the Age,
successive states of the Church down to the end of it, or
the Consummation of the Age, and by the Consummation
of the Age is meant its last period, which is at this day :
this was represented by the Temple being utterly destroyed.
Temple signified these three : the Lord, the Church in
heaven, and the Church in the world ; because these three
make one and cannot be separated ; consequently one of
them cannot be understood without the other. Therefore
whoever separates the Church in the world from the
Church in heaven, and these from the Lord, is not in the
truth. — Apoc. Rev,, art. 191.
From the time of the Council of Nice a mass of
impious heresies concerning God and the Person of Christ,
issuing from their earthly origin, and encouraging Antichrist
to lift up his head, began to divide God into three and the
Lord the Saviour into two, and thus to destroy the Temple
erected of the Lord by the Apostles ; and this to such a
degree that not one stone was left upon the other which
was not thrown down; according tp the words of the
Lord in Matthew xxiv. 3, where by the Temple is under
stood not only the Temple of Jerusalem, but also the
Church, of whose Consummation or End that chapter
treats throughout.
3. — And Jesus said unto them. See ye not all these
things ? Verily I say unto you. There shall Twt be left here
one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.
By these words is signified the destruction and total
vastation of the Church. Stone signifies the truth of the
Church ; and in consequence of this signification, the sub
ject treated of both here and in the corresponding chapters
of the Evangelists Mark and Luke, is concerning the
successive vastation of the Church. . . . Apoc. Ex., 330.
It was because stones signified truths, that the landmarks

Vastation of the Church. 63
of the most ancient people consisted of stones, and that
these people set up stones as witnesses of a thing's being
so, or being true, as appears from the stone which Jacob
set up for a pillar ; and from the pillar of stones set up as
a witness between Laban and Jacob ; and from the altar
of stones which the sons of Reuben, Gad, and Manasseh
raised up for a witness near Jordan. Hence it is that in
the Word by stones are signified truths ; so that holy truths,
which are those of love, are denoted not only by stones of
the altar, but also by the precious stones on the shoulders
of Aaron's ephod, and on the breastplate of judgment.
In like manner, holy truths were signified by the Tables
of Stone on which were written the precepts of the Law,
or the Ten Commandments ; for which reason the Tables-
were made of stone ; or the basis of the commandments
was stone — stone signifying holy truth, and the command
ments being no other than truths of faith. Inasmuch
as by stones were ancientiy signified truths, and also after
wards when worship began to be celebrated on pillars,
altars, and in the temple, therefore by the stones of these
pillars, altars, and temple, were signified holy truths ; and
therefore also even the Lord Himself is called a Stone —
The Stone of Israel — a tried Stone — a Corner Stone — the
Stone which the builders refused, and in other places.
We thus see that as the Temple has not only an
external, but an internal sense, so also the case is the same
with the stones of the Temple ; and that as, in the internal
sense, the Temple denoted the Divine Humanity of the
Lord, and also the Church, so likewise the stones of the
Temple signify holy truths relating to these two, and the
overthrow of these stones, the entire destruction of these
truths. In the case of the Jews, the literal Temple was
destroyed because the Lord as the Temple was denied ; and

64 The Consummation of the Age,
the same result follows, in a spiritual sense, with regard
to the Church.
3. — And as He sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples
came unto Him privately, saying. Tell us when shall these
things be ? and what shall be the sign of thy Coming, and
of the Consummation of the Age ?
Inasmuch as Jerusalem signified the Church, therefor^
also many things that were in and about it signify such
things as pertain to the Church. Near it also was the
Mount of Olives, which signified Divine Love ; wherefore
Jesus, In the day time, was teaching in the Temple ; and
at night he went out and abode in the Mount of Olives ;
and Jesus discoursed with His disciples on that mount
concerning the Consummation of the Age and His Coming
at that time. He went likewise from that mountain to
Jerusalem and suffered.
Time in the spiritual sense signifies state, and therefore
when our Lord asked the Pharisees and Sadducees, " Can
ye not discern the signs of the times?" he was referring
to the signs of the spiritual state of the Church; and in
this sense it is, that in answer to the question, " When
shall these things be ? " our Lord foretells at large the
successive spiritual states of the Church, down to its end.
With respect to the Consummation of the Age, com
monly called the End of the World, it is to be observed
that: — "By the Coming of the Lord is signified the
beginning of a New Church, and by the Consummation of
the Age the end of an Old Church. Wherefore the Lord,
in this Chapter, instructs the disciples concerning the suc
cessive vastation of the former Church, and concerning
the establishment of a New Church at the end of the
former. But He instructs and teaches them by mere
correspondences, which cannot be unfolded and known

The Vastation of the Church, 6^
except by the spiritual sense ; and inasmuch as they were
correspondences by which the Lord spake, therefore they
were all signs, thus testifications. They are also called
signs by the Lord ; as in Luke xxi. 1 1, 35 — ' There shall
also be great signs from heaven ' — ' There shall be signs
in the sun, the moon, and the stars ; and on earth distress
of nations.' " — Ap. Ex., 706.
As to what concerns the Coming of the Lord, it
is believed by some that the Lord will come again in
Person; and indeed to execute the Last Judgment, because
it is said in Matthew that the disciples came to Jesus,
saying, " Tell us what is the sign of thy Coming and of
the Consummation of the Age ; " and because, after the
Lord had predicted to them the state of the Church
successively declining, even to its devastation and con
summation. He said — " Then shall appear the sign of the
Son of Man, and they shall see the Son of Man coming
in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,"
Matt. xxiv. 30, 39, 43 ; also in John, chap. xxi. 33. But
by His Coming is not there meant His Coming in Person,
but that He will then reveal Himself in the Word, shewing
that He is Jehovah, Lord of heaven and earth, and that
all will adore Him alone who shall be in His New Church
signified by the New Jerusalem ; for which end also He
has now opened the internal sense of the Word, in which
sense the Lord is everywhere treated of. This also is
what is meant by His Coming In the clouds of heaven
with glory ; the clouds of heaven signifying the Word in
the letter, and glory its spiritual sense. Inasmuch as He
is the Word, as He is called In John, the Revelation of
Him in the Word is His Coming.— ^j&. Ex., 870.
Bv the Consummation of the Church is meant its de
vastation, when there is no longer in it any truth of doctrine

66 The Consummation of the Age,
and good of life; thus when its end is; and whereas in
this case the Coming of the Lord and of His kingdom
then takes place, therefore, in Matthew xxiv. 3, the Con
summation of the Age and the Lord's Coming are
mentioned both together, and are both foretold in that
chapter. — Ap. Rev., 519.
4. — And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take
heed that no man deceive you.
Thus we read in Jeremiah xiv. 14, xxiii. 16, 35:* —
" The prophets prophesy lies in my name : I sent them
not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto
them : they prophesy unto you a false vision and divina
tion, and a thing of nought, and a deceit of their heart."
— " How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets
that prophesy lies ? yea, they are prophets of the deceit of
their own heart."
5. — For many shall come in my name, saying, I am
Christ, and shall deceive many.
By name in this passage is not signified name, nor is
Christ signified by Christ ; but, in the internal sense, name
signifies that by which the Lord is worshipped, and Christ
signifies essential truth ; accordingly, here begins —
The First State of Perversion — Disputation.
— For in the foregoing words It is signified, that there
would come those who would assert that this or that is an
article of faith, or that this or that is tme ; when yet it is
neither an article of faith, nor true, but false. By a prophet
is denoted one who teaches truths ; and, abstractedly from
person, the doctrine of truth ; hence, in an opposite sense,
are signified those who teach falses, and, abstractedly from
persons, the doctrine of falses. The Jezebel, who called
herself a prophetess, was said to teach and seduce the
* " Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you.''

First State of Perversion — Disputation. 67
servants of the Lord in the Church of Thyatira ; where to
teach is predicated of truths and falses, and to seduce of
goods and evils. — Ap. Ex., 160.
The perversion of the Church, as signified by the
woman Jezebel, has place with man solely from the loves
of self and of the world ; inasmuch as these loves turn the
interiors of man,' which are of his mind, downwards, and
thus avert them from heaven. It is said, the perversion
of the Church with man ; because the Church is in man,
as heaven is in the angel. Every Church is constituted
of those who are of the Church, and not of others,
although they may be born where the Church is. This
may be manifestly known from the circumstance that it is
love and faith which make the Church ; and as love and
faith must be in man, so the Church also must be in him.
—Ap. Ex., 159.
6. — And ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars :
see that ye be not troubled ; for all these things must come
to pass, but the end is not yet.
These words signify, that there would be disputes and
litigations concerning truths, which are wars in the spiritual
sense; and that hence will arise falsifications of truth.
By wars in the Word are signified spiritual wars, which
consist in impugning truth, and are carried on by reason
ings from false principles. But the End or Consummation
of the Age is not yet : for these disputes about truths are
only the beginning of states of perversion.
7. — For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom
against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences
and earthquakes in divers places.
These words signify, that evil is then about to fight
with evil, and the false with the false ; for evils never agree
among themselves, neither do falses ; which is the reason
e 3

68 The Consummation of the Age,
why Churches are divided amongst themselves, and so
many heresies have come forth. Nation here signifies those
who are in evils, and kingdom those who are in falses, of
whom the Church then consists, ^y famines, and pesti
lences, and earthquakes, is signified that there will be no
longer any knowledge of truth and good; and that, by
reason of the falses which will spread their infection, the
state of the Church would be changed. Famine denotes
the privation of the knowledge of truth and good ; pestilence
denotes infection from falses; and earthquakes denote
changes taking place in the Church. They who abide in
the sense of the letter cannot know whether these, and
the other particulars which follow in this chapter, were
spoken concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the
dispersion of the Jewish nation, or concerning the End of
days which is called the Last Judgment. But they who
are in the internal sense see clearly, that the subject here
treated of is concerning the End of the Church; which
End, In this and other passages, is what is called the
Coming of the Lord, and the Consummation of the Age ;
and inasmuch as this End is here understood, it may be
known that all the foregoing particulars signify things
appertaining to the Church. — A. C, 3353.
8. — All these things are the beginning of sorrows.
By these things are signified the things above stated,
viz. : — those which characterize the first state of the per
version of the Church ; consisting, as was said, in begin
ning no longer to know what is good and what is true,
but in disputing about them among themselves; from
which disputes come falsities, and consequently heresies.
That such things have perverted the Churches for several
ages past Is evident from this consideration, that the
Church in the Christian world is divided, and this accord-

Second State of Perversion — Denial, 69
ing to the various opinions concerning good and truth.
Thus the perversion of the Church has begun for a long
time since.
9- — Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and
shall kill you ; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my
name's sake.
The Second State of Perversion — Denial.
As the First State of perversion took place when mem
bers of the Church began to dispute about what was good
and true, so the Second State arose when they began to
hold them in contempt.
Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall
kill you, signifies, that good and truth are about to perish ;
first by affliction, which is by perversion ; next by killing
them, which is by denial. To kill, when it is predicated
of good and truth, denotes not to be received, thus to deny ;
by you, or by the Apostles, are signified all things of faith
in one complex, thus both the good and truth of faith.
That by the twelve Apostles these things are signified is
here very manifest; for the subject treated of is not con
cerning the preaching of the Apostles, but concerning the
Consummation of the Age. And ye shall be hated of all
nations for my name's sake, signifies contempt of and aver
sion to all things which are of good and truth ; for to hate
is to despise and hold in aversion, these being the proper
ties of hatred. Of all nations, denotes those who are in
evil. For my nam^s sake, denotes for the sake of the Lord,
thus for the sake of all things which are from Him. The
name oj the Lord, denotes every thing in one complex by
which he is worshipped, thus every thing which is of His
Church. By these things being said to the disciples signi
fies, that they are said to all who are of the Church, for the
twelve disciples represented all such. Moreover, in the spi-

70 The Consummation of the Age. '
ritual or representative sense, by the disciples are meant all
the truths and goods of the Church; from which It is evident
what is meant In that sense by killing them, namely, destroy
ing the truths and goods of the Church. — New Jer., I3'3.
lo. — And then shall many be offended, and shall betray
one another, and shall hate one another.
These words denote enmities on account of the things
relating to the Lord and His Church. Many being scan
dalized, denotes the hostility they entertain ; the Humanity
of the Lord being itself that to which their hostility is
directed. That this Humanity would be an offence and
scandal, is predicted in the Word throughout. They shall
betray one another denotes enmity amongst themselves
derived from the false in opposition to the truth ; and shall
hate one another, denotes enmity amongst themselves
derived from evil in opposition to good.
II. — And many false prophets shall arise and shall
seduce many.
These words signify the preaching of what is false ; false
prophets denoting those who teach what is false, and thus
false doctrine. And shall seduce many, denotes that there
would be many derivations of the false from the false, and
of evil from evil.
13. — And because iniquity shall abound, the love of
many shall wax cold.
These words signify the expiration of love together
with faith ; because of the multiplication of iniquity, denotes
increase according to the increase of the falsifications of
faith. The love of many shall grow cold, denotes the ex
piration of love, for each keeps pace with the other. Where
there is no faith, there is no charity; and where there is no
charity, there is no faith ; for charity is what receives faith
and no charity what rejects faith ; hence the origin of all

Second State of Perversion — Denial, 71
that is false and of all that is evil. That in the End of the
Church there is no faith is foretold by the Lord where he
saith, " When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith
upon the earth ; " and also that there is then no charity,
where He saith, that in the Consummation of the Age " ini
quity shall abound, and the love of many shall wax cold."
13. — But he that shall endure unto the end, the same
shall be saved.
This signifies the salvation of those who are in charity.
He that endureth to the end, denotes he who does not suffer
himself to be seduced, thus who does not yield in temp
tations. 14. — And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
to all the world for a witness unto all nations ; and then
shall the End come.
These words signify, that this Gospel of the kingdom
shall be made known first in order to the Christian world.
Shall be preached, denotes that it shall be made known.
This Gospel of the Kingdom, denotes this truth, or that so
it is: Gospel denotes annunciation; Kingdom denotes
truth ; in- all the inhabited earth, denotes the whole Chris
tian world. Earth is the tract of country where the Church
is, thus the Christian world. The Church as opposed
to the wilderness is here called inhabited, from the life of
faith, i.e. from the good which is of truth. To inhabit in
the internal sense is to live, and inhabitants are the goods
of truth. For a witness, denotes that they may know, lest
they should pretend that they were ignorant. To all
nations, denotes to the evil ; for when they are in the false
and in evil, they no longer know what is true and good ;
believing what is false to be true, and what is evil to be
good ; and vice versa. When the Church is in this state,
then comes the End.

73 The Consummation of the Age.
That the Church is of such a quality, does not appear
before those who are in the Church ; viz. : — it does not
appear that they despise and hold in aversion all things
which are of good and of truth, or that they cherish
enmities against those things, especially against the Lord
Himself ; for they frequent Churches, hear preachings, are
in a sort of sanctity when there, go to the Holy Supper,
and on occasions discourse becomingly with each other on
these subjects, the evil doing these things alike as the
good ; yea, they even live one with another in civil charity
or friendship. Hence it is that before the eyes of men
there appears no contempt, still less aversion, and least of
all any enmity in regard to the goods and truths of faith,
and thus in regard to the Lord. But these things are only
external forms by which one misleads another ; whereas
the internal forms of men of the Church are altogether
dissimilar, yea altogether contrary to the external. It is
the internal forms which are here described, and which are of
the quality here stated. What this quality is appears to
the life in the heavens ; for the angels do not attend to any
other than things internal, that is, to ends, or intentions
and wills, and to the thoughts thence derived. How dis
similar these are to the externals may be manifest from
those who come into the other life from Christendom ; for
in the other life internal things alone are the things accord
ing to which they there think and speak, since external
things Were left behind with the body ; hence it there evi
dently appears, that however peaceably disposed such
persons appeared in the world, they still held one another
in hatred, and held in hatred all things which are of faith,
especially the Lord ; for when the Lord is only named
before them in the other life, a sphere not only of con
tempt, but also of aversion and of enmity against Him, mani-

Second State of Perversion — Denial. 73
festly breathes forth and diffuses itself around, even from
those who, in outward appearance, have, while in the
world, spoken and preached concerning Him in a holy
manner ; the same is the case when mention is made be
fore them of charity and faith.
Such Is their quality, in the internal form, as manifested
in the other life ; so that if during their abode in the world,
external things had been made to loosen their hold upon
them and were taken away, that is, if they had experienced
no fear of the loss of life, no fear of the laws, and es
pecially no fear of the loss of a reputation arising out of
the honours they courted and coveted, and the wealth they
lusted after and sought with avidity, they would have
rushed one against another with intestine hatred according
to their several inclinations and thoughts, and without any
conscience would have plundered others of their goods, nay,
— without any conscience would even have murdered them,
however guiltless the latter might have been. Such
are Christians at this day (a.d. 1750), as to the interiors;
with the exception of a few who are not known by the
world. Hence it is evident of what quality is the Church.
15. — When ye therefore shall see the abomination of
desolation spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, stand in the
holy place (whoso readeth let him understand) ; —
The subject treated of thus far in the verses which pre
cede, has been concerning the First and Second State of the
perversion of the Church ; viz. : how the First State con
sisted in its members beginning no longer to know what
is good and what is true, and hence in disputing about
them, whence arose falsities ; and how the Second State
consisted in their despising good and truth, and being averse
thereto ; thus in the expiration of faith in the Lord, accord
ing to the several degrees of the cessation of love or charity.

74 The Consummation of the Age.
Now follows the Third State treated of, which is that of the
desolation of the Church as to truth and good.
The Third State of Perversion — Desolation.
When therefore ye shall see the abomination of desola
tion, signifies the vastation of the Church; which then
takes place when the Lord is no longer acknowledged,
consequently when there is no love of the Lord, and no
faith In Him ; also when there is no longer any charity
towards the neighbour, and consequently when there is
not any faith In what is good and true. When these things
take place in the Church, or rather in the tract of country
where the Word is, viz. : in the thoughts of the heart,
although not in the doctrine of the mouth, then is desola
tion, and the things above mentioned are the abomination
pertaining to it. When ye shall see the abomination, denotes
when any one then observes the existence of such things.
Spoken of by Daniel the Prophet, signifies, in the internal
sense, by the prophets ; for where any prophet is named by
his own name in the Word, it is not that prophet person
ally who is meant, but the Prophetic Word itself; because
names In no case penetrate into heaven. Still, however, by
one prophet Is not signified the like as by another. By
Daniel Is signified every thing prophetic concerning the
Coming of the Lord, and the state of the Church ; in the
present case, concerning its last state. Vastation is much
treated of in the prophets ; and by It is signified, in the
sense of the letter, the vastation of the Jewish and Israelit
ish Church; but, in the Internal sense, the -vastation of the
Church in general, thus also the vastation which in the pre
sent case is at hand. Standing in the holy place, signifies
vastation as to all things which are of good and truth.
Holy place is a state of love and of faith ; the holy principle
of that state is the good which is of love, and thence the

Third State of Perversion — Desolation. 75
truth which is of faith ; nothing else being meant by Holy
in the Word, because those things are from the Lord who
is the Holy One, or the Sanctuary itself. Whoso readeth
let him understand, signifies that these things ought to be
carefully noted by those who are in the Church, especially
by those who are in love and faith, and who are here
treated of.
16. — Then let them which be in Judcea flee into the
mountains : —
Every one may see that these words contain arcana ;
and that unless these arcana are discovered, it cannot be
at all known what is meant by those " who are in Judaea
fleeing into the mountains," and by him " who is on the
house top not coming down to take any thing out of his
house;" and by him "who is in the field not returning
back to take his garment." Unless what these things
signify and involve were taught by the internal sense, those
who examine and interpret the Word might be led away and
fall into opinions altogether foreign to that sense ; yea also,
they who In heart deny the sanctity of the Word might
thence conclude, that in the foregoing words are described
only flight and escape on the approach of an enemy ; con
sequently, that in these words nothing more holy was con
tained; when yet by these words of the Lord is fully
described the state of vastation of the Church as to the
goods of love, and the truths of faith.
Then let them who are in Judcea flee to the mountains.
These words signify, that they who are of the Church
ought not to look elsewhere than to the Lord (thus to love
to Him), and to charity towards the neighbour. By Judcea
is signified the Church ; by mountain is signified the Lord
Himself; but by mountains, love to Him and charity to
wards the neighbour. According to the sense of the letter.

76 The Consummation of the Age,
the words would mean only, that when Jerusalem was
besieged, as it was by the Romans, then they should not
betake themselves thither, but to the mountains, according
to what is said In Luke, " When ye shall see Jerusalem
encompassed by armies, then know ye that the desolation
thereof Is nigh. Then let them which are in Judsea flee to
the mountains, and let them who are In the midst of it
depart out; and let not them that are in the countries
enter thereinto." The case, however, with regard to
Jerusalem In this passage is similar to that of Jerusalem
before mentioned ; viz., in the sense of the letter it is
Jerusalem that is meant, but in the internal sense, the
Church of the. Lord; for all things in general and in
particular which are mentioned in the Word concerning
the Jewish and Israelitish people are representative of the
Lord's kingdom In the heavens, and of the Lord's king
doms in the earths, that is to say, of the Church ; as has
been frequently shewn. Hence it is that by Jerusalem, in
the internal sense, is nowhere meant Jerusalem, nor by
Judcea, Judaea : they were only such places as were capable
of representing the celestial and spiritual things of the
Lord's kingdom, and they were likewise originally appointed
on purpose that they might be thus representative ; for thus
the Word could be so written that it might be on a level with
the apprehension of the man who w^as to read it, and accord
ing to the understanding of the angels attendant on man.
This was also the reason why the Lord Himself spake in
like manner ; for if He had spoken otherwise, what He
had said would not have been adequate to the apprehension
of those who heard it, especially at that period ; nor, at the
same time, would it have been adapted to the understanding
of the angels : thus it would not have been received by
man, nor understood by angels. — A. 0., 3653.

Third State of Perversion — Desolation, 77
This is the reason that the Lord, after He had taught
the disciples who it was that was greatest in the kingdom
of heaven, still continued to speak according to their appre
hension, viz., that they should sit on twelve thrones and
judge the twelve tribes of Israel. If it had been told them,
that by disciples were not meant themselves, but all who
are principled in the good of love and faith ; that in the
Lord's kingdom there are neither thrones, nor principalities,
nor governments as in the world ; and that they could not
judge even the very smallest principle of a single man,
they would have rejected the Word, and, leaving the Lord,
would have returned every one to his own occupation.
The reason why the Lord so spake, was, that they might
receive external truths, and thereby be introduced to internal
truths ; for in the external truths which the Lord spake,
internal truths were stored up and concealed, which in
process of time are made manifest ; and when this is the
case the former external truths are dissipated, and serve
only as objects or means of thinking about internal truths.
^. C.,3858. 17. — Let him that is on the house top not come down to
take any thing out of his house.
These words signify, that they who are in the good of
charity ought not to betake themselves thence to those
things which are of the doctrinals of faith. The house top,
in the Word, signifies the superior state of man, thus his
state as to good ; but those things which are below signify
the inferior state of man, thus his state as to truth. With
respect to the state of the man of the Church, the case is
this : during the progress of regeneration he learns truth
for the sake of good, for which purpose he has the affection
of truth ; but after he Is regenerated, he acts from a prin
ciple of truth and good. When he has arrived at this

78 The Consummation of the Age.
state, he ought not to betake himself to his former state ;
for If he should, he would recur to ratiocinations from a
principle of truth concerning the good In which he is, and
would thereby pervert his state. For all reasoning ceases
and ought to cease, when man Is in a state to will what is
true and good ; since In this case he thinks and acts from
the will, consequently from conscience, and not from the
mere intellect as before. If he were to think and act
again from the intellect, he would fall into temptations and
would succumb. This then is signified by him who is on
the house top not coming down to take any thing out of his
hou.se. 1 8. — Neither let him who is in the field return back to
take his clothes —
— Or his coat ; which signifies, that such as are prin
cipled in the good of truth should not betake themselves
from this good to the mere doctrinals of truth. Field, in
the Word, signifies the state of man as to good ; garment
or coat signifies that which clothes good, namely, the
doctrinals of truth, for these are as the clothing or raiment
of good. Every one may see that, in these words, things
of a deeper nature lie concealed than what appear in the
letter ; for the Lord Himself spake them.
From these considerations then It may appear, that a
state of vastation of the Church as to the goods of love
and truths of faith, is fully described in these verses ; and
that, at the same time, they contain an exhortation and
direction to those who are principled in such goods and
truths, as to what they ought to do in such a case.
There are within the Church three kinds of men ; viz. :
those who are in love to the Lord, those who are in charity
to their neighbour, and those who are in the affection of
truth. Such as are in the first class, viz. : those who are

Third State of Perversion — Desolation. 79
principled in love to the Lord, are specifically signified in
these words — Let them which be in Judcea flee into the
mountains. Such as are in the second class, viz., those
who are principled in charity to their neighbour, are specifi
cally signified in these words. Let him who is on the house
top not come down to take any thing out of his house. Such
as are in the third class, viz., those who are in the affection
of truth, are specifically signified in these words. Neither
let him which is in the field return back to take'his clothes —
Arcana Ccelestia, 3653, 3454.
That, in the internal sense of the Word, " Judaa " and
" Jerusalem " do not signify Judaea and Jerusalem, may
appear from many passages. In the Word, the expression
is not always "Judaea," but the "land of Judah;" and
the land of Judah, like the land of Canaan, signifies the
Lord's Kingdom ; consequently also the Church, for the
Church is the Lord's Kingdom upon earth. Accordingly,
the Lord's celestial kingdom was represented by " Judah "
or by the Jewish nation, and His spiritual kingdom by
" Israel '' or the Israelitish people; and inasmuch as these
were so represented, therefore when mention is made in
the Word of that nation and people, nothing else is signi
fied by them in the internal sense. That this is the case
will appear from the following few passages from out of
the prophets.
" And now, O inhabitant of Jerusalem, and man of
Judah, judge ye, I pray, betwixt me and my vineyard " —
" I will lay it waste " — " For the vineyard of Jehovah of
Hosts is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah is the
plant of his delights ; and He expected judgment, but be
hold a putrid sore; righteousness, but behold a cry."
{Isaiah v. i, 3, 6, 7.) This passage, in the sense of the
letter, treats of the perverse state of the Israelites and

8o The Consummation of the Age.
Jews ; but, in the internal sense, it treats of the perverse
state of the Church, as represented by Israel and Judah.
"The Inhabitant of Jerusalem " Is the good of the Church.
In like manner, the " house of Israel " Is significative ;
"house" denotes good; and "Israel" the Church. In
like manner, the " man of Judah " is significative ; for by
" man " Is signified truth, and by " Judah" good ; but
with this difference, that the " man of Judah " denotes
truth grounded in the good of love to the Lord, which is
called celestial truth; that is, it denotes those who are
principled in such truth.
Again In the same prophet: "He shall lift up an
ensign for the nations, and shall gather together the outcasts
of Israel, and shall collect the dispersed of Judah from the
four wings of the earth. Then the envy of Ephraim shall
depart, and the enemies of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim
shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not straiten Ephraim.
Jehovah shall destroy the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and
shall shake His hand over the river with the vehemence of
His spirit — then shall there be a path for the remains of
His people which shall be left, of Ashur." (xi. 12). The
subject here treated of, in the sense of the letter. Is that of
bringing back the Israelites and Jews out of captivity ; but.
In the internal sense. It has relation to the New Church in
general, and to every Individual in particular who is re
generated or becomes a Church. The "outcasts of Israel"
denote their truths; "the dispersed of Judah" denote their
goods ; " Ephraim " denotes their Intellectual principle, in
that It will no longer be repugnant ; " Egypt " denotes
scientifics ; and " Ashur" reasoning grounded therein,
which they have perverted ; the "expelled," the "dis
persed," the " remains," and " such as are left," denote
the truth and good which survive. " Remains " are goods

Third State of Perversion — Desolation. 8i
and truths from the Lord, stored up in the interior
man. Again in the same prophet — " Hear ye this, O house
of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and from
the waters of Judah have come forth .... because they call
themselves of the city of holiness, and stay themselves
upon the God of Israel" {Isaiah xlviii. i, 3). Where the
" waters of Judah " denote truths which are grounded in
the good of love to the Lord ; the truths so grounded are
the essential goods of charity, which are called spiritual
goods, and constitute the spiritual Church ; or the Internal
Church which is " Israel," and the external which Is the
" house of Jacob." Hence it is evident, what is signified
by the house of Jacob called by the name of Israel, and by
their coming forth from the waters of Judah.
Again in the same prophet — " I will bring forth a seed
out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my moun
tains, and mine elect shall possess it, and my servants shall
dwell there" {Isaiah Ixv. 9). — "Out of .Judah an inheritor
of mountains," in a supreme sense, denotes the Lord ; and
in a representative sense, those who are principled in love
to Him, thus in the good of each kind of love.
So also in Moses — " Judah is a lion's whelp ; from the
prey my son, thou hast gone up : he stooped down, he
couched as a lion, and as an old lion : who shall rouse him
up ?" {Gen. xllx. 9) — where it is very evident, that. In the
supreme sense, by " Judah " is meant the Lord ; and in a
representative sense, those who are principled in the good
of love to Him.
So also In David — " When Israel went forth out of
Egypt, the house of Jacob from a people of strange lan
guage, Judah was made His sanctuary, Israel his dominion"
{Psalm cxiv. i, 3). In this passage also Judah denotes

83 The Consummation of the Age.
celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord ; and
Israel denotes celestial truth or spiritual good.
So also in Jeremiah — •" Behold the days come, saith
Jehovah, that I will raise up to David a righteous germ,
who shall reign a King and shall prosper, and shall execute
judgment and justice in the earth ; in his days Judah shall
be saved, and Israel shall dwell securely, and this is his
name whereby he shall be called — Jehovah our Righteous
ness" {Jer. xxiii. 5, 6; xxxiii. 15, 16). Speaking of the
Lord's coming, " Judah " denotes those who are principled
in the good of love to the Lord ; " Israel " those who are
In the truth of that good. That by "Judah" is not meant
Judah, nor by "Israel" Israel, may appear from this con
sideration, that Judah was not saved, neither was Israel.
In like manner in the same prophet — " I will cause the
captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return,
and will build them as at first" {Jer, xxxiii. 7).
Again in the same prophet — " In those days, and in
that time, saith Jehovah, shall the sons of Israel come,
themselves and the sons of Judah together, going and
weeping ; they shall go, and shall seek Jehovah their God.
They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces thither
ward " {Jer. 1. 4, 5).
Again — " In that time they shall call Jerusalem the
throne of Jehovah, and all nations shall be gathered into
it, on account of the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem : they
shall not walk any longer after the stubbornness of their
evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall go to
the house of Israel, and shall come together out of the
land of the north," etc. {Jer, iii. 17, 18).
Again — "Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I.
will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with
the seed of man, and with the seed of beast." — " Behold,

Third State of Perversion — Desolation. 83
the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of
Judah." — " This is the covenant which I will make with
the house of Israel ; after those days, saith Jehovah, I will
put my law in the midst of them, and will write it upon
their hearts " (Jer. xxxi. 37, 31, 33). That "Israel" or
the " house of Israel " is not here meant, is very evident,
because they were dispersed among the Gentiles, and were
never brought back out of captivity ; consequently neither
was Judah nor the house of Judah meant; but thereby
were signified, in the internal sense, those who are of the
Lord's spiritual and celestial kingdoms : with these is
established a new covenant, and in their hearts Is the law
written. A " new covenant " denotes conjunction with
the Lord by, good; the "law written in their hearts"
denotes the perception of good and truth thence derived,
and also conscience.
So in the prophet Joel — " It shall come to pass in that
day, the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall
flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with
waters, and a fountain shall come forth from the house of
Jehovah, and shall supply with water the valley of Shittlm.
Egypt shall be for wasteness, and Edom shall be for a
wilderness of wasteness, by reason of violence against the
sons of Judah, whose innocent blood they have shed in
their land, But Judah shall dwell for ever, and Jerusalem
from generation to generation" {Joel iii. 18-30). From all
the particulars in this passage also it is evident, that by
" Judah " is not meant Judah, nor by " Jerusalem" Jeru
salem ; but that thereby are understood all those who
are in the holy principle of love and charity; for these
shall sit, or dwell, for ever, and from generation to gene
ration. F 3

84 The Consummation of the Age.
So also in Malachi — " Behold, I send m.y angel, who
shall prepare the way before me, and the Lord whom ye
seek shall suddenly come to His temple, and the Angel of
the covenant whom ye desire." — " Then shall the meat
offering of Judah and Jerusalem be sweet to Jehovah,
according to the days of eternity, according to the years
of old " {Mai. Iii. i, 4) — speaking here of the Lord's com
ing ; that at the time before then, the " meat offering of
Judah and Jerusalem" was not sweet to Jehovah, is evi
dent. Hence it is plain, that by Judah and Jerusalem are
signified such things as pertain to the Lord's Church.
The case is the same in other parts of the Word where
mention is made of Judah, of Israel, and of Jerusalem.
Hence, then, it may appear what is signified by Judcea in
Matthew xxiv. 16 — namely, the Lord's Church ; but, in the
present case, the Church vastated.
19. — And woe unto them that are with child, and to
them that give suck in those days !
The Fourth and Last State of j'erversion — Profanation.
What the foregoing verse signifies, and those also
which follow. It is Impossible for any one to comprehend,
unless he be enlightened by the Internal sense. That they
do not relate to the destruction of Jerusalem is manifest
from several particulars in this Chapter ;* as from these
words, " Except those days should be shortened no flesh
should be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be
* So embarrassing is the explanation of this chapter upon the ordinary
principles of interpretation, that in regard to the destruction of Jerusalem and
the end of the world, Maldonatus observes : — " Media mihi placet sententia,
quam et Augustini, et Hieronymi, ac Bedse esse video ; Christum confuse de
utraque rcspondisse, sicut confuse Apostoli interrogarunt." Ought not confuse to
be predicated of interpreters rather than of Christ and the Apostles ? 
Editor.

Fourth and Last State of Perversion — Profanation. 85
shortened;" and from the following — "After the affliction
of those days 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; and then
shall appear the sign of the Son of Man, and they shall see
the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory." The same Is manifest also from
other passages. That neither do they relate to the de
struction of the world, is also evident from several other
passages in the same chapter, as from those already ex
plained, where it is said — " He that is on the house top let
him not come down to take any thing out of his' house ; and
he who is in the field let him not return back to take his
garment;" and also from this passage — "Pray ye that
your flight be :nol in the winter, neither on the sabbath ; "
also from the following — " Then ttvo shall be in the field,
the one shall be taken, the other left," etc. But it is evident
that they relate to the last time of the Church ; that is to
say, to its vastation, which is said to take place when there
Is no longer any charity.
Every one whose thoughts concerning the Lord are
holy, and who believes that the Divine was in Him, may
know and believe, that these words, like all others whicli
the Lord taught and spake, were not spoken of one par
ticular nation only, but of the whole human race ; and not
of their worldly but of their spiritual state; and also that
the Lord's words comprehended the things belonging to
His kingdom and to the Church, these being Divine and
eternal. Whosoever believes in this manner must con
clude, that the words, " Woe to them that are with child,
and to them that give suck in those days," do not signify
those who are literally with child, and give suck ; and that
the words, " Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, nei-

86 The Consummation of the Age.
ther on the sabbath," do not literally signify any flight on
account of woridly enemies. The case is the same with
regard to other passages.
Before proceeding further It is to be observed, that the
subject treated of hitherto has been concerning Three
States of Perversion of good and truth in the Church. In
the verses now before us, a Fourth State is treated of,
which Is also the last. The First State consisted In this:
that the men of the Church began no longer to know what
is good and true, but to dispute about it. The Second
State consisted in this : that they began to be averse to
good and truth and to deny them ; so that faith in the
Lord was about to expire, according to the degrees in
which charity was about to cease. The Third State was a
state of Desolation in the Church as to good and truth.
The Fourth State, which is that now treated of, is a State
of Profanation of good and truth, as may appear from all
the particulars now to be considered.
And " Woe to them that are with child, and to them
that give suck in those days." Those days signify the
states in which the Church is at that time, namely, at the
Consummation of the Age. By them that are with child
in those days, over whom lamentation is made, are under
stood those who then receive the goods of love ; and by
them that give suck, those who receive the truths of that
good; for the milk which is given them wherewith to suckle,
signifies truth from the good of love. The reason why it
is said Woe unto them, is because they will not then be
able to keep the goods and truths which they receive ;
for at times Hell prevails, and takes them away ; whence
arises profanation. The reason why Hell then prevails
is, because in the End of the Church, the falses of evil
reign and take away the truths of good. Apoc. Ex., 710.

Fourth and Last State of Perversion — Profanation. 87
30. — But pray ye that your flight le not in winter, nei
ther on the sabbath day.
Flight is here the act of removing or departing from
the good of love and the truth of that good, as before men
tioned ; and a warning is here given against two causes of
this apostasy. " Flight in the winter " denotes departure
or removal in a state of cold. No faith, and faith without
love, are by the Lord compared to winter. No faith implies
here an apostasy into a state of infidelity; and faith with
out love, a state of assent of the intellect and dissent of
the will. By " ffight on the Sabbuth " is signified, flight
in a state of acknowledgment that it is the sabbath ; and
implies, in the inmost sense, flight from the sabbatical
state, and thus the highest degree of profanation. All
work and labour were forbidden on the sabbath, as signify
ing what proceeded from man's selfhood instead of from
the Lord ; and flight on the sabbath Is here forbidden as
proceeding from the same source. Moreover, as the Jews
at that time regarded the sabbath as only a day of external
sanctity, so " flight on the sabbath " includes the state of
declension from internal good and truth into a state of
external sanctity ; and to live in a state of external sanctity
while internal sanctity is knowingly rejected, is another
form of profanation.
31. — For then shall be great affliction, such as was not
since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever
shall be.
These words signify the highest degree of perversion
and vastation of the Church as to good and truth, which
is a state of Profanation ; for profanation of what is holy
occasions eternal death, indeed much more grievously than
any other states of evil ; and the more grievously, in pro
portion as the goods and truths profaned are of an interior

8S The Consummation of the Age.
kind. Moreover, as such Interior goods and truths are
open and known in the Christian Church, and are there
profaned ; therefore it is said, that then shall be great afflic
tion such as was not from the beginning of the world to this
time, nor ever shall be.
33. — And except those days should le shortened, there
should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days
shall be shortened.
These words refer to the removal of those who are of
the Church from interior goods and truths to exterior ;
and consequently from the state of profanation before men
tioned ; In which case the Church becomes altogether
external, as it was with the Jews ; so that they who are
in the life of good and truth are no longer exposed to their
former danger, and may still be saved. By the days of
profanation being shortened, is signified this removal from
interior things to exterior; and by no flesh being preserved,
is signified that otherwise none would be saved. By the
Elect are signified those who are in the life of good and
truth. But what Is rneant by the profanation of what is holy,
is known to few. Nevertheless it is apparent from what
has already been said upon the subject ; namely, that they
may profane holy things who know, acknowledge, and
imbibe good and truth ; but not they who do not acknow
ledge ; and still less they who do not know ; consequently,
that they who are within the Church may commit profana
tion, but not they who are without. They who are of the
celestial Church may profane holy goods ; and they who
are of the spiritual Church may profane holy truths ; for
this reason, interior truths were not discovered to the Jews,
lest they should profane them. The Gentiles, of all other
people, are least capable of profanation. Profanation is a

Fourth and Last State of Perversion — Profanation. 89
commixture and conjunction of good and evil, also of truth
and falsity. This was signified by the " eating of blood,"
which was so severely prohibited in the Jewish Church.
Therefore men are withheld, as far as possible, from the
acknowledgment and belief of good and truth, if they can
not continue therein.
On this account they are kept In ignorance, and also
on this account their worship becomes external. Internal
truths are not revealed before the Church is vastated ; be
cause then good and truth can no longer be profaned ; the
Lord therefore first came into the world when this state of
the Church had arrived.
The nature of Profanation may be further Illustrated by
the following observations :t—
They are guilty of profanation who believe truths and
live an evil life; as also they who give no credence to
truths, and live in external sanctity. — A. C, 8883.
Profanation is effected when evil is applied to truth and
truth to evil, which is done by misinterpretation of truth
and application to evil, and thus by the Insertion of the one
into the other. Hence truth no longer remains truth, but
becomes dead and is thus profaned. — A. C, 10,653.
He who does not acknowledge the Lord's Divinity in
His Humanity, and falsifies the Word, though not inten
tionally, yet nevertheless commits profanation, though
only in a slight degree. Whereas they who ascribe to
themselves all the power of the Lord's Divine Humanity,
and on this account deny that it is Divine; as also
they who apply every thing in the Word to acquiring
to themselves dominion over the holy things of the
Church and of Heaven, and for that reason adulterate
the Word, are guilty of grievous profanation. — Ap. Rev.,
733-

90 The Consummation of the Age.
23. — Then if any one shall say unto you, Lo ! here is
Christ, or Lo there ; believe it not.
What these words involve can be known to no one
but from the internal sense ; for instance, what is signified
by false Ghrists arising who would shew signs and pro
digies ; what by their saying that Christ is in the wilder
ness ; and that. In this case, they should not go forth ; or
that if they should say. He is in the secret chambers, they
should net believe ; what by the coming of the Son of Man
as lightning which goes forth from the east and appears
even to the west ; also, what by the eagles gathering together
where the carcase is.
These things, like those which precede and follow in
this Chapter, seem, in the sense of the letter, to be in no
series ; when yet, in the internal sense, they are in a series
the most beautiful ; which first becomes apparent, when It
is understood what is signified by the false Ghrists, the
signs and prodigies, the wilderness, and the secret chambers ;
also by the Coming of the Son of Man ; and lastly, by the
carcase and the eagles.
The reason why the Lord spake these things in this
manner was, that at that time the Word might not be
understood, lest it should be profaned ; for when the
Church was vastated, as it was then among the Jews, if
they had understood, they would have profaned ; and for
the same reason it was, that the Lord on other occasions
spake by parables, as He Himself teaches in Matthew,
Mark, and Luke. For the Word cannot be profaned by
those who do not know its mysteries, but by those who
do ; and still more profaned by those who appear to them
selves learned, than by those who appear to themselves
unlearned. The reason why the Interior contents of the Word are

Fourth and Last State of Perversion — Profanation. 91
now at length disclosed is, because the Church at this
day (a.d. 1750) is vastated to such a degree, or Is so void
of faith and love, that although men know and understand,
yet they do not acknowledge, and still less do J;hey believe;
except the few who are in the life of good, and are called
the Elect ; who may now be Instructed, and amongst whom
a New Church is to be instituted. Where such persons
are, the Lord alone knows ; there will be few within the
Church; the New Churches, restored in former times,
have been raised up among the Gentiles,
The subject treated of in the former verses of this
Chapter in Matthew has been the successive vastation of
the Church ; but the subject now treated of is the state of
the Church with respect to doctrine in general, and amongst
those in particular who are in holy external worship, but
in profane internal worship ; that is to say, who with the
lips profess the Lord with holy veneration, but in heart
worship themselves and the world; the worship of the
Lord being thus employed by them as the means of pro
moting their worldly Interests and thus of obtaining honours
and wealth. So far as such persons have acknowledged
the Lord and heavenly life and faith, so far they profane
them, when they become of such a nature. This is the
state of the Church which is now treated of; as may ap
pear from the internal sense of the Lord's words we are
now considering.
Then if any one shall say unto you, Lo ! here is Christ, or
Lo ! there; believe it not, signifies admonition to take heed
to themselves respecting their doctrine. Christ is the Lord
as to Divine Truth, consequently as to the Word, and as
to doctrine from the Word ; that, in the present case, the
contrary is signified, namely, the Divine Truth falsified, or
the doctrine of what Is false. Is manifest.

93 The Consummation of the Age,
34. — For there shall arise false Christs and false pro
phets, and shall shew great signs and wonders ; insomuch
that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
These wqrds signify the falsities of the doctrines taught.
False Christs denote doctrine derived from the Word and
falsified, or doctrines alleged to be Divine truths, but which
are not Divine ; and false prophets denote those who teach
them. Those who teach falsities are such especially, in
the Christian world, as regard their own exaltation and
also worldly opulence as the ends of life ; for such pervert
the truths of the Word in ' favour of themselves, it being
the very nature of self-love and the love of the world, when
regarded as ends, to think of nothing else but self-interest.
These are false Christs and false prophets.
And shall shew great signs and prodigies ; which signi
fies confirming and persuading principles derived from
external appearances and fallacies; whereby the simple
suffer themselves to be seduced.
To seduce if possible even the Elect, signifies to seduce
if possible those who are in the life of good and truth, and
thereby belong to the Lord; these are they who In the
Word are called the Elect, They seldom appear In the
company of those who veil profane worship under what Is
holy ; or, if they appear, they are not known ; for the
Lord hides and thus protects them ; for until they are
established In their principles, they suffer themselves easily
to be k-d away by external sanctities ; but when they are
estabHshed, they continue stedfast, being kept by the Lord
in consort with the angels, of which they themselves are
ignorant ; in which case it Is Impossible for them to be
seduced by that wicked crew.
35. — Behold, I have told you before.
Signifies an exhortation to prudence, namely, to take

Fourth and Last State of Perversion — Profanation. 93
heed to themselves, as being among false prophets who
appear in sheep's clothing, but jnwardly are ravening
wolves. These false prophets are the sons of the age, who
are more prudent, that is, more cunning, in their generation
than the sons of the Light; concerning whom the Lord
speaks in Luke xvi. 8. Wherefore the Lord exhorts the
disciples in these words— " Behold I send you. forth as
sheep into the midst of wolves ; be ye therefore as wise
as serpents and harmless as doves."
36. — Wherefore if they shall say unto you — Behold, he
is in the wilderness, go not forth ; behold, he is in the secret
chambers; believe it not.
These words signify, that they are not to be believed in
what they say of truth, nor in what they say of good ; as
also other things besides. That this is what these words
signify, can be known only to those who are acquainted
with the internal sense.
That an arcanum is contained in these words, may
appear from the fact, that the Lord spake them ; and that
without some other sense which lies interiorly concealed in
them, the literal sense is no sense at all ; for what could
be the use of the exhortation not to go forth, if they should
say that Christ is in the wilderness ; and not to believe, if
they should say that He was in the secret chambers ? But
truth vastated is what is signified by the ivilderness ; and
good vastated, by the secret or inner chambers. The reason
why truth vastated is signified by the ivilderness is, be
cause, when the Church is vastated, that is, when it has no
longer any Divine Truth because it has no longer any good,
or love of the Lord and neighbourly love, it Is called a
wilderness, or said to be in a wilderness ; for a wilderness
means whatever is not cultivated or inhabited, and also
whatever has little life in It, as Is then the case with truth

94 The Consummation of the Age.
in the Church. Hence it Is evident, that wilderness here
denotes the Church which has no truth. By sec7-et or
inner chambers, in the Internal sense, is signified the
Church as to good, and simply goodness. The Church
which Is in good Is called the House of God ; the secret
or inner chambers of which, and the things that are in the
house, are its goods. The House of God is the Divine
Good ; and a house in general denotes the good which Is
of love and charity.
The reason why they are not to be believed in what
they say of truth, and in what they say of good, is, be
cause they call what is false, true ; and what is evil, good ;
for they who regard themselves and the world as the ends
of life mean nothing else by truth and good, but that all
veneration is due to themselves, and that they themselves
may be advantaged, and their own interests promoted ;
in which case, if they Inspire piety, it is that they may
appear in sheep's clothing.
Moreover, since the Word which the Lord spake
contains in it things innumerable, and wilderness is
an expression of large signification (for every thing is
called a. wilderness which is not cultivated and inhabited,
and all interior things are called secret or inner chambers),
therefore a wilderness signifies the Word of the Old
Testament, this being supposed to be abrogated ; and
the secret chambers the Word of the New Testament,
as teaching interior things, or things relating to the
internal man. So too the whole Word Is called a wil
derness, when it is no longer serviceable for doctrinals;
and human institutions are called secret or inner cham
bers ; which, In proportion as they depart from the pre
cepts and institutes of the Word, cause the Word to
be a wilderness.

Fourth and Last State of Perversion — Profanation. 95
This is also known in the Christian world ; for they
who are in holy external worship and in profane internal
worship, by reason of their Innovations which have respect
to eminence over all others and aggrandizement as the ends
of life, abrogate the Word ; and this to such a degree,
that they do not even permit it to be read by others.
Moreover, as to those' who are not in such profane
worship, although they account the Word holy, and permit
it to be read by the vulgar ; still they bend and explain all
things in it to favour their own doctrinals, whereby they
render the Word a wilderness as to the rest of its contents
which are not according to their doctrinals. This is plain
enough to be seen, from those who make salvation to
depend on faith alone, and contemn the works of charity :
thus making all that a wilderness which the Lord Himself
spake in the New Testament, and so often in the Old,
concerning love and charity ; and all things which are
of faith without works, to be secret chambers. Hence it is
manifest what is signified by the words. If they shall say to
you, Behold, He is in the wilderness, go not forth ; behold.
He is in the secret chambers ; believe it not,
37. — For as the lightning cometh forth out of the east,
and shineth even unto the west ; so shall also the coming
of the Son of Man be.
The state of the Church being such as has been
described, our Lord now proceeds to predict the kind of
reception which would be given by the Church In this state,
to the Son of Man at His Coming. Accordingly these words
signify, that, with the internal worship of the Lord it will be
the same as with lightning, which no sooner appears than it
is dissipated. For lightning signifies what Is of heavenly
light ; thus what is predicated of love and faith ; for these
things are of heavenly light. The East, in the supreme

96 The Consummation of the Age.
sense, is the Lord ; and in the Internal sense, it is the good
of love, faith, and charity from the Lord. The West, in
the internal sense, is what has set or ceased to be ; thus it
is non-acknowledgment of the Lord, or of the good of love,
charity, and faith. Consequently the lightning which
goeth forth from the east and shineth even to the west,
denotes that what is of heavenly light will be dissipated as
soon as It comes into view.
The Coming of the Lord is not a Coming according to
the letter, or such that He will appear in the world again In
Person ; but it is His presence In every one; which takes
place as often as the Gospel is preached, and its holiness
is a subject of thought.
38. — For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the
eagles be gathered together.
These words signify, that in the vastated Church, con
firmations of what is false by means of reasonings will be
multiplied. The Church, when it is void of good and
thereby of the truth of faith, or when it is vastated, is said
to be dead, for its life is derived from good and truth.
Hence, when dead, it is compared to a carcase. Reasonings
concerning goods and truths, shewing that these latter have
no existence except In so far as such reason comprehends
them, and by means of these reasonings, confirmations of
what is evil and false, are the Eagles. That the Carcase In
this passage is a Church without the life of charity and
faith. Is manifest from the Lord's words in Luke. Thus,
when speaking of the Consummation of the Age, the
disciples said. Where, Lord? namely. Where would the
Consummation of the Age and the Last Judgment take
place, Jesus said unto them. Where the body is, there will
the eagles be gathered together (chap. xvii. 37). It is
there called a body Instead of a carcase ; but it is a des"^

Fourth and Last State of Perversion — Profanation. 97
body which Is there meant, and it signifies the Church ;
for that judgment must begin from the house of God, or
the Church, is evident from the Word throughout.
These are the things signified by the Lord's words here
quoted and explained ; and that they follow each other in
a most beautiful series, although it does not so appear In
the sense of the letter, may be manifest to every one who
contemplates them in their connection according to the
explanation here given.
The ground and reason why the last state of the Church
is compared to "Eagles gathered to a carcase" or body, is,
because Eagles signify the rational things of man ; which,
when predicated of the good, are true rational things ; but
when predicated of the evil, are false ratlonals, or mere
ratiocinations. Birds, In general, signify man's knowledges,
both In a good and in a bad sense ; each species signifying
some particular species of knowledge. Eagles, as fly
ing aloft, and being sharpslghted, signify rational things.
That this is the case, may appear from several passages
in the Word ; as from the following : —
First, where Eagles signify true rational things ; as in
Moses : — " Jehovah found Jacob in a desert land, and
in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about. He
instructed him. He kept him as the apple of His eye.
As an Eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young,
spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them
on her wings." {Deut. xxxli. 10, 11). What is described
in this passage and compared to an Eagle, Is Instruction
in the truths and goods of faith. The description and
comparison contain the whole process of Instruction, until
man is made rational and spiritual. All comparisons In
the Word are made by significatives; and hence in the
present case by an Eagle as denoting what is rational. So

98 The Consummation of the Age,
again — " Jehovah said to Moses, Ye have seen what things
I have done to the Egyptians, and have carried you on the
wings of Eagles, and brought you to myself" {Exod.'
xix. 3, 4), where the signification Is the same.
And in Isaiah — "They that wait on Jehovah shall be
renewed in strength, they shall mount up with strong wing
like Eagles ; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall
walk and not be faint" (xl. 31). To be "renewed in
strength " Is to grow In willing what is good ; to " mount
up with a strong wing like Eagles," is to grow In the
understanding of truth, thus as to what is rational. The
subject In this, as In other passages, is expounded by two
expressions, one of which has reference to good which is
of the will, and the other to truth which is of the under
standing. This is the case in respect to running and not
being weary, and to walking and not being faint.
So in Ezekiel — " Son of Man, propound an enigma and
construct a parable concerning the house of Israel; and
say, Thus saith the Lord Jehovih — A great Eagle with
great wings, full of feathers of divers colours, came upon
Lebanon, and took from thence a small branch of the
cedar. He cropped off the top of its young ' twigs, and
carried it into a land of commerce, and placed it In a city
of dealers in spices. He then took of the seed of the land,
and planted It In a fruitful field ; he placed it by great
waters, and set It as a willow tree, and It grew, and became
a spreading vine," etc. — "There was also another great
Eagle with great wings and many feathers; and behold
this vine did bend her roots towards him, and shot forth
her branches toward him, that he might water It in the
parterres of her plantation," etc. (xvii. 2-8).
In this passage the Eagle first mentioned denotes
what is rational receiving illustration from the Divine • and

Fourth and Last State of Perversion — Profanation. 99
the Eagle mentioned in the second case denotes what is
rational receiving illustration from man's self -hood, which,
by reasonings from things sensual and scientific then be
comes perverted; "Egypt" denotes scientifics; "Horses"
what is intellectual thence derived.
So in the vision of Daniel — " Four great beasts came
up out of the sea, diverse the one from the other. The first
was like a lion, but he had the wings of an Eagle. I saw
until his wings were plucked away, and it was lifted up from
the earth, and made to stand upon his feet as a man, and
a man's heart was given unto it " (vii. 3, 4) . The first
state of the Church Is what is here described by a lion
whichhad Eagle's wings; where Eagle' swings signify things
rational and voluntary from the self-hood, which being
taken away, there were given things rational and voluntary
from the Divine ; which is signified by the " beast being
lifted up from the earth, and standing erect on his feet as
a man, and having a man's heart given him."
Again in Ezekiel, speaking of the likeness of the faces
of the four animals or cherubs ; — " They four had the
face of a man, and the face of a lion, on the right side; and
they four had the face of an ox on the left side ; and they
four had the face of an Eagle" (I. 10). — "As for the
wheels it was cried unto them in ray hearing, O wheel !
And every cherub had four faces ; the first face was the face
of a cherub, and the second face was the face of a man,
and the third the face of a lion, and the fourth the face of
an Eagle" (x. 13, 14).
And in the Apocalypse — "Around the throne were
four animals full of eyes before and behind. The first
animal was Hke a Hon; the second animal was like a calf;
the third animal had a face as a man ; and the fourth animal
was like a flying Eagle" (iv. 7). That the animals here
G 3

too The Consummation of the Age.
seen signify Divine arcana, is manifest; consequently
that the likeness of their faces has a Divine signification.
The arcana themselves cannot however be known, unless
it be first known what a lion, a calf, a man, and an Eagle
signify. That the face of an Eagle denotes circumspec
tion, and thereby Providence, is manifest; for the cherubs
which were represented by the animals in Ezekiel, signify
the providence of the Lord to prevent man entering of him
self, and by virtue of his own rational principle. Into the
mysteries of faith. From these passages also it is evident,
that an Eagle, when predicated of man, denotes In the
internal sense what Is of the rational principle; and this
because the Eagle flies aloft, and then takes an extensive
view of things beneath.
So in Job — " By thy intelligence doth the hawk fly,
and spread its wings towards the south ; doth the Eagle
mount up at thy command, and make her nest on high "
(xxxix. 26, 37). The Eagle here denotes reason, which
pertains to intelligence. Such was the signification of the
Eagle in the Ancient Church ; and the Book of Job is a
Book of the Ancient Church ; for books at that time were
all written by significatives ; but the significatives, In pro
cess of time, were so obliterated, that even at this day It Is
not known that Birds In general signify thoughts; although
they are so frequently mentioned in the Word, where they
plainly can have no other signification.
That, Secondly, In the opposite sense, an Eagle signifies
rational things not true, but false, is evident from the
following passages : — "Jehovah shall raise up over thee a
nation from afar, from the furthest part of the earth, as an
Eagle flies ; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not hear, a
nation of fierce countenance" {Deut. xxviii. 49, 50).
And in Jeremiah — " Behold he shall come up as a

Fourth and Last State of Perversion — Profanation. loi
cloud, and as a tempest his chariot ; his horses are swifter
than Eagles. Woe unto us because we are vastated"
(iv. 13). — "Thy boasting hath deceived thee; even the pride
of thine heart dwelling in the clefts of the rock, occupying
the height of the hill : because thou exaltest as an Eagle
thy nest, thence will I cast theb down." — " Behold he shall
come up and fly as the Eagle, and spread his wings over
Bozrah ; in that day the heart of the mighty ones of Edom
shall be as the heart of a woman in her pangs" (xlix. 16,
17, 33). Again, — "They who pursued us were swifter
than Eagles, they pursued us on the mountains, they have
laid snares for us in the wilderness" {Lam. iv. 19).
And in Micah — " Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy
delicate children ; dilate thy baldness as an Eagle ; for
they are gone into captivity from thee " (i. 16).
And in Obadiah — "Though thou exalt thyself as an
Eagle, and though thou set thy nest among the stars,
thence will I pull thee down" (ver. 4).
And in Habakkuk — " Lo, I raise up the Chaldeans,
that bitter and hasty nation, which shall march Into the
breadth of the earth to inherit habitations not their own —
their horses are swifter than leopards — their horsemen shall
come from far, they shall fly as an Eagle hastening to
devour" (I. 6, 8). In all these passages, the Eagle signifies
falsity induced by reasonings from the fallacies of the
senses and from external appearances. In the last passage
" Chaldeans " signify those who are in external sanctity,
but interiorly in what is false. These, like Babel, are they
who vastate the Church. The " breadths of the earth,"
In the foregoing passage, denote truths ; and vastation is
signified by " marching into the breadths of the earth."
" Horses," which are of a similar vastating quality, denote
the intellectual things of such persons. Hence it is evi-

I03 The Consummation of the Age,
dent what is meant by an Eagle hastening to devour;
namely, to desolate man as to truths; for the subject
treated of in the foregoing passages is the desolation of the
Church. In these passages comparison is made with
Eagles ; but comparisons in the Word, as we have ob
served, are from significatives.
Hence, then, it is manifest what is the meaning of the
passage in St. Matthew — For wheresoever the carcase is,
there will the Eagles be gathered together, namely, con
firmations of what is false by reasonings multiplied in the
vastated Church.
When a faith in Three Gods was introduced into
Christian Churches, which came to pass from the time of
the Council of Nice, every good of charity and every truth
of faith were banished ; for these two principles have no
sort of consistence with the mental worship of Three Gods,
and at the same time with the oral worship of One God ;
for the mind denies what the mouth speaks, and the mouth
denies what the mind thinks. Whence it comes to pass,
that there is neither a faith in Three Gods, nor a faith in
One. From this consideration it is evident that the Chris
tian Temple, from that time, was not only rent into chinks
and clefts, but also is fallen down into a heap of ruins ; and
that from that time the pit of the abyss hath been opened,
from which hath ascended a smoke as of a great furnace ;
so that the sun and air have been darkened, and out of the
smoke have come forth locusts upon the earth {Rev. ix. 2, 3).
Yea, from that time began and continued to increase the
desolation foretold by Daniel {Matt. xxiv. 15) ; and to
that Faith and its Imputation were gathered together the
Eagles spoken of in verse 28 of the same chapter. By
Eagles a,re there meantthe lynx-eyed or sharp-sighted leaders
of the Church {Art. 634). — By the Carcase, as we have

The Sun darkened. 103
seen, is meant the Church which is dead or without the
life of good and truth.
39. — Immediately after the affliction 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.
Our Lord is now describing the Consummation of the
Age, when the Church is in great affliction, " such as was
not since the beginning of the world, no, nor ever shall be."
The Consummation of the Age is the last time of the
Church, and it is called the last time when there is no
longer therein any charity and faith. The Consummation,
or last time of a Church, is the same with the consumma
tion or last time of a dispensation ; and this has repeatedly
taken place. The Consummation of the first or Adamic
Church was described by a Flood, The Consummation
of the second or Noachian Church was described by extirpa
tions in the land of Canaan ; and also by several other
extirpations and excisions mentioned by the prophets.
The Consummation of the third or Jewish Church is
not described in the Word, as were the former, but is
predicted ; and it was the destruction of Jerasalem and the
dispersion of the Jews among whom that Church existed,
that constituted this Consummation. The fourth Con
summation is that of the present Christian Church, as
predicted by the Lord in the Evangelists and in the
Apocalypse, and which is now at hand, a.d. i749-
From all the particulars declared in the verses already
quoted, it is evident that they contain an internal sense ;
and that unless this sense be understood, it cannot in any
wise be known what they involve. As when it is said
that "the Sun shall be darkened," and also the Moon;
that "the Stars shall fall from heaven, that the powers

X04 The Consummation of the Age.
of the heavens shall be shaken ;" that the Lord will then
appear In the clouds of heaven ; that the angels shall sound
the trumpet, and thereby gather together the elect. He
who does not know the Internal sense of these words will
believe that such events will literally come to pass ; yea,
that the world and all visible objects of the Universe are to
perish. But that the Last Judgment does not mean any
destruction of the Worid, but only the Consummation of
the Church, or its vastation as to charity and faith, has
been above explained ; and moreover manifestly appears
from the words which follow ; as where it is said, " Then
two shall be in the field, the one shall be taken, the other
left ; two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one
shall be taken, the other left." That the whole of this
description refers to a state of the Church at that time as
to good, that is, as to charity to the neighbour and love to
the Lord, appears from the Internal sense ; which is further
as follows : —
But immediately after the affliction of those days.
These words signify a state of the Church as to the truth
of faith ; and has been treated of in what precedes. Deso
lation of truth Is in the Word throughout called affliction.
Days denote states ; and we are here warned, that there
will be no longer any charity when there is no longer any
truth of faith ; for faith leads to charity, because it teaches
what charity is. Charity receives its quality from the
truths of faith; while the truths of faith receive their
essence and their life from charity.
The Sun shall be darkened and the Moon shall not give
her light. The Sun signifies love to the Lord, and the
Moon charity to the neighbour. To be " darkened and to
give no light," signifies that they would not appear ; and
thus that they would vanish. The " Sun " is the celestial

The Powers of the Heavens shaken. 105
principle of love, and the " Moon " the spiritual principle
of love ; that is to say, the " Sun " Is love to the Lord,
and the " Moon" charity to the neighbour, which charity
comes by faith. The reason of this signification of the
Sun and Moon is, because in the other life the Lord
appears as a Sun to those In heaven who are In love to Him,
and are called celestial ; and as a Moon to those who are
in charity to the neighbour, and who are called spiritual.
The Sun and Moon in the heavens, or the Lord, is never
obscured, or loses Hght, but shines perpetually. Hence in
the heavens, with the celestial, neither is love to Him at
any time obscured ; nor charity to the neighbour, with the
spiritual ; nor on the earth, with those on whom those
angels are attendant, that Is, angels who are in love and
charity. On the other hand, those who are in no love and
charity, but in self love and love of the world, and thereby
in states of hatred and revenge, occasion in themselves the
obscurity here spoken of. The case, indeed, is the same
as with the Sun of this world ; which is perpetually shin
ing, but when clouds intervene, does not appear.
And the Stars shall fall from heaven, signifies that the
knowledges of good and truth shall perish. Nothing else
is signified in the Word by " Stars " whenever they are
named. And the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. The
Church on the earth is the foundation of heaven ; since
the influx of good and truth through the heavens from the
Lord ultimately terminates in the goods and truths of the
man of the Church ; and hence when the man of the
Church is in such a perverted state, as no longer to admit
the influxes of good and truth, " then the powers of the
heavens," signifying these influxes, are said to be "shaken."
On which account, it is always provided by the Lord that

' o6 The Consummation of the Age.
somewhat of a Church should remain ; and that when an
Old Church perishes, a New One should be established ;
for otherwise the Church in heaven would itself perish,
being without a foundation in the Church upon earth.
The angels themselves are called " powers of heaven "
{Ephes. iii. lo), and they are "powers" in virtue of
their receiving ability from the Influx of Divine Truth ;
but for the reasons mentioned, their state in heaven is
affected by the state of the Church upon earth. — See
Apoc. vi. lo.
30. — And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man
in heaven, 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.
With respect to " Signs," our Lord had just previously
given warning, that false Christs and false prophets would
arise, who would shew great " Signs " and Wonders ; and
as these were but false " Signs," though calculated to
deceive if possible the very elect; so. In opposition to
these, the true " Sign," now appears ; which Is called the
" Sign of the Son of Man," as proceeding from the Lord
Himself in that particular character.
With respect to false Signs, we read in the Apocalypse,
(xni. 13), of " the Beast that came up out of the earth, and
doeth great Signs ; " by which Signs are signified testifi
cations that those things are true which are taught by the
Beast, although they are false.
"Signs" signify testifications that things are true;
because formerly Signs were wrought to bear testimony to
the truth. But after the cessation of signs and miracles
their signification still continues, viz., a testification of the
truth. In the case above mentioned, by Signs are signified
testifications from the Beast or False Prophet, that his

sign of the Son of Man. 107
falses are truths ; by reason that when they are confirmed,
they do not appear otherwise.
Every heretic who has confirmed himself in falses,
after this confirmation strives to prove that his falses are
truths ; for then he no longer sees truths. Inasmuch as the
confirmation of the false is a negation of the true; and
when a truth Is denied, it loses its light ; and so far as
falses shine from the light of confirmation, which is an
infatuating light, so far the light of truth is turned into
darkness. — Ap. Rev., 598.
So again in the Apocalypse (xvi. 14), we read of the
"spirits of demons going forth unto the kings of the earth,"
etc., by which is there signified, attestations that their falses
are truths, and excitements of all those who are in the
vastated Church, and in the same falses, to impugn the
truths of the New Church ; persuading others, and con
firming them by fallacies and sophistry ; for Signs refer to
the understanding, and are thus distinguished from miracles,
which, as implying wonderful things, relate more im
mediately to the affections. Signs and miracles however
agree in this, that what moves the affections persuades
the thought.
In the present case, the "Sign" which appears is
seen in heaven ; and, as such. It denotes Revelation from
the Son of Man concerning heavenly things, and attes
tation of the truth which is revealed. In the case of the
internal man, this Revelation proceeds from Divine illus
tration; and from this illustration proceed confirmation
and attestation of the truth. Accordingly —
As to what concerns illustration, and the consequent
confirmation of truths, it Is to be noted, that they who
are in externals without an internal principle, as were the
Jews and Israelites, cannot be illustrated, and consequently

io8 The Consummation of the Age.
cannot be confirmed in truths. But they who are in ex
ternals and at the same time in internals, when they read
the Word, are illustrated ; and In illustration see truths, in
which they are afterwards more and more confirmed ; and
what Is wonderful, every one hath illustration according to
the quality of his affection for truth; and the quality
of the affection of truth is such as is the good of life.
Hence also it is, that they who are in no affection
of truth for the sake of tmth, but for the sake of gain, are
not at all illustrated when they read the Word, but are
only confirmed in their own doctrinals, of whatsoever sort
they are, whether false as heretical doctrines are, or alto
gether contrary to truths as the Jewish are ; for they seek
not the Lord's kingdom but the world, not faith but fame,
thus not heavenly riches but only earthly ; and if perchance
they are seized with a desire of knowing truths from the
Word, falses present themselves instead of truths, and at
length a denial of all truths. These things are said to the
intent, that it may be known what illustration is, and the
consequent confirmation of truth. — A. C, 7013.
The " Sign then of the Coming of the Son of Man "
is a Sign which is given at the Consummation of the Age;
and as at the time of this Consummation the Sun is
darkened, the Moon gives no light, and the Stars have
fallen from heaven, so now the Light is to reappear, and
the Sign or evidence of this reappearance is Divine illustra
tion in the truths of the Word; just as the dawning light
of the morning Is a sign of the coming of the Sun. The
" Sign" then, in the present case, is the reappearing of the
light of Truth; for, as will be shewn, the Lord as the
" Son of Man " Is Truth Divine.
This was the " Sign " concerning which the disciples
enquired of our Lord, when they said, "Tell us when

Sign of the Son of Man. 1 09
these things shall come to pass, and what shall be the Sign
of thy Coming, and of the Consummation of the Age ; "
for they knew from the Word that, when the Age was
consummated, the Lord would come ; and they knew from
the Lord that He would come again ; but thereby they
understood, that the Lord would come again personally
into the world ; not knowing that, as often as the Church
has been vastated, so often the Lord has come. Not that
He has come in Person, as when He assumed the Human
nature by nativity and made this Divine; but by appear-
ings ; either manifest, as when He appeared to Abraham in
Mamre, to Moses in the Bush, to the people of Israel on
Mount Sinai, and to Joshua when he entered the land of
Canaan ; or when His appearing was not so manifest, as In
the case of the inspirations by which the Word was given,
and afterward in the case of the Word itself when given;
since in the Word the Lord is present ; for all things in
the Word are from Him, and relate to Him. The " Sign "
of the presence of the Lord, otherwise called His Coming
or His Advent, is, to the Internal man, Divine illustration
from the Word.
With respect to the Sign preceding the First Advent,
we read In the prophet Malachi, " Behold I will send you
Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and
dreadful day of the Lord ;" the coming of Elijah was there
fore at that time a sign of the Coming of the Lord. But
it has been already shewn, that he did not come in person,
but as the representative of the spirit and power of the
Prophetic Word. The manifestation of the spirit and
power of the Word, at the Consummation of the Age,
Is therefore in like manner the Sign announcing the Lord's
presence or Coming; In opposition to the signs and
wonders, or the teaching, of false Christs and false

no The Consunmiation of the Age.
Prophets, who put light for darkness, and darkness for
light. It is in the foregoing sense, that the character in which
our Lord now comes, is that of the " Son of Man."
And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn. The
" earth " denotes the Church ; and the " tribes " those
who are in the Church, or all the principles of good and
truth or of love and faith.
In general, by the " twelve tribes " are signified all
things appertaining to the doctrine of truth and good, or
of faith and love. These principles, namely truth and
good, or faith and love, constitute the Lord's kingdom ;
for the things appertaining to truth or faith are the all of
thought therein, and the things appertaining to good or
love are the all ' of affection ; and whereas the Jewish
Church was instituted that it might represent the Lord's
kingdom, therefore the partitions of that people into tribes
had this signification. A. C, 3859. That all these tribes
shall " mourn," signifies, that all who are in the good of
love and truth of faith, shall then be in grief at the state
of the Church.
And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds
of the heaven with power and great glory ; which signifies,
that then the Word shall be revealed as to Its internal
sense in which the Lord is. The " Son of Man " is Truth
Divine which is therein.
He who knows why the Lord is called the Son of God,
and the Son of Man, and what they signify, may know
many arcana of the Word ; for the Lord at one time calls
Himself The Son, at another time the Son of Man ; and
this always according to the subject treated of. When
His Divinity, His unity with the Father, His Divine Power,
faith in Him, and life from Him, are treated of. He then

Coming of the Son of Man. j t i
calls Himself the Son of God; as in John v. 17 — 36, and
elsewhere. But when what relates to the Passion, the
Judgment, His Coming, and in general to Redemption,
Salvation, Reformation, and Regeneration, are treated of.
He then calls Himself the " Son of Man ;" the reason of
which is, that He is then spoken of as The Word ; and
that it is as The Word that He suffers, judges, comes into
the world, redeems, saves, reforms, and regenerates. The
reason why the Lord calls Himself the " Son of Man "
when judgment is treated of is, because all judgment is
executed according* to the Divine Truth which is in The
Word. That it is this which judges every one, the Lord
Himself declares In John xn. 47, 48 ; also in chap. Hi. 17, 18.
That the Lord did Himself understand one thing by
the " Son of God," and another thing by the " Son of
Man," appears from His answers to the High Priest,
Matthew xxvl. 63, 64. In these answers. He first con
fesses that He was the Son of God, and afterwards said
that they should see the Son of Man sitting on the right
hand of Power, and coming In the clouds of heaven ; by
which is signified, that after the passion of the cross. He
would possess the Divine power of opening the Word, and
establishing the Church ; which could not be effected be
fore, as Hell was not yet conquered, neither was His
Humanity as yet glorified.
The reason why the Son of Man signifies the Lord
with respect to the Word, was the same with that for
which the prophets were called Sons of Man ; for they
represented the Lord with respect to the Word, and thence
signify the doctrine of the Church derived from the Word.
Nothing else Is understood In heaven by prophets, wherever
they are named in the Word ; for the spiritual signification
of a Prophet, as also of the Son of Man, is the doctrine of

113 The Consummation of the Age.
the Church derived from the Word ; and when applied to
the Lord, Is the Word itself.
When the Lord put off His maternal humanity. He
put on the Divine Humanity, In virtue of which also He
called Himself the " Son of Man " as He frequently does
in the Word of the New Testament, and also the " Son of
God;" and by the " Son of Man" He then signified the
essential Truth, and by the " Son of God," the essential
good which appertained to His Human nature when made
Divjne. — A. C, 3159.
The reason why Sons denote truths. Is this ; that all
things in the internal sense of the Word are spiritual ; and
Sons, in the spiritual sense, are they who are born anew of
the Lord, and thus in truths derived from good ; con
sequently, considered abstractedly from persons, they are
the truths themselves derived from good. These are the
things therefore which are meant in the Word hy the" sons
of God," " sons of the King," " sons of the kingdom," etc.
He who knows that by sons are signified truths, and by
daughters goods, may see several arcana in the Word,
especially the prophetic, which would otherwise be con
cealed ; as also what Is specifically meant by the " Son of
Man," which the Lord frequently calls Himself In the
Word ; and by which is meant the Divine Truth proceeding
from the Divine Humanity. — A. C, 9807.
That by the Son of Man the like Is signified as by
¦Light, is evident from the words of the Lord; when. In
answer to the question who is this Son of Man, the Lord
replied, by referring to Himself as the Light of the world,
" Yet a little while is the Light with you."
The presence or Coming of the Son of Man, Is accord
ingly the presence or Coming of the Light, after the Sun,
Moon, and Stars had disappeared.

Coming in Clouds. 113
Coming in the clouds of the heavens, — " Cloud " is the
literal sense of the Word; "power" is predicated of good,
,and glory of truth. With respect to the Son of Man being
seen coming in the clouds of heaven, and the angels being
sent with a great sound of a Trumpet, and gathering to
gether the elect from the four winds ; it is well known,'
that these things were neither seen nor heard at Jerusalem,
when it was destroyed ; and that it is believed at this day
that they are literally to happen at the end of the world.
But the Lord spake in prophetic language, every word of
which has its own weight and meaning : and whereas the
things which the Lord said to His disciples coincide with
those which He afterwards revealed to John in the Apoca
lypse, as in chapter I. 7, It is evident that both descriptions
refer to one and the same thing, namely, to the Consum
mation of the Age, and hence of the present Dispensation,
and Christian Church.
He who is ignorant that the " clouds of heaven "
signify the truths of the Word in the sense of the letter,
cannot conceive otherwise than that the Lord, in the Con
summation of the Age, that is, in the End of the Church,
is to come literally in the clouds of heaven, and manifest
Himself personally to the world. But it is a known thing
that since the Word has been given, the Lord manifests
Himself by that alone; since the Word, which is Divine
Truth, is the Lord Himself in heaven and in the Church.
From this consideration it may be evident, that the mani
festation there predicted signifies His manifestation in the
Word ; and His manifestation in the Word is made by
His opening and revealing the internal or spiritual sense of
the Word ; for in this sense is the Divine Truth itself such
as it is in heaven, and the Divine Truth in heaven Is the
Lord Himself there. H

114 J^^^ Consummation of the Age.
Hence now it is evident, that by the " coming of the
Lord in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory "
is signified the Revelation of Himself in the sense of the
letter of the Word, by means of its spiritual sense ; the
" clouds of heaven " signifying those things which are of
the sense of the letter, and " glory " those things which
are of the spiritual sense.
The like is understood by the cloud which encompassed
Peter, James, and John, when the Lord appeared to them
in glory ; concerning which it is thus written in Luke —
" A voice came out of the cloud, saying. This is my beloved
Son, hear ye Him ; and when the voice was passed, Jesus
was found alone" (ix. 35, ^6). By Moses and Elias, who
discoursed with the Lord on this occasion, was represented
the Word of the Old Testament, which is called Moses
and the Prophets ; by Moses, his Books, as also the his
torical Books; by Ellas the prophet, all the Prophets.
But by Peter, James, and John, were represented, as in
other places wheresoever named in the Evangelists,
faith, charity, and the good of charity ; and by these
disciples alone being present at that time, is signified,
that no others can see the glory of the Lord, which
is in His Word, than those who are principled in faith,
in its charity, and in its good. Others indeed may see,
but still they do not see, because internally they do not
believe. In the Prophets throughout a cloud signifies the Word
in the letter, and glory the life of the letter. Such is the
internal sense of cloud and glory.
The subject which next follows is the establishment
of a New Church, which is effected on the occasion of
the vastation and rejection of the Old.
31. — And He shall send His angels with a great sound

Sound of a Trumpet, 115
of a trumpet ; and they shall gather together His elect from
the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
These words signify election ; not that it is effected by
visible angels, still less by literal trumpets, and by great voices ;
but by an influx of holy good and holy truth from the Lord,
through the medium of angels ; wherefore in the Word
angels signify somewhat of the Lord. In this and other pas
sages, it is not meant that angels will do these things, to
gether with the Lord by His Divine Truths ; inasmuch as
an angel has no power of himself, but all his power is from
the Lord by His Divine Truth. The like is understood by
the angels of God being seen " ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man;" namely, that Divine Truths were
in Him and from Him. . . . Inasmuch as by angels in the
Word are understood Divine Truths, therefore men by
whom Divine Truths are made known are themselves
occasionally in the Word called angels, as in Malachi — •
" The lips of the priest ought to keep knowledge, and they
shall seek the law from his mouth, because he is the angel
of Jehovah" (ii. 7). He is here said to be the aw^e^ of
Jehovah, on account of his teaching Divine Truth; not
that it is the angel of Jehovah, but that it is the Divine
Truth, which teaches.
A " trumpet and a great voice " signify Evangelizing ;
thus we read, that "to the angels were given seven
trumpets;" and that they "sounded the trumpets;" be
cause trumpets and the sound thereof signify Divine Truth
to be revealed.
And they shall gather together the elect from the four
winds, from one extreme of the heavens even to the other
extreme, signifies the establishment of a New Church^
The " Elect " are they who are in the good of love and of
faith. The " four v/inds " from which they are gathered
H 2

Ti6 The Ctmsummation of the Age.
together, are all states of good and truth. " One extreme
of the heavens to the other extreme," denotes the internal
and external things of the Church. Wind or breath repre
sents the operations of the Holy Spirit; and hence the
" four winds blowing from the four corners of the earth"
signify all the states of good and truth produced by those
operations. 33. — Now learn a parable of the fig-tree. When his
branch is yet tender and putteth forth leaves, ye know that
summer is nigh.
These words signify the first state of a New Church.
With regard to the " Fig-tree " it is to be observed, that
all objects of Creation are significative ; thus all that per
tain to the animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms.
Hence the oak, the cedar, olive, and vine, etc., have all
their specific significations in the Word of God, and hence
also the " Fig-tree " has its own proper meaning.
In the case of the Fig-tree which withered away, by
that Fig-tree was meant the Church with the Jewish
nation. That with that nation there was not any natural
good, but only truth falsified, which in itself is essentially
the false, is signified by the Lord coming to the Fig-tree,
and finding nothing on it but leaves. The fruit which He
did not find, signifies natural good ; and the leaf which
he did find, signifies truth falsified, which in Itself is
essentially the false; for leaf in the Word signifies truth ;
and the leaf of a tree which is without fruit signifies the
false ; but with that nation truth falsified ; because they
had the Word in which are truths, and these they falsified
by application to themselves; whence came their tradi
tions. That the Jewish nation would never do any natural
good from a spiritual origin, which is called spiritual-
natural good, is signified by the words which the Lord said

Parable of the Fig-tree. 117
concerning it, "Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for
ever." In the present case, as by a " Fig-tree " is signified
natural good, so its "branch" is the affection thereof, and the
"leaves" aretruths. The "parable" which the disciples were
to learn is, that these are the things which are signified. He
who does not know the internal sense of the Word, can
not possibly know what is involved in the comparison of
the Lord's Coming, with the Fig-tree and its branch and
leaves. But inasmuch as all comparisons in the Word are
significatives, it may be ascertained, upon this principle,
what these things mean. Wheresoever a " Fig-tree " is
named in the Word, it signifies, in the internal sense, the
good of the natural mind. The reason why a "branch" de
notes the affection thereof is, because affection springs
and flourishes from good as a branch from its trunk.
" Leaves " denote truths. Thus the Fig-tree denotes also
the external Church. )
Hence then it is evident what this parable involves ;
viz., that when a New Church is created by the Lord,
there first of all appears the good of the'natural mind, that
is, good in an external form with its affections and truths.
By good of the natural mind is not meant the good in which
man is born, or which he derives from his parents ; but
the good which is spiritual as to its origin. Into this
good no one is born, but is led into it by the Lord, by
means of the knowledges of good and truth. Wherefore
until man is in this spiritual good, he is not a man of the
Church ; howsoever it may appear from connate good that
he is so.
33. — So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things,
know that it is near, even at the doors.
That is, when those things appear which are signified

ii8 The Consummation of the Age.
in the internal sense of the passages above referred to. It
is said at the doors, because the good of the natural
mind and its truths are the first which are insinuated into
man, whilst he is being regenerated and becoming a
Church. 34. — Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not
pass away till all these things be fulfilled.
These words signify, that the Jewish nation shall not
be extirpated as other nations ; for inasmuch as the tribe
of Judah, more even than other tribes, could be kept in a
state of external sanctity ; and at this day, as formerly,
account those Mosaic rituals holy which can be observed
out of Jerusalem, and also retain a holy veneration of their
fathers, and a particular reverence for the Word of the Old
Testament; and inasmuch as it was foreseen, that
Christians would almost totally reject that Word, and
would likewise defile its internal things with things
profane; therefore that nation hath been hitherto pre
served, according to the words of the Lord in Matthew,
xxiv. 34. It would have been otherwise if Christians, as
they were acquainted with things internal, had also Hved
as internal men. In that case, the Jewish nation, like
other nations mentioned in the Word, would have been
cut off many ages ago. Nevertheless there remain a
few among them who live in mutual love, and in conse
quence thereof do not despise others in comparison with
themselves.—^. C, 3479.
^^. — Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words
shall not pass away.
— Which signifies, that the internals and externals
of the former Church should perish, but that the Word
of the Lord should abide. " Heaven " is the internal
of the Church, and "Earth" its external. It is evi-

Day and hour unknown, 119
dent that the words of the Lord here mentioned, are
not only those which are recorded concerning His
Coming and the Consummation of the Age, but also all
that are contained in the Word. These words were
spoken immediately after what was said concerning the
Jewish nation, because that nation is preserved for the
sake of the Word.
From all these considerations it is manifest, that
the things here predicted are the beginnings of a New
Church. ^6. — But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not
the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
These words signify that the state of the Church, at
that time, as to goods and truths, would not appear to any
one either in earth or in heaven ; for by day and hour in
this passage is not meant day and hour of time, but states
as to good and truth. Times in the Word signify states,
as also days ; and hour signifies the same, but the specific
state. The reason why it denotes the states as to good
and truth is, because it is concerning the Church ; for good
and truth constitute the Church.
No, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. This
signifies, that heaven itself does not know the specific state
of the Church as to good and truth, but the Lord alone ;
and also that He alone knows when that state of the
Church will come to pass as the result of previous states.
It is the Lord Himself who is meant by the Father ; for
in the Lord Divine Good is named the Father, and Divine
Truth derived from Divine Good is named the Son; and
in the Lord all perception is from Divine Good ; thus also
all perception of the states of the Church as to good. They
who believe, therefore, that the Father is one and the Son
another, whether in regard to Being or Person, and who

-1 30 The Consummation of the Age.
thus divide and destroy the Divine Unity, do mot under
stand the Scriptures.*
37. — But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the
coming of the Son of Man be.
The vastation of those who are of the Church, and
thus the Consummation of the Age, is here compared to
what took place at the end of the Dispensation in the
time of Noah ; and thus the end of the Christian Dispen
sation is parallel not only to the end of the Jewish dispen
sation, but to the end of that which preceded it.
38. — For a? in the days that were before the Flood they
were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage,
until the day that Noah entered into the ark —
By Flood Is here signified an inundation of evils and
falses ; and thence the Consummation of that Age.
" Days " are states, as above. " Eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage," signifies their state as to
the appropriation of evil and the false ; and thence con
junction therewith. To " eat " is the appropriation of
good ; and to " drink " the appropriation of truth ; thus,
in the opposite sense, the appropriation of the evil and the
false. To " marry " is here conjunction with evil ; and to
" give in marriage," conjunction with the false. Internally
in a good sense, to " marry " is the conjunction of good
and truth ; but here in the opposite sense, it is the con
junction of evil and the false.
Whatsoever the Lord spake, inasmuch as it is Divine,
is not such in the internal sense as it is in the letter ;
thus to " eat " and to " drink," in the Holy Supper, does
not in the spiritual sense signify to eat and to drink, but
to appropriate the good of the Lord's Divine Love ; and as
* See True Christian Religion, art. 15,

The Flood. 131
the marriage union, when predicated of the Church and
the Lord's kingdom. Is the conjunction of the good of love
with the truth of faith, therefore from that conjunction the
Lord's kingdom in the Word is called' the heavenly
marriage. Until the day that Noah entered into the Ark, signifies
the end of the former Church and the beginning of the
New ; for by " Noah " is signified those who remained of
the most Ancient Church, and were not destroyed by the
Flood, but could be regenerated; and by the "Ark" is
signified the New Church Into which they entered.
"Day," which is occasionally mentioned in these verses,
signifies state.
39. — And knew not until the Flood came and took
them all away ; so shall also the Coming of the Son of
Man be.
These words signify, that the men of the Church at
that time will not know that they are inundated with evils
and falsities ; because of the evils and falsities in which
they themselves are principled. They will not know what
the good of love to the Lord is, and the good of charity to
their neighbour ; nor what the truth of faith is, and that
the truth of faith is from the good of love, and can be
given to those alone who live in t^at love and in that
charity. They will likewise not know, that the internal is
that which saves and damns, but not the external separate
from the internal. The " Flood coming, and taking all
away in the time of Noah," is parallel to the expression
" no flesh should be saved," in the time of false Christs
and false prophets.
So shall also the Coming of the Son of Man be ; — words
which signify, that at that time the men of the Church
will not receive Divine Truth. The " Coming of the Son of

133 The Consummation of the Age.
Man " is the Coming of Divine Truth, which will then be
revealed, as above shewn; but which will then be rejected.
40. — Then shall two be in the field ; the one shall be
taken and the other left.
These words signify, that those within the Church who
are in good will be saved, and those within the Church
who are in evil will be damned. " Field " denotes the
Church as to the reception and procreation of truth and
good, because the Church receives as a Field the seeds
of good and truth; for the Church is in possession of
the Word from whence those seeds are received. Hence
also it is, that whatever is in a Field signifies also some
what appertaining to the Church ; such as sowing, reaping,
wheat, ripe corn, etc. Of those in the Church who receive
the doctrine of truth and good, such as commit this doctrine
to life will be accepted, and such as do not will be rejected.
41. — Two shall be grinding at the mill, the one shall be
taken and the other left.
These words signify, that those within the Church who
are in truth, that is, in the affection of truth from good,
shall be saved; and those in the Church who are in
truth, that is, in the affection of truth from evil, will be
damned. The foregoing words therefore describe what
would be the state of the Church as to good and truth,
when truth is rejected by the former Church and received
by a New Church.
In the Word, such as grind are they within the
Church who are in truth from the affection of good; and in
the opposite sense, they within the Church who are in
truth from an affection of evil ; as may appear from the fol
lowing passages — " Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin
daughter of Babylon ; sit on the earth not on a throne, O
daughter of the Chaldeans — Take the millstones and grind

Mill and Millstone, 133
meal," etc. {Isaiah xlvii. 2). Where "the daughter of
Babylon" denotes those with whom external things appear
holy and good, but whose interior things are profane and
evil. The "daughter of the Chaldeans" denotes those
with whom external things appear holy and true, but
whose interior things are profane and false. To " take a
mill and grind fine flour," denotes to bring forth doctrinals
from truths which men pervert ; for as fine flour is pro
cured from wheat and barley, it signifies truths from good;
but, in an opposite sense, truths which men pervert in
order to seduce.
So in Jeremiah : " I will take from them the voice of
mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bride
groom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the mill
stones, and the light of a candle; and this whole land
shall be waste and desolation" (xxv. 10, 11). And again in
John ; — "No artificer of any art shall be found any more
in thee, and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no
more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall
shine no more at all in thee ; and the voice of the bride
groom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in
thee" {Rev, xviii. 33, 33). By the sound of the millstone
being no more heard in Babylon, is denoted that there should
be no truth ; and by the Hght of a candle not shining, is
denoted that neither should there be any understanding
of truth. So in Lamentations : " They took the young men to
grind, and the children fell under the wood" (v. 13).
Youths led away to grind, denotes to deduce falses, by ap
plying truths and by this means persuading.
So in Exodus : " All the first born In the land of Egypt
shall die, from the first born of Pharaoh that sitteth up on
his throne, even unto the first born of the maidservant who

X34 The Consummation of the Age,
is behind the mills" (ii. 5). The " first born of Egypt"
denote the truths of faith separate from the goods of
charity; which truths become falsities. The "first born
of the maidservant who is behind the mill " denotes the
affection of such truth whence come falsities. These are
the things represented by the historlcals here stated.
Again in Deuteronomy : " No man shall take the
nether or the upper millstone to pledge ; for he taketh a
man's life to pledge" {Deut. xxiv. 6). This law was
enacted on this account,, because by mills were signified
doctrinals, and by millstone the truths of doctrinals, which
are what are called " the life of him who giveth the pledge."
It Is evident that without a spiritual signification of mills
and millstone, the foregoing law would not have been given;
nor would it have been said, that the mills and mill
stone were the man's life or soul.
At the Consummation of the Age, and hence the end
of one Dispensation and the beginning of another, how
the case is with the rejection of an Old Church and the
adoption of a new one, Is scarcely known to any one. He
who Is not acquainted with the interiors of man, and the
states of those interiors, and thence with the states of men
after death, cannot conceive otherwise than that they who
are of the Old Church, with whom good and truth are vas
tated (that is, is no longer acknowledged in heart), are
literally to perish, either as the antediluvians by a literal
Flood, or as the Jews by being driven out of their own
land ; or in some other manner. But when the Church
has been vastated, that is, when it is no longer in
any good of faith, it perishes principally as to the states of
its interiors ; thus as to states in the other life. In such
a case, heaven removes itself from them (and consequently
the Lord), and transfers itself to others who are adopted in

Watch therefore. 135
their place. For without a Church somewhere or other
on the earth, there is no communication of heaven possible
with man; for the Church is as the heart and lungs of the
Maximus Homo.
On this occasion, they who are of the Old Church upon
earth, and thus removed from heaven, are in a sort of inun
dation as to the interiors, and indeed in one reaching over
the head. This is not perceived by the man himself whilst
he lives in the body, but he comes into it after death. It
appears manifestly in the other life, and indeed is as a cloudy
mist with which they are encompassed, and by which they
are separated from heaven. The state of those who are thus
beclouded is such that they cannot possibly see what is the
truth of faith, and still less what is its good ; for the light of
heaven, in which is intelligence and wisdom, cannot penetrate
into that cloud. Such is the state of the vastated Church.
43. — Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your
Lord doth come.
In this and the following passages, as the subject of
Prophecy is how completed, our Lord does not speak so
directly by representatives and significatives as before ;•
hence what these words involve in the internal sense, may
appear with little explanation. He who does not know
the internal sense of the Word, will believe that by the
foregoing expressions is meant the Last Judgment, as
commonly conceived; but by these expressions is meant
the state of man as to love and faith when he dies.
Hence it is evident, that by watching is meant to be in
a state of reception of life from the Lord, which life is a
spiritual life ; just as by. sleeping is meant to lead a natural
life without the spiritual. — Ap. Ex., 187,
To be " watchful " is to be in truths, and In a life con
formable to tiiem. By watching, in the Word, nothing

136 The Consummation of the Age,
else is signified ; for he who learns truths and Hves accord
ing to them is like one who is awaked out of sleep and
becomes watchful ; but he who is not in truths, but only
in worship without truths, is like one who sleeps and
dreams. Natural life, considered in itself or without
spiritual life, is nothing else but sleep ; but natural life in
which there is spiritual life is watchfulness ; and this is
no otherwise acquired than by truths, which are in their
own day and their own Hght, when man is in a life con
formable to them. — Ap, Rev., 158.
Truth that is not in the life of man is not in the man,
but is only external to him ; and consequently does not
impart to him any internal perception. In this case,
whatever be his state of external sanctity, he is unable to
perceive the Coming of the Son of Man, or Divine Truth
when revealed. For the same reason, he is unable to per
ceive the internal state of the Church at that period ; and
unable to perceive his own Internal or spiritual states,
either while he is in this world, or after he is called out of
it into another ; for he carries his state of mere external
religion with him.
43, — But know this, that if the good man of the house
had known in what watch the thief would come, he would
have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be
broken up.
By the " thief coming " is signified the unexpected
time of death, when all knowledges procured from the
Word, which have not gained spiritual Hfe, shall be
snatched away.
Moreover, It is said that the Lord will come like a
thief, because the man who is in in dead .worship is then
deprived of the external good of this worship ; for even in
dead worship there is this external good, that the performers

Faithful and wise servant. 1 37
think of God and of life everlasting ; but still good without
its truths is in no sense good except as by assumption meri
torious, or else it is hypocritical good, for evils and falsities
take away goods like a thief ; man, in the mean time, not
knowing when or how. It is attributed to the Lord that
He will come Hke a "thief;" but in the spiritual sense it
is understood, that it is Hell which will take away and
steal. The case herein is the same as when it is said in
the Word, that God doeth evil to man, vastates him,
revenges. Is wrathful, leadeth into temptation ; when never
theless it is Hell that doeth these things ; for It is so ex
pressed, because it so appears to man,
44. — Therefore be ye also ready, for at such an hour as
ye think not the Son of Man cometh.
A solemn warning to the whole Church, as represented
by the disciples, to be in the internal life of truth ; in virtue
of which alone they will be enabled to perceive, and to be
prepared for, that crisis in the state of Christendom, In
which the Sun and Moon have been darkened, the Age
consummated, and a new dispensation of Divine Light
granted to the Church; for otherwise there will prevail
only a religion of externals, and a spirit of scepticism, or
even positive denial of Divine Truth, when at length it is
revealed. ii^.e^.—Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom
his Lord has made ruler over his household, to give them
meat in due season.
This is an exhortation to members of the Church and
rulers over the Lord's household, to enquire of themselves,
not only whether they themselves are prepared to receive,
but also whether they will be prepared to impart to others,
the solid food of that Divine Truth which will then be made
known.

138 Consummation of the Age.
46. — Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when He
cometh shall find so doing. 47, — Verily I say unto you,
that He shall make him ruler over all His goods.
These words signify that if that servant be found
watching, the principles of heavenly good and truth will
become the ruHng principles of his life and conduct, and
as such will have rule or dominion over all things of the
Inferior or natural mind.
48,— 5m< and if that evil servant shall say in his hearty
My lord delayeth his Coming —
— That is. If through evils of life the natural man
should not perceive the Coming of Divine Truth, and his
own perverted state ; and hence should disbelieve and
deny the Divine Truth revealed, and look out for a coming
of some other kind,, more in conformity with his own
natural ideas — -
49. — And shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and
to eat and d^ink with the drunken —
The fellow servants here spoken of denote natural and
rational truths, or the goods and truths of the natural
mind, and are the same with the man servants and maid
servants spoken of by the prophets ; as where it is said
in Joel — "I win pour out my spirit upon all flesh,
and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. And
also upon the men servants and upon the handmaids of
those days will I pour out my spirit" (ii. 38, 39,) See
also Isaiah xiv. i, 2; xxiv. i, 2; Apoc, xix. 17, and other
places. To " eat and drink " with the drunken signi
fies, to appropriate to himself evils and falses of every
kind {Rev. xvii. 2.)
50. — The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when
he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware
of. 51. — And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his

The Evil Servant. 129
portion with the hypocrites : there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth.
— " Shall cut him asunder," signifying, in this case,
separation and removal from goods and truths ; for they
who are in the knowledges of good and truth (as they are
who are within the Church), and yet in the life of evil, are
said to be cut off or divided when they are removed from
those knowledges ; for the knowledges of good and truth
are separated from them In the other life, and they are
thus kept in their evils and hence in their falsities ; lest
by the knowledges of good and truth they should com
municate with Heaven, and by evils and consequent falses
should communicate with Hell, and thereby be suspended
between the two, which is a state of internal dllaceratlon ;
lest also they should profane goods and truths, as is the
case when these are commingled with evils and falsities.
Something of the same kind is likewise signified by the
Lord's words to him who hid his talent in the earth —
" Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him
which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath
shall be given, and he shall have abundance ; but from
him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he
hath" {Matt. xxv. 38). Also by what the Lord saith
elsewhere in Matt. xiu. 13; also in Luke viu. 18.
And appoint his portion with the hypocrites, signifies
his portion with those who outwardly appear in truth as
to doctrine and in good as to life, but inwardly believe
nothing of truth and will nothing of good, who are hypo
crites. Thus they are divided. Therefore when external
thino-s are taken away from them, as is the case with all
in the other life, they appear such as they are as to Inter
nals, viz., without faith and charity ; while nevertheless
they have maintained an external appearance of faith and

130 The Consummation of the Age.
charity, with a view of ingratiating themselves with others,
and thereby securing to themselves worldly honours, gain,
and reputation. Such are the quality and character of al
most all those who are within the vastated Church ; for
they have external but no internal principles ; hence the
inundation of their interiors spoken of above.
There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. This
signifies their state in the other life; "weeping," their
state as to evils ; and " gnashing of teeth," their state as
to falsities ; for in the Word teeth signify the lowest
natural principles ; in a genuine sense, the truths of those
principles ; and in an opposite sense, their falsities.
Teeth also correspond thereto ; wherefore " gnashing of
teeth " is the collision of falsities with truths. They who
are in merely natural principles from the fallacies of the
senses, and believe nothing which they do not thence see, are
said to be In a state implied by " gnashing of teeth;" and in
the other life appear to themselves to be so when they
make conclusions concerning the truths of faith from their
own fallacies. Such characters abound in the Church when
it is vastated as to good and truth.

NOTE.
THE PROPHECY OP' DANIEL.

" When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desola
tion spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the Holy
place: whoso readeth let him understand." — Matt. xxiv. 15.
These words refer to a prophecy of Daniel contained in
chap. ix. 33-37, and the prophecy itself is delivered to
Daniel by the angel Gabriel, with this monition — "O
Daniel, I am now come forth to give thee skill and under
standing." — "I am come to shew thee, for thou art greatly
beloved ; therefore understand the matter and consider
the vision." — " Know therefore and understand."
Ver. 34. — Seventy weehs are decided upon thy people,
and upon thy city of holiness, to consummate prevarication,
and to seal up sins, and to expiate iniquity, and to bring in the
righteousness of ages, and to seal up the vision and the pro
phet, and to anoint the Holy of Holies.
These words have been investigated and explained by
many of the learned, but only as to the literal sense, and
not yet as to the spiritual sense, which has consequently
been hitherto unknown to the Christian world.
Seventy weehs are decided upon thy people, signifies, the
time and state of the Church which then existed with th^

133 The Consummation of the Age,
Jews, extending even to the end of that Church, so as to
attain to their fulness : " people " signify those who then
belonged to the Church. And upon thy city of holiness,
signifies the time and state of the Church down to its
end, as to the doctrine of truth from the Word ; " city "
denoting the doctrine of truth, and " the city of holiness "
Divine Tmth which is the Word. To consummate prevari
cation,* signifies to bring to a consummation those falsities
in the Church which arise from evils of life : to seal up
sins, signifies to bring to a close the evils themselves
arising from opposition to the love of God and of the
neighbour ; and to expiate iniquity, signifies to effect recon
ciliation by the expurgation of all that is opposed to the
life of love and a tme faith ; and thus to bring in the righ
teousness of ages, or that which is essential righteousness
throughout all ages, or everlasting righteousness, as dis
tinguished from the righteousness taught by false Christs
and false Prophets. To seal up the vision and the Prophet,
signifies to fulfil all things contained in the Word. To
anoint the Holy of Holies, signifies to unite the Essential
Divine with the Human in the Lord, for this is the Holy
of Holies. Ver. 35. — Know therefore and understand, that from the
going forth of the Word even to restore and to build up
Jerusalem, even to Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weehs;
afterwards in sixty and two weehs, the street and the moat
shall be restored and built, but in straitness of times.
Know therefore and understand, that from the goina
* " In Verbo mala nunc vocantur peccata, nunc iniquitates, et nunc pro:-
varicationes. Prevaricationes dicuntur quse fiunt contra vera fidei ; iniquitates
quae fiunt contra bona fidei ; peccata quae fiunt contra bona caritatiset amoris.
Priora bina egrediuntur ex perverso intellectu ; haec autem ex prava voluntate."
Arcana Ccelestia, art. 9156.

The Prophecy of Daniel. 133
forth of the Word, signifies, from the going forth of the
Word of the Old Testament, which was to be fulfilled in
the Lord ; for all things of the Word in the Old Testa
ment, in the supreme sense, treat concerning the Lord,
concerning the glorification of His Humanity, and thence
concerning His dominion over all things in heaven and in
earth. Even to restore and build Jerusalem, signifies, even
to the restoring and building up of the New Church which
was to be established; "Jerusalem" denoting that Church;
and to "build" denoting to establish anew. Even to
Messiah the Prince, signifies, even to the Lord and the
Divine Truth in Him and from Him; for the Lord is
called Messiah from the Divine Human Principle, and
Prince from Divine Truth. " Seven weeks " signify a
full time and state. Afterwards in sixty and two weehs
the street and the moat shall be restored and built, signifies,
the full time and state after His advent, until the establish
ment of the Christian Church, with its traths and doc
trine; "sixty" denoting a full time and state as to the
implantation of truth, in like manner as the number three
or six ; and " two " denoting those things as to good ; thus
" sixty and two " together denote the marriage of truth
with some degree of good; "the street" signifies the
truth of doctrine; and "the moat" doctrine. But in
straitness of times, signifies the implantation of truth and
good scarcely and with difficulty; because it takes place
with the nations or Gentiles with whom there Is but little
perception of truth.
Ver. 26. — But after sixty and two weeks, Messiah shall
be cut off, but not for Himself: afterwards the people of the
Prince that shall come will destroy the city and the sanc
tuary, so that the end thereof shall be with a flood, and
even to the end of the war desolations are decided.

134 The Consummation of the Age.
But after sixty and two weeks, signifies, after the full
time and state of the Christian Church as now at length
estMished, Messiah shall be cut off. Messiah and Christ
both signify Anointed, and consequently the Humanity
anointed with the Divinity, or the Divine Humanity. To
be cut off Is to be divided or separated ; and to divide or
separate the Messiah or the Anointed is to divide or
separate the Divine Humanity, or the Anointed from the
Anointing, or the Humanity from the Divinity, and also
to divide or separate the Messiah from the Church ; from
which division, separation, or cutting off by the Church,
follow two results ; first. He ceases to be to the Church
the Messiah ; and secondly, the Church itself, as being
" cut off" or separated from Him, ceases to be His Church.
Thus it is foreshewn, that the Christian Church, after it
had been established, will recede from the Messiah ;
which took place principally with the Babylonians, by
reason of their transference of the Divine Power of the
Messiah to the Popes, and thus by their non-acknowledg
ment of the Divinity of His Humanity, /. e., of His
Divine Humanity which is The Messiah. This state of
things, however, will not be allowed to continue; for in
the first place, although He is cut off by the Church, He
does not, as regards Himself, cease to be the Messiah, or
to retain His Divine Power; and secondly, as regards the
Church, there would arise a time of Reformation, when
there would be those within the Church who would pro
test against the separation of the Humanity from His
Divinity, and maintain the doctrine of a Divine Humanity,
which is one and the same with the Messiah.*
Afterwards the people of the Prince that shall come shall
* See Formula Concordia upon this subject. Editor.

The Prophecy of Daniel. 135
destroy the city and the sanctuary, signifies, that both doc
trine and the Church will then perish, being corrupted*
by falses; "city" denoting doctrine; "sanctuary," the
Church ; and " the Prince that shall come," the reigning
false; so that the end shall be with an Inundation of evils
and falsities. And even to the end of the war desolations
are decided, signifies, the falsification of truth continued to
the end, till there is no longer any combat between the
truth and the false. " Inundation," or Flood, signifies
falsification of truth; "war," the combat between what is
true and what is false; and "desolation," the last state of
the Church, when there is no longer any truth but merely
what is false, and consequently no longer any combat
between the two, the reigning false being assumed to be
true. Ver. 27. — Nevertheless He shall confirm the covenant
with many for one week ; but in the midst of the weeh He shall
cause the sacrifice and the meat offering to cease ; at length
upon the bird of abominations shall be desolation ; and even
to the consummation and decision, it shall le poured out
upon the devastated.
He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week,
signifies, that nevertheless there shall come a time of
Reformation when the Word will again be read and the
Lord acknowledged, that is, when the Divinity of His
Humanity shall be again acknowledged; which acknow
ledgment, and thence conjunction with the Lord by the
Word, is signified by "covenant;" and the time of the
Reformation, by " one week." But in the midst of the
week He shall cause the sacrifice and the meat offering to
cease, signifies, that still interiorly with those who are the
* Arcajia Ccelestia, art, 622.

J ^6 The Consummation of the Age.
Reformed there will be no truth and good in their worship ;
"sacrifice" denoting worship from truths, and "meat
offering" worship from goods. By "the midst of the
week " Is not signified the midst of that time, but the in
most of the state of the Reformed ; for " midst " signifies
inmost, and " week " the state of the Church. The reason
that there was no truth and good inwardly in worship after
the Reformation is, because they assumed faith for the
essential of the Church, and separated It from charity ;
and when faith Is separated from charity, then in the in
most of worship there is neither truth nor good ; for the
inmost of worship Is the good of charity, and the truth of
faith proceedeth from it. At length upon the bird* of
abominations shall be desolation, signifies, the extinction of
all truth by the separation of faith from charity ; " the bird
of abominations" denoting faith alone, thus faith separated
from charity; for a "bird" signifies thought concerning
the truths of the Word and the understanding of them ;
which becomes a "bird of abominations" when there is
not any spiritual affection of truth, which alone illustrates
and teaches truth, but only a natural affection which Is for
the sake of gain, glory, honour, etc, and which, being
Infernal, is abominable. Inasmuch as mere falses flow from
it. And even to the consummation and decision it shall be
poured out upon the devastated, signifies the extreme or last
state thereof, when there is nothing of the truth of faith
remaining, and vvhen the Last Judgment takes place.
That these concluding words were predicted In Daniel
concerning the End of the Christian Church, is evident from
* By some this is translated "the wing of abominations;" by others, as
by Schmidius, " the bird of abominations ;'' the original word f\p may
signify either bird or wing. Some have interpreted the passage as alluding
to a pinnacle or win.g of the Temple. Matthew iv. 5. (Editor.)

The Prophecy of Daniel. 137
the Lord's words in Matthew — " When ye shall see the
abomination of desolation predicted by Daniel the Prophet
standing in the Holy Place, let him who readeth under
stand;" for the subject treated of in that chapter is
concerning The Consummation of the Age, thus concern
ing the successive vastation of the Christian Church ;
wherefore the devastation of this Church is understood by
those words in Daniel.

K

APPENDIX.

Preface, Page ^o, "Rabbinical fancy." — It is stated by
Cardinal Manning, and is indeed generally admitted, that the
primitive Catholic Church inherited the belief of the Divine
Inspiration of the Old Testament which had been previously
current among the Jews ; and we have remarked, p. 29, that the
principles of inspiration and interpretation are common both to
Swedenborg and to the primitive Catholic Church. It is how
ever to be observed, that although the same general principles
are common to both, Swedenborg did not derive them either
from the primitive Catholic Church or from the Tradition of the
Jews. His source of information was quite independent of both
these, and such that what has been called a " Rabbinical fancy "
was to him a historical fact ; since he derived his information
from actual converse with the very members themselves of the
Most Ancient Church, and also with those of the Ancient
Church. Accordingly, he says, that by the Divine Mercy of
the Lord —
" 1 have had converse with those who belonged to the Most
Ancient Church, which was that which was called Man or
Adam; and also with some who belonged to the succeeding
Churches ; to the intent that I might know, that by the names
in the first chapters of Genesis are only meant Churches ; and
also that I might know what was the character of the men who
formed the Churches at that time." — " The objects of the out
ward senses, such as terrestrial and worldly things, were to the

Appendix. 139
members of the Most Ancient Church as nothing ; nor did they
perceive any delight in them, but only in the things which they
signified and represented. Wherefore, when they saw terres
trial objects, they did not think at all about them, but only about
those things which they signified and represented; which to
them were most delightful ; being such things as exist in heaven,
and in virtue of which they saw the Lord Himself." — Arcana
Ccelestia, art. 1114, 1122.
With respect to Moehler "s extraordinary mis-statements upon
this subject, see Dr. Tafel's Vindication of the Doctrines and
Statements of Swedenborg, translated by the Rev. J. H. Smith-
son (i8_52) ; Dr. Tafel being a contemporary of Moehler, and
Professor in the same University.
Page 103, "The Sun shall be darkened," etc. What has been
said on the Coming of the Son of Man^ as The Light of the
World, at a time when the Sun is said to be darkened, will be a
sufficient answer to the following questions which the Roman
Catholic Bishop of Birmingham Dr. Ullathorne asks, in one of
his letters to Lady Chatterton, p. 263 ; and which are very
appropriate to the subject of our present Tract ; —
" My concluding remark is that a profession of faith cannot
be fairly grounded without some reference to the Church as the
Divine institution of Christ, the holder of His authority, and
His witness to mankind. The question recently put to Lord
Redesdale, but left without a reply, is the true touchstone of
faith. " Is the Church of Christ divine in its authority ? Did
the Incarnate Truth establish the authority to last for ever, or
like Moses, did He point to its fall and reformation ? And if so,
did He point, as Moses pointed, to some one who should come,
some other Divine One, who should reform His work as Christ
reformed the Law of Moses ? If so, who is that Divine One ?
Whence came He ? By what signs should we know Him ?
And has His work become Divine in its authority, whereas the
work established by Christ must have failed ? There is one
Church of Christ, with one trath, taught by one authority,

140 Appendix.
received by all, believed by all within its pale ; or there is no
security for faith. If we examine our Lord's words and acts,
such a Church there is. If we follow the inclinations of our fallen
nature, ever averse to the control of authority, we there find the
reason why so many who love this world receive not the authority
that He planted to endure like His primal creation to the end."

FINIS.

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