DOCTRINE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE

 

 

 

 

Emanuel  Swedenborg

 

 

 

1763

 

 

 

www.cosmic-people.com

 

www.angels-heaven.org

 

 

 

 

CONTENTS

 

 

(1)

The Holy Scripture or the Word is Divine truth itself (nos. 1-4)

(2)

In the Word there is a spiritual sense, hitherto unknown (5-26)

(3)

The sense of the letter of the Word is the basis, the container, and the support of its spiritual and celestial senses (27-36)

(4)

Divine truth in the sense of the letter of the Word is in its fullness, in its holiness, and in its power (37-49)

(5)

The doctrine of the church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, and is to be confirmed thereby (50-61)

(6)

By means of the sense of the letter of the Word there is conjunction with the Lord and association with the angels (62-69)

(7)

The Word is in all the heavens, and is the source of angelic wisdom (70-75)

(8)

The church is from the Word, and is such as is its understanding of the Word (76-79)

(9)

There is a marriage of the Lord and the church . . . (80-90)

(10)

It is possible for heresies to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word (91-97)

(11)

The Lord came into the world to fulfill all things of the Word. . . . (98-100)

(12)

Before the Word that is now in the world there was a Word which is lost (101-103)

(13)

The people outside the church who are not in possession of the Word have light by its means (104-113)

(14)

Without the Word no one would have knowledge of God, of heaven and hell, of a life after death, and still less of the Lord (114-118)

(*)

Index of Scripture Passages

 

 

 

 

DOCTRINE OF HOLY SCRIPTURE

 

 

 

(1)

 

The Holy Scripture or Word is Divine truth itself

 

 

1. It is in everybody’s mouth that the Word is from God, is divinely inspired, and is therefore holy; and yet hitherto no one has known wherein it is Divine. For in the letter the Word appears like a common writing, in a style that is strange, and neither so sublime nor so brilliant as apparently are the writings of the day. For this reason a man who worships nature as God, or in preference to God, and who consequently thinks from himself and what is proper to himself, and not from heaven from the Lord, may easily fall into error in respect to the Word, and into contempt for it, and while reading it may say to himself, What is this? What is that? Can this be Divine? Could God, whose wisdom is infinite, speak in this manner? Wherein consists its holiness, and whence comes its holiness, except from religious feeling and its consequent persuasion?

 

2. But he who thinks in this way does not consider that Jehovah himself, the God of heaven and earth, spoke the Word through Moses and the prophets, and that it must therefore be Divine truth itself, for what Jehovah himself speaks can be nothing else. Nor does he consider that the Lord, who is the same as Jehovah, spoke the Word that is in the gospels, much of it with his own mouth, and the rest from the spirit of his mouth, which is the Holy Spirit.

 

This is why, as he himself says, there is life in his words, that he is the light which enlightens, and that he is the truth.²⁰

 

[2] That the words which the Lord himself spoke in the gospels are life, is declared in John:

 

The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63).

 

Jesus said to the woman at Jacob’s well, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into eternal life (John 4:6, 10, 14).

 

“Jacob’s well” signifies the Word, as also in Deut. 33:28, for which reason the Lord sat there and conversed with the woman. And “water” signifies the truth that is in the Word.

 

[3] Again in John:

 

If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:37-38).

 

Peter said unto Jesus, Thou hast the words of eternal life (John 6:68).

 

And therefore the Lord says in Mark:

 

Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away (Mark 13:31).

 

The reason the Lord’s words are “life” is that he himself is the “life” and the “truth,” as he teaches in John:

 

I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; in him was life; and the life was the light of men (John 1:1, 4.)

 

“The Word” here means the Lord as to Divine truth, in which alone there is life and there is light.

 

[4] It is on this account that the Word, which is from the Lord and which is the Lord, is called

 

A fountain of living waters (Jer. 2:13; 17:13; 31:9). A fountain of salvation (Isa. 12:3).

 

A fountain (Zech. 13:1).

 

A river of the water of life (Rev. 22:1).

 

And it is said that

 

The lamb that is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters (Rev. 7:17).

 

Besides other passages where the Word is called the “sanctuary” and the “tabernacle” in which the Lord dwells with man.

 

3. But the natural man cannot be persuaded by these considerations to believe that the Word is Divine truth itself wherein are Divine wisdom and Divine life; for he judges it by its style, and in this they do not appear. Yet the style of the Word is the Divine style itself, with which no other style, however sublime and excellent it may seem, is at all to be compared; for every other style is as darkness is to light. The style of the Word is such that there is holiness in every sentence, and in every word, and in some places in even the very letters. This is why the Word conjoins man with the Lord, and opens heaven. From the Lord proceed two things: Divine love, and Divine wisdom (or, what is the same, Divine good, and Divine truth, for Divine good is of his Divine love, and Divine truth is of his Divine wisdom), and in its essence the Word is both of these; and as it conjoins man with the Lord, and opens heaven, it follows that the man who reads it from the Lord, and not from himself alone, is filled by it with the good of love and the truths of wisdom; his will with the good of love, and his understanding with the truths of wisdom. In this way man has life by means of the Word.

 

4. Therefore in order to remove all doubt as to such being the character of the Word, the Lord has revealed to me the Word’s internal sense. In its essence this sense is spiritual, and in relation to the external sense, which is natural, is as soul is to body. This sense is the spirit which gives life to the letter; it can therefore bear witness to the divinity and holiness of the Word, and convince even the natural man, if he is willing to be convinced.

 

 

 

(2)

 

In the Word there is a spiritual sense, hitherto unknown

 

 

This subject shall be considered in the following order:

 

(a) What the spiritual sense is.

 

(b) This sense is in all things of the Word and in every single particular of it.

 

(c) From this sense it is that the Word is divinely inspired, and is holy in every word.

 

(d) Hitherto this sense has been unknown.

 

(e) Henceforth it will be imparted solely to him who from the Lord is in genuine truths.

 

5. (a) What the spiritual sense is. The spiritual sense of the Word is not that sense which shines forth from the sense of the letter while one is studying and unfolding the meaning of the Word with intent to confirm some tenet of the church. This is the literal sense of the Word. The spiritual sense does not appear in the sense of the letter, being within it as the soul in the body, as thought in the eyes, and as affection in the face, which act as a one, like cause and effect. It is this sense chiefly which renders the Word spiritual, not for men only, but for angels also; and therefore by means of this sense the Word gives communication with the heavens.

 

6. From the Lord proceed the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural, one after another. That is called the celestial which proceeds from his Divine love, and is Divine good; that is called the spiritual which proceeds from his Divine wisdom, and is Divine truth; the natural is from both, being their complex in the ultimate. The angels of the Lord’s celestial kingdom, of whom is composed the third or highest heaven, are in that Divine which proceeds from the Lord that is called the celestial, for they are in the good of love from the Lord. The angels of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom, of whom is composed the second or middle heaven, are in that Divine which proceeds from the Lord that is called the spiritual, for they are in truths of wisdom from the Lord.²¹ But the men of the church on earth are in the Divine natural, which also proceeds from the Lord. From this it follows that the Divine in proceeding from the Lord to its ultimates descends through three degrees, and is named the celestial, the spiritual, and the natural. The Divine which comes down from the Lord to men descends through these three degrees; and when it has come down, it holds these three degrees contained within it. Such is everything Divine, so that when it is in its ultimate degree it is in its fullness. Such is the Word; in its ultimate sense it is natural, in its interior sense it is spiritual, and in its inmost sense it is celestial; and in each sense it is Divine. That such is the nature of the Word does not appear in the sense of the letter, which sense is natural, for the reason that hitherto the man of this world has known nothing about the heavens; and consequently has not known what the spiritual is, nor what the celestial is, nor therefore the distinction between them and the natural.

 

7. The distinction between these degrees cannot be known unless correspondence is known. For these three degrees are altogether distinct from each other, like end, cause, and effect, or like prior, posterior, and postreme; yet they make one by correspondences, for the natural corresponds to the spiritual, and also to the celestial. What correspondence is may be seen in Heaven and Hell, where the subject of the correspondence of all things of heaven with all things of man has been treated of (n. 87-102); and also the correspondence of heaven with all things of the earth (n. 103-115). The same will further appear below, from examples adduced from the Word.

 

8. As therefore the Word interiorly is spiritual and celestial, it is written exclusively by correspondences. And what is thus written is in its ultimate sense written in a style such as is that of the prophets and evangelists, which, although it may appear common, yet conceals within it Divine and all angelic wisdom.

 

9. (b) The spiritual sense is in all things of the Word, and in every single particular of it. This cannot be better seen than by examples, such as the following. John says in Revelation:

 

I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns, and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself, and he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And his armies in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. And I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, Come and gather yourselves together to the great supper, that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, and small and great (Rev. 19:11-18).

 

What these things signify cannot be known except from the spiritual sense of the Word, and no one can know the spiritual sense except from a knowledge of correspondences, for all the above words are correspondences, and not one word there is without meaning. The knowledge of correspondences teaches what is signified by the white horse, what by him who sat thereon, what by his eyes that were as a flame of fire, what by the crowns that were upon his head, what by his vesture dipped in blood, what by the white linen in which they were clothed who were of his army in heaven, what by the angel standing in the sun, what by the great supper to which they should come and gather themselves, and what by the flesh of kings, and captains, and others, which they should eat. The signification of each of these things in the spiritual sense may be seen in White Horse, where they are explained, so that it is unnecessary to explain them further here. In that little work it has been shown that the Lord in respect to the Word is here described; and that by his eyes which were as a flame of fire, and by the crowns that were upon his head, and by the name that no one knew but he himself, is meant the spiritual sense of the Word, and that no one can know it but the Lord himself and he to whom he wills to reveal it; and also that by his vesture dipped in blood is meant the natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of its letter, to which violence has been done. That it is the Word which is thus described is very evident, for it is said “his name is called the Word of God”; and that it is the Lord who is meant is equally clear, for it is said that the name of him who sat on the white horse was written, King of kings and Lord of lords.

 

That at the end of the church the spiritual sense of the Word is to be opened is signified not only by what is said of the white horse and of him who sat thereon, but also by the great supper to which the angel standing in the sun invited all to come, and to eat the flesh of kings and of captains, of mighty men, of horses, and of them that sat on them, and of all both free and bond. All these expressions would be empty words and devoid of spirit and life, unless there were what is spiritual within them, like soul in body.

 

10. In Revelation, chapter 21, the holy Jerusalem is thus described:

 

That there was a light in her like unto a stone most precious, as it were a jasper stone, clear as crystal; that she had a wall great and high, having twelve gates, and over the gates twelve angels, and the name written thereon of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel; that the wall was a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel; and that the structure of the wall was of jasper, and its foundations of every precious stone, of jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprase, jacinth, and amethyst; that the twelve gates were twelve pearls; that the city itself was pure gold, like unto pure glass; and that it was foursquare; and that the length, the breadth, and the height thereof were equal, twelve thousand furlongs; with many other particulars (Rev. 21).

 

That all these things are to be understood spiritually is evident from the fact that by the holy Jerusalem is meant a new church which is to be set up by the Lord, as has been shown in Doctrine of the Lord (n. 62-65). And as the church is here signified by Jerusalem, it follows that all the things said of it as a city—concerning its gates, its wall, the foundations of its wall, and their measures—contain a spiritual sense; for the things that are of the church are spiritual. But what the several things signify has been explained in New Jerusalem and Its Heavenly Doctrine, published in London in the year 1758 (n. 1). I therefore refrain from a further explanation of them here. It is sufficient that it be known from that source that there is a spiritual sense in each several particular of the description, like a soul in its body; and that without this sense nothing of the church would be understood in the things there written; such as that the city was of pure gold; that its gates were of pearls; its wall of jasper; the foundations of its wall of precious stones; that its wall was of a hundred and forty-four cubits, which is the measure of a man, that is, of an angel; and that the city itself was twelve thousand furlongs in length, breadth, and height; and so on. But whoever, from a knowledge of correspondences, has come to know the spiritual sense will understand these particulars; as that the wall and its foundations signify doctrine from the literal sense of the Word; and that the numbers twelve, one hundred and forty-four, and twelve thousand, signify like things, namely, all the truths and goods of the church in one complex.

 

11. In Revelation, chapter 7, it is said:

 

That there were sealed one hundred and forty-four thousand—twelve thousand of each tribe of Israel—of the tribe of Judah, of the tribe of Reuben, of Gad, of Asher, of Naphtali, of Manasseh, of Simeon, of Levi, of Issachar, of Zebulon, of Joseph, and of Benjamin (Rev. 7:4-8).

 

The spiritual sense of these words is that all are saved in whom is the church from the Lord; for, in the spiritual sense, to be sealed on the forehead, or to be sealed, signifies to be acknowledged by the Lord and saved. The twelve tribes of Israel signify all of that church; twelve, twelve thousand, and a hundred and forty-four thousand, signify all; Israel signifies the church; and each tribe some specific thing of the church. He who does not know this spiritual signification of these words may imagine that only this precise number are to be saved, and they solely from the Israelitish and Jewish nation.

 

12. In Revelation, chapter 6, it is said:

 

That when the lamb opened the first seal of the book, there went forth a white horse, and that he who sat thereon had a bow, and to him was given a crown; that when he opened the second seal there went forth a red horse, and that to him who sat thereon was given a great sword; that when he opened the third seal there went forth a black horse, and that he who sat thereon had a pair of balances in his hand; and that when he opened the fourth seal there went forth a pale horse, and that the name of him who sat thereon was death (Rev. 6:1-8).

 

What these things signify can be unfolded solely by means of the spiritual sense; and it is completely unfolded when it is known what is signified by the opening of the seals, by a horse, and by the other things mentioned. By them are described the successive states of the church, from its beginning to its end, in respect to its understanding of the Word. The “opening of the seals of the book by the lamb” signifies the manifestation by the Lord of those states of the church. A “horse” signifies the understanding of the Word; the “white horse,” the understanding of truth from the Word in the first state of the church; the “bow” of him who sat upon that horse, the doctrine of charity and faith fighting against falsities; the “crown,” eternal life, the prize of victory. The “red horse” signifies the understanding of the Word destroyed in respect to good, in the second state of the church; the “great sword,” falsity fighting against truth. The “black horse” signifies the understanding of the Word destroyed in respect to truth, in the third state of the church; the “pair of balances,” the estimation of truth so small that there was scarcely any. The “pale horse” signifies the understanding of the Word annihilated by evils of life and the derivative falsities, in the fourth or last state of the church; and “death” signifies eternal condemnation. It is not apparent in the sense of the letter or natural sense that such is the signification of these things in the spiritual sense, so that unless the spiritual sense were at some time opened, the Word as to this and all other things in Revelation would be so completely closed that at last no one would know wherein its Divine holiness lies. It is equally so in respect to what is signified by the “four horses” and the “four chariots” that came forth from between two mountains of brass (Zech. 6:1-8).

 

13. In Revelation, chapter 9, we read:

 

The fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit; and he opened the bottomless pit, and there went up a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit; and there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth, and unto them was given power as the scorpions of the earth have power. The shapes of the locusts were like unto horses prepared for war, and on their heads were as it were crowns like gold; and their faces were as the faces of men; and they had hair as the hair of women; and their teeth were as the teeth of lions; and they had breastplates as of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots, of many horses running to war; and they had tails like scorpions; and there were stings in their tails; and their power was to hurt men five months. And they had a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew is Abaddon, but in the Greek he hath the name Apollyon (Rev. 1-3, 7-11).

 

Neither could these things be understood by anyone unless the spiritual sense were revealed to him; for nothing here is said emptily, but every single thing has its signification. The subject here treated of is the state of the church when all knowledges of truth from the Word have been destroyed, and consequently man, having become sensuous, persuades himself that falsities are truths.

 

[2] The “star fallen from heaven” signifies the knowledges of truth destroyed; the “sun and air darkened” signifies the light of truth become thick darkness; the “locusts that came out of the smoke of the pit” signify falsities in the outermost things such as exist with those who have become sensuous, and who see and judge all things from fallacies; a “scorpion” signifies their persuasiveness. That the locusts appeared “like horses prepared for war” signifies their reasonings as it were from the understanding of truth; that the locusts had “crowns like gold upon their heads, and faces as the faces of men” signifies that they appeared to themselves as conquerors, and as wise; their having “hair as the hair of women” signifies that they appeared to themselves as if they were in the affection of truth; their having “teeth as the teeth of lions” signifies that sensuous things, which are ultimate things of the natural man, appeared to them as having power over all things.

 

[3] Their having “breastplates as breastplates of iron” signifies argumentations from fallacies by which they fight and prevail; that “the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots running to war” signifies reasonings as if from the truths of doctrine from the Word for which they were to fight; their having “tails like scorpions” signifies persuasions; their having “stings in their tails” signifies their cunning arts of deceiving thereby; their having “power to hurt men five months” signifies that they induce a kind of stupor on those who are in the understanding of truth and perception of good; their having “a king over them, the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name is Abaddon or Apollyon” signifies that their falsities were from hell, where dwell those who are merely natural and in self-intelligence.

 

[4] This is the spiritual sense of these words, of which nothing appears in the sense of the letter. Everywhere in Revelation it is the same. Be it known that in the spiritual sense all things hang together in a continuous connection, which is fitted together in such a manner by the force and meaning of all the words in the literal or natural sense, that if even a little word were taken out of it, the connection would be broken and the coherence would perish. In order to prevent this, it is added at the end of this prophetical book,

 

That not a word shall be taken away (Rev. 22:19).

 

It is the same with the books of the prophets of the Old Testament; in order to prevent anything from being taken away from them, it came to pass of the Lord’s Divine providence that everything therein down to the very letters was counted. This was done by the Masorites.

 

14. In speaking to his disciples about the consummation of the age (which is the last time of the church), at the end of his predictions concerning the successive changes of state in the church, the Lord says,

 

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. And then shall appear the sign of the son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth wail, and they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and much glory. And he shall send his angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens even to the end of them (Matt. 24:29-31).

 

[2] By these words, in the spiritual sense, is not meant that the sun and moon would be darkened, that the stars would fall from heaven, that the Lord’s sign would appear in heaven, and that he would be seen in the clouds together with angels with trumpets, but by every word is meant some spiritual thing that is of the church, concerning the state of which at its end these things were spoken. For, in the spiritual sense, the “sun, which shall be darkened” means the Lord as to love; the “moon, which shall not give her light” means the Lord as to faith; the “stars, which shall fall from heaven” means the knowledges of what is good and true that would perish; the “sign of the son of man in heaven” means the appearing of Divine truth; the “tribes of the earth, which shall wail” means the lack of all truth that is of faith, and of all good that is of love; the “coming of the son of man in the clouds of heaven with power and glory” means the Lord’s presence in the Word, and revelation; “clouds” signify the sense of the letter of the Word, and “glory,” the spiritual sense of the Word; the “angels with a trumpet and a great voice” signifies heaven whence comes Divine truth; to “gather together the elect from the four winds, from the end of the heavens even to the end of them” signifies a newness of the church in respect to love and faith.

 

[3] That there is not meant a darkening of the sun and moon, nor a falling of the stars to the earth, is very evident from the prophets, in which like things are said about the state of the church when the Lord should come into the world. As in Isaiah:

 

Behold the day of Jehovah cometh, cruel, and of wrath of anger; the stars of the heavens, and the constellations thereof, shall not give their light, the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine; I will visit upon the world its wickedness (Isa. 13:9-11; 24:21, 23).

 

In Joel:

 

The day of Jehovah cometh, a day of darkness and of thick darkness; the sun and the moon shall be blackened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining (Joel 2:1-2, 10; 3:15).

 

In Ezekiel:

 

I will cover the heavens, and blacken the stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine; all the luminaries of light I will make dark, and will set darkness upon thy land (Ezek. 32:7-8).

 

“The day of Jehovah” means the Lord’s advent, which took place when there was no longer anything good and true left in the church, and not any knowledge of the Lord.

 

15. In order that it may be seen that without the spiritual sense the prophetical parts of the Word of the Old Testament are in many passages not intelligible, I will adduce a few, such as the following in Isaiah:

 

Then shall Jehovah stir up a scourge against Asshur, according to the smiting of Midian at the rock of Oreb, and his rod shall be upon the sea, which he shall lift up in the way of Egypt. And it shall come to pass in that day that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck. He shall come against Aiath; he shall pass to Migron; against Michmash he shall command his arms; they shall pass over Mebara; Gebah shall be a lodging to us; Ramah shall tremble; Gibeah of Saul shall flee. Wail with thy voice O daughter of Gallim; hearken O Laish, O wretched Anathoth. Madmenah shall be a wanderer; the inhabitants of Gebim shall gather themselves together. Is there as yet a day to stand in Nob? The mountain of the daughter of Zion, the hill of Jerusalem, shall shake her hand. Jehovah shall cut off the thickets of the forest with iron, and Lebanon shall fall by a magnificent one (Isa. 10:26-32, 34).

 

Here we meet with mere names, from which nothing can be drawn except by the aid of the spiritual sense, in which all the names in the Word signify things of heaven and the church. From this sense it is gathered that these words signify that the whole church has been devastated by memory-knowledges [scientifica]²² perverting all truth, and confirming falsity.

 

[2] In another place in the same prophet:

 

In that day 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; but they shall fly upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the sea, together shall they spoil the sons of the east, Edom and Moab shall be the putting forth of their hand. Jehovah shall utter a curse against the tongue of the Egyptian sea, and with the vehemence of his spirit he shall shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it into seven streams, so that he shall make a way [to pass over it] with shoes. Then shall there be a path for the remnant of his people, which remnant shall be from Asshur (Isa. 11:13-16).

 

Here also no one would see anything Divine except one who knows what is signified by the several names; and yet the subject treated of is the Lord’s advent, and what shall then come to pass, as is plainly evident from verses 1 to 10. Who, therefore, without the aid of the spiritual sense, would see that by these things in their order is signified that they who are in falsities from ignorance, yet have not suffered themselves to be led astray by evils, will come to the Lord, and that the church will then understand the Word; and that falsities will then no longer harm them?

 

[3] The case is the same where there are not names, as in Ezekiel:

 

Thus saith the Lord Jehovih, son of man, say unto the bird of every wing, and to every wild beast of the field, Assemble yourselves and come, gather yourselves from round about to my sacrifice which I sacrifice for you, a great sacrifice upon the mountains of Israel, that ye may eat flesh and drink blood; ye shall eat the flesh of the mighty, and drink the blood of the princes of the earth; ye shall eat fat to satiety, and drink blood to drunkenness, of my sacrifice which I have sacrificed for you. Ye shall be sated at my table with the horse and the chariot, with the mighty man, and with every man of war. Thus will I set my glory among the nations (Ezek. 39:17-21).

 

One who does not know from the spiritual sense what is signified by a sacrifice, by flesh and blood, by a horse, a chariot, a mighty man, and a man of war, would suppose that such things were to be eaten and drunk. But the spiritual sense teaches that to “eat the flesh and drink the blood of the sacrifice which the Lord Jehovih will offer upon the mountains of Israel” signifies to appropriate to one’s self Divine good and Divine truth from the Word; for the subject treated of is the calling together of all to the Lord’s kingdom, and, specifically, the setting up anew of the church by the Lord among the nations. Who cannot see that by “flesh” is not here meant flesh, nor blood by “blood”? As that people should drink blood to drunkenness, and that they should be sated with horse, chariot, mighty man, and every man of war. So in a thousand other passages in the prophets.

 

16. Without the spiritual sense no one would know why the prophet Jeremiah was commanded

 

To buy himself a girdle, and put it on his loins; and not to draw it through the waters, but to hide it in a hole of the rock by Euphrates (Jer. 13:1-7).

 

Or why the prophet Isaiah was commanded

 

To loose the sackcloth from off his loins, and put the shoe from off his foot, and go naked and barefoot three years (Isa. 20:2-3).

 

Or why the prophet Ezekiel was commanded

 

To pass a razor upon his head and upon his beard, and afterwards to divide the hairs, and burn a third part in the midst of the city, smite a third part with the sword, scatter a third part in the wind, and bind a few of them in his skirts, and at last throw them into the midst of the fire (Ezek. 5:1-4).

 

Or why the same prophet was commanded

 

To lie upon his left side three hundred and ninety days, and upon his right side forty days, and to make himself a cake of wheat, and barley, and millet, and spelt, with the dung of an ox, and eat it; and in the meantime to raise a rampart and a mound against Jerusalem, and besiege it (Ezek. 4:1-15).

 

Or why the prophet Hosea was twice commanded

 

To take to himself a harlot to wife (Hos. 1:2-9; 3:2-3).

 

And many like things. Moreover, without the spiritual sense who would know what is signified by all the things pertaining to the tabernacle, such as the ark, the mercy-seat, cherubim, lampstand, altar of incense, the bread of faces on the table, and its veils and curtains? Who without the spiritual sense would know what is signified by Aaron’s garments of holiness, by his coat, cloak, ephod, urim and thummim, miter, and other things? Who without the spiritual sense would know what is signified by all the things enjoined concerning the burnt offerings, sacrifices, meat offerings, and drink offerings, and also concerning the sabbaths and feasts? The truth is that not the least thing was commanded concerning them that did not signify something of the Lord, heaven, and the church. From these few examples it may be clearly seen that there is a spiritual sense in all things of the Word and in every particular of it.

 

17. That the Lord when in the world spoke by correspondences, thus that he spoke spiritually while he spoke naturally, is evident from his parables, in each and every word of which there is a spiritual sense. Take for example the parable of the ten virgins:

 

The kingdom of the heavens is like unto ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom; five of them were wise, and five were foolish; they that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil, but the wise took oil in their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept; and at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins awaked, and trimmed their lamps; and the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out; but the wise answered, saying, Not so, lest there be not enough for us and you; but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went away to buy, the bridegroom came, and they that were ready went in with him to the wedding, and the door was shut. Afterwards came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, lord, open to us; but he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not (Matt. 25:1-12).

 

[2] That there is a spiritual sense in each and every one of these things, and a consequent Divine holiness, can be seen by him only who knows that a spiritual sense exists, and what is its nature. In the spiritual sense, the “kingdom of God” means heaven and the church; the “bridegroom,” the Lord; the “wedding,” the marriage of the Lord with heaven and the church by means of the good of love and of faith. “Virgins” signify those who are of the church; “ten,” all; “five,” some; “lamps,” the truths of faith; “oil,” the good of love; to “sleep,” and to “awake,” the life of man in this world which is natural life, and his life after death which is spiritual; to “buy,” to procure for themselves; to “go to them that sell and buy oil,” to procure for themselves the good of love from others after death; and as this can then be no longer procured, although they came with their lamps and the oil they had bought to the door where the wedding was, yet the bridegroom said to them “I know you not.” The reason is that after his life in this world a man remains such as he had lived in this world.

 

[3] From all this it is evident that the Lord spoke exclusively by correspondences, and this because he spoke from the Divine that was in him, and was his. That the “bridegroom” signifies the Lord; the “kingdom of the heavens,” the church; a “wedding,” the marriage of the Lord with the church by means of the good of love and of faith; “ten,” all; “five,” some; to “sleep,” a natural state; to “buy,” to procure for one’s self; a “door,” entrance into heaven; and “not to know them,” when spoken by the Lord, not to be in his love, is evident from many passages in the prophetic Word where these expressions have a like signification. It is because “virgins” signify those who are of the church that the virgin and daughter of Zion, of Jerusalem, of Judah, and of Israel are so often mentioned in the prophetic Word. And it is because “oil” signifies the good of love that all the holy things of the Israelitish church were anointed with oil. It is the same with all the other parables, and with all the words the Lord spoke, and that were written in the gospels. This is why the Lord says that

 

His words are spirit and are life (John 6:63).

 

[4] It is the same with all the Lord’s miracles, which were Divine because they signified the various states of those with whom the church was to be set up anew by the Lord. Thus when the blind received sight, it signified that they who had been in ignorance of truth should receive intelligence; when the deaf received hearing, it signified that they who had previously heard nothing about the Lord and the Word should hearken and obey; when the dead were raised, it signified that they who otherwise would spiritually perish would become living; and so on. This is meant by the Lord’s reply to the disciples of John, who sent them to ask whether he was the one that should come:

 

Tell John the things which ye do hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead rise again, and the poor hear the gospel (Matt. 11:3-5).

 

Moreover, all the miracles related in the Word contain in them such things as belong to the Lord, to heaven, and to the church. This makes these miracles Divine, and distinguishes them from those which are not Divine. These few examples are given in order to illustrate what the spiritual sense is, and to show that it is in all things of the Word and in every particular of it.

 

18. (c) From the spiritual sense it is that the Word is divinely inspired, and is holy in every word. It is said in the church that the Word is holy, and this because Jehovah God spoke it; but as its holiness is not apparent from the letter alone, he who on this account once doubts its holiness, afterwards confirms his doubt when reading the Word by many things in it, for he then thinks, Can this be holy; can this be Divine? Therefore lest such a thought should flow in with many, and should afterwards prevail, and thereby the conjunction of the Lord with the church, in which is the Word, should perish, it has now pleased the Lord to reveal the spiritual sense, in order that it may be known where in the Word this holiness lies hid.

 

[2] This again may be illustrated by examples. The Word treats sometimes of Egypt, sometimes of Asshur, sometimes of Edom, of Moab, of the sons of Ammon, of Tyre and Sidon, of Gog; and one who does not know that these names signify things of heaven and the church may be led into the error that the Word treats much of nations and peoples, and but little of heaven and the church; thus much of earthly, and little of heavenly things. But when he knows what is signified by them, or by their names, he can come out of error into truth.

 

[3] And so when he sees in the Word such frequent mention of gardens, groves, and forests, and also of the trees in them, as the olive, vine, cedar, poplar, oak; and also such frequent mention of the lamb, sheep, goat, calf, ox; and likewise of mountains, hills, valleys, and the fountains, rivers, and waters in them, and many like things, one who knows nothing about the spiritual sense of the Word must believe that these things only are meant. For he is not aware that a garden, grove, and forest, mean wisdom, intelligence, and knowledge; that an olive, vine, cedar, poplar, and oak, mean the celestial, spiritual, rational, natural, and sensuous good and truth of the church; that a lamb, sheep, goat, calf, and ox mean innocence, charity, and natural affection; that mountains, hills, and valleys, mean higher, lower, and lowest things of the church; that Egypt signifies memory-knowledge, Asshur reason, Edom the natural, Moab the adulteration of good, the sons of Ammon the adulteration of truth, Tyre and Sidon the knowledges of truth and good, and Gog external worship without internal. But when a man knows these things he is able to consider that the Word treats solely of heavenly things, and that these earthly things are merely the subjects [subjecta] in which the heavenly things are.

 

[4] But let this also be illustrated by an example from the Word. We read in David:

 

The voice of Jehovah is upon the waters; the God of glory maketh it to thunder; Jehovah is upon the great waters. The voice of Jehovah breaketh the cedars; yea, Jehovah breaketh in pieces the cedars of Lebanon. He maketh them also to skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a son of unicorns. The voice of Jehovah cutteth out as a flame of fire. The voice of Jehovah maketh the wilderness to tremble; it maketh the wilderness of Kadesh to tremble. The voice of Jehovah maketh the hinds to be in travail, and layeth bare the forests; but in his temple everyone saith, Glory (Ps. 29:3-9).

 

He who is not aware that everything here, even as to every single word, is divinely holy, may, if a merely natural man, say to himself, What is this—that Jehovah sitteth upon the waters, that by his voice he breaketh the cedars, maketh them skip like a calf, and Lebanon like a son of unicorns, and maketh the hinds to be in travail, and so on? For he knows not that in the spiritual sense the power of Divine truth, or of the Word, is described by these things.

 

[5] In this sense, the “voice of Jehovah,” here called “thunder” means the Divine truth or Word in its power. The “great waters,” upon which Jehovah sits, mean the truths of the Word. The “cedars,” and “Lebanon,” which he “breaks,” and “breaks in pieces” mean the false things of the rational man. The “calf,” and a “son of unicorns” mean the false things of the natural and of the sensuous man. The “flame of fire” means the affection of what is false. The “wilderness,” and the “wilderness of Kadesh” mean the church in which there is not anything true and good. The “hinds” which the voice of Jehovah causes to be in travail, mean the nations who are in natural good. And the “forests” which he lays bare, mean the knowledges [scientiae et cognitiones] which the Word opens to them. Therefore these words follow: “In his temple everyone saith, Glory,” which mean that there are Divine truths in each and every thing of the Word. For the “temple” signifies the Lord, and therefore the Word, and also heaven and the church; and “glory” signifies Divine truth. From all this it is evident that there is not a word in this passage that is not descriptive of the Divine power of the Word against falsities of every kind in natural men, and of the Divine power in reforming the nations.

 

19. There is a still more interior sense in the Word which is called celestial, and of which something has been said above (n. 6); but this sense can with difficulty be made plain, because it does not fall so much into the thought of the understanding as into the affection of the will. The reason there is in the Word this still more interior sense called celestial is that there proceeds from the Lord Divine good and Divine truth, Divine good from his Divine love, and Divine truth from his Divine wisdom; and both are in the Word, for the Word is the Divine proceeding,²³ and it is for this reason that the Word gives life to those who devoutly read it. But this subject will be spoken of in the chapter in which it will be shown that there is a marriage of the Lord and the church, and a derivative marriage of good and truth, in each and every thing of the Word.

 

20. (d) Hitherto the spiritual sense of the Word has been unknown. It has been shown in the work Heaven and Hell (n. 87-105) that all things of nature, and likewise of the human body, and also every single particular in them, correspond to spiritual things. Hitherto, however, it has not been known what correspondence is, although in the most ancient times this was very well known; for the science of correspondences was then the science of sciences, and was so universal that all the writings and books were written by means of correspondences.

 

[2] The book of Job, which is an ancient book, is full of correspondences. The hieroglyphics of the Egyptians, and also the fabulous stories of highest antiquity, were nothing but correspondences. All the ancient churches were churches representative of heavenly things; their rites, and also the ordinances according to which their worship was instituted, consisted exclusively of correspondences.

 

So did all things of the church among the sons of Jacob; their burnt offerings and sacrifices, with each and every thing thereto pertaining, were correspondences; so was the tabernacle with all its contents; so were their feasts, the feast of unleavened things, the feast of tabernacles, and the feast of first-fruits; so was the priesthood of Aaron and the Levites, and also the holy garments of Aaron and his sons; besides all the ordinances and judgments that concerned their worship and their life.

 

[3] And as Divine things present themselves in the world by correspondences, the Word has been written exclusively by means of them. And therefore the Lord spoke by correspondences, because he spoke from his Divine, for that which is from the Divine, descending into nature, is turned into such things as correspond to Divine things, and which then store up and conceal in their bosom the Divine things that are called celestial and spiritual.

 

21. I have been instructed that the men of the most ancient church (the church before the flood) were of a genius so heavenly that they spoke with angels of heaven, and that they were able to speak with them by means of correspondences. From this the state of their wisdom was rendered such that whatever they saw in this world they thought about not only in a natural way, but spiritually also at the same time, so that they thought unitedly with angels. I have been instructed besides that Enoch (of whom mention is made in Genesis 5:21-24) together with his associates, collected correspondences from the lips of those men of the most ancient church, and transmitted the knowledge of them to posterity, and that in consequence of this the science of correspondences was not only known but was also much cultivated in many kingdoms of Asia, especially in the land of Canaan, in Egypt, Assyria, Chaldea, Syria, Arabia, and also in Tyre, Sidon, and Nineveh; and that it was carried over from places on the seacoast there into Greece; but there it was turned into fabulous stories, as is evident from the earliest writers of that country.

 

22. But when in process of time the representative things of the church, which were correspondences, were converted into things idolatrous and also into magic, then of the Lord’s Divine providence the knowledge of correspondences was gradually blotted out of remembrance, and among the Israelitish and Jewish people was altogether lost and annihilated. The worship of that nation did indeed consist exclusively of correspondences, and was consequently representative of heavenly things; but still they did not know what anything of it signified, for they were utterly natural men, and therefore were neither willing nor able to know anything about spiritual things, nor consequently about correspondences.

 

23. The reason why, in ancient times, the idolatries of the nations originated from the knowledge of correspondences, was that all things visible on the earth have a correspondence; not only trees, but also beasts and birds of every kind, and likewise fishes, and all other things. The ancients, possessing a knowledge of correspondences, made for themselves images that corresponded to heavenly things, and delighted in them because they signified things such as belong to heaven, and therefore to the church. They therefore set them not only in their temples, but also in their houses, not to be worshiped, but to call to remembrance the heavenly things they signified. Consequently in Egypt and elsewhere there were images of calves, oxen, serpents, also of children, old men, maidens; because calves and oxen signified affections and powers of the natural man; serpents, the sagacity of the sensuous man; children, innocence and charity; old men, wisdom; and maidens, affections of truth; and so on. When the knowledge of correspondences had been blotted out of remembrance, their descendants began to worship as holy, and at last as deities, the images and emblems set up by the ancients, because they stood in and about their temples.

 

[2] So with other nations; as, with the Philistines at Ashdod, Dagon (concerning whom see 1 Sam. 5:1 to end), whose upper part was like a man, and his lower like a fish. This image was so devised because a man signifies intelligence, and a fish knowledge, which make a one. It was also because they possessed a knowledge of correspondences that the ancients worshiped in gardens and groves, in accordance with the kinds of trees in them; and also upon mountains and hills. For gardens and groves signified wisdom and intelligence, and each particular tree something relating thereto; as the olive, the good of love; the vine, truth from that good; the cedar, rational good and truth. A mountain signified the highest heaven; and a hill, the heaven under it.

 

[3] The knowledge of correspondences survived among a number of the orientals, even until the Lord’s advent, as is evident from the wise men of the east who came to the Lord at his birth; and this was why a star went before them, and why they brought with them as gifts gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matt. 2:1-2, 9-11). For the “star that went before them” signified knowledge [cognitio] from heaven; “gold,” celestial good; “frankincense,” spiritual good; and “myrrh,” natural good; from which three is all worship.

 

[4] Nevertheless there was no knowledge of correspondences whatever among the Israelitish and Jewish nation, although everything in their worship, and all the judgments and ordinances delivered them through Moses, and all things of the Word, were nothing but correspondences. The reason was that at heart they were idolaters, and of such a character that they were not even willing to know that anything of their worship signified what is celestial and spiritual; for they desired that all those things should be holy in themselves and in connection with them; so that if celestial and spiritual things had been disclosed to them, they would not only have rejected but would have profaned them. Therefore heaven was so closed toward them that they scarcely knew that there is a life eternal. That this was the case is clearly evident from the fact that they did not acknowledge the Lord, although universal holy Scripture prophesied concerning him, and foretold his advent; and they rejected him for this sole reason—that he taught of a heavenly and not an earthly kingdom; for they wanted a messiah who would exalt them above every other nation in the world, and not a messiah who cared for their eternal salvation. For the rest, they affirm that the Word contains within it many arcana that are called mystical; but are unwilling to learn that these refer to the Lord; they however are quite willing to learn when it is said that the reference is to gold.

 

24. The reason why the knowledge of correspondences, which gives the spiritual sense of the Word, was not disclosed in times after those, is that the Christians of the primitive church were so very simple that it could not be disclosed to them; for it would have been of no use to them, nor would it have been understood. After their day, in consequence of the papal dominion, darkness came over all the Christian world; and they who are of that dominion, and have confirmed themselves in its falsities, neither can nor will apprehend anything spiritual, nor consequently what is the correspondence in the Word of natural things with spiritual. For thereby they would be convinced that by “Peter” is not meant Peter, but the Lord as a rock; and they would also be convinced that the Word is Divine even to its inmosts, and that a decree of the pope is relatively of no account. On the other hand, after the Reformation, as men began to effect a separation between faith and charity, and to worship God in three persons—thus three gods, whom they conceived to be one—heavenly truths were hidden from them; and if they had been disclosed they would have falsified them and applied them to faith alone, and not one of them to charity and love. And thus they would have closed heaven against themselves.

 

25. The reason why the spiritual sense of the Word has been at this day disclosed by the Lord is that the doctrine of genuine truth has now been revealed; and this doctrine, and no other, is in accord with the spiritual sense of the Word. This sense, moreover, is signified by the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven with glory and power (Matt. 24:30, 31); which chapter treats of the consummation of the age, by which is meant the last time of the church. The opening of the Word as to its spiritual sense was also promised in Revelation. It is there meant by the “white horse,” and by the “great supper” to which all are invited (Rev. 19:11-18). That for a long time the spiritual sense will not be recognized, and that this is entirely owing to those who are in falsities of doctrine, especially concerning the Lord, and who therefore do not admit truths, is meant in Revelation by the “beast,” and by the “kings of the earth,” who should make war with him that sat upon the white horse (19:19). By the “beast” are meant the papists, as in chapter 17:3; and by the “kings of the earth” are meant the reformed who are in false things of doctrine.

 

26. (e) Henceforth the spiritual sense of the Word will be imparted solely to him who from the Lord is in genuine truths. The reason of this is that no one can see the spiritual sense except from the Lord alone, nor unless from him he is in genuine truths. For the spiritual sense of the Word treats solely of the Lord and his kingdom; and this is the sense in which are his angels in heaven, for it is his Divine truth there. To this sense a man can do violence if he has a knowledge of correspondences, and wishes by means of it and from self-intelligence to investigate the spiritual sense of the Word. For through some correspondences with which he is acquainted he may pervert the meaning of it, and may even force it to confirm what is false, and this would be doing violence to Divine truth, and also to heaven. And therefore if anyone purposes to open that sense from himself and not from the Lord, heaven is closed; and then the man either sees nothing, or else becomes spiritually insane.

 

[2] Another reason is that the Lord teaches everyone by means of the Word, and he teaches from those truths which the man already has, and not without a medium does he pour new truths in, so that unless man is in Divine truths, or if he is only in a few truths and at the same time in falsities, he may from these falsify the truths, as it is well known is done by every heretic in regard to the Word’s sense of the letter. Therefore in order to prevent anybody from entering into the spiritual sense of the Word, or from perverting the genuine truth that belongs to that sense, guards have been set by the Lord, which in the Word are meant by the cherubim.

 

[3] That guards have been set has been represented to me in the following manner:

 

It was granted me to see great purses, having the appearance of sacks, in which silver was stored up in great abundance. As the purses were open, it seemed as if anyone might take out, and even pillage, the silver therein deposited; but near those purses sat two angels as guards. The place where the purses were laid appeared like a manger in a stable. In an adjoining apartment were seen modest maidens together with a chaste wife, and near that apartment stood two little children, and it was said that they were to be sported with, not in childish fashion, but wisely. After this there appeared a harlot, and also a horse lying dead.

 

[4] On seeing these things I was instructed that by them was represented the sense of the letter of the Word, in which is the spiritual sense. The large purses full of silver, signified knowledges of truth in great abundance. Their being open and yet guarded by angels, signified that everyone may get knowledges of truth from the Word, but that care is taken lest anyone should falsify the spiritual sense, in which are pure truths. The manger in a stable in which the purses lay, signified spiritual instruction for the understanding—a manger signifies this because the horse that feeds from it signifies the understanding.

 

[5] The modest maidens seen in the adjoining apartment, signified affections of truth; and the chaste wife, the conjunction of good and truth. The little children signified the innocence of wisdom therein; they were angels from the third heaven, who all appear like little children. The harlot, together with the dead horse, signified the falsification of the Word by many of this day, whereby all understanding of truth perishes. The harlot signified falsification; and the dead horse, no understanding of truth.²⁴

 

 

 

(3)

 

The sense of the letter of the Word is the basis, the container, and the support of its spiritual and celestial senses

 

 

27. In every Divine work there is a first, a middle, and a last (or ultimate); and the first passes through the middle to the last (or ultimate), and so comes into manifest being and subsists. Hence the last or ultimate is the basis. But the first is in the middle, and through the middle in the ultimate; so that the ultimate is the container. And as the ultimate is the container and the basis, it is also the support.

 

28. The learned reader will comprehend that these three may be called end, cause, and effect; also esse, fieri, and existere;²⁵ and that the end is the esse, the cause the fieri, and the effect the existere; consequently, that in every complete thing there is a trine, which is called first, middle, and ultimate; also end, cause, and effect; and also esse, fieri, and existere. When these things are comprehended, it is also comprehended that every Divine work is complete and perfect in its ultimate; and likewise that the whole is in the ultimate, which is a trine, because the prior things are together, or simultaneously, in it.²⁶

 

29. It is from this that by “three” in the Word in the spiritual sense is meant what is complete and perfect; and also the whole simultaneously. And as this is the signification of the number three, it is employed in the Word whenever any such thing is marked out for notice. As in the following passages:

 

Isaiah went naked and barefoot three years (Isa. 20:3).

 

Jehovah called Samuel three times, and Samuel ran three times to Eli, and Eli understood him the third time (1 Sam. 3:1-8).

 

David said to Jonathan that he would hide himself in the field three days; and Jonathan afterwards shot three arrows at the side of the stone; and after that David bowed himself down three times before Jonathan (1 Sam. 20:5, 12-41).

 

Elijah stretched himself three times over the widow’s son (1 Kings 17:21).

 

Elijah commanded that they should pour water on the burnt-offering three times (1 Kings 18:34).

 

Jesus said, The kingdom of the heavens is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened (Matt. 13:33).

 

Jesus said unto Peter that he should deny him thrice (Matt. 26:34).

 

The Lord said three times unto Peter, Lovest thou me? (John 21:15-17). Jonah was in the whale’s belly three days and three nights (Jonah 1:17).

 

Jesus said, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up (John 2:19; Matt. 26:61).

 

Jesus prayed three times in Gethsemane (Matt. 26:39-44). Jesus rose again on the third day (Matt. 28:1).

 

Besides many other passages where the number “three” is mentioned; and it is mentioned wherever a finished and perfect work is treated of, because this is signified by that number.

 

30. These things are premised with a view to those which follow, in order that they may be comprehended with understanding; and for the present purpose that it may be comprehended that the natural sense of the Word which is the sense of the letter, is the basis, the container, and the support of its spiritual sense and of its celestial sense.

 

31. It has been said above (n. 6, 19) that there are three senses in the Word; and also that the celestial sense is its first, the spiritual sense its middle, and the natural sense its ultimate sense. From this the rational man may infer that the first of the Word, which is celestial, passes through its middle, which is spiritual, to its ultimate, which is natural; and thus that its ultimate is the basis. Furthermore that the first of the Word, which is celestial, is in its middle, which is spiritual, and through this is in its ultimate, which is natural, and that consequently its ultimate, which is natural and is the sense of the letter, is the container. And as the sense of the letter is the basis and the container, it is also the support.

 

32. But how these things come to pass cannot be told in a few words. Indeed they are arcana in which are the angels of heaven, and which will be unfolded, so far as can possibly be done, in the treatises mentioned in the preface to Doctrine of the Lord—and which will be from angelic wisdom—on the divine providence, omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience, on divine love and divine wisdom, and on life.²⁷ For the present it is sufficient to conclude from what has been said above, that the Word—which is in an especial sense a Divine work for the salvation of mankind—in respect to its ultimate sense, which is natural and is called the sense of the letter, is the basis, the container, and the support of the two interior senses.

 

33. From all this it follows that without the sense of the letter, the Word would be like a palace without a foundation, and thus like a palace in the air and not on the earth, which would be but the shadow of a palace, that would vanish away. Furthermore, that without the sense of the letter the Word would be like a temple containing many holy things, and in its midst a sanctuary, but without roof and walls, which are its containers, and in the absence or loss of which its holy things would be plundered by thieves, or invaded by beasts of earth and birds of heaven, and thus be dispersed. Or it would be like the tabernacle (in the inmost of which was the ark of the covenant, and in its middle the golden lampstand, the golden altar for incense, and the table on which were the loaves of faces, which were its holy things) without its ultimates, which were the curtains and veils. Nay, without the sense of the letter, the Word would be like a human body without its coverings which are called skins, and without its supports which are called bones; lacking which supports and coverings all the interior things of the body would fall asunder. And it would be like the heart and lungs in the chest without their covering which is called the pleura, and their supports which are called the ribs. Or like the brain without its covering which is called the dura mater, and without its general covering, container, and support, which is called the skull. Thus would it be with the Word without the sense of the letter; and therefore it is said in Isaiah:

 

Jehovah createth upon all the glory a covering (Isa. 4:5).

 

34. So would it be with the heavens where angels are, without the world where men are. The human race is the basis, container, and support of the heavens; and the Word is among men and in them. For all the heavens have been discriminated into two kingdoms, called the celestial kingdom and the spiritual kingdom; these two kingdoms are founded upon a natural kingdom, in which are men. And so therefore is it with the Word which is among men and in men. (That the angelic heavens have been discriminated into two kingdoms, the celestial, and the spiritual, may be seen in Heaven and Hell, n. 20-28.)

 

35. It has been shown in Doctrine of the Lord (n. 28) that the prophets of the Old Testament represented the Lord in respect to the Word, and thereby signified the doctrine of the church from the Word, and that for this reason they were called “sons of man.” From this it follows that by means of the various things they suffered and endured, they represented the violence done by the Jews to the sense of the letter of the Word. Thus:

 

The prophet Isaiah was commanded to put off the sackcloth from off his loins, and to put off his shoe from off his foot, and to go naked and barefoot three years (Isa. 20:2-3).

 

And so

 

The prophet Ezekiel was commanded to pass a barber’s razor upon his head and upon his beard, and to burn a third part in the midst of the city, to smite a third part with the sword, and to scatter a third part in the wind, and to wrap a few of the hairs in his skirts, and at last to cast them into the midst of the fire and burn them (Ezek. 5:1-4).

 

[2] As the “prophets” represented the Word, and consequently signified the doctrine of the church from the Word, as said above, and as the “head” signifies wisdom from the Word, therefore the “hair” and “beard” signify the ultimate of truth. By reason of this signification, it was a mark of deep mourning, and also a great disgrace, for anyone to make himself bald, or to be seen bald. For this and no other reason it was that the prophet shaved off the hair of his head and his beard, that so he might represent the state of the Jewish Church in respect to the Word. For this and no other reason was it that

 

The forty-two children who called Elisha bald were torn to pieces by two she-bears (2 Kings 2:23-24).

 

For as before said a “prophet” represented the Word, and “baldness” signified the Word without its ultimate sense.

 

[3] It will be seen in the next chapter (n. 49) that the “Nazirites” represented the Lord in respect to the Word in its ultimates; and therefore it was an ordinance for them that they should let their hair grow, and shave off none of it. Moreover the term “Nazirite” in the Hebrew tongue means the hair of the head.

 

It was also an ordinance for the high priest that he should not shave his head (Lev. 21:10).

 

Likewise for the head of a household (Lev. 21:5).

 

[4] This was why baldness was to them a great disgrace, as is evident from the following passages:

 

On all heads baldness, and every beard shaven (Isa. 15:2; Jer. 48:37). Shame upon all faces, and baldness upon all heads (Ezek. 7:18). Every head made bald, and every shoulder plucked (Ezek. 29:18).

 

I will cause sackcloth to come up upon all loins, and baldness upon every head (Amos 8:10).

 

Put on baldness, and shave thee on account of the sons of thy delights, and enlarge thy baldness, for they are gone into exile from thee (Micah 1:16).

 

To “put on baldness” and to “enlarge” it here signifies to falsify the truths of the Word in its ultimates, for when these are falsified (as was done by the Jews) the whole Word is destroyed; for the ultimates of the Word are its props and supports; indeed, each word is a prop and a support to its celestial and spiritual truths. As the “hair” signifies truth in the ultimates, in the spiritual world all who despise the Word, and falsify its sense of the letter, appear bald; whereas they who honor and love it appear with becoming hair. On this subject see also below (n. 49).

 

36. The Word in its ultimate or natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, is signified also by the wall of the holy Jerusalem, the structure of which was of jasper; and by the foundations of the wall, which were precious stones; and likewise by the gates, which were pearls (Rev. 21:18-21); for Jerusalem signifies the church as to doctrine. But of these things more in the following chapter. From what has been adduced it is now evident that the sense of the letter of the Word, which is the natural sense, is the basis, container, and support of its interior senses, which are the spiritual and the celestial.

 

 

 

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Divine truth in the sense of the letter of the Word is in its fullness, in its holiness, and in its power

 

 

37. The reason why the Word in the sense of the letter is in its fullness, in its holiness, and in its power, is that the two prior or interior senses, which are called the spiritual and the celestial, are together or simultaneous [sunt simul] in the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, as was said above (n. 28). But how they are simultaneous in that sense shall now be told in a few words.

 

38. There are in heaven and in this world a successive order and a simultaneous order. In successive order one thing succeeds and follows another from highest to lowest; but in simultaneous order one thing is next to another from inmost to outmost. Successive order is like a column with successive parts from the top to the bottom; but simultaneous order is like a connected structure with successive circumferences from center to surface. It shall now be told how successive order becomes simultaneous order in the ultimate. It is in this way: The highest things of successive order become the inmost ones of simultaneous order, and the lowest things of successive order become the outermost ones of simultaneous order. Comparatively speaking it is as if the column of successive parts were to sink down and become a connected body in a plane.

 

[2] Thus is the simultaneous formed from the successive, and this in all things both in general and in particular of the natural world, and also of the spiritual world; for everywhere there is a first, a middle, and an ultimate, and the first aims at and goes through the middle to its ultimate. Apply this to the Word. The celestial, the spiritual, and the natural proceed from the Lord in successive order, and in the ultimate are in simultaneous order; and it is in this way that the celestial and spiritual senses of the Word are simultaneous in its natural sense. When this is comprehended, it may be seen how the natural sense of the Word, which is the sense of the letter, is the basis, container, and support of its spiritual and celestial senses; and how in the sense of the letter of the Word Divine good and Divine truth are in their fullness, in their holiness, and in their power.

 

39. From all this it is evident that in the sense of the letter the Word is the very Word itself, for within this sense there are spirit and life, the spiritual sense being its spirit, and the celestial sense its life. This is what the Lord says:

 

The words that I speak unto you are spirit and are life (John 6:63).

 

The Lord spoke his words before the world, and in the natural sense. The spiritual sense and the celestial sense without the natural sense which is the sense of the letter, are not the Word; for without it they are like spirit and life without a body; and are (as before said, n. 33) like a palace without a foundation.

 

40. The truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are in part not naked truths, but appearances of truth, and are as it were likenesses and comparisons taken from things such as exist in nature, and thus accommodated and adapted to the apprehension of the simple and of little children. But being correspondences they are receptacles and abodes of genuine truth; and are like enclosing and containing vessels, as a crystal cup encloses noble wine, and as a silver plate holds palatable food. They are also like garments which clothe, as swathings do an infant, and a pretty dress a maiden. They are also like the memory-knowledges [scientifica] of the natural man which contain within them perceptions and affections of truth of the spiritual man. The naked truths themselves which are enclosed, held, clothed, and contained, are in the spiritual sense of the Word; and the naked goods are in its celestial sense.

 

[2] But let this be illustrated from the Word. Jesus said:

 

Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, because ye cleanse the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first the inside of the cup and of the platter, that the outside thereof may be clean also (Matt. 23:25-26).

 

The Lord here spoke by means of ultimate things which are containers, and said “cup and platter”; and “cup” means wine, and “wine” the truth of the Word; and “platter” means food, and “food” the good of the Word. To “cleanse the inside of the cup and platter” means to purify by means of the Word the interior things which belong to will and thought and thus to love and faith. “That the outside may be clean also” means that in this way, exterior things, which are the actions and the conversation, will have been made pure, for these derive their essence from the interior things.

 

[3] Again, Jesus said:

 

There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in crimson and fine linen, and living in mirth and splendor every day; and there was a certain poor man, named Lazarus, who was laid at his porch, full of sores (Luke 16:19-20).

 

Here also the Lord spoke by means of natural things that were correspondences, and contained spiritual things. The “rich man” means the Jewish nation, which is called “rich” because it possessed the Word, in which are spiritual riches. The “crimson and fine linen” with which he was clothed signify the good and truth of the Word; “crimson” its good, and “fine linen” its truth. To “live in mirth and splendor every day” signifies the delight they had in possessing and reading the Word. The “poor man Lazarus” means the gentiles who had not the Word; and that these were despised and scorned by the Jews, is meant by Lazarus lying at the rich man’s porch full of sores.

 

[4] The reason the gentiles are meant by “Lazarus” is that the gentiles were beloved by the Lord, as

 

Lazarus, who was raised from the dead was beloved by the Lord (John 11:3, 5, 36), and is called his friend (John 11:11), and reclined with the Lord at table (John 12:2).

 

From the two foregoing passages it is evident that the truths and goods of the sense of the letter of the Word are as vessels and as garments for the naked truth and good that lie hidden in its spiritual and celestial senses.

 

41. Such being the Word in the sense of the letter, it follows that they who are in Divine truths, and in the faith that the Word within, in its bosom, is Divine holiness—and much more they who are in the faith that it is from its spiritual and celestial senses that the Word is Divine holiness—see Divine truths in natural light while reading the Word in enlightenment from the Lord. For the light of heaven (in which is the spiritual sense of the Word) flows into the natural light in which is its sense of the letter, and illumines man’s intellectual called the rational, and causes him to see and recognize Divine truths, both where they stand in plain view, and where they lie concealed. With some these Divine truths flow in along with the light of heaven; sometimes even when they are not aware of it.

 

42. As, in its inmost bosom, from its celestial sense, our Word is like a flame that enkindles; and as, in its middle bosom, from its spiritual sense, it is like a light that enlightens; it follows that in its ultimate bosom, from its natural sense which has within it the two more interior senses, the Word is like a ruby and a diamond; like a ruby from its celestial flame, and like a diamond from its spiritual light. And as from its transparency the Word is like this in the sense of the letter, the Word in this sense of the letter is meant by the foundations of the wall of the new Jerusalem; by the Urim and Thummim in Aaron’s ephod; by the garden of Eden in which had been the king of Tyre; by the curtains and veils of the tabernacle; and by the externals of the temple at Jerusalem. But in its very glory the Word was represented by the Lord when he was transfigured.

 

43. That the truths of the Word’s sense of the letter are meant by the foundations of the wall of the new Jerusalem (Rev. 21), follows from the fact that the “new Jerusalem” means the new church as to doctrine (as has been shown in Doctrine of the Lord, n. 62-63); so that its “wall,” and the “foundations of the wall,” can mean nothing but the external of the Word which is the sense of the letter, for this is the source of doctrine, and through doctrine of the church, and this sense is like a wall with its foundations that encloses and protects a city.

 

Concerning the wall of the new Jerusalem and its foundations we read in Revelation:

 

The angel measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, which was the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. And the wall had twelve foundations, adorned with every precious stone. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst (Rev. 21:17-20).

 

The number “144” signifies all the truths and goods of the church derived from doctrine that is drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word. The like is signified by “12.” A “man” signifies intelligence; an “angel,” Divine truth the source of intelligence; “measure,” the quality of these; the “wall” and its “foundations,” the sense of the letter of the Word; and the “precious stones,” the truths and goods of the Word in their order, which are the source of doctrine, and through doctrine of the church.

 

44. The truths and goods of the sense of the letter of the Word are meant by the Urim and Thummim. The Urim and Thummim were on the ephod of Aaron, whose priesthood represented the Lord as to Divine good and as to the work of salvation. The garments of the priesthood or of holiness represented Divine truth from Divine good. The ephod represented Divine truth in its ultimate, thus the Word in the sense of the letter, for this, as before said, is Divine truth in its ultimate. Consequently the twelve precious stones bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (which were the Urim and Thummim) represented Divine truths from Divine good in their whole complex.

 

[2] Concerning these we read in Moses:

 

They shall make the ephod of [gold], hyacinthine blue, and bright crimson, of scarlet double dyed, and fine linen intertwined. And thou shalt make a breastplate of judgment according to the work of the ephod; and thou shalt set it with settings of stones, four rows of stones: the first row a ruby, a topaz, and an emerald; the second row a chrysoprase, a sapphire, and a diamond; the third row a cyanus, an agate, and an amethyst; the fourth row a thalassius, a sardius, and a jasper. These stones shall be according to the names of the sons of Israel; the engravings of a signet according to his name shall be for the twelve tribes. And Aaron shall carry upon the breastplate of judgment the Urim and Thummim and let them be upon the heart of Aaron when he goeth in before Jehovah (Exod. 28:6, 15-21, 29-30).

 

[3] What was represented by Aaron’s garments—his ephod, robe, vest, miter, belt—has been unfolded in Arcana Coelestia on this chapter, where it is shown that the ephod represented Divine truth in its ultimate; the precious stones in it, truths pellucid from good; the twelve precious stones, all ultimate truths pellucid from the good of love in their order; the twelve tribes of Israel, all things of the church; the breast-plate, Divine truth from Divine good; the Urim and Thummim, the shining forth in ultimates of Divine truth from Divine good (for Urim means a shining fire; and Thummim, in the angelic language, means a shining forth, and in the Hebrew, entirety). Besides many other things, it is there shown also that answers were given by variegations of light and a simultaneous tacit perception, or by a living voice. From all this it is evident that these precious stones signified truths from good in the ultimate sense of the Word; nor are answers from heaven given by other means, for in this sense the Divine proceeding is in its fullness.

 

[4] That precious stones and diadems signify Divine truths in their ultimates, such as are the truths of the sense of the letter of the Word, has been made very evident to me from precious stones and diadems in the spiritual world, among the angels and spirits there whom I have seen wearing them—I have seen them in their caskets also—and it has been given me to know that they correspond to truths in ultimates, and, what is more, that from these truths they exist and come into view. As these truths are signified by diadems and precious stones, John saw diadems

 

Upon the head of the dragon (Rev. 12:3); Upon the horns of the beast (Rev. 13:1);

 

And precious stones upon the harlot that sat on the scarlet beast (Rev. 17:4).

 

Diadems and precious stones were seen upon the dragon, the beast, and the harlot, because these signify the people in the Christian world who are in possession of the Word.

 

45. The truths of the sense of the letter of the Word are meant by the precious stones in the garden of Eden, in which, in Ezekiel, the king of Tyre is said to have been. We read in Ezekiel:

 

King of Tyre, thou sealest up thy sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the ruby, the topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the sardonyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the chrysoprase, and the emerald, and gold (Ezek. 28:12-13).

 

“Tyre,” in the Word, signifies the knowledges of truth and good; a “king,” the truth of the church; the “garden of Eden,” wisdom and intelligence from the Word; “precious stones,” truths pellucid from good such as are in the sense of the letter of the Word. As the stones signify these truths, they are called his “covering.” That the sense of the letter covers up the interiors of the Word, may be seen in a preceding chapter.

 

46. The sense of the letter of the Word is signified by the curtains and veils of the tabernacle. The tabernacle represented heaven and the church, and therefore the form of it was shown by Jehovah upon Mount Sinai. Consequently all things in the tabernacle—the lampstand, the golden altar for incense, and the table whereon were the loaves of faces—represented and consequently signified holy things of heaven and the church. The holy of holies wherein was the ark of the covenant represented and consequently signified what is inmost of heaven and the church; and the law itself written on the two tables of stone and enclosed in the ark signified the Lord as to the Word. Now, as external things derive their essence from internal things, and both of these from the inmost, which in this case was the law, it follows that holy things of the Word were represented and signified by all things of the tabernacle. Therefore the ultimate things of the tabernacle which were the curtains and veils (and thus its coverings and containers), signified the ultimate things of the Word, which are the truths and goods of the sense of the letter. And because these ultimates of the Word were signified,

 

All the curtains and veils were made of fine linen intertwined, of hyacinthine blue and bright-crimson, and of scarlet double dyed, with cherubim (Exod. 26:1, 31, 36).

 

What the tabernacle and all things in it represented and signified generally and specifically, has been unfolded in Arcana Coelestia on this chapter of Exodus. It is there shown that the “curtains” and “veils” represented external things of heaven and the church, and therefore of the Word; and that “fine linen” signified truth from a spiritual origin; “hyacinthine blue,” truth from a celestial origin; “bright crimson,” celestial good; “scarlet double dyed,” spiritual good; and “cherubim,” guards of the interior things of the Word.

 

47. The external things of the temple at Jerusalem represented external things of the Word, which belong to the sense of its letter. This is because the temple represented the same as did the tabernacle, namely, heaven and the church, and conse quently the Word. That the temple at Jerusalem represented the Lord’s Divine human, he himself teaches in John:

 

Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up; he spake of the temple of his body (John 2:19, 21).

 

Where the Lord is meant, there also is meant the Word, for the Lord is the Word. Now as the interior things of the temple represented interior things of heaven and the church (and therefore of the Word), its exterior things represented and signified exterior things of heaven and the church, and therefore exterior things of the Word, which belong to the sense of its letter. Concerning the exterior things of the temple we read:

 

That they were built of whole stone, not hewn, and within of cedar; and that all its walls within were carved with cherubim, palm trees, and openings of flowers; and that the floor was overlaid with gold (1 Kings 6:7, 29-30);

 

all of which things also signify external things of the Word, which are holy things of the sense of the letter.

 

48. The Word in its glory was represented by the Lord when he was transfigured. Concerning the Lord as transfigured before Peter, James, and John, we read:

 

That his face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as the light. That Moses and Elias appeared talking with him. That a bright cloud overshadowed the disciples; and that a voice was heard out of the cloud, saying, This is my beloved son, hear ye him (Matt. 17:1-5).

 

I have been instructed that the Lord then represented the Word; “his face that did shine as the sun,” his Divine good; “his garments that became as the light,” his Divine truth; “Moses and Elias,” the historical and the prophetical Word; “Moses,” the Word that was written by him and the historical Word in general, and “Elias,” the prophetical Word; and the “bright cloud that overshadowed the disciples,” the Word in the sense of the letter; and therefore a voice was heard from this cloud which said, “This is my beloved son, hear ye him.” For all utterances and answers from heaven are made exclusively by means of ultimate things such as are in the sense of the letter of the Word. For they are made in fullness, from the Lord.

 

49. So far we have shown that the Word in the natural sense, which is the sense of the letter, is in its holiness and its fullness. Something shall now be said to show that in this sense the Word is also in its power. How great and of what nature is the power of Divine truth in the heavens and also on earth, is evident from what has been said in Heaven and Hell concerning the power of the angels of heaven (n. 228-233). The power of Divine truth is directed especially against falsities and evils, thus against the hells. The fight against these must be waged by means of truths from the sense of the letter of the Word. Moreover it is by means of the truths in a man that the Lord has the power to save him; for man is reformed and regenerated and is at the same time taken out of hell and introduced into heaven, by means of truths from the sense of the letter of the Word. This power the Lord took upon himself, even as to his Divine human, after he had fulfilled all things of the Word down to its ultimates.

 

[2] Therefore when by the passion of the cross he was about to fulfill those which remained, he said to the chief priest,

 

Hereafter ye shall see the son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven (Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:62).

 

The “son of man” is the Lord as to the Word; the “clouds of heaven” are the Word in the sense of the letter; to “sit at the right hand of God” is omnipotence by means of the Word (as also in Mark 16:19). The Lord’s power from the ultimate things of truth was represented by the Nazirites in the Jewish Church; and by Samson, of whom it is said that he was a Nazirite from his mother’s womb, and that his power lay in his hair. Nazirite and Naziriteship also mean the hair.

 

[3] That Samson’s power lay in his hair, he himself made plain, saying,

 

There hath not come a razor upon my head, because I have been a Nazirite from my mother’s womb; if I be shaven, then my strength will go from me, and I shall become weak, and be like any other man (Judges 16:17).

 

No one can know why the Naziriteship (by which is meant the hair) was instituted, or whence it came that Samson’s strength was from the hair, unless he knows what is signified in the Word by the “head.” The “head” signifies the heavenly wisdom which angels and men have from the Lord by means of Divine truth; consequently the “hair of the head” signifies heavenly wisdom in ultimate things, and also Divine truth in ultimate things.

 

[4] As, from correspondence with the heavens, this is the signification of the “hair,” it was a statute for the Nazirites that:

 

They should not shave the hair of their heads, because this is the Naziriteship of God upon their heads (Num. 6:1-21).

 

And for the same reason it was ordained that:

 

The high priest and his sons should not shave their heads, lest they should die, and wrath should come upon the whole house of Israel (Lev. 10:6).

 

[5] As, on account of this signification, which is from correspondence, the hair was so holy, the son of man, who is the Lord as to the Word, is described even as to his hairs:

 

That they were white like wool, as white as snow (Rev. 1:14). In like manner the Ancient of days (Dan. 7:9).

 

(On this subject see also above, n. 35.) In short, the reason why the power of Divine truth or of the Word is in the sense of the letter, is that there the Word is in its fullness and it is also because in that sense are, at the same time and together [simul], the angels of both the Lord’s kingdoms and men on earth.

 

 

 

(5)

 

The doctrine of the church is to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, and is to be confirmed thereby

 

 

50. It has been shown in the preceding chapter that the Word in the sense of the letter is in its fullness, in its holiness, and in its power; and as the Lord is the Word (for he is the all of the Word), it follows that he is most of all present in the sense of the letter, and that from it he teaches and enlightens man. But these things shall be set forth in the following order:

 

(a) The Word cannot be understood without doctrine.

 

(b) Doctrine must be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word.

 

(c) But the Divine truth which must be of doctrine appears to none but those who are in enlightenment from the Lord.

 

51. (a) The Word cannot be understood without doctrine. This is because the Word in the sense of the letter consists exclusively of correspondences, to the end that things spiritual and celestial may be simultaneous or together therein, and that every word may be their container and support. For this reason, in some places in the sense of the letter the truths are not naked, but clothed, and are then called appearances of truth. Many truths also are accommodated to the capacity of simple folk, who do not uplift their thoughts above such things as they see before their eyes. There are also some things that appear like contradictions, although the Word when viewed in its own light contains no contradiction. And again in certain passages in the prophets, names of persons and places are gathered together from which, in the letter, no sense can be elicited, as in those passages adduced above (n. 15). Such being the Word in the sense of the letter, it is evident that it cannot be understood without doctrine.

 

[2] But to illustrate this by examples. It is said,

 

That Jehovah repents (Exod. 32:12, 14; Jonah 3:9; 4:2);

 

And also

 

That Jehovah does not repent (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29).

 

Without doctrine these passages cannot be reconciled. It is said

 

That Jehovah visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons to the third and fourth generation (Num. 14:18);

 

And it is also said that

 

The father shall not die for the son, nor the son for the father, but everyone for his own sin (Deut. 24:16).

 

Interpreted by doctrine these passages are not discordant, but are in agreement.

 

[3] Jesus says,

 

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you; for everyone that asketh shall receive, and he that seeketh shall find, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened (Matt. 7:7-8; 21:21-22).

 

Without doctrine it might be believed that everyone will receive what he asks for; but from doctrine it is believed that whatever a man asks not from himself but from the Lord is given; for this also is what the Lord says,

 

If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you (John 15:7).

 

[4] The Lord says,

 

Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God (Luke 6:20).

 

Without doctrine it may be thought that heaven is for the poor and not for the rich, but doctrine teaches that the poor in spirit are meant, for the Lord says,

 

Blessed are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3).

 

[5] The Lord says,

 

Judge not, that ye be not judged; for with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged (Matt. 7:1-2; Luke 6:37).

 

Without doctrine this might be cited to confirm the notion that it is not to be said of what is evil that it is evil, thus that an evil person is not to be judged to be evil; yet according to doctrine it is lawful to judge, but justly; for the Lord says,

 

Judge righteous judgment (John 7:24).

 

[6] Jesus says,

 

Be not ye called teacher, for one is your teacher, even the Christ. And call no man your father on the earth; for one is your Father in the heavens. Neither be ye called masters; for one is your master, the Christ (Matt. 23:8-10).

 

Without doctrine it would seem that it is not lawful to call any person teacher, father, or master; but from doctrine it is known that in the natural sense it is lawful to do this, but not in the spiritual sense.

 

[7] Jesus said to his disciples,

 

When the son of man shall sit upon the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28).

 

From these words it may be inferred that the Lord’s disciples will sit in judgment, when yet they can judge no one. Doctrine therefore must reveal this secret by explaining that the Lord alone, who is omniscient and knows the hearts of all, will sit in judgment, and is able to judge; and that his twelve disciples mean the church as to all the truths and goods it possesses from the Lord through the Word; from which doctrine concludes that these truths will judge everyone, according to the Lord’s words in John 3:17-18; 12:47-48.

 

[8] He who reads the Word without doctrine does not see the consistency of what is said in the prophets about the Jewish nation and Jerusalem—that the church with that nation, and its seat in that city, will remain to eternity; as in the following passages:

 

Jehovah will visit his flock the house of Judah, and will make them as a horse of glory in war; from him shall come forth the corner stone, from him the nail, and from him the bow of war (Zech. 10:3-4, 6-7).

 

Behold I come, that I may dwell in the midst of thee. And Jehovah shall make Judah an inheritance, and shall again choose Jerusalem (Zech. 2:10, 12).

 

It shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and Judah shall be to eternity, and Jerusalem from generation to generation (Joel 3:18-20).

 

Behold, the days come in which I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and in which I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; and this shall be the covenant, I will put my law in their inward parts, and will write it upon their heart and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Jer. 31:27, 31, 33).

 

In that day ten men shall take hold, out of all the languages of the nations, of the skirt of a man that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you (Zech. 8:23).

 

So in other places, as Isa. 44:21, 24, 26; 49:22, 23; 65:9; 66:20, 22; Jer. 3:18; 23:5; 50:19, 20; Nahum 1:15; Mal. 3:4.

 

In these passages the Lord’s advent is treated of, and that this [establishment of the Jews] will then come to pass.

 

[9] But the contrary is declared in many other places, of which this passage only shall be adduced:

 

I will hide my face from them, I will see what their latter end shall be, for they are a generation of perversions, sons in whom is no faithfulness. I said, I will cast them into outermost corners, I will make the remembrance of them to cease from man, for they are a nation void of counsel, neither is there understanding in them; their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah; their grapes are grapes of gall; their clusters are of bitternesses; their wine is the poison of dragons, and the cruel venom of asps. Is not this hidden with me, sealed up among my treasures? To me belongeth vengeance and retribution (Deut. 32:20-35).

 

It is of that same nation that these things are said. And things of the same purport are said elsewhere,

 

As in Isa. 3:1-2, 8; 5:3, 6; Deut. 9:5-6; Matt. 12:39; 23:27-28; John 8:44;

 

and in Jeremiah and Ezekiel throughout.

 

These passages which seem contradictory will however from doctrine be seen to accord, for this teaches that in the Word “Israel” and “Judah” do not mean Israel and Judah, but the church in both senses, in one that it is devastated, in the other that it is to be set up anew by the Lord.

 

Other things like these exist in the Word, from which it plainly appears that the Word cannot be understood without doctrine.

 

52. From all this it is evident that they who read the Word without doctrine, or who do not acquire for themselves doctrine from the Word, are in obscurity as to every truth, and that their minds are wavering and uncertain, prone to errors, and pliant to heresies, which they also embrace wherever inclination or authority favors, and their reputation is not endangered. For the Word is to them like a lampstand without a lamp, and in their gloom they seem to see many things, and yet see scarcely anything, for doctrine alone is a lamp. I have seen such persons examined by angels, and found to be able to confirm from the Word whatever they please, and it was also found that they confirm what is of their own love and of the love of those whom they favor. And I have seen them stripped of their garments, a sign that they were devoid of truths; for in the spiritual world garments are truths.

 

53. (b) Doctrine must be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, and be confirmed thereby. The reason of this is that there and not elsewhere is the Lord present with man, and enlightens him and teaches him the truths of the church. Moreover the Lord never operates anything except in what is full, and the Word is in its fullness in the sense of the letter, as has been shown above. This is why doctrine must be drawn from the sense of the letter.

 

54. That by means of doctrine the Word not only becomes intelligible, but also as it were shines with light, is because without doctrine it is not understood, and is like a lampstand without a lamp, as has been shown above. By means of doctrine therefore the Word is understood, and is like a lampstand with a lighted lamp. The man then sees more things than he had seen before, and also understands those things which before he had not understood. Dark and contradictory things he either does not see and passes over, or sees and interprets them so that they agree with the doctrine. The experience of the Christian world attests that the Word is seen from doctrine, and is also interpreted according to it. All the reformed see and interpret the Word from and according to their own doctrine; so do the papists from and according to theirs, and even the Jews do so from and according to theirs; thus from a false doctrine all see falsities, and from a true doctrine truths. It is evident therefore that true doctrine is like a lamp in the dark, and a guidepost on the way. But doctrine is not only to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, but must also be confirmed thereby; for if not so confirmed the truth of doctrine appears as if only man’s intelligence were in it, and not the Lord’s Divine wisdom; and so the doctrine would be like a house in the air, and not on the earth, and would lack a foundation.

 

55. The doctrine of genuine truth can also be drawn in full from the sense of the letter of the Word, because in this sense the Word is like a man clothed whose face and hands are bare. All things that concern man’s life, and consequently his salvation, are bare; but the rest are clothed. In many places also where they are clothed they shine through their clothing, like a face through a thin veil of silk. The truths of the Word also appear and shine through their clothing more and more clearly in proportion as they are multiplied by a love for them, and are ranged in order by this love. But this also is by means of doctrine.

 

56. It might be believed that the doctrine of genuine truth could be procured by means of the spiritual sense of the Word which is furnished through a knowledge of correspondences. But doctrine is not procured by means of that sense, but is only lighted up and corroborated. For as said before (n. 26), no one comes into the spiritual sense of the Word by means of correspondences unless he is first in genuine truths from doctrine. If a man is not first in genuine truths he may falsify the Word by means of some correspondences with which he is acquainted, by connecting them together and interpreting them so as to confirm that which cleaves to his mind from some principle previously received. Moreover the spiritual sense of the Word is not given anyone except by the Lord alone, and it is guarded by him as heaven is guarded, for heaven is in it. It is better therefore for man to study the Word in the sense of the letter; from this alone is doctrine furnished.

 

57. (c) The genuine truth which must be of doctrine appears in the sense of the letter to none but those who are in enlightenment from the Lord. Enlightenment is from the Lord alone, and exists with those who love truths because they are truths and make them of use for life. With others there is no enlightenment in the Word. The reason why enlightenment is from the Lord alone is that the Lord is in all things of the Word. The reason why enlightenment exists with those who love truths because they are truths and make them of use for life is that such are in the Lord and the Lord in them. For the Lord is his own Divine truth, and when this is loved because it is Divine truth (and it is loved when it is made of use), the Lord is in it with the man. This the Lord teaches in John:

 

In that day ye shall know that ye are in me and I in you. He that hath my commandments, and doeth them, he loveth me, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him; and I will come unto him, and make my abode with him (John 14:20-21, 23).

 

And in Matthew:

 

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matt. 5:8).

 

These are they who are in enlightenment when they are reading the Word, and to whom the Word shines and is translucent.

 

58. The reason why the Word shines and is translucent with such, is that there is a spiritual and celestial sense in every particular of the Word, and these senses are in the light of heaven, so that through these senses and by their light the Lord flows into the natural sense, and into the light of it with a man. This causes the man to acknowledge the truth from an interior perception, and afterwards to see it in his own thought, and this as often as he is in the affection of truth for the sake of truth. For perception comes from affection, and thought from perception, and thus is produced the acknowledgment which is called faith. But of these things more will be said in the following chapter concerning the conjunction of the Lord with man by means of the Word.

 

59. With such men the first thing is to get for themselves doctrine from the sense of the letter of the Word, and thus light a lamp for their further advance. Then after doctrine has been procured, and a lamp thus lighted, they see the Word by its means. Those however who do not procure doctrine for themselves, first make investigation as to whether the doctrine delivered by others and received by the general body accords with the Word, and they assent to what accords, and from what does not accord they dissent.

 

In this way it becomes to them their own doctrine, and through doctrine their faith. But this takes place only with those who not being taken up with worldly affairs are able to exercise discernment. If these persons love truths because they are truths, and make them of use for life, they are in enlightenment from the Lord. All others who are in some life according to truths can learn from them.

 

60. The contrary takes place with those who read the Word from the doctrine of a false religion, and still more with those who confirm that doctrine from the Word, having in view their own glory or this world’s riches. With them the truth of the Word is as it were in the shade of night, and what is false is as in the light of day. They read what is true, but do not see it; and if they see the shadow of it they falsify it. These are they of whom the Lord says that:

 

They have eyes, but see not; and ears, but do not understand (Matt. 13:13).

 

For nothing else blinds a man except his own and the confirmation of what is false. Man’s own is the love of self and the derivative conceit of self-intelligence; and the confirmation of what is false is thick darkness counterfeiting the light. The light of such men is merely natural, and their sight is like that of one who sees phantoms in the gloom.

 

61. I have been permitted to converse with many after death who had believed that they would shine in heaven like the stars, because, as they said, they had regarded the Word as holy, had often read it through, had collected from it many things by which they had confirmed the tenets of their faith, and had thereby been celebrated in the world as learned men. On this account they believed they would be Michaels and Raphaels.

 

[2] Many of them however have been examined in respect to what was the love from which they had studied the Word, and some of them were found to have done so from the love of self, that they might appear great in the world, and be revered as dignitaries of the church; and others of them had done so from the love of the world, that they might get rich. When examined as to what they knew from the Word, it was found that they knew nothing of genuine truth from it, but only such as is called truth falsified, which in itself is falsity. And they were told that this was because their ends (or what is the same their loves) had been themselves and the world, and not the Lord and heaven. When men read the Word while themselves and the world are the ends in view, their minds cleave to themselves and the world, and this causes them to be constantly thinking from their own,²⁸ which is in thick darkness in respect to all things of heaven, in which state the man cannot be withdrawn by the Lord from his own, and thus be raised into the light of heaven, and consequently cannot receive through heaven any influx from the Lord.

 

[3] I have even seen them admitted into heaven, but when they were found to be devoid of truths, they were cast down; yet the conceit remained that they deserved heaven. Very different has it been with those who had studied the Word from the affection of knowing truth because it is truth, and because it is of service to the uses of life, not only to their own uses but also to those of the neighbor. I have seen these raised up into heaven, and thus into the light in which is Divine truth there, and at the same time exalted into angelic wisdom and its happiness, which is eternal life.

 

 

 

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By means of the sense of the letter of the Word there is conjunction with the Lord and association with the angels

 

 

62. The reason why there is conjunction with the Lord by means of the Word is that the Word treats solely of him, and the Lord is consequently its all in all and is called the Word, as has been shown in Doctrine of the Lord. The reason why the conjunction is in the sense of the letter is that in this sense the Word is in its fullness, its holiness, and its power, as has been shown above in its proper chapter. The conjunction is not apparent to the man, but is in the affection of truth, and in his perception of it, thus is in the man’s love for and faith in Divine truth.

 

63. The reason why there is association with the angels of heaven by means of the sense of the letter is that the spiritual sense and celestial sense are in it, and the angels are in these senses, the angels of the spiritual kingdom being in the Word’s spiritual sense, and those of the celestial kingdom in its celestial sense. These senses are evolved from the Word’s natural sense which is the sense of the letter while a true man is in it. The evolution is instantaneous; consequently so is the association.

 

64. It has been made plain to me by much experience that the spiritual angels are in the spiritual sense of the Word, and the celestial angels in its celestial sense. While reading the Word in its sense of the letter it has been given me to perceive that communication was effected with the heavens, now with this society of them, now with that, and that what I understood according to the natural sense, the spiritual angels understood according to the spiritual sense, and the celestial angels according to the celestial sense, and this in an instant. As I have perceived this communication many thousands of times, there remains with me no doubt about it. Moreover there are spirits beneath the heavens who abuse this communication; they recite some sayings from the sense of the letter, and immediately observe and take note of the society with which communication is effected. This I have frequently seen and heard. From these things it has been given me to know by actual experience that the Word in respect to its sense of the letter is the Divine medium of conjunction with the Lord and with heaven. (Concerning this conjunction by the Word see also what is said in Heaven and Hell, n. 303-310.)

 

65. The way in which the evolution of these senses is effected shall also be told in a few words. But for the understanding of this it will be necessary to recall what has been said above about successive order and simultaneous order, namely, that in successive order what is celestial, what is spiritual, and what is natural follow one after another, from highest things in heaven down to ultimate things in the world, and that the same things are in the ultimate (which is natural) in simultaneous order, one next another from the inmost things to the outermost ones, and that in like manner there are successive senses of the Word, celestial and spiritual, simultaneously in the natural sense. When these things are comprehended, the way in which the two senses, celestial and spiritual, are evolved from the natural sense while a man is reading the Word may in some measure be unfolded before the understanding; for a spiritual angel then calls forth what is spiritual, and a celestial angel what is celestial, nor can they do otherwise, because such things are homogeneous and in accordance with their nature and essence.

 

66. But this may be illustrated in the first place by comparisons drawn from the three kingdoms of nature: animal, vegetable, and mineral. From the animal kingdom: When the food becomes chyle, the blood vessels extract and call forth from it their blood, the nervous fibers their fluid, and the substances that are the origins of the fibers their animal spirit. From the vegetable kingdom: The tree, with its trunk, branches, leaves, and fruit, stands upon its root, and by means of its root it extracts and calls forth from the ground a grosser sap for the trunk, branches, and leaves, a purer for the pulp of the fruit, and the purest for the seeds within the fruit. From the mineral kingdom: In some places in the bowels of the earth there are minerals impregnated with gold, silver, and iron, and each of these metals draws its own element from the exhalations stored up in the earth.

 

67. We may now illustrate by an example how from the natural sense in which is the Word with men, the spiritual angels draw forth their own sense, and the celestial angels theirs. Take as an example five commandments of the Decalogue:

 

Honor thy father and thy mother. By “father and mother” a man understands his father and mother on earth, and all who stand in their place, and by to “honor” he understands to hold in honor and obey them. But a spiritual angel understands the Lord by “father,” and the church by “mother,” and by to “honor” he understands to love. And a celestial angel understands the Lord’s Divine love by “father,” and his Divine wisdom by “mother,” and by to “honor” to do what is good from him.

 

[2] Thou shalt not steal. By to “steal” a man understands to steal, defraud, or under any pretext take from his neighbor his goods. A spiritual angel understands to deprive others of their truths of faith and goods of charity by means of falsities and evils. And a celestial angel understands to attribute to himself what is the Lord’s, and to claim for himself his righteousness and merit.

 

[3] Thou shalt not commit adultery. By “committing adultery” a man understands to commit adultery and fornication, to do obscene things, speak lascivious words, and harbor filthy thoughts. A spiritual angel understands to adulterate the goods of the Word, and falsify its truths. And a celestial angel understands to deny the Lord’s Divinity and to profane the Word.

 

[4] Thou shalt not kill. By “killing,” a man understands also bearing hatred, and desiring revenge even to the death. A spiritual angel understands to act as a devil and destroy men’s souls. And a celestial angel understands to bear hatred against the Lord, and against what is his.

 

[5] Thou shalt not bear false witness. By “bearing false witness” a man understands also to lie and defame. A spiritual angel understands to say and persuade that what is false is true and what is evil good, and the reverse. And a celestial angel understands to blaspheme the Lord and the Word.

 

[6] From these examples it may be seen how the spiritual and celestial of the Word are evolved and drawn out from the natural sense in which they are. Wonderful to say, the angels draw out their senses without knowing what the man is thinking about, and yet the thoughts of the angels and of the men make a one by means of correspondences, like end, cause, and effect. Moreover ends actually are in the celestial kingdom, causes in the spiritual kingdom, and effects in the natural kingdom. This conjunction by means of correspondences is such from creation. This then is the source of man’s association with angels by means of the Word.

 

68. Another reason why association of man with angels exists by means of the natural or literal sense of the Word is that in every man from creation there are three degrees of life— celestial, spiritual, and natural—but so long as he is in this world he is in the natural, and is at the same time in the spiritual insofar as he is in genuine truths, and in the celestial insofar as he is in a life according to them; but still he does not come into the spiritual or celestial itself until after death. But of this more elsewhere.

 

69. From all this it is evident that in the Word alone (through the fact that it is conjunction with the Lord and association with the angels) there is spirit and life, as the Lord teaches:

 

The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life (John 6:63).

 

The water that I shall give you shall be in you a fountain of water springing up into eternal life (John 4:14).

 

Man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).

 

Labor for the meat that endureth unto eternal life, which the son of man shall give unto you (John 6:27).

 

 

 

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The Word is in all the heavens, and is the source of angelic wisdom

 

 

70. Hitherto it has not been known that the Word is in the heavens, nor could it be made known so long as the church was ignorant that angels and spirits are men like the men in this world, and that they possess in every respect like things to those possessed by men, with the sole difference that they themselves are spiritual, and that all things they possess are from a spiritual origin; while men in this world are natural, and all things they possess are from a natural origin. So long as this fact was hidden it could not be known that the Word exists in the heavens also, and is read by angels there, and also by spirits who are beneath the heavens. But that this might not be forever hidden, it has been granted me to be in company with angels and spirits, to converse with them, see what exists with them, and afterwards relate many things that I have heard and seen. This has been done in Heaven and Hell, published in London in 1758; in which work it may be seen that angels and spirits are men, and that they possess in abundance all things that men possess in this world. That angels and spirits are men, may be seen in that work (n. 73-77, and 453-456). That they possess like things to those possessed by men in this world (n. 170-190); also that they have Divine worship, and preachings in places of worship (n. 221-227); that they have writings and also books (n. 258-264); and that they have the Word (n. 259).

 

71. As regards the Word in heaven, it is written in a spiritual style, which differs entirely from a natural style. The spiritual style consists solely of letters, each of which contains a meaning, and there are points above the letters which exalt the meaning. With the angels of the spiritual kingdom the letters resemble printed letters in our world; and with the angels of the celestial kingdom the letters (each of which also contains a complete meaning) resemble the ancient Hebrew letters, curved in various ways, and with marks above and within. Such being the style of their writing, there are no names of persons and places in their Word such as there are in ours, but instead of the names there are the things which they signify. Thus instead of Moses there is the historical Word, instead of Elijah, the prophetical Word; instead of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord as to his divinity and Divine human; instead of Aaron, the priestly office; instead of David, the kingly office, each of the Lord; instead of the names of the twelve sons of Jacob, or of the tribes of Israel, various things of heaven and the church; and like things instead of the names of the Lord’s twelve disciples; instead of Zion and Jerusalem, the church in respect to the Word and doctrine from the Word; instead of the land of Canaan, the church itself; instead of the cities therein on this side and beyond Jordan, various things of the church and of its doctrine; and so with all the other names. It is the same with the numbers; neither do these appear in the Word that is in heaven, but instead of them the things to which the numbers that are in our Word correspond. It is evident from these examples that the Word in heaven is a Word that corresponds to our Word, and thus that the two are a one, for correspondences make a one.

 

72. It is a wonderful thing that the Word in the heavens is so written that the simple understand it in simplicity, and the wise in wisdom, for there are many points and marks over the letters, which as has been said exalt the meaning, and to these the simple do not attend, nor are they even aware of them; whereas the wise pay attention to them, each one according to his wisdom, even to the highest wisdom. In every larger society of heaven, a copy of the Word, written by angels inspired by the Lord, is kept in its sanctuary, lest being elsewhere it should be altered in some point. In respect to the fact that the simple understand it in simplicity and the wise in wisdom, our Word is indeed like that in heaven, but this is effected in a different way.

 

73. The angels acknowledge that all their wisdom comes through the Word, for they are in light in proportion to their understanding of the Word. The light of heaven is Divine wisdom, which to their eyes is light. In the sanctuary where the copy of the Word is kept, there is a flaming and bright light that surpasses every degree of light in heaven that is outside of it. The cause is the same as above mentioned; it is that the Lord is in the Word.

 

74. The wisdom of the celestial angels surpasses that of the spiritual angels almost as much as this surpasses the wisdom of men, and the reason is that the celestial angels are in the good of love from the Lord, while the spiritual angels are in truths of wisdom from him, and wherever there is the good of love there resides at the same time wisdom; but where there are truths there resides no more of wisdom than there is good of love together with it. This is the reason why the Word in the celestial kingdom is written differently from that in the spiritual kingdom; for goods of love are expressed in the Word of the celestial kingdom, and the marks denote affections, whereas truths of wisdom are expressed in the Word of the spiritual kingdom, and the marks denote perceptions.

 

75. From what has been said may be inferred the nature of the wisdom that lies hidden in the Word that is in this world. In fact all angelic wisdom, which is unutterable, lies hidden in it, for it is the container of the same, and after death a man who is being made an angel by the Lord by means of the Word comes into that wisdom.

 

 

 

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The church is from the Word, and is such as is its understanding of the Word

 

 

76. That the church is from the Word does not admit of doubt, for the Word is Divine truth itself (n. 1-4); the doctrine of the church is from the Word (n. 50-61) and through the Word there is conjunction with the Lord (n. 62-69). But doubt may arise as to whether the understanding of the Word is what makes the church, for there are those who believe that they are of the church because they have the Word, read it or hear it from a preacher, and know something of its sense of the letter, yet how this or that in the Word is to be understood they do not know, and some of them little care. It shall therefore be proved that it is not the Word that makes the church, but the understanding of it, and that such as is the understanding of the Word among those who are in the church, such is the church itself. The proof of this is as follows.

 

77. The Word is the Word according to the understanding of it in a man, that is, as it is understood. If it is not understood, the Word is indeed called the Word, but it is not the Word with the man. The Word is the truth according to the understanding of it, for it may not be the truth, because it may be falsified. The Word is spirit and life according to the under standing of it, for its letter if not understood is dead. And as a man has truth and life according to his understanding of the Word, so has he faith and love according thereto, for truth is of faith, and love is of life. Now as the church exists by means of faith and love, and according to them, it follows that the church is the church through the understanding of the Word and according thereto; a noble church if in genuine truths, an ignoble church if not in genuine truths, and a destroyed church if in falsified truths.

 

78. Further, it is through the Word that the Lord is present with a man and is conjoined with him, for the Lord is the Word, and as it were speaks with the man in it. The Lord is also Divine truth itself, as likewise is the Word. From this it is evident that the Lord is present with a man and is at the same time conjoined with him, according to his understanding of the Word, for according to this the man has truth and the derivative faith, and also love and the derivative life. The Lord is indeed present with a man through the reading of the Word, but he is conjoined with him through the understanding of truth from the Word, and according thereto; and in proportion as the Lord has been conjoined with a man, in the same proportion the church is in him. The church is within man; the church that is outside of him is the church with a number of men who have the church within them. This is meant by the Lord’s words to the Pharisees who asked when the kingdom of God would come:

 

The kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21).

 

Here the “kingdom of God” means the Lord, and from him, the church.

 

79. In many places in the prophets where the church is treated of, the understanding of the Word is treated of, and it is taught that there is no church except where the Word is rightly understood, and that such as is the understanding of the Word with those in the church, such is the church. In many places also in the prophets the church with the Israelitish and Jewish nation is described as being totally destroyed and annihilated through their falsification of the meaning or understanding of the Word, for naught but this destroys the church.

 

[2] The understanding of the Word, both true and false, is described in the prophets by “Ephraim,” especially in Hosea, for in the Word “Ephraim” signifies the understanding of the Word in the church. And as the understanding of the Word makes the church, Ephraim is called,

 

A dear son, and a child of delights (Jer. 31:20); The firstborn (Jer. 31:9);

 

The strength of Jehovah’s head (Ps. 60:7; 108:8); Mighty (Zech. 10:7)

 

Filled with the bow (Zech. 9:13);

 

and the sons of Ephraim are called,

 

Armed, and shooters with the bow (Ps. 78:9).

 

The “bow” signifies doctrine from the Word fighting against falsities. Therefore also,

 

Ephraim was passed over to Israel’s right hand, and was blessed; and was also accepted instead of Reuben (Gen. 48:5, 11-15).

 

And therefore,

 

Ephraim, together with his brother Manasseh (under the name of Joseph their father), was exalted above all by Moses when he blessed the sons of Israel (Deut. 33:13-17).

 

[3] The quality of the church when the understanding of the Word has been destroyed, is also described in the prophets by “Ephraim,” especially in Hosea, as is evident from the following passages:

 

Israel and Ephraim shall stagger; Ephraim shall be in the solitude; Ephraim is oppressed and shattered in judgment. I will be unto Ephraim as a lion; I will tear and go away; I will carry off, and there shall be none to deliver (Hos. 5:5, 9, 11-14).

 

O Ephraim, what shall I do unto thee? For thy holiness is as a cloud of the dawn, and like the dew that falleth in the morning, it goeth away (Hos. 6:4)

 

They shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah; but Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and shall eat in Assyria that which is unclean (Hos. 9:3).

 

[4] The “land of Jehovah” is the church; “Egypt” is the memory-knowledge [scientificum] of the natural man; “Assyria” is the derivative reasoning: by these two the Word is falsified in respect to the understanding of it, and therefore it is said that “Ephraim shall return to Egypt, and shall eat in Assyria that which is unclean.”

 

[5] Again:

 

Ephraim feedeth on wind, and followeth after the east wind; every day he multiplieth lying and wasteness; he maketh a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried down into Egypt (Hos. 12:1).

 

To “feed on wind,” to “follow after the east wind,” and to “multiply lying and wasteness” is to falsify truths, and thus destroy the church.

 

[6] The like is signified also by the “whoredom” of Ephraim (for “whoredom” signifies the falsification of the understanding of the Word, that is, of its genuine truth) in the following passages:

 

I know Ephraim, that he hath altogether committed whoredom, and Israel is defiled (Hos. 5:3).

 

In the house of Israel I have seen a foul thing; there Ephraim hath committed whoredom, and Israel hath been defiled (Hos. 6:10).

 

“Israel” is the church itself, and “Ephraim” is the understanding of the Word, from and according to which is the church, and therefore it is said “Ephraim hath committed whoredom, and Israel hath been defiled.”

 

[7] As the church among the Jews had been utterly destroyed through falsifications of the Word, it is said of Ephraim,

 

I will give thee up, Ephraim, I will deliver thee over, Israel, as Admah, and I will set thee as Zeboim (Hos. 11:8).

 

Now as the prophet Hosea, from the first chapter to the last, treats of the falsification of the Word, and of the destruction of the church thereby; and as the falsification of truth is there signified by “whoredom,” therefore in order that he might represent this state of the church, that prophet was commanded to take unto himself a harlot for a woman, and of her to beget sons (chapter 1); and, a second time, to take a woman who was an adulteress (chapter 3).

 

[8] These passages have been adduced in order that it may be known and confirmed from the Word that such as is the understanding of the Word in the church, such is the church: excellent and precious if this understanding is from genuine truths of the Word, but ruined and even foul if it is from truths falsified. In confirmation of the truth that Ephraim signifies the understanding of the Word, and in the opposite sense the same falsified, and that the destruction of the church comes from this, the other passages in which Ephraim is treated of may be consulted,

 

As Hos. 4:17-18; 7:1, 11; 8:9, 11; 9:11-13, 16; 10:11; 11:3; 12:1, 8, 14; 13:1, 12; Isa. 17:3; 28:1; Jer. 4:15; 31:6, 18; 50:19; Ezek. 37:16; 48:5; Obad. 19; Zech. 9:10.

 

 

 

(9)

 

There is a marriage of the Lord and the church and a derivative marriage of good and truth in each and every thing of the Word

 

 

80. Hitherto this has not been seen, nor could it be seen, because the spiritual sense of the Word has not until now been disclosed, and it cannot be seen except by means of this sense. For in the Word two senses, the spiritual and the celestial, lie hidden within the sense of the letter. In the spiritual sense the things in the Word refer especially to the church, and in the celestial sense, especially to the Lord. In the spiritual sense they also refer to Divine truth, and in the celestial to Divine good. From this comes the marriage in question in the sense of the letter of the Word. But this appears to those only who know from the Word’s spiritual and celestial sense the significations of the words and names, for some of these are predicated of good and some of truth, and some include both, so that without this knowledge the marriage that exists in each and every thing of the Word could not be seen. This is the reason why this secret has not been disclosed before.

 

81. As there is such a marriage in each and every thing of the Word, there frequently occur in it two expressions that appear like repetitions of the same thing. They however are not repetitions, for one of them has reference to good and the other to truth, and both taken together effect a conjunction of good and truth, and thus form one thing. From this too comes the divinity of the Word and its holiness, for in every Divine work good is conjoined with truth and truth with good.

 

82. It is said that in each and every thing of the Word there is a marriage of the Lord and the church and a derivative marriage of good and truth, because wherever there is a marriage of the Lord and the church there is also a marriage of good and truth, for the latter is from the former. For when the church or man of the church is in truths, the Lord inflows into his truths with good, and vivifies them. Or what is the same, when through truths the church or man of the church is in intelligence, the Lord inflows into his intelligence through the good of love and of charity, and thus pours life into it.

 

83. With every man there are two faculties of life, called understanding and will. The understanding is the receptacle of truth and the derivative wisdom, and the will is the receptacle of good and the derivative love. For a man to be a man of the church these two must make a one, and this they do when the man forms his understanding from genuine truths, which to all appearance is done as by himself; and when his will is infilled with the good of love, which is done by the Lord. From this the man has a life of truth and a life of good, a life of truth in the understanding from the will, and a life of good in the will through the understanding. This is the marriage of truth and good in a man, and also the marriage of the Lord and the church in him. But concerning this reciprocal conjunction called a marriage, more will be seen in Angelic Wisdom concerning Divine Providence, Divine Love and Wisdom, and Doctrine of Life.

 

84. Readers of the Word who pay attention to the matter can see that there are pairs of expressions in it that appear like repetitions of the same thing, such as “brother” [and “companion,” “poor”] and “needy,” “waste” and “solitude,” “vacuity” and “emptiness,” “foe” and “enemy,” “sin” and “iniquity,” “anger” and “wrath,” “nation” and “people,” “joy” and “gladness,” “mourning” and “weeping,” “righteousness” and “judgment,” etc. These expressions appear synonymous but are not so, for “brother,” “poor,” “waste,” [“vacuity,”] “foe,” “sin,” “anger,” “nation,” “joy,” “mourning,” and “righteousness” are predicated of good, and in the opposite sense of evil; whereas “companion,” “needy,” “solitude,” “emptiness,” “enemy,” “iniquity,” “wrath,” “people,” “gladness,” “weeping,” and “judgment” are predicated of truth, and in the opposite sense of falsity. And yet it seems to a reader who is not acquainted with this secret, that “poor” and “needy,” “waste” and “solitude,” “vacuity” and “ emptiness,” “foe” and “enemy,” are one and the same thing; and in like manner “sin” and “iniquity,” “anger” and “wrath,” “nation” and “people,” “joy” and “gladness,” “mourning” and “weeping,” “righteousness” and “judgment”; and yet they are not one thing, but become one thing by conjunction. Many things are also joined together in the Word, such as “fire” and “flame,” “gold” and “silver,” “brass” and “iron,” “wood” and “stone,” “bread” and “water,” “bread” and “wine,” “bright crimson” and “fine linen,” etc., which is done because “fire,” “gold,” “brass,” “wood,” “bread,” and “bright crimson” signify good; and “flame,” “silver,” “iron,” “stone,” “water,” “wine,” and “fine-linen” signify truth. And in the same way it is said that men are to “love God with all the heart and with all the soul”; and that God will “create in a man a new heart and a new spirit”; for “heart” is predicated of the good of love, and “soul” of the truth from that good. There are also words that are used alone, or without a mate, because they partake of both good and truth. But these and many other things are not apparent except to the angels, and to those also who while in the natural sense are also in the spiritual sense.

 

85. That such pairs of expressions which appear like repetitions of the same thing, run through the Word, would be too prolix a matter to show from the Word, for whole sheets could be filled with it; but to remove all doubt about it I will quote passages in which occur the expressions “righteousness” (or “justice”) and “judgment,” “nation” and “people,” and “joy” and “gladness.” First, “righteousness” and “judgment:”

 

The city was full of judgment, righteousness lodged in her (Isa. 1:21).

 

Zion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they that return of her in righteousness (Isa. 1:27).

 

Jehovah Zebaoth shall be exalted in judgment, and God the holy one shall be sanctified in righteousness (Isa. 5:16).

 

He shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to establish it in judgment and in righteousness (Isa. 9:7).

 

Jehovah shall be exalted, for he dwelleth on high; he hath filled Zion with judgment and righteousness (Isa. 33:5).

 

Thus saith Jehovah, Keep ye judgment, and do righteousness, for my salvation is near, that my righteousness may be revealed (Isa. 56:1).

 

As a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the judgment of their God; they ask of me the judgments of righteousness (Isa. 58:2).

 

Swear by the living Jehovah in judgment and in righteousness (Jer. 4:2).

 

Let him that glorieth glory in this, that Jehovah doeth judgment and righteousness in the earth (Jer. 9:24).

 

Do ye judgment and righteousness. Woe unto him that buildeth his house without righteousness, and his chambers without judgment. Did not thy father do judgment and righteousness? And then it was well with him (Jer. 22:3, 13, 15).

 

I will raise unto David a righteous offshoot, and he shall reign as king, and shall do judgment and justice in the land (Jer. 23:5; 33:15).

 

If a man be just, and do judgment and righteousness (Ezek. 18:5).

 

If the wicked turn from his sin, and do judgment and righteousness, it shall not be mentioned against him; he hath done judgment and righteousness; he shall surely live (Ezek. 33:14, 16, 19).

 

I will betroth thee unto me to eternity; in righteousness and in judgment; and in mercy and in compassions (Hos. 2:19).

 

Let judgment flow as water, and righteousness as a mighty torrent (Amos. 5:24).

 

Ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood (Amos 6:12).

 

Jehovah will plead my cause, and execute judgment for me; he will bring me forth into the light, and I shall behold his righteousness (Micah 7:9).

 

O Jehovah, thy righteousness is like the mountains of God; thy judgments are a great abyss (Ps. 36:6).

 

Jehovah will bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday (Ps. 37:6).

 

Jehovah shall judge thy people in righteousness, and thy miserable in judgment (Ps. 72:2).

 

Righteousness and judgment are the support of thy throne (89:14).

 

When I shall have learned the judgments of thy righteousness. Seven times a day do I praise thee, because of the judgments of thy righteousness (Ps. 119:7, 164).

 

God executeth the justice of Jehovah, and his judgment with Israel (Deut. 33:21).

 

The spirit of truth shall convict the world in respect of righteousness, and of judgment (John 16:8-10). (And in other places.)

 

The reason “judgment” and “righteousness” are mentioned so frequently is that “judgment” is predicated of truths, and “righteousness” of good, and therefore to “do judgment and righteousness” means to act from truth and from good. The reason “judgment” is predicated of truth, and “righteousness” of good is that the Lord’s government in the spiritual kingdom is called “judgment,” and in the celestial kingdom “righteousness” (on which subject see Heaven and Hell, n. 214-215). As “judgment” is predicated of truth, in some passages we read:

 

Truth and righteousness (as in Isa. 11:5; Ps. 85:11; and elsewhere).

 

86. That repetitions of the same thing occur in the Word on account of the marriage of good and truth, may be seen quite clearly from passages where “nations” and “peoples” are mentioned:

 

Woe to the sinful nation, to a people laden with iniquity (Isa. 1:4).

 

The peoples that walk in darkness have seen a great light: thou hast multiplied the nation (Isa. 9:2-3).

 

Asshur, the rod of mine anger, I will send him against a hypocritical nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge (Isa. 10:5-6).

 

It shall come to pass in that day, that the root of Jesse, which standeth for an ensign of the peoples, shall the nations seek (Isa. 11:10).

 

Jehovah that smiteth the peoples with an incurable stroke, that ruleth the nations with anger (Isa. 14:6).

 

In that day shall a present be brought unto Jehovah of armies of a people scattered and peeled, and a nation meted out and trodden down (Isa. 18:7).

 

The mighty people shall honor thee, the city of the powerful nations shall fear thee (Isa. 25:3).

 

Jehovah will swallow up the covering over all peoples, and the veil over all nations (Isa. 25:7).

 

Come near ye nations, and hearken ye peoples (Isa. 34:1).

 

I have called thee for a covenant for the people, for a light of the nations (Isa. 42:6).

 

Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the peoples assemble (Isa. 43:9).

 

Behold, I will lift up my hand toward the nations, and my standard toward the peoples (Isa. 49:22).

 

I have given him for a witness to the peoples, a prince and a lawgiver to the nations (Isa. 55:4-5).

 

Behold, a people cometh from the land of the north; and a great nation from the sides of the earth (Jer. 6:22).

 

I will not make thee hear the calumny of the nations any more, neither shalt thou bear the reproach of the peoples any more (Ezek. 36:15).

 

All peoples and nations shall worship him (Dan 7:14).

 

Let not the nations make a byword of them, and say among the peoples, Where is their God? (Joel 2:17).

 

The remnant of my people shall spoil them, and the residue of my nation shall inherit them (Zeph. 2:9).

 

Many peoples and numerous nations shall come to seek Jehovah Zebaoth in Jerusalem (Zech. 8:22).

 

Mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples, a light for revelation to the nations (Luke 2:30-32).

 

Thou hast redeemed us by thy blood out of every people and nation (Rev. 5:9).

 

Thou must prophesy again concerning peoples and nations (Rev. 10:11).

 

Thou shalt set me for a head of the nations: a people whom I have not known shall serve me (Ps. 18:43).

 

Jehovah bringeth the counsel of the nations to nought, he overturneth the thoughts of the peoples (Ps. 33:10).

 

Thou makest us a byword among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples (Ps. 44:14).

 

Jehovah shall subdue the peoples under us, and the nations under our feet. Jehovah hath reigned over the nations; the willing ones of the peoples are gathered together (Ps. 47:3, 8-9).

 

Let the people confess unto thee; let the nations be glad and shout for joy; for thou shalt judge the peoples with equity, and lead the nations upon earth (Ps. 67:3-4).

 

Remember me, O Jehovah, in the good pleasure of thy people; that I may rejoice in the joy of thy nations (Ps. 106:4-5).

 

The reason “nations” and “peoples” are mentioned together is that “nations” mean those in good, and in the opposite sense in evil; and “peoples” those in truths, and in the opposite sense in falsities. For this reason those of the Lord’s spiritual kingdom are called “peoples,” and those of his celestial kingdom “nations”; for in the spiritual kingdom all are in truths and consequently in wisdom, and in the celestial kingdom all are in good and consequently in love.

 

87. The same rule holds good for other words; for example, where “joy” is mentioned, so is “gladness:”

 

Behold joy and gladness, slaying the ox (Isa. 22:13).

 

They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away (Isa. 35:10; 51:11).

 

Gladness and joy are cut off from the house of our God (Joel 1:16).

 

There shall be taken away the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness (Jer. 7:34; 25:10).

 

The fast of the tenth [month] shall be to the house of Judah for joy and gladness (Zech. 8:19).

 

That we may rejoice all our days, make thou us glad (Ps. 90:14-15). Be ye glad in Jerusalem, and rejoice in her (Isa. 66:10). Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom (Lam. 4:21). The heavens shall be glad, and the earth shall rejoice (Ps. 96:11). Make me to hear joy and gladness (Ps. 51:8).

 

Joy and gladness shall be found in Zion, confession and the voice of singing (Isa. 51:3).

 

There shall be gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth (Luke 1:14).

 

I will cause to cease the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride (Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 25:10).

 

There shall be heard in this place the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride (Jer. 33:10-11).

 

The reason why both “joy” and “gladness” are mentioned is that “joy” is of good and “gladness” of truth, or “joy” is of love and “gladness” of wisdom. For joy is of the heart and gladness of the soul, or joy is of the will and gladness of the understand ing. That there is a marriage of the Lord and the church in these expressions also is evident from its being said,

 

The voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride (Jer. 7:34; 16:9; 25:10; 33:10-11).

 

The Lord is the “bridegroom,” and the church is the “bride.”

 

That the Lord is the bridegroom, see Matt. 9:15; Mark 2:19-20; Luke 5:34-35;

 

And that the church is the bride, Rev. 21:2, 9; 22:17.

 

And therefore John the Baptist said of Jesus:

 

He that hath the bride is the bridegroom (John 3:29).

 

88. On account of the marriage of the Lord with the church, or what is the same, on account of the marriage of Divine good and Divine truth in each and every thing of the Word, “Jehovah” and “God,” and also “Jehovah” and the “Holy one of Israel,” are mentioned in very many places as if they were two although they are one, for by “Jehovah” is meant the Lord as to Divine good, and by “God” and the “Holy one of Israel” the Lord as to Divine truth. That “Jehovah” and “God,” and also “Jehovah” and the “Holy one of Israel,” are mentioned in very many places in the Word although one is meant, who is the Lord, may be seen in Doctrine of the Lord (n. 34, 38, 46).

 

89. As there is the marriage of the Lord and the church in all things of the Word and in every single particular of it, it is evident that all things of the Word and also every particular of it treat of the Lord, as we set out to show in Doctrine of the Lord (n. 1-7). The church (which likewise is treated of) is also the Lord; for the Lord teaches that the man of the church is in him, and he in the man (John 6:56; 14:20, 21; 15:5, 7).

 

90. As the subject here treated of is the divinity and holiness of the Word, to what has already been said we may add something worthy of mention. A small piece of paper marked with Hebrew letters, but written as the ancients wrote them, was once sent me from heaven. In those times some of the letters that now are partly formed with straight lines were curved, and had little horns that turned upward. The angels who were then with me said that they themselves discerned complete meanings from the very letters, and that they knew them especially from the curvings of the lines and of the points of each letter. And they explained what the letters meant when taken each by itself and what when taken together; and said that the H that was added to the names of Abram and Sarai means what is infinite and eternal. They also explained in my presence from the letters or syllables alone the meaning of the Word in Psalm 32:2, showing that the sum of their meaning is that the Lord is merciful even to those who do evil.

 

[2] They informed me that the writing in the third heaven consists of curved letters that are bent in various ways, and that each letter possesses a complete meaning; that the vowels there indicate a sound that corresponds to the affection, and that in that heaven they cannot utter the vowels i and e, but instead of them y and eu, but that they do use the vowels a, o, and u, because they give a full sound.²⁹ Further: that they do not pronounce any consonants as hard, but soft, and that it is from this that certain Hebrew letters have a dot in the center as a sign that they are to be pronounced as [hard, and are without this dot when] soft; and they said that hardness in pronouncing the letters is in use in the spiritual heaven because there they are in truths, and truth admits of what is hard, but not good, in which are the angels of the celestial kingdom or third heaven. They also said that these angels possess the Word written with curved letters that have significant points and little horns. This shows what is meant by the words of the Lord:

 

One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled (Matt. 5:18);

 

It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail (Luke 16:17).

 

 

 

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It is possible for heresies to be drawn from the sense of the letter of the Word, but it is harmful to confirm them

 

 

91. It has been shown above that the Word cannot be understood without doctrine, and that doctrine is like a lamp that enables genuine truths to be seen, the reason of which is that the Word has been written entirely by correspondences, and consequently many things in it are appearances of truth and not naked truths; and many things also have been written in adaptation to the apprehension of the natural and even of the sensuous man, yet so that the simple may understand it in simplicity, the intelligent in intelligence, and the wise in wisdom. The result is that the appearances of truth in the Word, which are truths clothed, may be caught at as naked truths, and when they are confirmed they become falsities. But this is done by those who believe themselves wise above others, although they are not wise, for being wise consists in seeing whether a thing is true before it is confirmed, and not in confirming whatever one pleases. This last is done by those who excel in a genius for confirming and are in the conceit of self-intelligence, but the former is done by those who love truths and are affected by them because they are truths, and who make them uses of the life, for these persons are enlightened by the Lord, and see truths by the light of the truths; whereas the others are enlightened by themselves and see falsities by the light of the falsities.

 

92. That appearances of truth, which are truths clothed, may be caught at out of the Word as naked truths, and that when confirmed they become falsities is evident from the many heresies there have been and still are in Christendom. The heresies themselves do not condemn men, but an evil life does, as also do the confirmations from the Word, and from reasonings from the natural man of the falsities that are in the heresy. For everyone is born into the religion of his parents is initiated into it from his infancy, and afterwards holds to it, being unable to withdraw himself from its falsities through being engaged with his business in the world. But to live in evil, and to confirm falsities even to the destruction of genuine truth, is what condemns. For he who remains in his own religion, and believes in God, or if in Christendom, in the Lord, regarding the Word as holy, and from a religious principle living according to the ten commandments, does not swear allegiance to falsities, and therefore as soon as he hears truths and perceives them in his own way, can embrace them and so be led away from falsities; but not so the man who has confirmed the falsities of his religion, for confirmed falsity remains and cannot be rooted out. For after confirmation a falsity becomes as if the man had sworn to the truth of it, especially if it chimes in with his own self-love [amor proprii], and the derivative conceit of his own wisdom.

 

93. I have conversed with some in the spiritual world who had lived many ages ago, and had confirmed themselves in the falsities of their religion, and I found that they still remained steadfast in the same. I have also conversed there with some who had been of the same religion as they, and had thought as they did, but had not confirmed themselves in its falsities, and I found that after being instructed by angels these had rejected the falsities and had imbibed truths, and that these were saved, but not the others. After death every man is instructed by angels, and those who see truths, and from truths falsities, are received. For the power to see truths spiritually is then given everyone, and those see them who have not confirmed themselves in falsities, but those who have confirmed themselves do not want to see truths, and if they do see them they turn their backs on them, and then either ridicule or falsify them.

 

94. Let us illustrate this by an example. In many places in the Word, anger, wrath, and vengeance are attributed to the Lord, and it is also said that he punishes, that he casts into hell, that he tempts, and many other such things. He who believes all this in simplicity, and on that account fears God and takes care not to sin against him, is not condemned for that simple belief. But the man who confirms himself in these ideas to such a degree as to believe that anger, wrath, revenge, thus things that are of evil, exist in the Lord, and that from anger, wrath, and revenge he punishes a man and casts him into hell, is condemned, because he has destroyed the genuine truth that the Lord is love itself, mercy itself, and good itself, and that one who is these cannot be angry, wrathful, and revengeful. These things are attributed to the Lord because such is the appearance. So with many other things.

 

95. That many things in the sense of the letter are apparent truths, having genuine truths hidden within them, and that it is not hurtful to think and speak in accordance with such truths, but that it is hurtful to confirm them to such a degree as to destroy the genuine truth hidden within, may be illustrated by an example in nature, which is presented because what is natural teaches and convinces more clearly than what is spiritual.

 

[2] To the eye the sun appears to revolve round the earth daily and also annually, and therefore in the Word the sun is said to rise and set, thus make morning, noon, evening, and night, and also making the seasons of spring, summer, autumn, and winter, and thus days and years; when yet the sun stands motionless, for it is an ocean of fire, and it is the earth that revolves daily, and is carried round the sun annually. The man who in simplicity and ignorance supposes that the sun is carried round the earth, does not destroy the natural truth that the earth daily rotates on its axis, and is annually carried along the ecliptic. But the man who by the Word and by reasonings from the natural man confirms as real the apparent motion and course of the sun, does invalidate the truth and does destroy it.

 

[3] That the sun moves is an apparent truth; that it does not move is a genuine truth. Everyone may speak in accordance with the apparent truth, and does so speak, but to think in accordance with it from confirmation blunts and darkens the rational understanding. It is the same with respect to the stars in the sidereal heavens. The apparent truth is that they too, like the sun, are carried round the earth once a day, and it is therefore said of the stars also that they rise and set. But the genuine truth is that the stars are fixed, and that their heavens stand motionless. Still, everyone may speak in accordance with the appearance.

 

96. The reason why it is hurtful to confirm the apparent truth of the Word to the point of destroying the genuine truth that lies hidden within, is that each and all things of the sense of the letter of the Word communicate with heaven, and open it, as before shown (n. 62-69). So that when a man applies this sense to confirm loves of the world that are contrary to loves of heaven, the internal of the Word is made false, and the result is that when its external of the sense of the letter, and which now has a false internal, communicates with heaven, heaven is closed, for the angels, who are in the internal of the Word, reject that external of it. Thus it is evident that a false internal, or truth falsified, takes away communication with heaven and closes heaven. This is why it is hurtful to confirm any heretical falsity.

 

96a. The Word is like a garden, a heavenly paradise, that contains delicacies and delights of every kind, delicacies in its fruits and delights in its flowers; and in the midst of the garden trees of life with fountains of living water near them, while forest trees surround it. The man who from doctrine is in Divine truths is at its center where the trees of life are, and is in the actual enjoyment of its delicacies and delights; whereas the man who is in truths not from doctrine, but from the sense of the letter only, is at the outskirts, and sees nothing but the forest vegetation. And one who is in the doctrine of a false religion, and who has confirmed himself in its falsity, is not even in the forest, but is out beyond it in a sandy plain where there is not even grass. That such are their several states after death will be shown in its proper place.

 

97. Be it known moreover that the literal sense of the Word is a guard to the genuine truths that lie hidden within. It is a guard in this respect, that it can be turned this way or that, and explained according to the way it is taken, yet without injury or violence to its internal. It does no harm for the sense of the letter to be understood in one way by one person and in a different way by another; but it does harm for the Divine truths that lie hidden within to be perverted, because this inflicts violence on the Word. The sense of the letter is a guard against this, and the guard is effectual in the case of those who are in falsities from their religion, but do not confirm those falsities, for these persons do the Word no violence.

 

[2] This guard is signified by cherubs, and in the Word is described by them. This is signified by the cherubs that were stationed at the entrance of the garden of Eden after Adam and his wife had been cast out, of which we read as follows:

 

When Jehovah God had driven out the man, he made to dwell at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life (Gen. 3:24).

 

The “cherubim” signify a guard; the “way of the tree of life” signifies the access to the Lord which men have by means of the Word; the “flame of a sword that turned every way” signifies Divine truth in ultimates, this being like the Word in the sense of the letter, which can be so turned.

 

[3] The same is meant by The cherubs of gold that were placed upon the two ends of the mercy seat that was upon the ark in the tabernacle (Exod. 25:18-21).

 

As this was signified by cherubs,

 

The Lord spoke with Moses from between them (Exod. 25:22; 37:9; Num. 7:89).

 

That the Lord does not speak to man except in what is full, and that the Word in the sense of the letter is Divine truth in fullness, may be seen above (n. 37-49). So therefore did the Lord speak to Moses from between the cherubs. In nowise different was the signification of

 

The cherubs on the curtains of the tabernacle, and on the veil (Exod. 26:1, 31),

 

for the curtains and veils of the tabernacle represented the ultimate things of heaven and the church, and therefore of the Word, as may be seen above (n. 46). Nor in anywise different was the signification of

 

The cherubs in the midst of the temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 6:23-28).

 

The cherubs carved on the walls and doors of the temple (1 Kings 6:29, 32, 35).

 

Or the cherubs in the new temple (Ezek. 41:18-20);

 

as also may be seen above (n. 47).

 

[4] As cherubs signified a guard that the Lord, heaven, and Divine truth such as is within the Word be not approached immediately, but mediately through ultimate things, it is said of the king of Tyre,

 

Thou sealest up the measure, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty; thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering; thou, O cherub, art the outspreading of that which covereth; I have destroyed thee, O covering cherub, in the midst of the stones of fire (Ezek. 28:12-14, 16).

 

“Tyre” signifies the church in respect to the knowledges of truth and good, and therefore its “king” signifies the Word, in which and from which are these knowledges. It is evident that the Word in its ultimate, which is the sense of the letter, is here signified by that king, and also that a guard is signified by a “cherub,” for it is said, “thou sealest up the measure; every precious stone was thy covering”; and “thou, O cherub, art the outspreading of that which covereth”; and also “O covering cherub.” That the “precious stones” mentioned in this passage mean truths of the literal sense of the Word may be seen above (n. 45). As “cherubs” signify what is ultimate of Divine truth as a guard, it is said in David:

 

Jehovah bowed the heavens also and came down; and he rode upon a cherub (Ps. 18:9-10).

 

O Shepherd of Israel, thou that sittest upon the cherubim, shine forth (Ps. 80:1).

 

Jehovah sitteth upon the cherubim (Ps. 99:1).

 

To “ride upon cherubs” and to “sit upon them” means upon the ultimate sense of the Word.

 

[5] Divine truth in the Word, and the quality of it, are described by the cherubs in the first, ninth, and tenth chapters of Ezekiel; but as no one can know what is signified by the several particulars of the description of them, except one to whom the spiritual sense has been opened, it has been disclosed to me what in brief is signified by all the things said about the cherubs in the first chapter of Ezekiel, which are as follows:

 

The external Divine sphere of the Word is described (Ezek. 1:4); It is represented as a man (Ezek. 1:5);

 

And conjoined with spiritual and celestial things (Ezek. 1:6); The natural of the Word, its quality (Ezek. 1:7);

 

The spiritual and the celestial of the Word conjoined with its natural, their quality (Ezek. 1:8-9);

 

The Divine love of the good and truth celestial, spiritual, and natural therein, severally and also together (Ezek. 1:10-11);

 

They all look to the one thing (Ezek. 1:12);

 

The sphere of the Word from the Lord’s Divine good and Divine truth, from which the Word is alive (Ezek. 1:13-14);

 

The doctrine of good and truth in the Word and from the Word (Ezek. 1:15-21);

 

The Divine of the Lord above the Word and in it (Ezek. 1:22-23); And from it (Ezek. 1:24-25);

 

The Lord is above the heavens (Ezek. 1:26);

 

And Divine love and Divine wisdom are his (Ezek. 1:27-28).

 

These summaries have been compared with the Word in heaven, and are in conformity with it.

 

 

 

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The Lord came into the world to fulfill all things of the Word, and thereby to become Divine truth or the Word even in ultimates

 

 

98. That the Lord came into the world to fulfill all things of the Word, may be seen in Doctrine of the Lord (n. 8-11). And that he thereby became Divine truth or the Word even in ultimates is meant by these words in John:

 

The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

 

To “become flesh” is to become the Word in ultimates. What the Lord was as the Word in ultimates he showed his disciples when he was transfigured (Matt. 17:2, etc.; Mark 9:2, etc.; Luke 9:28, etc.); and it is there said that Moses and Elias were seen in glory. By “Moses and Elias” is meant the Word, as may be seen above (n. 48). The Lord, as the Word in ultimates, is also described by John in Rev. 1:13-16, where all things in the description of him signify ultimate things of Divine truth or of the Word. The Lord had indeed been the Word before, but only in first principles, for it is said:

 

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word; the same was in the beginning with God (John 1:1, 2);

 

but when the Word became flesh, then the Lord became the Word in ultimates also. It is from this that he is called,

 

The first and the last (Rev. 1:8, 11, 17; 2:8; 21:6; 22:13).

 

99. The state of the church was completely changed by the Lord’s becoming the Word in ultimates. All the churches that had existed before his advent were representative churches and could see Divine truth in the shade only; but after the Lord’s coming into the world a church was instituted by him that saw Divine truth in the light. The difference is like that between evening and morning, and the state of the church before his advent is also called “the evening,” and that of the church after it “the morning.” Before his coming into the world the Lord was indeed present with the men of the church, but mediately through heaven, whereas since his coming into the world he is present with them immediately, for in the world he put on the Divine natural, in which he is present with men. The glorifica tion of the Lord is the glorification of his human that he assumed in the world, and the Lord’s glorified human is the Divine natural.

 

100. Few understand how the Lord is the Word, for they think that the Lord may indeed enlighten and teach men by means of the Word without his being on that account called the Word. Be it known however that every man is his own love, and consequently his own good and his own truth. It is solely from this that a man is a man, and there is nothing else in him that is man. It is from the fact that a man is his own good and his own truth that angels and spirits are men, for all the good and truth that proceeds from the Lord is in its form a man. And as the Lord is Divine good and Divine truth itself, he is the man, from whom every man is a man. That all Divine good and Divine truth is in its form a man may be seen in Heaven and Hell (n. 460), and more clearly in treatises that are to follow, on the subject of angelic wisdom.

 

 

 

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Before the Word that is now in the world there was a Word which is lost

 

 

101. From what is related in the books of Moses it is evident that worship by means of sacrifices was known, and that men prophesied from the mouth of Jehovah, before the Word was given to the Israelitish nation through Moses and the prophets. That worship by means of sacrifices was known is evident from these facts:

 

The sons of Israel were commanded to overturn the altars of the nations, break in pieces their images, and cut down their groves (Exod. 34:13; Deut. 7:5; 12:3).

 

In Shittim Israel began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab; they called the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods; and Israel joined himself especially to Baal-

 

peor, and on that account the anger of Jehovah was kindled against Israel (Num. 25:1-3).

 

Balaam, who was from Syria, caused altars to be built, and sacrificed oxen and sheep (Num. 22:40; 23:1, 2, 14, 29, 30).

 

[2] That men prophesied from the mouth of Jehovah, is evident from the prophecies of Balaam (Num. 23:7-10, 18-24; 24:3-9, 16-24).

 

He also prophesied concerning the Lord that a star should arise out of Jacob, and a scepter out of Israel (Num. 24:17).

 

And he prophesied from the mouth of Jehovah (Num. 22:13, 18; 23:3, 5, 8, 16, 26; 24:1, 13).

 

From these facts it is evident that there existed among the nations a Divine worship similar to that instituted through Moses among the Israelitish nation.

 

[3] That it existed even before the time of Abram is in some measure apparent from the words in Moses (Deut. 32:7, 8), but more evidently from what is said of Melchizedek king of Salem:

 

That he brought forth bread and wine, and blessed Abram, and that Abram gave him tithes of all (Gen. 14:18-20);

 

and that Melchizedek represented the Lord, for he is called

 

Priest of God most high (Gen. 14:18);

 

and it is said in David concerning the Lord:

 

Thou art a priest to eternity, after the manner of Melchizedek (Ps. 110:4).

 

Hence it was that Melchizedek brought forth bread and wine as holy things of the church, even as they are holy things in the sacrament of the supper; and that Melchizedek could bless Abram, and that Abram gave him tithes of all.

 

102. I have been told by angels of heaven that there was among the ancients a Word written entirely by correspondences, but that it had been lost, and they said that it is still preserved, and is in use in that heaven where those ancient people dwell who had possessed it in this world. The ancients who still use that Word in heaven came partly from the land of Canaan and the neighboring countries, such as Syria, Mesopotamia, Arabia, Chaldea, Assyria, and Egypt, and also from Sidon, Tyre, and Nineveh. The inhabitants of all these kingdoms were in representative worship, and consequently in the knowledge of correspondences. The wisdom of that time was derived from this knowledge, and by its means they had an interior perception, and a communication with the heavens. Those who had an interior acquaintance with the correspondences of that Word were called wise and intelligent, and later, diviners and magi. But as that Word was full of correspondences which only in a remote way signified celestial and spiritual things, and consequently began to be falsified by many, of the Lord’s Divine providence it disappeared in course of time, and at length was utterly lost, and another Word, written by correspondences less remote than the other, was given by means of prophets among the sons of Israel. Yet many names of places in the land of Canaan and in the surrounding countries were retained in this Word with significations like those they had in the ancient Word. It was for this reason that Abram was commanded to go into that land, and that his descendants, from Jacob, were brought into it.

 

103. That there was a Word among the ancients is evident from Moses, who mentions it, and who took some things from it (Num. 21:14, 15, 27-30); the historical parts of that Word being called Wars of Jehovah, and its prophetical parts Enunciations. From the historical parts of that Word Moses took the following:

 

Wherefore it is said in the book of the Wars of Jehovah, At Vaheb in Suphah, and the rivers of Arnon; and the watercourse of the rivers that inclineth toward the dwelling of Ar, and betaketh itself to the border of Moab (Num. 21:14, 15).

 

In that Word, as in ours, the “Wars of Jehovah” meant and described the Lord’s combats with hell and his victories over it at the time when he should come into the world. The same combats are meant, and are described, in many passages of the historical parts of our Word, such as the wars of Joshua with the nations of the land of Canaan, and those of the judges and kings of Israel.

 

[2] From the prophetical parts of that Word Moses took the following:

 

Wherefore the enunciators say, Come ye to Heshbon, let the city of Sihon be built and strengthened; for a fire is gone out of Heshbon, a flame from the city of Sihon, it hath devoured Ar of Moab, the possessors of the high places of Arnon. Woe to thee, Moab! Thou hast perished, O people of Chemosh: he hath given his sons as fugitives, and his daughters into captivity unto Sihon king of the Amorites. With darts have we destroyed them. Heshbon hath perished even unto Dibon, and we have laid waste even unto Nophah, which reacheth unto Medeba (Num. 21:27-30).

 

The translators say “they that speak in proverbs,” but the rendering should be “enunciators,” or “prophetic enunciations,” as is evident from the meaning of the word m’shalim in the Hebrew tongue, which is not merely proverbs, but also prophetic enunciations, as in Num. 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15, where it is said that Balaam uttered “his enunciation” which was prophetic, and which also was about the Lord. His enunciation is called mashal, in the singular. Consider also that the things taken from them by Moses are not proverbs, but prophecies.

 

[3] That the ancient Word, like ours, was Divine or divinely inspired, is evident from Jeremiah, where almost the same words occur:

 

A fire is gone forth out of Heshbon, and a flame from the midst of Sihon, that hath devoured the corner of Moab, and the crown of the head of the sons of clamor. Woe unto thee, O Moab! The people of Chemosh is undone, for thy sons have been carried off into captivity, and thy daughters into captivity (Jer. 48:45-46).

 

Besides these books, a prophetic book of the ancient Word called the Book of Jashar, or the Book of the Upright, is mentioned by David and by Joshua. By David:

 

David lamented over Saul and over Jonathan, and wrote, To teach the sons of Judah the bow. Behold it is written in the Book of Jashar (2 Sam. 1:17, 18).

 

And by Joshua:

 

Joshua said, Sun, be silent in Gibeon, and thou, moon, in the valley of Ajalon. Is not this written in the Book of Jashar? (Josh. 10:12, 13).

 

Furthermore: I have been told that the first seven chapters of Genesis appear in that ancient Word complete to the slightest expression.

 

 

 

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The people outside the church who are not in possession of the Word have light by its means

 

 

104. There can be no conjunction with heaven unless somewhere on earth there is a church where the Word is, and where by it the Lord is known; for the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and apart from him there is no salvation. It is sufficient that there be a church where the Word is, even if it consists of comparatively few, for even in that case the Lord is present by its means in the whole world, for by its means heaven is conjoined with the human race. That there is conjunction by means of the Word may be seen above (n. 62-69).

 

105. But in what way the presence and conjunction of the Lord and heaven exist in all lands by means of the Word shall now be told. Before the Lord the universal heaven is like one man, and so is the church. And that they actually appear as a man may be seen in Heaven and Hell (n. 59-86). In this man, the church where the Word is read and the Lord thereby known, is as the heart and lungs; the celestial kingdom as the heart, and the spiritual kingdom as the lungs.

 

[2] As all the other members and viscera subsist and live from these two fountains of life of the human body, so also do all those in the whole earth who have some sort of religion, worship one God, and live aright, and who are thereby in that man and correspond to its members and viscera outside the chest which contains the heart and lungs—subsist and live from the conjunction of the Lord and heaven with the church by means of the Word. For the Word in the church, although existing with comparatively few, is life to all the rest, from the Lord through heaven, just as there is life for the members and viscera of the whole body from the heart and lungs, and there is a similar communication.

 

[3] This is why those Christians among whom the Word is read constitute the breast of that man. They are the midmost of all; round about them are the papists; around these again are those Mohammedans who acknowledge the Lord as the greatest prophet and as the son of God; beyond these are the Africans; while the nations and people of Asia and the Indies constitute the furthest compass. Concerning this ranking of them something may be seen in Last Judgment (n. 48). Moreover all who are in that man look toward the middle region where the Christians are.

 

106. The greatest light is in this middle region where are the Christians who possess the Word; for light in the heavens is Divine truth that proceeds from the Lord as the sun there; and as the Word is this Divine truth, the light is greatest where dwell those who possess the Word. From this region as from its proper center, the light propagates itself from one compass to another even to the uttermost of them; and in this way comes the enlightening, by means of the Word, of all the nations and peoples that are outside the church. That the light in the heavens is Divine truth which proceeds from the Lord, and that this light confers intelligence not only on angels but also on men, may be seen in Heaven and Hell (n. 126-140).

 

107. That this is the case in the universal heaven may be inferred from the similar conditions that prevail in each of the heavenly societies; for every society of heaven is a heaven in a smaller form, and is also like a man. That such is the case may be seen in Heaven and Hell (n. 41-87). In each society of heaven also, those in the center correspond to the heart and lungs, and they possess the greatest light. This light, and the consequent perception of truth, propagates itself from that center toward the successive circuits in every direction, thus to all in the society, and it makes their spiritual life. It has been shown that when those in the center who constituted the province of the heart and lungs and possessed the greatest light, were taken away, those around them came into shadow, and into a perception of truth so scanty as to be almost none; but as soon as the others came back, the light reappeared, and they had perception of truth the same as before.

 

108. The same thing may be illustrated by the following experience. African spirits from Abyssinia were present with me. On a certain occasion their ears were opened so that they heard the singing of a psalm of David in some place of worship in this world, which affected them with such delight that they too sang along with that congregation. Presently their ears were closed so that they heard nothing of the singing, but they were then affected with a delight which was still greater, because spiritual, and they were at the same time filled with intelligence, because that psalm treated of the Lord and of redemption. The cause of this increase of delight was that there was opened to them a communication with that society in heaven which was in conjunction with those in this world who were singing that psalm. From this and many other such experiences it has become evident to me that communication with the universal heaven is effected by means of the Word. And for this reason there exists of the Lord’s Divine providence a universal commercial exchange of the kingdoms of Europe—and chiefly of those where the Word is read—with the nations outside the church.

 

109. In this respect a comparison may be made with the heat and light from the sun of this world, which causes vegetation in trees and shrubs even when they are out of its direct rays and under a clouded sky, provided the sun has risen and shown itself in the world. It is the same with the light and heat of heaven from the Lord as the sun, this light being Divine truth, the source of all intelligence and wisdom to angels and men. It is therefore said of the Word:

 

That it was with God, and was God; that it enlightens every man that comes into the world (John 1:1, 9); and also that that light appears in the darkness (John 1:5).

 

110. From all this it is evident that the Word which exists in the Church of the Reformed enlightens all nations and peoples by a spiritual communication; and also that it is provided by the Lord that there shall always be a church on earth where the Word is read, and where consequently the Lord is known. It was for this reason that when the Word had been almost completely rejected by the papists, of the Lord’s Divine providence the Reformation was brought about, whereby the Word was again received, as also that the Word is accounted holy by a notable nation among the papists.

 

111. As without the Word there is no knowledge of the Lord, and therefore no salvation, it pleased the Lord that when the Word had been wholly falsified and adulterated among the Jewish nation and thus as it were brought to nothingness, that he should descend from heaven and come into the world, and fulfill the Word, and thereby repair and restore it, and again give light to the earth’s inhabitants, in accordance with his declaration:

 

The people that sat in darkness have seen a great light; and to those who sat in the region and shadow of death, light is sprung up (Matt. 4:16; Isa. 9:2).

 

112. As it had been foretold that darkness would arise at the end of the present church in consequence of the lack of knowledge and acknowledgment of the Lord as being the God of heaven and earth, and also in consequence of the separation of faith from charity, therefore in order that by reason of this a genuine understanding of the Word might not perish, it has pleased the Lord at this present time to reveal the spiritual sense of the Word and make it plain that the Word in this sense, and from this in the natural sense, treats of the Lord and the church, and indeed of these alone, and to discover many other things besides, by means of which the light of truth from the Word, now almost extinguished, may be restored. That the light of truth would be almost extinguished at the end of the present church is foretold in many places in Revelation, and is also what is meant by the following words of the Lord in Matthew:

 

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; and then they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with glory and power (Matt. 24:29-30)

 

The “sun” here means the Lord in respect to love; the “moon,” the Lord in respect to faith; the “stars,” the Lord in respect to the knowledges of good and truth; the “son of man,” the Lord in respect to the Word; a “cloud,” the sense of the letter of the Word; and “glory,” its spiritual sense and the shining through of this in the sense of the letter.

 

113. It has been given me to know by much experience that by means of the Word man has communication with heaven. While I read the Word through from the first chapter of Isaiah to the last of Malachi, and the psalms of David, I was permitted clearly to perceive that each verse communicated with some society of heaven, and thus the whole Word with the universal heaven.

 

 

 

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Without the Word no one would have knowledge of a God, of heaven and hell, of a life after death, and still less of the Lord

 

 

114. This follows as a general conclusion from what has been already said and shown; as that the Word is Divine truth itself (n. 1-4); that it is a medium of conjunction with the angels of heaven (n. 62-69); that everywhere in it there is a marriage of the Lord and the church, and a consequent marriage of good and truth (n. 80-89); that the quality of the church is such as is its understanding of the Word (n. 76-79); that the Word exists in the heavens also, and the angels have their wisdom from it (n. 70-75); that the nations and peoples outside the church also have spiritual light by means of the Word (n. 104-113); and much more besides. From all this it can be concluded that without the Word no one would possess spiritual intelligence, which consists in having knowledge of a God, of heaven and hell, and of a life after death; nor would know anything whatever about the Lord, about faith in him and love to him, nor anything about redemption, by means of which nevertheless comes salvation. As the Lord also says to his disciples:

 

Without me ye can do nothing (John 15:5);

 

and John:

 

A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven (John 3:27).

 

115. But as there are those who maintain, and have confirmed themselves in the opinion, that without a Word it is possible for a man to know of the existence of God, and of heaven and hell, and of all the other things taught by the Word, and as they thereby weaken the authority and holiness of the Word, if not with the lips, yet in the heart, therefore it is not practicable to deal with them from the Word, but only from rational light, for they do not believe in the Word, but in themselves. Investigate the matter from rational light, and you will find that in man there are two faculties of life called the understanding and the will, and that the understanding is subject to the will, but not the will to the understanding, for the understanding merely teaches and shows the way. Make further investigation, and you will find that man’s will is what is his own [proprium], and that this, regarded in itself, is nothing but evil, and that from this springs what is false in the understanding.

 

[2] Having discovered these facts you will see that from himself a man does not desire to understand anything but that which comes from the own of his will, and also that it is not possible for him to do so unless there is some other source from which he may know it. From the own of his will a man does not desire to understand anything except that which relates to himself and to the world; everything above this is to him in thick darkness. So that when he sees the sun, the moon, the stars, and chances to think about their origin, how is it possible for him to think otherwise than that they exist of themselves? Can he raise his thoughts higher than do many of the learned in the world who acknowledge only nature, in spite of the fact that from the Word they know of the creation of all things by God? What then would these same have thought if they had known nothing from the Word?

 

[3] Do you believe that the wise men of old, Aristotle, Cicero, Seneca, and others, who wrote about God and the immortality of the soul, got this from themselves [proprio]? Not so, but from others who had it by tradition from those who first knew it from the [ancient] Word. Neither do the writers on natural theology get any such matters from themselves. They merely confirm by rational arguments what they have already become acquainted with from the church in which is the Word; and there may be some among them who confirm without believing it.

 

116. I have been permitted to see peoples who had been born in [remote] islands, who were rational in respect to civil matters, but had known nothing whatever about God. In the spiritual world such appear like apes, and their life is very similar to that of apes. But having been born men, and consequently being endowed with a capacity to receive spiritual life, they are instructed by angels and are made spiritually alive by means of knowledges about God as a man. What man is, of himself, is very evident from the character of those who are in hell, among whom are to be found leading and learned men who are unwilling even to hear of God, and therefore cannot utter his name. I have seen such and have conversed with them. I have conversed also with some who burned with angry passion when they heard anyone speak of God. Such being the character of some who have heard about God, who have written about God, and have preached about God (and there are many such from among the Jesuits), consider what a man would be who had never even heard of him. It is from the will, which is evil, that these are of such a character; for, as before said, the will leads the understanding, and takes away from it the truth that is in it from the Word. If man had been able of himself to know that there is a God and a life after death, why has he not known that after death a man is still a man? Why does he believe that his soul or spirit is like a breath of air, or like the ether, and that it has no eyes with which to see, nor ears with which to hear, nor mouth with which to speak, until it shall have been conjoined and combined with its carcass and with its skeleton? Assume then the existence of a doctrine of worship that has been hatched solely from rational light, and will not that doctrine be that a man’s own self is to be worshiped? For ages this is what has been done, and is done at the present day by some who know from the Word that God alone ought to be worshiped. From what is man’s own, any other kind of worship, even that of the sun and moon, is impossible.

 

117. That from the most ancient times there has been religion, and that everywhere the inhabitants of the world have had knowledge of God, and have known something about a life after death, has not originated in themselves or their own penetration, but from the ancient Word (spoken of above, n. 101-103), and, at a later period, from the Israelitish Word. From these two Words the things of religion have spread into the Indies and their islands, and through Egypt and Ethiopia into the kingdoms of Africa, and from the maritime parts of Asia into Greece, and from thence into Italy.

 

But as the Word could not be written in any other way than by means of representatives, which are such things in this world as correspond to heavenly things, and therefore signify them, the things of religion among many of the nations were turned into idolatry, and in Greece into fables, and the Divine attributes and predicates into so many gods, over whom they set one supreme, whom they called “Jove”³⁰ from “Jehovah.” It is known that they had knowledge of paradise, of the flood, of the sacred fire, and of the four ages, from the first or golden age to the last or iron age, by which are meant the four states of the church (as in Daniel 2:31-35). It is also known that the Mohammedan religion, which came later and destroyed the former religions of many nations, was taken from the Word of both testaments.

 

118. Lastly, I will state of what character those become after death who ascribe all things to their own intelligence, and little or nothing to the Word. They first become as if inebriated, then as if silly, and finally stupid, and they sit in darkness. Of such insanity, therefore, let all beware.

 

 

 

(*)

 

Index of Scripture Passages

 

 

GENESIS

3:23, 24                     97

5:21-24                     21

14:18-20                  101

48:5, 11                     79

EXODUS

25:18-21                   97

22                           97

26:1, 31                     97

1, 31, 36                 46

28:6, 15-21, 29, 30   44

32:12, 14                   51

34:13                       101

37:9                           97

LEVITICUS

10:6                           49

21:5, 10                     35

NUMBERS

6:1-21                       49

7:89                           97

14:18                         51

21:14, 15                 103

14, 15, 27-30        103

27-30                    103

22:13, 18                 101

40                          101

23:1, 2, 14, 29, 30   101

3, 5, 8, 16, 26        101

7-10, 18-24           101

7, 18                      103

19                           51

24:1, 13                   101

3-9, 16-24             101

3, 15                      103

17                          101

25:1-3                      101

DEUTERONOMY

7:5                           101

9:5, 6                         51

12:3                         101

24:16                         51

32:7, 8                     101

20-35                      51

33:13-17                   79

21                           85

28                            2

JOSHUA

10:12, 13                 103

JUDGES

16:17                         49

1 SAMUEL

3:1-8                         29

5:1 to end                  23

15:29                         51

20:5, 12-41               29

2 SAMUEL

1:17, 18                   103

1 KINGS

6:7, 29, 30                 47

23-28                     97

29, 32, 35               97

17:21                         29

18:34                         29

2 KINGS

2:23, 24                     35

PSALMS

18:9, 10                     97

43                           86

29:3-9                       18

32:2                           90

33:10                         86

36:6                           85

37:6                           85

44:14                         86

47:3, 8, 9                   86

51:8                           87

60:7                           79

67:3, 4                       86

72:2                           85

78:9                           79

80:1                           97

85:11                         85

89:14                         85

90:14, 15                   87

96:11                         87

99:1                           97

106:4, 5                     86

108:8                         79

110:4                       101

119:7, 164                 85

ISAIAH

1:4                             86

21                           85

27                           85

3:1, 2, 8                     51

4:5                             33

5:3-6                         51

16                           85

9:2                           111

2, 3                         86

7                             85

10:5, 6                       86

26-34                      15

11:5                           85

10                           86

11, 13-16                15

12:3                            2

13:9-11                     14

14:6                           86

15:2                           35

17:3                           79

18:7                           86

20:2, 3                   16, 35

3                             29

22:13                         87

24:21, 23                   14

25:3                           86

7                             86

28:1                           79

33:5                           85

34:1                           86

35:10                         87

42:6                           86

43:9                           86

44:24-26                   51

49:22                         86

22, 23                     51

51:3                           87

11                           87

55:4                           86

56:1                           85

58:2                           85

65:9                           51

66:10                         87

20, 22                     51

JEREMIAH

2:13                            2

3:18                           51

4:2                             85

15                              79

6:22                           86

7:34                           87

9:24                           85

13:1-7                       16

16:9 (twice)               87

17:13                          2

22:3, 13, 15               85

23:5                           85

5                             51

25:10 (twice)             87

31:6, 18                     79

9                          2, 79

20                           79

27, 31, 33               51

33:10, 11                   87

15                           85

48:37                         35

45, 46                    103

50:19                         79

19, 20                     51

LAMENTATIONS

4:21                           87

EZEKIEL

1 (chap. cited)           97

4:1-15                       16

5:1-4                      16, 35

7:18                           35

9 (chap. cited)           97

10(chap. cited)          97

18:5                           85

28:12, 13                   45

12-14, 16                97

29:18                         35

32:7, 8                       14

33:14, 16, 19             85

36:15                         86

37:16                         79

39:17-21                   15

41:18-20                   97

48:5                           79

DANIEL

7:9                             49

14                           86

HOSEA

1:2-9                         16

(chap. cited)           79

2:19                           85

3:2, 3                         16

(chap. cited)           16

4:17, 18                     79

5:3                             79

5, 9, 11-14              79

6:4                             79

10                           79

7:1, 11                       79

8:9, 11                       79

9:3                             79

11-13, 16                79

10:11                         79

11:3                           79

8                             79

12:1                           79

1, 8, 14                   79

13:1, 12                     79

JOEL

1:16                           87

2:1, 2, 10                   14

17                           86

3:15                           14

18-20                      51

AMOS

5:24                           85

6:12                           85

8:10                           35

OBADIAH

19                           79

JONAH

1:17                           29

3:9                             51

4:2                             51

MICAH

1:16                           35

7:9                             85

NAHUM

1:15                           51

ZEPHANIAH

2:9                             86

ZECHARIAH

2:10-12                     51

8:19                           87

22                           86

23                           51

9:10                           79

13                              79

10:3, 4, 6, 7               51

7                             79

13:1                            2

MALACHI

3:4                             51

MATTHEW

2:1, 2, 9-11               23

4:4                             69

16                            111

5:3                             51

8                             57

18                           90

7:1, 2                         51

7, 8                         51

9:15                           87

11:3-5                       17

12:39                         51

13:14-15                   60

33                           29

17:1-5                       48

2                             98

19:28                         51

21:21, 22                   51

23:8-10                     51

25-26                      40

27-28                      51

24:29, 30                 112

29-31                      14

30, 31                     25

25:1-12                     17

26:34                         29

39-44                      29

61                           29

64                           49

28:1                           29

MARK

2:19, 20                     87

9:2                             98

13:31                          2

14:62                         49

16:19                         49

LUKE

1:14                           87

2:30-32                     86

5:34, 35                     87

6:20                           51

37                           51

9:28                           98

16:17                         90

19, 20                     40

17:21                         78

JOHN

1:1, 2                         98

1, 4                          2

1, 5, 9                    109

14                           98

2:19                           29

19, 21                     47

3:17, 18                     51

27                          114

29                           87

4:6, 10, 14                  2

14                           69

6:27                           69

56                           89

63                 2, 17, 39, 69

68                            2

7:24                           51

37, 38                      2

8:44                           51

11:35, 36                   40

11                           40

12:2                           40

47, 48                     51

14:6                            2

20, 21, 23               57

20, 21                     89

15:5                         114

5, 7                         89

7                             51

16:8, 10                     85

21:15-17                   29

REVELATION

1:8, 11, 17                 98

13-16                      98

14                           49

2:8                             98

5:9                             86

6:1-5, 7, 8                 12

7:4-8                         11

17                            2

9:1-3, 7-11                13

10:11                         86

12:3                           44

13:1                           44

17:3                           25

4                             44

19:11-18                 9, 25

21:2, 9                      87

6                             98

10-21                      10

17-20                      43

18-21                      36

22:1                           2

12, 13                     98

17                           87

 

 

 

 

________________________________________________________

 

Footnotes

 

 

20. That Jehovah himself spoke the Word through the prophets has been shown in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord (n. 52-53).

 

21. That there are two kingdoms of which the heavens consist, one of which is called the celestial kingdom, and the other the spiritual kingdom, may be seen in Heaven and Hell (n. 20-28).

 

22. Note the careful distinction made by Swedenborg between those knowledges that are merely in the external memory, and those which a man has some real knowledge of by experience or in some other way, and which are therefore not mere matters of memory. The former he calls “memory-knowledges” [scientiae or scientifica]; the latter simply “knowledges” [cognitiones]. This distinction runs all through these works, and must not be lost sight of, the recognition of it being vital to the understanding of important doctrines. [Translator]

 

23. That is, the divine in the act of proceeding. See footnote to Doctrine of the Lord (n. 2). [Translator]

 

24. Quoted from the Spiritual Diary (n. 3605a), and De Verbo (n. 1); and repeated in Apocalypse Revealed (n. 255), and in True Christian Religion (n. 277). [Translator]

 

25. That is, “being,” “becoming,” and “coming forth.” The “being” of a thing is what we call its existence; and therefore it was said by the ancients that “in God we live, and move, and have our being” (Acts 17:28). Here our being means the inmost of our life (Arcana Coelestia, 5605e). The “becoming” of a thing is its being taking form. And the “coming forth” of a thing is the presentation or manifestation of that thing as an actual reality. Thus the Latin word existere has a very different meaning from the English “exist,” and cannot be translated by it without causing a complete misconception in the mind of the English reader. [Translator]

 

26. That is, the two prior degrees are in the ultimate degree in simultaneous order; for a full explanation of which see below at n. 38, and also Angelic Wisdom concerning Divine Love and Wisdom (n. 205-207). [Translator]

 

27. See translator’s footnotes to author’s preface to Doctrine of the Lord. [Translator}

 

28. The Latin word proprium is the term used in the original text that in this and other places has been rendered by the expression “own.” The dictionary meaning of proprius, as an adjective, is “one’s own,” “proper,” “belonging to one’s self alone,” “special,” “particular,” “peculiar.” The neuter of this, which is the word proprium, when used as a noun means “possession,” “property”; also “a peculiarity,” “characteristic mark,” “distinguishing sign,” “characteristic.” The English adjective “own” is defined by Webster to mean “belonging to,” “belonging exclusively or especially to,” “peculiar”; so that our word “own” is a very exact equivalent of proprius, and if we make it a noun by writing it “own,” in order to answer to the Latin proprium, we effect a very close translation. [Translator]

 

29. These letters are to be pronounced as follows:

i as in machine

e like the a in baby

y like the German ü or the French ü eu as in French, or like the German ö a as in father

In Swedish, o and u are sounded as follows: o either as oo in booth, or as o in note u somewhat like the ew in hew

But the natural scale as set forth by Helmholtz and Donders would assign to o the sound of o in note, and to u the sound of oo in booth. [Translator]

 

30. Perhaps; see True Christian Religion, n. 275. [Translator]

 

 

 

 

 

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