DE HEMELSCHE LEER

51 THE REVIEW BY DR. ALFRED ACTON

throned in his mind? Yet many of the criticisms against DE HEMELSCHE LEER would seem to imply that this fundamental doctrine is not fully realized. By the above it is not meant that a man who is in the falsity of ignorance in which is innocence, is in communication with hell, for with such a one the falsity is only in the external man and can therefore be removed after death. Neither is it meant that there may not be things adjoined to the Doctrine which are not genuine in themselves. The genuine Doctrine is due to both immediate influx from the Lord and mediate influx from the Lord through the Heavens. All things due to this twofold influx are purely Divine. There may be things added by the Angels which serve for introducing goods and truths, and which in themselves are not good, but such things are not from mediate influx from the Lord; such things do not become of faith and charity, for all that becomes of the new life with man, is from the Lord alone (see A. C. 8728).

Due to a misinterpretation of the above number some have thought that these things which come from the Lord by mediate influx through the Heavens are not purely Divine; but that this is a misinterpretation is obvious from a careful reading of the eighteenth chapter of EXODUS as explained in the ARCANA. The things adjoined by the Angels are not from mediate influx from the Lord.

These things which are adjoined to the Doctrine for the sake of introduction, but which are not a permanent part of the Doctrine, are further treated of in the ARCANA under the representation of Abimelech and Phicol when separated from Abraham, concerning which we read: "And they struck a covenant in Beersheba, signifies that human rational things were adjoined to the Doctrine of faith; and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol the captain of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines, signifies that these things had no part in the Doctrine" (A. C. 2720).

That DE HEMELSCHE LEER contains genuine, that is, Divine Doctrine, for all genuine Doctrine is Divine, can be seen at the present time, but what parts are of purely Divine origin and what human rational things have been adjoined for the sake of introduction and which are therefore not permanent, the future will show.

52 REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

That in the first states of the Church the Divine origin of the Doctrine that takes its rise in the Church is not acknowledged and that in later states it is acknowledged, is clearly shown in the ARCANA COELESTIA in treating of the third and fifth days of creation. That the Church passes through the states represented by the seven days of creation is a well known truth. Concerning the third day of creation we read: "The man who is being regenerated is at first of such a quality that he thinks that the good which he does, and the truth which he speaks, are from himself, when in reality all good and all truth are from the Lord, so that whoever supposes them to be from himself, has not as yet the life of true faith, which nevertheless he may afterwards receive; for he cannot as yet believe that they are from the Lord, because he is only in a state of preparation for the reception of the life of faith.

This state is here represented by things inanimate, and the succeeding one by animate things" (A. C. 29). The fifth state is thus described: "After the great lights have been kindled and placed in the internal man, and the external receives light from them, then the man first begins to live. Heretofore he can scarcely be said to live, inasmuch as the good which he did, he supposed that he did from himself, and the truth which he spoke, that he spoke of himself; and since man of himself is dead, and there is nothing in him but what is evil and false, therefore whatever he produces from himself is not alive, in so much that he cannot do from himself what is good in itself.

That man cannot even think what is good, nor will what is good, consequently not do what is good, except from the Lord, is plain to every one from the Doctrine of faith; for the Lord says in Matthew: He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man (13 :37). Nor can any good come except from the very fountain itself, which is the only one, as He also says: None is good save One, God (Luke, 18:19). Nevertheless, when the Lord is resuscitating man to life, that is regenerating him, He permits him at first to be in such an opinion, for at that time he is incapable of conceiving otherwise, nor can he in any other way be led to believe, and afterwards to perceive, that all good and truth are from the Lord alone" (A. C. 39). Yet it is this very teaching, that all truth that a man speaks is from

53 THE REVIEW BY DR. ALFRED ACTON

the Lord, that is most strongly objected to in the criticisms made against DE HEMELSCHE LEER.

It is here clearly taught that before a man believes that the good which he does and the truth which he speaks are from the Lord, he has not the life of true faith; hence is evident the truth of the statement of DE HEMELSCHE LEER, that before the Doctrine of the Church is acknowledged as Divine, the Lord is not enthroned in the Church.

On page 22 of the review we further read: "What is new in the present view is, that in the Writings the Heavenly Doctrine is covered with a veil and so is not apparent; while in the doctrine of the Church drawn from those Writings and formulated by men, it is openly revealed." It is not said in DE HEMELSCHE LEER that the Doctrine of the Church is not veiled, in fact in one sense the veil is even thicker than that of the Writings, for the cherubim are always present, lest men enter and profane interior truths. That the veil is even thicker than in the case of the Writings is evident from the review which appeared in the January number of NEW CHURCH LIFE, where Rev. H. Lj. Odhner made it clear that it is possible to read DE HEMELSCHE LEER, and not understand a word of what is read. The Doctrine of the Church is of assistance to those only who are prepared by the Lord to enter into more interior things.

The review continues: "In other words, the men of the Church will be able to supply a vehicle of words wherein the Heavenly Doctrine is clearly set forth to view, while Swedenborg was unable to do this, or unwilling. And the question will naturally arise, if Swedenborg was unable, by virtue of what superior advantages shall others be able? or if unwilling, on what grounds shall others be willing?" It is surprising to find such a sentence in the review written by Dr. Acton. What had Swedenborg's willingness or unwillingness, his ableness or unableness to do with the Second Coming of the Lord? The Writings of the New Church are the Divine Human of the Lord accommodated with infinite wisdom to the state of mankind.

On page 22 we read: "If the Writings are not the Heavenly Doctrine because their letter is expressed in a language incomprehensible to angels, does not the same objection apply to the Doctrine of the Church which also

54 REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

has its literal sense or natural text?" As is shown in DE HEMELSCHE LEER the essential of the Doctrine of the Church is the spiritual vision by which men are in. communion with the Angels, and not the natural text. That the Church without a vision of Doctrine has no enlightenment from the letter of the Writings is manifest from CONFERENCE and CONVENTION.

The function of the Writings is to lay an infinite foundation of Divine Rational Truth fixed in ultimates, which will serve all men and Angels to eternity; the function of the Doctrine of the Church is to open the spiritual eyes of the Church so that it may see more and more of the infinite treasures that lie hidden in the Writings; it thus acts as a ladder, on which the Angels descend from and ascend to the Lord.

On page 23 we read: "But I cannot think that any New Churchman will ascribe Divine authority to a human production." As quoted above, "every truth that a man speaks is from the Lord"; what is from the Lord, is not a human production. It is true that before a man sees that the Doctrine is genuine and has been drawn from the Word according to order, it has no authority for him: but when this is seen it has authority. Has not the essential position of the' GENERAL CHURCH in contradistinction to that of CONFERENCE and CONVENTION, Divine authority to those who see it in enlightenment? If not, the GENERAL CHURCH is merely a sect based on human opinion, and is unworthy of its name.

Further we read: "Yet there seems here to be some confusion of thought. Of course, as to its origin, all truth is Divine, by whomsoever uttered; but that does not give Divine authority to the utterances. A sermon, though it preaches the Divine Truth, is still a human production, and its excellence consists in nothing more than the pointing to the Truth as it stands in the Writings." It is obvious that in so far as it teaches Divine Truth a sermon is not a human production, and the excellency of a sermon to a large extent depends on its drawing forth Doctrine from the Writings that has not been seen by the Church. The authority of a sermon is not of course from the person who writes it, but is in the truth itself which is manifested.

55 THE REVIEW BY DR. ALFRED ACTON

Further we read: "As far as man's work is concerned, a doctrine of the Church consists solely in the words which embody a human conception of what is taught in the Writings." All human concepts are false, for they can have no other origin than self, from which proceeds nothing but falsity; no human concept of what is taught in the Writings can be a genuine Doctrine of the Church in any sense. The Lord alone can see truth in man; man from himself can see no truth. It is true in a sense that the Writings alone have Divine authority in the Church, nevertheless if one sees in the light of Heaven that a. truth has been drawn from the Writings, that truth has authority to him who sees.

On page 25 we read: "DE HEMELSCHE LEER itself speaks of the warning given in the Writings against the arbitrary interpretation of those Writings by councils; but it leaves us in uncertainty as to its meaning when it adds that the only safeguard against this danger lies in the genuine Doctrine of the Church." The New Church like all previous Churches would fall into false doctrine and thus come to an end, if the Lord did not manifest genuine Doctrine. That false doctrine in the New Church has the power of bringing about its spiritual 'death can be seen in the history of the Church, first in the case of Clowes and those who followed him in contradistinction to those who followed Hindmarsh; and at present in the case of CONVENTION and CONFERENCE.

That non-genuine doctrines in regard to the essentials of the Church exist in the GENERAL CHURCH, is evident from the contradictory views that are held as to the Lord's G-lorification and other essential subjects. If such non-genuine doctrines were to increase beyond measure, it is evident that the Church would come to an end. Hence the only salvation for the Church is the manifestation from the Lord of genuine Doctrine; and because we are given to know that the New Church will not come to an end, we can rest confidently in the trust that the Lord will manifest Doctrine as needed. It is clearly evident that if the Lord had not manifested the Doctrine that is contained in the Principles of the ACADEMY at the time appointed, the New Church would have come to its end. But such manifestation of Doctrine does not rest on any authority of men or councils.

Further on the same page we read: "Divine authority

56 REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

can attach only to an immediate revelation, that is, to a revelation not made by means of spirits and Angels, but coming immediately from God; and the Writings are such an immediate revelation." Both immediate and mediate revelations are purely Divine and have Divine authority; ?this is evident from the fact that the Old and New Testaments were given by mediate revelation. That mediate revelation is Divine, is evident from the whole of the eighteenth chapter of EXODUS as explained in the ARCANA. The confusion of thought that is expressed in the above quotation from Dr. Acton's review, arose from what is said in A. C. 8728 concerning those things which come from the Angels themselves; such things however are not from the Lord by mediate influx through the Heavens, but are, as stated, from the Angels themselves.

There are various kinds of influx both immediate and mediate. There is the immediate influx into the souls of all men both good and evil, giving them the power of rationality and liberty. SECONDLY: there is, at the commencement of the Church, immediate influx into the things of the letter of the Word (A. C. 8685 and following numbers). This influx is not perceived by man and is not what is meant by the immediate revelation that Swedenborg had. THIRDLY: there is influx or revelation both immediately, as in the preceding state, and mediately from the Lord through the Heavens; this latter influx or revelation is not altogether hidden from the man (see A. C. 8694). FOURTHLY: With the celestial Angels and with celestial men the influx or revelation of which man is conscious, which with the lower Angels and the men of the spiritual Church was mediate, now becomes immediate from the Lord, wherefore the celestial have a twofold immediate influx and hence immediate revelation from the Lord. It was this conscious immediate revelation from the Lord that Swedenborg had in common with the celestial Angels. When the celestial Church is again set up on earth, it too will receive an immediate revelation from the Lord, analogous to that of Swedenborg; for Swedenborg, besides having been the instrument for the infinite revelation of the Third Testament, was also a type of the essential New Church and represents that Church. But, of course, in contradistinction to the infinite revelation

57 THE REVIEW BY DR. ALFRED ACTON

which the Church received through Swedenborg, the revelation which the man of the future celestial Church will receive, although immediate, will nevertheless always be finite, because limited by the limitations of those who will receive it, and, of course, the latter will always remain dependent on the former.

On page 25 we read: "And here we cannot avoid the reflection that the Roman Catholic church also appeals to the 'vision of the Church' as the criterion of the interpretation of the Word". Had the Catholic church had any vision of truth from the Word it would not have died. "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (PROV. 29:18). Concerning vision we read: "The external man was illuminated from the internal. .... For [the external man] when he perceives what the external man is when conjoined with the internal, or of what quality he is in his beauty, is then illuminated from the internal man, and is then in the Divine vision here treated of" (A. C. 1584). Where there is no vision of Divine truth in the Word the church falls into literalism; it was this lack of vision that caused the Catholic church to close the Word and set up the external authority of the Pope in its place.

On page 26 we read; "This mediate revelation, moreover, is individual, and carries with it no authority except to the individual". This is true unless the Church as a whole sees it, as for example in the case of the vision that gave birth to the Academy, but even then the authority resides in the vision and not in the external authority of the Church.

On page 27 the review quotes the teaching that the Writings are "the Crown of Revelations". The Writings are manifestly the Crown of Revelations, for they are the infinite Divine Truth, the Lord Himself. The Doctrine of the Church is the means whereby the Church has its eyes opened to see more and more of the infinite Divine Truth in the Writings. The Writings are the Word in its fulness, the Doctrine of the Church is the internal sense that the Church has come to see.

The review closes with the words: "Will not our minds, desirous of the guidance of God, when men cry 'Lo here and lo there', be troubled with doubts? and thus doubting, will we not ask of the Writings: Art thou the Christ or do

58 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

we wait for another?" From all that is said concerning "the morning" in the Writings, it is evident that every morning in the Church is a Coming of the Lord; when the celestial Church is again set up and men will see, for the first time, the Lord Himself in the Sun of Heaven, a vision not granted even the spiritual Angels, will it not be a marvelous Coming of the Lord to the Church?

The Writings, as given, were the Second Coming of the Lord in fulness on the part of the Lord, but the first simple acknowledgement of the Writings by the Church was not a seeing of the Second Coming of the Lord in fullness on the part of the Church; in fact, as Mr. Hyatt pointed out forty years ago, this was but a seeing of John the Baptist; and as the Church has for the most part remained in the literal sense of the Writings, this still applies. As long as the Church thinks that it has the whole truth in the literal sense of the Writings and is not "troubled with doubts", it is a sign of little internal reflection as to the infinity of the Writings.

CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA COELESTIA

642. These are the least and most general arcana which man does not know; if the singular things were told him he would comprehend not even one of them.

771. But what the singular things involve it would take too long to explain; it is sufficient to give only a general idea of the most general things.

855. These truths are perceived by the Angels in a wonderful variety and in delightful order, that could man but be in one such idea, there would be thousands and thousands of things in a manifold series that would enter and affect him, and in fact such things as never could be described.

863. No truth of faith is ever possible except from the good of love or charity.

865. Man can kno\v nothing of the truth of faith except from the revealed things in the Word, where all things are said in a general way; generals are but as the spots of a cloud, for every general contains thousands and thousands of particulars, and each particular thousands and thousands

59 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

of singulars. ... These have never been so revealed to man, because they are both indescribable and inconceivable, and thus cannot be acknowledged and believed. ,.. It is altogether otherwise with the celestial man, who has perception from the Lord.

868. Man has nothing of good and nothing of truth except from the Lord, and all evil and falsity man has from his proprium.

876. And so the dove's returning unto Noah to the ark, signifies that the good and truth meant by the dove returned again to the man. For whatever of good a man supposes that he does from himself, returns to him, since it regards himself. . . . The good and truth of faith is inwardly good and true from the inmost, that is all the good and truth of faith flows in from the Lord through man's inmost.

878. "And he put forth his hand and took her and brought her to himself into the ark". This signifies his own power, and that he did what was good and thought what was true from himself; . . . to put forth his hand etc., is to apply and attribute to himself the truth meant by the dove.

880. What man hears out of the Word and holds in the memory is nothing but an insemination. . . . There are three things with man which concur and unite together, namely the natural, the spiritual, and the celestial. His natural never receives any life except from the spiritual, and the spiritual never except from the celestial, and the celestial from the Lord alone, who is Life itself.

904. The Lord speaks with every man, for whatever a man wills and thinks that is good and true, is from the Lord. ... Every good and true thing inspired by the, Angels is from the Lord. .. . No one can ever think anything good and true except from the Lord. . . . Man knows no otherwise than that he thinks from himself, but man has not a single idea of thought, nor even the least bit of an idea, from himself; but he has what is evil and false through evil spirits from hell, and what is good and true he has through the Angels from the Lord.

1383. One ldnd of perception which is angelic perception, consists in perceiving what is true and good, and what is from the Lord and what is from themselves.

1384. The sons of the Most Ancient Church said con-

60 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

cerning their perception, that of themselves they neither think nor can think anything- nor will anything; but that in all things whatever which they think and will, they perceive what is from the Lord, and what from other sources', and they perceive . . . how much is from the Lord and how much as it were from themselves. . ,. The spiritual Angels, who likewise have perception, although not such as the celestial, speak concerning truth and good; but still they perceive them, although with a difference.

1385. They have been told that it is of angelic wisdom to perceive without reasoning whether a thing is good and true; but they do not apprehend that such perception is possible.

1408. In the internal sense of the Word there are arcana of Heaven, which lie stored up and hidden there, which can never be seen as long as the mind, together with the eye, is kept in historicals; nor are they revealed until the mind is removed from the sense of the letter. The Word of the Lord is like a body which contains a living soul.

1807. He who is in Divine things never regards the Lord's Word from the letter; but he regards the letter and the literal sense as being representative and significative of the celestial and spiritual things of the Church and of the Lord's Kingdom. To him the literal sense is merely an instrumental means of thinking of these.

1869. How many things there are in a single word of the Word, has been shown me by the opening of the ideas of thought. . . . There then appeared beautiful things beyond number. .. . It was said that the things which thus appear visible can be opened again as to their interiors. . . . Such are all angelic ideas, for they are open from the Lord Himself.

1936. It is only suggested here how the Lord thought concerning the appearances that had engaged the attention of the first rational with Him, namely that they were not to be trusted, but Divine Truths themselves, however incredible they might appear before that rational; such is the case with all truths Divine; if the rational be consulted respecting them, they cannot possibly be believed, for they surpass all its comprehension. For example that no man, spirit, and Angel lives from himself, but the only Lord. . . . It is a Divine truth that in every expression of the Word, which appears so simple and rude to man, there are things illimitable, nay more than the universal Heaven: and that

61 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

the arcana which are within can be presented before the Angels from the Lord with perpetual variety to eternity.

1954. The interior sight does not see from itself, but from a still more interior sight, or that of man's rational. Nay neither does this see from itself, but does so from a still more interior sight, which is that of the internal man. And even this does not see of itself, but it is the Lord alone through the internal man who sees. ... Such is the case with influx.

2004. From ;the Lord, through man's internal, life continually flows into man's rational, and through this into his external, and in fact, into his scientifics and cognitions, and not only it adapts them to receive the life, but also disposes them into order, and so enables the man to think, and finally to be rational. Such is the conjunction of the Lord with man, without which man could not think at all, still less be rational. ... There are in the thought of man numberless arcana of science . . . which never flow in through the senses or through the external man, but through the internal. Man however, on his part, by means of scientifics and cognitions advances to meet this life which is from the Lord, and thereby reciprocal ly conjoins himself.

2016. As regards the fact that all good and the derivative truth are from the Lord, this is a constant verity. The Angels are in the perception of it to such a degree that they perceive that in so far as any thing is from the Lord, it is good and true, and that in so far as it is from themselves it is evil and false.

2093. The first rational is conceived and born by the influx of the internal man into the life of the affection of sciences in his external man; . . . but his second rational he receives from the Lord when he is being regenerated: for he then perceives in the rational what the good and the truth of faith are. In man the internal man is above his rational, and is the Lord's.

2171. They who are in perception as are the Angels, know very well in which perception they are: whether in natural perception, in rational perception, or in still more interior perception which to them is Divine.

2177. When, the man of the Church so apprehended these things, he was then in an idea similar to the perception of

62 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

the Angels, thus he was in the Lord's kingdom itself in the Heavens, although he was on earth.

2203. The human rational as to truth is of such a, nature that it cannot understand what the Divine is, for the reason that that truth is in appearances; and therefore that which it does not understand it does not believe; . . . whereas heavenly affection is not in appearances but in good and truth itself. As rational truth is of this nature, it is pardoned.

2227. All good and all the derivative truth will be from the Lord. . .. From celestial good comes spiritual good.

2242. But the Angels are not in appearances in the way that man is, and therefore while the Word as to the sense of the letter is for man, as to the internal sense it is for the Angels, as also for those men to whom of the Lord's Divine mercy it is given, while living in the world, to be like the Angels.

2657. With every man who is being regenerated there are two rationals, one before regeneration, the other after regeneration. The first which is before regeneration, is procured through the experiences of 'the senses, by reflections upon things of civic life and of moral life, and by means of the sciences and the reasonings derived from them, and by means of them, also by means of the cognitions of spiritual things from the Doctrine of faith or from the Word. But these go no further at that time than a little above the ideas of the corporeal .memory, which comparatively are quite material.

Whatever therefore it then thinks is from such things; or in order that what it thinks may be comprehended at the same time by interior or intellectual sight, the semblances of such things are presented by comparison or analogically. Of this kind is the first rational. . . . But the rational after regeneration is formed from the Lord through the affections of spiritual truth and good, which affections are implanted from the Lord in a wonderful manner in the truths of the former rational, and those things in it which are in agreement and favor, are thus vivified; . . . until at length spiritual goods and truths are collected together as into bundles. , . . From the first rational, which he has procured for himself by the means described above, the man believes that he thinks truth and does good from himself,

63 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

thus from the proprium. ... This first rational cannot apprehend otherwise, even if it has been instructed that all the good of love and all the truth of faith are from the Lord. But when man is being regenerated . . . he begins to think that good and truth are not from himself or from ?what is his own. but; from the Lord. The more he is then confirmed in this, the more he is led into the light of truth respecting these things, until at last he believes that all good and all truth are from the Lord.

2719. Now the Doctrine of faith is treated of, which is to be serviceable to the [spiritual] Church; namely that human rational things from scientifics are adjoined to it, which are Abimelech and Phicol.. . . These rational things are appearances, not from a Divine but from a human origin, which are adjoined for the reason that without them the spiritual Church would not comprehend Doctrine, and thus would not receive it; . .. and they are not discrepant to such a degree that the Divine good cannot have in them some kind of receptacle.

2761. "Jehovah bowed the heavens, and He came down, and thick darkness was under His feet; and He rode upon a cherub". Thick darkness here denotes clouds; to ride upon a cherub represents the Lord's Providence lest man should of himself enter into the mysteries of faith which are in the Word.

3364. In the internal sense the subject here treated of is the Lord, in that from His Divine are all the doctrinal things of faith; for there is not any doctrinal, not the smallest part of one, that is not from the Lord, because the Lord is Doctrine itself. Hence it is that the Lord is called the Word because the Word is Doctrine; but as every thing that is in the Lord is Divine, and the Divine cannot be comprehended by any created being, therefore in so far as they appear before created beings, the doctrinal things that are from the Lord are not truths purely Divine, but are appearances of truth; nevertheless within such appearances are truths Divine, and because they have these within them, the appearances also are called truths.

3387. This signifies that he could not open Divine Truths themselves; Divine Good would then not be received. If Divine Truths themselves were to be opened, they would not be received by those who are in the doctrinal things of

64 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

faith, because they surpass all their rational apprehension, thus all their belief.

3438. In the internal sense there are singulars, myriads of which together make one particular that is presented in the literal sense.

3712. "I will bring thee back to this ground", signifies conjunction with the Divine Doctrine. The Divine Doctrine is the Divine Truth, and Divine Truth is all the Word of the Lord; Divine Doctrine itself is the Word in the supreme sense, in which the Lord alone is treated of, hence Divine Doctrine is the Word in the internal sense, in which the Lord's kingdom in the Heavens and in the earths is treated of. Divine Doctrine is also the Word in the literal sense, in which the things in the world and upon the earths are treated of. But since the literal sense contains in itself the internal sense, and this the supreme sense, and altogether corresponds thereto by means of representatives and significatives, therefore also the Doctrine thence is Divine. As Jacob represents the Lord's Divine Natural, he also represents the Word as to the literal sense . . . The natural of the Word . . . is as a cloud. .. . The internal sense is represented by Isaac, but the supreme sense by Abraham. . . . But, however, these things are not so circumstanced in the Lord, for all in Him is Divine G-ood, but not Divine Truth and still less Divine Natural Truth; but Divine Truth is the Divine Good appearing in Heaven before the Angels, and on earth before men, and although it is apparent, it is nevertheless Divine Truth because it is from Divine Good, as light is the sun's because from the sun.

3786. The case is the same in general with the Church while it is being established; the doctrinals of good and truth must first be collected into a one, for it is on them that the building is erected. The doctrinals have also a connection with one another, and a mutual respect to each other, wherefore unless they are first collected into one a deficiency will arise, and the things that are wanting would have to be supplied by man's rational; and how blind and visionary this is in spiritual and Divine things, when it draws conclusions from its own self, has been repeatedly shown above. On this account the Word, which contains all the doctrinals of good and truth, has been given to the Church.

65 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

3798. That the Word is opened by means of good is manifest. ... Such as the love or flame is, such is the light of truth. They who are in the love of good are able to see the things that belong to that love, consequently the truths that are in the Word, and this according to the measure and quality of their love of good; for in this case, light or intelligence flows in out of Heaven, that is through Heaven from the Lord. Hence it is that, as was said above, no one can see and acknowledge the interiors of the Word, unless he is in good as to life.

3812. All evil and falsity thence flow in from hell; and all good and truth thence flow in from the Lord. Man knows this from the Doctrine of faith, but scarcely one among myriads believes it.

3813. This proprium is what is called the heavenly proprium, which in itself is the Lord's alone, appropriated to those wlio are in good and thence in truth.

3880. "And she said: This time will I confess Jehovah", signifies in the supreme sense the Lord, in the internal sense the Word, in the external sense Doctrine thence.

3900. "Then if any one say to you: Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe not", signifies an exhortation to beware of their doctrine. Christ is the Lord as to Divine Truth, consequently, as to the Word, and as to Doctrine from the Word. False Christs denote doctrinals from the Word falsified, or truths not Divine.

3901. That the face of an eagle denotes circumspection and thus Providence, is evident, for the Cherubs which were represented by the animals in Ezekiel, signify the Providence of the Lord, lest man should enter into the mysteries of faith from himself and from his rational.

3969. From this it may appear what the Divine Spiritual is; and whence the spiritual kingdom and the celestial kingdom; and that the spiritual kingdom is the good of faith, that is charity which inflows from the Lord immediately, and also mediately through the celestial kingdom. The Divine Spiritual which proceeds from the Lord, is called in the Word "the Spirit of Truth" and it is Holy Truth, and is not of any spirit, but is of the Lord through the Spirit sent by the Lord, as may appear from the words of the Lord Himself in John: "When He, the

66 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

Spirit of Truth, shall have come, He shall lead you into all truth; for He shall not speak from himself, but whatsoever He shall hear that shall He speak. He shall also announce to you things to come. He shall glorify Me, because He shall take of Mine, and shall announce it unto you".

3993. The arcana that treat of these subjects cannot easily be explained to the apprehension, because they fall into the shade of the understanding, and it is like a person speaking a foreign language, in which case, however clearly he may explain his subject, still the hearer does not understand him. But. notwithstanding that this is the case, it is necessary to state the matter, because it must be opened what the Word contains stored up in the internal sense.

4002. Stealing in the internal sense denotes claiming to one's self that which is the Lord's, namely good and truth, and whereas all do this in the beginning of regeneration, and this is the first state of innocence, therefore the word is milder than it sounds in the letter: consequently, "that is stolen by me" signifies that it was not his.

4027. The things which have thus far been explained as to the internal sense of the words, are too interior and thus too arcane to admit of being clearly explained to the understanding. ... Something of them may be seen in the regeneration of man, because the regeneration of man is an image of the Lord's Glorification. Of regeneration a man may have some idea, but not unless he be regenerated; nevertheless it will be an obscure one as long as he lives in the body. ... Those however who are not regenerated, cannot possibly have any conception of the subject.

4063. Man is led from the Lord not in a natural but in a supernatural manner.

4247. "And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to thy brother, to Esau, and, moreover, he cometh to meet thee". This signifies that good flows in continually, to appropriate to itself, namely truths. . . . Good is continually flowing in, and truth receives it, for truths are the vessels of good. Divine good cannot be applied to any other vessel than genuine truths, for they correspond to each other.

67 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

When man is in the affection of truth, as he is in the beginning before being regenerated, even then good is continually flowing in, but has as yet no vessels, that is truths. ... But as good is then continually flowing in, it produces the affection of truth; for the affection of truth is from no other source than the continual endeavor of Divine good to flow in. From this it is evident that, even at that time, good is in the first place, and acts the leading part, although it appears as if it were truth that does so. . . . The life which is from the Lord does not flow in except into good, thus through good, and this from the inmosts. . . . Good is that which produces; and it inflows into truths, and appropriates them to itself, in so far as a man is in the cognitions of truth, and at the same time wants to receive them.

4249. When good is taxing the first place and is subordinating truths to itself, which happens when man is undergoing spiritual temptations, the good that then flows in from within is accompanied by very many truths which have .been stored up in his interior man. These cannot come to his observation and apprehension until good acts the leading part, for then the natural begins to be enlightened by good, whence it becomes apparent what things in it agree and what things disagree. ... While he is thinking and willing goods, and is delighted with the truths from them, he may know that they are from Heaven, that is, through Heaven from the Lord. . . . These things cannot but appear to man as paradoxes because almost every man of the Church at this day believes that all the truth, and all the good that he wills and does, are from himself, although he says otherwise when he speaks from the doctrinal of faith.

4279. From this it is manifest of what quality the Word is, and how the case is with the Word when it is read by a man who is in what is holy, that is in good and truth. For then, with him, it appears as worldly or as historical, in which there is nevertheless what is holy; but in the first Heaven it appears as celestial and spiritual natural, in which there is nevertheless what is Divine; in the second Heaven, however, it is spiritual, and in the third Heaven it is celestial; and in the Lord it is Divine. The sense of the Word is according to the Heavens; the highest, sense . . . for the inmost Heaven etc.. but the lowest

68 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

sense is for man while still living in the world, who nevertheless is such that the interior sense, and even the internal sense and highest sense, can be communicated to him. For man has communication with the three Heavens; in fact man is created according to the form of the three Heavens, so that when he lives in love to the Lord and in charity towards the neighbor, he is a. Heaven in the least form. Hence it is that within man is the Lord's kingdom, as the Lord Himself teaches in Luke: "Behold the Kingdom of God is within you".

4301. As to the state of truth in good, this can indeed be described, but yet it can only be apprehended by those who have celestial perception. Others cannot even have an idea of the conjunction of truth with good, because with them truth is in obscurity.

4302. Although these things should be described, they still will not be evident except to those who are in celestial perception, and by no means to those who are in natural perception only. For those who are in celestial perception are in the light of Heaven from the Lord. ... This only can be said respecting the order in which truths must be, in order that they may enter into good. . . . The Lord . . . disposes each and all things into such order; hence Heaven is a likeness and image of the Lord. The truths and goods with every Angel are in such an order; and the truths a,nd goods with every man who is being regenerated are also disposed into such an order.

4402. But although these things are clear to those who are in the light of Heaven, they are nevertheless obscure to those who are in the light of the world, thus to most people at this day, and possibly so obscure as to be scarcely intelligible, ... and yet the opening of them is not to be dispensed with; the time will come when there will be enlightenment.

4964. "Was brought down into Egypt". This signifies to the scientifics of the Church. . . . The scientifics treated of the correspondences of the natural world with the spiritual world, and of the representatives of spiritual and celestial things in things natural and earthly. Such were the scientifics of those who were in the Ancient Church. . . . As in Egypt it was chiefly scientifics that were handed down, therefore the scientific in general is represented by

69 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

Egypt. . . . Whereas they had such scientifics that taught correspondences, and also representatives, and significatives, and as these were of service to the doctrinal things of the Church, especially to the understanding of those things which were said in their Word, ... therefore by "being brought down into Egypt", is signified to the scientifics of the Church. . -. The Lord was first imbued with the scientifics of the Church, and from and by them He advanced to things more and more interior, and at last even to those which were Divine. For it pleased Him to glorify Himself, that is, to make Himself Divine, according to the same order as that in which He regenerates man, namely from the externa.l things, which are scientifics and the truths of faith, successively to internal things, which are of charity towards the neighbor and love to Him.

4966. Be it known that the scientifics of the Ancients were altogether different from those of the present day. As before said the scientifics of the Ancients treated of the correspondence of things in the natural world with things in the spiritual world.

4967. Because Egypt is the scientific it is also the natural, for all scientific with man is natural, because it is in his natural man, even the scientific concerning spiritual and celestial things. The reason of this is that man sees them in the natural, and from it: and those which he does not see from the natural he does not apprehend. But the regenerate man, who is called spiritual, and the unregenerate man, who is merely natural, see them in different ways.

4977. Man is sensible of that which flows in by an external way, but not until he has been regenerated, of that which flows in by an internal way; so that unless in the prior state a sort of dominion were given to truth, or unless good so applied itself, truth would never be appropriated to good.

4980. When Divine Good which is in Divine Truth is received by the rational or internal man, it is called the celestial in the rational; and when received by the natural or external man, it is called the celestial in the natural. With man both flow in from the Lord immediately, as well as mediately through angels and spirits: but with the Lord

70 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

when He was in the world it flowed in from Himself.

5121. "And Joseph said unto him: This is the interpretation of it". This signifies revelation from perception from the celestial in the natural as to what it had in itself. In regard to revelations being either from perception, or from speech with Angels, through whom the Lord speaks, it is to be known that they who are in good and thence in truth, especially they who are in the good of love to the Lord, have revelation from perception. The Angels, especially the celestial, have revelation from perception, as had also the men of the Most Ancient Church, and some too of the Ancient Church, but scarcely any one at this day. ... For genuine perception exists through Heaven from the Lord, and affects the intellectual spiritually, and leads it perceptibly to think as the thing really is, together with internal assent, the source of which it knows not. It supposes that it is in itself, and that it flows from the connection of things; whereas it is a dictate through Heaven from the Lord, flowing into the interiors of the thought, about such things as are above the natural and sensuous, that is about such things a.s are about the spiritual world or about Heaven.

5207. As regards the matter itself, that truths were banished from the natural by falsities in the boundaries, be it known that this takes place at the beginning in all regeneration; for 'the truths that are insinuated with man in the beginning, are indeed in themselves truths; but they are not truths with him until good is joined to them. The good when joined causes the truths to be truths. Good is the essential and truths are the formal things thereof.

5208. Truths are banished from the natural, which is done in order that the natural may be enlightened in a general manner from within, and that afterwards in the general illustration or in the general light, truths may be replaced there in their order, wherein the natural is enlightened in a particular manner. The correspondence between the spiritual and the natural with man, or between his internal and his external, is effected in this way: for truths are first procured, next those truths are as if banished, yet they are not banished but stored away. . . . What is general comes first; and afterwards things less general, and finally particulars are inserted therein.

71 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

5213. Scientifics are vessels. ... The scientifics into which the things of faith and charity can be applied are very many, such as all the scientifics of the Church which are signified by Egypt in a good sense, and consequently all those scientifics which are truths about correspondences, representatives, significatives, influx, order, intelligence and wisdom, and the affections, yea all truths of inner and outer nature, both visible and invisible, because these correspond to spiritual truths.

5253. Hence the speech of the Angels, which is relatively unlimited; and in consequence every thing of their speech flows into the infinite and eternal, consequently into the Divine of the Lord.

5280. Man has to learn from the Word and from Doctrine there from what is good. The cognitions of good from the Word or from Doctrine there from are called the truths of faith. ... The truths previously insinuated are as it were banished. ... And then as the man suffers himself to be regenerated the light of truths from good is insinuated by the Lord through an internal way into the natural, into which light the truths are returned into order. ... But at this day few are admitted into this state.

5288. It is also good and truth that bring into order each and all things in the natural mind; for they flow in from the interior, and thus arrange them. One who does not know how the case is with man's intellectual faculty, and how man can mentally view things, perceive them, think analytically, draw conclusions thence, and at last pass them over to the will, and through the will into act, sees nothing to wonder at in these things; he supposes that all things flow naturally in this way, being quite unaware that they are one and all from influx through Heaven from the Lord, and that without this influx men could not think at all. ... So neither does he know that the good flowing in through Heaven from the Lord, brings all things into the image of Heaven.

5355. What the multiplication of truth from good is shall be briefly stated. When man is in good, that is in love towards the neighbor, he is also in the love of truth. consequently in so far as he is in this good, so far he is affected by truth, for good is in truth as the soul in its

72 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

body. As therefore good multiplies truth, so it propagates itself in truth and by truth indefinitely, for there is no limit to good or to truth. ... In the Church to day there is rarely any multiplication of truth. ... It is believed sufficient to know the dogmas of faith of the church in which man is born, and to confirm them by various means. But one who is in the good of genuine charity and thence in the affection of truth, is not content with this, but desires to be enlightened from the Word. ... He also sees it from good, because the apperception of truth is from good; for the Lord is in good and gives the apperception. When a man receives truth thence it increases indefinitely. In this respect it is like a little seed which grows into a tree, and produces other little seeds, which in turn produce a garden, and so on.

5428. But if they are told that real freedom . .. is not at all like this, but consists in willing nothing from self, but from the Lord, yea also in thinking nothing from self, but from Heaven, and hence that the Angels are overwhelmed with sorrow and grief if permitted to think from themselves and to will from themselves, this is not acknowledged.

5478. That the truths of the Church are apprehended by those who are in good, that is by those with whom these truths are conjoined with good, quite differently from what they are by those who are not in good, seems indeed like a paradox, but still it is the truth.

5556. They are altogether ignorant that the chief thing in wisdom is to perceive without reasoning, that a thing is so or not so.

5623. The capacities or abilities for receiving truth are wholly according to good, because the Lord adjoins them to good.

5637. The interior things of scientifics are spiritual things in the natural mind, and spiritual things are there when the scientifics there are enlightened by the light of Heaven, and they are so enlightened when man has faith in the doctrinal things from the Word, and he has this faith when he is in the good of charity; for then truths and thereby scientifics are enlightened by the good of charity as by a flame.

5773. Mourning over truths from the proprium that they

73 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

could no longer claim to themselves, . . . signifies that they would be without freedom from their proprium, thus without truths from themselves. . . . Be it known that a turning about takes place with those who are being regenerated, namely that they are led to good by means of truth, and afterwards from good they are led to truth.

5951. What spiritual truths in the natural are must be told. Truths of faith outside of man, spirit, and Angel, are not truths of faith, for they are not applied to a subject, in which they become such. But when they are applied to a man, spirit, and Angel as to a subject, they then become truths of faith, but with a difference according to the states of life of each one. With those who are learning them for the first time they are only scientifics. Afterwards if these persons devoutly reverence them, the truths advance further and become truths of the Church; and when they are affected with them and live according to them, they then become spiritual truths; for the good of love and charity which is solely from the spiritual world, then fills them and causes them to live.

5952. It is said "as seemed good", because the doctrinal things that are meant by the carts of Egypt are from the literal sense of the Word, which, without the internal sense, can be applied to any good whatever. For the Lord does not openly teach any one truths, but through good leads to the thinking of what is true, and unknown to the man He inspires the apperception and consequent choice that such a thing is true, because the Word so dictates and because it is square. . . . Thus the Lord adapts truths according to the reception of good by each person.

6167. When the Word is being read by a man, those who are in the other life, being in the internal sense of the Word, not only perceive all things, but see besides innumerable arcana therein, and such as cannot be expressed in any human speech. Those which have been adduced are comparatively only a few.

6232. All things which proceed from the Infinite, as do truths and goods, are capable of increasing and of being multiplied indefinitely. That truths and goods can increase indefinitely arises from the fact that they proceed from the Lord, who is infinite.

6240. But the truly rational man is none other than he

74 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

who is called a celestial man, and who has perception of good, and from good perception of truth; whereas he who has not this perception, but only the cognition that a thing is true ... is not truly a rational man, but is an interior natural man. Such are those who belong to the Lord's spiritual Church.

6338. "Assemble yourselves". This signifies that they should set themselves in order. . . . For the universal which proceeds from the Lord effects this, because it contains within itself all the singulars down to the most minute ones; and it is all these taken together which are the universal that reduces all things in the Heavens into order. When the universal is doing this, it appears as if the very goods and truths set themselves in order, and as if they flowed into order of' their own accord. . . . This would never take place unless the universal which proceeds from the Lord contained within it the minutest singulars of all, and unless all these were in the most perfect order. If there were any universal influx from God without singulars, as many suppose, and a man, or spirit, or Angel were to direct himself in singulars, instead of order there would be confusion of all things. This may be illustrated by many things with man, that unless his thoughts were ordered universally and at the same time singularly by the affections of love, it would be impossible for them to flow rationally and analytically.

6398. "Dan shall be a serpent upon the way". This signifies their reasoning about truth because good does not as yet lead. [Subject continued in 6400.]

6430. "And He shall bless you with the blessings of heaven above". That this signifies with the good and truth from the interior, is evident from the signification of blessing . .. and . . . of heaven. . . . The Heaven of man is in his interiors, because the man who is in the good of life is as to his interiors in society with Angels, thus in Heaven, and as to his exteriors in society vnth men, thus in the world. Therefore when man receives the good and truth which flow in from the Lord through Heaven from within, he is blessed with the blessings of Heaven above.

6431. "With the blessings of the abyss that lieth beneath". This signifies the scientifics that are in the natural.

75 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

6434. The spiritual Church should have good from the natural or external man, but not from the rational or internal man: for the good of the man of the spiritual Church is in the natural, nor does it go further.

6454. Whatever is in the natural, and more so what is in the exterior natural, is obscure in comparison to what is in the interior natural, and still more so in comparison with what is in the rational. But this obscurity becomes clear in two ways; first, of the exteriors are brought into compliance with the interiors, and thus into correspondence-, secondly, if the man can be elevated from exterior to interior things, and thus to see the exterior things from what is interior. This latter is possible with those who are in the internal of the Church, and the former with those who are in its external.; but neither the one nor the other is obtained except through regeneration from the Lord. From this it is plain what is meant by the obscurity being capable of becoming clear.

6471. A certain spirit not of the evil, but from those who suppose that they possessed the cognitions of faith more than others, and who had instructed some others also in this that all good and truth are from the Lord, and that man cannot think or will what is good from himself, was brought into such a state that he did not think and will from himself. ... When he was in this state he said he could not live in such a way, but that life was grievous to him. He was then told that thus he did not love to live in the truth which he had taught.

6507. "And the Egyptians wept over him". This signifies the sadness of the scientifics of the Church. .., But sadness here means sadness because the good of the Church which is represented by Israel, had left the scientifics, which are the externals of the Church, when it ascended from them to the internal of the Church, which is the good of truth; for in this case it no longer regards scientifics as being with itself, as before, but beneath itself. For when the truth of the spiritual Church becomes good, a reversal takes place, and then it no longer looks at truths from truths, but from good. . . . From this comes sadness, and it also comes from the fact that a different order is effected among the scientifics, which is not effected without pain. [This is further described in numbers 6539?6542.]

76 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

6564. Joseph is the celestial and internal good, through which good and truth flow in from the Lord. The Lord continually flows in through man's internal with good and truth.

6566. This is evident from the representation of Joseph as being the internal celestial; and from the signification of speaking, as being influx and thence reception: for the influx is from the internal celestial, which is Joseph, and the reception is by the truths in the natural, which are his brethren.

6617. A certain good spirit was taken up into the first Heaven, and speaking with me from thence he said that he saw infinite things in what T was then reading in the Word; when yet I myself had only a simple thought on the subject. Afterwards he was taken up into a more interior Heaven, and he said from thence that he now saw still more things, and so many that those which he had seen before were comparatively gross to him. He was next taken up into a Heaven still more interior where the celestial Angels are, and he said from thence that what he had before seen was scarcely anything compared with the things he now saw. While this continued, various things flowed in and I was affected with the various things that came thence.

6686. The true scientifics in the natural have all their life from the good which flows in through the internal.

6690. From this scientifics have their form. If heavenly love rules, then all things are disposed there by the Lord into the heavenly form, thus into the form of the good itself of love.

6750. Scientifics are what they who are being regenerated must first learn, because they are a plane for the things of the understanding, and the understanding is the recipient of the truth of faith, and the truth of faith is the recipient of the good of charity. Hence it can be seen that the scientific is the first plane when a man is being regenerated.

6865. It is false scientifics which chiefly infest those of the spiritual Church, because they have no perception of truth from good, but only the cognitions of truth from Doctrine. ... For scientifics are the most general vessels, which sometimes appear contrary to truths, until truths

77 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

being let into them make them transparent, and thus not to be noticed. Moreover scientifics are full of the fallacies of the senses, which cannot be dispelled by those who are in the mere cognitions from Doctrine, and not in the perception of truth from good. ... But those who are in the light of Heaven are in enlightenment from the Lord. ... Hence it is evident that these latter have an interior intuition, which is above the scientifics, and thus is distinct; whereas the former have a lower intuition, which is within the scientifics and thus an entangled one.

6866. In genuine humiliation a man divests himself of all ability to think and do any thing from himself, and wholly leaves himself to the Divine, and thus draws near to the Divine.

6996. The things a man speaks are presented quite differently with spirits; and the things spirits speak, quite differently with the Angels. Aaron as Doctrine, see n. 6998?7012. Immediate and mediate influx, see n. 7055?7058.

7191. Every thing of thought and of the consequent discourse flows in through Heaven from the Lord.

7233. Hence it is that every one within the spiritual Church acknowledges as the truth of faith that which its founders have dictated, nor do they search further from the Word whether it be the very truth; and moreover if they did search they would not find it unless they had been regenerated, and at the same time enlightened in a special manner.

7750. It may be shown that those only have spiritual life who are in celestial love, and from this in cognitions; and that love contains within it all the cognitive that is of that love. Take for example the animals of the earth and the animals of the heaven or the birds. These have the science of all things of their love. . . . If man were in his own love, which is love to G-od and towards the neighbor, this being man's proper love, . . . he would then be not only in all requisite science, but also in all intelligence and wisdom; neither would he have occasion to learn them, for they would flow in from Heaven into these loves, that is through Heaven from the Divine. But as man is not in these, but in contrary loves ... he must be born into all ignorance, yet by Divine means he is brought into something of intel-

78 COMFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA

ligence and wisdom, but still not actually into any thing unless he removes the loves of self and of the world and thus opens the way for love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor. That love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor have within them all intelligence and wisdom, can be seen from those who in the world have been in these loves; when in the other life they come into Heaven, they there know and are wise in such things as before they had never known; nay, they think and speak there as do the rest of the Angels such things as ear hath never heard, nor the mind known, which are unutterable. The reason is that these loves have in them the capacity to receive such things.

7757. The good itself which flows in from the Lord adopts truth there, and appropriates it to itself, and thereby causes the good with a man to be good, and the truth to be truth; or the charity to be charity, and the faith to be faith. Without this conjunction charity is not charity, but only natural goodness; neither is faith faith, but-only the science of such things as are of faith.

7838. The truth of faith is not the truth of faith unless it is with the good of charity, and especially unless it is from it.

7840. Men of the internal Church are they who have qualified their good by means of interior truths, such as are those of the internal sense of the Word; but men of the external Church are those who have qualified their good by means of exterior truths, such as are those of the literal sense of the Word.

7950. All spiritual light comes through good from the Lord, thus through charity; for the good of charity is like a flame from which is light; for good is of love, and love is spiritual fire, from which comes enlightenment. He who believes that they who are in the evil of life can also be in enlightenment in respect to the truths of faith, is very much mistaken. They can be in a state of confirmation, that is, they may be able to confirm the doctrinal things of their Church; but they cannot see whether what they confirm is true or not.

7966. These are the two states in which they who are of the spiritual Church, when in good, are kept by the Lord: the first, that from the erood which is of the will

79 COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN

they see and think truth; the second, that from this marriage of good and truth they produce truths, which by willing them and doing them, again become goods and so on continually.

8042. "Sanctify to Me all the firstborn". This signifies faith that it is from the Lord. When it is said faith, there is meant all the truth that belongs to the spiritual Church. ... When a man is being regenerated, he is led by means of faith in the understanding, or in Doctrine, to faith in the will or life, that is by means of the truth of faith to the good of charity. When the man is in the good of charity, he has then been regenerated, and then from this good he produces truths, which are called the truths of good. These are the truths which are the veriest truths of faith, and which are meant by the firstborn.

8078. Faith merely natural is faith which is insinuated by an external and not by an internal way, such as sensual faith which consists in believing a thing to be so because the eye has seen. - . . But spiritual faith is that which is insinuated by an internal and at the same time by an external way; the insinuation by the internal way causes it to be believed, and then that which is insinuated by the external way causes it to be confirmed. The insinuation of faith by the internal way is effected by reading the Word, and by enlightenment then from the Lord, which is granted according to the quality of the affection.

8106. The literal sense of the Word is called a cloud, because the internal sense, which is called glory, cannot be comprehended by man, except by one who is regenerated and then enlightened. If the internal sense of the Word, or truth Divine in its glory, were to appear before a man who is not regenerated, it would be like thick darkness, in which he would see nothing at all, and by which he would also be blinded, that is he would believe nothing.

8301. "Who is like Thee, 0 Jehovah, among the gods" signifies that all truth of good proceeds from the Divine Human of the Lord. . . . That by these words i