This is Section 9.1d of Moses, Paul, and Swedenborg:Ý Three Steps in Rational Spirituality by Dr. Leon James (2003).
The book is available on the Web
at:Ý www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/moses.html
The Web address of
this document is:Ý www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/proof.html
Email comments to leon@hawaii.edu
Can There Be a Scientific
Proof that the Threefold Word is Divine
Contents
The
Secret Code of Correspondences
The
Divine Origin and Power of Correspondences
The
Scientific Status of Correspondences
Perception
of The Spiritual Sense of Scientific Revelations
Natural
vs. Spiritual Understanding of Correspondences
True
Science -- Divine Scientific Revelations of Absolute Truth
Quoting from Swedenborg where he discusses
the inner meaning of numbers in the Old and New Testament:
[7] As these passages are historic it can hardly be believed that the
numbers in them are significant as the number "five thousand" of the
men, and also the number "five" of the loaves, and "two" of
the fishes, as also the number "one hundred," and the number
"fifty," of the companies that sat down, and lastly
"twelve" which was the number of the baskets containing the
fragments; when yet there is a secret in each number. For every detail happened
of providence, in order that Divine things might be represented. (AC 5291)
In other words,
numbers in the Threefold Word have a double meaning, one literal, the other
coded by means of correspondences. Unless this code is known, one cannot figure
out what each number refers to regarding spiritual things or meanings. A
careful observer may discover the inner meaning of some numbers when
juxtaposing the passages in the Testaments where that number is used, and then
inferring what its spiritual referent may be. An example is the number 40,
which is mentioned in connection with temptations ñ have you noticed that? You
may also have noticed the use of the number 12 to refer to a complete set of
truths, and perhaps the number 10 as referring to remnants of truths. At any
rate, this approach would yield only a few results while the majority of
numbers would remain obscure as to their spiritual referents. Then consider all
the words ñ names, places, objects, actions, etc., and you can see that one
would not be able to figure out by this means the spiritual referents for most
of the words in the Threefold Word.
Therefore it is
such a wonderful development for the human race now that the Lord has seen fit
to reveal the code of correspondences through the Writings. Now we can apply
these correspondences to the Threefold Word and begin to uncover, or extract,
the endless database of knowledge it contains. This knowledge is True Science,
revealed by God to humanity. It is endless because each word contains an
endless series of ordered truths, so that endless numbers of generations to
eternity can continue to extract scientific revelations in the Threefold Word.
Such is the awesome significance of the human race being in possession of the
Writings. You can see that to a few people to whom this is known and
understood, it is hard to contain oneís enthusiasm in telling others about it.
Even harder is it to see peopleís reactions of disinterest or derision. Yet to
you, dear reader, if you compel yourself to continue with this book till the
end, it will be given to you to know and understand this great open secret.
Then it will be your turn to feel amazed when you tell others, and they turn
aside. But eventually, over some number of generations, the Writings will
become the norm in society, like the dictionary and the encyclopedia. Then this
present book will be read as a curiosity of the past where the future was
anticipated.
In the quote above
(AC 5291) note especially the last sentence: ìFor every detail happened of
providence, in order that Divine things might be represented.î This sentence
alone, when understood, is amazingly inspiring and empowering. It is like
taking an elevator to the penthouse of a tall apartment building. When you look
out the window, either day or night, you see an uplifting picture of the city
from a lofty perspective that only the rich can afford in the bedroom. The
ìrichî in the Threefold word is a code word for those who have spiritual
truths, for it is truths that enrich the individual to eternity, while material
riches are temporary. When the Threefold WordÝ mentions the activity of ascending to
the top of a mountain it is a coded reference to elevating the consciousness by
means of spiritual truths from the Word. This sentence functions like a
spiritual elevator, raising our understanding of reality. The sentence reveals
that God managed to have certain specific events in history to occur so that
when these are recorded by the prophets, the words and sentences in their inner
secret code, will form just the correct series for
representing spiritual truths needed for our regeneration.
This in itself, if
you understand it, is sufficient scientific proof that the Threefold Word is
Divine and that God orchestrates every single detail of an event ñ the time,
the place, the people, the weather, the accidental events, the sequence of the
events, the thoughts and feelings of the participants, and all the rest.
Prior to this, it
was known generally that God manages all details of the universe. This is the
Trinitarian concept of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. But now we
can know this in particular detail, hence, scientifically. We can study it as a
scientific object. The Three Testaments span three millennia in their writing,
and the code of correspondences has been frozen in time to eternity, so that we
may study its endless tracks through what has been revealed in the Writings of
Swedenborg. This is why the Third Testament, or the 27 volumes of the Writings,
is called The Crown of Churches by the Lord. ìThe Crown of Churchesî is a code
reference for the uppermost anatomy of the human mind. The Writings are called
that because those who study it as Divine Truth, are
taken up in their consciousness to the top of their mind, which is called
heaven.
Now consider the
next passage which will demonstrate that the code of correspondences in the
Three Testaments is not an arbitrary linguistic device or convention. This is
what one thinks when thinking about a code in a natural way. Computers are very
fast in being able to break such codes. But the code of correspondences is not
a linguistic code but a reality code, if I may call it that. Correspondences
are laws of creation and existence. This idea is related to what the New
Testament reveals about how the universe was created, namely, by Divine Truth:
That God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent through the wisdom
of His love is meant by the words in John:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was
the Word. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made
that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the
world was made by Him. And the Word was made flesh (John 1:1, 3-4, 10, 14);
"the Word" here meaning the Divine truth, or, what amounts to
the same thing, the Divine wisdom; and for this reason it is called
"life" and "light," "life" and "light"
being nothing else than wisdom. (TCR 50)
[2] In heaven Divine Truth has all power, and apart from it there 1a11
is no power whatever. From the Divine Truth all angels are called powers, and
are powers to the extent that they are receptions or receptacles of it. By
means of it, they prevail over the hells and over all that oppose them. A
thousand enemies there cannot endure a single ray of the light of heaven which
is Divine Truth. Since angels are angels from their reception of Divine Truth,
it follows that the entire heaven is from no other source, for heaven consists
of angels.
[3] That there is such power latent in Divine Truth is incredible to
those who have no other idea of truth than that it is thought or speech, which have no power in themselves except as others do them from
obedience. But Divine Truth has power in itself, and such power that, by means
of it, heaven was created and the world with all things therein. That there is
such power latent in Divine Truth may be illustrated by two comparisons,
namely, by the power of truth and good in man, and by the power of light and
heat from the sun in the world. (HH 137)
One of the most
impressive scientific revelations in the Writings, at least to me, is the fact
that truth is a substance streaming out of the spiritual Sun, and corresponding
to it, is the sunlight streaming out of every sun in a galaxy. Light and heat
from the natural sun are material in the form of physical particles and wave
energies. This corresponds exactly to light and heat streaming out of the
spiritual Sun, and these are not material in form but substantive. They are
substances. Light from the spiritual Sun is a spiritual substance while the
heat that is within it, is a celestial substance. The spiritual substance
activates our understanding where it is experienced as truths we are conscious
of. When we talk about truths in a natural way, we think about the logical
condition of statements, and surely these are not like matter or substance.
But thinking more
rationally, and scientifically, we can know that truth is a substance that
produces logic and rationality as phenomena. It is like electricity that
streams into the thin wires of a light bulb and sets them aglow with light from
the heat inside. It is the electricity streaming into the wire that makes it
white hot. The light streaming out is therefore an effect or phenomenon
produced by the electricity being absorbed into the material of the tungsten
wires. The absorption of energy in the form of electricity,
causes the atomic particles of the wires to move faster, which causes particles
and waves of energy to flow from the wires across the glass bulb into the
surrounding air, and these then carry the light to the eye.
A similar
corresponding sequence of tiny events take place when spiritual light is
absorbed into the receptor organ called the understanding, so that the end
result of the process is the phenomenon of understanding or conscious
awareness. Truth substance activates the cognitive organs of the mind so that
it produces thinking operations governed by a rational syntax. So the action of
correspondences is what creates effects in the natural world by means of causes
in the spiritual world. This is not an arbitrary code but the genetic code of
reality itself. This is the code of the Threefold Word is written in, and no
other human work has this unique Divine and infinite property. This is why it
is said that the universe was created by means of the Word. This is Divine
Truth within which is Divine Love that activates it.
Now consider the
demonstrable power of correspondences. Quoting from the Writings:
Third Memorable Relation
The next day an angel came to me from another society and said, "We
have heard in our society that on account of your meditations about the
creation of the universe you were summoned to a society near ours, and there
told things about creation which the society then assented to, and have since
remembered with pleasure. I will now show you how all kinds of animals and
vegetables were produced by God."
He led me away to a broad green field and said, "Look around."
And I looked around, and saw birds of most beautiful colors, some flying, some
perched upon the trees, and some scattered over the field plucking little
leaves from roses. Among the birds were doves and swans. After these had
disappeared from my sight I saw not far from me flocks of sheep with lambs, and
of kids and she-goats; and round about these flocks I saw herds of cattle,
young and old, also of camels and mules, and in a kind of grove, deer with high
horns, and also unicorns.
When I had beheld these things the angel said, "Turn your face
towards the east." And I saw a garden containing fruit trees, as orange
trees, lemon trees, olive trees, vines, fig-trees, pomegranates, and also
shrubs bearing berries.
The angel then said, "Look now towards the south." And I saw
fields of various kinds of grain, as wheat, millet, barley, and beans, and
round about them flower beds containing roses of beautifully varied colors; but
toward the north I saw thick groves of chestnut trees, palms, lindens, plane
trees, and other trees with rich foliage.
[2] When I had seen these things the angel said, "All these things
that you have seen are correspondences of affections of the love of the angels
who are near." And he told me to what affection each particular thing
corresponded; and moreover, that not these only, but also all other things that
presented themselves to their sight were correspondences, as houses, the
articles of furniture in them, the tables and food, the clothing, and even the
gold and silver coins, as also the diamonds and other precious stones with
which wives and virgins in the heavens are adorned. "From all these
things," he said, "the character of every person in respect to love
and wisdom is perceived by us. The things in our houses that are of use remain
there permanently; while to the sight of those who wander from one society to
another these things change as their associations change.
[3] These things have been shown to enable you to see, in a special
example, the entire creation. For God is love itself and wisdom itself; the
affections of His love are infinite, and the perceptions of His wisdom are
infinite; and of these each thing and all things that appear on earth are
correspondences. This is the origin of birds and beasts, forest trees, fruit
trees, crops and harvests, herbs and grasses. For God is not extended, and yet
He is present throughout all extension, thus throughout the universe from its
firsts to its lasts; and He being thus omnipresent, there are these
correspondences of the affections of His love and wisdom in the whole natural
world; while in our world, which is called the spiritual world, there are like
correspondences with those who are receiving affections and perceptions from
God.
The difference is that in our world such things are created by God from
moment to moment in accordance with the affections of the angels. In your world
they were created in like manner in the beginning; but it was provided that
they should be renewed unceasingly by the propagation of one from another, and
creation be thus continued.
[4] In our world creation is from moment to moment, and in yours
continued by propagation, because the atmospheres and earths of our world are
spiritual, and the atmospheres and earths of your world natural; and natural
things were created to clothe spiritual things as skin clothes the bodies of
men and animals, as outer and inner barks clothe the trunks and branches of
trees, the several membranes clothe the brain, tunics the nerves, and the inner
coats their fibers, and so on. This is why all things in your world are
constant, and are renewed constantly from year to year."
To this the angel added, "Go and tell the inhabitants of your world
what you have seen and heard, for hitherto they have been in complete ignorance
about the spiritual world; and without some knowledge about it no one can know,
nor even guess, that in our world creation is a continuous process, and that it
was the same in yours while the universe was being created by God."
Ý[5] After this we talked about
various matters; and at length about hell, that no such things are seen there
as are seen in heaven, but only their opposites; since the affections of the
love of those there, which are lusts of evil, are opposites of the affections
of love in which angels of heaven are. Thus with those in hell, and in general
in their deserts, there are seen birds of night, such as bats and owls; also
wolves, panthers, tigers, and rats and mice; also venomous serpents of every kind,
dragons and crocodiles; and (where there is any herbage) brambles, nettles,
thorns, and thistles, and some poisonous plants grow: and at times these
disappear, and then nothing is seen but heaps of stones, and bogs in which
frogs croak. All of these things are correspondences; but as has been said,
they are correspondences of the affections of the love of those in hell, which
affections are lusts of evil. Notwithstanding these things are not created
there by God; nor were they created by Him in the natural world, where like
things exist. For all things that God has created and does create were and are
good; while such things on the earth sprang up along with hell, and hell
originated in men, who by turning away from God became after death satans and devils.
But as these terrible things began to be painful to our ears, we turned our
thoughts from them and recalled to mind what we had seen in heaven. (TCR 78)
This remarkable report by Swedenborg gives
us a number of illuminating facts from True Science. The angels are the people
who inhabit the highest portion of their mind, which as often discussed above,
is called ìheavenî by the Lord in the Threefold Word. When we have attained
that level of thinking and feeling, our consciousness and understanding are filled
with nothing but knowledge of True Science. This information is instantaneously
present in their conscious understanding whenever it is desired or needed. They
do not have to read, study and memorize, thus do not make mistakes of
perception or reporting. What Swedenborg records in the quote above about what
the angels said, may be taken as having been said from the Lord because angels
only think and speak from affections that inflow from the Lordís Own Proprium
and are adapted uniquely to each angel. Hence it is that angels talk as we do,
not knowing in advance what another will say, so that social occasions are
maintained in their integrity in all heavenly societies.
Further, what has been written in the
Writings must follow and complete the sequence of coded meanings started in the
Old Testament, continued in the New Testament, and completed in the Writings.
The threefold Word has an unbroken inner sense in its coded sequence, word by
word, phrase by phrase, verse by verse, sentence by sentence, paragraph by
paragraph, chapter by chapter, book by book, and so on, since the Threefold
Word in its entirety makes one complete perfect representation of the in finite
variations of Divine Truth. Every human being ñ soul, mind, body -- may be
taken as a unique variation of Divine Truth, and human beings can be produced
endlessly since the variations of Divine Truth are endless or infinite. This
indeed is the Lordís purpose for creation ñ an endless production of immortal
human beings whose consciousness and life can rise to the top of their mind
called heaven, where they live in conjugial happiness that increases daily to
eternity. This purpose is what Divine Love is.
Let us summarize some of the main points in
the passage quoted above:
(1)Ý Swedenborg participated in an experiment in
the spiritual world. He was the subject-observer or witness, and an angel was
the experimenter. The demonstration consisted of showing the power and
mechanism of correspondences so that Swedenborg could report them from experience
(ìThese things have been shown to enable you to see, in a special example, the
entire creation ...î).
(2)Ý The angel produced different effects in
different directions around Swedenborg. Around him he saw a green field,
flowers, colorful birds, and useful domestic animals. Told to look towards the
east, he saw a garden with fruit trees. Looking to the south, he saw various
kinds of grain, thick groves of trees with rich foliage.
(3) These effects
were produced at will by means of correspondences, well known to angels.
General effects are produced by the general disposition or ìthe character of
every person in respect to love and wisdom.î Particular effects are produced by each particular affection of an angel who is near, as for
instance the detailed architectural structure of a house or adornment jewelry.
(4)Ý Visitors in a heavenly society see similar
things to the inhabitants if they are in similar disposition. Houses, cities,
etc. remain in permanent place to the extent that the inhabitants there retain
the same general disposition of character. Daily changes, or increases,Ý in their love and
wisdom, are marked by corresponding changes in the details of the things
already in permanence, so that a wall may change its appearance, a new jewelry
piece may appear on the earlobe of an angel wife, or a new type of fruit tree
may appear outside the window. Heaven is a state of mind in which we are given
the power to produce these natural-spiritual appearances by means of our
affections and cognitions.
[
A side note: Is this not
truly amazing ñ and I for one, am looking forward to such a state. Iíve got to
make sure I stay on course with my rational spirituality! My wife is the
essential component in my not getting lost! Even if I possess the enlightenment
of heaven, I cannot stay the course without her ñ so I found out.]
(5)Ý The origin of all correspondences is Godís love and wisdom (ìthe affections of His love are infinite, and the perceptions of His wisdom are infinite; and of these each thing and all things that appear on earth are correspondencesî. Obviously, this is the reason that the Threefold Word is written in correspondences since the Word is God Himself speaking to humanity. Everything that God says in speaking to us is in correspondences. Why? Because when we read His Word in a printed book, what is it but a natural object in which is contained holy spiritual things. A Bible verse rendered in some natural language like Hebrew, Greek, or Latin, is a natural object and all natural objects are created by correspondences. But a sentence in the Threefold Word contains encoded heavenly secrets, while other objects do not. Such is the unique character of the Threefold Word. It would not be able to serve its function were it not Divine. This function is to keep open the life-line connection between God and the human race.
(6)Ý Correspondences produce effects by discrete
degrees and all created things are created into three discrete degrees of
structure. This principle is called ìfrom firsts to lasts,î which indicates
that God operates the universe by a successive sequence of mechanisms operating
together in simultaneous order, which is some particular object and function in
existence.
(7)Ý The same mechanism of correspondences that
produces natural effects from spiritual causes,
operates with spirits, angels, and devils, in producing environmental
appearances. The world we are in, when cut off from the physical world, is a
mental world called the spiritual world. The memories and knowledges we bring
with us from earth fills the lower portion of our mind. As we lose the physical
body, our consciousness in the eternal spirit-body must
either ascent to the higher spiritual-rational portion of our mind, or else
descend to the lower natural portion. Which we do depends on the
affections and cognitions we brought with us in the natural mind. These
affections or mental states draw us near others with similar mental states and
together we make a spiritual society which consists of cities and lands
instantiated in accordance with the affections and cognitions of those present
with each other.
(8)Ý Whatís important therefore for consciousness raising to heaven, is not the knowledge of correspondences
but the acquisition of affections and cognitions that project a heavenly sphere
or existence. The projection, production, or instantiation of our external
environment in the spiritual world ñ whether heaven or hell ñ is achieved not
by our knowledge of correspondences but by the very laws of correspondences,
whether we know them or not.
(9)Ý Whatever first comes into existence in the
natural world is by means of correspondences from the love and wisdom of the
Lord, but afterwards, it is reproduced by means of new mechanisms such as
geological formations or reproduction of species by new births. These new
mechanisms are produced by different spiritual affections and cognitions which
the angels have.
(10)Ý The angel knew about our ignorance of
correspondences and tells Swedenborg to make the facts known (ìGo and tell the inhabitants
of your world what you have seen and heardî).
With this introduction,
consider a set of facts about correspondences and the Threefold Word:
(a) The Threefold Word,
composed of the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Writings, was written
by dozens of authors over nearly three millennia or thirty centuries.
(b) Each author wrote as-of self a record of
what they saw and heard. Unbeknownst to them however, every sentence they wrote
down has a double meaning, one literal, the other inner and spiritual.
(c) The inner spiritual meaning of every
sentence of the Threefold Word can be extracted from the literal meaning by
applying a special translation code to it. This code is called the code of
correspondences and is described fully in the Writings.
(d) Swedenborg learnedÝ the code from his special observations
of the spiritual world through dual consciousness from age 57 to his passing on
at 84 (1688-1772). He observed repeatedly that the thoughts and feelings of
those who are there, are projected outward by the laws
of correspondences. For instance, evil loves and false ideas project an outward
appearance of darkness, caves, marshy lakes, noxious animals and stenches. Good
loves and true ideas project light, gardens, palaces, friendly animals, and
wonderful fragrances. Hence it is that people with good love who pass on are
able to find and live in a heavenly environment, while people with evil loves
find a hellish place to dwell in. The same correspondences that exist between
the mind and the environment in the spiritual world, also govern the relation
between the literal meaning of the Threefold Word and its inner spiritual
meaning. Correspondences are therefore universal, governing all things between
the natural and the spiritual worlds.
(e) Even though the Threefold Word is
written in a code, every historical or descriptive detail mentioned is
accurate. In other words the Threefold Word is not poetic symbolism but
accurate history and science. Despite this, it has a hidden code and an entirely
new meaning through that code. This inner meaning was not known to the writers.
Correspondences are not symbolic interpretations. Correspondences are
scientific principles of creation that govern all natural phenomena by means of
spiritual phenomena. They are objective, not subjective or interpretive. They
give knowledge of the causes of natural phenomena.
So now the logical question arises: How can you
explain that the Threefold Word is written entirely in a hidden code of
correspondences when none of the authors of the Old and New Testaments knew
anything about correspondences?
If this is not proof, what is? What can be
more certain to the rational mind? If this doesnít impress you itís because you
are thinking only about sensuous consciousness of God, when yet it is rational
consciousness of the Lord that elevates our consciousness all the way to
heaven.
Furthermore, Swedenborg who knew about correspondences, illustrated their use with the Old and New
Testaments. He was not conscious of the fact that he was also writing in
correspondences. He was just writing down his analyses of the Old and New
Testaments, as well as the travels and interviews he conducted in the spiritual
world. And yet, because the Writings are the Word, the sentences Swedenborg
wrote down are also in a code of correspondences, even if he did not himself
try to write in a code. To what extent he was aware that what he wrote
spontaneously came out in a code, I do not know, but itís not possible for me
to think that Swedenborg did not know that the Word of the Second Coming had an
internal sense just as the first Two Testaments. The fact that he never
mentions it indicates that this is something the Lord reveals to each
individual (see the discussion on profanation in the previous section). There
are many places in the Writings where Swedenborg announces that heís going to
reveal something later in the text, ìby the Lordís mercy.î But sometimes he
writes that he is not allowed to reveal more things about some particular
subject. Why wouldnít he? The reason is undoubtedly as explained in relation to
profanation.
And furthermore, there is the teaching in
several places of the text that the degree of interiorness of truth understood
in the Writings, is proportional to oneís progress in
regeneration. This too indicates that the Lord is in immediate charge of the
degree of truth that we can derive from the literal of the Threefold Word. In
the 12-volume Arcana Coelestia, we
are given a phrase by phrase and verse by verse analysis of all of Genesis and
Exodus. The purpose is to show the existence of an underlying spiritual meaning
that can be accessed by knowledge of correspondences. Just a few of the
thousands of instances may be cited:
And there was given unto them power as the scorpions of the earth have
power, signifies their ability to persuade, and its effect and might. This is
evident from the signification of a "scorpion," as being an
infatuating and suffocating persuasiveness (of which presently); and from the
signification of "power," as being might and effect, here the might
of the sensual man from his persuasiveness, and the effect which is infatuating
and suffocating. (AC 544)
The "blood" because it signified charity, signified what is holy;
and the "flesh" because it signified man's will, signified what is
profane. And because these things are separate, being contrary, they were
forbidden to eat blood; for by eating flesh with the blood was then represented
in heaven profanation, or the mingling of what is sacred with what is profane;
and this representation in heaven could not then but strike the angels with
horror; for at that time all things existing with the man of the church were
turned, among the angels, into corresponding spiritual representations, in
accordance with the signification of the things in the internal sense. (AC
1001)
That the "mountains of Ararat" signify light [lumen] is
evident from the signification of a "mountain" as being the good of
love and charity (n. 795); and from the signification of "Ararat" as
being light, and indeed the light of the regenerate. (AC 854)
In the exposition of the inner coded meaning
of the Old and New Testaments, the Writings frequently employ a basic rational
formula that can be rendered;
ìAî signifies B,
where A=a word or phrase in the original text of
the Old and New Testaments that refers to natural things
and B=a word or phrase describing the inner
spiritual meaning of A, derived by applying the code of correspondences.
Thus, in the quoted passages above, we have:
"scorpion" = an infatuating and
suffocating persuasiveness
ìpowerî = the might of the sensual man from his
persuasiveness
ìbloodî = charity and what is holy
ìfleshî = the will
ìeating flesh with bloodî = mingling of what is
sacred with what is profane
"mountain" = the good of love and
charity
"mountains of Ararat" = light [lumen]
From this repeatedly used formulaic pattern,
readers of the Writings first form the impression that they are learning to
decipher the Divine code of correspondences. And of course this is true ñ but
only at the natural level of thinking. Readers of the Writings can memorize and
apply correspondences to art, poetry, linguistics, medicine, education, etc.,
but this is as far as it goes. The understanding of correspondences remains
natural and formulaic, and has not yet matured to the level of operation that
is both rational and spiritual. The Writings say that unless the existence of
this natural-rational is fully appreciated, all further progress in rational
spirituality is arrested. The stalling of oneís spiritual development occurs
because we take the literal meaning of correspondences to be the same as the
spiritual meaning. This is a natural error and tendency that is discussed in
the Writings, along with antidotes and methods of overcoming it. The Lord
Himself as a Child underwent this tendency and believed that his natural-rational
understanding of the Old Testament was ìit,î until He received the inner call
from His ìinternal Manî called Jehovah, whereby He informed Himself that the
spiritual-rational meaning of the Old Testament words are to be revealed to His
Mind from within. Since that moment, all of humanity must take the same course
of internal and progressive revelation from within regarding the spiritual
meaning of the Threefold Word.
Hence, after we memorize and comprehend the
code of correspondences in a literal way, we must then apply this knowledge to our
own states of mind ñ our moment to moment stream of thinking and feeling all
day long. The contrast here is between a theoretical knowledge of
correspondences and an applied understanding. Now the formula can be
represented as follows:
ìAî = B = C
C is the new factor in the equation when it
matures. ìAî is some text from the Threefold Word. B is the memorized database
of correspondences extracted from the Threefold Word (theoretical knowledge of
the Writings). C is the perception of the spiritual sense of ìA.î
You will note that the spiritual meaning is
a living perception available only when our understanding is ëonlineí or ìtuned
inî to the spiritual world and its ìinflux ìof spiritual information. This
perception of the spiritual influx is called ìenlightenmentî and is discussed
in the Writings in many places. Without this enlightenment from the Lord, the
spiritual meaning of the Threefold Word (ìAî) cannot be understood. Even if we
write down our perception of the spiritual sense (C), the spiritual meaning of
that sentence cannot be recovered by reading it, which only yields the literal and
natural description of the spiritual sense, but not the spiritual sense
itself.Ý
No one can see the spiritual sense except from the doctrine of genuine
truth; from this doctrine the spiritual sense can be seen, when there is some
knowledge of correspondences. He who is in false doctrine cannot see anything
of the spiritual sense. He draws out and applies the correspondences which he
sees to the falsities of his doctrine; and thus he can still more falsify the
Word. Wherefore the true spiritual sense of the Word is from the Lord alone.
This is the reason why it is not permitted anyone in the natural world, nor in
the spiritual world, to investigate the spiritual sense of the Word from the
sense of its letter, unless he is wholly in the doctrine of Divine truth and in
enlightenment from the Lord, wherefore from the doctrine of Divine truth
confirmed from the sense of the letter of the Word, the spiritual sense can be
seen, but doctrine can never first be seen from the spiritual sense. He thinks
falsely who says with himself, I know many correspondences, I can know the true
doctrine of the Divine Word, the spiritual sense will
teach it to me. This cannot be done. But, as has been said, let him say with
himself, I know the doctrine of Divine truth, now I can see the spiritual
sense, provided I know correspondences. But still this must be in enlightenment
from the Lord, because the spiritual sense is Divine truth itself in its light,
and is meant by glory, and the sense of the letter by a cloud in passages in
the Word where these are mentioned. (DE VERBO 21)
This passage asserts that the spiritual
sense of the Threefold Word can be seen when four conditions are met
simultaneously.
(1) First, reading the Writings and
extracting genuine Doctrine from it, which is rationally
understood and remembered. Genuine Doctrine must be confirmed again by
the letter to prevent inventing oneís own heretical doctrines.
(2) Second, decoding the literal sense of some
text in the Threefold Word by means of the laws of correspondences described in
the Writings.
(3) Third, giving the decoded passage a
context from a knowledge of Doctrine from the
Writings, and applying the resultant understanding to oneís own mental states ñ
the stream of our thinking and feeling operations all day long.
(4) Receiving enlightenment from the Lord
which gives a direct and immediate perception of the spiritual sense.
Note the segment: ìHe thinks falsely who
says with himself, I know many correspondences, I can know the true doctrine of
the Divine Word, the spiritual sense will teach it to
me. This cannot be done.î This informs us that it is not possible to perceive
the spiritual meaning of a passage from a knowledge of
correspondences and explanations of doctrine. Iíve seen some attempts by
writers considered to be experts on Swedenborg, to
discover the spiritual sense of passages from Earths in the Universe (EU), and
the results I saw could not be taken seriously as they were wild speculations
and led to false ideas and doctrines. This is why all the elements of Doctrine
in our understanding must be confirmed by the literal sense when compared to
various passages from the writings. This prevents the contrary direction of
procedure whereby we try to discover the spiritual sense by reasoning with
correspondences and false assumptions or doctrines.
Furthermore, once genuine Doctrine is in the
understanding and memory, it is still powerless to give us a perception of the
spiritual sense of a passage. We may read the precise descriptions in the Arcana Coelestia of ìAî = B, as
explained above, and use these descriptions of correspondences to try to get to
the spiritual sense. But we are told that this is in vain. The spiritual sense
is given neither in ìAî, nor in B, but in C, which is the actual living
ëonlineí perception in time of the spiritual influx that is its sense or
meaning. This perception is given by the Lord only in connection with oneís
regeneration struggles.
The person who receives enlightenment is one who refrains from evils
because they are sins, and because they are against the Lord and are endeavors
opposed to His Divine laws. In such a one and in no other the spiritual mind
opens, and in the measure that it opens, in the same measure the light of
heaven enters (all enlightenment in the Word being from the light of heaven).
The reason is that the person then has a will for good. When this will is
directed to that useful end [namely, to reading the Word], it produces in the
intellect first an affection for truth, then a perception of truth, afterward
with the help of rational sight, thought of truth, consequently a determination
and conclusion; and as soon as this enters from the intellect into the memory,
it enters also into the life and so remains.
This is the way all enlightenment in the Word proceeds, and likewise a
person's reformation and regeneration. But first there must be in the memory
concepts of both spiritual and natural things; for these concepts are the
receptacles into which the Lord operates through the light of heaven. The
fuller they are and the freer of falsities that have been affirmed, the more
enlightened the perception and the surer the conclusion. (DE VERBO 12)
Itís important to realize that enlightenment
is specific not general. One normally assumes that enlightenment is general and
reflects a personís spiritual status, achievement, and perception. But in the
Writings, enlightenment is not of the person but of the particular perception. It
is the ìwill for goodî that produces enlightenment through ìperception of
truth,î by which is meant perception of spiritual truth, which is
enlightenment. The will for good is always applied, not theoretical. When
doctrine and correspondences are applied to a particular act of the will for
good, then only is perception of spiritual truth given as enlightenment. Merely
reading a literal description of Doctrine, correspondences, and the explication
of the spiritual sense, do not give perception or enlightenment.
The method of lifelong progressive regeneration
by temptations is often discussed in the Writings. As this regeneration
progresses, the Lord enlightens the individual mind with higher and higher
light, and from a natural understanding of correspondences we receive perception
of the spiritual meaning of correspondences, and from a natural understanding
of the Heavenly Doctrine we acquire a spiritual understanding of the Doctrine
of the Church, the Doctrine of Life, the Doctrine of Charity, the Doctrine of
Conjugial Love.
To see the main point again, consider the
correspondences that are explicated in a passage quoted above:
And there was given unto them power as the scorpions of the earth have
power, signifies their ability to persuade, and its effect and might. This is
evident from the signification of a "scorpion," as being an
infatuating and suffocating persuasiveness (of which presently); and from the
signification of "power," as being might and effect, here the might
of the sensual man from his persuasiveness, and the effect which is infatuating
and suffocating. (AC 544)
You will notice that the ìAî terms are physical
things -- like Ýìscorpionî
and ìpower,î -- while the B terms are mental things -- like ìsuffocating
persuasivenessî and ìthe might of the sensual man from his persuasiveness.î
This shows that the Writings explicate the literal sense in terms of mental
states. These mental states are referred to by means of words and phrases in a
natural language. Clearly, these terms for mental states come from the dictionary
of natural usage in a particular culture. Hence we have the B terms given here
for scorpion ñ ìsuffocating persuasivenessî which is the language of psychology
apart from the language of the Threefold Word. In other words, the Writings
make use of the ordinary register of psychology to refer to mental states. This
makes sense. Anyone familiar with culture and everyday psychological thinking
can read the explication of the Word given in the Writings, and understand
them. This is true regardless of their state of reformation and regeneration.
This is why you can read about a summary of the Heavenly Doctrine and about
correspondences in an encyclopedia article on Swedenborg.
It is common to point to the literal text of
the Writings (ìAî) and to say: ìThis is the Heavenly Doctrine. It is the
spiritual sense of the Word.î This is natural because the Writings themselves
introduce themselves as such at the very start of Arcana Coelestia:
1. [AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTORY NOTE]Ý The Heavenly Arcana -- the matters in
Sacred Scripture or the Word of the Lord that have been disclosed -- stand in
explanatory sections entitled THE INTERNAL SENSE Of the Word.
A common formulaic sequence it follows is:
First Section:Ý ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ ÝTHE CHAPTERÝ (text of the Old Testament)
Second Section:ÝÝÝÝÝÝ THE CONTENTSÝ (an outline
of the spiritual meaning to be given)
Third Section:ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ THE
INTERNAL SENSEîÝ (explanations
in detail based on the formula ìAî = B)
Fourth Section:ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Experiences
and Doctrinal materials (appended to each chapter)
In the ìAî = B formula, the ì=î sign is
rendered as ìA signifies Bî, ìA represents Bî, and ìA corresponds to B.î
From these structural and literal
indications it is normal to conclude that what we are reading in the ìBî
category is in fact the spiritual sense of the Old Testament passage. As for
example, ìscorpionî in the spiritual sense means ìinfatuating and suffocating
persuasiveness.î We imagine that when we read ìscorpionî in the Word, the
angels with us get a perception of ìinfatuating and suffocating persuasiveness.î
But upon further reflection we can see that this is not accurate. The
expression ìinfatuating and suffocating persuasivenessî is a natural idea of a
natural mental state. It is not a spiritual idea of either ìscorpionî or of
ìpersuasiveness.î It would be impossible for us to have any idea that is like
an angelís idea, but only a correspondences of an
angelís idea. This is repeated in many places in the Writings. And so when we
read ìscorpionî the angels do not perceive ìpersuasivenessî in the natural sense
we know it, but they think of ìpersuasivenessî in the spiritual sense. And to
this sense of ìpersuasivenessî we have access only by immediate enlightenment
form the Lord. When we perceive the sense of ìpersuasivenessî in this spiritual
sense, then we understand what the angels perceive, thus the spiritual sense.
When reading the Writings we must therefore
relate to both the literal and the spiritual, but in different ways. We relate
to the literal of the Writings when we struggle to understand it rationally. We
are thereby building ìvesselsî in our mind that are suitable to receive later
the perception of enlightenment. Having built up these vessels, we want to
arrange them in a hierarchical and consistent series of linked principles. This
is called taking up Doctrine in the understanding. This is a theoretical
Doctrine or theoretical knowledge of the Heavenly Doctrine. With this theoretical
Doctrine in our conscious understanding and memory, we can undergo reformation,
which is the conscious and active rearrangement of our concepts and attitudes to
fit the order of the theoretical Doctrine in our mind. When reformation is more
or less completed, we begin our regeneration. Now for the
first time we are going to be in a position of being enlightened by the Lord,
to the extent that we follow the appropriate procedures specified in the
Writings.
When the theoretical Doctrine is established
in our mind, we can read the Writings with a new motivation called ìthe will
for good.î This time we go to the next step, B = C, which was discussed above.
The natural understanding of the mental state (B) that is contained in the
physical object (ìAî) (e.g., persuasiveness contained within ìscorpionî), can
now be turned into a spiritual understanding. In other words, to understand
ìpersuasivenessî in a spiritual way, we must be given perception of it (C) by
enlightenment.
Now you can see that the spiritual sense of
the Old Testament that has been disclosed in Arcana Coelestia,
has only been disclosed at the natural operational level, by necessity, since
it has been disclosed in writing in a natural language. And if you can see this
about the Old Testament, you can extend this to cover the Threefold Word. The
Writings must also necessarily contain a spiritual sense that is visible only
by perception given from enlightenment. Perception of the spiritual sense is
the only way to see the spiritual sense, which cannot be given in the
nomenclature of a natural language. This can only give natural meaning
perceptions.
At first, it appears that Swedenborg is
proposing that we read the Bible in a symbolic way so that we become aware of
the spiritual message and how it applies to self. But this attitude we already
possessed in phase 2 thinking and worshiping the Lord. Many intelligent readers
and scholars of the Bible were able to write commentaries that presented new
insights to other readers. Not all commentaries were truly insightful, but some
were, because they were focusing on how to apply the spiritual message to oneís
own living and behavior. But no matter how advanced we get in this deepening of
the meaning and message in the verses (phase 2), we do
not get to the beginning of the next phase (3). The idea of correspondences at
level 3 thinking is scientific and particularistic, which means that they are
seen as a mechanism by which the Lord produces natural phenomena and events.
Consider the history and evolution of a planet ñ the Lord must be using
determinative mechanisms to produce these very complex sequences, to compel the
physical matter to organize itself in specific ways at specific times under
specific conditions, which themselves are also similarly produced. Every
natural event, object, or quality is an effect produced by the Lord by means of
a spiritual-rational mechanism. This mechanism, along with
many other Divine mechanisms, have been revealed as True Science in the
Writings.
Itís important to realize that the notion of
correspondences is different from ìPlatonic idealismî which was the idea that
every form on earth was an imperfect rendition or model of the perfect thin in
heaven. Thus, all roses on earth are imperfect copies of the perfect rose which
exists in ideal reality. The idea of correspondences is very different. A rose
is not produced as a model of a rose in heaven. A rose is produced by the
quality of the affections of angels in heaven. A rose, a tree, an animal, a
mountain, a planet ñ these physical objects exist as effects of spiritual
causes in the spiritual world such as the mental states of angels. The laws of
correspondences, from creation, are such that mental states produce physical
objects. You can understand this better when you consider dreaming, and how
this consists of producing images and apparently physical environments in the
dream. These objects in the dream that you take for real, are produced by your
mental states while dreaming. Similarly, the Lord produced the physical world
by means of the rational laws of correspondences in His Mind. Similarly, the
naturally looking environment of angels in heaven and devils in hell, is produced by the mental states of the inhabitants
there.
ìCorrespondencesî is a mechanism the Lord uses
to create the dual universe and to maintain it in its created order. It is the
genetic code of creation and maintenance of the universe. In other words, the
Lord created a spiritual-rational genetic code that determines the laws of
correspondence between spiritual and natural phenomena, qualities, objects, or
events. A rose is a rose because its body and scent correspond to conjugial
love in heaven, as testified by these observations Swedenborg made:
Then one of the seven wove a garland of roses, sprinkled it
with spring water, and placed it on the boy's hat around the crown, saying,
'Receive the delights of intelligence. You should know that a hat stands for
intelligence, and a garland from this garden for its delights.' The boy went
off with this adornment, and was seen again at a distance looking like a dove in
flight, but this time with a crest on his head. (CL 293)
Eliminate conjugial love from heaven and you
eliminate roses from existence on earth. As the race on earth regenerates more
and more in the ensuing centuries, people will see a corresponding change in
the appearance of planet earth. The geographic environment in each location
will reflect the virtues and qualities of the people living there, so that the
forests, plains, and deserts will be transformed into paradises with harmonious
vegetation, rock formation, and animal population. Future research in True
Science will no doubt show what the specific correspondences are as they
measure and correlate the raceís mental and geological changes.
Further,
once you start deciphering the code of correspondences, you begin to notice
that the code is presented in a rational series or developmental hierarchy.
Pieces of text in the Old and New Testaments fit together chronologically,
making up an inner series of ideas held together step by step by what comes next.
These hierarchical series of meanings are for the mind what genetic code or DNA
is for the physical body, hence they can be called the ìgenes of consciousnessî
(see this article:Ý
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy/instructor/gloss/harmonizing3.htm
You can
see how astonishing this entire picture is when you consider that the pieces of
the series in the inner sense are supplied by successive authors or prophets
over many centuries merely by describing historical events and private visions
they experienced.
There is
no other scientific explanation possible except that the Threefold Word is
Divine and has actually been written by God for humanity.
True
Science has been evolving since the beginning under Godís careful tutelage.
After the Fall which marked the end of the old
celestial race and the beginning of the new spiritual split-brain race, science
was the new method God provided for the human race to acquire rational
spirituality, hence it had to be guided in its growth in the history of
civilization. Prior to the Fall, the celestial people
on earth were prepared for heaven by means of sensuous consciousness ñ direct
perception into the spiritual world and direct communication with those there.
But after the Fall preparation for heaven was by means
of rational consciousness produced by means of reading and understanding the
Threefold Word. The first growth of science was the development of taxonomic
nomenclature by which the things in the natural environment were identified and
classified. Then came the development of scientific
theory which required a method of its own. The theories became materialistic so
that Godís presence in natural phenomena was only acknowledged in the Preface,
but God was not mentioned as part of the explanatory chain of causes. As a
result, science went through several centuries in the materialist modality.
In the
18th century Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) began a new paradigm of science
that may be called ìscientific dualism.î He broke with tradition and put God
back into the body of the book, not just in the Preface. No reputable scientist
before him or since, has done what Swedenborg has done, namely, to include
scientific revelations in his theory of how the universe was created and how it
is being maintained in existence. It is not possible to exaggerate the
importance of this new scientific paradigm, the paradigm of the future.
In my
case, I have been a career scientist for the past 42 years and a professor of psychology
at some of the top psychology departments in the world (e.g.,
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy/instructor/gloss/relbehaviorism.html
The
scientific method is universally taught today throughout the planet. The
version of this method practiced today is explicitly biased against absolute
truth. This is ironic given that science ideally searches for truth. The
version of scientific method practiced today is actually against truth for it
denies that there is absolute truth. This phase 1 level of thinking can clearly
be seen as incorrect when viewed from phase 2 and 3. At phase 2 we are
sufficiently rational to understand and accept dualism. Dualism is from the
Threefold Word, and all religions are based on the dualism between God and
creation, God being absolute, while created things are temporary. In phase 2
thinking we can also see from the Word that truth is
from God and therefore it is absolute. In phase 3 thinking we can see that truth
is part of science, and therefore science is part of God. The science of God is
the knowledge that God has revealed to humanity. God created the universe by
science, and runs it by science through rational laws of discrete
correspondences. God is therefore the True Scientist and the Threefold Word is
therefore True Science containing the scientific revelations God has made about
Himself, creation, existence, correspondences, discrete degrees,Ý resuscitation, operation of the laws of
Divine Providence and Permissions, immortality, life in the afterlife, the
anatomy of the mind, the history and development of the human race, and other
scientific matters of deep concern to our future and our control of the social
and physical environment.
Hence it
is that the version of the scientific method practiced today is holding back
the development of the rational human mind. The highest form of the natural-rational
mind operates by means of dualist concepts and abstract explanations of the
world. These are the higher-order natural cognitions that can be compatible
with spiritual truths. These spiritual truths inflow from
within, from heaven into the spiritual mind, and thence into the conscious
natural mind. The elevation of the human mind into rational spirituality
depends on a version of the scientific method that is compatible with
spiritual-rational truths from revelation. This is why a new scientific method
has been emerging through those who are able to see the Writings as a Divine scientific
revelation of dualism.
The
current atheistic and monist version of the scientific method is inherently
biased against absolute truth such as is implied in the use of the phrase ìTrue
Scienceî and ìDivine scientific revelation.î I was trained in the scientific
method as a graduate student at
The idea
of ìDivine scientific revelations of absolute truthî would not be considered a
good theory because it leads to no data or research ñ so goes the politically
correct argument. But as I pointed out above, the existence of the dual world,
of the spiritual Sun, of the afterlife, of resuscitation, of heaven and hell,
of correspondences, of the Divinity of the Threefold Word ñ these scientific
revelations are verifiable by every scientist who passes on, and even by
non-scientists. If there were a conference of scientists in a hotel at night in
some city, and they were divided in opinion as to the existence of sunrise, the
debate can only last a few hours, for soon each one of them, regardless of
opinion, can verify that there is sunrise at dawn. And they continue to repeat
their observations as long as they find it of interest. Swedenborg was an
eyewitness reporter of observations that every individual gets to verify. In
some cases the verification process must await a few decades, and in other
cases, much less time than that.
The fact
that the verification process must be postponed is no valid argument against
the integrity of the process of verification. All experiments depend on
replication of appropriate and significant conditions in order to obtain the
scientific verification desired. To replicate these conditions takes some time.
The majority of conditions can be replicated with technical expertise in a
matter of days, weeks, or months. Some take years of preparation and
observation before the right conditions are attained. In the case of
verification of resuscitation after the death of the physical body, the
preparation period may be long or short, depending on the time of death.
Verification of geological and astronomical calculations and predictions may
take decades and even centuries.
One of
the trigger points of resistance to dualism in science is the general
persuasion of traditionally trained scientists that it is against the ethics of
science to introduce concepts and explanations that are not sensory bound.
Abstraction that is removed from the sensory is allowed in science, but it must
be shown how it is emergent from the sensory, usually by means of some
predicted measurement under specified enabling conditions ñ or else it is
labeled as ìpseudo-scienceî which means ìfake.î Nevertheless, an idea that is
abstracted from the sensory order remains in the sensory order no matter how
complex the abstraction is made to be. In the Writings of Swedenborg this is
discussed as the discrete separation between the natural and the spiritual
order. A very important contrast is made in True Science between the sensory
order of the rational called the ìnatural-rationalî order on the one hand, and
on the other, the spiritual order of the rational called the ìspiritual-rational.î
These two
orders are in correspondence of discrete degrees, which means that nothing of
one element can penetrate the other element. They are created separate forever.
But also, they are created tied to each other forever. And the laws of interaction between them is a one-to-one,
point-by-point mapping of phenomena in the two orders. The natural order
imposes itself upon all existing things that are constructed of material
elements in time and space. The spiritual order imposes itself upon all existing
things that are constructed of substances from the spiritual Sun, and thus are
not part of the fabric of physical time and space. One is called the natural
world and the other, the spiritual world. The universe is therefore made of
dual worlds, natural and spiritual, tied to each other by the laws of
correspondences of discrete degrees.
Swedenborgís
new paradigm of science introduces scientific theories that explain how natural
phenomena are effects produced by spiritual phenomena. The spiritual phenomena
are not part of the physical sensory order and therefore the spiritual order
must be accessed some other way. The source of all information about spiritual
phenomena, the spiritual order, or the spiritual world, is scientific
revelation from the Threefold Word. As a scientist I can state without
violating ethics or truth, that the universe was created by God who has
revealed Himself to the human race in many ways. The people of the earlier
generations and civilizations had a sensuous consciousness of God, the
spiritual world, and its phenomena. They were citizens of a dual world, one
temporary, the other eternal, and they passed on from one to the other without
anxiety or fear, or death, but with full consciousness. The subsequent
generations evolved into a new form that cut off sensuous consciousness of the
spiritual world.
The new
human race was born in complete darkness as to sensory perception of anything
but the physical world. Now a new method had to be evolved by God in order to
prepare earthlings for heavenly life. Sensuous consciousness was no longer
possible. Every individual of the new race had to acquire a rational
consciousness of the spiritual world and of God. This was done by means of
scientific revelations that elevated the human mind on this earth from a
sensuous intellect to a rational intellect. God created a new heaven which
would fit this new human mentality. It may be called rational spirituality and
its systematized knowledge may be called True Science. The scientific
revelations God has given for the development of rational spirituality were
given in collections of writings called The Threefold Word. Its major groupings
are known as the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Third Testament (the
Writings of Swedenborg).
It has not
been widely acknowledged that the Threefold Word contain scientific
revelations. Resistance comes from the concern that if the Writings are
identified as a science book, it will be discarded now or later, just as any
science book is, in the course of scienceís march to the future. But this
concern falls to the wayside once it is seen that True Science and science are
constitutional parts of each other. Materialist science was a monism based on
the physical sensory order. This science was guided by God into rational
abstractions that were capable of reflecting or representing the spiritual
order. This type of rational order or mental operation,
is called in the Writings the ìnatural-rationalî order or mind. The
natural-rational concepts and the syntax of reasoning with them, belongs to the
natural mind and is set in a natural order. Nevertheless, it is capable of
representing spiritual concepts and syntax of reasoning. This belongs to the
spiritual mind and is set in the order of the spiritual world. These higher-order
discrete concepts are called ìspiritual-rational.î
Here then
lies the basis of scientific dualism, namely the correspondential interaction
between natural-rational concepts and reasoning, on the other hand, and on the
other, spiritual-rational concepts and reasoning. The Threefold Word is a
source of information about the relation between these two orders. As a
scientist I can say that I have available to me a database of information about
spiritual phenomena that I can relate to the database of information about
natural phenomena. Knowledge of the details of this interaction allows me and
others to produce new scientific theories that are dualist.
A new age
in science is now at hand. True Science connected to science is now a new
paradigm that actually exists and has already began to
develop and evolve. True Science is actually within science, though this was
not know until the Writings revealed the structure.
Until now, science appeared on the surface to be materialistic and monistic and
atheistic. But this is an outward appearance, and illusion of the actuality.
True Science was always within science because thatís the only life science
has. There is no rationality apart from True Science, and whatever rationality
science achieved, it was due to the direct and immediate cause of True Science
within. God guided and developed science to where it is now through True
Science concepts hidden within every genuine science idea. Swedenborg lauded
those scientists whose goal was the accurate capture of true facts in the
biological and physical sciences, who did not put their pet theories ahead of
the facts. This is the kind of genuine science that was guided within by True
Science.
The
hidden presence of True Science in the minds of scientists since Aristotle and before, suddenly bursts open in the conscious awareness of
Emanuel Swedenborg. He had a rational consciousness that allowed him to work
within the dualist paradigm. He loved the Bible and knew it thoroughly from his
own studies and reflections. He considered the Bible the Word of God, the
Divine Truth. He saw that it was Divine Truth adapted to the human intellect
that was responsible for human rationality, and therefore science. He therefore
took the information in the Bible as scientific information about God, heaven,
hell, the spiritual world, the Divine Human Person, revelation, creation,
regeneration, resuscitation, eternal life, and so on. He realized that it was
worse than useless for people to speculate on their own as to what the spiritual
was, or to rely on their sensations or feelings. He took the Bible seriously as
a source of scientific revelation. He took whatever information he could
decipher from the Bible and incorporated them in his scientific theories in
physics, astronomy, anatomy, and psychology.
The
future ahead is bright because the Writings have now explicitly unveiled the
content of spiritual-rational concepts of True Science. From now on both science will be the external framework while True Science
will be the inner framework. Science is the sensuous and natural-rational
component, while True Science is the spiritual-rational component. True Science
is on top and governs science at the bottom. The spiritual-rational order we
know from scientific revelations, is to be hooked up to the natural-rational
order we know from sensory observation and abstraction. Everything in science
that is not compatible with True Science is therefore to be discarded. This
filtering process will take some time no doubt but the process has been created
and is now evolving.
A person's internal resides in heaven, thus where
the Lord is (Swedenborg, AC
10505)