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101 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA of
the fishes". By -this was represented that to act and teach from good is to
conclude innumerable things which belong to truth. [10056—10120 treat of the
second state in which truths are from good, the multiplication of truths thence
and the reception of the Divine Good and the Divine Truth in the Heavens and in
the internal of the Church:
10129. Spiritual good is so
far good, and hence is so far holy as it has celestial good within it; for this
good flows into it, and conceives it, and begets it as a father his son,
10151. "And the
altar". This signifies the receptivity of the Divine from the Lord in the
higher Heavens. ... The Divine that proceeds from the Lord, when received by the
Angels makes Heaven; in respect to what is their own the Angels themselves do
not make Heaven; but in respect to the Divine which they receive from the Lord.
. . . Each one of them acknowledges, believes, and also perceives, that there is
nothing of good from himself, but only from the Lord. ... So it is with the
Church. In respect to what is their own the men there do not make the Church,
but with respect to what is Divine which they receive from the Lord; for every
one there who does not acknowledge and believe that all the good of love and the
truth of faith are from God, is not of the Church, for he wishes to love God
from himself, and to believe in God from himself, which however no one can do.
From this also it is evident that the Divine of the Lord makes the Church, as it
makes Heaven. Moreover the Church is the Lord's Heaven on earth; consequently
the Lord is the all in all in the Church, as He is in Heaven, and there dwells
in His own with men, as He does with the Angels in Heaven. Moreover after their
life in the world, the men of the Church, who in this way receive what is Divine
of the Lord in love and faith, become Angels of Heaven and
102 that
it shall abide in you; and afterwards that He is in the Father, and they in.
Him, and He in them, whereby is signified that they would be in the Divine of
the Lord and the Divine of the Lord in them.
10184. He who is in good,
which is the state of a regenerate man, shall not return into a state of truth,
which is his prior state, namely, during regeneration; for in this state a man
is led by means of truth to good, thus partly by himself; but in the latter or
posterior state, namely when he has been regenerated, man is led by good, that
is through good by the Lord.
10194. No truth is possible
with a man unless he is in good.
10201. The light of truth
with man is altogether according to the state of his love; in proportion as the
love is enkindled, the truth shines, for the good of love is the vital fire
itself, and the truth of faith is the intellectual light itself which is
intelligence and wisdom. These two advance with equal steps. By intelligence and
wisdom is not meant the capacity to
think and reason on every subject, ..-. but there is meant the capacity to see
and perceive the truths and goods which are of faith and charity and of love to
the Lord. This capacity exists solely with those who are in enlightenment
from the Lord, and they are so far in enlightenment as they are in love to Him
and in charity towards the neighbor. For the Lord enters through good, thus
through the love and charity that are with man, and leads into truths
corresponding to the good. ... These things have been said that it may be known
that the faith of every one is such as is his love; and that it may be
understood what is meant by truth coming into its light when love comes into its
clearness, which things are signified by burning the incense eVery morning when
the lamps were dressed.
10210. The good of innocence
consists in acknowledging that all truths and goods are from the Lord, and
nothing from man's own; thus it consists in being willing to be led by the Lord,
and not by self.
10215. "And Jehovah
spake unto Moses saying". That this signifies enlightenment through the
Word from the Lord, is evident from the signification of speaking, when by
Jehovah to Moses, as being enlightenment from the 103
COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN Lord
through the Word; for by speaking is signified influx, perception, and
instruction, consequently enlightenment, for
enlightenment is
influx, perception,
and instruction from the Lord when the Word is read.
10218. "Then they shall
give- every one an expiation of his soul to Jehovah in numbering them".
That this signifies purification and liberation from evil through the
acknowledgement and faith that all the truths and goods of faith and love, and
their setting in order and disposing,
10227. "The rich shall
not give more, and the poor shall not give less, from the half of a shekel, to
give to Jehovah". This signifies that all, of whatever ability they In
the 104
CONFIRMATORY
PASSAGES TN THE ARCANA who
do this in a learned way from sciences are believed by the world to be wiser
than others. [See also n. 10230.] 10234. "And
Jehovah spake unto Moses, saying". This signifies perceptivity out of
enlightenment through the Word, from the Lord.
10270. The
Lord inflows
immediately from
His Divine Human into the celestial good which is of the inmost Heaven.
The Lord inflows from the Divine Human into the spiritual good which is of the
second Heaven, and also mediately
through celestial
good. And the Lord inflows from the Divine Human into the spiritual
natural good, which is of the ultimate Heaven, and again also mediately. It is
said also mediately, because the Lord not only flows into the goods of these
heavens mediately, but also immediately.
10272. It is called a
representative of the Lord in goods and truths and in ministering goods and
truths, and in all things of worship, because the goods and truths which are
represented are so far goods and truths as there is in them the Divine of the
Lord. For all the goods and truths which are with man and Angel are from the
Lord; without life from the Lord in them they are dead things, and even evil,
for the end is the inmost of man, because it
is the soul of
all things in him.
From this it can be
10276. All influx and
presence of the Lord takes place immediately, and in the lower Heavens also
mediately through celestial good, which is the good of the inmost Heaven.
Therefore in so far as the goods of the lower Heavens contain and store up
within them celestial good, which is the good of love to the Lord, so far they
are goods. ... It is these representations of which it is said 105
COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN
that
no eye hath seen such things; and if anything were told of them it would exceed
human belief. ... From all this an. intelligent person is able to know that the
Word is most holy, and that its literal sense is holy from its internal sense,
but that apart from this it is not holy. . . . Therefore they who lay stress on
the sense of the letter of the Word alone, and neither have nor procure
for themselves from the Word, Doctrine that is in agreement with its
internal sense, can be drawn into any heresies whatever. It is from this that
the Word is called by such the book of heresies. The very Doctrine from the Word
by all means must give light and guidance. This very Doctrine is taught by the
internal sense, and he who knows this Doctrine, has the internal sense of the
Word.
10299. "An ointment the
work of a perfumer". This signifies from the influx and operation of the
Divine of the Lord into each and all things. ... How it is to be understood that
there must be influx and operation into each and all things of worship shall
also be briefly told. It is believed
by those who
are not
acquainted with the arcana
of Heaven that worship is from man, because it proceeds from the thought and
affection that are with him; but the worship from man is not worship,
consequently the confessions, adorations, and prayers which 106 CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA to
perceive the
very influx,
the calling
forth of
the truths that were with me, their applications to the objects of
prayer, the affection of good that was adjoined, and the elevation itself.
Nevertheless a man must not let down his hands and await influx, for this would
be to act like
10324. The Word in the
letter cannot be apprehended except by means of Doctrine made from the Word by
one who is enlightened. For the sense of the letter of the Word has been
accommodated to the apprehension of even simple men; and therefore they need
Doctrine out of the Word for a lamp.
10330. [A long and important
number on enlightenment and influx from which we quote only the following.] But
man looks inward not from self, but from the Lord; and this is called looking
upwards, because in respect to his interiors which are of the will and
understanding he is then raised from the Lord to Heaven, and thus to the Lord.
Moreover the interiors are actually raised, and are then actually withdrawn from
the body and from the world. When this is done the interiors of a man come
actually into Heaven, and into its light and heat. From this he has influx and
enlightenment. ... As the man is then among the Angels, there is communicated to
him from them, that is, through them from the Lord, the understanding of truth
and the affection of good. This communication is what is called influx and
enlightenment. 107
COMPILED BY THE REV. THEODORE PITCAIRN
But
be it known that influx and enlightenment take place according to the capability
of reception on the part of man, and the capability of reception is according to
the love of what is true and good.
10400. [A long and important
number on the nature of the Word from which we quote the following.] From all
this it is evident that by the words "As for this Moses, that man that made
us to come up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what hath become of
him", is signified that it is altogether unknown what other Divine truth
there is in the Word, which raises man from what is external into what is
internal, and makes the Church, than that which stands forth in the sense of the
letter. ... The Doctrine which must be for a lamp is what the internal sense
teaches, thus it is the internal sense itself.
10406. "And
formed it with a graving
tool". This signifies from their own intelligence. . . . To prepare a false
doctrinal from one's own intelligence is effected by the application of the
sense of the letter of the Word in favor of the loves of self and of the world.
- . . The work of the hands denotes that which is from man's own, thus that
which is from his own understanding and his own will, and those are of his own
of both understanding and will, which are of the love of self, this is the
origin of all the falsities in the Church. As all falsities are from what is
man's own, and by the work of the hands is signified what is from this, it was
therefore forbidden to move an iron, an axe, or a graving tool upon the stones
of which the altar was built.
10505. Be it known that all
things that have been written in the internal man have been written by the Lord,
and that the things there written make the very spiritual and celestial life of
man; also that each and all things that have been written there, have been
written
10548. All instruction
concerning the truths and goods of the Church and of worship are given by means
of the external of the Word. ... In the external of the Word all
internal things
are together.
... Moreover
all the doctrinal things of the
Church that
are of service to worship are given by means of the external of the Word;
but they are given only to those who are in enlightenment
108
CONFIRMATORY PASSAGES IN THE ARCANA from
the Lord when reading the Word, for then light flows into them from Heaven
through the internal sense.
10551. Those who when
reading the Word are in enlightenment, see it from within, for their internal is
10584. Those are said to see
the back parts of Jehovah and not His face, who believe and adore the Word, but
only its external which is the sense of the letter, and do not penetrate more
interiorly, as do those who have been enlightened, and who make for themselves
Doctrine out of the Word, by which they may see its genuine sense, thus its
iniprinr spnsp
109
DE
HEMELSCHE LEER EXTRACT
FROM: THE ISSUE FOR MAY-JULY 1931 REPLY
TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
EDITORIAL BY THE REV. ERNST PFEIFFER.
According to Dr. Acton's opinion the purpose of DE HEMELSCHE LEER is
"to show: (1) That since the Writings are the Word, it logically follows
that those Writings are not the internal sense of the Word but themselves have
an internal sense; and (2) That this internal sense is the Heavenly Doctrine and
is made manifest to men by the doctrines formulated by the Church" (p. 3).
This is what the reviewer has taken to be the purpose of DE HEMELSCHE LEER. The
real purpose of DE HEMELSCHE LEER as indicated on the title-page and clearly
stated in the first two pages of the first number, is to show: First, that the
Writings of Emanuel Swedenborg are the Third Testament of the Word of God, and
that all that is said in the DOCTRINE CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE with
reference to the Word applies not only to the Old and the New Testament, but
also to the Third Testament; and secondly, that that which is taught in the
Latin Word concerning the Doctrine of the Church applies to the genuine Doctrine
which in the course of the Church's regeneration is born in it from the Lord.
That in the purpose as supposed by the reviewer, all that which is essential in
DE HEMELSCHE LEER has been totally overlooked, will clearly appear in the course
of the following remarks. The
foundation from which DE HEMELSCHE LEER has drawn its stated purpose and on
which this purpose has been based is nothing else than the literal sense of the
Latin Word itself. It has been shown in DE HEMELSCHE LEER that a genuine vision
is not arrived at "by logical conclusions", because in the coming into
existence of a genuine
110
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON vision
the rational is not consulted; a genuine vision comes from the Lord alone, it is
a revelation from perception. It is precisely from the realization of this
truth, namely that man cannot in any way understand the Word, and therefore not
the Latin Word either, unless he receive from the Lord a genuine vision or a
true understanding of that Word, that DE HEMELSCHE LEER started in the
development of its new position. This has been expressly stated in DE HEMELSCHE
LEER. It is said there (First Fascicle, From
everything that the Latin Testament teaches concerning the Word and
concerning the Doctrine of the Church out of the Word, and concerning the
mutual relation between the Word and the Doctrine out of the Word, it is evident
that the Church indeed receives from the Lord a universal revelation or a Word,
which serves the Church as an
external source of truth and as an indispensable foundation for all its thought,
but that nevertheless by merely taking direct cognizance of that Word, therefore
by an apparent influx of that truth from without, it can never enter into the
possession of genuine truth, and that therefore in the Church, if it is to be
truly a Church, the apparent influx of the truth out of the Word from without
must always become
an actual
influx of the genuine truth
from within, that is out of goad from the Lord Himself. This truth is based on
the fundamental law that a natural influx or an influx from the natural into the
spiritual is contrary to order and therefore impossible, 111
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON and
that all actual influx is a spiritual influx or an influx of the spiritual into
the natural. This
truth becomes clear if one realizes that the Word in its letter, or such as it
has been laid down in the natural, is the Word in ultimates, and that the Word
in firsts is the living Divine Human itself. The Word in ultimates is the
scientifics present with man out of the letter of the Latin Word, the Word in
firsts with man is the good out of the Lord in the mind of the regenerated man.
The genuine goods and the genuine truths, however, such as they live in the
regenerated men of the Church, come into existence in between, when man by his
cooperation, as from himself, makes it possible for the Lord to operate from
firsts through ultimates the genuine spiritual and celestial things with him.
For the Lord with man operates in no other way than from firsts through
ultimates, seeing an operation only through ultimates is impossible; the
ultimates (that is the scientifics out of the letter of the Latin Word) are
indeed The
Word in ultimates with man separated from the Word in firsts and in mediates is
as a body without a soul and without a spirit. This applies That
the entire letter even of the Latin Testament with regard to the man who takes
direct cognizance of it, consists of nothing but natural scientifics, appears
clearly from the following passages in the ARCANA COELESTIA: "All the
scientific with man is natural, because it is in his natural
112
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON all
the scientifics of the Church, ...
all the scientifics which
are true, about correspondences, about representatives, about significatives,
about influx, about order, about intelligence and wisdom, about the affections,
yea all truths of interior and exterior nature, both visible and invisible,
because these correspond to spiritual truths" (n. 5313). From this it is
evident that the truths of the letter of the Latin Word are not spiritual
truths, but that they correspond therewith; that therefore the distance there
between is immeasurable, as between the earth and the sky, and that there exists
no relation whatever between them but that of correspondence.
From the foregoing it is evident that also the New Church in order to
become truly a Church, besides the universal revelation of the Latin Word, which
has been given to it as a basis in the natural for its thought, with regard to
the whole and with regard to each separate truth of it, must also receive a pure
understanding of it, from within from the Lord; or that the universal revelation
of the Latin Word in the Church with regard to each separate truth must be
conjoined with an individual revelation of genuine truth
by perception
from the Lord. This is
evidently meant by the words in the work ON THE WHITE HORSE, "that the
quality of the Word in the internal sense is
seen by no one but the Lord
Himself, and those to whom He
reveals it" (n. 1).
That the letter of the Latin Word such as "man receives it by
direct cognizance merely from
without is not the spiritual
sense itself, but that the spiritual sense has been laid
down there in the
natural, the
Latin Word itself teaches. We read in the APOCALYPSE EXPLAINED, n. 1061:
"This is the natural sense out of the spiritual sense" (cf. DE
HEMELSCHE LEER, First Fasc., p. 100); and in n. 8 of the same work: "By the
things that He signified are meant those that are in the sense of the letter,
because all these signify, while the things that are signified are those that
are contained in the internal sense. For all things in the Word are
significative of spiritual things, which are in the internal sense. ... With man
this is changed into the natural, such as is expressed in the sense of the
letter. . . That which comes out of Heaven can be presented to man in no other
way; for the spiritual falls into its corresponding 113
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
natural
when it descends out of the spiritual world into the natural". This truth
has for a long time been known in the Church, at any rate as a literal teaching
from the Latin Word, as appears from the passages quoted by the reviewer himself
from NEW CHURCH TIDINGS and NEW CHURCH LIFE. But although it was thus known that
the rational ideas which man by direct cognizance derives from the Latin Word,
are in no way spiritual-rational, but only natural rational ideas, still it has
not been realized that the distance from those natural-rational ideas to the
genuine spiritual rational ideas is as immeasurable as the distance from the
sensual ideas of the Old Testament to genuine spiritual ideas. For just as the
sensual ideas are entirely in the natural,
It is the proper characteristic of genuine truth that it is the form of
genuine good and inseparably makes one
with it. The Good that makes one with the Truths of the letter of the Latin Word
is the infinite Divine Good of the Divine Human of the Lord; no man, yea no
Angel can
114
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON man
come from within, namely out of the good with him from the Lord. That the truths
of the letter of the Latin Word are not the truths of the Doctrine of the New
Church, but that the latter differ from the former will be confirmed in what
follows by a literal quotation from the ARCANA COELESTIA. We shall now first
show that the truths out of the letter, when by direct cognizance they are taken
up, even stand in a certain relation to the evils of the proprium of man; for
the Lord in the beginning Concerning
this we read in the ARCANA COELESTIA: "When man is being regenerated he
first learns truths out of the Word or the Doctrine, and lays them down in the
memory. One who cannot be reformed, believes that it is sufficient if he has
learned the truths and laid them down in the memory; but he is much mistaken.
The truths which he has acquired must be initiated and conjoined with good, and
they cannot be initiated and conjoined with good so long as the evils of the
love of self and of the world remain in the natural man; these loves were the
first introducers, but the truths cannot possibly be conjoined with them.
Therefore, in order that conjunction may be effected, the truths
introduced and retained by these
loves must
first be exterminated" (n. 5270). The proper source of the genuine
truth of man is therefore never
outside of man in a natural letter, but within man, in the good out of the Lord.
This also clearly appears from this that a truth derived from the Latin
Word is different with each man, according to the reception.
With some it is a genuine truth according to their light from within from
the Lord, with some it is an. apparent truth, and with some it is a falsity,
according to the glow of the falsity from the proprium. So for instance the
teaching from the Latin Word that life is the essential
thing of
religion, which
in itself and with those who
understand it from the Lord is a genuine truth, may become a falsity with those
who take it up in order to deny the Divinity of the genuine truth born in the
Church. This is described in number 9025, of the ARCANA COELESTIA, which has
already frequently been quoted: "When a man shall smite his companion 115
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
with. a stone, or with a fist, signifies the invalidating of some truth by some scientific or general truth. ... By scientific truths are meant the truths which are out of the literal sense of the Word; the general truths there-from are such as are received among the common people and thence in general discourse. There are very many such truths, and they prevail with much force. ... As such truths are out of the literal sense of the Word, they are called scientific truths and they differ from the truths of faith which are of the Doctrine of the Church; for the latter arise from the former by explanation". The above mentioned truth, namely that life is the essential thing of religion, is clearly such a scientific truth out of the Latin Word or such a general truth which has been received among the common people and thence in general discourse, which prevails with much force and can be abused as a scientific to invalidate the genuine truth of the Church. Of
this nature, however, are all truths which are received only as scientifics by
direct cognizance out of the letter of the Latin Word. For each truth contains
within it infinite particulars which are first hidden, and with regard to those
it is only a general truth. It is expressly stated "that they are called
scientific truths because they are
out of the literal sense of the Word", for this is -the characteristic of a
scientific truth, namely that by direct cognizance, it is taken up out of the
letter, regardless
of what
its contents
be. It
is therefore manifest that all truths from the Latin Word which, by
direct cognizance, have been taken up from without out of the letter thereof, at
first are only scientific truths. For all truths contain infinite particulars,
which never appear when taking direct cognizance. And But
seeing the Latin Word is a Divine and infinite revelation of the Rational, and
therefore the Word in ultimates, in its fullness, holiness, and power, it
follows that,
116
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON although
the truths of the letter of the Latin. Word are not the truths of the Doctrine
of the New Church, but differ from them, yet all truths of the Doctrine of the
New Church are contained in that letter, and that the man who can read that Word
from within, that is, out of the good in which he is by regeneration from the
Lord, finds the genuine truths of the Doctrine of the New Church confirmed in
the letter thereof. The truths of the Latin Word of which it is said that they
are not the truths of the Doctrine of the New Church, but differ from them, are
the unopened truths which have been received by man only by direct cognizance.
The genuine essence of those truths the Lord
alone sees.
But the
genuine truths of the
Doctrine of the New Church, on the basis of the letter, come from within by a
spiritual influx from the Lord. Without this light from within from the Lord the
Latin Word also remains a- closed book, sealed with seven seals.
We see this truth confirmed in the following passage in the ARCANA
COELESTIA: "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 liice thick darkness, in which he would
see nothing at all, and by which he would also be blinded, that is he
would believe nothing" (n. 8106). That in this passage by the literal sense
which is called cloud, every literal sense, therefore also that of the Latin
Word, is meant, is evident from this that the seeing of the internal sense is
made to depend not on the cognizance of that Word but entirely on the
regeneration of man; it is expressly stated that the internal sense or the
Divine Truth in its glory does not appear before a non-regenerate man. What then
is the letter of the Latin Word? Is it the glory, or is it the cloud? We read
that the Son of Man will come in the clouds of heaven with great power and glory
(Matt. 24 : 30). This Coming has taken place in the Latin Testament; the clouds
in which the Lord came are the letter of the Latin Word in which the Divine
Truth of His Divine Human is in lasts or in the natural. The letter also of the
Latin Word there- 117
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
fore
remains entirely without power and without glory, unless by the reception of the
celestial and spiritual truths from the Lord., on the basis of the letter.
In a noteworthy article on The first and the Second Education which has
been published in the January issue of DE HEMELSCHE LEER, 1931, * Rev. Theodore
Pitcairn has shown that all that a
man receives out of the letter
of the Latin Word
only belongs
to his
first. education, and that he brings nothing with him into Heaven of what
he has in this way acquired. He
points out that the letter of the Latin Word can be taught and learned by every
one, just as all other natural sciences, while it is a revealed truth that the
internal sense appears before no one unless he is regenerated (A.C. 8106), and.
that no one can see that sense except he to whom the Lord reveals it (W.H. 1).
The same truth has been elucidated by Prof. Dr. Charles H. van 0s in an
article on The Pleiades and the Orion, a translation
of which appeared in NEW CHURCH LIFE, 1929: 532—535. An elucidation is
there given of the internal sense of the following passage from the BRIEF
EXPOSITION OF THE DOCTRINE OF THE NEW CHURCH: "I can, from all experience
and thence testimony out of Heaven, declare with certainty, that it is
impossible to take
* This article will appear in the Third Fascicle of the English edition
of DE HEMELCHE LEER
118
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON but
as a body without a soul; and the essential tenor of this
It is known in the Church that all direct cognizance is dependent on an
influx out of the spiritual world and on an afflux out of the natural world. In
all that has been said concerning direct cognizance, in what precedes and in
what follows, this has been surmised as self-understood. With all direct
cognizance there is an apparent influx from without, which becomes an actual
influx from the Holy Spirit when the Lord has a dwelling-place in the mind of
man. But the influx from the Holy Spirit is dependent on the good of
That truth as well as good flows in from within is evident from the
following passages in the ARCANA COELESTIA: "The truths previously
insinuated are ... as it were exterminated; . . . and then as the man suffers
himself to be regenerated the light of truth from good is insinuated from the
Lord through an internal way , . ." (n. 5280); "It is good and truth
that bring into order each and all things in the natural mind, for they flow in
from the interior" (n. 5288): "All the truth of good proceeds from the
Divine Human of the Lord; for truths can proceed from everybody, but the truths
of good only from the Lord, consequently from those who are in good from the
Lord" (n. 8301); and from the following passage in the APOCALYPSE REVEALED:
"All truth of the Word is insinuated into the man of the Church from the
Lord through Heaven" (n. 541). 119
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
From the preceding it may be evident to every one that by the genuine
truths of the Church those truths are never meant which man by direct cognizance
takes up out of the letter of the Latin Word. The latter differ much from the
former, for the genuine truths are born with man from within out of the Lord.
The truths of the letter of the Latin Word are the truths of the Word in
ultimates, but the genuine truths of the Church are the truths from the Holy
Spirit.
The genuine truths of the Church in the ARCANA COELESTIA are described as
follows: "The man who is being regenerated and becoming spiritual is first
led through truth to good; for man does not know what spiritual good, or what is
the same, Christian good, is, except through truth or through the doctrinal
which is out of the Word; thus he is initiated into good. Afterwards, when he
has been initiated, he no longer is led through truth to good, but through good
to truth, since he then out of good not only sees the truths which he knew
before, but also out of good he produces new truths which he did not know and
could not know before. ... These truths or the new truths
differ much
from the truths
which he knew previously; for those that he knew previously had but
little of life, but those which he receives afterwards have life out of good.
... Through this truth good fructifies itself in the natural, and
produces truths wherein is good, innumerable ones. ... From these things it is
plain what is meant by new truth out of spiritual good"
(n. 5804).
The genuine truths of the Church are represented in the Old Testament by
the sons of Israel. The birth of those truths is
described in the ARCANA COELESTIA in the explanation of the seventh verse
of the first chapter of EXODUS as follows: "And the sons of Israel were
fructified, and they were produced, and they were multiplied, and they were made
numerous, exceedingly, and the land was filled with them. ... While the Church
is being established, man is in
truths and through
these good increases; but when. the Church is established with him, then
man is in good and out of good in truths, which then increase continually;
little while he lives in the world, because there the care for food and
raiment and for other things hinder, but in the other life immensely,
120
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON and
this perpetually to eternity; for the wisdom which. is
from the
Divine has
no end.
Thus the
Angels are perfected continually, and thus all
those who
become Angels" (n. 6648). What then are those truths which grow
immeasurably with the man who is becoming an Angel. and by which he is
continually perfected to eternity? Are they ever increasing quantities of
scientifics of which he takes direct cognizance in the letter of the Latin Word?
Or are they the spiritual truths which with him are born in ever increasing
quantity and in ever increasing perfection out of good? The passage here quoted
and that quoted above (A. C. 5804) leave us in no doubt on this point. It is
true indeed that the letter of the Latin Word in itself is infinite, containing
all truths, and into the most distant future will remain the basis for all the
thought of men and of Angels, and it can never be exhausted by cognizance being
taken of it into the ages of ages; but nevertheless it is evident that the
perfection of man does not lie merely in an ever extended cognizance of the
truths out of the letter, but in the spiritual fructification and multiplication
of good and truth in the human mind out of the Lord.
While the genuine truths which are born in the human mind out of the good
from the Lord, are represented by the sons of Israel, the scientifics derived
from the letter of the Latin Word are represented by Egypt and the Egyptians. If
man persists in gathering only such scientifics, without genuine goods and
truths out of good at the same time being born in him, then the truths of the
Church with him are oppressed and extinguished. This is represented by the
oppression of the sons of Israel by the Egyptians.
After these expositions it is scarcely conceivable that any one will yet
come and say that by those scientific truths out of the letter of the Word, of
which in the above quoted number 90-25 of the ARCANA COELESTIA it has been said
"that they differ from the truths of faith which are of the Doctrine of the
Church", only the truths of letter of the Old and the New Testament
are meant, and that the truths of the letter of the Third Testament an' the
genuine spiritual truths of tile. Church themselves. But if this should happen,
then let them read that it is
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
121 said
that "the truths of the Doctrine arise from the truths of the letter by
unfolding", and that in the continuation of that same passage it is said:
"Be it known that the true Doctrine of the Church is that which is here
called the internal sense; for in the internal sense are truths such That
the Latin Testament in its letter is natural, was shown above; this has already
been remarked by Rev. Hyatt, and also other leading thinkers
of the Church have
expressed their agreement with this truth (see the passages quoted by the
reviewer from NEW CHURCH TIDINGS and MEW CHURCH LIFE). That by the letter of the
Word in this passage the letter of the Latin Testament is meant, appears clearly
from this that in the New Church there are no longer any priests and men who
teach and who learn only out of the letter of the Old and the New Testament.
This passage and this argument have been repeatedly and fully quoted in DE
HEMEL.SCHE LEER (First Fasc., pp. 36—38; 101—103). But as the reviewer has
not entered into a discussion of them, although they are of decisive importance
and in themselves suffice to prove the truth of the position of DE HEMELSCHE
LEER, they are here again pointed out. It is clearly taught in this passage that
they who teach and who learn only the literal sense of the Latin Word understand
nothing but what belongs to the natural man, because also the Latin Word in its
letter is natural. Only by the genuine 122
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON Doctrine
of the Church, of which it is here expressly stated that it is this Doctrine
which is called the internal sense, does man arrive at a vision also of the
things that belong to the spiritual man; for the letter of the Latin Word
consists of merely natural scientifics (see A. C. 4967 and 5213, quoted above);
the genuine spiritual truths correspond thereto and lie hidden deep within.
They can never be seen by any man unless by the orderly means from the
Lord Himself he is raised into the essential light of the spiritual Heaven.
1. "That the Church is out of the Word, and that it is
such as is its understanding of the Word" (S.S. 76—79).
2. "That the Word
without Doctrine out of the Word is not understood, and that the Divine Truth
which will be of the Doctrine, appears to none but to those who are in
enlightenment from the Lord" (S.S. 50—61; A. E. 356).
Concerning the first proposition we read: "That the Church is out of
the Word, does not admit of doubt. ... But that the understanding of the Word
makes the Church, may admit of doubt; since there are those who believe that
they are of the Church because they have the Word, read it or hear it from a
preacher, and know something out of the sense of its letter. Yet how various
things in the Word are to be understood, they do not know, and some think this
of but little importance. It shall therefore be confirmed, that it is not the
Word which makes the Church, but the understanding of it, and that the Church is
of such a character as is the understanding of the Word among those who are in
the Church. . . . The Word is the Word according to the understanding of it with
man, that is, as it is understood. If it is not understood, the Word is indeed
called the Word, but, with the man it is not. The Word is the truth according to
the understanding of it; for the Word may be 123
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
not the truth, for it can be falsified. The Word is spirit and life according to the understanding of it; for the letter without the understanding of it, is dead. Since man has truth and life according to his understanding of the Word, according to that also he has faith and love; for truth is of faith, and love is of life. Now, since the Church is through faith and love, and. according to them, it follows that through the understanding of the Word, and according to it, the church is Church; a noble Church if it is in genuine truths, an ignoble one if not in genuine truths, and a ruined one if in falsified truths. . . . The Lord is present with man through the reading of the Word, but He is conjoined to him through and according to his understanding of truth out of the Word, and so far as the Lord is conjoined to the man, so far the Church is in the man.... In many places in the 'Prophets the understanding of the Word is treated of where the Church is treated of; and it is taught that the Church is not anywhere else but where the Word is rightly understood; and that the Church is of such a quality as is the understanding of the Word. with those who are in it. In many places also, in the Prophets, the Church among the Israelitish and Jewish nation is described as totally destroyed and brought to nought by their having falsified the sense or the understanding of the Word; for something else does not destroy the Church. The
understanding of the Word, both true and false, is described in the Prophets by
Ephraim, . . . for by Ephraim in the Word is signified the understanding of the
Word in the Church; and because the understanding of the Word makes the Church,
therefore Ephraim is called a precious son and a child of delights (Jer. 31 :
20); the first-born (Jer. 31 :9); the strength of
the head of Jehovah (Ps. 60:7; 108:8); mighty (Zech. 10 : 7); filled with the
bow (Zech. 9:13); and the sons of Ephraim are called armed and shooters with the
bow (Ps. 78 :9); by the bow is signified the Doctrine out of the Word fighting
against falsities. . . . But the quality of the church when the understanding of
the Word has been destroyed, is 'also described in the Prophets by Ephraim,
especially in Hosea, as is clear out of the following things: Israel and Ephraim
shall fall. .. . Ephraim shall become a solitude. . . . Ephraim is oppressed and
broken in judgment ... (Hosea 5: 5,
9,
124
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON 11-14).
. . . They shall not dwell in the land of Jehovah,
That all these things in the New Church have reference to the Latin
Testament, is clear. The Writings are the Word for the New Church, and seeing
the Church is out of the Word. therefore the New Church is out of the Latin
Word. The Israelitish Church was out of the Old Testament, the first Christian
Church was out of the New Testament, the New Church is out of the Third
Testament. But seeing it is not the Word which makes the Church, but the
understanding of the Word, it follows that it is not the Latin Word which makes
the New Church, but the understanding of that Word. But seeing it is the Divine
of the Lord that makes the Church, and not anything of man's proprium, it
follows that the understanding of the Word which makes the Church is the Lord
Himself and therefore is Divine.
It therefore clearly appears that not only the Word is Divine but also
where the Church through the regeneration of man is really Church, or, as it is
said, a noble Church, the reception of the Lord in the human mind is Divine.
Where the reception is not purely Divine, where therefore the proprium of man is
concerned with the reception, the Word with man is not the Word, and the church
is no Church. Compare with this the position of the reviewer of DE HEMELSCHE
LEER which appeared in NEW CHURCH LIFE (1931, p. 34): "The understanding of
the Word and 125
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
the
Writings, however, depends on human states, and is a human sight of a Divine and
infinite thing"; and "We are indeed given the teaching that Divine
Doctrine is the Word, and that therefore doctrine from the literal sense is also
Divine (A. C. 3712), because by the letter the Lord's Divine Truth proceeds and
appears to men. But this does not mean that man's reception of it is
Divine". And this in the face of the truth that it is the understanding of
the Word that makes the Church, that the Lord can dwell only in what is His own,
that the essence of the Church lies in a mutual conjunction between the Good of
the Lord and the Truth of the Church, yea that the proper celestial Church, the
New Jerusalem, is the Bride of the Lamb. That the reception with the
non-regenerate man is not Divine certainly does not in the least do away with
the fact that the reception with the regenerated man is Divine. It seems that
the reviewer of NEW CHURCH LIFE has there completely lost sight of the reality
of the regeneration of man and of the regeneration of the Church, while it is an
irrefragable truth, that the salvation of the human race does not depend on the
Word only, but also on the Church, yea even that the integrity of the Word
depends on the Church, as is clearly taught in the following passage in the
CANONS: "Unless, therefore, a new Church be established from the Lord,
which shall restore both the Church and the Word in their integrity, not any
flesh could be saved" (Divine Trinity 10 : 4).
Or is it perhaps possible that someone will come and say that in those
passages by the Word only the Old and the New Testament are meant? That the New
Church therefore is not out of the Third Testament but out of the Old and the
New Testament? And that indeed the understanding of the Old and the New
Testament may be-true or false, but that in the Writings the genuine
understanding itself of the Word has been given? This would mean that it was
expected only of the Israelitish and the first Christian Churches that they, on
the ground of their Word by the spiritual light which the Lord could give them
in their Testaments, should have acquired for themselves a genuine
understanding; while the New Church, the Crown of Churches, need not acquire for
itself a genuine understanding of the Word, but that it could obtain it without
any effort out of a letter. But it is evident that it is just in the New Church
that the true
126
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON spiritual
understanding of man for the first time becomes fully possible, and that
therefore the responsibility for acquiring such an understanding and the
difficulties and spiritual combats concerned therewith have immeasurably
increased. The order of the formation of that understanding with the man of the
New Church has been described at length in DE HEMELSCHE LEER in the explanation
of the elucidation of the. title-page on page 3 of the ARCANA COELESTIA, by the
exegesis of the concepts of "experience" and "text" (First
Fasc., pp. 97—123). It is to be regretted that Dr. Acton did not enter into a
discussion of this exegesis.
The understanding of the Word which makes the Church is one of the two
essential faculties of the regenerated man. The two essential human faculties
are the will and the understanding. Both faculties with man, before
regeneration, are
entirely perverted.
The will is then a will of
evil, and the understanding an understanding of. falsity, however much such a
man may take up the truths by direct cognizance out of the letter of the Latin
Word. The Latin Word then is not the truth (see the above quoted passages, S.S.
77), for it is falsified by man. But if man is regenerated, he receives a new
voluntary and a new intellectual from the Lord. These in the Old Testament are
represented by the two sons of Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim. This is the reason
why the understanding of the Word is represented by Ephraim, as appears from the
passages quoted.
The intellectual of every man is entirely as his voluntary. It is the
voluntary which determines the essence of man. According to the most general
distinction there are three kinds of perverted voluntaries, by which the essence
of the three hells is determined, and three kinds of holy voluntaries, by which
the essence of the three Heavens is determined. The intellectual that belongs to
these different kinds of voluntaries respectively, therefore also is entirely
different. The understanding of the Word also with each man is different. It is
a perverted understanding with the nonregenerate man; it is a holy understanding
with the regenerated man; a spiritual-natural understanding with the man of the
natural Heaven; a spiritual understanding with the man of the spiritual Heaven;
and a celestial understanding with the man of the celestial Heaven.
Without 127
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
such
a holy understanding the letter of the Latin Word is dead. The great importance
of this truth clearly appears if one knows that man can be led only by his
intellectual. Concerning this we read in the ARCANA COELESTIA: "Every man
is led from the Divine through his intellectual; if he were not led through
this, no man could be saved" (n. 10409). As to the most general distinction there are three degrees of regeneration, according to the three Heavens. The man who as a result of regeneration in the first degree reads the letter of the Latin Word out of the celestial of the first Heaven through the spiritual-natural understanding, is in the internal sense of that Heaven, that is, in the internal sense of the interior-natural (see A.C. 5145). This is the only internal sense, namely the internal-historical sense, in which the Church before the birth of the Doctrine of the Church can take part. In this state the thought of the Church remains as yet entirely bound to the natural things of the letter of the Latin Word. The man who as a result of regeneration in the second degree reads the letter of the Latin Word out of the celestial of the second Heaven through the spiritual understanding, is in the internal sense of that Heaven, that is, in the internal sense of the exterior-rational, or in the proper spiritual sense of the Latin Word. This
sense is the spiritual Doctrine of the Church. In this state the thought of the
Church has been entirely freed from the natural things of the letter of the
Latin Word and in that Word no more sees anything else than the purely
exterior-rational concepts of spiritual good and truth. The man who as a result
of regeneration in the third degree reads the letter of the Latin Word out of
the celestial of the third Heaven through the celestial understanding, is in the
internal sense of that Heaven, that is, in the internal sense of the
interior-rational, or in the proper celestial sense of the Latin Word. This
sense is the celestial Doctrine of the Church, and in this state the man of the
Church no more sees anything else, in all the particulars of the Latin Word,
even to each smallest singular word thereof, than purely celestial truths which
all have reference to the Divine Human of the Lord alone.
This understanding of the Latin Word as regards its internal things is
represented in the REVELATION OF JOHN
128
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON by
the White Horse. Concerning this we read in the work ON THE WHITE HORSE:
"By Heaven being opened is represented and signified, that the internal
sense of the Word is seen in Heaven, and thence by those in the world to whom
Heaven is opened; the horse which was white, represents and signifies the
understanding of the Word as to its interiors. . . . Having a name written that
no one knew but He Himself, signifies that the quality of the Word in the
internal sense is seen by no one but Himself, and those to whom He reveals it. .
. . The armies in the Heavens which followed Him upon white horses, signify
those who are in the understanding of the Word as to its interiors. Clothed in
fine linen, white and clean, signifies that they are in truth out of good"
(n. 1). And further in the following number: "The horse signifies the
understanding, and the rider one who is intelligent. . . . This may be confirmed
from many places in the Word. . . . In David: He rideth upon the Word of truth
(Ps. 45 : 4). [And in the unfavorable sense where the perverted understanding of
the Word is treated of:] In Zechariah: In that day, saith Jehovah, I will smite It
treats there of the vastation of the Church, which takes place when there no
longer remains the understanding of any truth; and which is described thus by
the horse and the rider; what else could be the meaning of smiting every horse
with stupidity, and the horse of the people with blindness? What has this to do
with the Church? In Job: God hath caused him to forget wisdom, neither hath He
imparted to him intelligence; when it is time He lifteth up Himself on high, He
laugheth at the horse and its rider (39 : 17, 18). That the horse here signifies
the understanding, is evident" (ON THE WHITE HORSE 2). And further:
"In the spiritual world horses are frequently seen, and riders, and also
chariots; and there every one knows that they signify something of the
understanding and of doctrine. I have often seen, when any were thinking from
their understanding, that at such times they appeared as if riding on horses;
their meditations were thus represented before others" (ON THE WHITE HORSE
3).
Out of these things it is evident that the internal sense is never
anywhere else than in the understanding of those 129
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
for
whom Heaven is opened and to whom the Lord reveals that sense, and that merely
by direct cognizance it cannot possibly be seen in the letter of the Latin Word.
Dr. Acton himself expressed this truth by the words "that the Writings are
the Heavenly Doctrine revealed in such language that it can be seen by all who
will read in the light of heaven" (p. 20). But that he has not considered
what this really means appears from his remark that "Divine Truth
130
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON and
"that the internal sense is seen by no one but Himself, and those to whom
He reveals it", and "that [the Angels and Angel-men] are in the
understanding of the Word as to its internal sense", and "that they
are in truth out of good" (n. 1).
But although man in the Latin Word can never see the genuine truths of
the different Heavens unless with regard to
his spirit
he has
already been taken up into those Heavens, still any one who approaches
this Word in humility can perceive, by an immediate influx from the Lord, that
that Word is true. And therefore we have the absolute certainty that any one who
in a state of humility approaches the passages of the Latin Word where the
Divinity of the Doctrine born in the Church is expressly taught, will see the
truth thereof.
Out of these things it may now appear that in the truth of the Latin Word
that it is not the Word which makes the Church, but the understanding of the
Word, this truth is involved that unless the reception of the Lord by man is
Divine, the Latin Word is not the Word, and the church not the Church. "It
is the Lord who is the all in all things of Heaven and of the Church, from the
eternal to the eternal" (A.E. 23).
Anyone who is enlightened from the Lord can see in numerous places in the
Latin Word that a Doctrine must be born in the Church out of the Lord and that
without such a Doctrine the Church will not continue to exist. When we read:
"The Word without Doctrine is as a candlestick without light, and those who
read the Word without Doctrine, or who do not acquire for themselves a Doctrine
out of the Word, are in darkness as to all truth" (S.S. 50—61), we
realize that in the New Church nothing else can be meant by this than that the
Latin Word without the genuine Doctrine born in the Church from the Lord is as a
candlestick without light, and that they who read the Latin Word without the
genuine Doctrine born in the 131
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON
Church
from the Lord, or who do not acquire for themselves a genuine Doctrine from the
Lord out of the Latin Word, are in darkness as to all truth,
The cause of the Word without Doctrine being as a candlestick without
light is described in the DOCTRINE
CONCERNING THE SACRED SCRIPTURE as follows: "That the Word cannot be
understood without Doctrine is because the Word in the sense of the letter
consists of mere correspondences, to the end that the spiritual and celestial
things may be simultaneously therein, and that every word may be their
containant and support. For this reason, in some places in the sense of the
letter the truths are not naked, but clothed, and are then called appearances of
truth; and many things also are accommodated to the capacity of the simple, who
do not uplift their thoughts above such things as they see before their eyes.
There are also some things that appear as contradictions, although the Word when
viewed in its own light contains no contradiction. . . . Such being the Word in
the sense of the letter, it is evident that it cannot be understood without
Doctrine" (n. 51). Superficially considered one would be inclined to think
that these things apply only to the letter of the Old and the New Testament.
That however with regard to the man of the New Church. this essentially concerns
a description of the letter of the Latin Testament, clearly appears upon closer
study. That also the letter of the Latin Word has been written in
correspondences and that there too the Word is clothed in appearances which seem
to be contradictory to each other, has for a long time been acknowledged by some
(see the passage quoted by the reviewer on p. 5 from Rev. E. S. Hyatt, and on ?.
7 from Rev. C. Th, Odhner). But the full consequences of this truth were then
not yet seen.
The Word in the sense of the letter consists of mere correspondences for
the purpose that the celestial and spiritual things may be simultaneously
therein. For this reason the Word in the letter is in its fullness, holiness,
and power. The proper correspondence then always consists between the natural or
the letter written in correspondences, and the spiritual and the celestial and
the Divine, which things are never anywhere else than in the internal mind of
the regenerated man, in the proper Heavens themselves, and in the Lord Himself.
The distance between that natural 132
REPLY TO THE REV. PROF. DR. ALFRED ACTON of the letter and out of the letter in. the memory of man and those spiritual, celestial, and Divine things is immeasurable, and there is no relation whatever between them except that of correspondence. Moreover, man can only then speak of correspondences if he is in the spiritual causes and out of these causes sees the correspondences thereof in the natural, so that he partakes of both, the causes in the spiritual and the effects in the natural; for it is the effects in the natural which correspond to the causes in the spiritual. He, however, who has no part in the spiritual causes, which is the case with every one who has not been raised into Heaven by regeneration, cannot yet see what correspondences are; with regard to him all particulars of the literal sense of the Latin Word are not even yet correspondences, but only representations. This appears from the following passage in the ARCANA COELESTIA in the first chapter On Representations and Correspondences: "Between the spiritual things and the natural things there exist correspondences, and the things that come forth from spiritual things in natural things are representations. They are called correspondences because they correspond, and representations because they represent" (n. 2987). From this it is now evident that the essence of the literal sense also of the Third Testament is determined entirely by the distance between the natural and the spiritual; and that distance is immeasurable, just as the distance between the earth and the firmament, yea even much more so; for in the natural world every one, the evil as well as the g |
